The NBA Finals start today...

[ElNono]

Two small-market teams in the NBA finals, Stern's worst nightmare, tbh.

At least he gets to market Durant. If OKC wins, that would be an impressive 4 year turnaround.

Discuss.

























:lol leastern conference

[mavs>spurs]

miami can beat either SA or OKC..this is NOT the finals at all tbh

[Kidd K]

miami can beat either SA or OKC..this is NOT the finals at all tbh

"Can beat", and "having a greater than 50% chance to beat" are two different things though.

Imo, both OKC and SA would be favored to beat Miami. Possibly even by as much as a 60/40 margin. They've both been playing much better than Miami as of late and are even more healthy.

The two best teams left are SA and OKC. Miami is 3rd imo, and I don't think there's too big of an argument against that right now with Bosh's health in such doubt.

[Mugen]

miami can beat either SA or OKC..this is NOT the finals at all tbh

With a healthy Bosh, they could. If he's not playing or is severely limited than this is the NBA Finals.

[DeadlyDynasty]

:lolpeople underestimating the Heat

[Mugen]

:lol overestimating the Pacers

[DeadlyDynasty]

:lol Pacers better than the Clips and Jazz

[#41 Shoot Em Up]

Miami/OKC should be good. WCF gonna be good dough

[pass1st]

I wouldn't call OKC small market, they have all of our LAL bandwagoners now.

[Mugen]

:lol Pacers better than the Clips and Jazz

:lol Spurs woulda swept them too

[mavs>spurs]

"Can beat", and "having a greater than 50% chance to beat" are two different things though.

Imo, both OKC and SA would be favored to beat Miami. Possibly even by as much as a 60/40 margin. They've both been playing much better than Miami as of late and are even more healthy.

The two best teams left are SA and OKC. Miami is 3rd imo, and I don't think there's too big of an argument against that right now with Bosh's health in such doubt.

even at a 40% chance of winning (which i disagree with) they have a substantial chance at least roughly close to 50/50, meaning that it won't be a cakewalk and this is indeed not "the finals" at all. there is still one more round to go, and it isn't going to be a given. That's why i said what i said. did you even read the context or just feel like blindly saying something? my comment made perfect sense and according to your own logic i'm correct.

[DeadlyDynasty]

:lol Spurs woulda swept them too

:lolI'm gonna make so much money off this board if it's a Spurs-Heat finals

[mavs>spurs]

did yall see the way the 2 fags cranked up the heat once shit got real in indiana? don't be led astray by the lackluster performances while coasting..i think miami has a 45% chance WITHOUT bosh, 55-45 in their favor with him if he's performing anywhere near 100%. nobody on either SA or OKC can guard the 2 fags when they get going.

[Mugen]

:lolI'm gonna make so much money off this board if it's a Spurs-Heat finals

:lol I threw $400 on the Spurs pre-RJ trade when they were getting 15-1 for the ship

:lol me for thinking a Spurs team w/RJ would ring

:lol Warriors/Bobcats

[#41 Shoot Em Up]

did yall see the way the 2 fags cranked up the heat once shit got real in indiana? don't be led astray by the lackluster performances while coasting..i think miami has a 45% chance WITHOUT bosh, 55-45 in their favor with him if he's performing anywhere near 100%. nobody on either SA or OKC can guard the 2 fags when they get going.

The fag has a point

[Kai]

Yeah, except it doesn't (they don't?).

[boutons_deux]

I wouldn't call OKC small market, they have all of our LAL bandwagoners now.

"2010 580,000

Based on population rank, the metropolitan area was the 44th largest in the nation as of the year 2010."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_city

OKC metro without argument is a very small market.

[MavDynasty]

:lol one skyscraper

[mavs>spurs]

for basketball purposes, they aren't the smallest market though which is the point he was trying to make. okc catches the appeal of a lot of your casual fans outside of the OKC area and all over the US. they probably have one of the bigger market shares in the nba because they are young and fun to watch.

probably 6th or 7th biggest draw outside of miami, chicago, la, dallas, ny, etc

[ElNono]

:lolI'm gonna make so much money off this board if it's a Spurs-Heat finals

I'm gonna have to eat a low of crow if that's the finals, tbh.

[m>s]

SA has the 6th largest population of all US cities and yet it's still a small market, so the population ain't the only element to take into account when the market size is measured imho

[tesseractive]

miami can beat either SA or OKC..this is NOT the finals at all tbh

They got beat by the Mavs last year. Tbh, how good could they really be?

