Official Basketball Thread

I'm on the fence as far as NBA conspiracy theories are concerned. For one, I have a hard time being convinced that ANYTHING is being rigged in favor of my Spurs. Despite being the 7th most populated city in the United States, as well as the nation's 2nd largest military city (behind only San Diego), San Antonio is ranked in the neighborhood of 37th in the nation as a media market. Hmm...now why would Stern rig the Western Conference bracket in favor of the 37th ranked media market, especially when each of the Spurs' Finals appearances (all won by SA, of course) has generated poor ratings. Now, why would David Stern rig a playoff bracket in favor of a small market franchise, even if it's an NBA-only city, that generates poor Finals ratings? That doesn't make any sense to me. And even if that was true, then why was he was the one who slapped a bullshit fine on the Spurs organization for something that is none of his damn business in the first place?

But at the same time, I know for a fact that the league's 1985 Draft Lottery was rigged in favor of the New York Knicks. How else to explain a single envelope being forced into the tumbler while all the others were placed in there gently, and the fact that Stern picked the envelope that was bent at the corners, which had the Knicks logo inside? Is it any coincidence that Stern is a native New Yorker and that the league's headquarters are located in New York City, or that the nation's most populated city AND largest media market is NYC? I know he wanted Patrick Ewing in New York, but I find it comical that the Knicks had to cheat the draft lottery with Stern's help, and STILL couldn't win an NBA title.

Hell, I'm convinced that Joe Crawford was wearing a yellow jersey in game 4.

Although I agree the officiaing from Game 4 was bad. I did notice some calls that went Miami's way in that game that shouldn't have, namely, a shot clock violation call, and MAYBE an out-of-bounds call, but the latter of the two went to replay, and I should point out that the instant replay rules mandate that there must be indisputable visual evidence to overturn a call, just like the NFL, so at least I can say they did the right thing by letting it stand as called. Either way, that was a poorly officiated game. And like other fellow Spurs fans, I absolutely despise Joey Crawford for his bullshit ejection of Tim Duncan towards the end of the regular season a few years ago that led to Crawford being suspended for the entire postseason that year.

Speaking of which, have you seen that Halloween photo of Duncan and Parker dressed as mobsters holding guns to someone dressed as Crawford with a noose above him? I believe that went viral at around the time of the "Spurs sending the stars home" incident. I actually have it on my flashdrive, and can show it later if you'd like.
 
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Man, Basketball is becoming hard to watch with all of this flopping.

NFL all day everyday. B-ballers are a bunch of sissies!

Hold your horses there...I'm aware of at least one incident where an NFL player has successfully manipulated an official into calling a 15-yard personal foul penalty. In a 2007 playoff game, Giants RB Brandon Jacobs oversold a touch to his shoulderpads from Cowboys linebacker Bradie James during a scuffle, and the refs threw the flag on Dallas.
 
Selling a charge to get a call has always been part of the game, but seeing these guys doing flips like Mr. Perfect taking a clothesline over the slightest touch is getting a bit ridiculous.
 
NFL all day everyday. B-ballers are a bunch of sissies!

The refs are worse in the NFL, though.
EVERYTHING bullshit thing gets called and stupid penalties are given for the slightest f***ing thing.
Don't get me wrong, football is my favorite sport (with basketball in close 2nd), but the NFL of today isn't the NFL of the 80s or 90s either.
That shit used to be VERY tough.

I also find it funny how over-sensitive NFL players have become lately, within the last 10 years, given that these guys wear all this gear (helmets, leg pads, hip pads, cups and shoulder pads) in a sport that's MEANT to be full contact. :laugh:
 
The refs are worse in the NFL, though.
EVERYTHING bullshit thing gets called and stupid penalties are given for the slightest f***ing thing.
Don't get me wrong, football is my favorite sport (with basketball in close 2nd), but the NFL of today isn't the NFL of the 80s or 90s either.
That shit used to be VERY tough.

