…and we’re off…
Bucks @ Celtics (Middleton out for the series)

Sixers @ Heat (Embiid hopeful for Game 3 or 4)

Warriors @ Grizz

Mavs @ Suns

.

.

Looks like Carter got him on that shoulder.
https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1520827960248438784?s=20&t=BDN6cakh79mYb3QjWnN09A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r71wpRgxcgo

but, I didn’t even think to see if he had done a breakdown on it.

Top 2 players in the NBA are playing in this game.

Nm

.

.

Thats what it looks like right now.

.

Ridiculous call

.

by his jersey. it dont get anymore cut and dry than that and draymond doesnt deserve any leeway either

.

big momentum shift

.

No way can we hold them off all series without draymond

Looney has give us great minutes but those two are a PROBLEM

only other NBA dude I’ve ever seen play in those, was John Wall.

Put him in iso with Steph

We need a makeup call lol

getting Dillon Brooks, but it was MarShon?

and that’s not a diss…it must be hard, man.

On that inbound you have to guard 4 three point shooters.

Death

.

lmao

why she got a dog in the middle of a damn playoff game?

he working? what's it's purpose?

this ain't home depot.

(and home depot ain't petsmart, but i think that battle is lost already).


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

one of my flights got held up 1 hour bc Qatar airways wouldn’t let a woman on w her puppy

White ppl will get militant about their lap/ pocket dogs

why she got a dog in the middle of a damn playoff game?
>
>he working? what's it's purpose?
>
>this ain't home depot.
>
>(and home depot ain't petsmart, but i think that battle is
>lost already).
>
>
>peace & blessings,
>
>x.
>
>www.twitter.com/poetx
>
>=========================================
>I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
>focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
>
>not having much to show for it. (c) mad

Not at all surprised that this is your take.

But hey, if you’re going to be a POS on a subject, may as well be consistent.

just don't pet the rabbits too hard mmkay?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2021/01/12/united-american-and-delta-join-alaska-banning-emotional-support-animals-will-southwest-hold-out/?sh=5c5fb08c1c43

>Not at all surprised that this is your take.

Emotional support animal =/= service animals...big difference.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42880690

It takes a special breed of trash to wear their ignorance so proudly.

I doubt you’ll get much flak for it here, but yeah. You’re repulsive.

No offense to you or your pup

Have a nice day

>No offense to you or your pup

I neither have, nor need, and ESA- but you really like to use mental health as the basis for your snark. It’s much worse to see your general take on mental health, i.e, the “lame mental health crutch”. framing of it.

the fact that you assume that I have one underscores your ignorance, as though anyone who calls your repugnant take in the subject for what it is must have one.

You’re the worst kind of backward ignorance- the sort who wears that ignorance with pride and arrogance.

Plenty of people are happy to be dog shit human beings though, so rock on with that I guess.

Hopefully you get educated and whatever spec of compassion and decency you have inside you claws it’s way out of the rest of that sewer you call a soul, and takes control.

No amount of spin can change that

You can lie to yourself and pretend that the person calling you out for your shit takes is the problem

But it’s just not true

You’re the problem

>
>this ain't home depot.
>

the mofos always looking for a reason to bring a dog with them

Now if I was to go there with my lab/pit mix it'll be a problem.


>the mofos always looking for a reason to bring a dog with
>them

Without bogus flagrants of course


>…and we’re off…
>Bucks @ Celtics (Middleton out for the series)
>
>Sixers @ Heat (Embiid hopeful for Game 3 or 4)
>
>Warriors @ Grizz
>
>Mavs @ Suns

On one hand, fuck Boston

On the other, JT is a Kobe guy, so I want to see him win.

But then again, fuck Boston.

Giannis has a chance to add another major accomplishment to an already ridiculous resume at a relatively young age- and watching history in the making is ALWAYS a draw for me.

Also, fuck Boston.

All told, I’d rather see JT win a chip, but mainly because Kobe means that much to me personally, and I know he means a lot to JT. So I want to see him put his name into that level 1 pantheon.

Then, ideally, he leaves that shithole Boston for somewhere else. Lakers, ideally, but anywhere but Boston will suffice.

Of course, I also want to see Steph/Klay/Dre add another layer to their already significant legacy- and I still want to see CP3 get a chip.

Not aure which of those I want to see more.

NBA playoffs 2022: Without Joel Embiid, here's what the Philadelphia 76ers must do against the Miami Heat

What does Joel Embiid's injury mean to the Philadelphia 76ers' chances of reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since drafting Embiid in 2014 as the centerpiece of their rebuilding process?

On Friday, the Sixers announced that Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and a concussion during the late stages of Thursday's Game 6 win to close out the Toronto Raptors. Philadelphia did not offer a timetable for Embiid's return.

With Game 1 of the 76ers' conference semifinals matchup against the top-seeded Miami Heat set for Monday in Miami, Philly must prepare to play without Embiid, a finalist for the NBA's MVP award this season. Embiid was a strong candidate in part because he played a career-high 68 games this season, missing just four since a stint in the NBA's health and safety protocols in November.

Let's take a look at how the Sixers might adjust their offense, with James Harden set to play without Embiid for the first time since being traded to Philadelphia as well as how quickly Embiid might return. Can he resume a breakthrough campaign and go deeper in the playoffs than ever before?

