[NBA Playoffs] Conference Finals open thread

[Bricklayer]

Yeah, as it turns out Delly's been catching a lot of heat he didn't deserve on that one. Was Horford pretty much start to finish:

But you could tell from the Hawks' comments that ironically the Korver thing was very much on their minds, and it might easily have helped Horford do the big stupid here. So in back to back games they lose Korver to Delly, and then Horford to Delly as he tries to retaliate for the first loss. They played hard to get to overtime, so that's something. But still this playoffs, and this ECF have just been one long learning experience for that team.

 

[Bballkingsrock]

Nice find. He has been in some controversy with Taj and Kyle so TNT trying to make drama....as usual.

 

[HndsmCelt]

To me it's a team culture thing. With so many of their starters out Clevlan's roll players have been uber-agressive and maybe over the line physically in order to gain another edge. Its not just Delie, look at the way they targeted and went after Crowder in the Boston series. There is a line between play off ball and thuggery. I am not saying they have hit the Lambier and Mahorn level by any means but their support guys seem to have no problem with laying on the hurt.

If I were GSW Id be taking notes and precautions, I would not trust Curry's ankles or knees to Cleveland's sportsmanship.

 

[kingsboi]

45 point first quarter for Houston...I guess when you got it going you got it going. One of those games, or maybe it's just a quarter and Warriors make a comeback.

 

[PurpleHaze]

45 point first quarter for Houston...I guess when you got it going you got it going. One of those games, or maybe it's just a quarter and Warriors make a comeback.

Jason Terry said yesterday Rockets needed to win a quarter before they could think about winning a game. Well, they've sure done that for a change and how.

 

[206Fan]

I hope Curry is ok. That's a nasty crapty fall.

 

[Sac.Kings]

Agreed def a nasty spill. Fell on his R shoulder too. After the head examination that should be next. Hopefully all is intact.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Wow, that was horrible nasty spill by Curry. But he has only himself to blame playing out of control with no regard to life or limb. Was basically meaningless play that he had no business trying to defend under hoop at least like that against Ariza. Plus, up 3-0 the game is not THAT crucial. Kid still has lot to learn about NBA survival common sense to avoid injury to his very slight frame.

 

[PurpleHaze]

NBA court is 94 ft. How long was that shot swished by Hardin? 85 ft? I know it did not count launched about .02 late - but still.

 

[Bricklayer]

Wow, that was horrible nasty spill by Curry. But he has only himself to blame playing out of control with no regard to life or limb. Was basically meaningless play that he had no business trying to defend under hoop at least like that against Ariza. Plus, up 3-0 the game is not THAT crucial. Kid still has lot to learn about NBA survival common sense to avoid injury to his very slight frame.

Somehow I don't think a thicker build is going to protect you in that sort of spill. In fact it might just up the odds you break something with all that mass coming down. Which is where the wisdom of guys like Vlade or Andre Miller kick in. They could play forever and never get hurt because they never leapt off the ground to put themselves at risk.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Good suggestion by JVG to leave judging tech 1 and 2 up to sideline official presumably sitting on press row. Entire charade of the three refs first having to turn 32 inch TV monitor around and then stare sometimes endlessly at it is just stupid. The back to Secaucus NJ is not much better either on many reviews. Somehow NBA has to clean up their mess and JVG made good suggestion.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Has something got into Curry's head - literally? I don't recall ever seeing him shoot air ball in NBA or at Davidson. Seen Clay shoot a few, not many but not Steph. Maybe Ws are rushing Curry back to soon and don't really need to for this game.

 

[captain bill]

To me it's a team culture thing. With so many of their starters out Clevlan's roll players have been uber-agressive and maybe over the line physically in order to gain another edge. Its not just Delie, look at the way they targeted and went after Crowder in the Boston series. There is a line between play off ball and thuggery. I am not saying they have hit the Lambier and Mahorn level by any means but their support guys seem to have no problem with laying on the hurt.

If I were GSW Id be taking notes and precautions, I would not trust Curry's ankles or knees to Cleveland's sportsmanship.

Dude the hits on Crowder were bad but you can't say something like that and leave out the part that those hits came within the same game of a Celtics player committing the basketball equivalent of first degree murder against the Cavs 2nd best player.

