NBA and College Basketball Thread

[frivolity]

19.4 seconds left and OKC had two timeouts. They used one to draw a play, couldn't get the ball inbounds, and used the second. Yet for some reason the play had Durant catch the ball inbounds and shoot immediately. It was a very good look, but to use up your last two timeouts and give the Spurs the last shot even if the three were to be made is a bit of a waste imo.

[itisjustme]

Ok now to hope Parker will recover for the finals. Duncan was huge in the OT looks like OKC just ran out of gas.

[X102reddragon]

We got it baby. Spurs vs Heat. Round 2!!!!!

[kuroishinigami]

Thunder really need better bench Well, not completely their fault since the two star need to dominate the ball that much. Anyway, it's over, Finals rematch time. Now to wait on Tony Parker's status since he was not played on 2nd half on due to sore ankle. Hopefully it's just small injury that will completely heal by game 1.

[Terrestrial Dream]

I think Parker will be fine, thank god for the 4 days rest.

Also, OKC fans were pretty classy, cheering their team till the end.

This rematch between Spurs and Heat is going to be awesome.

[kuroishinigami]

OKC fans has always been classy, which is why they're kind of my 2nd favourite team after the Spurs. But really, they need better bench, or better starter to keep Jackson off the bench. You can't have 2 offensive liability on the floor at once, at least make one of them able to hit open shots to spread the floor

[frivolity]

OKC don't really have much room for better bench players though, unless ownership is willing to shell out the luxury tax. With their current lineup, they're only around half a million below the luxury tax limit.

For the Spurs, their big 3 all willingly take less money, with them making only $30m a year combined, which allows them to fill up their bench with quality players. OKC's big 3 are paid $45.7m, and Perkins takes up a further $8.5m, giving them even less room to get a decent bench.

The Heat pay their big 3 $56.6m, but their owner is willing to pay the luxury tax - they're around $9m above the limit this year. In addition, their big 3 are able to attract quality players for less money in exchange for a very good shot at a championship (i.e: Ray Allen).

[Kmos]

I'm glad to see a rematch for the Finals. Go Spurs!

The East has been a shitty watch for the last two seasons. It's not because of the Heat's dominance, it's just how bad the teams are in the East. Heck, I thought nearly all the teams here were in tanking mode this season. Others did as well.

• Wasn't surprised Knicks didn't make it this year. It will take at least two years to be decent or for a total change. Maybe. (Have to mention cause NYer, otherwise no reason to)

• Brooklyn figured out how to play late. They've gathered a good bunch of players of course, bench too. Brook Lopez needs to be healthy. There're minor adjustments needed for them and they'll start looking pretty good.

• I never thought Indiana would do well going by how they played last year. This team will be problem cause they think their lineup is good and they think their plays are good, they aren't.

• Bulls can be the team to build up strongly and smartly to be much better. Their game is not the type of game I'd favor but it works well for them. Hope their new acquisitions work well in that system.

The West, in comparison, have better built teams and are less of a headache to watch.

• The way the Spurs are the last two seasons is the kind of team teams should aspire to. They made great improvements this year and I'm hoping they win the Finals now.

• OKC Thunder are also a great team that continues to grow greater. They need to develop their bench more and rely on them some. If they had won I'd hope they win Finals.

• There're some amazing players in the Clippers and Warriors deep into their benches. These two teams are always a good watch.

• Blazers are a decently strong, growing team to watch.

• I think the Rockets have the same problem as the Pacers.

• I was hopeful of Timberwolves, some decent players in there, but might be breaking up.

The difference in East and West is in point guards and coaching (not just head coaches).
(And if you want to hear a NYer rant, Dolan )

[kuroishinigami]

Originally Posted by frivolity

OKC don't really have much room for better bench players though, unless ownership is willing to shell out the luxury tax. With their current lineup, they're only around half a million below the luxury tax limit.

For the Spurs, their big 3 all willingly take less money, with them making only $30m a year combined, which allows them to fill up their bench with quality players. OKC's big 3 are paid $45.7m, and Perkins takes up a further $8.5m, giving them even less room to get a decent bench.

The Heat pay their big 3 $56.6m, but their owner is willing to pay the luxury tax - they're around $9m above the limit this year. In addition, their big 3 are able to attract quality players for less money in exchange for a very good shot at a championship (i.e: Ray Allen).

Thunder should do the same, find veteran who can still contribute with less money. Perkins contract though, is a big problem for a deadweight in offense. He's still needed for sure, but not at that cost IMO.

