I Can Do All Things

May 26, 2016 11:27 AM

This NBA season was overtaken by Stephen "Steph" Curry. After winning it all last season, this year he led the Golden State Warriors to the best regular-season record in the history of the league. Rising from relative obscurity in his early years, Curry won a second MVP award on the strength of his otherworldly play, and as he began to regularly surpass superstar Lebron James, his team seemed easily headed for more glory. But tonight Steph's team faces elimination from the NBA playoffs, brought on by an Oklahoma City Thunder team few thought would compete for a championship with a first-year coach and a star player possibly leaving the team after this year. Here is how it is happening.
posted by cashman (74 comments total)

We've been discussing in Fanfare in NBA Club. The consensus seems to be: Whaa??? and possibly DRAYMOND NO
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:48 AM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

I don't think it's happening tonight. Home court matters in the NBA - players shoot and play better when they're in a mentally comfortable space, that's been statistically demonstrated over and over again - and the Roaracle is one of the most partisan, blood-pumping arenas in the NBA, all the better to motivate the Warriors.

If the Thunder win the series, they do it in game six, when they're at home before their (almost as fervent) fans. If they don't win game six, I don't think they pull out game seven.
posted by mightygodking at 11:48 AM on May 26, 2016

Here's Dray's take on his performance in this series.
Also, Lebron is still the best player in the league.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:49 AM on May 26, 2016

Spurs in 4. Wait... WHAT?

It has been an interesting post-season. It's been pretty wild watching the Thunder coalesce after a pretty mediocre 2nd half of their season. I don't subscribe to the theory that GS wore themselves out chasing 73 wins -- they are plainly & simply getting outplayed at this point by a better team, which sort of formed on everyone's horizon right as the post-season began.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:57 AM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Life got in the way and I wasn't able to participate in NBA Club much this playoffs/season, BUT I am *so* looking forward to participating next season.

ALMOST AS MUCH I as I am looking forward to maybe (hopefully?) seeing Russell Westbrook, king of my heart, in the NBA Finals again. Don't get me wrong, I've loved watching this Warriors season and it would be very cool to see them get the ring on top of the record, but man. Westbrook!!

(Also: Mike Prada is excellent at explaining defenses, and that article is great -- like always.)
posted by sc114 at 11:58 AM on May 26, 2016

also notable: today is the five year anniversary of the Based God's Curse against Kevin Durant.
posted by JimBennett at 12:01 PM on May 26, 2016 [6 favorites]

Home court advantage in the NBA seems the most dominant and to me seems the most inexplicable. The courts are the same size. The nets are the same height. There's literally no variation on the playing field. Compare that with baseball (wildly varying field dimensions, indoor/outdoor, altitude), the NFL (indoor/outdoor, wind, altitude), and even the NHL (where climate can affect the ice quality). I really don't get it.

These conference finals are fantastic in that I don't see a "bad" outcome among the four. I ranked my preferences as follows:

1. GSW - 73 win teams don't just fall off the turnip truck, and they need the ring to confirm that they are the GOATs.
2. TOR - I live in Toronto, and while I'm not a Raptors partisan I like going to parties. Also it will show Durant what he could have and he signs in Toronto in the offseason.
3. CLE - Hometown boy bringing home a city's first title in what, 50 years? That's storybook.
4. OKC - Great players Durant and Westbrook get a ring and Durant decides he's done all he can do in Oklahoma City and signs in Toronto in the offseason.
posted by The Notorious SRD at 12:08 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

As a Trail Blazer fan, I have been taking particular glee at seeing Steph Curry get shut down.
posted by dubwisened at 12:18 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

> Home court advantage in the NBA seems the most dominant and to me seems the most inexplicable.

The fans are closer to the playing surface/louder/more disruptive than in the other sports?

