2024 Playoffs Discussion Thread

[mdenny]

The reports of Denver's death are greatly exaggerated.

I have to admit....the first half of game 2 had me wondering if a page had been turned. But my gut was telling me it was just a loose whistle and handsy defense.

It was kinda weird to see so many come out of the woodwork in happiness for denver's demise. They are generally likeable players and they play a very pretty, aesthetic version of basketball. I get the feeling that Americans are getting sick of euro players and that's the start and end of the explanation. They want to cheer for American players and Ant is also very likeable, easy to root for.

Plus it doesn't help that murray is Canadian too.

I get the hate for doncic. I don't like him either. I seen he made a very contrived "pause" joke in a post game recently. His whole schtick rubs me the wrong way.

But jokic is awesome and hilarious and totally likeable. The hate for him I think is moreso just a ethnocentric thing. Murray and Gordon are likeable too. MPJ is the only guy on that team who is kinda grating.

[gp2015]

Earlier in the 4th Gobert had a push in the back against Murray under the hoop, called by Scott Foster. Rudy threw up his arms and briefly made the fingers rubbing money sign. Camera cut away quick and it wasn't mentioned but I'm sure I saw it. Same gesture plus postgame comments got him a big fine a couple months ago. Probably nothing will happen, mainstream media won't mention it. Not sure if Twitter will run with it

Gobert is a fool. It was an obvious foul.

Kat and Gobert seem to share a brain.

Ant needs better help.

[gp2015]

The reports of Denver's death are greatly exaggerated.

I have to admit....the first half of game 2 had me wondering if a page had been turned. But my gut was telling me it was just a loose whistle and handsy defense.

It was kinda weird to see so many come out of the woodwork in happiness for denver's demise. They are generally likeable players and they play a very pretty, aesthetic version of basketball. I get the feeling that Americans are getting sick of euro players and that's the start and end of the explanation. They want to cheer for American players and Ant is also very likeable, easy to root for.

The American media desperately want Ant to be the next MJ and while he may be in the future, Jokic is still the best player right now.

It probably doesn't help the team is lead by Jokic and Murray, who are both non-American.

[gp2015]

Earlier in the 4th Gobert had a push in the back against Murray under the hoop, called by Scott Foster. Rudy threw up his arms and briefly made the fingers rubbing money sign. Camera cut away quick and it wasn't mentioned but I'm sure I saw it. Same gesture plus postgame comments got him a big fine a couple months ago. Probably nothing will happen, mainstream media won't mention it. Not sure if Twitter will run with it

TNT postgame show definitely pointed it out. Think it was Charles.

[mdenny]

Earlier in the 4th Gobert had a push in the back against Murray under the hoop, called by Scott Foster. Rudy threw up his arms and briefly made the fingers rubbing money sign. Camera cut away quick and it wasn't mentioned but I'm sure I saw it. Same gesture plus postgame comments got him a big fine a couple months ago. Probably nothing will happen, mainstream media won't mention it. Not sure if Twitter will run with it

TNT postgame show definitely pointed it out. Think it was Charles.

Feels like gobert consistently commits bad fouls at the wrong time. 5 turnovers too. Nuggets are baiting for gobert to get the ball at top of the key.

Kat has no heart.

Only wolves who played well were Conley and of course Ant.

[DG88]

And just like that Denver is back in control again

[mdenny]

I could be wrong but I think Denver would roll over the mavs or Thunder with ease.

[MiamiSPX]

24/14/9/3/3
35/7/7/3

Since Shaq told him he didn't deserve the MVP.

[Los_29]

The poise from Denver has really impressed me. It’s one thing to be down 2-0 after losing two on the road but they lost two at home and have come back to tie the series.

[WaltFrazier]

Earlier in the 4th Gobert had a push in the back against Murray under the hoop, called by Scott Foster. Rudy threw up his arms and briefly made the fingers rubbing money sign. Camera cut away quick and it wasn't mentioned but I'm sure I saw it. Same gesture plus postgame comments got him a big fine a couple months ago. Probably nothing will happen, mainstream media won't mention it. Not sure if Twitter will run with it

TNT postgame show definitely pointed it out. Think it was Charles.

I think he must have when I was typing my post. I heard Kenny saying, make that money sign, presumably after Chuck did. And yeah an obvious foul.

I just wonder if there'll be any repercussion. When I googled, it was Scott Foster he directed it at back in March too.