What's bugging me is, why is players such as Caron Butler suddenly went missing after playing quite well in regular season and early playoff. Is it due to too much ball domination by the two big stars or other things? Brooks better find out fast make better playbook for next season XD

[Terrestrial Dream]

He also needs to manage minutes better. After looking at the stats, Durant played freaking 52 minutes! Jesus, that is not a recipe for success. There was no way they were beating Miami by playing like that.

[itisjustme]

Durant needs to be way more assertive and mentally tough. He's the MVP, Westbrook is a good player he plays hard and can win games but he'll lose you games too. Durant should be the one taking the shots, the one who puts his team on fire instead of Westbrook. That wild 3 Westbrook took at the end should have been his, even if he's missed 3 previous. He also can't choke in OT in a do or die game, although there's the excuse of minutes.

[Xagzan]

Aw man, what an emotional roller coaster that series was. The ghosts of 2012 have been exorcised! Now let's see if they do the same for the ghosts of 2013. First back to back rematch since 97-98, with the two unquestionably best teams in the league.

Now Parker just has to get better first.

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by Xagzan

It wasn't technically a game winning shot though, they were already up by 2 before that.

If that shot ends up being a shot clock violation like it should've been (instead of being pure ass and going in) than the Heat are down by 2 with the final shot of the game. Than it's pick your poison, guard the lebron drive and open up the 3 and possibly lose or let lebron waltz to the basket like he did in the first game vs the pacers the series before. Parkers game 1 shot was much more miraculous than Allen's game 6 when looking at them out of context.

Well, Danny Green already had that 7 3pts game in this series, so clearly he can go off. And Marco Bellinelli might very well be a better shooter than Gary Neal.

Danny Green is not going to set another finals 3pt shooting record this year.

Can a Spurs fan tell me who guards Wade this series? He might've regressed a bit in the last 3 games of the Pacers series, but game 4 especially was because all his touches went to Bosh getting him going.

Last game against Brooklyn and his first 3 games against Pacers was elite, remmber what Wade did with a bum knee against you guys in game 4 stealing back home court.

Wade the fittest he's been in the finals since the Dallas series.You really think the Spurs are going to give a healthy Wade the cushion he had last year, Vogel calls him the midrange monster.

Who's guarding Wade, the Euro flopper? Green

[Terrestrial Dream]

You make Danny Green sound like a scrub on defense.


I think with Diaw, Green, and Leonard, they can do a decent defensive job against Miami.

[frivolity]

One of the longest breakdowns to match the intensity of yesterday's game:

The contrast in the teams is especially evident in these clips, with OKC relying on individual talent akin to 5 guys playing streetball, while the Spurs use offensive sets and take advantage of mismatches and weaknesses in the opposing defence in order to make up for the differences in athleticism.

The video also showed a major problem with OKC that I didn't notice before - their guys simply don't communicate on the floor. I originally blamed Scott Brooks for repeatedly having Fisher or Jackson on bigger guys, but it appears that the main reason for these mismatches is that the lack of communication causes the defence to get confused and pick up the wrong assignments. It's still on Brooks for not instilling a proper communication system, but the team as a whole is just not very smart either.

[kuroishinigami]

Their tactics to battle spurs playing "small" is switch on every pick and roll/screen, which is why fisher and jackson end up guarding duncan/diaw a lot. In a way, your original assessment on that being brooks fault is not wrong

[kirikirito334]

Right. Brooks is just miles behind from Pops. But the rematch! That's something to watch! Can the best-offensive team(for me) breakthrough the 2-time defending champs? Of course! Haha. My only concern is the defense of the Miami Heat. It's pretty though and if they can force Spurs to make turnovers, well, fastbreak is the middle name of the Heat. But nonetheless, have faith on the big three, and Pops

[itisjustme]

That's kinda funny a lot of Spurs fans here, I thought no one outside SA cared about them. :P

[frivolity]

Naw, I'm a Rockets fan myself. But between the Spurs and the Heat, I'd support the Spurs this year.

A fifth championship would probably cement Duncan's status as the best power forward of all time. LeBron and Co still have a number of years to get a few more rings.

[frivolity]

Spurs up 105-95 with 1 minute 15 to go, game's pretty much over.

The Spurs had extremely uncharacteristic turnovers in the third, with many unforced bad passes and even a backcourt violation.

The Heat got the short end of the stick in this game with the air condition breaking down and LeBron getting heat exhaustion and leg cramps as a result. Very unfortunate turn of events, and it really should not be happening during the NBA finals.

Aside from that, Duncan got his 156th playoff double-double, just one short of all-time leader Magic Johnson, who has 157.