NBA Playoffs 2014

Nuri Sahin

Do or die for Washington one feels.

Nuri Sahin

Pacers are shooting well, but the longer this pace keeps up, it works in the Wizards hands.

Nuri Sahin

Oh my Mr. Webster just detonated on that dunk from that tremendous pass from Miller.

Nuri Sahin

I imagine if the Pacers win, this thread will be more lively given some people are just lurking for ages as per usual. Sing when winning and all that.

Wizards have done an OKC on this game, deserve to lose for that alone. 1.24 remaining, Pacers up 1.

Oh dear Beal. Oh dear Stephenson. Need some circus music for that last play for both teams.

That's game. Pacers go 3-1 up. You can start posting now or pretend your offline, whatever.

padraig_f

Wizards blew that, up 17 at half time. Not sure if the fault is more with Wittman or Wall, but their half-court offense lacks structure. Looks like they're freelancing out there, rather than running plays. Against a good playoff-defense that's gonna be a problem, and they went 0-10 or something down the stretch of the game.

Dublin Red Devil

3 - 1. Series almost done, Should close it out at home. Great work to come from behind. George 39pts 12 reb. great performance. Big Roy very much back on his game, his confidence restored 17 points 9 rebounds. Bring on Miami

Nuri Sahin

Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

padraig_f

Plus-minus for the Wizards makes interesting reading:
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400556177

starters vs. bench and Wall vs. Miller, not been a good series for Wall.

Dublin Red Devil

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

Mr Wall can buy a ticket to watch the conference final, Maybe he should have went on that fishing trip with PG an Big Roy:cool:

Nuri Sahin

padraig_f wrote: »

Wizards blew that, up 17 at half time. Not sure if the fault is more with Wittman or Wall, but their half-court offense lacks structure. Looks like they're freelancing out there, rather than running plays. Against a good playoff-defense that's gonna be a problem, and they went 0-10 or something down the stretch of the game.

Wall and Beal have been equally awful this series, have completely lost their shot and in turn confidence. Bad coaching too, shooting 3's when nearly a minute left on the clock and down 3, chance for a 2 + 1 if they were smart about it, but they weren't.

Nuri Sahin

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

Mr Wall can buy a ticket to watch the conference final, Maybe he should have went on that fishing trip with PG an Big Roy:cool:

I won't say what I truly what to say, but continue to prove me right. Sing when winning.

Nuri Sahin

Guys on TNT refusing to blame Scott Brooks at all, yet have no issuing calling other coaches out. Smh.

Dublin Red Devil

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

I won't say what I truly what to say, but continue to prove me right. Sing when winning.

Continue to sit on the NBA fence. We've good over on this side, We're good.

Nuri Sahin

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

Continue to sit on the NBA fence. We've good over on this side, We're good.

Only in your deluded mind is not outright supporting a team seen as a bad thing. Furthermore, it's amusing seeing that delusion extend outside the basketball forum too.

For whoever I support in whatever sport, at least I don't go into hiding when they're on a bad run or lose a game, the worst type of fan outside of the Biebers of this world. I don't even think of them as fans and their opinion is worth nothing to me. They have no self-respect, so no point respecting them. Ditto those who are bandwagoners, heh.

sligoface

Pacers have woken up finally but they need to clean up the turnovers to have ay sort of legit chance at winning it all.

ButtersSuki

Went to bed last night after 3 in the OKC Clipps game. Woke up around 2:30am and checked my phone, thought it was a typo. CHOKE.

It will be interesting to see how they respond in Game 5 and whether or not this loss has some psychological implications for them.

ButtersSuki

Can't find the flipping link now but was reading an article yesterday about the latest in the Sterling ownership case. Magic (as usual) is wading in saying the Clippers players will not play for Mrs. Sterling - conflict of interest there Magic maybe? Seeing as you're potentially the main beneficiary here?!!! He really needs to stop being so obvious on this one. :rolleyes:

Did find this one though from si.com
Shelly Sterling, the wife of disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling, has declared her plans to fight to keep her stake in the franchise, even as the NBA attempts to force an ownership transfer after her husband was caught on tape making a series of racist remarks.


In an interview with ABC News, Shelly Sterling said that she “eventually” plans to file for divorce and that her intention is to retain her status as a co-owner, calling the team her “passion” and “legacy to my family.”

