Board 8 > NBA Playoffs discussion topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

LeonhartFour posted...

Wow what a game by the NBA's Most Improved Player tonight

also Trae Young finished the series with more turnovers than field goals, a prime candidate to win Most Improved Player next season

I would still take Ayton over Trae tbqh

Suns looked like the Suns last night, so that was refreshing.

warriors gonna lose again

I was wrong

MZero posted...

I would still take Ayton over Trae tbqh

after Luka #1 in a redraft I think you can go for team fit to some extent between Trae, Ayton, SGA, and even Michael Porter Jr maybe (if he stops being injured).

in a vacuum trae may be the 2nd best player but it seems significantly harder to assemble a championship team with him than some of the other guys

I get that trae had a bad postseason, but I don't believe that a 4-7 game series against a single team should have more weight than what a guy does in the regular season. It seems ridiculous to me that trae is the problem after averaging 28+ PPG and almost 10 APG in the regular season, esp when capela missed most of the series and collins played down a level from where he usually does. Any team would have problems when their #2 barely plays and your #3 struggles.

And I'm not convinced it's any more difficult to build around trae than it is any of the guys changmas mentioned. SGA is kind of TBD I suppose, but let's not act like the suns were going anywhere until Chris Paul showed up; he's the driver of that team, not ayton, ayton isn't even the 2nd best player on his team imo, I don't think that qualifies as "building around him." MPJ same deal, and he's hurt all the time to boot.

The other red flag against Ayton is that his current team wouldn't even give him a max extension. They will likely match whatever he gets in RFA but just the fact that he's hitting RFA is notable in itself. That should never happen with a guy you pick that high or a guy you are willing to build a team around

I wouldnt call that a red flag.

He had the PED suspension early in his career outside of that I havent heard anything bad about how work ethic.

The lack of an extension is probably just Sarver being his cheap self.

I won't hold the max thing against ayton because it's sarver specifically, who is widely reputed as a cheapass owner

I do think, however, that ayton is like right on the line of being a max-worthy player, not a slam dunk. The biggest knock I've always heard on them is that he plays kind of soft inside. I paid extra attention to him most of this year because I had him in fantasy (I traded him), and he just had too many games of like...12 pts and 6 rebs. I know those stats don't tell the whole story but like, it's evidence.

Emeraldegg posted...

I get that trae had a bad postseason, but I don't believe that a 4-7 game series against a single team should have more weight than what a guy does in the regular season.

I've been on this train for years actually, not just because of this series!

ShatteredElysium posted...

The other red flag against Ayton is that his current team wouldn't even give him a max extension. They will likely match whatever he gets in RFA but just the fact that he's hitting RFA is notable in itself. That should never happen with a guy you pick that high or a guy you are willing to build a team around

I don't think that's Ayton's fault, I think that's because Sarver sucks

Right but no matter how cheap the owner is, if you have a franchise worthy player who you can build around then you max them without question.

He paid Booker. He paid CP3. He gave Mikal Bridges a ton of money.

Like compare Ayton to WCJ.

Ayton is the better player but it isn't a huge gap and WCJ is getting paid 4/50.

My honest take is Ayton is probably just outside of the top 5 for centers (Jokic/Embiid/Bam/Gobert/Towns) and has just enough upside that hes worth a max

like I know the league is going more towards small ball but I feel like having a dominant big could help Phoenix a lot in those kinds of matchups

Ayton is a good big and there aren't enough of those to go around so someone will give him a max, even if he probably isn't quite good enough to warrant it.

ShatteredElysium posted...

Right but no matter how cheap the owner is, if you have a franchise worthy player who you can build around then you max them without question.

He paid Booker. He paid CP3. He gave Mikal Bridges a ton of money.

Yes this Joe Johnson all over again

Willie Green is a good dude. Wish more coaches showed tears like that.

So uhh, a healthy Zion with Green at the helm of this team is gonna be scary.

A healthy Zion?

Good luck

Also-just continuing the Ayton thread-My one caveat I hold on him is that he just doesn't seem aggressive? One the offensive side near the rim. He will often settle for the midrange(which admittedly he is stupidly good at), but he never really has a put back slam, a regular dunk, hell the majority of his drunks are alley oops from Booker or Paul.

He is also 23, very good and fundamentally sound on defense, has shown an increase in offensive capabilities, and is very much worth the money for the Suns with an (he doesn't show it) aging Chris Paul, and you would have a locked core of Booker, Bridges and Ayton.

2nd round Luka?!

