2014 NBA Playoff thread

[MaoTosiFanClub]

He started terribly, ended up being mediocre/average.

I totally disagree with your assertion that 2010 was the Nash era's best team. I'd take the 06-07 Amare/Boris suspension team over them any day of the week. The team from '10 was probably a bit deeper, but the starters on the '07 team were much stronger. Sure the '10 team went further in the playoffs, but match ups have a lot to do with that.

You mean the matchups where we played basically the same Spurs team with HCA both years in the second round and lost in 6 in '07 and swept them in '10?

The 2010 team maybe wasn't as high-flying and flashy as '07 but they were for sure better when it counted. That's probably because we had significantly more depth, length, and young energy off the bench (you know the three things DA would continually shrug off as meaningless). Meanwhile Nash was still Nash and Amare had improved. I don't care about regular season wins when the players are hungover half the time and scoping the crowd for that night's piece. 2010 was much better built for playoff basketball (by Kerr) so therefore was a much better team.

 

[Cheesebeef]

that was a hell of a comeback by the Clips just now. Series tied at 2-2. Pretty much the only series worth watching in the 2nd round.

 

[Rivercard]

that was a hell of a comeback by the Clips just now. Series tied at 2-2. Pretty much the only series worth watching in the 2nd round.

No kidding. down by 16 in the 4th quarter. I read a re-cap that stated after going 2-20 from the 3 pt line, LA scored on 17 of their last 18 possessions. Brooks didn't seem to know what to do when Rivers had Chris Paul guard Durant for the last 10 minutes. Wow, what a ride these Clips are giving us.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I thought it was because Sarver kept laying people off and refused to give anyone raises and was basically treating people like crap. I actually remember something about Sarver asking Kerr to take a pay cut after reconstructing the team and getting them back to the WCF. that was widely reported...and it wouldn't surprise me (this is pure conjecture on my part) if Kerr also knew that Sarver planned to make incredibly dumb moves like signing Hedo/Childress and Frye to terrible contracts.

I think I remember this being exactly the issue. Sadly, Sarver probably had to fail, or he would still be trying to call all the shots to this day.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think I remember this being exactly the issue. Sadly, Sarver probably had to fail, or he would still be trying to call all the shots to this day.

yup. I'm okay with it at this point. sadly, that team was going nowhere longterm with Amare's knee issues and even though Sarver's moves in the Amare vacuum were almost as awful as what would have happened if they re-signed him, that's ancient history and the team's on the upswing.

 

[SO91]

No kidding. down by 16 in the 4th quarter. I read a re-cap that stated after going 2-20 from the 3 pt line, LA scored on 17 of their last 18 possessions. Brooks didn't seem to know what to do when Rivers had Chris Paul guard Durant for the last 10 minutes. Wow, what a ride these Clips are giving us.

Yup, that was god-awful coaching by Brooks. Stagnant offense, horrible defensive adjustments and no timeout at the end.

 

[Errntknght]

Marcin had a huge game leading Wiz over the Pacers (at Indiana) - 13/15 from the field, 31 points, 16 rebounds. Washington led in total rebounds 62-23! Looks like the Pacers imploded again. They still lead the series 3-2...

 

[Absolute Zero]

Gortat!

Too bad the Wiz blew a couple of those earlier home games, this sucker could be over now.

 

[Phrazbit]

Man, Adams looks like a player out there. Not the much of an offensive skill set right now but compared to Len he is better in every single way imaginable. He might be an inch shorter than Len but he looks sooooo much smoother moving around.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Man, Adams looks like a player out there. Not the much of an offensive skill set right now but compared to Len he is better in every single way imaginable. He might be an inch shorter than Len but he looks sooooo much smoother moving around.

Yeah, there's a world of difference between the two right now. I didn't want either of them prior to the draft but I'd like a do-over on Adams. Hopefully, I'll feel the same way about Len in a few months.

Steve

 

[SunsTzu]

Man, Adams looks like a player out there. Not the much of an offensive skill set right now but compared to Len he is better in every single way imaginable. He might be an inch shorter than Len but he looks sooooo much smoother moving around.

Adams was my favorite big in the draft, he's raw but really instinctive.

 

[Phrazbit]

Here comes the NBA replay system screwing a team over again. So freaking dumb.

