ZoomSlowik

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 12:15 AM) Wade had an off post-season. His regular season numbers were elite. Which one is which? We'll see. Wade doesn't have to be '06 Wade for the Heat to win. But Rose has to be '11 Rose for the Bulls to have any chance at all. By the time next season rolls around, Rose will have not played in an NBA game in damn near 20 months. Forgive me if I question if he can get back to the same level in year 1. I'll believe it when I see it. This isn't his first hiccup. We were having the same discussion last year in the playoffs (though he was better) and he was mediocre to start the season when he had his last injury. Eventually, it will catch up to him. They need him to be reasonably close to that, we saw an offensively challenged Indiana team push them to the brink this year without Granger. He's not the only one either, they need to keep squeezing solid performances out of guys like Allen, Miller and Battier. Rose doesn't have to be MVP-caliber for them to have a chance, if he has a 2012-like season they'll be a tough out. The rest of the lineup is pretty solid now that they don't have Keith Bogans at SG.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 12:06 AM) Miami needs a player like Leonard who can consistently score inside and outside, but isn't afraid to rebound. If you flipped Leonard for Bosh, they'd be 5X the team. We'll see how well Wade comes back. You're right, at that age, with all that wear and tear...you just never know. The thing is, Miami is going to attract some veterans players who desperately want a ring and aren't making salary demands their primary consideration. As great as Lebron played, and hitting that clutch shot to put them up 4...it's not MJ vs. the Cavs or Celtics. In the end, Leonard played a great game but Green undid it and Battier going off absorbed the loss of points from the enigmatic Bosh. I wouldn't go that far, at least not at his current level of play. They'd have a HUGE hole inside, Leonard just isn't big enough to guard post players. He can get away with it against Miami because of their small lineup. Basically, they need just Bosh to be the guy he was in Toronto. Finding a cheap, productive player like him would be a huge boost to their roster though.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 12:00 AM) I didn't say they couldn't recover. I question can they fully get back to their pre-injury form next year. Rose could've knocked some of that rust, etc, off had he played and we'd have a much better idea of where he's at- but let's not get into that. You're being kinda silly considering Miami has Dwyane Wade. You're arguing repairable injuries compared to a gradual physical decline. It's especially true with Westbrook since he would have been out like 2 months if the injury didn't occur in the playoffs.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 11:55 PM) We'll see. Rose/Westbrook are all about athleticism and explosiveness. Anything less than 100% in those two things and they're not the same players. And Wade isn't? Usually it's a better idea to bet on the guys in their early/mid-20's when it comes to recovering from injuries.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 11:47 PM) That's a big leap to think Rose, Granger and Westbrook will play at their pre-injury levels, at least in that first year. If Wade is a question mark, so are those three. Not really the same thing with Rose and Westbrook. They're both 24, are coming off one major injury (Westbrook's wasn't even that major) and are supposedly ready right now (yeah, I know, supposedly). Wade is 31 and looks worn down. He keeps piling up a variety of injuries. As for Granger, he's more likely to take a hit, but they don't exactly need him to score 20 a game and he might not even be there. You just never know with the NBA. At this point last year, we thought Miami/OKC was a lock and that Dwight Howard was going to Brooklyn.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 11:35 PM) Me thinks LeBron is going to have a hard time 3 peating next yr. Could definitely be a much tougher road. Indiana and Chicago will probably have better health and then possibly OKC, who might have a better big-3 by this time next year with the way Wade and Bosh look of late.

By the way, I loved all the promos for the draft that no one cares about next week. You know you're screwed when the guys you're trying to hype are a guy with a torn ACL and a guy that a lot of experts are comparing to Brandon Rush.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 11:06 PM) That is really interesting. They can retool this roster and be a title contender again next year if they spend it right. They've managed their roster extremely well the last couple of years. Duncan and Parker are both extremely affordable and Leonard and Green are still cheap. Even if they don't hit a homerun on their signings, they can position themselves quite well. We'll see if loyalty kills them though, there are way better ways to spend $15 million (estimated) than Splitter and death-bed Ginobili.

So, if the Spurs want it, they can get up to about $20 million in cap space. Paul Millsap and a PG off the bench, or flush it down the toilet on Splitter and a farewell gift for Manu?

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:45 PM) Oh, and Bosh should only get half a ring. He doesn't even deserve a whole one. If they manage to trade him for Cousins, I quit the NBA.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:42 PM) If god loves the nba this'll go OT Going to be hard after that Lebron jumper, but we said that Tuesday too.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:41 PM) lol. neither team really deserves to win this game. You could say the same thing in overtime of game 6.

LOL, Chalmers. Luckily Leonard missed.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:35 PM) Gonna be an epic last 3 minutes if spurs can play some defense Could get interesting with the Heat relying on jumpers pretty much all night.

The Heat just can't stand prosperity, keep giving up 3-point plays when they get up 5 or 6.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:27 PM) It's not over yet. But man. One defensive rebound and we're not even playing tonight. So glad I'm not a Spurs fan. Should be fun to see if they overpay Manu and Splitter this off-season. They'll need fresh blood soon, so it'd be a lot better for them if they don't.

Oh, Bosh is on the floor? Didn't notice before that foul.

Yikes, don't get the clear path call at all. Leonard was charging back too and Wade never had possession. Edit- Cool, they changed it. Don't see how it could have been clear path when the foul was on Lebron.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:17 PM) That is one of the worst calls I have ever seen. I could see .5 seconds, but where in the hell did they get 5 seconds from? That made no sense at all. The only possible explanation is that there's some weird rule I don't know about that. Otherwise, completely baffling (not that it mattered).

LOL, what the hell is that call? How are there 5 seconds on the clock?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:09 PM) f*** battier. Least likeable team in nba history Bad Boys were way worse in my opinion. There were absurdly dirty on top of their douchebaggery.

Jesus, Parker and Duncan both on the bench AGAIN. Here comes a run. Edit- NVM, Duncan back in after two misses and a Battier 3.

Also, the Heat are winning with 2 points combined from Bosh, Allen, Miller, Haslem and Anderson.

Mario Chalmers is so schizophrenic. He'll make three horrible plays and then make one really good one.

15-3 free throw edge for the Spurs too, doubt that holds up (not blaming the refs since Miami is shooting a ton of jumpers, just saying).