Hoosierhoopster

^^ Good discussion. Highlights how hectic things got and the quick decisions the refs have to make. I'm not one to defend officiating generally when it looks bad (and all in all in looked pretty bad in that game), but in fairness the discussion reflects how within the speed of the game, getting calls right requires good officiating and that often just isn't easy. I am though, somewhat surprised that there isn't more commentary and public discussion of what Nurse did, basically pretending to be a player. Maybe there's more behind the scenes discussion. I've never seen a coach do that.

This is entirely fair imo. Sometimes the refs just stink and it can change the outcome. At least it wasn’t Game 7, now it’s up to the players

Somehow forgot about that knucklehead. Ah the days of Weber....

I was just messing with you -- disagree with me whenever and however you want man!

Absolutely agree, and I don't mean to discount Toronto. Said earlier I expected this to be a long and hard fought series. Toronto is extremely good. I think Boston gets the nod -- I think they win Game 7, but it came down to a best of 3 games and right now it's split, a Toronto win wouldn't shock me, at all.

Yes I understand. I'm not generally big on hiring first-time player coaches. Jackson may or may not get along with the P's front office, and again my understanding is it had something to do with his religious fervor, that was reported loosely at some point. Beyond that I'm not sure. First time player coaches sometimes work and sometimes don't, e.g., Jason Kidd, etc. The P's are whiffing lately on coaches, going with a completely unproven guy at this point is not my first choice.

So now it's the better team based on one game that they won in double OT with all kinds of questionable calls?? How are they the better team after getting demolished in Game 5? How is Game 5, and the full series, irrelevant?? Who the better team is, is clearly a subjective assessment. I can't say the C's ARE the better team, but that's how I see it. Game 7 will decide it, and that's how it should be.

Geesh it's like you're disagreeing with me on everything I post lately, lol. Jackson built that team and got them going (of course with management), Kerr stepped into it. That's really not debatable. Kerr took it to the next level, for sure, and then built on top of the players/team Jackson built, including bringing in Durant, etc. Jackson had some reported friction but as I recall it had to do, somehow, with his religious fervor. I don't know much more about it, it was kind of kept in house. That could be real issue, but then I just don't know. What I do know is Billups is unproven.

Saw that. I wonder -- if Mark Jackson is in the mix (and he should be) why would the P's take Billups over him? Jackson really built GS.

But that's a player. For a coach to pull that crap is just way over the top.

I don't think the better team won. Toronto played a terrific game, but imo Boston is the better team. They dominated Game 5 and Toronto came back and beat them in Game 6 in double OT. Game 7 will decide who is better, and that's what it's all about, gotta love the level both teams have played at.

Honestly, no one. I think we can compare players to Kawhi, I don't think we can compare him to anyone. He is, imo, truly a unique MVP level player.

Bruh, there should be a technical in there somewhere, that’s pretty low

P’s have some good options. Donovan has to be one of them, imo.

Timing is everything. A couple years late for IU. I like and believe in CAM, but Donovan would've been a home run.

The NBA is a win now league. Coaches generally don't get to sit around for 5 years waiting on their young talent to start winning. Can Chicago get to winning soon? Maybe, yes they have -- individual -- talent, but two years in a row they've bombed and badly. There's nothing there to say hey, we're about to start playing in the playoffs. Then there's just looking at individuals and saying they have talent. What have they done, together? Can they gel? Sure, but that's just optimism at this point, again, they've just been bad.

OK, disagree. Chicago has been a dumpster fire. The P's just played Miami in the playoffs. Chicago has shown nothing, no sign of improvement. The P's have Vic (who, if he returns to health is a top 20 player in the League), TJ Warren, who just had a breakout playoff performance, Brogdon, Sabonis (whose loss clearly hurt the P's in the playoffs) and guys like A Holiday, J Holiday, and Jeremy Lamb. They'll probably trade Turner, and should get pretty good value for him, one of the League's better shot blockers with developing shooting. The new coach is question mark, but could well be an improvement (and I'm optimistic there, almost anyone, imo, would be an improvement). The P's are proven, with plenty of reason to see improvement, Chicago has just been bad.

All speculation at this point. I'd be surprised, but then we're not privy to what the front office is doing / saying to Vic.

What do you see in Chicago, including their current roster and what they've done the past couple of years, that leads you to believe they're closer than the P's to being elite? 2019-20: 22 and 43 2018-19: 22 and 60

In that link, P's get only 14% of the votes, and last, for most desirable coaching destination. Interesting, to me, appears to be more driven by location. Chicago? Great city, bad team. New Orleans makes sense given the foundation, but P's should be up there in terms of team to coach.

