NBA 2011-2012 Thread
- Thread starter JohnBM01
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- a6m5zero
You guys know how ABC/ESPN keeps talking about how after resigning Durant & Westbrook, Thunder won't have enough money to keep guys like Harden?
What do you think are the chances of OKC shopping Westbrook this off-season, and/or at the trade deadline?
What do you think are the chances of OKC shopping Westbrook this off-season, and/or at the trade deadline?
- 38,910
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
They'll probably trade him to the Lakers or the Nets. Can't stand Harden or Westbrook. Harden's beard is so nasty and so ugly. He looks like a moron. And Westbrook looks like some kind of gargoyle that fell off of Hogwarts. It's difficult to look at them.
- 9,053
- Murica
- BasedAckbar
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- a6m5zero
AK 47 would look right at home, resting under that ginormous beard of his. 
Yeah, both great players, but if they were smaller than me, I'd want to punch them in their faces. But they are not smaller than me. I wouldn't punch Christina Bosh, because she's a girl.
Edit: I see Brett's name at the bottom of the page! I take back all my smack talk, except about the ugliest girl playing for the Heat.
Yeah, both great players, but if they were smaller than me, I'd want to punch them in their faces. But they are not smaller than me. I wouldn't punch Christina Bosh, because she's a girl.
Edit: I see Brett's name at the bottom of the page! I take back all my smack talk, except about the ugliest girl playing for the Heat.
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- JMarine25
Ready for some more NBA hoops? OKC at MIA in Game 4 of the NBA Finals tonight. El Heat is 2-1 over the Thunder. Oklahoma City will need to win this game unless they want to try to come back from 3-1 to have any hope of beating the Heat for the title. I also wonder if foul trouble will play a factor.
Again- Game 4 tonight!
Again- Game 4 tonight!
- 9,053
- Murica
- BasedAckbar
OKC did not help themselves with the stupid fouls they kept giving. I seriously think the should insert Derek Fisher in more over Westbrook to calm the guys down.
McLaren
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OKC is not ready for the Finals anymore. You can win all the games in a season, & plow through the Playoffs & Conference Finals. But, these last 2 games have showed OKC's inexperience & how the simplest act can change the outcome.
And that has happened twice now. Flopper Harden gave away any chance to LeBron in the last game, and Hot & Cold Westbrook just pissed it away to Chalmers. So, what happens Thursday? OKC scores one in their own basket?
And that has happened twice now. Flopper Harden gave away any chance to LeBron in the last game, and Hot & Cold Westbrook just pissed it away to Chalmers. So, what happens Thursday? OKC scores one in their own basket?
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- Orbital_Goat
The Hornets have traded Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza to The Wizards , for Rashard Lewis and a 2nd round pick.
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- a6m5zero
goat: Whoa, can they do that? I didn't know that trades could be executed before the end of the Finals. 
Maybe I just never took notice before. Crazy.
Mac: On the OKC choking, I wouldn't call it inexperience on OKC. Not at all. Way I see it, this is exactly why Miami's Super Friends thing was such a shock. With the team they assembled, only team that could defeat the Heat was the Heat themselves.
Everybody I know raved San Antonio. Not taking shots at you, but from the pros to my peeps IRL, amongst them, I was one of the very few who didn't like the Spurs' chances. Game 3, OKC turned it on. The very experienced & red hot Spurs, who continued to put on their basketball clinic through the Game 2, they got shut down. Game 3 on, anybody could tell that they went from Spurs basketball to Thunder basketball. Once you make the other team play your style of ball, the one you are good at, you got it in the bag.
Heat may have sucked until now, but I've maintained all along that, if Miami played to their potential(or close to it), it's game over for damn near any team in existence. OKC would have beaten the first, second, probably third round(in the Playoffs) Miami Heat handily, but even they don't have enough talent on that team to match up with Heat playing to their ability.
Maybe I just never took notice before. Crazy.Mac: On the OKC choking, I wouldn't call it inexperience on OKC. Not at all. Way I see it, this is exactly why Miami's Super Friends thing was such a shock. With the team they assembled, only team that could defeat the Heat was the Heat themselves.
Everybody I know raved San Antonio. Not taking shots at you, but from the pros to my peeps IRL, amongst them, I was one of the very few who didn't like the Spurs' chances. Game 3, OKC turned it on. The very experienced & red hot Spurs, who continued to put on their basketball clinic through the Game 2, they got shut down. Game 3 on, anybody could tell that they went from Spurs basketball to Thunder basketball. Once you make the other team play your style of ball, the one you are good at, you got it in the bag.
