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2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 2:12 pm
by DSafetyGuy
First, kudos to the league for getting this far in the pandemic and also for their support of the saliva test. Throw in their work for social justice and you can make a pretty strong case for the Association as a whole as 2020 Men of the Year.

Anyway, there are a couple very interesting series on tap. HOU-OKC seems like the first round headliner, Michael Porter Jr's emergence makes a potential Clippers-Nuggets second round a lot more intriguing (would the Clips sic Kawhi on him?), and I find LAL-POR very intriguing because of the backcourt being tipped so heavily in favor of the Blazers' offensive explosion capabilities.

In addition to the injuries suffered by Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook, Mike Conley has left the bubble due to the pending birth of a child.

Scariest stat of the bubble, non-offensive explosion division: Carmelo Anthony is 36; only three players in the bubble played more minutes than he did and two of them were on his team (SoJ: John Hollinger).

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 5:22 pm
by HaulCitgo
Celtics sixers will be fun. Just now really paying attention but seems like good ball on tap. Simmons a bummer but still good action most likely.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 9:10 am
by Rex
I wonder if a lot of bubble minutes are actually a good thing for the first round or so, before it becomes a bad thing in the later rounds. POR probably isn't good enough to test that theory.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 9:12 am
by Giff
I still can't get over what an amazing feat it was for the Trailblazers to make the 8th seed! Dame called that shit 7 months ago OMG!!!!

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 7:05 am
by wlu_lax6
Fun coverage of the Bass fishing in the bubble. With the line "Bass denies Bass"
https://www.wsj.com/articles/secrets-of ... 1597065896

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:47 pm
by A_B
Magic up 11 on bucks with 6+ to go. Giannis doesn't get all the superstar calls I would expect him to get. But the Bucks do not look good in the half court.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:58 pm
by degenerasian
A_B wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:47 pm Magic up 11 on bucks with 6+ to go. Giannis doesn't get all the superstar calls I would expect him to get. But the Bucks do not look good in the half court.
Crazy that the Magic might win this game with Fournier getting 2 points.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:02 pm
by A_B
degenerasian wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:58 pm
A_B wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:47 pm Magic up 11 on bucks with 6+ to go. Giannis doesn't get all the superstar calls I would expect him to get. But the Bucks do not look good in the half court.
Crazy that the Magic might win this game with Fournier getting 2 points.
He's hit two straight threes!

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:05 pm
by degenerasian
A_B wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:02 pm
degenerasian wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:58 pm
A_B wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:47 pm Magic up 11 on bucks with 6+ to go. Giannis doesn't get all the superstar calls I would expect him to get. But the Bucks do not look good in the half court.
Crazy that the Magic might win this game with Fournier getting 2 points.
He's hit two straight threes!
yeah, I think Milwaukee is in for a series, their half court offense is poor.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:08 pm
by A_B
degenerasian wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:05 pm
A_B wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:02 pm
degenerasian wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:58 pm
A_B wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:47 pm Magic up 11 on bucks with 6+ to go. Giannis doesn't get all the superstar calls I would expect him to get. But the Bucks do not look good in the half court.
Crazy that the Magic might win this game with Fournier getting 2 points.
He's hit two straight threes!
yeah, I think Milwaukee is in for a series, their half court offense is poor.
The Magic have not fought for offensive rebounds, by design I have to think. Just hustled back whole second half, not sure about the first I didn't see any of that.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 10:34 am
by Rex
Rex wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 9:10 am I wonder if a lot of bubble minutes are actually a good thing for the first round or so, before it becomes a bad thing in the later rounds. P̶O̶R̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶e̶n̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶o̶r̶y̶.̶
Look at this good take!

Seriously though, it's dangerous to talk about minutes in the same way we normally would when everyone is coming off a 6-month grind.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 10:36 am
by A_B
Rex wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 10:34 am
Rex wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 9:10 am I wonder if a lot of bubble minutes are actually a good thing for the first round or so, before it becomes a bad thing in the later rounds. P̶O̶R̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶e̶n̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶o̶r̶y̶.̶
Look at this good take!

Seriously though, it's dangerous to talk about minutes in the same way we normally would when everyone is coming off a 6-month grind.
I didn't watch any of the game, but it looks like 3 point shooting doomed the Lakers. I think this might need to be a series where Lebron and AD just have to dig deep and score 40 each per night.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:00 am
by tennbengal
Portland is the better team.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:25 pm
by DSafetyGuy
I laugh every time I hear KCP mentioned in a game. Him having a major role for the Lakers shows how over their heads their backcourt is trying to defend Lillard and McCollum. And then, he's on offense, trying to create.

One little thing I loved was this: Anthony gets a rebound and picks up his dribble, then waits for the nearby defender to clear a passing lane to any of his three teammates in the backcourt. He ends up passing it to Nurkic, the closest one, but instead of passing it right back to Anthony or to a guard to bring it up, Nurk just brings it up and slings a perfect bounce pass to a cutting guard for a lay-up as soon as he reaches the top of the key. Beautiful.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:22 am
by tennbengal
The Sixers are obviously about to be bounced from the bubble, and this post-mortem is amazing:

https://www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-76er ... -analysis/

A taste:
If you are what your actions say you are, the Sixers stink from the top down. They're a bully-ball team that gets pushed around by teams filled with guards and wings, an analytics-heavy front office that forgot to keep shooters on the roster, led by a motivational coach who publicly demanded a three-per-game from his star player and couldn't so much as get an attempt.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 10:20 am
by Pruitt
tennbengal wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:22 am The Sixers are obviously about to be bounced from the bubble, and this post-mortem is amazing:

https://www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-76er ... -analysis/

A taste:
If you are what your actions say you are, the Sixers stink from the top down. They're a bully-ball team that gets pushed around by teams filled with guards and wings, an analytics-heavy front office that forgot to keep shooters on the roster, led by a motivational coach who publicly demanded a three-per-game from his star player and couldn't so much as get an attempt.
Trust the process!

