The lede was that Lebron James had only made 2 of 18 shots. Yep that was bad, but so was everyone else on the floor. Both the Cavs and the Celtics managed to squeeze 3 quarters worth of scoring into a full game.
If you like mauling defense and sloppy ball handling this was your game. For the rest of us it was awful. Clearly both sides are willing to play negative defensive tactics to keep the other side’s offensive stars in check.
Lebron might need to add Tai Kwan Do to his repertoire. This series will give Anderson Varejao plenty of opportunity to work on his Bill Laimbeer-esque game.
If you like mauling defense and sloppy ball handling this was your game. For the rest of us it was awful. Clearly both sides are willing to play negative defensive tactics to keep the other side’s offensive stars in check.
Lebron might need to add Tai Kwan Do to his repertoire. This series will give Anderson Varejao plenty of opportunity to work on his Bill Laimbeer-esque game.
3 comments:
A terrible game. WNBA at its worst.
But not nearly as bad as the Spurs tactics against the Suns. The Spurs cynical "hack-a-shaq" strategy was quite effective --it took the Suns out of their offense and Shaq was generally terrible at the line. But it was also pathetic and grasping. Apparantly the Spurs couldn't win playing basketball, so they used this ploy to get past the Suns. Thank God there is Karma and the Hornets are pummelling the worn-out Spurs. The foul rule must be changed. Can you imagine if football could played so that the team on defense could foul the opposing team and thereby force the offense to kick a Field Goal? Or if Soccer was decided by penalty kicks. (Errr....)
A. Stop whining about the Suns Spurs and hack a shaq. If I am not mistaken the Lakers won multiple titles as did the Heat with Shaq despite other teams trying to foul shaq. The reason they lost is that Amare has no brain (charging call anyone), Nash has a remarkable ability to disappear or worse during critical clutch posessions and you have Boris Diaw on your team. Oh and while we are talking about goons, how about Raja Bell and his Bowen like tactics.
B. Physical basketball is the reality of the playoffs not the puss ball the Suns play- the Nuggets/Lakers not withstanding.. You have hit on the real reason the Suns lose every year. It's easy to score during the regular season when half of the teams don't care and no one wants to get injured. It's like an all star game most of the time.
For those of us who remember real basketball from the 80's have to recall the wars between those heavyweights. Lambier, Rodman, Oakley, M. Lucas, Mahorn, Rambis, Mc Hale, etc. made their names as play off heavies. One of the hallmarks of those dynasty teams is that they had to rise to to the physical level of their opponents to get to the championship. Detroit had to get by Boston, Chicago had to man up against Detroit. Remember Scottie Pippen's headache when faced with Detroit' D. Jordan used to practice driving and shooting with a trainer hitting him with a hard foam bat to be ready for what Detroit would bring. McHale decapitated Kurt Rambis (I think it was 86) sending the message that Showtime wasn't going to play against Boston. The following year, the Lakers added M. Lucas and their own goons to win back the championship. "Basketball" is played at both end of the court not just the O end. I'll admit the Riley Knicks took it too far - that team had no discernable talent and just straight gooned. But Suns don't touch me basketball and complete lack of D (yes I mean Nash and Stoudamire) are soft and hence they don't win come playoff time - see 80's Nuggets, 90's Cavs, 80's 90's Jazz, 90's Trailblazers, any Golden State Warriors playoff team, etc.
3) We have already wussed up the rules to forbid hand checking so that PG like Nash, Parker and co. can drive at will to enhance the offensive game. What else to you want to do, no touch period. No defensive play in the post? Lay up lines for everyone? Why doesn't shaq learn to shoot free throws so he is not a D liability.
4) I thought as a soccer fan you would like the Spurs flopping and "Defense" in the euro sense of it.
5) Finally, I have played basketball against you and you don't seem to mind the hack a shaq when your playing.:) Just kidding
DRage! My Brother! Welcome back to the blog! I look forward to more of your posts. Flopping sucks whether its soccer or hoops. BUt at least soccer is doing something about it by issuing yellow cards to floppers.
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