Miami or Oklahoma City?

[Nerlo Rangel]

Im certainly not blaming the whole game on the refs. Like i said before Miami played incredible. I was really impressed with them, and especially Lebron. If he can score in the clutch then there is nothing about his game anyone can hate over. Its just annoying that Lebron got a phantom foul call in his favor and Durant got fouled and it didnt get called. Both superstars, one got star treatment, one didnt.

one could argue that durant got a star treatment call on the battier block call, which would have been durant's sixth foul.

my point, there are a dozen calls every game that can go either way. unless it's something like that baseball play a few weeks back where the 1st baseman was four feet off the bag, then 50/50 calls shouldn't even be brought up.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I think if Durant continues on that drive and rolls through Lebron, rather than fading away, he likely gets the whistle.

Durant is so clutch though...can't get on him for that missed Free throw or not hitting the last shot. Those things happen to even the best.

 

[BuffOrange]

spin it how you want the west has been superior for a while. even when jordan when on his runs- the west was much deeper. over the past decade duncan, dirk,shaq, kobe have been the immovable force that only a few teams in the east have managed to overcome. the east has been essentially boston, whoever lebron is playing for and orlando. while out west you went 6 deep and then even 7 a couple years. to not acknowledge this is just foolish. as for team defense miami is #1 in the half court but somewhere in the middle in transition. they counter that with their ability to score in transition off made buckets.

Meh, you're spinning pretty well yourself. It's not like the nfl or nhl where a lower seed can get hot at the right time and win it all. There's only a few teams every year capable of winning a championship in the nba. This year it was Miami/Chicago in the east and OKC/SA in the west with maybe Boston and LAL as fringe contenders too, so the top teams in the conference were about equal when the Bulls were healthy. No doubt the 6 seed in the west has typically been a tougher out than the lower seeded counterpart in the east but who really cares - that doesn't mean anything in the finals.

 

[BuffOrange]

This series has the potential to be amazing. Agree the most likely scenario is Miami goes back to OKC up 3-2, needing to split to win the title.

It's the most likely scenario, but it's also the only remotely interesting scenario after 5 games; which is the biggest problem with the 2-3-2.

 

[CorduroyG]

lebron also fouled westbrook on the rebound after the durant miss at the end, got him right across the arm. this is going 7.

 

[longislandcuse]

It's the most likely scenario, but it's also the only remotely interesting scenario after 5 games; which is the biggest problem with the 2-3-2.

2-3-2 SUCKSSSSSSS

 

[Gabjon]

OKC wins games 3, 5, and 6 to close it out with games 5 and 6 being absolute classics!

 

[Nerlo Rangel]

lebron also fouled westbrook on the rebound after the durant miss at the end, got him right across the arm. this is going 7.

can't make that call in that situation.

 

[Nerlo Rangel]

It's the most likely scenario, but it's also the only remotely interesting scenario after 5 games; which is the biggest problem with the 2-3-2.

i think only twice in the history of the 2-3-2 format has the home team won games 3,4,5. the pistons and the heat.

though i'm not sure how long the 2-3-2 format has been in play.

 

[TinyManInside]

Battier is getting wide open looks because his man is so concerned with providing weakide help on Wade and LeBron. If they keep leaving him all alone who knows.

The foul complaints are old. Literally since the first game of the playoffs people have been making it seem the Heat only win because of officials. Do they get calls? Yes. Every team does. What about Harden kicking his leg out for 3 ft's when Miller stood there, Ibaka deflecting chalmers pass on the baseline out of bounds and it's thunder ball, sefolosha grabs lebrons forearm down and they call out of bounds( IMO you could call a foul on sefolosha everytime LeBron posts him up. He grabs reaches and bodies him up LeBrons just so strong it's not noticed) heck watch battier's banked in 3 and see Westbrook run into him and knock him over. Do I expec these calls? No, refs make mistakes on both sides every game. The Durant/Battier was a 50/50 call that went in OKC favor. Many say block, many say charge, honestly probably just depends on who you want to win.

Hackolosha drives me crazy. The San Antonio series changed when they put him on Tony Parker and the refs allowed him to literally ride Parker up and down the court like he was freakin' I'll Have Another. That guy is a hand-check and hip-check machine.

