2016 NBA Playoffs

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Anyone care?

Should Draymond Green be suspended for that boot to the gonads he gave to Steven Adams?

I mean, it is really credible it was an "accident"?

[goatprairie]

Anyone care?

Should Draymond Green be suspended for that boot to the gonads he gave to Steven Adams?

I mean, it is really credible it was an "accident"?

Well yes, but it looks like they're not going to suspend him. It's pretty obvious he deserves a suspension. I don't know what you'd have to do to get one if that doesn't qualify.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Well yes, but it looks like they're not going to suspend him. It's pretty obvious he deserves a suspension. I don't know what you'd have to do to get one if that doesn't qualify.

Green is a very good player, but still dirty.  I'm guessing some scrub on OKC will give him a good cheap shot tomorrow.  Not sure it is going to matter - OKC looks like the better team.

Cavs lost again  - ayed well in the second half but too much of a deficit.

[TomSea]

I've been keeping up with the scores of the games. Some people go nuts over watching it and that is fine too.

I had sports talk on the other day and they were excited over it. It was a good discussion.

[goatprairie]

Well I'm a nutty basketball fan, but I'm not a fan of any of teams still in the hunt.
 The problem with pro bb today is that there are too many hot dogs i.e. showoffs in the league. A number of them are tremendous ballplayers, but in seasons from the past they'd been knocked on their rear ends repeatedly for some of their stunts.
Westbrook and Curry are two of the players in mind, but unfortunately there are many others. Players have to realize show off stunts demean the sport. But I think that ship has sailed.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Well I'm a nutty basketball fan, but I'm not a fan of any of teams still in the hunt.
 The problem with pro bb today is that there are too many hot dogs i.e. showoffs in the league. A number of them are tremendous ballplayers, but in seasons from the past they'd been knocked on their rear ends repeatedly for some of their stunts.
Westbrook and Curry are two of the players in mind, but unfortunately there are many others. Players have to realize show off stunts demean the sport. But I think that ship has sailed.

It's nice when you see some good players with positive attitudes and sportsmanship, though.  There's Tim Duncan obviously, but some good guys still playing, including Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova on the Cavs, Durant, Klay Thompson on the Warriors....

Westbrook bugs me, but I'm still pulling for OKC over GSW.

[goatprairie]

It's nice when you see some good players with positive attitudes and sportsmanship, though.  There's Tim Duncan obviously, but some good guys still playing, including Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova on the Cavs, Durant, Klay Thompson on the Warriors....

Westbrook bugs me, but I'm still pulling for OKC over GSW.

I like Durant...he seems fairly normal. I heard him on a talk show once, and he sounded like he was grounded. As for Westbrook, there's not enough mustard in the world to cover that hot dog.

[TomSea]

I hope OKC can hold on to this, giving GS their first back to back losses.

That said, Golden State has had very many lean years prior; it's not easy to sincerely want them to lose.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

I hope OKC can hold on to this, giving GS their first back to back losses.

That said, Golden State has had very many lean years prior; it's not easy to sincerely want them to lose.

Well, you got your wish.  I find that Draymond.Green alone makes GSW easy to hate.

Maybe Kerr should have taken his foot off the gas rather than pushing for those 73 wins.  That team looks mixed-up and tired.

[mountaineer]

The officiating has been horrible in all of the playoff games so far. It's hard not to believe the league has told the officials to do all they can to ensure that certain teams win.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Have been some really bad calls and no calls.  Here's a shot of Toronto's coach actually stepping onto the court and clapping right at Kyrie Irving in an effort to disrupt the shot -and no call.

https://vine.co/v/i9BLVBzxqnW

I don't think they intentionally overlooked it, but it shouldn't have been possible to miss it.

[mountaineer]

Wake me when they finally call a foul on Lebron after he throws a guy to the ground (as he did the other night - with no call). 

