Not sure. Luka is sum different. The way he can carry a team is Bron esqueAll time classic line!
Best U25 player in the world. Yep. Scary
There's still Doc for that. And Joel's injury
Mavs need to put the jazz in the trash next game already.
Shaping up nicely for next round. Celtics va Bucks should be apocalyptic, and the west series should be pretty good too. Memphis have no quit in them, Mavs have Brunson playing unconsciouss right now and that gives them more than an outside chance, esp if the Suns are withoug Booker or against the Pels(full strenght suns would be another story) and Heat vs winner or Raptors/Sixers has a lot of potential for chaos. Heat vs Raptors would be like watching two heavyweights try to fight underwater
NBA 2021-2022
- Thread starter elmo
- Start date
Thinking about it, would be very fitting for Doc to become the first coach ever to have a team drop 3-0 lead in the NBA playoffs. It has never happened in league’s long history.
I'm seeing a lot of Grizzlies fans complain about officiating being in favor of the Wolves. Do any of you agree with that?
Nah. Luka is a bad defender. Tatum is great at everything. The ability to carry a team might be impressive but nobody has ever won like that. We don't know what Luka would be in a less heliocentric team, playing a brand of basketball that is conducive to win titles. Tatum is doing that at an extremely high level
Team Luka here. The fact that his heroics couldn't beat the vastly superior Clippers roster with Megatron Kawhi last season shouldn't diminish the insane things he's done. Same goes for Tatum: If he loses against the Greek Freak and his championship team I won't hold it against him. Tatum's clearly the better defender, but he's not the offensive juggernaut Luka is. And calling Luka a "bad" defender is overstating it. He's mediocre. He looks a little slow after the calf strain, but he's not someone other wings can score on at will.
Also: I know you meant "in the NBA", but Luka won titles. For the team you support nonetheless.
That was literally the best decision of his career. He left a team that put Westbrick ahead of James Harden.
Had he stayed at Golden State, he would have won 4 titles at least. Love or no love, he would have been a part of a trues dynasty.
We should all thank KD for leaving the Warriors.
Looks like injuries will be the story of the playoffs again this year.
I think that KD did the right thing when he left. The issue was to try and bring a band with him, it would have been better for his legacy and team chemistry if he didn't try to bring Irving and Harden with him and instead the Nets built a full roster around KD's strength and weaknesses.
Booker’s injury has made Suns v Pelicans into a series but did not really impact Bucks v Bulls and Mavs v Jazz nearly as much as expected as Bucks have done very well without Middleton and Mavs were 2-1 up on Jazz without Luka.
I was slightly off with my prediction for Nets.
Fantastic defense on KD during the series, and Kyrie was bad except the first match. Boston seems to be overall favorites (by far) based on both models from 538. They have the best defense I have seen in some time, and Tatum has become one of the best overall players in the league.
Rooting for Warriors now but I think that the champions come from the East. Still think that any of Warriors, Suns (if Booker gets fit again), Heat, Celtics and Bucks have pretty good chances.
Fantastic defense on KD during the series, and Kyrie was bad except the first match. Boston seems to be overall favorites (by far) based on both models from 538. They have the best defense I have seen in some time, and Tatum has become one of the best overall players in the league.
Rooting for Warriors now but I think that the champions come from the East. Still think that any of Warriors, Suns (if Booker gets fit again), Heat, Celtics and Bucks have pretty good chances.
Luka got the Mavs into a place just behind the Warriors with no notable star and was able to go toe 2 toe with Kawhi and PG13 and take them to game 7. His defending has improved and can make plays and run the game on a different level to Tatum. He is baby bird. Tatum hasn't won anything either. what brand of basketball is Tatum playing that wins titles since he too went out 1st round last year? recency bias.Team Luka here. The fact that his heroics couldn't beat the vastly superior Clippers roster with Megatron Kawhi last season shouldn't diminish the insane things he's done. Same goes for Tatum: If he loses against the Greek Freak and his championship team I won't hold it against him. Tatum's clearly the better defender, but he's not the offensive juggernaut Luka is. And calling Luka a "bad" defender is overstating it. He's mediocre. He looks a little slow after the calf strain, but he's not someone other wings can score on at will.
Also: I know you meant "in the NBA", but Luka won titles. For the team you support nonetheless.
Yeah in hindsight, probably should have rested him for a game or something.
Funny you guys mention Doc as I have never been his biggest fan. If Sixers do lose, it will be the 3rd consecutive "bottle-job" under him.All time classic line!
Best U25 player in the world. Yep. Scary
There's still Doc for that. And Joel's injury
Mavs need to put the jazz in the trash next game already.
....
Think he became the first coach to blow a 3-1 lead in the playoffs with 3 different teams so wouldn't be surprising if he became the first coach to blow a 3-0 lead as well.
He gets hunted on switches in the playoffs. That's the sign of a poor defender. Yes he kept up with the Clippers, but he lost in the end, running out of gas late in pretty much every game because of the load he carried
Playing a very different brand of basketball, at a level where he didn't have to burn nearly as much energy on offence, wasn't nearly as easy to prey on defence, at a much lower level and at places that play almost a different sport from the NBA these daysAlso: I know you meant "in the NBA", but Luka won titles. For the team you support nonetheless.
