Durant / Westbrook / Harden trio is just damn scary and OKC are still a couple years off peaking as a team…
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Durant / Westbrook / Harden trio is just damn scary and OKC are still a couple years off peaking as a team…[/quote]
Harden is so good… I never realized how good until last night. My God he was pulling some shit, he did whatever he wanted with the basketball and it would go in.
Also I want his beard.
So is there anyone with a better pump fake in the league than Kobe?
Man I can’t believe the Knicks with these injuries. I predicted they’d win 2. I’m happy with one considering what they’re working with these playoffs.
That Baron Davis image is very hard to look at.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
What do you guys think of the Nets’ new jerseys? I think the whole black and white thing is pretty cool. It definitely differentiates them uniform-wise - I can’t say the same thing about any thing else they do. The uniforms give off that old-school, ‘hard times’ vibe, which I guess embodies the Brooklyn culture.
[/quote]
I like the new look. I grew up 15 minutes from where the Nets played and they sometimes had secret practices at the College where I work. I accidentally walked in on Kidd, Richard Jefferson and a few others playing 3 on 3. You can say I have a love/hate relationship growing up with them so nearby. Hate the traffic and decisions they make, love some of the player’s they’ve had (Petrovic, Kenny Anderson, Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin etc).
But I think they should’ve changed the name too. They should start off fresh like OKC did with their name.
[quote]PB Andy wrote:
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Durant / Westbrook / Harden trio is just damn scary and OKC are still a couple years off peaking as a team…[/quote]
Harden is so good… I never realized how good until last night. My God he was pulling some shit, he did whatever he wanted with the basketball and it would go in.
Also I want his beard.[/quote]
They’ll go all the way this year and beat the Heat. They have that look in their eye like they want it REALLY bad. Same look Dallas had last year. Dallas didn’t play horrible by any stretch in this series, at least not in games 1, 2 and 4 and they got straight dominated by a much hungrier Thunder.
Lakers are going to be in for one hell of a rude awakening if OKC brings that form into the next round.
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Durant / Westbrook / Harden trio is just damn scary and OKC are still a couple years off peaking as a team…[/quote]
People were saying that about the Roy-Aldridge Blazers not long ago.
The future is always uncertain. They are damn good enough now to win it all.
That being said - The Spurs are really, really good this year.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
So is there anyone with a better pump fake in the league than Kobe?[/quote]
Sam Jones. He’s an atrocious overall basketball player (by NBA standards) but god damn his pump fake gets me every time, and I’m just watching on TV.
I’m gonna go try out for Knicks Point Guard for game 5. I’ll let you guys know if I beat out the locker room towels for the spot behind Bibby on the depth chart.
Hard for me to have sympathy for their injuries given that I’m a Bulls fan.
Still do not understand why Toney Douglas is getting no run at all, hes a good defensive player and a streak shooter, they pick up his option and then stops playing…I know Bibby is Woodson’s boy but there is no reason that Douglas shouldnt be getting 15-20 mins a game.
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Durant / Westbrook / Harden trio is just damn scary and OKC are still a couple years off peaking as a team…[/quote]
People were saying that about the Roy-Aldridge Blazers not long ago.
The future is always uncertain. They are damn good enough now to win it all.
That being said - The Spurs are really, really good this year.[/quote]
Having seen the Spurs live a couple of weeks ago, I can say with authority that they are currently the best BASKETBALL team out there. Their chemistry, execution, spacing, pressure, ball movement and ability to hit the open jumper is mind blowing. With that, every team out there right now is REALLY good, and someone like OKC or even Memphis who has great athletes who double as great ballplayers at positions the Spurs have weaknesses at could give 'em serious trouble.
Sticking with the topic of CP while we still can) here’s Chris Broussard of ESPN.com:
[i]
One of the great fringe benefits of working on “NBA Countdown” is getting to talk extensively with Magic Johnson. When we’re not on camera, Johnson, Michael Wilbon, Jon Barry and myself are sitting in the green room watching various NBA games on several televisions. During this time, Johnson shares with us stories about his playing days, and the thing that stands out the most is his unselfishness.
Anyone who watched Johnson play could tell he was an incredibly unselfish player, but hearing him speak about his mentality on the court drives the point home even more.
