2020/21 NBA season + Olympics

ButtersSuki

eagle eye wrote: »

Young wasn't great last night.

He was the reason they won this series.

Last night he hit his free throws, hit a huge 3 late, passed as well as usual but crucially was the biggest distraction on the court for Philly as well as having major cajones to take shots when under pressure (whether he made them or not, and keeping the D honest). Contrast that with Simmons who was visibly sh*tting himself on the court.

Doc threw Simmons under the bus post game too - very unprofessional of him. It’s fine for us and media to criticize Simmons but not your coach. For that reason as much as any Simmons can’t play for Philly any more.

The problem now is Simmons trade value has tanked crazily in the last few weeks. Simmons was a legit swap for Harden before Christmas, not a chance in hell they’ll get anything like that for him now. He hasn’t improved at all since he was a rookie, it’s embarrassing tbh.

Coneygree

Trae is playing with a shoulder injury but he did more than enough even on an off night.

Coneygree

Simmons needs a change of scenery and needs to start shooting the j with his actual strong hand, his right hand.

K.O.Kiki

py wrote: »

Simmons has to go. The skills and confidence he has to acquire are not something that is going to be picked up in one off season. 76ers had the same issue with Fultz a few years ago, history repeating itself all over. Concern with trading him now is that his value will have taken a serious hit. Given that the Nets/Lakers/Nuggets (others I'm probably not mentioning too) are all knocked out... they had a good chance of progressing to the finals and potentially winning it. You'd really wonder where the franchise would be today had Kawhi missed that game 7 winner a few years back.

They'd be in the same place IMHO, Jimmy Butler & Covington brought spacing & fire to go along with their defence; but Jimmy left as soon as he saw how bad their work ethic / film room sessions were.

ButtersSuki

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

They'd be in the same place IMHO, Jimmy Butler & Covington brought spacing & fire to go along with their defence; but Jimmy left as soon as he saw how bad their work ethic / film room sessions were.

The Butler departure spoke volumes and went largely unquestioned/under-analyzed tbh. He was their best player in that series v the Raptors that year. Shows you the fine margins, had they won that series (a bounce of a ball) I do believe they would have won it all that year. Now they have no choice but to blow it all up.

ButtersSuki

Philly were 61-9 at home over the past two seasons, by far the best home record in the NBA. Atlanta beat them 3 times at home out of 4.

Ben Simmons took 3 shots in 7 quarter 4s in that series. 3 shots.

Simmons took 96 shots in the play offs this year, 95 were in the paint. The other was a heave to end a quarter.

ButtersSuki

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Bit late for this but I'm not changing my predictions after the openers (honestly! it'll be obvious anyway as I picked 76ers and Bucks who both lost their Game 1s):

EAST:
1. 76ers v Hawks 76ers in 7 If Embiid isn't fully fit this is Hawks in 6 so I'm banking on him being fit

2. Nets v Bucks Bucks in 6 I just fancy the Bucks. Might be heart over head but we'll see.


WEST:
3. Suns v Denver Suns in 6 Jokic is the best player but Suns far too strong at Guard position

4. Utah v Clippers Utah in 6 I'm still not convinced by the Clippers. Dallas were a one man team and they struggled with them, Utah are a real team and very deep.

Meh…I took the Bucks but I didn’t see Brooklyn being as good as they were/are. It all seems a bit wasted now tbh. I did think Atlanta would put it up to Philly though, and that they sure did.

I’m going with Suns in 6 again and Bucks in 6…..though Atlanta have me seriously doubting myself.

ButtersSuki

ButtersSuki wrote: »

The Butler departure spoke volumes and went largely unquestioned/under-analyzed tbh. He was their best player in that series v the Raptors that year. Shows you the fine margins, had they won that series (a bounce of a ball) I do believe they would have won it all that year. Now they have no choice but to blow it all up.

Was listening to Zach Lowe this evening and he touched on this. He said the team the Raptors were most worried about in that title year was Philly (even more than GS). Shows you the margins.

Carcharodon

Wow, that was intense to say the least. Clippers nearly stole it but Suns deserved that, it was physical and testy, Beverly was wrecking everyone’s head.
It was funny watching Clippers timeouts and even the last .7 seconds debacle, Lue looked a bit lost, Beverly and Rondo seemed to be calling the plays.

