Re: NBA Playoffs: Dallas edition
Not to quibble with your version of events, but i watched that game too...
OH, but please. That is one of the pleasures of sports, is arguing the unarguable.
Heard a great piece on the radio, probably about a month ago on "Speaking of Faith", with a conservative clergy man, and he was using sports as an example. Where you are never going to convince the other side, in his case to convince his friends that the Green Bay Packers winning the Super Bowl was not a good thing. That the Steelers should have won. But his point was that when you see that you can disagree, but have your point made, then when you take that to another more serious table, you can use the same format, not trying to change the other sides mind, but get them to see your points. (Already I ramble.)
The apparent adjustment to me was OK's James Harden fouling out with something like 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The Mavs went on something like a 15-2 run after that and continued that momentum to win in overtime.
The Mavs play was epic before Harden fouled out too, but it wasn't enough and they were on their way to losing by 10+ points because of OK dominating in the paint and out rebounding them. Before Harden fouled out the thunder were taking over 70% of their shots inside 15' and hitting over 50%. After he fouled out, they only tried 12% inside 15' and made 0%.
I am not trying to make out Harden (a bench player) as some kind of star, but he sure appeared to be pivotal in that one game's change in fortune, or that is one monumental coincidence.
I was referring to the changes the Thunder had made to get to the 15 point lead. And I was super impressed with how they kept pouring it on in the fourth quarter. Taking open shots early in the shot clock when they were open, being aggressive. The Durrant three off the offensive rebound was awesome. Playing to win, and not to not lose. Up till that point.
But the Mavericks never looked down. And there was too much emotion on the Thunder. Seffelosa's quadruple chest thump was a bit much.
I was also wondering as I watched, with the sound muted, if the flagrant foul had something to do with the Thunder's demise. Usually that pumps up the team that gets fouled, but not in this case. And that also happened about the same time as Harden fouling out. OKC never came in the paint again.
The referees get partial credit for influencing outcome with foul calls, not that I accuse them of intentional manipulation. They have an even greater impact on the east coast series since they are more defensive minded, lower scoring games, so a few point swing is harder to overcome.
Dirk deserves all the accolades he gets, he is a monster offensive player and a 7 footer who can dribble. Jason Kidd is good for an old guard (late 30's), and Marion had a big game, but it may take more than that to win the whole enchilada. This is their year to win if they are ever going to do it. After last night I expect OK to be demoralized, while they shouldn't be, they had the Mavs on the ropes for almost the entire game. Unfortunately not the part that matters, the very end. The ability to close out games is one of the things experienced teams learn how to do, but coming back like that from 15 down with only 5 mins to play in a pivotal playoff game is extremely rare (if ever).
JR
I'm giving Jason Kidd a lot more accolades than you are. The defense he has played on key players has been awesome. And his general knowing how things work, and how to win. He is quite over matched physically by Westbrook, but doing a lot more to make his team win.
On to Miami. Quite interesting the team that they have assembled. I mean more so than the big three, is the fact that Spoelstra has left the centers inactive, and they have no real point guard. That this has not left them vulnerable to the MVP (point guard) is amazing. Even more so that Labron was able to really shut Rose down in the fourth quarter. So, no loss to the Heat on defense, and only the one turnover bringing the ball up on offense.
I thought the missed free throws hurt Chicago. And Boozers flagrant foul was bad. Just poorly executed, because he should have been able to protect the basket, send Bosh to the line, without making it flagrant.
In general, I am amazed what passes for an open shot in the NBA. Basically means you are able to get your feet set. And how much different it is in terms of scoring. EG, one big play in the NFL is 7 pooints. But especially when it gets down to the post season and the competition is so much greater, and the stakes higher, one team can have lots of breaks, dominate in some areas, seemingly have an overall edge, and still have only a three point lead with two minutes to go.
Now the really important game. Not too many peeps have been showing up for our wed night game. Hope we get enough for at least three on three tonight. Don't miss you open corner shots.
Jack (has trouble to this day with his corner shots because our barn didn't have enough ceiling room on the baseline to shoot with the right arch) Arnott
