The 2nd Season - 2019 Playoff Thread

BigSoxFan

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After a brutal ending like this with something conceivably to prove the next year, does this make Butler and Harris more likely to stay in Philly?
I’d be surprised if Harris stays. He never seemed like he fit in Philly. I think Butler stays.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Is shot angle a thing in basketball analytics/data tracking? He had to arc that ball so high it was ridiculous.
 
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bosockboy

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We certainly weren’t envisioning Kyrie throwing a giant grenade into the process, that’s for sure. But, man, Kawhi was there for the taking unless the Spurs wanted a more experienced guy in DD.
Perfect example of why Danny won’t hesitate on AD. It’s become near impossible to legit compete for a title without a top 6-8 player on your roster. Just get him and take your shot.
 

jon abbey

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That was one of the sickest shots I've ever seen given the situation, but not sure why the series win would increase Kawhi's chances of staying. He didn't exactly get much help, and would you rather go to war alongside the Clippers roster or the Raptors roster without Kawhi? To me that seems like an easy answer currently, very disappointed in Siakam's disappearance for the most part, glad he will get another series.

Do Kawhi and GIannis match up against each other much when they've played so far? Please please please please basketball gods...
 

InstaFace

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Siakam has a lot of upside still. He went from "interesting project as a 2nd-year" to "near all-star" over the course of the season.

A lot of the Clippers' talent is old and getting older. Lou Will, Beverley, Gallinari too. And that's before you take into account the conference they're in.

I don't think it's an easy answer at all.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I’d be surprised if Harris stays. He never seemed like he fit in Philly. I think Butler stays.
Yeah, Harris is going to get paid by someone. With all the other Sixers commitments he can’t be a priority.

Kudos to Kawhi who had to work for everything he got tonight. Both defense were well prepared and executed nearly all night. It was one of those games when you need 40 pts on 40 shots out of Kawhi otherwise the team wouldn’t get shots off.
 

RedOctober3829

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Embiid is an elite post player. This sort of analysis belongs with the "good face" approach to evaluating baseball players imho. Toronto did a good job on him down low
Even if they did a good job on him, he has to post up even if just to draw a double and get a mismatch somewhere else. Why would they just abandon him down there? It made no sense.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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I'm no basketball tactics expert, but help me out on this one -- Simmons was covering Kawhi when he received the ball on the final play, was moving his feet well, and seemed to be in proper position when Leonard turned up court to head to the corner for his shot. It appeared to me that Embiid stepped in Simmons way to take over the coverage on Leonard, and in the switch Kawhi gained a little daylight.

Was Embiid supposed to pick up Kawhi, taking over from Simmons, or was that hero ball?
 

lovegtm

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I'm no basketball tactics expert, but help me out on this one -- Simmons was covering Kawhi when he received the ball on the final play, was moving his feet well, and seemed to be in proper position when Leonard turned up court to head to the corner for his shot. It appeared to me that Embiid stepped in Simmons way to take over the coverage on Leonard, and in the switch Kawhi gained a little daylight.

Was Embiid supposed to pick up Kawhi, taking over from Simmons, or was that hero ball?
There was little time, so they were effectively doubling Kawhi to give him no room to drive, and make sure the shot was contested either direction that Kawhi went. Embiid got a great contest. It was good coaching, good execution, and a better shot.
 

HomeRunBaker

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You’ve got a quick turnaround for G1 so that game may be the anomaly but this Raptor team has all the pieces in place to make this a grind it out halfcoirt slugfest which is how to take away all those Bucks open court advantages. There are going to be some ugly low scoring games in this series and that plays right into the Raptors hands.

Siakam didn’t look himself today and was clearly hampered by his injury. If he gets back to health they are going to have a real good chance to get to The Finals. I’m looking forward to getting maybe +220 or +230 for the series.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Even if they did a good job on him, he has to post up even if just to draw a double and get a mismatch somewhere else. Why would they just abandon him down there? It made no sense.
To clarify, I don't doubt that the radio/takes crowd will single out Embiid's low scoring total and struggles in the paint as proof of some flaw with the guy. You are right about that. But the guy was Philly's leading scorer which kind of exposes the real story of this series and the 76ers falling short -they have limited shooting. Toronto exploited this by focusing on Embiid and the better shooters and forcing Philly into what they do poorly. Both teams struggled from the floor tonight but Toronto can get away with it because they are an elite defensive team whereas the 6ers are middle of the road.

Philly has a roster problem and needs to fix it.

On another note, his scoring numbers weren't great but tonight chipped away at the Kyle Lowry narrative a little bit if you were paying attention. His defense was fantastic and a large part of why Toronto was able to pull this game out.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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There was little time, so they were effectively doubling Kawhi to give him no room to drive, and make sure the shot was contested either direction that Kawhi went. Embiid got a great contest. It was good coaching, good execution, and a better shot.
Thanks very much
 

HomeRunBaker

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very disappointed in Siakam's disappearance for the most part, glad he will get another series.
Siakam was listed as Doubtful for G4 with his calf injury and likely wouldn’t even be playing in these games if it were the regular season. He’s clearly not 100%.
 

jon abbey

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Siakam was listed as Doubtful for G4 with his calf injury and likely wouldn’t even be playing in these games if it were the regular season. He’s clearly not 100%.
I thought he looked good again in the previous game, but maybe you're right.
 

ehaz

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If Kawhi decides to stay, does TOR all the sudden become the dark horse in the AD sweepstakes? Siakam as a trump card... Yikes.
 

the moops

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That is such a sick photo. Iconic.

Also - Joel Embiid was +91 for this 2nd round matchup. That is amazing. Is a shame (sort of) that PHI couldn't have found a better backup center though
 

Big John

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I thought Embiid got away with murder with those officials. There was one play near the end of the game where he absolutely decked Lowry and got the blocking call. I thought it was close to a flagrant 1 on Embiid.

