It's the Golden State Warriors vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 4th year in a row. :meh:
http://www.nba.com/article/2018/05/29/cleveland-cavaliers-golden-state-warriors-set-fourth-straight-nba-finals-meeting (http://www.nba.com/article/2018/05/29/cleveland-cavaliers-golden-state-warriors-set-fourth-straight-nba-finals-meeting)
It's like deja vu all over again.
Dang Warriors vs. CAVS is like this decades version of the 1980's Celtics vs. Lakers though. It's like Larry Bird having to face Magic Johnson in the finals multiple times though.
:sleep:
Boring... I'll be watching the Stanley Cup Finals
I think the NBA might be as rigged as WWE. However, in WWE, everyone knows that it is rigged
Quote from: ftballfan on May 30, 2018, 11:43:33 AM
I think the NBA might be as rigged as WWE. However, in WWE, everyone knows that it is rigged
In the NBA everyone knows that it is rigged. See Kings/Lakers in 2002.
The NBA is not totally rigged, but it not an actual competition like legitimate sports either.
In any event, its is children's programming. Like the WWE, how could any adult possibly care?
The NBA isn't rigged in the way the WWE is rigged in that it is scripted. The NBA does however show favoritism towards certain star players and large market teams. Star players like Jordan and Kobe back in the day, and certainly LeBron today, will get favorable calls from the refs to give them an advantage. The large market teams get the majority of the coverage and national broadcasts. I like basketball, but the NBA turns me off. That along with the style of play. Too much standing around while one player goes one-on-one. I like college basketball much more.
I do wonder if the number of series going to 7 games in the NBA has risen over the past couple of decades. I have wondered if there is rigging going on to maximize profit from such series.
Yay, another repeat of the last 10 billion years. Not watching.
LG-TP260
Salty Celtics fan here. Of course the NBA wanted the same matchup for ratings. A Celtics/Rockets final, while personally interesting because I have a good friend who is a Rockets fan, wouldn't have the glitz and glamor of a Cavs/Warriors final. I'm surprised the league hasn't done everything it could to make the Fakers a superpower again, but I'm sure that's coming. I think if we ever had something like a Raptors/Jazz Finals, the league would fold. I'm on to baseball season now, but am intrigued by the Stanley Cup Finals between a first year expansion franchise that no one saw getting anywhere near there, and a team that seemingly had its 2004 Red Sox moment in finally beating the Penguins. However, with Fleury in goal for the Knights, we'll find out if the Caps kryptonite was the Penguins, or if it is Marc-Andre Fleury.
Quote from: HazMatt on May 30, 2018, 01:49:19 PM
Quote from: ftballfan on May 30, 2018, 11:43:33 AM
I think the NBA might be as rigged as WWE. However, in WWE, everyone knows that it is rigged
In the NBA everyone knows that it is rigged. See Kings/Lakers in 2002.
I've heard this argument so many times regarding the NBA. How do you explain the Pistons beating the big market Lakers or some dying TV market like Cleveland getting a big star like Lebron James? You'd make a more reason argument for bias in refereeing the game towards big stars but that's every level of basket ball down to high school.
Usually I don't get interested in the NBA until the conference finals. The first round usually is nothing matchups or top seed blow outs. Regarding Golden State and Cleveland being in the finals, yes I would preferred at least one different team. At least things aren't as boring as when the Bulls has no competition in the mid-1990s.
Regarding the NHL, yes it's way more intriguing having a expansion team in the Stanley Cup Finals. There is a lot more parity in the NHL which often leads to more exciting series than the NBA. The one negative is that things tend to devolve into a team with a hot goalie makes a long playoff run.
What about the Rockets winning both titles in Jordan's absence or South Beach being a major free agent destination (LeBron James and Chris Bosh)? Hell, the Spurs get no love, and they still own five championships from the Tim Duncan era.
You're right about the NBA wanting the Lakers to be good again, because we've seen the same argument with the Celtics when they were in their own rebuilding phases, and they are the two marquee teams in the NBA. With New York being a basketball mecca, it's surprising that the Knicks are the most cursed team in the league right now, having not won it all since 1973. Technically, the Kings have the longest drought, but they get a pass here for having done it as the Rochester Royals in 1951, and moving three different times.
Having the Patriots in the Super Bowl each year brings about the argument that the NFL is fixed too, but at least there are only four teams who have never made it to the Big Game (Browns, Jaguars, Lions, Texans). And in MLB, the playing field has been leveled even more, what with many other teams getting a shot at winning the World Series, with only two teams (Mariners and Nationals) having not made it to the Fall Classic. As a current Seattle resident, there's nothing I'd love to see than the Mariners experiencing the same joy of winning that my Cubs did in 2016. As for the NHL, I think it's a nice surprise to see an expansion team defy convention and play for a chance to win the Stanley Cup.
