everyone blaming JR, but in reality, it was the whole team choking. george hill, JR smith, the entire coaching staff
Call me crazy but I can't blame Hill, everyone misses free throws.
well, then u cant blame JR, cause everyone makes bad plays.
No, there are different magnitudes of fuck ups. The only way Hills free throw would have been comparable is if he had thought they were up one and missed it on purpose.
everyone blaming JR, but in reality, it was the whole team choking. george hill, JR smith, the entire coaching staff
Call me crazy but I can't blame Hill, everyone misses free throws.
well, then u cant blame JR, cause everyone makes bad plays.
No, there are different magnitudes of fuck ups. The only way Hills free throw would have been comparable is if he had thought they were up one and missed it on purpose.
everyone blaming JR, but in reality, it was the whole team choking. george hill, JR smith, the entire coaching staff
Call me crazy but I can't blame Hill, everyone misses free throws.
well, then u cant blame JR, cause everyone makes bad plays.
Wrong. Everyone, even Nash and Curry, misses free throws, even those end of game crucial ones. But to have mental lapse like that in a game you were paid to play, especially if it could have changed the outcome of the game, and most especially since Lebron was having a legacy game and was on the verge of a monumental upset, is bad bad bad.
The first video shows Brown on his stomach in the parking lot with a cop standing on his ankle. After Brown calmly tells the huddled police officers that they don’t need to physically pin him down any longer, they realize who he is, while Brown says, “I need all y’all names on that report,” because he’s rightly angry after officers “kicked me for no reason, kneed me in my [redacted] for no reason, ... pushed me for no reason.”
A squad car video shows an officer calling in to ask if he’ll have his request for overtime approved, while another one was standing on Brown's ankle, before then singing “money money money” to the tune (roughly) of The O’Jays’ “For The Love Of Money.”
more evidence that anything that gets 2,000+ upvotes on reddit and is also a top twitter topic for a couple of days ... always results in real world consequences
KD and greatness KD may (likely) or may not achieve goat level basketball skills in his career, but he will almost never achieve goat level in terms of reputation. Take the playoffs for example. He is silently the consistent force that pushes the Warriors to victory but he is either maligned or ignored depending on whether they win or lose. When they win, it's always something else beside him, or when he does get mentioned, it's on how he's ruined the NBA. When they lose, he is always blamed, with people pointing that his isos are making them lose and has stripped the Warriors of their identity, but ignore the fact that those same isos that give them wins. There may be two or three games when Durant ball hogs on isos, but generally he takes the same shots most of the time. Take game 2 as a more specific example. He had 26 points on 10/14 fg, flowed with the system and made great assists, and was hell for Cleveland and Lebron on defense, but all everyone could rave about was Curry's threes despite shooting 9/17 and getting bbq chickened by Lebron all night long.
Curry is and has always been the heart of this Warriors team. While Durant goes on silently on his ways, Curry's peaks and throughs resemble more closely to that of the teams (more on this later). The difference between them, and between other superstars, is the Durant has alpha talent but beta personality. It is instructive hearing from him, along with his "hardest road" that he has always considered himself a servant or a follower. Maybe he has come to embrace that his Warriors stint will forever undermine his legacy, and that's fine by him, as long as he is winning.
All is not lost for Durant though. Winning at least three rings with the Warriors, and a a homecoming to Seattle (if they manage to rebuild a team) or OKC and winning one or two more rings will help his legacy.
Lebron and championships Lebron may have found a way to reliably and easily win championships. I say easily in a relative sense, let me explain. Usually, teams follow a certain formula in forming championship caliber teams: get superstars/scorers and work a system that the team can run as a whole. We have the Jordan-based triangle of the 90s, Shaq-based triangle of the early 2000s, post-heavy and defensively aggressive Spurs, and to some extent 2000s Detroit.
Lebron on the other hand has perfected a system that is reliable and easy to copy - have one offensive juggernaut who can play guard and surround him with three-point shooters. In this regard, they are similar to the Rockets. There are two reasons why Lebron has not fully maximized this to translate into multiple championships: first, he faces the "perfect teams", 2014 SAS and the current GSW team, and second, his shooters are comically unreliable.
Let me reemphasize, I am not saying that this is a guaranteed path to winning the championships, I am saying that compared to other more traditional way of forming teams, this one is easier to do and a lot easier to follow. Lebron will not be the last player who can play 1 and be the main scorer as well, we see new variations of this already in Simmons and Giannis. And players are getting more and more accurate from beyond the arc.
Curry is truly the NBA's golden child. He is talented no question about that, and his game, accuracy, and technique are among the best and are ground breaking. But how he is treated by the fans is amazing. It might be due to his appearance, or that he has the perfect blend of cockiness and nice guy attitude, or that his game style is one that many nonathletic regular dudes can relate to, but he is practically immune from any negativity from the fans.
