2013-14 NBA thread v. Adam Silver Lays the Pipe on Donald Sterling ©2014antigoon

[ReaPsTA]

I don't know if the Thunder will win or not.  Brooks has made some great adjustments, but he's also whiffed on some stuff too.  I think the biggest factor is the crowd.  OKC has an awesome crowd that the players really feed off of.  And, to be honest, San Antonio's been much better these playoffs at home.  Right now I feel like the game's a coin flip, but gun to my head I guess I have to say OKC.

[antigoon]

I am so excited that this guy owns an NBA franchise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc

[ReaPsTA]

How was this guy pushed out of Microsoft for being explosively temperamental?  He seems so happy.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I hope the Heat thrash the Pacers tonight. I really hate that team.

[Cool Chris]

How was this guy pushed out of Microsoft for being explosively temperamental?  He seems so happy.

I think it had more to do with MSFT not releasing anything groundbreaking since Windows XP.

[Jaq]

The Spurs/Thunder series has been interesting to watch less because of the games but because of the immediate reaction to them on ESPN (yeah, I love bagging on ESPN,  I know.)

After the first two games: "The Thunder are done! This is over!"
After the next two: "The Thunder are back! This is just like last year, Spurs are done!"

Welp. I think it goes seven myself, but fuck, the coverage is hilarious.

[senecadawg2]

Damn, no competition so far. Lance Stephenson is quite the character, by which I mean he's kind of a dick. I don't really mind him trying to get into LeBron's head, though, it just comes across as kind of pathetic when you're getting crushed.

[black_biff_stadler]

Game started 9-2 Pacers, then the Heat whimsically decided to go on a 47-17 run. They're on the outskirts of approaching that otherworldly 62-20 run they put on the Bulls in game 2 of last year's ECSF which turned a modest 42-38 lead into a 104-58 bloodbath and eventual 116-77 laugher.

[Syzzle]

This would have happened last game if not for the refs deciding LeBron wasn't going to play.

[Azyiu]

The Heat played a dominating first half, while the Pacers, especially PG; barely showed up. 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I hope the Heat keep this up!

[KevShmev]

Anyone else catch that shot of LeBron holding Haslem back on the bench while he was yelling, "I'm gonna fuck you up!" at Stephenson?

Should be interesting if/when Haslem gets in the game here in the 2nd half...

[Syzzle]

You think Vogel would leave Lance in the game by the time Miami is sending the likes of Udonis Haslem out?

[black_biff_stadler]

'ey Syzzle, congrats on that upcoming 1000th post.

[Azyiu]

If I were Bird, I wouldn't panic and break up the team. Rather I would let Vogel go and likely won't resign Stephenson. Problem with the Pacers is, they have too many guys signed to long term deal. If Vogel can't get them motivated now after a somewhat "successful" regular season; he won't be able to replicate it ever. So sorry, Frank, you are gone. I'd so re-hire Larry Brown, and make these suckers to play the game the right way. 

[black_biff_stadler]

Ain't Larry Brown's health really shitty?

[Azyiu]

Ain't Larry Brown's health really shitty?

I didn't know that... but my point is, the Pacers desperately need a vet coach who can make these suckers to work, play hard and hold them ALL accountable.

[KevShmev]

Fun fact:

LeBron James has now done something Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson never did: made it to four straight NBA Finals.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

That is true. Lucky for LeBron that Jordan decided on that two year sabbatical.

[KevShmev]

Regarding that, I always laugh when someone says, "He would have won eight in a row if he hadn't taken two years off to play baseball."

a. We have no of knowing that.

b. The odds of them staying hungry every year to win that many in a row would have been not good.

Besides, while I do think that Jordan is the best ever, it is rather dubious that the best player ever in that sport took nearly two years off in his prime to go play another sport.  Can you imagine Wayne Gretzky having taken 18 months off to go play soccer?

[black_biff_stadler]

Jordan's post-retirement 3-peat absolves ANY criticism tenfold. Also, unless the "lay low to avoid a gambling suspension" rumor is true, it's kinda (if not, very) dick to call a guy out for pursuing a childhood dream while grieving for a murdered parent.

Edit: Beyond this, your argument that they wouldn't have stayed hungry indirectly supports the argument that losing out on the 1994 and 1995 titles rejuvenated their hunger propelling them to win the six titles you seem to doubt they'd have had the motivation to win otherwise.

