2012 NBA Playoffs

[DMT]

The Spurs look unstoppable.

[JudeBaldo]

So the Thunder and Heat are both right back where they were at this stage last year, except the Spurs strike me as a much better team right now than the Mavs were last year. So although I agree that OKC has made strides, I don't know if they're quite ready to knock off this Spurs team the way it's clicking right now. I hope they can take it to seven games. As for the Heat, they should be able to beat Boston without Bosh, but I think he needs to be pretty close to full strength for them to win in the Finals, and even then the Heat would be a deserved underdog.

WOW JUST ****ING WOW. When I use to play organized basketball my buddy who was our player-coach was the world's biggest Spurs and Timmy fan so we appropriately ran the Spurs motion offense.

So I know what it should look like, but hot damn to see it played at the NBA level against a very good team in OKC. It gives me goose bumps. The execution is awesome.

Vintage Jordan would need to join OKC for them to have a chance.

You're correct about The Heat also. They're not doing it without Bosh. They probably still won't do it with Bosh.

[Judge Jude]

There is a retro feel there - an old-school coach and an old superstar who date back to the 1990s.
The "modern" player is better in so many ways, but they don't run an offense as well - if they run one at all.

If you look at film of the 1970 or 1973 champion Knicks (or you're old enough to remember them), they look more like the Globetrotters than any current NBA team. Pass after pass after pass. A hockey power play, basically. Who was the play designed for? Whomever got open for a shot...

[JudeBaldo]

There is a retro feel there - an old-school coach and an old superstar who date back to the 1990s.
The "modern" player is better in so many ways, but they don't run an offense as well - if they run one at all.

If you look at film of the 1970 or 1973 champion Knicks (or you're old enough to remember them), they look more like the Globetrotters than any current NBA team. Pass after pass after pass. A hockey power play, basically. Who was the play designed for? Whomever got open for a shot...

Nope.

That's exactly how the Spurs looked last night. After the second half I knew that game was over.

[Pauly]

as good as the Thunder is (are?), the Heat play better defense and Bosh should be back in time for the finals. Not that the Spurs will be a big favorite, but I would love to be throwing some green down on an underdog Heat team in Vegas on the money line.

Sidenote: teams that dont end in an S are dumb.

[JudeBaldo]

What the hell do the refs have against the Celtics?

[chancellor]

What the hell do the refs have against the Celtics?

Dunno - I don't have a dog in the fight, but I agree the reffing was awful and slanted badly against the Celtics.

[Hornsby]

What the hell do the refs have against the Celtics?

The refs always reward a team that's more aggressive, and the Heat were far more aggressive than the Celtics. While there may have been a few questionable calls, the vast majority of them were right on the money.

[B-Fly]

What the hell do the refs have against the Celtics?

The non-call on Wade's face-swipe on Rondo was huge. I think the Celtics win last night if that call had been made.

[TS Garp]

What the hell do the refs have against the Celtics?

It was worse in the Pacers series. David Stern wants the Heat in the finals -- period.

[B-Fly]

It was worse in the Pacers series. David Stern wants the Heat in the finals -- period.

Nah, I don't buy the idea that Stern has told referees either explicitly or implicitly to favor one team over any other. I think Hornsby is basically correct, that teams who drive aggressively to the basket will generally get the better of the foul calls, particularly when those players are high-wattage superstars, but I think the pro-high-wattage superstar bias is subconscious, not deliberate.

[TS Garp]

Nah, I don't buy the idea that Stern has told referees either explicitly or implicitly to favor one team over any other. I think Hornsby is basically correct, that teams who drive aggressively to the basket will generally get the better of the foul calls, particularly when those players are high-wattage superstars, but I think the pro-high-wattage superstar bias is subconscious, not deliberate.

I don't know. In the first or second game against the Pacers, Wade and LeBron each played more than 40 minutes and had 1 foul each. It was obscene. I'm not typically a conspiracy theory kind of guy but I've seen enough of this to really believe that there's something going on, even if it's all veiled in terms of the way the message is delivered.

[JudeBaldo]

The refs always reward a team that's more aggressive, and the Heat were far more aggressive than the Celtics. While there may have been a few questionable calls, the vast majority of them were right on the money.

Not just last night but game one. Those technicals were BS.

[Judge Jude]

While I don't buy conspiracy theories, the ref Tim Donaghy scandal makes it a lot harder to laugh them off, I will admit.

[JudeBaldo]

Nah, I don't buy the idea that Stern has told referees either explicitly or implicitly to favor one team over any other. I think Hornsby is basically correct, that teams who drive aggressively to the basket will generally get the better of the foul calls, particularly when those players are high-wattage superstars, but I think the pro-high-wattage superstar bias is subconscious, not deliberate.

I dunno, between the Knicks getting Ewing, the Clips getting Paul, the Hornets getting the first pick, etc.

Doesn't Stern sit on the board of the Elders of Zion?