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Post by blucore on Sept 20, 2020 8:14:21 GMT -5
Loved how they were able to play 5 “small”, with the best 5 players on the court. It’s a great lineup for this matchup. Hayward’s stat line wasn’t overly impressive and he was only a plus 1, but he made a pretty big difference in how this team could play and he didn’t take any minutes from Tatum, Brown, Smart and Walker. Speaking of, thanks for showing up Kemba. Few big time shots that stopped the Heat from coming back. That’s what we need. It was really impressive that Theis only got 24 minutes and they really didn't miss him. I like the Brown on Adebayo matchup. That sequence where Brown and Tatum got 3 dunks in a row was all from Miami trying to force the ball to Adebayo when Brown was on him.
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Post by blucore on Sept 20, 2020 8:09:19 GMT -5
I think Hayward was huge last night. He's a much better all around player than Semi, Wannamaker, or the Williamses that he's absorbing minutes from. He's doesn't panic when he gives up the dribble and needs to make space to pass out or he gets beat on defense and has to recover without fouling. He's a big time zone buster since he can hit from the elbow and he has the drive and kick game. Hayward at 30 minutes a night is massive for the team.
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Post by blucore on Sept 20, 2020 7:59:22 GMT -5
On the flagrant calls, I really think that players are going to start sticking their chins out to get hit. It's going to be the new pull up jumper when a guy is trailing to get a foul. There's just too much to gain from getting that call.
Is it just me or the standard isn't consistent based on which body part the player gets hit with. Like Hayward had a drive where he got an offensive foul and hit Dragic in the chin, but it wasn't an elbow so it's not a flagrant. How do you legislate that? The reason the ref gave last night on the Brown flagrant ended with "and there was a significant impact." But Hayward's impact was significant, so why is one more unnecessary and excessive than the other?
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Post by blucore on Sept 12, 2020 9:12:53 GMT -5
I can't really express how much I am looking forward to not seeing Nick Nurse on the sideline or hearing the phrase "box and one."
Looking forward to next series, I'm trying to pump up the Heat, but I just don't see it. The Celtics seem like a team more built for the playoffs. They have 5 guys averaging 20+ minutes per game in the postseason (not counting Hayward's one game) and the Heat have 7. Not to single out the white guys, but can Robinson and Herro defend? If I recall correctly, Dragic doesn't have the best reputation defensively either. When it becomes a best 5 versus best 5 game, do the Heat have enough two-way players to not be exploited on both ends?
I like the matchup defensively of the rotating Smart/Brown/Tatum trio guarding Butler and Dragic. You can probably hide Kemba on one of the corner shooters who isn't likely to burn you in the pick and roll. I'm not sure that the Heat have anyone who can consistently run the offense outside of those two.
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Post by blucore on Sept 11, 2020 23:09:46 GMT -5
Great win. So many big plays. That block by Smart was fantastic. Grant made a huge play. Tatum was a star. I love this team.
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Post by blucore on Sept 11, 2020 13:43:47 GMT -5
If the Celtics end up losing the series, I count that as a fail. The narrative of the season becomes the team wilting under pressure to a savvy veteran squad and going 1 for 5 in close games. The OG shot becomes the moment that the team broke down mentally under adversity. Kemba now has questions on if he can perform for a winning team in the playoffs. Hayward finishes the year hurt again. The road in the East is only getting harder. KD and Kyrie are back next year for the Nets and Giannis could get traded to Toronto or Miami. This year with no home/road is a big opportunity. I love the team construction, but this is probably the best road to the finals for the near future. Also, a win in game 7 against the reigning champs is a big feather in the cap for the young guns. Massive game tonight. Some of this I agree with such as the last paragraph, but I disagree with most of your first paragraph. I can see why it would be a fail so that and Hayward ending the year hurt is fine by me. The stuff in the middle of that is suspect. Since the OG shot they won a crucial game 5 in convincing fashion and went to double OT (on a game they should have won in regulation of the refs didn’t blow the Kemba call like the NBA has admitted). That’s hardly breaking down mentally after the OG 3. I also feel questioning Kemba’s ability to perform in big moments is laughable at this point. Never let the actual games get in the way of a good narrative . I don't believe that they're mentally done or Kemba can't perform. The fairest assessment is that it is two very good teams in a tough series, which could be won by either. But I do think that if Kemba has a bad game 7, it becomes easier to forget the dagger in game 2 and say "Well he shot 25% in 2 potential closeout games. Not a clutch player when it **really** matters."