Heat may have sucked until now, but I've maintained all along that, if Miami played to their potential(or close to it), it's game over for damn near any team in existence. OKC would have beaten the first, second, probably third round(in the Playoffs) Miami Heat handily, but even they don't have enough talent on that team to match up with Heat playing to their ability.
McLaren
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- Texas
You're right, inexperience may not be the word to call it. But, when you make the poor, critical moment plays that Harden & Westbrook did, they certainly made it that much "harder" for the Heat to even think of falling apart. The rest of the team did not show up & Perkins looked like a blabbing idiot for mocking James & Brooks.
I call that nerves, & I stand by my opinion that the Thunder team are just not mentally ready for the Finals. They've realized they are a now a step beyond from where they were last year. But unlike the Mavs who moved past them, they've never been on this stage before, they've never had a setting like this. The Finals are not just another game for OKC to play. The Finals are almost like a story-book tale when you have the right teams playing for 1 last chance. My Mavs took it as their roster's last time ever being there together, for Kidd, Terry, & Nowitzki to finally clench a title.
And for this year, it was what made the ECF run to a 7 Game series.
The Celtics had their Big 4 together for one last year to win another Championship & all 4 won a Championship together, so they knew exactly what they expected of each other. I know I said the Spurs veterans would take OKC, but I ended up being wrong; their age wasn't quick enough. The Celtics though had both. Even Garnett at 36 uses his smaller-than-usual size for a Center to get around other Centers. Miami saw this year's Finals as a comeback from last year & for James to finally put an end to his critics. And in the end, James wanted it more. The story book-like tales are what drives the teams because they know what gets put on the line. It really gives them something to play for. We read about it in NBA articles every year during these times.
Now, what does OKC have to play for besides a trophy? They've never been here before. They've never had a moment where everything seemed to be going for them & then fell apart. The closest they had for a reason to return here was getting knocked out in 5 games by Dallas in the WCF. And now that they've overcome that, they've found themselves in a position where their first ever Finals debut would come against 2 possible teams that seemed to have even bigger reasons for being there.
Quite frankly, they might have been possibly screwed before the Finals even started because both the Celtics or the Heat would come out with that last-effort goal in mind. Sure, they took Game 1, but that's all about finding out how your opponent works. And as soon as you do, you have to learn how to adjust each & every game because it's going to get more physical & more meaningful, so players are going to take bigger risks.
And this is where the Thunder don't know what to do. Durant tried to play more aggressively, but the veteran James knowing what was on the line, adjusted better & used Durant's aggressiveness to draw fouls. And Harden, well, his nerves are shot & his decision to take big risks at trying to draw a foul off James cost him when the refs caught the flop. As for Westbrook, he's a dangerous player for both teams. His hot/cold streak can be a make or break for his team. And last night, it was a marvelous effort. But, he made a rookie mistake at the end.
All it takes is 1 play in the Finals to seal a win. There are no other games to make up for it in the Finals because the opposing team will not let you; they know how your team ticks now. And the young Thunder having never been here, don't know that til' now. Will the Thunder know this next year? Yeah. Will they use it as their own "story book-tale" in the Finals? Probably. But, they'll have to get there first & that means another season & another 3 teams with goals of their own standing in the way.
I agree completely. Miami know what's on the line for them, & they know to achieve it, they have to do as you said; play to their potential.
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- a6m5zero
Great point on Game 1. As a Blazer fan, I am painfully aware of the critical need to adapt. Obviously, my team sucks at this. 
I do understand what you are saying about OKC being new to the "Finals" stage. I however still see OKC just losing against a better team. I'm just not able to ignore how Spurs totally dominated OKC, yet, OKC calmly turned the table on them. Yeah, Spurs were old, but come on!
At work this morning, the talk was about the mistakes Thunder made in the game towards the end. Since the Game 4 was cable-only, I didn't bother watching it last night. But after seeing the box, I was amazed how no one blamed the Thunder roster, excluding couple of players, of course. People often focus and magnify handful of mistakes made during the game. Again, I didn't watch it, but the numbers tell me that they lost this game because their roster was shutdown.
Looking at the Westbrook's number last night, I suspicion that Heat let Thunder try to beat them with one, maybe two players. Alienating the rest of the team. It's a fairly popular defensive scheme as you know. I wish I could have watched it, because the box was fascinating.
While I begrudgingly root for the Heat, I am sorry that Spoelstra will now not be available this off-season. It was a long shot anyway, but if I was the Blazers owner Paul Allen, I'd have waited until around the draft, then negotiated Spoelstra off Miami's hands. Pat Riley saves face, not having to actually fire the coach the fans & media will demand that he fire........ but looks like Heat will win.
P.S. I tried looking up the info on the Hornets/Wizards trade. Not one of them touch on how this trade took place, while there are couple of teams still playing!