As a very casual basketball fan I'll be kind of bummed if GSW don't win the championship, because I don't have much of a rooting interest (despite living in Toronto) and hoping for them to beat the regular season record was a lot of fun.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:21 PM on May 26, 2016

Home court advantage can be based on other things, like playing in a time zone your body is not familiar with, the fatigue of traveling, the psychological benefits of having a crowd supporting you or referee bias toward the home team. Football Outsiders recently wrote a good article about how the effects seem the worst for west coast teams going east because it's just harder for the body to be active in the morning and the west coast team is playing basically in their morning. That may be more of a problem with football though, which probably has more early games than basketball. I've seen other studies which show slight referee bias as well.
posted by john-a-dreams at 12:25 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

Home court in hockey also involves which team can put players on the ice last and who initiates the faceoff. And fucking Chicago fans, the bastards.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:32 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've been paying occasional attention to the Raptors (sorry, derail!), and the home court thing seems to be having a huge effect on them in the post-season. Play at home - blowout win! (Or at least win.) Play on the road - blowout loss! It's not statistics, but it sure seems like a pattern.
posted by clawsoon at 12:32 PM on May 26, 2016

I mean Chicago Blackhawks fan, but fans of the band Chicago also raise my ire.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:32 PM on May 26, 2016 [14 favorites]

as he began to regularly surpass superstar LeBron James

Look, I respect the hell out of Steph. But he has not "regularly surpassed" LeBron. As a fan of a rival team, I hate LeBron, but he's still the best basketball player in the world.

And I am fully rooting for the Thunder now. Golden State has gone full heel, and it's been quite entertaining to watch them reel in the aftermath of two historic ass-whippings. I want KD and Russ to go into Oracle, smother them again, and then shush the crowd. Seeing KD suddenly activate his powers on defense has been, in my opinion, the highlight of these playoffs. This double-jump block...oh my god. Plus, obviously, Russ is the best, he deserves all the rings so he can shove them in the faces of his haters forever, there is no player in the league who is more fun to watch, amen. This new, somehow-improved KD and LeBron going head-to-head for several consecutive games for the title will be amazing.
posted by protocoach at 12:37 PM on May 26, 2016 [3 favorites]

One of the frustrating things about basketball is that it feels more subject to chance than other sports, whether or not it actually is. When OKC went on that ridiculous run to end the first half in Game 3, they were making some good defensive plays, but for the most part it was just that their shots were dropping and the Warriors' shots weren't. Both teams were getting plenty of good looks.

So either Steph's injury is still affecting him, or… he just had monumentally bad luck for two games. It's probably the former, but it could be the latter, and there's nothing obvious to point to that will settle the question.
posted by savetheclocktower at 1:09 PM on May 26, 2016

Aaaaargh.

I shall be chewing my fingernails all night.

As a Warriors fan, this would be less painful if they'd played up to their potential for the last two games, but they really haven't. Even a new defensive method by OKC doesn't explain all the missed shots, including a layup that Curry should have been able to do blindfolded.

Blowouts are not fun to watch, even for the winning team.
posted by suelac at 1:20 PM on May 26, 2016

...Here is how it is happening.

Steph and Draymond are also playing poorly. The first game hurts the most. Warriors seemed to have it in the bag after the third quarter, and then let it go. This is so annoying.
posted by Golden Eternity at 1:33 PM on May 26, 2016

I want the Warriors to lose so I can see everyone suddenly flip the hell out. This whole season has been ridiculous (especially for Blasers fans like myself) and it's constantly been about the Warriors since LAST season. I'm over it. I love watching Curry play but it's going to be hilarious if they lose to OKC after having a legendary season, and then watching everyone, including the commentators on various sports shows, try to explain away why they lost to OKC as if they aren't an excellent team.

Btw, what's the theory in Curry's injury still affecting him? He dropped 40 points on the Blazers (17 of which were in OT) on his first game back but now that OKC is shutting him down people gotta come up with excuses? This is the weird thing about this season: the Curry worship is so ridiculous that people can't even admit another team may have found a way to beat their offense. I see it all over the sports shows. Just watch OKC trample the Warriors and we'll never hear the end of the "but Curry's injury affected him!!!" and I'll be there to tell them to quit whining like they did to Cavs fans last season. Btw, Lebron, Kyrie, and K-Love are gonna wreck the Warriors if they get the chance.
posted by gucci mane at 1:35 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

That may be more of a problem with football though, which probably has more early games than basketball

