The NBA

[mojoween]

Ok, media, you can fuck right off.

I am so tired of them ragging on the Dubs for being good.  Jesus Christ.  This morning it was “well it’s nice that Golden State has made five straight finals but LEBRON did it for eight years with TWO teams.”

Fuck that noise.  GS was good before KD got there.  LeBron put together a super team and still went 3-6 in the Finals and if Dray had kept his damn feet to himself LBJ would probably be 2-7.

Klay Thompson was drafted 11th.  Steph was 7th.  Dray was in the second round.  So unless there were trades, the Warriors weren't so good for two of those drafts and they are getting bagged on for being talented?  Nuh-uh, not having that shit.

And I am the MOST casual of NBA fans so I shouldn’t even care about this but it irritates me that we only talk about this being a team sport when it fits their LeBron-centric narrative.

[kathyk2]

53 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Ok, media, you can fuck right off.

I am so tired of them ragging on the Dubs for being good.  Jesus Christ.  This morning it was “well it’s nice that Golden State has made five straight finals but LEBRON did it for eight years with TWO teams.”

Fuck that noise.  GS was good before KD got there.  LeBron put together a super team and still went 3-6 in the Finals and if Dray had kept his damn feet to himself LBJ would probably be 2-7.

Klay Thompson was drafted 11th.  Steph was 7th.  Dray was in the second round.  So unless there were trades, the Warriors weren't so good for two of those drafts and they are getting bagged on for being talented?  Nuh-uh, not having that shit.

And I am the MOST casual of NBA fans so I shouldn’t even care about this but it irritates me that we only talk about this being a team sport when it fits their LeBron-centric narrative.

I don't think it's just about Lebron I think the media doesn't like it when a team that was a loser gets good. I remember watching Larry Bird's Celtics teams no one complained when they made the Finals in the 80's or Michael Jordan's Bulls dominated the 90's. I doubt anyone would complain if the Lakers rather than the Warriors were dominant.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

This never gets old 🤣

[NUguy514]

10 hours ago, mojoween said:

And I am the MOST casual of NBA fans so I shouldn’t even care about this but it irritates me that we only talk about this being a team sport when it fits their LeBron-centric narrative.

Which is hilarious because LeBron is THE furthest thing from a team player.  Like, no.

[mojoween]

If Adam Silver wants to start west coast games earlier then east coast games should start at one in the afternoon.

This is all because of LeBron, which thanks for some more arrows for my hate quiver, guys.

Also Will Cain is starting to make me turn on Giannis.  I know that’s not Giannis’s fault, but when Will declares that the Bucks are going to run the East like LeBron did, and Milwaukee hasn’t even made it out of the ECF yet, well that’s enough to be annoying.

[ganesh]

Just because you're down by 3 doesn't mean you can't get the quick 2. Bucks had an easy lay up, and the guy is in the air and throws it out for a 3. Over a minute left, a 3 is not needed. 

[twoods]

This series took a surprising turn. The Bucs have nobody to blame but themselves but if they don’t show up in game 6, they gave up a 2-0 lead. The Raptors have zero chance against the Warriors (Bucs don’t either but I thought it would me a more entertaining series), but kudos to them if they pull this off.

[Maximum Taco]

Kawhi is a freaking cyborg. Gets his teeth kicked in in game 2, and just powers down and downloads a wikiHow to destroy Giannis. Series might be over on Saturday. 

[Fukui San]

11 hours ago, twoods said:

This series took a surprising turn. The Bucs have nobody to blame but themselves but if they don’t show up in game 6, they gave up a 2-0 lead. The Raptors have zero chance against the Warriors (Bucs don’t either but I thought it would me a more entertaining series), but kudos to them if they pull this off.

I agree with this assessment. I was looking forward to the Warriors-Bucks matchup, but if the Raptors pull this off, you gotta salute them even though I think they'll get slaughtered by GS.

[ganesh]

I wasn't able to watch game 4, but even after winning game 3, I thought he was out of gas. He was definitely not out of gas last night. 

[isalicat]

I have been hoping for Toronto to win (and then play my team, Golden State) just because I am sick to death of having the Bucs anointed as the "best evah" all year even though their one trick pony, Giannis, apparently can't be bothered to practice free throws. Was also hoping that the Eastern series would go to seven (or nine! 🙂 ) for obvious reasons but I think Kawhi will close it out tomorrow night at home. He is a fearsome dude and deserves all respect! Getting a little scared as to what our match up will look like without Durant's minutes but I think Draymond and Klay can handle their offense and then its up to Klay and Steph to heat up simultaneously for a change and shoot lights out!

[Ohwell]

It's complicated.  Ultimately, I want the Warriors to win.  Before that though, I'd like to see Toronto beat the Bucks.  However, I cannot stand fucking Drake. 

