Official Miami Heat (4) vs OKC Thunder (1) NBA Finals Thread - Miami Heat NBA Champions

[xtapolapacetl]

Okay, so after you thought you could win this argument by attempting to throw the book at me, saying show me a rule that says a player can't extend his knee, and after I do so and hit you with a cold hard FACT, now you switch it to some "natural motion" bull #@+%. If extending your knee is part of a natural motion, why is there mention of "knee" in the two quotes from the rule book that I posted to begin with?

So Garnett JUMPS from WITHIN the restricted area and clearly HITS Wade on the arm, but it should be an OFFENSIVE foul because Wade had his leg outstretched, while Battier STANDS clearly OUTSIDE of the restricted area and Durant with an extended knee is still able to get a perfectly good shot off just like with the LeBron "foul" at the very end, but in this case it's a BLOCKING foul.

And by the way, after I watched the replay several times, Durant may have let go of the ball before any contact was made Battier at all. So another possibility is that it could've been a no-call. And after the play continued, Mario Chalmers ended up grabbing the rebound and it would've been Heat ball. It should've been a charge and the 6th foul on Durant. It could've been a no-call. But noooo, it was a blocking foul and in the end 2 points for the Thunder.

Yeah, you're a "Lakers" fan all right and completely objective when it comes to discussing Kobe, since he's part of the "Lakers", the team you root for. You'd do anything for your "Lakers", even root for the Celtics two playoffs in a row. Not to mention those Cavs-Celtics series. You would gladly choose the possibility of the Celtics having 20-21 championships compared to the Lakers 16 right about now than the thought of LeBron having a single ring.

 

[mez 0ne]

The power of the NBA refs, it was disgusting.

KD's first two fouls were not even fouls, so when a player actually ends up committing a 3rd foul in the first half, he has to sit the rest of the way. He started the 3rd quarter and once he gets his 4th foul he has to sit until the 4th......pretty much played the entire final quarter with 5 fouls and finally was able to get into a rhythm. Doesn't surprise me how these refs just influence a game from the start, esp since they make 5 figures per game (why would they want a sweep)? They'll probably put Lebron in foul trouble early next game

...and Magic is a moron, Westbrook is basically learning how to play PG on the job, missed a LOT of gimme's in the first half, in the 2nd half those shots/layups happened to drop. "He was playing out of control".....yet had two turnovers.

The game was decided on the Battier prayer 3.

 

[ill steelo]

I didn't even see Bron grab his arm watching it live until they showed the replay from an entirely different angle that the closest ref couldn't see either cause he was standing behind KD.

And the contact before the arm grab ain't enough to warrant a foul in that situation. If they call that then that's ticky tack, especially in the playoffs

 

[duba169]

Point blank. Don't go down 17 in the first? $@*% is hard to watch and it's 3 home games in a row where they have a terrible start

 

[the natural mystic]

You shouldn't be down 18-2 in the first quarter. It's an uphill battle against a super athletic team that loves to drive to the hoop.

James fouled KD across the body on that last shot. There is no excuse for the ref not to call that. Apparently, the refs were caught off guard too with the inbound pass because those clowns should have seen that.

What do the haters have to say about Lebron though? Clutch shot at the end of the game with clutch free throws. Dude has been balling.

 

[crazy dav0]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

^ Magic was coming from the same place many have come from re: Westbrook, which is that he fails to 'quarterback' the team.

Russy ain't the first shooting PG, and he won't be the last. And just like every shooting PG ever, the criticism "He's not running the team, though" will be there until that PG has proven he can score AND take care of the other 4 dudes.

