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[DasPenguin]

At least the Celtics showed up this time. Kind of. They make so many mistakes on the road that they just don't make at home games. I guess that's what you get when most of your team should be in college.

And I love Brad Stevens, but continuing to change big/small ball screens with terrible results should be a fireable offense. NBA defenses in general are just god awful to watch. The NBA product itself is not doing too good either. Just horrible games night in and night out. 34 year old man abusing teenagers and Europeans, and an all start team killing the 1st seed whose star player makes And 1 Mixtape guys look like lockdown defenders. These playoffs most definitely aren't fantastic.

 

[mckmas8808]

At least the Celtics showed up this time. Kind of. They make so many mistakes on the road that they just don't make at home games. I guess that's what you get when most of your team should be in college.

And I love Brad Stevens, but continuing to change big/small ball screens with terrible results should be a fireable offense. NBA defenses in general are just god awful to watch. The NBA product itself is not doing too good either. Just horrible games night in and night out. 34 year old man abusing teenagers and Europeans, and an all start team killing the 1st seed whose star player makes And 1 Mixtape guys look like lockdown defenders. These playoffs most definitely aren't fantastic.

The Cs has one of the best defenses in the NBA though. They are a great defense. Just not against Lebron on the road.

 

[DasPenguin]

The Cs has one of the best defenses in the NBA though. They are a great defense. Just not against Lebron on the road.

I know, but in these playoffs they have had several bad defensive efforts on the road. James will score but you need to limit the scrubs. They did so in Boston.

 

[lil puff]

^ It will be interesting to see how the Celtics respond in game 5.

I sort of believe the Cavs learned their lesson during game 2 when James looked like he wanted to come out and score 80, while his team never got involved.

And if the Cavs limit the turnovers, they will take away a huge chunk of why the Celtics won those games.

 

[DasPenguin]

^ It will be interesting to see how the Celtics respond in game 5.

I sort of believe the Cavs learned their lesson during game 2 when James looked like he wanted to come out and score 80, while his team never got involved.

And if the Cavs limit the turnovers, they will take away a huge chunk of why the Celtics won those games.

Teammates not getting involved has a lot to do with the Celtics defense, which usually is pretty solid at home.

Still I don't understand how you can repeatedly switch big/small ball screens and let a wing player bulldoze a guard from three point line to the bucket without sending any help. Charles Barkley must be going mad when he sees that. And if you ever saw Barkley play in Philadelphia you would understand what I meant. Dude scored 20+ per game, yet every time he touched the ball against a guy his size, he was immediately double teamed. Otherwise he would just go over and through everyone guarding him. I think he would've started laughing if there ever was a switch like that.

 

[mckmas8808]

Teammates not getting involved has a lot to do with the Celtics defense, which usually is pretty solid at home.

Still I don't understand how you can repeatedly switch big/small ball screens and let a wing player bulldoze a guard from three point line to the bucket without sending any help. Charles Barkley must be going mad when he sees that. And if you ever saw Barkley play in Philadelphia you would understand what I meant. Dude scored 20+ per game, yet every time he touched the ball against a guy his size, he was immediately double teamed. Otherwise he would just go over and through everyone guarding him. I think he would've started laughing if there ever was a switch like that.

Because coaches in this era strongly believe that they have the upper hand in switch when wing players are behind or near the 3 point line, but their defender is smaller and quicker than the Offensive wing player. BUT they problem starts when that wing player just post him up and backs him down 20 feet into the paint and scores.

Cs will lose in 6 if they don't change that approach. It's insane like you said.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Because coaches in this era strongly believe that they have the upper hand in switch when wing players are behind or near the 3 point line, but their defender is smaller and quicker than the Offensive wing player. BUT they problem starts when that wing player just post him up and backs him down 20 feet into the paint and scores.

Cs will lose in 6 if they don't change that approach. It's insane like you said.

