₦airaland Forum

Eruditor:
Guy, relax and read what people are saying. Nobody said the refs made shots for Russell. I am even the one who used the exact line you have above "that Russell's 3s could not be rigged" but you need to understand something.

If I want to swing momentum against GSW today, I just need to put KD or Draymond in foul trouble. If Curry is playing, do same to him and watch momentum swing. For OKC, just get Adams or Russell in trouble and that is it. For Jazz, it is Gobert.

Gobert prior to his foul calls was swatting everything that came into the paint. He blocked Russell a couple of times and PG as well. Russell was 5/16 BEFORE Gobert left the game. He ended up 16/35. Which means Russell shot 11/19 after Gobert left. That is no coincidence. It is scientific.

How did Russell heat up? He first drove to the paint after Gobert left. Once he got fouled and hit the FTs. Next he made a 2pt shot. Then he hit back to back 3s. Then he got FTs again by driving into the paint. These are rhythmic shots. Once everything you do leads to points, you start getting confident to shoot more and the story goes.

This was 8mins left in the 3rd Q. OKC reduced the deficit to 13 through 3pts and FTs from PG and Russell so Synder panicked and brought Gobert back to stop the bleeding. Immediately Gobert got 2 FTs. He split them. Then he dunked from a rebound. Then he got an offensive rebound and bam! the refs called an offensive foul on him and that was number 5. He had to leave and did not return again till the 4th. And OKC tied the game by the end of the 3rd quarter.

So when we say Gobert leaving, changed the game, it did. I don't care who wins the series. I only wanted to see a worthy opponent for Houston. Now why I am sure they will rig the series is for obvious reasons it is more watchable than any other 3-2 series at this point. The next inline is the Wizards one in which Raptors need God in game 6 because that series will get to game 7 and so on. I rest my case.

Abeg nobody is rigging any series... Are they also rigging the Cavs vs Pacers series?

I criticize Russ and the others so much but on this one,i'm giving them all the props..
Its even difficult to rig at this point cos going back to Utah is very difficult..Even as a fan,i also hope for the best in Utah but will still pray to qualify..If at all they wanted to rig,we would have been 3-2 up going back to Utah so they can force a game 7.
If Utah wins the next game,would you also say the series was rigged?

birdman:
Its over in 6. Playing in utah is always hard. Watching coach Donovans body language in the post interview, even him knows its over

I just didnt want to lose at home but even present and past nba players will tell you utah is one of the most difficult places to play in..wished they won the first two matches at home...lets just watch and see tho..#fingers crossed.....

SmooshCHN:
There's something called foul and it affects the game of basketball. The refs gave Rudy Gobert two ridiculous calls and one when he grabbed a clean offensive rebound. He had 5 and was forced to sit. And that's where OKC had free Lane to the basket in the 3rd quarter.. Utah definitely choked and don't say I hate okc here cos others agreed they needed the help of the officials to change the momentum. I remember crowder being brought down by two guys and they refs didn't even squeak. There'll most likely be a game 7, it's glaring and we've watched lots of games to know why the NBA will make it happen.

I was watching the Houston match so i was reading the live commentary from you and Eruditor...But are we saying OKC would have not equalized if not for the Gobert foul?Would Gobert have stopped those threes by Westbrook..you must not support me...just be logical....

Eruditor:
Silver’s duty is to make money for the NBA and ratings bring money. If he sees an opportunity to improve ratings he will take it. There is nothing new. I am not going to play either of those teams till WCFs (if they get there) so I have no dog in the fight. I already called out the BS reffing even when Jazz still had their 8pt lead. What is bad is bad. Simple.

If you doubt me, go online or listen to the analysts talk about the Gobert 4th and 5th fouls. Na. It was unfair especially the offensive foul on Gobert for Abrines.

Wont argue with the fouls...but those russ shots and 25 points come back cannot be rigged..sorry..

Eruditor:
I won’t even watch game 6. Silver go rig am to force game 7.

I was watching the series to see how tough it will be for Houston. I am not convinced by either teams.

Make I just face my Pelicans and hope for the best.

Oh now...its silver??pls let him rig us to the finals oh....

This is what i call beast mode...P.G and Russ...

Seems gobert is out??

Eruditor:
Tie game.

Huge 3rd by Russell with 4 3s in this half.

youve got to be kidding me...am tuning in now

Eruditor:
Down to 6. From 25pts. Jazz got cocky but the 4th and 5th on Gobert were trash man.

I hate games being decided by refs.

6 points?? ..Thought twas game over already from the 3rd quarter..

