game 3 finals thread

[DRoberstonNYY]

did you watch the series? did you see how they killed us in transition? did you notice how melo was always outhustled on defense? in the halfcourt.. yeah.. he was guarded well.... but this series was not won or lost in the halfcourt.. it was lost in transition.. by lazy defending.. by you got it.. our star... the key to stopping lebron is not in the halfcourt.. its in transition

not sure if serious. lebron had 4-5 great games. most of the games weren't even close.

[GONYK]

did you watch the series? did you see how they killed us in transition? did you notice how melo was always outhustled on defense? in the halfcourt.. yeah.. he was guarded well.... but this series was not won or lost in the halfcourt.. it was lost in transition.. by lazy defending.. by you got it.. our star... the key to stopping lebron is not in the halfcourt.. its in transition

not sure if serious. lebron had 4-5 great games. most of the games weren't even close.

So if Melo, and only Melo, hustled more in transition, how far does that series go in your opinion?

[Kidknick!]

It was a lock that Miami would get game 3, the Refs would see to it. Game 2 was the real travesty. How dare douchebag Stern act so indignant when Jim Rome called him out on fixing the Draft Lottery. Come on, did any of you really think that any new owner of the Hornets would not have been garanteed the #1 by Stern? This kind of stuff lends credence to the fixing of games and preferential treatment. The Heat get almost the same calls on the road as they do at home, it's despicable.

Scott Brooks has been terrible in the Finals. Ibaka is a game changer on D and is not logging enough minutes.

[ORANGEandBLUE]

did you watch the series? did you see how they killed us in transition? did you notice how melo was always outhustled on defense? in the halfcourt.. yeah.. he was guarded well.... but this series was not won or lost in the halfcourt.. it was lost in transition.. by lazy defending.. by you got it.. our star... the key to stopping lebron is not in the halfcourt.. its in transition

not sure if serious. lebron had 4-5 great games. most of the games weren't even close.

And they got the ball in transition so much because we were missing our playmakers.

Although I agree that Melo didn't do a great job on defense. I think a lot of that has to do with having to carry the offense, which again goes back to having so many injuries.

[mpharris36]

did you watch the series? did you see how they killed us in transition? did you notice how melo was always outhustled on defense? in the halfcourt.. yeah.. he was guarded well.... but this series was not won or lost in the halfcourt.. it was lost in transition.. by lazy defending.. by you got it.. our star... the key to stopping lebron is not in the halfcourt.. its in transition

not sure if serious. lebron had 4-5 great games. most of the games weren't even close.

the heat are the best transition team in the NBA (possibly of all time) they are great in the open floor there is no stopping them. Wade shot 51% in that series...his highest of the playoffs? is that Melo's fault? Could it be the fact that shumpert was hurt and we tried to guard him with Landry "im stuck in mud" Fields.

LeBron is a great player. By far the best in the NBA. No one is debating who is the better player hear. But if you think Melo is the reason we lost to the heat you are smokin some good ish man.

Our lack of a PG/playmaker (lin/shumpert) caused a lot of turnovers and late forced shots in the shot clock leading to those fast breaks which you speak of.

Melo should have had a lot more assists too was it his fault that Davis was on his last legs, or the fact that JR Smith couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat that series? How about the fact our starting backcourt (lin/shumpert didn't play?)yes yes i know shumpert played the 1st half of game 1.

All things considering Melo had a damn good series vs a great defensive team in miami with pretty much Miami knowing he was the only legit threat all series. That is pretty damn impressive in my eyes.

[dm17415]

in the 3 games that he scored 30+ (one game scoring 40+) he shoot very well.

And your last statement is complete blasphamy! Melo defense had nothing to do with us losing. He actually did decent job against LeBron. LeBron had his lowest points per game, lowest shooting percentage from the field, and by far his lowest rebounds per game in our series other than any other playoff series this year.

Melo rebounds well and did a good job boxing him out all series. Do you see how LeBron is killing these other teams on the offensive glass?

I mean come on before you say things at least have some statistics to back up you outlandish statements. We were not beating the heat with our injuries. Plain and simple.

Melo actually plays LeBron tougher than any opposing SF...on both sides of the floor too, look at the #'s. Melo has the strength that bothers LeBron.

