Jump to content

NBA playoffs

Stuart D

By Stuart D
in General Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

Stuart D Community Regular

Stuart D

Posted
Posted

After reading the LeBron scores 50k thread I started watching NBA for the first time and man it’s awesome!!

 

Knicks vs Pacers

Game 1 was incredible to watch, but crushing for the Knicks. Anyone think they can come back from 0-2 down?  I want to see them win, but gee they looked tired at the end of game 2.

 

OKC vs Timberwolves

Seems like OKC will just steamroll through, right?

Parsad Grand Master

Parsad

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Stuart D said:

After reading the LeBron scores 50k thread I started watching NBA for the first time and man it’s awesome!!

 

Knicks vs Pacers

Game 1 was incredible to watch, but crushing for the Knicks. Anyone think they can come back from 0-2 down?  I want to see them win, but gee they looked tired at the end of game 2.

 

OKC vs Timberwolves

Seems like OKC will just steamroll through, right?

 

Not impossible, but unlikely that the Knicks come back and take this.  I think you are looking at a Pacers/OKC final. 

 

I agree...great basketball in the playoffs this year.  A lot of wonderful stars that have taken over the league and it only bodes well for the NBA for the next decade.

 

Also very proud of the Canadian National development program that has helped make many Canadian players some of the up and coming young talent dominating the NBA...SGA being one of them! 

 

Cheers!

dealraker Veteran

dealraker

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

Not impossible, but unlikely that the Knicks come back and take this.  I think you are looking at a Pacers/OKC final. 

 

I agree...great basketball in the playoffs this year.  A lot of wonderful stars that have taken over the league and it only bodes well for the NBA for the next decade.

 

Also very proud of the Canadian National development program that has helped make many Canadian players some of the up and coming young talent dominating the NBA...SGA being one of them! 

 

Cheers!

Yes!

  • 2 weeks later...
Rainier Community Regular

Rainier

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

I really hope the Pacers can pull it off. My brain tells me to get ready for OKC to steam roll the Pacers, but I will still hold out hope.


To me, the most interesting part of this situation is that all-time choker Paul George is basically the lynchpin for both of these teams as they are currently constructed. Him stabbing the Pacers in the back allowed the Pacers to get the pieces to obtain Haliburton and the draft capital to get Nembhard and others. Him being a dodo and declining a $200M extension in Indiana and then signing a $137M extension in OKC (really stupid on his part) allowed OKC to trade him to the Clippers in what has to be top three dumbest trades of all time: perennial choker Paul George traded to the Clippers for SGA the foul merchant and a bunch of picks that ended up building this ridiculous roster they have now. The mechanics of all of that stuff and what Presti was able to get for OKC in that trade is unbelievable. Always a good idea to bet against Paul George.

Edited by Rainier
Viking Grand Master

Viking

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Rainier said:

 

I really hope the Pacers can pull it off. My brain tells me to get ready for OKC to steam roll the Pacers, but I will still hold out hope.


To me, the most interesting part of this situation is that all-time choker Paul George is basically the lynchpin for both of these teams as they are currently constructed. Him stabbing the Pacers in the back allowed the Pacers to get the pieces to obtain Haliburton and the draft capital to get Nembhard and others. Him being a dodo and declining a $200M extension in Indiana and then signing a $137M extension in OKC (really stupid on his part) allowed OKC to trade him to the Clippers in what has to be top three dumbest trades of all time: perennial choker Paul George traded to the Clippers for SGA the foul merchant and a bunch of picks that ended up building this ridiculous roster they have now. The mechanics of all of that stuff and what Presti was able to get for OKC in that trade is unbelievable. Always a good idea to bet against Paul George.


I am cheering for OKC. It would be great to see them win it all. I would love to see Presti rewarded for what he was able to do after losing Durant. The crazy thing is OKC is loaded with young talent and draft picks… If they win this year they might be able to become as close to a dynasty as we will see in the NBA. I think the challenge for OKC might be how young/inexperienced they are. Indiana is a good team. Nice to see them get through in the East. 

Rainier Community Regular

Rainier

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Viking said:


I am cheering for OKC. It would be great to see them win it all. I would love to see Presti rewarded for what he was able to do after losing Durant. The crazy thing is OKC is loaded with young talent and draft picks… If they win this year they might be able to become as close to a dynasty as we will see in the NBA. I think the challenge for OKC might be how young/inexperienced they are. Indiana is a good team. Nice to see them get through in the East. 

