₦airaland Forum

Roland17:
Baba, for real at the embolden? That the Warriors may lose 9 of 11 games without Curry? Come on man, you of all people should know that is an exaggeration.

Look at it this way, now that Curry is out for about 4 weeks with a left MCL knee sprain, are the Warriors going to fall out of the 2nd spot in the western conference? Absolutely not and that was the avoidable situation irrespective. The other all-stars are more than capable of securing the second spot without Curry.

Baba, Curry's glass right ankle is the sole reason why the Warriors were able to assemble the all-star roster you have right now. That ankle has suffered recurrent trauma over his entire career, consequently, if Harden and Curry fall from the stairs and all variables remaining constant, Curry may come off worse than Harden. I have watched Harden tweak and roll his ankles this season but survived.

Again, Curry is now 30, if the Warriors want to enjoy him during the latter stages, they must both manage him better than they are doing right now.

Nah. You did not get me, bro. I know it seems implausible that we would lose all those games but contingency is important in planning well. I thought, there is no way we lose 3 straight games to Cavs with 2 of those games ahome but we did. My perception of what is certain in sports (especially basketball) changed right after.

Then secondly, my argument was that the ankle injuries of yesteryears had nothing to do with the injury of yesterday. They could have rested him till game one of the playoffs and in the same situation, he would still have gotten injured.

I mentioned Harden to say even the soon-to-be MVP could pick up a season-ending injury just walking up his staircase and it won't have to do with how he was managed by D'Antoni. Freak injuries don't respect management or injury records.

SmooshCHN:
High time we invested in a decent Center.. Zaza and McGee are just too clumsy for my liking. I knew someone was going to get hurt when McGee jumped..

Zaza is the one that annoys me the most but it is what it is. We always get drama like this when something huge is in the offing.

See Curry, the consummate class-act. Went to shake McGee before limping off so he won’t feel bad.

I almost cried yesterday. Could not even sleep.

Roland17:
In my opinion, the Warriors had no business playing Curry last night especially if you have conceded the western conference to the Rockets like they claimed. Curry needs to be healthy for the Warriors to make a less stressful deep run in the postseason. I would have shut him down until the end of the regular season or maybe have him play the final two games at most. You can only roll the same ankle for so long without getting hurt.

Even when he comes back for the post-season, I am wondering what his state of mind would be. Would he hesitate to drive to the bucket or engage in any activity under the rim? how would Kerr manage his minutes and plays? Steph is now 30, the youth of the 20's to bounce back from injuries especially joint injuries begin to wane. Steph and the Warriors have to manage his 30's carefully so he can play longer and that is the pragmatic truth.

I totally understand you but I disagree.

First, it was a freak injury. Had nothing to do with him coming back now. He may have come back in the playoffs and gotten the same injury. In fact, (God forbid) but Harden can pick up an injury just walking down his stair case that would rule him out till next season. I would have agreed with your point if the injury was pertaining to his ankle again without any hard contact from a 300lb center in McGee.

Then secondly, we only had 9 games ahead of the Blazers with 11 games to spare. If we lost all eleven games and they won 9 of their last 11 they would have peeped us to the 2nd seed considering they have the tiebreaker against us this year. So we needed at least 3 more wins to put them to-bed obviously I made these considerations without knowing the undermanned celts will beat the Blazers.

I am disappointed that he is injured but I am optimistic that it won’t be a week-long injury. My ultimate desire is for all the star players to be fully healthy before or at least during the playoffs.

https://streamable.com/nkwb1

My boy.

No...I cannot doubt. MRI will show a little strain that will wear off in a day or 2.

I believe.

birdman:
dude you are all over the place. Lets start from the end.

Curry vs Harden: Both can shoot, both are on good teams with god spacing. Harden gets into the paint more because he is stronger. No more explanation needed for this. If you still dont understand, bro, go play some street ball and hit the gym for 6 months. You will see the difference between when you started and when you ended.

Curry vs Wade: Both are strong guards. But Harden shoots better, so he gets guarded closer than Wade. Which is why Wade developed his pump fake, to give him the advantage Harden naturally has.