How Philadelphia's attack must shift without Embiid

Embiid's durability this season makes it difficult to predict how the 76ers will play in his absence. Remarkably, Harden has yet to play without Embiid, having missed both games (including a seven-point home loss to the Heat in March) that Embiid sat out after the trade deadline.

It's hardly challenging to predict that Philadelphia's attack will be different stylistically. Embiid has been an enormous part of the team's offense; his 37% usage rate this season ranked 10th all-time since individual turnovers were tracked starting in 1977-78 (minimum 1,000 minutes) per Stathead.com. Given Embiid's unique ability as a scorer in the post and out of isolations, the Sixers can't shift those possessions to whoever replaces him in the lineup.

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14h
Instead, most of them will surely go to the perimeter trio of Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris. Harris boosted his scoring average per 36 minutes from 17.4 to 21.2 in nine games without Embiid this season, while Maxey's skyrocketed from 16.2 to 24.8.

After veterans Paul Millsap and DeAndre Jordan proved lacking as backups for Embiid, Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers embraced using energetic second-year big man Paul Reed in those minutes late in the regular season and against Toronto. Reed solidified non-Embiid lineups, though the Raptors still outscored the Sixers by seven points in 44 minutes with Embiid on the bench and Harden on the court during the first round.

Harden and Reed have developed pick-and-roll chemistry, and Reed will undoubtedly play a key role in Embiid's absence. Still, Philly's best strategy with Embiid out might be to go small and stretch the floor with Georges Niang as a center.

Admittedly, the 6-foot-7 Niang provides limited resistance at the rim. His 13 blocks this season were a career high. That's the reason Rivers all but abandoned using Niang at the 5 after experimenting with it early in the season; 72 of Niang's 91 minutes as the Sixers' center came in October and November, per analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats.

Philadelphia might need Niang's floor spacing to give Harden and Maxey the ability to get to the basket when they beat their defenders in this series. Miami opponents attempted a league-low 17.3 shots per game in the restricted area, according to Second Spectrum tracking, a measure of how aggressively the Heat have protected the rim.

The flip side of that strategy: Miami also gives up 3-pointers in bunches, as an NBA-high 46% of their opponents' shot attempts came from beyond the arc. Niang, a 40% career 3-point shooter who made a career-high 2.1 per game this season, can feast on those opportunities when his defenders help and make them think twice about crowding the paint.

Playing Niang at center might also be more palatable in this series because the Heat don't put much pressure on the rim on offense. Their own 18.2 shot attempts per game in the restricted area were fourth lowest in the NBA, per Second Spectrum.

Why Embiid's timetable is uncertain
Just how long Embiid might be out remains unclear. The timetable for orbital injuries often vary widely depending on the location and whether the bone is displaced. A handful of players who have suffered orbital injuries missed only a game or two, while others -- including Embiid in March 2018 with an identical injury that required surgery -- have been sidelined for an extended period.

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Friday, May 6
Heat at 76ers, Game 3 (7 p.m.)

Saturday, May 7
Celtics at Bucks, Game 3 (3:30 p.m., ABC)

All times Eastern

Embiid suffered the injury on March 28 of that year and missed the remaining eight games of the regular season as well as the first two of the 76ers' first-round series against Miami. He returned on April 19, 22 days later. Naturally, that kind of timetable would rule Embiid out for the entire series.

Unfortunately, serious orbital injuries are more common. Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com noted that the average time missed due to an orbital injury during the regular season is about 10 games.

Of course, even if Philadelphia gets a break on the severity of the orbital fracture, Embiid's concussion is a serious concern in its own right. For Embiid to be able to return, he'll first have to clear concussion protocol.

As a result, the Sixers should prepare to play at least the first couple of games of this series without Embiid, as they did in 2018. Back then, Philadelphia was able to split the first two games at home using a smaller lineup before winning the next three games after Embiid returned to finish off the Heat.

This time around, the 76ers will have to start on the road, making the timing of Embiid's injury more difficult -- especially with Miami potentially affected by injuries to Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry at the start of this series. With Harden, the 76ers have enough offense to win without Embiid, particularly if they go small.

The bigger questions are whether Philadelphia can get enough stops without their defensive anchor -- and whether he's able to return at all this series.

The betting market doesn't seem optimistic about those answers. Before the Embiid news, the lines at Caesars Sportsbook (+150 for the Sixers, -180 for the Heat) implied a 38% chance of Philadelphia winning the series. The current line as of Friday night (+300 for the Sixers, -380 for the Heat) has cut that to 23%.

We'll have a better idea after Game 1 whether Philly can find the right answers.

Please tell me you have something more, lieutenant.. please tell me you haven't pinned the sixers hopes to Georges Niang

The whole world is going to be fixated on him, I wonder if he tries to go Houston Harden, with or without's Doc's blessing.


