Went o Oracle oday and saw Warriors v. Cavs
SanctionII
Posts: 12,123 ✭✭✭✭✭
Oracle is a great place to see an NBA game. Great fans who are very friendly and have never caused a problem d during any games I have attended. My family and I had a great time.
LeBron is the King. He is what drives the Cavs anad one cannot deny that he is an all time great.
Kevin Love is one hell of a player. Inside, outside on offense he can light it up. He is a very good rebounder and a better defender that he is given credit for.
GS plays lock down defense. Defense won the game for GS today. This year's team has a very deep and talented roster that does not yet mesh together. Too many mistakes made today prevented the GS offense to be efficient.
A fun game to watch today with the outcome in doubt until the last 18 seconds.
What was annoying was:
Too much side show activity during breaks in the game (three separate dance teams performing 6-8 times; socks being tube launched into the crowd; Peets Coffee gift cards parachuting from the roof into the crowd, etc);
Too many delays in the game (TV time outs; NBA New York office reviews of calls by officials, etc.) resulting in 2 minutes of play, then minutes of standing around, This must drive the players nuts; and
Officiating that was inconsistent and bad for both teams.
It was fun to see LeBron in person for the first time.
Both teams look to be loaded and could very well end up in the finals again.
Comments
that game was embarrassing for the NBA, the officiating was ridiculous. Kevin Durant committed his second technical foul in the first quarter when he pushed Calderone and nothing was called. it took place right in front of the TV announcing crew's table and they were sort of incredulous about the fact that somehow, Dramond Green ended up with a T. there were several times during the game when players were literally rolling on the ground and nothing was called.
it culminated at the end when Durant mugged James as he drove --- no foul called and the ball given to the Warriors!!
there was one point when the announcers were discussing the rough play and one guy says "The referees are letting them play" and Van Gundy replied "You mean they're letting them foul?" which was an accurate description. that sort of thing set the pace at the start and what we saw was the result.
I watched part of the Celtics game afterward and it was like night and day.
The lack of calls at the end of the game was disturbing. The Warriors deserved to win the game as their defense was much better than the Cavs throughout the game. I thought neither team was sharp, in fact they were both a bit tight when the game started. Here's for a rubber match this June.
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Ralph
This is still like the pre season. The real season doesn't start until June but they can't officially call it that yet. I did get a Bad Boys tee shirt for Christmas and I do feel like mugging someone
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Oh yes......the Pistons of the 90's........dirtyest team ever.
The quality of the officiating was terrible. The game saw multiple times where officials simply ignored muggings by one player of another. Other times ticky tack fouls were made.
Replays of the last two plays where LeBron was guarded by Durant shows that Durant fouled LeBron. No call by the refs on either play. Had it not been Durant guarding LeBron it is likely that fouls would have been called.
Earlier LeBron had the ball drove to the basket, took his allowed two steps, went up in the air, came down, landed on the floor and then passed the ball. Clearly he traveled. No call. Had it been a player other than LeBron traveling likely would have been called (but then again, maybe not since traveling in the NBA is treated like holding in the NFL; it could be called on almost every play but it is not).
Earlier Wade had the ball beyond the three point line and faked a shot. The defender jumped into the air, realized Wade was not going to shoot, came down and was in the process of landing on the floor in front of Wade without making contact with Wade. Wade realized that the defender was coming down in front of him and would not make contact. Wade then choose to move forward into the descending defender and begin a shooting motion. By Wade choosing to move into the path of the descending defender he insured that the defender would collide with Wade. The ref called a foul on the defender. A terrible call.
Other calls and non calls similar to those described above took place throughout the game.
In person the game lacked flow. It was very stop and go.
The incessant stopping of play due to mandatory TV time outs, league review in New York of calls made by officials, teams using their own timeouts [which seemed much shorter in duration than the other delays in play] made for an irritating experience. The second half seemed to drag on forever and some fans in the arena were annoyed.