The Cavs are clearly a team that don't take s*** and will fight you back if you come after them, but I haven't seen them start anything this postseason. I honestly think Ws-Cavs would be a drama-free series.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Dude the hits on Crowder were bad but you can't say something like that and leave out the part that those hits came within the same game of a Celtics player committing the basketball equivalent of first degree murder against the Cavs 2nd best player.

The Cavs are clearly a team that don't take s*** and will fight you back if you come after them, but I haven't seen them start anything this postseason. I honestly think Ws-Cavs would be a drama-free series.

You seem to forget that all Crowder did was talk some trash off court. I fail to see how Kelly's arm jerk on Love required that 2 of the Caves intentionally lay out Crowder.... but I digress. My main point was that weather or not we see the Caves as dirty or not they are playing super hard borderline hazardous. You may be right that with the Warriors the Cavs will play squeaky clean... we will see.

 

[rainmaker]

Every time Steve Javie talks, I again recognize just how bad NBA refs are and how there's such a culture of excusing inconsistency around them.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

On a somewhat related note, I'd prefer to follow the story/journey about how DeMarcus Cousins and co. fought and struggled for a championship rather than trade for some randoms to get the Kings a win. It seems more emotional and more satisfying to win with an identity.

WRT the portion in blue, I already sat through one of those, and it didn't work out the way we wanted it to. Now, I just want to win. WRT the portion in red, those two things are not mutually exclusive.

 

[captain bill]

You seem to forget that all Crowder did was talk some trash off court. I fail to see how Kelly's arm jerk on Love required that 2 of the Caves intentionally lay out Crowder.... but I digress. My main point was that weather or not we see the Caves as dirty or not they are playing super hard borderline hazardous. You may be right that with the Warriors the Cavs will play squeaky clean... we will see.

The Cavs were rightly looking for blood after what Olynyk did what is probably the most bush league thing I have ever seen in pro sports. Brad Stevens didn't let Olynyk back on the floor, knowing that he would've only come off it in a body bag.

Does it suck and is it unfair for Crowder? Absolutely. But you can't use that to say the Cavs are a dirty team. The Celtics got cute trying to bully a vastly superior team that was in the process of sweeping their butts out of the first round. Cavs were having none of it and put them in their place hard.

Welcome to the NBA playoffs.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

... They are playing the Hawks, who were media sweethearts throughout the season, at the ECF. Atlanta's roster has 4 all-stars (Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford) and they are coached by the newly decorated COY (Mike Budenholzer). They finished #1 in the East. Yet the Cavs are leading this series 3-0, after beating Atlanta twice on the road, and have a chance to sweep them at home on Tuesday...

Media sweethearts? You and I clearly have not been exposed to the same kind of media.

 

[lawlman91]

WRT the portion in red, those two things are not mutually exclusive.

Just stating how I would, not how others would, feel about the Kings winning with randoms. Personally, the two are related because I place a lot of value on loyalty and continuity to a fault.

 

[mac]

Wow, that was horrible nasty spill by Curry. But he has only himself to blame playing out of control with no regard to life or limb. Was basically meaningless play that he had no business trying to defend under hoop at least like that against Ariza. Plus, up 3-0 the game is not THAT crucial. Kid still has lot to learn about NBA survival common sense to avoid injury to his very slight frame.

vs

Curry is the most rested superstar in this league, he pretty much didn't play fourth quarters all regular season. so him playing a lot in the playoffs shouldn't be too much of a problem. plus, he's not doing as many of the things that ordinarily get you hurt (finish around the rim with contact, go for contested rebounds, hustle for loose balls). he has had ankle problems in his first few years, but right now, of the superstar guys, he's the most likely to stick around injury free, imo.

Haha ...

 

[HndsmCelt]

The Cavs were rightly looking for blood after what Olynyk did what is probably the most bush league thing I have ever seen in pro sports. Brad Stevens didn't let Olynyk back on the floor, knowing that he would've only come off it in a body bag.

Does it suck and is it unfair for Crowder? Absolutely. But you can't use that to say the Cavs are a dirty team. The Celtics got cute trying to bully a vastly superior team that was in the process of sweeping their butts out of the first round. Cavs were having none of it and put them in their place hard.

Welcome to the NBA playoffs.