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Post by blucore on Sept 11, 2020 11:49:27 GMT -5
If the Celtics end up losing the series, I count that as a fail. The narrative of the season becomes the team wilting under pressure to a savvy veteran squad and going 1 for 5 in close games. The OG shot becomes the moment that the team broke down mentally under adversity. Kemba now has questions on if he can perform for a winning team in the playoffs. Hayward finishes the year hurt again.
The road in the East is only getting harder. KD and Kyrie are back next year for the Nets and Giannis could get traded to Toronto or Miami. This year with no home/road is a big opportunity. I love the team construction, but this is probably the best road to the finals for the near future. Also, a win in game 7 against the reigning champs is a big feather in the cap for the young guns. Massive game tonight.
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Post by blucore on Sept 10, 2020 8:31:53 GMT -5
My takeaways after last night:
Brown's performance was overrated and Tatum's was underrated. Brown took 30 shots to get his 31 points and the eye test that he was worse after the first half. Tatum finished at 43% shooting on the game, which is fine. The turnovers are the killers. He has been able to get away with being long to protect the ball in his post possessions, but he's having trouble with Toronto's active hands.
Kemba is the key piece here. He NEEDS to score. If Smart didn't have a good shooting game, we would have had no chance. 5 points is not enough for this team to win in this stage of the playoffs.
Siakam blows. He can't make his own shot when it matters. It felt like he went like 1/6 in the OTs. He has no counter moves on the post so once you get someone on him that can move their feet with him and keep arms up, he doesn't have the touch to make tough finishes. How is he an all-star starter? OG has been a better player for them in this series.
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Post by blucore on Sept 3, 2020 20:32:34 GMT -5
OG is in the corner alone for a 2 count and then Lowry throws the pass. Jaylen is asleep guarding Gasol at the FT circle. What a shameful way to lose.
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Post by blucore on Sept 3, 2020 15:29:22 GMT -5
Milwaukee and Philly make me grateful that we have such good team management. I mean Hayward is probably the only player on the C's you could say has a bad contract right now, but he's not horribly overpaid and he's not preventing us from extending Tatum long term. We'll see how Kemba looks in year 3 & 4, but as it stands now, you'll have 2 young, long, athletic, all-star caliber wings locked in for 4+ years, an all-star PG, your 6th man in Smart, some upside rookie contracts in R Williams/Langford/whoever we get at 14 this year, and space to add another piece once Hayward leaves (or he stays for less money).
Meanwhile, Philly has makeup issues and they're paying 70+ million to Harris, Horford, and Richardson for at least the next 3 years while not ever getting past the second round of the playoffs. Then Milwaukee has been the 1 seed the last 2 years and probably won't get to the finals. Talent wins in the NBA, but making smart choices when you have talent is so important.
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Post by blucore on Sept 3, 2020 10:26:35 GMT -5
On Grant, it's hard not to see a PJ Tucker kind of small ball center. I think he's really worked on not reaching when he's in front on defense to avoid foul calls and he's impressed me guarding Siakam in this series. Just a solid pro glue guy who knows how to be a supporting piece.
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Post by blucore on Sept 3, 2020 10:18:22 GMT -5
Also, I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I think both calls were good. Dragic was in Middleton's landing spot and Butler was rammed by Giannis. Yeah I agree. I can see why both sides were upset at their call, but the defenders need to be smarter. Why is Dragic going vertical so close to Middleton that there's contact on the landing? And Giannis knows that the last close call went the Bucks way, so why is he trying to block a 24-foot turnaround in the corner that's already contested?
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Post by blucore on Sept 2, 2020 22:16:07 GMT -5
I hope the Heat can pull the series out. Wacky ending to a good game for them. I feel a lot better about a Celtics-Heat series than Celtics-Bucks. Probably premature, but Giannis could be the Harden of the East. He has all the individual accolades and stats in the world, but his game is too limited to win in the postseason as the #1 guy. Not having home court is killing them though. Why do you feel better about Celtics-Heat? I think they’re a tougher matchup against the Celtics than the Bucks In the end, I think the Bucks are more talented than the Heat. They also have bigger bigs who are harder to deal with than Miami's frontcourt machup-wise. The Heat have good players, but the C's have a bigger star power advantage against Miami than Milwaukee. I think that the C's perimeter defense does more to stifle Herro and Crowder than Middleton.
