***2021-2022 NBA Season Thread***

[Bubble Screen]

This series is over.

[Bubble Screen]

What does Patrick Ewing have to do to get a head coaching job? He's got to be seething after seeing the contracts both Kerr and Fisher have gotten.

Some guys just aren't head coaching material. Look at Singletary. He was a disaster. My guess is that Ewing doesn't interview very well.

And lately, hiring players who just retired is the new thing. That isn't helping him either.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Bubble Screen

[Destino]

 

As I said two nights ago, best road team in the NBA for a reason.

Oh I've already admitted that I got that wrong but a few posts after my post you quoted I made another one that perhaps shows I am not entirely clueless:

 

I don't know.  They kind of coasted in the regular season, which isn't an insult because they were never in danger of missing the playoffs. Once they got into the playoffs they showed a burst of energy in the second half that their opponents couldn't match.  I'm still seeing that in this series.  Late in this game when it was close and I posted that despite that, this felt like a sure Miami win, it was because the Spurs looked frantic and the Heat didn't.  The Heat just have another gear that they get into in the second half, it's almost as if the only way to beat them is to build a huge half time lead that counters their inevitable 2nd half run.  Or turn the AC off.  

[RichmondRedskin88]

Overreaction much?  People saying the series was over either way are nuts.  Both teams are mentality tough.  Spurs almost won in game 7 last year after losing because of a miracle Allen 3 in game 6.  They were 5 seconds from holding the title and boom it was gone. Yet they gave Miami all they could handle in game 7 despite blow out predictions.

[Koolblue13]

Overreaction much? People saying the series was over either way are nuts. Both teams are mentality tough. Spurs almost won in game 7 last year after losing because of a miracle Allen 3 in game 6. They were 5 seconds from holding the title and boom it was gone. Yet they gave Miami all they could handle in game 7 despite blow out predictions.

that was the spurs in 6 last year, until Allen decided to earn his entire contract with one damn shot. I don't think this one goes the distance, spurs team is just too good, to be beat by three players.

[LeesburgSkinFan]

Things I expect Jeff Van Gundy to say next, "You know, this 20 point Spurs lead really reminds me of why LeBron James is the greatest NBA player ever."

[KDawg]

LeBron is dominant when he wants to be. That's what I don't like about him. Sometimes, it seems like he doesn't have the urge to pull his team up. I think he's always got the ability to, though. And I don't mean that he's not trying or anything. I think he always wants to win. I think sometimes its a psychological thing, perhaps to the extent unconscious reasoning of: "If I shoot the ball here and neglect my teammates, I'm going to get a ton of crap..."

 

But, having said that, as I said above, LeBron can be dominant when he wants to be. For that reason, this series is far from over. I don't like the Heat. But I do know that you can't count them out, no matter what the series deficit is.

[JoeWolf990]

A lot of Lebron's issues comes down to Wade. When Wade is struggling, Lebron steps it up and plays scary amazing. When Wade is playing good and getting to the basket, like yesterday, Lebron wants to facilitate a little more.

Even still, he had like 6 turnovers yesterday.

Kawhi Leonard's performance will deservedly get the headlines, but Danny Green was immense yesterday. He played some great defense on Lebron and Wade and showed that he could put the ball on the floor and score. Doing that will force the Heat to change how they defend him.

I was stunned at how the Spurs came out and played yesterday. Miami wasnt the best defending, but the Spurs were on another level in execution. There is no amount of defending that can stop that.

Also, Ginobli is playing well too.

Ginobli was Miami's MVP last season, but he looking like the Spurs MVP this year.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Chalmers should just hang up his uniform forever.  He has to be the worst PG in the league

 

He's never been great, but he has been utterly atrocious during the playoffs. And I'm farily certain this is a contract year for him.

 

And, yea, you can pick at various things about the Heat offense. But that game was all about the Spurs execution on offense. It was otherworldly. I don't even think the Heat were that bad on D.

You haven't?

 

I didn't miss those games, no.  I'm not saying he never shows at all, just that people let a few good moments change how passive he becomes during critical moments of games.  I'd argue that he has as many games where he disappears in the finals as he has "clutch" performances. [

 

We're still doing this? In 2014?

 

Look. Lebron could dunk a game winner with his feet and a handful of critics would find a reason to complain. All your points are idiotic. Every single one of them. That is my response.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Lombardi's_kid_brother

[JoeWolf990]

Didn't even realize how good a game Bron played because he didn't seem aggressive at all

thats because he didnt have a good game.

Did you miss the last game? Or game 7 last year?

I've never heard anyone ever say he was a poor off the ball player before. I don't agree at all

Lebron has improved off the ball over the last few years, but he isnt as good as Wade off the ball.

