14-15 NBA Playoffs Thread

[nol]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

DeAndre Jordan...6/17 on free throws when you lose by 4 in OT is brutal.

Hack-a-DJ actually got the Clippers back in the game. The Spurs weren't scoring on a set Clipper defense. 2 missed DJ free throws resulted in offensive rebounds, and those two extra possessions yielded Matt Barnes getting fouled twice and going 1-4 on free throws.

The biggest killer was getting a highly favorable match-up up 2 with 10 seconds left (Belinelli guarding Griffin) and having it result in a live-ball turnover and a fast break for the game-tying free throws. Pretty much anything else (travel, offensive foul, backwards over-the head three-point attempt, dropkick the ball into the stands) would have resulted in a near-certain win.

[korme]

One last thing on Brooks. If this job is as simple as 'this guy has a good winning %: he's good' and 'this guy has a bad winning %: he's bad', then I don't know why I watch nightly.

He made the Finals on a team that had Westbrook, Durant, Harden, and Ibaka. He's had as much talent as anybody. A really good coach probably does more than 1 Finals trip, even with all the injuries.

[korme]

Originally Posted by nol

Hack-a-DJ actually got the Clippers back in the game. The Spurs weren't scoring on a set Clipper defense. 2 missed DJ free throws resulted in offensive rebounds, and those two extra possessions yielded Matt Barnes getting fouled twice and going 1-4 on free throws.

The biggest killer was getting a highly favorable match-up up 2 with 10 seconds left (Belinelli guarding Griffin) and having it result in a live-ball turnover and a fast break for the game-tying free throws. Pretty much anything else (travel, offensive foul, backwards over-the head three-point attempt, dropkick the ball into the stands) would have resulted in a near-certain win.

Every possession changes every next possession but it's hard to think about if Redick hits the Tech Free Throw or the runner three if the outcome isn't different.

[korme]

Also:

Bennett Salvatore: 65
Joe Crawford: 63

Why are the two most famous refs as old as grandfathers? Why do we think it's ok for 60 year old men to run around with 20 year olds and think they have the best reaction/decision making skills? It's ridiculous.

[Brian Swartz]

No question the Spurs should have lost the game. They were very fortunate to get away with basically not hitting a thing the last half of the fourth quarter.

[whomario]

@ Korme: Yeah, this always bothered me. In soccer f.e. the cutoff age is 45 for international matches, i think.

Originally Posted by miami_fan

This.

At some point, Durant and Westbrook will begin asking questions about game strategy.

This i doubt very much, especially after this season. Westbrook was spectacular at times, but he also very clearly created his own strategy and did a pretty decent improv of what Kobe used to do on these shitty post-shaq/pre-Gasol Lakers. He will always be an instinct player whom you have to build strategy around. (which is not nescessarily a terrible thing)

The Spurs win a game where Parker scores 1 point. Patty Mills was huge. Plus, of course, Tim Duncan continues to troll logic and Father Time.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by whomario

This i doubt very much, especially after this season. Westbrook was spectacular at times, but he also very clearly created his own strategy and did a pretty decent improv of what Kobe used to do on these shitty post-shaq/pre-Gasol Lakers. He will always be an instinct player whom you have to build strategy around. (which is not nescessarily a terrible thing)

But was Scott Brooks the right coach to come up with that strategy? That is the point.Yes, there were injuries that derailed the last two seasons, but Brooks showed little willingness to develop that strategy for the entire team. Russell Westbrook is a great player. He is not a Kobe Bryant or Lebron James who should be creating his own strategy.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Kerr and Draymond "snubbed" for coach of the year and defensive player of the year. Hard to argue with either selection - Budenholzer was fantastic and Leonard is probably a better defender than Draymond. That being said, Leonard missed a TON of time.

I think Kerr is probably the bigger 'snub' here - read an article recently about how coach of the year essentially boils down to "how much better did this team perform than my expectations? Must be the coach!" Budenholzer was pretty great, but Kerr was better if you're simply looking at record. Perhaps he guided a bigger increase (22 more wins for the Hawks over last year versus 16 for the Warriors), but that is also in a much, much weaker conference.

