2018 Playoffs Thread

[Russ Smith]

Scott Foster putting on a clinic on how not to ref. How in the world can he say that wasn't a shooting foul on Nene?

Bad timing taking Durant out it went from 13 to 5 while he was out

 

[Mainstreet]

Scott Foster putting on a clinic on how not to ref. How in the world can he say that wasn't a shooting foul on Nene?

Bad timing taking Durant out it went from 13 to 5 while he was out

Durant was in the air no less.

 

[Russ Smith]

He's a UFA after this year.

Early in the year it was doubtful they'd keep him, Bell was playing well and it seemed unlikely. But the way Looney has finished the year, and the way Pachulia has disappeared, I won't be surprised if they somehow get rid of Zaza and try and keep Looney and McGee.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Feels like old Suns Spurs... we would play our guts out, be up or tied at the half... Spurs make a nice 3rd Q run, wed play catch up the rest of the game, make it close but we’d always be kept at bay by a big dagger.

Thompson is their dagger dude.

 

[Mainstreet]

Durant, Curry and Thompson is not fair.

 

[Russ Smith]

Durant, Curry and Thompson is not fair.

Curry hasn't really been a factor in the 2nd half, it's mainly Durant and Klay. Pretty impressive up double digits with a subpar game from Steph and Green in foul trouble the whole game.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I’ll never give Durant the credit he probably thinks he deserves.

Going to a 73 win team that blew the Finals and already won a title and making them unbeatable just shows me the Guy didn’t want to compete. He wanted things to be easy.

No one can play with this team when they’re healthy. It’s stupid.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Rockets need a big 3 like the Warriors. Harden needs more help.

 

[Russ Smith]

I will take the win but that no call on the backcourt on the Warriors that let them go up 10 instead of 7 and Houston's ball was terrible. Just ended the game effectively.

 

[Hoop Head]

I think the Warriors would be title contenders with Thompson, Green, and either Curry or Durant, they don't need both of them. Curry and Durant are almost interchangeable pieces for them. They only need one of them, they're both MVP level players but just those 2 alone wouldn't be that much better than Durant and Westbrook were. They're only going to be able to keep this team together for another year or two if players don't take big discounts to stay together. Klay and Draymond are the vital pieces alongside one of their MVP's that keep them competing for championships. If they lost either of them, Klay or Green, they'd have trouble winning another title. It wouldn't be impossible but it'd be a lot harder. Especially as Iggy gets older and can't be relied on as much.

The way that Green is a point forward on offense and their interior defender is so unique it allows them to experiment and go small. Klay Thompson is one of the best scorers in the league, hands down. I know people said that Klay was Booker's ceiling but I don't know if Booker will be able to score like Klay does consistently. If he gets the attempts he produces. Unlike Curry he hasn't disappeared in the playoffs. His role has been reduced but he always delivers when called upon.

 

[HeHasRosen]

Nba playoffs are much more enjoyable to watch when its actually competitive.. Or at least if the suns are decent

 

[hsandhu]

I said it when durant came over, at least 4 or 5 titles. After they win this season, barring injury, the next three years are over, they're winning. They were a 73 win team that added a top 15-20 all time player, what did people expect??

Curry just turned 30, Durant will be 30 in september, it's been reported kla y is signing an extension... after 2021 they'll wind down.

Any team that didn't look to after the next 5 years after duran t jumped made a mistake, which is why the suns rebuild timed perfectly.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

I will take the win but that no call on the backcourt on the Warriors that let them go up 10 instead of 7 and Houston's ball was terrible. Just ended the game effectively.

That makes up for the 8-10 elbows and shoved not called on Hou.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don’t even think there’s a contender Bron can go to after the season who can come close to beating this team.

Even Paul/Harden/Bron isn’t enough because Paul is at the tail end of his career and the Warriors still can match that 3 with KD/Klay/Curry... and STILL throw ANOTHER star as their 4th best guy with Draymond. And after that, they STILL have DEPTH.

I mean... maybe if he went to the Spurs for some reason... so you’d have Bron/Leonard/Aldridge, with Pop thrown into the mix. MAYBE that team could challenge?! But that’s assuming the Spurs have cap room and somehow quell whatever Leonard BS there is.

Any other team? I guess if he went to Philly and Simmons developed a jumper and Fultz magically transformed into a number pick worthy player?

 

[GatorAZ]

I don’t even think there’s a contender Bron can go to after the season who can come close to beating this team.

Even Paul/Harden/Bron isn’t enough because Paul is at the tail end of his career and the Warriors still can match that 3 with KD/Klay/Curry... and STILL throw ANOTHER star as their 4th best guy with Draymond. And after that, they STILL have DEPTH.

I mean... maybe if he went to the Spurs for some reason... so you’d have Bron/Leonard/Aldridge, with Pop thrown into the mix. MAYBE that team could challenge?! But that’s assuming the Spurs have cap room and somehow quell whatever Leonard BS there is.

