On this note, I’d really like to see the assists stats actually include:
Timpf goes into further detail.
He also bitches out dudes when shit goes wrong, like, he had words for Kleber when he threw an atrocious behind the back pass 15 ft. to Kleber's right.
Was that on the Tatum steal? I remember thinking that Luka must know my little one-- nothing is ever their fault.
Does Timpf really think that Luka is in the "top 3" while Tatum (and now Brown) are in the next tier? With all of Luka's not-easily-fixed defensive issues, and his rather mediocre availabity?
Dallas has the best two! Oh, wait, this looks more like the lists people here made in ranking the players.
We will just have to live with POINTZ! being the barometer of greatness from the NBA Media.
These need to be bar charts. What do the lines mean? What do the points between "regular season" and "first three rounds" mean, for example?
I think it’s just based on the idea that the Mavs will be desperate.
Really? The Mavs lost a pretty close game on the road in game 2, with Kyrie playing terrible. Normally, role players do better at home than the road. It's not difficult to see how people could think the Mavs should be able to win a game at home here.
In general, taking the home team for Game 3 of the Finals when they are down 2-0 has been a decent bet. Since 1980, the home team has gone 13-7 when down 2-0:
Yea but if Tatum had gone -2 for 7 from 3 the Celtics would have lost by 2 points.
The team down 0-2 and coming home have historically done very well in the NBA playoffs especially in covering the 1H line. I feel this matchup is different on several levels though.
I totally get the historical precedent; it's just odd to me that the line isn't reflecting what you are seeing on the floor.
I mean this is a credit to you and several other bball savants. The shit ive learned here is incredible. This is a woefully incomplete list but yall like benhogan, hrb, radsox, auger, reggieC, bsf, rorschach, and many others is so educational. Much appreciated to all the mbpc regulars. Is there a posting efficiency stat? xPG%?
It was actually worse than that. He came out very late for shootaround with no wraps, then had a guy put the wraps on leading up to the cameras rolling for coverage, then took them off within 5 minutes, and was moving completely fine when the game started. He was laboring 2nd half, but it looked more like Type 2ka huffing at air laboring.
I think that was more about Kleber fouling after the pass.. It may not have been because he does seem to blame his teammates a lot, but in that instance it looked like he was more mad about the foul.. he did say in the press conference that he had to stop turning it over and be better.
It's also going to be tough to top. Maybe they roll him out in a cold tub for G3?
Far worse and clearly premeditated. Seems like Pierce got spooked in the heat of the moment and overreacted to something that turned out to be minor.
There's the conspiracy angle that says the NBA doesn't want the series to end in a sweep, so every close call is going to go against the Celtics.
I realize some people don't like to hear this, but it's a lot more than just "sharp money" that sets the betting lines these days (be curious to see how much AI goes into the line setting these days).
if AI was setting lines based on all available public information , Dallas would be favored by 20 each game, assuming sports media was part of that info.
I think coaching matters. Maybe not as much as talent but to get to the top, a team generally has to have great talent plus at least good coaching. And it's not calling TOs or challenges. It's the implementation of a system and getting player buy-in so that everyone on the roster knows - and accepts - their role. plus implementing a system that works to players' strength may be a catalyst flr success (compare Mark Jackson to Steve Kerr on GSW).
Mazzulla has done an incredible job. He got Tatum to buy in to playing the 5 which has been a brilliant move to completely stymie the Mavs offense. He also has the team not selling out for Luka. That is incredibly difficult. In order to play team defense like they have you need to have a good coach.
To me, the system is necessary, but not sufficient. Every coach has a system of sorts. The buy-in is where the rubber meets the road, as any "system," by definition, will conflict with several players' natural instincts of what to do in given situations. And its exponentially harder than it was 30-40 years ago, as players have significantly more power than they used to.
Since these are generally lauded as high BBiQ players with several vets - would they not have bought in if AH or Jrue laid out this plan?
They’re a team that lives off of corner threes, besides Luka. Celtics are the best team in the league at limiting them, especially when fully healthy.
Keep in mind, that AI would factor in past predicions by those "experts" and their actual reliability.
I just assume that we get Foster next. Is it public information?
God I hope that we find out who this guy is someday.
I actually did in the Tatum thread showing how Tatum was taking away the Mavs offense.
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