It's pretty simple to understand that criticism, honestly.

funny how everyone wants to pile on the wack analyst magic when he was actually right ... yes a bit of hyperbole but yall know the point he was making. And i like how people are taking his full game stats and then says oh he was the worst sarcastically when son was a od by halftime when they were in a hole ... largely created by him ... 
yall keep protecting russy ... he'll sink the thunder and lebron will have his ring ... i can't wait to see what yall say then ... oh it was brooks' fault ... oh it was perk's fault ... oh it was this oh it was that ... oh it was the refs ... 

yeh they're all to blame but stop giving credit to a player that is digging a hole and then digging himself out ... i don't care about his vision or his assist #s ... just stop being a #%%+#@* black  hole. How many time did this dude dribble up court and just shoot ... how many times did this ball come to him after several passes and stop moving ... how many times did the thunder get a quality shot when he was not included in the play ... 

westbrook have given 1 of the 2 games away ... okc wins 2 in miami ... westbrook has to just move the ball ... nothing flashy ... just pass ... ain't nothing hard about that ... more drives and less jumpers ... 

 

[lilpennymagicfan1]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

lilpennymagicfan1:

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23ska909red02:

---

So what's Dwade's record in Danny Crawford reffed games now compared to non-Danny games?

17-4 vs. 48-40?

That right?

are you saying D wade got any favorable calls yesterday?
Games was called horribly on both ends.

First off, if Wade played and there were NBA refs involved, he got favorable calls. Period. I mean, that's just a given at this point. (I'm a Lakers fan, so you might be tempted to throw Kobe out there in a discussion about 'superstar calls'. Feel free; Kobe does get superstar calls.)

Second, numbers don't lie; people do. What's Wade's NBA playoff record w/ Crawford vs. games w/o Crawford?
for somebody who says numbers don't lie you sure do discredit Lebron a lot for putting up good numbers. Im pretty sure I can find a stat where Amare is 20-3 when Steve Javie refs.
Or Kobe is 19-1 when Violet palmer refs... Thats such a bogus stat. Wade got maybe 6 free throws yesterday? No calls in his favor and a big missed call when he got fouled in 4th.

Durant charged battier to get number 6 and it wasnt called.

Rio went baseline on Ibaka and got pushed and it was a no call and the ball went out on Ibaka but thunder got the ball.

These plays here don't scream that they favor wade when he refs.

Thunder had the goaltend call go against them and the Kd foul at the end.. Refs sucked on both ends but call a spade a spade and dont use a bogus stat that is pointless

 

[shuges]

With a starting lineup that consists of Perk, Durant, Thabo, and Serge, exactly who is Russ supposed to "move the ball" to? Let me guess, KD right? Cuz the other 3 dudes aren't exactly offensive machines. Some of you fail to realize that if Russ wasn't as aggressive as he is, Durant wouldn't be as free to get buckets the way he does. Doubles and maybe even triple teams galore. Westbrook's unpredictable aggressivness keeps opposing teams honest. And more importantly, keeps Durant open.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Ppl want Durant to shoot 40x a game

 

[seymore cake]

KD shot bad in the first half, 2/9, and was in foul trouble that's not Russy's fault. 2nd half KD got the ball OFTEN. The bottom line is this: They don't win game 1 without Russy playing the way he did.

Hell they may just get blown out without Russy playing his game in game 2. 8/16 with a couple of assist and 1 t.o. He was just as important as KD to them coming back and having a chance in that game.

 

[scientific method]

He doesn't even seem to want 40 shots a game himself. Watch how many possessions he just stands in the corner, or tries to get open, gets bodied, then gives up and goes and stands on the wing. Russ misses him a few times in the game, Russ takes bad early shots, Russ makes angry faces, we get it. But point is, the Thunder's woes are far more than just him and nobody else wants to admit it. Coach Nick taking away points for missing Kendrick Perkins with positioning in the post

By the way, both Perk and Ibaka are a -18 in this series. I wonder does Brooks or any of his assistants read or chart this +%!# Just make a change, %*+% dude's egos if that's his reasoning. Perk will be OK. If not %*+% him, gives us more excuse to amnesty him and free up money anyways

Doubt this link will work but it's an advanced stat comparison of our starting lineup to their new one with Bosh, Battier, and James in the frontcourt

http://www.nba.com/advanc...eup.html#Thunder-vs-Heat|1610612760,1610612748|2570-200757-201142-201566-201586,2203-2544-2547-2548-201596;year=201112;season=p (90.4pts vs 104.7)

Starting five for Thunder suffering on both ends of floor

OKLAHOMA CITY -- In each of the first two games of the 2012 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat have won just one quarter: the first. In Game 1, that wasn't enough. In Game 2, it was.