Harden vs KD: KD is not a guard. Even though he likes to slash to the paint and can shoot, he gets guarded by a forward usually, not a traditional guard. And if you note, KD is usually not strong enough to beat his guard if he is not already on a fastbreak. Instead, he takes unguardable, tough fadeaways and makes them. He's a superstar like that

Harden vs Lebron: Do I need to go further here? Technically, they have two different games

Harden vs Russell: Good comparison here, both are strong at their positions and are both guards. Russell unfortunately settles more than he needs to. And he doesnt have Harden's footwork.

In short, you keep trying to say refs are giving Harden home cooking, but I keep showing you why he has a set of skills that allows him to get to the rim easy. Opponents dont have to foul him. They could just let his score, but they choose to foul him because its good basketball.

If you want your Curry to be getting the same FTs, he can go ask Nowitzki how he transformed from a finesse shooter to a legit forward. If you wind back the clock 10 years, Curry will be a bench player. Harden would still be a superstar. Because the game was more physical, you could hand check and contact was allowed.

Nna mehn, You said Curry and Harden got superstar calls that I should not complain. I proved that wrong by showing the huuuuge disparity in numbers even when Curry was the best player in the league.

Then you tried to justify Harden's numbers by the spacing and 3pt shooting and talent all of which I said were non-existent in the previous years that he still got the same super star calls.

Now, you have settled for his shooting, strength and skill on the ball, all of which I agree that he does have but I am using other people that are better than him in each of those skills that did not get the recompense for that specific skill.

Curry shoots better. Yet Harden gets more FTs off shots than him.
Lebron is stronger going to the paint. Harden still gets more FTs off driving than him.
Kyrie is more skilled. Ditto above.
Russell is quicker and enjoyed superstar calls only last year but not so much this year, even though he drives more frequently than Harden. (Russell has cut down on the 3pt and 2pt shooting due to bad %).

Then I concluded that there is an extra spice that you may be purposely ignoring: Harden hand checks and flops and the refs buy it.

SmooshCHN:
Trust me, he's my top 5 favourite player off the court. Thank God Lavar has been quiet. But they're last two games, he and KCP were just straight up trash in like the last 5mins of the game. Lakers were down by 1pt today with 52secs to go, my Nigga Lonzo, wide open, even took one dribble to set up well and bricked it. Just drive into the lane and flop like Harden but nah, he bricked it and KCP also gave an excellent pass to AD down by 3 with 4 secs to go. They're growing as a team and I like it though. E dey pain me especially those losses in crunch time. Not good for those young boys. KCP especially can't be teasing them like that.

Anyways, I'm only talking about last 3-5mins of the game before someone say I'm hating.

Yea, he played trash in the last 2 or 3 games that is for sure. But Lonzo is an intelligent player. I would even say as intelligent as Lebron. Skill-set will be built with time.

There was a time to beat Lebron you forced him to become a jumpshooter. These days, if he had 4 secs to look at the rim from 3pt, he made it. He improved. Lonzo will.

SmooshCHN:
You mean MVP whether we like it or yes? I heard he might be unanimous but some say he flops a lot so he'll only go down as this season's MVP. Or Unanimous.

I know for shizzle he won't be unanimous.

AD will get a vote. Lebron will get one too.

SmooshCHN:
Lonzo Ball and KCP in clutch are 5&6.. Straight Disaster Artists

You did not hail him when he was playing well.

You are biased to the ball...literally.

SmooshCHN:
As usual, but birdman will say Harden is intelligent hence the funny calls he gets. He's the MVP for sure.

Core and leg strength.

birdman:
I cant disagree with the bulk of what you are saying. However, the rockets were just as talented in years 1 and 3...maybe you have forgotten how good they were. Remember we had Adelman, then McHale before DAntoni - we have always had the 3 ball and spacing and ball movement



You arent listening enough. Harden IS strong. He doesnt have the muscular shape because he really doesnt focus on the upper body, but he has core and leg strength. You need that core strength to be able to make contact and finish.

