The 2022 NBA Play-In Tournament + Playoffs Thread

[nashman]

Tatum has such a complete game. He’s not shooting well in this series, but he’s still getting his points by hook and crook while making an impact creating shots for others and rebounding.

Man he’s the type of guy that would be a good running mate next to Book imo. Unselfish player that plays team ball but can score in bunches as well.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Can't win if Draymond doesn't do more than that, he didn't even play good defense. So much pressure on Steph and Klay to carry the offense when Draymond isn't able to do his part.

He keeps talking crap he's gotta back it up on the floor

He got tamed by all the focus on his game 2 play. Makes me wonder if he got a phone call from the league. He was garbage.

 

[GatorAZ]

The Warriors need one of Wiggins/Poole to be a game changer. Smart has been more impactful than both of them. Draymond just can’t move like he used to.

 

[Russ Smith]

If the Celtics win this series the story all offseason will be Warriors should have picked Melo Ball over Wiseman.

they wanted size but with him hurt and Melo playing the way he has hard to argue.

 

[Russ Smith]

The Warriors need one of Wiggins/Poole to be a game changer. Smart has been more impactful than both of them. Draymond just can’t move like he used to.

The key for Wiggins is the 3 pointers. He had a decent game but 1-6 on uncontested 3's you need more from him.

Honestly if they'd played more Looney and less Draymond they might have won because the C's wouldn't have controlled the glass like that 47-31.

 

[1tinsoldier]

35 minutes, 6 fouls, 2 points and 4 rebounds.
Green needs to work on his game more and his podcasts less

are the refs holding off from giving him another tech because he's at the suspension point?
it looked like he could have got one tonight.
and definitely last game when he backed into the 3pt shooter then gave him a push on the back while he was on the floor.
-- which was a total lack of professional consistency from the refs, regardless of what Jeff VanGundy said.

but suspension may not matter at this point anyway.
the Warriors are better off without Green on offense
and on defense, i look for his hot head to be more disruptive to them than the Celtics next game.

 

[Russ Smith]

35 minutes, 6 fouls, 2 points and 4 rebounds.
Green needs to work on his game more and his podcasts less

are the refs holding off from giving him another tech because he's at the suspension point?
it looked like he could have got one tonight.
and definitely last game when he backed into the 3pt shooter then gave him a push on the back while he was on the floor.
-- which was a total lack of professional consistency from the refs, regardless of what Jeff VanGundy said.

but suspension may not matter at this point anyway.
the Warriors are better off without Green on offense
and on defense, i look for his hot head to be more disruptive to them than the Celtics next game.

Last night he didn't play defense or rebound. The problem is when he's not scoring they can't play him and Looney together too much because it's 3 on 5 on offense. With Looney out, they couldn't rebound. I would have played more Looney and less Green but I think they want him to run the offense because Poole has played so poorly and Kerr doesn't want to have Curry have to be the fulltime PG he wants him to look to score.

Game 4 I expect to see more Looney and if Green is struggling less of him.

 

[Russ Smith]

The good news is Steph says it's not his knee that got hurt. The bad news it's the same ankle and foot that got hurt in March when Smart collided with him getting a loose ball that forced Curry to miss a bunch of games. He says he'll definitely play in game 4.

 

[Russ Smith]

A player has played at least 34 minutes in an NBA finals game 2553 times in NBA history. Draymond became the first in NBA history to do that and foul out with less than 5 points, 5 boards or 5 assists.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Last night he didn't play defense or rebound. The problem is when he's not scoring they can't play him and Looney together too much because it's 3 on 5 on offense. With Looney out, they couldn't rebound. I would have played more Looney and less Green but I think they want him to run the offense because Poole has played so poorly and Kerr doesn't want to have Curry have to be the fulltime PG he wants him to look to score.

Game 4 I expect to see more Looney and if Green is struggling less of him.

I cannot believe how disengaged and effortless he was on defense last night.

I think he got that phone call from the commissioner’s office.

 

[Russ Smith]

I cannot believe how disengaged and effortless he was on defense last night.

I think he got that phone call from the commissioner’s office.

It was almost like the schoolyard bully that gets punched in the face and suddenly realizes his reign of terror was over. it was like Draymond realized he was having almost no impact on the game.

The guy working on my HVAC today asked me about the game since I'm wearing a warriors shirt and badge lanyard. The odd thing is we agree on Draymond, he's not doing anything. But on Poole he said "he needs to drive to the basket more and stop shooting 3's. " To me it's the exact opposite, he can't finish at the rim against Williams and horford he had one nice finish last night but for the most part he's getting his shot blocked or he's turning it over. I think he needs to take good shots, open 3's, midrange, and stop overdribbling forcing it to the rim.