The Heat led 18-2 after eight-plus minutes on Thursday and led by as many as 17 points in the first quarter. It was a hole the Oklahoma City Thunder were never able to completely climb out of. They made Video another second-half comeback and had a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds, but came up short.

Video And while some may want to focus on a non-call on Kevin Durant's attempt to tie with 10 seconds left, the Thunder need to worry more about the ugly starts.

"I love the way that we came back and fought but it's tough to make up 17 points," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said afterward. "When you get down 17, too many things have to happen well for you."

If Brooks wants to figure out what's wrong with his team in the first quarter, he has to look no further than his starting lineup, which has been outscored 63-45 in 28 minutes through the first two games.

You would think that, with Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins starting, the lineup's problems would be restricted to the offensive end of the floor. But it has been just as awful defensively as it has been offensively.
Thunder lineups, 2012 Finals

Lineup MIN Pace OffRtg DefRtg NetRtg
Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Ibaka, Perkins 28 84.8 93.0 121.2 -28.3 -18
Other lineups 68 92.3 118.3 102.4 +15.9 +25
Total 96 90.1 111.5 107.8 +3.6 +7
Pace = Possessions per 48 minutes
OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions

The Thunder shot just 1-for-12 with their starters on the floor in the first quarter of Game 2. And then the OKC starters allowed the Heat to shoot 6-for-9 at the start of the third quarter. Bad offense, bad defense. The Thunder starters have it all.

The problems start with Perkins, who is a minus-18 for the series, but they don't end there. Serge Ibaka is also a minus-18. The issue also isn't necessarily playing two big men instead of one, because they've been OK when Nick Collison has been one of the two bigs.

Of course, they've been really OK when Collison is the only big...
Thunder big men on the floor, 2012 Finals
On the floor MIN PTS OppPTS
2 bigs - Ibaka, Perkins 32 53 70 -17
2 bigs - Collison, Ibaka 8 17 17 0
2 bigs - Collison, Perkins 2 4 4 0
1 big - Collison 26 64 43 21
1 big - Ibaka 17 33 34 -1
1 big - Perkins 11 23 24 -1
No bigs 1 7 2 +5

But Collison played less than 15 minutes in Game 2. Though he didn't score, the Thunder were a plus-8 with him on the floor, and his plus-21 through two games is highest among all players in the series.

So there's obviously a call for Thunder coach Scott Brooks to change his starting lineup, as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has done six times already in this postseason. But considering Brooks' history, a lineup change would be a big surprise.

As long as they've been healthy, the Thunder have had the same starting lineup since they traded for Perkins in February of 2011. It's a lineup that's always been pretty poor offensively, scoring less than a point per possession in 1,396 minutes together over the last two seasons.

Before they acquired Perkins, the Thunder had the same starting lineup for two years. That lineup -- Westbrook, Sefolosha, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic -- played 2,215 minutes together over those two years and was outscored by 92 points in those minutes.

So Brooks has a clear history of valuing continuity over lineup data, and a lineup change for OKC would be unprecedented.
Heat get into the paint

In Game 6 of the conference finals in Boston, LeBron James shot 10-for-16 from outside the paint, part of a brilliant 45-point performance that saved the Heat's season. In the three games since then, he has shot just 4-for-26 from outside the paint.

