Stormhammer
Member
He has ties to the Pacers + he seems to be great with his players, so I can second this.
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2014 NBA Finals |OT| Some dude guarantees they will win it all.
- Thread starter UnObtainium17
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He has ties to the Pacers + he seems to be great with his players, so I can second this.
The 2-3-2 format is stupid because the team without home court advantage effectively gets HCA if the series is exactly 5 games, and the team that has HCA is ridiculously handicapped if they don't win both games 1 and 2.
If the higher seed does not sweep the first two games at home, then they have to outright win the 3 game road series for games 3 through 5 to avoid being on the ropes of elimination.
Stormhammer
Member
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
It'll be nice to finally have a healthy wade in the finals. He's limped his way to his last two rings so it's time he actually contributes so as to free up some other players to do some dirt.
mentallyinept
Banned
I'm going with Heat in 6.
Pop is going to be able to orchestrate two great wins, but LeBron and company are not going to be denied.
Pop is going to be able to orchestrate two great wins, but LeBron and company are not going to be denied.
What changed since last year?
The Heat were incredibly fortunate to have won that series and they are less deep than they were last year and you could argue that none of their players are playing as well as they did last year (except maybe Wade who was not healthy).
Everyone on the Spurs seems to be better than they were last year and if Parker is healthy he is going to fuck them continually in the paint or with his passes to wide open shooters who can actually make a shot.
I can't count out Miami entirely but I think they are in trouble and will need some luck or someone on their team is going to have to do something spectacular to win this series.
Battier will rise again
Battier and Rashard Lewis had a pretty intense competition to see who could be the more worthless player.
mentallyinept
Banned
I think the Heat "big three" are playing at or above the level they were playing last year given their current playoff performance; Bosh seems to be a bit "down", but Wade is a much bigger "up".
San Antonio's very odd up and down performance against OKC makes me doubt them.
The Heat do not lose two playoff games in a row, meaning they will get one W in San Antonio.
I see them splitting in the away set, sweeping their home set, losing the away game, and closing it out at home in game 6.
Both teams had some stretches of incredible luck, people focus on the Allen three because it came at the last possible moment. Frankly, the Spurs were lucky as hell to even be up 5 at that point.
Halcyon
Member
I don't think the fact that Lebron Wade or Bosh could have a great game, with Ray Allen pulling 3s out of his ass is way out of the realm of ordinary or spectacular.
People said the same stuff about the Bulls in 97/98 and Jordan did:
I just think LeBron is too good.
theignoramus
Member
Rashard Lewis hit 6 threes in G5 of that Pacers series. Battier is still a good on ball defender and can hit open threes. The value of these guys is that you cant cheat and ignore them as they are high percentage shooters.
Obviously Rashard is a total defensive liability though. If Im San Antonio, any time that man or Ray Allen is on the floor, Im running pick&roll plays that have those guys switching onto TP or Manu, where they will then be "barbeque chicken"
It's mashups.
OKC is a bad matchup for the Spurs.
I think that the Spurs match up well against the Heat. They have the height, skill and offensive precision to break down their defense and the smarts to slow down the Heat on offense.
If you were surprised at how the Thunder gave the Spurs problems then how do you explain the Pacers taking the Heat to 6 with 4 mental midgets on the court and a coach whose offensive strategy is best summed up as fuckball?
Lewis was garbage before that game. He bricked every wide open shot. I do give the Heat credit for continuing to go to him because they will need some good minutes from him.
I don't think you can count on him like they did with Miller and Allen.
Holy shit.
I'm not huge basketball fan or anything but i never would have realized that with that wall of people how difficult it is to see the rim and backboard at player level. Got damn
Totally agree. 2-3-2 is just bad. And 2-2-2-1 would give home court in game 7 to the lower seed so that wouldn't work either. It's really 2-2-1-1-1 or alternate every game.
2-2-1-1-1 is probably the best compromise.
Yeah and imagine when you're taking a free throw everyone behind the basket is yelling and waving sticks around (at away games). Definitely some distractions to deal with.
theignoramus
Member
I wonder if Splitter comes off the bench now, I guess it depends what Miami's starting 5 is. The key to the series for SA will be Boris Diaw, if he can knock down some threes, stretch the floor and open up the paint for TD, Manu, and TP, then the Spurs should prevail. Coming off his play in G5 and 6 of that Thunder series, Diaw's confidence will be sky high right now.