[OZWIN]

miami can beat either SA or OKC..this is NOT the finals at all tbhTrue that...I'd rather see Spurs/Heat though.

[Out of nowhere goods]

"Can beat", and "having a greater than 50% chance to beat" are two different things though.

Imo, both OKC and SA would be favored to beat Miami. Possibly even by as much as a 60/40 margin. They've both been playing much better than Miami as of late and are even more healthy.

The two best teams left are SA and OKC. Miami is 3rd imo, and I don't think there's too big of an argument against that right now with Bosh's health in such doubt.

This guy's making a strong case for GNSF of the month tbh

[LnGrrrR]

Tbh, assuming my Celtics lose, I'm pulling for either team in the West. I'll be a Boston Spur or Boston Thunder fan. :lol

[m>s]

^ like the cleveland mavaliers fans of last year?

[ElNono]

big/small "markets" has to do with TV markets... neither city is in the top 35 TV markets in the nation, IIRC... that's why they're called small market...

[LkrFan]

I want KD to win his first ring before LeHype. Maybe then he will get more respect around these parts.

[mavs>spurs]

They got beat by the Mavs last year. Tbh, how good could they really be?

:lol what's that supposed to mean? the mavs were easily the best team in basketball last year. last years mavs were better than any team this year, too. it's a shame cuban is a dumbass or you'd be watching us go back to back.

[tesseractive]

:lol what's that supposed to mean? the mavs were easily the best team in basketball last year. last years mavs were better than any team this year, too. it's a shame cuban is a dumbass or you'd be watching us go back to back.

Just messing around. :lol

Last year's Mavs were really good -- I don't think they were better than this years's Spurs imo, but it's a shame there's no way to play a game and find out.

[DMC]

The same three couldn't beat Dallas last year. They haven't gotten much better. Dallas got worse. Everyone said Miami would beat Dallas last year. People now talk about how strong Dallas was last year, but that's hindsight. There were some white knuckle moments in those first few games.

Miami might win, but they have to prove it to me before I will believe they even can. Otherwise I see SA or OKC. I don't think Boston can beat Miami.

[GuerillaBlack]

SA has the 6th largest population of all US cities and yet it's still a small market, so the population ain't the only element to take into account when the market size is measured imho

That's because you're looking at city limits, which don't mean anything. If you look at the metro area or tv market size. SA is in the low 20s.

[KD4MVP]

miami can beat either SA or OKC..this is NOT the finals at all tbh

If Bosh can't play, they aren't beating either especially without HCA.

[mavs>spurs]

IMO, even without bosh neither the spurs nor the thunder have guys who can defend the 2 fags effectively..they will crank up the head just like they did against indiana and start running that ass into the ground. especially the thunder, who have no big men to punish the heat with for their lack of an interior presence.

[KD4MVP]

did yall see the way the 2 fags cranked up the heat once shit got real in indiana? don't be led astray by the lackluster performances while coasting..i think miami has a 45% chance WITHOUT bosh, 55-45 in their favor with him if he's performing anywhere near 100%. nobody on either SA or OKC can guard the 2 fags when they get going.

Both teams have long, athletic defenders who they can throw at both of the 2 homos.

They won't shut both down, but if they can limit both to around 50-55 combined, that's good enough.

Also, without Bosh, you think Pop will let both go off, he'll double/trap the other if Bosh can't go, they won't beat SA 2 on 5.

[mavs>spurs]

Both teams have long, athletic defenders who they can throw at both of the 2 homos.

They won't shut both down, but if they can limit both to around 50-55 combined, that's good enough.

Also, without Bosh, you think Pop will let both go off, he'll double/trap the other if Bosh can't go, they won't beat SA 2 on 5.

sefolosha isn't quick enough to stay with lebron, he's better suited to guard guys like kobe. outside of that, yall have no one to put on them and you can't afford to put harden or durant on either of them. as for san antonio? leonard is young and unproven, he is NOT going to slow down lebron maybe he can be an elite defender a few years from now, however he is not one today.

[KD4MVP]

IMO, even without bosh neither the spurs nor the thunder have guys who can defend the 2 fags effectively..they will crank up the head just like they did against indiana and start running that ass into the ground. especially the thunder, who have no big men to punish the heat with for their lack of an interior presence.

