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2021 NBA Playoffs

Machinator

By Machinator
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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

Posted
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20 minutes ago, Mole said:

Since Bird and Magic won titles as young pros in the early 80s, very few players have been the main guy on their team and won a title before age 27.

Using Finals MVP as a proxy for being the guy on a championship team (with a few exceptions like the Warriors first run):

Steph was 26 (didn’t win Finals MVP but obviously was the main star).

DWade was 24, but he also had a hobbling Shaq.

Duncan was 22 but had an aging superstar teammate and a well constructed team. Same with Kawhi.

Tony Parker was 24 when he won the Finals MVP, but it was obviously TD’s team.

Dumars was 25, but it was Zeke’s team, who was 27.

Then you have Magic and Bird who did it young.

Jordan, LBJ, Hakeem, Shaq, KD, Dirk, Zeke, all couldn’t win the big one until they were at least 27. Kobe didn’t do it without Shaq until he was 30.

So in the last 35 years, the only guys who were led their team to a title before age 27 were Steph, DWade, and the Spurs.

 

Good list. I will say KD and LeBron got their teams to the Fnals as the best player by 22. No one's done that since Durant in 2012. 

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HookEm

HookEm 2,468

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Posted

I guess the difference is that with Durant and LBJ you could see it within a year or two as they made runs to the finals so early on. It was just a matter of time till they got one. With Giannis, I’m not sure he will get there.

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ztejas

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Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, HookEm said:

I guess the difference is that with Durant and LBJ you could see it within a year or two as they made runs to the finals so early on. It was just a matter of time till they got one. With Giannis, I’m not sure he will get there.

I was a bit bummed that LA went out because I wanted to see KD/Bron IV with both of them on different teams AGAIN. That's a 30 for 30 right there. 

There's definitely a Messi/Ronaldo type arc going on where Messi is heralded as the GOAT (maybe Bron is not quite there yet but he's a lot of people's #2) and then you have the guy (Ronaldo) that was never quite as good during Messi's peak but always right behind and finding some big accomplishments later on in his career to narrow the gap a bit and make people wonder where HE has to rank all time. 

And all four of these athletes get taken for granted.

Edited by ztejas
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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

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12 minutes ago, HookEm said:

I guess the difference is that with Durant and LBJ you could see it within a year or two as they made runs to the finals so early on. It was just a matter of time till they got one. With Giannis, I’m not sure he will get there.

Durant and LeBron were going through some pretty tough teams those years, too. I don't think the East from 2018 to 2020 was nearly as competitive as the West between 2011-2014 or the East between like 05-08.

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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

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Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

Philly on fire early. 23-6 and the Hawks take their second TO of the 1Q.

Better coach. Better roster. At home. Must-win. They were never losing this game. 

But Atlanta is hanging around enough. Wouldnt be surprised if this is close through at least 3. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

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Just now, HookEm said:

What are we gonna do when the Suns win the title and Booker averages something like 40 a game? Nobody talks about him being the next superstar. But he could write his destiny these playoffs.

Maybe Atlanta will win the title and John Collins will average 30/15. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

Posted
Posted

Let me see if I can predict the rest of the playoffs from here on out just for kicks:

BKN over MIL in 5 or 6

PHI over Atlanta in 6

UTA over LAC in 6

PHO over DEN in 5

UTA over PHO in 7

BKN over PHI in 5

BKN over UTA in 6-7 maybe

 

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shadow_operative

shadow_operative 15,932

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, HookEm said:

What are we gonna do when the Suns win the title and Booker averages something like 40 a game? Nobody talks about him being the next superstar. But he could write his destiny these playoffs.

everyone talks about him being the next superstar. he's been the sexy up and coming guard for at least two full years now. people are constantly fawning over him. hell, he *literally* gets waaaaay more love than Jokic does, or at least he did up until extremely recently. frankly i think he's overhyped and overrated based on the amount of fanboyish love that he gets. he's an all star reserve caliber player who gets more praise and love heaped on him than guys like Giannis do. i've never understood it.

also, PHX ain't coming close to winning it all. i'll believe that CP3 leads a team to a title/plays a full playoffs when i see it.

Edited by shadow_operative
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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

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Posted (edited)

I'm trying to think who this Philly team reminds me of. They have a bit of a Rockets Hakeem vibe but I don't think the Rockets were as talented on the wing. Maybe those Philly Moses Malone teams?

Or kind of like the Barkley Suns maybe?

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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

Posted
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3 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Philadelphia looked dominant for portions of that half and they're up just 2.

I thought Philly had a few tough calls against them, Embiid cost them with a technical, and Atlanta has shot the ball very well. (Atlanta actually hasn't shot it great - don't listen to me).

Philly is just so much better with Embiid on the court that they're rarely going to look dominant for an entire half or game. 

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HtownHorn

HtownHorn 14,781

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, ztejas said:

This Atlanta team doesn't suck. They could easily be down a lot right now but they're fighting hard. Maybe McMillan is hitting his stride (more likely though is that Trae, Collins and Bogdonavic are special players).

More like Atlanta has more than 2 players that can shoot the ball. Gallinari would be the 2nd best player on the 76ers.

Edited by HtownHorn
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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

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2 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Ok they have 3.

You're a fucking idiot. Meanwhile I just called an obvious adjustment that Philly should make that they then did make that is completely changing this game. 

Your depth. You're out of it. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

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1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Where has Shake been?

Post of this thread so far btw. But I feel like a lot of you are getting sick about how right I am all the time and how I couldn't be further from being gracious about it. Wev. Rep me accordingly. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43,538

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5 minutes ago, Llogg said:

Maybe take a break from posting for a few minutes, man.

9 in 50 minutes isn't crazy by my standards. There's just no on else posting. 

But yeah I'll chill. This shit is just like crack to me. 

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