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Post by blucore on Sept 2, 2020 20:57:17 GMT -5
I hope the Heat can pull the series out. Wacky ending to a good game for them. I feel a lot better about a Celtics-Heat series than Celtics-Bucks. Probably premature, but Giannis could be the Harden of the East. He has all the individual accolades and stats in the world, but his game is too limited to win in the postseason as the #1 guy. Not having home court is killing them though.
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Post by blucore on Sept 2, 2020 14:33:22 GMT -5
So what do we make of Smart and his shooting this year? The last six games are basically what he did all year. Against Sixers 2-15 in four games, 11-20 against Raptors. In my 30 years of watching Basketball I don't remember ever seeing a guy with such big swings. Game one I feel he got a ton of good looks, game two he took some very hard shots. The kind of shots that if he missed I call him out on them. Yet he kept making them. Has he becomes the Jackie Bradley of shooting? Is it him just being a gamer in certain games? I think he's always been a gamer when it comes to the big 3s. Just percentages over the last 2 seasons have been better than the first 4. He's always been able to get hot for stretches (wasn't he a 40% shooter in the first half of his rookie year?), but maybe the difference is that now if he gets hot for 5 in a row and misses 1, he stops shooting. I think that in his first few seasons he would have turned a 5-5 4th quarter into a 5-10 4th quarter, whereas in this game he stopped after 5-6 if that makes sense.
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Post by blucore on Apr 26, 2020 12:29:58 GMT -5
So, based on what we got for players, how do you rate this draft? What overall grade would you give it? I am thinking C C+. I'd go with a B. Obviously we're not going to know until we see the players on the field, but I like the positions that they targeted. A lot of potential in the day 2 picks. I like that they got younger and more versatile on defense. Dugger seems like the heir apparent to Chung. In the box safety who can man up on tight ends. I'd expect Dugger to be a situational player this year, maybe taking a more prominent role later in the season. D2 to the NFL is a massive leap, but it's hard not to love the physical profile and everything from the senior bowl people suggests he's very aware that he needs coaching. To me, this draft is a signal that the Pats are really doubling down with winning on defense and running the football. I think they are going to run more 22 and 12 personnel sets with a lot of play action to avoid overwhelming Stidham with difficult progressions. With $24m in guards, they better have a good running game! I was upset initially that they didn't pick up any receivers, but it kind of makes sense given they've already invested $9m in Edelman, a 2nd rounder in Sanu, and a 1st rounder in Harry. Why spend more draft capital on someone who is not likely to be an immediate upgrade over Sanu/Harry? (especially since they will probably have abbreviated passing/training camps for new receiver X to develop rapport with Stidham) I'm still firmly in the In Bill We Trust Camp, but this is gonna be a big season for that theory.
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Post by blucore on Mar 3, 2020 22:43:46 GMT -5
There's so much to hate about this. Outscored 62-36 in 4th and OT. LeVert outscored them 37-36 by himself.
Horrific foul to end regulation by Smart and bad charge to foul out in OT. Can't inbound the ball cleanly to win the game. LeVert was the Nets only offensive option and they NEVER took the ball out of his hands and matched him up with Edwards in OT.
Now we have 0 bodies left for tomorrow when we get waxed by the Cavs. I half get the loss to the Rockets, but this is just terrible. Could easily be the game that costs us the 2 seed for good and sends us home in the 2nd round. WTF.
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Post by blucore on Feb 29, 2020 23:42:12 GMT -5
Entertaining game to say the least. Epic shot by Brown to force OT. Not worried in a vacuum about losing to the Rockets sans Kemba. I can't stand their brand of basketball. They shot 15-55(!!) from 3.
It's just frustrating to see the Cs come so close to taking control of the 2 seed and have it slip away at home.
