2015-2016 NBA Playoffs

[DarthFed]

This Spurs-Thunder game is ugly. It's close but pretty ugly play.

 

[DarthFed]

No way you want a washed up Tony Parker taking these shots late in the game. I know Pops is a tremendous coach but I feel like sentiment is hurting the team in this series. The old guys are barely serviceable, it is Leonard and Aldridge that make this a great team.

Thunder have this won and the series is all but over.

 

[calitennis127]

No way you want a washed up Tony Parker taking these shots late in the game. I know Pops is a tremendous coach but I feel like sentiment is hurting the team in this series. The old guys are barely serviceable, it is Leonard and Aldridge that make this a great team.

Thunder have this won and the series is all but over.

Aldridge cost them at least as much as Parker tonight. He went 6 for 21 and he had a wide open jumper off a deflection at the end but bricked it. I do not like Parker at all, but Aldridge is a BS player who runs like he has a pole stuck in his rear end. Leonard has far too bland a personality to be a takeover player. Emotionless robots don't fit that role.

The Thunder survived a horrible defensive night from Ibaka. I have never seen him play so poorly on defense. He allowed Diaw to score on him, Aldridge to get position on him and bait him with pump fakes, and he allowed Leonard to rip the ball out of his arms.

Credit also to Westbrook.....he is proving all those people who said he should defer to Durant at the ends of games wrong. This comeback was all him. All that Durant did after it was 88-82 San Antonio was get the lucky call when Green fell into him and made the free throws.

 

[calitennis127]

Whoa, what on earth did I just read?

I understand you don't watch every OKC game Cali, and the regular season is insanely long with plenty of meaningless games, but did you seriously just say Steven Adams and Kanter are useless?

Yes. I think they both suck. Catching a dump off pass and dunking it (Adams) or managing not to trip over yourself for an occasional lay-up when you are 6-11 (Kanter) doesn't impress me. The Spurs post players also suck, so I am not impressed with out-rebounding them. Aldridge is slow and physically awkward. David West is arguably the slowest player in the NBA. He has no vertical lift (as you saw on that one hilarious play when Westbrook jumped over him for the rebound) on his shot or his rebounds. And yet, even with this being the case, Kanter still manages at times to get outrebounded by these guys.

A small ball line-up against the Spurs isn't a good idea considering OKC are troubling them when their bigs dominating.

LOL.....I think dominating is a strong word. And, more to the point, a line-up of Westbrook-Durant-Foye-Waiters with Foye actually being aggressive instead of acting as a role player could easily put up 140 to 150 points on the Spurs if they had 30 minutes on the floor together. The Spurs would have no hope of guarding that line-up. Green muscling up Durant on iso's would become irrelevant and Leonard can only guard one of the four. The other three would be free to do literally whatever they felt like doing.

Kanter and Adams are legit the two best rebounders on the floor on either team, and you want them out?

They are also offensive oafs who cannot do anything unless they get an easy finish opportunity.

Think about how many times they pick up a bad shot by Westbrook/Durant for an easy put back or at least, a second possession.

Right, and think about how many times Westbrook and Durant have to take a "bad shot" because they are the only two on the floor who can get their shot with Kanter's and Adams' oafish asses on the court. Those stagnant possessions you are bemoaning occur because everyone stands around watching Westbrook and Durant without being a threat to score. Other teams know that, so they rotate toward Westbrook/Durant and make them do something Herculean to get points. If you had Foye and Waiters out there looking to score alongside Westbrook and Durant, these crappy possessions you are talking about would hardly ever happen.

Notice how well the offense flowed in the second half when Foye was in there.

Aldrdige has not been playing far away from the basket that much. His offense, especially in the first two games has mainly been post ups.

Yeah, post-ups 15 feet or more from the basket where he ends up doing a fade-away far above the reach of both Adams and Kanter. It would make more sense to have a guard pester him with hands low when he dribbles than to have a 6-10 manikin mildly put his hand up. If you force Aldridge to put the ball on the floor and play quick, you expose his lack of agility.