He single-handedly botched (I exaggerate a bit) 2016 game 7 by doing multiple JR plays, insisting on shooting threes when they weren't falling and he was being manhandled by the Cavs defense, and making questionable passes that lead to bad turnovers. Yet no one mentions that. Everyone points to Draymond's suspension or Bogut's injury. He shoots one Curry-three and the crowd is electrified and the mood of the game totally shifts. He plays poorly and suddenly he is injured. Meh.
I have no stakes in the Curry fandom, I just find it very curious.
Harden is a bust I say this as a Harden wannabe stan, and it breaks my heart. I realized this playoffs that he will never be the man. He is a very creative and proficient player but I don't see it happening. He's been in the league long enough for us to know what he can do. He is very creative on offense, but at best just barely good on defense, has has some gimmick that is proving to be a net negative in the playoffs, and he has the tendency to shy away from the challenge.
He has a slim chance though. In the last three years, he has exponentially improved year after year and has proven the haters wrong. So its 80/20, but he has to really push himself if he want to be historically great.
JVG is a genius and a legend Let me repeat that, JVG is a genius and a legend. JVG haters get it all wrong and completely misunderstand the nature of live broadcast. We have a saying in media that great content is gold, but controversial content is priceless. I exaggerate about JVG being controversial (haters who say so miss the point entirely), but I think he is more like the our collective id that is being verbally expressed out in the open.
His commentating falls under three categories: 1. in-depth evaluation of plays and players 2. strict, bordering on the insanely ridiculous, critique of the rules and nba ecosystem in general; 3. stream-of-consciousness random meandering triggered by what he sees or hears I will not discuss #1 because it is expected and we all know what it is, but let me discuss #2 and #3. Examples of #2 include having a decimal scoring system, dropping a cage around players in the middle of the floor during referee reviews, and heavily penalizing fouls on fast breaks. There are hundreds of others over the years but these are the best my brain can come up with at the moment. All of these have a nugget of validity on them - why should a shot made from 24 feet have the same point as one made from 45 feet? Why should players get the benefit of coaching and bench huddle when no timeout is called? And why should foul be advantageous. We all think of this, but we resolve the issue quickly on being more practical than meticulously precise. JVG knows this, and he is in on the fun with us, as should we be in on it with him.
Now let's move to #3, the one thing that seems to summon the inner demons of viewers. Examples of this include Rihanna, "cousins", Ewing bench press, defending Khloe K, ice cream sandwich, and friend-stalking Manu. Those who watch enough NBA know almost all of the above. Haters hate it when JVG does this, but he only does this when it during inconsequential times - during blowouts, 5 minutes in the third quarter, and downtimes. I have never heard JVG go random during the last minute of close and exciting games. He would even self-correct and stop his meandering to highlight a good play if it happens anytime during a game. People who hate on this do not understand the media platform of television and pretend they are listening to the radio or reading an LR of the game, and do not appreciate the chemistry of Jackson, Breen, and JVG. First, we know basketball, we all know about NBA and the rules more or less, we see what's happening before our very eyes. We don't need a 40-minute minute-by-minute account of the game. JVG provides a mental break to the game and has a great feel to know when to go off tangent and when to come back in. Second, Breen is there to call the play-by-play, and Jackson is there to keep JVG in check while providing the silly but audience-friendly one-liners.
JVG knows what he is doing, and what he is doing is great, and he is great at it. Haters can shut up.
(I tried to resist but I can't, so here goes. Reggie Miller's commentating on the other hand, fall on four categories as well: boring calls of plays no one cares about, raving on shooters while emphasizing that he is the best shooter ever, dumb shit like saying it was a foul when everyone and their dogs and their dog's poops saw it was not a foul, and cringe shit like "Stephster", "no pun intended", and "excuse me, that's Queen B to you" and many more shit I won't add here or else I'll get sick. I respect that he is doing his job, I respect also that he thinks what he says is valuable. But let me be clear, he is bad at it and he is not made for live tv. Put him on The Jump or on any of those panel shows where he can debate with others, do anything to take him out of live broadcast please!)
It's funny how you write about Lebron playing guard and then bash Harden because I think Harden is playing in the wrong era. It's not that your best player is a guard; it's that your best player is 6'8" and can play guard.
I don't have much of a comment about Curry, but he seems to vacillate between scorching and irrelevant while Durant is quietly chugging along. it's what makes Durant's addition to the Warriors so infuriating. It's like they're selling platinum and have an insurance policy, like they needed it.
everyone blaming JR, but in reality, it was the whole team choking. george hill, JR smith, the entire coaching staff
Call me crazy but I can't blame Hill, everyone misses free throws.
well, then u cant blame JR, cause everyone makes bad plays.
Wrong. Everyone, even Nash and Curry, misses free throws, even those end of game crucial ones. But to have mental lapse like that in a game you were paid to play, especially if it could have changed the outcome of the game, and most especially since Lebron was having a legacy game and was on the verge of a monumental upset, is bad bad bad.