I also find it funny how over-sensitive NFL players have become lately, within the last 10 years, given that these guys wear all this gear (helmets, leg pads, hip pads, cups and shoulder pads) in a sport that's MEANT to be full contact. :laugh:

If you ask me, I think the NFL's recent rule changes are simply an overreaction to a swarm of lawsuits from former players (or in some cases, their surviving families) over past treatment of concussions, plus several suicides of former players with concussion histories (such as Dave Duerson and Junior Seau).

However, on the issue of NFL officiating, as bad as Joey Crawford is (and I have legitimate reason not to trust him), NOTHING is worse than last season's NFL replacement officials.

(and before we go too far off-topic with the NFL here, RIP Deacon Jones; he was BY FAR my favorite player from before I was born)

Selling a charge to get a call has always been part of the game, but seeing these guys doing flips like Mr. Perfect taking a clothesline over the slightest touch is getting a bit ridiculous.

Well, this season, the NBA has instituted an anti-flopping policy, where during the regular season, a first offense would be a warning, followed by fines for subsequent offenses. During the playoffs, however, players will be automatically fined. During the Conference Finals alone, Tony Allen, LeBron James, David West, and Lance Stephenson were all fined $5,000 each for flopping, three of which occurred in the same game. Derek Fisher, Jeff Pendergraph, and J.R. Smith were fined in earlier rounds, so if you ask me, $5,000 is NOT a strong enough deterrant for flopping.

FIBA rules, on the other hand, punish flopping on the court; the penalty is a technical foul (which, under FIBA rules, simultaneously counts as a personal foul).
 
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Agreed on the fines being weak. LeBron losing $5000 is like me dropping a quarter and having it roll down into the sewer.
 
I still have a bad taste in my mouth over Tony Allen's flop job. That's the type of flopping that belongs in Rasslin'! His head didn't even touch the floor. What pissed me off more is the fact that the league office did NOT downgrade Manu's Flagrant 1 to a personal foul...on top of that, Allen's flop cost us a possession, and nearly cost us the damn game (we could've won that game in regulation had it not been for that bullshit, but I'm glad we won in overtime).
 
What really strikes me as bullshit is how they can upgrade flagrants after the fact and suspend guys for stuff that didn't warrant ejections at the time.
 
Well, I'm now concerned about the Finals, since the Spurs tweeted out that Tim, Tony, and Manu are on the current cover of SI. Can anyone say "SI Cover Curse"? (Although I have reason to doubt that particular curse; Emmitt Smith beat the curse by winning Super Bowl XXVIII along with Super Bowl MVP, and Michael Jordan has been on the SI cover more times than any other athlete, and he always beat the curse.)

EDIT: Ahh...regional cover. Still not buying it out of fear of contributing to the curse, even if I have doubts to its existence.
 
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Heat fans are quickly moving up the charts of the most annoying fanbase. Anyone who isn't drinking the Kool-Aid is automatically a "hater", and gets dismissed. At least Yankee fans earned it since their team's won a million championships, but FFS the Heat have only two.

Also, I'm not counting our own lovely Commander in that group (but boy, does he retweet a lot of those folks on Twitter *dodges thrown LeBron action figures*)
 
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Spurs are the Spurs, and the Heat are the Heat.

The King is 3 losses away from dying, long live the King. GO SPURS GO!
 
Hold your horses there...I'm aware of at least one incident where an NFL player has successfully manipulated an official into calling a 15-yard personal foul penalty. In a 2007 playoff game, Giants RB Brandon Jacobs oversold a touch to his shoulderpads from Cowboys linebacker Bradie James during a scuffle, and the refs threw the flag on Dallas.

Yes, football players do have a tendency to flop during those situations but you'll never see a flop happen in the middle of a play. Flopping goes against the nature of the game. Football is a man's sport, my friend :cool:

Look at this crap
1qmvkx.gif





In regards to the Spurs/Heat game: don't ask Lebron to give you change for a dollar because he only has three quarters :)
 
Yes, football players do have a tendency to flop during those situations but you'll never see a flop happen in the middle of a play. Flopping goes against the nature of the game. Football is a man's sport, my friend :cool:

Look at this crap
1qmvkx.gif





In regards to the Spurs/Heat game: don't ask Lebron to give you change for a dollar because he only has three quarters :)

Talk to me when you can tell me something more important to talk about than the fact that my team is on the verge of a championship...
 