What's interesting is that basketball has the opposite problem, where East Coast teams are essentially playing after their bedtime since West Coast games start at like 10 pm ET.
posted by thecaddy at 1:35 PM on May 26, 2016

As a Trail Blazer fan, I have been taking particular glee at seeing Steph Curry get shut down.
As a Chicago Bulls fan from the late 80s to now, I take great pleasure in seeing a 73 win team tank in the playoffs.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 2:01 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

> the Curry worship is so ridiculous that people can't even admit another team may have found a way to beat their offense

The “Curry worship” may be tiresome, but it's largely earned. This season was a ridiculous statistical outlier from an already good player. He raised his PPG by 25% over last year's MVP season. Last season he set a record for three-pointers made in a season; this year he broke that record by about 40%.

I freely admit that OKC may have found a way to beat their offense, but that doesn't take anything away from the fact that Curry has had a bizarrely awesome season that is unprecedented in lots of interesting ways. I don't think he's the best player ever, of course, but the manner in which he's good doesn't have a proper analog from basketball history, and that's exciting.

(Also: anyone who'd make excuses for Golden State if they lose would be losing the plot — if OKC pulls this off, then they've knocked off two good-by-historical-standards teams in consecutive playoff series. That's amazing. That feat would deserve serious recognition even if they were to lose the Finals.)
posted by savetheclocktower at 2:10 PM on May 26, 2016 [12 favorites]

We went to two Spurs home games this year -- we watched them trample Dallas back in December or so, then we went to their only home loss, to Golden State. It was a damn close game up until the final 4 or 5 minutes, when they just turned on the juice. I was disappointed to see them lose their perfect home record, but really, I wasn't disappointed overall because I was witness to the phenom that is Golden State this year. Steph tossed up a buzzer beater with one arm from beyond the half-court line at the end of the first half & the thing swished through the net without touching the rim. It was utterly unconscious.

It was like when I saw Willie Mays hit a home run on his 40th birthday, or watching Nolan Ryan pitch 5 hitless innings before they relieved him. It was sports history.

I think we need a Harlem Globetrotter rule -- anything from beyond half court is a 4-point shot, & anything from beyond half-court that a least touches the rim is good for 1 point.

But hey, Steph, do you know what Kawhi is doing right now? He's practicing. And practicing. And practicing.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:22 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

I don't assign morality to sports outcomes or activities but Steph Currry deserves nothing but respect and admiration no matter what happens. Lebron I can see rooting against, Russ is hard to love and the OKC fans are pure evil, but come on haters. Steph is just clearly a really really good person and is great for the game. He's a good winner and a good loser and a good sport and he gives a shit. Steph Curry for President.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:25 PM on May 26, 2016 [11 favorites]

I have irrational hatred for the Thunder because (a) if not for outright lies by their ownership group, they'd still be in Seattle; (b) I think they pioneered that awful thing where they give out T-shirts on the way into the game so that the whole crowd can be dressed in the same color. This shouldn't be a thing. It's creepy.
posted by savetheclocktower at 2:29 PM on May 26, 2016

Lebron I can see rooting against, Russ is hard to love and the OKC fans are pure evil, but come on haters. Steph is just clearly a really really good person and is great for the game.

You can't see it, but I'm making the world's most extravagant wanking motion over here. You have no idea if Steph's a good guy or if he strangles puppies in his spare time, and you have no idea whether any of those other guys are good or bad people. Steph's plenty easy to root against; I do it all the time. And I find Westbrook quite easy to love; he bares his heart and soul on the court every night, he's utterly fearless, and he plays every game like its the last time he'll ever get to pick up a ball. That's all I need from a basketball player.
posted by protocoach at 2:39 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

I think they pioneered that awful thing where they give out T-shirts on the way into the game so that the whole crowd can be dressed in the same color. This shouldn't be a thing. It's creepy.

I briefly saw a Thunder playoff game on TV and at first I thought the arena was almost empty because it looked like a bunch of empty blue seats. It took a bit for me to realize they were actually people, all dressed up in the same shirt.
posted by kmz at 3:03 PM on May 26, 2016

You know what? I take back what I said earlier. Basketball reveals character. Not all of a person's character but the part that competes. How you play and what you do before during and after competing is a real look into your beliefs and your soul. Like it or not, sports stars are our heros because they represent what we want to see in our own organizations: who will lead us? How should we behave in a collaboration? How do we play our roles in a family and a polity?

