Greatest athlete soliloquy in the history of sports. Every once in awhile, I literally pull it up on YouTube just to enjoy a good laugh. AI- there will never be another like him. Our daughter has two jerseys- a steph curry jersey, and an iverson throwback.
Love him or hate him it would be hard to argue anyone ever played the game harder. Being from Philly my friends and I relive that interview often. I remember it like it was yesterday.
I love him- all heart & completely fearless.
quote:Originally posted by BOMBA503:
Love him or hate him it would be hard to argue anyone ever played the game harder. Being from Philly my friends and I relive that interview often. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Pound for pound, AI might be the greatest offensive force in modern NBA history.
But he didn't play nearly at that activity level on the defensive end. Way too many attempts to cherry pick the passing lanes, and not nearly enough effort (and physical mass) to defend his man, fight thru screens, etc.
Michael Jordan still gets my vote for hardest working/most competitive player ever from end line to end line and back.
Hard to argue with that too
Jordan never had to carry the scrubs AI had to carry throughout his entire career
Ill give him a pass on guarding the post up big guards
Ill give him a pass on guarding the post up big guards
quote:Originally posted by g-man:
Jordan never had to carry the scrubs AI had to carry throughout his entire career
Ill give him a pass on guarding the post up big guards
Bulls before Pippen and Horace Grant joined the roster weren't world beaters.......
quote:Originally posted by fusionstorm:quote:Originally posted by g-man:
Jordan never had to carry the scrubs AI had to carry throughout his entire career
Ill give him a pass on guarding the post up big guards
Bulls before Pippen and Horace Grant joined the roster weren't world beaters.......
george gervin is better than any player ai ever played with during his career on philly
quote:Originally posted by g-man:quote:Originally posted by fusionstorm:quote:Originally posted by g-man:
Jordan never had to carry the scrubs AI had to carry throughout his entire career
Ill give him a pass on guarding the post up big guards
Bulls before Pippen and Horace Grant joined the roster weren't world beaters.......
george gervin is better than any player ai ever played with during his career on philly
33 y/o Ice Man in his final season was not better than Jerry Stackhouse in his 2 seasons with AI, or Andre Iguodala, or Chris Webber when he averaged 20.9 pts and 9.9 rebounds per game over 75 games during the 2005-2006 season.
Yes, the Sixers didn't have strong rosters overall during AI's time there. But to say he never had ANY talent lining up with him isn't true.
8 down...
I'm almost hoping Toronto (or Miami) winds up winning a game against the Cavs so they remember they have to play. They didn't play with enough locked-in intensity this afternoon.
Also, I don't know who those ABC announcers are, but I didn't like them.
I'm almost hoping Toronto (or Miami) winds up winning a game against the Cavs so they remember they have to play. They didn't play with enough locked-in intensity this afternoon.
Also, I don't know who those ABC announcers are, but I didn't like them.
Heat and Raptors are apparently equal teams. 4 games - 3 overtimes and the non-overtime game was decided by 4 points. Has that ever happened?
Does not matter, Cavs will destroy either team
Does not matter, Cavs will destroy either team
quote:Originally posted by Jcocktosten:
Heat and Raptors are apparently equal teams. 4 games - 3 overtimes and the non-overtime game was decided by 4 points. Has that ever happened?
Does not matter, Cavs will destroy either team
Totally agree. That was an ugly game last night though. After these play-offs will Derozen still get the max?
Can't we just fast-forward to the Finals?
quote:Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:quote:Originally posted by Jcocktosten:
Heat and Raptors are apparently equal teams. 4 games - 3 overtimes and the non-overtime game was decided by 4 points. Has that ever happened?
Does not matter, Cavs will destroy either team
Totally agree. That was an ugly game last night though. After these play-offs will Derozen still get the max?
He has a hurt thumb which is affecting his shooting. Dude is getting max.
quote:Originally posted by DoubleD:
Can't we just fast-forward to the Finals?
I've found the OKC-Spurs series interesting so far, and whoever wins vs. Warriors next round should be pretty good as well.