Not so sure I agree it's a problem with the plan, I thought the problem was with the execution. Rozier and Tatum especially got lost on so many switches, even Marcus Smart despite some Marcus Smart plays had a poor game overall. They can't allow Korver to get clean looks ever and doubling on anyone is just asking for that. The Cavs changed their screens and the timing of their passes a bit and Boston didn't adjust properly but I think those adjustments are more in game than gameplan. Guys just need to play smoother, I love the effort they had last game as they were playing pretty atrociously and yet somehow macho'd up back to the game, but they need to play better in the first place.

There was one huge play that can't go unnoticed in the last game: Al Horford missing a very clear and very open 3 that would bring the Cavs lead down to 5. He needs to hit that. Horford absolutely sucked in the last few games and he's the team leader, Boston won't go anywhere if he looks scared by his own shadow.

 

[mckmas8808]

Not so sure I agree it's a problem with the plan, I thought the problem was with the execution. Rozier and Tatum especially got lost on so many switches, even Marcus Smart despite some Marcus Smart plays had a poor game overall. They can't allow Korver to get clean looks ever and doubling on anyone is just asking for that. The Cavs changed their screens and the timing of their passes a bit and Boston didn't adjust properly but I think those adjustments are more in game than gameplan. Guys just need to play smoother, I love the effort they had last game as they were playing pretty atrociously and yet somehow macho'd up back to the game, but they need to play better in the first place.

There was one huge play that can't go unnoticed in the last game: Al Horford missing a very clear and very open 3 that would bring the Cavs lead down to 5. He needs to hit that. Horford absolutely sucked in the last few games and he's the team leader, Boston won't go anywhere if he looks scared by his own shadow.

Horford was good last night man. Better than game 3 of course. You just can't expect 20 pts and 10 rbs from big Al on the road. It's not fair to expect that.

 

[lil puff]

Totally agree about the mismatching on defense being a nasty trend. It does make one wonder what the coaches are discussing during timeouts when you get torched by it over and over.

RE: Horford is a pretty good 3 point shooter, but I don't yet see him as a guy that is going to hit that consistently under pressure, ie. he is not a traditional outside shooter. I think they will be content to allow him to sit out there all alone and shoot all day. This is what happened to the Nets when they tried to make Brooke Lopez their #1 outside shooter.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Horford was good last night man. Better than game 3 of course. You just can't expect 20 pts and 10 rbs from big Al on the road. It's not fair to expect that.

I have to disagree there. He ended up with a +2 I believe which is weird, but he played like a role player. They need him to be more than that, which is fair or unfair depending on how you view him, but it is what it is. They're going nowhere if he's not touching the ball more. He should have tried to control the tempo a bit when young guys were fuckballing 7SOL 3s late in the 3rd and early in the 4th. More than scoring more, he just needs to be more involved and maybe even QB things a bit because everyone around him is barely old enough to drink. I miss the possessions where he operated almost like a PG high above the arc when everyone was moving around, he's a great playmaker.

RE: Horford is a pretty good 3 point shooter, but I don't yet see him as a guy that is going to hit that consistently under pressure, ie. he is not a traditional outside shooter. I think they will be content to allow him to sit out there all alone and shoot all day. This is what happened to the Nets when they tried to make Brooke Lopez their #1 outside shooter.

Agreed actually, but that was the point when the game was over. Like I said, it's unfair to Horford to expect him to hit that shot and guys like Steph and Durant missed open looks with the game on the line a lot of times, but the Celtics need him to make the most out of these key moments. He's never going to do it like Lebron and completely take over a game and score over 40, so he's more of a key time performer. If the Celtics hope to win this series, which would be a ridiculous feat given all they've gone through, he needs to rise up to the moment. I'm not criticizing him, but just being realistic of where the team stands.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Man I never noticed how fucking ugly Harden's ears are, what the fuck is going on there?

 

[Corrik]

If Rockets win this game, they retake home court advantage and have momentum. This series is not a shoo-in.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Holy shit what a great game. The ending was insane, why didn't Paul miss the second FT? And how the fuck did the Rockets give Curry of all people a WIDE OPEN 3 to tie it? And somehow they survived it nonetheless. The Warriors choked this one badly, I don't remember Jordan's Bulls or Shaq's Lakers ever doing something like this.

 

[finowns]

F!!