>Please tell me you have something more, lieutenant.. please
>tell me you haven't pinned the sixers hopes to Georges Niang

would balance playing time between Steph, Klay and Poole I like how he started GPII to get another defender on the floor, Ja and Triple J still got theirs but the rest of the Grizzles were relatively quiet.

is better than the pre KD squad

>is better than the pre KD squad

2015
Barnes
Iggy
bogut
Livingston
Speights
Barbosa

2016
Barnes
Iggy
bogut
Livingston
Speights
Barbosa
Rush

2022
Wiggins
Poole
Looney
Porter
GpII

I'm having a hard time finding anyone on those earlier rosters better than Wiggins or Poole

and was playing out of his mind

>2015
>Barnes
>Iggy
>bogut
>Livingston
>Speights
>Barbosa
>
>2016
>Barnes
>Iggy
>bogut
>Livingston
>Speights
>Barbosa
>Rush
>
>2022
>Wiggins
>Poole
>Looney
>Porter
>GpII
>
>I'm having a hard time finding anyone on those earlier rosters
>better than Wiggins or Poole

he averaged 10, 4 and 4 in the playoffs in 2015

I should have clarified

>he averaged 10, 4 and 4 in the playoffs in 2015

16 5 and 4 and he had to guard LeBron


if Wiggins or Poole do that, AND manage to stop/slow down Giannis...then yea

I think it's a bit premature though to say they're playing better in the *2nd round*

its that the supporting cast is better

Even if you think iggy(then) was better than Wiggins (now) no one on those teams is coming close to poole.

Overall i think the supporting cast is better than those 2015-2016

however the core of steph, dray, klay (and iggy) is way more savvy than the assorted vets that the earlier squads have. so this incarnation is better. only caveat is size.

>2015
>Barnes <<< wiggins
>Iggy >>> current wiggins
>bogut
>Livingston
>Speights
>Barbosa

i liked that squad w/ exception of barnes who (to me, at the time) always seemed to be klanging wide open 3s in crunch time.

none of them is as dynamic a scoring threat as poole. i'll take young glove over anyone there except iggy as a perimeter defender.

>
>2016
>Barnes
>Iggy
>bogut
>Livingston
>Speights
>Barbosa
>Rush

ibid, re: barnes.

>
>2022
>Wiggins
>Poole
>Looney
>Porter
>GpII

you forgot kuminga. he had some good minutes vs mem (even though he had a negative +/-. his energy and explosiveness can be game changing and he's a very good young, on ball defender. (gets lost off the ball sometimes).

>I'm having a hard time finding anyone on those earlier rosters
>better than Wiggins or Poole

rather, wiggins + poole + current iggy >>>> any combination of them other dudes + OG iggy.

and livingston was my guy. solid defender. fresh taper. and smoothest midrange in the game. reliable.

wigs has been a better defender, hits threes, and, of late, a better rebounder than livingston. gives another shooter to close out on and therefore spaces the floor.

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

in size that pre-KD squad had in terms of varying how they could defend in terms of not only size but speed as well over this current squad.

Offensively, this is a better team since there are more three point threats compared to the pre-KD squad. That's at least going off memory from back then.

He's doing ALL the little things to help us win games. We'll get 15-17 efficient buckets from a guy who plays really good defense, attacks the rim, and yes is even willing to do the dirty work. The polar opposite of the empty scorer/ medium efficiency player he was earlier in this career.

A perfect find by Myers. Wiggins was always going to excel in this type of role, and huge credit to Kerr for weaving him in so seamlessly into the squad.

also looked like Klay got a piece of Morant's layup: https://imgur.com/a/Ej97RmJ

I definitely counted the Bucks out vs the C's without Middleton. I'm not sure they can win it but yeesh Giannis is just...something.

..they've both weathered the storm, with benches more than willing to step up when necessary.

I wouldn't mind watching that series go 7.


*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

https://theathletic.com/3289461/2022/05/02/warriors-grizzlies-game-1-film-breakdown/

Hollinger: Five key clips from Grizzlies-Warriors Game 1, and what they mean for Game 2


One marker of how well a team is defending the Grizzlies is to just look at the easy stuff: second-chance and fast-break points. That’s where Memphis does a big chunk of its damage, and it will be a focus all series.

However, there’s another one we don’t talk about as much: what I call the “Desmond Ratio.” The idea against Memphis is that you’ll pack the paint and live with semi-contested 3s from any player on the roster except Desmond Bane. If the Grizzlies take a lot of 3s and Bane has a small proportion of them, you’ve probably done your job.

Well, in this game, Golden State had a “Desmond Ratio” of 7.0: Memphis had 35 3-point attempts from players not named Bane and just five from Bane. Sure, Jaren Jackson Jr. got cooking, so Memphis did a bit more damage on those non-Bane 3s than you might expect (15-of-35, which is a 64.3 percent true shooting), but playing the long game, this is advantage Golden State.

Missing from those stats are all the times the Grizzlies drove into a packed paint or record-scratched out of promising possessions because the Warriors were daring poor-to-middling shooters to fire away. As our Fred Katz already noted, Morant took 11 3-pointers in part because the Warriors went under every screen and dared him. The horns sets where his defender hung out below both screens were particularly emphatic examples.

The above clip is a perfect example, a possession to nowhere where the Warriors dared both Morant and Kyle Anderson to shoot from distance (automatic fine if you go for Slo-Mo’s shot fake) and had zero fear whatsoever of Xavier Tillman doing anything on his roll. The Grizzlies ended up with a shot-clock violation after Morant drove into three waiting players on the reset.

Second quarter: Defending Steph Curry
One reason Memphis will regret losing this game is that the Grizzlies mostly did an outstanding job on Curry, using Brooks as the primary defender, switching most screens involving him (although trying very, very hard to keep Morant as far away from him as humanly possible) and harassing him into 24 points on 8-for-20 shooting.

