That was feckin embarrassing. We should not be allowed to play without a center ever again. Feck.
NBA 2016-17
- Thread starter ArmchairCritic
- Start date
The match ended before the 1st quarter did. 45 points, ffs.
Told ya guys the dubs would sweep. I don't think they're going to lose more than 4 games in these playoffs. Last season they chased the 73 wins and paid for it in the playoffs. Think this season they calibrated to go 16-4 rather than 73-9
Also, raptors-bucks and wizards-hawks are now the most interesting series nobody cares about because lebron. Spurs-Griezzlies on the other hand
Also, raptors-bucks and wizards-hawks are now the most interesting series nobody cares about because lebron. Spurs-Griezzlies on the other hand
I hope Utah qualify with a fit Gobert they'd be a better bet to snatch a couple of games as opposed to Clips without Blake.
Rockets - Spurs would be a lot more interesting. How does Pop workaround the defense with Gasol in there if Houston pin them down.
Rockets - Spurs would be a lot more interesting. How does Pop workaround the defense with Gasol in there if Houston pin them down.
I find it puzzling that the absence of Steve Kerr seems to be regarded as not that relevant. Do you guys really think that without the first team coach (he might be absent till the end of the season, you know) the Warriors lose only a couple of games and just walk through to the finals?
Utah could give them problems but will still lose IMO. Conference finals is where they might have to work for the wins but even then they are probably going to win that comfortably. In the finals it all depends on how fresh Cavaliers are.
I guess people feel that they are able to win it on pure ability. And this may actually be correct because let's face it, the team they lost to in the finals last year did not really have a great coach on the bench (I don't rate Lue at all) but had a great coach/leader on the court.
Lets hope that he isn't out for the entire playoff.
Saying that, Mike Brown is a very good coach too. It didn't work on LA because of big egos there (Kobe and Howard), but that isn't a problem with Dubs.
From Foxsports:
There have only been two players who have scored 35 or more points in less than 30 minutes in a playoff game in the last 33 years (per Basketball Reference data, which only goes back that far) — Curry did it Monday night, scoring 37 on 7-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc in 29 minutes.
The other player to do it: Michael Jordan. (He only scored 35 ...).
Keven Durant's team - ha!
It was all just Steffortless.
There have only been two players who have scored 35 or more points in less than 30 minutes in a playoff game in the last 33 years (per Basketball Reference data, which only goes back that far) — Curry did it Monday night, scoring 37 on 7-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc in 29 minutes.
The other player to do it: Michael Jordan. (He only scored 35 ...).
Keven Durant's team - ha!
It was all just Steffortless.
Not to mention he did it against an all time elite defensive unit like the current Portland Trailblazers team.
I don't care if he was playing against the Washington Generals. To do something that has only happened twice in thirty odd years or more is pretty damn good.
Yes. Their structure really is that good, their team really is that good, and the guy replacing Kerr is a former head coach with finals experience
Never use this again.
Also this.
Hey, if it's good enough for the "Inside the NBA" crew, it's good enough for me.
I don't care if he was playing against the Washington Generals. To do something that has only happened twice in thirty odd years or more is pretty damn good.
And yet you issued all kinds of disclaimers for something that has only happened twice in nba history.
Let me guess - was it Shaq?Hey, if it's good enough for the "Inside the NBA" crew, it's good enough for me.
Are you trying to suggest that Meyers Leonard is not an elite defender? Or is it Lillard who cannot defend?!
I didn't issue any disclaimers, I just quoted Foxsports and the TNT crew of course. Breathe! Steffortless! Steffortless! Steffortless!
No, it's all of them. When he hits a long bomb and they show it on highlights they all say at once in a hushed tone "it was just Steffortless."
I saw what I saw, in that first quarter.
Bunch of clowns. Has to be Shaq who started it tho, the man cannot stop coming up with these. Remember the 'ShawShaq Redemption' I couldn't tell you for sure. I tried looking it up and the only thing I found was that it's actually "Stephortless." As to Shaq, he can be amusing in small doses but he does tend to beat this kind of thing to death.
Just seen this, don't if it' true but whatever:
Portland has outscored the dubs by 4 points in the 105 minutes JaVale McGee was on the bench. In the 39 minutes he was on the floor, they were +51
It's JaVale's era
(Stealth edit) Take that for data
Portland has outscored the dubs by 4 points in the 105 minutes JaVale McGee was on the bench. In the 39 minutes he was on the floor, they were +51
It's JaVale's era
(Stealth edit) Take that for data
I saw what I saw, in that first quarter.
Hehe, I know. Lillard is a bad defender, there's no doubt about that. Most of the time he doesn't even bother. IMO CJ is a good defender when he can be arsed but he does not put enough effort anyway.
Leonard and his new contract is the worst thing that has ever happened to this franchise.
I don't think it has as much to do with McGee being great as with Portland back up unit, which he was against most of the time, being absolutely pointless beyond belief.
@charlton66 how confident are you that the Dubs win the championship this year? Interested to get the view of a Warriors fan. Everyone else appears to basically have them at about a 95% lock.
