Got to hand it to Lebron - Must watch series

Big time last second buzzer beater by Lebron. Best of 3 now. Great, great basketball series. Other three series aren't bad either. Great for the game. Still anyone's series.

db

yep, he showed why he's considered the best in the game on that shot for sure.

Are the Celtics playing?  No?  Sorry, no time to watch.  Got to floss my teeth.  For those who do watch, enjoy!

Sam

Sam,

Think of all this historical footage you'll be behind on and have to catch up on if DA decided to cash in all those chips for LeBron this summer!! JK

db

D,

The only NBA history I care a lot about is Celtics history.  I've always called myself a fan rather than a spectator, with the difference being that I believe a fan is more of a rooter and a spectator is more of an observer.  I have elements of both.  For instance, if I see a kid take a shot at a net on a telephone pole, I'll hold up traffic to see if it goes in.  But I err in the direction of being such a passionate fan of one team that my passion won't allow my allegiance to be diluted by bothering with other teams.  I suspect everyone else on this forum has a better balance between being a fan and a spectator than I do.

Besides, between this forum and BCD, I've made over 35,000 posts, and now I actually get a chance to do other things—like selling a house, working on a new house, celebrating a number of occasions, going out a lot with my wife, getting ready for a major medical procedure, updating our Paris book, making travel reservations, running our book editing and family history services, and watching the Red Sox—all within the past three weeks or so.

And, if Lebron became a Celtic, I'd probably have to become a Cavs fan.  Absolutely no interest in a player-centric team.  I did see his shot on the late night news, and frankly, I thought Pierce's was tougher.

Sam

I just can't believe whoever was guarding the in bounder didn't slough off and double LeBron. Is it illegal to double team on an inbound play? Of course, nobody had any timeouts to set a play, but the refs gave CLE a freebie timeout to check the clock.

db

Sam there is one compelling series you should watch, Grizzlies vs Warriors, old school big man inside-outside game vs free flowing 3 point jack em up offense....and the unsung hero creating havoc all over floor is Tony Allen.

https://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/paine-lebron-0511.png?w=610&h=745

Link to an article that Lebron James may be the best clutch playoff shooter of his generation.

From the article:

After the game, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst tweeted that James has now made more go-ahead shots at the end of playoff games than Michael Jordan. (It’s not the only area in which James is Jordan’s statistical peer in the postseason.)

Windhorst’s definition for what constitutes a game-winning shot is as good as any — it covers all potential go-ahead field-goal attempts with five or fewer seconds remaining in the fourth quarter (or overtime) of playoff games. At Basketball-Reference.com, I was able to find 10 such attempts for James: five makes and five misses.1 How does that stack up to other playoff performers over the years?

Unfortunately, Jordan’s playoff career predates BBR’s shot-by-shot database by three seasons, but the site does have a record of every such shot attempted since the 2001 playoffs. And in those go-ahead situations (after accounting for the leverage of the game in which each shot occurred), nobody has a better record relative to expectations2 than James — particularly not his longtime nemesis Kobe Bryant, who sits at the opposite end of the list.

https://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/paine-lebron-0511.png?w=610&h=745

The most amazing thing about that game to me wasn't LeBron's game winning shot but rather how he didn't get the call on two consecutive plays before the shot.  The first he got whistled for charging and the second the refs decided not to call a foul on Noah on a James drive to the hoop.

Lightening strikes twice.

the call on Noah was a good no call as Noah was moving laterally and James jumped into him initiating the contact, the douchebag gets so many calls all the time, glad he didn't get that call....

I also thought it was a good no-call. But it is Lebron...

Below is a list of players for this past year that played at least 900 minutes. Each has been an all-star at least 1 time in his career. The number of personal fouls committed per game is based on 36 minutes. The rating is based on fewest to most per game.

http://bkref.com/tiny/hnL3R

The question is ----- Do the stars get preferential treatment or do they play smarter because of their importance to the team ?

swish

I think that in basketball as in other organized activities in life those who have the rep get the benefit of the doubt.

I'm not sure preferential treatment is based as much on reputation as on the refs' familiarity with veterans.  Knowing a player's moves, idiosyncrasies, and even temperament has to provide refs with a context that's a bit more forgiving than it is with a younger or low-minute player.

Sam

http://bkref.com/tiny/8HXiy
The Russell years ---   Rated against players 6'8" or taller

http://bkref.com/tiny/YFgQs
The Bird years ---  Rated against players 6'8" or taller


http://bkref.com/tiny/YFgQs
The Cousy years --- Rated against players under 6'8"     DISREGARD THIS LINK AND SEE MY NEXT POST BELOW

As you can see they were all very stingy when it came to committing fouls

swish

Swish, maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way, but the link for the Cousy years seems to show information only for tall guys and not for the Cousy years.  Not that I care a bit  about the Cousy years, but it could be interesting to take a peek.  LOL.

Sam

sam wrote:Swish, maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way, but the link for the Cousy years seems to show information only for tall guys and not for the Cousy years.  Not that I care a bit  about the Cousy years, but it could be interesting to take a peek.  LOL.

Sam

Sam

Below is the link to the correct chart

http://bkref.com/tiny/T9GfJ

swish

Thanks, Swish,

Sam

Kind of interesting that, although 20 of other 23 players on the "short guys" list were taller than Cousy, Bob ranked 15th of 24 in terms of average rebounds per game.

Sam