14-15 NBA Playoffs Thread

[Desnudo]

Can we fast simulate the rest of the conference finals and move on?

[Alf]

Originally Posted by stevew

Insane performance by James.

He started 0/10 on FGs... That was horrible.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Alf

He started 0/10 on FGs... That was horrible.

Yeah, I suppose it was just an average performance instead.

[stevew]

This team as currently constituited is probably worse than the 07 squad he got to the Finals. Hopefully Irving can get healthy before the finals.

Been slightly impressed with Tristan Thompson. I always thought he was garbage before. Now I kinda wonder if losing Love would be doable. Assuming they can add an above average bench big.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Unsurprising to see Houston come out fast...pretty surprised the Warriors are letting them get so many easy buckets though. The defense has been nonexistent.

[Vince, Pt. II]

This just went from horrible to horrifically terrible.

[Neon_Chaos]

Fuck me.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

This just went from horrible to horrifically terrible.

That's always more scary than anything - I think he'll be okay. Once did the same thing in a pickup game and somehow landed on my feet because of the way I happened to roll off the guy's back, but that kind of thing definitely shakes you up.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I think he will be too - he immediately grabbed his head with the arm that would have been injured. Possible concussion, maybe a stinger. Still worrisome.

[Vince, Pt. II]

What a response from the Warriors. Klay looking like the player we knew during the season.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I don't like the decision to put Curry back in. The reward is not very good, and the risk is awful. Let him sit, play him in game 5 if need be.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

I don't like the decision to put Curry back in. The reward is not very good, and the risk is awful. Let him sit, play him in game 5 if need be.

Yeah, when I said he'd be okay, I was referring to him being healthy for the other games rather than going back in and trying to erase a 20 point deficit so the Warriors can win the series in 4 games rather than 5.

edit: and this is what really bothered me about all the Clippers talk. What happened in this game is just as much of a "choke" as what happened during Game 5 of the Clippers series. If Josh Smith suddenly becomes a dead-eye shooter for 15 minutes, you're probably gonna lose to the Rockets regardless of whether it happens in the 1st quarter or the 4th quarter. Obviously the Warriors are a better all-around team and have more margin for error, so the game Josh Smith swings is likely to be the difference between a sweep and a loss in 5 games rather than the difference between winning or losing the series.

[Alf]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

I don't like the decision to put Curry back in. The reward is not very good, and the risk is awful. Let him sit, play him in game 5 if need be.

Same here. Game was already over, why risk him back...

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by nol

Yeah, when I said he'd be okay, I was referring to him being healthy for the other games rather than going back in and trying to erase a 20 point deficit so the Warriors can win the series in 4 games rather than 5.

edit: and this is what really bothered me about all the Clippers talk. What happened in this game is just as much of a "choke" as what happened during Game 5 of the Clippers series. If Josh Smith suddenly becomes a dead-eye shooter for 15 minutes, you're probably gonna lose to the Rockets regardless of whether it happens in the 1st quarter or the 4th quarter. Obviously the Warriors are a better all-around team and have more margin for error, so the game Josh Smith swings is likely to be the difference between a sweep and a loss in 5 games rather than the difference between winning or losing the series.

Sorry, when you're up by 19 with 15 minutes to go at home in a close out game, there is no excuse acceptable.

[Chief Rum]

BTW, anyone remember when I said Dwight Howard is a terrible human being?

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

BTW, anyone remember when I said Dwight Howard is a terrible human being?

What, you were not impressed with him sticking out the floods with the fans?

Who really is the terrible human being here?

[stevew]

So I'm trying to figure out how the Cavs can win 4 vs GS.

LeBron has to be at the top of his game and post 2 amazing games.

Kyrie has to be great and one game needs to score like 50+ points

Cavs need to have one game where their guys like James Jones, JR, Shumpert, Dellevadirty shoot something outrageous on 3's. Like 20-35

Steph Curry needs to get hit on the head with a falling Anvil ala Wild E Coyote style.

If 3of these 4 things happen we can win 4/7 games but honestly the Warriors should sweep or win in 5

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Arles

That's kind of along the lines of "foul a player before the shot with a 3-point lead and 5 sec left, but don't foul him in the act of shooting". It's a lot easier to look at it postmortem than in the heat of battle. In theory that is correct, but that would have been hard for a player to recognize and execute in the moment. Either you call timeout on the rebound, or you live with the chaos (good or bad).

We literally do that exact scenario in HS lacrosse. If we get a turnover with 10-20 seconds left, we'll just yell Short Time, the transition players stay on, we try to force the ball to one of our best players and have him attack immediately. While that happens the head coach will find the closest ref and be ready to call timeout (and tell the ref to be ready for a timeout call) if the play's stopped and there's enough time to draw up a play.

