I hope Seattle does get a team. Then they'll have to stop bitching and moaning because they'll have "stolen" a team, too. Did you read the link in the Seattle PI about the barber in Seattle (they gave his name and shop location) who told a customer to get out because he asked what was wrong with rooting for Durant to get a ring and that he liked the Thunder? He actually made him leave, then he put a sign in his window saying that anyone professing to be a Thunder fan will be asked to leave his shop immediately. Way to hurt your business, jackass. I love sports as much as the next person, but going so far as to kick paying customers out of your business is beyond absurd. Yes, if I ran a hair salon to make a living and some ladies came in who were Miami Heat fans, I would style their hair just like any other customer. It's called being a professional. I mean, damn, Seattle does have a football and baseball team. I think this nonsense is taking it a bit too far, no?
Unless he has changed, and it is at least possible he has, Phil is into winning championships rather than taking a .400 team and making them into a .600 team. He leaves that to the Larry Browns of the coaching world. Winning championships takes a certain talent level and the current Sacramento Kings aren't there yet. Although Demarcus Cousins could become a real force under Phi.
Way to play like shit, Thunder. How many free throws did they miss tonight? At least seven? I lost count after that. Miami did not shoot a good overall percentage from the floor. The Thunder had every chance to win the game. Heat tried desperately to give it to them on a silver platter but no dice. That's unacceptable from a team as talented as the Thunder. Missed free throws (unforgivable under any circumstances), shitty execution on offense, Durant committing silly ass fouls, James Harden fouling Lebron fucking James who's near perfect from the line with 30 seconds left when the Thunder were only down by 3 and needed only to play good defense and still would have had time to go for a decent last shot if Harden would have allowed his defense to try for a stop, which they'd been getting.. Idiot. Give up a double digit lead because of poor decision making and missed free throws. Poorest fourth quarter I have seen them play in a long, long time. Reminiscent of the 13 point lead they gave up in the last minute and a half of the infamous Houston game. Shitty, shitty, terrible basketball. My Thunder are embarrassing themselves on a world stage. It's so embarrassing to see them be this awful after they were so brilliant. I don't understand it. It's just Miami; what's there to be so afraid of? They're good, but they're not super human. If I didn't think my Thunder possessed the talent to beat them, I wouldn't be so ticked off. When LeBron finally gets his ring, the Thunder will go from beloved to reviled. We'll still love them, but everyone else will hate them since they all hate LeBron so much. I hope they're ready for that.
How about Fisher and that 4-point play to go up 10? That's where I left the treadmill and washed up at my local gym. I will say this, although it has nothing to do with execution down the stretch, where I think the Thunder's collective sphincters tightened this game: LeBron and Wade get some of the most blatantly obvious non-foul and-one's I've ever seen in the first half. Even if the refs appear to be calling it 55-45 in favor of the Heat, if the Thunder lose, that won't be why... Also, wasn't that a bit out of character for Durant to be jawing with Wade? Seems like the psychological gamesmanship of the veteran team is getting under OKC's skin... Agreed on Phil, gblews, just wishful thinking on my part as far as Sacto goes. And Seattle is just a pipe dream right about now, isn't it?
Believe me, I agree and then some about the obvious non foul and ones, but I didn't want to bring it up lest I sound like a crybaby making excuses. When Joey Crawford refs a game, the Thunder will get screwed. That's a 100 percent given. It got to them. They let themselves get frustrated and I think that's where their youth serves them worst. Older, more mature men can shake off those emotions. Younger men are far less successful with that; the missed free throws are symptomatic of that. That's what's driving every devoted Thunder fan insane at this moment. You haven't watched every Thunder game like I have. They're practically automatic at the line. Their performance at the charity stripe is beyond atypical. It flummoxes me to watch them miss again and again. Durant missing two in a row? Gods. Him jawing with Wade is a sign that it's gotten under his skin. That's why I'm so discouraged. Yes, Miami is very, very good, but they aren't so good that they're blowing the Thunder away. When you keep Miami out of the paint, or limit them in the paint, they became an average team very quickly. LeBron isn't nearly as good outside the paint. The Thunder knows how to defend them. They did it at times tonight. That's why Miami's shooting percentage was not good. But the Thunder blew it in every other way. If I didn't know the Thunder were capable, I wouldn't be so discouraged. They blew away Miami by 30 points at Chesapeake Arena earlier this season. They can beat Miami. It can be done. Darn.....it's slipping away. If they go down 3-1, they're done. I thought they had it when they went up by double digits. I really did. sob.
