Heat-Pacers

[traitor71]

What a brutal series. Chippy doesn't even come close to describing how hard these teams are going after each other.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Its getting intense, but I don't think too out of the ordinary for a hard-fought NBA series. Interestingly it always seems like the most physical series occur at the conference level due to combo of teams knowing each other a little too well and perhaps the bright lights of the finals puts them on their best behavior. Old Celtics - Lakers refutes the 2nd part of that. Maybe it is just over-familiarity.

Last night's game kind of was a let down. The Pacers controlled the entire first half and it looked as if it'd be a down-to-the-wire battle between LeBron's individual greatness vs Pacers collective efficiency. But when LeBron rose up the Pacers either went cold or got caught up in the physicality. The Pacers drought seemed to happen right after the BirdmanBirdman (have they announced that he's suspended for Game 6 yet??) went nuts. Also George Hill getting in foul trouble submarined their entire offense. I thought Vogel should have put Hill back in when the Pacer's offense stalled. Ie. DJ Augustine dribble ball off foot -= bye bye Augustine. Up until that point coaching favored the Pacers but with Hill out FlatFace was able to go small and the Heat's offense dropped the hammer.

 

[traitor71]

Haslem being put against West was a big factor as well. Indiana had done pretty much all of the pushing, shoving and grabbing in this series and been credited for it. Once again however, Miami showed that when they are pushed, they push back hard, perhaps even to excess, it is a totally underrated part of their team in my opinion.

As for the Birdman, I don't know what the league will do but they should never have allowed it to get to that point. The stuff that has gone on under the basket in this series is ridiculous and I simply can not understand how a guy that fouls more than anyone (Hibbert) has managed to have fewer fouls than the guy that fouls less than anyone (James). At least those were the stats headed into last night.

The officials have been ridiculous in this series. They have chosen to ignore the over the top physical stuff and have instead given us blown shot clock violations, ridiculous 5 second calls, phantom travels and offensive fouls that didn't exist. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[tentoes4rings]

I'm rooting for the Heat but the Pacers are enjoyable to watch. If Indiana were to win I wouldn't be too upset but I really want to see Ray get a ring. Objectively speaking though, I'm tired of hearing whine that Miami gets all the calls. Unless you want to theorize that the league wants this to go 7 games, evidence like the last minute of game 4 can't be ignored. Fouling out the best player in the game on a questionable illegal screen call should be proof enough that there is no vested interest by the refs, they just haven't been very good.

I'm surprised by how much animosity there is toward the Heat on this board, especially with Ray on the team. I suspect most of you rooting against the Heat are bitter Celtics and Knicks fans. I'd rather take the route to root for the greatest ambassador of our program and his teammate who is one of the greatest players in the history of the game. I also live in south Florida and get to see all the behind the scenes stuff on all these players. I think overall they're a very likable group and usually a hell of a lot fun to watch.

 

[superjohn]

Haslem being put against West was a big factor as well. Indiana had done pretty much all of the pushing, shoving and grabbing in this series and been credited for it. Once again however, Miami showed that when they are pushed, they push back hard, perhaps even to excess, it is a totally underrated part of their team in my opinion.

As for the Birdman, I don't know what the league will do but they should never have allowed it to get to that point. The stuff that has gone on under the basket in this series is ridiculous and I simply can not understand how a guy that fouls more than anyone (Hibbert) has managed to have fewer fouls than the guy that fouls less than anyone (James). At least those were the stats headed into last night.

The officials have been ridiculous in this series. They have chosen to ignore the over the top physical stuff and have instead given us blown shot clock violations, ridiculous 5 second calls, phantom travels and offensive fouls that didn't exist. Absolutely ridiculous.

Lebron fouls less than anyone? That's rich, just because they don't call fouls on him doesn't mean he doesn't foul. My main beef with the Heat is the constant flopping, Battier is a joke he spends more than half the game laying on the floor and Wade isn't much better, every time he drives he goes all spastic flailing his arms and legs in every direction. Another team that drove me nuts with this was the Thunder last year, every time Harden and Westbrook would get in the lane they would just throw their body all over the place begging for a whistle and usually they got it.

