Not going to lie, it's games like tonights that make me despise Lebron. Refs S'd his D that entire game. Got away with so much CRAP.
NBA: *** Official 2015 NBA Playoffs Thread ***
- Thread starter CycloneRulzzz
- Start date
I wouldn't blame James for that. The stars get the calls, or non calls. Check the refs for the inconsistent calls tonight.
Butler traveled under the hoop before giving the Bulls the lead. About a min left.
I find this to be a funny take because LeBron has struggled his entire career getting calls because he is so big and strong he can get hacked and you can't tell.
It reminds me of Shaq, although they played different positions they were equally unstoppable physically and just a huge mismatch for every player in the league. Shaq had the issue of being a poor ft shooter, but he may have been even more impossible to stop with actual defense at times.
Did Shaq and does LeBron get fouled harder and more frequently than other players? Yes. Were both players allowed to foul other players at a ridiculous rate especially on offense? Yes.
It's a chicken or the egg thing. If you go against a player who has nothing called, and that player is awesome, at some point the strategy is just 'why not foul him hard as $%$* since he gets every call anyway'.
Basically I agree with you both. He gets away with a ton of undeserved calls in his favor (he clearly fouled on purpose at the end of tonight's game and they still wouldn't whistle him) but he also gets physically abused by opponents because he is unstoppable by conventional D.
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Clippers are now a tested team, they paid their dues and finally won the big coming of age playoff battle. This series would be over already if CP3 were healthy the whole time.
Somebody laughed at me here but I don't see how they weren't the clear favorite remaining the minute they beat SA and Love got hurt. Not saying GS is a pushover, but this Clipper team is getting saltier by the game.
Didn't watch a minute of the second game, and looks like a good choice. The West maybe the better conference, but of the final four teams it's GS and 3 other meh teams that don't do anything for me.
Because Golden St was has been historically great this year. 67-15 in a brutal conference, one of only four teams in the last 25 years with a +10 ppg point differential (the other three all won titles), number one defense in the league. A team like that isn't going to lose their favorite status based on one playoff series.
That was a fun one to watch. Going under on every screen killed Houston in the third and Los Angeles ran away with it. Austin had himself quite the quarter. JJ was left out on three island all by himself quite a bit and he made them pay. It's only one loss and one game behind but Houston can't compete with their lack of effort in nearly every aspect of the game. Fundamentals. The Clippers probably had more offensive boards than the Rockets made free throws.
This was Friday: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...ough-to-pull-out-a-pivotal-win-041035678.html
This was Saturday:http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...-from-hawks-comeback-in-game-3-000909604.html
What the hell is in store for us on Sunday?!
This was Saturday:http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...-from-hawks-comeback-in-game-3-000909604.html
What the hell is in store for us on Sunday?!
Hopefully another win for the good guys. I doubt Gasol plays, but Nikola and Gibson played great on Friday.
I think it's fair to say that LeBron benefits from a LOT less of that than Shaq. Shaq being 7'2 and over 300 lbs.
Of course big time players get calls but they also take the most shots and are the hardest to guard.
Harden gets way, way more calls than LeBron does despite not being to his level of "stardom". It makes sense because while Harden is a great finisher his strength isn't to LeBrons level. And he is amazing at selling contact, probably the best in the NBA. And the refs always buy it.
NBA playoffs is all about paying your dues and taking your licks until you're battle hardened. GSW and Atlanta owned their conferences but are taking their licks now. My Bulls were the best regular season team in '11 (62 wins) and found out about playoff basketball the same way that year. Happens most years to great regular season teams without a recent history of playoff success.
It is also how Harden drives. When he drives he presents the ball out in front of him, enticing defenders to swat at it, then he moves the ball, drawing contact on his arms getting an easy and obvious call. LeBron is more traditional in that he tucks the ball into his body, lowers his head/shoulders on a drive proctecting the ball. So most of the contact against Harden is obvious hacks, and most of the contact on James is harder to officiate body contact.
Harden is one of the best I have ever seen in enticing defenders to foul him, because the ball is such an open target on his drives.
This series is far from over, but Memphis is tough, Conley is one tough dude and him and Allen are making Curry and Thompson work their *** off for any points they get.
I remember somebody (Rhoadhoused) trying to tell me last summer that Memphis was going to be a lottery team this year. Looks like that didn't quite happen.
I've always thought Wade was the most beneficially officiated player I've ever seen (more than LeBron/MJ/Shaq who earned/demanded the calls much more). In his early career the league was looking for a star, LeBron was in Cleveland purgatory, and he got paired with Shaq. His great "shot blocking" ability was just fouling hard with one arm as he blocked a shot with the other, you can look up shot blocking video montages and just watch him foul away. The amount of free throws he shot in that Finals they won (a record 97) almost makes the title illegitimate.
Star players always get some calls, and players do hammer LeBron, but you won't find another player in the NBA who doesn't get whistled when they intentionally foul somebody like LeBron did at the end of game 3.