In fact, anytime you see a guard who can "walk" into the paint and finish, that is a sign of leg and core strength. Another good example is Dwade. Contrast that with smaller guards Curry and Lillard. One guard I know who is in between is John Wall. He plays like a smaller guard, but some games he gets inspired and wil take the ball to basket with lots of contact.

Google all these guards workouts, and you will see what I mean

Hmmm.

Yes, both coaches prior to MDA incorporated 3pt shooting into their play but to claim the talent level for that type of game is the same now beggars belief. All these because you are trying to justify Harden's obscene FT numbers.

I am lost now on your second train of thought. If he is strong but does not look it why does he get the fouls compared to other elite PGs? If he is strong and still looks it then why does he get the fouls and not other strong players like Lebron?

The bare fact is, there is no head or tail as to why that is so except that he sells the fouls and the refs buy it for reasons best known to them. It is the same reason nobody calls Lebrons travels or offensive foul charges. Or the same reason Harden gets away with his travels on those step back 3s as well.

It could also be the same reason CP3 gets away with a lot of dirty plays like shoving players etc which they call great D but if Zaza does it, he was trying to kill the player.

It is the same innate, inexplicable reason that a player that avoids contact as much as possible, still uses his quickness of thought, range of shooting and finesse to go to the rim will still get overlooked for fouls that when he defends the same way against other players he is charged for.

Lebron said shooters are favored, well, Curry is the best there is and may have ever been. Yet he does not top that chart and never has. But Harden shoots, and it became his excuse.

Okay, Harden drives consistently with strong core and leg strength, I am guessing Russell, Lebron, KD do so consistently - we can even go to Wade in his prime to find that he never posted Hardens FT numbers - and just like him, the other people on that list don't post Hardens numbers.

Harden plays for a great 3pt shooting team with mad spacing? Curry is like, been there done that..still doing that. It is because it is Harden's time? It was not his time 14,15,16 and 17.

Every argument you would make for him would be inconsistent when used for another player. Or I guess we just have to take MDA's words that although certain players do certain things better than Harden, he is just the best at combining everything together.

We would see how true that is, when the stakes get higher.

aliondo:
Dont see you guys beating us either,if we meet come playoffs..

I need this type of confidence too. I get really irked when all people keep posting is how unfairly talented we are - hurting parity in the league.

birdman:
what 1 and 3?

It is not about knowing how to draw fouls, as if you fake a shot like dwade and make your defender bite. Harden gets fouled because he gets past his opponents. He gets past his opponents because they guard him too closely at the 3pt line. Once he gets past, good basketball is to foul him. You dont want uncontested layups.

So, what part of what I just described is wrong, that you disagree with? Lets start from there. For example, I do not think Curry should get the same amount of free throws that Harden gets, even though they Warriors are a better 3pt team. Why? Curry's game is not as physical as Harden, which makes sense, as Curry is not as strong as Harden. Curry must play more finesse against his man into the paint, Harden is strong enough to walk the ball into the paint and force the issue.

No?

1 and 3 where seasons 2014/15 & 15/16 where Rockets did not have as much talent or spacing as they have now yet Harden was still posting incredible FT numbers. My point there was to prove that your case for him in 2017/18 is being checkmated by those years.

Does Harden deserve some of the fouls that he gets? Of course yes. Whether Curry deserves higher or equal numbers is not even my argument at all. The argument I was making is that Harden easily gets a whistle even when he has barely been touched and some other times he gets them for nothing.

I side with those who say all the superstars should be getting FTs the same way Harden does if we are going by the letter of the laws. That is, Any time Curry is shoved and grabbed off the ball or any time he is driving to the bucket. Same as Lebron etc. That way we won't be seeing consistently how Lou Williams and co will be posting higher FTA than Curry.

And then speaking of strength, I hope you know being taller or having bigger arms does not equate to strength? Harden is a strong player but I have never seen anyone describe it as the strength of his game. Besides, he barely has any defensive duties all game and still gasses out so easily. So jury is out on that strength you are talking about.