Also, I hate to break it to you but Randy Foye has been garbage since joining OKC, although I must admit he did contribute last night and I'd rather see him over Cameron Payne for the purposes of these playoffs since the latter is clearly still too inexperienced.

Foye has been underused by Donovan and he has simply been too timid in the offense. He has the most impeccable shot form I have ever seen aside from JR. His problem is that he is not looking to score and take over. What he can do when he is on is something no one in the NBA can match frankly. I have seen it enough to state that definitively. It is a shame that Curry's queer ass gets to play the style he wants but Foye has never been allowed to.

People need to understand that, for better or worse, having a great front-line is part of OKC's new identity, as opposed to the days of having Reggie Jackson or James Harden where they could rely on a third ball handler/playmaker.

Foye and Waiters are both much better than Reggie Jackson.

Waiters is playing and goes to show you how good this team can be if they had a good two-way shooting guard (as opposed to Andre Roberson who completely kills their spacing on offense).

I agree that Roberson is a liability. There is really no point to him being out there.

 

[DarthFed]

Aldridge cost them at least as much as Parker tonight. He went 6 for 21 and he had a wide open jumper off a deflection at the end but bricked it. I do not like Parker at all, but Aldridge is a BS player who runs like he has a pole stuck in his rear end. Leonard has far too bland a personality to be a takeover player. Emotionless robots don't fit that role.

The Thunder survived a horrible defensive night from Ibaka. I have never seen him play so poorly on defense. He allowed Diaw to score on him, Aldridge to get position on him and bait him with pump fakes, and he allowed Leonard to rip the ball out of his arms.

Credit also to Westbrook.....he is proving all those people who said he should defer to Durant at the ends of games wrong. This comeback was all him. All that Durant did after it was 88-82 San Antonio was get the lucky call when Green fell into him and made the free throws.

Aldridge was trash tonight, no argument there. But he was getting good looks, just was unable to knock them down. On average you want him to have the ball instead of Parker at this stage in their careers. And you want Leonard to have it over the both of them.

Westbrook was huge no doubt. That long three pointer in the 4th was a bit of a turning point, he really took over after that. With that said he is still capable of a dreadfully inefficient performance like game 3 and that's the Spurs only chance of winning game 6. I expect OKC to win that one easily, the Spurs look like a team that peaked too early. The old guys are just dead weight out there and OKC matches up decently against them to begin with.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Cali, I didn't say Adams and Kanter were hugely talented (although Kanter is a talented offensive player and he's got very good hands for a big guy), but check their stats, and most importantly, OKC's stats' with them on the floor. Here's an incredible one: When both have been on the floor this season, Adams and Kanter pick up and incredible 49% of OKC's own misses. That's a load of offensive rebounds. They killed the Spurs on the boards once again, and that is crucial when you have an offense like OKC that isn't particularly free-flowing and is prone to just a bunch of guys standing around, which is what happened last night (I thought their offense was much better in game 4).

Kanter never gets out-rebounded by the guys you mentioned, what are you talking about? Unless you mean they sometimes get a rebound over him, which is pretty normal since this is basketball.

Anyway, Russell Westbrook shook off a sloppy first half to put on a hell of a performance. That was a monster fourth quarter. OKC's defense has been great this series too, and the Spurs seem to be struggling with their length and physicality.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Spurs might be headed home. OKC looking really good.

 

[DarthFed]

As I expected it was a blowout. Game 5 was a bit of a back-breaker and there was no way those old timers were winning on the road against a team that only has grown in confidence.

I saw earlier today that the line on the game was Spurs by 1.5. I don't know what retards were betting on that game, most likely the type that looked at regular season wins and assumed it still meant something. But it made me wish I still had my account at Bovada for sports betting. I'd have bet the house and the souls of my future children on that line. I don't know if I've seen a line that wacky in the NFL before, and I know that sport a lot better than the NBA. Those are the ones you have to bet heavy on because usually the lines are tough as hell to bet on regardless of the sport.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Yeah I made some money on this game

OKC earned major respect here. People were really sleeping on them. I expected them to eliminate the Spurs before the series began but I admit I lost any confidence after that game 1 debacle. OKC showed good character to bounce back but more importantly, Donovan completely out-coached Popovic. This wasn't just a matter of Durant and Westbrook going off. Donovan made really good adjustments to exploit the Spurs' weaknesses, OKC produced really solid interior defense, and killed them on the boards.