 

[Lionel Richie]

This is starting to feel like the first truly WTF how Lebron title is coming. The team that makes it out of the West alive could be banged up, the Warriors offense looks out of sync a bit and I don't fully trust the Rockets at the biggest stage.

 

[mckmas8808]

This is starting to feel like the first truly WTF how Lebron title is coming. The team that makes it out of the West alive could be banged up, the Warriors offense looks out of sync a bit and I don't fully trust the Rockets at the biggest stage.

And this is when the Cavs lose game 5 tonight and keeps this year's confusion at an all-time high lol.

 

[Lionel Richie]

So remember when I said that Horford need to step up at key moments? He kind of played like ass for good chunks of tonight's game, but he hit a very clutch 3 that effectively ended the game.

What a great win. The game itself sucked, but I'm feeling good about the series. Lebron looked flat out exhausted out there, they need to work him really hard in game 6 so you have a shot at human Bron for game 7. Win or lose, the Celtics can't start the next game playing like shit. Tire them out.

 

[DasPenguin]

This is starting to feel like the first truly WTF how Lebron title is coming. The team that makes it out of the West alive could be banged up, the Warriors offense looks out of sync a bit and I don't fully trust the Rockets at the biggest stage.

I don't trust the Rockets either, but they have a top 5 defense (which has to be a mirage with Harden involved) and enough good players to beat the teams in the east.

It took a while, but finally a good game with GS and Houston. Just surprised about the confusion with the Warriors at the end of the game. That execution was straight out of high school.

Boston did what they do best, play good defense at home. Also no 3-4 day breaks for Lebron like before game 3, and he looks tired.

What I've learned from these playoffs and also the NHL playoffs is, that money ruins everything. NHL salaries are much smaller and I really hope that both of the finalists could win. In the NBA? I can't stand Cleveland, Houston or Golden State. Boston I'm ok with, because it's such a nice story and they have a very young team. Seems like the more money these athletes make, the more narcissistic and obnoxious they get. Has there ever been a more unlikeable group of stars in the NBA, ever? Harden I'm pretty ok with (except for the fact that he travels 300 times per game) but all the goodwill goes out with Draymond Green's partner, Chris Paul. One guy punches everyone in the nuts and the other guy does the same with his feet.

 

[finowns]

Klay is out. Jesus Christ

 

[Corrik]

Refs are doing all they can to help Golden State. Might not be enough.

 

[finowns]

I’m in a complete zen state.

 

[Lionel Richie]

LMAO the Warriors choked that one. You have a chance to play 5 on 4 and yet you let Cook shoot a 3 with like 20 seconds left in the clock. Open shot doesn't matter, he should never ever shoot that shot.

 

[rokkerkory]

LMAO the Warriors choked that one. You have a chance to play 5 on 4 and yet you let Cook shoot a 3 with like 20 seconds left in the clock. Open shot doesn't matter, he should never ever shoot that shot.

Yeah that was just bad

 

[mckmas8808]

Refs are doing all they can to help Golden State. Might not be enough.

Boy were the refs trying their hardest to make GS win. I'm not a conspiracy guy, but the refs were AWFUL last night.

 

[lil puff]

I am not usually a conspiracy guy, but Got damn

 

[lil puff]

this is interesting for all the wrong reasons. It is a great playoffs and it isn't wtf

 

[demigod]

Lebron gonna go fishing after tonight. Taking bets if he’ll shake hands with the other team or walk off the court right away.

 

[Lionel Richie]

I mean this was fucking bullshit.

 

[demigod]

Dang, Lebron lives another day. Don’t have tnt, what did i miss?

 

[cubicle47b]

Dang, Lebron lives another day. Don’t have tnt, what did i miss?

The Cavs/Celtics series is on ESPN. The Cavs were down 20-25 at the end of the first quarter and it looked like Lebron was disengaged ("he gone"), but then the rest of the team made some shots and a big effort play or two and he seemed to flip the switch for the rest of the game. Highlights:

 

[Lionel Richie]

Dang, Lebron lives another day. Don’t have tnt, what did i miss?

