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

[Syzzle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzGbhsjD71Y

Finally, the real reason everyone should want Miami to win just so we get another one of these.

[ReaPsTA]

A+ rant

[KevShmev]

I still can't believe ESPN gave that guy his own show (actually, I can).  He's not Stephen A. Smith bad, but he's close.

[black_biff_stadler]

I can't believe they could convince his pep pep to stop selling bags of oranges on the shoulder of an I-95 offramp for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

[Dimitrius]

...wow

[black_biff_stadler]

I meant he seems like an incompetent old coot. I didn't intend it the way it apparently came across.

[King Postwhore]

Without looking at the link you folks must be talking about Dan Le Batard[/b]


No love from me here.

[ReaPsTA]

Rondo saying he doesn't want to leave Boston.  This is code speak for "Kevin, if you come up here and sign an extension, I won't leave you hanging."

[Accelerando]

I would love it if Manu Ginobli takes over this Finals, and if the Spurs win the championship, he gets the Finals MVP award. I would love to see all of the Big 3 get it before their time together is over. 

[ReaPsTA]

When Ginobili gets hot, I get hot in my pants.  He's the classic version of James Harden.  Bombing threes and going to the line.  Great stuff.

[Azyiu]

When Ginobili gets hot, I get hot in my pants.  He's the classic version of James Harden.  Bombing threes and going to the line.  Great stuff.

Dude, that's an insult to Manu!    Manu plays pretty good D! 

[ReaPsTA]

Nice.

[Nekov]

When Ginobili gets hot, I get hot in my pants. 

Sigd

[Syzzle]

Speaking of James Harden he got 2 votes for the All Defensive 2nd team

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Speaking of James Harden he got 2 votes for the All Defensive 2nd team

That honor has become a joke. I love LeBron but no way did he deserve to make the 2nd Team this year.

[ReaPsTA]

Rockets decline fourth year option on Chandler Parsons's contract, making him a restricted free agent.

The article explains why they did this and why it's to their advantage to do so.  Morey's had somewhat of a rough year, but this is shrewd on his part.

[Syzzle]

Speaking of James Harden he got 2 votes for the All Defensive 2nd team

That honor has become a joke. I love LeBron but no way did he deserve to make the 2nd Team this year.

Pretty much

LeBron got his selection on reputation just like Kobe got most of his.

[Azyiu]

Funny. I know people tend to root for the "underdog" but damn, Miami couldn't win out one other state? Even with Lebron??? 

[KevShmev]

Well, like anything else, a lot of people get tired of the same team winning all the time.

Plus, I think most casual fans tend to still not like James because of "The Decision." 

[ReaPsTA]

I got Heat in six exactly.  Spurs in five was one game off.

For the finals, right now I'm thinking Spurs in seven, but something bugs me.  Tony Parker's health is such a huge issue.  If he was totally healthy, I'd think Spurs in 6.  If he wasn't healthy, I'd almost lean toward Miami.

Uuuggghhhhh.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

This series is a total toss-up because of Parker's health. If Parker was healthy, I'd say Spurs in six with admirable confidence. Because he's not, I will openly admit to having no idea who will win.

[j]

^Pretty much that.  Patty Mills is really gonna have to bring his A game!

-J

[contest_sanity]

Noticed something new about the famous Game 6 nightmare sequence from last year:

Watch LeBron after Allen's shot goes in -- HE knows that the Spurs have no timeouts left. He starts waving for the rest of the Heat to play defense, then starts arguing with the official bc they stop the game to review the 3 pointer. Pretty heady, I thought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr6XsZVb-ZE

[black_biff_stadler]

I like how people are tired of the same team winning all the time so hopefully we can have another team win their fifth title to end this tyranny. #yallbeeneatinlongenoughnowstopbeingreedy

[ReaPsTA]

I was reading a RealGM thread about Spo, and a lot of people made the same, excellent point.

The Heat made it to the finals in 2011 and lost.  Spo could have decided what he was doing was good enough, since they made it to the finals.  Instead, he decided to keep evolving what he wanted the team to be until he found their small ball identity.

