2012 Finals !!

I don't know which is worse. Watching Lebron get his ring, the wrong way. Watching CC face Lee in the World Series. Watching the Steelers win another Super Bowl on the backs of the officiating. I wonder when the karma will turn in the favor of this City and it's battered sports fans. I hope I live long enough to see it.

I have always had my doubts about the realness of the NBA. I never really have been to the point that I am now. I am addicted to the game, and like the die hard pro wrestling fan, I would not believe it was fake at the end of the day. I can no longer say that. The league is on par with the WWE or what ever they call it. I hate to think it, cause I really like what Gilbert and the bunch are trying to do, but I feel like I am just watching different version of General Hospital, geared towards the male gender.

The series is over. We know from watching him 7 years in cleveland that LeBron is too good for anyone to come back from down 3-1 - LeBron alone will win one of the 3 games. As much as I hate to see it happen for another team, LeBron is having the kind of playoffs we all knew he was capable of. Last night he was masterful in a game he only took 20 shots. The frustrating thing is that had he played like this 2 years ago we win the championship. And now that he's about to win his first (which really should be his 3rd consecutive time), he's going to be very hard to stop as the only thing that has been in his way these past 3 years is his own self doubt.

Unless the cavs are there I may be done with the nba playoffs.

The refs are going to start to give an edge to okc to push this thing to 7. It's up to the thunder to take advantage and win the games

[video=youtube;SqsgOgf0-4c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqsgOgf0-4c&feature=g-u-u[/video]

I don't know whats more annoying. Lebron close to winning a title or the fact that OKC and Miami will likely meet in the finals for the next 3 years. This basketball is hard to watch.

Who got in lebrons head enough to make play so much in the post? That's what I want to know. Only took 9 years to realize it.

WarAdmiral said:

I don't know which is worse. Watching Lebron get his ring, the wrong way. Watching CC face Lee in the World Series. Watching the Steelers win another Super Bowl on the backs of the officiating. I wonder when the karma will turn in the favor of this City and it's battered sports fans. I hope I live long enough to see it.

I have always had my doubts about the realness of the NBA. I never really have been to the point that I am now. I am addicted to the game, and like the die hard pro wrestling fan, I would not believe it was fake at the end of the day. I can no longer say that. The league is on par with the WWE or what ever they call it. I hate to think it, cause I really like what Gilbert and the bunch are trying to do, but I feel like I am just watching different version of General Hospital, geared towards the male gender.

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It's not fixed IMO. It looks that way sometimes b/c of how incompetent the officiating is. The issue is star players getting preferential treatment, and star players who flop for calls.

The difference in this series has been Wade and to some degree LeBron. Wade literally complains and asks for every call, grunts on every shot attempt to influence calls, and whines and moans when he doesn't get it. LeBron flops for calls as well but not to the magnitude of Wade.

On the flip side, OKC doesn't do it. And it hurts them b/c it doesn't force officials into making calls. What should be seen as noble and the right way to play, is hurting them in terms of getting whistles. Last night being a perfect example in the third quarter. Probably the worst officiated quarter in the finals thus far in which Dwayne Wade went to the line twice on zero contact. Miami got 9 calls in their favor, and only 3 were actually fouls. And while fans and media complain about Miami's flopping and complaining, why would they ever stop when the NBA rewards it?

I also think the term "flop" needs further clarification for some people. Flopping no longer just refers to a defensive player over-reacting to get a call. It now includes plays like D-Wade in game 3 where he grunted at the rim and acted like he took a body blow to get the fourth on Durant. It includes D-wade wiping his head like he got scraped last night, when no-one touched him.

But those manipulation techniques have worked. It's bush-league but whatever. The NBA won't do anything about it.

There are two plays that I can't stop shaking my head over.

The first was the Durant block on Wade in the third quarter that became a foul on Westbrook. You could tell the refs had been put on notice that having Durant on the bench wasn't good for the league. But that sure as hell wasn't going to keep them from protecting Wade. So Westbrook ends up with the call. A classic example of officiating bias involving both teams.

The second was the jump ball that resulted in Westbrook's brain cramp and foul on Chalmers. What everyone seems to have missed is that Durant stood motionless while Battier read the play and beat him to the ball while tipping it to Chalmers. Durant has to have that ball. On top of that, Durant has to have more than 3 rebounds in a critical game. That play summed up his passivity. Durant is a great scorer. But he has some growing to do.

I thought those two plays symbolized the way this series has gone: Miami is benefitting from one-side officiating and OKC is hurting themselves with a lack of hustle and clutch execution. It doesn't have to be one or the other. In this series it's both.

The play that made me just want to bash my head in to the wall was Westbrook dribbling the ball off his foot.

OKC had worked so hard to get back in the game down the stretch.

They were up 94-92 at that point and had a chance to stretch it to a two possession game for the first time since the 1st quarter.