But then if the Warriors do beat Toronto then Drake will have to STFU.  So maybe it's not so complicated after all.......😈

[ganesh]

Will Curry shimmy on Drake? 

[xaxat]

Hopefully

every 

chance

he 

gets.

[mojoween]

The NBA playoffs have shown me that David Bakhtiari is one damn fine specimen of humanity.

[Maximum Taco]

Finals are heading North for the first time ever!!!

Get hyped Toronto. 

[xaxat]

Congratulations on the huge gamble by Raptors GM Masai Ujiri. Fire coach of the year Duane Casey and trade fan favorite DeRozan for Kawhi and that mysterious season ending injury.

If they win it all, I wonder how many F bombs he'll drop during the parade.

[Magog]

10 hours ago, Maximum Taco said:

Finals are heading North for the first time ever!!!

Get hyped Toronto. 

Congrats to them. Now I have to somehow hope that they don't become roadkill by those Warriors. Because I know ESPN is hoping for their Warriors to sweep & humiliate the Raptors and their "Golden Boy" mocking them in the process since they always rooting & bootlicking for him & those Warriors.

Hopefully, Drake will keep that same energy for those evil Warriors. I should be thankful that those scummy Warriors don't have someone like Drake or Spike Lee rooting for them. 

Edited May 26, 2019 by Magog

[xaxat]

11 minutes ago, Magog said:

Because I know ESPN is hoping for their Warriors to sweep

Why would ESPN want a sweep? They want as many games to televise as possible.

[Ms Blue Jay]

We Toronto fans have felt year after year that NBA/ESPN really doesn't want Toronto in the finals because nobody cares about a Canadian team...... so that would translate to low ratings.  LeBron has beat us every single time.  But maybe we were just whiny fans because this year Kawhi pulled it off anyway.  This year there was no LeBron and plus Kawhi.  I am still in total shock that they did it.  Kawhi won the series against the 76ers in the very last millisecond of game 7 and now the Bucks was somehow an even easier series......Toronto fans are notorious for not believing when good things come their way.

First time in the finals in the entirety of the Raptors history.  Some of my friends have waited most of their life for this day.  Crazy.  There's some good clips of social media of my city partying in the streets.

If NBA/ESPN wants LeBron in every finals and they can't have it last year, I guess it's nice for them to have Kawhi instead.

Edited May 26, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[Magog]

Well Game 1 ended & this series is off to a good start (Raptors 118 - those Warriors 109). I was somewhat expecting a roadkill-type game from those Warriors. But thankfully, it didn't happened. 

Drake kept that energy up for Game 1 (trash-talking at Draymond) & hopefully, he will show more of that in Game 2.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Magog

[Maximum Taco]

Well my boys are at least not getting swept. I was honestly worried they might wilt under the bright lights and the Dubs would just steamroll them, but they came out hot and won a game 1.

It feels like the Warriors underestimated the Raptors, they focused a lot on Kawhi, and did indeed limit him, but Gasol and Siakam were allowed to just run the show when they doubled Leonard. Danny Green was left open a surprising amount as well. It really seemed like the Warriors were daring the Raptors supporting cast to take and make their shots, and they did. 

Hopefully the Raps can keep it rolling in game 2, they gotta win at least 2 while KD is out to stand a chance I think. 

Stay hyped Toronto, North Over Everything. 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Maximum Taco

[ganesh]

1 hour ago, Maximum Taco said:

It really seemed like the Warriors were daring the Raptors supporting cast to take and make their shots, and they did. 

Yes for sure. The thing is though GS missed a lot of easy looks and layups that they don't normally and still only lost by 9. There were a few dumb turnovers too. 

I can't say Toronto really played that well on defense. 

[cleo]

I had to laugh at the announcers saying there were viewing parties across Canada and then proceeding to list about 20 cities/towns in Ontario. Not sure if they realize Ontario is just a province.

Nice to see them win, at least they won't get swept. It will get a lot harder here on out.

Kawhi and Pascal get a lot of attn and I really like Pascal, but Lowry is the heart of this team for me. I also find all the angst and begging for Kawhi to stay over the top and embarrassing. If a player truly doesn't want to stay don't. 

[Ohwell]

I figured Toronto would come out, guns ablazin' on their home turf.  Hopefully, the Warriors will become assassin warriors and shut 'em down. 

I actually don't have a beef with Toronto/Kawhi, it's just that I can't stand fucking Drake and I'd love to see his face if they lose.

[Jx223]

Though, they lost tonight, I have liked overall the way that Toronto has been playing in this series.( Though they had a rough start in the 2nd half of tonight's game.) They have been playing Golden State competitively and haven't seemed afraid of them.

The Raptors have looked like they belong in the finals. I do think the earlier series in the ECF playoffs helped prepare them for this moment. Especially when they were down in some of those series.

