Dylan Harper quickly dives in to save an angry Castle from potentially getting a technical or ejection after Caruso fouled him. Overlooked play that might have saved the game for the Spurs
Poise from a rookie
Castle, and Harper are amazing. Pure basketball.
Their forehead to forehead moment after the game made my eyes water. All brothers, this team.
Yes. And Castle also had his arms around Harper during the team photos after. Complete unselfishness by them when they play the same position and other players would be competing for minutes and stardom. Beautiful brotherhood developing between them.
This team is loaded for the future with Wemby, Castle, Harper, and Bryant. An embarrassment of riches that’ll be fun to watch.
vassell and KJ are just barely in their primes. Fox has another 3-5 left of his. Kornet has another 3-5 years. and a fist full of draft capital to either keep adding rookie contracts or make a big move.
Fox will be getting traded when they have to start signing these guys
Yeah but fox got at least this year and next to get a ring with the team and then we probably see vassell and fox get traded together
It was so right for Vassell to get the fuck you dunk last night.
Wemby has gotten crazy lucky with the supporting cast. Legit stars around him.
It’s the competent front office doing work
It’s such a great move in so little time. He’s on the floor half a second after Castle with complete awareness of the play, his teammate, and the stakes.
If that’s something they coach, smart, but it seems like a purely instinctive read from Harper.
He’s exactly the type of smart player his dad was
Holy shit, he’s Rob Harper’s kid. I just put two and two together. Fuck I’m old.
Ron
Fat fingers, I know, lol, fuck it, I’m going to leave it.
Dylan is the most seasoned vet of the Spurs
Dudes a rookie and a vet
Have we seen a rookie so mentally ready since, maybe Lebron?
Luka.
Luka doesn’t count. He’s the imaginary 19 year old with 10 years of work experience that you always see employers want in job listings.
Luka was playing pro ball for years before the nba, I thought it was crazy people weren’t tripping over themselves to draft him
Of course I forget about my guy :D
So impressed with him
Guarded Shai well this series too
This is Duncan grabbing Parker from the jersey when he was arguing with Lebron and the ref.
Video
Was thinking MJ/Pippen grabbing Rodman before he got a tech.
Learned from his pops, 5 time NBA champ
Harper might become better than Flagg, I know Flagg looks insane, but Harper is one of the smartest guys in the NBA…and he’s only a rookie
Oh and he shot 62.7% TS with elite defense on a finals team in the playoffs
Flagg can play every instrument in the band. That kind of versatility is huge.
But yes, Harper could be a top 5 player.
He got it from his daddy.
His brother is pretty poised too just not as good
Still don’t understand why this wasn’t called a flagrant, the follow through is as blatant as it gets.
Thankfully the Knicks actually play basketball. Will definitely be refreshing to watch.
It will be like eye bleach
Gonna have to block out Brunson
Bro you root for Embiid
K we out tho
Shits gonna be so weird watching a playoff game where both teams are trying to play basketball
The total lack of thunder flare here is also quite refreshing
Do they ? Maybe not as bad as sga, but brunson gives himself whiplash every time he’s touched.
I don’t watch a ton of Knicks games but the difference with brunson trying to do the bullshit a couple years ago to now is night and day. He’s pretty much just out there hooping now
Plus, Brunson may foulbait but the Knicks as a whole are not going to foul and flop in defense
I hope so. OKC is a cancer to the league
That was an insane no call, I expected at least a flagrant 1
I can’t believe even on review it was a common foul. Craziness. You see him literally accelerate in mid air because Caruso pulls him so hard. It’s nuts.
The worst was one of the commentators basically saying, “yeah he was going for the ball.”
Reggie. Loved him as a player. He’s so ass as a commentator.
Unbelievable the favoritism he showed during this series. Like what fucking connection does he have to OKC? He should hate their guts for what happened to Indy in the finals last year.
Nah, the worst aspect is that this is the same exact play that led to Caruso being injured a few years ago by Grayson Allen.
Now, he’s doing the same shit to others… Fuck Caruso and Dort genuinely, I cannot fathom how you can think this type of stuff is basketball plays.