The C's gave up a thousand second chance points, they couldn't move the ball below the FT line until the 4th, they turned the ball over like mad men, they could hit their fucking FTs, Lebron went super human and activated the cheat code with a little over 2 to go to put the game away and even the corpse of George Hill had a vintage game.

It was a frustrating game, but hey they only lost by 10 even with all this happening, so they should be alright come sunday IF they don't have another terrible game.

 

[Corrik]

Rockets Cavs Finals with Chris Paul and Kevin Love out. Gonna be MVP Bowl with Harden vs LeBron to see who really is the best.

 

[DasPenguin]

Love will most likely make it back at some point in the Finals. And if Boston plays like they do at home, Cavs would lose even if Love was playing. It's just that the best players for the Celtics are teenagers, so they play much better at home.

But what a terrible finish to a season. Golden State has no bench, Houston plays with 6 or 7 guys and now one of the starters is hurt. Boston is missing two of their best players and Cavs roster was put together by GM Lebron and it looks exactly what it did when he left the first time.

If Cleveland and Boston played in the West, does either of those teams even make it to second round? I doubt it. But now with all the injuries both Boston and Cleveland have a chance if they make it there. Unreal.

 

[e0n]

So people still have GSW winning it all, right? Injuries on every team, but there's no question that Iguodala isn't as important as CP3 or Love. I'm really surprised how close a Rockets-Celtics final might happen.

 

[Cyber Caesar]

Gordon balling.

 

[Straight Edge]

Refs trying their hardest to save GSW

 

[cubicle47b]

Between the refs in the 2nd and 3rd and Houston collapsing that was a hard game to watch.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Between the refs in the 2nd and 3rd and Houston collapsing that was a hard game to watch.

Refs weren't that blatant tonight, I thought last game was definitely worse against Houston. D'Antoni's reactions probably make them look worse than they are.

 

[bigedole]

Don't know how anyone can even suspect the refs for this, Houston had more free throws in the game, and the refs sure didn't make them turn it over 20+ times and only get 4 points before garbage time in the 4th. Like, this was a terrible collapse on Houston's part.

 

[Corrik]

James Harden handed Golden state that game. Their 1st quarter was all passing and team offense. Then Harden stopped passing the ball completely and he gave the game away killing the offense. Houston had this game easily won and Harden gave it away.

 

[dsier]

LeBron will have to turn into LeThanos if the Cavs want to have any chance of winning this Game 7. All the other players have been horrible so far in this 1st half.

 

[Cyber Caesar]

Man how you miss that many open 3 pointers in the NBA? How?

 

[Straight Edge]

I'm getting nauseous...

 

[TTOOLL]

Boston with the brick show. Oozing rookieness.

 

[DasPenguin]

Boston with the brick show. Oozing rookieness.

You miss that many threes because it still is a low percentage shot.

I wondered will the age ever start to show, and here it is. I know advance stat guys love the three, but when you score in the 70’s against one of the worst defenses in the NBA, it would be awesome if you could hit an open 15 footer or score in the post.

 

[Manus]

Man those last few minutes from Boston was awful. SO many missed shots.

 

[demigod]

Lame, guess its going to be Cavs vs Warriors again.

 

[dsier]

How high do you guys rank this trip to the finals on LeBrons list of accomplishments? Taking this sub par Cavs team all the way is IMO his greatest achievement besides the 2016 Finals. I hope he can get at least one or two wins in the Finals, although I doubt it.

 

[Deleted member 12837]

How high do you guys rank this trip to the finals on LeBrons list of accomplishments? Taking this sub par Cavs team all the way is IMO his greatest achievement besides the 2016 Finals. I hope he can get at least one or two wins in the Finals, although I doubt it.

I’d probably rank 2007 above this one.

 

[DasPenguin]

Lame, guess its going to be Cavs vs Warriors again.

These playoffs have been the worst I’ve seen since I started following the NBA. Terrible offensive execution, best team in the regular season does nothing but Iso and chugs threes, and when they have a bad night of shooting they lose by 30.

Used to love this game, but this is almost unwatchable. Dear god what a mess.