Steph demonstrates the values on the court that I want to emulate. You can root against his team or him doing well sure whatever. But hating him is just wrong, imo. And you probably call too many fouls in pick up games.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:20 PM on May 26, 2016 [3 favorites]

You have no idea if Steph's a good guy

Well, he's a pretty unselfish superstar on the court. Doesn't hog the ball, makes amazing passes so his teammates can score.

He's also super nice to people who see him in public here.

Also, when he built a new pool for his house, he threw a pool party when it was done and invited the whole neighborhood -- including the guys who built the pool.

I'd say that's the mark of a decent human being, even if he weren't one of the best athletes in the country.
posted by suelac at 4:14 PM on May 26, 2016 [3 favorites]

I don't play much pick-up anymore, but sure, whatever. Pretty much anything is better than a grown adult treating athletes as heroes and trying to divine a person's character from how they play a game (which is basically on par with trying to read the future in the entrails of a goat).

I'd say that's the mark of a decent human being, even if he weren't one of the best athletes in the country.

It's cool that he's not an asshole in public. It's also cool that he threw a pool party. It's still doesn't have much bearing on whether or not he's a good person. There are a lot of athletes who put on a nice face in public and do terrible stuff in private. I am deliberately not naming names, because I am not accusing Steph of anything and I don't want to get into a "how dare you compare him to X‽", but it's just silly to pretend you can pick the good guys from the bad guys based on how they play the game.
posted by protocoach at 4:19 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

Russell Westbrook is usually thought of as a selfish player, but he's averaging 11 assists in the playoffs. He's playing out of his mind right now, I think he has two triple doubles against Golden State, who are considered a very good defensive team and who many people have said is one of the best NBA teams of all time@

Russell Westbrook definitely doesn't come off as nicer than Steph Curry, but he is the better player right now without a doubt and it's not close. They say Curry is not quite healed from his ankle sprain which explains a lot, but we should also give OKC all the credit, they are playing like they are clearly the better team.
posted by cell divide at 4:26 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Look, I respect the hell out of Steph. But he has not "regularly surpassed" LeBron. As a fan of a rival team, I hate LeBron, but he's still the best basketball player in the world.

I mean it seems pretty easy to argue that Curry had a better season than James, while it remains indisputable that James' history includes multiple seasons as good as Curry's was. And of course LeBron is making a stronger case for himself in the playoffs at the moment - though there's kind of a what-if since Steph missed so many games.

if OKC pulls this off, then they've knocked off two good-by-historical-standards teams in consecutive playoff series.

If OKC wins this series - I don't want them to but I like them well enough to give due respect if they were to - I'm pretty sure they win the whole thing.
posted by atoxyl at 4:27 PM on May 26, 2016

As a Chicago Bulls fan from the late 80s to now, I take great pleasure in seeing a 73 win team tank in the playoffs.
As a Chicago Bulls fan myself who now lives in the Bay Area, this latest season has made me deeply reconsider whether to continue supporting the franchise.

The storyline lately is how OKC has "solved" the Warrior's on defense, and I agree, it plays some part. The Warriors haven't been hitting those easy shots and it hurts them twice when they can't get set on D. But the Warriors can't give up 75 points a half and expect to win.

It seems that whichever team gets out ahead sort of just snowballs, and the other team panics and falls back into their bad habits. The only real exception was the second half of Game 1, where OKC actually being used to playing hero ball kind of worked to their advantage. If GS had pulled out that game, we'd probably just be looking at a rehash of the east, where every game is a home team blowout.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 4:28 PM on May 26, 2016

Just to be clear my favorite team is the New York Knicks so don't get it mixed up--I'm fully onboard for seperating on the court behavior from real morality, AND rooting for teams that play down and dirty as hell.

But but but there are ways to win and behave while playing a game that are in fact moral choices. It's not just passing the ball, it's how you talk to your worst teammate, it's how you deal with bad calls by a ref, it's how you demonstrate joy and sorrow and the respect you show opponents during losses and wins. Winning isn't everything, but I cheer for Steph because he wins while playing with joy and dignity. He might showboat a little bit (ok, a lot) but he complements the other teams.