I dont normally genuinely hate a player but this series truly made me hate Caruso. He was committing so many dangerous fouls intentionally. What a scumbag
And we’ll never know how Thunder fans would justify this becuase they’re all going to stop pretending to like basketball now.
I expected a flagrant 2. In air contact, pulled him down n the follow-through, high potential for injury, and almost led to an altercation. Ticked every box and they didn’t even give him a flagrant 1.
Consistent no calls on SGA tho after flops. Some yes, but mostly no.
As a Lakers fan: fuck Caruso
I liked Caruso when he played for the lakers. I don’t recognize this guy on OKC
There’s obviously some questionable coaching going on in the OKC building.
Yeah he wasn’t like this on the bulls either. Clearly OKC is teaching players to play like this. League needs to come down hard on them at some point or it is going to get bad
He got a chip with the lakers but they also let him walk
Of course that was a mistake on Pelinka’s end, cause Caruso still had a lot of value, both as a piece in our team and as a trade asset. As aggressive as he was defensively, at OKC he’s unlocked new shades of dirty
In OKC you get a Bachelor’s degree in Flopping and a Masters in Dirtiness!
C’mon…Dortiness was right there! 🤣
I don’t even mention him anymore when anyone wants to talk about the championship. And if anyone brings him up I just say, “Oh yeah he did win with us but he’s a POS now. Next story.”
Yeh I was shocked as well. Even after the review it should have been called
It gets called 100% of the time in the regular season and probably also in first and second round. I guess the refs wanted to avoid tilted the game in any way
It’s literally impossible for Caruso to make a play on the ball in that scenario.
And it’s irresponsible to reward a dangerous play like this by just giving two shots. It says to both teams “every time someone goes up for a dunk, just hack them, because it’s worth it.”
Did it to him in game 4 or something too. Just dirty bullshit
When Reggie was like “he made a play on the ball right there” I was like FUCKING WHERE, he grabbed his arm and hip the whole time
That’s a fucking teammate right here.
Absolute vet move from a rookie. He saw the tech coming from a mile away and just completely shut the situation down.
“You’ll have your chance Guido, you’ll have your chance!”
it’s funny you make a Cars reference, allegedly there was Cars themed music blasting directly outside of the Spurs Hotel venue the night before game 7 lmao
(Per Devin Vassell)
It’s the reverse Draymond. If it had been Draymond in that situation, he would have taken the tech instead
It’s hard to guard Dray against a tech. When he puts his mind to it there is no stopping him.
Nobody is trying to get Superman punched by their insane asshole team mate lol
I never thought id like a player on this team as much as Wemby but Dylan is seriously a close 2nd. His personality is so fun and he seems like an amazing teammate. And he’s an absolute baller lol
Dude doesn’t carry himself like a rookie at all. Harper was made for this shit
When your dad is an NBA player and your mom is a college basketball coach, you were LITERALLY made for this shit.
*when your dad is a 5x NBA champ and played with at least two of the greats in MJ and KB
I was starring at this for way too long figuring out who kb was. Feel dumb haha. Ive never heard him referred by his initials!
Kevin Burant.
No, no cmon man it’s obviously it’s Kevin Barnett.
Took me a second too, Kobe is only 2 extra letters to type lol
Nobody ever called him KB. Let’s stop with this unnecessary acronym stuff. It’s like when Reggie Miller referred to him as “The Kobester” corny as hell 🤣
She’s a high school coach. Not college. She was actually the one who coached him in high school; not Ron.
Not saying he didn’t have advantages, but he has an older brother who isn’t half the player he is. There’s a lot more to this than upbringing and lineage.
His older brother is still in the NBA, which means he’s a better basketball player than 99.999% of the world.
Yeah, regardless, having a sibling in the nba is a huge feat.
Also very interesting that Champagnie also has a brother in the league.
