2018 NBA Playoffs

[saclare]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

As in Phil Jackson? That's either incredibly generous to Kerr, or insulting to Jackson. Yeah Jackson had amazing players, but I honestly think he's the only guy who could have managed all those massive egos and headcases. He may not have been a master X's and O's guy, but he was a master psychologist. The current GSW squad seems perfectly manageable, despite all that talent- nowhere near as temperamental or combustible as Phil's rosters were- particularly all those Laker squads.

I took it as Mark Jackson.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by saclare

I took it as Mark Jackson.

Ah, that would make much more sense.

[Melonhead]

Imagine if Lebron didnt make a shot in the final 8 minutes of the game and lost. Or on the final possession passes to a teammate but the coach gets blamed for it...yet the Snake gets no criticism for last night. Weird. Lebron would be crucified this morning.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I really don't see the Least doing anything to the West. This Celtics/Cavs game is painful to watch. So sloppy.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

ESPN's coverage of tonight's game...

"Lebron looks tired." "You know, Lebron really does look tired." "You know guys, Lebron generally hides the fact that he is tired, but he is definitely showing it tonight." "Lebron is chugging those electrolytes like he is exhausted"

Truly embarrassing.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

ESPN's coverage of tonight's game...

"Lebron looks tired." "You know, Lebron really does look tired." "You know guys, Lebron generally hides the fact that he is tired, but he is definitely showing it tonight." "Lebron is chugging those electrolytes like he is exhausted"

Truly embarrassing.

I mean only one other guy was about to get into double digits. 15 years in the league and playing better than anyone, yeah Id say he gets exhausted when his team is trash and tired of having to play hero ball.

Side note: I did not know Curry was 30 years old. Its gonna become clear soon that he wont have that impact he has now. Fighting to get space and through screens will get much harder. Still electrifying when he's on.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

I mean only one other guy was about to get into double digits. 15 years in the league and playing better than anyone, yeah Id say he gets exhausted when his team is trash and tired of having to play hero ball.

Side note: I did not know Curry was 30 years old. Its gonna become clear soon that he wont have that impact he has now. Fighting to get space and through screens will get much harder. Still electrifying when he's on.

ITts not THAT he got exhausted. The entirety of every person commenting on that game mentioned it about 100 times.

We get it. Lebron is tired. Not really sure the point of going on about it over and over and over again.

It's as if they're just now aware that Lebron has been carrying that team all season long and gee whiz he IS TIRED!

[Underdog]

Hay guis, did LeBron luk tire last nite?

[mac222b]

These refs are terrible. Clearly off Tucker, ref right there Rockets ball?! Gerald Green 3

[mac222b]

Klay all ball on Gordon’s drive red with a clear view and calls a foul. And a few others...

[mac222b]

Durant never passes

[mac222b]

Klay passed on open 3. Warriors way out of synch

[mac222b]

They gave Gordon the foul on that weak sauce step through 3 he tries every time ?!

[mac222b]

My hatred for Harden knows no bounds. He interferes on every inbound after a made basket.

[Underdog]

Go, sinkhole, go!

[DevinHarriswillstart]

God I hate Chris Paul.

[Stylistic]

This is so annoying. Sports the last few years have been annoying.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Well all fundamentals have been lost in the current NBA. Desperately trying to get a three off no matter what is actually boring. Balance needs to be restored at some point.

[tap2390]

Watching Draymond fumble away that pass has been my favorite non-Mavericks moment this season. So sweet.

[BPo001]

If the Chris Paul injury is serious that's a game changer. Can Houston win 1 game without him?

[mac222b]

Kerr sucks. Left West in to get roasted over and over. His team is not engaged. I hate the laissez-faire approach. They play sloppy and have bad habits and that’s on the coach

[sefant77]

Harmstring Karma for Paul

[mac222b]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Harmstring Karma for Paul

It didnt look too bad. He was able to walk almost normally. Guessing it’s a slight strain. Hope he’s out next two games though

[mac222b]

They weren’t even guarding Quinn Cook. Why not Nick Young who’s been shooting the 3 pretty well to space the floor.