The Grizzlies struggled more when they tried to put two on the ball, as Golden State got a four-on-three virtually every time but went away from that as soon as Tillman checked out. Even the shots Curry made were earned; stepback 3s off the dribble, drives into traffic and the like. Those plays where he scrambles around off the ball, gets a pin-in screen and emerges with a wide-open 3? Those weren’t really a thing in Game 1.

This clip above is a great example. The play above starts with De’Anthony Melton on Curry, but the Grizzlies switch a screen to put Anderson him, negating Curry’s curl. Curry retreats with a live dribble all the way to the opposite 3-point line, but Anderson harasses him the whole way and eventually pins him against the sideline. Curry regains his dribble when Anderson deflects the ball, but he drives right back into Melton, who blocks his floater.

Warriors fans will note that the primary trigger for a lot of Curry’s open 3s is a screen or pass from Green, who wasn’t around for the last 25 minutes. We’ll see if he can spring Curry more often in Game 2.

Third quarter: Poole party
Jordan Poole was the catalyst for both teams’ offenses at times, but his scoring and passing more than made up for the vulnerability at the defensive end in this one. In contrast to the Grizzlies’ rotation usage, which we’ll get to more in a minute, the Warriors played Poole 38 minutes off the bench, starting him in the second half after Green was ejected and only removing him for two very short breathers. Those 38 minutes are more than every Grizzlies player except Morant.

Poole finished with 31 points and made five of his 10 3-point attempts, including one where he got hit on the side of the head by Clarke with no call. (Another fine moment for this crew.) As sweet as the scoring was, however, the passing might have been even better. His development in this area isn’t getting as much attention, but it’s a pretty huge deal in terms of his overall value.

Poole finished with a team-high nine assists, and several were sweet dimes far above the pay grade of your typical get-’em-up bench scorer. To start the third, he dropped a perfect pass in between three Grizzlies to set up a Kevon Looney basket and then had the ping-ping-ping sequence in the clip above to get Curry one of his easiest looks of the day and an and-1 opportunity after Morant crashed into him.

That pass looks like the obvious play, but most guys on a heater like Poole are taking the first swing pass from Curry and letting it rip. Poole read Morant closing out on him, and perhaps that Tillman behind him had a chance to block his shot, and realized zipping it right back to Steph was the better play.

While we didn’t see much of the Megadeth lineup due to Green’s ejection, the pairing of Poole with Curry and Klay Thompson continues to show so much offensive promise that the Warriors may need to live with whatever defensive warts it brings. Whether he technically starts or comes off the bench seems secondary; either way, Poole has just been too good to keep off the court.

Fourth quarter: Grizzlies don’t stagger
Taylor Jenkins is going to regret a few things about this game: not pushing harder for a two-for-one or calling timeout when they got the ball back with 36 seconds left, not playing Jackson more in the first half (he finished with just 31 minutes and three fouls; he could have helped in that second quarter clip above, for instance) and not tightening the rotation further.

One of the biggest things he’ll likely regret, however, is not staggering the minutes of Morant and Bane better to keep more firepower on the court. Both players rested at the start of the fourth quarter, and it got ugly fast.

In a one-point game to start the fourth quarter, Memphis sent out a lineup of Tyus Jones/Brooks/John Konchar/Anderson/Clarke. That shooting-deficient group had a hopeless first possession in the clip above. With three non-shooters on the court and limited shot creation, they ran a split cut action with Anderson in the post to … get Brooks a tough 2?

Morant subbed in quickly, but that put even less shooting on the floor since he replaced Brooks. By the time Memphis got its best five back on the court, the Grizzlies were facing a 10-point deficit.

How can Memphis manage its bench units better to keep more shooting on the floor? Playing Konchar may be a luxury unless Bane is out there with him. Pulling Melton out of cold storage after two DNPs against Minnesota certainly helped; he was ghastly awful in that series (a PER of minus-4 in 47 minutes) but was a huge bench energizer all season. The Grizzlies didn’t have Ziaire Williams and Steven Adams available, but I’m not sure they would have made things any different.

The Grizzlies likely need to tilt the rotation toward even fewer Tillman minutes (like, zero, for instance) and more with Jackson playing the five; that risks fouls against most opponents, but the Warriors are so perimeter-heavy that it may not matter much against them. That takes them down to an eight-man rotation with a few scraps for Konchar/Williams in the ninth spot, but that’s the playoffs.

Fourth quarter: The Warriors win the board battle
Finally, let’s finish with the most amazing stat of the night: Golden State finished the game with a better offensive rebound rate than Memphis, yanking down 16 of a potential 47 misses. Memphis, of course, led the league in ORB rate during the season. Golden State … did not. The Warriors finished 18th in this category, and the Grizzlies were a respectable 10th on the defensive glass. Golden State also did this despite missing Green the entire second half and being forced into smaller arrangements that included getting Porter some run at center.

And yet, this might have actually been the reason the Warriors could rebound so well. While a few of their boards were just pure energy plays by Gary Payton II, several were the result of the Warriors’ shooting stretching the Grizzlies to their absolute limit, leaving Memphis chasing its tails on the glass. This was particularly true in the fourth quarter, when out of 16 potential rebounds the Warriors kept the ball seven times and should have had an eighth (the missed out of bounds call on Brooks).

