NBA Post-Season Thread

[Chin Diesel]

You can treat that disability with beer.

Drinking Ragin' Cajuns Ale right now.

 

[NielsisGood]

I think the best immediate bet is for CP3 to join the Spurs this offseason. Not a huge window, but he is still a top 10 player in my eyes. That may not be enough, but maybe a few ring chasers could join and that squad would at least make the WCF competitive.

What I said was more hopeful than anything else. Didn't mean it to sound like I thought that was realistic in any way. As for Cp3, I think he probably just pulls a Melo and grabs the extra money to stay in LA. Like you said, I don't think him joining the Spurs would be enough to tip the scales, but I'm also pretty down on him after what I saw all season and in the playoffs, and not even sure how well such a ball dominant player like that would fit into the Spurs system.

 

[Walker11]

What I said was more hopeful than anything else. Didn't mean it to sound like I thought that was realistic in any way. As for Cp3, I think he probably just pulls a Melo and grabs the extra money to stay in LA. Like you said, I don't think him joining the Spurs would be enough to tip the scales, but I'm also pretty down on him after what I saw all season and in the playoffs, and not even sure how well such a ball dominant player like that would fit into the Spurs system.

Yup. I am higher on CP and Pop would inevitably make it it work but it doesn't change the grand scheme of it all. It is going to take a lot of luck for someone to challenge the Warriors. A near contender needs to hit a home run with a later round pick, ala Butler, Draymond etc. or to a lesser extent a late lottery guy like Kawhi, PG, Giannis. And they need to get good quicker than those guys, so yeah, asking for a ton.

 

[polycom]

Why did Brown ever say this?

 

[Walker11]

Why did Brown ever say this?

Eh, no big deal. Lebron's reaction was from last year, fwiw. People are going to get roasted however they respond. Derozan did the complete opposite, was incredibly complementary, and got killed for it as well.

 

[intlzncster]

Lebron is really scary right now. I know the competition sucks but don't think I've ever seen him look this good. He's just steamrolling through these playoffs.

He's as well rested as he's been for playoffs in a while.

 

[MadDogRevival]

LeBron. Damn.
As much as these playoffs have sucked, the finals may be reeeeaaally entertaining.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Lebron is really scary right now. I know the competition sucks but don't think I've ever seen him look this good. He's just steamrolling through these playoffs.

He's Magic with a better perimeter game and has the size of Karl Malone.

 

[MadDogRevival]

LBJ was +46 tonight. What the Duck.

 

[intlzncster]

He's Magic with a better perimeter game and has the size of Karl Malone.

And the athleticism of MJ. He's f@#kin scary right now.

He's doing whatever he wants on the court. Got his shot blocked, and decides he'll just do the same thing back to the C's at the other end. He is all over both ends of the floor. Seems like he's directly affecting every single play.

 

[NielsisGood]

And the athleticism of MJ. He's f@#kin scary right now.

He's doing whatever he wants on the court. Got his shot blocked, and decides he'll just do the same thing back to the C's at the other end. He is all over both ends of the floor. Seems like he's directly affecting every single play.

I dont think he's nearly as athletic as 3-4 years ago (seriously, go back and watch how those Heat teams were all over the floor defensively) but he's offset that by rebounding better and being as good of an outside shooter as he's ever been.

 

[NielsisGood]

Yup. I am higher on CP and Pop would inevitably make it it work but it doesn't change the grand scheme of it all. It is going to take a lot of luck for someone to challenge the Warriors. A near contender needs to hit a home run with a later round pick, ala Butler, Draymond etc. or to a lesser extent a late lottery guy like Kawhi, PG, Giannis. And they need to get good quicker than those guys, so yeah, asking for a ton.

Heat/Cavs and GSW both got to this point by LeBron and KD deciding to form/join super teams via free agency. Even though what I said before isn't at all realistic, it might actually be the most realistic scenario. One of the RWB/Harden/Davis tier of players would need to just say "f it, let me go join Kawhi and Pop" for things to change. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the NBA might instigate something like that behind the scenes.

 

[Walker11]

Heat/Cavs and GSW both got to this point by LeBron and KD deciding to form/join super teams via free agency. Even though what I said before isn't at all realistic, it might actually be the most realistic scenario. One of the RWB/Harden/Davis tier of players would need to just say "f it, let me go join Kawhi and Pop" for things to change. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the NBA might instigate something like that behind the scenes.

