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Post by wareagle on Jun 20, 2021 17:03:54 GMT -5
I was pulling for the Nets like it was 2002 Lakers. I don't hate Giannis, respect how good he is..I just hate watching how he goes about it. And right now I wanna be entertained, so now I'm pulling for Embiid and watch the Simmons circus. I think Clippers can get past Suns without Kawhi..if CP3 misses 2 games. Haha - we’re diametrically opposed!! After the Lakers & Morons, the Nets were the team I was most rooting against!! Now I am pulling for a Suns-Bucks finals - but I can honestly say that any of the last five teams (although I am rooting for the Hawks tonight) I am ok with winning it all. Still slightly rooting for the Suns to finally get a title though!!
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 20, 2021 17:13:01 GMT -5
Who's got D Book..I'm tryna make him my 5th keeper lol
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Post by wareagle on Jun 21, 2021 3:59:51 GMT -5
Who's got D Book..I'm tryna make him my 5th keeper lol You could pull an Obi and offer me Vucevic for Booker 4,327 times in a row - and that’s not an exaggeration!!
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Post by varsity on Jun 21, 2021 10:22:26 GMT -5
I didn't want the Nets to win mainly because it doesn't sit well with me rewarding James Harden for his clear tank job this season with the Rockets. He was overweight, out of shape and quit and basically got exactly what he wanted by going to Brooklyn. So I was rooting against the Nets and cheering for every team to beat them so kudos to Milwaukee.
The Bucks should be able to beat the Hawks but I'm cheering for a Suns-Hawks finals.
And then it's Ben Simmons...
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 21, 2021 10:37:31 GMT -5
man...Even Doc and Embiid couldn't defend him They got alot of money tied up in their "big 3" but they need another piece if Simmons is going be a liability.
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Post by varsity on Jun 21, 2021 11:17:47 GMT -5
man...Even Doc and Embiid couldn't defend him They got alot of money tied up in their "big 3" but they need another piece if Simmons is going be a liability. Watching Embiid's reaction when he passed the ball and his post-game interview makes me believe he is tired of Ben Simmons not shooting. 0 FGA in the 4th quarter for 5 games is just absurd. I don't think I've seen anyone that scared to shoot the ball EVER. I hate dumping on the kid but you can't be scared to shoot the ball. I think if you are Philly, you seriously need to look at a veteran for that team. They make so many mental errors especially in big situations. Simmons is probably your best trade piece. I'd seriously look into Lowry, McCollum or even possibly Dame (if he's available).
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 21, 2021 11:48:41 GMT -5
I didn't catch it live, but yea you can see him put his hands up as soon as he passed it off, then ask him about it at the free throw line. In his defense..I can see Ben saying he didn't have a good enough handle on it (he did bobble it) so he passed it off...but still. He just is expressionless on everything he does, that you have to question the desire. If you don't wanna shoot 3's or create off the dribble..pull up jumpers etc..fine..but when Embiid is out on the perimeter..demand the ball on the block and go to work. But ..you're gonna get fouled and well...that's another problem.
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 21, 2021 12:03:18 GMT -5
on another note
PG13 takes some really bad shots, and more of his shots are tough shots. Most of his shots are also face up, fadeaways or 3's. If he would have ever developed a post game....
Embiid too..also takes bad shots. His set 3pt shot is fine, but when he takes the fading to the left baseline fallaway long jumpers..not so much. He also doesn't look to pass..unless he absolutely has too..and 8 turnovers last night showed he has troubles with that
John Collins is good..should get paid as 2nd tier top PF..but wouldn't give him Max. He's not a guy that demands 15-17 shots, kind of a know your role type. Maybe he would want a bigger role for Max $ somewhere else, like Grant did with the Pistons.
I didn't expect KD to commit to Team USA, thought he would want to rest his body
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Post by varsity on Jun 21, 2021 12:35:33 GMT -5
Collins will probably get close to the Max (if not the MAX). He's probably not worth it but the numbers are there and he's only 23 years old. If Atlanta doesn't lock him right away to an extension, he'll definitely get someone to give him a lucrative offer sheet to which they will need to decide to match. And the rumor is him and Trae Young are close so I can see the Hawks ownership group doing what it takes to keep him and their star happy.
Hawks need a better 2-way player in the backcourt.
