NBA 2023-24

[Mittens 8148]

1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

They also haven't faced any adversity essentially the entire season and the playoffs.

Not having this isn't dealing with adversity?

 

[aggie08 21414]

31 minutes ago, Mittens said:

12-2 is struggling a ton.  C'mon man.

LTtx has a weird obsession with the Celtics. He's basically game threaded this thread during all of their games, lambasting how bad their offense and defense is while they're up 20. It's odd.

Edited May 31 by aggie08

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

No clue how Boston can defend Luka. Wolves have lengthy (mcdaniels) and strength(edwards) and smarts (Anderson) and Luka got the best of all 3. You have to blitz. Luka having the first 8-10 seconds in the shot clock to freely dribble is nothing but trouble.

I’d say Holidays probably their best option because he’s kinda like Dort but if Lukas flame throwing 25 foot step backs, Boston’s best defender is done for

Defend that, don’t let kyrie also go nuclear, defend the lob to their 2 athletic leaping bigs and defend the corner 3 to their 4th and 5th options.


Sounds easy. I think Dallas is just tough to defend against, they’re like 28-6 with their new team. If there’s no KP, who will be rusty and dealing with calf issues if he returns, how the fuck is Horford going to handle that load?

[aggie08 21414]

Should be a great series. Hard to pick a favorite. Boston is Top 2 in both offense and defense, and they have the most complete roster in the league. Dallas has, unquestionably, the best player in the series, and their defense since the deadline completely turned their season around.

Agree with everyone that KP's health is critical. With him on the floor instead of Horford, it becomes far more difficult for Luka to matchup hunt, with 5 long, versatile defenders on the court.

I think I trust "the team with the best player in a close series wins" cliche more than I trust Boston's crunch time 3pt shooting.

That said, Boston isn't a great matchup for Dallas.

Here's hoping for 7 games.

Edited May 31 by aggie08

[Reynolds Woodcock 4658]

As much as I hate to say it, I think Celtics win in 6. Holiday and White will make Kyrie’s life hell. No stopping Luka, but Brown, Tatum and Holiday will make him work hard for it. Hoping for the reverse jinx.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18523]

54 minutes ago, Mittens said:

Not having this isn't dealing with adversity?

 

No, not really. HIs absence hasn't impacted their winning. 

I'm talking about adversity in the sense of... you're losing games, players are struggling, coaches are struggling, and you have to figure out how to work your way through it. The Celtics haven't experienced that, at all. They haven't been pushed and you don't know how they are going to react or who is going to step up.

I know everybody thinks the regular season is meaningless, but teams learn how to play together, grow together and how to lean on each other and overcome when shit goes bad. Because at some point, shit is going to go bad in the NBA Finals. I'm not saying they won't figure it out, just that they haven't had to yet. Those lessons are better learned in the regular season than in the finals.

[Mittens 8148]

29 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

No clue how Boston can defend Luka. 

Not worried about Luka - dude is a walking bucket and is going to get his.  He's avg 34 over the last 4 vs Boston and they're all losses for DAL.  I'm much more worried about the role players who have stepped up during this run.

33 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

how the fuck is Horford going to handle that load?

Same way he's been handling it through the playoffs so far? 

5 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I'm talking about adversity in the sense of... you're losing games, players are struggling, coaches are struggling, and you have to figure out how to work your way through it. The Celtics haven't experienced that, at all.

They literally came back to win 3 of the 4 games to beat the Pacers.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

Same way he’s been handling it in the playoffs? Nobody on Miami, Cleveland and Indiana are in the same atmosphere as Lukai in terms of playmaking.

Dallas has over 40 more lobs than the next closest team, they’re over 50 for the playoffs

[Braff Zacklin 13406]

2 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Dallas also caught a break  with Kawhi out.

[Vic Mackey 46927]

They literally came back to win 3 of the 4 games to beat the Pacers.

Coming back to win a game isn't really adversity. NBA leads mean nothing these days, especially to an inferior opponent like Indiana was to Boston. They swept a pretty meh Indiana team, that's not adversity. Getting down in a series and coming back is facing adversity. Overcoming an injury to an important player is adversity.

Celtics obviously are a really good team but they might have had the easiest path to the Finals ever. They didn't have to exert a ton of energy. Even the 2015 Warriors laugh at their path to the Finals.

