NBA Playoffs 2012

SoulGuy

Man, I can't wait for Game 7. You gotta think that Boston's pretty disgusted with themselves for that performance and will come out with a lot more intensity in Game 7.

I don't know if it's true or not, but yesterday I heard that before 2009, the Celtics had never blown a 3-2 lead in a series. If they lose Game 7, it will be the 3rd time it's happened in the last 4 years.

Also LeBron vs. Durant in the Finals = Most compelling individual matchup since Shaq vs. Hakeem in '95? Even more so?

Masked Man

Celtics have a good chance in game 7 if the Heat play like that again. Celtics defensive gameplan actually worked alright, need to start making shots though.

Celtics fans are awesome.

PizzamanIRL

Celtics shooting was terrible the past 2 games but they luckily got away with it in Game 5.

Borisss

ESPN must have game 7 right?

RIGHT?

That LBJ performance in Game 6 had me speechless. Nobody in the league can do what he does. He's on a different planet of ability to Durant.

leggo

While I agree that LeBron is the most naturally gifted played in the league today, he's not on another planet to Durant. And I'd also rather have Durant on my team, than the baggage and inconsistency of LeBron, every single day of the week.

ec18

insanity50 wrote: »

What a performance.
Absolutely delighted.
Bring on saturday.
The rest of the team really needs to step up to the plate and start producing, DW is a mess at the moment.
All in all delighted we're still alive and the dream lives.

Really enjoyed this article

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/ian_thomsen/06/07/heat.celtics.6/index.html


#YouWannaBeTheKingYouGonnaHaveToKillTheKing

#WeGotThis

#RondoAintShit

Kings have Rings :P

Borisss

leggo wrote: »

While I agree that LeBron is the most naturally gifted played in the league today, he's not on another planet to Durant. And I'd also rather have Durant on my team, than the baggage and inconsistency of LeBron, every single day of the week.

Such a troll post in every way. Ignore your bitterness for a second and re-read what you wrote.

Durant is a scorer and a mighty fine one. Lebron is complete as a player, he has no weakness. There really is no comparison.

GoldFour4

The game is on espn tonight for the guy that was asking. Coverage starts at 12:30

Felexicon

Borisss wrote: »

Such a troll post in every way. Ignore your bitterness for a second and re-read what you wrote.

Durant is a scorer and a mighty fine one. Lebron is complete as a player, he has no weakness. There really is no comparison.

His play in clutch situations is fairly poor tbh.
But saying that the rest of his game far outweighs that issue. He is a long way ahead of Durant as an all round performer even if Durant can score in more ways.

I do prefare Durant as a player but that may be because I think LeBron is a bit of a c*&t

leggo

Wasn't a troll post at all, I hate when people throw that out there because, god forbid, someone mightn't think that they're right. Especially since I did, ya know, say LeBron is probably the most naturally talented player in the league.

But he's not a winner. Even his attitude after game 5, saying that Heat gave it their all and you couldn't ask for more...when they'd thrown it away, was a loser's attitude. Could you imagine Jordan saying "ah well we lost but everyone did well so I suppose that's what matters!"

If the objective of basketball was to be well-rounded, LeBron would be the first player on my dream team by a mile. But it's not. The objective is to win...and Durant is a winner. He drives his team forward when it counts and gets the job done, something LeBron simply can't do on a consistent basis because he doesn't have that winner's mentality inside of him. And, if you don't believe me, then let's have this conversation again in a couple of weeks or so after the two potentially go head-to-head.

Paully D

Borisss wrote: »

Lebron is complete as a player, he has no weakness. There really is no comparison.

He's an absolutely brilliant player but he currently has one massive weakness that separates him from being a true great. Leggo has hit the nail on the head.

Borisss

If Lebron was still plying his trade in Cleveland, none of you would have this opinion.

This is truth.

And I fail to see how Durant is more of a 'winner'. Based on what exactly? One Western Conference championship?

Felexicon

Borisss wrote: »

If Lebron was still plying his trade in Cleveland, none of you would have this opinion.

This is truth.

And I fail to see how Durant is more of a 'winner'. Based on what exactly? One Western Conference championship?

Tbh I've never liked LeBron, but of course the way he handled "the decision" will affect the way people think of him.

You are right of course that Durant hasn't won anything except a conference championship but I think it's the way he comes through in the clutch, time and time again that makes people mark him down as a winner.

Da GOAT

KG is gonna burn Heat tonight. I dont think anyone would be surprised if Heat lost tonight.

Funny how media now say he is so amazing when a couple games back he was being blasted by them.

leggo

Borisss wrote: »

If Lebron was still plying his trade in Cleveland, none of you would have this opinion.

This is truth.

And I fail to see how Durant is more of a 'winner'. Based on what exactly? One Western Conference championship?

People mightn't be as vehement in their dislike for him but you can't deny that there is something massively wrong with the best player in the game not being able to win a ring. The same will be said of Rose and even Durant in a few years if they don't do so. If Messi hadn't a Champions League or league title to his name people would raise the same question marks of whether he was more show than dough. It's not a conspiracy against LBJ, by any means. Though the fact that he seems a bit of a twat makes it more enjoyable to watch, tbh.

And Durant is the most clutch player in the game today, for my money. That marks him as a winner. Have you seen his performances in the 4th quarter in the play-offs this year? Even when he's having a quiet enough game, he comes alive when OKC need him, grabs the game by the scruff of the neck and wins it for them. That's a winner right there.

LeBron isn't like that. Feel free to have a listen to my podcast if you like where our NBA guy, a die hard Heat fan, admits he doesn't have full faith in him in the final quarter. It's not just anti-Heat sentiment, it's the truth.

