Grizz thread: holy ****, nice win

[Optimus Prime 4]

Tip in by Gasol with .8 seconds left to be the Thunder. This after a three at the end of regulation by Jerrrrrrrryd to send it into OT.

for the record, I didn't love the decision to go to Zachary for the last play. He had a pretty bad game, and was defended really well all night.

 

[hatfieldms]

What a 17'ing game

Damn that was awesome

 

[57stratdawg]

I was at the OKC/Denver game last night. Awesome atmosphere in OKC. Talked to a Thunder employee for a bit, and he said he felt like Memphis was OKC's biggest threat in the West. Said he felt like OKC could dictate tempo to the Spurs, and he thought OKC's arena will cause them problems in the playoffs, but said Memphis could handle both better than San Antonio.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Gasol's post game interview was gold.

Rob Fischer asked him about the game winner.

Gasol "I just tap it, and it went in. ****!" And laughs while he walks off.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

It was a great game. I always DVR the game and usually start watching it after about an hour so I can skip commercials and halftime. When it went into OT I got scared the recording would end before the game. But I got Gasol's "****" and the recording stopped.

The only thing is I wonder why Marc reverted to not even looking to shoot that elbow shot? The past few games he will shoot when they back off him, but today he went back to looking to pass. Thankfully at the end he did take a few shots.

Basketball is amazing how a guy can get hot and then go cold. Durant was unstoppable in the 3rd but then, thankfully, went cold in the last few minutes.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Yeah Durant was insane in the 3rd quarter. Didn't he score 15 straight points?

 

[Seinfeld]

Is it just me or has OKC hit a ceiling? They're still one of the best teams in the league, no doubt, but they just seem to have an attitude these days like they've accepted that they'll always be second place. I don't see the same relentless fire in them like I've seen the last few years.

And yes, Zach had a really tough time last night. The refs were calling hand checks on Bayless while letting Collison absolutely kill Zebo down low. The weird thing was they were calling fouls on Perkins, but as soon as Collison got in the game, they just let him hammer him. I don't know what the deal was with that, but that little ******** ref that called the tech on Zach towards the end of the game deserved to get a bottle thrown at him. Granted, I'm sure that Zebo earned the tech, but I have no idea how you can sit there and watch a guy murder Zach and not only does he not call anything, but then he calls the ball out on Zach. Then the missed Durant travel was horrendous as well. All I can say is once again, NBA refs are the absolute worst at what they do in all of professional sports. Too much power and zero accountability

Outstanding win by the Grizz, though!

 

[PBRME]

I was at the OKC/Denver game last night. Awesome atmosphere in OKC. Talked to a Thunder employee for a bit, and he said he felt like Memphis was OKC's biggest threat in the West. Said he felt like OKC could dictate tempo to the Spurs, and he thought OKC's arena will cause them problems in the playoffs, but said Memphis could handle both better than San Antonio.

I know winning the division is a pipe dream. The important thing now is finishing with the 3rd best record in the West. Although home court didn't help us last year it's still better than the alternative.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

Gotta stay 3rd or 4th. Can not play Denver at Denver

 

[MTNDawg.sixpack]

As long as we finish with one of the top 4 records, we'll have home court

I know winning the division is a pipe dream. The important thing now is finishing with the 3rd best record in the West. Although home court didn't help us last year it's still better than the alternative.

I know it is a regular topic of confusion, but winning a division only matters in seeding. The winner of each division + remaining team with the best record get the top 4 seeds. While this determines who you play in the first round, i.e. division winners play lower seeds, it doesn't determine home court advantage. That is decided purely on record so you don't get punished for being second best in a division with the regular season worldbeater Spurs. In theory, SA, Memphis, Dallas, and Houston could all have homecourt advantage despite all being from the same division. However, they would be seeded #1, #2, 3 or 4, #5, and #6.

What we need is to finish in the top 4 and have Denver pass the Clippers. Then there is no way we play the Nuggets and we will have homecourt advantage. If Denver finishes behind L.A., then we have to finish 3rd to avoid the Nuggets and have homecourt.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Their ceiling is Russell Westbrook. For every good game he has, throw in 2 where he tries to do too much or is just horrendous.

 

[thf24]

Their ceiling is Russell Westbrook. For every good game he has, throw in 2 where he tries to do too much or is just horrendous.

Agreed. He's like a better, more versatile version of Marshall Henderson. Huge talent, but can't differentiate between a good and a bad look and can't recognize when he's cold and needs to defer. The only reason the Grizz took the Thunder to seven games in the conference semis two years ago is that Westbrook lost them several of those games.