By that logic, who checks Westbrook on Miami, same with TP?

Who guards Duncan who looks great.

Like i said, neither will SHUT them down, but they can limit them, and make it tough. And Indiana, come on now!

They are not beating OKC or SA 2 on 5.

[Venti Quattro]

Let's go Heat!

[mavs>spurs]

By that logic, who checks Westbrook on Miami, same with TP?

Who guards Duncan who looks great.

Like i said, neither will SHUT them down, but they can limit them, and make it tough. And Indiana, come on now!

They are not beating OKC or SA 2 on 5.

Chalmers will do a good job on westbrook or parker. Lebron can cover them for short stints if they are posing a problem in crunch time, the same way they used him to stifle Rose in the past. no one will guard duncan, but neither will anyone on the spurs guard lebron/wade who at this point are the much bigger threat.

[ElNono]

Chalmers will do a good job on westbrook or parker. Lebron can cover them

:lol

last time Lebron tried to cover Tony:

http://www.clap.name/images/blog/tony_parker.jpg

:lol

[mavs>spurs]

I'm sorry but if you think Lebron James could cover pre injury Rose but not Tony Parker then we will just have to disagree on that :lol

[ElNono]

I'm sorry but if you think Lebron James could cover pre injury Rose but not Tony Parker then we will just have to disagree on that :lol

it's not complicated, tbh... Tony always drives off a pick, and unlike Rose almost never goes one on one. To stop Tony you have to defend the pick and roll well... Lakers have done it.

[m>s]

miami are unstoppable if both fags get on fire, there's no effective solution to neither of them tbh. mental shortness is the only enemy that may beat them heat now, so the spurs only hope is that lebron steps into the same ditch a 3rd time and chokes like he did last year

[100%duncan]

:lol Mavfan still butthurt
:lol we woulda swept the pacers too
:lol Least vs Best

[Ace]

Since the Spurs starting winning the general IQ of Spurs fans has reduced drastically.

:lol at anyone on the Spurs or Thunder capable of shutting down, much less slowing down Wade or LeBron. Miami can turn it up when needed and they proved that, not just LeBron and Wade but on defense as well. You guys act like you've never watched basketball before...

[m>s]

miami's bench now is twice better then last year's tbh

[tesseractive]

miami's bench now is twice better then last year's tbh

And we all know what 2 x 0 =

[Axe Murderer]

The Heat's swarming defense seems perfect in guarding a team like the Spurs imho

[Ace]

The Heat's swarming defense seems perfect in guarding a team like the Spurs imho

Tim Duncan not playing like a TOSB is what scares me imo...

[Jacob1983]

LMAO Heat beating the Spurs in the Finals :lol :lmao :rollin

[ducks]

thunder and spurs have 90% chance of winning it all against either boston or heat

[ElNono]

The way I see it, either SA or OKC can drop 100 on a nightly basis... Spurs shat the bed tonight with 16 turnovers and still dropped 98 on OKC... which means the Heat would need at least 35 from Bron, 35 from Wade, about 20 from Bosh and 10+ from the rest on every game. There's no more 83 points to win a game here.

It's just not happening over a 7 game series without HCA... IMO

[ElNono]

:lmao "boston or"

boston has about a 0% chance of beating miami

co-sign

[Jacob1983]

For the Heat to beat the Spurs in the Finals, just think of what has to happen.
1.) Wade and Lebron have to average somewhere between 60 to 70 points combined per game.
2.) The Heat have to turn Duncan into a jump shooter but he can make mid range jump shots so that's a fail.
3.) Miami's bench will have to play their best basketball
4.) Miami will have to dominate the boards
5.) The Spurs will have to play like a WNBA team for the Heat to beat them.

[ElNono]

there is if their stifling defense holds you to less than that

not happening... IMO... what stifling defense? they have nobody to check TD... Lakers tried to keep OKC at 80-something and only managed to do it on one game... the one they won... rules have changed, you can't play D like yesteryear...

[KD4MVP]

not happening... IMO... what stifling defense? they have nobody to check TD... Lakers tried to keep OKC at 80-something and only managed to do it on one game... the one they won... rules have changed, you can't play D like yesteryear...

It was 101-98, i think the game they won.

And yeah, Wade/Bron pretty much have to play at an MVP level every game to beat SA should both get there.

And Pop won't let both of them go off, one, sure, both, not happening, he doubles/traps the other, makes the Battier, Miller, Haslem, Chalmers of the world beat him.