EDIT: ahahaha, the refs seem to value their lives and let OKC keep the ball.

 

[Beaver]

Watched the last couple minutes of the LAC/OKC game. So glad I don't waste my time with the NBA anymore. Three bad calls in a row, giving the home team the W.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Watched the last couple minutes of the LAC/OKC game. So glad I don't waste my time with the NBA anymore. Three bad calls in a row, giving the home team the W.

I don't see three bad calls in a row. The big one, the one many have questioned was actually a tough call but it was the right one. When a player slaps at the ball and hits the hand instead and it causes the ball to go out of bounds, it's supposed to be called out on the player that slapped the hand. By rule.

Steve

 

[Phrazbit]

The refs are bad but I didnt see a bias.

The only real screw up I saw was not calling a foul on Barnes, and at least they had the balls to go with what was just rather than the garbage we've seen on replay reviews so far.

I do think Paul fouled Westbrook, and what a surprise that Westbrook settled for a contested 3 in that spot. Paul is an expert at playing in the grey areas of the rules and committing hard to spot fouls, and IMO he got Westbrook on the elbow there. As bad as Westbrook's threes frequently are he does not miss THAT bad.

Also, what a shock that Westbrook settled for a contested 3 in that spot.

 

[Errntknght]

I don't see three bad calls in a row. The big one, the one many have questioned was actually a tough call but it was the right one. When a player slaps at the ball and hits the hand instead and it causes the ball to go out of bounds, it's supposed to be called out on the player that slapped the hand. By rule.

Steve

The hand on the ball is part of the ball, as its said. Hitting that hand is not supposed to be a foul and applying the same rule to knocking the ball out of bounds by hitting a hand on the ball, the slapper should be deemed to hit the ball. A very good rule.

 

[elindholm]

The hand on the ball is part of the ball, as its said. Hitting that hand is not supposed to be a foul and applying the same rule to knocking the ball out of bounds by hitting a hand on the ball, the slapper should be deemed to hit the ball. A very good rule.

I'm not so sure it's a good rule, because it invites a huge gray area. If the offensive player extends his fingers toward the ball as it's leaving his hand, then it can be hard to judge whether it's still really from the slap that the ball goes out. I think what Clippers fans were annoyed about is that Jackson(?) seemed to be in contact with the ball for a more substantial interval of time than is usual with the slapped-out rule. It was the correct call in the sense of not rewarding the Clippers for committing a foul, but I'm not sure it was correct by a literal definition of the rule. And if we can't interpret what the rule means even with the benefit of slow-motion replay, it's not a good rule.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The refs are bad but I didnt see a bias.

The only real screw up I saw was not calling a foul on Barnes, and at least they had the balls to go with what was just rather than the garbage we've seen on replay reviews so far.

I do think Paul fouled Westbrook, and what a surprise that Westbrook settled for a contested 3 in that spot. Paul is an expert at playing in the grey areas of the rules and committing hard to spot fouls, and IMO he got Westbrook on the elbow there. As bad as Westbrook's threes frequently are he does not miss THAT bad.

Also, what a shock that Westbrook settled for a contested 3 in that spot.

I don't think that's what happened. There is a specific rule that covers this and they just followed the rules. In situations such as this one they treat the hand on the ball as if it were part of the ball. There would be a tremendous backlash if they reviewed a play and intentionally made the wrong call to make up for missing a foul.

You're right about Chris Paul. He may well be the best right now at fouling the shooter without being called. He hit him right where he meant to hit him and he almost always gets away with it. Tonight he didn't. It was a dumb play on his part even knowing that he had history on his side. When your opponent is willing to take a bad shot, you let him.

Steve

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm not so sure it's a good rule, because it invites a huge gray area. If the offensive player extends his fingers toward the ball as it's leaving his hand, then it can be hard to judge whether it's still really from the slap that the ball goes out. I think what Clippers fans were annoyed about is that Jackson(?) seemed to be in contact with the ball for a more substantial interval of time than is usual with the slapped-out rule. It was the correct call in the sense of not rewarding the Clippers for committing a foul, but I'm not sure it was correct by a literal definition of the rule. And if we can't interpret what the rule means even with the benefit of slow-motion replay, it's not a good rule.