Someone from Miami outside the big three is going to have to have a monster series. I feel like Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers will be key, Cole with his penetration ability and defense, Chalmers with his ability to knock down big shots.
Im certainly rooting for San Anontio though, they need redemption after last year
Someone from Miami outside the big three is going to have to have a monster series. I feel like Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers will be key, Cole with his penetration ability and defense, Chalmers with his ability to knock down big shots.
Im certainly rooting for San Anontio though, they need redemption after last year
People have been saying that since the 2007-2008 season.
Junior Mint
Member
I hope Spurs win it but realistically I think Heat are going to win again 
The Spurs are old but so is Miami now and the Spurs are a bad matchup for them with a much better coach.
Yeah and they got ever older and losing chip because Pop randomly lost his mind doesn't change that.
Jag
Member
White Hot.
Devilgunman
Member
As another poster pointed out, OKC is the worst matchup for the Spur but the Spur was able to win in 6 with 3 blown-out games. People keep talking about the Spur's Big 3 but keep forgetting that they have the best roll players in the league. This team in no longer about Parker, Ginobili and Duncan. This team is all about the system. The win over OKC last night was a good evidence. They did it with Parker on the bench for the entire second half and Boris Diaw was the lead scorer for the Spurs. Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Diaw, Patty Mills,and Marco Belinelli, these players demand respect and the Heat will pay if they underestimate them.
BadAss2961
Member
They go above and beyond crediting him for his game. They constantly protect his image and bring down other players and legends to prop him up. Even his own teammates, who are spoken of as dogshit when anything goes wrong. Nevermind the fact that LeBron clearly has the best supporting cast of any superstar in the league -- that's what he signed up for, right?
ESPN is his defense force.
Bullshit. They all got $100m+ deals and will make serious bank off endorsements anyway. LeBron gets to do the same shit he did in Cleveland, except coast through the entire regular season now. Same as Wade. Bosh is the only one whose stats are fucked up as a result of joining the team.
Also, if you think D.Wade and Pat Riley (who was mysteriously so well prepared that he got just about his entire team off the books to make this happen) didn't know that they had LeBron and Bosh the whole time, you're kidding yourself. They played everyone.
But yeah, let's just forget about it and like them. If you're fine with it, whatever. But don't act like people are stupid for hating them.
Skinny Pete
Banned
Goin heat in 6. The Lebron era continues.
Rastafarian42
Member
Heat in 6 the Trilogy saga concludes.
BadAss2961
Member
Huh? Other than some huge plays down the stretch in the finals, wasn't Bosh playing like shit in those Playoffs? Particularly against the Pacers and Spurs.
He seems to be doing wayyy better now. He has legit 3 point range now, and is much more comfortable in that jumpshooting big man role overall.
It doesn't help when they haven't faced competition anywhere near the Spurs' level. The chip is on the Spurs' shoulder and they've been working since last summer to get back here. That alone should be reason enough for the Heat to worry.
That's why they're built around a strong bench. So the old men can play under 30 minutes and rest.
johnny_park
Member
Do you know that during this time frame that 22 out of the 30 teams made it to their conference finals?
mentallyinept
Banned
I'll concede this point to you. I don't have the numbers to back up what I am saying.
captmcblack
Member
Healthy Wade means I can't see the Spurs doing this.
It was a minor miracle they pushed them to 7, and you have to figure that they won't be able to use the Boris Diaw defense again with a year and several battles to study it in-depth.
Unfortunately, Heat in 6.
It was a minor miracle they pushed them to 7, and you have to figure that they won't be able to use the Boris Diaw defense again with a year and several battles to study it in-depth.
Unfortunately, Heat in 6.
Even if they did collude who gives a fuck. LeBron's career would have been wasted in Cleveland. Heat and Toronto would be perennial lottery teams since Bosh isn't a first option and Wade is a broken man.
Or they would have gotten traded to contenders for a 25th draft pick. But I guess when GMs give away players for free it's okay.
I can't imagine almost five years later anyone seriously caring about how the team was formed other than maybe Kobe and Jordan fanboys. The former already got surpassed and it probably won't be long until the latter does. Dude isn't even 30 and the second best player in the league isn't even close to him.
Or they would have gotten traded to contenders for a 25th draft pick. But I guess when GMs give away players for free it's okay.