Ok, I'll tell you something. Timmy D played like crap. He needs to have a better game if the Spurs want to close this series out.
 
Ok, I'll tell you something. Timmy D played like crap. He needs to have a better game if the Spurs want to close this series out.

Tim Duncan is a 4-time world champion, a 3-time Finals MVP, and has NEVER lost a Finals series! By default, that makes him a proven winner, and therefore is entitled to respect of the highest order. Either you show him that respect, or you get the fvck out of my thread! Understand?!

Oh, and one more thing...

"Stats are for losers. Final scores are for winners."
-Bill Belichick

Under which category did Tim Duncan fall under last night again? And are you gonna call Bill Belichick a liar, even though he's the best and most proven coach in your favorite sport?
 
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Heat fans are quickly moving up the charts of the most annoying fanbase. Anyone who isn't drinking the Kool-Aid is automatically a "hater", and gets dismissed.

This is so true it hurts; like Sek said, it's not every fan, but most of them can't take any type of criticism w/o thinking I'm automatically hating. I was at work once during the Eastern Conference Finals and I was talking to my boss about it; I told him I thought that Pacers-Spurs would be more interesting that Heat-Spurs and he automatically assumed I was hating on the Heat. Another time, I was with some friends and I said that the Pacers have the better overall team and then got immediately branded a hater. The few times I've talked with Arakynd on PSN he's seemed like the second most reasonable Miami fan I've talked to, aside from my brother, who's been a Miami fan for years. The funny thing is that most of the "die-hard" fans are the same fans who jumped on the team after LBJ and Bosh joined.


Ok, I'll tell you something. Timmy D played like crap. He needs to have a better game if the Spurs want to close this series out.

Well Duncan had 20 and 14 so its not like he played terribly haha. As long as Parker plays like he's been this whole postseason the Spurs should be good.
 
Tim Duncan is a 4-time world champion, a 3-time Finals MVP, and has NEVER lost a Finals series! By default, that makes him a proven winner, and therefore is entitled to respect of the highest order. Either you show him that respect, or you get the fvck out of my thread! Understand?!

Oh, and one more thing...

"Stats are for losers. Final scores are for winners."
-Bill Belichick

Under which category did Tim Duncan fall under last night again? And are you gonna call Bill Belichick a liar, even though he's the best and most proven coach in your favorite sport?

When did I disrespect Duncan? I just said he played like crap. One crappy game doesn't erase his career accomplishments. If Micheal Jordan played like crap, I'm going to say he played like crap. Lebron is the best player on the planet and already is one of the all time greats........he played like crap as well.
 
When did I disrespect Duncan? I just said he played like crap. One crappy game doesn't erase his career accomplishments. If Micheal Jordan played like crap, I'm going to say he played like crap. Lebron is the best player on the planet and already is one of the all time greats........he played like crap as well.

Well, the point I'm trying to make is, it's not how you win that counts, but rather if you win. Is anyone really going to remember how "crappy" one player from the winning team played when all is said and done? Hell no! All they'll remember is who won the series, and in how many games. The only thing that matters is the bottom line, and the bottom line is who won and who lost.
 
Well, the point I'm trying to make is, it's not how you win that counts, but rather if you win. Is anyone really going to remember how "crappy" one player from the winning team played when all is said and done? Hell no! All they'll remember is who won the series, and in how many games. The only thing that matters is the bottom line, and the bottom line is who won and who lost.

My point is that the Spurs need more productivity out of Duncan if they want to win this series. I still don't understand why he doesn't just post up Bosh and beast him in the inside. Nonetheless, he needs to be more aggressive. In all honesty, the Heat made a a lot of mistakes in that game. Don't expect them to play like that in game 2.
 
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