Western Conference Finals: Dallas Mavericks vs Oklahoma City Thunder

A couple of times Harden was standing WIDE OPEN at the 3-point line and WB had tunnel-vision with zero intention of passing the ball. He never really recovered from the game 4 meltdown against Denver. From then on it was a huge struggle for him to contain his worst tendencies. As soon as Harden was inserted in the 2nd half, he attacks the rim, finds KD standing wide-open and he drilled it (3-pointer) in rhythm. This happened after OKC's offense was junk most of the 3rd quarter with WB running the show. I defended WB against Denver and Memphis but I'm really concerned about him going forward. His issues are much worse than I thought. You find out what people are made of when the pressure is on because they revert to what they really are and where they are most comfortable.

WB is incredibly talented but he's also his own worst enemy. Hopefully he will learn and become much wiser for it.

 

OKC need them a big man who can consistently get them points in the paint when they need it. We all know Perkins can't be that guy. Collison isn't a guy you can throw it down into the post to. Ibaka was a huge disappointment this round.

 

Scola and Martin for Harden and Ibaka

Westbrook
Martin
Durant
Scola
Perkins

Lowry
Harden
Budinger
Patt
Ibaka

 

Ibaka is 21 years-old and has improved more in his 2 seasons since coming across the pond than anyone ever dreamed of. During the WCFs, he guarded Dirk for the first time in his career and the shock was evident. He showed what he can do in game 4 and there is more to it than that. Consistency will improve. Because of Brooks stubbornness, he didn't even become a starter until Jeff Green was traded after the All-Star game.

Ibaka will be just fine and is the least of OKC's problems going forward. He has a jumper and also has low-post moves that he wasn't allowed to use this season. Before it's all said and done in OKC, we'll see who ends up being their two or three best players.

 

it's westbrooks fault durant couldn't destroy a 38 year old 6-4 point guard bro

 

Exactly. Dirk wanted no part of that whole celebration mess. He could not care less about the WCF trophy.

Cough, cough. Lebron orgasmed after a second round series win. I don't understand how anyone can root for him.

 

Easy, we're not rooting for him, we're rooting against the other guys.

I hate 3 teams: Mavs, Jazz, Lakers. Care to take a guess as to why? I can't root for these teams under any circumstances whatsoever.

 

Kobe actually got charged with rape, people don't seem to have trouble rooting for him. Tmac made contributions and missions to darfur, tinman seems to be the only TOF left in the board. Game talks more than personality, and the reality is LBJ is the best player in the league right now, and will probably be GOAT when his career is done.

 

Agreed, but consider this: The Mavs completely humiliated and emasculated the Lakers. I give them a lot of credit for that. Watching those games was awesome. I also respect them for losing their 2nd best player during the season and still making the NBA Finals.

I don't feel as negative about this Mavs team as usual.

 

Guess you have no Idea about the history between Celtics and Wade, Lebron and Heat over the last four years. Go read up about it.

 

During the obligatory hugs after the final buzzer, some of the Mav vets like Kidd and Marion took time to speak into the ears of the young OKC guys, probably words of advice and encouragement like "your time will come." And the young guys seemed to genuinely appreciate it. Good to see.

The Mavs have made their living in the fourth quarters of these playoffs, but then again so have Miami. The battle down the stretch during the finals is going to be crazy.

 

I don't see him passing Jordan and I'm not sure if I would take him over Bird as the best SF of all time.

 

I'm not saying I won't be happy for people like Dirk and Kidd, but I'm not going to actively root for them. Again, it's truly the lesser of two evils. I'll be happy for either coach- the fans of both teams are generally obnoxious and they can go screw themselves.

 

Right now, I'd agree. However, if he wins three or four titles, he'll pass Bird and be right there with MJ. Hard to tell at this point, with all of the potential "super teams" in play, but if the NBA landscape doesn't change too much, the Heat are going to be the favorites for the next five years at least.

 

Oh i know all about it. But still, it was the second round. he was playing to the cameras, IMO. His whole personality LATELY (last year) just screams attention wh()re to me.

 

Jordan's shadow will still loom large over Lebron even if he wins multiple titles, Jordan's career had a once in a lifetime storybook feel to it. Lebron would have to surpass Jordan's individual and team accolades to get the GOAT title.

 

Never going to happen. Basketball purists will never fully accept his success due to the manner in which it was achieved.

Jordan said it best himself.

 

Lebron will never catch up to it. The fact that he left his home town team to join another team will forever loom over his legacy.

Jordan's offensive game was also much more complete than Lebron, and dare I say Jordan was also a better defender than Lebron.

Not to mention, Jordan owns multiple God-Like PER seasons. His efficiency was ridiculous. Jordan's career FG% is also at .497 %.

Furthermore, the competition between before and now is much more different. Hand checks are no longer allowed, and today's emphasis is on guards, not Centers. Jordan dominated during the days where the paint was literally crowded with HOF centers. Nowadays not so much.

 

Personally I don't think Lebron will ever catch up to Jordan, but I can see the media pushing it and the younger fans who never saw Jordan play if Lebron ever caught up to him in team and individual titles.

 

it's absurd to compare lebron to jordan now, or even when he retires. people don't understand how ridiculous MJ was as an individual player in terms of stats and accolades, along with the rings.

that is why i always shake my head when people compare kobe to jordan. it's blasphemy.

lebron has a REALLY long shot to challenge MJ but it's extremely slim. statistically, he's on the right path though.

jordan's career stats + accolades
30.1ppg, 6.2rpg, 4.7apg, 2.3spg, 0.8bpg on 49.7%fg
playoffs: 33.4ppg, 6.4rpg, 5.7apg, 48.7%fg
14-time all-star
5-time NBA MVP
6-time finals MVP
10-time all-nba 1st team
9-time all-nba defense 1st team
1 DPOY

lebron's career stats so far + accolades:
27.7ppg, 7.1rpg, 5.9apg, 1.7spg, 0.8bpg, on 47.9%fg (his fg% will improve to around 49% when he retires at his current improvement)
playoffs: 28.7ppg, 8.5rpg, 7apg, 46% fg
7-time NBA all-star
2-time NBA MVP (i expect him to have at least 4 when he's done)
5-time all-nba 1st team
3-time all-nba defense 1st team

going to be pretty much impossible to out-do jordan. but if he wins 3+ rings, he'll go down as a top 3 player easily.