I don't plan on watching much today but I thought I'd get the party started. Here are the LC NBA playoff coach rankings to get us in the mood.
1. Tyronn Lue - Never lost a playoff series so can't argue with that. Handpicked by the King himself.
2. Gregg Popovich - Everyone knows his deal.
3. Scott Brooks - One of the game's most underrated
4. Brad Stevens - A rising star in the profession.
5. Mike D'Antoni - Revolutionized the Rockets
6. Steve Kerr - He's good but anyone could coach an All-Star team.
7. Terry Stotts - Another top strategist who learned at the feet of George Karl.
8. Doc Rivers - He has won a title.
9. Quin Snyder - Worked wonders in Utah this season.
10. Dwyane Casey - Thoroughly average.
11. Jason Kidd - He's coached a team past Toronto once. Will he do it again?
12. Nate McMillan - Pretty much a retread.
13. Mike Budenholzer - A Popovich acolyte known for big regular seasons and playoff failure.
14. David Fizdale - Unproven. Also I am not sure he actually exists.
15. Billy Donovan - Roll the balls out.
16. Fred Hoiberg - Should be fired.
All this doesn't mean shit anyway, you should know since it's all about the 'ship.
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Take that for data!
We don't have to make a ranking. You started a thread specifically to rank the coaches in the playoffs and you did so with the Skip Bayless approach of saying something stupid just to rile people up.
Congrats, it worked. The downside for you, though, is that now no one respects your opinion on here.
Durant being a 7ft Mr. Fantastic looking freakshow makes it tough to go against him as the #2 player in the game, but I actually prefer Kawhi's game.
The counter-argument is Paul George and Jimmy Butler. If you switched either of those 2 with Kawhi, how much would the Spurs decline? If they were groomed under Pop and Duncan, would they be as good as/better than Kawhi is right now?
I was thinking MoM-dupe
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be a troll. Right?
I was thinking MoM-dupe
I don't think you know who MoM is.
David Fizdale though. Great rant last night. Now I will remember him as more than "the coach with the ridiculously hot wife".
We don't have to make a ranking. You started a thread specifically to rank the coaches in the playoffs and you did so with the Skip Bayless approach of saying something stupid just to rile people up.
Congrats, it worked. The downside for you, though, is that now no one respects your opinion on here.
Respect goes both ways. I know I didn't attack anyone yet I got attacked for an opinion. Not a fact, an opinion. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am right, that's fine. Maybe I actually worked in the NBA and have some information you don't know. It's all good though - you won't get me to attack you since I don't stoop to that level.
You said I said a stupid thing but it's an opinion, not a fact. I respect you calling me stupid but I won't say you are since I don't know you to judge. Again I won't stoop to that level like so many.
Meanwhile just some insight for you, if both Pop and Lue lost their jobs today, it's well known in NBA circles which coach would have more teams willing to hire him today. Yes, Pop would get less coaching jobs than Lue now, that is correct. I concede he'd get more Phil Jackson-type jobs.
So there are some facts for you who don't understand why my opinion is what it is. Attack my opinion all you want. Don't attack my facts. I know Lue and know how good he is and history will prove that he is a great coach. I know I an ahead of the curve on this but he is simply a great coach, it's known to those in the know.
LCtheINTMachine, you started a thread on BBI with the sole purpose to rank the head coaches in the NBA playoffs and you ranked Ty Lue at #1. No one solicited your opinion on the matter. You deserve all the ridicule you get.
You ask that we don't attack you, but that we attack your facts. What facts have you provided other than the Spurs under Pop having lost more series with a lead than they have won series when behind? Yet, even with that, you don't source it or actually define what you meant. You also don't list how often the Spurs have been ahead in a series vs. times they've trailed.
Furthermore, you beg the question assuming the premise that such a "fact" is what determines the greatness of a coach.
Also please distinguish between Steve Kerr transforming the Warriors into a dominant force merely being "anyone can coach an all-star team", to Tyronn Lue taking over a team that battled a Warriors to 6 games despite having only about 50-60% of the team's salary available to play and headed by a superstar who went to five straight finals before Lue took over.
If you want BBI posters to be "professional," perhaps you should stop with the bombastic hot takes that make you sound like a jackass on sports talk radio.
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be a troll. Right?