“I will fight that decision,” she told ABC News. “To be honest with you, I’m wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there’s 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband? Or would they leave the husband in?”
“I was shocked by what he said. And — well, I guess whatever their decision is — we have to live with it,” she said. “But I don’t know why I should be punished for what his actions were.”

This public declaration follows a series of comments in which Shelly Sterling and her lawyers have suggested that she wants to retain her ownership stake. Shelly Sterling has attended multiple Clippers games in the weeks since her husband’s comments came to light, and she has tried to distance herself from his comments.

“I do not condone those statements that you heard,” Shelly Sterling said in a statement last month. “I do not believe in them. I am not a racist. I never have been, I never will be. The team is the most important thing to my family.”

Shelly Sterling also suggested to ABC News that her 80-year-old husband could be dealing with “the onset of dementia.”

The NBA issued a statement on Sunday in response to Shelly Sterling’s interview.

“Under the NBA Constitution, if a controlling owner’s interest is terminated by a 3/4 vote, all other team owners’ interests are automatically terminated as well,” a league spokesman said. “It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related as is the case here. These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team.”

Within an hour, Shelly Sterling’s counsel had issued a response to the league’s statement.

“We do not agree with the league’s self-serving interpretation of its constitution, its application to Shelly Sterling or its validity under these unique circumstances,” the statement read. “We live in a nation of laws. California law and the United States Constitution trump any such interpretation.”

In April, TMZ released audio of a conversation in which Sterling can allegedly be heard scolding V. Stiviano, his girlfriend, for bringing African-Americans to Clippers games and for posting photos of herself and African-Americans, including Lakers legend Magic Johnson, to her Instagram account. NBA commissioner Adam Silver fined Donald Sterling $2.5 million and banned him from attending NBA games, practices, the Clippers’ facilities, and all personnel decisions, and the NBA’s 10-member advisory/finance committee voted unanimously to pursue Silver’s plan to oust Donald Sterling and complete an ownership change. Silver did not render any punishment against Shelly Sterling.

Since then, longtime Clippers president Andy Roeser was placed on leave, while Dick Parsons, the former chairman of Citigroup and Time Warner, was appointed as the team’s new CEO.

Michael McCann reported for SI.com on Saturday that the NBA believes it has the legal standing to remove both Sterlings as owners.

Shelly Sterling’s ownership of the Clippers should not be confused with control of the Clippers. This distinction reflects the different layers of NBA ownership. Most NBA owners are not in charge of their teams. They have been approved by the NBA to own some percentage of a franchise, but they do not represent their franchise on the NBA’s Board of Governors and are not considered the official voice of their franchises. They are regarded as “non-controlling” owners. There are many perks to being a non-controlling owner, including attendance privileges, inside access to team operations and the ability to tell the world that you own an NBA team. But actual control over the team is not one of those benefits. Shelly Sterling is a non-controlling owner of the Clippers.

If Shelly Sterling wants to become controlling owner of the Clippers, the league would have to approve such a step. The NBA would not approve Shelly Sterling as controlling owner, sources close to the situation tell SI.com. The league would have compelling grounds to deny her attempt, as it would seem to constitute an “end-around” of the NBA ousting her husband. Shelly Sterling has also been implicated in some of the allegations of racism against her husband, particularly those concerning their ownership and management of housing properties in Los Angeles. Consequently, the NBA could refer to those transgressions as legal justifications to deny a transfer of her ownership from non-controlling to controlling.

KABC recently released video of Shelly Sterling posing as a health inspector so that she could gain illegal access to apartments owned by Donald Sterling’s companies.
The Los Angeles Times has also reported that Shelly Sterling was accused of using racist language by multiple people during depositions conducted in 2009 as part of a housing discrimination lawsuit.

“I asked her again, I asked her, ‘would you reduce the rent?’” Darrell Rhodes said in the deposition. “And she said, ‘who do you think you are, you black m—f—.’
In another deposition from 2009, former on-site manager Maira Oliva described Rochelle Sterling’s visiting the apartment building she worked at on South Ardmore Avenue.
Oliva: “She said, ‘Oh, my God. This is so filthy. I can’t remodel my apartments the way that I want because Latinos are so filthy.”

