NBA Playoffs 2021

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Havoc
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NBA Playoffs 2021

Post by Havoc » Fri Jun 04, 2021 5:25 am

Go Mavericks!!!!!!!!!!!

What a series so far.

I have never seen a player like Luka Doncic. He's still only 22.

He's huge. He's Gronk. Luka is a 6'7 point guard listed at 230 but I think he's more like 250 now. Wide body. Uses that big wide body as a shield. Ball handling skills as great as anyone ever to play the game. Rare passing ability with elite vision can rifle passes with extreme high level velocity.

Unguardable one on one.

Last game Rondo guarding him, Doncic dribbles around him, then uses his body as a shield keeping Rondo behind him watching him with eyes in the back of his head while at the same time with the eyes in front of his head watching defenders at the rim. Doncic gets off the uncontested floater in the lane. Score.

As great and talented as he is, there are 2 areas he needs to improve; closing out games and free throw shooting which impacts closing out games. He's not a great closer yet but he is still only 22 years old.

Anyway, no team has won a home game in this series. Mavs up 3-2. Mavs home for game 6.

WTF Kristaps Porzingis??? I have defended you all year. Playing like merely a role player this series. It appears to me, the very thin framed Porzingis is uncomfortable playing against the physical Clippers. I do not know if it's going to change at this point. If the Mavs get past the Clippers, maybe Porzingis will play like the star he is paid to be vs the Jazz.

I love the game of basketball. It's such a great game. 7 game playoff series are often fascinating with twists and turns and coaching adjustments and players coming out of seeming nowhere to make impact on a series which brings me to...

The Mavs starting lineup with Porzingis and Kleber were getting destroyed by the Clippers on the defensive end. Clippers too physical on offense and getting to the rim at will. Game 4 Carlisle put in Bobon who was not in the rotation, a giant man playing in the wrong era. Bobon changed the game when on the court. Bobon is so huge, he's a rim protector merely by standing in front of the rim. He towers above everyone else on the court. Clippers do not like it when he is in the game. Mavs lost game 4 but I saw something with Bobon, told friends he has to play vs Clippers and don't be surprised if we see him starting game 5. Boban started game 5. Not only that, Powell got into the rotation and Powell is a bigger body than Kleber. Bobon and Powell give the Mavericks size and muscle inside which has changed this series and if they go on to close out this series, a playoff changer for the Mavericks.

Can't wait for game 6!!!!!!!!!! Going to be great sports theater!!!!


Throw. The. Football. On. First. Down.

LakecrestSteeler
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Post by LakecrestSteeler » Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:45 am

Did the NBA office pool…made my head hurt picking the play-in games. Felt like I was doing taxes putting that thing together.

Doncic appears to be a man among boys:

https://youtu.be/EJpzD-QkcV4

Looks to be a legend in the making. 76% free throw won’t cut it in close games as you point out. If the games are close they will employ Hack-a-Shaq on him. Will have to tune-in on him.

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COR-TEN
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Post by COR-TEN » Fri Jun 04, 2021 5:23 pm

I dunno. Not really that impressed. Not much in the paint, accurate, has a smooth delivery, and is smart.

Yeah, Ok. Is it just me or is he slow and lacking in quick burst speed?

But I don't know shit about basketball.
Arguing with idiots is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how good you are, the pigeon is going to shit on the board and strut around like it won anyway.

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Pabst
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Post by Pabst » Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:09 pm

LakecrestSteeler wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:45 am
Did the NBA office pool…made my head hurt picking the play-in games. Felt like I was doing taxes putting that thing together.

Doncic appears to be a man among boys:

https://youtu.be/EJpzD-QkcV4

Looks to be a legend in the making. 76% free throw won’t cut it in close games as you point out. If the games are close they will employ Hack-a-Shaq on him. Will have to tune-in on him.
Whoa now. 76% from the line is significantly better than anything Shaq ever put up. And for reference, LeBron is 73% in his career.

LakecrestSteeler
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Post by LakecrestSteeler » Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:33 am

Pabst wrote:
Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:09 pm
LakecrestSteeler wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:45 am
Did the NBA office pool…made my head hurt picking the play-in games. Felt like I was doing taxes putting that thing together.

Doncic appears to be a man among boys:

https://youtu.be/EJpzD-QkcV4

Looks to be a legend in the making. 76% free throw won’t cut it in close games as you point out. If the games are close they will employ Hack-a-Shaq on him. Will have to tune-in on him.
Whoa now. 76% from the line is significantly better than anything Shaq ever put up. And for reference, LeBron is 73% in his career.
I did not realize Shaq was that bad. 5 out of 10 versus nearly 8 out of 10 is a big difference. Assumed he was 60 ish. However, looking further Doncic was 76% last year, 73% this year, but 52.9% in the playoffs this year 27 for 51…that is Hack-a-Shaq level.

Speaking of bad free throws;

Wilt the Stilt
https://youtu.be/V8fn1IaTMQM

Obviously too much sex!

My old Junior High basketball coach said he was so bad at the line, that he remembered him dunking from the free throw line instead of shooting at the War Memorial in Johnstown. Sounds suspiciously fishy, but this guy was a pretty serious no nonsense coach and teacher. Read an article that says it is not really documented, that he had practiced it. Then they apparently changed the rules and banned it before he got to college…Tex Winters apparently feared Russell and Chamberlain and wrote a letter to the committee.

www.inquirer.com/philly/sports/sixers/W ... ansas.html

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Ice
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Post by Ice » Tue Jun 15, 2021 11:08 am

Hack a Shaq was definitely a thing for a reason... failed more often than not because it ended the opponent up with no bigs to defend the basket in the 4th quarter when it was Kobe time, but definitely a thing.

This year's playoffs are just wide open, in both conferences. I think we're going to see an oddball champ this season. TONS of respect for what CP3 continues to do as a leader of men on every team he goes to.

You know it's a weird spring sports playoff season when I'm rooting for the Phoenix Suns and the Vegas Golden Knights as a Pens/Lakers fan.
Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile...

Havoc
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Post by Havoc » Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:08 pm

COR-TEN wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 5:23 pm
I dunno. Not really that impressed. Not much in the paint, accurate, has a smooth delivery, and is smart.

Yeah, Ok. Is it just me or is he slow and lacking in quick burst speed?

But I don't know shit about basketball.
Well, he's putting up historic numbers, numbers that only Lebron has put up at the same age. Yeah, all numbers are inflated in today's league...

It's a ball sport, not track and field. He's a great athlete. Plenty quick enough.

He generally gets in the paint anytime he wants, uses his size to his advantage in there (along with today's rules). He has the physicality to absorb contact and finish the shot.

He's not a natural shooter, he's a natural playmaker. Needs to improve his accuracy from the perimeter and the free throw line. He's accurate around the rim, around the lane, mid range.

If he doesn't become a great closer which will require improving his perimeter shooting & free throw shooting plus his decision making late in games and generally get smarter about when to get his teammates involved, he will have a career like Westbrook, Iverson, Harden and I suspect Oscar Robertson who was before my time but who's stat stuffing didn't get rings.
Throw. The. Football. On. First. Down.

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Post by Steeler Owl » Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:51 am

When it comes to absurd sports management few examples if any can top the 76ers signing Ben Simmons for 135 mil over four years and then dedicating this offseason to teaching him how to shoot a free throw something most ballers learn by 7th grade. In the meantime Philly is stuck with a 30+ mil a year guy who does not want to touch the ball at crunch time. Lol.

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