My comment you quoted earlier was specifically best shooting team and best defensive team "in the playoffs." That's exactly what I was saying. I wouldn't be dismissive based on who they've played, they're obviously a very good shooting / scoring team overall, and they've been missing key players, Beverly and Harrell and earlier Lou W and PG again has been really off. For 2019-20, they're 4th overall in scoring on the season at 116.3 per game (behind Bucks, Houston and Dallas). 6th in 3% and 12th in FG%. That's of course disregarding that they've only played their full lineup together like 12 times all season (and lost 1 game). The C's were 13th in 3-point percentage. Miami was 2d, Toronto 5th. In FG% Miami was the only one of those ahead of the Clips, at 10th, Boston was 17th, Toronto 20th. I think you're undervaluing the Clippers' shooting / scoring significantly.

Just talking current shooting percentages as to best shooting team in the playoffs. Going into last night’s game I am pretty sure it was the clips, not the others. Clips of course then laid an egg last night, Kawhi had his first bad game in this playoffs. Denver is no slouch, but I think Clips will bounce back. Here you go -- For some reason the chart won't populate well, #1 below is the Clippers in playoffs. Highest scoring team, best FG%, and 3d in 3-pt perentage (behind Utah and interestingly, Denver. The Heat are 4th.). And this is with PG having that streak of 3 straight horrible games, and he's still not shooting up to his usual. GP PTS FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% OR DR REB AST STL BLK TO PF 8 122.6 44.4 89.1 49.8 12.9 33.0 39.0 21.0 26.4 79.6 10.0 36.9 46.9 21.3 7.3 3.4 13.0 23.5 6 117.0 42.2 89.2 47.3 13.5 37.5 36.0 19.2 26.5 72.3 7.7 35.5 43.2 21.5 6.5 3.7 12.7 22.5 6 113.8 41.5 87.5 47.4 11.8 35.5 33.3 19.0 26.5 71.7 12.0 35.2 47.2 24.7 8.7 6.3 15.3 22.3 7 113.4 39.9 81.9 48.7 15.7 37.3 42.1 18.0 23.3 77.3 9.3 31.9 41.1 21.4 6.1 3.1 12.0 19.0 7 113.0 37.3 80.9 46.1 14.1 36.6 38.7 24.3 30.3 80.2 9.3 35.7 45.0 23.7 8.3 4.1 13.6 18.7 8 112.8 40.3 89.0 45.2 15.3 41.0 37.2 17.0 22.1 76.8 8.1 37.5 45.6 26.9 7.4 5.1 12.4 21.8 8 112.4 40.4 86.0 46.9 14.1 37.9 37.3 17.5 24.4 71.8 9.0 38.5 47.5 24.8 6.9 4.1 15.8 21.8 8 110.6 39.4 89.5 44.0 17.8 49.5 35.9 14.1 17.8 79.6 7.0 36.0 43.0 21.1 9.8 3.8 13.1 22.5 9 108.6 39.7 86.3 45.9 14.4 36.4 39.6 14.8 18.2 81.1 11.1 31.0 42.1 21.4 5.8 4.9 12.3 21.4 8 107.4 37.4 82.8 45.2 12.1 35.1 34.5 20.5 25.3 81.2 7.6 36.9 44.5 19.8 6.6 5.5 13.9 21.9 5 107.0 37.2 88.6 42.0 15.0 39.8 37.7 17.6 21.0 83.8 6.6 36.4 43.0 23.8 6.8 3.2 14.6 21.0 5 106.6 37.6 88.2 42.6 11.6 30.6 37.9 19.8 25.0 79.2 9.8 33.0 42.8 17.8 7.4 3.6 16.0 25.0 4 105.8 36.3 91.3 39.7 15.5 46.0 33.7 17.8 24.5 72.4 9.3 35.0 44.3 25.8 5.0 4.5 14.5 21.3 7 104.0 36.7 85.4 43.0 12.0 36.6 32.8 18.6 24.0 77.4 9.0 40.9 49.9 17.9 5.3 4.0 17.0 17.1 4 100.8 36.5 80.3 45.5 12.0 32.0 37.5 15.8 20.3 77.8 5.8 30.8 36.5 22.5 9.3 5.5 15.3 23.3 4 100.5 33.3 84.0 39.6 8.0 30.3 26.4 26.0 32.0 81.3 12.3 33.8 46.0 17.5 5.0 4.5 12.0 22.3 Don’t know on Toronto- Boston. I thought Toronto would get it’s shooting back, their stars have been shooting poorly, and they are a complete team, but Boston is strong and I think the better team. Should be a really good remaining series

Definitely possible. EC finals should be really good.

Geez no takers? Ok I’m gonna make it easier — The Celtics are trash. What an ugly green. Tatum needs to learn basic ball handling and shooting, no basketball skill. Kemba’s even more greedy and self-centered than Kyrie. There we go, Gleas has to be here soon....