On the flip side, Curry is not weak for having ankle injuries or playing with more finesse. He has to play with more finesse because nobody gives him his calls. Last season's playoffs where Curry got 12FTs in the first half or so of game 2, I came here to re-echo what all Ws fans were saying world wide - which was "that we could not believe refs could call FTs on him that way". It disrupted the Cavs plans because they had used it so often prior without penalty. But if you observe the film to that game, you would see that Curry went all Harden and was initiating contact and flopping. Yea, so that is essentially why Harden gets many calls.

I watched the Blazers game yesterday and the reffing was fair. The same ticky tacky fouls they called for Harden, they called against him. If refs could take that approach too against Bron and Curry etc, that will also be welcome.

SmooshCHN:
We run the ball too much and most importantly, carelessly.. I hope everyone's sharp and healthy come playoffs though..

As things stand we might play Timberwolves or Pelicans first round and Blazers next. We prolly don’t play OKC and I am agnostic about it because I dont think they can beat us 4 times. Never doubted it for a second and won’t pretend to even if they were seeded first.

SmooshCHN:
You should've known he prolly never watched that game which is the most likely scenario or just baiting you. Leave this dude alone. When you catch him red handed with his words, he always has something else to say or finds a way to add to what he never said.. he's so brilliant!!! We just don't know it yet.

Meanwhile, something I noticed today about both teams compared to us is the lack of TOs. We turn the ball over too darn much. We need to work on it.

Yea, so CJ and Dame have a sh-t show of a game and Harden/CP3 are just unplayable.

Funny thing is Portland take Capela out of the game through Nurkic who was brilliant all game.

The better team won clearly but if it takes the guards of Portland to have a bad game for the tie to be this close, then Blazers seem ready for the Playoffs.

Harden had one heck of a game. Must be said.

DevdanSanguine:
LOL. Where's the irony there? SMH.

The guy who tries too hard to appear intelligent thus lying about his IQ is accusing someone else of trying too hard.

DevdanSanguine:
LoL. Like I said, you're trying way too hard.

So says the my IQ is 147 guy.

The irony.

DevdanSanguine:
LOL. Seems my constant assault on your intelligence (or lack thereof) has made you very insecure hence why you're so truculent in a bid to prove otherwise. SMH.

Convenient way to side-step being exposed...again...by the same person.

You are welcome.

DevdanSanguine:
Did I say it happened any other way? Jeeez. This guy's like a ticking time bomb. It's not that deep. SMH

So when a player breaks an ankle while driving to the rim it is the same as a player getting mauled while doing same?

DevdanSanguine:
My battle scars are bigger than yours.

Keep exposing your faux IQ.

Lebron got that cut when he fell and hit the camera man or his camera. I believe that was in 2015 or so. And I know that because he was playing against...GSW.

Look at the tables.

Curry's most prolific year going to the rim was in 2015/16 but his percentage of FTs from drives at his best was lower than Harden, West Brook and Lebron.

The figures are there for all to see that of all superstars he gets the least amount of calls. Lou Williams gets more calls than Curry. Clippers, Lakers, Houston bench shooting more 3pts than GSW? of course no.

Does Curry drive? More times than he ever had to and even more than 19 other players who get more FTs than him. This argument about superstar calls and what not is simply not true.

I can bring videos of several versions of hard fouls Curry gets that were never called. And Lebron is huge and strong while Curry looks scrawny but is strong. The emphasis is on strong. He was benching only marginally behind Festus Ezeli. So if looking easily fouled was a way to get calls Curry not Harden or James should be leading the FTsA no?

But he is never in the top 20.

That was a deep scratch. There are many pics of him with many of them on his arm and back.

Bleacher report ran an article on the issue. No need to talk too much. Look at the images. I will give a summary in another post.

