2018 Playoffs Thread

[Cheesebeef]

It's not that they lost to the Warriors. It's HOW they lost- the exact same way D'Antoni's Suns used to lose to the Spurs. It is fascinating that such a great basketball mind can be so stubborn as to make the exact same mistakes he used to make many years ago.

yup. And the story is going to be how UGLY a sweep is going to look.

Houston is playing inspired ball and Warriors look like crap and yet... they’re only down 11. Feels like another Suns Spurs game.

 

[Russ Smith]

yup. And the story is going to be how UGLY a sweep is going to look.

Houston is playing inspired ball and Warriors look like crap and yet... they’re only down 11. Feels like another Suns Spurs game.

The Warriors had more turnovers in the 2nd quarter than in the entire game in game 1 I think, they have more at the half for sure. and only 5 FT's, if you're not making 3's and not getting FT's, you're going to lose.

Will be interesting to see how they adjust, again it's so obvious Curry isn't healthy even TNT is now pointing it out. Whoever he guards, Houston attacks him, he just doesn't have his legs and since they're not going to call Paul for using the off hand, when he's on paul it's a layup damn near every time.

I figure in the first 5 minutes of the 3rd either the Warriors will make a run and get back close, or the game will get blown open. I still fully expect 2-2 after 4 games and I think the Rockets win the series.

 

[Mainstreet]

PJ Tucker is the man tonight in the starting lineup for the Rockets.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

PJ Tucker is the man tonight in the starting lineup for the Rockets.

Yep

 

[Cheesebeef]

Impressive bounce back game and adjustments from DA.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Rockets rout. Can Curry get right?

 

[Mainstreet]

I’m listening to Cowherd rip D’Antoni for losing to a team that has...

- Two time MVP and the greatest shooter ever
- Another MVP who may be the second greatest shooter ever
- Arguably the third greatest shooter ever
- A DPOY
- Better role players on the wing than PJ Tucker and Trevor Ariza

I don't think they are yapping tonight.

 

[Errntknght]

PJ and Ariza led the Rocks tonight. One of keys to Game 1 was Warriors with only 5 TO - tonight 15 and subpar shooting on top of that. I'm guessing seven game series and Warriors eking it out.

 

[HeHasRosen]

Yea the rockets played some good D. The key to beating the warriors is neutralizing curry and klay. Same thing cleveland did when they beat them in the finals. Let KD do his thing and deny the other 2. Also being very physical with them takes them out of their comfort zone. Dont think they can count on all those turnovers though.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Got to think about defense when building our team. It cannot be ignored. It’s why as much as I really like Young as a pg, we could not afford to pair him with Booker unless Booker all of a sudden becomes a lockdown defender.

It’s why Bamba, Mikal Bridges, and Wendell Carter are inteiguing (not with the #1 pick) and why Bagley is a problem.

 

[Phrazbit]

Defense is a team effort. You need players that buy into a team defensive scheme. Boston was one of the best defensive teams in the league; other than Marcus Smart they have no one that was previously regarded as premier defender and they had Kyrie rating out as elite when his entire career he has been trash on that end. They also have no "rim protector".

I'm not saying to totally ignore it, but IMO drafting with that as a target is a mistake. You can have a monster defender somewhere on the court and the effect is nullified by a simple pass or screen unless the team plays defense together.

It's on the coaching staff to come up with an effective system and then on the players to buy into it.

 

[Russ Smith]

Yea the rockets played some good D. The key to beating the warriors is neutralizing curry and klay. Same thing cleveland did when they beat them in the finals. Let KD do his thing and deny the other 2. Also being very physical with them takes them out of their comfort zone. Dont think they can count on all those turnovers though.

Turnovers and 3's are the key to the Warriors offense, when they lose it's usually high turnovers and bad 3 point shooting. Last night the defense was very bad too but I think that was strategic, Houston had them too spread out and they didn't really figure out how to counter that.

Their gameplan was to attack Curry who clearly doesn't have his legs, it worked like a charm, they beat him on defense, and wore him out so he couldn't make shots on offense. That's been the strategy against the Warriors for 4 years though it usually doesn't work, but with him coming off the knee injury it's been more effective.

I thought the Warriors lost their cool in the 4th quarter they had the game at 10, a couple of breaks they felt they didn't get and then everything came apart.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Curry and Green were downright atrocious last night...easily Curry's worst overall game ever and pretty close for Green.

They should be embarrassed.

