NBA Playoffs 2012 Running thread

[ADodgen]

I really like this for some reason.

I love it. Thunder in six, y'all.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

That is awesome... Major points to the Oklahoman for creativity.

 

[bigpern23]

I'm taking the Heat in six, btw.

 

[ADodgen]

I'm taking the Heat in six, btw.

Av bet?

 

[bigpern23]

I'm taking the Heat in six, btw.

Av bet?

Probably wouldn't be much fun since I like the Thunder more than the Heat and don't really have a dog in the fight.

 

[Webster]

It seems like I always hear about what a poor coach Spoelstra is by fans, SJ posters and talk radio screecher, but every coach I hear talk about him says he's very good. Riley, it appears, thinks he's very good.

Where does that disconnect come from? Is it simply NBA coaches not wanting to speak badly of other NBA coaches? Or is it that fans just see his baby face and think he can't possibly be as good as a grizzled NBA coach such as Doc Rivers (he's not as good as Rivers, but you get the point)?

It is because the Heat have underachieved in the eyes of many fans who hate the team based on a televised press conference.

And any time there is a perception that a team is underachieving it is always the coaches incompetence.....

I think there are a few reasons:

-- the team doesn't always hustle back, especially Wade
-- the team has a ton of defensive possessions where there are screw-ups on picks and switches. Again, Wade is the worst at this, but no one is without guilt.
-- they don't run massive off the ball action, so it basically looks like it is either Lebron or Wade going one-on-one a majority of the time.
-- he doesn't appear commanding. His players seem to run the team and Riley is always watching from the expensive seats.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I've never really been a LeBron hater until recently. I interviewed him a couple times when he was in high school and I covered his first NBA game and at the time I was stunned at how mature I thought he seemed and how, all things considered, he seemed a lot more down-to-earth than some of the other guys who had gone straight to the NBA out of high school.

Now, I don't know... He just strikes me as someone who just doesn't get it on any level anymore... There's also something kind of enjoyable about watching guys who got together just to get a ring who can't finish the deal. I'm reminded of the year Karl Malone was on the Lakers and how much I loved it that they didn't win that year.

I so enjoyed watching the Heat lose to the Mavericks last season and I think a Thunder victory would be even more enjoyable since Durant probably is my favorite player to watch these days.

 

[Gehrig]

I'm taking the Heat in six, btw.

Av bet?

I'll take that av bet.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I've never really been a LeBron hater until recently. I interviewed him a couple times when he was in high school and I covered his first NBA game and at the time I was stunned at how mature I thought he seemed and how, all things considered, he seemed a lot more down-to-earth than some of the other guys who had gone straight to the NBA out of high school.

Now, I don't know... He just strikes me as someone who just doesn't get it on any level anymore... There's also something kind of enjoyable about watching guys who got together just to get a ring who can't finish the deal. I'm reminded of the year Karl Malone was on the Lakers and how much I loved it that they didn't win that year.

I so enjoyed watching the Heat lose to the Mavericks last season and I think a Thunder victory would be even more enjoyable since Durant probably is my favorite player to watch these days.

I remember thinking the same thing about him at the McDonald's All-American Game when I was in the postgame press conference. "This kid is 18?!"

I remember when Eddy Curry was in Chicago, Scott Skiles would talk about how the problem with getting Curry to work hard is that Curry already thought he was working hard. He just didn't get what it actually took, what working hard actually meant. I'm sure we've all worked with or around a guy like that before, someone who does what others would consider the bare minimum on a beat, but honestly believes, in his head, that he is busting his hump. Now, I don't think that LeBron is a lazy ass like Eddy Curry. But I think that he truly believes that he wants a title as badly as Michael did or Kobe does or Duncan does or any fierce competitor you can name. His dial only goes up to 8. Theirs goes up to 11.

 

[ADodgen]

I'm taking the Heat in six, btw.

Av bet?

I'll take that av bet.

You're on.

Name your terms.

 

[Gehrig]

How about if the Heat win, then your avatar must be of the player you hate the most on Miami, and vice versa for me if the Thunder win.

For example. The player I hate the most on OKC is Perkins. If OKC wins, then I have to have a Perkins avatar for a week.

Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[Webster]

I've never really been a LeBron hater until recently. I interviewed him a couple times when he was in high school and I covered his first NBA game and at the time I was stunned at how mature I thought he seemed and how, all things considered, he seemed a lot more down-to-earth than some of the other guys who had gone straight to the NBA out of high school.

Now, I don't know... He just strikes me as someone who just doesn't get it on any level anymore... There's also something kind of enjoyable about watching guys who got together just to get a ring who can't finish the deal. I'm reminded of the year Karl Malone was on the Lakers and how much I loved it that they didn't win that year.

I so enjoyed watching the Heat lose to the Mavericks last season and I think a Thunder victory would be even more enjoyable since Durant probably is my favorite player to watch these days.

I remember thinking the same thing about him at the McDonald's All-American Game when I was in the postgame press conference. "This kid is 18?!"

I remember when Eddy Curry was in Chicago, Scott Skiles would talk about how the problem with getting Curry to work hard is that Curry already thought he was working hard. He just didn't get what it actually took, what working hard actually meant. I'm sure we've all worked with or around a guy like that before, someone who does what others would consider the bare minimum on a beat, but honestly believes, in his head, that he is busting his hump. Now, I don't think that LeBron is a lazy ass like Eddy Curry. But I think that he truly believes that he wants a title as badly as Michael did or Kobe does or Duncan does or any fierce competitor you can name. His dial only goes up to 8. Theirs goes up to 11.

No one had a better, bigger, rip your heart out game than his game 6 against the Celtics.