May 25, 2016

Only 9 teams in history have won a 7 game series when being down 3 games to 1

 

May 25, 2016

The thunder are gonna close it out at golden state tbh

 

May 25, 2016

lol so I guess this whole 95-96 Bulls debate can finally be put to rest, right?

Bulls dominated the playoffs that year.

 

May 25, 2016

I realize people dislike the Warriors and usually like OKC but I'm still surprised everyone's talking about this series like it's over.

If the Warriors win game 5, watch how quick the talk changes. It'll then be 'Game 6 is a must win for the Thunder cuz they aren't winning a game 7 at Oracle.'

Feel like the 1st quarter next game is huge, both teams really need to come out strong.

 

May 25, 2016

while i can't speak for anyone but myself, i don't believe most people viewing this series as already over has much to do with whether they like or dislike the warriors. very few NBA teams have won a 7 games series when in the position that the warriors are currently in.....so that tells you the odds are strongly stacked against them.

but the warriors did win 73 regular season games, so if anyone can do it, it would be them. but i still don't see it happening.

this reminds me of when t-mac played for the magic and they were up 3 games to 1 and during the press conference (after game 4) he said something along the lines of "it feels good to finally be out of the first round" and they ended up losing that series to the pistons, lol. that hurt me so bad because i love t-mac and he's one of my all time fav players.

the warriors won't have the same luck the pistons did

 

May 25, 2016

Well they're the champs so they deserve some respect but they've been completely over matched the entire series. The Thunder smell blood and I'd be surprised if it's not over tomorrow.

 

May 25, 2016

I fully expect the Thunder to win the series. They've been dominant at home. If they don't win game 5, they'll get game 6. Game 6 will be a must win if they get that far. I don't like their chances of winning a game 7 in Oracle.

 

May 25, 2016

If the Thunder can win the title this might be one of the most impressive playoff runs OAT. They'd have taken down a solid team in the Mavs, 67 win Spurs, 73 win Warriors, and LeBron.

 

May 25, 2016

Might be the best. A lot of people (including myself) quit on them during the regular season and early round of the playoffs when they would blow 4th quarter leads like every other game. Billy Donovan has surprised the h--- out of me with the adjustments he's made in every series so far. I never thought it was a good hire until the playoffs, so good for him. Also, Dion Waiters has been playing great in this series. He's like a completely different player out there. Making all the right plays and hitting 3's.

Definitely gonna be the most impressive run I've ever seen to the Finals pending they beat GS this series. Can't complain about another KD vs. LeBron matchup either. Gonna be a great finals regardless.

 

May 25, 2016

d--- yall still so sure that lebron gonna be in the finals eh?

Even from a non Raptors fan point of view i feel they could have a great underdog story if they make it to the finals. Not to mention you would finally have a new team make the finals for once

 

May 25, 2016

Thinking of going for the +11 spread on the raps tonight. What do you think of that bet? Everyone seems to think the cavs will wash it tonight on home turf though. @Poohdini

 

May 25, 2016

I'd prolly take that with the way the Raptors have played lately. Just keep in mind the Cavs won games 1 & 2 at home by 31 & 19. The last thing they wanna do is go back to TOR down 3-2.

 

May 25, 2016

GS vs OKC series is far from over. The warriors are playing the worst they have all season, if they pick it up and play like they should they will win in 7. if not, then they will lose. Dont forget that steph is still playing at like 75% and it shows, look at his numbers the last few games. 6/20 from the field and 2/10 from deep......if him klay and draymond can step it up i dont see them loosing if not then KD and Russ are getting there first Championship

 

May 25, 2016

d--- @Poohdini , you see this? Noah told teammates he's done with the bulls.

http://www.slamonline.com/nba/report-joakim-noah-told-teammates-done-with-bulls/

 

May 25, 2016

that aint cuz the injury... he just playing like s--- and ppl are using his injuries as an excuse.

 

May 25, 2016

Using the injury as an excuse is a joke...First off, Kerr and Curry both said he's fine after game 3. Plus others have played effectively through much worse even if he is hurt.

It's OKC's D that is shutting him down for the most part plus he's just missing shots he mostly doesn't miss, it also doesn't help that the others on the team aren't stepping up so it's easy for OKC to focus their D on Curry right now.

 

May 25, 2016

d---. Sucks but I can't lie I saw it coming.

It started with Fred awkwardly benching him, then telling media Noah suggested it to Fred (which Noah wasn't at all. He said he was for the team but didn't ask to come off the bench. )

Lot of ppl focus on the Butler/Rose 'beef' but there's never been any substance to that. Jimmy played junior college ball with Derrick's best friend, they've known each other for awhile and have never had issues. Not best friends but they're cool.

Noah on the other hand apparently didn't like Jimmy anointing himself the leader of the team, so he'd make little snide remarks throughout the season. Jimmy had enough, and there was a rumor that they almost fought after the all star break, but Noah ending up doing his rehab in NY so he wasn't with the team.

Then of course there's Gar. Nobody really trusts him. He had a good coach in Thibs and the Bulls were close to knocking off the Cavs last year. He dumped Thibs for personal reason between the 2, and hired a coach that lives down the street from him in the off season with 0 NBA experience.

 

May 25, 2016

@Kon here's that Noah report with a little more details. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...eportedly-told-teammates-of-desire-to-move-on

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah reportedly revealed to a teammate he would be leaving the organization and signing elsewhere in free agency this summer, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

The unnamed Bulls player told Cowley that Noah said he "has no trust in the front office getting this in the right direction" and that many players don't trust general manager Gar Forman.

That player also indicated to Cowley that former coach Tom Thibodeau acted as a buffer between the players and the front office, fostering an "us against them" mentality. Because first-year head coach Fred Hoiberg was a Forman hire, however, the players are unclear of where the coach stands.