One of my favourite moments was watching Justin Champagnie drill a three in Julian’s face and then doing a stare down while Julian slowly smiles. Great moment
I pray that his older brother Ron Harper Jr gives us even a sliver of this next year lmao
Dude handles the ball and himself like a 13 year vet
Caruso even made a gesture like “what’s this guy trying to do to me”
He’s a lame duck. He needs refs otherwise his ass would be gravel. Soft
Exactly. Caruso is as good a defender as the refs allow him to be. There was another play where he mugged castle, literally 3 different fouls before spurs had to call timeout. Dirty ass player that will get what’s coming to him eventually…
Yup… Even knowing smaller players don’t get reffed the same in the post, his “defense” on Jokic last year was just Caruso grabbing the shit out of him lol
It was a foul every possession of game 7. It was honestly the most ref ball I remember.
They never win that title and SGA is not a superstar without the whistle. That’s all they have going on, still the only team in the NBA allowed to swipe down
I liked Caruso’s hustle when he was on Lakers but joining Thunder made him dirty.
That’s the ultimate counter to OKC’s stupid fucking “you just hate us because we’re good” argument. No, we hate you because the way you play sucks. Caruso was well liked on the championship Lakers team. It’s not winning that is the problem.
Even in the bulls I was cheering for him but he just changed when he got to the thunder. Always so annoying when he fouls the fuck outta someone and immediately does the challenge signal.
Even McCain was doing shit this series. He only played like 50 games for the sixers but I don’t remember him doing any of the dort style fall to the ground immediately off of screens shit like McCain was doing that series. Thunder teach this shit and it’s pathetic
It’s telling that all their new players went from normal players that were well liked to being bitches that no one likes. Like they are definitely coached to flop and be babies.
He got that annoying smug face after joining the Thunder.
He was desperately trying to bait Castle into a technical foul as his season was slipping away.
[deleted]
Acts like Steph in what way? By walking on 2 legs? That’s about where the comparison ends.
That entire Thunder team is full of ogrish goofs. So fucking glad they’re done.
He’s worse. No need to invoke greatness.
After Chet is there any player whos tanked their reputation harder than Caruso this series? Just a few years ago he was the lovable white guy and now I believe most basketball fans would shoot him on sight if they saw him on the street
This was the first basketball series my gf has ever watched and she absolutely hates Caruso, he was so unlikable even the untrained eye began to hate him
He looks like the lovechild of humpty dumpty and Michael Rappoport
Can’t believe this sub ever liked this guy. Total nub and now he’s on a team full of Nubs just like him. Fuck alex caruso
Castle should’ve played dead, literally. Just laid there on the court, motionless. Maybe then would an official understand the gravity of that flagrant foul
He’s a dawg not a possum
Completely irrelevant, but reading a lot of old comics lately and the playing possum expression was much more prevalent than where it is now. Just wanted to get it out of my system
He doesn’t play for OKC
If he did he would’ve barrel rolled into the mezzanine after contact like that
Castle has too much ATL in him for that. He reacts the same way that Ant does to everything, loud as hell and complaining the whole way, but never flopping haha
Sbpuld hsve grabbed his head and pretended he got shot, like sga, chet, jdub and the rest of the okc do.
Nah he hates Shai he won’t imitate him
I would flop like a football player if someone did this to me.
He’s not weak like the Thunder!
man castle is resilient with how many times he slammed into the floor this series, it’s crazy what these guys just bounce up from
Man, Steph has been getting hammered since last season. Dude is tough as nails.
I was thinking that about Wemby’s torso and arms. The amount of times he got elbowed, forearmed, hand checked/punched, and grabbed on his arms was wild to watch. Hartenstein was mauling him every possession every other night for almost two weeks.
Castle is a dog and fearless going into the paint.
Bouncy Castle.
Knowing that Castle is quick to anger, who knows how the game might have snowballed negatively if he got into Caruso’s face. Castle getting called for a technical on a dirty play by Caruso getting the whole Spurs team mad and not focused on the game, or even getting ejected and losing Castle from the game.
Dylan knowing Castle too well steps in with no hesitation, actually fully diving for it, saving him for additional referee calls. Such high IQ from a rookie.