Cavs are pretty dialed in right now, but I see them dropping one game vs. Heat/Raptors winner, just because they will lose focus at some point. The Toronto / Heat series has been brutal to watch.
quote:Originally posted by patespo1:quote:Originally posted by DoubleD:
Can't we just fast-forward to the Finals?
I've found the OKC-Spurs series interesting so far, and whoever wins vs. Warriors next round should be pretty good as well.
Cavs are pretty dialed in right now, but I see them dropping one game vs. Heat/Raptors winner, just because they will lose focus at some point. The Toronto / Heat series has been brutal to watch.
Unless Whiteside or Valantunous(sp?) comes back I think its a clean sweep. Without those two the teams will get demolished on the boards.
8:19 and no one said anything about what Sir Charles called the greatest performance he's ever seen? You were all asleep weren't you?
Steph was crazy good in OT. Thank goodness the 3's started falling for him. His first 9 attempts were pretty ugly.
For me, the play of the game was that 3 by Harrison Barnes near the end of the 4th qtr. Just an amazing play. The replay from the camera at midcourt had a great angle and showed Barnes setting the pick, stepping towards the 3pt line with his back to the hoop, and Curry passing it from under the hoop before Barnes had even turned around. The Dubs run some amazing plays. And that one worked to perfection. Huge shot for Barnes.
For me, the play of the game was that 3 by Harrison Barnes near the end of the 4th qtr. Just an amazing play. The replay from the camera at midcourt had a great angle and showed Barnes setting the pick, stepping towards the 3pt line with his back to the hoop, and Curry passing it from under the hoop before Barnes had even turned around. The Dubs run some amazing plays. And that one worked to perfection. Huge shot for Barnes.
quote:Originally posted by Azwiese:
Steph was crazy good in OT. Thank goodness the 3's started falling for him. His first 9 attempts were pretty ugly.
For me, the play of the game was that 3 by Harrison Barnes near the end of the 4th qtr. Just an amazing play. The replay from the camera at midcourt had a great angle and showed Barnes setting the pick, stepping towards the 3pt line with his back to the hoop, and Curry passing it from under the hoop before Barnes had even turned around. The Dubs run some amazing plays. And that one worked to perfection. Huge shot for Barnes.
As many scintillating 3s and other baskets Steph made last night, that Barnes 3 with 50 seconds to go in regulation was the most important bucket of the night IMO. He misses there (which he's been doing for most of the playoffs), and it's highly likely the series is tied 2-2.
And for those few misguided individuals who wonder why Mark Jackson has yet to get a coaching gig, that play is something he could've never drawn up. Only a keen basketball mind can draw that up knowing the defense will collapse on Steph and leave Barnes to double team the shooter in the corner.
Not defending Mark Jackson, but the Blazers would probably prefer to have Barnes take that shot. I don't see any brilliance with that play. A brilliant play would free up Curry or Klay to take the shot. No?
quote:Originally posted by DoubleD:
Not defending Mark Jackson, but the Blazers would probably prefer to have Barnes take that shot. I don't see any brilliance with that play. A brilliant play would free up Curry or Klay to take the shot. No?
DD, I'll give you a pass, since you didn't have to suffer through the Mark Jackson era of "iso ball/hero ball".
Drawing up a play in the latter stages of the game isn't just about "hey guys, do this and do that, and it will be guaranteed to work no matter what the opposing team does". Terry Stotts, were it not for the Dubs setting the single-season record for wins, would've been the Coach of the Year. Kerr knows that Stotts is instructing his players to key on Steph and Klay, and basically put their fate in letting Dray/HBarnes/Iggy take the shot. If you watch that play again, you can see how much defensive attention Steph (2 guys marking/chasing him, and Lillard lets HBarnes leak out to the 3 pt line while he becomes the 3rd Blazer to be paying his full attention to Steph driving thru the lane) gets after he receives the ball, and that the Blazers were trying to prevent Steph from passing to Klay in the corner. Iggy was wide open at the top, and Dray's man was playing well off of him as well.
