Western Conference Finals: #1 Warriors vs. #3 Thunder
- Thread starter Mr. S£im Citrus
- Start date
I've been in the same boat his entire career. He just seemed like an arrogant a-hole to me. But, oddly, rooting for him and the Thunder this postseason had somewhat changed my view. Then, I read some more about him recently and I've become somewhat a fan. Strange how that works sometimes.
If you're interested and have the time, I recommend reading this: Everything you always wanted to know about Russell Westbrook but were afraid to ask ... it has some interesting things in there. I found these to be enlightening:
If you're interested and have the time, I recommend reading this: Everything you always wanted to know about Russell Westbrook but were afraid to ask ... it has some interesting things in there. I found these to be enlightening:
End of smallball, sure. Also the end of a ****ing gimmick team. The three point shot is artificial. It was added into the pro game by a bunch of ABA clowns desperately looking for extra attention in between dog and pony shows and used car giveaways. It was fine while people did not practice them. Added a little spice. But its a bit like Social Security. The people who originally designed the system weren't thinking of the future. And in the future the stupid little rule gimmick is eating up the rest of the game. It was only a rational thing when people struggled to hit the shot. Otherwise there's absolutely no justification for why a 23 foot shot is worth a full 50% more than a 22 foot shot. When people practice them constantly and can hit them easily, there very quickly becomes little reason to do anything else. So yes, its blatantly bad for basketball for them to become so heavily featured, because its horribly overpowered. Its like a bad DM giving his 2nd level group of players a +5 vorpal blade for killing a kobold.
But more than it being bad for basketball, its bad for US, bad for the Kings. Part of that should be obvious: they're NorCal, and despite what I always considered the embarrassing lack of pride that sees many Sacramentans worship at the Bay Area's altar -- the East Coast city to city blood feuds are much more my style (try wearing a Yankee hat in Beantown, or a Giants cap in Philly) -- even a Sacramentan used to calling the 49ers "his/hers" etc. has to recognize the damage having a great NBA power only 100 miles away does to a competing Sacto team and its fanbase, which is stripped bare of every casual fan by the Warriors bandwagon.
The other part is simply this: our owner is an idiot. THAT team, those Warriors, are a primary reason that Malone was fired. probably a primary reason Karl was hired. The more success that group of three point chucking prancing preening smallball loving pretty boys has, the more chance it influences our weakminded and inexperienced owner, and causes him to meddle again trying to recreate about the only basketball nirvana he has ever known.
So yes, I want them put down, and kicked while they are down. Its very hard under these rules though. The Warriors are that guy with 1000 hours in the online shooter, who has found the perfect camping spot to headshot everybody who comes through the door before they can respond. OKC had its unexpected chance, but choked it away. They have at least dented that aura of invincibility by drawing a line under the gimmickry, but that's not enough.
But more than it being bad for basketball, its bad for US, bad for the Kings. Part of that should be obvious: they're NorCal, and despite what I always considered the embarrassing lack of pride that sees many Sacramentans worship at the Bay Area's altar -- the East Coast city to city blood feuds are much more my style (try wearing a Yankee hat in Beantown, or a Giants cap in Philly) -- even a Sacramentan used to calling the 49ers "his/hers" etc. has to recognize the damage having a great NBA power only 100 miles away does to a competing Sacto team and its fanbase, which is stripped bare of every casual fan by the Warriors bandwagon.
The other part is simply this: our owner is an idiot. THAT team, those Warriors, are a primary reason that Malone was fired. probably a primary reason Karl was hired. The more success that group of three point chucking prancing preening smallball loving pretty boys has, the more chance it influences our weakminded and inexperienced owner, and causes him to meddle again trying to recreate about the only basketball nirvana he has ever known.
So yes, I want them put down, and kicked while they are down. Its very hard under these rules though. The Warriors are that guy with 1000 hours in the online shooter, who has found the perfect camping spot to headshot everybody who comes through the door before they can respond. OKC had its unexpected chance, but choked it away. They have at least dented that aura of invincibility by drawing a line under the gimmickry, but that's not enough.
The Thunder choked the last 4 minutes, no doubt. But they had help.
