Board 8 > NBA Finals Discussion

(+) Yeah! (+)

UltimaterializerX posted...

Theyll be back. Theyre way ahead of schedule for how young they are.

people said that about the Thunder

the east is truly a bloodbath moving forward. Celtics, Bucks, Heat, plus any of the young teams with developing stars who could break out at any time

no adam silver sighting?

colliding posted...

no adam silver sighting?

I think he tested positive for Covid the other day.

holy cannoli

UltimaterializerX posted...

Thunder played in the west and got lucky to beat the Spurs. It was a fluke.

you can play revisionist history all you want but they had three of the best young players in the league at the same time (and still two even after trading Harden) so this was hardly the common opinion at the time

getting to the Finals is hard so I'm not taking it for granted they're getting back, the East is getting better, and teams don't stay together anymore

Felt like Tatum was in over his head in this series. Way way way too many turnovers and couldnt score efficiently either. and when that started happening it didnt seem like he knew how to stop it.

Not sure that any teams in the East bar the Bucks and Heat have the personnel to replicate what Wiggins was able to do to him though.

Yeah, Tatum laid an egg in this series. No arguing that.

did he end up breaking the record for most turnovers in one postseason?

KommunistKoala posted...

did he end up breaking the record for most turnovers in one postseason?

yep, by quite a bit. He hit 100 tonight

SeabassDebeste posted...

BOS in 6 over GSW

dilateDChemist posted...

Warriors in 7

changmas posted...

warriors in 5

KCF0107 posted...

Warriors in 6

MZero posted...

Celtics in 6

:)

https://twitter.com/jaytatum0/status/603782167051673600

well done GSW

I'm glad GSW won since I don't like Boston and some of its players.

yeah, i think tatum is not physically right - i trashed him for how he acted at the end of game 3 vs miami, but it looks like he really did hurt his shoulder then. but even then, he still committed a lot of mental errors offensively. part of that is physical i think - injury and just an insane amount of fatigue. but i'm sure there's an element of frustration to it, and probably holes in his game. he is admittedly streaky, but usually is best late in the season - often starts seasons off without any touch and then goes crazy around 2/3 of the way in - and was following that pattern this year until essentially that miami series.

tatum loves holding the ball, sizing up an opponent, getting into his bag, then making the right move or countermove or pass or whatever. but against the warriors and miami, he needed way more decisiveness upon catching it - attack immediately, go up strong, fire it up right away, or dish it before surveying the defense. when he was able to make decisions quickly, no matter what it was, things were way better for the celtics. when he deliberated, sometimes we'd get something reasonable, but he very rarely managed to cook his defender and score in true isolation and pnr.

part of the blame probably falls on coaching as well as the bad habits that developed during the 2019 through 2021 seasons. as a rookie tatum wasn't allowed to handle the rock as much, and when he caught it he was basically expected to move it, drive it right away, or put up a three (and he shot insanely well that year). in 2019 the roles were more mixed with all the egos on contract year guys and kyrie. in 2020 though, kemba got hurt and tatum was forced to become the engine of the offense. he exploded in efficiency taking sidestep 3s, and then the pandemic happened and we ran out of gas against miami. since then, he has been able to go off against some softer defenses, but the hands and IQ of the heat and warriors really took it out of him.

still love the guy though. his defense didn't suffer whatsoever this series due to his shooting woes (other than when he didn't get back in transition because he was bitching at the refs). the guy needs a long, long break from basketball.

oh and also, i fucking hate that it had to be at our expense, but i love steph curry and i'm glad he got by far his most meaningful ring

as much as I can root for rich people that play games for a living and dont even do it near me, I really like Curry. And Im glad he showed up in a Finals. Theres hope for Tatum.

Atkinson has done a 180 and will stay with the warriors

Man if only we'd kept borrego!

https://mobile.twitter.com/drichardbailey/status/1538037610857107457

I'm actually surprised MS Paint existed in 1986

https://mobile.twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1538873230534090755

LOL

"i am dedicated to bringing a title to northeast massachusetts"

Kyrie and Westbrook sign and trade

if Harden didnt leave the 2012 Thunder could have been reunited!

as much as they want to offload Kyrie there is 0 chance that happens.

Aside from westbrook being bad now, not only do you get Lebron/Kyrie together again which I assume neither of them want, you also get the aforementioned Durant/Westbrook pairing which I assume neither of them want.

That would be the ultimate lose lose trade.

i honestly wonder if kyrie will retire after this year. Can't really see any team aside from one where LeBron makes the roster decisions really wanting to pay him as much as he would seek, especially when there's such a laundry list of locker room issues and front office grievances with the guy.

Suns fans have been shit posting about KD going to the Suns for the past month and a half even thought there is a zero chance of it ever happening. I would lose my shit if it happened though.

I can dream a little right?

If you can dream about that, I can dream about KD to the Bucks!

https://twitter.com/TimForkinNBA/status/1539415934175174656

I would like those things, yes

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1539729017326243840?s=20&t=ihb71ZxpXn_KbhigEkIj_w

literally getting traded for what will presumably be a late first round 2025 pick. pennies on the dollar basically.

the tank for wenbanyama starts now i guess

Alternatively they are freeing up cap space

ShatteredElysium posted...

Alternatively they are freeing up cap space

yeah this seems like a move for Ayton

gonna give Ayton the big bux

Can't wait to lose the guy we picked over Luka for nothing

gotta pick the local kid

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/2/3/AAB6RfAADXzT.jpg

Have said for a while that I had the feeling that the Magic would move back. Now the betting line for Paolo (who apparently has not worked out for us) has moved to -180. It was +200 ish like 12 hours ago and at one point last week was as high as +2700.

Guessing the Rockets are super thirsty for Paolo and Magic are happy to move back and pick up whoever is left between Chet and Jabari.

LeonhartFour posted...

gotta pick the local kid

and then refuse to pay him

poor suns fans. cheap ownership is the fucking worst.

https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1539982297696313344

Ayton is kind of stuck in the nexus zone of being a very good player who's probably not worth a max contract, although a team like Detroit will be willing to give it to him.

Ayton imo is not worth a max, but the suns are also in a bit of a tough spot where you don't just...let a guy like that go for nothing. If you have to overpay him, you overpay him.

hey

we'll throw in Kelly Olynyk

and a 2009 Ford Focus!

Suns have a shit sandwich with the Ayton and Sarver situation. All between Sarver's penny pinching. Suns window was these past 2 years.

I'm very pessimistic for the future. We will be stuck in western conference semifinal hell unless they make the necessary moves, and open up the wallet.