I can't imagine almost five years later anyone seriously caring about how the team was formed other than maybe Kobe and Jordan fanboys. The former already got surpassed and it probably won't be long until the latter does. Dude isn't even 30 and the second best player in the league isn't even close to him.
Lebron actually made more money by signing with Miami than he would have made by resigning with Cleveland (Even though Cleveland could have offered him more money), when you factor in state income taxes, which Florida doesn't have (nor does Texas - these are the only two states without income taxes represented in the NBA). However, because you play far fewer games against the other conference, and the western conference host locations overwhelmingly have a higher tax burden than those in the eastern conference, it turns out that NBA players can minimize their tax burden by playing for either the Orlando Magic or the Miami Heat.
Lebron would have made roughly $10k more per game if he stayed in Cleveland, but he would have also paid roughly $12.5k more in taxes per game.
Regardless, the man made $56.5 million in 2012 (closer to 9 figures than to 7 figures), and that number has gone up in 2013 and 2014. Beofre he graduated from high school, he had a $90 million dollar contract with Nike.
If there's anything you shouldn't be praising Lebron for, it's for making a financial sacrifice. There's no NBA franchise that would have made him more money, though had he gone to the Knicks, the city would have ultimately made him more money. That's literally the only financial move that would have been better for him, but it wouldn't have had to do directly with his basketball income
Hard to tell how close Durant truly is considering how inferior the other options are on his team and that he's dependent on a often selfish guard to get him the ball. And I'm not a Jordan or a Kobe superfan, but there is something very artificial about a player of Lebron's caliber having to leave his team and join up with an already proven championship team to me. I just have a hard time rooting for teams that are so stacked with bought talent, unless they're kind of b-rate or older all-stars like on the Mavs.
I agree
Big Al injured, Lopez not available and the Pacers were just on a downward spiral. I don't think I've ever seen a #1 seed collapse as bad as they did lol.
Spurs have a chip on their back but idk, I feel like in terms of which teams improved and who didn't is a bit of a wash. imo Lebron stayed the same, D Wade is playing better, Duncan stayed the same, Kawhi got better... it'll be an interesting matchup provided that Tony Parker can still play
TheKaeptain
Banned
Heat will win in 6.
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
Something weird about this logic. All great players have another great teammate. By your logic, a player should have no influence over this and should be left to the gm or owner. Garnett should wait for the benevolent owner to trade him?
Slave comparisons are dumb for athletes until this logic comes up.
It's year 4 going on 5 and people are still salty that Lebron exercised his right to free agency to go to the team he wanted to go on.
You think Jordan wouldn't have bailed if they didn't draft Pippen and never did shit against Detroit, New York, etc? You think Durant isn't going to bail if OKC spends the next two years watching the Finals from their couches?
You think Jordan wouldn't have bailed if they didn't draft Pippen and never did shit against Detroit, New York, etc? You think Durant isn't going to bail if OKC spends the next two years watching the Finals from their couches?
Amen, I find it so stupid. Going by his example no player actually wins anything, its merely their front offices. Not a single great player hasn't had other great players with him when he won chips.
Lebron gave them seven years and all they could get was Mo fucking Williams. Meanwhile Chicago managed to get Pippen, Kerr and Rodman on that team.
I flat out reject the very idea that a player shouldn't ever exercise free agency and should instead be a worker bee to the front office of an incompetent organization ceding any chance at making a better life and legacy for themselves. That is utterly stupid. And worst of all, is none of the people criticizing him for leaving would dare defend the Cleveland FO if you called them incompetent, because they absolutely are. Handed #1 picks frequently and can't field a team worth a damn.
I mean...
Look at this... Clevelands management is garbage.
johnny_park
Member
This is nitpicking but Scottie was drafted by Seattle. I agree with what you're saying though.
Vicetrailia
Member
Jordan and Bryant both had great players besides them.
You're gonna tell a championship hungry superstar kickin' it with a bunch of scrubs (in comparison) to wait for a lackadaisical GM to hopefully deliver the critical pieces one day, when he has the actual options, tools and means to get results NOW? I think not. He should be able to shape his own destiny too.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
It's like people forgot that Kobe wasn't drafted into the Lakers but basically demanded to be traded to them. And is anyone ever giving shaq shit for leaving orlando and going to play with Kobe?
Naw, because reasons.
Naw, because reasons.
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