[goatprairie]

Interesting to see if OKC can win it all this year after getting rid of Harden. Of course, they still have to win one more from GS, but I like their chances.
The talk after they lost Harden was that they sabotaged their chances to win it all. And I have to say if they could have kept Harden (and he would have accepted his role as super sixth man), they would have been looking at a dynasty with healthy Durant and Westbrook.
It looks like they'll have their best chance this year.  Cleveland is real good, but they're not a super team. And they still have to finish off Toronto. Many big name "experts" wrote off the Raptors after the first two games. Looks like things have changed a bit.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Interesting to see if OKC can win it all this year after getting rid of Harden. Of course, they still have to win one more from GS, but I like their chances.
The talk after they lost Harden was that they sabotaged their chances to win it all. And I have to say if they could have kept Harden (and he would have accepted his role as super sixth man), they would have been looking at a dynasty with healthy Durant and Westbrook.
It looks like they'll have their best chance this year.  Cleveland is real good, but they're not a super team. And they still have to finish off Toronto. Many big name "experts" wrote off the Raptors after the first two games. Looks like things have changed a bit.

Harden is just such a "me" player, and as fantastic as he is on the offensive end, the guy just doesn't play defense.

Small fact about the Cavs -- Love's arm (the one that got ripped out by Kelly Olynyk last year) -- was yanked on pretty hard in the second half of game two.  He's gone 5-23 since then....

[goatprairie]

Harden is just such a "me" player, and as fantastic as he is on the offensive end, the guy just doesn't play defense.

Small fact about the Cavs -- Love's arm (the one that got ripped out by Kelly Olynyk last year) -- was yanked on pretty hard in the second half of game two.  He's gone 5-23 since then....

"the guy just doesn't play defense."

True, but the amount of off. he'd provide would  more than offset his def. deficiencies. Remember, he'd be going up against the other team's second unit for about 10-12 minutes. Imagine some team after trying to defend Westbrook and Durant has to try and stop Harden. But it looks like they might not need him anyway.
The conjecture was that one of the players from Houston would have to emerge to make up for Harden's loss. I believe Adams is coming around to help fill in the hole.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Cavs absolutely destroyed Toronto last night, so it looks like Cavs/OKC is the best bet.

That's a really interesting matchup.  Cavs have always done well against OKC, but OKC really is firing on all cylinders.  Nice to see a Finals were the it is unlikely one side will be heavily favored over the other.

[goatprairie]

Cavs absolutely destroyed Toronto last night, so it looks like Cavs/OKC is the best bet.

That's a really interesting matchup.  Cavs have always done well against OKC, but OKC really is firing on all cylinders.  Nice to see a Finals were the it is unlikely one side will be heavily favored over the other.

I think many of the uh "experts" were hoping for a  repeat of last year's finals but this time with a healthy Love. Throughout the season they were hoping for the repeat to show that GS could whip Cleveland even with a healthy Love. They were all falling over themselves about how GS was a team while OKC was just two terrific scorers and a bunch of role players.
While GS is still a great team, if Curry isn't scoring, they're in trouble.
The series still isn't over, but Westbrook has certainly dominated his matchup with Curry. Many times it just comes down to that.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

I think many of the uh "experts" were hoping for a  repeat of last year's finals but this time with a healthy Love. Throughout the season they were hoping for the repeat to show that GS could whip Cleveland even with a healthy Love.

Actually, the Cavs were up 2-1 against OKC last year even without Love, and Game 4 was in Cleveland.  But the Cavs were doomed when Kyrie Irving went down for good late in Game 2, and backup PG Dellavedova had to play too many minutes at his frenetic pace.  He was hospitalized for dehydration after Game 3, and wasn't the same after that.  Without Irving, and with Delly limited (plus no Love), they were basically were just a shell.

They were all falling over themselves about how GS was a team while OKC was just two terrific scorers and a bunch of role players.
While GS is still a great team, if Curry isn't scoring, they're in trouble.
The series still isn't over, but Westbrook has certainly dominated his matchup with Curry. Many times it just comes down to that.