And Wade isnt very good off the ball himself.

[Sticksboi05]

Didn't even realize how good a game Bron played because he didn't seem aggressive at all

 

What good game?  He had a decent game with some filler stats.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

22 points on 14 shots, 5 steals, 7 assists, and 5 boards isn't a good game?

Unless you're gonna say the 7 TOs negate that and I could understand that

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

The Spurs just had the single greatest shooting half in the history of the NBA Finals.

 

And we're arguing over whether Lebron is "clutch" like it is 2009. I'm going to hang myself.

 

You people do not deserve these games. Seriously, you all suck.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Seriously tho. Like I said last night, give SA some damn credit.

LBJ didn't lose the game. Mario didn't lose the game. Spurs won it

[Sticksboi05]

22 points on 14 shots, 5 steals, 7 assists, and 5 boards isn't a good game?

Unless you're gonna say the 7 TOs negate that and I could understand that

 

I just don't think he had much of an impact judging from the eye test, at least not while the game was in reach.  He had 8 points over the final 3 quarters I think.

 

This is not me saying he "wasn't clutch".  He didn't really have a chance, since San Antonio was making it rain like the Amazon out there.  I defended him earlier by saying it was more Kawhi Leonard taking him out of his game early while San Antonio got out to that huge lead.  The Heat did not lose because of LeBron. 

[Going Commando]

I thought LeBron was fine with his scoring last night.  He scored at will early on and kept Miami from getting totally embarrassed.  Close enough to where you could still see a Miami run being a threat to steal the game back.  His lack of scoring in the second half didn't sink Miami.  And the main reason he stopped scoring was because of how well Kawhi defended.  He's one of the few bodies in the NBA that can match up with LeBron and defend him one on one.  The only really bad mistake I remember LeBron making trying to score was that charge on Diaw where he just ran straight into him.

 

Defensively, Miami was a hot mess.  Most consistent problem was a breakdown in rotations.  They were forcing some turnovers here and there, but mostly SA whipped the ball around finding the open man over and over again.  And that guy was making shots.  The thing is, SA was playing way more aggressively than Miami and the Heat just couldn't make them pay enough for all of those really high risk passes and drives.  They didn't get into the driving lanes enough and didn't anticipate where the ball was going well enough to pressure those passes into turnovers or get a good contest on the shooter.

 

And I do think LeBron was sluggish defensively.  I think everyone on Miami was pretty much.

 

It's also troubling that SA looked so comfortable playing at a fast pace on Miami.  Danny Green scored by taking it all the way against Wade and Bosh on a 2 on 3 fast break.  Kawhi Leonard was dunking it.  Manu did his thing.  Boris Diaw got into the paint... And the trail game was really clicking.  When you combine that with how well their usual half court offense worked, it added up to a blowout.  

 

The Heat can't afford to let the Spurs be so much more aggressive than them again.  The Spurs can be relentless when they sense weakness or fatigue or apathy in an opponent.

 

For me, the only large issue with LeBron's game last night was the passing/ball handling.  He turned it over a bunch and they were ugly turnovers because they weren't gambling to try and make the special play and losing.  They were just making a bad, out of rhythm play that played right into the defender's hands.  The charge, several passes picked off, and had his pocket picked when he dropped his guard IIRC.

 

Wade turned it over too, which really hurts Miami because they kind of depend on his extreme efficiency.  Parker and Leonard and Green were on point last night, really hounding the Miami ball handlers.

 

Green really was a hero.  Went 7 for 8 and played fantastic defense.  It's amazing that SA scored 111 points only making 9 threes.  They made their shots count.

[PeterMP]

It is difficult to take people criticizing Lebron's off the ball play considering they don't know what his assignment is off the ball on most plays.

 

In basketball, you don't want everybody cutting to the basket.  You have people that are cutters, you have people that are spot shooters/release valves (I want a guy that I know where he's going to be so that if I get in trouble I know where somebody is going to be to make a pass; it isn't an accident on so many drives there also happens to be a guy standing in the corner an you have another guy out high that you can throw the ball way out too), and you have people who have to be positioned to get long rebounds and control the fast break going the other way (some of these jobs do over lap, especially the last one and the previous one).

 

Without knowing Lebron's objective in the context of the Heat offense off the ball criticizing Lebron's off the ball movement is like criticizing a DL that crashed down the line on the backside of a run and didn't maintain outside without knowing if his job was to crash down the line.

[Sticksboi05]

The Spurs just had the single greatest shooting half in the history of the NBA Finals.

