NBA Thread 2011-12

[SeanDMan]

answered the call by getting a minor cramp and being carried off as if a shark had taken his leg?

[Panni]

answered the call by getting a minor cramp and being carried off as if a shark had taken his leg?

By answering the call I mean stepping up in every conceivable way when his team's back was up against the wall. I agree though that the cramps act seemed so forced.

[Benjamin]

Hey! People will be talking about the Cramp Game for generations to come, okay?!

[gunnar hendershow]

Move over Flu Game!

[naiwf]

The refs answered the call for Miami. Without their unfailing dedication, this title run would not have been possible.

[rocksta]

The refs answered the call for Miami. Without their unfailing dedication, this title run would not have been possible.

(N) Whatever makes you feel better. There were some definite incongruence with calls on each end but it happens NBA refs are awful for all. What reason do Stern or the refs have to want Miami to win in 5?

[naiwf]

The refs answered the call for Miami. Without their unfailing dedication, this title run would not have been possible.

(N) Whatever makes you feel better. There were some definite incongruence with calls on each end but it happens NBA refs are awful for all. What reason do Stern or the refs have to want Miami to win in 5?

Because they probably won't be able to win it in 6 or 7 at OKC without it being obvious? When "50/50" calls all go one team's way, that's Donaghy levels of suspicious. It's not like OKC has had dudes like Sefolosha or Ibaka on the wrong end of the close calls. It's Durant and Westbrook not getting them in favor of guys like Chalmers and Battier. Forget about when LeBron or Wade have clearly fouled the Thunder players. If Miami's scrubs are getting "superstar" calls, then that's the clearest indicator that the officiating is awful.

[rocksta]

The refs answered the call for Miami. Without their unfailing dedication, this title run would not have been possible.

(N) Whatever makes you feel better. There were some definite incongruence with calls on each end but it happens NBA refs are awful for all. What reason do Stern or the refs have to want Miami to win in 5?

Because they probably won't be able to win it in 6 or 7 at OKC without it being obvious? When "50/50" calls all go one team's way, that's Donaghy levels of suspicious. It's not like OKC has had dudes like Sefolosha or Ibaka on the wrong end of the close calls. It's Durant and Westbrook not getting them in favor of guys like Chalmers and Battier. Forget about when LeBron or Wade have clearly fouled the Thunder players. If Miami's scrubs are getting "superstar" calls, then that's the clearest indicator that the officiating is awful.

This isn't your personal bias against Lebron and the heat talking right? I saw multiple plays last night with Lebron going to the hole and getting no calls and I can remember one no call towards Bosh as well. The 50/50 calls haven't 'all' gone one way. Please take your blinders off. Why does Stern want them to win in the first place? Surely a Thunder win is a better story and better for the league?. The refs haven't made James Harden go colder than ice, they didn't make the near 7 foot tall Durant grab 2 rebounds or make him too weak to handle Battier's defense off ball. Nor did they make Westbrook commit a stupid foul. Nor did they make the Heat play phenomenal NBA championship caliber basketball. Lebron James is set to win the MVP, Finals MVP, NBA championship and most likely an Olympic gold medal all in the same year. I get that you hate him but he has stepped up and played cold and fearless. Clutch as fuck. That 3 last night? Game 6 against Boston? Separate your bias against the heat from what is happening.

You remind me of this guy from the espn comments section:

After GM 4 vs NY: LOL Heat suck, can't even sweep the Knicks

After GM 2 vs IND: Pacers are just a better team

After GM 3 vs IND: lol Heat getting punked by the Pacers

After GM 5 vs IND: Heat are classless thugs

After GM 6 vs IND: Big deal, Pacers suck, Celtics will trash the Heat

After GM 2 vs BOS: Heat can't win without refs

After GM 5 vs BOS: Heat are done, told ya Boston would win

After GM 6 vs BOS:....

After GM 7 vs BOS: Doesn't mater OKC will demolish the Heat anyways

After GM 1 vs OKC: OKC will sweep the Heat

After GM 2 vs OKC: Refs to the rescue again, no problem, Thunder in 5

After GM 3 vs OKC: Stern costs OKC another game

After GM 4 vs OKC: Title will be tainted and marked with an (asterisk)

Edited June 21, 2012 by rocksta

[naiwf]

This isn't your personal bias against Lebron and the heat talking right? I saw multiple plays last night with Lebron going to the hole and getting no calls and I can remember one no call towards Bosh as well. The 50/50 calls haven't 'all' gone one way. Please take your blinders off. Why does Stern want them to win in the first place? Surely a Thunder win is a better story and better for the league?. The refs haven't made James Harden go colder than ice, they didn't make the near 7 foot tall Durant grab 2 rebounds or make him too weak to handle Battier's defense off ball. Nor did they make Westbrook commit a stupid foul. Nor did they make the Heat play phenomenal NBA championship caliber basketball. Lebron James is set to win the MVP, Finals MVP, NBA championship and most likely an Olympic gold medal all in the same year. I get that you hate him but he has stepped up and played cold and fearless. Clutch as fuck. That 3 last night? Game 6 against Boston? Separate your bias against the heat from what is happening.

