OT: Draymond Green Morticias the Adams Family
According to Mike & Mike on ESPN, the story of the morning is Draymond Green's kick to Steven Adams' nuts last night. (How can that not be the story of pontificators looking to fill air time?)
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:15675967
Apparently, Green had already kicked Adams' ding-a-ling once before in this series. (Oops, I did it again?) That kicking motion last night sure looks unnatural to me. Obviously, I'm not in Draymond's head and can't tell if he was going for the nuts, but it looks to me like he was intentionally trying to kick Adams.
With OKC starting to play like a team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on it and the Warriors down 2-1, a suspension could really put Golden State back up against the wall. It would be a shame for Stephen Curry to lose out like this, but IMO Draymond Green pulled a really boneheaded move. (The Ricochet Dong Punch? Figurative for Literal?)
Should Draymond be suspended for a game? (And feel free to caption the incident.)
this is how that entire athletic department works. when things are going well, it's all "doing things the right way," and grit and blah blah blah. things start to go bad, though, and it's nut-kicking, and tearing helmets off people, and beating up engineers, and press conference crocodile tears over injuries to angry mcsmashyhand.
fuck them all. every last goddamn one of them.
See, when I saw the thread title, my mind went not to the idiosyncracies of Spartan culture, if you will, but to the Addams Family insertion. I just thought that somehow my mental image of Mark Dantonio as a shorter Lurch was coming one step closer to being a real thing. All that we really need now is for him to answer a door one day with this slow, somewhat menacing "You rang?" and the transformation will be complete.
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Sparty's are gonna spart!
He can claim that was unintentional but it appeared to be very intentional. If you watch closely 1) he doesn't even have possession of the ball when he jumps and 2) his jump starts off going straight up then the kicking motion is blatant. At times, I do enjoy watching Dum Dum play 3rd fiddle alongside Curry and Thompson because of his hustle. Last night it was VERY enjoyable to watch him implode after this MSU-esque move. Shortly after, Dum Dum got dunked on by KD and Waiters, blocked by KD, blew an easy lay up, and fouled Westbrook with 1 sec left in the half. Reggie Miller called it an "imbecile foul".
Go OKC!!! I would like to see this...
LeBron is 16-4 lifetime against Durant and 7-0 as a Cav. I think he would very much like to play against KD if given the choice.
Go Cavs!
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/112626/james-durant-almost-…
the Cavs, that's funny.
OKC is a much better matchup for the Cavs than Golden State. .OKC would probably still be favored though
Be careful what you wish for. I'm not a big NBA fan, so most of my comments here are based on what I've heard on the local sports radio here in Oklahoma City.
This is not the same Thunder team of past seasons or even this regular season. Most of the local radio hosts predicted the Thunder to lose to San Antonio in 5 or 6 games.
The bad (regular season and past years):
The Thunder this season led the league in losing games where they had a 5 point or more lead in the 4th quarter. Westbrook was responsible for a lot of that with his playing hero ball. He generally had more turnovers than assists in 4th quarters and jacked up a lot of 3 point shots (which I think he only hits at about a 22% rate). Durant also tended to go hero ball and would throw up shots while double or triple teamed. The Thunder were also horrible at defense, one of the main problems being Westbrook. He had a bunch of triple doubles this season, but some of that was achieved by resting on defense. Game after game, the player he was defending had scoring highs for the season--not that hard to do when you're wide open. His one effort at defense seemed to be the attempt at a steal, which would sometimes work, but more often take him completely out of a play.
The good (this post season);
It could be the change in coaching (Billy Donovan is now OKC's head coach), or it could be Westbrook and Durant have decided they really want a championship, and their old style of play isn't going to get them that, but the Thunder are playing much better now.
One reason is that Westbrook has decided to play defense, and both he and Durant aren't as prone to reverting to hero ball.
Another reason is the emergence of players beyond Durant and Westbrook, most notably Steven Adams. He's a 7 foot tall 22 year old New Zealander who has only played 5 years in the US, three of those in the NBA. He he's athletic and has developed over the last half of the season into a really good NBA center, who is outplaying almost everyone he is matched up against (and also one of the reasons McGary has barely seen the floor for the Thunder this year). There are other role players who have stepped up their games as well.
TL/DR: The Thunder team in the playoffs is much better than the Thunder team of the past.
I think he's more like 6' 9" now.
