NBA Finals Boston vs Dallas (poll)

Who will be Champions?


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    36

Mainstreet

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The Celtics had a well-balanced roster with no obvious weaknesses.

However, maybe the Suns should take note the Celtics had three quality point guards in Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard. They even had a fourth in Jaden Springer.
 

Lefty

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That’s a great shot but hasn’t anyone noticed that he traveled TWICE, prior to starting the dribble and then before the shot?
That's why I said they should of played the song Traveling Man.
 

Lorenzo

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Agree. The series may have exposed some doncic shortcomings, but cmon, it was the freaking finals. They don’t sniff the second round (and maybe not even playoffs) if doncic isn’t all world. And there they are in the finals and he’s clearly somewhat hurting/injured. Criticizing doncic when he lost to a clearly superior team who had the right mix of athletes and size and defense to stymie him is kinda silly imo.

If that’s “selfish and borderline toxic basketball” well, sign me up for that.

The hate for doncic is unreal.

That said, no, a dude who went 1-4 in the finals doesn’t deserve to sniff mvp.
Yeah I would rather my best player to be hyper competitive than to be a guy that just puts his head down when things get tough. we see a lot of talented NBA players who don't have that competitive nature.

Doncic is not MJ. But when I watched the last dance, I kind of see the hyper competitive side of MJ that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. some would say it is selfish and toxic. His teammates even hated him at times because he pushed them too hard. I say sign me up for the 6 rings. I think doncic is hyper competitive, particularly on offense. if he brings that same attitude to the defensive side, he can be a champion.
 
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Lorenzo

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Yeah I tend to agree. Porzingas wanted out, but a couple of teams have passed on that guy, so I take that with a grain of salt. Not sure I’ve explicitly heard anything about anyone else. The current roster seems to enjoy playing with him.
ah yes. KP who went to the strip club in LA during the 2021 playoffs and violated the covid rules. I'm pretty sure that upset all the mavericks players and coaches. KP kind of mailed it in after that as well. He even admitted to that. what does that say about a guy's character when he gives up in a playoff series? either way most of KP's issues in Dallas had to do with him never being healthy. Jalen Brunson had an interview after game 3 of the finals and he defended Luka's reputation as a teammate. He is probably the only guy that I wondered about when he left. But for most of Brunson's tenure in dallas he was under Carlisle who didn't really empower Brunson to reach his full potential. I don't blame Brunson for leaving. I probably would have done the same thing.
 

Lorenzo

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I thought OKC was in play until they met a good defense. Exciting matchup with Boston? Not so sure…
OKC's youth excites me and they play a similar style as Boston, but the difference is they blitzed Irving and doncic all series long which allowed mavs role players to have great looks at the basket. I think SGA is the best young player in the NBA. he's right there with doncic already IMO. he's better than Anthony Edwards.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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I don't think it's like going from worst to best or anything but I think anytime the opposing team's strategy is to target you it has to be a tad above a "little".
Eh, every team, by fact, has a worst defender that often gets targeted. If it made them suck that would be one thing, but it wasn’t a big enough problem that it kept them from the finals or a previous WCF. And it’s not like Boston just figured something out in targeting doncic that nobody else knew. We targeted him. So did everyone else. And they’ve still made it to the wcf and finals in 2 of 3 seasons. So yeah, I think a little is likely all that’s “necessary.”
 

Covert Rain

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Eh, every team, by fact, has a worst defender that often gets targeted. If it made them suck that would be one thing, but it wasn’t a big enough problem that it kept them from the finals or a previous WCF. And it’s not like Boston just figured something out in targeting doncic that nobody else knew. We targeted him. So did everyone else. And they’ve still made it to the wcf and finals in 2 of 3 seasons. So yeah, I think a little is likely all that’s “necessary.”
Yes but most of the teams that go all the away have a good enough supporting cast surrounding said player to hide him or they limit said players minutes. You can't reduce Luka's minutes. It's more realistic to hide Luka by improving the roster verses hoping that dude matures or all of the sudden becomes a good defender.
 