No rigging is going on. Unlike the NFL with its parity approach, the NBA lets those owners who want to spend the Big Bux a chance to buy a championship thanks to the luxury tax. Add in the fact that there are very few superstuds out there who can Git 'Er Done and that only five players can be on the court at one time to see why so few teams are in contention for a title every season.
Rick
I agree I hardly watched it last year. I doubt I will watch it at all this year. It's becoming a broken record.
Was the Cleveland player who walked away from the basket with the scored tied at the end on regulation part of possible rigging? :popcorn:
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/othersport/967984/JR-Smith-NBA-Finals-LeBron-James-Cleveland-Cavaliers
Quote from: Big John on June 01, 2018, 07:35:19 PM
Was the Cleveland player who walked away from the basket with the scored tied at the end on regulation part of possible rigging? :popcorn:
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/othersport/967984/JR-Smith-NBA-Finals-LeBron-James-Cleveland-Cavaliers
:popcorn:.
Quote from: Alps on June 02, 2018, 12:25:16 AM
Quote from: Big John on June 01, 2018, 07:35:19 PM
Was the Cleveland player who walked away from the basket with the scored tied at the end on regulation part of possible rigging? :popcorn:
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/othersport/967984/JR-Smith-NBA-Finals-LeBron-James-Cleveland-Cavaliers
:popcorn:.
:popcorn: :popcorn:
Here is a parody of the NBA Finals that Disney made years ago with Goofy.
Quote from: bing101 on June 05, 2018, 05:23:14 PM
Here is a parody of the NBA Finals that Disney made years ago with Goofy.
"Double dribble", the name of the Goofy short, was more a parody of college basketball than NBA who was created in 1949 from the merger of 2 leagues; BAA(Basketball association of America) and NBL (National basketball league). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Dribble_(film) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Dribble_(film))
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on June 06, 2018, 07:10:34 PM
Quote from: bing101 on June 05, 2018, 05:23:14 PM
Here is a parody of the NBA Finals that Disney made years ago with Goofy.
"Double dribble", the name of the Goofy short, was more a parody of college basketball than NBA who was created in 1949 from the merger of 2 leagues; BAA(Basketball association of America) and NBL (National basketball league). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Dribble_(film) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Dribble_(film))
Yet the spoof is still real today even though the film was in 1946. Yet all these decades later especially with the referees eyesight that is a common complaint you see in the NBA Finals especially in epic rivalries like Celtics vs Lakers or Warriors vs. Cavaliers.
But the One Disney was referring to was the UCLA vs. USC rivalry. USC had to have been the constant basketball champions in Los Angeles at the time the film was made and John Wooden was not the College basketball legend yet when the film was made.
What'ya know.... GS up 3-0... Who would've thunk? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Yeah 4 years in a row of the same two teams in the Finals is enough to start boring you. It's ridiculous that the NBA only has two teams like this and no one else can seem to beat these two teams before the Finals.
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 07, 2018, 02:45:03 PM
Yeah 4 years in a row of the same two teams in the Finals is enough to start boring you. It's ridiculous that the NBA only has two teams like this and no one else can seem to beat these two teams before the Finals.
The Rockets got pretty close to beating the Warriors, but I was actually rooting for the Warriors for once. The Rockets rely on the refs to call bad fouls against James Harden.
Is having the Warriors and Cavs any different than the previous dominant teams of decades past? In the 2000s there was a ton of Lakers, Spurs, and Pistons match-ups in the finals. Basketball is more prone to having dominant teams with the small roster sizes compared to the other major sports. You have one all time great player like the Cavs do with Lebron James and usually that's enough to at least get you to the finals almost every year.
I don't see major, long-lasting dynastic rivalries as a bad thing, but I'm a Celtics fan. :D
It isn't like the rest of the NBA withers away when you only have three or four real contenders. Same goes for other sports as well.
https://hoopshype.com/2018/06/08/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-free-agency/
Wow that is crazy the moment Golden State Warriors wins the NBA Finals the spotlight is always on Lebron James and where he is going.