I'm sure there are players who do all those things and are scumbags. Maybe Steph is a scumbag I don't know! But that doesn't change the lessons you (and kids, which are constantly on my mind) can learn from what he does on the court--leading without intimidating, dominating without aggression, demonstrating virtuousity by making your whole team better.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:51 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yeah and the pool party alone says something positive about Steph. He might not be a good guy, who knows, but until I learn for certain that he isn't I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Common courtesy.
posted by Lyme Drop at 5:09 PM on May 26, 2016

That said he really needs to realize that OKC is taking away passing angles he takes for granted. The rest of the Warriors too for that matter.
posted by Lyme Drop at 5:14 PM on May 26, 2016

Best Bogut has played all year and he looked off the last couple of games.
posted by Golden Eternity at 7:04 PM on May 26, 2016

And the entire universe breathes a sigh of relief that San Antonio, with bit players and a long-faded superstar, only managed to go DEEP into the post-season rather than win it all outright. Again.

Well, I was disappointed. Hi. I'm a Patriots fan. Accident of birth, I assure you.

I am continually amazed that G-Pop and Tim Duncan are not the literal, actual face of the NBA. No, we get LeBron this and Kobe that and Phil Jackson the other thing.

No. Recognize how far the Spurs went into the post-season this year.

The true NBA Dynasty yet lives. Get ready to lose against them next year, too.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:10 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

The Curry being a good guy derail is really weird. You can state the same arguments about almost anyone. Any of you could seem like the sweetest people but be total shitheads privately. Curry seems like a good guy compared to people like Kobe Bryant or Matt Barnes or Jahlil Okafor, and even some of the softer shit people have gotten in trouble for. There are more NBA players that have done skeevy shit throughout the years. Russell Westbrook is purported to be extremely dedicated to his wife whereas a lot of NBA players aren't. I don't know what parameters we're using here to decide whether someone is a good person but for the most part Curry doesn't seem to be doing anything bad.
posted by gucci mane at 8:46 PM on May 26, 2016

My point was just that it's silly to think you can divine something about someone's character from how they play basketball. Let Steph just be an amazing basketball player who does crazy, wild things on the court. Don't try to shoehorn in something about how we all should root for him because he's clearly such a great guy, apparently contra Russ, who is "hard to root for", and LeBron, "who [they] can see rooting against".
posted by protocoach at 9:14 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Hi h8rs
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:31 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Charles Barkley is a bad person & he should stop being on tv.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:35 PM on May 26, 2016 [4 favorites]

If the Thunder win the series, they do it in game six, when they're at home before their (almost as fervent) fans. If they don't win game six, I don't think they pull out game seven.

Exactly. Replace "Thunder" with "Jazz" and "Warriors" with "Bulls" ... and it's the SAME FUCKING THING.

Charles Barkley is a bad person & he should stop being on tv.

This thread was worth it just for that.

The Curry being a good guy derail is really weird. You can state the same arguments about almost anyone.

Um, Michael Jordan? That's the comparison. Curry SEEMS to be a pretty good guy. Michael Jordan was a TOTAL ASSHOLE. Yeah.

Don't try to shoehorn in something about how we all should root for him because he's clearly such a great guy, apparently contra Russ, who is "hard to root for", and LeBron, "who [they] can see rooting against".

Except it's true. He SEEMS to be a far better husband, father, and person than Michael Jordan, at least SO FAR!
posted by mrgrimm at 10:14 PM on May 26, 2016

I'm surprised I'm the first person to mention Jordan. Curry is clearer a better player overall. Perhaps the best ever.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:15 PM on May 26, 2016

There's a story I read once about Jordan betting his teammates that his bags would come off the luggage carousel first and winning. When he won, his astonished teammates asked how he'd known. He replied that he'd bribed the baggage handlers, naturally. Jordan's god was winning. He may have been monomaniacal and an asshole about it, but he won. Take that for whatever it's worth.
posted by axiom at 10:44 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

#believeland
posted by BurntHombre at 5:33 AM on May 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm surprised I'm the first person to mention Jordan. Curry is clearer a better player overall. Perhaps the best ever.