That's because 2 games were blowout wins for Miami. In the first round he averaged 27.8 ppg on 48% fg & 35% 3pt in 37.8 mpg compared to 30.7 ppg on 50% fg in 42.6 mpg for the playoffs.

[mpharris36]

in the 3 games that he scored 30+ (one game scoring 40+) he shoot very well.

And your last statement is complete blasphamy! Melo defense had nothing to do with us losing. He actually did decent job against LeBron. LeBron had his lowest points per game, lowest shooting percentage from the field, and by far his lowest rebounds per game in our series other than any other playoff series this year.

Melo rebounds well and did a good job boxing him out all series. Do you see how LeBron is killing these other teams on the offensive glass?

I mean come on before you say things at least have some statistics to back up you outlandish statements. We were not beating the heat with our injuries. Plain and simple.

Melo actually plays LeBron tougher than any opposing SF...on both sides of the floor too, look at the #'s. Melo has the strength that bothers LeBron.

That's because 2 games were blowout wins for Miami. In the first round he averaged 27.8 ppg on 48% fg & 35% 3pt in 37.8 mpg compared to 30.7 ppg on 50% fg in 42.6 mpg for the playoffs.

I understand that might PPG a little bit obviously but it doesn't explain the lower shooting %. But why did LeBron average 6 rebounds per game, when he has been averaging 10+ in every other series.

LeBron has killed it on the glass (especially on the offensive glass) in the playoffs. The knicks shot terribly so there were rebounds there. Melo had to be doing a pretty decent job on the glass/boxing out, how else can you explain that?

Miami killed us in transition more so because of our PG's turnovers and inability to get us good shots early in the clock. To many times we relied on Melo to bail us out late in the shot clock. He did a decent job of that but when you miss late it usually results in quick fast break baskets.

That is all I was trying to say.

[dm17415]

in the 3 games that he scored 30+ (one game scoring 40+) he shoot very well.

And your last statement is complete blasphamy! Melo defense had nothing to do with us losing. He actually did decent job against LeBron. LeBron had his lowest points per game, lowest shooting percentage from the field, and by far his lowest rebounds per game in our series other than any other playoff series this year.

Melo rebounds well and did a good job boxing him out all series. Do you see how LeBron is killing these other teams on the offensive glass?

I mean come on before you say things at least have some statistics to back up you outlandish statements. We were not beating the heat with our injuries. Plain and simple.

Melo actually plays LeBron tougher than any opposing SF...on both sides of the floor too, look at the #'s. Melo has the strength that bothers LeBron.

That's because 2 games were blowout wins for Miami. In the first round he averaged 27.8 ppg on 48% fg & 35% 3pt in 37.8 mpg compared to 30.7 ppg on 50% fg in 42.6 mpg for the playoffs.

I understand that might PPG a little bit obviously but it doesn't explain the lower shooting %. But why did LeBron average 6 rebounds per game, when he has been averaging 10+ in every other series.

LeBron has killed it on the glass (especially on the offensive glass) in the playoffs. The knicks shot terribly so there were rebounds there. Melo had to be doing a pretty decent job on the glass/boxing out, how else can you explain that?

Miami killed us in transition more so because of our PG's turnovers and inability to get us good shots early in the clock. To many times we relied on Melo to bail us out late in the shot clock. He did a decent job of that but when you miss late it usually results in quick fast break baskets.

That is all I was trying to say.

LBJ was settling more for jumpers against the Knicks, but with the injury to Bosh he started being aggressive driving to the hoop and playing closer to the basket which has been very effective for the Heat. This explains the increase rebounding and decrease in assist.

Lebron also did a good job of defending Melo, as this image shows Melo only shot 29% with LBJ guarding him.

[Vertical Limit]

Jeremy Lin would not have been embarrassed by LeBron.

Nope. Just by Chalmers and Cole

/Pharmcat

Until he learns how to dribble with both hands then yes, Cole and Chalmers is all is needed to guard Lin. Not to mention, Lin stops his dribble way too early very often which makes it even easier to guard him.