The jazz are scrub trash. Of course injuries are the stories of the playoffs. They've been pretty much every season for the past 8 years
Tatum just put up 30/5/7/2 with a 61.6% TS and 53.8 eFG% on 30% usage while playing a major role in locking down Kevin fecking Durant
Luka's got a usage above 40% half fit. Heliocentric systems don't win in the NBA, even LeBron fecking James couldn't. Luka is a superior playmaker and passer, but Tatum is great at it too. They're pretty even as scorers. And Tatum is an elite defender on top of that. And he doesn't need an outrageous usage rate. When Luka proves just as effective on a significantly reduced usage and doesn't get hunted on defence, we can talk. Right now i think it's pretty clear Tatum is better
Maybe you right.
My take away hot take from the first round is Tatum will be a top 5 player from next season and beyond.
He will be top 5-6 in MVP voting this year already, I imagine, and should be first team All-NBA.
I don’t think there’s a clear top 5 in NBA right now anyway. Giannis, Embiid, Jokic, Doncic, Curry, Durant, Tatum, when healthy also Kawhi, still LeBron. You could have them in any order to be honest.
I mentioned this in one of my groupchats and I was kicked out of the chat for 2 hours.
I think he has a combined skillset at an elite level that not many else in the league have, it makes him a kinda unique player.
OKC should have kept Harden, they were being cheap with regards to the luxury tax which is why Harden was sent to Houston. It had nothing to do with choosing between Westbrook and Harden.
I don't think leaving OKC was a bad decision. He made the right decision if you solely consider chances of winning a championship. The Warriors just needed a SF that was better than Harrison Barnes and instead they got a top 3-5 SF of all time.
But (not that this should care), Durant's career move and social media posts since then show that those wins in GS weren't "complete".
Ingram is better than Tatum. Also feck the Celtics. Bum ass team with one title in 30 years, the Liverpool of the NBA.
What's your Trae hot take?You are making my Trae Young hot take sound perfectly reasonable.
He is a flopper, he can't defend, he is a turnover machine and essentially Westbrook 2.0.
Ah. Yes, that is a horrible take you should be ashamed of yourself
Of course, but at the end of the day that is what it amounts to.
I think this is partly due to the fact they won together only two championships. Make it 3, 4 and those voices and doubters in the background do not matter that much anymore.
A sweep against that snakeish flat-earther feels really good, yet it was a tightly contested series which the Nets only lost because of their sloppy, careless, effortless defence, while Boston did it all at flawless, non repeatable rate maybe. Game 4 analysis on celticsblog shows again the Nets being always one or two fractions behind Boston’s ballhandler, rebounder, finisher. I mean, Bucks will be a truly different proposition in that they are energetic as well and have a God-sized baller and supreme athlete in Giannis. Middleton’s return would make Bucks favorites imho.
Butler out with knee inflammation. The injuries are piling up.
Just saw Embiid interview, must say he loves to point fingers at others, " my job is not tell him (Harden) what he needs to, thats coaches job and i am not a coach" ...3,2,1..." Think he should do X, Y, Z" lul. Is he doing this pointing finger as a deflection so those 76ers fans tunnel vision on someone else or what
Westbrook was the superior player to Harden at the time. And OKC could have kept all three if they had wanted.
Not all championships are created equal either. One title with OKC would be far more meaningful than 2 or 3 with the Warriors. I actually agree though. He probably should have doubled-down and won more with them. But as I said, the 2 he got didn't fulfil him. Because deep down he knows every one was cheap.
Ugly game in Memphis. Turnover galore. No more than a couple of players on the floor who are playing well.
Atlanta v Miami isn't the prettiest game either, but Miami have the toughness, grittiness, and defense...while Atlanta isn't shooting well, again. Young is getting shut down and full credit to Miami.
Even without Butler and Lowry, Oladipo is playing well, Adebayo doing his thing, and Herro stepping up. Atlanta just doesn't have it without Bogi and two players who are a shell of themselves in Collins and Capela playing injured. Not the same mobility or explosiveness from either player.
Even without Butler and Lowry, Oladipo is playing well, Adebayo doing his thing, and Herro stepping up. Atlanta just doesn't have it without Bogi and two players who are a shell of themselves in Collins and Capela playing injured. Not the same mobility or explosiveness from either player.
One of my favourite players to watch when healthy. Explosive is the perfect word
Ja has had a pretty disappointing series considering the (justified) hype coming in.
Looked like he exorcised some demons with this dunk.
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Well he's making me look silly now.
It was that dunk, I'm telling you. Don't know what was going on in his head, but whatever it was, he let it all out with that dunk
Nail-biting finish. So clutch by Ja. So clutch. What a 4th quarter from him.
Alvarado is such a pest. This boy is making CP3 work for it on every possession as a rookie
Grand Theft Alvarado! So good to seeAlvarado is such a pest. This boy is making CP3 work for it on every possession as a rookie
KD is really getting annoyed by Chuck's bus-driver jab. Which is true and also true for Chuck's career.