The above sequence is probably the most telling one, even though Golden State ultimate didn’t score. Two 3-point misses by Thompson and Curry produce long rebounds that the Warriors are able to chase down, while the Grizzlies are scattered all over the court from trying to defend the initial action. Andrew Wiggins gets the first one when it bounces long and he’s the only player left on the weak side because two players chase Thompson, and the clip starts after he’s kicked the ball out to Curry. Once he gets up, he’s unattended under the basket while the Grizzlies scramble to chase Curry and Poole. (Although Morant might have tried blocking him out instead of just trying to out-leap him.)

Part of the benefit of Memphis’ switching is that the Grizzlies theoretically should be less prone to this, but the threat of Golden State’s shooting is such that even the best-laid plans end with two guys flailing out desperately at Curry or Thompson and the boards unattended. In retrospect, it’s shocking this team didn’t rebound at a higher rate in the regular season, so an interesting subplot will be whether this was a one-off fluke from some long rebounds going to the right places or whether it’s sustainable for the rest of the series. Certainly Payton, who had a team-high four offensive boards, could play a big role in this question. One can argue Adams returning could even the score here for Memphis, but it’s not clear how much he would play if the Grizzlies are committed to a switching scheme. Nonetheless, it was an underrated key to the Warriors stealing Game 1 and taking advantage in this series.

Related reading
Kawakami: The fury, pride and playoff righteousness of the Warriors
Thompson: Quartet of guards prove problematic for Memphis

(Photo of Dillon Brooks and Steph Curry: Joe Murphy /NBAE via Getty Images)

https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1521141023975477248

he has improved though

and the effort has always been there. which is the foundation for any player to improve on that end of the floor.


more than you can say for Luka. Who seems like a lost cause.

8 minutes left as of this post, 78-93 Heat lead. Box score implies they're letting Tobias Harris pretend it's Orlando while everybody else struggles to get theirs and of course it works. Meanwhile Adebayo is just thumping around having a fun day at work.


Fuck Pascal Siakam's elbow forever man.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

awful effort. this would be a 4-5 point game if not for all the 2nd chance buckets MIA got

This looks like a gentleman’s sweep early


>…and we’re off…
>Bucks @ Celtics (Middleton out for the series)
>
>Sixers @ Heat (Embiid hopeful for Game 3 or 4)
>
>Warriors @ Grizz
>
>Mavs @ Suns

should be called out more in bball media

i guess i'm just speaking more to the EFFORT put in. Closing out on shooters, sprinting back on defense at key moments, etc. These are things you don't have to be an all world defender to know to do. Its effort.

I'm obviously a Warrior homer. But I've always observed Steph putting in the effort on that end. Even if he was getting taken advantage of. The effort has always been there.


And as I was saying above, the effort is the foundatino for a guy to improve. As Steph has over the course of his career. I don't ever see Luka doing that

Dude doesnt even pretend to try.

its just so much glaring in the playoffs when its grown man time.

they just carry it differently way out there.

https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1521346701524561920

I count, like, 8 genuinely good defenders at most... and at *least* a dozen guys who either don't give a shit or are bad enough defenders that if they do give a shit, it doesn't consistently show, lol.

It's pretty wild.

Basically

"You just dominated the Mavs and was never in danger of losing the game, but what about this Luka guy and his 45? Isnt Luka just the best?"

>"You just dominated the Mavs and was never in danger of
>losing the game, but what about this Luka guy and his 45? Isnt
>Luka just the best?"

BEFORE the game, yesterday. How does Harden have to look, without Joel, to not be fried? I forgot and decided not to do it, cuz I didn’t want to look like I was playing the result.

What else we gonna say that ain’t already been said about him

I know he has the hamstring but i havent seen a super star fall off this quick outside of a broken leg, torn up knee, achilles, etc. He just never took care of his body and it caught up QUICK

He tore his hamstring to pieces for Brooklyn when he was out there
playing with a 2 degree hamstring. He couldn’t jump or sprint, and it hasn’t
been the same sense.

It’s clear as day his first step is gone because of it.

Harden was not only out of shape…but still partied hard. Kev grew tired of it.

https://www.netsdaily.com/2022/2/15/22934855/fischer-in-the-end-kevin-durant-made-the-call-that-ended-james-harden-days-in-brooklyn

and played together the one season in Houston and Russ had a kind of similar sudden falloff.

Russ was always an erratic shooter but this past season he seemed to miss so many easy baskets at the rim that used to be dunks in previous years. He had actually struggled at the beginning of the previous season in Washington but came on strong in the 2nd half and a lot of his early season struggles were written off to injuries/covid but had similar struggles in LA. Like the saying goes "Father Time is undefeated" but its rare to see elite players fall off that quickly.

From 30 a game to 24 a game to 17 a game in like 2 years...it started at the age of
31.


and we saw it with Carmelo at the age of 31

Allen ain’t! Russ won’t be! Harden won’t be! Don’t say my guy name!

Dude was out here playing the third most minutes in the league on one leg because Kyrie did everything he could to play except the easiest thing.

.

but, man!! When he leads with that strong ass forearm, NO defender has a fucking chance.

As somebody who just wants 7 game series' all the way down it's nice to see this response from Boston. Long way to go but great start, making Giannis look like KD


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Boston lit up from 3. Milwaukee really doesn’t allow shit in the paint.