Corvo

Carcharodon wrote: »

Wow, that was intense to say the least. Clippers nearly stole it but Suns deserved that, it was physical and testy, Beverly was wrecking everyone’s head.
It was funny watching Clippers timeouts and even the last .7 seconds debacle, Lue looked a bit lost, Beverly and Rondo seemed to be calling the plays.

Crazy end and the winning play was mind blowing.

But the last 90 seconds of the game took 32 minutes…someone needs to have a look at this review procedure.

BrentMused

I know some may feel it has been diluted a bit with injuries to key players and I understand where they're coming from, but IMO this is the most enjoyable playoffs I can remember for a long time.

So many series' going to the wire, players I wouldn't be as familiar with and wouldn't have seen as much getting an opportunity to step up, and just general chaos as a whole!

I mean, the Hawks were 100/1 before the season started and the Suns were 40/1! How exciting would it be to be a fan of either team at the moment?!

Don't get me wrong, it's great to see the NBA's finest duking it out in the playoffs, but after 10 years of pretty much the same players and teams (e.g. LeBron and Curry) making the Finals every single year, this is much needed and a breath of fresh air IMO.

Gregk961

BrentMused wrote: »

I know some may feel it has been diluted a bit with injuries to key players and I understand where they're coming from, but IMO this is the most enjoyable playoffs I can remember for a long time.

So many series' going to the wire, players I wouldn't be as familiar with and wouldn't have seen as much getting an opportunity to step up, and just general chaos as a whole!

I mean, the Hawks were 100/1 before the season started and the Suns were 40/1! How exciting would it be to be a fan of either team at the moment?!

Don't get me wrong, it's great to see the NBA's finest duking it out in the playoffs, but after 10 years of pretty much the same players and teams (e.g. LeBron and Curry) making the Finals every single year, this is much needed and a breath of fresh air IMO.

Couldn't agree more. Lest we ever forget the Cavs and Warriors walking backwards into the finals and how much It killed the tension of the playoffs.

The injuries have not negatively affected the end product at all, if anything they have made it more of a spectacle. Last years playoffs were great too but there was a certain inevitability to the Lakers winning in the end.

A pet peeve of mine is people on social media calling "Series/game OVER" at the first opportunity so I've been overjoyed to see these kinds wrong again and again this year.

ButtersSuki

Playoff P missing two huge free throws last night but I’d blame most of that loss on Ty Lue (they really should have taken that gene). Some very strange decisions and some horrendous coaching mistakes down the stretch, notably gifting the Suns a few free time outs to draw that final play up.

He’s gotten a lot of frankly BS credit in my eyes from certain corners of the media for “figuring things out” as the series evolves but that’s going to catch up with you at some stage. You can’t keep giving teams 2 game head starts. Chris Paul will possibly be back for Game 3 too. Remains to be seen if Leonard returns.

Coneygree

Trae Young, that is all.

ButtersSuki

Wow, that was some performance from Atlanta.

As good as Trae Young’s points scoring is he is a truly elite passer. I know it’s a highlight play but that alley oop off the glass to John Collins is about as high a degree of difficulty pass when moving as they come. And they did it against Brooklyn too earlier in the season.

pjohnson

Detroit won the Lotto to get Cade Cunningham. Rockets 2nd, Cavs 3rd, Raptors 4th.

Orlando have 2 top 10 picks with 5th and 8th

Poor Cade.

Corvo

Deleted User wrote: »

Poor Cade.

Thought the same. Houston would have been so much better.

Coneygree

Jalen Suggs could land very nicely going to the Raptors.

pjohnson

Spare a thought for poor OKC, they defied the odds amazingly.

"The Thunder had an 11.5% chance at the No. 1 pick, a 25% chance at two top-five picks (thanks to a trade with Houston) and about a 75% chance at landing at least one top-five pick."


They got 6th, 16th and 18th.

ButtersSuki

pjohnson wrote: »

Spare a thought for poor OKC, they defied the odds amazingly.