[Trey3216 15325]

29 minutes ago, Mittens said:

Not worried about Luka - dude is a walking bucket and is going to get his.  He's avg 34 over the last 4 vs Boston and they're all losses for DAL.  I'm much more worried about the role players who have stepped up during this run.

Same way he's been handling it through the playoffs so far? 

They literally came back to win 3 of the 4 games to beat the Pacers.

And Haliburton missed game 3 and 4...Indiana's best player.   That team shouldn't have even been in the game vs Boston without Hal.   

Edited May 31 by Trey3216

[Mittens 8148]

10 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

And Haliburton missed game 3 and 4...Indiana's best player.   That team shouldn't have even been in the game vs Boston without Hal.   

Boston was without KP the whole series.

[Mittens 8148]

19 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

Overcoming an injury to an important player is adversity.

[RexWilson 1341]

 

[Trey3216 15325]

2 minutes ago, Mittens said:

Boston was without KP the whole series.

And he's not even close to their best player like Hal, Jimmy Butler, & Donovan Mitchell are...and getting to avoid Mil since Giannis was out.  C'mon man.   You're stanning for KP over here like every Dallas fan doesn't know who he is.  

[fellside 1076]

By the time this series starts, it will have been 8 weeks since Boston played a 50 win team.

Stfu about Boston facing adversity.

[ITHorn 797]

I do find it odd that people just think KP is going to magically come back after a month + off and just rebound back into form. It's not like he has a long history of returning rusty coming off of extended absences... 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

I do find it odd that people just think KP is going to magically come back after a month + off and just rebound back into form. It's not like he has a long history of returning rusty coming off of extended absences... 

Calf injuries are a bitch, probably as tricky as hamstrings. Ask KAT and Giannis

[InkaUtexas 25486]

6 hours ago, Acropora said:

It'll be an interesting series.  Boston has played down to the competition this playoff and Dallas has gelled at the right time.  Luka keeps getting better as the playoffs progress and Kyrie is good Kyrie for now.  

As a Celtics fan (2nd team after the Spurs), it comes down to 3 factors. 

1) KP health 

2) can anyone on the Celtics force Luka into a couple bad games?  He's a matchup nightmare and the Celtics tend to be long and lean.  Not a lot of bigger heavier bodies. 

3) can Tatum find his 3 point stroke?  He's done all the other things but if he can't hit consistently from deep they go through droughts on offense that will kill them against Dallas 

I've hated Dallas for years but I have to say, this Dallas team is fun to watch.  Didn't really expect them to dismantle Denver and really hard to predict.  My heart says Celtics in 6, my head says Dallas in 6.  Thankfully I've been consistently wrong on the Western conference this entire playoffs

Brother?

[Mittens 8148]

16 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

And he's not even close to their best player like Hal, Jimmy Butler, & Donovan Mitchell are...and getting to avoid Mil since Giannis was out.  C'mon man.   You're stanning for KP over here like every Dallas fan doesn't know who he is.  

I'm pointing out that both teams were missing roughly the same statistical value from their lineup.  Y'all are acting like losing KP is nothing just because Boston has covered for that loss so well.

[Quagmire 2146]

How’d the Celtics ever win a game without their 3/4 best player against such inferior competition who lost their best player , such adversity there .

[Pam Cummings 9560]

So is this what we do for a week? Argue about who had more adversity or which road was harder or how shitty player X played in a previous series? As if that matters one bit?

[Trey3216 15325]

32 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

So is this what we do for a week? Argue about who had more adversity or which road was harder or how shitty player X played in a previous series? As if that matters one bit?

Well, when one has as deep a throat as Mittens does for Boston, and continues to engorge himself with the length, he shan't be surprised when others continue to point out the blatantly obvious.  

[gsoda3 3234]

4 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

As I bag on the Celtics competition, Dallas also caught a break  with Kawhi out. OKC had next to zero playoff experience. They were fortunate to avoid Jokic. And the fucking Wolves are choking losers. Not to discredit their incredible run and it's been much more challenging than what Boston faced, but likewise this will be by far the best team the Mavs have faced as well. 

i get what you're saying but that's funny.

 

 

[LurkingHorn 1044]

So far in this thread, I've learned that Boston has struggled in this playoffs but also hasn't faced any adversity. This is top-notch stuff. 

[ztejas 43262]

4 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

but likewise this will be by far the best team the Mavs have faced as well. 

