I honestly think some teams just don't think they've got a chance at a title even though they made the playoffs and are ready to go on vacation..sooner the better. The Blazers aren't one of those teams though.
When we played game 6 those two games were before us with the same result (game 7's). However unlike those two teams we took care of business that night.
I think this should be a great one between the raps and pacers... Maybe all of us who want PG (everyone?) should be rooting for the pacers to get bounced, although I'm not sure that would change anything.
Completely. I am so glad that he was able to come back from that horrible leg injury. That was brutal!
The thing that amazes me about George is that he's as capable a scorer as Durant, but a much more willing play maker. Absolutely a guy who makes his team mates better.
The time to hope for Paul George was last off season when the Pacers were terrible. They are back onto something good and it will never happen now.
Can't be mad, I remember what it was like being in the arena for the first playoff win in over a decade.
Paul George a top 3 NBA player? I wouldn't argue if somebody said that Curry, George, and Durant are the top 3 in the league right now... Maybe Curry, George, Kawhi?
PG was a star in the first round. Made an impact all over the court. Great competitive spirit. Somewhere in the range of 6-10 overall for me.
People are forgetting about KD a bit. I feel like he's gonna have a massive game tonight. Also, dude needs to gtfo this summer. That franchise has stagnated and (unlike us), they don't have the front office talent or stability to rebuild on the fly.
This. They haven't just stagnated, they have slid backwards. I know they've had some injuries. Who hasn't? Its part of the game, but it's their roster moves that have taken them from a true title contender to the hillbilly version of the Clippers - good enough to be a midrange playoff seed, but not good enough to actually be a threat to win it all. Talent wise, they're top heavy and have no depth. Their top 2 are two of the best players in the league (unfortunately, their number 2 thinks he's THE number 1 in the entire league, but that's another thread...), but since they made the dumbest move ever, by refusing to pay Harden, they haven't had a bench. Hell, they haven't even had a respectable starting 5. Four years ago, they made it to the finals when all their key core players were 22-23 years old. They were incredibly young and incredibly talented. They were a dynasty in the making, but their cheap ass, lying owners CHOSE to break that up to save a few bucks. That offseason, they started by giving Ibaka a massive contract. That alone, was not a death knell. Ibaka was just 22, had just lead the league in blocks and made the NBA All-Defensive First Team. However, where they fucked up was they assumed Ibaka was their third best player and they made a conscious decision to choose paying him over paying James Harden. And, it wasn't even that they couldn't have paid them both. They could have, and stayed under the luxury tax threshold., but that would have meant amnestying Kendrick Perkins - something their cheap ass owners would not even consider. On principal, they refused to pay someone to NOT play for them. So instead, they broke up the core of a 22 - 23-year old potential dynasty to keep Kendrick Perkins. In retrospect, they could have actually resigned Ibaka and Harden AND kept Perkins and only paid luxury tax for one season (due to the salary cap and luxury tax going up). They didn't just fuck up their roster, but they also sent a message to their current players and any potential free agents - we're not willing to pay you what you're worth on the open market to come play in the middle of fucking nowhere in a place that smells of cow shit. We'd rather save a few bucks than compete for multiple championships. So, how has that worked out for them? Horribly. They still have Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka, but haven't made it past the second round since that trip to the finals (and they also made the WCF the year before when their core players were all 21 and 22 years old). They are completely lacking in depth. They have no bench and their lack of depth makes any injuries to their top 2 players devastating. The Warriors lose their best player and two time MVP and just keep cruising along. The Blunder lose Durant and they are a lottery team. Something tells me if they still had James Harden, they'd be able to weather those injuries and keep winning games at a decent clip. But, this all makes me happy. It makes me happy that they blew up a potential dynasty for Kendrick Perkins. I laugh every time I think about their shortsightedness. Durant WILL leave, and Westbrook, too. Durant will leave because he doesn't want to squander his career playing for an organization that will never compete for a championship. They were handed a stacked deck and pissed it away. Westbrook will leave because he craves the spotlight and he'll never get that in a market where the only other celebrities are country and western singers and rodeo riders. And once those two leave and that team struggles to win 20 games, you can bet the "fans" will abandon them faster than rats fleeing a sinking ship. Good, they deserve it. They lied and stole that franchise. Karma is a bitch - especially when your stupid and cheap. BNM