I defy you find any place where I said "the Cavs are a dirty team." More to the point I have simply pointed out a pattern of play that many people only want to discuss episodically... but you imply that the Cavs are simply a tough team that will not be bullied but acknowledge that the TEAM made a conscious decision to not just lay on hard fouls but to try and hurt another player because the guy they would like to put in a body bag was unavailable, then writing it off to "play off Basketball. Yet some how in a previous post you assert that for the Warriors to be prepared for a level of physical play that goes beyond what they have seen so far is not necessary because you don't expect any "drama."

The truth is that "dirty play" is NOT a black and white thing: that is simply a convenient way for lazy minds to see the game. There is a continuum of hard physical play ranging from clean hard defense to outright attempts to harm/takeout other players. Each of us watch the play decide for our selves what constitutes "dirty play" and draw a line on that continuum where we feel comfortable. Reggie Miller claims that John Stockton was the dirtist player he ever played against, yet most folks just see him as just a hard nosed defender. But we almost all agree with Bird that Bill Lambier's habit of getting his foot under guys who went up was dirty play that has no place in the league EVEN IN THE PLAY OFFS. Also this does NOT mean that guys that play hard with no regard for other players like a bull in a china shop are not dangerous. Feel free to label the play you see any way you feel comfortable but if you feel you have to defend the Cavs from being called "dirty" to some one who never used the term you might want to ask your self where YOU got it from.

Back on point what I DID say was that if I were Kerr I would be preparing my team for Delly and company and protecting Curry. You disagreed saying you thought it would be a drama free series. If you are right then the series with the Bulls was unique with the leg lock on Taj resulting in his ejection. So was the Boston series... heck Olynyk was begging for Crowder to get leveled twice taking him out. And in another unrelated story Delly takes out Korver, and to at least Horford, he appears to roll up on him. Personally I believe the best predictor of future acts is past performance. You can call the Cav's play what ever you are comfortable with. I just described what I have seen with NO label and expect the guys not named Lebron on the Cavs to bring the hurt literally to the Warriors.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

People are hilarious if they really think Kelly Olynyk purposely ripped Love's shoulder of it's socket

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

The truth is that "dirty play" is NOT a black and white thing: that is simply a convenient way for lazy minds to see the game. There is a continuum of hard physical play ranging from clean hard defense to outright attempts to harm/takeout other players. Each of us watch the play decide for our selves what constitutes "dirty play" and draw a line on that continuum where we feel comfortable. Reggie Miller claims that John Stockton was the dirtist player he ever played against, yet most folks just see him as just a hard nosed defender. But we almost all agree with Bird that Bill Lambier's habit of getting his foot under guys who went up was dirty play that has no place in the league EVEN IN THE PLAY OFFS. Also this does NOT mean that guys that play hard with no regard for other players like a bull in a china shop are not dangerous. Feel free to label the play you see any way you feel comfortable but if you feel you have to defend the Cavs from being called "dirty" to some one who never used the term you might want to ask your self where YOU got it from.

Both of those things can be true, though. You can be a "hard nosed defender," and also be a dirty player. In my experience, whether or not a player is "dirty" boils down to one thing: whether you believe the player when he says, "I was just making a play for the ball; I wasn't trying to hurt anybody." If you believe him, then, as far as you (royal 'you') are concerned, that player is just a tough, hard nosed defender. If you don't believe him, then you think he's dirty. Laimbeer is nearly universally believed to be dirty, and it's because nobody believes him when he says he wasn't trying to hurt anyone.

As for me, I think Dellevadova is dirty, too; I don't actually believe him when he says that he was just going for the ball. YMMV.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

Man, the Hawks are pathetic.

And they show you two important things: Smallball sucks, and you need a bonafide star in the Playoffs

Oh and the regular season means nothing

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

 

[lawlman91]

Man, the Hawks are pathetic.

And they show you two important things: Smallball sucks, and you need a bonafide star in the Playoffs

Oh and the regular season means nothing

Teamwork can get you far, but when plays fall apart, you need a go-to shot creator.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

It's not that lacking a go-to player can't work, it's that lacking a go-to player means that everybody has to be on, all the time. Because lacking a go-to player means that you can't count on any one guy to carry you if you're not on point.

 

[kingsboi]

and that concludes Cleveland's easiest path to the finals they will have in their history.

 

[lawlman91]

Match-ups seem to matter a lot in the playoffs. Anyone knowledgeable willing to share some match-up problems going into the finals?

 

[Albatros]

I can't believe I'm going to have to "cheer" for lebron in a playoff series.

This is going to be hard.