During the instances where play was stopped, a variety of choreographed dance and other performances were put on display on the floor, in the stands and from the ceiling of the arena to "entertain" the fans. These performances were accompanied by amplified sound and lighting displays including:
a. moving spotlights;
b. a PA announcer screaming at the crowd to, among other things "Make Some Noise";
c. mobile video hosts who would show up on the center court video monitors screaming about thanking sponsors, community service events, Warrior players "giving back" to the community during the holiday season, etc.;
d. music of all kinds (mostly R&B, Soul, and Rap) where the volume was so high and the beat so fast that you could not hear and understand the lyrics (sometimes the music simply melded into a deafening roar).
I can imagine that the players and coaches of both teams were very frustrated with the multiple interruptions of play.
The center court video monitors did show two entertaining segments of live streaming video of fans in the crowd during the game, specifically the "Kiss Cam" and the "Dance Cam".
The Warriors dance team were dressed up in Santa's Helper costumes that were very attractive and holiday festive.
For those who watched the game on TV how did it appear compared to what I observed being in the arena?
The entire event at Oracle yesterday was a spectacle, only part of which was the actual game. Going to the game was a family Christmas gift and it made for a Christmas day that was different from the usual Christmas day experienced by my family. I enjoyed seeing LeBron James in person for the first time. Hopefully I will be able to see him play again.
but then again, maybe not since traveling in the NBA is treated like holding in the NFL; it could be called on almost every play but it is not
me and my sons were commenting on that the entire game. in almost every game I watch, with all the players on both Teams, the ball is "carried" as it's brought down the court and over the mid-court line.
""LeBron is the King. He is what drives the Cavs anad one cannot deny that he is an all time great.""
Best ever, Sanction?
He's almost up there with MJ.
I'd say the difference is razor thin. If you were to have a pick up game of all players in their prime they would go 1-2, in either order.
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Ralph
The talking heads are all crying about the fouls that weren't called because it happened to James. They don't talk about the stuff he gets by with. James is one of the biggest cry baby in the league. If It would have been James on D they would be saying how great h
Lafayette Grading Set
Coinstartled.
No.
I am in my early 60s and tend to favor the players I grew up watching. MJ, Dr. J. Moses Malone, Karl Malone, Hondo, Black Jesus, Magic, Bird, Kareem, George Gervin, David Thompson, Calvin Murphy, Tiny Archibald, Maravich, etc.
May not be grounded in reality, but it is only an opinion.
The talking heads are all crying about the fouls............................
you really have to watch more games, both Cavaliers and non-Cavs, if that's your opinion. sure, I'm a Cavs fan and believe Lebron James to be a great player, but if you watch enough games you'll see some stuff that is really over the top. he gets grabbed, held, pulled, hit in the face and top of the head more than anyone I see. sometimes it gets called and other times not at all.
it's as simple as Van Gundy tried to explain during the game, either they need to call that stuff or just admit they let players foul. as Sanction who was at the game or anyone watching, they let very blatant stuff go and then whistle fouls which are barely perceptible even on slow replay. when stuff happens at crucial points in games where a player is clearly impeded, well, they need to call those.
**GS plays lock down defense. Defense won the game for GS today. **
Kevin, the Cavs lost that game because, except for Kevin Love, the Team overall played very poorly. remember the third quarter???? Cleveland had plenty of open looks and plenty of clear drives --- they shot like 3-24!!!! and the Warriors ended the quarter up by four points??? I think it's either one of two things: the Warriors played equally bad or the Cleveland defense played good and kept them close.
Lebron James in particular had a very sloppy and tentative game.
Keets.
The Cavs shot very poorly the entire game (except for Kevin Love, I think). The poor shooting by the Cavs may have been due to them having an off game and not shooting well, or because of good defense, or because of a combination of the two.
The Warriors also did not shoot that well (except for Klay Thompson I think).
Both teams played very hard the entire game. Either team could have won. The Cavs were denied an opportunity to make the game one where it could be won or lost on a last second shot when LeBron James was twice fouled by Durant.
Looking forward to watching the rematch at the Cube in a few weeks.
Le Bron doesn't get many calls because he is big and strong. When players hack him he doesn't wobble but he is like a statue. With much less contact other players grimace and fall sideways and thus get the call. My 2 cents.
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Ralph
He's almost up there with MJ.
King James get by with charging fouls all the time!
For a big strong man he sure goes down easy! That was fun to watch.
You never saw MJ do that.