Yeah, at some point you gotta realize that you are being carried and your only job is to facilitate that.
It is instructive to compare the narrative around Curry to that of players like Kobe, Duncan, Brady and Wilson. If a player becomes a champion around the time of their breakout year, the public's first impression of them is as a winner. That first impression lasts for a long time. Those players have that champion's halo around them because the general public didn't really see them struggle with losing before they became a champion. A player with that halo has to be a really, really big asshole to reverse that perception.
On June 06 2018 00:36 Jerubaal wrote: It's funny how you write about Lebron playing guard and then bash Harden because I think Harden is playing in the wrong era. It's not that your best player is a guard; it's that your best player is 6'8" and can play guard.
Maybe you misunderstood what I'm trying to say and we are talking about different things.
I did say Lebron and Harden's system are a bit similar. But being proficient in offense that Harden is, there are a lot of intangible in his game this late in his career that it's difficult to imagine him being the center of a championship team - he "cheats on offense" (I don't blaime him gaming the system this way, but you get the feeling that sometimes he's more focused on getting the foul than shooting properly), he is inconsistent on defense, and he tends to disappear in crucial games.
LeBron James on Donald Trump disinviting the Eagles: “It’s typical of him. I’m not surprised. ... I know no matter who wins this series no one wants to get invited to go.”
On June 06 2018 07:38 Twinkle Toes wrote: LeBron James on Donald Trump disinviting the Eagles: “It’s typical of him. I’m not surprised. ... I know no matter who wins this series no one wants to get invited to go.”
On June 06 2018 00:36 Jerubaal wrote: It's funny how you write about Lebron playing guard and then bash Harden because I think Harden is playing in the wrong era. It's not that your best player is a guard; it's that your best player is 6'8" and can play guard.
Maybe you misunderstood what I'm trying to say and we are talking about different things.
I did say Lebron and Harden's system are a bit similar. But being proficient in offense that Harden is, there are a lot of intangible in his game this late in his career that it's difficult to imagine him being the center of a championship team - he "cheats on offense" (I don't blaime him gaming the system this way, but you get the feeling that sometimes he's more focused on getting the foul than shooting properly), he is inconsistent on defense, and he tends to disappear in crucial games.
I hate to be so simplistic about it, but I think Harden just isn't tall enough. Having the ball to score and assist is great in a superstar, but right now the big wings like Leonard, Butler, Durant, and Lebron are what's favored.
All of those players have are 2 way players, aside from Lebron (who was, but now is a sloth out there most the time, but he has also 15 years of offensive genius plus overwhelming bodily power and a wink wink agreement with refs when hes playing offense) which is the real advantage they possess. There is no "Point Guard" in the league that is a net positive at the moment on defense, unless you consider some "tall guys" like Giannis and Simmons PGs. If you could, you would do offense-defense substitutions for everyone from Lillard to CP3, to Wall.
On June 06 2018 14:59 cLutZ wrote: All of those players have are 2 way players, aside from Lebron (who was, but now is a sloth out there most the time, but he has also 15 years of offensive genius plus overwhelming bodily power and a wink wink agreement with refs when hes playing offense) which is the real advantage they possess. There is no "Point Guard" in the league that is a net positive at the moment on defense, unless you consider some "tall guys" like Giannis and Simmons PGs. If you could, you would do offense-defense substitutions for everyone from Lillard to CP3, to Wall.
On June 06 2018 07:38 Twinkle Toes wrote: LeBron James on Donald Trump disinviting the Eagles: “It’s typical of him. I’m not surprised. ... I know no matter who wins this series no one wants to get invited to go.”
On June 06 2018 00:36 Jerubaal wrote: It's funny how you write about Lebron playing guard and then bash Harden because I think Harden is playing in the wrong era. It's not that your best player is a guard; it's that your best player is 6'8" and can play guard.
Maybe you misunderstood what I'm trying to say and we are talking about different things.
I did say Lebron and Harden's system are a bit similar. But being proficient in offense that Harden is, there are a lot of intangible in his game this late in his career that it's difficult to imagine him being the center of a championship team - he "cheats on offense" (I don't blaime him gaming the system this way, but you get the feeling that sometimes he's more focused on getting the foul than shooting properly), he is inconsistent on defense, and he tends to disappear in crucial games.
I hate to be so simplistic about it, but I think Harden just isn't tall enough. Having the ball to score and assist is great in a superstar, but right now the big wings like Leonard, Butler, Durant, and Lebron are what's favored.
Ah true. There should be some data that Harden's struggles in the playoffs is due to opponents preparing well for his game style and negating it with lengthy and aggressive defense...?
I'm a little iffy as well with Butler. He is a superstar sure, but he is the kind who needs another top tier superstar to even be a contending team.
EPT![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/ajShX9j.jpg)