But if you live in San Francisco you paid more attention to Durant being the MVP and the Rest of the Warriors celebrating the championship.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23524190/lebron-james-houston-rockets-summer-here-how-happen-nba
Update the national NBA pundits are speculating where Lebron is going next season. This is while San Francisco audiences are getting ready for the Warriors Parade.
http://abc7news.com/3586323/?ex_cid=TA_KGO_FB&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5b1e1df404d30162ad160a00&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook
Well, at least there won't be a 5th Cavs-Warriors finals.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23967725/lebron-james-joining-los-angeles-lakers-4-year-1533-million-deal (http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23967725/lebron-james-joining-los-angeles-lakers-4-year-1533-million-deal)
Quote from: LM117 on July 02, 2018, 10:05:19 AM
Well, at least there won't be a 5th Cavs-Warriors finals.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23967725/lebron-james-joining-los-angeles-lakers-4-year-1533-million-deal (http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23967725/lebron-james-joining-los-angeles-lakers-4-year-1533-million-deal)
Well if you are a Golden State Warriors fan that Rivalry against Lebron James will move to the Western Conference finals if the Golden State Warriors and Lakers were to see each other there.
If Warriors beat Lakers in the Conference finals it will be interesting to see who will be the Eastern conference champ will be though. But its rare to see any NBA team to be in the finals 5 times in 5 years.
Quote from: bing101 on July 02, 2018, 11:53:15 AM
Quote from: LM117 on July 02, 2018, 10:05:19 AM
Well, at least there won't be a 5th Cavs-Warriors finals.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23967725/lebron-james-joining-los-angeles-lakers-4-year-1533-million-deal (http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23967725/lebron-james-joining-los-angeles-lakers-4-year-1533-million-deal)
Well if you are a Golden State Warriors fan that Rivalry against Lebron James will move to the Western Conference finals if the Golden State Warriors and Lakers were to see each other there.
If Warriors beat Lakers in the Conference finals it will be interesting to see who will be the Eastern conference champ will be though. But its rare to see any NBA team to be in the finals 5 times in 5 years.
I'd still put the Lakers way behind the Warriors or even the Rockets. Houston would likely be the team to knock Golden State out in the West. I'd pick Boston to represent the Eastern conference.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 02, 2018, 01:59:20 PM
Quote from: bing101 on July 02, 2018, 11:53:15 AM
Quote from: LM117 on July 02, 2018, 10:05:19 AM
Well, at least there won't be a 5th Cavs-Warriors finals.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23967725/lebron-james-joining-los-angeles-lakers-4-year-1533-million-deal (http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23967725/lebron-james-joining-los-angeles-lakers-4-year-1533-million-deal)
Well if you are a Golden State Warriors fan that Rivalry against Lebron James will move to the Western Conference finals if the Golden State Warriors and Lakers were to see each other there.
If Warriors beat Lakers in the Conference finals it will be interesting to see who will be the Eastern conference champ will be though. But its rare to see any NBA team to be in the finals 5 times in 5 years.
I'd still put the Lakers way behind the Warriors or even the Rockets. Houston would likely be the team to knock Golden State out in the West. I'd pick Boston to represent the Eastern conference.
True and also its hard to picture Golden State Warriors attacking any eastern conference team that Lebron is not in.
The East is the Celtic Invitational. :) The Lakers will not get by the Warriors or Rockets, and they probably won't even get by OKC or Utah either. They'd be in a group with the Nuggets, T'Wolves, Blazers, and Spurs battling it out for the last 4 spots in the West. As for the Cavs: they may win as many games as the Browns next year.
http://abc7news.com/sports/espn-sources-javale-mcgee-reaches-deal-with-la-lakers/3688885/
Update now Javale McGee a former member of the Golden State Warriors is Joining the Lakers.
Quote from: bing101 on July 02, 2018, 08:23:16 PM
http://abc7news.com/sports/espn-sources-javale-mcgee-reaches-deal-with-la-lakers/3688885/
Update now Javale McGee a former member of the Golden State Warriors is Joining the Lakers.
And now Rajon Rondo. Seems like a lot of work to lose in the conference semifinals.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-free-agency-rumors-lebrons-lakers-could-have-landed-demarcus-cousins-for-similar-price-as-warriors/
Now demarcus cousins is at play here
Up here we're just hoping Cousins doesn't bring unwanted drama to the Warriors locker room. Fortunately, there are enough players he seems to respect that will likely damp his less useful traits in that regard -- this team seems pretty damn good at maintaining cohesion over the last few years. I see us in the finals vs. Boston next year!
Quote from: sparker on July 04, 2018, 02:56:39 AM
Up here we're just hoping Cousins doesn't bring unwanted drama to the Warriors locker room. Fortunately, there are enough players he seems to respect that will likely damp his less useful traits in that regard -- this team seems pretty damn good at maintaining cohesion over the last few years. I see us in the finals vs. Boston next year!
Well I remember Demarcus Cousins was mentioned in the Sacramento area for brining drama to the Kings before The Pelicans got him.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24003187/lakers-signings-part-magic-plan-nba
Here is an update on the Lebron Gossip.