OT: NBA Playoffs Heat vs. Pacers and Clippers vs Spurs 05-17-12

Submitted by Blue boy johnson on

Would love to see Pacers go up 2-1 on Heat. Heat have serious match-up issue with Hibbert and Paul George is an exciting young player for the Pacers. Indiana taking it to the Heat at the moment.

Next: Hope to see Clippers and my boy Blake Griffin even up series with Spurs.

Blue boy johnson

May 17th, 2012 at 9:06 PM ^

I see the point guards in this game; Norris Cole, Darren Collison, Mario Chalmers, George Hill and see no reason why Trey Burke can't have a successful career in the NBA

WMUgoblue

May 17th, 2012 at 9:11 PM ^

Go Pacers, and Go Spurs! Take that big market franchises.



P.S. does Hubie Brown ever shutup? He has a 20 second ramble after every play.

BursleysFinest

May 17th, 2012 at 9:24 PM ^

  He definitely will make some noise in the NBA, but (and lucky for us) he needs the college experience to prove that to NBA GMs who have fallen in love with 6'8" athletes who have great "length" and "upside" yet no actual basketball skill

EDIT: Sorry, This was supposed to be in reply to the PG comment above

BursleysFinest

May 17th, 2012 at 9:17 PM ^

 

  I love watching Hubie Brown do any game, he points out the simple intricacies of the game with style, and at least 1 or 2 times a game will drop some knowledge that will have you re-evaluate the whole Game (in a good way)

hart20

May 18th, 2012 at 3:19 AM ^

It doesn't matter what he could be doing, it's what he's actually doing that counts. I agree, Blake Griffin is oozing potential and if he can add some length and versatility to his game, he could be something special. But the ifs are some big ones.

Needs

May 18th, 2012 at 9:57 AM ^

It is what he's doing that counts. And what he's doing is averaging 20 and 10, which puts him on a level of the best power forwards, at least statistically, in the game. 

Subjectively, I'd put him clearly behind...

Kevin Love

Duncan (who really plays more as a center, but always gets listed as a pf, and clearly can still bring it when he needs to)

Gasol, and

Dirk

But there, you're talking about perhaps the two best power forwards ever, two of the best post players in the NBA, and a guy who went 26-13 this year.

Griffin's at the head of the next tier. It's not easy to average 20 and 10, or a lot more players would do it.

And you're certainly right about his potential. He's more mobile and athletic than any of those guys above. He has the potential to have a career trajectory like Karl Malone, who was mainly, in his first two years, an athletic guy who got most of his points as a finisher and then, between his 2nd and 3rd year, developed a reliable jump shot and became, with the help of a great point guard, one of the best 2 power forwards in the league (he and Barkely). That's certainly not guaranteed to happen, but it is possible if he puts in the work on his 18 foot jumper this summer. His great advantage is that he'll be playing for the foreseeable future with the best point in the NBA, so he'll get lots of open looks. 

He's looked pretty bad this series, as have the Clippers, but he's probably about 60% healthy with his knee.

 

Blue boy johnson

May 17th, 2012 at 10:39 PM ^

For me it gets a little tiring and little simplistic when a player  gets criticized and marginalized for what he can't do. What is more important than pointing out inevitable flaws in someone's game is understanding what makes them valuable, what they CAN do. I think this distinction is a primary difference between coaches and fans. A coaches job is to put players in position to succeed and take advantages of strengths. An adversarial fans main motivation is to point out flaws in a players game and overlook his strengths.

OmarDontScare

May 17th, 2012 at 9:26 PM ^

Anyone else find Dwayne Wade incredibly annoying? He's a huge baby. When he can't jump into people, fall down and get the call he's very ineffective.

OmarDontScare

May 17th, 2012 at 9:47 PM ^

I respect that and admit my bias as a Pistons fan (going back to '05). But I really feel he's built his career on deceiving officials (falling down all the time) and living off an undeserved rep. Yes, he's a great athlete but he is selfish and has a poor basketball IQ. Deep down he knows how much better LeBron is and I think he's having a difficult time coping with that. /rant over

ChiCityWolverine

May 17th, 2012 at 10:22 PM ^

Calling Wade selfish is absolutely ridiculous. Do you understand how much he's given up these last two years? He's the best shot-blocking guard of all time, an excellent free safety/center fielder off the ball on defense, and is unbelievable finishing at rim at 6'4'' amongst guys 6'10'' and taller.

Bottom line is he had an awful game and lost his head in frustration. You don't have to like every player, whether its for rational or irrational reasons. But don't disrespect him like that when he hits rock bottom.

OmarDontScare

May 17th, 2012 at 10:50 PM ^

He is one of the all time worst floppers in the history of the NBA. Go to YouTube and type in Dwayne Wade flop-there are countless examples. Here is one of my favorites - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFA5vSjvzGk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Also, go look at some of the stories from the NBA Finals vs Dallas in 2006. You'll see where this dislike came from.