I agree on Presti. He’s the best GM in the sport and seems to be a few steps ahead of everything at all times…selecting coaches, draft talent evaluation, talent development, salary cap changes/nuance, always winning trades. He’s kind of in a class by himself IMO. And you’re right, I don’t remember a team this well positioned with a current roster loaded with talent and a superstar, plus an extreme amount of draft capital. He’s a basketball business savant, at least compared to his competition. 

 

I have a hard time liking the OKC team though.


They’re the latest example of a PR campaign that focuses on making sure the NBA media praises their defense, which allows them to play borderline dirty defense at all times with a much lower ratio of foul calls than they deserve. Any other team that tries the same stuff they get away with is staring down the barrel of foul outs and flagrant calls. Very unfair advantage. Golden State had this same advantage at their height, but not nearly as annoying because Steph (fun to watch) was not SGA (see below)

 

Ironically, their star player, SGA, is the league’s preeminent foul merchant (now that Embiid is hurt). His entire offensive strategy is designed around unusual footwork and balance in order to get a defender to commit to jumping, so that he can then lean into them on purpose to draw a foul. It’s everything that is making me dislike the NBA boiled into one player. Harden did it before him. Embiid did it before him. But he has gone so far that the announcers (Doris Burke in particular) are calling him “foul merchant” and “free throw merchant” on national broadcasts during the playoffs. It’s a strategy that works, but I hate watching it.

 

I was very happy when Dallas beat them in the conference finals last year. And they’ve only gotten worse with the dirty defense and SGA’s foul baiting. So, I’d love to see the Pacers win. Seems unlikely, but we will see.

Edited by Rainier
Rainier Community Regular

Rainier

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Viking said:


I am cheering for OKC. It would be great to see them win it all. I would love to see Presti rewarded for what he was able to do after losing Durant. The crazy thing is OKC is loaded with young talent and draft picks… If they win this year they might be able to become as close to a dynasty as we will see in the NBA. I think the challenge for OKC might be how young/inexperienced they are. Indiana is a good team. Nice to see them get through in the East. 

Also on Presti, I went down a a rabbit hole watching interviews and stuff regarding the Paul George to the clippers trade (literally up there with other all time fleecings in sports history - Nets giving Boston Tatum/Brown and picks, Herschel Walker, Luka to the lakers, etc).

 

Anyway, I was watching a clip of Presti talking and he mentioned some rap song lyric that always stuck with him: “Scared money don’t make none.” I don’t know what song or artist it is, but that’s pretty good investing advice. Especially for those of us who might tend to be overly cautious when investing (like me).

schin Mentor

schin

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Viking said:


I am cheering for OKC. It would be great to see them win it all. I would love to see Presti rewarded for what he was able to do after losing Durant. The crazy thing is OKC is loaded with young talent and draft picks… If they win this year they might be able to become as close to a dynasty as we will see in the NBA. I think the challenge for OKC might be how young/inexperienced they are. Indiana is a good team. Nice to see them get through in the East. 

 

 

 

Rainier Community Regular

Rainier

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don’t know if it’s that or not. 

17 minutes ago, schin said:

 

 

 


Apparently it was actually from a song by A Tribe Called Quest.

 

“I’m a big A Tribe Called Quest fan. There is a line that basically says, ‘Scared money don’t make none.’ And I think that’s the case. We wouldn’t have traded for Paul George if we didn’t believe in our community, our organizational values, our ownership. If you expect Paul George or any player to have any confidence in you as an organization, you have to demonstrate it yourself. Scared money don’t make none,” 

 

 

That trade took some serious fortitude, because Paul George, being a dodo, had spent a lot of time making it known to the media that he only wanted to play for the Lakers and in the process completely tanked his trade value for the Pacers. So, there was no guarantee that he would be more than a one year rental for whoever traded for him (unless it was the Lakers who traded for him). But Presti comes in. Scoops him up for what seemed like pennies on the dollar, knowing that he would play his best possible basketball because it was a contract year (regardless of whether he re-signed with OKC or went to the lakers, he still needed to maximize his contract value that year). And after he got him there, he convinced him to sign the extension with OKC that he wouldn’t sign with Indiana (and for less money than he would have got in Indiana). Then Kawhi and Paul George collude to put OKC and the Clippers over a barrel in order to force a trade of PG to the Clippers. But Presti plays hard ball (knowing that Balmer and the clippers have no choice if they want Kawhi), and extract 100 pounds of flesh in exchange for PG. Absolute mastermind.