The last two games illustrate what I was trying to explain to you about the intangibles coming into play in the Finals. As I wrote, these two teams are equals when it comes to talent, and age/fatigue is not a facter. Against the Lakers and Spurs the talent/age/fatigue factors worked in the Thunder's favor and gave them a much wider margin for error. The Thunder had some bad stretches agains both, but the Lakers and Spurs couldn't capitalize on them the way the Heat has been able to. So a lot of this has come down to who "wants" it more. This is the way it always is in the Finals, especially when the teams have equal talent. The Heat has "wanted" these last two games more than OKC has. In the last two games the Thunder have been doing things they haven't done in the playoffs like give up big leads late in games and lose, miss free throws, make boneheaded plays, miss shots they had been making with ease. Many times one negative leads to more. When things start to unravel at this level, you need a steady experienced, talented, and dynamic leader to take the team in hand and bring them home. This is where KD's inexperience is a problem. Fish has the experience but not the talent., although I still think that at some point he is going to win one of these games for you. But it is not over, of course. The last two games have been micocosms of why first time Finals participants have such a hard time against experienced Finals participants. The Thunder has to not only play smarter -- Harden is killing you, btw -- but play harder while also playing looser. Whenever the Lakers got into this situation I always felt that "if they can win 2 in a row, so cane we". The Thunder's challenge; win one before the Heat wins another. It ain't over but the Thunder will have to dig deep. The Heat smells blood and for a team this hungry for redemption, you don't want to be looking like "dinner" to them.
Say what you will about Westbrook, the guy's got heart. Unlike Harden, it would seem. I sure was wrong in my assessment of how this series would go... And the way James is playing and comporting himself of late, I grudgingly will admit he deserves the ring. Not 7 though.
Say what you will about Westbrook, a point guard should realize that the shot clock only recycled to five on that next to last sequence that sent Miami to the foul line to put them up 2 possessions. How in the name of God does he not realize that? Let Miami take the shot and at least earn it. Don't give it to them on the free throw line. What good is his heart if he has no brains and no poise to go with it? No control. Harden--complete bust this series. Methinks his ego is going to have to come down a notch. What more is there to be said? The Thunder gave up a 17 point lead. They fought and scratched and clawed their way back late and then did EVERY. THING. wrong. Turnover. Leaving LeBron open for an uncontested three. Harden turning down a wide open shot. Westbrook's final idiocy. They don't deserve it. It breaks my heart, but they don't deserve the championship. There will be better days, I know. I'll calm down, but the fact that it's the Miami Heat makes me sick to my stomach. The Heat are the microcosm of everything wrong with the NBA and with professional athletes in general. Douchebags one and all and my Thunder served up a ring to the king douchebag of them all on a silver platter with their lack of poise and maturity. It's vile that they should win anything. It's a crying shame, but that's the reality I'll have to accept. It's already over. No need to play Thursday. I love my boys, but they're not the same team they were all season. They're not clutch. They're not poised. They're not smart. They're not ready. LeBron James is going to get a ring. Pardon me while I go vomit. EDIT--Okay. I'm calmer now. My boss threw me under a bus this afternoon in front a client for a mistake he himself made. Did I mention my boss is a doppelganger of Scott Walker with a far less pleasing personality? I'd like to kick his ass just once and put sugar in his gas tank. Schmuck. The game was the perfect end to a perfect day. How long do you get for boss homicide these days?