There was no game last night Remembering a single no call against Bosh and Wade committing a clear path foul on Fisher that isn't called are not the same. Durant getting mugged late in a game not once, but twice is a problem. Westbrook driving to the hole routinely and jacking up 32 FGA, while only getting to the line 3 times would NEVER happen to LeBron or Wade. I've watched superstars get calls my entire basketball fan life, I've never seen Battier and Chalmers get the calls that Durant or Westbrook wouldn't though. The only series that was as bad that I can recall was Lakers/Kings and even though I was rooting for LA in that one, that was as blatant a screwjob as you can have in a legitimate sport.

More importantly, your "small market team winning is better for the league" mantra is criminally false. The ONE thing that the NBA needs is for LeBron to finally win a title. It has been the league's narrative for at least 3 full seasons now. Houston winning back to back while Jordan was gone is "the forgotten dynasty". The Duncan era produced some of the worst rated Finals ever. The Pistons beating the Superfriends Lakers also failed to help the league's popularity. This is a superstar driven league, and if given the choice between those superstars winning in LA, Boston, Chicago, Miami or NY and superstars winning in Houston, San Antonio or OKC, I can guarantee you that the league will prefer the bigger market team to win every single time. If they didn't, they wouldn't have miraculously expanded the cap to get LeBron and Bosh to Miami when the whole season the prevailing theory was that no team would be able to pay the max to more than two players and that the big market teams would have to choose which two to pursue, or that Miami would be lucky to get Bosh or James and no one else since they already had Wade.

Yes, Harden has played like shit. Yes, Durant forgot how to rebound. Yes, Miami has stepped up and taken it when OKC fell on their asses. But the officiating on 50/50's is nowhere near 50/50 and is closer to 90/10. If you don't think that close calls down the stretch matter, then why is there the saying that "you only need to watch the last 2 minutes of an NBA game" exist? Jordan won 6 rings. There is no doubt he's one of the greatest players to ever play the game, but the guy got every single call known to man, and that helped him win a lot of close playoff games that his team could have lost otherwise. Did the refs need to protect Jordan to the extent that they did? Probably not. Would he have 6 titles if they didn't? No. Does that make the league look bad? Does any other league routinely get criticized for horrendous, game changing officiating in the playoffs year after year? Hell, "Joey Crawford" is practically a curse word in May and June for a reason.

[rocksta]

This isn't your personal bias against Lebron and the heat talking right? I saw multiple plays last night with Lebron going to the hole and getting no calls and I can remember one no call towards Bosh as well. The 50/50 calls haven't 'all' gone one way. Please take your blinders off. Why does Stern want them to win in the first place? Surely a Thunder win is a better story and better for the league?. The refs haven't made James Harden go colder than ice, they didn't make the near 7 foot tall Durant grab 2 rebounds or make him too weak to handle Battier's defense off ball. Nor did they make Westbrook commit a stupid foul. Nor did they make the Heat play phenomenal NBA championship caliber basketball. Lebron James is set to win the MVP, Finals MVP, NBA championship and most likely an Olympic gold medal all in the same year. I get that you hate him but he has stepped up and played cold and fearless. Clutch as fuck. That 3 last night? Game 6 against Boston? Separate your bias against the heat from what is happening.

There was no game last night Remembering a single no call against Bosh and Wade committing a clear path foul on Fisher that isn't called are not the same. Durant getting mugged late in a game not once, but twice is a problem. Westbrook driving to the hole routinely and jacking up 32 FGA, while only getting to the line 3 times would NEVER happen to LeBron or Wade. I've watched superstars get calls my entire basketball fan life, I've never seen Battier and Chalmers get the calls that Durant or Westbrook wouldn't though. The only series that was as bad that I can recall was Lakers/Kings and even though I was rooting for LA in that one, that was as blatant a screwjob as you can have in a legitimate sport.

More importantly, your "small market team winning is better for the league" mantra is criminally false. The ONE thing that the NBA needs is for LeBron to finally win a title. It has been the league's narrative for at least 3 full seasons now. Houston winning back to back while Jordan was gone is "the forgotten dynasty". The Duncan era produced some of the worst rated Finals ever. The Pistons beating the Superfriends Lakers also failed to help the league's popularity. This is a superstar driven league, and if given the choice between those superstars winning in LA, Boston, Chicago, Miami or NY and superstars winning in Houston, San Antonio or OKC, I can guarantee you that the league will prefer the bigger market team to win every single time. If they didn't, they wouldn't have miraculously expanded the cap to get LeBron and Bosh to Miami when the whole season the prevailing theory was that no team would be able to pay the max to more than two players and that the big market teams would have to choose which two to pursue, or that Miami would be lucky to get Bosh or James and no one else since they already had Wade.