OK this is not true at the moment no. He is good, and transcendent to watch, but Tony Parker has more rings. Winning isn't everything, but if you want to be the best ever, you have to do it. Otherwise you are a delightful footnote like Bill Walton. Use a different superlative, I might agree: 'Most fun" maybe. But best means rings, and this season is still a big old unanswered question.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:27 AM on May 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Russ on whether Steph is "underrated as a defender". Harsh.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:41 AM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

The Thunder Are What's Wrong With The Warriors:

The Warriors getting their asses kicked isn’t a mystery that needs explanation. It is the explanation! Why is Steph Curry playing badly? Because the Thunder are kicking his ass! Why is Draymond Green imploding? Because the Thunder are kicking his ass! Why aren’t they doing the dope shit they usually do? Because the Thunder are kicking their asses! Why don’t they look like the team that went 73-9 in the regular season? Because that team wasn’t getting its ass kicked!

The Warriors are getting their asses kicked. The Thunder are kicking their asses. What is wrong with the Golden State Warriors is that they are playing the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are kicking their asses.

posted by kirkaracha at 11:25 AM on May 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

Fuck rings (mostly) but Curry has one of the best seasons ever. James probably has a couple?Jordan had like half a dozen any way you look at it. The whole "greatest ever" game is kinda silly across eras, and I'm from NorCal, I'm for GSW here - but come on, let's not go off half-cocked.
posted by atoxyl at 11:32 AM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm surprised I'm the first person to mention Jordan. Curry is clearer a better player overall. Perhaps the best ever.

Yeah, no. Jordan was an excellent defender. He was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, a nine-time NBA All-Defensive Team member, and a three-times steals leader. He was also a five-time NBA MVP to Curry's two and a 14-time All Star to Curry's three.

Jordan leads Curry in field goal percentage (.497 to .477), rebounds per game (6.2 to 4.3), steals per game (2.3 to 1.8) and points per game (30.1 to 22.4). Those are career regular-season numbers; Jordan's playoff numbers are mostly even better.

I'm fine saying Curry is the best shooter in NBA history (and if he's not, who's better?), but Jordan was better all-around.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:39 AM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's been great seeing the Supersonics get their due, even if they're playing at the farm location. Go Sonics. But seriously, Clay Bennett and David Stern can eat a bag of Billy Goats.
posted by spacely_sprocket at 11:56 AM on May 27, 2016

Curry can't be the best shooter in NBA history because he hasn't even played 500 games. What about Ray Allen or Reggie Miller? Maybe in a few years, but that remains to be seen. Maybe if you take this and last seasons stats it makes him the best shooter?
posted by gucci mane at 5:37 PM on May 27, 2016

Not only that but I'm almost certain that Kyle Korver has the best 3-PT percentage in the league, and it's above 50%.
posted by gucci mane at 5:38 PM on May 27, 2016

Russell Westbrook is usually thought of as a selfish player, but he's averaging 11 assists in the playoffs.

And he switched his style from all scoring, all the time earlier in the regular season. I couldn't stand him last season, but I think he's quite matured this season and I've started to like him. For me he's the best player of OKC.
posted by ersatz at 12:53 AM on May 28, 2016

Look, I respect the hell out of Steph. But he has not "regularly surpassed" LeBron.

That’s probably true, but when you see them standing next to each other you wonder how Curry could ever even come close to comparing.
posted by LeLiLo at 12:46 PM on May 28, 2016

A 5ft 9 guy might go 1st round this year. This is giving me hope that both of my children boy and girl may get to play in the NBA some day no matter how tall they grow (they can already dunk).
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:01 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was going to say I wanted OKC to win this then get swept in the finals because that would cause the most emotional pain to OKC fans. I'm okay with the way this is heading too, though.
posted by nom de poop at 8:43 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

holy crap what a finish
posted by nadawi at 8:48 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yeah GSW and Curry in particular really deliver on drama, which is really the thing most people want from their entertainers/celebs/etc... They want them to be great when the situation demands they be great.
posted by nom de poop at 9:33 PM on May 28, 2016

