NFT: NBA playoff thread

The Warriors to their current level. Kerr led a team that was eliminated in the first round if the playoffs to a title, which was the first time that happened in 30 something years. They were also the youngest team to win a title in 30 something years.

I wouldn't just toss that aside.

First team to go from 1st round loss to title without adding a new starter or significant player.

but Cavs Vs. Pacers was a hell of a game.

JFC. Beast.

In comment 13429766 santacruzom said:

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The Warriors to their current level. Kerr led a team that was eliminated in the first round if the playoffs to a title, which was the first time that happened in 30 something years. They were also the youngest team to win a title in 30 something years. I wouldn't just toss that aside.

Bullshit. Players need to be motivated but that's usually on them anyway. There's no coaching in the NBA.

only team with a glimmering chance of taking down the Cavs over the next couple of years.

In comment 13429805 giantsfan44ab said:

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only team with a glimmering chance of taking down the Cavs over the next couple of years.

The Greek Freak is going to go down as one of the top 15 players ever. Mark my words. I've watched a ton of their games this year and he's legitimate scary.

at all. It's a question of when, not if, he'll be the best player in the NBA.

in the worst way.

Isn't really affecting the outcome. Bucks look great. I'm going to say Bucks in 6.

In comment 13429851 giantsfan44ab said:

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Isn't really affecting the outcome. Bucks look great. I'm going to say Bucks in 6.

raptors are a flawed team..they will win regular season games but never win anything more..

they have to gdt really licky in the lottery to take mext step

He is insane. I love this kid and his back story
.

In comment 13429855 nygiants16 said:

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In comment 13429851 giantsfan44ab said: Quote: Isn't really affecting the outcome. Bucks look great. I'm going to say Bucks in 6. raptors are a flawed team..they will win regular season games but never win anything more.. they have to gdt really licky in the lottery to take mext step

Posted this on the Knicks thread, but Melo and KOQ for Carroll, JV and Joseph? JV will have trade value, can have him and Willy fight it out and get your pickings of the two. Caroll is on a bad deal but only 2 more years. You at least get a defensive minded wing player. Joseph gives you a solid PG option without having to splurge on one in FA.

Toronto cuts about $8M and gets better players to compete now.

In comment 13429865 giantsfan44ab said:

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In comment 13429855 nygiants16 said: Quote: In comment 13429851 giantsfan44ab said: Quote: Isn't really affecting the outcome. Bucks look great. I'm going to say Bucks in 6. raptors are a flawed team..they will win regular season games but never win anything more.. they have to gdt really licky in the lottery to take mext step Posted this on the Knicks thread, but Melo and KOQ for Carroll, JV and Joseph? JV will have trade value, can have him and Willy fight it out and get your pickings of the two. Caroll is on a bad deal but only 2 more years. You at least get a defensive minded wing player. Joseph gives you a solid PG option without having to splurge on one in FA. Toronto cuts about $8M and gets better players to compete now.

id rather younger players or draft picks..

i know next year doesnt matter but you also have a 72 million dollar noah, i like jv but he just doesnt fit and i dunno how easily you flip him..

i like joseph wouldnt mind him..

i knw i am being picky but i just dpnt know of that is the right deal

Early on, this game looked like it might shape into a statement game for Memphis with them being up 22-9. Since that score, they've been outscored by 42 points.

Willy, so not sure how that's not getting younger. Joesph is 25 too.

In comment 13429959 santacruzom said:

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Early on, this game looked like it might shape into a statement game for Memphis with them being up 22-9. Since that score, they've been outscored by 42 points.

Well when you consider Vince carter, Seldon, Harrison, Daniels and ennis are playing 40% of the Grizzlies total minutes I feel like this wasn't that surprising.

but scoring 30 points in the first quarter, and then 52 combined in the remaining three is... noteworthy.

GW in LA. Jazz up 1-0 with no Gobert.

In comment 13429962 giantsfan44ab said:

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Willy, so not sure how that's not getting younger. Joesph is 25 too.

i am being to greedy :)

.

Such a typical loss last night by them.

Does he get a lot of credit for Houston play this year? He was runnout of NY on a handrail. Is he considered one of the better coaches or is it the talent. (or lack of here )?

In comment 13430127 Samiam said:

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Does he get a lot of credit for Houston play this year? He was runnout of NY on a handrail. Is he considered one of the better coaches or is it the talent. (or lack of here )?

Yes, one of the candidates for COY this year.

of all time. How can you put Lue above him?

This blazers warriors game has been fantastic so far.

Helping turn the tide of a playoff game.

Blazers didn't back down but the Warriors are just too damn good.

But Nurkic being out hurts the likelihood I watch any games in this particular matchup.

In comment 13430420 Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy said:

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Blazers didn't back down but the Warriors are just too damn good.

As good as regular season Draymond Green is, he's become the type of guy who takes it up a notch come playoff time. His stat line from this game is crazy, and yet deson't even do his impact justice.

Can automatically be better than Paul Zipser? I mean NO plucked Jordan Crawford out of the d league 3 weeks ago.

Wade just got rejected by the rim on a breakaway dunk.

and take Game 1...very strong effort from them

One of the few guards out there who can match Westbrook's intensity over an entire game.

Harden played a hell of a game. Clearly "won" the battle of MVPs in Game 1. He played pretty damn good defense too, helping clog the lane and deflecting a ton of passes. Westbrook had 9 TOVs and Harden was probably the primary reason for 4 of them. He really wants it this year.

