2016 Playoffs

[sunskerr]

It's not necessarily a Golden State analogy specifically, but more in the way that every single team uses the principle's of Mike D'Antoni's offense in some way such as pushing the ball in transition and running to the three point line. Three point volume is also another big one (in fact we should have been taking more threes in the Nash era). These are all basic fundamentals of basketball now which old farts like Barkley (don't care if he's a Sun) continue to spread misinformation about.

In a similar way teams are also adopting a lot of Greg Popovich's plays and principles and those too are becoming fundamentals. In my opinion, that's his most important legacy as well.

Given what we know because of statistics and overall team success across the league, right now this is pretty much the optimal way to play basketball, regardless of your team composition.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Golden State are champions if Thompson and Curry made 8 / 24 threes instead of 6 / 24.

Basically the difference, I thought the Cavs offense was pretty poor and would have been heavily scrutinised if they lost.

[GMATCallahan]

As far as the Jordan thing goes, I will state I think Jordan was the clearly best player ever particularly when it came to when games matter most, but I think LeBron might bring more to the table to plug into any team. Perhaps not, but I think it is probably close.

I do not feel that you are far off with that concluding statement; I will argue some of the particulars regarding your earlier post in a bit.

Let me say, though, that while Jordan may have enjoyed the greatest 'sustained peak' in history, I would say that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may have offered greater career value and that Hakeem Olajuwon's peak value rivaled and possibly even surpassed Jordan's. (The same may have been true with Abdul-Jabbar.) And since the Suns played Jordan's Bulls in the 1993 Finals and then faced Olajuwon's Rockets for a total of fourteen games over the next two postseasons, and since I have gone back and studied a lot of those games in recent years, I feel that I possess a firm foundation for the comparison.

But even feeling that way, you look at Jordan's numbers in the 1993 NBA Finals ... 41.0 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game, 6.3 assists per game, .508 field goal shooting, .400 three-point field goal shooting (4.2 attempts per game), just 2.7 turnovers per game ...

He was so good that the Suns eventually put a 6'1 guy on him (Kevin Johnson). Granted, that 6'1" guy constituted Phoenix's best defender that season (certainly on the perimeter) and probably the best defensive point guard guard in the NBA that season, but under no circumstances do you normally put a 6'1" guy on Michael Jordan. (Okay, Jordan was not actually 6'6", but he was at least 6'4" and 1/2 and a killer in the post with an incredible vertical on his jumper.) The analogy would be to playing a great 6'4" wide receiver in the NFL with a 5'11" cornerback, where you say, "That receiver is so good that we are going to put our best cornerback on him even if he gives up several inches. Normalcy does not apply in this situation.")

As Jordan told K.J. at a charity event in Sacramento two years ago, "Do y'all know he guarded me in 1993? Do you see how small he is? ... What'd I average, 41? It should have been 50!"

http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/video-break/article2603750.html (Link is now working.)

Jordan did drop a "double nickel" (55) on the Suns in one game in that series, but that game constituted the only one of the last four where K.J. did not serve as Jordan's primary defender. You guard Jordan with people his own size or taller, and he devours you. (Even then, the Bulls barely won that game; they were leading by two with about half a minute to play and the Suns had the ball.) With Jordan, you had to rewrite the rules. The Pistons wrote their own "Jordan Rules" ... the Suns ultimately put a 6'1" guy on him in the Finals ... normalcy did not apply.

[Cactus Jack]

think it's fair to say all Suns fans lived vicariously through Cavs fans tonight and got a little taste of what winning a championship is like in a desolate city destitute of trophies.

One day ours is coming. One day. and when it does...I will post a youtube video of the celebration bottles of champagne popping smoking a cigar dousing my friends and random people downtown in champagne.

We will be champions one day Phoenix!!!


For now it'll have to be the Cardinals who get it done!! #inbrucewetrust

[GMATCallahan]

How was that a foul on Curry?????? Once again the mystery fouls on Curry continue to game 7...

There is no way to justify that that was a foul on Curry. Shumpert ran straight into him.

Curry leaned a little with his shoulder.

It was a ticky-tacky foul and probably should have resulted in a non-call—but there was the appearance of something, and that is what referees often go by.

[MrMiyagi]

How was that a foul on Curry?????? Once again the mystery fouls on Curry continue to game 7...

There is no way to justify that that was a foul on Curry. Shumpert ran straight into him.

Curry leaned a little with his shoulder.

It was a ticky-tacky foul and probably should have resulted in a non-call—but there was the appearance of something, and that is what referees often go by.

No.

[bwgood77]

think it's fair to say all Suns fans lived vicariously through Cavs fans tonight and got a little taste of what winning a championship is like in a desolate city destitute of trophies.

One day ours is coming. One day. and when it does...I will post a youtube video of the celebration bottles of champagne popping smoking a cigar dousing my friends and random people downtown in champagne.

We will be champions one day Phoenix!!!


For now it'll have to be the Cardinals who get it done!! #inbrucewetrust

This is unnecessary and no need to troll. Sure the Seahawks made a wildcard last year and had an amazing win because of the other team missing a FG and nearly won the SB the year before. Congrats for that.

[Cactus Jack]

think it's fair to say all Suns fans lived vicariously through Cavs fans tonight and got a little taste of what winning a championship is like in a desolate city destitute of trophies.

One day ours is coming. One day. and when it does...I will post a youtube video of the celebration bottles of champagne popping smoking a cigar dousing my friends and random people downtown in champagne.

We will be champions one day Phoenix!!!


For now it'll have to be the Cardinals who get it done!! #inbrucewetrust

This is unnecessary and no need to troll. Sure the Seahawks made a wildcard last year and had an amazing win because of the other team missing a FG and nearly won the SB the year before. Congrats for that.

All in good fun. Let's hope it's the Suns who are the next to do it. Btw, I seem to remember the D backs winning in 2001.