That is all immaterial in my mind though. The real reason Kerr should have won the award is the fact that he made the ballsy decision to start Barnes and Green, keeping Iguodala and Lee (two max contract guys who are former all stars) on the bench - and in Lee's case, hardly on the floor. Not only that, he kept them both happy and team chemistry was incredible. THAT is excellent coaching.

[RainMaker]

Kerr definitely got snubbed. He has one of the top 10 regular seasons in history. Probably the best since the 95-95 Bulls. Who saw that coming?

[Groundhog]

Kevin Love's misses are baaaaad - it's either swish or total brick, but he's playing today pretty much how everyone expected he would play in Cleveland. Getting good looks from 3, and knocking them down.

[Groundhog]

Best part about close games with the Cavs up in the dying minute is watching Kyrie 'AND 1 mixtape' his way through 3 defenders.

[Groundhog]

Really like this Celtics squad though, and Stevens has them running some pretty offense.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Really like this Celtics squad though, and Stevens has them running some pretty offense.

Same here. So many times Cleveland seemed to stand around waiting for people to make plays. There's no offense. Boston moves around. Imagine him with a real go-to 4th quarter player.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Same here. So many times Cleveland seemed to stand around waiting for people to make plays. There's no offense.

Yeah, I have no idea why, with 3 minutes left, we always go to the "LeBron dribble out the clock and shoot a long jumper" offense. Yeah, he makes probably a little over 50% of them, but it just seems to me they'd be better off actually making the defense work a little - at least run some picks with Love or something. It really made us stagnant today, and the only real good look it got was when LeBron made it to the hoop and found Love for the 3.

[Groundhog]

Pretty amazing comeback from the Warriors here.

[Groundhog]

Wow. Curry for the tie.

[nol]

That was about as sure as you could possibly be that the team down 3 was going to tie the game. What a boneheaded decision to not foul.

Easily could have been a four-point play too.

[Groundhog]

About 2 mins into the 4th Q it somehow seemed inevitable that Golden State would get this game back.

[Arles]

This has been a crazy game, but definately exciting - especially for someone without a horse in the race.

[stevew]

horse shit call there on green(just turned it on)

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by stevew

horse shit call there on green(just turned it on)

Yea. Not the first poor foul he's been called for tonight.

[Arles]

How does Davis not even touch the ball there with Bogut guarding him on the perimeter?

[Groundhog]

Agree with the commentary team - too many Gordon/Evans/Poindexter shots, nowhere near enough touches for Davis.

[kingfc22]

This officiating is a joke.

[Groundhog]

If not for that foul you just knwo Evans was going to launch a three.

[stevew]

At least Davis got a shot

[Arles]

If New Orleans loses, they can't blame the refs

[kingfc22]

Surprised they didn't call a foul on Bogut or call Klay for a travel.

[Groundhog]

Just lost my NBA.tv feed...

[stevew]

Davis needs a real coach and all new teammates.

[Groundhog]

The Pelicans' +/- stats tell the tale of this game.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Really like this Celtics squad though, and Stevens has them running some pretty offense.

Yeah, if some stuff doesn't fall our way we could be down 3-0.

[nol]

Originally Posted by stevew

Yeah, if some stuff doesn't fall our way we could be down 3-0.

That would imply the Cavs are at 100% effort and couldn't just try a little bit harder if some stuff hadn't gone their way.

[Vince, Pt. II]

That was intense to watch. Unfortunately had the sound off - was that an illegal defense called on Klay near the end of OT? Seemed incredibly strange. I think the Draymond call, while weak, was much more defensible. He extended both arms before he went for the ball.

[nol]

They called an intentional foul away from the ball, which is somehow distinct from the kinds of fouls that trigger the hack-a-Shaq free throws just because it happened in the last 2 minutes. That was a bad call on Green, but I'm sure there had to be a couple more obvious loose ball fouls towards the end of regulation that the refs were belatedly trying to make up for.

[Simbo Klice]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

The Pelicans' +/- stats tell the tale of this game.