[KevShmev]

I've heard the gambling thing was legitimate, but we'll probably never know for sure.

Either way, I was never a Jordan fan, and considering what a total prick the guy is in real life, it makes it even easier to not give him the benefit of the doubt. 

Plus, he's known as a horrible tipper, as is his old pal Scottie "No Tippin'" Pippen , so a person like yourself in the industry, b_f, has another reason to not like him.

[black_biff_stadler]

Stop clouding the issue with facts.

[Aefenwelg]

Fun fact:

LeBron James has now done something Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson never did: made it to four straight NBA Finals.

Magic did do this. 1982-85.

[ReaPsTA]

Besides, while I do think that Jordan is the best ever, it is rather dubious that the best player ever in that sport took nearly two years off in his prime to go play another sport.  Can you imagine Wayne Gretzky having taken 18 months off to go play soccer?

Why do you take issue with this?

[Azyiu]

Fun fact:

LeBron James has now done something Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson never did: made it to four straight NBA Finals.

Magic did do this. 1982-85.

 

[Dimitrius]

Fun fact:

LeBron James has now done something Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson never did: made it to four straight NBA Finals.

Magic did do this. 1982-85.

Yup!

Also, lolPacers

[KevShmev]

Fun fact:

LeBron James has now done something Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson never did: made it to four straight NBA Finals.

Magic did do this. 1982-85.

That's what I get for believing what I read on twitter without fact checking it.

Besides, while I do think that Jordan is the best ever, it is rather dubious that the best player ever in that sport took nearly two years off in his prime to go play another sport.  Can you imagine Wayne Gretzky having taken 18 months off to go play soccer?

Why do you take issue with this?

I am not taking issue with it, so much as pointing out that you'd have a hard time finding (let's say for the sake of argument) a top 5 player in any major sport, other than Jordan, who took off over a year and a half off in their prime to play another sport.  It's just fascinating, really.  I mean, think about how history could have changed for handful of players if he never retires:

-Maybe Hakeem's Rockets never win a title.
-Maybe Malone and Stockton get a ring or two in the late 90s (which would have helped Malone's case in all-time discussions big time).
-Maybe Jordan doesn't go undefeated in the finals (which is an overrated fact anyway, but still).

So many things could have changed.  It's just interesting to think about.

[black_biff_stadler]

Well, as soon as I get a flux capacitor in stock, I'll go kill some middle-aged people whose last name is either Gretzky, Dimaggio, Starr, Howe, Russell, Greene, or Alcindor, and we'll see what happens.

Wish me well!

[KevShmev]

Have fun! 

In the meantime, because we all love a good laugh...

[Dimitrius]

I often think what a matchup it would've been if the Jordan/Pippen Bulls faced off against the Kobe/Shaq Lakers or the Duncan/Robinson, Duncan/Parker/Ginóbili Spurs.

Oh well.

[ReaPsTA]

I am not taking issue with it, so much as pointing out that you'd have a hard time finding (let's say for the sake of argument) a top 5 player in any major sport, other than Jordan, who took off over a year and a half off in their prime to play another sport.  It's just fascinating, really.  I mean, think about how history could have changed for handful of players if he never retires:

-Maybe Hakeem's Rockets never win a title.
-Maybe Malone and Stockton get a ring or two in the late 90s (which would have helped Malone's case in all-time discussions big time).
-Maybe Jordan doesn't go undefeated in the finals (which is an overrated fact anyway, but still).

So many things could have changed.  It's just interesting to think about.

One of the things that seems apparent about Jordan, especially after hearing a bit about what's in his new biography (I have it, dunno when I'm going to read it), is that his childhood was extraordinarily fucked up.  Like, apparently, his dad was sexually abusing one of his sisters, but the family made a collective decision to ignore it.  But then Jordan becomes an adult who literally idolizes his dad.  What?

I know that the smart way to look at success is to see it as a product of timing, luck, and social connections.  That's not totally wrong either.  But successful people, especially borderline mythic people like Jordan, have something very different in their brain that drives them to insane levels of productivity.  The version of that thing in Jordan's brain, I suspect, is also what drove him to baseball.

[ReaPsTA]

I just realized - refs are going to be all in on the Thunder.

Game 7 is a lock.

[Jamesman42]

I needed last night's game after this shitty week. It completely made me happy.

[Syzzle]

The Pacers should do David West a favor and trade him the guy deserves to be on a better team I think he is the only one who plays with any heart on the Pacers.