 

I couldn’t find the clip of him talking, but it’s quoted here:

 

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/sam-presti-referenced-tribe-called-quest-lyric-regarding-paul-georges-acquisition

Edited by Rainier
Parsad Grand Master

Parsad

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Rainier said:

I agree on Presti. He’s the best GM in the sport and seems to be a few steps ahead of everything at all times…selecting coaches, draft talent evaluation, talent development, salary cap changes/nuance, always winning trades. He’s kind of in a class by himself IMO. And you’re right, I don’t remember a team this well positioned with a current roster loaded with talent and a superstar, plus an extreme amount of draft capital. He’s a basketball business savant, at least compared to his competition. 

 

I have a hard time liking the OKC team though.


They’re the latest example of a PR campaign that focuses on making sure the NBA media praises their defense, which allows them to play borderline dirty defense at all times with a much lower ratio of foul calls than they deserve. Any other team that tries the same stuff they get away with is staring down the barrel of foul outs and flagrant calls. Very unfair advantage. Golden State had this same advantage at their height, but not nearly as annoying because Steph (fun to watch) was not SGA (see below)

 

Ironically, their star player, SGA, is the league’s preeminent foul merchant (now that Embiid is hurt). His entire offensive strategy is designed around unusual footwork and balance in order to get a defender to commit to jumping, so that he can then lean into them on purpose to draw a foul. It’s everything that is making me dislike the NBA boiled into one player. Harden did it before him. Embiid did it before him. But he has gone so far that the announcers (Doris Burke in particular) are calling him “foul merchant” and “free throw merchant” on national broadcasts during the playoffs. It’s a strategy that works, but I hate watching it.

 

I was very happy when Dallas beat them in the conference finals last year. And they’ve only gotten worse with the dirty defense and SGA’s foul baiting. So, I’d love to see the Pacers win. Seems unlikely, but we will see.

 

I agree with you on everything except that Golden State had a dirty defence.  Yeah, maybe Draymond at moments, but the team overall was never dirty.

 

Also, Steph is arguably one of the best players to ever play the game...he's also the player with the lowest number of annual free throws with a 25+ points game average in a season in history.  Not only is he the lowest...he's like 3 of the top 5.  He gets fouled at least 10-15 times a game, but ends up at the line maybe 3-5 times.   

 

Cheers!

Rainier Community Regular

Rainier

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

I agree with you on everything except that Golden State had a dirty defence.  Yeah, maybe Draymond at moments, but the team overall was never dirty.

 

Also, Steph is arguably one of the best players to ever play the game...he's also the player with the lowest number of annual free throws with a 25+ points game average in a season in history.  Not only is he the lowest...he's like 3 of the top 5.  He gets fouled at least 10-15 times a game, but ends up at the line maybe 3-5 times.   

 

Cheers!

Completely agree on Steph. I have no criticism of him and he’s top 10 all time for me and up there as one of the most fun players to watch. Also seems really likable off the court. Not saying he’s dirty or ever has been.

 

However…you likely have to go back to the Bad Boy Pistons to find a dirtier combination of Zaza, Bogut, and Draymond. As people look back on those teams (before Durant got there), the focus is likely going to be only on Steph and Klay and the revolutionary three point shooting and spacing. But they also had a top 3 defense and a lot of the reason was because of those three guys being maniacs.

 

A few examples:

 

Zaza was known for trying to injure guys and he literally altered the course of history for the NBA in two ways through one of his dirty plays.  By intentionally injuring Kawhi by forcing Kawhi to land on Zaza’s foot, he probably cut Kawhi’s career down by 40-50%. At his peak, Kawhi was arguably the best player in the league (the best defender and a top 3 scorer). The parallel universe in which he doesn’t get injured is interesting to think about. Steph, Klay, KD, Harden, Lebron, Giannis…all of these guys likely have at least slightly different legacies if an uninjured Kawhi-led Spurs is on the table. The second aspect is that we have the Zaza rule now where you can’t intentionally try to maim guys by putting your foot under their jumpshot. So, one of the Golden State players literally has a dirty play rule named after him.

