I want to see what Atlanta can do with Trae and Rudy. Not sure what else you would need to include but Capella + Collins for Gobert + something seems a potential deal that both could get on board with.
NBA 2021-2022
- Thread starter elmo
- Start date
Atlanta would be a good destination. Not sure Utah would want to start their rebuild by replacing Gobert with a worse version of him in Capela. Collins is a good shout but I would probably try to add one of your wings to the deal instead (Hunter or Kevin HUERRRRTERRRR).
Kyrie breaking his fast mid game is really interesting. I really had no idea he was a Muslim until the other day. The discipline to stick with it while being an high performing elite athlete is very impressive.
Also just caught up on yesterday's games. Ja Morant is fecking ridiculous.
According to a little research, Kyrie is an Australian American member of the Lakota tribe who has converted to Islam but occasionally professes to worship his dog Rufus.
Amazing comeback by Boston. Durant went 0-10 from the field in the second half - first time ever in his career he's attempted at least 10 shots in a second half without making one.
What a farcical end
Spoke too soon
Embiid
Embiid
I certainly didn't expect Boston/Nets and Toronto/Raptors to be the most one-sided series. Obviously still a lot to play-out but there's been some surprises.
EDIT: Most one-sided other than Warriors and Denver.
EDIT: Most one-sided other than Warriors and Denver.
Lots of hot takes on the internet on how KD can't handle double-teamed or more in playoffs after having played with Steph. Obviously inaccurate but funny nonetheless.
Not surprised that series is one sided.
I don't think we can all Celtics v Nets one-sided, both games have been very close and going back to Brooklyn now Nets will fancy their chances to take one or even both. I reckon series will go to Celtics but even if it's 4-1 (which I think it may well be), it will still be a competitive series IMO.
Durant very underwhelming so far. I mean, I did expect that the worst defense in the league facing possibly the best defense in the league could look like this but you'd still expect Kyrie/KD to score, Kyrie did great in first game but was invisible last night, KD very poor in both games.
As for Sixers v Raptors, I thought it'd be 4-3 to either team and thought Raptors would match up pretty well with them - especially in non-Embiid minutes. It has been a complete opposite.
What these two games have proven though is just how crazy the idea of the Nets winning the ring is, it’s just an unbelievable ask to expect them to go through the play in & then beat Celtics/Bucks and then still have to go through two more rounds
It's the playoffs. Raptors lost Barnes in game 1 and they have no chance of slowing down Joel.
Btw, the series everybody expected to be an easy sweep has been anything but. DeRozan with the best playoff game of his life
I love this Boston team. I put them as favourites for the East, even with by far the hardest route to get there.
Yeah, they are good enough to sustain a run… until their positive-vibs bubble bursts. Hopefully, their true colors will be bright enough to survive the unexpected-always-expected adversities as well.
Proper playoffs this. Go Boston, both defence and fans like they came from Turkey. <3
Also, DeRozan.
Also, DeRozan.
Its not one-sided. they played 2 homes games so I expect Nets win the next home game.
I mean......Steph gets guarded like this all the time. KD played with Harden and Kyrie for last play offs so when is the last time he experienced something like this? Might be some truth to it.
didn't realise Tatum was THIS GOOD at defending. He better than Brown at defending imo. He's great. I love a team full of 2 way players
The defending is so much rougher in play offsProper playoffs this. Go Boston, both defence and fans like they came from Turkey. <3
Also, DeRozan.
The trouble with KD and Kyrie for that matter is that they both love their "hero ball" and this plays right into Boston's hands. If you have a swarming defense it obviously leaves other people open but neither KD or Kyrie like to take that option. It is true that Steph gets guarded like this all the time and very often his shooting percentages suffer but if you're moving the ball around like Golden State everybody else gets there's. This was often the problem when KD was with the Warriors. Steve Kerr wanted the ball zipping around, KD wanted to isolate. IMLTHO, this was one of the reasons Durant ended up leaving. He just didn't like playing the Warriors way. If KD is "on" he is so good that more often than not his isolations work. If he is a little bit "off" and/or frustration starts to creep in, what we are seeing against the Celtics was often what we saw on the occasions where the Warriors would lose games when he was with them.
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I'm getting flashbacks to watching Harden at the Rockets with these two. There isn't much team play going on. Just iso. If it works, then great, and it does a lot of the time, but if it doesn't, kick it out to a heavily guarded teammate to try a heavily contested shot. Even if I wasn't so anti-Nets, it's much easier as a neutral to get behind the kind of basketball the Celtics are playing.
I understand now why people disliked watching the Rockets so much. I was too lost in the sauce to see it at the time.
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Same.
I want a Suns v Celtics finals. That way, I can sit back knowing I'd be delighted no matter which team won it. I kinda like the Sixers too, so they can get in on the fun too. I don't mind.
Yeah they’ve grown immensely in my eyes over the last 6-8 weeks. I wouldn’t have had them anywhere near top of the East even at the beginning of year, they were playing .500 to start the season and looked more like a play-in team than a contender and then they clicked massively in the second half of season. They are playing in this series without Williams, I reckon with him on the floor their advantage over Nets - in particular on defense - would be even more emphasized.
I’d still have Miami over them, and probably Milwaukee too, but I would not be shocked if they beat either (and they will likely have to beat both to get into the Finals). East is overall much stronger and more interesting this year which is refreshing (seems to have been the case ever since LeBron left as he had it easy when he was in Cleveland
).Suns are in deep shit without Booker. They should win the series, but everyone has to step their game up and CP3 can't be asked to set the tempo on both ends of the court. Ayton, Crowder, Payne, and Johnson have to chip in with 55+ points.