I was thinking MoM-dupe
Not a chance in the world LCtheINTMachine is Joe. Joe was a great poster here. One I disagreed with quite a bit, but he never trolled and always backed up his opinions, even when I didn't agree with them,.
LCtheINTMachine is definitely a former poster, I just can't figure out who yet
it is really not surprising, good regular season team because they play hard but in the playoffs they have 1 go to scorer and when he is shut down they have a bunch of role players around him..
Nobody on that Utah team should be able to even slow him down. He needs to take over. But too often, in the half court, he's ok with simply giving the ball back to the guard and setting the pick. It's frustrating to watch as a Clipper fan. He can and should do much more.
I think if the Brooklyn pick doesn't work out next year, there's a chance Boston starts to turn on him. If that does happen, I hope it happens before coach K retires because the idea of Stevens succeeding coach K at Duke sickens me (as a Duke hater).
I think if the Brooklyn pick doesn't work out next year, there's a chance Boston starts to turn on him. If that does happen, I hope it happens before coach K retires because the idea of Stevens succeeding coach K at Duke sickens me (as a Duke hater).
See I don't buy that story either. I'd actually love for that story to be true, because the Celtics turn on him and then IU can go after him since he'll be fed up that he gave everything he got and the NBA disrespected him.
Is Budenholzer a marginal coach or does his talent not match up to to the contenders? Everyone is giving Spo tons of praise (and deseverdly so)and didn't make the playoffs. When you drill down, how much better REALLY is the Celtics roster than the heat roster?
The Celtics lead dog was a starter with an all NBA player and they Barry cracked 30 wins. On the open market, his value was literally attributed to be that of a league average player (he was given the MLE from the Suns to play backup). If that didn't say anything about his value,he was traded for a late 1st rounder.
Jae Crowder was a throw in for the Rondo trade. He couldn't shoot 3s that well prior to this year.
Horford is a good player no doubt but he's what I call an "honorary all star". He was arguably the best player on Hawks teams that were much greater than the sum of their parts and was given all star selections prior to it. He's also been miscast as a center his entire career (he'll even tell you that) and isn't a defensive or rebounding anchor for a contending team. He's a 4 who is ideally placed next to a Whiteside or howard type.
Bradley in my view is the Celtics best player. He's 6'2" as is the teams leading rebounder. Huge fan but he shouldn't be the best player on a 1 seed. He's a 3rd option at best.
This Celtics team isn't that much better than the heat roster IMO and they finished as a 1 seed and the heat didn't make the playoffs. Granted, if the heat played like they did the 2nd half of the year they'd probably be a 5 seed. Still, it's a testament to both coaches. Dragic is pretty comparable to thomas, Whiteside is probably a more impactful player than horford, and Waiters, James Johnson and Tyler Johnson are fairly comparable to Bradley, Crowder and smart.
Stevens is still a top 5 coach in my mind. It's just talent gets exposed in the playoffs. The Celtics didn't have any business being this good 4 years ago and yet they are now.
And I don't mean to disrespect thomas at this time, but he's arguably the biggest defensive liability in the NBA. Through no fault of his own, he was just born 6 inches shorter than the average NBA PG. Stevens can't pick him up to help him contest shots better or keep guys in front of him. He's literally the ONLY player on the Celtics that can create his own shots so Stevens needs thomas on the floor at all times even though his a sieve on the other end.
I gotta say though -- what he's saying doesn't seem all that crazy to me. As a rule I'm sure the Grizzlies commit more legitimate fouls than the Spurs do just by nature of their defensive style, but is the difference of the magnitude we observed in game 2? I don't think so. There certainly seems to have been a difference between how the refs reflexively reacted to Grizzlies conduct vs Spurs.
That said, I'm shocked Chicago is up 2-0 right now. They looked absolutely dreadful at points this season.
Rondo is performing like vintage Rondo.
Man I love Westbrook but I'm starting to get really turned off by him. He could be so much more.
They can't. LBJ doing his thing.
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Up 22 pts near end of first half. Let's see if they can finish.
They can't. LBJ doing his thing.
Holy shit. I turned the game off and went to get some dinner.
Bucks dominating the Raptors. Milwaukee is going to be scary soon.
Conley and Gasol with big shots late. Memphis is a tough team, but the Spurs weren't supposed to be battling like this.
GS up 41-15 with 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter.
Let's just skip to the Finals.
The Bulls are completely lost without Rondo. People have been giving him hell for years, but Rondo is pretty damn good.