Draymond got the nickname “The Penis Hunter” for constantly punching guys in the groin. 
 

A core component of Bogut’s game (and a big reason for why the Splash Brothers system worked early on) was Bogut’s linebacker-like screens. He would try to injure guys by setting illegal and malicious screens constantly. The beauty of this, for the warriors, is that it manufactures space for the perimeter shooters because there’s a defender laying on the floor seeing stars instead of fighting around a screen to contest the three point attempt. He’s even admitted this:
 

“One thing that was crazy about that run was the s*** that I used to get away with screening, man it was all time.I knew if I was in Milwaukee and I set that I’d foul out in the first quarter, but playing in Golden State, when they started to become that underdog team that was building up, I knew once Steph or Klay got hot, the refs would be in the moment as well.I could literally clothesline someone off the next pindown, I know Klay just hit 3 in a row, the crowd’s on their feet as he’s getting his 4th and I could punch somebody in the face on a screen, knock em out and they wouldn’t call it. Klay would get his 4th 3, and even the refs would go ‘Wow’ (and ignore it), it was crazy.Then I get traded to Dallas to set those same screens and I’d get 3 fouls in the first quarter, It was just crazy with the stuff I used to get away with there.”

Edited by Rainier
Parsad Grand Master

Parsad

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Rainier said:

 

A core component of Bogut’s game (and a big reason for why the Splash Brothers system worked early on) was Bogut’s linebacker-like screens. He would try to injure guys by setting illegal and malicious screens constantly. The beauty of this, for the warriors, is that it manufactures space for the perimeter shooters because there’s a defender laying on the floor seeing stars instead of fighting around a screen to contest the three point attempt. He’s even admitted this:
 

“One thing that was crazy about that run was the s*** that I used to get away with screening, man it was all time.I knew if I was in Milwaukee and I set that I’d foul out in the first quarter, but playing in Golden State, when they started to become that underdog team that was building up, I knew once Steph or Klay got hot, the refs would be in the moment as well.I could literally clothesline someone off the next pindown, I know Klay just hit 3 in a row, the crowd’s on their feet as he’s getting his 4th and I could punch somebody in the face on a screen, knock em out and they wouldn’t call it. Klay would get his 4th 3, and even the refs would go ‘Wow’ (and ignore it), it was crazy.Then I get traded to Dallas to set those same screens and I’d get 3 fouls in the first quarter, It was just crazy with the stuff I used to get away with there.”

 

C'mon, those screens were around for decades.  How many guys did Shaq flatten?  So many other centers do the same.  Cheers!

 

 

 

LC Grand Master

LC

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

He played like 2 years for GS...he played for like 7 or 8 teams!  And a lot of guys were doing those closeouts with the foot entering the landing space.  Cheers!

 

I remember absolutely hating Bruce Bowen doing it to Kobe during a lot of those Lakers-Spurs clashes.

Parsad Grand Master

Parsad

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, LC said:

 

I remember absolutely hating Bruce Bowen doing it to Kobe during a lot of those Lakers-Spurs clashes.

 

Yup!  Kobe was just so strong that usually the other player would get hurt. 

 

Does anyone ever remember when Kobe went flying up for a dunk while guarded or being blocked, and he was the one who fell down?  Never.  Especially during his "Mamba" era...he had gotten so strong in his upper body that he would knock over guys way bigger and heavier than him.  Cheers! 

Rainier Community Regular

Rainier

Posted
Posted (edited)

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6404136/2025/06/05/sam-presti-thunder-nba-finals-paul-george/

 

Article on Presti’s construction of the current team plus their future prospects with the pile of picks he has stashed. Also interesting comments from the coach and how he was basically homegrown by Presti as well. The culture that Presti has built is definitely the #1 talent incubator in pro basketball right now. Basically took the Spurs model and replicated it.

 

It is NY Times, but for whatever reason, it is not behind a paywall.

Edited by Rainier
gfp Grand Master

gfp

Posted
Posted

I hope it lasts to game 6!  I'm going to be in Indianapolis on the 19th and would love to see a championship game

roundball100 Contributor

roundball100

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, buylowersellhigh said:

Couldn't believe it when I woke up this morning.  Went to bed in the 4Q with OKC up by 11, thinking it was over.  They have won on the road Game 1 every single time!

Hard to lose a game that you are ahead in for all but 0.3 seconds.  But don't count OKC out. Long live SGA!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...