OmarDontScare

May 17th, 2012 at 11:16 PM ^

Yeah that was an interesting take by Wade. It's not so much that I "hate" Wade, it's really more about that I hate entitlement and I feel like the NBA has consciously contributed to this sense of entitlement with many of their "popular" players.

I personally feel that Wade has been the greatest beneficiary and it just rubs me the wrong way. He is not one of the most talented players in the NBA but he has been portrayed as such for so long that people just accept it as fact. He is a tremendous athlete just not a great, natural bball player.

ChiCityWolverine

May 17th, 2012 at 11:25 PM ^

You obviously never really watched Dwyane play more than a handful of games on national tv. I guess guys like Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook are overrated too because they're so athletic. Who do you think is so superior to him? What is a "natural bball player"? I guess if Dwyane were slower and just took jump shots he'd be more "natural" to you.

OmarDontScare

May 17th, 2012 at 11:40 PM ^

Its nothing personal against your team man. I think LeBron is one of the best players to ever live. I loved the Brian Grants, Lamar Odoms, Dan Majerles and Shaqs of the past Heat teams.

I just don't have much respect for DWade. I think he's a product of media infatuation and he's realized what a real NBA superstar is while playing with Bron the past couple years. I'm not trying to piss you off on purpose - I've felt like this ever since the first time I saw him in the playoffs in '04

ChiCityWolverine

May 18th, 2012 at 12:24 AM ^

You can complain about flops and refs all you want (believe me, I wasn't pleased with them tonight), but Wade is a fearless guard whose inside game at his height is unprecedented. I suppose you prefer watching inefficient jump shooting scorers or big guys whose main asset is just their size over watching the little guy take it into the paint. I can't think of any star who has been more pleasant to watch grow. It's unfortunate how much LeBron and the last two years have messed with people's perception of Dwyane.

Needs

May 17th, 2012 at 9:47 PM ^

Listen and you can hear the NBA headquarters quaking with fear over a potential Spurs-Pacers finals.

If it gets close to that, I expect to see officiating crews of Bennett Salvatore, Dick Bavetta, and a surprisingly reinstated Tim Donoughy working every game.

mGrowOld

May 17th, 2012 at 9:48 PM ^

Cavs season ticket holder hear.  Cannot stop laughing.........

God I love it when the Miami Heat loses.  Especially when it's against a team that plays like an actual team.

DertyDoc

May 17th, 2012 at 10:05 PM ^

Stonum just tweeted that he just graduated and is getting ready to play his last year of college ball. Commence arguing about character, rejoicing, speculation and everything else. Go!

mGrowOld

May 17th, 2012 at 10:12 PM ^

I'm sorry but every fiber of my being roots for these a-holes to get beat.  If they want to play together like the new Superfriends club so be it.  But to have the audacity to hold a victory party BEFORE they had an actual victory....especially after that flaming douche bag from hell LeBron's "decision" on ESPN absolutely grinds every bit of my Mgrowold body.

k

Two words.  FUCK THEM.

mGrowOld

May 17th, 2012 at 10:37 PM ^

Oh really?  Please point me in the direction of the other celebrations held for the benefit of the fans of players moving to new teams.  I'm pretty sure you'll have a challenge finding ANYTHING resembling the hubris of the Heat post free agent signing.

Being a jilted a Cavs fan I may hold more anomosity than the average fan but the reality is EVERYBODY hates those assholes.  LeBron's Q rating went from a positive 83 to a negative 73 overnight and there aren't enough Cleveland fans to move the needle that far. PTI did a segment tonight on which would be more interesting for the NBA - the Heat winning it all or the Heat losing it all.  Consensus was losing.

ChiCityWolverine

May 17th, 2012 at 11:28 PM ^

Well this is the first of your comments that didn't quickly piss me off. The perception of him as soft in the clutch and lacking a killer mentality is impossible to argue against at this point, even for a Heat fan. I have no arguments here.

Needs

May 17th, 2012 at 11:28 PM ^

I get frustrated with the way he plays, particularly that he's only just started to develop a post game. He's virtually unstoppable in the open court, but too much of his half court game (which is where close games get decided in the playoffs) consists of him standing around on the perimeter and settling for long jumpers.

I've long thought that there's no one that could guard him if he played more in the post. If you put a big on him, he can face him up, a smaller guy, he can back him down. 

Roachgoblue

May 18th, 2012 at 8:26 AM ^

New York definitely would not have gave this asshat such an idiotic celebration. I hate New York sports teams, but they do have class. The Heat are garbage when it comes to character and class. I hope they never win a title just because of that celebration.