Representatives of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) have said repeatedly that while they are pleased with the term of the punishment handed down by Silver, they still believe Sterling — and his family members — must be replaced by a new ownership group.

“We want maximum allowable punishment under the bylaws and constitution and what that equates to for us as players, there must be a change in ownership,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is acting as an adviser for the NBPA.

“As players, we’re very happy with the decision, but we’re not content yet,” NBPA vice president Roger Mason Jr. said. “We want immediate action. We want a timetable from the owners on when this vote is going to happen. We feel confident that with Adam Silver’s urging, and we’ve heard from a lot of the owners around the league, we think this is something that can be handled quickly.”

Johnson reiterated this week that the Clippers players expect an entirely new ownership next season.

“Those guys are not going to play for anybody (named) Sterling,” Johnson said, according to USA Today Sports. “It’s just how it is. It’s hard to separate the two. … It’s going to be hard for them to sell that to the fans and definitely to the players.”

Clippers coach Doc Rivers has refused to commit to returning next season as he waits for the transition to sort itself out. Although he initially expressed a compassionate approach towards Shelly Sterling, given Stiviano’s role in the controversy, he has also indicated that he would her presence would make things “very difficult” next season.

“I don’t even want to comment on it because I don’t know yet,” Rivers said, according to ESPN.com. “I think it would be a very hard situation, I’ll say that much. I think it would be very difficult. I guarantee you every person wouldn’t be on board with it. Whether I would or not, I’m not going to say, I just know that would be a very difficult situation for everybody.”

CNN plans to interview Donald Sterling on Monday, marking his first public comments since his controversial statements came to light last month.
A three-quarters majority vote of the league’s owners — 22 out of the other 29 — is required to force out Donald Sterling. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive said he expects unanimous support for the ouster from his colleagues.

1DRose

It looks very much like the expected Pacers v Heat Eastern Finals is a wrap.

I thought it would be SAS vs OKC in the West but after last night it is harder to call. You have to question the mental strength of OKC after that slip last night. Utterly inept game management and decision making.

Tbh I find it hard to look past a repeat of last years finals, hopefully with the opposite outcome!

GoldFour4

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

Continue to sit on the NBA fence. We've good over on this side, We're good.

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Only in your deluded mind is not outright supporting a team seen as a bad thing. Furthermore, it's amusing seeing that delusion extend outside the basketball forum too.

For whoever I support in whatever sport, at least I don't go into hiding when they're on a bad run or lose a game, the worst type of fan outside of the Biebers of this world. I don't even think of them as fans and their opinion is worth nothing to me. They have no self-respect, so no point respecting them. Ditto those who are bandwagoners, heh.

BOTH OF YOU QUIT IT RIGHT NOW

SantryRed

1DRose wrote: »

It looks very much like the expected Pacers v Heat Eastern Finals is a wrap.

I thought it would be SAS vs OKC in the West but after last night it is harder to call. You have to question the mental strength of OKC after that slip last night. Utterly inept game management and decision making.

Tbh I find it hard to look past a repeat of last years finals, hopefully with the opposite outcome!

Once it's as good as series as last year, I'll be more than happy.

Be even happier if it was a Spurs 3 as time expires in game 7 to win it. :pac:

1DRose

SantryRed wrote: »

Once it's as good as series as last year, I'll be more than happy.

Be even happier if it was a Spurs 3 as time expires in game 7 to win it. :pac:

Best finals in years. I tend to root for the Spurs (or Warriors) if the Bulls go out and fund myself so impassioned by last years series I may as well have been a die hard Spurs fan! Must have been gutting for the true fans!

Was really gutted for Tim last year when he missed that rebound towards the end of Game 7. Apparently Pop had them watch Game 6 as a group on the 1st day of camp before this years season, just get it out of their system.

Korrayls

Brooklyn to tie the series tonight, spurs to advance

kmart6

Korrayls wrote: »

Brooklyn to tie the series tonight, spurs to advance

Great predictions!