For instance, he talks a lot about how he would often start off games feeding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over and over again in the post until the defense adjusted to stop him. Or how he would continue going to James Worthy or Byron Scott when they had the hot hand. Johnson says he really only tried to score when he needed to.
That last point is driven home by the fact that his career high for a game was just 46 points. That came during the 1986-87 season when Abdul-Jabbar sat out a few games with an eye infection. And of course, who can forget the game which I believe is the greatest individual performance in NBA history – his 42-point, 15-rebound, 7-assist masterpiece in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals, when he was a rookie. Abdul-Jabbar was injured in that game as well.
While Johnson is generally recognized as one of the top five players of all-time (second only to Michael Jordan on my list), many observers believe he could never have been a great scorer. But the fact is, he chose to limit his scoring, relegating himself to the Lakers’ third offensive option for most of his career, because his team was better when he got everyone involved. As evidenced above, he could score (he shot 52 percent for his career) when he needed to.
Not many point guards have this mentality anymore. Rarely do you see a point guard in today’s game consistently feed a teammate until the defense stops him. Sure, some of today’s point guards want to get their teammates going, but they’ll do so while making sure they score their 20 points as well.
When I look at the Western Conference playoffs, I see only one point guard who I would say has the same mentality as Johnson had during his playing days: Chris Paul. And that’s why, even though the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers are seen as the only legitimate contenders out West, I still give the Los Angeles Clippers a shot to upset the Western Conference party.
Like Johnson, Paul doesn’t care about scoring. In fact, I’ve watched several Clippers games this season and felt like he wasn’t looking for his shot enough. It appears as though Paul likes to orchestrate early in games and then – only if necessary – take over scoring-wise in the fourth.
Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker are tremendous. But they aren’t prototypical point guards who live to set up their teammates. Parker, who was fourth behind LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Paul on my MVP ballot, is averaging just 7.7 assists per game. And that’s a career high. Despite playing his entire career with Tim Duncan, Parker’s career assists average is just 5.9. Westbrook is averaging just 5.5 assists per game this season.
Paul’s approach to the game makes his teammates better and gives his club a chance to beat superior teams. Again, that’s why I’m not completely counting them out in the West. Go back to 2008, when his New Orleans Hornets pushed the defending champion Spurs to seven games in the second round. Or even last season, when with Carl Landry and Trevor Ariza as his second and third options, Paul put a scare into the defending champion Lakers, taking them to six games.
With Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Kenyon Martin, Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Nick Young and others, can Paul’s magic lead not just to a close call but to an upset?
Paul’s greatness is why I, unlike most, picked the Clippers to beat Memphis. He’s not only the best player on the floor in that series, but he’s the smartest. When he needs to score and take over, like Johnson, he will. But when a teammate (like Nick Young in Game 1) has it going, Paul, unlike some elite point guards, won’t have a problem going several possessions without a shot.
In the Clippers’ great Game 1 comeback from 24 points down in the fourth quarter Sunday, Paul took only 12 shots, including just two in the fourth.
But with seven assists in the final quarter, Paul had a huge impact on the game without scoring, just like Johnson often did.[/i]
[quote]Aggv wrote:
I don’t know if this is something VDN advocates, or if it’s CP3 rubbing off on them, or whatever, but the entire Clippers team is getting out of control with the flopping. I don’t mind selling contact every once in a while, but these guys flop and flail around on virtually every single play. I understand the mentality of doing everything you can to win, but nobody respects a ‘winner’ who does unsportsmanlike crap.
Look at this gif, Chris Paul starts to flop before he realizes it was a ref.
[quote]overstand wrote:
Look at this gif, Chris Paul starts to flop before he realizes it was a ref. [/quote]
Nice find, that’s hilarious!
LOL
Another classic McGee moment. Blocks Kobe by putting his hand up the net
Oh boy, did anyone see Andre Miller Matt Barnes?
Okay I laughed at McGee earlier but he’s having a phenomenal game.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Okay I laughed at McGee earlier but he’s having a phenomenal game.[/quote]
He’s showing flashes of great talent. I remember laughing earlier in the season because he told reporters he wanted $14M a year, but I’m betting somebody will pay that now. I just wonder if his game will continue to develop after he gets paid.