[Vertical Limit]

as far as OK, we all know they just need one game in MIA

but I dont see it happening without some adjustments

they need to get durant off lbj completely and they need to remove perkins from the starting lineup

And replace him with who? Perkins had a solid game yesterday, he wasn't the reason why they lost.

[mpharris36]

LBJ was settling more for jumpers against the Knicks, but with the injury to Bosh he started being aggressive driving to the hoop and playing closer to the basket which has been very effective for the Heat. This explains the increase rebounding and decrease in assist.

Lebron also did a good job of defending Melo, as this image shows Melo only shot 29% with LBJ guarding him.

LeBron is also able to do a lot more driving vs oppositions because he has the strength factor vs almost any opponent. Vs Melo he really doesn't have the strength to overpower him so he can't just bull his way to the hoop so you have to give Melo some credit there. He does force LBJ into more jumpers than most of his opposition.

As for the Melo stats, I am not trying to compare who the better player is...it is really no contest (LeBron vs any player in the NBA is no contest). But luckily it is not a 1 on 1 game where Melo plays LeBron. All I was trying to say is that Melo did very well vs the heat all things considered what he had to work with. A healthy heat team vs a banged up and sick knicks team.

That is all I was commenting on someone response that melo got "embarresed" which couldn't be farther from the truth.

[kNicksGmen]

im watching the replay now on nbatv and all i can say is wow. i had missed the 1st quarter yesterday because i thought the game started at 9.

that offensive foul called on durant was one of the most horrendous calls i've ever seen. he simply nudged wade to create some space, wade didn't even fall down so how the hell is it an offensive foul? also noticed westbrook getting fouled several times with no calls. also pay attention to lebron when he is denying durant the ball, he mauls him, same thing he did to melo... but of course it's lebron so it's ok, no foul.

[AndroidMan]

Last 9 games for Miami, Lebron's defender has had 5 or more fouls in 6 of the 9.

Take it back even further, Melo had 5 fouls in 3 out of the 5 games vs Mia. This is more then troubling. The league is so protecting Lebron. Not like Lebron is a clean defender either way. He's way too aggressive in ball denial, pushing up on the offensive player.

[kNicksGmen]

Last 9 games for Miami, Lebron's defender has had 5 or more fouls in 6 of the 9.

Take it back even further, Melo had 5 fouls in 3 out of the 5 games vs Mia. This is more then troubling. The league is so protecting Lebron. Not like Lebron is a clean defender either way. He's way too aggressive in ball denial, pushing up on the offensive player.

exactly. he's really strong so he doesn't make it obvious when he does it but he fouls so much when denying them the ball. if you did anything close to what he does to him they call a foul right away.

[DRoberstonNYY]

did you watch the series? did you see how they killed us in transition? did you notice how melo was always outhustled on defense? in the halfcourt.. yeah.. he was guarded well.... but this series was not won or lost in the halfcourt.. it was lost in transition.. by lazy defending.. by you got it.. our star... the key to stopping lebron is not in the halfcourt.. its in transition

not sure if serious. lebron had 4-5 great games. most of the games weren't even close.

And they got the ball in transition so much because we were missing our playmakers.

Although I agree that Melo didn't do a great job on defense. I think a lot of that has to do with having to carry the offense, which again goes back to having so many injuries.

it's everybody elses fault that melo missed shots and melo didn't hustle back on defense? really?

the excuses some people here have for him...

[j4remi]

did you watch the series? did you see how they killed us in transition? did you notice how melo was always outhustled on defense? in the halfcourt.. yeah.. he was guarded well.... but this series was not won or lost in the halfcourt.. it was lost in transition.. by lazy defending.. by you got it.. our star... the key to stopping lebron is not in the halfcourt.. its in transition

not sure if serious. lebron had 4-5 great games. most of the games weren't even close.

And they got the ball in transition so much because we were missing our playmakers.

Although I agree that Melo didn't do a great job on defense. I think a lot of that has to do with having to carry the offense, which again goes back to having so many injuries.

it's everybody elses fault that melo missed shots and melo didn't hustle back on defense? really?

the excuses some people here have for him...

Melo shot 46%, 51% and 48% from the field in three of the five games he played...No one should have to make up excuses for his shooting because it wasn't bad at all in a majority of the games.