Roland17:
I honestly don't know. They look uncordinated and Melo should be giving this team more than he is doing now.

Already know it will take a miracle to go through...Tuned in to the rockets game instead...

Thats why he is the best.....

who else noticed...Bron not missed any free throws tonight..simply amazing..unlike him..

A40:
Donovan is a special kid. He's not just any rookie

Russell's problem is he does not take to correction. As you grow you listen to criticism. Filter the constructive ones and work on them! You listen even to his post game comments and you see a guy who is just not ready to change. If I'm Paul George I'm definitely getting the hell out of dodge.

As a PG you can lack every other skill (shooting, athleticism, speed) but the one skill you should never lose is your decision making. It's why Jason Kidd could still play at 38. It's why Rondo still looks decent now. It's why Derrick Rose with all his injuries is still looking like Minnesota's best player.

I expect Westbrook to have a big game today but if he consistently made the right plays in these late game situations it would not have come to this

No need to talk about Cadaver Melo. The OKC GM was naïve dealing for a guy with a player option.

Felton? Don't make me laugh

Totally agree with all your points..I dont think nobody even tells him as it..They all look at him as some 'god' or untouchable...That's where Billy Donovan missed it for me..Even if you want to move him to the shooting guard position,he is not really that a great shooter..

For me(contrary to what others may say or think),i dont think it will be that difficult for russ to change cos he already has the talent...he just needs a change in attitude cos with positive attitude,he can listen and learn from positive criticisms...

We may or may not go out in this first round but in all,the team should have a rethink about the system in place....

etidy:
Andrew Bogut
Been saying this for years. No other superstar in the NBA would be humble enough to allow another superstar on his team to take some of the spotlight, w/o any adjustment periods or growing pains leading to a wrestle for the reins. Such an underated part of who @StephenCurry30 is. https:///9YdRIWs6Wv

KG
"That's why I think people underestimate how valuable Steph Curry is."

KG, @Candace_Parker and Gary Payton talk how unique of a superstar @StephenCurry30 is and why it makes the @warriors so special.

#KGArea21 https:///TgAn4paQHF

Am an OKC fan but have to admit steph is so underated....maybe cos he doesnt dunk like LBJ,Russ or he doesnt really play much in the 4th quarters where warriors have already wrapped the game up leading to his decrease in numbers...Just imagine if steph played the same minutes like other elite stars of their teams..

Still the best shooter in the game(my own opinion)....

Eruditor:
This is how to execute in the clutch. Not all that rubbish OKC and Blazers were doing.

Omoh..e don do.... ...you can applaud the Celtics without calling out OKC...This game had nothing to do with yesterday's game....

Am loving Smart's defense...

Russ..we are still waiting for you to shut him off oh..smh..

Good to see D.Rose playing well..

korver coming through..

What a match...this pacers are no joke...

SmooshCHN:
These are pure lies.. You're just hating on the mvp. How dare you? He doesn't even care about his stats and triple doubles even if he got mad Rubio had one yesterday more than he should be mad at his team's loss or his 0 FG attempt in 4th quarter or the disappearance of OKC big 3 in 4th quarter of game three where they went 0-14 in FG. BTW, he a better defender than Steph Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, etc. Stop hating dude.

chai...Brodie don suffer for your hand but you have a point with this in your statement.

He said in the post game conference that he wont allow rubio to get triple double again and he will shut him off..He(with the other team mates) should figure out how we are going to win next match even if he has 0 points and 0 rebounds..

Eruditor:
Is that not what I should be telling you? Are you not the one to list regular season as a evidence for your claim?

Abi you no see the roster I put there? If you guys could not win leading by 3-1 with that Roster with game 6 in your home is not proof you stand no chance ?

Its because of the so called 'good roster' (that could not even win a game against the warriors),i brought up the regular season. Although our performances are bad but this our roster is unpredictable.

Not watching the Celtic game but saw that they played poorly in the first half..Tried staging a great come back and I applaud them for their fighting spirit though they lost....Nice matchup series btw..

Eruditor:
Sacramento Kings beat GSW 2ce this season.

Lakers swept San Antonio this season.

Wanna guess how NOP and Blazers regular season games went?

LOL. If you had KD, Ibaka, Russell, Adams, Enes Kanter and still could not beat GSW with an injured Curry.

Sorry, you have no single hope. None. Zilch. Zit. Nihil. Diddly squat. Zero. Nought. None.

Especially when KD now plays for virtually the same GSW team.

