NBA Playoffs Thread

[Double Down]

The comeback against the Blazers, ah yes, 2000, Game 7. Down 15 early in the fourth, Shaw hit some big threes, Shaq made some free throws, Rasheed missed some free throws, the Blazers missed everything and then the famous alley-oop to Shaq to finish it off (along with a horrific no-call on Shaq when he bodied Steve Smith late that I'm sure Blazers fans are still a bit upset about).

We really should stop talking about the Lakers on this thread, lest we be tossed out into the street, but my favorite part of the alley-oop, and one that almost never gets discussed, is how incredibly bad Kobe made Pippen look on the play as he drove the lane. It's you-left-your-jock-in-the-Windy-City bad.

 

[Bubbler]

The comeback against the Blazers, ah yes, 2000, Game 7. Down 15 early in the fourth, Shaw hit some big threes, Shaq made some free throws, Rasheed missed some free throws, the Blazers missed everything and then the famous alley-oop to Shaq to finish it off (along with a horrific no-call on Shaq when he bodied Steve Smith late that I'm sure Blazers fans are still a bit upset about).

We really should stop talking about the Lakers on this thread, lest we be tossed out into the street, but my favorite part of the alley-oop, and one that almost never gets discussed, is how incredibly bad Kobe made Pippen look on the play as he drove the lane. It's you-left-your-jock-in-the-Windy-City bad.

What the heck was Pippen doing? It wasn't even that great of a body fake by Kobe. He just ole'd him by.

I'm no Kobe fan, but I do count it as a highlight that I got to see Bryant's coming out party in person at the 2000 NBA Finals in a classic Game 4 overtime game. Albeit from the bowels of Conseco Fieldhouse on deadline, but I was there.

 

[cjericho]

Yes, Mavs had a foul to give. Dirk is great, but that wasn't a great final basket, it was nice. But it looked like Dirk made one move and got past Bosh while going less than full speed. I know it's the end of the game and the guy plays like every minute but it looked like he just blew past Bosh yet shouldn't have blown past him with that move.

It wasn't an Iverson crossover vs. Jordan but it was a pretty sweet move. The one replay from ABC had a good angle. Dirk did his spin and when he completed it Bosh hesitated for just a second as he probably thought Dirk was going up for his old fadeaway. Instead he kept the dribble, got a half step ahead and even though he's slower than I am off the dribble, that's all he needs with those long strides. Bosh probably shouldn't have bit at all since Dirk wasn't likely to take a jumper with that much time left but in a split-second he just reacted.

And they should have had better help. Yeah Terry might get a wide-open three. But the alternative was Dirk having basically an open left-handed layup.

The comeback against the Blazers, ah yes, 2000, Game 7. Down 15 early in the fourth, Shaw hit some big threes, Shaq made some free throws, Rasheed missed some free throws, the Blazers missed everything and then the famous alley-oop to Shaq to finish it off (along with a horrific no-call on Shaq when he bodied Steve Smith late that I'm sure Blazers fans are still a bit upset about).

i guess good move but just seemed like Bosh made it look easy, more than Dirk making it look easy.

pretty sure that game was when Shaq said it was the Shaw Shaq redemption.

 

[Double Down]

Bubbs, he had been killing Pippen that ebtire series with a crossover. Just killing him. By that point he was completely in Pippen's head. If you watch the whole clip from the far baseline camera angle that's behind them (highlight clips almost always begin with Kobe already by Pippen) you see how wrong-footed and completely lost Pippen looks.

I actually felt like the Lakers dropped games five and six of that series because they went away from letting Kobe kick Pippen's ass. In the game that gave LA a 3-1 lead in that series, Kobe ran Pippen in circles at the end of the game. I remember feeling like I was watching Bryant stomp on the neck of the Jordan era by embarrassing Jordan's wingman.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Yes, Mavs had a foul to give. Dirk is great, but that wasn't a great final basket, it was nice. But it looked like Dirk made one move and got past Bosh while going less than full speed. I know it's the end of the game and the guy plays like every minute but it looked like he just blew past Bosh yet shouldn't have blown past him with that move.

It wasn't an Iverson crossover vs. Jordan but it was a pretty sweet move. The one replay from ABC had a good angle. Dirk did his spin and when he completed it Bosh hesitated for just a second as he probably thought Dirk was going up for his old fadeaway. Instead he kept the dribble, got a half step ahead and even though he's slower than I am off the dribble, that's all he needs with those long strides. Bosh probably shouldn't have bit at all since Dirk wasn't likely to take a jumper with that much time left but in a split-second he just reacted.

And they should have had better help. Yeah Terry might get a wide-open three. But the alternative was Dirk having basically an open left-handed layup.

