win whatever game they play against whatever team they play. People are right, the injuries sunk the Knicks (but that is becoming more common in the modern NBA--all teams suffer injuries at alarming rates these days in the playoffs), but yesterday's result was because of how well Indiana played. Both can be true that 1) Indiana got lucky (in two series with injuries) and that 2) Indiana would have beaten any team thrown at them yesterday with the way they were shooting and moving the basketball.
and then Brunson ultimately breaking his hand, eased the pain of losing for me a little bit.
We were almost at a full 2 weeks from the initial OG injury, and other than shooting a few jumpers, he looked like he literally could not move. He would have been out for games 1 and 2 at a minimum and probably that whole series.
I don't know why we had to become so decimated by injuries but it's what happened. I take solace in the fact that I have no doubt this team is ascending into a championship caliber group and they are only getting started. The Garden is going to be alive in the spring for years to come.
Master motivators who employ a high effort, defensive team strategy and consistently get results - but on the flip side, that intensity can burn out it's top players before the playoffs are over.
The Knicks dropping like flies has been giving me horrible flashbacks to those Tortorella teams making runs with increasingly depleted rosters and running out of steam.
I just don't know how this can be pinned on him. Nobody played unreasonable minutes during the year. It's not his fault Embiid is a crash test dummy flopped who dove into Mitch's ankles, nor is it his fault OG is injury prone. Hartenstein and Hart and Brunson just got hurt playing hard.
I guess the key question to answer is if the player burnout is from overuse or is it inherent to the style Thibodeau has them play? Or just plain bad luck - but didn't he have similar injury issues in Chicago?
I watch more hockey than basketball so I admit I'm firing from the hip here. With Torts it was obvious - telling everyone to dive in front of every slap shot clearly wears down players.
Could Popovich style rest days during the regular season help preserve some of these guys? Easier to do when you have Tim Duncan, I suppose hah.
Pacers are a young team that is ahead of schedule. They got lucky with injuries in their matchups, but lost their 6th man and Haliburton for a significant part of the season. Shooting close to 70 percent is an achievement that aligns with what their offense has done all season being #2 in ORtg. To dismiss them as purely lucky and a fluke doesn't match the body of evidence they put together. I fully expect them to be battling for a top 4 finish in the East again next season, although long term keeping that bench together is going to be a challenge.
Pacers are a young team that is ahead of schedule. They got lucky with injuries in their matchups, but lost their 6th man and Haliburton for a significant part of the season. Shooting close to 70 percent is an achievement that aligns with what their offense has done all season being #2 in ORtg. To dismiss them as purely lucky and a fluke doesn't match the body of evidence they put together. I fully expect them to be battling for a top 4 finish in the East again next season, although long term keeping that bench together is going to be a challenge.
Look the Pacers should be happy with what they have done, they best what was in front of them, but lets be real they got extremely lucky and i am not even talking about the aknicks..
They best a Bucks team eith no Giannis and Lillard missing 2 ganes and being significantly hindered in the others and still needed 6 games
and Haliburton missed 13 games, i dont want to hesr he missed a significant amount of time...
athey got taken to 7 games by a team missing 4 starters 2 of which are their 2nd and 3rd best player..
As currently constructed they are not better than the Celtics, Knicks Bucks, Magic, Sixers, cavs are all better than the Pacers, they are good offensively but they are still a terrible defensive team
Pacers are a young team that is ahead of schedule. They got lucky with injuries in their matchups, but lost their 6th man and Haliburton for a significant part of the season. Shooting close to 70 percent is an achievement that aligns with what their offense has done all season being #2 in ORtg. To dismiss them as purely lucky and a fluke doesn't match the body of evidence they put together. I fully expect them to be battling for a top 4 finish in the East again next season, although long term keeping that bench together is going to be a challenge.
Look the Pacers should be happy with what they have done, they best what was in front of them, but lets be real they got extremely lucky and i am not even talking about the aknicks..
They best a Bucks team eith no Giannis and Lillard missing 2 ganes and being significantly hindered in the others and still needed 6 games
and Haliburton missed 13 games, i dont want to hesr he missed a significant amount of time...
athey got taken to 7 games by a team missing 4 starters 2 of which are their 2nd and 3rd best player..
