2021-22 NBA Thread

[DoctorWhom]

This is going to be another grueling series. Warriors sure aren't going to go down easy. 

 

But for all the people clamoring about "Finals Experience" and how much the warriors have (like that means anything) Celtics certainly shut them up. 

If anything, it ended up being the opposite. Guys like Derrick White, Al Horford & Jaylen Brown came out like they were HUNGRY. 

Also for the record, that's now 2 undefeated home playoff streaks the Celtics have broken. (Miami & the Warriors)  

 

I'm still someone surprised people are on GS side, ya'll really want the New England Patriots of the NBA to win again? When they already have nothing left to prove? 

Like, I don't get the Finals MVP argument for Curry. He's already top 10, if not top 5 in the league, with 3 rings. It really does nothing for him. 

 

Celtics need this to justify the big 3 trade with the Nets. Making the Finals helps. But winning would stop any ridicule that they wasted one of the biggest trade heists in NBA history. 

[FinsUp1214]

I’ll never count Golden State out until the series is over, and it’s only one game, but for Boston to win like that despite Tatum scoring only 12? The Warriors have thier hands full. Boston really, really impressed me.
 

Now that being said, as much as they impressed me, let’s be careful with the “inexperience doesn’t matter” points for now; inexperience can show itself in later stages of a series, so let’s see where this goes as the games go on. But yes, Boston does look very hungry and at the very least looks completely unafraid. They really landed some haymaker punches last night and I can certainly see a scenario where they withstand whatever the Warriors throw at them and win it. 

[Digby]

1 hour ago, FinsUp1214 said:

I’ll never count Golden State out until the series is over, and it’s only one game, but for Boston to win like that despite Tatum scoring only 12? The Warriors have thier hands full. Boston really, really impressed me.

 

His shooting was obviously off, but his playmaking for others' shots was as good as I've ever seen it. For a team whose biggest flaw is getting rattled and losing their way, they kept their poise despite lots of reasons they shouldn't have and figured out other ways to win. Championship mentality! 

[tBBP]

On 6/2/2022 at 5:28 AM, DoctorWhom said:

You know, I see people trying to knock the Celtics, acting like the Warriors are the first great team they're going to be playing against (ignoring they had the hardest path in the East). Because Butler & Giannis were the only main threats on their respective teams. (sweeping KD & Kyrie counts for nothing I guess)

 

And yeah, the Warriors are the deepest team  they have faced, but it's not like they had the hard road like the Celtics. 

You could argue Celtics are also going to be the toughest team they will have played. Closest would probably be the Grizzlies, and that series likely goes 7 if JA didn't get hurt. 

They also got lucky that Phoenix forgot that you need to win 4 games & not 3 in the playoffs. 

 

If Memphis showed more mental maturity and had another reliable closer besides Ja--and if Steven Adams somehow chose to become more of an offensive force--that series would have been over in five, and it's likely we'd be seeing Memphis vs Boston right now. That would be a streetfight of a series. But alas, here we are.

 

Speaking of which, my gut tells me Boston wins this in 6...and I'm only giving Golden State one more game for the benefit of the doubt. Boston has that certain intangible going for them right now, plus they're the underdog, and that seems to be feeding them as really the pressure is on GS not just to win, but to win going away. I don't see that happening here...and those are my two rusted Lincolns to say about it.

[Alex Houston]

I guess I'm always kind of surprised that we as fan seem so shocked and awed when a series inevitably goes to six or seven games. Perhaps this is more a representation of how little faith Boston was given, but this a Finals match between two of the best teams in the league. It seemed more pre-determined to me that this was going to be split 2-2 after four games, with the overall better team finding a way to win the best of three there at the end. 

[FinsUp1214]

Quin Snyder has resigned:

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34042961/utah-jazz-coach-quin-snyder-resigns-eight-seasons
 

I’m not terribly surprised, as it seemed the potential was high that he’d leave ever since they lost to Dallas. 
 

I’m really torn on Snyder: he’s absolutely the second greatest coach in Jazz history behind Jerry Sloan, and he deserves a lot of credit for keeping the Jazz competitive in the West for a long period of time. That said, his undoing was the obvious fact that he would completely crumble in the playoffs and seemed to lack the ability or foresight to make crucial adjustments when it mattered most. The writing was on the wall that the Jazz under him had peaked.