Bucks in 6

So glad to see him up

and it would look bad if they didnt hand down the same penalty.

that decision came pretty quick too.

they knew they didnt have much choice.

Brooks be going anyway.

80's playoffs Baby!!!!

>80's playoffs Baby!!!!

I don’t understand how a team with so much experience is so
clumsy with ball protection.

kerr never chewed their ass out and cleaned this shit up.

doesnt help when your best player is loosey goosey with the ball too.

>

Shit is just so much more ferocious with two hands

https://twitter.com/leaguealerts/status/1521676553423368198?s=21

That was the meanest I’ve ever seen Wiggins get.

way too many players getting called for having a foot on the line nowadays.

Hope Payton comes back without a major sprain or break in this series but it's fun to see even more of Kuminga, this dude is the good kind of reckless


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

They are going to fock around and lose these series. Memphis simply doesn’t
make mistakes. We saw it when they played the wolves. Memphis didn’t play well,
but the wolves made all the stupid mistakes.

GSW are doing the same dumb shit. I mean damn


Poole is even worse than Curry...

>They are going to fock around and lose these series. Memphis
>simply doesn’t
>make mistakes.
>
>

Game 1: The Warriors had 26 second chance points, steals blocks and turnovers were essentially equal across the board and the home/away foul split was negligible.

Game 2 so far: Steals and turnovers are way more lopsided by Memphis hasn't turned any of that into points outside free throws which, still, is a negligible home/away difference with a live crowd.


Both these teams are playing fast and wild, it's just a stronger narrative with GSW because it's been going on for so long and a handful of would-be turnovers for MEM saw the GSW player lose control or step on the line in the process.


Just look at how the Warriors made that 10 point lead look stupid by cutting through and clowning on the MEM defense. There's no way you can argue Memphis is SMARTER than Golden State, more explosive sure.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

lol.

I would say stick to soccer...but you don’t know that either.

What I’m saying is like what we saw with the Wolves...who were
the superior team, Memphis will steal wins.

This should be a blowout...but GSW is so stupid with the ball at times they
defeat themselves

And Tyrus Jones has the best assist/turnover ratio in the league...and
has been like that for the past 4 years

Jones- zero TOS
Morant:2
Melton:2

Curry: 5 TOS
Green : 4 TOs

dubs offense not fully in sync, high turnovers, refs calling a physical game, etc.

if the grizz cant capitalize then its prolly a wrap.

Curry 5 TO

Meanwhile Jones doesn’t make a single mistake at the point.

Such a crucial presence for us defensively too

surprising.

just been solid as a rock.

Wiggins has been a killer on the boards.

Those second chance points have been huge.

>…and we’re off…
>Bucks @ Celtics (Middleton out for the series)
>
>Sixers @ Heat (Embiid hopeful for Game 3 or 4)
>
>Warriors @ Grizz
>
>Mavs @ Suns

You dare them to take those shots every time. © Mark Jackson


For real though, Steph and Poole were off, but Klay was just BAD tonight.


On the other hand, I love that Memphis is playing Whoop That Trick in the 4th against the Warriors lmao


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

these games have been great tho.

i hate referees.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

(Cue scene of Gouki from Street Fighter V)

They let you defeat yourself. They could easily be up 2-0 in the series.

If the warriors just simply protected the ball, they would have won by
at least 10 points.

Warriors keep focking around ...they will go home for good. They play some stupid
basketball at times.


From Klay, to Poole to curry....Silly rookie type mistakes

You only appear when they win.

I can’t take you seriously.

they got outrebounded and outscored in the paint in both games.

It felt like Curry and Poole were Morant's primary point of attack first line of defense and that's just not good...but without Payton, they don't really have better options, either. They clearly need Wiggins to keep ballhawking.


Hope the home crowd gives Klay some juice, pretty rough show from him in Memphis


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

https://twitter.com/kendra__andrews/status/1521709363978719233?s=21&t=F-62E0i9ROkZ4KCkGalWsw


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

If dray gets an ejection, brooks need to be ejection plus suspension

no more analysis needed beyond that, they'll probably never shoot that bad again, Memphis needs other people to step up to steal a game in San Francisco

went crazy scoring 47, and it was STILL a close game.

and Memphis played without Brooks and Jackson fouled out.

They can shoot 50 pct from 3, but if they keep doing dumb shit with the ball
you will see the same result.

multiple guys missing wide open threes. (klay jacking early in possessions when he was ice cold). steph just handing the ball over on consecutive possessions.

and wtf w/ the strategy on giving ja WIDE open 3s so he can get a rhythm? (granted, defense would have been better on him had gp2 not had his arm broken).

all that said, if they shoot even halfway decently, this is still a win.

they need to crush mem though, because i don't like anybody's chances against ja in a one or two possession game.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

edit, I mean San Fran

This can’t be real

I do not see them doing the same in sf. Not if we shot at least the league avg from three

That was next level dirty, malicious and beyond “no layups”. He is better than that

of being a dirty player. He went with a hard foul to prevent the layup, and the
act was hostile, but his intent wasn’t to injure or do something harmful to Payton.

The ejection was more than enough.

not for revenge or anything ridiculous like that

he has just not been... very good lol.

I thought about it. You’re right. He should be suspended.

That foul was retaliatory and it was intentional. He did it with 3 mins into the
1st quarter, and he knew what he was doing.