I'm not expecting Harden to call the time out, but there's nothing else McHale can do (you're not going to be calling out a set or pointing out a mismatch to exploit, especially when it's at the other end), so instead of just watching the play like 20,000 fans he should be near a ref ready to call TO.

[nol]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

We literally do that exact scenario in HS lacrosse. If we get a turnover with 10-20 seconds left, we'll just yell Short Time, the transition players stay on, we try to force the ball to one of our best players and have him attack immediately. While that happens the head coach will find the closest ref and be ready to call timeout (and tell the ref to be ready for a timeout call) if the play's stopped and there's enough time to draw up a play.

There were fewer than 5 seconds left when the fast break fast break got broken up. Any play out of a time out is going to be just as much of a desperation heave as having your players improvise against a non-set defense. I'm also going out on a limb and assuming that an NBA team is going to be more prepared for the opposition's last-second plays than a high school lacrosse team would be.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by nol

There were fewer than 5 seconds left when the fast break fast break got broken up. Any play out of a time out is going to be just as much of a desperation heave as having your players improvise against a non-set defense. I'm also going out on a limb and assuming that an NBA team is going to be more prepared for the opposition's last-second plays than a high school lacrosse team would be.

It wasn't James Harden with a head of steam, it was James Harden getting the ball at a standstill, double teamed, outside of the 3-point line with about 2.5 seconds left. I would absolutely take a drawn up OOB play in the frontcourt with even 0.8 seconds left over that. We've all seen our share of catch and shoot inbounds plays and I'd guess 90% of them at least lead to a shot.

Plus we just watched LeBron get open and hit a game - winner 3 feet away from the inbounder, on a play where an NBA coach initially tried to have LeBron inbound, so I'd say that's at least one game my HS lacrosse team and HS coaching brain would've been better prepared than two coaching staffs getting paid millions.

[nol]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

It wasn't James Harden with a head of steam, it was James Harden getting the ball at a standstill, double teamed, outside of the 3-point line with about 2.5 seconds left. I would absolutely take a drawn up OOB play in the frontcourt with even 0.8 seconds left over that. We've all seen our share of catch and shoot inbounds plays and I'd guess 90% of them at least lead to a shot.

Plus we just watched LeBron get open and hit a game - winner 3 feet away from the inbounder, on a play where an NBA coach initially tried to have LeBron inbound, so I'd say that's at least one game my HS lacrosse team and HS coaching brain would've been better prepared than two coaching staffs getting paid millions.

I've also seen a lot of 4-on-3 fast breaks. A similarly high percentage of them lead to a shot, and that shot is better than some fadeaway contested long 2. You're just cherrypicking the one recent fast break that resulted in a turnover and the one Hail Mary shot that went in. Again, this is even assuming that a referee would have even noticed anyone on Houston's bench trying to call a timeout. I can absolutely guarantee you that deciding to call a timeout with 2.5 seconds left (and this is assuming that some coach 50 feet away from the play is able to analyze the situation, determine whether a good scoring opportunity exists and, start yelling "Timeout!" in 0.1 seconds haha) is not going to be seen or heard by officials who are on the opposite side of the court and are dealing with 20,000 screaming fans and trying not to miss any fouls.

Also funny that you mention the LeBron game winner because that was a pretty strong case for letting your best player do his thing. Before the desperation shot, the Cavs also didn't call timeout (not for lack of trying though); he drove to the basket and got fouled, but the call was officially missed and hey, there was still enough time left after the ball went out of bounds to throw something up at the end.

[Arles]

Yeah, it's just not realistic to expect an "abort TO" with less than 3 seconds left. Between the player recognizing it/Coach stopping and calling, ref hearing him and awarding the TO with more than a second left - it seems unlikely.

As I said, either you have a plan to call timeout on the rebound or you let your players run a fast break and live with the results. Most of the time, the fast break is your best option with an elite offensive player (Paul, Harden, Lebron, Steph).

[spleen1015]

5 NBA Finals in a row.

#Lebronasty

[Logan]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

5 NBA Finals in a row.

#Lebronasty

I'm hoping this is some sort of take on "dynasty" and not just combining LeBron and nasty? No that the former is much better.

[spleen1015]

It is a play on Lebron and dynasty.

[Alf]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

5 NBA Finals in a row.

#JamesJonesToo

[spleen1015]

#JamesJonasty

[nol]

The crazy thing is that he probably could have taken the Heat to the Finals (even with their injury situation) had he stayed.

