**** WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS thread ****

52,956 Views | 803 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Ag Natural
SquirrellyDan
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AustinAg2012 said:

That glass ankle tore your lil' city apart. As well as GS 'til Zaza had the death blow.
Actually, our worst basketball in the series was played without him in the lineup.
Dan Scott
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That rant was awesome
Guitarsoup
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Frok said:

Guitarsoup said:

Deluxe said:

primomosquito said:

Obi Wan Ginobili said:

primomosquito said:

Obi Wan Ginobili said:

primomosquito said:

I didn't see the Kawhi injury live and I was expecting to see something way more egregious than what I saw in the replay after reading some comments in here.

No way was that intentional. Sure, the defender could have done more to ensure he didn't interfere with Kawhi's landing, but that's not his job.

It's a shame he went down, was hoping the Spurs would win this series.
It is a foul if you don't give the shooter space to land. By definition, it is his job to give him space to land....

Your opinion on the matter means very little after getting the most important part of the issue wrong.
Yes, it was a foul and he was called for it. It was not dirty nor intentional.
It was intentional. Do you think ALLLLLL these people who talk/write about basketball for a living would be bringing it up if it wasn't dirty?

I'll admit he couldn't possibly have placed his foot in the exact square it needed to be for Kawhi to land on it, but that isn't even close to the point. He wasn't contesting a shot. He was trying to get under Kawhi so he didn't have a flat place to land.

If you think otherwise, you're just a Spurs hater or an idiot.
What does that say about Kawhi himself??
Kawhi has never been a guy to stir the pot. Of course he's going to take the high road.
Fans of James Harden, Nene and Patrick Beverly aren't very familiar with the high road.


James Harden is a dirty player? Sure he is a flopper. But he's definitely not dirty or much of a trash talker.


I never called Harden dirty. He'd have to play defense first, assuming he doesn't revert to a Karl Malone-level nut kick while driving for a layup at some point.
saltydog13
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primomosquito said:

AustinAg2012 said:

You still have your loser Rockets goggles on, guy.

Zaza knew exactly what he was doing. He has his entire crap career. GS probably woulda won this series even if they lost G1 yesterday, but this scumbag play guarantees they advance. I really hope Tristan Thompson knocks him on his dirty ass in the finals.

Rockets losing have nothing to do with Leonard's glass ankle either.

Glass ankle? He didn't just roll it on his own. All 3 times were from coming down onto someone else's foot. Pretty sure everyone would have some sort of sprain from that.
Iowaggie
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Adam87inSA said:

LawHall88 said:


Preach it.
CFTXAG10
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Honestly, a day later I don't see a problem with either side. You are entitled to your opinion whether you think it was intentional or not. Some will say he knew what he was doing, some will say it was reckless, and others might say it was just unlucky. Undoubtedly it was a foul. He was in Kawhi's landing space and that is clearly against the rules in the NBA. Just as a fan of NBA Playoff Basketball I hate seeing guys go out at this juncture in the season. Waters down the series, and becomes less entertaining.
Aggie95
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Blahhead said:

This is my favorite one:


If Zaza's was "manslaughter"...I'm guessing this was attempted murder?
Guitarsoup
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Zaza has over twice the number of flagrants in his career than Bowen did. He has a long history of dirty plays, including multiple against the Spurs. That includes locking an arm and pulling a guy to the ground, kicking, tripping, elbows to the head, etc.

I can think of three dirty plays just against the Spurs. Swung his elbows as hard as he could at David West's head, arm locked Kawhi and pulled him down to the floor, swung al elbow at Patty Mills' head.











You Rockets fans remember him taking this cheap shot in on Harden, don't you?





That is one single player at the heart of a LOT of NBA altercations.

If we were talking about a player like Steph Curry or Dirk or Eric Gordon or Tony Parker that isn't prone to dirty or dangerous plays, it would be one thing. But Zaza has a long history of flagrants, dirty play and dangerous fouls. Hard to give him the benefit of the doubt here considering his history. It would be the same (probably worse) if it was Draymond Green.
Adam87inSA
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I will readily admit that Bruce Bowen was dirty. I wish his number was not retired.

But Zaza is dirty raised to an exponent (greater than 1, specifically).
rsf0626
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Just because Bowen didnt get called for the flagrant fouls doesnt mean he isnt a dirty af player. He made a career out of it
Guitarsoup
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rsf0626 said:

Just because Bowen didnt get called for the flagrant fouls doesnt mean he isnt a dirty af player. He made a career out of it
He did get called for it. Got suspended for it in the playoffs, too. While Bowen did dirty things (like the Vince Carter clip above and kicking Ray Allen in the back) most of what he did was annoying (holding guys, pulling jerseys, tapping elbows, etc.)
Guitarsoup
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ToHntortoFsh
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"I did whatever I had to do." - Zaza
Seems real innocent.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2709792-zaza-pachulia-responds-to-gregg-popovichs-criticism-says-hes-not-dirty
phatbc
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ToHntortoFsh said:

"I did whatever I had to do." - Zaza
Seems real innocent.
not that I needed confirmation but when I heard that I knew at least the haters would realize it too
AggieSportsGuy
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I know some of you would love to see the Spurs retaliate but there's no way they will.
AggieSportsGuy
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Poor Kawhi. He's a good player and good dude.
phatbc
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Agree with GS. Most of what Bowen did was the chippy **** that really pissed people off (grabbing, pulling, etc). They were annoyed by him and thought he crossed the unofficial "line." Did he ever do something like Gabour just did doe? And I don't mean that move. I mean in that spot, when it matters, with someone with a known injury like that.
TyHolden
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Guitarsoup said:





LouisHerbertWong
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Here's that POS Zaza's actual press conference:

http://popkey.co/m/dgzoz-sloth-goonies-laughing-happy
GatorAg03
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Man, that game was the biggest gut punch as a Spurs fan fan since Allen's shot in Game 6. I really think Spurs would have won the title had Kawhi stayed healthy. They were really starting to play good basketball and had a ton of confidence that literally went away in a second with the sprained ankle.
TyHolden
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GS -14 -2500
SA +14 +1100

for the game....i wonder if this will go up now? i think we'll keep it within 10.
Guitarsoup
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aggie7911
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Zaza no dirtier than Bruce Bowen.
LouisHerbertWong
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You poooor Rockets fans... Let it go already.
CreedBratton
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Guitarsoup said:

Zaza has over twice the number of flagrants in his career than Bowen did. He has a long history of dirty plays, including multiple against the Spurs. That includes locking an arm and pulling a guy to the ground, kicking, tripping, elbows to the head, etc.

I can think of three dirty plays just against the Spurs. Swung his elbows as hard as he could at David West's head, arm locked Kawhi and pulled him down to the floor, swung al elbow at Patty Mills' head.











You Rockets fans remember him taking this cheap shot in on Harden, don't you?





That is one single player at the heart of a LOT of NBA altercations.

If we were talking about a player like Steph Curry or Dirk or Eric Gordon or Tony Parker that isn't prone to dirty or dangerous plays, it would be one thing. But Zaza has a long history of flagrants, dirty play and dangerous fouls. Hard to give him the benefit of the doubt here considering his history. It would be the same (probably worse) if it was Draymond Green.
Zaza just knows that he's a garbage a** player and has to play dirty so that people will talk about him. Lord knows nobody is going to talk about him for his abilities on the basketball court
saltydog13
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I'm not denying/defending Bowen playing the way he did as well as a lot of other players back in the 90s/early 2000s, but the league outlawed it for a reason and players should know better by now. Theres absolutely no reason Zaza should've kept shuffling his feet.
Ag Natural
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What the hell does Bowen have to do with Zaza? I don't recall Bruce ever knocking star players out of a game. The clutching and grabbing he did isn't a whole lot different then what we see from most of the great defenders in the league. See CP3 or Draymond or Avery Bradley. Zaza is NOT a great defender.

If you want to compare Zaza to a former Spur to somehow justify the act.. then pick a better one. Maybe Danny Ferry.
saltydog13
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He got up under Vince Carter 2-3 different times causing Carter to injure his ankle. Then there's the time he kicked someone in the face.
Did he play scrappy defense? Yes, but there were times he would take it too far.
Guitarsoup
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He kicked two people in the face. League apparently didn't think it was intentional since he wasn't ejected or suspended either time. When he was with the Heat (before the Spurs) he kicked Payton in the face.

As far as I know, Bowen was never suspended in the playoffs. I thought the Chris Paul thing was playoffs, but it was just late regular season. And there was pretty much no contact there anyway - he certainly wasn't trying to hurt Paul. Weakest suspension ever.


But Bowen has been retired almost a decade and all that is irrelevant.

Zaza has a clear history of dirty fouls and this was clearly another one.

When asked about it today, he said "It doesn't bother me, I did whatever I had to do."

Pretty much admits it was intentional. He did what he had to do to help the Suns win. That included injuring the other team's star.
saltydog13
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Ha I didn't know it was twice and I agree it has no relevance. All that matters now is how the Spurs respond game 2.
Ag Natural
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In all fairness, you could pitch a tent and build a camp fire waiting for Vincent to come down on his jumper.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Break Zaza's ****ing leg.
AggieSportsGuy
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Coby
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phatbc said:

ToHntortoFsh said:

"I did whatever I had to do." - Zaza
Seems real innocent.
not that I needed confirmation but when I heard that I knew at least the haters would realize it too
"I did whatever I had to do. I wish he hadn't landed on my foot."

Did you stop after the first sentence? Still doesn't seem like he's admitting he did it intentionally. I took "I did what I had to do..." as he did what he needed to do to turn around.
SquirrellyDan
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cobizzle said:

phatbc said:

ToHntortoFsh said:

"I did whatever I had to do." - Zaza
Seems real innocent.
not that I needed confirmation but when I heard that I knew at least the haters would realize it too
"I did whatever I had to do. I wish he hadn't landed on my foot."

Did you stop after the first sentence? Still doesn't seem like he's admitting he did it intentionally. I took "I did what I had to do..." as he did what he needed to do to turn around.

 
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