I wish they would have won tonight, and they came close to doing so. Hopefully they will continue to be competitive in this series and it won't be a short one for them.

[ganesh]

9 minutes ago, Jx223 said:

The Raptors have looked like they belong in the finals.

I don't think that's even debatable. They won all their games. I think all the games in this series will be close. 

However, I don't know if Toronto can answer Cousins. And he passed up at least 5 easy 2s, and still had 6 assists along with all the rebounds. That 3rd quarter, GS really had a lot of ball movement and easy layups. 

I do want to see Durant play if he can. 

[statsgirl]

On 5/31/2019 at 1:53 PM, cleo said:

I had to laugh at the announcers saying there were viewing parties across Canada and then proceeding to list about 20 cities/towns in Ontario. Not sure if they realize Ontario is just a province.

Shots of Halifax and Saskatoon this time. Victoria's city council said they weren't going to spend the money on an outdoor viewing screen.

Shawn Mendez and Alessia Cara were there among others. Obama came and got a standing ovation. Gasol invited someone he had made friends with on a boat saving refugees in the Mediterranean Sea.

Exciting last minutes. The Raptors still hold the record for longest winning streak in a playoff series. Maybe next game.

[isalicat]

Waaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs!

[Danny Franks]

The Warriors are showing that their team isn't just about "five allstars". It's about a team built to fit a system, from top to bottom. Durant goes down, they can fit Looney and Iguadala in to alternate. Thompson goes down, they can use Livingston and Cook to fill in. And when they lose Looney's physicality, they can ask Cousins to provide it.

Anyone who hates them really doesn't appreciate basketball, and the amount of work it takes for the players and coaches to have built and sustain this team.

[Magog]

10 hours ago, Jx223 said:

Though, they lost tonight, I have liked overall the way that Toronto has been playing in this series.( Though they had a rough start in the 2nd half of tonight's game.) They have been playing Golden State competitively and haven't seemed afraid of them.

I wish the Raptors would of kept that same energy in the 3rd Quarter. They were basically napping during most of the 3rd Quarter & let those Warriors run them over at their will (18-0 to start the 3rd with Goody Two Shoes leading the way). Those other guys for those Warriors were contributors to the win last night. DeMarcus Cousins (gag) look like he didn't miss a beat & that "other" guy (Iggy) made the shot of the game. Overall, the Raptors threw that game away. I know that ESPN was very happy with their Warriors winning. Scott Van Pelt was especially gleeful about it last night. 

Quote

Anyone who hates them really doesn't appreciate basketball, and the amount of work it takes for the players and coaches to have built and sustain this team.

We can say the same thing about the New England Patriots (NFL) & a lot of people hate them.

Edited June 3, 2019 by Magog

[Jx223]

Very good win for Toronto tonight. Overall, I continue to be impressed with how they are playing in this series. They played pretty well tonight.  Danny Green and Kyle Lowry in particular did a nice job tonight. I'm glad they are making this series competitive. 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Jx223

[statsgirl]

On 6/3/2019 at 8:30 AM, Danny Franks said:

The Warriors are showing that their team isn't just about "five allstars". It's about a team built to fit a system, from top to bottom. Durant goes down, they can fit Looney and Iguadala in to alternate. Thompson goes down, they can use Livingston and Cook to fill in. And when they lose Looney's physicality, they can ask Cousins to provide it.

To hear the commentary on my station, it's all Curry and Iguadala. When the showed the stats earlier, Curry had got almost half the points.

I've been impressed by the teamwork of the Raptors. It's like they practiced so much, they can read each others' minds. But even more, I"m impressed by their ability to learn from their mistakes. (I should credit the coach, I guess.)  They lost the first two games to the Bucks, and came back to win four in a row, they got killed in the third period of the second game with the Warriors and today owned the third period and ended up winning 123 -109.

[Magog]

Your Smugness tried like hell to get those Warriors the victory (47 points & being all over the place on defense). But, thankfully, the Raptors won the game (123-109) despite trying to give that game away. I was fretting about him making that run to lead those Warriors to a win. Thankfully, that part didn't happen.

I just wish that Drake was at the game tonight.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Magog

[Maximum Taco]

Curry is a freak. Too bad for the Dubs they expect him to score 70 points instead of just 47. 

My boys are holding tight, and got home court back. Great performances from Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, Fred Vanvleet, Kyle Lowry and as always Kawhi. 

Very interested to see if Durant and Klay are back on Friday, and if so, in what condition. 

2 Wins Away Toronto. Stay hyped. North Over Everything.

[SeanC]

The Warriors' Game 3 strategy appeared to amount to "throw the ball to Steph Curry and hope for the best".
 

[NUguy514]

3 hours ago, Magog said:

I just wish that Drake was at the game tonight.

