NBA Playoffs

[bballgrda]

I expected this to be a tight series, but I'm shocked by the how. Embiid has been, dare I say, exposed at times. Consistently poor closeouts, choppy footwork, sucking air in transition. And I started to type this post before that whiff on Horford effectively ended the game.

Was really disappointed in Embiid tonight myself. Also have to remember how young Philly is. They are an inexperienced team playing in their first big games in front of a rowdy, hostile crowd. I hope they are reinvigorated by their home court for the sake of an interesting series.

 

[intlzncster]

I expected this to be a tight series, but I'm shocked by the how. Embiid has been, dare I say, exposed at times. Consistently poor closeouts, choppy footwork, sucking air in transition. And I started to type this post before that whiff on Horford effectively ended the game.

Horford is such a pro. Might be overpaid, but it's worth it in moments/games like this. Dude can play.

 

[champs99and04]

Was really disappointed in Embiid tonight myself. Also have to remember how young Philly is. They are an inexperienced team playing in their first big games in front of a rowdy, hostile crowd. I hope they are reinvigorated by their home court for the sake of an interesting series.

The crowd won that game for Boston, plain and simple. And that's to take nothing away from the players. They cut the lead to 17 and the crowd erupted like they had tied it. Myself being the type of dork that loves to study crowds and the impact they have on games, it sounded like they took it up a notch. I had been pouring over the ticket market this week hoping to attend one of the games and I noticed the prices were much steeper for game two. The rare 8:30 start time and it being a Thursday night presumably allowed people to drink and still get to the game on time. It's funny because I think it was Ilyasova who was talking about the difference between the Boston crowd and the Miami crowd. I'll hand it to them being a non-Boston sports fan who lives in the area - for all the winning they've done, it can get about as loud as it does anywhere for the Bruins, Celtics, and Sox. The Patriots are a different scene but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and and chalk it up in part to acoustics.

 

[champs99and04]

Horford is such a pro. Might be overpaid, but it's worth it in moments/games like this. Dude can play.

+21 tonight. (Incidentally, Baynes was a -16 - this is a dynamic to watch)

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Offensively yes, I would think it'd be more controversial to suggest anything else.

No way

 

[KemBaller]

Horford is such a pro. Might be overpaid, but it's worth it in moments/games like this. Dude can play.

Definitely overpaid for pure on court production but huge value in helping to establish a culture in Boston as a free agent/superstar trade destination

 

[husky429]

I believe that Brad Stevens goes does as a top 5 coach of all time when it's all said and done.

Right now, some of his substitutions can be weird, but he's getting playoff level play out of a group of old guys, rooks, and really limited players right now. The building blocks of this team are out (hayward and kyrie). It's amazing how focused his teams are.

 

[6xChamps]

Was thinking this last night, but Marcus Morris has to be Eric Cobb's favorite player, right?

 

[gtcam]

Was thinking this last night, but Marcus Morris has to be Eric Cobb's favorite player, right?

Marcus Morris is a stud and can score the ball
The difference between the two (aside from skill) is planets apart
The Celts are a different team when Marcus Smart is on the floor

 

[gtcam]

LeBron ripping Toronto’s heart heading back to Cleveland

All the first two games of the series has proven is how lousy and lazy both Lowry and DeRozen are on defense
Lowry was and always will be a punk

 

[Lefty2one]

I expected this to be a tight series, but I'm shocked by the how. Embiid has been, dare I say, exposed at times. Consistently poor closeouts, choppy footwork, sucking air in transition. And I started to type this post before that whiff on Horford effectively ended the game.

All these good young bigs have a ways to go still (Embiid, Porzingis, KAT). They look great more often than not but they have really bad moments where you see how young they are. I have a good friend who's a Sixers fan and he gets so frustrated with Embiid. I think the national media/fanbase overrates him a bit.

 

[Travelman6]

#1 seed Toronto is so getting swept now, wow.

Really laid an egg, especially in game 2. Game 1 was kinda bad luck a little.