I'm not sure I agree that Boston is "by far" better than Minny. I guess we'll find out but I'm fairly confident that Minny would have also kicked the shit out of the three teams Boston played. Let's not pretend like they didn't sweep KD/Book then beat the defending champs and best player in the world.

[ITHorn 797]

1 hour ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Calf injuries are a bitch, probably as tricky as hamstrings. Ask KAT and Giannis

Yep. If KP can give the Celtics 20 good minutes a game they should be stoked.

[ITHorn 797]

1 hour ago, Mittens said:

I'm pointing out that both teams were missing roughly the same statistical value from their lineup.  Y'all are acting like losing KP is nothing just because Boston has covered for that loss so well.

I think it's more due to the fact that KP missed almost 1/3 of the regular season and gave Boston plenty of time to experiment vs someone like Halliburton who played in 70 games and whose team had much less time to adjust for his loss.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18523]

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

I'm not sure I agree that Boston is "by far" better than Minny. I guess we'll find out but I'm fairly confident that Minny would have also kicked the shit out of the three teams Boston played. Let's not pretend like they didn't sweep KD/Book then beat the defending champs and best player in the world.

I think 75% of the league (if healthy) would have kicked the shit out of the three teams that Boston played. "Far better" may be a stretch, but Boston is still a more complete, versatile, deep, and experienced team than Minnesota. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that Minnesota/Denver series. It was bizarre on so many levels. 

[Mittens 8148]

Not me thinking I would be able to get tickets today... 😭😭😭

[ztejas 43262]

10 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I think 75% of the league (if healthy) would have kicked the shit out of the three teams that Boston played. "Far better" may be a stretch, but Boston is still a more complete, versatile, deep, and experienced team than Minnesota. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that Minnesota/Denver series. It was bizarre on so many levels. 

I think experience is the key difference. I don't think anyone can hang with Minny when they're in 5th gear on their A game. They're a ball of butcher knives. But I think they just burned too much gas in that Denver series and didn't have enough in the tank mentally or physically for a WCF against a damn, damn good Mavs team. 

Boston has been there a million times at this point. They know how to pace themselves and navigate multiple series. And their two "stars" are closer to 30 than 20. I posted it during the Mavs series - Minny needed ANT to be 25 and he just isn't. He will be a better player than Tatum or Brown (you could argue he already is) but basically every great sans Bird/Magic and Duncan (and all three of those guys had some notable extenuating circumstances) had to take some spankings first before they got to the top of the hill. 

I think this should be a fun Finals. I have the Mavs in 6.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

I think experience is the key difference. I don't think anyone can hang with Minny when they're in 5th gear on their A game. They're a ball of butcher knives. But I think they just burned too much gas in that Denver series and didn't have enough in the tank mentally or physically for a WCF against a damn, damn good Mavs team. 
Boston has been there a million times at this point. They know how to pace themselves and navigate multiple series. And their two "stars" are closer to 30 than 20. I posted it during the Mavs series - Minny needed ANT to be 25 and he just isn't. He will be a better player than Tatum or Brown (you could argue he already is) but basically every great sans Bird/Magic and Duncan (and all three of those guys had some notable extenuating circumstances) had to take some spankings first before they got to the top of the hill. 
I think this should be a fun Finals. I have the Mavs in 6.

Good summary.

Wolves weren’t looking anywhere near what we saw vs Denver. Even with our 1 win vs Dallas, it was a struggle.


And the point differential through 4 games was like 8 total in favor of Dallas. Literally 4 possessions in 192 minutes of bball. If luka doesn’t hit a last second 3, wolves could afford to toss last nights game into the fire and perhaps be traveling for a game 6 today.

Luka scoring 20 in the first, believe he had 10 in the first 2.5 min, was criminal. We should’ve been blitzing the fuck out of him the second he crossed half court

[Pam Cummings 9560]

5 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Good summary.

Wolves weren’t looking anywhere near what we saw vs Denver. Even with our 1 win vs Dallas, it was a struggle.


And the point differential through 4 games was like 8 total in favor of Dallas. Literally 4 possessions in 192 minutes of bball. If luka doesn’t hit a last second 3, wolves could afford to toss last nights game into the fire and perhaps be traveling for a game 6 today.