"The Thunder had an 11.5% chance at the No. 1 pick, a 25% chance at two top-five picks (thanks to a trade with Houston) and about a 75% chance at landing at least one top-five pick."


They got 6th, 16th and 18th.

They also f-ed up majorly by beating the Clippers in the last week of the season. I know the Clippers were trying to lose deliberately but that loss put them from tied 2nd worst (and 2nd best odds) to tied 4th.

ButtersSuki

pjohnson wrote: »

Detroit won the Lotto to get Cade Cunningham. Rockets 2nd, Cavs 3rd, Raptors 4th.

Orlando have 2 top 10 picks with 5th and 8th

I think there’s going to be some movement yet in that hunch. Cavs already have young guards, can see them trading out of 3. And others too.

Coneygree

pjohnson wrote: »

Spare a thought for poor OKC, they defied the odds amazingly.

"The Thunder had an 11.5% chance at the No. 1 pick, a 25% chance at two top-five picks (thanks to a trade with Houston) and about a 75% chance at landing at least one top-five pick."


They got 6th, 16th and 18th.

From a neutrals point of view I was hoping they'd get the first pick. Cade, Shai and Dort would be a great young core going forward.

Carcharodon

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Wow, that was some performance from Atlanta.

As good as Trae Young’s points scoring is he is a truly elite passer. I know it’s a highlight play but that alley oop off the glass to John Collins is about as high a degree of difficulty pass when moving as they come. And they did it against Brooklyn too earlier in the season.

Sensational, I wonder what Trae Young’s ceiling is ? Seems like him and Booker are the future of the league. I still think the Bucks will have a lot to say about this series, it could go to 7, very interesting series ahead.

ButtersSuki

Trae Young is becoming a superstar right before our eyes.

I’d still take Luka over him (it’s not even close IMO) but he is a supremely talented offensive player and a joy to watch. As good as his shooting from distance is he’s still a bit hit and miss there, but his handle, floater, and I’ll say it again passing are truly elite. It’s astonishing to think a guy of his size and frame can dominate an NBA game like he does.

Coneygree

I think the Mavs and Hawks would have no second thoughts over the trade. It just worked out perfect for both teams.

ButtersSuki

Carlisle goes to Indiana. A few things of note here - will the Mavs pull the "he's under contract to us" move - which they would be legally entitled to do btw and there's precedence for this and have to give up a draft pick at least for him.

Secondly, I do wonder if he getting the Bucks job. It looked for all intents and purposes that the Bucks were going to lose and then Bud would have been fired.....that still could happen. I do wonder though if they somehow win it all will they fire him? IMO it would be the right thing to do, but I wonder has any (American) team ever fired their coach after winning a championship?

BQQ

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I wonder has any (American) team ever fired their coach after winning a championship?

I guess Phil Jackson counts, but the decision was made before he actually won.

Carcharodon

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Carlisle goes to Indiana. A few things of note here - will the Mavs pull the "he's under contract to us" move - which they would be legally entitled to do btw and there's precedence for this and have to give up a draft pick at least for him.

Secondly, I do wonder if he getting the Bucks job. It looked for all intents and purposes that the Bucks were going to lose and then Bud would have been fired.....that still could happen. I do wonder though if they somehow win it all will they fire him? IMO it would be the right thing to do, but I wonder has any (American) team ever fired their coach after winning a championship?

Yea, will be interesting to see how it turns out, I really like him as a coach and I think the Mavs might just let this one be in order to not stir the pot over his departure which in my opinion was very questionable, we obviously don’t know exactly what’s going on behind the scenes but Luka might just be a super diva, publicly he said all the right things about Nelson’s and Carlisles departure but I wonder did he have any influence.
Bottom line is that the Mavs are a little bit of a mess right now when they are trying to build a championship team around Luka.
It would be pretty ironic if Trae Young won a championship first, he has been great for these playoffs, I think if Atlanta win it all they would probably get the least respect from the usual haters out there, that only enjoy watching the superstars dominate the league.
Also the draft will be very interesting this year, Warriors are in a nice/tough spot, draft talent or put together a trade package to try and win now.

ButtersSuki

KD and Scottie Pippen going at it in public. It never ceases to amaze me how much KD gets affected by things other people say.