 

[djcon57]

Hackolosha drives me crazy. The San Antonio series changed when they put him on Tony Parker and the refs allowed him to literally ride Parker up and down the court like he was freakin' I'll Have Another. That guy is a hand-check and hip-check machine.

Did lebron foul? YES. Does Wade flop around? Yes. I'm certainly not rooting for Miami...but bottom line is...

If you got a guy who flops around as much as Harden (who I like) and a guy who hip checks as much as Sefolosha, you can't complain.

And to Durant's credit, he didn' t bitch once

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Sefalosha saves a lot of energy by just riding on Lebron's hip. I don't think the referees know what to do about this guy. Never seen anyone defend like him. Bruce Bowen was somewhat similar, but didn't ride a guy like Sef does.

It is amazing though, if you are agressive like Sef and Bowen, the refs just aren't going to call fouls all the time. Its such a smart way to play defense if you can just focus all your energy on stopping one guy.

That said...Lebron pretty much abused him..took him to the post and scored at will down there.

 

[Nerlo Rangel]

Sefalosha saves a lot of energy by just riding on Lebron's hip. I don't think the referees know what to do about this guy. Never seen anyone defend like him. Bruce Bowen was somewhat similar, but didn't ride a guy like Sef does.

It is amazing though, if you are agressive like Sef and Bowen, the refs just aren't going to call fouls all the time. Its such a smart way to play defense if you can just focus all your energy on stopping one guy.

That said...Lebron pretty much abused him..took him to the post and scored at will down there.

exactly. he can't handle bron with his back to the basket.

and harden flops more than vlade divac.

 

[Knicks411]

good to know im not the only one who doesnt like 2-3-2.

 

[djcon57]

good to know im not the only one who doesnt like 2-3-2.

It's the dirt worst. It's not like they are traveling to games in a horse and buggy.

We just saw a 2-2-1-1-1 from LA to JERSEY...and they seemed to be ok.

 

[44cuse]

you watch too much skip "fox news" bayless

Apparently you don't read this board very much or your sarcasm meter is busted.

44cuse

 

[Nerlo Rangel]

Apparently you don't read this board very much or your sarcasm meter is busted.

44cuse

no one is allowed to say anything negative about lebron james up to this point of the playoffs. fact.

 

[SUintheVille]

Definitely going for OKC. I like KD, Westbrook, and Beardman (they have each matured their game very nicely since college). Am NOT a fan of Lebron. Wade and Bosh are OK. Really hoped Celtics would take them out.

Definitely some shaky officiating in 4th quarter of game 2 (both ways).

Prediction (hope): OKC in 7.

 

[44cuse]

no one is allowed to say anything negative about lebron james up to this point of the playoffs. fact.

You don't get it.

44cuse

 

[Nerlo Rangel]

You don't get it.

44cuse

skip bayless has tried to find negatives in lebron's game during the playoffs, but skip is strrrrrrruggling.

 

[Ghost]

Hackolosha drives me crazy. The San Antonio series changed when they put him on Tony Parker and the refs allowed him to literally ride Parker up and down the court like he was freakin' I'll Have Another. That guy is a hand-check and hip-check machine.

He really is - I thought Aaron Craft (sorry, still hate that kid) was pretty bad with all that, but Sef's defense is built around fouling in 1.5 second intervals. lol

 

[44cuse]

skip bayless has tried to find negatives in lebron's game during the playoffs, but skip is strrrrrrruggling.

You still don't get it. I'll make it easier for you:

I was being sarcastic. Make sense now?

44cuse

 

[Nerlo Rangel]

You still don't get it. I'll make it easier for you:

I was being sarcastic. Make sense now?

44cuse

sorry, i'm new here. it's hard to read sarcasm on this board. many people are in attack mode.

 

[44cuse]

sorry, i'm new here. it's hard to read sarcasm on this board. many people are in attack mode.

. It's ok, and fwiw...I'm with you 100% on this topic.

44cuse

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Everyone is waiting for Lebron to have a bad playoff game in order to pounce. Is tonight the night? This just feels like a game where the Thunder come out on fire and hit everything. Thunder 105 Heat 91