Down 104-101 w/ :55 remaining, Green committed an obvious foul on Westbrook in transition when he hammered his elbow from behind causing the ball to go out of bounds. If they make the right call there, Westbrook goes to the line with a chance to close to within 1 and Green fouls out. Might have been a different game from that point. But it seemed rather obvious the officials were intent on not allowing Green to foul out of the game unless he actually kicked someone in the balls again. There were several other questionable loose ball scenarios involving Green the last few minutes, but this was the most pivotal and obvious. I just don't know how you let that play go given the circumstances. I find it hard to believe that had Curry or Thompson been fouled similarly that they still let it go. This wasn't Kobe's elbow to Bibby's nose bad, but almost.
Moving on, it's actually really puzzling how the Thunder were even in the game during the final 2 minutes when you look at the boxscore. The Warriors made 21 of 44 3pt FG's while OKC was 3 for 23. Curry and Thompson combined for 17 of 31 from 3pt range. Westbrook and Durant were 1 for 13. Durant was 10 for 31 from the field. Westbrook was 10 for 27.
How the hell were they winning most of the game?
Regardless, Durant and Westbrook made it easy on the Warriors despite how hot Thompson got in the 4th. It wouldn't have mattered had they took better care of the ball, held their composure and opted for better shots.
If the Thunder win game 7, I'll consider it one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. I just don't see any chance that they win. If they couldn't lock it up tonight carrying an 8-pt lead into the 4th and a 5-pt lead w/ 4 minutes to go, the calls are only going to get worse in the Warriors building.
Maybe I'll place a significant $$ bet AGAINST the Thunder prior to Monday night. That's probably the only shot they have of overcoming the odds.
Down 104-101 w/ :55 remaining, Green committed an obvious foul on Westbrook in transition when he hammered his elbow from behind causing the ball to go out of bounds. If they make the right call there, Westbrook goes to the line with a chance to close to within 1 and Green fouls out. Might have been a different game from that point. But it seemed rather obvious the officials were intent on not allowing Green to foul out of the game unless he actually kicked someone in the balls again. There were several other questionable loose ball scenarios involving Green the last few minutes, but this was the most pivotal and obvious. I just don't know how you let that play go given the circumstances. I find it hard to believe that had Curry or Thompson been fouled similarly that they still let it go. This wasn't Kobe's elbow to Bibby's nose bad, but almost.
Moving on, it's actually really puzzling how the Thunder were even in the game during the final 2 minutes when you look at the boxscore. The Warriors made 21 of 44 3pt FG's while OKC was 3 for 23. Curry and Thompson combined for 17 of 31 from 3pt range. Westbrook and Durant were 1 for 13. Durant was 10 for 31 from the field. Westbrook was 10 for 27.
How the hell were they winning most of the game?
Regardless, Durant and Westbrook made it easy on the Warriors despite how hot Thompson got in the 4th. It wouldn't have mattered had they took better care of the ball, held their composure and opted for better shots.
If the Thunder win game 7, I'll consider it one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. I just don't see any chance that they win. If they couldn't lock it up tonight carrying an 8-pt lead into the 4th and a 5-pt lead w/ 4 minutes to go, the calls are only going to get worse in the Warriors building.
Maybe I'll place a significant $$ bet AGAINST the Thunder prior to Monday night. That's probably the only shot they have of overcoming the odds.
I can't get worked up over it too much because we won't see shooters like Klay or Steph in our lifetime anyway. For as good of a shooter Steph is, I think Klay is better and that's telling. We, nor the entire league, should be looking to try to find themselves a Klay or Steph because these are once in a generation type of shooters, plain and simple. Small ball can be mimicked to death but Golden State gets away with it because of them and I don't see teams doing so down the road, IMO.
Durant had those shots off the curl all game long. He knocked some down and he missed some. Iguodala had some key defensive stops, so have to give him credit there. Westbrick has always been known as a streaky scorer, he can shoot you in a game and out of one. We saw that first hand. I was looking at his box score and he took 20 shots, 8-20 while having 20 points for the game. The ball should of been distributed among Ibaka, Adams and Waiters a little more, hell even Kanter. OKC had success when their big dogs were sharing the ball and getting the team involved. Also, Adams has been playing less minutes, it must be the "groin" injuries.