Very impressive win. Gotta take care of Game 2.

#1? That is just absurd. I'm not even convinced he's a good coach, let alone the best coach remaining. He hasn't managed his team's minutes well, and the team's defense is dogshit.

What Blatt did with a depleted Cavs team in the finals two years ago was more impressive than anything Lue has done so far.

Houston-SA is going to look a lot like OKC-SA last year.

Right now in order to be the champ you gotta beat the champ.

Also excellent strategy to get the ball out of Paul George's hands at the end of Game 1 so great coaching by him. Don't forget Pop let the Heat pop 3s down by 3 in contrast.

Kevin Love is the best forward of all-time since he has never lost a playoff series either.

Yeah, that's just idiotic logic. Guess things like track record and body of work gets completely disregarded.

Is the best coach in the league, followed by Stevens.

be a troll. Right?

I ranked all 16, just my opinion. Let's see you do the same and see how you handle the scrutiny. Don't take this shit so serious, it's only a game anyway.

All this doesn't mean shit anyway, you should know since it's all about the 'ship.

Talk about work ethic!
Link - ( New Window )

I feel dirty even thinking about that.

that I know who David Fizdale is now.

Take that for data!

were a better coach, he wouldn't have needed to stay up all night.

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.

His offensive game is just beautiful to watch. He scores from everywhere on the court. And although he won't win it this year, he's a DPOY caliber defender when he wants to be.

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?

In comment 13431837 Sgrcts said:

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be a troll. Right?

I was thinking MoM-dupe

In comment 13432530 giants#1 said:

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In comment 13431837 Sgrcts said: Quote: be a troll. Right? I was thinking MoM-dupe

I don't think you know who MoM is.

.

Again. He's becoming completely unlikable.

of the smartest basketball fans I've ever read on the internet. And he was right about LeBron.

David Fizdale though. Great rant last night. Now I will remember him as more than "the coach with the ridiculously hot wife".

In comment 13432397 PaulBlakeTSU said:

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were a better coach, he wouldn't have needed to stay up all night. 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.

According to your logic on Lue, the less you work the better you are? So we assume LeBron works less than a Mike Conley then? I guess that's what you mean.

That Pop doesn't make adjustments well. That's why his Spurs have blown more leads than his teams have come from behind in series. You can look that one up.

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.

You posters are unprofessional. I don't get the respect because I have class. I know you are experienced BBI posters with that pedigree but I'm not going to let you rook me on the NBA. Take that for data!

he sure likes to make several posts in a row like Joe/MoM did, but Joe/MoM actually made coherent, data-driven basketball arguments. Perhaps this is a Joe troll job.

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.

But I have a hard time seeing them win this series. Too many mismatches for them.

In comment 13432530 giants#1 said:

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In comment 13431837 Sgrcts said: Quote: 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

Opined that more NBA teams would take an available Lue over an available Pop and labelled it as fact.

If Joe was going to go all in on Lue, he would have had a much more sound argument to back it up. This guy is one of our less intelligent retreads, which is a large pool to choose from.

was a pretender but didn't think they'd get obliterated round 1.

In comment 13433650 giantsfan44ab said:

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was a pretender but didn't think they'd get obliterated round 1.

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..

you'd think the seeds were reversed here.

Probably because horford can't block shit on the defensive glass. Dude is not a 5.

Half time guys got it right about the thing that holds him back. He has to demand the ball more. Be much more aggressive. And not settle. When he does this he kicks ass.

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.

Brad Stevens should win a playoff series before he's anointed as a top 5 head coach in the NBA. His team is getting abused by an 8 seed.

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).

In comment 13433926 Metnut said:

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Brad Stevens should win a playoff series before he's anointed as a top 5 head coach in the NBA. His team is getting abused by an 8 seed. 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.

infield shift. What is Stevens gonna do, hit the 3s for him?

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.

Fizzdale's rant until now. Wow! Just reading about it doesn't do it justice.

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.

1 seed.

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.

Showed up tonight.

Stopped trusting his teammates and chucked a lot of long 2s and contested 3s at the end.

Man I love Westbrook but I'm starting to get really turned off by him. He could be so much more.

Up 22 pts near end of first half. Let's see if they can finish.

You read that right. 50-19

In comment 13436427 Giantology said:

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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.

In comment 13436617 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

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In comment 13436427 Giantology said: Quote: 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.

Ubered home, took dog for walk, had glass of wine with the Mrs., and then plopped on couch with a Sierra Nevada in hand and put on TNT to see Cavs within 5, eliciting a 'WTF happened reaction?'

Bucks dominating the Raptors. Milwaukee is going to be scary soon.

If he completes it... I don't even know what that'd mean. He's just so good

Tonight, but Steve Kerr is as well. Mike Brown coaching this team tonight on the road? Ew.

Is anyone else watching what Kawhi is doing to Memphis? How many clutch shots in a row can one guy make?

Is cinematic.

Reminded me of the lyric... "Freakin' brothers every way like MJ".

Conley and Gasol with big shots late. Memphis is a tough team, but the Spurs weren't supposed to be battling like this.

Will be a head coach next season cuz of this.

Shot.

Are winning this series in 6.

on each hand.

GS up 41-15 with 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter.

Let's just skip to the Finals.

going to play tonight, but he ruled himself out.

The Bulls are completely lost without Rondo. People have been giving him hell for years, but Rondo is pretty damn good.