The NFL and NBA thread

[Arturo2nd]

It's not over until its over and we will see how the Rockets respond tonight and what Cleveland does at home. My initial impression is that the Warriors are through screwing around and ready to show Houston how champions play. But the Dubs have been losing focus off and on all year. If I had to read LeBron's mood in the press meeting last night, I would say he knows he's beaten.

J R Smith did his best Matt Barnes thug impersonation last night. He's been killing the Cavs with his crummy offense and weak defense for two years. All he has left his his weak tough guy act. The inner Knick will come out.

Let us remember that Cleveland ranked 29th out of 30 teams during the regular season. They have been improved by a healthy Tristan Thompson and the addition of Larry Nance, Jr and George Hill. Give this team a year to jell and the addition of the #8 pick and they will be a factor next year.

Let us not forget that the Celtics were the #1 defensive team in the league this year. Brad Stevens continues to impress as does Danny Ainge as a talent evaluator.

And in other news, the SCOTUS just fixed the NFL's declining TV ratings. They have also raised the pay of all game officials because the weak link in preventing game fixing is underpaid officials. We will call this Tim Donaghy's revenge.

[ultimatewarlord]

The Cleveland Browns are to be the subject of the next Hard Knocks.

[Arturo2nd]

There is much ado about Charles Barkley's comments during the playoffs. Watching him on Inside the NBA and NBA TV, I keep wondering what the hell Charles Barkley knows about winning NBA titles. He made the finals once in his 16 year NBA career and was crushed by Michael Jordan & company.

Charles was a legendary talent, but not really a team player. He was a notorious defensive slacker. Had he made the commitment to dig deep and sacrifice for his team, he might have a ring. Seeing him spout off to Shaq, who won four titles, and Kenny Smith, who thanks to Hakeem Olajuwon, has two, is a joke. Those guys know what it takes, which is do the hard stuff Charles Barkley wasn't willing to do.

There is also a lot of luck involved. You need outstanding teammates, injury luck, and to be one of those monster teams or to play in the years when there isn't one to win NBA titles. There are a lot of great players in all sports who were just unlucky and some overrated players who were.

[ultimatewarlord]

Terrell Owens has announced that he won't be attending his H.O.F enshrinement. This goes some way to suggesting why there are those who thought that maybe he shouldn't be there immediately.

[tsunamiSD]

Originally Posted by ultimatewarlord

Terrell Owens has announced that he won't be attending his H.O.F enshrinement. This goes some way to suggesting why there are those who thought that maybe he shouldn't be there immediately.

His doing this is exactly the sort of thing that one could expect from a supreme egotist like him - he didn't get elected on the first ballot because he wasn't a 'good team-mate': always complaining, always dissing others, never taking the blame for anything; just a miserable human being. Now the baby is mad that he didn't get in on the first ballot, so he throws a tantrum that shows not respect for his sport or the other players that made it in.



That doesn't say that he doesn't belong in - his athletic skills and work ethic (when it came to his own workouts, learning plays, etc.) were of the highest order.

[maildude]

I'm looking at the post-season stat leaders in the NBA this year. LeBron leads in two offensive categories...taking #1 in overall scoring. No other Cavs are present in any other category...offensive or defensive. For GS, KD is among the offensive leaders, and Green is up there in assists...but no other mentions. What this looks like to me is what everybody knows: LeBron IS the team, and Golden State plays with a lot of weapons and a lot more parity.

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by maildude

I'm looking at the post-season stat leaders in the NBA this year. LeBron leads in two offensive categories...taking #1 in overall scoring. No other Cavs are present in any other category...offensive or defensive. For GS, KD is among the offensive leaders, and Green is up there in assists...but no other mentions. What this looks like to me is what everybody knows: LeBron IS the team, and Golden State plays with a lot of weapons and a lot more parity.

Lebron almost dragged a roster thrown together at the All-Star break to an NBA title. He lucked out that injuries derailed superior teams from Boston and Houston. Unfortunately, during the NBA Finals for the first time all season, the Golden State Warriors got almost their entire squad healthy enough to take the floor.

The Warriors have three players who can suddenly get hot and score 30+ points in a quarter. The team enjoys these shooting displays so much, that they make sure that a hot shooter gets the ball. They also have a team that can hold the strongest of other teams to 20 or less points per quarter when it decides to make the effort to do so.

It must really suck to play a team that can take away your offense, then run down to the other end of the floor to either swish a 30 ft shot, or make a pass to a player flying in for an uncontested dunk.

LeBron really amazed me in these playoffs. I thought both Indiana and Boston had the Cavs beaten. On paper, Toronto wins that series easily. f Cleveland gets lucky in the draft and adds an "A" level player they are a threat.

The Warriors are really, really good. But they have also gotten some very lucky breaks over the past four years.

[tsunamiSD]

As a player on the court, I don't believe that anyone has ever been better than him. A few of the things that he has done concerning basketball off the court I didn't like so much. And one thing that counts against his record in making the finals so often is that all of that time the East has been by far the weaker, making it much easier to get to the finals, and to get there having played fewer games and being better rested for those finals.

[maildude]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...g-possible-nba

Free agency or trade...with a no-trade clause? Like this article says, there are a lot of considerations...especially for his family. But LeBron doesn't want to go to another team where he is the only real standout, and has to become the workhorse again. He doesn't want a team where they still have to build around him just to make the finals. If that is the case, he might as well just stay in Cleveland.

[ultimatewarlord]

Someone explain this to me. NFL.com are reporting that the Buc's Jameis Winston is about to be suspended for several games because he has been alleged to have groped a woman two years ago. No proof. No court case. No conviction. Apart from the fact this is the same gang of bozos who suspended Tom Brady after a multi million dollar farce of a kangaroo court. Am I missing something? Is there more to this than the report has suggested?