Then let us look at the actual table to see where Curry placed in all 3 years (2 of which he was MVP).

birdman:
Bros, having a potent outside offense always opens up the paint. Your opponent must defend the 3 point line if you are a good 3pt shooting team.This leaves your interior empty. If a slasher like Harden beats his man, help defense has to sag to protect the paint. Many times, you cant get back fast enough and have to foul anyways - so you dont see paint points, but you will see FTs. Which is why a good attacker like Harden is living at the FT line. Even Shawn Marion on DAntonis suns used to live off the paint like this, so much so people thought he was that good. As it turns out, it was the perimeter defense leaving openings in the paint for a slasher. Harden is so much better in that he is not only a slasher, but he can make the 3 as well.

Let us put this theory to the test: 2014, 2015, 2016 Houston are not this 3pt shooting team MDA has made them out to be. But look at Harden's numbers.

Then the excuse was that he knew how to draw fouls. When GSW fans made a case for Curry, the argument was that we were a 3pt shooting team. Funny, now that same excuse is being used for Harden and somehow Curry is being robed into it again.

First is 2014/15 second is 2016/17 third is 2015/16.

Even if we give 2016/17 to 3pt shooting how do we explain 1 and 3?

SmooshCHN:
I swear I never saw it this way.. I think you're taking it too far. The theory makes sense for another NBA conspiracy video but I just can't believe this is the case of today's game. Anyways, Houston got the 1st seed on lock so we might as well rest everybody..

Which kain rib injury/fracture will heal in 2 weeks?

Or which ankle was Steph dancing with during his 30th birthday?

I am not saying they did not have slight injuries but if we were in dire need they would have come back faster.

If they don't sell it this way the NBA will fine them. I am using the body language of the men that matter to know that Kerr and co don't seem worried.

It might just be in my head but I doubt it is.

DevdanSanguine:
Seriously, what kind of dweeb makes statements like these? I can't be the only one who's cringing.

So because people call him something that makes it true yeah? Funny thing is these days I see a lot of videos with no travel whatsoever but sure enough you will see reta rds like yourself calling travel. Well mind you people also say harden and Westbrook travel and they do, LeBron does as well not as bad as people claim but he does. Point is why do you have to single him out? Clown.

I did not single him out. Westbrook travels? James? Sure like almost every other player they can make the mistake here and there. Lebron, I would say, is habitually more prone to travelling than both players.

Takes nothing away from his status but if he travels before he is fouled why should his travel be ignored and not the foul?

SmooshCHN:
Quinn Cook is a baller. I'm not sure we'll drop anyone to pick him up besides come playoffs, they're going to take advantage of his height and make him post up. I'm also impressed with how we're competiting without our starters.. Draymond is also out with thigh contusion.. This game is the Spurs' to lose.

Thigh contusion my foot.

I know what they are doing and why the bench players are trying hard. They are fighting for that limited playoff spot or in Quins case a decent contract.

Kerr wants to dash this one to his mentor so SAS can make the playoffs. What will be the point if we win? SAS won't win the title this year and even if we don't, Rockets will win it all. So might as well help Pop play maybe his penultimate playoff series. Word is, he might coach for 1 or 2 more years and hang his boot.

DevdanSanguine:
When someone starts talking like this you don't need a test to tell you he's a certified re tard who has no business watching the NBA. Harden doesn't travel, Westbrook doesn't, they don't use their forearms as well. Only LeBron does that so we should use a magnifying glass on him. Small fry, why don't you just refraining from posting at all because everytime you post there is always one statement that exposes foolishness. Clown

Of course I put a video here of a pundit stating exactly that. Even long before your parents traded you for stupidity, Lebron has always been called his Royal Traveleness because he does it a lot. You are the wimp who never has any evidence to back his claims. Well I thank God we have your posts here as the one sure evidence that with enough training a half witted billy goat can conjure enough words to make a coherent sentence.

birdman:
Man, don't twist my words. I was very clear that Harden or Curry o, let the calls be the same for everybody. You guys are partial on the bad calls. When its Harden or LBJ or any player you dont care for, you are ok. When its your player, particularly Curry or GS, you have a problem.