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 21, 2021 12:46:58 GMT -5
I think Huerter is pretty good, inconsistent..and injury issues..so yea. With Huerter/Hunter/Reddish, could just get that 1 guy. Derozan type. They could use a deeper bench..but with injuries to Hunter/Reddish I guess that's just showing more now. I like Capella..he can't shoot a lick from the free throw line but they are solid a 1-4-5, splash in some Huerter when he's hitting shots..and overpaid Gallinari as 6th man..pretty solid.
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 21, 2021 14:40:04 GMT -5
PG folded in the 4th quarter. Shocker. Guess he doesn't rise up in the clutch until Game 3 of a series. He and Reggie Jackson are solid scorers but when they hit a few shots, they get a bit cocky leading to subsequent terrible shots. Namely errant threes.
Collins will get the MAX. If not from Atlanta it will be an outside offer sheet from another team (or through a potential S&T if ATL, for whatever reason, doesn't want to pay him). He may not be an Alpha on offense but he doesn't to be in that lineup with Trae, Bogdanovic, Huerter. A 23 year old PF/C with his offensive skills - esp his 3pt range - and his rebounding is a rare commodity. He's not an overrated stat stuffer like Drummond now or Greg Monroe in the past.
Huerter is good. If the Nets had him instead of Harris, they win the Bucks series.
Can't wait for the Bucks vs Hawks. With Collins/Capela, the Hawks actually have the size to matchup with Milwaukee. Too bad they don't have Hunter as he'd be solid against Middleton.
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 21, 2021 15:08:01 GMT -5
Clippers was pretty much Reggie & PG13 go 1 on 1 and Mann stand in the corner, Zubac or Boogie set a high screen up top to match get a switch..so Reggie & PG13 can go 1 on 1. Then Rondo ended up being the one camping out in the corner. Jeff Van Gundy was hyping up Reggie alot. He was making playing plays and getting to the rim, but turned it over and took some bad 3's as well.
I wanna see how Holiday defends Trae. I see foul trouble for Capela/Collins, and alot of 12 seconds free throws for Giannis..which is unwatchable..I'll pass
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 21, 2021 17:03:01 GMT -5
Capela is relatively good at avoiding foul trouble. For his career, he's a foul every 10.8 minutes and this season it was 13.09. Granted he doesn't face Giannis all of those minutes but I think his defensive skills and mobility should help him avoid the type of foul trouble Blake Griffin got himself into - esp since Capela has a wingspan 6 inches longer. Collins has more foul issues but I can expect he'll be more on Lopez in one on one settings. Giannis/Lopez should find it more difficult this series having to face a true sized PF/C tandem instead of the small ball frontcourts of Miami and the parade of forwards the Nets threw up front.
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 21, 2021 17:12:25 GMT -5
I've seen people suggest OKC offer Kemba + picks to PHI for Simmons.
Do I see the Sixers trading Simmons for a 31 year old, oft-injured Kemba, even if OKC completely loaded up the package with a boatload of draft picks - like the #4 pick (if they get that this year), three more future 1st round picks and 4 future 2nd round picks?
No.
That said, it'd be fun to think about. A healthy Kemba on the Sixers would certainly help address those offensive woes and the #4 pick could land a high upside, potentially immediate impact prospect - like a Jalen Green. For OKC, Simmons could work next to SGA and give OKC another young star to build around and that team has found a way for Dort to improve as a shooter, so they could work magic with Simmons
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Post by varsity on Jun 22, 2021 9:36:36 GMT -5
It's sad because as bad as Simmons played in that last series, I don't know if I want an oft-injured, 31 year old Kemba Walker either. Sadly I'd almost prefer Lowry when you factor in availability, championship experience and salary. Maybe if OKC lands a top 3 pick in addition to more picks, I'd consider it more.
For OKC, though, I think it makes a ton of sense. SGA and Simmons gives you a solid starting point especially defensively. And with the abundance of picks you have till what feels like 2100, you can still make additional moves to field a competitive team. That's of course you are interested in breaking the cycle of just trading players for assets.
D'Angelo Russell is another name I've seen come up. With Beasley, Russell and Anthony Edwards the feeling around the league is the Twolves may look to break that trio up if not breaking up the team.
