Not a '99er, but I remember just how much **** the Rockets got during the championship runs for an ugly style of play. Not long after, a lot of teams started playing with more space and going out to the 3pt line to take advantage of the double team rules at the time.
This was more of a traditional way of success. Lakers dumped it to Shaq as well for a dunk or a 3 pter until Kobe took over. Those players were better than Harden and old Chris Paul IMO. The Lakers and Rockets never faced a historic GSW team, which had a 6'7 guy pushing the ball, making plays, defending and moving at a high level.
So the long story short is They were more Tradition AND they did not play against non Traditional teams So People (not you specifically) Things we should be more Traditional against a non traditional team Rocket River
We go with the Era though, some things worked better in the 90s, some better in the 2YKs and some better in 2016+. Nowadays we should have a more traditional Center and a 6'8 or 6'9 playmaking big if that makes sense. The more traditional Center is there for rebounds and spare minutes only though and depending on matchups. Versatility is important in many eras. Too bad with Royce White but we had to chase for those types after the failure.
Just because you've reached an age (I'm 50, speaking from experience) that you can discuss things in a more civil tone than your younger counterparts doesn't mean you aren't trolling. "Flailing and flopping of arms, necks and legs", "the public complaining about referees", "the written reports to the NBA"? Something it is impossible for the fan of an empire / dynasty team to understand: the NBA's popularity declines when such a team does not exist. The NBA needs its Jordan-Bulls, its LeBron-Whomevers, its GSW, its Kobe-Shaq Lakers. I don't know how it happens, I can't say there's a wink and a nod, but somehow, magically, if the wildly popular team takes a hook to the jaw and looks like it's going to the mat, or if the opponent is known to be a threat, there's always that little bit of help. Hell, I remember Riley's Heat against Jordan. Riley looking at the refs, circling his head with his index finger, as if to say, "Jordan wears a halo, you can't touch him for he is beloved of God." Game 6 Lakers and Kings. Lakers were about to go out in 6. Wait, the Kings in the NBA Finals, not the Lakers? A helping hand from the refs. Sudden, strange calls. So, Lakers are on their feet again. At home in Game 7. Win. I'm not saying the Heatles would have lost to the OKC Thunder several years back in the Finals but LeBron got a looooooooooot of questionable calls on his way to his first ring. You can't be a King if you're not on the throne. It's good to be the King. Which comes down to the GSW. Well, yeah, why should we complain about refs when they suddenly, magically stop calling that Bruce Bowen maneuver of not letting the shooter come down cleanly (Kawhi Leonard's playoff injury years ago notwithstanding)? They did it last season in the WCF and even Reggie Miller (Reggie Miller!) and Chris Webber were yelling, "How is that not a foul?" But, hey, they don't call it, it's not a foul, right? So Kerr tells his guys to pull it again this year in Game 1. If the refs don't call it, keep doing it. The refs even went to D'Antoni (who is as stubborn as they get, by the way, and does not coach) and told him at halftime they missed four such calls in the first half (you'll say he made this up but he isn't one to pull a Trump type lie). FOUR missed calls. How many free throws is that? Probably 12. Make 9 of those, hell, make half of them, and take away the runout scores the GSW had when we "missed" them? How much did you guys "win" that game by? 4? So it sets the tone of the series. Damage is already done. But don't get me wrong. It didn't help that Clint Capela was ass that series or CP3 showed up every other game. I'll be the first to say I can't stand watching Harden dribble the air out of the ball (it's okay sometimes, but not all f****** game) but when he was with the Thunder he destroyed the Rockets with that isolation play, and after we acquired him, no one has really seemed to tell him to stop doing it. Or it doesn't sink in. I think people quit telling him when we have so many injuries. And he scores 36 ppg so, yeah, no one challenges him on it. Anyway, enjoy your team's dominance. I know it must be fun. Show our responses to other GSW fans. Laugh and shake your heads at our delusional ways. Because you really only came here like a regular viewer of FOX or MSNBC who watches the other channel from time to time, "getting another perspective", but probably just gathering ammunition to bolster the opinion you won't change. For me, I'll pretend it's IRON CHEF, the original version from Japan. The judges at the end sometimes would praise the challenger to the heavens, and point out the mistakes the Iron Chef made, but the challenger would seldom get the "win" despite winning. Number One has to stay Number One. God bless you and keep you.
If this single sentence had been post #2, we could've just closed the damn thread and saved everyone a lot of trouble.
I don't know if "tire" is the right word for me. I would prefer a bit more ball movement but I understand that no team right now is going to match the talent level of the Warriors and the only way to give yourself a good shot at beating them in a series is how the Rockets are playing. Given that they pushed the Warriors to 7 last season and had one of the closest 6 games series I can ever recall this season is evidence that the Rockets method works but it still wasn't enough either talent or coaching wise. As for the rest I do not mind it - I think the ref report timing made the Rockets org look bad but for a league that preaches transparency they are super protective of the refs and telling teams not to mine data on the ref preferences and denying teams reports of other games really does look a bit bad. I think any pressure made to the league to make the game as consistent as possible is important. I do not believe if it will ever be necessarily fair, but consistency is huge and these games can be reffed wildly inconsistent from quarter to quarter at times not just game to game. I can see how others will feel its whining and its a bad look but I think there was probably more support than what was let on from other teams as well. There can be no winning when trying to issue judgment against the league in the public's eye but I do believe if we're going to try to improve the game and keep its integrity someone needs to speak up.