So, does Brett Brown get fired after that kind of game 7 loss?
 

lovegtm

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I thought Embiid got away with murder with those officials. There was one play near the end of the game where he absolutely decked Lowry and got the blocking call. I thought it was close to a flagrant 1 on Embiid.

So, does Brett Brown get fired after that kind of game 7 loss?
Firing him seems bad—management didn’t give him nearly enough to work with in terms of bench and shooting. I thought he did quite a good job in terms of adjustments, and his only big failure was not having the team mentally jacked up to play game 5.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Firing him seems bad—management didn’t give him nearly enough to work with in terms of bench and shooting. I thought he did quite a good job in terms of adjustments, and his only big failure was not having the team mentally jacked up to play game 5.
Firing a coach following a G7 4-rim bounce buzzer beater would be such a SoSH thing to do though. Lol
 

SemperFidelisSox

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Kevin Durant is out for at least Game 1 of the WCF, source tells ESPN. He’s not being re-evaluated until Thursday so it’s “unlikely “ he plays Game 2 either.
 

jon abbey

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Kevin Durant is out for at least Game 1 of the WCF, source tells ESPN. He’s not being re-evaluated until Thursday so it’s “unlikely “ he plays Game 2 either.
I don't think they need him to get past POR without Nurkic and presumably Hood, I'll be surprised if that goes past 5, but they will need him in the Finals IMO.
 

ugmo33

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I don't think they need him to get past POR without Nurkic and presumably Hood, I'll be surprised if that goes past 5, but they will need him in the Finals IMO.
I think this series will be closer than it seems without Durant as long as Lillard can make a comeback. Curry doesn't seem 100%, CJ is on fire and Portland has caused lots of regular-season problems for GS during their reign.
 

lovegtm

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Wonder what would happen with Enes Kanter if Portland played Toronto in the Finals. Would he just not go to Toronto for fear of being deported?
Not to go down a V&N road, but I imagine Canada is far more US-aligned than Turkey-aligned. Also, didn’t Kanter play road games against the Raps the past couple years?

Edit: he played 20 mins in Toronto in November.
 

coremiller

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I think this series will be closer than it seems without Durant as long as Lillard can make a comeback. Curry doesn't seem 100%, CJ is on fire and Portland has caused lots of regular-season problems for GS during their reign.
They also played in the playoffs in 2016 and 2017 and the Warriors were 8-1 across those series. Granted, the Warriors had Durant in 2017, but in 2016 they didn't, and Curry even missed three of the games; the Warriors were 2-1 without Curry. Lillard and McCollum have probably improved since then, but I don't think Portland is nearly good enough defensively to beat the Warriors in a seven-game series. And a key guy like Kanter, who is third on the team in scoring and minutes during the playoffs, is basically unplayable against the Warriors.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I think they should sit Durant unless they get down 3-1
Calves can be debilitating. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Warriors knew he was out until deep into The Finals or even for the year. It doesn’t benefit them to share any actual timeline for his return.
 

lovegtm

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They also played in the playoffs in 2016 and 2017 and the Warriors were 8-1 across those series. Granted, the Warriors had Durant in 2017, but in 2016 they didn't, and Curry even missed three of the games; the Warriors were 2-1 without Curry. Lillard and McCollum have probably improved since then, but I don't think Portland is nearly good enough defensively to beat the Warriors in a seven-game series. And a key guy like Kanter, who is third on the team in scoring and minutes during the playoffs, is basically unplayable against the Warriors.
I'm interested in the Kanter aspect: the non-KD Warriors have places for Portland to hide him on defense for 10-20 minutes a night, and he is the post scoring threat against switches that Houston lacked. He's less playable than against OKC, but there are some spots to get him in I think.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Calves can be debilitating.
Depends on the severity. Interestingly, the last time these two teams met in the playoffs, KD missed all of Game 2 and Game 3 and played only 20 minutes in Game 4 due to ... wait for it ... a strained calf. Young Patrick McCaw started in his stead, and the Warriors swept the series easily. Both teams have changed a fair bit in two years, so I'm not drawing any conclusions or making any predictions — just noting that calf strains can be mild, and the fact that KD has dealt with them before gives reason for optimism (for KD/Warrior fans). Fwiw, GS beat writer Connor Letourneau says they're optimistic he'll be back for Game 3. Fingers crossed.

 

coremiller

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I'm interested in the Kanter aspect: the non-KD Warriors have places for Portland to hide him on defense for 10-20 minutes a night, and he is the post scoring threat against switches that Houston lacked. He's less playable than against OKC, but there are some spots to get him in I think.
He's been averaging 33 minutes/game in the playoffs so far. The last time he played the Warriors in the playoffs (2016 when he was on OKC), he played 12.2 minutes/game and became increasingly unplayable as the series went on (17 mgp over the first 3 games, 8.6 mpg over the final 4 games).

You can't hide him on defense against the Warriors when Curry is on the floor; the Warriors will put him in a PNR involving Curry on every possession. Kanter doesn't have the quickness or athleticism to hold up in that matchup.

Portland could get away with it against OKC because Westbrook can't shoot, so Kanter could sag back on all the picks to protect against drives and dare Westbrook to make jumpers. Obviously that's suicide against Curry.
 

TripleOT

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Evan Turner at center as soon as the Warriors pick and roll Kanter, Collins, and Leonard off the floor.

or

Kanter destroy Golden State on the offensive boards, and does a decent job on pick/roll coverage.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Some fun ref info on the NBA game tonight that I came across for you ref conspiracy theorists:

3 refs in POR/GSW are combined +120.6 Units lifetime on AWAY team Against The Spread.