Saw this live and thought it was one of the more underrated play of the game.
Castle low-key might be the angriest playing guy in the league already. His dunks and drives are straight up Clockwork Orange-level Ultraviolent.
And I weirdly think you need that?
Look, Castle needs to mature a little on the temper. Harper saved him here. But having a guy out there who is pure hatred is sorta an energy a championship team needs
The Spurs being hot heads is actually kind of nice considering how even tempered Duncan and crew were. They don’t have to be loose cannons but Wemby wanting it more than everyone and Castle not being anyone’s punk is cool.
honestly so great seeing how badly they want it always fun to watch a team with this much passion
I don’t think castle got angry or lost his temper once all regular season.
He’s a cool headed guy
I mean they threw him to the ground on consecutive drives in an earlier game. He had a right to be pissed. Caruso was clearly trying to troll him til the end. Trying to slap at the ball after the whistle and shit. Bush league.
Dude tried multiple times to get Castle titled doing little douchebag shit like that and it just didn’t work until he yanked the shit out of him.
I really don’t think he’s that quick to anger. This is literally the 3rd time this series someone from OKC has questionably taken him down from behind on a breakaway and the refs haven’t really don’t much about it. Second time form Caruso
Vassell plays angry too. Absolute dawgs
Contrast that with Carter Bryant who looks like a Golden Retriever puppy running around out there. Someone else said it and I can’t unsee it.
I’ve watched every Spurs game since the start of this season and from what I’ve seen Castle is not an “angry guy.” Off the court and in interviews he comes across as a kind and down-to-earth introvert, but on the court he can tap into a rage like which fury Hell hath no.
There were stretches during the first half of the regular season where he’d pinball through defenders to get to the rim only to get hard-fouled or turn it over due to losing control through contact. He’d tumble to the ground or take a hard incidental hit but always kept his cool and bounced right back into play. He has a tenacity to get under people’s skin when guarding them and things got dicey at times (with Cade, Jaylen Brown, and Avdija coming to mind in particular) but if you watch the reels he’s not the one yapping or initiating the fight.
This series against OKC was the first time I’ve seen him so angry that might try to choke Caruso with his own headband if given the chance.
The thing is, he was cool as ice the whole regular season, but he got mauled and fouled so much that he couldn’t contain himself anymore. Great mental play by the Thunder, but it wasn’t enough.
FUCK CARUSO GO HOME YOU BALD FUCK
I’ve been watching the NBA since the David Robinson era and I’m actually from OKC (but have lived in Australia for 20 years now), but I have never hated a team like I hate the Thunder. Every single player they have is loathsome on the court in one way or another. So glad their horrendous style of play is done for the year.
Shit is disgusting. Fuck OKC. Fuck Caruso. Fuck Bricktown.
dont forget the ref too
And Lu Dort as well. And make them watch the Chet/SGA “what a pro wants” commercial on repeat until they start attacking each other
Get someone who hugs you like Dylan hugs Steph
Stop saying Steph, why are people saying Steph (not just u, but other clips), Castle is SO much cooler and doesn’t confuse with the Famous Steph
Agreed it’s confusing I often think people mean Curry at first and Castle is a really cool name
If only 🥲
Man when the hell did Caruso become such a dirty player? Used to like him. What the hell. Fuck OKC.
Mark Daigneault coaches everybody to be bitches
Yes. It’s part of their practice. The art of being dirty and the Flop.
give this man a TRUE
Do you think the thunder just happen to all be dirty players? It’s the team culture and how they are coached
Lu Dort aura
No clue how this was called as a common foul, what the hell
And they reviewed it. Throwing guys to the floor is back on the menu, boys!
Based on the other calls in the series I kinda get it. They’ve been allowing more physicality. I disagree still.
That’s an easy flagrant and possibly ejection even in a game 7. How can you explain never touching the ball and dragging someone down by their arm? Full on changed his trajectory mid air. Shout out to Harper you could see it in castle’s eyes
not just his arm, Caruso’s other arm was hugging Castle’s waist
I’ll have it published on AO3 by tomorrow.