Contrast that with guys like Scott Brooks, who seem utterly content with what they have.

To me, Pop is the clear best coach.  Carlisle, Doc, and Spo in some order round out the top four.

[Syzzle]

1.Pop (G.O.A.T Coach for me)
2.Doc
3.Carlisle
4.Spo
5.Thibs (He coaches GOAT defense, but his offense leaves a lot to be desired)

Honestly not sure how I would rank the rest of the coaches in the league none of them really stand out.

[j]

The only ones I would say with confidence are:

1. Pop
2. Doc

It's weird, I was talking to my buddy about Spoelstra the other day.  Normally our main metric for evaluating coaches (moreso than players) is their ability to take teams deep into the playoffs/to the finals/to win a championship.  We can watch players and glean quite a bit more about them than we can about what a coach says and does day in and day out.

And yet, Spoelstra is a weird case.  Immediately when he became a head coach, he found himself in a situation where he was completely loaded with three of the most talented players in the league, and a complement of role players.  He's been to the finals every year (I think?) and won it twice, maybe a third time this year.  He meets the usual ultimate requirement for coaching greatness.  But instead of giving him his due, many of us (myself included) sort of say "well, I'd have to see what he can do with a LESSER team before I can call him a great coach."  And maybe there's something to that, but regardless, the dude can't win, despite having the unwavering support of Riley from the outset.

-J

[ReaPsTA]

Spo coached the Heat in 2009 and 2010, where he won 43 and 47 games respectively.  In '09 he lost in seven to a good Hawks team, and in '10 he lost in five to the Celtics team that nearly won the finals.  Neither performance is much to get excited about, but not much to criticize either.  Winning nearly 50 games in your second season as a coach is pretty good.

I hate the "let's see what he'd do with lesser players argument."  I know that if Pop coached the Milwaukee Bucks this year, he might have made the playoffs.  He's that good.  But he's never winning a ring with that team.  Coaches should be judged based on how they maximize the potential of their teams.  No one remembers that, outside of Kobe, the '06 and '07 Lakers weren't much of a team, but PJax got them to the playoffs anyway.  This isn't a positive on his coaching resume?

Spo figured out how to mange two of the biggest egos in the game (LeBron and Wade).  He also figured how how to take a very unbalanced roster and use the abilities of its best players to maximize the abilities of its lesser players.  That's tremendous coaching.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Spo may have LeBron, but as 2011 showed us, that means nothing if LeBron's not in a position to succeed. Spo may have fallen into small ball by accident, but nevertheless it was his willingness to embrace it that has led the Heat to two straight titles. LeBron surrounded by four shooters is unstoppable.

[Syzzle]

https://socialnewsdaily.com/39404/dwight-howard-cheating-on-gf-with-teenager-incriminating-photos-circulate-on-twitter/

I wonder if Dwight could go 1 off season without being an idiot (If this turns out to be true)

[ReaPsTA]

One of my favorite Twitter feeds is @NBARefStats.  Here's tonight's tweet:

Marc Davis officiating #NBAFinals Game 1
w/Davis:
#Spurs haven't lost a playoff game in over 6 years (7 straight wins)
#Heat 0-2 in Finals

I guess yay for the Spurs?

[ReaPsTA]

From a drama standpoint, this series already has last year's finals beat.

The heat didn't make the Heat pack it in before the game was over or the Spurs go on an offensive rally.

[Jaq]

I'm gonna love sports journalism over last night's game.

Because half of them are going to ignore the fact the Spurs played in the same damn hot as fuck building and say that's the only reason the Heat lost...and the other half will say "Lebron thinks he's better than Jordan? Jordan would've finished that game on one leg, then walked to the Belmont to bet on the horse race on that leg!" 

[King Postwhore]

If Lebron cramps this much in playoff games why the hell is he not getting fluid IV during these games?!  It makes me laugh that you can't keep the best player out there when it matters........IN THE FINALS!!!!

[Nekov]

Gatorade CM for the win