Fun Fact; that GSW team swept that OKC team in the said regular season. But were down by 3 games to 1 in the playoffs. Proving again that the regular season is not a good tool to gauge post-season winnings.

Thank you.

If after sweeping OKC in the regular season..if someone told you that OKC will be 3-1 up,would you have believed?

chic2pimp:
I'm not even criticising Westbrook. I just think barring any injuries, this warriors team is almost unbeatable in a 7 games playoff series. You'll need one of Steph or Duramt to be injured to stand a chance.

I also won't read too much into the 2-2 y'all played in the regular season as that's exactly what it is, a "Regular Season" game. We both know play offs are an entirely different kettle of fish. Also this Warrior's team are battle tested in these types of games whilst the Thunders are not. I know that might sound like much but trust me in a playoff series, that might be the difference between winning and loosing. Lastly, that 3-1 series was when you guys had KD in your team. This time around He'll be lining up against you lot.

I'd be surprised If Westbrook can actually change the way He plays at this stage in His career. His best option might be to switch to the two guard position.

Oh..you know playoffs are entirely different. So why bold to say russ can never win with the warriors in it?

Who saw the pelicans sweeping blazers?

Roland17:
Now this is Celtics basketball. Strong D, stay on your feet and contest every ball with discipline on possession.

Rozier's decisions sometimes and the recent bad plays could be as a result of inexperience..#justsaying

chic2pimp:
No chance westbrook wins a title with this Golden State team still around.

I slightly disagree with your opinion. Is it not the same Warriors we played 2-2 during the regular season. We have also been 3-1 up when we met them in the playoffs. I know i criticize Russ a lot but to be honest, Russ is very talented..All he needs is a coach to change his mindset and develop positively. I have watched Russ all these years and he has not developed. Look at his former teammates like Harden and K.D. Harden's shooting has improved drastically and Durant's defense is amazing.

Russ should watch clips of Rondo and CP3 and more importantly, Magic(who in my own opinion is the greatest point guard in the league history).
This will teach him to share the ball more and improve his decision making.

etidy:
As a lakers fan I wish they are on that list of (Celtics, Sixer's) but I think the nostalgia of the glory days is beclouding the managements judgement. The rush to trade quality young players for so called cap space to get star players will eventually leave them with a mid level team that makes the playoffs but can't win it. I say we tank another year, let the core of kuzma, Ingram, lonzo improve organically together. Resign randle for less than max. And let Deng's contract go off the books without wasting a talented player to do it.
Then with multiple talented players and draft space go for one or two superstars, that's a championship squad.

In my opinion, all Lakers need is a big like Boogie or Gobert and they will be fine..

etidy:
I think donovan is scared of westbrook. Westbrook is too powerful in Okc and donovan knows it.
Paul George will be stupid to stick around for long.

Meanwhile this season has a feeling of a coming of age moment for some young ridiculously talented NBA teams. With a few tweaks, The Sixers, Celtics and Pelicans are going to be a big problem next season. Westbrook had better grow up or he may miss his window of opportunity to win a title.

Anybody in PG shoes will leave..I dont blame him if he leaves...

You are right about the young teams doing well next season.....Simmons,Jayson Tatum etc...The jazz team will also be on the lookout next season cos of Mitchelle...
I'm also not writing off the Lakers team...

etidy:
It seems donovan is immune to being sacked its obvious the guy doesn't have a good idea of fashior king out a good offensive system.

One of the advantages we have with the big three is ability to get who is red hot on a night with the ball more..For e.g,look at the warriors..K.D,Klay,Curry and even Green are not always hot on the night..This past few games..Green has been below par but its not showing cos they share the ball more...Same with Houston...Harden sometimes gets less than 15 points sometimes in a game and even him senses that its not his night just like the game two vs wolves..Gerald Green got the ball more with more points

Coming back to this jazz match...Our first match,Mitchell got more of the ball..Rubio took less shots..The second match..it was Favours of all people and they sensed that..so they played through Favours and won..This last match...it was obviously Rubio and they played through Rubio...

Our play is always predictable...Even if Melo was off at some point this season..for this match,from the first two quarters..it was obvious that he was the one amongst the big three getting his shots right with 14 points already from 6/8 FG.. I was thinking russ would hand him the ball more but he kept taking those shots knowing they wer not getting in..Melo no longer saw the ball after the two quarters..PG had to come in to salvage some points for us..I dont know if Donovan is scared of russ or what...Russ has not developed under him after all these years...

Will take a divine performance to get past this jazz cos they play as a team more than us..we just have individual stars.....

Gobert...simply unstoppable..DPOY,no doubt...