I’d not change a thing about the Celts lineup. They are good for a title run as is. Just see how to make those salaries sustainable.
NBA Playoffs Thread
- Thread starter dukiejay
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Think they’d have a hard time beating Lebron next round right now. Now with Kyrie and Gordon, maybe.
I keep waiting for LeBron just to get tired and slow down. Seems he gets better with age. May be the most athletic physical specimen we've ever laid eyes on.
I am hardly a Lebron Guy, far from it but I’ll tell you what, he is absolutely unreal. Top two player of all time with MJ and honestly i go back and forth with Who is number one.
Meaningless discussion if you ask me, Luke Maye is only one or two years away from pushing those scrubs to #s 2 and 3. MJ isn't even the best Tarheel of all time. Simply amazing what Roy does with his 4 year guys. I mean, just check out these results.
Off topic, but Philly did Jah wrong. Maybe it’s karma that Jay Smooth has been doing work against the 76ers.
I think Jah has done some wrong, too. It also doesn’t help that he refuses to defend and can’t rebound at a high level. Couple that with the diminishing role that true back-to-the-basket centers face in a changing game, and that’s why he was exiled from Philly and performed poorly in Brooklyn, too.
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Yeah it’s really unfortunate, but Jah entered the league in a time when it wants its bigs to defend, rebound, and run the floor. Obviously none of these are strengths for him. There is still a place in some rotations for bigs that strugggle defensively, but only if they have another big strength other than scoring. Guys like Kanter and Greg Monroe aren’t great defenders, but at least they’re good rebounders in addition to their back to the basket games. Unless Jah can make some drastic changes quick, he’s going to continue to struggle unfortunately.
I agree with Jah needs to be held accountable for part of him not playing a lot. He did have a heck of a rookie year and then fell off after that for some reason.
Cavs over Celtics in 4 followed by loads of “what would have happened with Kyrie/Hayward” comments.
Cavs in 6. Brad Stevens is too good of a coach and will coach circles around Lue to not think his team at least gets 2 ws.
I’ll take that bet. I think the Celtics are too well coached to get swept. I think they take a game or two at home but it’ll be Lebron in 6. How insane is it that Lebron will be in 8 straight finals. EIGHT. That is absolutely incredible.
I'm not sure how a Celts - Cavs series will go. The Celts can stop everybody else, cold. And they seem pragmatic enough to not worry about LeBron lighting them up. LBJ's team has to help, some. The Celts might make that difficult.
Yup. In the NBA bigs have to Defend, Rebound, and Score. In that order. If the scoring is multi-faceted, great. Back to the basket.....Not so much. I mean, it helps, but it isn't highly prized.
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But to make rosters, a big has to do at least 2 of those 3 things well.
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Jah is too slow/lazy to defend. And especially defend the rim. But he could rebound. That is a function of effort. He could easily turn into a guy that gets 12 and 8 a night, and that is a player who makes upwards of 50-60 million dollars over a 10 or so year career.
The "Other Cavs" have played significantly better starting with Game 7 against the Pacers. Love has found his shot again, and their rotations are better. Getting TT and his energy back in consistently was big it seems. Guys like Nance and Hood were new toys and Lue and company wanted to see what they had, but those guys weren't really doing anything for them. I actually don't see what Clarkson does for them, but he still gets minutes, but they are down from the regular season as they should be. Those things will have to continue to beat the C's, and I agree that that is a series that will go 6 or 7.
Event he haters need to make sure they watch Lebron, because guys like that don't come around very often.
Event he haters need to make sure they watch Lebron, because guys like that don't come around very often.
i thought i read somewhere where the Nets wanted to bring him around slowly this season, get in better shape, etc and be ready for next season?
Not a good look for Rodney:
https://www.12up.com/posts/6054263-...mmates-after-refusing-to-play-in-garbage-time
https://www.12up.com/posts/6054263-...mmates-after-refusing-to-play-in-garbage-time
Shame on him if that did in fact happen. He was playing terribly and deserved no more time than he received.
Was wondering why Rodney didn’t play at the end, I’m assuming this was all due to the fact that he got cut out of the rotation during the game. Ty Lue went with Cedi Osman over Rodney.
As a Cavs fan, I was so happy to get Rodney, part due to the obvious Duke connection, but I also thought he was underrated and would help. Not saying I was wrong...but Rodney is the type of guy who needs the ball to be effective, that isn’t a needed commodity on Lebrons team.
As a Cavs fan, I was so happy to get Rodney, part due to the obvious Duke connection, but I also thought he was underrated and would help. Not saying I was wrong...but Rodney is the type of guy who needs the ball to be effective, that isn’t a needed commodity on Lebrons team.
They did. Then he started getting more minutes and still wasnt playing well. Then he was back to getting no minutes again.
Seems to be 100% legit. Very disappointing. Hopefully it is a teaching/learning moment for Rodney.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ogize-cleveland-cavaliers-refusing-enter-game
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ogize-cleveland-cavaliers-refusing-enter-game
Tatum continues to play well. Great interview after the game and should be good series against Cleveland. I hate it for Redick but the 76ers are not ready to contend yet
I’m not sure if he was being serious or not but on Inside the NBA Shaq just asked who Dre Bledsoe was and said that he’d never heard of him lol
I love this Celtics team, but its feeling like they have reached their ceiling. No one in the East has a chance in the finals anyways. The only possibility I am willing to consider would be Houston outslugging GS in 7 games then losing Harden to injury against the Cavs. I don’t see any other scenarios that don’t result in Houston or GS ending the season with a parade
You are most likely correct. As a Cavs fan, I am really pulling for Houston, can't stand the Warriors (sorry Quinn.)
I don't even think Harden would have to get hurt though. The Cavs best bet is to just play Houston and hope that the lights are too bright for Harden and CP3. CP3 has obviously never been this far before, and Harden still needs more solid performances to get past the "this guy isn't great in the playoffs" narrative.
One thing going for Houston, they have a lot of long-athletic-physical type guys who could at least challenge Lebron. PJ Tucker, Ariza, and Mbah-Moute all have the tools to compete with Lebron, no one is shutting him down though.
Jah is going to get a real wake up call this offseason when the phone doesn't ring much as an unrestricted free agent. He may get a nice stint in the G-League that could reignite a passion and realization he isn't going to be a 20 shot a night guy, he's going to need to get dirty to get a contract. Hope he gets the message, want him to be the dominant big we all know he can be.
If LeBron makes the finals again that will be extremely impressive. Finals appearances should certainly count legacy wise. Clearly championships are better but that is a level of sustained excellence no one but Jordan and Russell (and Robert Horry ha) have bettered. I love Joe Montana, but Brady has been to far more Super Bowls. Sure 4 for 4 is great, but what about all those other seasons he didn't make the Super Bowl? I am not a LeBron or Brady fanboy, but know greatness when I see it.
Jayson Tatum in the Conference finals! Tall task to overcome Lebron, but hey the Cavs have to play the Celtics too!
If Boston can keep the games close, I think Brad Stevens having a HUGE mismatch with Ty Lue in late game organization could be the difference in the series, much like with the 76ers. Unlike the Pacers and Raptors, when Stevens draws up a defense to ensure Lebron doesn't get the ball on a game deciding possession it will more than likely actually happen.
Of-course it is impressive. The NBA has a major Conference imbalance though. Since Jordan retired in the late 90s (20 years) there were only a couple seasons where the Eastern Conference measured up to the West.
If the Rockets fall to the Warriors - Why should I be more impressed with the Cavs season than Houston if they both meet the same faith? Especially since the Jazz might be superior than any team in the East including Cleveland.
That's why we don't celebrate the first loser.