 

[traitor71]

I'm surprised by how much animosity there is toward the Heat on this board, especially with Ray on the team. I suspect most of you rooting against the Heat are bitter Celtics and Knicks fans. I'd rather take the route to root for the greatest ambassador of our program and his teammate who is one of the greatest players in the history of the game. I also live in south Florida and get to see all the behind the scenes stuff on all these players. I think overall they're a very likable group and usually a hell of a lot fun to watch.

Meh, people that live in warm , sunny places aren't supposed to have winning teams. And if they do, then the team must be full of selfish primadonnas or something like that. That's why you get all this laughable "blue collar, tough guy, real fan" nonsense fomr many corners. I think it is just hard for people to believe that guys took less money than they could have gotten elsewhere because they wanted to win. It's also seemingly hard to believe that Miami is simply a very tough minded team that works hard, possibly harder than anyone else in the league. Toss in the fact that no one on their team is ever involved in any off the court controversy and I think it is just too much for many to accept.

It clearly has to be some sort of a league wide conspiracy for them to succeed and thus worthy of scorn.

 

[Scoe]

Its very simple the Heat have Lebron and he got MADDDDD .

 

[Scoe]

Meh, people that live in warm , sunny places aren't supposed to have winning teams. And if they do, then the team must be full of selfish primadonnas or something like that. That's why you get all this laughable "blue collar, tough guy, real fan" nonsense fomr many corners. I think it is just hard for people to believe that guys took less money than they could have gotten elsewhere because they wanted to win. It's also seemingly hard to believe that Miami is simply a very tough minded team that works hard, possibly harder than anyone else in the league. Toss in the fact that no one on their team is ever involved in any off the court controversy and I think it is just too much for many to accept.

It clearly has to be some sort of a league wide conspiracy for them to succeed and thus worthy of scorn.

I route against the Heat but im not a Heat hater per say, like the general NBA fan is. I give credit where credit is due. Of course I route for Ray and respect Lebron. I have no problem with how the Heat teamed up, it is ok for to route against them though thats normal. Personally I would love to see a Heat-Spurs finals because it would bring a historical significance with having 4 HOF go against 3 HOF.

 

[UConn5]

Looks like LeBron is going to get another fine after this game. That being said, not sure the Pacers can hold him off this game they have cut this lead to 6 pretty quickly this quarter, but I hope they because I really want to see a game 7 here.

Pretty unreal what has happened to Wade this series.

 

[traitor71]

Wade is hurt, has been since the end of the season. This stuff about it being a bone bruise was clearly a smoke screen by Miami to try and hide it. As for this game, unreal officiating. When the refs are calling it like crazy for Miami in game seven, think about this one before saying it is rigged for Miami. This game is the exact sort of thing that the NBA conspiracy theorists like to point to as an example of manipulated results.

 

[JaYnYcE]

I'm rooting for the Heat but the Pacers are enjoyable to watch. If Indiana were to win I wouldn't be too upset but I really want to see Ray get a ring. Objectively speaking though, I'm tired of hearing whine that Miami gets all the calls. Unless you want to theorize that the league wants this to go 7 games, evidence like the last minute of game 4 can't be ignored. Fouling out the best player in the game on a questionable illegal screen call should be proof enough that there is no vested interest by the refs, they just haven't been very good.

I'm surprised by how much animosity there is toward the Heat on this board, especially with Ray on the team. I suspect most of you rooting against the Heat are bitter Celtics and Knicks fans. I'd rather take the route to root for the greatest ambassador of our program and his teammate who is one of the greatest players in the history of the game. I also live in south Florida and get to see all the behind the scenes stuff on all these players. I think overall they're a very likable group and usually a hell of a lot fun to watch.

Not bitter at all. The Heat and Knicks have a bitter history dating back to Mourning, Ewing, Riley leaving NY to go to Miami. Knick fans, particularly ones who remember those 90's years Hate the Heat, Reggie Miller and the Bulls. It has nothing to do with Ray Allen, thought he was great in He Got Game and I'm proud he's a UCONN alum.


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[gtcam]

Looks to me like West's right foot actually gets tripped by Lebron there.

Lebron is clearly flopping, and he has developed quite the rep for that. But I'd be willing to give West the benefit of the doubt considering it looks like he was tripped.

As great as James is he has now resorted to the spoiled brat image of "I am the star - don't commit fouls because I'm too good and too smart to do so", I never have seen him flop so much as he has done in the past 3 games,
I think D Wade is one of the dirtiest players in the league - what he does off the ball is at times near criminal

 

[aceboon]

Ray has put together some truly ugly postseasons as of late, he's out there looking like Derek Fisher in this series.