 

[Russ Smith]

Curry and Green were downright atrocious last night...easily Curry's worst overall game ever and pretty close for Green.

They should be embarrassed.

The good thing is knowing their history they WILL be embarassed and will play better in the next game. Curry is the key, it's why I keep saying I think Houston wins this series. i've seen Steph's entire Warriors career, even with the ankle issues I've never seen Curry have this much trouble with balance. He's on the floor so much now it's just obvious he doesn't have his balance yet coming off the knee injury. Houston sees it too and is attacking him at will.

There was a play in the 2nd half of game 2 where he came off a screen curling and Harden just shoved him with 2 hands, he went flying into the Houston bench. When he got up with Rockets players holding him you could just see the look on his face, how is that not a foul, and I am physically exhausted and this game isn't even close to over.

I suspect he'll get more calls in Oakland, I'm just not confident he can do enough in a few days to get that balance and endurance back the way he needs it.

There were large stretches of game 2 where he was guarding Ariza just because the Warriors didn't want him on any of the Houston guards.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

The good thing is knowing their history they WILL be embarassed and will play better in the next game. Curry is the key, it's why I keep saying I think Houston wins this series. i've seen Steph's entire Warriors career, even with the ankle issues I've never seen Curry have this much trouble with balance. He's on the floor so much now it's just obvious he doesn't have his balance yet coming off the knee injury. Houston sees it too and is attacking him at will.

There was a play in the 2nd half of game 2 where he came off a screen curling and Harden just shoved him with 2 hands, he went flying into the Houston bench. When he got up with Rockets players holding him you could just see the look on his face, how is that not a foul, and I am physically exhausted and this game isn't even close to over.

I suspect he'll get more calls in Oakland, I'm just not confident he can do enough in a few days to get that balance and endurance back the way he needs it.

There were large stretches of game 2 where he was guarding Ariza just because the Warriors didn't want him on any of the Houston guards.

I’ve never seen a prominent player like Curry get so little calls when continually and blatantly shoved around. Juxtapose that to Harden who elbows you and gets the foul. Harden is the mini-Karl Malone.

 

[Russ Smith]

I’ve never seen a prominent player like Curry get so little calls when continually and blatantly shoved around. Juxtapose that to Harden who elbows you and gets the foul. Harden is the mini-Karl Malone.

The problem Steph has is he has gotten to where he flops so much when he shoots 3's that he has become the boy who cried wolf and I think it's hurting his chances at getting calls. He definitely gets fouled and held constantly off the ball, but I think he flops too much and it impacts getting calls.

 

[SirStefan32]

Honestly, for every shove that Curry receives, Zaza needs to be brought in to slam Harden or Paul to the ground. That's the only way this will stop.

 

[Phrazbit]

I don't feel the least bit of sympathy for Golden State. Green and Zaza, taken as a pair or individually, are more thuggish than the Rockets roster combined.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I don't feel the least bit of sympathy for Golden State. Green and Zaza, taken as a pair or individually, are more thuggish than the Rockets roster combined.

I don't know, Chris Paul is right there with them and when you factor in all the acting Houston does, rating the two feels like picking my favorite serial killer.

 

[Mainstreet]

I’ve never seen a prominent player like Curry get so little calls when continually and blatantly shoved around. Juxtapose that to Harden who elbows you and gets the foul. Harden is the mini-Karl Malone.

This happened a lot with Nash and Kevin Johnson. Sometimes Nash was so brutalized I would hope they would remove him from the game.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

This happened a lot with Nash and Kevin Johnson. Sometimes Nash was so brutalized I would hope they would remove him from the game.

Except Nash never flopped and kJ played during a pre-flop era.

 

[Mainstreet]

Except Nash never flopped and kJ played during a pre-flop era.

This is true. Maybe they should have. I'm not sure if it would have worked back in the KJ era though. I do think it might have helped Nash sell more fouls.

Ginobili was doing his thing.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

This is true. Maybe they should have. I'm not sure if it would have worked back in the KJ era though. I do think it might have helped Nash sell more fouls.

Ginobili was doing his thing.

I agree. I think refs would’ve looked at kJ like “wtf?!? Get up pansy!”

 

[Mainstreet]

I agree. I think refs would’ve looked at kJ like “wtf?!? Get up pansy!”

Chuckle... not in that era.

 

[Mainstreet]

It looks like the Cavaliers are putting their foot down tonight against the Celtics. The Cavaliers have spread the scoring around.