The Thunder's problems I think can be traced mostly to their youthfulness. I absolutely hate to even hint at that being an excuse, but it does seem to have some significant influence for them. The growing pains they are experiencing will be only a memory before long, if they can keep the central unit together and remain relatively healthy. The series may be over, with no team overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the championship round. But they won't be rolling over. And right now who can tell how bad James' injury is?
After the whole "The Decision" debacle with James I was hoping that Miami would never get a sniff of the championship...now one more game and they've got it.
I hear you, Enterprise is Great. I hear you. Believe me, I hear you. LeBron with ring= You're probably right, of course. 22 and 23 years old are very, very young. They've almost ascended too quickly. I know this night will be a memory before too long, but still....LeBron getting a ring. Gag. I'm sure he's not that seriously injured. Probably just a groin pull. Good. I hope it's nice and tender and gets a knee or two tomorrow. Surely an NBA ring is worth at least two nuts.
He doesn't bug me much. He's like the third wheel after James and Wade. You know he's there but his prescence doesn't grate.
Can't say that I'm too surprised that Miami has put a death grip on the Larry O'Brien. As talented as they are, OKC was the right opponent for the Heat in these Finals -- a very young team that had never been in the Finals before. After being humiliated last season in the Finals, beaten by a team most considered to be inferior to the Heat, they fought to get back there this season. That is not easy and it meant something -- that the Heat would not be satisfied with anything less than a ring this year. This is what I meant by one team "wanting" a championship and another team "having to have one". The Thunder had, nor have, any understanding of the depth of the the hunger the Heat feels for a ring. But they will -- when, or if, they are ever in the Finals again.
The OKC coaching staff has made it's share of blunders that might also be chalked up to "youthfulness". Scottie Brooks taking Westbrook AND Durnant out late in the 3rd (or early 4th) quarter of game 3 was a no-no in the Finals. You got to have your dogs in there as much as possible in the Finals. When Phil won his first 3 with the Lakers, he had an almost iron clad rule; either Shaq or Kobe (or both) had to be in the game at all times. Brooks learned fast though. He left his main guys in there most of the 2nd half last night. OKC played only 8 guys the whole game. This illustrates something else I tried to explain to you Dorian, at the start of the season when you were going on about OKC's depth. In game 3, your "depth" was playing against, and getting beat by, the Heat's best players midway through the 2nd half. As the playoffs progress, depth becomes less and less important because the smart coaches play their dogs extended minutes. I'm sure the Heat would love to keep seeing OKC's "depth" in the second half on Thursday. Miami, btw, played only 9 guys one of whom played only a little over 3 minutes. I also still say that going small with Miami is a mistake for the Thunder. This is a coaching issue. By doing this, the Thunder are playing Miami's game -- and losing. They'd do much better going with their bigs (more Perkins) and imposing their will upon Miami thereby forcing the Heat to play OKC's game. This is another area in which Miami has managed to "control", more or less. Dorian, I've been where you are many times in the past and truer words were never spoken than when Don Draper told the doomed Lane Pryce (about starting over after it doesn't work out), "this is ALWAYS the worst part".
Well, that's it. They're too far down. I love my Thunder, but they're done. Congratulations to the Heat for buying a championship and exemplifying everything that's wrong with pro basketball along the way. Congratulations to the Heat members other than Dwayne Wade and LeBron. They aren't stained by the douchebag brush nearly so much. They played well. They deserved this championship. The Heat deserved this. They make me sick, but they deserve the NBA title. Sad. If it were any other team--Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Antonio, even the Lakers, I could handle it fine. But Miami....that's different. LeBron James getting a ring makes me sick to my stomach. He and Wade are the biggest douchebags in the league. Two icons are born. I feel like the Thunder let everyone down.