 

[Fishy]

Ray and Wade appear to have gotten old in the past month. Bosh, jesus, he's stealing money from the Heat - that signing may haunt them in a big, bad way.

But the Heat have Lebron - I'm guessing he goes plain berserk in game seven.

Will be fun to see.

 

[CardiacKemba]

The Heat will win Game 7 due to Lebron going into Cleveland mode, but his supporting cast has been absolutely pitiful this series. I really see him leaving Miami after next year.

 

[Gurleyman]

As strange as it is to say, Ray's only positive contribution has been on defense. He's guarded Paul George better than anyone. His job on D has basically rendered Battier obsolete.

On offense, he's just not doing enough. He's old - so guys like West and Hansbrough have been able to guard him on the perimeter, and with Wade/Bosh in the tank, he can't play off of anyone other than LeBron.

 

[8893]

The stage is set for some good drama tonight. I just hope it delivers and is not a lopsided affair one way or the other (although the prospect of seeing Miami dominated on their home floor is enticing, if for no other reason than it is by far the least likely result).

It seems to be most likely that LeBron has a legendary performance and gets at least some more help from the rest of the team than he has so far this series. I think his ability is too great and his will is too strong for them to lose tonight. Unless he gets no help and gets frustrated. On the whole, the Pacers have the more determined team and players, once you get past LeBron (if you can).

Predicting Heat in a blow-out but rooting for Indiana.

 

[Dogdeacon]

As strange as it is to say, Ray's only positive contribution has been on defense. He's guarded Paul George better than anyone. His job on D has basically rendered Battier obsolete.

On offense, he's just not doing enough. He's old - so guys like West and Hansbrough have been able to guard him on the perimeter, and with Wade/Bosh in the tank, he can't play off of anyone other than LeBron.

This is why Ray signed with Miami. At the end of last year the Celtics needed to run plays through 2-3 screens for Ray to get open. Indiana's D is so good that their defenders either stay in contact or rotate help and rarely is Ray or other Heat shooters wide open. And I think somewhat out of shooter mental desperation (I gotta make this, I'm only open for a second and may not be again) they are missing the few open looks.

But with homecourt rims and some ref cooking I think some of the role or bench players have a big game tonight and Miami wins relatively easily. Could be a great game though if that doesn't happen and/or if Indiana can effectively pound it inside, dominate the boards and stay close. Then it comes down to LeBron making a tough shot against good D versus the Pacers executing on offense.

IF Wade & Bosh are truly injured and not just nullified by great Indiana defense, Spurs-Heat might suck with Spurs winning relatively easily. Indiana vs the Spurs is actually much more compelling from a basketball junkie standpoint.

 

[Kitaman]

Lebron will elevate himself in the MJ discussion if he puts this fragile team on his back and leads them to victory. Its a dramatic game for his career (i.e. legacy), as the Pacers are legit.

 

[Nostical]

I'm out in LA on business. One of the lawyers I'm with just pulled together $15K from several partners to bet on the Heat -7. He flew to Vegas this afternoon--short cheap flight. He's pretty confident. I think it's a good bet.

 

[8893]

I'm out in LA on business. One of the lawyers I'm with just pulled together $15K from several partners to bet on the Heat -7. He flew to Vegas this afternoon--short cheap flight. He's pretty confident. I think it's a good bet.

This makes me want the Pacers to win even more.

 

[superjohn]

Floyd Mayweather bet 6 million on the Heat tonight, if we needed any other reasons to root for the Pacers.

 

[UConn Hoops1]

Floyd Mayweather bet 6 million on the Heat tonight, if we needed any other reasons to root for the Pacers.

There are a lot of reasons to root for the Pacers; but #1 imo are the Pacer fans. They create an atmosphere right there with the best that college hoops has to offer. And, the fact that they hang around after each home game and stand behind the TV crew(Ernie,Shaq,Charles and Kenny) yelling Pacer cheers makes it even better. I REALLY hope they find a way to send Lebron and his crew packing.

GO PACERS!!!

 

[JaYnYcE]

Mayweather, GOAT


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[superjohn]

Mayweather, GOAT


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Are you trying to say Mayweather is the best boxer of all-time? If so you are clueless.