So I went to AO3 and searched for Stephon Castle. Saw just the tags. Oh boy, why did I do that lols. Tumblr too
Bro wym all the fics are peak?
Not letting my curiosity get the best of me on this one, lmao
“Swipe at the ball” © Mike Tirico 😭
Absolutely a flagrant, maybe even a 2 because he’s airborne
There was no play on the ball. He’s already grabbing his waist with the left, wind up and follow through with the right, on an airborne player. Excessive drag to the ground.
WTF are we doing?
Mike “Wemby DRAWS the foul and SELLS it” Tirico
Wemby ran into a guys arm and he called it a sell.
I made this comment in the game thread, I hate fans complaining national announcers are “against them” because we get used to our home team announcers cheering for us. Tirico isn’t against the Spurs and I really do like him as an announcer but man he had a weird night. Borderline begged for a flagrant on Wemby in the first quarter from that minimal contact, made it sound like SGA barely touched Castle when he actually elbowed him in the face and then this. Just really weird.
Reggie and Jamal listened to his whole explanation on that Castle/SGA elbow then both go “it’s an offensive foul Mike”.
Dirty fucking team with a horrible fan base
Love how there is no one in this thread who are unsure which of the two teams in question you are talking about. Not even one OKC troll coming and trying to pretend it’s Spurs
I’m sure the fans are trying to figure out why their magical matching shirts didn’t work this time.
This was a flagrant foul btw.
If Draymond did this he’d have gotten ejected.
F ing dumb shit refs.
😤
Imagine if Draymond acted like Draymond but also flopped. That’s how much I dislike OKC.
Caruso acting like it ain’t a flagrant. Take the L baldy.
So glad that we’re never gonna see this okc sga team ever again. They, and their “brand” of [flopping, grabbing, pulling, cheating, disgusting] basketball ever again. Go Spurs Go!!!
You know this is not the last NBA season ever, right?
Nah this is the series finale, no more after that
Harper is so poised for a rookie, there’s no light too bright. He’s clearly the future #2 of the team imo
So the ref knew the foul was hard enough that he immediately stepped in the middle but still didn’t call a flagrant. Chewbacca living on Endor?
I’m gonna be so heartbroken if these 2 aren’t Spurs for life
Wemby isn’t letting go of either of them.
No joke but wemby seems like the kind of unique that would take a massively lesser contract to help out the team because he doesn’t wanna be materialistic anyway or some shit. Spurs are so damn lucky it’s annoying
Not even a Flagrant 1?
Spurs must have some sort of mental ageing machine in the basement, bunch of 20 year old vets out there…
Popovich and Dim Tuncan
Castle was rightfully pissed, that fall could’ve been much worse. But Harper has that monk-like zen attitude and peace-making aura, probably learned from the tutelage of Wemby (that is when he is not angry himself lol, you might get an extra bony elbow).
And thunder fans still wonder why their team is hated
That was epic. I have done that with some friends playing pick-up. They definitely got a lot of team chemistry
I’m only gonna tell you guys, but being wrapped up like that by Dylan Harper is a fantasy of mine
Username checks out
Harper is the final piece of that puzzle.
Thunder is bad for the sport.
Wow that was so dangerous. Caruso pulled him sideways to the floor while he’sin the air… could have been very bad.
Good riddance to these fucks
Smart move by the rookie. The Spurs have been fun to watch.
Also, Caruso is such a dirty player.
Textbook flagrant foul, okc gets away with another one.
pitbull and labrador angry at a bald eagle
Angry at a bald bitch
That is a smart fucking dude, when people talk about “intangibles” this is exactly it
Fuck Caruso.
Crazy that wasn’t a flagrant
This is a timeline split moment
Love how Caruso strikes the palms in the air pose after mugging the shit out of him. They really think the refs are on their team.
I wonder what mental gymnastic bullshit OKC fans would say about this lol
Still ridiculous this wasn’t a flagrant. Wind up and follow through
Plays like this (and no calls) make me so happy the Thunder lost. Good riddance.
Caruso is a hoe, and I want that known.