The good news for the Heat is that James took just six shots from outside the paint in Game 2. He worked out of the low post most of the first half and attacked the basket on pick and rolls and isolations in the second half. And when his team really needed it, he got his first basket from outside the paint with 1:26 left in the fourth quarter, Video a sweet pull-up bank shot over Sefolosha.

Chris Bosh's forays into the paint were maybe as important as James'. After attempting all 11 of his shots from outside the paint in Game 1, Bosh took 10 of his 13 shots from the paint in Game 2, making 5-of-10.

And just as important as what Bosh and James did is what happened on the other end of the floor, where the Thunder shot just 16-for-36 in the paint after shooting 28-for-41 in the paint in Game 1.

Russell Westbrook was 6-for-15 in the paint and Perkins was 1-for-5. The Heat won the paint battle 48-32 in Game 2 after losing it 56-40 in Game 1.
Out of the corner, into the basket

Shane Battier is on fire, shooting 9-for-13 (69 percent) from 3-point range in The Finals. And what's most interesting about Battier's 3-pointers is that only two of the 13 attempts have come from the corners.

In the first three rounds of the playoffs, 50 of Battier's 84 3-point attempts came from the corners. And typically, the corner 3 is a better shot than one from above the break. But Battier shot only 30 percent on corner 3s in the first three rounds, while shooting 35 percent on 3-pointers above the break.

In this series, Battier is 1-for-2 from the corners and a ridiculous 8-for-11 from above the break.

All numbers courtesy of NBA.com/stats.

John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.

http://www.nba.com/2012/n...tats-notebook/index.html

 

[ag 47]

Originally Posted by SHUGES

With a starting lineup that consists of Perk, Durant, Thabo, and Serge, exactly who is Russ supposed to "move the ball" to? Let me guess, KD right? Cuz the other 3 dudes aren't exactly offensive machines. Some of you fail to realize that if Russ wasn't as aggressive as he is, Durant wouldn't be as free to get buckets the way he does. Doubles and maybe even triple teams galore. Westbrook's unpredictable aggressivness keeps opposing teams honest. And more importantly, keeps Durant open.

And in that game, Westbrook usually makes most of those shots. They just didn't fall. Plus, what does it say to you when the coach has to beg Durant to be more aggressive?

 

[PatRiley]

I see people in here are salty that their teams aren't in the Finals. We have the two best players in the NBA (MVP, 3 point champion, scoring champion), 3 more superstars (one former finals MVP), 6th man of the year, shot blocking leader of the NBA, and a plethora of other great role players....and all you can talk about is the refs? cmon son.

 

[bence23]

I think the game did break NT. I still dont like that KD went for a drive. He missed like 3 layups in the final minutes because he was tentative with his 5 fouls. should have stuck to jumpers cuz he couldnt miss.

 

[henz0]

@ KD's 3 shutting down NT for like 36 hours

 

[Humbled]

Originally Posted by heirjordan15

I see people in here are salty that their teams aren't in the Finals. We have the two best players in the NBA (MVP, 3 point champion, scoring champion), 3 more superstars (one former finals MVP), 6th man of the year, shot blocking leader of the NBA, and a plethora of other great role players....and all you can talk about is the refs? cmon son.

dudes are upset bro.

 

[thachosen123]

Originally Posted by heirjordan15

I see people in here are salty that their teams aren't in the Finals. We have the two best players in the NBA (MVP, 3 point champion, scoring champion), 3 more superstars (one former finals MVP), 6th man of the year, shot blocking leader of the NBA, and a plethora of other great role players....and all you can talk about is the refs? cmon son.

Man GTFOHWTBS.......i see the the same *@*% you see, and all it is is simple basketball conversation.

 

[uncharteddrake]

You know whats funny, you dudes come in here and say the NBA is soft, and hard fouls should be allowed, but one small hand check you all want to rip the NBA to shreds because of refs.....smh hypocrites, The Lebron hate really blinds you guys and it makes no sense.

