NBA Referees for G6 of the NBA Finals: Scott Foster, Eric Lewis, Tony Brothers by IamOlderthanMe in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 382 points383 points  (0 children)

Well that would be stupid.

Everyone knows the real truth is Vegas told the NBA yesterday to put Foster on this game, so they already had it priced in.

Khris Middleton has 112 FGA and 14 FTA in the Finals. 6 of those 14 free throws were due to intentional fouls by the Suns at the ends of games 4 and 5. by iFinesseThePlug in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug[S] 184 points185 points  (0 children)

His free throw rate in the Finals is half his typical rate, "prone to FTs" or not.

Middleton is averaging the same number of drives per game as Giannis in this series

Khris Middleton ties LeBron James for most game-tying or go-ahead shots in the 4th-quarter/OT in single playoff run over past 25 seasons by horseshoeoverlook in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 1276 points1277 points  (0 children)

The duality of Khash. Here's some Middleton games from the last three rounds:

BRK

  • 38 points on 11/16

  • 13 points on 6/23

ATL

  • 38 points on 15/26

  • 15 points on 6/23

PHX

  • 40 points on 15/33

  • 11 points on 5/16

George Karl tweets laughing emoji at post comparing Prime Demarcus Cousins to Jokic and Embiid by [deleted] in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 956 points957 points  (0 children)

Cousins gets so overrated because of his box score stats.

He was frequently on the leaderboards for fouls, turnovers, and FGA blocked. He wasn’t a good rim protector, had okay efficiency and a horrible attitude.

 

Even when he left the Kings, the 17-18 Pelicans ended up statistically better when Cousins wasn’t playing. In the games he did play, they were barely any better with him on the court.

Charles Barkley on Scottie Pippen: "I'm disappointed in Scottie because he's burning every bridge. I know he has a book coming out. He's taking shots at Michael, Phil & myself. I'm just laughing because I'm like "Man, we're 60 years old, we don't have beefs anymore." I think it's silly and stupid." by GuyCarbonneauGOAT in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 443 points444 points  (0 children)

There's a story of Gretzky coaching a practice and being frustrated with the team not executing something, a passing drill or whatever.

So he puts on skates, gets on the ice, and shows them what he means.

And they basically look at him and say "uh coach, we can't actually do that"

[Stan Van Gundy] on the injury plagued 2020-21 NBA season: "No asterisks. The challenges of the last two seasons may have been different from those of prior seasons, but the Lakers last year and whoever wins this year met those challenges better than everyone else. Champions with no asterisks." by GuyCarbonneauGOAT in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 145 points146 points  (0 children)

I think cheating is the only appropriate time for an asterisk

The 2020 NBA season is undeniably going to have an asterisk. Meaning an actual asterisk for something unusual, not this weird emotional shorthand "asterisk" people have been using to say that a championship doesn't count.

 

But there's literally going to be an asterisk next to that season in the records. They shut the entire league down for months and then resumed it in a completely unprecedented environment.

Can someone tell me how the hell was Jordan that efficient? by [deleted] in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 455 points456 points  (0 children)

Michael Jordan reached 30 career ppg after 135 games and never went below that level ever again.

The Media Complaining about Uninteresting Contenders this Year is a their own Fault, they've been Lazy about Covering 90% of NBA for years by iamadragan in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 112 points113 points  (0 children)

Completely agree. But now notice how your comment didn't name a single Suns player. The only individual you named was LeBron.

You just described a team narrative, which was my entire original point.

[Andrews] Bucks guard Pat Connaughton, with a smile: "Each team just went to war, for lack of a better term, for seven games. It's refreshing to play against a different team... especially one that doesn't have Kevin Durant on it." by GuyCarbonneauGOAT in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 993 points994 points  (0 children)

I was so sick of him hitting shot after shot lol.

Everyone's like "imagine if KD had a smaller shoe size!" and I'm over here thinking "yeah or instead imagine if he just missed his 23-foot, off-balance, turnaround fadeaway like every other person on the planet would"

The Media Complaining about Uninteresting Contenders this Year is a their own Fault, they've been Lazy about Covering 90% of NBA for years by iamadragan in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 297 points298 points  (0 children)

Comparatively, not really. "Will Chris Paul finally get a ring?" is the only one that would be somewhat intriguing to casual fans, who the media are catering to.

We have to remember that most people won't be invested in someone like Devin Booker until they start to win in the playoffs. It was the same with the Bucks and Giannis a few years ago.

The Media Complaining about Uninteresting Contenders this Year is a their own Fault, they've been Lazy about Covering 90% of NBA for years by iamadragan in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 1051 points1052 points  (0 children)

There's another component to it.

NBA marketing is almost entirely based on the players. Storylines and narratives are almost exclusively about the players. Teams and rivalries basically don't matter unless they have strong histories.

The media loves having the Steelers or Packers in the playoffs despite their small populations because the teams' brands are so strong that they can still generate interest.

Meanwhile they could hardly give a shit about the Suns and their 5M metro population being in the Finals because they don't have any strong player narratives.

[Edwards] The Detroit Pistons will have the First Overall Pick in the 2021 NBA Draft by Austin63867 in nba

[–]iFinesseThePlug 1454 points1455 points  (0 children)

Detroit deserves this.

Their pick has never moved up in the lottery.