That to me is why Wiggins 3 point shooting is so problematic, he's 5-16 from 3 in the 3 games and that was 2-7, 2-3, 1-6. IT's not coincidental the 2 losses he couldn't make 3's. He shot the ball very well from 3 all year, he's getting wide open looks, for the most part they're on target he's just missing. It's really hurting the offense because we don't have any post scoring and it's hard to drive and finish over their rim protection so when good shooters have open 3's they have to cash them in.

 

[Covert Rain]

The Warriors have a tough decision coming about him. Unless he takes a massive pay cut in the future his days with the Warriors are numbered anyway. Green can still reign terror once in a while, but he is reaching that point in his career where he is more bark than bite. Often you see instead of legit defense or toughness him pulling crap like this in games.....

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[Russ Smith]

The Warriors have a tough decision coming about him. Unless he takes a massive pay cut in the future his days with the Warriors are numbered anyway. Green can still reign terror once in a while, but he is reaching that point in his career where he is more bark than bite. Often you see instead of legit defense or toughness him pulling crap like this in games.....

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not positive but that might be the play where the ref stopped the FT and made them do it over because everyone jumped in early. One of the Warriors had actually lost his balance and as he fell in everyone else stepped in before the ball was shot. Draymond was arguing on that one and I couldn't figure out what he was mad about it was obvious the Warrior player went in first so if they just called one player it would have been on his team not Boston.

I can't find it but there's a play last night after Steph got hurt he's on defense in the left corner by the baseline and he's trying to run downcourt to the other end, as he runs by Horford, Al intentionally sticks his knee out and just drills Steph out of bounds. I was actually amazed Draymond didn't come out onto the court and get a T because he'd fouled out and you could see him on the bench screaming at the ref to call the flagrant on Horford.

that is the other thing I don't like about Draymond, he doesn't take into account that his actions cause reactions and that those reactions might injure his teammates. The original play where Steph got hurt was just guys going for the ball, not dirty at all, but the play I'm talking about was completely intentional and dirty but with the stuff Draymond does, teams are going to retaliate and not always directly against Draymond.

We were talking about this on Warriors world I mentioned it last night, if the Warriors lose the series one of the narratives will be should have taken Melo Ball not Wiseman. he can't guard and I get they wanted to go bigger but part of the justification for keeping Draymond is he plays on the ball as a playmaker so Steph doesn't have to. If you had Melo, he's big enough to guard 3's, he can play on the ball so Steph can play off, and he's a much bigger offensive threat than Draymond. The defense would be problematic they would have had to get another 5 to back up Looney. But you can argue that a lineup of Looney, Wiggins, Ball, Steph and Klay could have won lots of games too.

Hopefully Wiseman is healthy next year Kuminga keeps improving and maybe next year is Draymond's last year but if they lose this year the Ball stuff will be a hot topic IMO

 

[Russ Smith]

I wish he'd just play and stop digging a deeper hole. Draymond now saying the reason he fouled out last night was that he pushed the player to get him off Stephs leg so Steph didn't get further hurt. Note, the player on Stephs legs was Al Horford, the player draymond pushed was... Marcus Smart.

Just play Draymond forget about all the other stuff. 2-4 more games this season just find a way to make an impact and then if you win feel free to talk all you want.

 

[1tinsoldier]

i have to say that Stephen A Smith's bombastic, hyper-critical style is entertaining
and, after all, isn't that all sports is about anyway?
but it seems like hyper-criticism is all the "rage" now
among other analysts and fans as well
and it may be putting too much importance on what should be mere entertainment

regardless. i enjoyed Smith's theatrical performance on Draymond Green:

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[LoyaltyisaCurse]

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[Covert Rain]

i have to say that Stephen A Smith's bombastic, hyper-critical style is entertaining
and, after all, isn't that all sports is about anyway?
but it seems like hyper-criticism is all the "rage" now
among other analysts and fans as well
and it may be putting too much importance on what should be mere entertainment

regardless. i enjoyed Smith's theatrical performance on Draymond Green:

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Stephen A Smith is a tool.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

not positive but that might be the play where the ref stopped the FT and made them do it over because everyone jumped in early. One of the Warriors had actually lost his balance and as he fell in everyone else stepped in before the ball was shot. Draymond was arguing on that one and I couldn't figure out what he was mad about it was obvious the Warrior player went in first so if they just called one player it would have been on his team not Boston.

