Hoosierhoopster

Honestly, why is the officiating so God awful this season? i’m not A Raptors fan, but for any watching the game tonight, how can the refs actually review DeRozan’s block and give him a flagrant 2 on what was OBVIOUSLY a play for the ball coming from behind to try to prevent the bucket. There was zero basis for any finding of intent. Even the announcer was basically shocked after saying at worst it was a flagrant 1. What the heck is wrong with the officiating? It’s just horrible

Yeah, but note i’m agreeing Stevens is already in line to take the mantle. That’s really saying something, he’s still fairly early on in his NBA coaching career and he’s been amazing! Must be nice to be a C’s fan now, team stacked with young and now playoff experienced talent, and led by a b-ball genius who connects well with his players and gets the most out of them

Count me out of your trajectory dialogue! PG had a great year, DESPITE playing with Westbrook and Melo. His trajectory is fine, he’s in his prime. Vic also had a great year, in a geat fit. PG is not nearing the end of his career, there’s no actual trajectory comparison there!

Pop built his teams, there’s really almost no one in the League who wouldn’t acknowledge he’s been the best coach in the NBA for many years. And then there’s this season as another example, Kawhi out essentially the whole year, aging Roster, no new established star, and Pop’s record consecutive playoff appearances, in the West, just continues. He’s the best, Brad may get there, he’s not there yet

Agree with everything up to Stevens is the best at either level. When he has won multiple titles then he may surpass Pop, but it is at best premature to say he’s better than Pop now. What Pop has done in San Antonio is next to none

OG had a great game, hit the tying 3 (before yet another game winnner by LBJ), finished with 18 on 7-12 and 4-7 from the arc, to go with 4 boards and a block, just 2 fouls. OG has a bright future. The Raps took a good shot at the comeback, with DeRozan on the bench. That's pretty rough on DeRozan, who was dealing with the same double teams the Cavs have been using against the other teams's lead guy, held him to 3-12.

Somewhere Gleas is salivating. No questioning Ainge's strategy, it is sick. Philli is going to be really good as well. Pacers could be in the group to challenge. But yeah, C's look set up to dominate.

Next year your C’s are going to be exceptional. The silver lining is the injuries allowed your young guns to turn into budding stars

Couldn't agree more. He started out really well, and you might recall he was the player for whom CPIII was traded - at the time it looked like a good 2-way deal, but then he had significant injuries literally every season, and it looked like he would end up an injury-prone player who never got to play to his potential. The trade to the Rockets was his life vest, he quickly became the NBA's 6th man, he has avoided any further significant injury, and he attacks the basket with the best. Was sitting behind the Rockets bench at a game earlier this season, he happened to look my way and I tugged at my IU shirt -- got a grin, he's having fun again.

OG as the "biggest reason the Raptors will stop LeBron" -- Even the metrics love OG http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23368049/og-anunoby-toronto-raptors-best-shot-containing-cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james From the article -- In the regular season, Anunoby -- who tore his ACL playing for Indiana in January of 2017 and slipped to the 23rd pick of the draft as a result -- emerged as Dwane Casey's primary choice to defend James. The former Hoosier matched up against the Cavaliers' star 106 times -- almost double the next-highest amount for any other Raptor. And it's easy to see why: When Anunoby marked James, the Cavaliers scored 1.09 points per possession. That might not sound like a great defensive performance, but that scoring rate is a decent bit below the Cavaliers' season average with James on the court (1.14). And the real key is this: When any other player on the Raptors marked James, the clip the Cavaliers' offense scored at ballooned to 1.38 points per possession. In other words: If that sample is any indication, Anunoby is the best the Raptors have. There's also reason to believe that he actually is a solid choice to try to contain James beyond just that relatively small set of possessions against the Cavs this season. Against the entire league, Anunoby has already proved he is an elite defender against drives. In fact, opponents scored only 0.83 points per direct drive against him in the regular season, which tied for the third-lowest rate among all players who defended at least 200 drives. A direct drive is one in which the ball handler shoots, is fouled, turns the ball over or passes to a teammate who shoots after no more than one dribble. -- What a player, props to OG

Bellamy or Isiah?

That was a vicious throw down by Sabonis

OG has 8 on 2-3 from the arc in the 2d quarter, his first playoff game, looking good

How far do you guys think the P’s extend the series with Cleveland?

Anyone catch the Wolves-Nuggets game? Great game, win or go home for both, goes to overtime, high drama. But where I'm really going with this is Denver finishing 46-36, 10 games over .500, and missing the playoffs, with a better record than 3 Eastern Conf teams that are in. The Wiz only finished 43-39, and they're in. It's time to go to best 16 in, the guaranteed 8 spots for the Eastern Conf thing, in my mind, is kind of meaningless. It's not like the Wiz, or for that matter Miami or the Bucks, have any chance of advancing deep. It would kind of suck to be a Denver fan, 46-36, and home for the summer.

That's awesome

That’s pretty cool, really. Great to see the continuing bond, and what a couple of great players in Vic and Cody

Yes good points, and both Harden and CPIII are playing with chips on their shoulders. I think the loss of Roberson is too much for the Thunder to overcome — when he went down they had figured it out and were playing as well as anyone, great on both sides of the ball and having both Roberson and PG made them a defensive juggernaut, but without him PG looks like he’s wearing down a bit and they can’t switch like they used to. Also how they finish is big — big road W over Houston last night and they’re currently in 7th, that’s probably their best position against Curry-less Warriors, as 8th is against the Rockets and 6th against Portland, with Dame playing incredible ball and Trail Blazers having their number

That’s a bold prediction, and could happen. I think Philly’s lack of playoff experience and LBJ’s next level will make it too much for them but they have the talent. if Rockets win that would really be something for Houston, coming off a terrible flood, then the MLB championship and an NBA championship?

It’s been a pretty crazy year. I’ll say I’n impressed by how well the Pacers have finished, regardless of their final seed. who do you guys think makes it to the finals in both conferences? I tend to think the Cavs will make it back, with Love healthy, but not 100 percent all in on that. Raptors have changed the way they play and are dialed in. Too bad about Kyrie (shout out to Gleas, i’m In Boston and just caught my first C’s game in the Garden - this town loves its C’s, full arena even against the Bulls and hugely into it, a lot of fun). also think Rockets will take down GS, but also not sure (even less sure here). Rockets are really good and GS / Curry obviously not fully healthy and sort of limping into the playoffs, but the playoffs are of course a different animal, and like the Raptors, the Rockets and Harden have choked in the playoffs for years now.

Yes that's a good point. Then there are teams like the Spurs -- missing Kawhi -- now in 4th in the West. To me, that is at least as compelling, and they just trounced the Rockets. There are lots of factors I think arguably could be part of the equation -- strength of schedule, win/loss, expectations, injuries to stars/key players, margin of victory, etc.

See above, I don't necessarily disagree. I would look at a number of factors, but just ending up with the best record is a lame way to award COY, but it's usually how it works.

Hey that's fair - not implying otherwise. I've personally never liked how the League generally gives COY to the coach of the team with the best record -- Kerr getting COY, for example, after inheriting Mark Jackson's built team, and ignoring what several other coaches did (who overachieved etc.) rubs me wrong, but it is what it is. I'm not sure to what an extent the P's overachieving is his coaching or just the dynamic play of Vic (they generally lose when Vic isn't playing) and to an extent the others, but no doubt the P's have significantly beaten the projections (and yep including yours truly).

Hey you're entitled to your opinion, I'm just replying how the NBA looks at it. He's not getting COY