NBA 2012-2013

[Donuthole]

What was Vogel thinking?

and

Are there really people who would pick Gordon over Paul?

Are there? I don't think I've seen that argument on this board, but I'm sure there are some Jazz homers who think so.

[Donuthole]

Btw, LeBron traveled.

[smokymountainrain]

Game never should have made it to OT. I may never understand why so many NBA teams refuse to foul, up by 3 with less than 5 seconds to play.

[Flystripper]

I think that was Indys shot at making it a series, I m thinking 4-5 game series.

You could be right but I think Indy poses an interesting matchup for the Heat. I hope it is a close series by I don't really care who wins. Would be fun to see the upset though

[smokymountainrain]

I hope the Heat win this series if for no other reason to see them face the Spurs for all the marbles. A Heat/Spurs championship series could be special.

[MarkGrace]

Game never should have made it to OT. I may never understand why so many NBA teams refuse to foul, up by 3 with less than 5 seconds to play.

Would have been very easy to foul west before the George 3.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Even though I extended my DVR by 30 minutes I missed most of OT. But on the last Miami play, couldn't Indiana have just camped Hibbert in the middle of the lane? No chance at a defensive 3 second there, and it seems against Miami you'd rather give Bosh a long 2 for the win than give LeBron anything in the lane.

[smokymountainrain]

Lbj is so good when he does not settle for jumpers. He does it less now but he still falls into that trap sometimes.

I tend to think this is a fair criticism, but then I have the thought that LeBron shot 57% FGs, 41% 3pt, this year while scoring 27 ppg. Those numbers are crazy. Unprecedented even. Jordan, Bird; they didn't do that. He's shooting 52% in the playoffs. I think for most guys that would be fair, but with him, I think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt and take the position that he absolutely knows what he doing in terms of offensive efficiency.

[MarkGrace]

Even though I extended my DVR by 30 minutes I missed most of OT. But on the last Miami play, couldn't Indiana have just camped Hibbert in the middle of the lane? No chance at a defensive 3 second there, and it seems against Miami you'd rather give Bosh a long 2 for the win than give LeBron anything in the lane.

This one was definitely even more puzzling than the first. There wasn't time to really run anything here. Just an inbound into a one on one situation.

[Flystripper]

I tend to think this is a fair criticism, but then I have the thought that LeBron shot 57% FGs, 41% 3pt, this year while scoring 27 ppg. Those numbers are crazy. Unprecedented even. Jordan, Bird; they didn't do that. He's shooting 52% in the playoffs. I think for most guys that would be fair, but with him, I think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt and take the position that he absolutely knows what he doing in terms of offensive efficiency.

At this point you a right in that you do have to trust his judgement. He is phenomenal. I just know even in this game (in which he was absolutely brilliant) it was a sigh of relief whenever he took a jumper because long jumpers are the only thing that can possibly stop him.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Tag making a conference final reference:

@ESPNStatsInfo 3m

Chris Andersen, Serge Ibaka & Greg Ostertag are only players in last 25 yrs w/ 16+ Pts in Conf Finals game while shooting 100 pct on FG & FT

[MarkGrace]

That putback and-1 by Bosh was his 2nd rebound in 36 minutes.

[MarkGrace]

The announcers kept saying they didn't know what Vogel was thinking, but I think it was pretty clear what he was thinking: he was more comfortable with guards switching out on Bron because they knew the SnR was coming. He thought containing on the hedge and being able to switch with someone who could stay in front was better than getting caught in the switch with the slow-footed Hibbert way out on the floor. The question was why he was thinking that, since George/Hibbert were able to prevent Bron from getting to the corner on some previous SnRs.

Actually, looked like it was West/George. That makes more sense.

[SandYFan]

I made the argument on CB that George is not light years better than Hayward.

It's clear Paul George made "the leap" this year not by improving efficiency, but by getting more minutes and taking a lot more shots.

Both he and Hayward played about 29 minutes per game last season. Both scored around 12 points per game.

This year, George's minutes went to 39 per game, and his shots taken per game went from 9 to 15. His his shooting percentage actually tanked a bit, from 44% to 42%

LiveCoug grabbed their per 48 minute stats:

Paul George: 22.4 ppg (42% FG, 37% 3FG), 9.8 rpg, 5.2 apg, 2.3 spg, .80 bpg

Gordon Hayward: 23.7 ppg (44% FG, 41% 3FG), 5.1 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.3 spg, .91 bpg

And Grace made the point that Hayward's PER is 17.01, George's is 16.98.

Bottom line, if Hayward were playing 40 minutes per game and had the green light from Corbin like George has from Vogel, he'd be performing at the same level, if not a bit better, thanks to better shooting efficiency.

Also, I fully enjoyed those who were lauding George's defense of LeBron last night after James had a triple double and blew past Paul for the game-winning layup.

[MarkGrace]

I made the argument on CB that George is not light years better than Hayward.

It's clear Paul George made "the leap" this year not by improving efficiency, but by getting more minutes and taking a lot more shots.

Both he and Hayward played about 29 minutes per game last season. Both scored around 12 points per game.

This year, George's minutes went to 39 per game, and his shots taken per game went from 9 to 15. His his shooting percentage actually tanked a bit, from 44% to 42%

LiveCoug grabbed their per 48 minute stats:



And Grace made the point that Hayward's PER is 17.01, George's is 16.98.

Bottom line, if Hayward were playing 40 minutes per game and had the green light from Corbin like George has from Vogel, he'd be performing at the same level, if not a bit better, thanks to better shooting efficiency.

Also, I fully enjoyed those who were lauding George's defense of LeBron last night after James had a triple double and blew past Paul for the game-winning layup.

The flip side to that is George has done it is a #1 option, where Hayward has been mostly an afterthought. It's tougher for George to put up those numbers in a lead scoring role. And despite the defensive gaffe on Bron last night, he's clearly transforming into a stopper/all-defense type performer on the wing. While G-Time is fine defensively, I think George is clearly a good measure ahead of him there, and that gives him a lot of value as a two-way player. George is also a hair younger and you have to think has more upside because he's a notch above as an athlete as well. He's turning into a really nice player.