If it were the 3rd or 4th quarter, that would be different.

The wind up, the force, the result, and the timing makes it a highly
egregious act.

That set the precedent already

Even if you want to give him benefit of the doubt and say he didn't intend to injure him... then whatever he intended in that hypothetical scenario didn't happen.

What happened was he clubbed a guy in the head in mid-air, caused him to fall, and broke his elbow.

Obvious Game 3 suspension imo. Not even close, really.

(Also, would you say Brooks is... "too good a player to be doing that"? 🤣)

prolly worse with the literal wind up and coming from behind on a defenseless leaper.

he barely left his feet and didnt even get close to the ball.

dude just wanted to deliver the hit.

... Grayson would've needed security leaving the stadium.

I get Grayson has way more history than Brooks, and that (earned) context matters, but I'm just saying, that same foul from someone with a reputation? No one's even remotely questioning a suspension.

I think too much emphasis is placed upon "did the player intend on that play being dirty?" rather than what it should be placed upon imo, which is "did the execution end up dirty?" I don't really care if Brooks is a dirty player or deserves a dirty reputation or any of that-- but the foul itself was super dirty, and that moment was super worthy of suspension imo.

you might not intend to hurt someone.

but youre aware of the risk of harm to them but putting them in certain situations.

theres a reason people dont make plays like that on breakaway leapers routinely in nba games.

shit theres a reason people dont make plays like that in pickup games. you would get your ass jumped lol.

Best believe I started asking for forgiveness the *split second* after I did it. It was just a fucked split-second frustration-based impulse, but I knew if someone did that to me, I would've turned around *swinging.*

Thankfully, I didn't actually push dude and he was fine, so it was squashed in short order, but I was scared literally the *second* after it happened that I coulda hurt the guy. My intent wasn't to hurt the dude, it was just to stop the play from happening in a frustrated moment. Could happen to anyone if they see red and lose track of their emotions.

But yeah. If someone had beat my ass, it probably would've been merited. And if they'd told me to fuck off for a while, I would've understood. Again, I'm thankful it all turned out okay. And that was on a way lesser level in a way slower game and a way less damaging foul, lmao.

I don't presume to know how Brooks or any dirty foul committer feels. But how they feel or felt doesn't really matter. Especially when it's *that* terrible a foul. It's hard not to find merit in punishment when the results of the moment are what they are.

about, should the penalty be based on the action or the result?

I don't think the result is dismissible, because the emotions of the series, both from players and fans, are running high as a result of the injury.

If Payton got up and was fine, I imagine the conversation around the penalty would be a little different, more room for debate in terms of subsequent punishment, etc... but he wasn't fine, so the hypothetical doesn't really matter.

it in their decisions but they should.

similar to if someone is busted for drunk driving, or injuring someone while drunk driving, or killing someone for drunk driving.

if a player gets injured on a reckless/dangerous foul...doesnt that validate how reckless/dangerous of a foul it was? the result was exactly the outcome the rules were put in place to address and deter from happening.

its why theres harsher rules for coming under a shooter (especially if they land on the closers foot). because we watched players get injured from that. the rules are literally birthed out of the results/consequences of those actions.

stop or contain Ayton in the paint. They just don’t have a big who can
play on the same level. Everywhere else I think they have some decent
matchups. Booker/Paul vs Brunson/ Luka is pretty even and Dimwiddie/Finney/
Bullock is pretty even vs Bridges/Crowder/Johnson.

Kleber/ Powell are going to have to step up big time. One of them is going to have to
at least go 10/10. 5 points and 4 rebounds aren’t going to cut it.

"Booker/Paul vs Brunson/ Luka is pretty even"

series. He carried Dallas against Utah while Luka was out. He averaged
like 24/7 in that series, so based on that performance and Luka’s ability, that
would be somewhat of an even matchup against Booker/Paul..where
all players would put up similar numbers.

Let’s see what happens in Dallas.

Guess he plays depending on the matchup

and Gabe Vincent and Max Streuss are less of a liability on D.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

.

Vic took his rotation minutes now

*pisses farther*

Not for what he did to GP, but for this abomination:

https://twitter.com/kendontmiss/status/1521680529443090432?s=21&t=AlZ9NYTFKExLXQIx_w83Tw

>…and we’re off…
>Bucks @ Celtics (Middleton out for the series)
>
>Sixers @ Heat (Embiid hopeful for Game 3 or 4)
>
>Warriors @ Grizz
>
>Mavs @ Suns

Jimmy vs Embiid could’ve had a lot of great moments


And you can see Maxey wants to meet the moment at least.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

.

cp3 aint perfect but he just plays so much more steady and mature when you need him.

steph be acting like he dont give a fuck if he coughs up the rock, bricks an open 3, or blows an easy layup in the clutch.

>cp3 aint perfect but he just plays so much more steady and
>mature when you need him.
>
>steph be acting like he dont give a fuck if he coughs up the
>rock, bricks an open 3, or blows an easy layup in the clutch.

... but

(CP3 is balling right now, I'm just not ready to go to a statement like *that* considering the last 15 years of NBA basketball lol)

im more comfortable with cp3.

a lot of that is based on my recent frustration with steph too lol.

Like, you could get from commercial to commercial and not sound ridiculous because Steph is looking mortal(ish) for the first time in eight years and Paul is looking durable(ish) for the first time in…eight years?