Fellas, I posted this late yesterday afternoon from my office and went home. I'm back at work, took care of a few things and just checked this board. Thank you for the responses. Whether you believe it or not, my intention wasn't to troll. I've read all of your responses and I appreciate the various thoughts, passion and rationale behind them, even the ones telling me to f--k off. For all of you who feel The W's are this golden child of a franchise, I'd like to remind of a couple of things. From 1976-2008, The Warriors were one of the most cursed franchises in all of sports. Who else drafted Purvis Short in '78 instead of Larry Bird? Who else traded Robert Parish and the draft pick that became Kevin McHale for Joe Barry Carroll. Who else took Chris Washburn with the #3 pick in '86? Who had the worst record in the league and should have drafted Ewing in '85 only to have the first ever Draft Lottery steal him away? Who drafted Todd Fuller in '96 instead of Kobe, Nash & J O'neal? Who else drafted Adonal Foyle instead of T McGrady? Who else had their player (Spree) choke their coach (PJ) and have to trade him for a pile of garbage? This is tip of the iceberg. Read this from Bill Simmons in 2012 for the whole story. The W's finally had their luck turn with the drafting of Steph, Klay & Dray and a couple of other transactions. Adding Durant came was another huge bit of luck as his free agency coincided with The W's losing in the finals (he never would've come if they'd won) and the gigantic salary cap spike that occurred that particular offseason. Yes, I feel like a very lucky fan... finally. I wish I could respond to each of your posts, but that would take weeks. Thanks for the honest responses, even those aimed squarely at a person not wanted here. I may creep and read this board here and there burt I won't participate regularly. You're clearly extremely passionate and real fans and not bandwagon jumpers, which I do respect. Thank you to those who actually attempted to answer honestly. Out.
Yes. And no. Unfortunately in the NBA playing the refs is part of the game. The flipping and flopping and complaining is part of the game. I don't care for it personally. But Draymond and Durant and Curry and Paul and Harden do it as well as anybody. Watching them work the officials is a study in human psychology. So i get tired of it about like you do. Draymond is as crazy with his bs as Cp3 is. But its part of the game. And it works to his advantage. And that is one of the reasons why a team needs a Cp3 type player if they expect to win a championship. Because Draymond constantly tests the limits of officiating. So a team needs their own counter. Otherwise the officiating tide against them will bury them. The Warriors as a team and organization are second to none in working the officials and the media and public opinion from the players clear up to ownership. The Warriors are masters of the narrative. Which is why the narrative exists that we are just an iso team that dribbles for 20 seconds. We aren't that no more than the Warriors are that when Durant is healthy. But we do have overusage issues with Harden. And that distorts our greatness offensively. Just like overusage of Durant distorts the Warriors greatness. The Warriors are the best version of themselves when Curry is the lead creator creating for others and himself with Durant stepping into the playmaking role after the defense has been sucked into trying to deny Curry the ball. But when Durant dominates the ball for games at a time and makes Curry essentially a spot up guard, they become as boring and predictable as when Harden overuses himself. And that did occur this season for large stretches for both teams. Curry is a far superior creator to Durant. It's not even close. Conversely the Rockets are at their best when both Harden and Paul are equally engaged offensively with Paul limiting Harden's on ball usage and helping to keep his turnovers down and resetting the game. Harden and Durant both manifested ego issues this season and neither was fun to watch because of their selfishness. As far as the sales job we tried to pull on the eve of the series with the officials... that was funny. But that's what competitors do. Don't think the Warriors don't do likewise. They were in the league office since last season complaining about shooting fouls on Harden and step back travels. I thought it was actually interesting that we held our powder on last year's series until the eve of this series. Mostly what Houston gets tired of is the distortion that the media puts out concerning the two teams. For instance this issue about the officiating complaint on the eve of the series was leaked, intentionally, to the big media centers. And they blew it up. Meanwhile all the back and forth between the league office and the Warriors concerning Harden's alleged travels and flops is not published. But it happened nonetheless. And the Warriors subsequently promoted those ideas in the media to influence as many people as possible which in turn increases pressure on the officials calling the game and being under a microscope of pressure. So, many of us get tired of the media bias against Houston and for Golden State. We get tired of the media spinning everything. But the true fans here like to watch great basketball. We know Golden State is a great team, in my personal opinion the greatest team ever assembled. But we also know we've been very close to beating the Warriors. And that is never boring. Never. For now we're #alsorans. It remains to be seen whether we'll ever climb all the way to the summit. But the true basketball fans don't get tired of following our team... ever.
Thread is stupid. What you getting at? Waste of a thread. You want them to be better than open your wallet more period...
Don’t like the iso ball, but the officiating complaints and discrepancies are real. Having said that, Golden State is just better than we are.
I hate the ISO ball almost as much as any California team in any sport. Never liked Kobe the accused rapist, can't stand Cocky Pacifier Curry, didn't respect protest flag kneeling Kap, and honestly can't think of any player on any team from Cali I've ever liked since the Montana / Rice days. Those two I loved watching.
Remember when Shaq willed his way into the basket knocking the defender down? They called it a dominant big man. As soon as he left California they made that play obsolete.
