Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

I was wondering why we didn't see something like this. The crowd was counting. But they were definitely in his head because he missed back to back FT.

He does this literally all the time lol

[illwill10]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

"Sixers defensive matchups vs. Trae Young:

-Game 1-
Danny Green: 49 plays
Matisse Thybulle: 14
Ben Simmons: 8

-Game 2-
Simmons: 31 plays
Thybulle: 29
Green: 2

Stats via @SecondSpectrum. The change worked big-time for Philly. Simmons and Thybulle were extraordinary in Game 2. https://t.co/1NWZAruDkZ "

The switch definitely worked last night

[J_Posse]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

A tale as old as time:

Regular season: Bucks shot 40% on open/wide open 3’s (excluding Giannis who obviously sucks at it)

Playoffs: 31.5%

Nets series: 24.4%

Giannis gets worse in the playoffs too but it’s nuts that 3 straight years, guys just totally forget how to shoot once the playoffs start on this team.

Edit: I will say our percentages against Miami in the bubble weren't really bad so much as we just couldn't generate any open shots. Toronto we fell off by like 5%, which is significant but nowhere near what we're seeing this postseason.

He's the modern - day David Robinson and y'all are the 90's era San Antonio Spurs. Obviously, the team's fortunes changed once Duncan came to town.

But this was a common occurrence, David struggling with playoff pressure/defense and teammates letting him down, throughout that time period for the team.

Y'all have the talent, I think, but either something needs to click for the players, Bud needs to try to make adjustments to counter what Brooklyn is doing or more drastic changes (in the offseason) need to happen.

Official HQ of Bills Backer/Spurs Nation

[dfsJunkie]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

"Sixers defensive matchups vs. Trae Young:

-Game 1-
Danny Green: 49 plays
Matisse Thybulle: 14
Ben Simmons: 8

-Game 2-
Simmons: 31 plays
Thybulle: 29
Green: 2

Stats via @SecondSpectrum. The change worked big-time for Philly. Simmons and Thybulle were extraordinary in Game 2. https://t.co/1NWZAruDkZ "

The switch definitely worked last night

Good stats find!

I mean Simmons is a premier defender and let's just call him a "less than stellar" offensive player, so why would he not spend his energy playing to his strengths and defend Trae all night?

That game one decision was pretty foolish and those stats back it up.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

DeAndre Hunter out for the season with a torn meniscus I believe.

He was great in the first round.

[jeebs9]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

DeAndre Hunter out for the season with a torn meniscus I believe.

He was great in the first round.

No way!! He was playing really well.

[jeebs9]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

KD double cross Combo lol

https://youtu.be/6XesTngKTo0

A lot of victims

[dfsJunkie]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

KD double cross Combo lol

https://youtu.be/6XesTngKTo0

A lot of victims

Doesn't he seem a lot more loosey goosey with BK? Kyrie giving him tips? He's unguardable.

And he plays within the flow of the game and never seems to force anything. I would pick him first in a pickup game over any other player in the league. I feel like he's somehow underrated.

[jeebs9]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Doesn't he seem a lot more loosey goosey with BK? Kyrie giving him tips? He's unguardable.

And he plays within the flow of the game and never seems to force anything. I would pick him first in a pickup game over any other player in the league. I feel like he's somehow underrated.

KD has been doing the double crossover since like HS lol. His jumper didn't look as refined as it is now. It such a clean form now. But the dribbling. He's been doing it.

[ojandpizza]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Doesn't he seem a lot more loosey goosey with BK? Kyrie giving him tips? He's unguardable.

And he plays within the flow of the game and never seems to force anything. I would pick him first in a pickup game over any other player in the league. I feel like he's somehow underrated.

I think part of it is the situations he's been in. Like his only responsibility for most of his career has been to just score. Which he's elite at, but he's never had to shoulder the burdens of a Bron, Giannis, even Joker, where they have to do so much every night to contend. That and the GS thing. Walking into a situation where basically all he needed to do to win was be better than Harrison Barnes. Not that difficult for a guy like KD. That and even though I feel like he was the best player on those teams it was still a very much Steph Curry oriented approach, the team functioned off of the same Steph centric play. Because of that many still consider the best/most important/ leader of those groups.

That said, I think individually most recognize how great KD is. I think where he doesn't quite get his credit is when the All-Time talks pick up. I know some people just don't like having those talks and forcing comparisons to begin with... But to my point if someone were to pose the question "what makes Kobe better than KD?" other than saying he played longer and has a "career" longevity argument I'm not sure how you would answer that with a valid argument. And KD definitely isn't getting that top 10-ish player ever type of love. So I think there is a degree of him not quite getting some recognition there.

