NBA Playoffs 2012 Running thread

Looking at the videos, hell yeah Wade should get two games, and that's not (I hope) just the Pacer looser fanboi in me talking. That was a total punk move, shoving Collison in the back. Hell, at least when Smith hit Griffin, Griffin could see it coming. Between this and Wade's tut-tutting about the Pacers' post-game "celebration" (did Wade forget his own Big 3 press conference?), Wade is going full-on punk. Hey, Dwyane, at least the Pacers WON something before celebrating!

However, I have a hard time imagining the NBA, during a playoff series, when a team it's counting on for high ratings is already struggling, take Wade out of any games.

 

So I take it the 2009 MLB playoffs were not on the long list of events you've covered?

 

Sometimes you hear comics referred to as a "comedian's comedian" because other comics find them brilliant, yet for some reason they never seem to connect fully with audiences. Duncan and the Spurs are basketball's version of that. Last night's game was a freakin' clinic, and it's amazing that a player old enough to have played in the Goodwill Games looks so strong. But what the Spurs do seems to go over the heads of most basketball fans, so they're "boring."

 

Speaking of Duncan, Chris Ballard has a great piece in the new SI on him.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1198491/1/index.htm

One tidbit:

On another note, Ballard has been kicking serious ass this year. Last week a great story on Kobe and Jellybean.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/magazine/05/10/kobe.bryant.ballard/index.html

The Mike Powell piece from February:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1194725/index.htm

And his book on the Macon Ironmen just came out Tuesday.

 

Pushing someone from behind as they drive to the basket is one of the biggest punk moves a player can do. Whacking guys as they drive to the basket is acceptable but you simply do not push someone from behind.

I love watching Tim Duncan play. Seeing him in person at Conseco Fieldhouse as part of a sports road trip was almost a bucket list experience, great player in a great building. I was struck by how he does everything in the flow of the games, posts at the right time, never takes up someone else's space, moves well without the ball.

He looked so effortless playing because he was always in the right spot.

 

I used to root against the Spurs simply because they were in San Antonio and I thought Ginobili flopped too much. I als hated that the Warriors had Popovich right here, on their bench, and they let one of the greats get away. When Duncan got into it with Joey Crawford I thought that showed how much of whiner Duncan was.

However, I've always admired how sound they played. Now I read that Crawford admits he was wrong in that Duncan incident. I'm hoping the Spurs win it this year.

 

Per Brian Windhorst, NBA won't suspend Wade. What a fucking shocker.

 

I don't have time -- or much interest -- to watch much NBA these days. But I did catch much of the Spurs' game last night. Forgot how much fun they are to watch. The ball movement on offense was art. Clips had no friggin clue.

 

Way back in 2004, Buck Harvey of the San Antonio paper had a great description of the Spurs: "The greatest college basketball team of all time."

 

Is there any way to pull LeBron's stats in playoff games decided by five points or less?

What are his projected stats across an entire game for the last five minutes of the game compared with his stats for the other 43 minutes?

I'm guessing he has played in enough playoff games to get a pretty accurate sample.

 

Close playoff games?