Luka scoring 20 in the first, believe he had 10 in the first 2.5 min, was criminal. We should’ve been blitzing the fuck out of him the second he crossed half court

I have to agree. The gameplan for Minnesota should have been to be very physical with Luka. Foul him. Anything to disrupt the rhythm. He was just kinda doing whatever he wanted. Like oh, hmm, I think I'll just go over here and shoot....yep, swish. Haven't scored from there yet....yep, swish. Too easy for sure.

Edited May 31 by Pam Cummings

[Message Board User 12389]

15 hours ago, Vertuzzi said:

Fuck Kyrie, that fucking douche. My fellow Massholes will welcome that cocksucker back to TD GardeBostn in proper fashion. Ready to hang banner 18. 

Boston sports:

Come for the history, stay for the racism.

[Vertuzzi 1358]

21 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

Boston sports:

Come for the history, stay for the racism.

Our hate for Kyrie has nothing to do with race, you absolute imbecile. It has everything to do with the fact that he’s a shitty teammate that quit on the team and the city. You can take the actions of a few idiot Boston fans and try to generalize us all you want, but you know, as much as I do, that he’s a snake that only cares for himself. 

[ChickenSandwich 9798]

Rank em

1.Luka

2.Irving

3.Ant

4.Tatum

5.Brown

 

If Irving is better than Tatum, it's already over.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

Luka
Tatum
Ant
Kyrie
Brown

Ant/tatum interchangeable

[Mittens 8148]

51 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

Boston sports:

Come for the history, stay for the racism.

Kyrie got on a mic at center court and told the fans he was coming back, then didn't.  When he returned to the Garden, he made a show of going to center court and stomping on the logo.  Every bit of hate Irving gets he brings upon himself, especially when it comes to what he gets from Boston fans.  That's all well documented, but by all means, do play the race card.
 

[Derka 5932]

 

[ztejas 43262]

42 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Rank em

1.Luka

2.Irving

3.Ant

4.Tatum

5.Brown

 

If Irving is better than Tatum, it's already over.

Luka

ANT

Tatum

Kyrie

JB

[aggie08 21414]

17 minutes ago, definitely not derka said:

 

Heroes.

[Bozo_Casanova 26271]

5 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

And he's not even close to their best player like Hal, Jimmy Butler, & Donovan Mitchell are...and getting to avoid Mil since Giannis was out.  C'mon man.   You're stanning for KP over here like every Dallas fan doesn't know who he is.  

I think Boston fans only watch Boston games and have no real awareness of either the western conference or the world outside of Boston Celtic basketball. It’s as if they think KP was building latrines in Africa for a couple years after his time with the Knicks and came back to sign with the Wizards.

Edited May 31 by Bozo_Casanova

[Message Board User 12389]

Cockroaches.

 

[aggie08 21414]

Fake. He played :44 of Grand Theft Auto and didn't run over a single hooker. Uh huh, sure.

[Pam Cummings 9560]

2 hours ago, Message Board User said:

Boston sports:

Come for the history, stay for the racism.

 

 

Wonder what he's saying....

Edited May 31 by Pam Cummings

[Michael Knight 12878]

Its not like Dallas has faced any adversity in their playoff run, they played a young inexperience team in OKC, the walking corpse of former stars in the Clippers and maybe the dumbest most immature team in the league who couldn't be bothered to show up after accomplishing all their goals.

Edited May 31 by Michael Knight

[Mittens 8148]

11 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Wonder what he's saying....

[Trey3216 15325]

5 hours ago, Vertuzzi said:

Our hate for Kyrie has nothing to do with race, you absolute imbecile. It has everything to do with the fact that he’s a shitty teammate that quit on the team and the city. You can take the actions of a few idiot Boston fans and try to generalize us all you want, but you know, as much as I do, that he’s a snake that only cares for himself. 

Quit on the city!  lol.  Like you were somehow involved.  Jesus man.  

[Trey3216 15325]

4 hours ago, Mittens said:

Kyrie got on a mic at center court and told the fans he was coming back, then didn't.  When he returned to the Garden, he made a show of going to center court and stomping on the logo.  Every bit of hate Irving gets he brings upon himself, especially when it comes to what he gets from Boston fans.  That's all well documented, but by all means, do play the race card.
 

Boo fucking hoo.  You need your cranberry juice? 

Edited June 1 by Trey3216

[Trey3216 15325]

3 hours ago, Pam Cummings said:

 

 

Wonder what he's saying....