As currently constructed they are not better than the Celtics, Knicks Bucks, Magic, Sixers, cavs are all better than the Pacers, they are good offensively but they are still a terrible defensive team
They were 8-3 against the Bucks this season and 4 of those wins came while Giannis was playing. That included eliminating them in the in season tournament. So the Bucks have a hard time with the Paces even with all their starters.
Yes Haliburton only missed 13 games, but he came back early to remain eligible for Key season awards, which now require 35 games played. His minutes were reduced and he wasn't the same player for most of the following month.
Either way doesn't matter, I just enjoy Turner finally getting to be a part of a promising young team.
They were 4-1 against the Bucks in the regular season, three of those wins against Giannis. They beat the Celtics twice.
In a conference that's the Celtics and everyone else, Indy is very much in the picture.
We were almost at a full 2 weeks from the initial OG injury, and other than shooting a few jumpers, he looked like he literally could not move. He would have been out for games 1 and 2 at a minimum and probably that whole series.
I don't know why we had to become so decimated by injuries but it's what happened. I take solace in the fact that I have no doubt this team is ascending into a championship caliber group and they are only getting started. The Garden is going to be alive in the spring for years to come.
Quote:
Master motivators who employ a high effort, defensive team strategy and consistently get results - but on the flip side, that intensity can burn out it's top players before the playoffs are over.
The Knicks dropping like flies has been giving me horrible flashbacks to those Tortorella teams making runs with increasingly depleted rosters and running out of steam.
I just don't know how this can be pinned on him. Nobody played unreasonable minutes during the year. It's not his fault Embiid is a crash test dummy flopped who dove into Mitch's ankles, nor is it his fault OG is injury prone. Hartenstein and Hart and Brunson just got hurt playing hard.
I guess the key question to answer is if the player burnout is from overuse or is it inherent to the style Thibodeau has them play? Or just plain bad luck - but didn't he have similar injury issues in Chicago?
I watch more hockey than basketball so I admit I'm firing from the hip here. With Torts it was obvious - telling everyone to dive in front of every slap shot clearly wears down players.
Could Popovich style rest days during the regular season help preserve some of these guys? Easier to do when you have Tim Duncan, I suppose hah.
Look the Pacers should be happy with what they have done, they best what was in front of them, but lets be real they got extremely lucky and i am not even talking about the aknicks..
They best a Bucks team eith no Giannis and Lillard missing 2 ganes and being significantly hindered in the others and still needed 6 games
and Haliburton missed 13 games, i dont want to hesr he missed a significant amount of time...
athey got taken to 7 games by a team missing 4 starters 2 of which are their 2nd and 3rd best player..
As currently constructed they are not better than the Celtics, Knicks Bucks, Magic, Sixers, cavs are all better than the Pacers, they are good offensively but they are still a terrible defensive team
Quote:
Pacers are a young team that is ahead of schedule. They got lucky with injuries in their matchups, but lost their 6th man and Haliburton for a significant part of the season. Shooting close to 70 percent is an achievement that aligns with what their offense has done all season being #2 in ORtg. To dismiss them as purely lucky and a fluke doesn't match the body of evidence they put together. I fully expect them to be battling for a top 4 finish in the East again next season, although long term keeping that bench together is going to be a challenge.
Look the Pacers should be happy with what they have done, they best what was in front of them, but lets be real they got extremely lucky and i am not even talking about the aknicks..
They best a Bucks team eith no Giannis and Lillard missing 2 ganes and being significantly hindered in the others and still needed 6 games
and Haliburton missed 13 games, i dont want to hesr he missed a significant amount of time...
athey got taken to 7 games by a team missing 4 starters 2 of which are their 2nd and 3rd best player..
As currently constructed they are not better than the Celtics, Knicks Bucks, Magic, Sixers, cavs are all better than the Pacers, they are good offensively but they are still a terrible defensive team
They were 8-3 against the Bucks this season and 4 of those wins came while Giannis was playing. That included eliminating them in the in season tournament. So the Bucks have a hard time with the Paces even with all their starters.
Yes Haliburton only missed 13 games, but he came back early to remain eligible for Key season awards, which now require 35 games played. His minutes were reduced and he wasn't the same player for most of the following month.
Either way doesn't matter, I just enjoy Turner finally getting to be a part of a promising young team.