Kerr knew full well that Steph and Klay would essentially occupy at least 4 of the 5 defenders out there, and designed a play where the other Warriors were all ready to receive the ball and shoot. So Kerr felt that a wide open HBarnes (or Dray, or Iggy) was preferable to either Steph or Klay shooting a contested shot.
Officiating continues to be shoddy, as the refs blew an obvious foul by San Antonio with 9 seconds left. To Westbrook's credit he continued to play on and got the 3 point play which sealed the game. But the non-call clearly had an effect on the ending of the game.
quote:Originally posted by DoubleD:
Not defending Mark Jackson, but the Blazers would probably prefer to have Barnes take that shot. I don't see any brilliance with that play. A brilliant play would free up Curry or Klay to take the shot. No?
It's a good point that a brilliant coach would have come up with some crazy play to free up a curry
But being a numbers team. I'm sure they looked at the fact that when curry drives and checks out to an avg spot up shooter they would have a 57% chance of making it in. Barnes is actually better than your avg spot shooter raisng those chances to somewhere around the 60ish mark
Compared to curry shooting, an insane mark, 49-50% contested 3 PT shot the numbers still dictate you pass it off to Barnes
It was the same play i told tpe two years back when we were n Miami watching the spurs final where I told him Manu was getting g the ball on the last shot
Fusionstorm, it all comes down to execution. If Barnes missed that shot, the Blazers claim that was their plan. Teams pretty much have to pick their poison. Having Curry with the ball to kick it out to an open man is a common play.
I didn't watch enough of Mark Jackson coach, but isolation plays were pretty common back then when he played and that's how he learned to coach. You give your best player the ball on a one-on-one match up. To be fair to Jackson, the team he coached was very raw and just started playing together. And, I think Luke Walton could've drawn up the same play. Let's not drink all the Warriors Kool-Aid and put Kerr in the top coaching echelons just yet.
I didn't watch enough of Mark Jackson coach, but isolation plays were pretty common back then when he played and that's how he learned to coach. You give your best player the ball on a one-on-one match up. To be fair to Jackson, the team he coached was very raw and just started playing together. And, I think Luke Walton could've drawn up the same play. Let's not drink all the Warriors Kool-Aid and put Kerr in the top coaching echelons just yet.
quote:Originally posted by DoubleD:
Fusionstorm, it all comes down to execution. If Barnes missed that shot, the Blazers claim that was their plan. Teams pretty much have to pick their poison. Having Curry with the ball to kick it out to an open man is a common play.
And if the blazers adhered more to the numbers. they acutally should have tried to let curry shoot the contested 50% shot instead of lettin barnes get the kick out > 60% shot
quote:Originally posted by DoubleD:
Fusionstorm, it all comes down to execution. If Barnes missed that shot, the Blazers claim that was their plan. Teams pretty much have to pick their poison. Having Curry with the ball to kick it out to an open man is a common play.
I didn't watch enough of Mark Jackson coach, but isolation plays were pretty common back then when he played and that's how he learned to coach. You give your best player the ball on a one-on-one match up. To be fair to Jackson, the team he coached was very raw and just started playing together. And, I think Luke Walton could've drawn up the same play. Let's not drink all the Warriors Kool-Aid and put Kerr in the top coaching echelons just yet.
Thanks for affirming my point, DD. Jackson doesn't have the chops to coach an NBA team past a certain point. No way do the Warriors win a championship with Jackson at the helm.
As for the "raw" aspect, I'd highly disagree. The team as currently constructed was pretty much all there during the Jackson years. All of them were high IQ players who'd played significant roles for D1 programs. Do you think that Steph was taught iso ball at Davidson, Klay at Wash St, Dray at Michigan St, Barnes at UNC, Iggy at U of AZ, Bogut at Utah, David Lee at Florida, etc.? All those guys came out of programs where plays and sets were the norm, not the exception. So they get to the NBA, and Jackson has to "dumb down" their offense b/c they lack the background? No way.
