11-12 playoffs

[Michael]

The Spurs are incredible. Still nobody seems to count them as THE favourites to win the title. The weird thing for me is that I wouldn't mind them winning. To put it simple, it is:

Hated Spurs
- Bowen
- Horry
+ being gracefully swept by Suns
=respectable Spurs

 

[AzStevenCal]

The "closer" in that game was Joe Crawford. I hope he and his officiating crew are proud of their efforts, only 3 more wins by them and they take the series. The Lakers however are still searching for a win.

I never used to have a problem with Crawford but ever since the NBA failed to support him over the Duncan ejection, he's been absolutely horrible.

Steve

 

[Brian in Mesa]

The Spurs are incredible. Still nobody seems to count them as THE favourites to win the title. The weird thing for me is that I wouldn't mind them winning. To put it simple, it is:

Hated Spurs
- Bowen
- Horry
+ being gracefully swept by Suns
=respectable Spurs

I have said they'd win all year. They always seem to win in the shortened seasons - or the "asterisk years" as the Zen Master would say.

 

[Phrazbit]

I never used to have a problem with Crawford but ever since the NBA failed to support him over the Duncan ejection, he's been absolutely horrible.

Steve

He is really really really bad. And a lot of the calls he screws up seem spiteful. Violet Palmer is grossly incompetent but I think she is TRYING to call a fair game, and in the sense that her idiocy holds no bias maybe it is fair in a backwards way. However, she is as bad as someone can possibly be at their job.

But Crawford's bad calls tend to swing one way and really feel like he has an agenda. Like the Duncan situation, a player doesnt like one of his calls? "Well, guess what buddy, Im going to make an even worse call next time down, how do you like that?" Last night's best example would be what happened to Harden in the 2nd. 3 fouls in 1:30 of game time and established that playing defense on Kobe constituted a foul last night.

 

[Joe Mama]

I must be the only one who would rather watch a game with all the free throws than the wrestling match that was game 7 between the Clippers and the grizzlies. The problem is that they overcorrected. A couple of those calls against James Harden in the fourth quarter were bad to criminal.


That said, the last example ESPN kept showing of Kobe Bryant scoring without getting call those ridiculous. I'm talking about the one where James Harden essentially touched Kobe Bryant's back as he went right around Harden and laid it high off the glass. I mean if that's a foul you might as well put touch sensors on all of the players and call fouls every time they come in contact with each other.

I just hope we get another competitive game tonight. My coworker, a diehard San Antonio fan, is hoping like hell that the Lakers don't get to the conference finals.

 

[95pro]

I like the slip by kobaby then the travel after he gets back up, but no call

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Can someone please wipe off the floor? LOL

Never seen so many guys slipping.

Must be the Kings' ice.

 

[95pro]

Wow durant got hit by Bynum and gasol

 

[95pro]

Wow! How's that a foul with 2.6sec left.

 

[95pro]

Westbrook goes down on his own. Hope he's alright.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I must be the only one who would rather watch a game with all the free throws than the wrestling match that was game 7 between the Clippers and the grizzlies. The problem is that they overcorrected. A couple of those calls against James Harden in the fourth quarter were bad to criminal.


That said, the last example ESPN kept showing of Kobe Bryant scoring without getting call those ridiculous. I'm talking about the one where James Harden essentially touched Kobe Bryant's back as he went right around Harden and laid it high off the glass. I mean if that's a foul you might as well put touch sensors on all of the players and call fouls every time they come in contact with each other.

I just hope we get another competitive game tonight. My coworker, a diehard San Antonio fan, is hoping like hell that the Lakers don't get to the conference finals.

I don't blame him. As good as SA is, the Lakers are a horrific matchup for them. The Lakers size has destroyed them for the last four years.

 

[Superbone]

I have said they'd win all year. They always seem to win in the shortened seasons - or the "asterisk years" as the Zen Master would say.

You mean all two of them?

 

[Cheesebeef]

this OKC/LA series is going down as an all-time classic. These last three games have been fantastic.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Kobe's day as Mr. Clutch are OVER. 2-10 in the fourth? Game 2 meltdown? Not anymore folks.

there's a new killer in town... His name's Durant. And he's gonna own this league Jordan-style.

 

[Michael]

What a close series. Once again, it came down to the better clutch player.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

You mean all two of them?

Yes. Two recent shortened seasons - and both years the Spurs won it all.

This year...shortened season...likely Spurs title.

You are following my logic, yes?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Ridiculous. Strategy for the first 3 quarters had the game in hand. Then comes the 4th and Kobe just had to try and do it all. Lame. Should have kept going inside and getting points in the paint.

 

[Phrazbit]

Yes. Two recent shortened seasons - and both years the Spurs won it all.

This year...shortened season...likely Spurs title.

You are following my logic, yes?

... I think you're imagining another shortened year that hasnt happened. 1999, 2012... thats all i got.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

... I think you're imagining another shortened year that hasnt happened. 1999, 2012... thats all i got.

Yeah, my bad. 99 and this year. I was mixing it up with the NFL, I think. I think the Redskins have won it all twice - in shortened seasons. Worked 6 days this week, very little sleep...crashing now because I get up for work in another 4 hours. The OT pay will be worth it.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Yeah. Redskins 1982 and 1987. Doh.

 

[D-Dogg]

Ridiculous. Strategy for the first 3 quarters had the game in hand. Then comes the 4th and Kobe just had to try and do it all. Lame. Should have kept going inside and getting points in the paint.

Massive choke, again.

They never got the ball inside, and took bad shot after bad shot. Kobe was the main culprit, but Metta Ron, Gasol also choked in the closing minutes. One score, aholes. And not a kobe turn around 25 footer, either. And tied up, Kobe busts a 3? WTF?

Oh well, like I said at the start of this series, wouldn't be surprised if we swept or got swept. Just a frustrating, maddening team.

 

[D-Dogg]

I gotta say, holy crap with the illegal screens from Perkins. How in the ef does he get away with that crap over and over again? It is blatantly bad. It's bad enough that he moves his feet like crazy to hold the screen, but he also hip checks them, sticks his ass or his leg out on them, holds on them. It is ridiculous.

Once the Lakers are eliminated, the Thunder is the team I'm hoping wins it all, but Perkins' screens are textbook illegal. He might set 5 a game that are legit...the rest, just crap. Is this becoming like holding in the NFL?

 

[Phrazbit]

Slays me to see Kobe calling Pau out. Kobe shoots 2-10 in the 4th, 1-9 if you dont count his 2pt buzzer beater down 5, and he is ripping on teammates in the presser afterwards.

Pau didnt play a great game, but for Kobe, who has arguably cost the Lakers 2 games in this series alone by going "lone gunman" in the 4th, to be ripping on him while Kobe goes 2-10, posts the worst +/- on the team and is shooting below 40% in the series is faaaantastic. I hope after the Lakers get bounced Pau calmly sits down in the press conference and says "Kobe can #%&$ himself".

 

[Brian in Mesa]

I wonder if players were slipping on the court because of the hockey ice under the court or because Perkins was sweating gallons of sweat onto the court each time he was in? Seriously, other dudes look cool and refreshed while playing and he looked like a wet t-shirt contestant (but not in a good way) just dripping all over the place. LOL

 

[Superbone]

Yes. Two recent shortened seasons - and both years the Spurs won it all.

This year...shortened season...likely Spurs title.

You are following my logic, yes?

My two shortened seasons included this one.

So, yeah. The Spurs won the title in the lone previous lockout shortened season.