Westbrook was just classic last night.  Talented as hell, but undisciplined.  He had a succession of horrible possessions where he was simply out of control, tried to do it all himself, and turned the ball over.  A few of those gave GSW what they needed to put enough distance between them and OKC to hang on.

Still think they close it out in OKC, though.

[goatprairie]

Actually, the Cavs were up 2-1 against OKC last year even without Love, and Game 4 was in Cleveland.  But the Cavs were doomed when Kyrie Irving went down for good late in Game 2, and backup PG Dellavedova had to play too many minutes at his frenetic pace.  He was hospitalized for dehydration after Game 3, and wasn't the same after that.  Without Irving, and with Delly limited (plus no Love), they were basically were just a shell.

Westbrook was just classic last night.  Talented as hell, but undisciplined.  He had a succession of horrible possessions where he was simply out of control, tried to do it all himself, and turned the ball over.  A few of those gave GSW what they needed to put enough distance between them and OKC to hang on.

Still think they close it out in OKC, though.

Semi out of control has always been the rap against Westbrook.  Westbrook reminds me of Allen Iversons....he's so physically talented, he can't be stopped from doing what he does.
As you mentioned, that can be good and bad. He is not a stereotypical pg who looks to set up the other players and fit in with off. But you either let him play his game and live with the outcome or get rid of him. Because he can't change. But so far it's working.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Semi out of control has always been the rap against Westbrook.  Westbrook reminds me of Allen Iversons....he's so physically talented, he can't be stopped from doing what he does.
As you mentioned, that can be good and bad. He is not a stereotypical pg who looks to set up the other players and fit in with off. But you either let him play his game and live with the outcome or get rid of him. Because he can't change. But so far it's working.

He's at his best when things are going well.  When things get dicey, he tends to try to do too much, and plays out of control.  But you're right -- he's so freaking talented that you almost have to put up with him.  I really thought Donovan might be able to rein him in a bit more, but we'll see.

If I'm the coach, I sit him down and keep running those out of control turnovers in the key.  Put it on a loop to make the point that it can't happen again.  Of course, I'm sure Donovan sees that better than I do, and has already done that and similar things.  But with some knuckleheads, it just doesn't take no matter what you do.  Which brings up to your Iverson comparison....

Talk about a waste of talent.

[goatprairie]

He's at his best when things are going well.  When things get dicey, he tends to try to do too much, and plays out of control.  But you're right -- he's so freaking talented that you almost have to put up with him.  I really thought Donovan might be able to rein him in a bit more, but we'll see.

If I'm the coach, I sit him down and keep running those out of control turnovers in the key.  Put it on a loop to make the point that it can't happen again.  Of course, I'm sure Donovan sees that better than I do, and has already done that and similar things.  But with some knuckleheads, it just doesn't take no matter what you do.  Which brings up to your Iverson comparison....

Talk about a waste of talent.

I do think Westbrook does a better job of trying to fit in with the team. Iverson was almost completely out of control. Which is why I was never  a fan. I don't care how talented you are....if you want to play one on five all the time, I won't watch you.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

OKC should have won that game last night, but first Durant and then Westbrook jus tried to play hero ball, and they gave the game away.  GSW heavy favorites in Game 7 now.

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

OKC should ha. Game 6es won that game last night, but first Durant and then Westbrook jus tried to play hero ball, and they gave the game away.  GSW heavy favorites in Game 7 now.

That and the fact that the refs tried to foul out Adams during the first half of the first quarter.  Game 6es are always rigged. The NBA wants its tv money.  I'm afraid they may want a fairytale ending for Curry too. I hate rigged sports.

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

Sorry about wiping out half your quote. I'm fumble fingers on my phone.

[mountaineer]

That and the fact that the refs tried to foul out Adams during the first half of the first quarter.  Game 6es are always rigged. The NBA wants its tv money.  I'm afraid they may want a fairytale ending for Curry too. I hate rigged sports.

I don't know. I saw at least two times Adams should have been whistled, but the refs ignored it. Hard to tell exactly what is going on:  bad reffing and/or the league wanting to extend a series.  I think it's all rigged.