I understand what you're saying but it seems the opposite to me. It is correct by a literal definition because the ref did not see the other hand touch the ball after the slap and the review failed to clearly show it too. Maybe if we had a better camera shot it would have ended up as Clippers ball, which would have been an injustice here but I still think it's a good rule. It may add a little gray area but it also removes some too. For a referee, having to distinguish between ball and hand when contact occurs is often very difficult to do. Without this rule they'd have to call a lot more of these "clean swipes" as fouls.

Steve

 

[sunsfan88]

Adam Silver taking out his rage at Donald Sterling on the Clippers players and coaches lol.

Awful officiating even though its kind of karma for CP3, Crawford and Griffin being huge floppers throughout their whole career.

 

[sunsfan88]

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[Russ Smith]

I don't see three bad calls in a row. The big one, the one many have questioned was actually a tough call but it was the right one. When a player slaps at the ball and hits the hand instead and it causes the ball to go out of bounds, it's supposed to be called out on the player that slapped the hand. By rule.

Steve

That was my guess too. It clearly went out off Jackson but there was a foul that wasn't called. So the ref is saying I can't call the foul, but something had to cause that ball to fly out of Jackson's hand. It's just murky enough on replay they can claim inconclusive without having to admit look we missed the foul so we gave OKC the ball.

Right result, wrong call.

Paul clearly fouled Westbrook he hit him right on the elbow and the ball came up short just as you'd expect.

Paul was not fouled on the steal, he thought they were going to foul him and tried to jump up in the air presumably trying to get 3 FT's out of it. no idea why they were ahead just take the foul and make the FT's. Most UCLA fans have seen that before in a certain game against Gonzaga when the Zag player assumed Bozeman was going to foul him and instead Ced poked the ball away Farmar picked it up fed Luc layup UCLA wins@!

Paul then compounded it by turning the ball over and then not fouling at the end there.

Bizarre game, I actually think Barnes was TRYING to foul Jackson he sure acted like he was he even put his hand up as if to say I fouled him.

 

[Bert]

Doc Rivers carried on for a while after the game, even confronting the Thunder owner in the hallway before his press conference and screaming at him about the call.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/clippe...n-loss--yells-at-thunder-owner-082955731.html

That's ridiculous. Doc should be angry about how his team choked this one away. He should be angry and Chris Paul running his mouth before the game was over.

Did they get that call right by the letter of the law? Not sure that's up for debate based on the actual letter of the law they may have still gotten it right after reading the rule, but they certainly got the right outcome because it was a foul.

Regardless, bad calls happen and for Doc to carry on crying the way he has is just classless. The Clippers have allowed themselves to be turned into victims in this playoff run.

And the internet is such a stupid place. Now we have all the conspiracy theorists out in force. "Silver ordered the refs to fix the game because he hates Donald..." The clippers as a team, this team, not an organization, have turned into Americas darlings after the whole Sterling thing. So many people are rooting for them now because of that and they are getting huge ratings.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Doc Rivers carried on for a while after the game, even confronting the Thunder owner in the hallway before his press conference and screaming at him about the call.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/clippe...n-loss--yells-at-thunder-owner-082955731.html

That's ridiculous. Doc should be angry about how his team choked this one away. He should be angry and Chris Paul running his mouth before the game was over.

Did they get that call right by the letter of the law? Not sure that's up for debate based on the actual letter of the law they may have still gotten it right after reading the rule, but they certainly got the right outcome because it was a foul.

Regardless, bad calls happen and for Doc to carry on crying the way he has is just classless. The Clippers have allowed themselves to be turned into victims in this playoff run.

And the internet is such a stupid place. Now we have all the conspiracy theorists out in force. "Silver ordered the refs to fix the game because he hates Donald..." The clippers as a team, this team, not an organization, have turned into Americas darlings after the whole Sterling thing. So many people are rooting for them now because of that and they are getting huge ratings.

Totally agree with all of this.

 

[elindholm]

Between the Spurs in Game 6 of the last Finals, last night's Clippers fiasco, and all of the big fourth-quarter leads blown, we sure are seeing a lot of major choke jobs in the playoffs these days. I guess the reason the Heat keep winning is that they're the only team not afraid of success.