The Playoffs

Post #1681 » by **RedBulls23** » Wed May 25, 2016 3:54 am

Internet having fun tonight!!! :lol:

Post #1682 » by **RedBulls23** » Wed May 25, 2016 3:55 am

[tweet]https://twitter.com/TheRaceDraft/status/735314335136780290[/tweet]

dumbell78 · Post #1683 » by **dumbell78** » Wed May 25, 2016 3:56 am

Best thing for the Warriors would have been the Gren suspension. OKC may have let up a little, no letting up now. They smell blood. It's like I'm watching the 91 Bulls team.

RSP83 · Post #1684 » by **RSP83** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:08 am

Post #1685 » by **Payt10** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:09 am

The Bulls hired the wrong college coach :/

RSP83 · Post #1686 » by **RSP83** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:10 am

Payt10 wrote:The Bulls hired the wrong college coach :/

This!

Post #1687 » by **RedBulls23** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:12 am

Payt10 wrote:The Bulls hired the wrong college coach :/

I doubt Donovan had interest in coming to Chicago.

RSP83 · Post #1688 » by **RSP83** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:18 am

RedBulls83 wrote:
Payt10 wrote:The Bulls hired the wrong college coach :/

I doubt Donovan had interest in coming to Chicago.

It's interesting to hear Noah's opinion of Hoiberg after seeing his rookie college coach upping the Warriors 3-1.

trophywinner · Post #1689 » by **trophywinner** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:21 am

kenny brought up interesting point, saying biggest difference with okc was billy donovan sticking with wb as the primary ball handler and not playing him off ball. russ is the pg, donovan puts ball in his hands

bulls can learn. obviously rose/jimmy aren't the talent kd/wb are, but they're talented enough, and the formula is there. let your point guard, point guard

kodo · Post #1690 » by **kodo** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:29 am

Payt10 wrote:The Bulls hired the wrong college coach :/

More like, the Thunder have superstars who will listen to their coach and not just challenge him because of their own egos.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/733031643632439296[/tweet]

Any coach in this league, from Donovan to Popovich to Phil Jackson to Hoiberg only goes as far as his stars back him up. PJ would have been an ineffective hippie joke if MJ didn't back him up with that weird triangle business back then. Same goes for Duncan & Pops.

Durant & WB have had Donovan's back as he's been maligned and criticized all year long, they have a "f*** you, don't mess with our family" approach to their team including their rookie HC. A family attitude that's sorely missing in Chicago, and most teams TBH.

Jcool0 · Post #1691 » by **Jcool0** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:38 am

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Super70sSports/status/735295116470976512[/tweet]

Post #1692 » by **Payt10** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:47 am

It is fair to point out that nobody really thought much of Donovan until this post-season. You wonder how much of it is his coaching and how much of it is the talent on his roster. As bad as Scott Brooks was, he still got his team to the Finals.

IMO, where Donavon has really proven him self is in his strategy and out-of-bounds plays. What the Thunder have been able to do on defense has been especially impressive in both the series against SA and against GS. Also, staggering the minutes of Westbrook and Durant, and not messing with Westbrook at SG, has been a key difference between he and Brooks that has helped as well.

Post #1693 » by **RedBulls23** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:58 am

Talent is always more important than coaching. No need to wonder about that, but there is definitely a different scheme and way this Thunder team is playing compared to how they played under Brooks.

KD and Russ buying into what Donovan was selling makes all the difference.

MrSparkle · Post #1694 » by **MrSparkle** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:59 am

Well, damn -- OKC has their number.

Durant and Westbrook aligned at the right time, and their teammates are soaking up the confidence. Durant looks like the top-2 player in the NBA again (with Lebron), and Westbrook is making Curry regret winning back-to-back MVP awards.

OKC is really on fire. I mean, everyone dissed the Spurs for losing that 2nd round due to age and letting their guard down... but the real narrative should be that OKC's been playing championship basketball the last 2 weeks, and they've looked great against two very elite teams.

R3AL1TY · Post #1695 » by **R3AL1TY** » Wed May 25, 2016 5:31 am

GSWs defense is getting exposed more now since their shots aren't falling. Despite winning that Portland series, they have been giving up way too many points looking more and more like the Warriors of pre-Kerr era. Westbrook has been attacking Curry to the point you can see it affecting Curry's offense. OKC just looks like the smarter and better team right now. Less turnovers, better rebounding, better defense, good help from the supporting cast, and controlling the pace.

ChicagoStrong · Post #1696 » by **ChicagoStrong** » Wed May 25, 2016 5:50 am

DRoseCantStop wrote:Klay

veji1 · Post #1697 » by **veji1** » Wed May 25, 2016 8:54 am

Beyond what Donovan brings to the table it's also a usefull reminder of how much injuries have slowed down OKC in the past : their last 3 seasons where compromised by injuries to Durant, Westbrook or others.. Health is a major factor in success in'it !

Post #1698 » by **GimmeDat** » Wed May 25, 2016 11:29 am

Missed the game but I did see Draymond trip Kanter afterwards, I'm guessing this got missed by the refs? -

https://streamable.com/4h8l

Red Larrivee · Post #1699 » by **Red Larrivee** » Wed May 25, 2016 11:53 am

Payt10 wrote:It is fair to point out that nobody really thought much of Donovan until this post-season. You wonder how much of it is his coaching and how much of it is the talent on his roster. As bad as Scott Brooks was, he still got his team to the Finals.

It's talent. It's always been. People act like the coach is another player on the floor. Billy Donovan is a good coach and it's no surprise that he's having success, but he has Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Seriously, the remaining coaches in the playoffs are Tyronn Lue, Dwane Casey, Billy Donovan and Steve Kerr. Three of them weren't even head coaches two years ago.

You don't want to have an awful coach, but it's been proven time after time that coaching has a minimal impact on winning games at best. This will always be a players league.

bledredwine · Post #1700 » by **bledredwine** » Wed May 25, 2016 12:35 pm

Thoughts - 1. I've said this all season and the fall of SAS and now possibly GS is proof of how weak the NBA is this year in solid teams. MJ days you had legit bigs and all of NY, ORL, CHI, PHX, POR, HOU, SAS, IND, UT in a dogfight. Even in the Kobe days you had LA, a better SAS, SAC, DAL, HOU, POR, in the east BOS, DET all kicking butt. This year only GS, CLE, SAS and GS (mayyyybe LAC) were contenders and a bunch of east/west garbage like ages Grizzlies and the youth of Boston being a top 4 eastern team. SAS and GS are NOT historically great teams this season. They just have easy teams to face. Give me 2000's San Antonio teams over this year's. 2. Even though he's ranked highly, Russell Westbrook still doesn't get the credit that he deserves. This guy is a matchup nightmare against any PG and IMO he's the most dynamic player in the league right now (take him off of OKC and that team doesn't function). 3. Star power matters so much more than depth in the playoffs, when defenses tighten up and the best of the best raise their games to make the team function better. It's always been like this. Superstars usually get more minutes in the playoffs and the teams with more star power typically crush it in the playoffs. Look at championship teams - it's rare for them not to have at least a top five player in the league (unless stacked like SAS or DET). This is why the Bulls should tank or trade Jimmy if they suck again this season - we need a 1 option badly and they are so easy to build around. Jimmy isn't. 4. Defense still wins championships. This is the first offseason OKC has shown hard-nosed D. They won't let GS score inside at all, and it's hurting them. This is why we're idiotic to get rid of thibs. With the right roster, we could have won a chip.