No, anything that publicly brings Drake joy is bad for the world.

[Ohwell]

I think it's hilarious that, while Drake is a rabid Raptors fan which is understandable, his real hard on is for KD and Steph.  

[ganesh]

I thought maybe by bringing it to 8 down at half time that GS might have a shot, but with no explosion out of the gate in the 3rd, it looked like they just didn't have it. 

And you can't really win with just one guy in the NBA even if you are GS. You can't have Curry with 45 and the next guy with like 9. 

[topanga]

17 hours ago, Maximum Taco said:

Curry is a freak. Too bad for the Dubs they expect him to score 70 points instead of just 47. 

My boys are holding tight, and got home court back. Great performances from Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, Fred Vanvleet, Kyle Lowry and as always Kawhi. 

Very interested to see if Durant and Klay are back on Friday, and if so, in what condition. 

2 Wins Away Toronto. Stay hyped. North Over Everything.

I'm so glad this is an actual series. I was worried it would be a snoozefest.

[Ohwell]

If not for fucking Drake drama, I would enjoy this series if it went all the way to game 7.   

[topanga]

On 5/21/2019 at 11:10 AM, Ohwell said:

Draymond has a big mouth that you either love or hate.  I love it.

I love it unless he's playing a team I'm rooting for.

He's one of those people who would more than likely get on my last nerve in real life, but in the world of basketball, I find him entertaining and a great player. 

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, topanga said:

I love it unless he's playing a team I'm rooting for.

He's one of those people who would more than likely get on my last nerve in real life, but in the world of basketball, I find him entertaining and a great player. 

Yeah, I could definitely see him getting on my nerves and me yelling "Draymond!!" and that big mouth of his laughing.  😃 

[DrSpaceman]

Warriors have to step up there D in this series.  They are getting killed by Toronto offensively outside the second half of game two. 

The owner that shoved Kawhi deserved what he got, but it really was not much of a "push", from what I saw in the video. 

But then I am a Pacers fan still bitter over how the NBA handled the whole Brawl in Detroit.  I realize Artest never should have gone into the stands, but that was at least 80% initiated by the Pistons and their fans, plus their shitty security, and the piss poor refs at the time.  Yet the league pretty much gave them a pass and blamed it all on the Pacers, ruined their season over it.  Had they taken a harder stance at the time, told teams to control their fans and told the fans to stop acting like idiots, they wouldn't have these problems.   

[Maximum Taco]

3 hours ago, DrSpaceman said:

The owner that shoved Kawhi deserved what he got, but it really was not much of a "push", from what I saw in the video. 

But then I am a Pacers fan still bitter over how the NBA handled the whole Brawl in Detroit.  I realize Artest never should have gone into the stands, but that was at least 80% initiated by the Pistons and their fans, plus their shitty security, and the piss poor refs at the time.  Yet the league pretty much gave them a pass and blamed it all on the Pacers, ruined their season over it.  Had they taken a harder stance at the time, told teams to control their fans and told the fans to stop acting like idiots, they wouldn't have these problems.   

That was Kyle Lowry and not Kawhi Leonard, understandable mistake though, both are great players for Toronto whose initials are KL.

It wasn't that much of a push, but like you allude to with the Malice at the Palace, the issue is that fans feel invincible out there. Whether it's pushing a player or screaming expletives at them, or throwing a drink. Fans know that in that moment the player can't do anything, and the worst thing that will happen to them is getting kicked out (unless of course Ron Artest decides to march up there and kick some ass). If Lowry fights back the way Artest did he likely gets suspended for the rest of the NBA Finals. 

The league needs to protect their players from that kind of scenario and I think they did a pretty good job here.

[ganesh]

It was my understanding that the guy was pushing him so KL didn't crash into the woman next to him, but I didn't see it. 

[Crs97]

The woman next to him was actually standing up when he came flying in.  Lowry crashed into the seated people and seemed already to be done with his forward movement when the guy reached over the empty seat to shove him.  It wasn’t a particularly strong or effective shove, but he deserves whatever he got.  If you have a problem with the potential for injury, don’t sit there.

[cleo]

I agree it wasn't particularly strong shove, but that's cause the guy was a seat away. He had to reach over. If you watch it was totally unnecessary. I think telling Lowry to go fuck himself on top of it made it clear it was deliberate. (I think that's what he said according to Lowry.) 

There are terrible fans everywhere, unfortunately . Someone in Toronto made derogatory comments about Steph's wife and was charged. 

Edited June 7, 2019 by cleo

[Jx223]

Great win for the Raptors. Once again they were impressive and played very well overall. Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka in a particular played well for them tonight. They are now one game away from winning their first NBA Championship. I hope they win it. 

Edited June 8, 2019 by Jx223

[ganesh]

I'd say that you lose 2 games in a row at home you don't really deserve the title.