Holy crap, I don't think I've ever seen a -31 in a 4 point game. Even with the Warriors' non-Klay and Steph lineups clearly being inferior, that's abysmal.

[whomario]

Happy Birthday:

[Vince, Pt. II]

That is an awesome picture.

[Brian Swartz]

I like it!

I feel terrible for the Clippers though. They're far from out of the series but if they don't win it, Griffin's going to be haunted by the end of Game 2. Ditto for the Pelicans who appear to be headed for the broom treatment. This is my favorite part of a playoff series, games 3-4 seem to really decide whether it's going to be a long battle or whether one team or the other just can't quite hang in.

[stevew]

How come there's not been this groundswell of "Unibrow to City X" stuff like there was for LeBron. His team is shit, he has a horrible coach and there's no way they'll ever be good. Get that kid outta town or this is KG in Minnesota 2.0. With Davis already being the upgraded version of KG.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by stevew

How come there's not been this groundswell of "Unibrow to City X" stuff like there was for LeBron. His team is shit, he has a horrible coach and there's no way they'll ever be good. Get that kid outta town or this is KG in Minnesota 2.0. With Davis already being the upgraded version of KG.

Yeah, I'm not sure Holiday and Evans are the nucleus you help build around Davis.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I wonder what the Pelicans would have done against the East. They had an awful lot of fight in them, and even down big after Thursday's gut wrenching loss, they hung in there and made a game out of it. They could be good in a few years. I can't imagine Davis once he develops a post game.

I also wonder if the Warriors aren't going to have TOO much time off. Even if Memphis sweeps, the earliest round two starts is Saturday.

[nol]

1. Davis just finished his 3rd season. LeBron was in Cleveland for 7 years, Durant will be in OKC for at least 9. Nobody turns down the initial rookie max extension, especially not when it's going to be the big Derrick Rose rule one.

2. It will be extremely popular in the coming years to say something along the lines of "WOW New Orleans could've surrounded Davis with Nerlens Noel and Elfrid Payton (or some other 2014 rookie chosen 10th or later who ends up being good), but they traded for Jrue Holiday instead." It should be impossible to hold that point of view along with the common "Of course the players don't try to lose games, but the real problem is when organizations don't try to put together a competitive roster."

3. After 4 games, the Pelicans would at least be tied with every East playoff team.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

I wonder what the Pelicans would have done against the East. They had an awful lot of fight in them, and even down big after Thursday's gut wrenching loss, they hung in there and made a game out of it. They could be good in a few years. I can't imagine Davis once he develops a post game.

I also wonder if the Warriors aren't going to have TOO much time off. Even if Memphis sweeps, the earliest round two starts is Saturday.

Looks like they were 16-14 v. the East. Lousy coach and defense. Maybe 6 seed and lose to the Bulls in round 1 instead of GS?

[Desnudo]

I think we've established that the Cavaliers are 10-15 points better than Boston.

[whomario]

Cavs could be in trouble if that shoulder of Love popped out the wrong way, also JR Smith missing time with a suspension might actually be a bad thing (i know, sounded crazy as i typed it)

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by whomario

Cavs could be in trouble if that shoulder of Love popped out the wrong way, also JR Smith missing time with a suspension might actually be a bad thing (i know, sounded crazy as i typed it)

Kinda of disappointed that someone on the Celtics did not deliver the basketball equivalent of a 99 MPH fastball at a Cavs player's ear hole.

[stevew]

Nice arm bar by that pube faced pussy Olynyk. fuck that guy.

[Groundhog]

Tristan Thompson works perfectly as a bench big because he can come in and give 100% effort for spurts. He seems to struggle to do that consistently when he starts. Against the Bulls bigs we are going to need depth that we just don't have... James Jones does not cut it. Perk is going to need to be in the rotation most likely, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Irving-Delly-Shump-LeBron-Mozgov lineups either.

Best we can hope for is that the Bucks manage to beat up on the Bulls for another couple of games.

[Alf]

Brooklyn tightened up their game last night. Tactical victory for Brooklyn coach over Atlanta coach in my opinion.

PS : at times, Brook Lopez has moves that remind me of Tim Duncan. Needless to say, I like that guy.