[BPo001]

CP3 out game 6 with hamstring strain. I think the Warriors just won the championship last night.

[Harpospoke]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I think we're again just quibbling over the definition of what is a "superteam." You say it's not a superteam because it was all about Jordan and Phil... I'm saying they were the superteam of that decade, because they utterly dominated that decade. I don't care if its one superstar or a bunch of role players, or 3 superstars and no role players... Hell, Jordan was a "superteam" by himself, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm saying that team as a whole with every guy playing their part was the- in my opinion- the best team ever. Those role players- the Kerr's, Cartwright's, Paxson's, and Kukoc's of those Bulls teams all played their roles perfectly. They did exactly what they needed to do, no more, no less.

I agree that the current Warriors without Curry and Durant would destroy the Bulls without MJ and Pippen. I don't care about that though. All I care about is which team would win with both teams at full strength. I'd put the 1996 Bulls against the 2018 Warriors any day. Since we can't do that, all we can do is look at what each team has done in their respective era. Jordan's Bulls won 6 titles in 8 years- and I firmly believe it would have been eight consecutive titles if Jordan hadn't left to play baseball. They also never at any point in that entire decade lost more than 2 games in a row. That seems impossible... But it happened. The current Warriors are still early in their run, but I don't think they will ever reach that peak. No other team has dominated the league that way in the modern era (Russell's Celtics don't count. The sport was in its infancy.) THAT is what I mean when I say that Jordan's Bulls were the greatest team ever- and the most super of all superteams.

I doubt the Bulls would have won 8 in a row for a few reasons.

1-They didn't play well against the Rockets in the early 90s. MJ was even on record saying he was glad the Rockets didn't make it to the Finals because "We have no answer for that monster" (Hakeem)

That quote came after this game in 93: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZbEEj2w8Zk&t=49s

That's a good highlight reel of MJ and Hakeem too....they actually included the missed shots and mistakes so you don't suffer from "highlight vision" as a fan. Most fans only remember the good stuff and after a while inflate how good past players were.

2-The Bulls would have been making their 4th trip to the Finals in a row in 94. That's mentally tiring for any team. That may be why the Warriors are looking weird in this series with mental mistakes they usually don't make.

3-The Bulls didn't make it to the Finals in 95 with MJ. He played well too. He actually played better in the 95 playoffs than he did in the 96 playoffs when they won the title. The problem was that Grant was gone. So MJ being there didn't offset that. They needed that 3rd star.

And I don't see the 90s Bulls beating the 80s great teams like the Lakers, Celtics, Sixers, or Pistons either. We already know they couldn't handle the Pistons at their peak, but they also would have no answer for the depth and size of the Celtics, Sixers, and Lakers at their peak imo. That's a whole different world than beating those 90s Knicks and Pacers in the playoffs.

Originally Posted by Melonhead

I mean only one other guy was about to get into double digits. 15 years in the league and playing better than anyone, yeah Id say he gets exhausted when his team is trash and tired of having to play hero ball.

Side note: I did not know Curry was 30 years old. Its gonna become clear soon that he wont have that impact he has now. Fighting to get space and through screens will get much harder. Still electrifying when he's on.

At some point, Lebron's age is going to be a factor. We may be seeing it now. A guy in his 15th season leading the league in minutes and then also leading the playoffs in minutes played? That's crazy. I understand the Cavs look like crap most of the time when he sits down, but you would think a coach would know to rest him so he'll have something in crunch time. Phil Jackson used to be a master of that with MJ.

Originally Posted by BPo001

CP3 out game 6 with hamstring strain. I think the Warriors just won the championship last night.

Agreed.

Exactly how many times is GS going to benefit from the opposing team suffering an injury to a key player during the playoffs? I've lost count. Do they employ a witch doctor on the staff?

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Harpospoke

Agreed.

Exactly how many times is GS going to benefit from the opposing team suffering an injury to a key player during the playoffs? I've lost count. Do they employ a witch doctor on the staff?

Seems like that's often a determining factor when it comes to the playoffs -- the healthiest team wins.

