NBA Finals

[LOTRFreak15]

Heat vs. Thunder. Who you got? I am going for the Thunder becasue I hate the Heat and they knocked out my Celtics. And I think the Thunder can get it done in 5 games.

[FM]

I'm going for Miami, in 6.

I think Lebron still has a ways to go to become truly great, but he's been coming through under pressure lately, and if he can keep up, I think he deserves the title this time around. Durant will have his turn.

[LOTRFreak15]

Good game tonight. KD was a beast. Can't wait for game 2!

[bibfortuna25]

If Wade keeps disappearing like this, the Thunder should sweep the series.

[LOTRFreak15]

Agreed. Lebron needs more help if there gonna stay in this thing. But Lebron also needs to be better in the 4th quarter. Which I think is why they lost to Dallas last year.

[FM]

LeBron needs to be better under pressure. Period. He's a great player... until things go south. When they do, instead of stepping up, getting the ball and going in for the foul (if LeBron played smarter in this aspect, he'd get other teams into foul trouble really soon, he's just too strong to stop on his way to the rim). And of course, he needs to shoot free throws better. Wade is the same, with the added problem that he's not NEARLY as strong as James (but really, who is?), and having not been putting up performances early in the game, at least, so when things go bad, he simply hogs the ball and take bad shots. OKC won yesterday with textbook teamwork: "Do not let the score phase you, stick to the plan, get open shots when you can, get the ball to the stars when you can't". And of course, their stars came through. I'm starting to like watching KD play more and more, he reminds me a little of Kobe Bryant in his early days, minus the slam dunks.

[LOTRFreak15]

Good game tonight. I think the Thunder weren't very smart with shot selectionin the first half. ( like 13 3 pointers). The Heat played a good game. And it was a team effort this time. Game 3 in Miami Sunday night. Looking forward to it.

[FM]

Yeah, I didn't really see that coming, I thought Miami would MAYBE break homecourt advantage in game 6, at most, and OKC would have probably broken Miami's court once as well, meaning we'd go to 7 games. I liked how this time Miami actually explored fouls, and also OCK's job in "hiding" Durant behind the first line of defense so he could keep playing with 5 fouls, but that call on Shane Battier was baloney, the ref. was TOO close to not have seen it was a charging foul. Made for a better game, though, it'd probably have been over right then, should Durant have been ejected.

[LOTRFreak15]

Another questionable none-foul was when Lebron started locking arms with KD with under 30 seconds to go. Lebron was a beast on freethrows though. KD was lucky on that one though. I was like oh crape when Battier fell down.

[FM]

Yeah, that has been bugging me, I don't remember THAT much locking arms a few years back, and they are actually letting it slide now, like it's the most normal thing in the world. Did I miss something? When did that start becoming acceptable?

[LOTRFreak15]

I really am not sure when they were like, "Its not so bad" on that rule. I was kinda mad about that. But the officials call some things they shouldn't and don't call some things they should.

[FM]

You know, I'm glad Miami won yesterday, but seriously, what the #$&*@! is wrong with James? He's as big as Chris Webber (stronger, actually), and when the going gets rough, he thinks he's Allen Iverson (as in, has to get away from blocks and make a weird, unbalanced shot). Sure, it's great he can shoot 3-pointers, but can't Wade, I don't know, shake him by the ears and show him that foul-troubling opponents is IMPORTANT? And that goes for almost everyone else! Sure, James Jones is a benchwarmer (for Mario Chalmers, God knows why, but I digress...), but he's a freaking NBA player! He could have gotten Durant to 5 fouls (seriously, Durant has to work on his pump fake skills, it so easily to fool him and get a free foul it's almost sad) at the start of the 4th quarter, and instead thought "Hey, I know! Instead of getting the OKC's star to 5 fouls early, cementing our lead that we got back when he went to the bench, why don't I instead make a rushed 3-pointer that almost misses the rim? THAT is sure to get the crowd cheering!". It's crap like this (and Greg Ostertag) that makes me think the bar must not be THAT high after all, at least to getting in.

I'm hoping for a really nice game 4, and I hope Miami wins again (I do want them to win the title, after all), but I kinda want OKC to take game 5, so we'd have 6, possibly 7 games, and I actually think that if Miami doesn't "smart up", they're taking AT LEAST one game away, but could take the next two, and things would be over for the Heat game 6.

[LOTRFreak15]

Thank you for the detailed report of the game FM because I was so busy yesterday I couldn't watch it. But I will be watching game 4 for sure.

[FM]

To give you the minutiae, yesterday was a lot closer, back and forth on the scoreboard, biggest lead was OKC by 10.

[LOTRFreak15]

On a side note not having to do with bb. Ladainian Tomlinson officially retired as a Charger today.