I can't find it but there's a play last night after Steph got hurt he's on defense in the left corner by the baseline and he's trying to run downcourt to the other end, as he runs by Horford, Al intentionally sticks his knee out and just drills Steph out of bounds. I was actually amazed Draymond didn't come out onto the court and get a T because he'd fouled out and you could see him on the bench screaming at the ref to call the flagrant on Horford.

that is the other thing I don't like about Draymond, he doesn't take into account that his actions cause reactions and that those reactions might injure his teammates. The original play where Steph got hurt was just guys going for the ball, not dirty at all, but the play I'm talking about was completely intentional and dirty but with the stuff Draymond does, teams are going to retaliate and not always directly against Draymond.

We were talking about this on Warriors world I mentioned it last night, if the Warriors lose the series one of the narratives will be should have taken Melo Ball not Wiseman. he can't guard and I get they wanted to go bigger but part of the justification for keeping Draymond is he plays on the ball as a playmaker so Steph doesn't have to. If you had Melo, he's big enough to guard 3's, he can play on the ball so Steph can play off, and he's a much bigger offensive threat than Draymond. The defense would be problematic they would have had to get another 5 to back up Looney. But you can argue that a lineup of Looney, Wiggins, Ball, Steph and Klay could have won lots of games too.

Hopefully Wiseman is healthy next year Kuminga keeps improving and maybe next year is Draymond's last year but if they lose this year the Ball stuff will be a hot topic IMO

This. In fact, when posters here want suns to retaliate on the draymonds and Beverley’s I argue “no, don’t attack their thug who just attacked our star - attack their star. Eye for an eye” (even though I don’t condone those actions - if you’re going to take those actions, do it in kind).

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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Yikes

 

[Russ Smith]

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And they are allowing 105 PPG with him off the court and 113 with him ON the court. Although some of that I suspect is connected to Horford I think he tends to be when Horford is.

Terrible series for him so far. All he's really doing is setting moving screens

 

[Russ Smith]

We had the pic of Curry with 4 guys guarding him and the 5th watching. Here's the Celtics on Draymond. The real killer is not only are they not guarding him, he's not looking to do anything he's trying to get the ball to Klay. And as blatant as this is, it's NOT defensive 3 seconds because all 3 Celtics in the paint are legally guarding someone, it's just that 2 of them are legally guarding Steph Curry. This is the play where Kerr literally threw his hands up at Draymond and asked him what the heck he was doing

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[somethingshesaid]

We had the pic of Curry with 4 guys guarding him and the 5th watching.

Whaa? How can four players legally guard one player? ...Ehh, if they have the skill to quadruple-team the ball without violating the rules, it's hard not to think the Celtics will win the series. I personally have never seen a player quadruple-teamed.

I don't care, I just want the harder and more physical East Coast style of basketball to embarrass the West Coast style. And I'm not from the East Coast.

 

[Russ Smith]

Whaa? How can four players legally guard one player? ...Ehh, if they have the skill to quadruple-team the ball without violating the rules, it's hard not to think the Celtics will win the series. I personally have never seen a player quadruple-teamed.

I don't care, I just want the harder and more physical East Coast style of basketball to embarrass the West Coast style. And I'm not from the East Coast.

It's a viral pic from game 2. It didn't work Curry hit Looney for a dunk

 

[somethingshesaid]

It didn't work Curry hit Looney for a dunk

Because I didn't watch, I may be missing some context on the play. Let me get this straight: Four Celtics--almost their entire lineup on the floor!--simultaneously guarded Curry, but somehow failed to stop him from passing?? If four guys are guarding one guy, I expect them to completely box him up so he can't do anything at all, including passing. Well, no. The guy can pass, but he should be able to pass only to...the guys guarding him. That is, I expect them to steal the pass easily. Curry must be a perfectly good passer, but he's not Steve Nash.

No wonder the Celtics lost that game.

 

[Russ Smith]

Because I didn't watch, I may be missing some context on the play. Let me get this straight: Four Celtics--almost their entire lineup on the floor!--simultaneously guarded Curry, but somehow failed to stop him from passing?? If four guys are guarding one guy, I expect them to completely box him up so he can't do anything at all, including passing. Well, no. The guy can pass, but he should be able to pass only to...the guys guarding him. That is, I expect them to steal the pass easily. Curry must be a perfectly good passer, but he's not Steve Nash.

No wonder the Celtics lost that game.

I'm too lazy to find it but I posted the still picture in this thread earlier.

Here's a link to the video

Steph faces four defenders before finding Looney for dunk

Steph Curry is the one player the Celtics defense must keep an eye on and in the first quarter of Game 2, Curry drew four Boston defenders before setting up Kevon Looney for an easy dunk in the Warriors' win.

www.nbcsports.com