Yes, Harden has played like shit. Yes, Durant forgot how to rebound. Yes, Miami has stepped up and taken it when OKC fell on their asses. But the officiating on 50/50's is nowhere near 50/50 and is closer to 90/10. If you don't think that close calls down the stretch matter, then why is there the saying that "you only need to watch the last 2 minutes of an NBA game" exist? Jordan won 6 rings. There is no doubt he's one of the greatest players to ever play the game, but the guy got every single call known to man, and that helped him win a lot of close playoff games that his team could have lost otherwise. Did the refs need to protect Jordan to the extent that they did? Probably not. Would he have 6 titles if they didn't? No. Does that make the league look bad? Does any other league routinely get criticized for horrendous, game changing officiating in the playoffs year after year? Hell, "Joey Crawford" is practically a curse word in May and June for a reason.

Oh comon this series has nothing on the LA/SAC screwjob. I am in no way doubting the league office has some sway with officiating but this series has been decided on far more than that. The officiating has been iffy but nothing too atrocious. It just seems worse when you actively want Lebron to not win as many people do. I don't know what Chalmers and Battier calls your personally referring to as you keep mentioning those two in particular but personally off the top of my head I'm not sure what foul calls you are talking about.

The Duncan era Spurs had more problems than just being located in San Antonio they played what to many NBA fans was boring basketball. I disliked watching them for that reason growing up not because they were small market, I consciously tuned out of more Spurs game than any other team. Yet with all that there are conspiracy theories about some Spurs championships too. I get the whole big market v small market thing but superstars transcend that to an extent. My argument wasn't that it was better for Oklahoma to win because they were small market and that's a better story. I was arguing because of the star power and likability of Durant in comparison to Lebron. If there is one driving factor in the league more significant than market size it is star power, as you mention with your Jordan example. If Durant beat the Heat this year this young I don't know if there would be a hotter marketing commodity since Jordan and young Bron. I see no reason why they would actively try and avoid that situation. It's a win/win whichever team wins and personally I feel as if they win more if Durant and OKC win.

If they want the Heat to win that bad why did Dallas win last year? If the refereeing is what matters that is. There are simpler reasons than NBA league office bias to explain the foul differential the most obvious being the incredible inexperience of OKC. That inexperience is much more blatant than any perceived screw job from the league office, and a much better explanation for the Thunder's woes. It is no coincidence that most everyone screaming fix is decidedly anti-heat.

[naiwf]

I'm not saying that the refs/Stern determine everything every year. I'm saying that in this series if Westbrook takes 32 shots in a game, many of which were in the paint, he's probably been fouled enough to take more than 3 FTs. In the series he's taken 100 shots and 21 free throws, and this is a guy who lives in the paint. Battier and Chalmers get the charge/flop almost every time whether it's a star in the mix or not. Collison, Sefolosha or Ibaka? Not so much.

For the series Miami has outscored OKC by 5 points total. A call here or there makes a huge difference in Games 2-4. If OKC was losing by 10+ every night, no one cares about the questionable call late.

[Your Mom]

I'm watching sportcenter trying to get hyped up for the game because I know Christopher will want to watch it. Something is bothering me and I may have mentioned it before. I dont know if I have bad memory or what but I used to think Lebron was really cool and he was like one of my faves that didn't play for the Bulls. Now for the life of me I can't figure out why I liked him at all. Did he used to be way different? I honestly don't remember.

[GoN_]

I'm watching sportcenter trying to get hyped up for the game because I know Christopher will want to watch it. Something is bothering me and I may have mentioned it before. I dont know if I have bad memory or what but I used to think Lebron was really cool and he was like one of my faves that didn't play for the Bulls. Now for the life of me I can't figure out why I liked him at all. Did he used to be way different? I honestly don't remember.

He played on a bad team, now he plays with some of the best.

[Your Mom]

I'm not sure it's that. I always liked Big Shaq no matter what team he was on.

[GoN_]

I'm not sure it's that. I always liked Big Shaq no matter what team he was on.

I think it is hard to hate on Shaq. The guy seems lovely.

[Your Mom]

This guy Skip is kind of a joke isnt he?

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm watching sportcenter trying to get hyped up for the game because I know Christopher will want to watch it. Something is bothering me and I may have mentioned it before. I dont know if I have bad memory or what but I used to think Lebron was really cool and he was like one of my faves that didn't play for the Bulls. Now for the life of me I can't figure out why I liked him at all. Did he used to be way different? I honestly don't remember.

He was always a little arrogant but it snowballed. He started to rub people the wrong way when he capitulated in the 09 playoffs against Orlando. Then when he quit on his team the following year the nails were in the coffin. The Decision basically cemented him as the most easily dislikable star in the NBA. I was a big supporter of his really until the 09 playoffs, then I saw a side of him as a player that reflected really badly about his personal character.

I don't have any proof that he's turned the corner yet. Some people grow into immaturity it was once said to me. Food for thought.

As for the game on right now, I'm awaiting the late 3rd quarter onslaught from Miami that ends our abbreviated, rushed, and memorable season.

[Tyrone]

Too young. Too much pressure.

[Fait Accompli]

And playing the role of "Shane Battier" tonight will be Mike Miller.

[JStarr]

Guys like Miller and Battier have actually been accomplishing the one thing they were brought to Miami to do. Shoot like madmen and open things up for LeBron, Wade and Jar Jar.