Felexicon

leggo wrote: »

People mightn't be as vehement in their dislike for him but you can't deny that there is something massively wrong with the best player in the game not being able to win a ring. The same will be said of Rose and even Durant in a few years if they don't do so. If Messi hadn't a Champions League or league title to his name people would raise the same question marks of whether he was more show than dough. It's not a conspiracy against LBJ, by any means. Though the fact that he seems a bit of a twat makes it more enjoyable to watch, tbh.

And Durant is the most clutch player in the game today, for my money. That marks him as a winner. Have you seen his performances in the 4th quarter in the play-offs this year? Even when he's having a quiet enough game, he comes alive when OKC need him, grabs the game by the scruff of the neck and wins it for them. That's a winner right there.

LeBron isn't like that. Feel free to have a listen to my podcast if you like where our NBA guy, a die hard Heat fan, admits he doesn't have full faith in him in the final quarter. It's not just anti-Heat sentiment, it's the truth.

Whats the name of your podcast

leggo

Sorry, forgot to say, it's 'The AMT Sportscast'. Link is in my sig, available on iTunes! </CheapPlug>

insanity50

Big day today

holland v denmark
germany portugal
last nights ufc to watch
HEat V Boston
Pacquaio Bradley.

have two litres of diet coke beside me. will get a dominoes meat feast later.

#NotLeavingTheCouchAllDay


Picking the heat to win tonight. LeBron brought the team to another level the other day, I expect a repeat.

leggo

You can also add the French Open finals and UK Open darts to that. This is my favourite weekend of sports of the year.

Masked Man

The amount of hate LeBron is getting in this thread is kinda ridicolous. I almost wouldn't mind if he won a ring this year.

Lol at he's a "twat". Seriously? He seems to have no awareness about how the media and by extension the public will interpert things and a bit of an ego but "twat" is just flat out wrong.

Also lol at best player has to win a championship. Just no.

btw the whole he's not clutch thing is way overblown. In case you didn't notcie the Heat just played the biggest game of their season and he stepped up.

leggo

Wow, I'm really spamming this thread today. Apologies. But just to answer the above post since it's largely directed at my posts.

You have to keep in mind the context in which LeBron has chosen to place himself. Here's the same guy who went on record to say he'd go on to win 6-7 rings. When you put yourself on that pedestal, when you call yourself 'The King', you kinda need to back it up or you're going to face this kind of scrutiny. And the fact that he hasn't done so yet is why he is put under this microscope.

I've said it here before, I think, the real sports fan in me is frustrated when players like LBJ don't win because they are that good. So a small part of me would like to see him, one day, get a ring. I'll also respect him if/when he does.

I also said it somewhere, I think it was here, that a real LeBron thing to do would be to go missing tonight after that amazing Game 6. He gets it done just before it counts then goes quiet when it actually does (e.g. hitting the big 3 in the 4th in Game 5 then getting fouled out in OT). If he has another monster game tonight to put the Heat through, he'll have gone a long way to silencing the critics. That would be him carrying his team on his back to the Finals, and the mark of a true great. But he'll also need to keep it up in the Finals. If you want to put yourself in that echelon of Jordan, Wilt*, Magic, Bird etc, this is the kind of big-time game consistency you need or you just look like a smack-talking underachiever.

*And yes, I realise Wilt is probably the most famous nearly man who didn't win the rings to justify his talent etc. But he still won two.

padraig_f

leggo wrote: »

You have to keep in mind the context in which LeBron has chosen to place himself. Here's the same guy who went on record to say he'd go on to win 6-7 rings. When you put yourself on that pedestal, when you call yourself 'The King', you kinda need to back it up or you're going to face this kind of scrutiny. And the fact that he hasn't done so yet is why he is put under this microscope.

Yeah, that's the nail on the head, he is judged to a different standard than other players but it's a rod he's made for his own back. 'The King', 'The Decision', the ridiculous celebration when he joined the Heat, "not 5, not 6, not 7 [championships]", before they'd played a game together, Wade saying they were "arguably the greatest trio ever to play the game".

People don't like you telling them you're brilliant, especially when it's premature and you haven't even won anything yet. And if you do, they're going to judge you to a higher standard than if you'd shown a bit of humility, like say Durant has done.

I don't think Lebron is a bad guy, I think he's been a bit immature and maybe not that self-assured when dealing with the media. He's probably surrounded by people who tell him he's brilliant all the time, and he thinks that's a good way to act, not realising how badly it goes down in the general public.

On the court you can't complain about his conduct. Whether it's fair that you're judged different for things you say off the court, I dunno. I do think basketball, more than nearly any other sport, is a game where the player's personalities come across very strongly, because of how close the camera is to them and the lack of protective gear.

It's one of it's great strengths I think, that you easily get a sense of players' and teams' personalities, so even if you're a neutral, you quickly find yourself rooting for one team over the other. Derrick Rose is an exceptionally skilled player, but part of why I'm such a fan (and I suspect many other people are) is his personality: his humility, the way he's not brash, his steely determination to win. Whether it's fair that personality matters in how we judge players, in practice it does. Lebron and the Heat have done and said some arrogant things, and they've hyped themselves up so much now that anything less than a championship is a let-down.

insanity50

All square.

Clutch time.

kevohmsford

Great game so far very close

leggo

This is going to OT...

insanity50

Predicting a big run in Q4 For The King

Paully D

Won't get a chance to post on here between now and the end of this game so I'll just say whatever happens now this has been a great series. Have to fancy OKC to take the final though.

Enjoy it lads :cool:

insanity50

The King looks ready to Feast.

Like a preying manthis.

kevohmsford

The King is on fire now

kevohmsford

It's looking like Miami's now, up by nine. That woman screaming is very annoying, sounds like an eagle or something.