Now on to Cleveland to lose two more. Yay , yet another eastern finals with the Cavs....

 

[Lefty2one]

How about Simmons...that guy just totally disappeared...they did better with McConnell on the floor (+16) than with Simmons (-23)....brutal.

Took a page from GSW in 2015 against LeBron...keep him in front of you the best you can and stick to shooters. If LeBron drops 60 then so be it. The shocker here how great Morris & Co have been at keeping Simmons in front of themselves and limiting his scoring, I guess Simmons's complete lack of a jumper has something to do with it but you can't shortchange Boston. He's really struggling to get to the rim. The NBA has always been a league of matchups and they've got some people to throw at Simmons.

That said, I still don't see Boston winning a game in Philly. As great as they play at home, they're an inconsistent mess on the road and Philly is fantastic at home. This series is far from over, don't care what the 2-0/0-2 historical info says.

 

[Excalibur]

Can't see Snyder leaving the NBA after sniffing success. So...which Hurley?

I would think the one who, you know, went to Duke?

 

[Excalibur]

+21 tonight. (Incidentally, Baynes was a -16 - this is a dynamic to watch)

Baynes' defensive metrics were pretty darn good this season. I just think he has issues matching up athletically with someone like Embiid.

 

[Lefty2one]

#1 seed Toronto is so getting swept now, wow.

It may have been their best regular season record but this is the worst team they've had the last three years. Lowry has already started to decline and their bench is overrated. It's essentially DeRozan and a bunch of role players. They were lucky to get past a very blah Wizards team in the opening round. Still, I didn't see them getting pasted by CLE like this. The Cavs took their heart the moment the Raptors couldn't seal Game 1 in regulation.

 

[Drew]

 

[awfuldan]

Was thinking this last night, but Marcus Morris has to be Eric Cobb's favorite player, right?

I was thinking Boogie Cousins! Obviously worlds apart in terms of skill, but they are both headcases who fancy themselves as point-centers.

 

[Dogdeacon]

The crowd won that game for Boston, plain and simple. And that's to take nothing away from the players. They cut the lead to 17 and the crowd erupted like they had tied it. Myself being the type of dork that loves to study crowds and the impact they have on games, it sounded like they took it up a notch. I had been pouring over the ticket market this week hoping to attend one of the games and I noticed the prices were much steeper for game two. The rare 8:30 start time and it being a Thursday night presumably allowed people to drink and still get to the game on time. It's funny because I think it was Ilyasova who was talking about the difference between the Boston crowd and the Miami crowd. I'll hand it to them being a non-Boston sports fan who lives in the area - for all the winning they've done, it can get about as loud as it does anywhere for the Bruins, Celtics, and Sox. The Patriots are a different scene but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and and chalk it up in part to acoustics.

I counter that Philly lost the game moreso than the crowd won it. They inexplicably took their foot off Boston's throat to end the first half and took quick, first look, bad shots and let Boston back in the game.
Very weird game as the first 18 minutes Philly looked like the team everyone picking Philly expected and Boston was slower, much more passive and either a step behind or not strong enough. Inexperienced Philly squad let Boston back into the game. If TJ McConnell was in to do what he did late in the 2nd half I think Philly wins that game.

Whatever dynamic that occurred during the first 18 minutes will definitely re-occur at Philly and if sustained they'll likely win one of the next two in a rout. But if Simmons keeps playing like LSU Simmons and the Celtics continue to exhaust Embid, the Celtics will win the last 5 minutes (Game 1: 17-11, Game 2: 17-10)of every close game this series and likely then the series. Keeping TJ in the game in the 4th Q definitely would have given Philly a better chance to win last night, but I agree with Brett Brown that big picture more important and getting Simmons reps in long run will payoff. Again where BB blew it was not going to TJ to close the first half (Simmons & Embid combined for about 6 TO's in that stretch).