4 years of intentionally bad basketball in order to become merely above average.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 11:46 am
by DSafetyGuy
tennbengal wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:22 am The Sixers are obviously about to be bounced from the bubble, and this post-mortem is amazing:

https://www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-76er ... -analysis/
That was wondrous, thank you for sharing.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:01 pm
by HaulCitgo
Typical philly. Or it could be that one of the most unique players in the game is out and these questions would barely be asked if he played. Somewhere in the middle since they struggled with him all year, still losing Simmons way bigger for Philly than Celtics losing heyward and it'll probably end up killing the C's. The horford and Harris contracts do look like low ceilings on what the franchise can do.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:22 pm
by Joe K
HaulCitgo wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:01 pm Typical philly. Or it could be that one of the most unique players in the game is out and these questions would barely be asked if he played. Somewhere in the middle since they struggled with him all year, still losing Simmons way bigger for Philly than Celtics losing heyward and it'll probably end up killing the C's. The horford and Harris contracts do look like low ceilings on what the franchise can do.
This take is spot on in every respect. Simmons might make first-team All-Defense this year and losing him is a killer against a team that has three perimeter players averaging 20+ ppg. Also agree w/r/t the Harris and Horford deals. They definitely lower the ceiling,* but at the same time, a team that was 29-2 at home pre-shutdown clearly could still be very effective when healthy and motivated. To the motivation point, however, it’s probably time to move on from Brett Brown.

* What really hurt the ceiling was Butler wanting out. That trade definitely made them a legit contender last year but I’d much rather have Covington and Saric than Horford. Sometimes all-in gambles work (Kawhi), sometimes not (Butler) and in those cases, four bounces on the rim essentially decided how the trades will ultimately are viewed.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:47 pm
by tennbengal
JoeK!!!!

Glad to see you.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 5:23 pm
by sancarlos
Good to have you back, Joe.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 5:37 pm
by degenerasian
NBA is back to normal. The Magic scored 13 in the first quarter.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:45 pm
by DSafetyGuy
Not starting a new thread to mention that I think Obi Toppin would be a tremendous fit for the Warriors at #2.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:53 pm
by tennbengal
tennbengal wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:00 am Portland is the better team.
Perhaps not.

Also, this rules:


Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2020 7:51 am
by HaulCitgo
George Karl always seemed less effective than his results. Relatively low bar for a high profile name. Still Mark cant clear it

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:24 am
by tennbengal
Jackson clapped back!


Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2020 3:32 pm
by GoodKarma
The Jazz uni's today are...something...

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 1:28 pm
by Joe K
Add this to his case for GOAT.


Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:07 pm
by degenerasian
Doncic is single handedly beating the Clippers.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:36 pm
by tennbengal
Holy shit.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:36 pm
by A_B
Yup. Awesome ending.

Dude is a baller.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:47 pm
by DSafetyGuy
A_B wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:36 pm Yup. Awesome ending.

Dude is a baller.
One assist shy of averaging a triple double in the series.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:38 pm
by tennbengal
A_B wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:36 pm Yup. Awesome ending.

Dude is a baller.
Really, never seen anything like it at his age , at least to my memory.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:51 pm
by degenerasian
Nets deciding to have fun their last game in the bubble. Playing no defense at all.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:18 pm
by degenerasian
Raptors get 150! 100 from the bench. That must be a record.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:24 pm
by Joe K
degenerasian wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:18 pm Raptors get 150! 100 from the bench. That must be a record.
It is. I saw on Twitter that the regular season record is 94 and the previous playoff record was 86 (by the 2011 Mavs title team).

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:08 am
by Joe K
tennbengal wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:38 pm
A_B wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:36 pm Yup. Awesome ending.

Dude is a baller.
Really, never seen anything like it at his age , at least to my memory.
Luka is the best second-year player I've seen, but LeBron started in the NBA a year younger and was probably already the best player in the league by his third season. Shaq was also ridiculous by the time he was 21, too. But no one else comes to mind for me. (I'm too young for Magic Johnson.)

It's still crazy that everyone who follows European basketball closely was adamant that Luka was the best prospect they'd ever seen and a cant-miss, but three NBA teams still passed on him. Trae Young is already an all-star and Ayton will likely be one soon, but there's still a huge gap between those guys and Luka. Luka was the engine of the most efficient offense in NBA history in only his second year in the league.

ETA: I'm definitely selling Tim Duncan short when I said that Luka is the best second-year player I've seen, but Duncan was a few years older than the other guys I mentioned above when he came into the league.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:37 am
by Pruitt
degenerasian wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:18 pm Raptors get 150! 100 from the bench. That must be a record.
Bring on the Celtics.

This team is on fire!

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:52 am
by DSafetyGuy
Pruitt wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:37 am
degenerasian wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:18 pm Raptors get 150! 100 from the bench. That must be a record.
Bring on the Celtics.

This team is on fire!
Slow down. There was open gym-quality "defense" being played yesterday, which allowed Serge Ibaka to shoot 12/14 and 3/3 from deep, and Norman Powell and Terence Davis combined to hit nine threes. Raptors probably aren't going to have 39 assists on 56 field goals ever again.

Re: 2020 NBA Playoffs

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:18 pm
by EdRomero
I'm worried about the Celtics "big men" containing Toronto's big men.

Also, how much better would Embiid be playing for Popavich or another competent coach? Now he just looks like a waste of out of shape talent.