He's lucky he wasn't ejected from the game. He should be suspended at least one game. If he was gone for the rest of the series, I don't think I'd argue against it.
He's a very good player and one that is enjoyable to watch. But that is weak shit.
Have to do with this?
Whether or not you like or don't like Green, the guy pretty clearly kicked Adams in the nuts. Not sure what your point is?
Eyes are going bad at the age of 30.
Pure dirty cheap shot. Boot his ass out.
Maybe that is taught at the college level (not Green but another big man Nix)
That's why this sounded familiar to me! thanks for posting this.
I remember that being a big deal in that game.
HAHA the floor slapping, perfect MSU gif.
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Wow what a douchebag, I'm surprised he wasn't ejected.
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Kick me in the nuts once, shame on you. Kick me in the nuts twice, ________________.
- won't get kicked again
- shame on you ... really
Others care to fill in the blank?
"you're pretty accurate, mate."
RCMB.
I cannot stand Draymond Green and as a die-hard Cavs fan would MUCH rather face OKC than the Warriors in the finals BUT I do think he was just "selling the foul" rather than trying to kick Adams in the balls.
He was mad he didn't get the call at first, and that leg completely elevated up. He knew EXACTLY what he was doing and where that leg was headed.
Especially since the Cavs had Dahtnay Jones suspended for game 4 of our series for a MUCH lesser offense IMO.
Let's see if the NBA has the "balls" (so to speak) to apply equal punishment for the same crime. I'm betting they won't. They desparately want a Warriors/Cavs rematch.
I've always been in the mindset that you call the game the same, no matter who, no matter when. I get tired of hearing when people say, "He's been a superstar for 10 years, he's earned the calls." WHY?? Why are you changing the rules to make some players more invincible?
If you suspend someone in game 2 of the regular season for the same thing they did in game 5 of the finals, BE CONSISTENT! Yes, Green deserves a suspension. He kicked the guy in the nuts, and to this old guy (30), it's fairly obvious.
In your opinion, if this was game 12 of the regular season?
I think he'll probably be suspended now and he'd likely be suspended in the regular season as well. It looked bad regardless of his intention. And as much as they don't want to discipline based on past behavior, the techs and his aggresiveness are hard to ignore.
Still, my personal opinion is that he intended to kick his leg out to try to draw the foul and was just too aggressive with it. So close to the basket too, Adams was in close to him and I think it just landed right on the money. Knowing Draymond's game, I think he was trying to draw the foul on the shot when he lost it a bit but it was a little delayed...almost like an aggressive version of a poorly executed flop except the opposite where he's actually trying to create the foul instead of flopping back. Just did it a little delayed and way too aggressively and he happened to connect.
But again, that's just my opinion (man), and I think he'll likely get a suspension, which is a bummer because I'd love to see these two teams go at it at full strength.
I'm tired of Draymond. He's not a max contract player, but he talks like he is one. I just love that the kick was used as the game changing moment of the night. Maybe he'll keep his mouth shut for the rest of this series.
He's one of Tom Izzo's weird guys... Not in the sense of an end-of-the-bench type wierd guy, but really truely weird. He's also an asshole. Yeah, he's a talented basketball player but there are many of those in the NBA. His constant shenanigans and screaming at others, kicking them in the sack and being a general douche are tiresome. I actually hate watching him play.
he is an easy guy to dislike.
sad for warriors who are otherwise a really fun team.
But I'm just tired of it all. ESPN have a separate page that's "Nothing but Curry." Can't survive a sports day without hearing about him.
I dislike the Thunder because they lead guys are very abrasive. So either way I'm not excited about who comes out of the West. But after the slurpe-fest of the regular season, I'd get some joy out of seeing the Warriors not make the finals.
A couple of things:
1. Definitely intentional.
2. He will be suspended. But if Dahntay Jones wasn't suspended for essentially the same thing, he wouldn't have been.
3. I haaaaaaaate how Draymond Green acts like he's a star on that team. He's a good role player at best. The equivelent of J.R. Smith on the Cavs. But he talks and acts like he's the man.
4. The Cavs matchup so much better against OKC. So.... Go OKC.
The Cavs have done well versus the Thunder recently, but I'd be careful in what you wish for. The Thunder seem to be playing inspired ball these days while the Warriors look vulnerable at best. Most people thought SAS would breeze past the Thunder last round and then they woke up. Also, CLE needs to beat Toronto still - this series is not an afterthought anymore.