NBA Thread 2021-22 Season

[MikeSU02]

I was kinda surprised Boston didn’t try to target Lopez and especially Portis all that much. Honestly can do the same with Grayson Allen too. Idk. I feel like Milwaukee just kinda caught Boston a little unprepared but I think there’s plenty of counters to what Milwaukee was successful with in Game 1. Don’t get me wrong; Milwaukee is a really good team and Boston has to play well to win this series. But I still think they should be considered at least a slight favorite.

I’ve also seen people overreact to Milwaukee’s flat game 1 performances enough times to just not read that much into Boston doing the same this time around.

If Milwaukee is able to take game 2, then yeah, probably time to re-evaluate things lol.

This is a very rudimentary way that I look at this, but, imo, Boston is probably a better team from A to Z if you are talking pre-season to the trip to Cancun, but Giannis 1) can elevate his game to a higher point than anyone else on the floor and 2) building off that, I think Giannis covers more of the gaffes/shortcomings of MKE better than Tatum does for Boston (and I think Tatum is a very good player).

I'm not comparing him to MJ, but when I was younger, I would watch people talk about the playoff matchups with the Bulls... and I always wondered, why don't they just say "the Bulls have MJ, end of discussion".

I think this will be a tough series and either team can win and both teams are clearly title contenders, but at the end of the day, Giannis is on MKE and not Boston and that's why I think they'll win.

(with all that said, I do think they'll work to attack Portis more, for sure. Or, at least have an answer for what happens once the beat Allen or someone off the dribble and get to that next level of defense.)

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This is a very rudimentary way that I look at this, but, imo, Boston is probably a better team from A to Z if you are talking pre-season to the trip to Cancun, but Giannis 1) can elevate his game to a higher point than anyone else on the floor and 2) building off that, I think Giannis covers more of the gaffes/shortcomings of MKE better than Tatum does for Boston (and I think Tatum is a very good player).

I'm not comparing him to MJ, but when I was younger, I would watch people talk about the playoff matchups with the Bulls... and I always wondered, why don't they just say "the Bulls have MJ, end of discussion".

I think this will be a tough series and either team can win and both teams are clearly title contenders, but at the end of the day, Giannis is on MKE and not Boston and that's why I think they'll win.

(with all that said, I do think they'll work to attack Portis more, for sure. Or, at least have an answer for what happens once the beat Allen or someone off the dribble and get to that next level of defense.)

Gotta think too, Milwaukee already climbed the mountain. That experience counts for something. Boston is still figuring out how to make the climb.

 

[MikeSU02]

Gotta think to, Milwaukee already climbed the mountain. That experience counts for something. Boston is still figuring out how to make the climb.

Yep, good point. Every Derrick White three pointer goes up, they have to realize that MKE is happier and happier.

I like Ime, I think he's a good coach. I think Tatum will have a bounce back game in game 2. But this is going to be an absolute beast of a series for him. He just outplayed KD, which is crazy, but Giannis is the final boss when it comes to NBA players.

Marcus Smart and JB just have to level up, as well.

The other thing, is if they had put it all together from day one, Boston is prob the 1 seed in the East. Maybe next year is their year.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Yeah as I dug into/thought about it more, this series has some truly elite individual and team defenders.

Giannis, Tatum, Jrue, Marcus, Horford, Williams all above average to elite. Lopez is too big to be as versatile as those guys but he still mans the paint very well.

Won’t be surprised to see low scoring (relatively).

 

[Melancer46]

Yeah as I dug into/thought about it more, this series has some truly elite individual and team defenders.

Giannis, Tatum, Jrue, Marcus, Horford, Williams all above average to elite. Lopez is too big to be as versatile as those guys but he still mans the paint very well.

Won’t be surprised to see low scoring (relatively).

I think people tend to overestimate how vulnerable Brook is on the perimeter, but yeah, he definitely can get cooked from time to time if he’s pulled out there. He’s not athletic enough to keep up with super quick guys, but he’s generally smart enough to not close out too aggressively and to keep some distance while still being able to contest with his length. And he’s obviously amazing inside; he’s just really great at defending the ball and the roller at the same time in his drop coverage and he almost always goes straight up on his contests. But yeah, it’s a lot of good defenders in this series.