I wanted to see how getting away from GS would benefit him, but then he ended up in a situation that's basically just as good. At some point, before he's slowing down, I would love to see KD go to a situation where more responsibility to be great fell more directly on his shoulders. I think he would respond, but until it happens the question will always be there.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

The last part is interesting in general I’m that we’re so pressed to see guys do more with less as opposed to just appreciating them for what they’ve done on the court regardless(speaking moreso for the superstar/elite player because we won’t care as much if it’s a role player/10-15th guy on the bench).

And when those same guys don’t win anything of significance, we’re the first ones to knock that player for not doing more with less(like Lebron in first 7 years in Cleveland). I feel like at the end of the day, the great players are going to do great things regardless of where they’re at and I don’t need to see them go to the worst team in the league and turn them around to fully appreciate what they’ve done as a player.

[jeebs9]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Nets were also faking pick & roll side and then switching it.
<iframe src='https://gfycat.com/ifr/UnevenUnawareLadybug' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen width='640' height='404'></iframe> https://gfycat.com/unevenunawareladybug

Another faking switch and then pick and roll (which leads to some action lol)
<iframe src='https://gfycat.com/ifr/BlandThatCusimanse' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen width='640' height='404'></iframe> https://gfycat.com/blandthatcusimanse

One of the things the Nets have been doing really well is cutting. And it's been, everyone. Just like the above. There wa another play when Blake cuts but KD threw the pass out of bounds (at the 3 point line)
<iframe src='https://gfycat.com/ifr/HandsomeGrimyGermanshorthairedpointer' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen width='640' height='404'></iframe>

https://gfycat.com/handsomegrimygermanshorthairedpointer

One of the main things you can see above is that that the Bucks tried covering the pick and roll several different ways. None of them worked. Even a terrible zone. That didn't last long either. I really hope Bud looks into sitting Brook Lopex down. His strengths are tiny to all these defensive lapses.

[ojandpizza]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

The last part is interesting in general I’m that we’re so pressed to see guys do more with less as opposed to just appreciating them for what they’ve done on the court regardless(speaking moreso for the superstar/elite player because we won’t care as much if it’s a role player/10-15th guy on the bench).

And when those same guys don’t win anything of significance, we’re the first ones to knock that player for not doing more with less(like Lebron in first 7 years in Cleveland). I feel like at the end of the day, the great players are going to do great things regardless of where they’re at and I don’t need to see them go to the worst team in the league and turn them around to fully appreciate what they’ve done as a player.

This is why you'll never see me on the "just tell me how many rings they have" side of the fence in player discussions.

I definitely don't not fully appreciate KD, I just think it becomes hard in players comparisons when you just don't know. Like we've seen arguments here even where people say things like "KD can't lead a team like so and so". I think cima brought it up most recently. And I don't believe that is true personally if you ask me, especially when people were using that as a comparison to Curry who didn't even make the playoffs lol.. But it still leaves it open in a sense because we don't truly know.

Personally I think it's silly when not winning is held against players when they weren't in circumstances to win. Like you mentioned with LeBron, he never won but he wasn't supposed to win. I mean the thought of him winning in those years was based on "well they have LeBron so maybe" which is a tribute to his value provided. But then losing to a better team never felt like something I needed to place blame on him for, so long as he was great. If that makes sense. Like Giannis argument now, like I'm not going to fault Giannis directly for losing to a team like BK, but I will fault him for not being great.

It's not like it's KD's fault, other than the GS move I guess though I don't fault any free-agents decision to go win with how people treat people who don't win.... Magic, Bird, they were drafted into similar situations. We never really got to see if those guys were capable of doing the things MJ was doing, despite them being great. I feel like we saw some of that with Shaq, Duncan, LeBron, KG with less success but still. Giannis to an extent now but not as much playoff carry over. KD has just never really been in a situation where teams can even defend him the way you would want to defend a player of his caliber. So I do think that makes it tricky when doing direct comparisons to other guys. And even like the GS situation, like he won, he got the finals MVPs, but they were going to win if he was average or just above that. Teams couldn't leave other people to defend him like he was special. It just makes the "where is KD all-time, or even now" a bit murky when you're comparing him to say Luka this year who each game he has to be truly special with the entire game plan on the other side being "keep him from being special".

I mean obviously I'm on the KD side of the argument. I've been saying for like 4 years now give me KD or Bron in a playoff series over anybody regardless of the regular season stats or MVP voting. I'm the one saying he should be getting top 10 player level praise like Kobe does. But I do still wish there was a great opportunity for him to be able to back me up also. Because I do think these situations he is in, has been in, leave the door a bit more open from me feeling like "this is my opinion" vs "I'm obviously correct here" lol.

[Vni]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Is Harden playing tonight?

[jeebs9]

Re: Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Is Harden playing tonight?

No he's out