NBA Playoffs Thread

If Dirk wins how high will his legacy rise? Top-four power forward? Top three?

 

With all this LeBron talk, you have to give Dirk credit, in the 4th Qtr. he's doing exactly the same things he has done all game, get the ball either in the post or the elbow and (1) take a stepback fadeaway or (2) go left to the rim. Even after getting the ball stolen on a move left, he went right back to the same move.

 

Can we talk about legacy some more? I think we need one of those turnable dials they have for political debates so we can get instant analysis on Dirk and LeBron's legacies in real time. I want to see the line go up and down like a seismograph, perhaps within a single possession.

I don't like how LeBron is scowling at Stephenson as he comes off a screen. WORSE LEGACY THAN KOBE!

Dirk for three! Greatest white player since Bird!

LeBron with a steal! Better than Karl Malone!

Wade fumbled a pass! He is a slightly better Harold Minor, really.

Jason Terry with another missed 3-pointer. He won't even go down in history as better than Craig Hodges!

Fin.

 

When LeBron put up a long three-point attempt late in the game last night, it occurred to me that any time he takes a jump shot late in close games, I pretty much assume he's missing it now. I can't remember feeling that way about any other superstar, non-center players. Even with Tim Duncan, if he hoists up an 18-footer late in a close game, I'm surprised if it misses. LeBron is the exact opposite.

I felt more confident that Jason Kidd was making his three-pointer than LeBron at the end of the game.

 

Can we go back and rename this the "What's wrong with LeBron official thread?"

 

I think he's got best Euro and best shooting 7 footer titles locked up, who even competes with him in those categories? Where he ranks among all time forwards is quite a bit dicier. There's a lot more names than just Bird and Duncan that arguably belong above Dirk's.

And, as completely off-topic airing of a pet peeve, I''ve an issue with the automatic assumption that Duncan is a forward. I realize the Spurs have always listed him as a power forward, but he's long looked more like a center to me. He's the biggest guy in their lineup, he's the guy they play in the low post, he's their shotblocker who protects the rim on D, he's the guy they have bodied up on the Yao and Dwight Howards of the league. How is that not their center? Did it really look like Dejuan Blair and McDyess were playing the 5 and Duncan the 4 on this year's Spurs? I've long thought that Duncan was kinda being placed in wrong box when we have these "greatest [insert position] ever debates.

 

Not sure where Duncan should be listed. But I know Magic shouldn't be in the discussion for best forwards of all time, unless we're considering Fat Magic from the final half of 1996, who was probably the 78th best power point forward to ever play the game, ahead of John "Hotplate" Williams but behind latter-day Paul Pressey.

 

It's the NBA Playoffs thread, and the only thing anybody anywhere is talking about regarding the NBA playoffs right now is what the hell is wrong with the supposed best player in the game. This is hardly the singular home of LeBron-bashing.

 

For the record, that was an unintentional typo. Of course I know Magic was a guard. Meant to say "Duncan" there in reference to the two the other poster had mentioned. Have no clue why I typed Magic instead.

 

I don't have the luxury of watching the whole game while working, but I'll catch the last 3-4 minutes. It's not just LeBron in the last two minutes, its the Heat's approach in general down the stretch: Dribble the ball along the stripe until the shot clock gets below 10, then either try a 3-pointer or drive for the hoop, which either is missed or gets blocked. Too predictable, to the point of being selfish. It's like the Baylor-West-Chamberlain Lakers ... not enough balls to go around.

 

Damn don't be so abrasive. I was being flip.

I always thought Duncan was just a post. He and Robinson were interchangeable. After Robinson retired, Duncan became a more true four because the guys next to him were strictly centers. And now he's back to being a hybrid.

He's just a post player.

Dirk has been a four most of his career post-Don Nelson, who would try to turn Shaq into a guard, given half a chance.

 

I would disagree with the "no more than" part. Yes, Dirk shoots and handles the ball like a 3, but on the defensive end he's only a 4. Whereas Duncan generally plays like a 5 on both the offensive and defensive ends.

The thing about Duncan's listing is it's largely just a consequence of who drafted him. At the time the Spurs already had an all pro center, so they went with a twin tower attack listing Robinson as the 5 and Duncan the 4, and he then kept the power forward label his entire career. If he'd been drafted by another team that actually needed a center, that's likely what his position listing would've been for his career. So now he regularly gets referenced as "the greatest power forward of all time" without anyone ever bothering to mention that "...you know, that's not really where he's been playing most of the time."