General Playoff Thread: The Long 2nd Season
- Thread starter ElUno20
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Wtf is wrong with this league? Westbrook is wrapped up, no foul. Then they give him the weak and 1 to ice the game?
BigSoxFan,
You keep assuming a Spurs/Warriors series, but the Spurs are now facing an elimination game.
I am stunned as well. Spurs rarely fail to put teams away. I still think this goes 7 and Spurs win. Good news for GS either way.
Aldridge went 6-21, that probably won't happen again but it's so unusual to see the Spurs losing at home like this. And Duncan looks bad.
Yup. I am Quinnipiac'ing this series. But an elimination game won't faze the Spurs. Either way, I am very surprised that they're in this position. Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, and Aldridge all had poor shooting games.
I don't see how that differs from my mixed bag of crap analysis. I said before game 1 they are incredibly average and they have proved it. They can be a fun team but I don't see much there. Crab, harkless, aminu - time will tell but to me these guys are all just interchangeable 3/4s that are a dime a dozen in the league now. But I'm not that high on Dame or McCollum so that may be clouding my view on things as well.
The most glaring thing to me is that the long anticipated decline of the Spurs big three now appears to be actually happening. Parker 4-12 in 32 minutes, Duncan 1-6 in 28. Ginobli a quiet 19 minutes. Meanwhile, for as good as they are, Leonard and Aldridge aren't enough to offset the fall-off in depth with two and a half NBA corpses on the floor. On the flip side, Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and Dion Waiters are coming up big....who here had that before the series started?
I live in the OKC metro, and I watch the Thunder all the time. Not surprised here. But, I like your Spuroptimism.
I did, but I'm a Thunder fan. Enes has been awesome all season, and Dion has been more consistent since his brother was [tragically] shot. Steven Adams? It really depended on the Thunder's competition. Sometimes, he had awesome games; sometimes, he fell off the radar....
That big OKC front line is getting the job done. Nice to see that there is still more than one way to win.
Full disclosure. I spent about 15 years of my life living in San Antonio starting in the early 90s so I had a front row seat for a good chunk of this Pop run and while I'm a Celtics fan, I'll pull for SA in neutral contests. Just can't count this team out. Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili are definitely wrapping up their careers but I think they have some more left in them to pull this out. Also interested to see what Pop dials up for a Game 6.
But I will say this: Adams, Kanter, and Waiters have really stepped up to counter Ibaka's disappearing act the last couple of games. When Kanter and Waiters are producing, OKC has the firepower to compete with GS and SA.
At least you don't have to watch Kendrick Perkins take the ball to the floor and get stripped anymore. Adams' finishing ability has given the Thunder an added dimension that they haven't had from a center.
S
San Antonio is a beautiful city, and the Spurs have been a well-coached, talented team for many years. I am looking forward to Game 6, too. It is always interesting to see what adjustments Pop will make. As a Thunder fan, I'm interested in what Donavan will do. Presumably, he was brought in to avoid the "stale" ideas of Scotty Brooks, So, we shall see.
Lillard is shooting something like 35% for the entire playoffs. It's truly incredible how overrated he is especially when you put up his regular season "star numbers" vs Kemba Walker and see they are basically the same player except Kemba gives a damn on defense.
That's going too far. They have similar efficiency but Lilard has a meaningfully higher usage rate. The ability to sustain that efficiency in additional volume has real value. Walker might make up the difference on defense, but Lilard is the better offensive player.
We may be only 2 months away from a new Big Three of Leonard, Aldridge, and Durant.
After Curry, Westbrook, and Paul there is a gap to the next tier where Wall, Lillard, and Lowry reside. I have Kemba in that 3rd group with Reggie Jackson and Isaiah who are not nearly as versatile in that they are primarily scorers without being as well rounded as those in the top two tiers.
Lillard's distribution and creativity opens up many more opportunities for Portland's role players than Kemba who is a 2-guard in a point guards body. The Hornets offense runs through Batum more as it does Kemba except in the latter's iso situations as the shot clock is winding down so their roles are very different on their respective teams.....about the only similarity is that Kemba also brings the ball upcourt prior to Batum initiating the halfcourt set. Finally, citing FG% against the intensity of playoff defenses #1 priority being focused on stopping you is pretty silly especially since there wouldn't even be a Game 5 had it not been for Lillard.
To echo what coremiller and HRB said, Lillard is being asked to carry the bulk of the offensive load for the Blazers and given that their only other consistent scoring comes from McCollum, 18-53 nights are going to happen against good defenses. They simply have to keep shooting. Contrast that with Golden State who can run their offense through Green or even Iguodala if Thompson is cold and Curry is being doubled. The remarkable thing about the Blazers is how far they've come with little in the way of depth.
I still have questions about how Aldridge and Durant would play together but as we've all said, if anyone can make that work, its Pop.
As someone whose single favorite player in the league has been Westbrook for years and who hates the Spurs with the strength of a million suns, I would say that the way that this series has played out so far is absolutely stunning. OKC seemed to choke away pretty much every late/close game against a good team all season long, and the Spurs, who Popovich notoriously paces as much as possible over the way too long season, still managed to go 40-1 at home, only losing one to GS.
Tonight Leonard stole the ball and finished with a breakaway tomahawk dunk to make it 88-82 SA with exactly four minutes left. It's as stunning to me as anything in recent sports that OKC then outscored them 13-3 over the final four minutes, I don't think many knew they were capable of that kind of defense, especially for such a crucial stretch against such a good team in such a tough building.
Tonight Leonard stole the ball and finished with a breakaway tomahawk dunk to make it 88-82 SA with exactly four minutes left. It's as stunning to me as anything in recent sports that OKC then outscored them 13-3 over the final four minutes, I don't think many knew they were capable of that kind of defense, especially for such a crucial stretch against such a good team in such a tough building.
Wasn't Aldridge very insistent during his free agency that he not be the primary 5 on whatever team he chose? So if he is the 4, Durant and Leonard are the 3 and 2 respectively? It seems like it will be pretty easy for Durant to find a situation that makes more sense for him than that.
When Leonard makes that dunk the Spurs win like 99.9% of those games at home. Totally shocking to see them fall apart like that. Duncan and to a lesser extent West aren't doing much. I'd expect more Diaw in Game 6. I get the feeling they have met their match, though unless Westbrook goes 7-21.
I don't know if Aminu is one of the most underrated players but he has shown me something during this series. You are right - his offense has improved considerably.
Not only that but they lose a ton of talent during the offseason and they are playing the NBA champs tough in every game.
With the league's 3rd youngest roster, and lowest payroll. It's amazing.
I really don't care if the Blazers win tonight. I wouldn't have cared if they were swept. In 25 years of living in Portland I've never had more affection for a Blazer team than this one. They've given everything.
You have to be bulled up on them. Two emerging stars. A great coach and a front office that is great at identifying value. There is no shame in losing to this Warriors team - they are giving them everything and then some.
Meanwhile, who makes that shot besides Curry and maybe Lillard on occasion?
Absolutely. Olshey assembled a group of guys all around the same age with the idea that they'd grow together. They are way ahead of schedule. They have pretty much perfect on the court chemistry. If they can keep this core together and add one more all star caliber player, they'll be close. Love this team.
Love Golden State too. Hope they repeat.