The comeback against the Blazers, ah yes, 2000, Game 7. Down 15 early in the fourth, Shaw hit some big threes, Shaq made some free throws, Rasheed missed some free throws, the Blazers missed everything and then the famous alley-oop to Shaq to finish it off (along with a horrific no-call on Shaq when he bodied Steve Smith late that I'm sure Blazers fans are still a bit upset about).

You use the same flawed premise Zag made. The alternative to not coming off Terry wasn't an open layup because the rotation was supposed to come from across the lane from Haslem. Haslem didn't get there. But most of the night, the rotations were great. Why would LBJ assume that the rotation wouldn't get there this time?

Here's where we need Jeff Van Gundy or Dr. Jack (heck, Dr. Tom even) to post to break it down. You make a good point. But I still think LeBron could have done more on the play. If Haslem helps out earlier, then Chandler is wide open at the basket, although Wade did have a foot in the lane to rotate down to Chandler in that event, perhaps. Of course if Wade rotates then Marion's open from 15 feet out.

It wasn't some huge blunder by LeBron or anything but I think it was a bit of a slow reaction. Watching the replay again, Dirk gets a step on Bosh about 12 feet away from the hoop, and LeBron is about two feet away from them. With his lateral quickness, I think he could have gotten there in time to halt Dirk a bit and would have still had a chance to at least make a run at Terry. Or maybe he should have been helping off of Terry more at the start, simply because if you are going to lose, I'd rather have Terry taking a 22 footer than Dirk taking a 10-footer, even if would be over a double team of Bosh and James.



Jericho, I think the ShawShaq line might have actually originated during their Orlando days when he was throwing oops to the young fella.

 

[93Devil]

DD'd post pointed it out - the Heat settle for long jump shots way too much and it seems to have bit them in the ass tonight.

It will be interesting to see if they post up a little bit more the next game.

 

[MisterIrrelevant]

Wojnarowski and Wetzel were outstanding with their postgame columns covering the epic Game 2. As good as the game was, it's better to see what good writers can craft in the aftermath, despite having to work in the circus of a championship series and league barriers and useless podiums.

From Woj:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ajq6_s7GDzxp8MyIpAt.j705nYcB?slug=aw-wojnarowski_dirk_nowitzki_mavericks_comeback_game2_nba_finals_060311

Nowitzki doesn't rely on emotion to galvanize and inspire his game, but the steely detachment that comes with tens of thousands of hours of shooting, the muscle memory of the biggest shots in the biggest moments. All his life, Nowitzki was the nice guy, the big lug that would forever come close and forever be remembered as one of the Hall of Fame players without the ultimate validation of victory.

Loved this piece of color from Wetzel too: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AotJOjXXL0FYbfedA1NcqPi8vLYF?slug=dw-wetzel_heat_mavericks_collapse_celebration_game2_finals060311

Why did Wade, who was brilliant to the tune of 36 points, get just two shots the final seven minutes? ("I'll have to look," said coach Erik Spoelstra). Why did the offense stall, too often leaving LeBron dribbling around aimlessly until just before the shot clock was set to go off? ("We just weren't in good rhythm," James said.) Where was the Heat's vaunted defense as the Mavs began lighting them up in the furious stretch run? ("A lack of execution," Spoelstra said.)

With a foul to give why didn't they hack Nowitzki on the final play? ("Mental breakdown," Wade said.) Why did they put Chris Bosh and not Udonis Haslem on Dirk? ("Yeah, that's a tough one," Spoelstra said.) Why didn't they double? ("It was just bad defense for me," Bosh said.)

 

[Webster]

Random thoughts:

The Heat were running pick and rolls with Chalmers as the screener. Not only did he take forever to set weak screens, but he didn't make himself available quickly. So James basically killed 10 seconds of the shot clock for nothing.

Kidd did an unreal job denying Wade easy handoffs down the stretch, which again left James with nothing else but to go one on one.

The Heat have been lucky the past series and game in that they have been making the long pull up jumpers. They haven't really relied on movement, post play or even driving.

Bosh needed to get through the Chandler screen quicker on Dirk's 3 and if he was going to overplay the fadeaway so heavily on the last play, he needed to use the foul if Dirk drove. Bad decision.

I can't really blame James, mostly because Dirk went by so quickly that he was never going to get there.

 

[93Devil]

On the last drive if James drops down to defend Dirk from that angle, he is either going to foul Dirk or leave Terry wide open for an easy shot.

James could not save that play from where we was and Jordan couldn't of either.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

James could not save that play from where we was and Jordan couldn't of either.

Could he of on Monday?

 

[NickMordo]

As I scrolled through 3 1/2 pages, I didn't see one reference to Bosh's defense on the final play. Dirk OWNED him, Bosh got turned, spun on and lost it. Dirk may be very good but Bosh isn't chopped liver and he looked like it.

 

[bigpern23]

These 9:30 p.m. starts blow ... I dozed off watching the game as the Heat pulled away. Woke up, grabbed my phone and saw 95-92 and just said, WTF.