If my memory serves, I think the first trade after the February trade deadline is during the draft? WTF, I'm really confused.
I do understand what you are saying about OKC being new to the "Finals" stage. I however still see OKC just losing against a better team. I'm just not able to ignore how Spurs totally dominated OKC, yet, OKC calmly turned the table on them. Yeah, Spurs were old, but come on!
At work this morning, the talk was about the mistakes Thunder made in the game towards the end. Since the Game 4 was cable-only, I didn't bother watching it last night. But after seeing the box, I was amazed how no one blamed the Thunder roster, excluding couple of players, of course. People often focus and magnify handful of mistakes made during the game. Again, I didn't watch it, but the numbers tell me that they lost this game because their roster was shutdown.
Looking at the Westbrook's number last night, I suspicion that Heat let Thunder try to beat them with one, maybe two players. Alienating the rest of the team. It's a fairly popular defensive scheme as you know. I wish I could have watched it, because the box was fascinating.
While I begrudgingly root for the Heat, I am sorry that Spoelstra will now not be available this off-season. It was a long shot anyway, but if I was the Blazers owner Paul Allen, I'd have waited until around the draft, then negotiated Spoelstra off Miami's hands. Pat Riley saves face, not having to actually fire the coach the fans & media will demand that he fire........ but looks like Heat will win.
P.S. I tried looking up the info on the Hornets/Wizards trade. Not one of them touch on how this trade took place, while there are couple of teams still playing!
If my memory serves, I think the first trade after the February trade deadline is during the draft? WTF, I'm really confused.
- 8,628
- Oklahoma
I do understand what you are saying about OKC being new to the "Finals" stage. I however still see OKC just losing against a better team. I'm just not able to ignore how Spurs totally dominated OKC, yet, OKC calmly turned the table on them. Yeah, Spurs were old, but come on!
At work this morning, the talk was about the mistakes Thunder made in the game towards the end. Since the Game 4 was cable-only, I didn't bother watching it last night. But after seeing the box, I was amazed how no one blamed the Thunder roster, excluding couple of players, of course. People often focus and magnify handful of mistakes made during the game. Again, I didn't watch it, but the numbers tell me that they lost this game because their roster was shutdown.
Looking at the Westbrook's number last night, I suspicion that Heat let Thunder try to beat them with one, maybe two players. Alienating the rest of the team. It's a fairly popular defensive scheme as you know. I wish I could have watched it, because the box was fascinating.
Game 4 was not cable only. Every Finals game has been on ABC. Tonight's game will be on ABC. If the Thunder manage to play their game--it does not seem likely since they cannot put a full game, other than Game 1, together in the Finals--then Game 6 will be on ABC.
It has been frustrating to watch the team struggle because the team as a whole have not risen to the occasion. But the NBA is a league in which teams have to take their lumps to get to championships. Three years ago, it was having an awful record, but being very competitive and losing many games by low single digits. Two years ago, it was making the playoffs and putting a scare into the Lakers in Round 1. Last year, it was making the Western Conference Finals and losing to the eventual Champions. This year, it is/was making the NBA Finals.
The series has come down completely to the players after the top two for each team. Durant/Westbrook and James/Wade have all but cancelled each other out. The number three guy to whatever number that has played has been better for Miami. The Thunder have been pretty much awful other than Durant and Westbrook.
The Heat have been very good in this series, but they have been quite beatable. More than anything, OKC has dug their own grave. Game 2 was pretty much over in the first quarter when the Thunder put themselves in such a huge hole and had to try and dig out of said hole. Game 3 was horrific free throw shooting; the Thunder led the league in free throw percentage as a team. Game 4 was no one showing up to play other than Durant and Westbrook.
Though, this series has not been as lopsided as the 3-1 record shows. The games have ended up being very close with Miami making just a few more plays overall. Making those few more plays are what make the difference in the NBA Finals.
While I begrudgingly root for the Heat, I am sorry that Spoelstra will now not be available this off-season. It was a long shot anyway, but if I was the Blazers owner Paul Allen, I'd have waited until around the draft, then negotiated Spoelstra off Miami's hands. Pat Riley saves face, not having to actually fire the coach the fans & media will demand that he fire........ but looks like Heat will win.
Then why root for either team? Last year, I did not root for either team; though, I maybe had a very slight pull towards Dallas, but that pull was not enough to have any real rooting interest in their outcome. Instead, I was pulling for a fantastic series, with hopefully awesome individual performances. Dirk completely rose to the occasion and was incredible to watch in the Finals. It was an all time great performance by a player in the NBA Finals. His one legged fadeaway is a shot that I will never forget because he was making the shot nearly every time he took it and that shot is impossible to defend if he is making it.
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