Oladipo has yet to show consistency over an entire season and has a lot of injury problems. Adams has no offensive game barring tips and dunks and his free-throw shooting means it's hard to ever make him the focal point of the offense. Kanter is skilled offensively but is just a sieve on defense, it's ridiculous at times so it's hard to play him significant minutes and when you pair him with Taj or Adams, there just isn't enough perimeter shooting to stay with Houston. You're right in the sense that Houston's roster makes sense while OKC's doesn't.
Yeah been saying the same, it's the amount of 1-way players at Oklahoma who are in key roles that is the issue.
Sure their roster was rated high at the start of the season though it says a lot when the Conference Finalists instantly get billed for 6th at best, regardless of that if you look at the actual performances during the season it is obvious that a few of them haven't really stepped up as they were expected to as to collectively reduce that massive 28PPG gap. It's a major mess right now, and I don't know if it would be fixed anytime soon. McDermott was a good acquisition though.
Sure their roster was rated high at the start of the season though it says a lot when the Conference Finalists instantly get billed for 6th at best, regardless of that if you look at the actual performances during the season it is obvious that a few of them haven't really stepped up as they were expected to as to collectively reduce that massive 28PPG gap. It's a major mess right now, and I don't know if it would be fixed anytime soon. McDermott was a good acquisition though.
You're no fun, man
Man, those Warriors are insanely overpowered. Even Cavs got some problems in their 4 wins vs Pacers especially in the first game. Away from Warriors, Cavs and most probably Rockets series, the other series are all on action and you can't confirm what team will pass.
I think Raptors will do it against Bucks. They seem to return to their selves after the horrible 3rd game, as usual they start the series indifferently and put their selves in a dangerous spot then grow in the series gradually as the games go on. They looked in game 5 in a very different way than how they appeared in that 3rd game. Can see them winning the series 4-2 or 4-3. Bucks have a great young team and will develop much better with the next season.
I think Raptors will do it against Bucks. They seem to return to their selves after the horrible 3rd game, as usual they start the series indifferently and put their selves in a dangerous spot then grow in the series gradually as the games go on. They looked in game 5 in a very different way than how they appeared in that 3rd game. Can see them winning the series 4-2 or 4-3. Bucks have a great young team and will develop much better with the next season.
I was actually more confident last year to be honest and we know how that turned out. I think if the team can avoid any more injuries and the Steve Kerr situation settles down then they have a very good chance - nowhere near 95% though. 538 gives them a 70% chance of winning it all. I'm not sure I'd go that high but that's mostly because for me it's very hard to realistically count LeBron out until the fat lady has started on that first note.
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Shaq was probably the most skilled big man in history, shooting aside. There is absolutely no way you would score on him one on one in his prime.
Guys, don't take me seriously. It was a hyperbole to illustrate how shit Shaq was at shooting (and yep, he was quite bad at it).
He is one of the best centers of all time, likely the strongest player to have played in the league, but his shooting was bad.
Duncan was much more skilled than Shaq. So are the Gasol brothers, Nowitzki and from recent crop of big men, the likes of Davis or KAT. They just aren't near as strong as him.
He is one of the best centers of all time, likely the strongest player to have played in the league, but his shooting was bad.
Duncan was much more skilled than Shaq. So are the Gasol brothers, Nowitzki and from recent crop of big men, the likes of Davis or KAT. They just aren't near as strong as him.
That's if we assume that post up play and inside scoring, defending, shot blocking and rebounding are not skills because he was elite at all of it.
Spoken like someone who has been an NBA fan for a couple years. The Blazers took Saw Bowie over Michael Jordan. They took Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. They drafted Bill Walton, one of the greatest players of all time, and got 209 games out of him due to injuries. They drafted Brandon Roy and watched injuries destroy his career after only 4 seasons. Zach Randolph punched Ruben Patterson in the eye during practice!
When you are so much bigger than everyone, then that is easily. He was physically gifted, likely the most powerful player in the history of the league.
Free throws are easy if you practice correctly though. My coach literally made the whole team shoot free throws after practice until we make 100 consecutive shots as a team and we were all hitting over 80% in actual games by the time the season was over.
Create a low salary cap for players who can't hit free throws above 60% and there won't be any more terrible free throw shooters in 3 years. There's little incentives for players to improve their free throw percentages because everyone is complaining about the intentional fouling when the actual fact is that it only exist because some players just can't fecking hit the second easiest shot in the game.
Yeah I know all this except Randolph. It was a hyperbole, of course I don't think giving $10M a year contract to an absolutely dreadful player, in a time when these $10M would not have done us anything anyway because nobody wants to come to Portland, is the worst that could ever happen
Based on the first round it's difficult to see them lose. Their best competition is Cavs who are, currently, insanely reliant on a 32 year old to pretty much not only perform sensationally himself in every game (that second half in game 3 was simply god-level which you can't expect often) but only pull that bunch together and organise the offense. He is obviously known to reach that level during playoffs but he's only getting older every year and needs better support. If all of Kyrie, Love and Thompson don't pick up their game massively for the remaining postseason, especially during the series vs Dubs they'll be in massive, massive trouble. And that's pretty much the best bet to stop Warriors from winning - all of Spurs, Rockets and co. have bigger problems that have been exposed so far already.