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 22, 2021 12:16:51 GMT -5
Whether it's injuries, youth (i.e. immaturity/inexperience), culture of losing (team has one playoff appearance since 2004 and that was 2018 with one playoff win and that team seems ages ago with Thibs and a boatload of veterans no longer around - i.e. Jimmy Butler), or coaching instability, the Wolves have managed to turn a fairly stacked roster in terms of pure talent into a terrible team.
I do think that if they wanted to blow it up, they'd be best to keep KAT, build around him and trade from their backcourt depth with Russell, Beasley, Edwards, Culver, Okogie, Nowell and certainly Rubio.
The team is pure garbage on defense. Honestly, this is another team that could make sense for Simmons. Would a straight Simmons for Russell swap make sense? This may be as good a return for PHI as they can get in terms of talent and youth. For MIN, they can get a defensive upgrade and improve the playmaking from the PG spot. Would adding adefensive force next to KAT make a huge impact? Toughness and strength versus the parade of lanky and athletic tweener forwards. First name that comes to my mind that is considered to be available is Steven Adams. Wolves can offer Rubio straight up. The Pelicans save on Adams' 2022-2023 salary of 17.9M, commit to Hayes at C and can re-route Rubio elsewhere if they want. The Wolves trade from their backcourt surplus to address a legit need. Then maybe trade Culver, while he may have some shine left as the #6 pick two years, for a more offensive minded backup PG to compliment Simmons - maybe expand the PHI deal to be Simmons/Milton for Russell/Culver. With Green/Kormax free agents, they may like a cost-controlled swingman back and they can afford to move Milton since they have George Hill/Curry.
I think this team is a strong top 12 with the influx of size, defense, experience.
PG: Simmons, Milton SG: Beasley, Okogie, Nowell
SF: Edwards, Layman
PF: KAT, Hernangomez, McDaniels
C: Adams, Reid
Not happening but fun to theorize about.
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 23, 2021 6:20:23 GMT -5
So much happened in the last 5 minutes, that took about 30 minutes to watch
shout out to Cameron Payne, who we all thought was a bust
and I can't go without mentioning Playoff Pchoke
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 23, 2021 9:50:20 GMT -5
First off, longest last two minutes of a game ever. I'm all for getting things right but they need to find a way to speed replays up. With technology these days, it should have taken literally 10 seconds to see that the last touch was by Booker on that Pat Bev swipe. Van Gundy can hate on the "spirit" of that replay all he wants but the rule is the person who last touched the ball is out, not who knocks the ball out. For a former coach, he doesn't seem to care about actual rules when he commentates.
Second off, Paul George took Pandemic P to a whole new level last night, which is fairly remarkable given the low levels it has existed in general. The crappy shooting, especially on threes. The terrible FT shooting, with obviously the last two costing them the game. This guy is the epitome of someone who has Batman-level type talent but mostly has Robin-level type performances - which is ironically largely in part because he thinks he is Batman and plays with an arrogance/shot selection that his play often doesn't warrant.
Part of me wanted the Clippers to win but F that. If the Clips somehow managed to get past the Suns, they'd get swept by the Bucks. I'd rather watch a competitive series and the Suns - with CP3 - would provide that.
Lastly, AYTON! Stepping up huge in the playoffs.
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 23, 2021 11:43:19 GMT -5
Cameron Payne is making himself a lot of $ as a FA this summer with his postseason play. He also played really well in the bubble last season and the 2nd half of the regular season (36 games: 9.6ppg 2.8rpg 3.6apg 0.6bpg 48.5fG% 45 3fg% 88.1 ft% in just 19mpg), which should reduce concerns this is a fluky sample size. He's still just 27 in August.
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 24, 2021 7:42:02 GMT -5
So yea..Collins will get a Max deal with Hawks lol..they aint gonna break up those 2
Barkley was right..got to start Giannis at the 5 and bench Lopez..all they are going to do is high screen pick and roll like everybody does to get the switch..and he aint sticking Trae. Or I'd play Portis 25 minutes and Lopez 10
and damn Khris pass the ball brother, it wasn't ur night. Bucks have a very weak bench, they got 5 on the roster that never play and I've never even heard of.