Any other team? I guess if he went to Philly and Simmons developed a jumper and Fultz magically transformed into a number pick worthy player?

Lebron
Leonard
Embiid

That’s a physical enough big-3 to give them issues. Of course it’s require sending Simmons to San Antonio.

 

[Mainstreet]

I don’t even think there’s a contender Bron can go to after the season who can come close to beating this team.

Even Paul/Harden/Bron isn’t enough because Paul is at the tail end of his career and the Warriors still can match that 3 with KD/Klay/Curry... and STILL throw ANOTHER star as their 4th best guy with Draymond. And after that, they STILL have DEPTH.

I mean... maybe if he went to the Spurs for some reason... so you’d have Bron/Leonard/Aldridge, with Pop thrown into the mix. MAYBE that team could challenge?! But that’s assuming the Spurs have cap room and somehow quell whatever Leonard BS there is.

Any other team? I guess if he went to Philly and Simmons developed a jumper and Fultz magically transformed into a number pick worthy player?

Popovich would figure out a way with this trio.

 

[SirStefan32]

Rockets were close, D'Antoni took Capela out and went small. Warriors ended up having a layup drill. Signature D'Antoni.

 

[GatorAZ]

Rockets were close, D'Antoni took Capela out and went small. Warriors ended up having a layup drill. Signature D'Antoni.

Shades of replacing KT with James Jones late in game 5 without Amare/Diaw.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Popovich would figure out a way with this trio.

That’s seemingly the only scenario that might work.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

I just love watching my dubs defeat dirty Chris Paul. I screen cap his lose face after every game for the past several years. Here is today's:

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[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Here's one I took from 12/7/2016

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[Folster]

Feels like old Suns Spurs... we would play our guts out, be up or tied at the half... Spurs make a nice 3rd Q run, wed play catch up the rest of the game, make it close but we’d always be kept at bay by a big dagger.

Thompson is their dagger dude.

I was going to say this. Steve Nash had to create everything via pick and roll. It was exhausting. Same thing with Harden and Paul to a lesser extent. Add in some Harden iso to bail out his team.

D'antoni's system is just not built for the playoffs. Hopefully Igor installs a motion offense with ball movement.

 

[Russ Smith]

I think the Warriors would be title contenders with Thompson, Green, and either Curry or Durant, they don't need both of them. Curry and Durant are almost interchangeable pieces for them. They only need one of them, they're both MVP level players but just those 2 alone wouldn't be that much better than Durant and Westbrook were. They're only going to be able to keep this team together for another year or two if players don't take big discounts to stay together. Klay and Draymond are the vital pieces alongside one of their MVP's that keep them competing for championships. If they lost either of them, Klay or Green, they'd have trouble winning another title. It wouldn't be impossible but it'd be a lot harder. Especially as Iggy gets older and can't be relied on as much.

The way that Green is a point forward on offense and their interior defender is so unique it allows them to experiment and go small. Klay Thompson is one of the best scorers in the league, hands down. I know people said that Klay was Booker's ceiling but I don't know if Booker will be able to score like Klay does consistently. If he gets the attempts he produces. Unlike Curry he hasn't disappeared in the playoffs. His role has been reduced but he always delivers when called upon.

IF you look at their per game stats regular season vs playoffs, during the 4 year run of 3 NBA finals plus this year, Klay is about 22PPG regular season 46% shooting overall 57% EFG, in the playoffs he's 19 PPG .435 and .526. The drop is about the same for Curry. When you factor in Curry has had significant injuries during 2 of those 4 seasons that he played with(and sat out some) in the playoffs basically both guys have performed. Klay is a better defender, Curry the better playmaker. Without Curry the Warriors are just not nearly as good because of the way defenses can play them.

It will be interesting to see how long they can keep them together, Durant can redo his contract after the year if he wants, Curry is close too. Will they all take less to stay together, will Curry at some point want to go play for his dads team in Charlotte etc.

 

[Folster]

This summer, think we might see some playoff teams finally realize trying to compete for a title right now is a fool's errand with the Warriors

The Blazers, Wizards and like could dismantle their teams in favor of a 3-5 year rebuild.

Watching the Suns is rough and I long for the playoffs, but we should be okay with the 2020 plan. No need to go all out this summer to try to make the playoffs. I definitely would like to see marked improvement though.

 

[Russ Smith]

That makes up for the 8-10 elbows and shoved not called on Hou.

Yeah I agree Paul in particular got away with crazy stuff last night. But that missed call just ended the game.

Later on there's a play where Iggy drives by Paul who as he's going down kind of scissors Iggy's legs, so Iggy falling down losing the ball as driving to the basket no call. Then in the scramble forthe ball, Iggy has it, and Paul comes running in with a 2 hand shove knocking Iggy down again no call. I took that sequence as a makeup for the missed backcourt call, you could see and hear Kerr in the background just going nuts.