 

I respect Snyder a lot, but am really excited about the potential of a new philosophy and direction for the Jazz. I’m very curious to see what kind of style and approach the new coach, whoever that is, will bring to the team and if it shakes things up a bit. The Jazz need a shakeup in the worst way, and I’ve never been more ready for it as a fan.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

If we're cataloguing reasons people don't like the Warriors:

 

 

 

[Digby]

Draymond won’t get a second tech unless he knifes somebody. ESPN’s ref expert even said as much.

[TalktoChuck]

This may be just me having rose colored nostalgia glasses, but this is the worst NBA playoffs I can remember. It's been nothing but players giving 50% effort and 30 point blowouts every game.

[DoctorWhom]

Just now, TalktoChuck said:

This may be just me having rose colored nostalgia glasses, but this is the worst NBA playoffs I can remember. It's been nothing but players giving 50% effort and 30 point blowouts every game.

Still better than 2015-2018 when everyone was just waiting for the inevitable Warriors - Cavs Finals on the first day of the season. 

[TalktoChuck]

4 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Still better than 2015-2018 when everyone was just waiting for the inevitable Warriors - Cavs Finals on the first day of the season. 

 

I disagree. The playoffs before the finals were probably just as bad as this year, but those finals were 10x more entertaining than this one.

The NBA should be embarrassed by the last 3 minutes of this game. That was brutal to watch.

[DoctorWhom]

I don't understand what could be fun about knowing the Finals matchup before the season even starts. 

2016 was the only somewhat interesting one because of the Cavs upset. Outside of that, the league was boring as hell for those years. No reason to watch the playoffs or even regulars season games. 

 

This may be far from the best Finals matchup, but at least the winner is a legit tossup, unlike those years. 

[FiddySicks]

That sucked a lot less. 
 

This is probably going to end up being a pretty great series, and I’m just hoping that the Warriors falling asleep n the 4th quarter of game 1 doesn’t come back to haunt them. 

[TalktoChuck]

24 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

I don't understand what could be fun about knowing the Finals matchup before the season even starts. 

2016 was the only somewhat interesting one because of the Cavs upset. Outside of that, the league was boring as hell for those years. No reason to watch the playoffs or even regulars season games. 

 

This may be far from the best Finals matchup, but at least the winner is a legit tossup, unlike those years. 

 

In theory, this is a great finals matchup. And, in theory the playoffs this year should have been a blast. But instead, star players are legit quitting on their teams in a game 7 and every game is a 30 point blowout by half time.

[DoctorWhom]

Just now, TalktoChuck said:

 

In theory, this is a great finals matchup. And, in theory the playoffs this year should have been a blast. But instead, star players are legit quitting on their teams in a game 7 and every game is a 30 point blowout by half time.

like I said, at least it's a tossup and we weren't waiting since september for the warriors inevitable Finals win over the Cavs.  

 

But yeah, I have no idea why games are so sloppy now. 

[SeaTac]

Actually I don't think anyone predicted Cavs-Warriors and the beginning of the 2014-15 season. 

[dont care]

7 hours ago, TalktoChuck said:

 

I disagree. The playoffs before the finals were probably just as bad as this year, but those finals were 10x more entertaining than this one.

The NBA should be embarrassed by the last 3 minutes of this game. That was brutal to watch.

Other than 16 I don’t get how you can call those finals better than these? 1. We are only in game 2. And 2. Those other finals being gentleman’s sweeps made them not compelling at all other than the first couple games before the inevitable.

[gosioux76]

16 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

If we're cataloguing reasons people don't like the Warriors:

 

 

 

Yet at the same time, I kind of love seeing another Bill Laimbeer-like agitator. It's healthy for the league to have villains, and way more interesting than what we've seen during the prior Super Friends era of the NBA. 

[Alex Houston]

Is it just me or does it seem like these playoff threads for the NBA and NHL have been kinda meager compared to what they once were. I swear I recall more posters coming in and arguing about things and nowadays, it feels like there's a handful of responses before it goes quiet again. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

44 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

Yet at the same time, I kind of love seeing another Bill Laimbeer-like agitator. It's healthy for the league to have villains, and way more interesting than what we've seen during the prior Super Friends era of the NBA. 

 

In theory, sure.

 

But in practice, Draymond is a cheat code. He's given extra fouls other players aren't. Rasheed Wallace wasn't given this leeway, and was probably just as crucial to the Blazers' and Pistons' success.

 

Dramyond is a really important player. It's unfortunate he's allowed to have multiple tech-level offenses that other guys don't.