 

[uncharteddrake]

Originally Posted by thachosen123

Originally Posted by heirjordan15

I see people in here are salty that their teams aren't in the Finals. We have the two best players in the NBA (MVP, 3 point champion, scoring champion), 3 more superstars (one former finals MVP), 6th man of the year, shot blocking leader of the NBA, and a plethora of other great role players....and all you can talk about is the refs? cmon son.

Man GTFOHWTBS.......i see the the same *@*% you see, and all it is is simple basketball conversation.

 

[the natural mystic]

Originally Posted by UnchartedDrake

You know whats funny, you dudes come in here and say the NBA is soft, and hard fouls should be allowed, but one small hand check you all want to rip the NBA to shreds because of refs.....smh hypocrites, The Lebron hate really blinds you guys and it makes no sense.

but thats the thing tho, it wasn't just a hand check. He grabbed him. I know perception changes depending on who you are cheering for but goddamn, call it for what it is playa. I don't root for neither of these teams, I just want to see good basketball. The refs were terrible both ways. I know we are watching the same game.

 

[flipnlu]

Westbrook must get the team involved first by passing the ball, setting screens and cutting. The Thunder must attack the paint on not settle for the jump shots. The lineup must change for the Thunder Brooks has made poor decisions. After watching the replay everyone must be held accountable for their man and not be overzealous on help defense. Please ref's make good calls and let these boys play. Lebron stop traveling/changing your pivot it is bad enough you carry the ball.

 

[thachosen123]

Originally Posted by UnchartedDrake

You know whats funny, you dudes come in here and say the NBA is soft, and hard fouls should be allowed, but one small hand check you all want to rip the NBA to shreds because of refs.....smh hypocrites, The Lebron hate really blinds you guys and it makes no sense.

You obviously don't "get it"........The problem with that is, you can't call the game a certain way for a good portion of time, then decide to switch it up late in games. There's been way too many times this season where a game has started out with ticky tac calls only to end up letting players be overly aggressive later in games(and vice versa).

 

[aztec06jr]

Originally Posted by FlipNLu

Westbrook must get the team involved first by passing the ball, setting screens and cutting. The Thunder must attack the paint on not settle for the jump shots. The lineup must change for the Thunder Brooks has made poor decisions. After watching the replay everyone must be held accountable for their man and not be overzealous on help defense. Please ref's make good calls and let these boys play. Lebron stop traveling/changing your pivot it is bad enough you carry the ball.

So you want Westbrook to pass...and you want the Thunder to attack the basket. Based on your recommendation, you want Durant to drive it in every play since I know you didn't mean Thabo, Perk, and Ibaka driving it in 

Thabo, Ibaka, Durant, and even Perk are all more efficient as jump shooters. Yet people want the only non-shooter (Westbrook) to stop attacking and dishing 

 

[PatRiley]

Originally Posted by thachosen123

Originally Posted by UnchartedDrake

You know whats funny, you dudes come in here and say the NBA is soft, and hard fouls should be allowed, but one small hand check you all want to rip the NBA to shreds because of refs.....smh hypocrites, The Lebron hate really blinds you guys and it makes no sense.

You obviously don't "get it"........The problem with that is, you can't call the game a certain way for a good portion of time, then decide to switch it up late in games. There's been way too many times this season where a game has started out with ticky tac calls only to end up letting players be overly aggressive later in games(and vice versa).

You should become an NBA ref. Based on your insight, I'm sure you would save us from all of these devastating problems! The NBA needs people like you.

 

[scientific method]

Good thing Westbrook swore off the social media last summer, otherwise he would be reading all this and might be prone to pulling a "Kobe against Phoenix" and just giving the ball to Thabo then running over to the weak side to leave him on an island and force him to have to take 20 shots, which of course wouldn't end well. Gilbert and TMac pulled the same act before too after getting criticized for shooting too much.

Part 2 of Coach Nick's Good vs Bad vs Meh Russ-O-Meter