Yea, the best hope is probably for RWB to leave OKC and go join SAS, or something like that. Maybe him and PG end up on LAL and one of Russell, Ingram or Ball makes a big time leap. Or maybe KD getting the gorilla off his back with a ring and leaving GS. I don't think this is likely but it wouldn't blow my mind. Harden and AD are locked in for a long time. There are possibilities and we can all agree on wanting a little bit more competitiveness out West. Someone just needs to go to the goshdarn Spurs. That roster isn't that good and they still won 60 games and would have been a small challenge for GSW at full strength. They are going to always develop and max out the abilities of their role players, just one more stud please.

GSW certainly reached a new level because of KD joining, but they already were a super team, and that is because they hit absolute home runs in the draft with Steph, Klay and Draymond. It just doesn't seem replicable, unfortunately.

 

[BUConn10]

Lebron is more athletic than MJ, fight me.

 

[champs99and04]

I was there tonight. It was my first time at an NBA game in seven years and my first time at a playoff game in 14. I've never seen a massacre quite like that at the pro level. I knew going into the postseason that the Celtics had over-achieved, but there are moments - like the first couple games against Chicago, the third and fourth game in the Washington series, and the first two in this one - where you wonder if they might just be better off blowing the whole team up and starting from scratch with Jaylen, Fultz, whoever they pick next year, and maybe Rozier and Bradley. Smart and Crowder are solid rotation pieces but in these type of games they tend to look like the kicker or punter in the open field.

This postseason certainly hasn't been the best look for the NBA, but I think there might be some backup quarterback syndrome going on with all the complaining (and trust me, I've been one of the most vocal) - it wasn't very long ago that many people were longing for rivalries and the return of the Lakers/Celtics style super teams. There was about a five year stretch there from '03 through 0'7 where the league was dominated by unmemorable teams and lacked the singular star that could break through (Kobe wasted away on some bad Laker teams for most of those years and LeBron was playing with nobodies). The league is way more popular now than it was then and by my eye that all started to change with the formation of the newest generations of big threes - Garnett and Ray joined Piece in Boston and soon after the Lakers traded for Gasol.

So for those of you who think it's preposterous that two teams could play each other three straight times in the finals, consider the fact that it would have happened from '08-'10 were it not for the Garnett injury. We can't say we want epic rivalries but then also expect parity - the two don't tend to go together, as anybody who has watched the NHL in recent years would know. Hell, college basketball is the same way. You don't get Duke and Kentucky in the title game every time and there are both pluses and minuses to that.

Where I do think the competitive balance suffered big time was when Durant went to Golden State. That reduced the pool of potential title winners from four or five (OKC, SA, and maybe the Clippers would have been in the mix) to like 1.5 (the Warriors and whichever team LeBron plays for).

 

[JSM1970]

Jaylen Brown is a complete idiot. He's accomplished nothing in the league. His game is terrible. Good for him scoring 19 in a must-win game you lose by 40+ at home.

DeRozan basically made it sound like they couldn't beat LeBron under any circumstance and was whiny.

Eh, no big deal. Lebron's reaction was from last year, fwiw. People are going to get roasted however they respond. Derozan did the complete opposite, was incredibly complementary, and got killed for it as well.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Coach Stevens disappointed me a little. Cleary the Celtics must go to a lead pipe defense in thus series. That is, someone needs to hit LeBron in both knees with a lead pipe as he exits the team bus. It has to be on exit from the bus because he cannot be allowed to enter the arena. I think his shadow can go for 15, 6, and 6 at this point. So take no chances.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Is it any more of a mess than it was in the 80's?

You had Sixer's in the early 80's but there was a 6-year periods where it was Lakers/Celtics and everyone else. Houston made a blip in the radar

Thank you. Memories have gotten really short in the info age. Magic played in something like 9 Finals over 13 years. The League has never been more than 4 teams deep, at most. Often just 3 teams. Nothing different now.

 

[imno1]

Lebron is more athletic than MJ, fight me.

He just so much bigger but I wouldn't say he's more athletic

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Neils could shut Lebron Down.