Westbrook dribbles the ball off his foot and then Miami rips off the 7-0 run to go up 99-94 with under two minutes left.

I know the foul with under :20 was idiotic but I thought the entire game turned on that Westbrook TO with around 3:30 left. If OKC can go up by 4 or 5 there, with LeBron essentially done, I think they hold on and win that game. Oh well. Might just be Miami's year.

Noonan said:

There are two plays that I can't stop shaking my head over.

The first was the Durant block on Wade in the third quarter that became a foul on Westbrook. You could tell the refs had been put on notice that having Durant on the bench wasn't good for the league. But that sure as hell wasn't going to keep them from protecting Wade. So Westbrook ends up with the call. A classic example of officiating bias involving both teams.

The second was the jump ball that resulted in Westbrook's brain cramp and foul on Chalmers. What everyone seems to have missed is that Durant stood motionless while Battier read the play and beat him to the ball while tipping it to Chalmers. Durant has to have that ball. On top of that, Durant has to have more than 3 rebounds in a critical game. That play summed up his passivity. Durant is a great scorer. But he has some growing to do.

I thought those two plays symbolized the way this series has gone: Miami is benefitting from one-side officiating and OKC is hurting themselves with a lack of hustle and clutch execution. It doesn't have to be one or the other. In this series it's both.

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Yeah...the call on Durant in the third was comical. When Durant looked at the official with a "are you serious?" face, the official runs right up to him and tells him the foul isn't on him as if Durant should be over-joyed the official was protecting him. Then you can see Durant watching the replay on the big-screen and just aghast at how horrible the call was. Then Wade steps up and hits critical free-throws b/c every point in this series is huge.

Officials duped again.

I'm still waiting on that $25,000 fine Scott Brooks. It'd be the best money you've ever spent.

A lot of people are missing another comical one sided call.

Wade pump fakes and does his deliberate "lean into the defender" shit and gets the foul call. Never mind that that's a bush league move...

But then, no more a handful of possessions later, Westbrook pulls off the same move... and doesn't get the call. The same move, same contact, same everything. Im glad he doesn't try that more often as that play is a disgrace to the game... but if you're going to call it one way, you gotta call it the other.

Game 4
Total Fouls on Mia 18
Total Fouls on OKC 20

Sure looks like one team got all the calls to me. :weirdo:

That game was probably the most physical game of the Finals and they let a lot go on both sides and then they called some head scratching weak touch fouls...once again on both sides.

cafemerald said:

A lot of people are missing another comical one sided call.

Wade pump fakes and does his deliberate "lean into the defender" shit and gets the foul call. Never mind that that's a bush league move...

But then, no more a handful of possessions later, Westbrook pulls off the same move... and doesn't get the call. The same move, same contact, same everything. Im glad he doesn't try that more often as that play is a disgrace to the game... but if you're going to call it one way, you gotta call it the other.

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Absolutely correct. Also part of that awful third quarter I've been talking about.

Wade gets Harden to leave his feet but Harden does a nice job of landing short of him. Wade jumps into Harden which is supposed to result in a no-call since he didn't land on him, yet Wade goes to the stripe.

Few possesions later, Westbrook comes off a screen to the elbow and is about to pull up for the jumper. He delays just a little bit so Chalmers will make contact with him. Westbrook initiates the contact and kicks his leg in a very D-Wade type of way. Chalmers bumps him the body as the shot goes through the hoop. Westbrook looks at the official for the call and the official basically tells Russell to shut up and stop flopping which is historical b/c Wade has gotten away with it all series.

The one-sidedness of this series is really something to behold. There should be a study on the psychological impact of star players, flopping, home crowd, and officials.

jay_em said:

Game 4
Total Fouls on Mia 18
Total Fouls on OKC 20

Sure looks like one team got all the calls to me. :weirdo:

That game was probably the most physical game of the Finals and they let a lot go on both sides and then they called some head scratching weak touch fouls...once again on both sides.

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Total free-throws Miami 24, OKC 16.

Westbrook goes off for 43 and takes 3 free-throws. Oh, and he attacked the rim with frequency and was never rewarded like D-Wade does time and again on non-contact.

And the third quarter was an atrocity. 9 fouls on OKC, 5 on Miami, but Miam's fouls result in a massive amount of free-throws. 4 of which were for 2 non-fouls on D-Wade. I will say in fairness, that on both of the non-fouls on D-wade his shots resulted in putbacks for Miami. Essentially, even though the officials blew the call, D-Wade missed the shot and someone for Miami was right there for the lay-in or put-back on the miss. It was resulting in 4 points with or without the whistle. Still terrible officiating though to make such awful awful awful calls.

I get that you're a LeBron lover, but you can't sit there and say the officiating has been solid. It's been horrid and one-sided this entire series.