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Post by blucore on Feb 8, 2020 8:32:40 GMT -5
Well that got needlessly dicey late lol but I'll take another W. Fantastic game by Romeo. Absolutely huge game by Romeo, so glad we didn't just casually toss him into a trade. Can see him being a top 5 player from that draft. Romeo has really nice touch around the rim. I think Tommy also made a good point last night when he talked about how Romeo is a quick leaper. He showed it with those blocks. Also really good to see him nail a 3 with 2 min in the fourth and go 2-2 from the line to ice the game.
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Post by blucore on Jan 6, 2020 21:29:23 GMT -5
You would think this team would’ve learned its lesson after the Toronto loss and the rough start against Atlanta, but apparently they think they’re good enough to waltz in and beating anyone without putting in any effort. These frauds might not make it out of the first round. Third game in four nights and missing Kemba Walker. The Wizards also beat the Heat and the Nuggets recently. Don't read too much into this one. Agreed. But this is one of the most frustrating losses I’ve seen from them. Come out with 0 energy and put up 94 points against a horrible defense all while letting Ish freaking Smith look like an all-star. They need Kemba to beat contenders, but if one of the wings or Smart had a good shooting night, they would have won.
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Post by blucore on Nov 9, 2019 23:46:07 GMT -5
You’re a bundle of joy. It’s a fracture in his hand, not a shattered leg. It may take some time but he’ll round back into form. The most important player on this team and his season is now in jeopardy. It's kind of a big deal. Team is easily making the playoffs, but a broken wrist can absolutely be a killer for a whole season and can linger/affect performance. It's an injury that will keep him out, but it's not like it was his shooting hand. Not ideal at all, but he spent all offseason practicing at non-game-speed and was fantastic to start the season. If he misses six weeks and is back by January, he should be in form come playoff time.
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Post by blucore on Oct 29, 2019 11:13:13 GMT -5
Yeah my overall point is that given his shot selection, him shooting 3s won’t “add” to the team. Agreed that you take the good with the bad with Smart. It’s just that he’s made such great strides in playmaking and ball handling, but he hasn’t made his shot selection meaningfully better. On another topic, it should be a fun game tomorrow. I’m really interested in how they use their big men against Giannis. The offense looks really good with G Williams at the 5, but I have my doubts that will work with a star big in the mix. I think R Williams might make the best matchup in terms of getting the proper size/length/athleticism on Giannis, but he’s had some problems with silly fouls and missed assignments through the first 3 games. You don’t think last year he showed improved shot selection? Sure. But one season of better (but not “good”) shot selection on the most talented team he’s ever played on isn’t really a trend.
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Post by blucore on Oct 29, 2019 9:08:39 GMT -5
Yeah my overall point is that given his shot selection, him shooting 3s won’t “add” to the team. Agreed that you take the good with the bad with Smart. It’s just that he’s made such great strides in playmaking and ball handling, but he hasn’t made his shot selection meaningfully better.
On another topic, it should be a fun game tomorrow. I’m really interested in how they use their big men against Giannis. The offense looks really good with G Williams at the 5, but I have my doubts that will work with a star big in the mix. I think R Williams might make the best matchup in terms of getting the proper size/length/athleticism on Giannis, but he’s had some problems with silly fouls and missed assignments through the first 3 games.
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Post by blucore on Oct 28, 2019 19:12:16 GMT -5
I don't think it matters how "good" Smart's shot looks compared to other years. He doesn't have the mentality to be efficient from 3. He takes bad shots and if he makes them, he takes more of them. This is on par with his shot selection throughout his career. I like Smart, but I doubt he will ever be better than league average at shooting. I love this comment. NBA All-Defensive First Team contender who distributes the ball and shoots league average from the 3 is a borderline All-Star. Except that he attempts 3-pointers on par with the best shooters on the team, frequently takes those shots out of the offense, and directly away from better options like Hayward, Tatum, Brown, and Walker. If he's open, that's fine. He has to take those. Late in the shot clock, fine. He's got the freaky-shot gene. But when he's doing the pull-ups and step-backs like Kemba, no. Those are still bad shots that he hasn't removed from his game.
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Post by blucore on Oct 28, 2019 16:07:53 GMT -5
I don't think it matters how "good" Smart's shot looks compared to other years. He doesn't have the mentality to be efficient from 3. He takes bad shots and if he makes them, he takes more of them. This is on par with his shot selection throughout his career.
I like Smart, but I doubt he will ever be better than league average at shooting.
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