Cheesebeef

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Yes but most of the teams that go all the away have a good enough supporting cast surrounding said player to hide him or they limit said players minutes. You can't reduce Luka's minutes. It's more realistic to hide Luka by improving the roster verses hoping that dude matures or all of the sudden becomes a good defender.

Eh…. Magic was a pretty weak defender and the Lakers found all kinds of ways to hide and minimize that deficiency. And they did so with really only having one defensive dynamo with Coop.

The Mavs could prob do something similar as their games/size have a ton of similarities.
 

Covert Rain

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Eh…. Magic was a pretty weak defender and the Lakers found all kinds of ways to hide and minimize that deficiency. And they did so with really only having one defensive dynamo with Coop.

The Mavs could prob do something similar as their games/size have a ton of similarities.
I liken it to Nash. We were always trying to hide Nash. At least Magic had size which gave him a huge advantage. It's possible to do which is my point and much more likely than assuming Luka is going to suddenly be some competent defender and be mature. He isn't a rookie.
 

Cheesebeef

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All teams try to attack Luka, its just that the Celtics have capable people at all positions that CAN attack Luka.
Yeah… the fact that they had FOUR guys who could really frustrate him is unique to Boston. Not many other teams have four defenders, of various size and speed, who can all present different challenges to Doncic like Tatum, Brown, Holiday and White can.
 

Hoop Head

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The Celtics had a well-balanced roster with no obvious weaknesses.

However, maybe the Suns should take note the Celtics had three quality point guards in Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard. They even had a fourth in Jaden Springer.


Kind of funny how Boston is legitimately built like James Jones talks about how he builds a roster, all 5 positions being 3 deep. Sounds good and works in practice but it most definitely is not what JJ has done as a GM.
 

Phrazbit

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Kind of funny how Boston is legitimately built like James Jones talks about how he builds a roster, all 5 positions being 3 deep. Sounds good and works in practice but it most definitely is not what JJ has done as a GM.

The foundation of that team came from their historically lopsided trade with Brooklyn in 2013. Both Brown and Tatum are a result of that deal.

Pretty remarkable that they had some high profile moves go completely sideways (Hayward, Walker, Irving) but they still had such a bounty that it didn’t matter.
 

Mainstreet

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Kind of funny how Boston is legitimately built like James Jones talks about how he builds a roster, all 5 positions being 3 deep. Sounds good and works in practice but it most definitely is not what JJ has done as a GM.

James Jones got away from this after his first three seasons and here we are today.
 

Mainstreet

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The foundation of that team came from their historically lopsided trade with Brooklyn in 2013. Both Brown and Tatum are a result of that deal.

Pretty remarkable that they had some high profile moves go completely sideways (Hayward, Walker, Irving) but they still had such a bounty that it didn’t matter.

The additions of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday were huge. They brought leadership and stability to the team.
 

Hoop Head

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The foundation of that team came from their historically lopsided trade with Brooklyn in 2013. Both Brown and Tatum are a result of that deal.

Pretty remarkable that they had some high profile moves go completely sideways (Hayward, Walker, Irving) but they still had such a bounty that it didn’t matter.

Some of those gambles like Hayward put Tatum and Brown in position to develop at a steady pace without throwing the weight of the franchise on either's back, like the Suns did with Booker.

Of course they wouldn't be here without the haul from Brooklyn but I suspect they would have found a way to remain competitive even without all the assets they got from the Nets. Smart teams never say they're finished building. They continued tweaking things and brought Horford back after letting him walk. Brought in Derrick White, who made Smart expendable, and took a gamble on Porzingis.
 

Yuma

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Eh…. Magic was a pretty weak defender and the Lakers found all kinds of ways to hide and minimize that deficiency. And they did so with really only having one defensive dynamo with Coop.

The Mavs could prob do something similar as their games/size have a ton of similarities.
He also had Worthy and Kareem on the floor, too.
 

Lorenzo

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All teams try to attack Luka, its just that the Celtics have capable people at all positions that CAN attack Luka.
and at both ends of the court as well. it's not just the way they attacked Luka on the defensive side. one on one they have multiple guys that can at least make Luka work for his points. even Xavier Tillman did a decent job guarding doncic one on one in the paint. he's built kind of like doncic is.
 
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