Pelicans have the best duo now in CJ and Ingram versus CP3 and Insert Suns player here who isn't Booker.
Just need everyone else to stop sleepwalking through the games. Ridiculous how we let Pelicans walk through to get rebounds.
It's going to be a tough slog to get out of this series, without Booker, but they could have him for the later games if it goes the distance.
If they through NOLA, with Booker hopefully back, I expect them to handle Jazz or the Mavs.
Its astonishing that in a popular sport, grown men don't know what to do when the ball is not in their hands and have such little IQ in terms of passing and movement off the ball (pass and move is the Liverpool groove!). Its more stark because it seems to be the better players who are the biggest culprits, with Harden and Russ, Bron being notable. I understand in basketball its tradition for PG to bring the ball up but ball movement seems to be lacking from modern day PG because they just wanna ISO or score. This creates highly skilled but somewhat limited guys. I wonder if teams ever do practice with multiple ball handlers just for back up in case their main guy gets locked up.
It is possibly just the current USA basketball culture which is all about the super star and breaking statistical records/accolades. "such and such has 20 40pt games and this player has 30 30+ pt games this year WOW!" its all about STAR player and getting the ball in his hands to get a bucket. It even starts from high school. I understand you should create an opening for the STAR to get a shot off, but nowadays they just give them the ball and get out of the way. Its not good basketball. The women's game and overseas game are so different and we could see this in the Olympics despite the team with the best individuals clearly prevailing.
And that's my point about CP3 not being able to always set the tempo. Unfortunately, he's older and his body just isn't able to bounce back energy wise and have that bounce throughout every game.
Pelicans just out ran the Suns and with that came the effort, which we saw on the offensive glass for Pelicans. Arguably, McGee out played Ayton during Game 2, and that cannot happen. Thank Craig should see more minutes as an energy and defensive guy who can match the pace of Pelicans.
Looking to Crowder, Johnson, and Payne to step up but more so Crowder and Payne.
The crazy thing is watching Harden now in Philly, he's almost fully transitioned to being a facilitator rather than the primary scorer he was before. This full time playmaker thing really suits him, I have to say. He does still iso sometimes to get his own shots off, but off the ball I've seen him provide screens and cut a lot more than I ever saw him do in Houston.
So maybe it's not a question of whether they can do it, it's about whether they want to. When Harden and Russ were both in Houston, they used to take turns in bringing the ball up and when one is doing it, the other would just stand around looking useless completely uninvolved, but it's a completely different Harden we're seeing now in Philly.
At least give themselves a chance by splitting the series now in New Orleans. Booker might be available later in the series, but how his body will react is a different story. Suns had a very good record without Booker and Paul out during the regular season, but as we all know, that was regular season. That doesn't mean anything.
Having a coach like Doc Rivers, supplemented by MVP Embiid and talented role players like Maxey, Harris, and unsung hero Danny Green forces Harden to adapt more times than not. And he's able and willing to do it because that's what is clearly demanded of him and he can see how he impacts the team. In Houston, that's just how the team played and the coaches allowed it to play out.
Morey was the GM with Harden then and now, so he knows exactly what was happening and how to maximize Harden.
Yeah Tatum is up there with the best overall defensive wings in the game. Brown isn't quite at that level, but he's in the next tier and he's still probably slightly better at guarding smaller players than Tatum. Tatum's defensive strengths are also perfectly in line with the Celtics' scheme - one of the switchiest players in the league.
It's crazy that literally every player getting minutes for the Celtics is at least above average defensively. Even Pritchard grades out as a tenacious on ball defender though obviously he's limited physically in terms of who he can be switched onto.
That's what I mean. With Harden at least, it was his own unwillingness and the team culture and dynamics that made him play the way he did in Houston. In Philly, he's understood the assignment and has transformed himself almost into a true point guard and you can tell young studs like Maxey absolutely love playing alongside him.
It's quite jarring to watch old footage of Houston games now with Harden and Russ. I watched a game v the Kings from 2019 the other day. They combined for 62 points. Nearly every bucket each one got was an unassisted iso bucket.
It's a tough watch. We know it is effective and it does work, but you don't give yourself too many chances to be great. I've watched more than enough Clippers games and it's a tough watch without Kawhi because at least he has the ability to play off the ball and create a shot without the ball. But Paul George and then Reggie Jackson getting to run the offensive just through them is painful. But with Houston, it was five times as bad.
I think he's just tired of being the main guy and always failing that now all he wants is to be the Robin hence him saying how he didn't go to the Nets to play heroball with KD and Kyrie out.
Not only with KD and Kyrie out, but also Joe Harris. Think he's a huge miss for the Nets, but yeah, I agree. He knows he can do more with a team oriented style or at least where he can differ to MVP Embiid and others who play according to a team and know their roles.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Steph Curry, individually, is not the best player in the NBA, but he certainly is the best in the NBA at making his team mates better. Rarely does he ISO, his off the ball movement is second to none and his gravity is unparalleled. Even on nights where his shot is not dropping, his team mates are invariably wide open. He just makes the game easier for all.
....and even though I'm incredibly biased, most people i think would agree; the Warriors (even if you don't like them) are fun as hell to watch.
Insert "you don't say" meme
Hey, at least I'm honest.Insert "you don't say" meme