I've seen conspiracy theories about the Warriors' postseason being fixed for maximum drama and it's scary how not-totally-insane that sounds to me entirely because maximum drama.
posted by atoxyl at 9:56 PM on May 28, 2016

(they can already dunk)

Your 5'9 kids are dunking? Holy cow, what's in the water there. I mean I've dunked but I sure wasn't a teenager.
posted by cashman at 5:51 AM on May 29, 2016

(im just playing cashman my kids are both under 3 years/feet)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:00 AM on May 29, 2016

There's no fixing basketball to that extent. The refs didnt make Durant stop passing and Westbrook lose Steph in transition, or Klay make several complete miracle shots with KD right in his face, let Iggy steal the ball like 450 times in the last 2 minutes. That was all just the Based God curse, not some conspiracy theory.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:04 AM on May 29, 2016 [4 favorites]

Game 7. Wow, wow, wow, double wow, and, of course, triple wow.
posted by Lyme Drop at 9:33 PM on May 30, 2016 [5 favorites]

Live from Cleveland.
posted by cashman at 6:40 AM on May 31, 2016

Game 6 was a lot more superwow IMO. Game 7 was just a return to form.

It really annoys me that people are saying OKC choked too. Especially Shaq who should know better. They played amazingly throughout. GSW just figured out what they were doing on D, and their shots started falling. And their shots are the best shots ever taken in the history of the league. OKC lost to probably the best TEAM of the modern era (Jordan is a greater individual player, but team defense plus the lack of legal contact means playing together as a single unit, switching, stunting, communicating, is the gold standard of team basketball).

Something to note about why GSW always seems to either blow a team out, get blown out, or cruise in the 2nd quarter. Their game plan seems to be: Play like the 2007 Phoenix Suns, (or even more, like the 2014 Houston Rockets) for 2.5 quarters, then, at some point, lock down on D and switch gears (the Livingston lineups with a lot of turnarounds and Festus jump hooks works for this especially vs the other team's bench). Then when the starters return, change the pace again and play like 5 mid-career Dwane Wades -- gamble on steals, triple the physicality on both ends, and just fucking make bombs.

So the first part means they will either gain or lose a big lead often in the 1st half, but they other team won't be pressured that hard on D either way. They might blow leads with Pt. 2 like they did in Game 1, but they'll rarely be out of it, and the change of intensity on Defense lures teams into relying on one kind of flow for their offense then suddenly having to cope with players behaving very differently while guarding them.

IDK I'm not a coach just something I've noticed. We'll see if the Cavs can do anything to respond.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:04 AM on May 31, 2016 [2 favorites]

OKC did choke, though-- they totally fell back into bad habits and resorted back to hero ball in the last minutes of the fourth in Game 6. I'm sure you've seen the stat saying they they basically stopped passing in their last possessions. Run your offense for those last six minutes with an 7 point lead and you're probably in the finals. That's a choke.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 12:44 PM on May 31, 2016

OKC beat the Warriors in every possible statistic except 3 pointers. That's not a choke that's domination by a superior force. Stop listening to Chuck and Kenny they don't know wtf they are talking about.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:48 AM on June 2, 2016

ANYWAY! The new NBA Finals thread on FanFare is here! Come bullshit with us over there.

My prediction: If it goes 7, Cavs. Otherwise, Warriors in 5. See you all on the other side.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:50 AM on June 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

My prediction: If it goes 7, Cavs. Otherwise, Warriors in 5. See you all on the other side.

Well there you have it.
posted by cashman at 6:47 AM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've lost all respect sorry this is absolutely rigged for money... Or ratings in not sure which. I won't be silent. I just saw it live sry.
posted by nadawi at 7:27 AM on June 17, 2016

Yeah, either that or the warriors were drugged at dinner. That first quarter was some bullshit.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:15 AM on June 17, 2016

(that was quoting ayesha curry, fwiw)
posted by nadawi at 9:34 PM on June 17, 2016

I figured that out after a few minutes. Me, I thought maybe the Warriors were throwing it, not the refs.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:25 PM on June 17, 2016