Incidentally Reddick played as well as he can possibly play, sparking the Sixers to start and finishing 9/17, 5/9 from 3, no FT, 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal = he is a great shooter but that's it and late in 1st half when he tried to make big one-on-one plays he threw up desperation shots and throughout the game JJ's drives to the basket were denied. Great game by JJ but on a night when he was red hot and took over at times, he's simply not capable of controlling a game or being a 'go make a bucket happen guy' (i.e. why Crawford was a good complimentary player/option with him on Clips) at points necessary.

 

[Lefty2one]

^^^ Youth/inexperience on the road in the postseason.

 

[superjohn]

Offensively yes, I would think it'd be more controversial to suggest anything else.

He's had a very good career and is now the third option on Philly but he's never been a top 10 shooting guard in the league. He's really good, just not elite.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He's really good, just not elite.

 

[Dogdeacon]

He's had a very good career and is now the third option on Philly but he's never been a top 10 shooting guard in the league. He's really good, just not elite.

I dunno, he's certainly been top-10 offensive SG's, and arguably in the best ten mix. But certainly never top-3ish which is where most expect Tatum to be at either SG, SF or PF (versatility is also important

Speaking of which that's what BB harped on in his post-game presser, Boston's ability to switch with guys capable of covering multiple positions/sizes. Larkin is among the only guys on the roster that can be abused in matchups, Rozier fights hard enough against bigs to be an effective nuisance. Definitely detected some envy in the way BBrown spoke about Boston's defensively versatility and lack of having to hide people.

Can we please get some Fultz in the series - I really want to see Tatum dunk on him then ignore a jump shot and send Fultz whimpering back to the sideline docs.

I want you to imagine that you are on a ship at sea, gently rocking, gently rocking....

 

[champs99and04]

He's had a very good career and is now the third option on Philly but he's never been a top 10 shooting guard in the league. He's really good, just not elite.

I can't argue with that, but it is interesting to see how people view JJ in comparison to somebody like Klay Thompson over the last five years (stats per 36 minutes):

Klay: 22.3 points, 2.5 assists, 1.9 turnovers, 2.7 FTA, 47/43/85 splits

JJ: 19.8 points, 2.4 assists, 1.5 turnovers, 3.4 FTA, 46/44/90 splits

Per minute numbers are always going to favor the guy who plays less minutes (in this case J.J.), so I'm not trying to frame this as a complete apples to apples comparison. Klay is also typically tasked with the assignment of guarding the other team's best perimeter player while Redick is someone you try to hide. That makes what he does as an offensive player that much more impressive without even considering the value he adds on defense (which is why he's in a different tier than J.J. as a player).

But still - Klay is unanimously considered one of the greatest shooters of all-time and J.J. is basically giving you 90% of that production offensively. It's hard to imagine that Jayson Tatum was like six when J.J. was playing us in the final four.

 

[champs99and04]

All these good young bigs have a ways to go still (Embiid, Porzingis, KAT). They look great more often than not but they have really bad moments where you see how young they are. I have a good friend who's a Sixers fan and he gets so frustrated with Embiid. I think the national media/fanbase overrates him a bit.

Embiid is in a different class than KAT or Porzingis, at least to me. I don't think he's been overrated, despite what has happened so far in this series. If there's been a legit criticism it's with his durability - it's hard to be a major superstar in this league when you're playing 30 minutes a night and not going back to backs.

But yeah, he's definitely not there yet. People overlook the fact that he turns it over a lot and isn't super efficient (he shoots only 52% on 2 point field goals for his career which is low for somebody that size).

Until this series, though, the defensive superlatives have been well earned. I don't think it's an overstatement to say he's the best big man prospect since Hakeem and we've seen Shaq and Duncan in that time frame. He's a mammoth human being and he plays even bigger than than that. With the way the game has changed over the last ten years, watching him post up guys like Horford can often seem like Jurassic Park. You want to put an end to the age of Draymond and LeBron at center, this is your guy. Everyone in the league is at his mercy hoping he doesn't figure it out.