I just heard Chris Broussard and Stuart Scott say that Lebron locked up KD and asking what KD needs to do to get better shots off. Thankfully Jalen Rose brought some sanity back with "He's averaging 31 ppg on 57% shooting there is no locking someone up with those numbers." Is it a requirement when being hired by ESPN to be willing to just say stupid shit to keep up ratings? I usually give the people on ESPN some slack because they talk about the games for 30 hours a day so they're bound to say something stupid but some of this shit is over the top.
LeBron had great, low position and moved his feet pretty well...but KD was still able to get good shots off. It turns out that when you're 6'10, long, and shoot and handle the ball really well, there's basically nothing anybody can do to guard you except maybe try to deny you the ball.
In the last 5 minutes of the 4th Quarter of the first 3 games, Kevin Durant is 1-6 from the field and 0-0 from the line. James is 3-5 from the field and 5-6 from the line. James pushes Durant way out of the paint and makes him take long jumpers with a man in his face. Durant still makes most of him, but that is all you can do! They are trying to front him and while Durant gets open after running through a bunch of screens, they shot clock is at a point where he can only launch a jumper.
Pretty sure I said intentional foul. Speaking of Jalen Rose, if you guys aren't listening to his podcast, you're fucking missing out. Jalen Rose is hilarious. I don't get that upset by it with managed expectations EXCEPT when Hannah Storm does some obvious as fuck storybaiting where she'll exaggerate some fact, say something incorrectly or ask a really leading question. The best parts is when she is with one of the newer analyst that quickly correct her because that shit was dumb. I stopped taking Chris Broussard serious after he was guzzling LeBron's nut during "The Decision" and as much as I love "I got hit in the eye with a football" Stu Scott, I got tired of his Urban Dictionary word of the day app. Notice how he's not covering the finals this year? Guess they got tired of it too.
I just saw the replay of the Heat right before the game. "Heatles on 3... 1, 2, 3, Heatles!" Seriously, the fucking Heatles? They really call themselves that?
LeBron is a legendary player who is extremely difficult to guard under normal circumstances. But it's impossible when the defender is called for a foul when LeBron elbows him out of the way.
Harden is killing OKC in this series. He's had some of the dumbest turnovers I've seen in the playoffs. The Heat being able to keep 2 of Battier, James, and Wade in the game at all times is affecting him. --EDIT-- They're going to give it to LeBron, but Chalmers and Battier should probably be co-MVP's for the series.
Live by the Westbrook...die by the Westbrook. I can't believe its the NBA Finals and Westbrook gets like 15 layups and nobody fouls him. And how to you let Chalmers get to the rim without, as my grandpa used to say, "knocking his dick in the dirt"? Refereeing was OK. Lots of late wait and see whistles. Some odd calls and no calls. And please, remind me again, how is Durant a good rebounder? He cant box out. Hes too light in the ass. 46min, 2 reb and 3 assists? His line was almost identical to Chalmers.
I find it amusing that you think he wasn't fouled on more than one of his shots. Oh c'mon. They've played well but that's some cutesy bullshit.
Yeah, not so much. They're both playing better than expected, but take either Chalmers or Battier off the Heat, and they're still doing fine. Take LeBron off the team, and the Heat are screwed. And for all the hype, Battier has had 2 good games and 2 mediocre/lousy ones in this series. Chalmers has had 2 awful games and 2 good ones. They're two role players that have stepped up in a few games. James, meanwhile, is playing consistently amazing basketball throughout. He deserves most of the credit for the Heat's success.
By the assumptions correctly detailed in Nom's post, I still give the Thunder a roughly 9% chance of winning. Very slim, but not impossible.
James Harden, its a contract year. What the fuck happened to you? You were going to get millions? And now you lost the Finals for OKC. Westbrook made mistakes but the man put up 43 points. No throwing hin under the bus.
Yeah, he's as hard to guard as an in-his-prime-Shaq. He initiates 95% of the contact. He's an ultra-athletic Karl Malone, or Magic Johnson on steroids or whatever. It's ridiculous.
Harden did himself no favors by playing terribly, but you had to feel for the guy when Lebron was absolutely manhandling him and Harden kept being called for fouls. And not just Lebron, Bosh was throwing shoulders and pushing off everytime he got a touch too. Its horribly inconsistent.
I think there were a lot of fouls that could have been called and some that shouldn't. And I mean a playoff foul. A Bill Lambier or Bulls/Knickerbocker foul. No doubt. No And1. Westbrook was amazing. They didn't lose because of him. Durant looked frustrated.
I'd punch a baby if Zombies were the first team to break the down 3-1 losing streak on the Heat. Also this. Quit flopping LeBron.
Like Fisher didn't lower his shoulder. Lebron gets the same treatment Shaw used to get. People get to bang on him all game and he's supposed to absorb it. Like that foul they called on Harden. Harden started bumping James at midcourt. On purpose. Now if James complains to the refs or "flops", he gets called out. So he banged back. I am all for "rubbin is racin", until if affects the movement of a player on the court. Like hand checking. And since when did it become onjectionable to try and box somebody out? Perkins acts like it's illegal.