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 24, 2021 10:57:19 GMT -5
That was a great game and I was actually fairly stunned the Hawks pulled it out. When the Bucks took the lead late in the 4th, I thought for sure they'd win due to their edge in experience.
I knew the frontcourt of Collins/Capela would pose a new challenge for the Bucks this postseason and they came up big with 35 points and 34 boards and Collins made a huge clutch three. That said, they have to find a way to stop Giannis from getting those easy alley-oop dunks.
Also for the love of Pete, someone guard Jrue. The number of clean looks he got was outstanding. I realize Giannis commands attention but it's not like Jrue is some scrub that can just be left open.
Trae had a monster game but dude, stop with the errant 30 foot shots. He also had some Paul George-type turnovers late. I realize criticizing Trae after a 48-7-11-50% game is silly BUT they barely won with Middleton having a trash game. If they want to win the series, he can do even better by being smarter and more careful.
Also Lou Williams. Dude. He had a great game 5 against the Sixers in that magical comeback but in the 3 games since then he is 3 for 14 for 3ppg. Watching him blow the type of layup my overweight 45 year old coworker can make in our rec league was painful.
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Post by YoungThundercat on Jun 27, 2021 5:54:31 GMT -5
Exactly still who we thought they were. Let's go Suns!
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Post by varsity on Jun 27, 2021 9:34:02 GMT -5
It's weird because the Clippers are down 1-3 but they look like the better team to me (with the exception of Game 1). Those are just the breaks. But the Suns offense looks terrible with Booker being bothered by his injury and/or Patrick Beverly. I almost feel like the Suns MUST close it out in Game 5 because I can sadly see this series going 7 if they don't.
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 27, 2021 12:24:39 GMT -5
Paul George
5 for 20 overall
1 for 9 on threes 12 for 18 on free throws
He is 35.4% overall and 24.4% on threes and 72.5% on free throws for the series.
Normally I would provide some lenience when a Robin is forced into the Batman role unexpectedly due to injury BUT sorry PG, you were a #1 in the past, you've sold yourself as a #1, you ball hog like a #1 and you are certainly paid like a #1. I've defended you in the past but not here.
While I acknowledge the weight of the heavy responsibility + heavy minutes + heavy pressure, you've been an abject flop and it's just seriously disappointing and outright frustrating watching it happen.
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 27, 2021 19:48:15 GMT -5
Bucks need to keep Lopez on the bench, he's liking them on defense..and he's never been a good rebounder. They are just picking him apart, hoping he's left out to defend one on one
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 28, 2021 7:23:37 GMT -5
or just give it to Middleton and get the hell out the way
I'd still play Portis more than Lopez
and still would rather watch paint dry than Giannis driving the lane every time
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Post by YoungThundercat on Jun 28, 2021 8:24:25 GMT -5
Bucks need to keep Lopez on the bench, he's liking them on defense..and he's never been a good rebounder. They are just picking him apart, hoping he's left out to defend one on one Yeah, he may be done for this playoffs as well. Now it seems more than likely they will be facing Phoenix (if they advance past ATL) and that's maybe the only worse matchup for Brook's drop coverage PnR defense than Atlanta/Trae. Booker and CP3 may set scoring records on just midrange 2s if Brook is out there.
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 28, 2021 11:57:27 GMT -5
oh man..CP3 will have about 15 elbow jumpers on the right side (hit money shot) if they have Lopez switching on that high screen pick and roll. Atleast Portis is quicker on his feet, Chuck is right..and funny. Lopez is the worst pick and roll defender ever ahead of Shaq. I just wonder if the Bucks lack of depth catches up to them. Suns might have the advantage.
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Post by eddieeddie on Jun 28, 2021 11:57:45 GMT -5
or just give it to Middleton and get the hell out the way I'd still play Portis more than Lopez and still would rather watch paint dry than Giannis driving the lane every time
Their best lineup against ATL looks like it might be Jrue-Connaughton-Middleton-Giannis-Portis when you consider the shooting, the defense and the overall hustle of this unit. I figure we'll see a lot more of this (and smaller lineups with Giannis at C) versus PHX in the Finals. Not that Tucker or Lopez will completely disappear of course.
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Post by doakley8 on Jun 28, 2021 12:00:10 GMT -5
Middleton is for sure top 5, maybe even top 3 most underated players. I got Jrue and Gobert in there too
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