There's a reason why Bogut, Barnes and DLee were happy to see Jackson go. And why Jackson has thrown Steph under the bus on multiple occasions. Only Dray seems to still be cordial with Jackson (I was literally 10 feet away from them when Dray came over and gave Jackson some dap after the Dubs had clinched the WC title against HOU last year), and even Dray would attribute his development, success and size of his bank account to Kerr and not Jackson (as well as DLee getting injured).
Billy Donovan has successfully made the jump from college to the NBA. Beating a 67 win Spurs team is a big accomplishment, especially since it is coached by the masterful Popovich. Now if OKC could upset Golden State, that would put Billy D in a total new light. I want Billy to make it in the NBA because my fear is that he returns to college to coach either UNC or Duke.
I have a couple of bets (in wine of course) with TPE and EB56 - Warriors v. OKC and Lebron. Should be a fun series to watch.
Thinking Miami runs out of gas today in Game 7 vs Toronto. Still a great series to watch, D-Wade has been playing like a 25 y.o.
A decisive performance by Lowry. And great energy on both ends by the whole team.
quote:Originally posted by fcs:
Thinking Miami runs out of gas today in Game 7 vs Toronto. Still a great series to watch, D-Wade has been playing like a 25 y.o.
A prophetic post if there ever was one.
quote:Originally posted by VinT:quote:Originally posted by fcs:
Thinking Miami runs out of gas today in Game 7 vs Toronto. Still a great series to watch, D-Wade has been playing like a 25 y.o.
A prophetic post if there ever was one.
Great team play by Toronto, and the shooting percentage was fantastic. If you guys can keep that going, the Cavs are in for a real test!
Hats off to Raptors - totally deserved to win. Heat looked like they had no clue what they were doing on offense.
Unfortunately, I think the Cavs will sweep them
Unfortunately, I think the Cavs will sweep them
quote:Originally posted by Jcocktosten:
Hats off to Raptors - totally deserved to win. Heat looked like they had no clue what they were doing on offense.
Unfortunately, I think the Cavs will sweep them
Raps took 2 of 3 from Cleveland this year, but that was with JV. Without him, I don't have much hope.
There is no joy in Dubsville. Turnovers, 16 foul shots by OKC in the 3rd quarter, and a 14 point 4th quarter will not carry you very far. Definitely a game of halves.
Congrats to OKC. Will be a long and difficult series.
Congrats to OKC. Will be a long and difficult series.
Nice to see Billy D having a successful 1st year as an NBA coach!
OKC definitely caught a break about the non-traveling call.
I didn't understand Kerr's comments that alluded to rushing their shots at the end of the game. It looked like Klay/Curry shot in the same way throughout the entire game - if you can see the basket, take the shot. The only difference is that the ball wasn't going in.
I hope KD can improve his 10 for 30 shooting. OKC can't win again with that performance.
I didn't understand Kerr's comments that alluded to rushing their shots at the end of the game. It looked like Klay/Curry shot in the same way throughout the entire game - if you can see the basket, take the shot. The only difference is that the ball wasn't going in.
I hope KD can improve his 10 for 30 shooting. OKC can't win again with that performance.
quote:Originally posted by DoubleD:
OKC definitely caught a break about the non-traveling call.
I didn't understand Kerr's comments that alluded to rushing their shots at the end of the game. It looked like Klay/Curry shot in the same way throughout the entire game - if you can see the basket, take the shot. The only difference is that the ball wasn't going in.
I hope KD can improve his 10 for 30 shooting. OKC can't win again with that performance.
i have the admit the travel call is not i see often in the nba
i mean, look at this!
espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14041517
though... maybe it's only okc not getting the travel calls
quote:Originally posted by g-man:
i have the admit the travel call is not i see often in the nba
I agree with you although most non-calls are about going to the basket. I thought Klay traveled on one play near the end of the game while driving to the basket.
Still trying to figure out how Steven Adams got from the arc in the lane near the basket to the 3 point line on one dribble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAY11A5Utow
Play starts at about 1:13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAY11A5Utow
Play starts at about 1:13