Welp, Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and a concussion yesterday, and it's looking like Middleton won't be available for the entire second round for the Bucks

Heat/Celtics ECF incoming

Embiid suffered that on a play where Siakam flailed his arms wildly, the crowd cheered when they saw he was hurt, and one of the Raptors' commentators said "you get what you deserve" and "karma is a you know what"

and somehow we're considered the bad guys

That sucks. Maybe Houston era Harden will show up since he will have to be the # 1 option. Still could be entertaining.

I think even without Middleton, still feels like a pretty even series, but we'll see

Embiid on the floor up 30 with 4 minutes left so he can do a court-long taunt, ends up having to scramble on D and eats a charge and gets injured. that is some all-time elite yikes. I dont think Philly gets past Milwaukee in the ECF but not a great way to finish off an MVP year

th3l3fty posted...

Embiid suffered that on a play where Siakam flailed his arms wildly, the crowd cheered when they saw he was hurt, and one of the Raptors' commentators said "you get what you deserve" and "karma is a you know what"

and somehow we're considered the bad guys

tbh saying he just flailed his arms wildly is putting it nicely. looks more like he was trying to swing his elbows into embiid's face

KommunistKoala posted...

I think even without Middleton, still feels like a pretty even series, but we'll see

Brown is hobbled, I think Milwaukee in 7 but feel like well have a couple of classic games at least.

th3l3fty posted...

Embiid suffered that on a play where Siakam flailed his arms wildly, the crowd cheered when they saw he was hurt, and one of the Raptors' commentators said "you get what you deserve" and "karma is a you know what"

and somehow we're considered the bad guys

Raptors fans and commentators have history with this.

When they have been bickering with Magic fans on Twitter they have frequently cheered on Magic injuries and posted pics/videos of when bad injuries occurred to those players. So I assume it they are doing it for as shitty team as the Magic, they do it for everyone.

I'm sure it's a vocal minority like most fanbases but those vocal minority are the most obnoxious fanbase to deal with on Twitter at least. Like any Franz or Suggs post this year would also be flooded with 'Scottie betta' nonsense too.

They would also defend every dirty Lowry play when he was there rather than just admit being a dirty player is part of his game

I mean fuck Toronto too dont get me wrong

Heat gonna beat all your asses like it's 2012 again let's goooo

Pretty sure Toronto fans cheered when Durant got injured in the Finals too

Leonhart4 posted...

Pretty sure Toronto fans cheered when Durant got injured in the Finals too

it was so bad even Lowry had to try to tell them to turn it down a notch

ShatteredElysium posted...

They would also defend every dirty Lowry play when he was there rather than just admit being a dirty player is part of his game

Yeah be more like Chris Paul fans who don't try to act like he doesn't occasionally just hit people in the nuts

Minnesota blows another 4th quarter lead to lose the series, but this was a pretty fun series overall. Cool to see two young teams square off.

And dont let Embiid and Philly off - he is dirty af and what he did in the third was bad.

Celtics fans shouldn't be talking about who is and isn't dirty when they choose to ignore their own tbqh

We all know the Spurs are the only squeaky clean organization of the last 25 years

Leonhart4 posted...

We all know the Spurs are the only squeaky clean organization of the last 25 years

Triggered

Somehow only the second dumbest thing Stoudemire did during a playoff series

round 1 results

italics for wrong
bold for correct number of games

suns in 4
mavs in 5
nuggets in 6
grizz in 6

heat in 5 (7 if capela is healthy)
sixers in 6
bucks in 4
celtics in 5

This is about how I expect things to go - and Milwaukee is missing an all star. :(

Oh I guess Giannis is good enough to win this series on his own

well celtics shot 50 threes and didnt make many of them. not a recipe for success

KommunistKoala posted...

well celtics shot 50 threes and didnt make many of them. not a recipe for success

i think it is our only chance vs milwaukee. 18/50 isn't that bad. it's the atrocious 2 point shooting and turnovers (combined with fast break points for milwaukee) that killed us

we were able to stymie milwaukee more than enough in the half court. it's gonna come down to protecting the ball in the half court, patience to seek and keep taking 3s, and controlling the defensive pace

all easier said than done of course

that shouldn't have been a flagrant 2

Leonhart4 posted...

Oh I guess Giannis is good enough to win this series on his own

Honestly think Jrue is more important than Middleton but its close

(not dunking on Middleton but theres a reason the Bucks are generally regarded as having a big 3)

jrue is absolutely more important than middleton

Go Suns!

Feels good to get a win even with Luka having a monster game

Poor Luka