Just another reason why the 2011 Mavs were so special... Every team we beat was fully healthy (with Brandon Roy being the healthiest he'd been in years) while our #2 scorer had been lost mid-season. That's some Karate Kid shit right there.

[Melonhead]

Warriors arent used to close games. They are trash in the clutch and are not mentally tough at all. LOL at KD the snake. Dude cant do anything when under solid pressure. I wanna see GS go down, but at the same time have Houston lose in the Finals. Dream scenario. GS goes to Finals now with CP out.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

Warriors arent used to close games. They are trash in the clutch and are not mentally tough at all. LOL at KD the snake. Dude cant do anything when under solid pressure. I wanna see GS go down, but at the same time have Houston lose in the Finals. Dream scenario. GS goes to Finals now with CP out.

I honestly think Houston wins the Finals if they beat GSW, and I just can't go through that after the Eagles won the Super Bowl... Not twice in a year.

[tap2390]

Damn Lebron continually shows he's the best player in the league and it's not even close. No one (NO ONE) has been as consistent or dominant or clutch. Seven 40 point games with a bunch of limited role players around him.

I used to hate him but damn he's earned my respect.

[Underdog]

Hay guis, did LeBron luk tire tonite?

[tap2390]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Hay guis, did LeBron luk tire tonite?

Why do I automatically read these in Cartman’s voice?

[Harpospoke]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Seems like that's often a determining factor when it comes to the playoffs -- the healthiest team wins.

Just another reason why the 2011 Mavs were so special... Every team we beat was fully healthy (with Brandon Roy being the healthiest he'd been in years) while our #2 scorer had been lost mid-season. That's some Karate Kid shit right there.

Agreed. The Mavs beat healthy teams. I did hear someone claim that Wade got hurt in the Finals, but I never heard that before. I prefer to enjoy seeing him fumble away the ball at the end of games and dribbling off his own foot in crunch time. That and his fake "I got poked in the eye" plea at the end of game 2 when he missed that desperation game winner.

It may never get better than that.

[Harpospoke]

So this is starting to look like a script. Celtics can't defend on the road again. Lebron puts up another big game in elimination time.

So this means the Celtics will rediscover their defense in game 7 and the Cavs role players disappear again. Lebron has a huge game but Celtics win a blowout.

If CP3 is out, the Warriors go to the Finals and sweep the Celtics.

Hopefully there is more to this than that. (yawn)

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Damn Lebron continually shows he's the best player in the league and it's not even close. No one (NO ONE) has been as consistent or dominant or clutch. Seven 40 point games with a bunch of limited role players around him.

I used to hate him but damn he's earned my respect.

Amen to that. The general consensus seems to be that Durant is the second best player of this era, but if you look at their careers, I think he's a pretty distant second. If Lebron retired today, he'd be the second or third greatest player ever, and he only keeps adding to that legacy with games like he had last night.

Incidentally, aside from being an elimination game, game 7 could be historically significant for a completely different reason. If the Celtics win, it might very well be Lebron's last came ever as a Cavalier.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Harpospoke

So this is starting to look like a script. Celtics can't defend on the road again. Lebron puts up another big game in elimination time.

So this means the Celtics will rediscover their defense in game 7 and the Cavs role players disappear again. Lebron has a huge game but Celtics win a blowout.

If CP3 is out, the Warriors go to the Finals and sweep the Celtics.

Hopefully there is more to this than that. (yawn)

I honestly think the Celtics are deep enough and versatile enough that they could give GSW a decent series. If it ends up being those two teams, I say Warriors in 6.

[GermanDunk]

31-9 - 4th Q

[sefant77]

Almost a 50 Point Swing. Loving it.

Dont Care how many rings the Warriors win...i Just dont want a ring for Harden, Paul and Morey

[mac222b]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Almost a 50 Point Swing. Loving it.

Dont Care how many rings the Warriors win...i Just dont want a ring for Harden, Paul and Morey

Right on man

[Underdog]

At this rate LeBron gonna have to score 100 for the Cavs to win.