2021 NBA Playoffs Gamethread

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
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Simmons will never hit his potential until he is moved to a new team where he can be the point center.

He is so good in such a particular way but he needs to be a particular cog in a roster and having a guy like Embiid makes it impossible.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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Nate McMillan is a famously bad playoff coach and we are seeing the chickens come home to roost.
 

Kliq

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Simmons will never hit his potential until he is moved to a new team where he can be the point center.

He is so good in such a particular way but he needs to be a particular cog in a roster and having a guy like Embiid makes it impossible.
The discourse around Simmons was a fascination with his inability to shoot. This year it was met with more media backlash as people focused on "We hear about how he can't shoot but he does so many other things so well."

However, the guy refuses to get better (by learning to shoot) and he doesn't come across as a competitor at the level of most other NBA players. It's a major problem that I think a lot of people ignore it.
 

Cellar-Door

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Aug 1, 2006
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Looks like LAC are going to get a big offensive game from Kawhi. Every time that has happened they won.
 

Jimbodandy

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The discourse around Simmons was a fascination with his inability to shoot. This year it was met with more media backlash as people focused on "We hear about how he can't shoot but he does so many other things so well."

However, the guy refuses to get better (by learning to shoot) and he doesn't come across as a competitor at the level of most other NBA players. It's a major problem that I think a lot of people ignore it.
I agree completely. Giannis had the same problem and clearly worked/works on it. Show some fight.
 

Euclis20

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I agree completely. Giannis had the same problem and clearly worked/works on it. Show some fight.
They both have the same problem in that they don't have strong outside shots, but there's an order of magnitude difference. Giannis is a poor outside shooter and it occasionally limits his offensive game in the half court. Simmons is a historically awful outside shooter and it often renders him completely useless in the half court. For the last half decade, Giannis has been one of the most efficient high volume scorers in the league even without an average outside shot. In a relative down year for him he was still one of 15 players who averaged 25+ ppg, and in that group he was 4th in eFG%. At .600, he was barely behind Jokic (.602) and Curry (.605), with Zion well out in front at .616. Similar weaknesses aside, he really isn't in the same league as Simmons.

The problem with Simmons is sort of that he's out of place playing next to Embiid, but that's not Embiid's fault. I agree with those who say that Simmons needs an offense built around him (where he can be the point center) in order to reach his full potential, but can a team built around a 15 ppg scorer without a hint of an outside shot win a title? At this point, his offensive potential isn't enough to justify that sort of gamble.
 

ElUno20

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Jul 19, 2005
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Just make anyone else make a fucking shot. Anyone. Take the ball out of Luka's hands.
 

TripleOT

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Jul 4, 2007
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This ESPN/ABC studio crew is turrible. Jay Williams calls out Porzingis, who had 12 points in the first half, one under the highest scorer on the opponent. Then Jaylen praises Tim Hardaway JR, who had only 6 first half points.

The key to the first half were the Clippers reserves, who had 19 points, to only 4 from the Mavs.
 

Jimbodandy

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They both have the same problem in that they don't have strong outside shots, but there's an order of magnitude difference. Giannis is a poor outside shooter and it occasionally limits his offensive game in the half court. Simmons is a historically awful outside shooter and it often renders him completely useless in the half court. For the last half decade, Giannis has been one of the most efficient high volume scorers in the league even without an average outside shot. In a relative down year for him he was still one of 15 players who averaged 25+ ppg, and in that group he was 4th in eFG%. At .600, he was barely behind Jokic (.602) and Curry (.605), with Zion well out in front at .616. Similar weaknesses aside, he really isn't in the same league as Simmons.

The problem with Simmons is sort of that he's out of place playing next to Embiid, but that's not Embiid's fault. I agree with those who say that Simmons needs an offense built around him (where he can be the point center) in order to reach his full potential, but can a team built around a 15 ppg scorer without a hint of an outside shot win a title? At this point, his offensive potential isn't enough to justify that sort of gamble.
Agreed on all of this. Huge difference on scale between bad and historically bad shooting. But what I don't get is why he doesn't work at it. Giannis's shooting numbers from 2, 3, and FT are an upward, fairly linear trend. Simmons is basically flat. He's so bad that he won't shoot and doesn't seem to be working on it at all (from the results). It's bizarre.
 

Euclis20

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Agreed on all of this. Huge difference on scale between bad and historically bad shooting. But what I don't get is why he doesn't work at it. Giannis's shooting numbers from 2, 3, and FT are an upward, fairly linear trend. Simmons is basically flat. He's so bad that he won't shoot and doesn't seem to be working on it at all (from the results). It's bizarre.
It's funny because I really couldn't be any higher on his defense, but it says something really terrible that he's not even trying to shoot from outside. Brett Brown was practically begging him publicly to to do so, nothing. New coach, nothing. 10 3 point attempts in 58 games this year. Over 20% of his shots as a rookie were from 10 feet or farther, this year it was just over 7%.

When he does hit a 3 pointer, the crowd goes crazy like at a high school game when the 5 foot 90 pound team manager hits a layup in the closing seconds of a blowout when neither team is trying. It's a joke and everyone knows it.
 

Cellar-Door

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Aug 1, 2006
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Luka needs rest otherwise he's gonna run out of gas again, but the Mavs can't keep it close with him sitting. They're in real trouble unless their bench catches fire from 3
 

Fishy1

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Nov 10, 2006
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Kawhi is so methodical and fun to watch. Their offense would be even better without Morris Sr. dragging out possessions. I had no idea how good his percentages were. Just shoot the ball!!
 

PedroKsBambino

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If you are a fan of the Porzingis for Walker idea, this game is pretty much precisely what you'd want to happen to emphasize why Dallas should think about it
 

Jimbodandy

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Luka needs rest otherwise he's gonna run out of gas again, but the Mavs can't keep it close with him sitting. They're in real trouble unless their bench catches fire from 3
Yeah he is gassed badly. I'm not one to body shame, since the guy is a stud and all. But Kawhi looks like he has about 3% bodyfat and keeps that robot routine going until the buzzer.

Of course if Dallas's roster allowed Luka to catch his breath, it wouldn't be as big of a deal.
 

johnmd20

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And now it's over.

Shucks. I wanted the Clips to go down in the first round. But they played a tremendous game tonight.
 

TripleOT

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Jul 4, 2007
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Mook Morris earned his $15 million this game, going 7-9 from three, for 23 points.

The Clippers got a lot of value from Reggie Jackson’s $2.3 million salary.