ButtersSuki

Ade, your hecklin' of LeJon worked out pretty well last night......;)

ButtersSuki

Sterling stirs new dispute with Magic-HIV remark

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An interview that was supposed to be an attempt at rehabilitation instead had Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling facing fresh rebukes as he went from apologizing for recent racist remarks to slamming Magic Johnson, repeatedly bringing up the ex-NBA star's HIV status and calling him an unfit role model for children.
"He's got AIDS!" Sterling said loudly at one point in the interview, cutting off CNN's Anderson Cooper as the interviewer attempted to cite Johnson's accomplishments after Sterling asked, "What has he done, big Magic Johnson, what has he done?"

The comments earned Sterling quick condemnation from the league that was already trying to rid itself of the owner.

Commissioner Adam Silver, who gave Sterling a lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine two weeks ago, issued a statement saying, "while Magic Johnson doesn't need me to, I feel compelled on behalf of the NBA family to apologize to him that he continues to be dragged into this situation and be degraded by such a malicious and personal attack."

"The NBA Board of Governors is continuing with its process to remove Mr. Sterling as expeditiously as possible," the commissioner added.
Johnson, who is scheduled to appear on Cooper's show to reply on Tuesday, wrote on his Twitter account that "I'd rather be talking about these great NBA Playoffs than Donald Sterling's interview."
Johnson later Tweeted, "After this week, no more Sterling talk."
Sterling changed course briefly during the interview to call Johnson "a good person," but soon resumed his criticism.


"He acts so holy," Sterling said. "He made love to every girl in every city in America, and he had AIDS, and when he had those AIDS, I went to my synagogue and I prayed for him, I hope he could live and be well. I didn't criticize him. I could have. Is he an example for children?"
Cooper corrected Sterling, explaining that Johnson was HIV-positive but did not have "full-blown AIDS."

Sterling briefly adjusted his language but not his tone.
"What kind of a guy goes to every city, has sex with every girl, then he catches HIV. Is that someone we want to respect, and tell our kids about?" Sterling said. "I think he should be ashamed of himself."


Sterling makes some interesting comments on Magic above, comments which possibly deserve some debate and scrutiny considering the way Magic has conducted himself during this PR war - the problem is the way he makes them. Personally, I think Magic cares about one person (Magic) and one thing (his bank balance). The way he has conducted himself throughout this whole debate has been shamefully transparent in that his ultimate goal is to use this race row to gain a controlling interest in the Clippers. He's projecting himself as some kind of holier than thou saviour of the NBA, somethin he is not. Some people might be ok with that, I'm not.

Nuri Sahin

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Ade, your hecklin' of LeJon worked out pretty well last night......;)

He owed me after going all passive after that ridiculous first quarter in Game 3.



Fairly sure the missus was scared briefly as I roared in delight at Bosh's 3 at the end Shame about the Spurs though to negate the earlier game betting wise :rolleyes:

edit - and for however many times I go their in future, the Brooooooooklyn chant is the basketball equivalent of a vuvazela or however it sounds. Cringetastic.

ButtersSuki

It's a cool place venue though. Nice pic.

padraig_f

We give Lebron enough flak on there, guess we better give him a little bit of credit, 49 of the Heat's 102 points last night. I watched the 2nd half and seemed like the only contribution from other Heat players was standing on 3-point line for spot-up 3s.

The Nets had no-one who could guard him, I thought they could've loaded up the paint more and force him to pass, but it was still a great individual performance.

Don't think the series is over. For all Lebron's heroics, the Heat barely won. The Nets went without a field goal in the last 4 mins or so, but I thought the looks they got were ok.

I wonder is it distracting for the players with Beyonce sitting court-side? I know I was distracted watching the game.

ButtersSuki

padraig_f wrote: »

We give Lebron enough flak on there, guess we better give him a little bit of credit, 49 of the Heat's 102 points last night. I watched the 2nd half and seemed like the only contribution from other Heat players was standing on 3-point line for spot-up 3s.

The Nets had no-one who could guard him, I thought they could've loaded up the paint more and force him to pass, but it was still a great individual performance.

Don't think the series is over. For all Lebron's heroics, the Heat barely won. The Nets went without a field goal in the last 4 mins or so, but I thought the looks they got were ok.

I wonder is it distracting for the players with Beyonce sitting court-side? I know I was distracted watching the game.

Would have been awesome if Solange was there to slap Jay Z upside his head and sheet......:D

Nuri Sahin

There was a Solange chant at one or two points during the game.