BASKETBALL Thread

[3cr]

Is Houston going to resign Dragic or letting him go totally into free agency? Just that it may be to the Rockets advantage if they can do a sign and trade for something (players, draft picks, combination of both, etc.) as oppose to just letting him go for nothing. There'll be many teams interested in him. Actually he's even better than J.Lin imho.

[gmaer]

Originally Posted by 1100

Camby is likely to retire after this season.

Too bad for the NCAA Player of the Year 2006, he did not win an NBA Championship but was a really good defensive player.

One of my key defenders in my NBA Live/2k custom team.

[3cr]

WooHoo the young home grown talent of the Thunder defeat the aging store bought talent of the Heat. Thunder wins 105-94 and lead the series 1-0. Game 2 still at OKC.

[Askal82]

Wow! Impressive from a young team here. It seems that Lebron et al would be having a problem on this one.

[gmaer]

Great start for the Thunder! They excelled well in defense and outside shooting.

[3cr]

Yup Thunder defense and hustle translated to points on the other end which help spark their offensive outburst in the second half. Sefalosha did such an amazing job on Wade that Harden was basically relegated to the bench. Harden played very sparringly and only scored 5 pts and yet Thunder won by 11. What more if Harden finally gets hot and plays more? On the other hand I really doubt the scoring outburst of Battier and Chalmers tonite is sustainable through out the series and the Heat simply has no other bench help. Doesn't look good for the Heat. Well if this is the best the Heat can do, then they really have not much of a chance of beating the Thunder in this series. Sorry LeBron but KD's Thunder is just that much better than your Heat.


Kevin Durant, Thunder pull away from Heat, win Game 1
ESPN
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320612025

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant showed the MVP, LeBron James, how to play the fourth quarter in the NBA Finals.

Durant scored 17 of his 36 points in another nightmarish final period for James and his team, leading a Thunder storm that overwhelmed the Heat and gave Oklahoma City a 105-94 victory over Miami in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Teaming with Russell Westbrook to outscore the Heat in the second half by themselves, Durant struck first in his head-to-head matchup with James, who had seven points in the final quarter and was helpless to stop the league's three-time scoring champion.

Westbrook turned around a poor shooting start to finish with 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder, keying a strong finish to the third period that gave the Thunder the lead for good.

Durant took over from there.

Scoring in nearly every way possible, Durant finished 12-of-20 from the field and added eight rebounds. He and Westbrook outscored the Heat 41-40 over the final two periods, showing that maybe this time it will be offense that wins championships.

James finished with 30 points, his most in any of his 11 Finals games, but had only one basket over the first 8:15 of the fourth, when the Thunder seized control of a game they trailed for all but the final few seconds of the first three quarters.

James averaged just three points in the fourth quarters of the Heat's six-game loss to Dallas last year, taking almost all the heat for Miami's Finals failure. He was good in this one, Durant was just better.

And when fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" late in the game, they weren't talking about James, the guy who won the regular-season award.

They meant Durant, who is in a race with James for his first ring -- and maybe the title of best player in the game.

Dwyane Wade had 19 points but shot just 7-of-19 for the Heat, while Shane Battier provided some rare offense by scoring 17 points, his high this postseason.

Turning to a small lineup late in the third quarter, the Thunder improved to 9-0 at home in the postseason. Defensive ace Thabo Sefolosha helped defend James during the Thunder's comeback, relieving Durant of the burden so he could focus on his scoring.

And right now, nobody does it better.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his team, pushed to seven games against Boston in a grueling conference finals the Heat finally won Saturday, preferred this quick turnaround. But perhaps they ran out of gas against the young Thunder, whose core players are all 23 or younger and look as if they could keep playing all night.

James and Wade both were bent over, hands on knees, during one stoppage with about seven minutes remaining. Durant kept pouring it on, racing down the court to throw down a fast-break dunk and later adding a 3-pointer that pushed it to 87-81 with 6½ minutes remaining.

The Heat got within four points, but Durant hit two quick baskets and Westbrook added another for a 10-point lead with 3:35 to go.

It's been a rapid rise toward the top for the Thunder, who started 3-29 in 2008-09, their first season here after moving from Seattle. Fans were clearly embracing the Finals' arrival in Oklahoma City, where cars, buildings and even fans' hair seemed to be painted some form of orange or blue.

Fans standing until the Thunder's first basket didn't have to wait long, Durant knocking down a baseline jumper 70 seconds in. He made his first three shots, including two 3-pointers, but his teammates missed their first six attempts in falling into an early hole.

Durant made sure they were fine at the end.

Both superstars tried to downplay their individual matchup, Durant insisting it was about the team and James adamant that he didn't care about the best-player-in-the-game argument.

It was James' supporting cast that stepped up bigger to start, the Heat hitting five of their six 3-point attempts in jumping to a 29-22 lead after one quarter. Spoelstra kept Chris Bosh as a reserve, the role he has played since returning from a nine-game absence with a strained lower abdominal muscle. Smart decision, as Battier hit his first three 3-point attempts in the opening minutes to spark Miami's strong start.