Time for some nuclear offensive power in OKC vs GSW. That's a different animal altogether, and it sucks that OKC's reward for beating the Spurs is taking on the greatest regular season team in history while Lebron and the Cavs get to sleepwalk through the final, but that's the East for you.

 

[DarthFed]

Yes, seeing as though Curry seems close to 100% I don't see the Thunder winning this series. It's possible but very unlikely.

And yes the East is simply lacking a 2nd great team, or even a very good one. There are suddenly more good teams in that conference than there have been in over a decade but the last couple years there is no legit threat to whatever team has the fortune of having Lebron on it. At least when he was in Miami you had Chicago and Indiana a couple years, and Boston one year. Those teams were not world beaters but they were quite a bit better than the Hawks of last year and the Raptors this year.

 

[brokenshoelace]

What worries me for OKC against the Warriors is that the defensive improvement they showed against the Spurs wouldn't work the same way against the Warriors. Adams and Kanter killed the Spurs on both ends, but the Warriors are so much quicker than the Spurs, have better off the ball movement, constant motion, ball screens, etc... OKC's perimeter defense can still be hit and miss. Durant is an underrated defender when he's locked in and Roberson is a very good one (but a complete liability on the other end so you'll need Waiters), but Westbrook's defensive gambles will be a problem. He got killed by Steph this season. Hopefully Russ is a bit more restrained. I'm not worried for OKC offensively although I think Ibaka will have to step up on that end.

Interested in how OKC handles the Warriors' small ball line-up.

 

[kskate2]

Spurs are home and that could be Duncan's last hurray, although personally I think he comes back for one more year. OKC/GSW will be a great series and I can't say w/ certainty who will win that. If Durant & Co can put up enough points, they might just pull off the upset. Let's hope your boys get the job done in Miami. I'd like to see them in the CF.

 

[DarthFed]

Agreed. Small ball lineup or not, OKC is not going to have as easy of time in the paint and it's tough to picture them dominating the glass to the same degree they did vs. the Spurs, mainly because they dominated it at a crazy rate. OKC will get their fair share of 2nd and 3rd shot as they are the best rebounding team in the league but it is doubtful that it will be to the same degree.

Bogut is hurt and not having him on the floor would definitely help OKC's chances. But on defense they are not going to have the same success. Golden State is a completely different challenge than SA. I think Golden State wins in 6.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I really do not like game sevens, especially with our guys. They get too tight. If they play like the last two games tonight, they can close it out in Miami.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I really do not like game sevens, especially with our guys. They get too tight. If they play like the last two games tonight, they can close it out in Miami.

I have .my money on Dwade to win that game, he has a long awaited appointment with his buddy LBJ

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I really do not like game sevens, especially with our guys. They get too tight. If they play like the last two games tonight, they can close it out in Miami.

I have .my money on Dwade to win that game, he has a long awaited appointment with his buddy LBJ

You and the media and everyone else too and it is showing its effect on the refs too...It was bad man...The thing is, Cavs are sweeping both teams anyways. Raps might take a game at home, maybe.

 

[kskate2]

Game 7 it is. Starts at 3:30 EST on ABC

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Wow...Raps destroyed the Heat in game 7 ! Lowry showed up, Demar showed up and in the absence of Valanciunas, Biyombo more than stepped up .

Now LeBron...

 

[kskate2]

I'm very happy for your boys. I was hoping for this result in game 6, but 7 will have to do. They don't get much rest and they'll need to come down emotionally to get ready for the LeBrons.

 

[DarthFed]

So the other conference final is set. Unfortunately I will have to see Drake for 4 or 5 more games too long this season.

OKC and Warriors tip off tonight. That's the main event to say the least.