 

[samspann1]

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Every time I see a Magic tweet I think it‘s from the Onion.

 

[Eric15]

Two legacies that I think can take a significant step forward in this playoffs are Erik Spoelstra and Steph Curry.

I feel like a lot of people (which I know isn't fair) simply consider Spoelstra to be a guy who was fortunate enough to have Lebron fall into his lap and he just had to get out of the way. But he went to the Finals in 2020, and if he takes the Heat back again and possibly even wins it all, you really have to consider him to be one of the better coaches of all-time. He's already fourth in league history in playoff wins.

With Curry, obviously he's a historically great player regardless of what happens, but if the Warriors win it all this year, I think you have to start grouping him together with players like Kobe and Duncan.

 

[jordville]

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Man, like Rudy but he’s not seeing his own hypocrisy there with his very limited offense, and lessened ability to cover small guards on defense.

 

[Melancer46]

Man, like Rudy but he’s not seeing his own hypocrisy there with his very limited offense, and lessened ability to cover small guards on defense.

I think Rudy can probably do more offensively than Utah generally allows him to do, but he’ll always be limited. It’s a bit different from Donovan, who came into the league known for his defense, and ultimately decided he just couldn’t care less about it anymore.

I also think it must be insanely frustrating for Rudy to be blamed for his teammates’ terrible defense. Mitchell’s offensive reputation remains intact but Rudy gets torn down over what’s mostly not in his control.

Having said that, Utah will almost certainly choose Mitchell over Gobert if forced to choose. Rudy also might know that and might be counting on it for all we know.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Man, like Rudy but he’s not seeing his own hypocrisy there with his very limited offense, and lessened ability to cover small guards on defense.

Will vs skill.

Rudy's limited on offense as a scorer, but that's not his game. He does a lot of other stuff to help the offense when he's on the floor though.

Donovan doesn't actually hustle on defense. Disinterested at best on that end of the floor.

I'll say this, if the Jazz trade Rudy they're going to be awful. The team will be a turnstile.

 

[Day2]

Always enjoyed the rivalry with them - the Lakers always getting the best of them in the playoffs may have helped. But they usually played entertaining ball, had loud fans, great uniforms, and a quality franchise that usually put out good teams. They’re definitely missed.

It’s ironic…

 

[Day2]

Motombo was AMAZING that playoffs. The Sonics stopped even trying to go into the paint.

I know Dikembe is a Georgetown guy but as an NBA player he is one of my all time favorites. Those Denver teams were so much fun. They never broke through but man they had some talent and style.

They had two Georgetown guys (Reggie Williams) and I still loved that team.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeit!

 

[MikeSU02]

Put Rudy on the Mavs or GSW.

I'm not a super fan of Rudy, but Mitchell is in for a world of hurt without Gobert manning the center spot.

For the Mavs, if I were Utah, I'd ask for Brunson (sign and trade) and Powell for Gobert (not sure if that's doable just like that, but you get my drift).

 

[MikeSU02]

Also, Luka may average 40+ for the whole of the Mavs/Suns series.

 

[Knicks411]

Put Rudy on the Mavs or GSW.

I'm not a super fan of Rudy, but Mitchell is in for a world of hurt without Gobert manning the center spot.

For the Mavs, if I were Utah, I'd ask for Brunson (sign and trade) and Powell for Gobert (not sure if that's doable just like that, but you get my drift).

Don't ruin the death lineup!!

Rudy on the Mavs is interesting though. Wonder how he and Luka work

 

[MikeSU02]

Don't ruin the death lineup!!

Rudy on the Mavs is interesting though. Wonder how he and Luka work

Luka would at least pass to him. Would guess it would be like Harden/Capela on steroids.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

What would Mr. Blackwell say?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

No Marcus Smart tonight. Celtics need big contributions all around.

 

[UpstateSM]

 

[Melancer46]

This game is more what I expected from this series. Bucks will probably shoot better than this in the future and Celtics will probably cool off a bit but they’re just the better team.

 

[cuseattle]

What would Mr. Blackwell say?

Ha ha
"Mascot for Wake Forest"

 

[Fireball Jr.]

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