[Marmel]

#2-3

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by stevew

So I'm trying to figure out how the Cavs can win 4 vs GS.

LeBron has to be at the top of his game and post 2 amazing games.

Kyrie has to be great and one game needs to score like 50+ points

Cavs need to have one game where their guys like James Jones, JR, Shumpert, Dellevadirty shoot something outrageous on 3's. Like 20-35

Steph Curry needs to get hit on the head with a falling Anvil ala Wild E Coyote style.

If 3of these 4 things happen we can win 4/7 games but honestly the Warriors should sweep or win in 5

Never count out Lebro Nasty

[miami_fan]

Soft "T" on Dwight. However, what kind of dumbass allows himself to get suckered into that sort of thing knowing that any fuck gets you suspended?

[kingfc22]

Officials a bit too whistle happy tonight plus both teams are playing very sloppy.

[Simbo Klice]

Harden is embarrassing himself tonight... 11 turnovers, mostly with crappy JV dribbling.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Soft "T" on Dwight. However, what kind of dumbass allows himself to get suckered into that sort of thing knowing that any fuck gets you suspended?

He's a stupid dildo so it's not surprising.

[stevew]

Is Tristan Thompson a bad enough FT shooter to get hack-a'd.

Feel like Kerr is probably smart enough to try it.

[kingfc22]

Stay classy Dwight. Fucking chump.

[cmp]

I really hate this Rockets team.

[miami_fan]

I am really feeling bad for Al Horford now. If these are not flagrant 2s, no way Horford should have missed a game. Either they are all playoff fouls or they are all flagrants.

[miami_fan]

How about we run a fucking out of bounds play this time huh

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Never count out Lebro Nasty

So agree and as much as I am not a Lebron fan I think he pulls a rabbit and upsets the Golden Gaters.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Finals tickets for game one, cheapest seats in the house are $790 each for standing room only.

Since I've been to a Super Bowl and a World Series, I figure I have to go to one of the games, but that's a bit steep.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by stevew

So I'm trying to figure out how the Cavs can win 4 vs GS.

LeBron has to be at the top of his game and post 2 amazing games.

Kyrie has to be great and one game needs to score like 50+ points

Cavs need to have one game where their guys like James Jones, JR, Shumpert, Dellevadirty shoot something outrageous on 3's. Like 20-35

Steph Curry needs to get hit on the head with a falling Anvil ala Wild E Coyote style.

If 3of these 4 things happen we can win 4/7 games but honestly the Warriors should sweep or win in 5

The Cavs still have Lebron. Kyrie will have another week to rest up. And they have a strong supporting cast.

I understand why Golden State is the favorite, but the Cavs are really good.

[Alf]

Does Harden 14 points, 13 Turnovers count as a double-double ?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Someone online coined the phrase "cripple double" - double digit points, shot attempts and turnovers.

Klay Thompson couldn't drive himself home last night and was throwing up when he finally got there - textbook concussion symptoms. Now the long layoff isn't nearly as annoying as a Warriors fan.

[nol]

Tom Thibodeau got fired. That to me says the Bulls think some other team is very close to signing Gentry since they would have been very happy to not fire Thibs until the other coaching vacancies filled.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Gotta be New Orleans, right?

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Gotta be New Orleans, right?

For Gentry? That's my thought.

If you're talking Thibs, there was that rumor that the Lakers would go hard after Thibs, even after hiring Scott last year. It might be hard for Thibs to pass up that kind of organizational support and the likely huge contract, along with a ton of cap space and young talent in Clarkson, Randle and whoever the #2 pick ends up being (and Kobe for a year, of course).

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Finals tickets for game one, cheapest seats in the house are $790 each for standing room only.

Since I've been to a Super Bowl and a World Series, I figure I have to go to one of the games, but that's a bit steep.

Absurd price to pay.

[Alf]

So, we have a week off now ? No playoffs game until next Thursday ? Right ? Booohhh !

GM 1:	CLE at GSW, Jun. 4, 9:00 PM ET ABC
GM 2:	CLE at GSW, Jun. 7, 8:00 PM ET ABC
GM 3:	GSW at CLE, Jun. 9, 9:00 PM ET ABC
GM 4:	GSW at CLE, Jun. 11, 9:00 PM ET ABC
GM 5:	CLE at GSW, Jun. 14 ABC | If Needed
GM 6:	GSW at CLE, Jun. 16 ABC | If Needed
GM 7:	CLE at GSW, Jun. 19 ABC | If Needed

[stevew]

This is crazy. GM1 should have been on Sunday or Tuesday.