Durant took only one shot in the second quarter, and it wasn't until nine minutes had passed. By then, the Heat had built a lead as large as 13 points, keeping it in or near double digits most of the period before the Thunder sliced it to 54-47 at halftime.

Seemingly every fan was wearing the blue shirts hung on their chairs before the game -- an exception being rapper Lil Wayne, who caused a stir during the Western Conference finals when he posted on Twitter that the Thunder wouldn't let him into their arena, with the team saying simply that he needed to buy tickets if he wanted to come. He did, he and his guest both wearing black.

The sea of blue around the court looked like the scene last year in Dallas, where James struggled so badly when it mattered most. He admitted letting his team down, vowing he would have no regrets about his performance this time around.

Unfortunately, the result was all too familiar to the Heat.

James quickly answered after Oklahoma City tied the game for the first time at 60-all midway through the third, banking in a shot and powering in for a layup and a quick four-point lead. The Heat pushed the lead back to five, but the Thunder kept coming, finally pulling ahead for the first time when Westbrook darted into the lane and was fouled while scoring with 16.4 seconds remaining, the free throw making it 74-73.

Baskets by Durant and Sefolosha to open the fourth pushed it to a five-point lead, and the Heat never recovered.

[gmaer]

Tabo Sefolosha also did a great job defending LeBron James in the 4th quarter.

[3cr]

Westbrook was great as well (actually on both end of the court). Pati nga rin ang lolong si Fisher gave Chalmers such a hard time scoring on the second half. Scoring is almost a given especially with Durant but I have to say I really like what I saw in the way the Thunder defended tonite and I think they'll get even better as the series progress. Mukhang tagilid ang Heat.

[1100]

Originally Posted by 3cr

Is Houston going to resign Dragic or letting him go totally into free agency? Just that it may be to the Rockets advantage if they can do a sign and trade for something (players, draft picks, combination of both, etc.) as oppose to just letting him go for nothing. There'll be many teams interested in him. Actually he's even better than J.Lin imho.

Of course, every Rockets fan wants him to stay. Kitang-kita naman yung production nya, lalo na nung nawala si Kyle Lowry. From what I remember, Houston has a sizeable salary cap space this off-season so they can still acquire quality players. Pero si Dragic ata ang major player to re-sign ni GM Morey.

Pwede na nila itapon si K-Mart.

[jhomai14]

Terrific comeback by the Thunder and securing the win.

Was surprised to see Collison play a lot of minutes under the Thunder's small ball lineup. But he did a great job on the boards nonetheless.

Ganda na sana nung contribution ni Battier at Chalmers nung first half, pagdating ng second half naging parang stagnant na yung offense. Kulang din sa intensity on defensive end ang Heat kanina. Ang daming instance na di nila makuha kahit easy rebound, ayaw humabol at ayaw mag box out.

Collison FTW. No need to worry for Ibaka and Perkins to be in foul trouble kung ganito palagi ilalaro nya.

[spearhead]

I want miami to lose as much as possible, but if they win the series, its still ok. The only thing i like about miami is they are being coached by a half-pinoy, thats all.

[gmaer]

When did Erik Spoelstra recognized his Filipino roots? He has been in the NBA since 1995 but it was only recent that he introduced himself as half-Filipino, I wonder why?

[absinthe_888]

Gawa lang ng PHL media.

[spearhead]

Alam nyo naman sa pinas eh, malaman lang na may pinoy blood ka tapos sikat ka then big deal:

He is the son of Dutch-Irish-American Jon Spoelstra, who was an NBA executive for the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Buffalo Braves and New Jersey Nets, and the grandson of the late Watson Spoelstra, a sportswriter in the Detroit area. His mother, Elisa Celino, is from San Pablo, Laguna in the Philippines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Spoelstra

Gawa kaya yan ng pinoy media?

[jhomai14]

Originally Posted by gmaer

When did Erik Spoelstra recognized his Filipino roots? He has been in the NBA since 1995 but it was only recent that he introduced himself as half-Filipino, I wonder why?

ang tagal na pala nya sa NBA. Im guilty, when the brouhaha came out that there Eric Spoelstra was a Fil-Am coach, i started liking MIAMI HEAT Nakatuon lng talaga pansin ko dati sa three teams ng NBA, and they were CELTICS, LAKERS and BULLS.

[gmaer]

Erik Spoelstra over shadowed 1975 NCAA Champion Raymond Townsend in the NBA when it comes to popularity among us Filipino NBA Fans.

[915bungohunter]

MOA ARENA
An inside look at the SM Mall of Asia Arena
courtesy of Paul Lachica

[gmaer]

WoW! Maglalaro ba ang PBA dyan? Sayang hindi naabutan ng MBA ito!

[3cr]

Nice! UAAP ba ang bibinyag niyan?

[gmaer]

Yan ba yung ipinatayo ni Manny V. Pangilinan para sa Sacramento Kings bidding?