I think Boston could give them a tougher series then people think.

[KD4MVP]

there is if their stifling defense holds you to less than that

Stiffling defense?

Spurs aint the Knicks or Pacers.

[ElNono]

It was 101-98, i think the game they won.

And yeah, Wade/Bron pretty much have to play at an MVP level every game to beat SA should both get there.

And Pop won't let both of them go off, one, sure, both, not happening, he doubles/traps the other, makes the Battier, Miller, Haslem, Chalmers of the world beat him.

I think Boston could give them a tougher series then people think.

I thought Lakeshow kept you guys at 80 in one game... but maybe I got it confused with the Denver series

[ElNono]

yeah lakers held them to 77 one game and the other game he's talking about was 99-96..guy is a retard not even a real thunder fan didn't watch the serious obviously

his opinion is invalid :lol

:lol

at any rate, I don't think the Heat can hold either team in the 80s... if they do, they will deserve to win it all, tbh

[KD4MVP]

yeah lakers held them to 77 one game and the other game he's talking about was 99-96..guy is a retard not even a real thunder fan didn't watch the serious obviously

his opinion is invalid :lol

Yeah, they did hold them to 77 or 78, or whatever it was, but still lost.

The game they won was in the high 90's, i didn't remember it. Still doesn't change the fact they scored in the 100's all games but 2 of them.

[KD4MVP]

Fair point, but if Bosh is limited or can't even play, who else is gonna score consistently for them.

Pop isn't gonna let both of them go HAM on him if they do make the Finals. Let one go off, trap/double the other.

As for the Mavs, yeah, all the games were pretty close except for Game 1/6, tight series.

[ElNono]

i just think that there's a bad case of "well, dallas took them down last year, so that must mean they're totally beatable!" going around.

I don't think that at all, tbh... I think there's no team like last season's Dallas this time around, but at the same time, I do think the West is so much more competitive than the east, that teams in the west basically see everything heading into the finals. I do think Wade and Lebron are the most dominant duo, but I don't think they can keep up dropping nearly 40 on a 7 games series, especially on the road... I have to see it to believe first, tbh...
In addition to that, they will need contributions from their bench, since both OKC and Spurs are pretty deep, and I just can't see the Heat having that. Chalmers and fluke Battier/Miller 3s is all that's there...

For example, the Spurs bench tonight dropped 52 points... 52... that's over 50% of the points scored by the team... crazy stuff.

[KD4MVP]

No one said it would be easy, but Wade/LBJ pretty much have to play at an MVP level every game to beat SA should both get there.

Plus they'd be minus HCA which is big in the Finals, home team wins a good part of the time in the Finals. Plus SA's bench trumps the Heat's bench.

Plus over a 7-game series, the one major weakness SA has, is their bigs, no one left can exploit that enough in a 7-game series imo. Would be a hell of a series, but i'd take SA if the matchup happened.

And Pop would coach circles around Spoelstra.

[Trainwreck2100]

TBH it would be a damn shame for a champion to come out of that dogshit of a conference known as the east.

[ElNono]

mark my words, anthony, bosh, chalmers, battier, miller, and haslem are all going to have their big plays be it defensive or knocking down shots. miami's bench is A LOT better and deeper than it was last year. haslem is actually healthy, miller is playing, they added turiaf instead of having no other center, and the addition of battier. i'm trying to tell yall they won't be an easy win.

Disagree, but time will tell, tbh... I do think Battier is still a heck of a defender. Not sold on any of the other guys, except maybe for Chalmers to give you something on offense...

[Durant 35]

The way I see it, either SA or OKC can drop 100 on a nightly basis... Spurs shat the bed tonight with 16 turnovers and still dropped 98 on OKC... which means the Heat would need at least 35 from Bron, 35 from Wade, about 20 from Bosh and 10+ from the rest on every game. There's no more 83 points to win a game here.

It's just not happening over a 7 game series without HCA... IMO

Not just about offense.... Miami can shut you down defensively. They are by far the best defensive team left.

[Bill_Brasky]

:lol thinking monkeyball will ever beat good team basketball

[Latarian Milton]

our coach might be terrible but it doesn't seem to be much of a crisis when we have two of the world's top 5 players, also our bench has got much better & deeper then last year. shit ain't gonna be easy but we're bound to win it eventually

[FkLA]

^maybe next year n!gga spurs aint losing this year