 

[Matrim55]

I was there tonight. It was my first time at an NBA game in seven years and my first time at a playoff game in 14. I've never seen a massacre quite like that at the pro level. I knew going into the postseason that the Celtics had over-achieved, but there are moments - like the first couple games against Chicago, the third and fourth game in the Washington series, and the first two in this one - where you wonder if they might just be better off blowing the whole team up and starting from scratch with Jaylen, Fultz, whoever they pick next year, and maybe Rozier and Bradley. Smart and Crowder are solid rotation pieces but in these type of games they tend to look like the kicker or punter in the open field.

This postseason certainly hasn't been the best look for the NBA, but I think there might be some backup quarterback syndrome going on with all the complaining (and trust me, I've been one of the most vocal) - it wasn't very long ago that many people were longing for rivalries and the return of the Lakers/Celtics style super teams. There was about a five year stretch there from '03 through 0'7 where the league was dominated by unmemorable teams and lacked the singular star that could break through (Kobe wasted away on some bad Laker teams for most of those years and LeBron was playing with nobodies). The league is way more popular now than it was then and by my eye that all started to change with the formation of the newest generations of big threes - Garnett and Ray joined Piece in Boston and soon after the Lakers traded for Gasol.

So for those of you who think it's preposterous that two teams could play each other three straight times in the finals, consider the fact that it would have happened from '08-'10 were it not for the Garnett injury. We can't say we want epic rivalries but then also expect parity - the two don't tend to go together, as anybody who has watched the NHL in recent years would know. Hell, college basketball is the same way. You don't get Duke and Kentucky in the title game every time and there are both pluses and minuses to that.

Where I do think the competitive balance suffered big time was when Durant went to Golden State. That reduced the pool of potential title winners from four or five (OKC, SA, and maybe the Clippers would have been in the mix) to like 1.5 (the Warriors and whichever team LeBron plays for).

Great post. This is the most fun I've had watching the NBA since the 1980s, and even if it does feel lopsided in the playoffs this year I still enjoyed watching young, up-and-coming teams like Denver, Milwaukee and Minnesota in the regular season.

 

[intlzncster]

Where I do think the competitive balance suffered big time was when Durant went to Golden State. That reduced the pool of potential title winners from four or five (OKC, SA, and maybe the Clippers would have been in the mix) to like 1.5 (the Warriors and whichever team LeBron plays for).

Great post. This is the most fun I've had watching the NBA since the 1980s, and even if it does feel lopsided in the playoffs this year I still enjoyed watching young, up-and-coming teams like Denver, Milwaukee and Minnesota in the regular season.

I don't mind a top heavy league. It's good in any sport. It made titles like the 2007 Giants (big f#@kin boo!) and the 2001 Dbacks (Yay!) so special. You need the juggernaut out there to potentially knock off.

That said, as champs last paragraph alludes to, someone else has to have a chance. That's not the case right now in the NBA. It's all but guaranteed. The gap is too great. No suspense at all until the finals.

 

[intlzncster]

Jaylen Brown is a complete idiot. He's accomplished nothing in the league. His game is terrible. Good for him scoring 19 in a must-win game you lose by 40+ at home.

Settle down. He's a 20 year old rookie.

 

[intlzncster]

Coach Stevens disappointed me a little. Cleary the Celtics must go to a lead pipe defense in thus series. That is, someone needs to hit LeBron in both knees with a lead pipe as he exits the team bus. It has to be on exit from the bus because he cannot be allowed to enter the arena. I think his shadow can go for 15, 6, and 6 at this point. So take no chances.

I do think you have some point. The Celtics should have hip checked Lebron (and Kyrie) into the 2nd row early and often. Should have been way more physical. They were not only getting beat skill-wise, but also physically. The latter can't happen with the worse team. I don't think Stevens is the kind of guy to buy into that strategy though.

 

[RichZ]

LBJ was +46 tonight. What the Duck.

Lebron was very, very good when he came into the league. VVG morphed into great, but the Lebron that has emerged in this year's play-offs is deal with the devil great.
Then you mix in Kyrie's maturation and the fact that everyone who said that K Love would never mesh with this team than bringing him in was a mistake being made to look like fools, and you've got a serious steam roller.