And you guys demonstrated that again today. I talk about LBJ not getting calls. You guys said its fake news (eruditor). Right on cue, Lebron gets fouled back to back on 3s, no calls. Then you guys go silent. If it was Curry that got fouled like that, we will not rest for the next week .

The same rules that apply to Curry must apply to HArden must apply to LBJ. Why is this hard to understand

I called "including Curry" on the list of people who get calls regularly fake news because it is fake news and I highlighted his name to show what I was addressing.

I am a James Harden fan, you can check how I defended him vociferously last time out when I wanted him to win MVP and this season predicted him or Kawhi for the title. But even in 2015/16 when Curry was having his best ever season I still said James Harden plays his game to get fouls.

If you cursorily check my previous posts on this issue, I have conceded that Lebron does not get as much fouls as he deserves but he is not the one to make that complaint especially when compared to Curry because Lebron still gets a 100 more FTs than Curry. This is an aside from the fact that Lebron travels a lot and he is not called on it as well as fouls other players when going to the basket.

Compare that to Curry who even gets fouled more off the ball than when he is with it. Then the fouls on 3 points shots, really? Who on the planet gets fouled the most on his 3 point shots? Would it not be the player who is the best at it and whom every other player in the world knows is the best at it?

Again, the figures are there for all to see. James had 425FTs. Harden had 610FTs. Curry had less than 330. So how will anyone now say Curry is in the same breath with Harden? Check 2016, 2015 and 2014 Harden has always been the clear leader of the FTs and Curry is usually 100s of FTs behind him.

If we use the stats, Rockets are the number 1 team in 3PA. 27th or 28th in points in the paint yet number 2 in FTsA. Even the maths shows something is wrong with the team that barely goes to the paint, shooting way more FTs than others who do. So again, James Harden is in a world of his own in that and when he is not, you would bring Lebron into that world waaay before you would ever think of bringing Curry.

Period.

SmooshCHN:
I watched that interview where Dame said he really didn't like CP3 running up the score. He just Air Balled the interview I almost questioned his mental toughness cos he really sounded Hurt. CJ McCollum is almost as gifted as Dame and I believe in those two. I definitely won't be missing that game. The Blazers front court better hold their end. However, I think Houston will take this one again.

As for us Warriors, I'm not even bothered about the noise.. Just hoping everyone is healthy, locked in and that the refs don't carry this momentum into the playoffs cos they will for sure be needing more than Security Escorts.

I don’t even care who takes it at this point as we have lost that number 1 seed being 3 games behind. The NBA won’t let us come back even if we wanted to as it does not bode well for the hype they want to sell going into the playoffs. I don’t even think we care anymore as long as we get 60+ wins going into post season.

But I think Dame and CJ care about beating the Rockets and the Rockets care about not losing. That is what makes the game interesting. The home team will take the W. That is my prediction though.

As per the potential matchup between us and the Rockets, we should just brace up for miracle games like game 3 against Cavs because that is the only way they don’t extend the series. If we make any little run and we are 2-0 up in the series, Curry will get ticky tacky fouls that will force him to be benched and then James Harden will get funny free throws.

You can bet on it.

SmooshCHN:
Blazers 13 in a row.. Everybody in the West just wants to kill the other. Blazers are hot, The Rockets ain't slowing down, Warriors are trying to chill before war.. Meanwhile there's a confetti party brewing in the East..


But here is the think Skuiiiiiippppp, the Warriors can't beat a healthy Rockets so it's going to be Cavs vs Houston..
Skip: It's death either way.

Tuesday is the Blazers vs Rockets game. Can't wait to see how they matchup again considering what happened between CP3 and Damian the last time they played.

As per the Warriors cannot beat bla bla..I need fair refereeing, not where Refs will be using FTs to extend the series.

Funny how, we are no longer hurting parity in the league with virtually the same team from last season.

MitrikDenholm:


I cant even

This is when you're at your finest. When you lose it and then come up with these lame statements. I see why.... You didnt see before but now you do yeah?

What a dimwitted clown!

Air ball.

You missed the shot you were trying to take yea..but air ball is my euphemism for your momma blowing my scrotum. Getit?