Cowley wrote that Hoiberg may not be on Team Forman, either, though at least one of his assistants reportedly is:

What the players have been trying to figure out in building their relationship with Hoiberg has been exactly how tied the coach is with Forman.

"They might not be as tight as everyone, including Gar, thinks," one league source said of the Hoiberg-Forman relationship.

That remains a very important issue moving forward for this team.

"We know there’s at least one assistant [coach] that tells Gar everything that goes on," the player said. "There's a lot of guys that have a problem with that, and not just Jo."

The player did say Hoiberg's decision to bring Noah off the bench to start the season was not a factor in Noah's decision to test free agency—or at least that Noah didn't mention it as a reason to leave Chicago.

Bill Duffy, Noah's agent, spoke to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, saying: "Joakim and I speak on daily about his future. There has been zero indication he doesn't wish to return to Bulls."

Duffy added that Noah "has great respect for the city, the fans and the organization."

If Noah, 31, has indeed decided to leave Chicago, he's certainly changed his stance from earlier in the season when he was asked back in January if he would continue his career with the Bulls, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN.com:

I hope so. Right now I'm not trying to focus on the future. I just had season-ending surgery last week. But this is all I know. So I'm looking forward to see what the guys are doing, and right now it's just all about taking a step back and just focusing on getting healthy, and then we'll go from there.

Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald reported in April that one of the team's "primary tasks for the offseason is to rebuild their relationship with [Noah]" and made re-signing him "a high priority this summer, according to a team source."

Given this latest report, that may be a tall task.

If Noah leaves the Bulls, he'll do so after having arguably the most difficult season of his career. Along with losing his starting job at the beginning of the season, he required season-ending surgery on his shoulder and played in just 29 games, starting only two of them.

He averaged a career-low 4.3 points in just 21.9 minutes per game, adding 8.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.0 blocks per contest.

Noah is an intriguing option for teams looking to add a veteran presence on the block. He remains an excellent rebounder, defensive presence and a solid passer for a big man, capable of impacting the game on several levels.

While he never seemed like a natural fit next to Pau Gasol in Hoiberg's system, Gasol is also a free agent, and the Bulls would surely like to keep one of the two big men. With the team already in retooling mode after failing to reach the postseason, losing both Noah and Gasol would be a major setback.

 

May 25, 2016

NEW YORK — Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs has been unanimously selected to the 2015-16 NBA All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced today. The 6-foot-7 forward is the only player this season to receive all 130 First Team votes (260 total points) from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters in the United States and Canada.

The NBA All-Defensive First Team also features forward Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors (251 points, 123 First Team votes), center DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers (137 points, 47 First Team votes) and guardsAvery Bradley of the Boston Celtics (149 points, 62 First Team votes) and Chris Paul of the Clippers (148 points, 59 First Team votes).

The NBA All-Defensive Second Team consists of forwards Paul Millsap of the Atlanta Hawks (97 points, 11 First Team votes) and Paul George of the Indiana Pacers (48 points, five First Team votes), center Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat (126 points, 44 First Team votes) and guards Tony Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies (121 points, 44 First Team votes) and Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls (62 points, 18 First Team votes).

Players were awarded two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote. Voters were asked to select two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly. Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position where they received the most votes.

2015-16 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM
Player (Team), 1st Team Votes, 2nd Team Votes, Total
Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio), 130, --, 260
Draymond Green (Golden State), 123, 5, 251
DeAndre Jordan (L.A. Clippers), 47, 43, 137
Avery Bradley (Boston), 62, 25, 149
Chris Paul (L.A. Clippers), 59, 30, 148

2015-16 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM
Player (Team), 1st Team Votes, 2nd Team Votes, Total
Paul Millsap (Atlanta), 11, 75, 97
Paul George (Indiana), 5 , 38, 48
Hassan Whiteside (Miami), 44, 38, 126
Tony Allen (Memphis), 44, 33, 121
Jimmy Butler (Chicago), 18, 26 , 62

Other players receiving votes, with point totals (First Team votes in parentheses)
Rudy Gobert, Utah, 64 (17); Klay Thompson, Golden State, 49 (16); Jae Crowder, Boston, 47 (3); LeBron James, Cleveland, 43 (5); Kyle Lowry, Toronto, 43 (9); Danny Green, San Antonio, 39 (9); Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City, 35 (12); Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 33 (5); Ricky Rubio, Minnesota, 30 (6); Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Detroit, 27 (3); Anthony Davis, New Orleans, 24 (3); Andre Drummond, Detroit, 14 (5); Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City, 14 (1); Stephen Curry, Golden State, 13 (3); Andre Iguodala, Golden State, 13 (3); Patrick Beverley, Houston, 11 (1); Al Horford, Atlanta, 7 (1); Marcus Smart, Boston, 7 (2); John Wall, Washington, 6; Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee, 3; Trevor Ariza, Houston, 3; Kent Bazemore, Atlanta, 3; Andrew Bogut, Golden State, 3 (1); DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento, 3 (1); Nicolas Batum, Charlotte, 2; Victor Oladipo, Orlando, 2 (1); LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio, 1; Harrison Barnes, Golden State, 1; Bismack Biyombo, Toronto, 1; Mike Conley, Memphis, 1; Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City, 1; Derrick Favors, Utah, 1; George Hill, Indiana, 1; Wesley Matthews, Dallas, 1; Luc Mbah a Moute, Los Angeles Clippers; Kristaps Porzingis, New York, 1; Andre Roberson, Oklahoma City, 1; Mike Scott, Atlanta, 1; Dwyane Wade, Miami, 1.

@NBAsxn

 

May 25, 2016

Whiteside gets 3rd in DPOY and gets 2nd team all-defense? Snubbeddddd