Hoosierhoopster

I guess you’ve been talking to my wife

So who do you guys think meets in, and wins, the Finals? I’m going with Clips - Celtics, with Clips winning. A lot still to happen but while Miami is exposing the Bucks lack of real depth (they kind of remind me of the old Dwight Howard teams), Boston is better, and Miami won’t continue to shoot at this level, imo. That assumes Toronto doesn’t turn it around — their stars are shooting well below their averages, that may well change and this series could go 7. But I think Boston is the best EC team right now. In West, ok so the Lakers got exposed last night, outside LBJ and Unibrow, who do they have? They are the worst outside shooting team left in the playoffs, they couldn’t handle the Rockets speed or even the Rockets D (which, come on now, is not THAT good), and their secondary players are just that. I think LBJ and AD will come out big and carry them to a longer series, but neither team is on the Clips level, which btw is the best shooting team, as well as the best defensive team, in the playoffs, and that’s including PG’s major slump and their only just now getting Beverly back. But it’s a weird year with no home court (really hurting the Bucks imo), so who knows? What do you guys think?

Damn, how many saw (early, not like today) the Bucks going down 0-3? Giannis may jump ship now, I guess.

I know where you're coming from, but it's a who knows situation.

Wait, is your dog licking up the beer? lol, I spilled a beer once without realizing it, until I looked down at the slurping noise of my boxer lapping it all up

It was also a fantastic pass to set up the shot and he shot it well-defended with a hand in his face. Just have to give this one to OG, and that pass

Kawhi — not 80’s-90’s, but he’s a lot like Kawhi

And in typical OG form, he just walked away after draining the game winning 3 at the buzzer, lol. dude is a seriously good pro

Yeah there are a few players I feel that way about. Can’t stand Harden for similar reasons.

Yep and the announcer was anticipating just that. They could've been using Adams as a diversion but then should've hit someone else running to the basket or a 3-point shooter. End of game breakdown.

That Rockets - Thunder game was crazy

I didn’t see that one coming, really interesting Edit -- So some of the dialogue out there now is whether this will look more like GS's hire of Kerr (with Gentry) or the Nets prior hire of Jason Kidd (which bombed) -- like Nash, neither had prior HC experience. Seems more like Kerr's situation, as Nash has the support of a superstar and a star player both in their primes (and Nash worked directly with Durant in GS), and young and up and coming, talented players, whereas Kidd had aging players in a then Nets' team without a good foundation, let alone vision.

In all seriousness, the Mavs could well end up one of the top teams in the West and soon. Porzingis’s durability is key, but if he stays healthy and they get that third player that is at a big 3 or close contributing level, they’re right there

That’s unfortunate. It’s basic protocol not to mention basic common sense and courtesy. Remains law here, as it should, and once again it’s proving effective

Fouls:

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Mavs are extremely well positioned going forward, at least if Porzingis can stay healthy, they have assets etc and can add another high level third player to the mix. Doncic is like the next Bird

Right except the P's drafted Kawhi in a deal with San Antonio, the P's weren't keeping him.

He remains a dangerous player, but his greatest asset -- his incredible, really unrivaled, burst and relentless energy -- is also his greatest weakness, as he relapses into full bore attack sometimes without control, without a clear approach to winning the game within a team gameplan -- it's put the team on my back and attack. Forget the Lakers, they won't get past Boston, Toronto, the Bucks, or Miami, each of those teams is better. Also wouldn't bank on the Lakers, at least yet. Clips just never have a complete squad and haven't had enough actual game and practice time together to be what they can be, but when they're locked in, like that 150-point destruction of Dallas, they're heads above the Lakers, who are entirely dependent on LeBron and Unibrow. Beverly is key, Clips need him badly to shore up their elite D and the O, with the extra time off as the Denver series goes to 7, he may be ready.

Yes I agree. The Bucks have the best record in the League and when they're spreading the floor they're the team that should make the Finals from the East, but I'm not discounting Miami at all, they're playing really well, together, on both ends, and to his credit, Butler is showing that he wasn't the locker room cancer he's known for. Maybe it's the Miami front office/Riley, maybe it's that he finally has a well balanced team around him, maybe he's finally matured, maybe a combination of all the above, yes, they're dangerous.

Thunder made it a 7-game series. Terrible first game, but now down to game 7. Thought this would be a really good series, and it’s ended up this way. And well Westbrook’s late TO..... Meanwhile Miami is looking a bit dangerous. I don’t think they’ll beat the Bucks, but this should be another long series, and now we’ll see if Giannis has enough around him

RIP coach John Thompson. Another great one has passed away

Agreed. The P's are where they are DESPITE Vic not being 100% and otherwise being short on the roster. They've looked very good when they had a complete healthy roster, the throwing in the towel stuff is just premature at best. They need to build around their nucleus, not blow it up, again.

Disagree and think you're speculating on Vic's condition, his intentions on whether to stay with the Pacers, and the front office's / Pritchard's ability to bring in talent. Obviously, Pritchard got Vic and Sabonis in the trade/departure of PG. The P's don't need 2 rotation players and a young player to develop. They have those. If they're ever to get back into contention status, they need to keep building around Vic, or another player at his level. Otherwise, you maintain mediocrity.