But I think if you took the 2K exercise of “Steph plus guys” vs “Chris plus same guys” Steph’s team wins and I think you know that, deep down

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

be known for dribbling the air out of the ball but playing with Harden in Houston he learned to play off the ball and pick his spots

just a competitively mature team where everyone knows and excels in their specific roles. they rarely if ever play stupid ball. and they know exactly who to play through depending on the matchup or point of time in the game.

really been handling business all year like some professionals.

Golden State has nothing for Ayton... but Ayton can't really play against the Warriors' death lineup. Dray is the best team defender in the NBA... but Mikal is the best on-ball defender in the NBA. Steph is the best perimeter weapon in the playoffs of the last decade... but CP3 has looked unbeatable at times running the offense this playoffs.

Should be a really awesome chess match between Kerr and Monty.

To play at a high level well into their 30’s but really it’s not, Kobe, Wade, Iverson, Carmelo, Westbrook, even MJ to an extent, all took a step back in their 30’s.

Most people were saying CP3 was washed a few years ago when he was traded to OKC but he seems to have rejuvenated himself with Book in Phoenix

I just don't know how you can be considered Top 5 if the other team purposefully isolates to get you one on one in the 4th quarter. That's a really bad look. Players just go right by him for easy plays.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/uipxj0/haralabob_the_suns_went_after_luka_50_times_as/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

23 years old.

"Let" Luka do his Luka thing and dominate the ball on offense in the first half, exerting a ton of energy. Then purposefully attack him in isolation in the second half because he is gassed and a shitty defender.

Brunson/bullock fighting thru the screen/momentarily giving cp3 an extra .5 seconds..is that *never* the move? (vs the switch onto luka)

Is kidd breaking out the zone d in game 3?

Butler did this with korkmaz like 5-6x in 2nd half..toby couldn’t fight thru the screen once??

Like, maybe a zone can cause some temporary disruptions, sure... but the Suns are one of the best in the country at mid-range shooting, one of the best in the country at passing the ball, and one of the best in the country in 3P% when they do take 3s.

I think if they saw more than a flash or two of zone that CP3's mouth would water.

I bet if we run down the All-NBA teams this year, half of them will range from mediocre-to-awful on defense. Giannis, Tatum, Embiid, Siakam, and Butler are the only genuinely consistently really good playoff defenders likely to make the list. The others are good-but-exploitable (CP3, etc), good-if-they-try (Durant, etc), and a bunch of bad defenders, lol.

Even some good-to-great rim protecting big men have been getting repeatedly targeted on perimeter switches in the playoffs. I honestly wonder if even someone like Embiid was on a team with better defenders if a playoff team would try to pull him away from the rim and put him on an island. It's basically the Gobert thing with added mobility: he's just so much more effective inside, and while he moves well for a big man on the perimeter (better than Gobert), he's still not going to be able to stop the best guards/wings defensively on the outside in iso consistently. Not even an Embiid diss-- especially because, as mentioned, he'd fare better than the majority of true big men in iso perimeter defender against star guards/wings-- just the nature of playoff basketball and playing against such elite iso players and generally smarter coaches.

Honestly probably good for someone like Luka to be learning this lesson at age 23 when he still may have the capacity to become a better defender. He'll almost certainly never be a *good* defender, but he can at least ramp up the effort to, say, Steph Curry defensive effort levels. Steph has been targeted on defensive switches a healthy amount in his career, and while he's still not a *good* defender, he at least gives a shit enough that he can make some sneaky plays here and there and not be a total matador.

And this is honestly why I posed the question about if people would consider Tatum a Top 5 player right today... because the more and more that fans consider being a two-way player paramount to one's Top 5 credentials, the more and more likely Tatum is on that list.

.

when he injured caruso...

but oddly think this 1 game suspension for dillon is too far.

and the dillon foul was more egregious by virtually every criteria they use to assess these things...windup, blow to the head, unnecessary (from behind on an airborne player with an already clear path to the basket), no play on the ball, etc.

i cant call it.

but Vegas wouldn't approve of that SMH.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1522020597747765248

The problem is Brunson has disappeared. Brunson avg about 25 a game in the
Utah series, so Doncic/Brunson were able to have their way against Conley
and Mitchell. It’s an entirely different ballgame for him so far in this series.

Let’s see what takes place in Dallas, but so far Paul/Booker have gotten the
best of Doncic/Brunson. Brunson is not holding up his end of the matchup.

He is starter grade JJ Barea, which means super sub, spot starter.

Like, he's the perfect sort of player to stunt on a backcourt like Conley/Mitchell that just straight up can't defend players on an island. And he's crafty enough to get past most big men switched onto him. He's going to make a lot of money, because he can be the starting PG for plenty of teams in the NBA imo.

But I'm definitely skeptical that he has the size, speed, and athleticism necessary to consistently produce when you're facing one of the best perimeter defense teams in the NBA on a nightly basis. And if you're relying on him to be your second option on offense, I'm... not convinced that's good enough to get you to a conference finals.

It'll be interesting to see if he stays or goes, how much he's paid, what role he's asked to do, etc. If he can find a team that'll pay him a ton of money to be the third option, I think dude could be stellar. If he's second option for a team, carrying a heavier workload... I think it'd be fine regular season but could be trouble for any team with real finals aspirations.

Sounds exactly like a future Knick to me!