 

And we're arguing over whether Lebron is "clutch" like it is 2009. I'm going to hang myself.

 

You people do not deserve these games. Seriously, you all suck.

 

 

Ah, so you're going into "that" LKB mode now again...okay cool.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Sticksboi05

[JoeWolf990]

22 points on 14 shots, 5 steals, 7 assists, and 5 boards isn't a good game?

Unless you're gonna say the 7 TOs negate that and I could understand that

did you watch the game? I ask this because when people cite the box score I can never be too sure.

HE scored 14 in the first quarter. He had 7 assists, but thats taken away by the 7 turnovers.

On top of that, the player he was guarding went for nearly 30.

Lebron is the best player in the world, and one of the best of all time. That is not a good game. He was not aggressive and looked tired.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

And I was just praising the hell outta miamis defense too lol

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Ah, so you're going into "that" LKB mode now again...okay cool.

 

I just hate how every Miami game is some kind of referundum on Lebron Jame's moral character. It's stupid.

 

Skip Bayless has turned every sports discussion into how a team "lost" a game rather than how a team "won" the game. The Spurs made the Heat look like a D-league team in the first half last night. It was a performance we should be praising. Instead, we're deciding that Lebron is mentally weak beacuse he did not will his team to shoot 80 percent in the first half.

[Going Commando]

thats because he didnt have a good game.

Lebron has improved off the ball over the last few years, but he isnt as good as Wade off the ball.

And Wade isnt very good off the ball himself.

 

The only issue with Wade's off the ball game IMO is he's not a jump shooter.  It's a big issue to have, but there is a lot to like about what he can do off the ball.  He's like an extra big on offense in a lot of ways.  Really good hands, plays so strong, and a very fluid and creative post game.  He's a load as a finisher despite his height.  And he knows how to create space.

 

He's a HoFer and top five SG in NBA history because of his ball handling.  But he'd have been able to have a very long and good career in the NBA as a pure off guard too IMO.

 

But there are a lot of better off ball players in the NBA than Wade.

[PeterMP]

Defensively, Miami was a hot mess.  Most consistent problem was a breakdown in rotations.  They were forcing some turnovers here and there, but mostly SA whipped the ball around finding the open man over and over again.  And that guy was making shots.  The thing is, SA was playing way more aggressively than Miami and the Heat just couldn't make them pay enough for all of those really high risk passes and drives.  They didn't get into the driving lanes enough and didn't anticipate where the ball was going well enough to pressure those passes into turnovers or get a good contest on the shooter.

 

I know they don't play (much) zone, but if I were Miami, I'd consider trying some zone next game.

 

Or maybe they'll be able to look at the tape and figure out their rotations better.

 

But they just got killed on the switch/double rotate and all game.

 

The only times they made a run was when San Antonio got away from what they were doing and tried more individualism.

 

To me, that game was more worrisome than any other blow out in the playoffs in terms of exposing what the other team does.  Miami likes to play that helter skelter defense, and they just killed it.

 

Other times, you see it as well they didn't make enough plays early (or the other team got a lot of plays), and then you just sort of lose control of the game.

 

But I didn't really see that in that game.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

The only issue with Wade's off the ball game IMO is he's not a jump shooter.  It's a big issue to have, but there is a lot to like about what he can do off the ball.  He's like an extra big on offense in a lot of ways.  Really good hands, plays so strong, and a very fluid and creative post game.  He's a load as a finisher despite his height.  And he knows how to create space.

 

Wade's role on the Heat has become less and less well-defined as Lebron's role has gotten bigger and bigger. Bosh has adapted a lot. Wade still struggles with what he is actually supposed to be doing on offense at times. He is so talented that he can overcome these issues most of the time. But he's not always comfortable play off Lebron, just because he is not comfortable playing off anyone.

 

But it's obvious why he has to play off Lebron. Lebron is maybe the best creator ever. It would be foolish to take the ball out of his hands for anyone - even Wade.

[Sticksboi05]

I just hate how every Miami game is some kind of referundum on Lebron Jame's moral character. It's stupid.

 

Skip Bayless has turned every sports discussion into how a team "lost" a game rather than how a team "won" the game. The Spurs made the Heat look like a D-league team in the first half last night. It was a performance we should be praising. Instead, we're deciding that Lebron is mentally weak beacuse he did not will his team to shoot 80 percent in the first half.

 

Now this is more like it.  I agree with 100% of what you said here except only Ghost is saying it was LeBron's fault they lost.  Joe and I said he didn't have a great game per say but that he wasn't the reason they lost.

 

 

Miami's point guard play has been atrocious.  18 points between Cole and Chalmers in 3 games combined.  AWFUL.