Apparently Murray made the money sign in game 2 also, I didn't see that. There's always been complaints about referees but it's becoming more common for players, and coaches like Carlisle, to actually question the integrity of the refs and the league out loud.

[mdenny]

Earlier in the 4th Gobert had a push in the back against Murray under the hoop, called by Scott Foster. Rudy threw up his arms and briefly made the fingers rubbing money sign. Camera cut away quick and it wasn't mentioned but I'm sure I saw it. Same gesture plus postgame comments got him a big fine a couple months ago. Probably nothing will happen, mainstream media won't mention it. Not sure if Twitter will run with it

TNT postgame show definitely pointed it out. Think it was Charles.

I think he must have when I was typing my post. I heard Kenny saying, make that money sign, presumably after Chuck did. And yeah an obvious foul.

I just wonder if there'll be any repercussion. When I googled, it was Scott Foster he directed it at back in March too.

Apparently Murray made the money sign in game 2 also, I didn't see that. There's always been complaints about referees but it's becoming more common for players, and coaches like Carlisle, to actually question the integrity of the refs and the league out loud.

Meh it's the playoffs. This is the type of stuff to crack down on in regular season. Noone who loves ball wants to see gobert suspended for an emotional reaction and I don't like the guy. I mean.....who cares.

What's he even saying? He's playing against the Denver nuggets. Not LA or the NY Knicks. Who stands to make money because Denver advances? Lol

I have no doubt that the league PC occasionally instructs refs to call games in such a way that favors big market teams because of TV deal money (ie game 1 between pacers/knicks).

Ain't nobody in the nba financial dept care about denver and Minnesota.

[Scase]

All about saving money. Could this deal happen under the current season? If so, then KAT for Randle straight up probably works, because KAT’s supermax kicks in starting next season, and his salary jumps $13M.

Also, Randle’s deal expires same year as Naz Reid’s deal, so Minny frees up money to pay Naz.

Seems shortsighted AF considering it would be a huge step back for the team. Might piss off Ant as well.

Would it be though? Could Naz do what Towns is doing, with a starting role and more minutes?

A lot of teams will be shedding salary this year to avoid the aprons/luxury tax, so Minny would not be alone.

It’s not like Towns has led the TWolves to anything great. This year’s season record is because of Ant, Gobert and that D.

The way it would be positioned with Ant is it allows the team more flexibility to make future trades, where needed.

And sorry, it would probably be KAT for Randle and picks. When I was saying straight up KAT for Randle, that was about the salary moving between teams.

There is no way Naz Reid is replacing KAT, he's also a big reason why they have a great bench. Randle would be an awful addition to the team.

[sidsid]

With Jokic figuring out the defenses and the others hitting their 3s, it comes down to the base method of guarding Jokic now. Playing him straight up and letting him score. Work on clogging the works up when the action goes somewhere else.

But that requires you to score to speed up the Nuggets and for KAT to show up in pivotal moments. Not looking good for Minny after that 6 game KAT honeymoon.

[WaltFrazier]

TNT postgame show definitely pointed it out. Think it was Charles.

I think he must have when I was typing my post. I heard Kenny saying, make that money sign, presumably after Chuck did. And yeah an obvious foul.

I just wonder if there'll be any repercussion. When I googled, it was Scott Foster he directed it at back in March too.

Apparently Murray made the money sign in game 2 also, I didn't see that. There's always been complaints about referees but it's becoming more common for players, and coaches like Carlisle, to actually question the integrity of the refs and the league out loud.

Meh it's the playoffs. This is the type of stuff to crack down on in regular season. Noone who loves ball wants to see gobert suspended for an emotional reaction and I don't like the guy. I mean.....who cares.

What's he even saying? He's playing against the Denver nuggets. Not LA or the NY Knicks. Who stands to make money because Denver advances? Lol

I have no doubt that the league PC occasionally instructs refs to call games in such a way that favors big market teams because of TV deal money (ie game 1 between pacers/knicks).

Ain't nobody in the nba financial dept care about denver and Minnesota.

Fine, not suspension. No way they're suspending anyone. Carlisle got fined.

It's not about the financial department. The league has always been sensitive about any hints of rigging. But now it's being suggested publicly more and more.

[Dalek]

Denver is so far ahead of teams it's crazy. They have a great one-two punch with Jokic and Murray, but Aaron Gordon is hitting everything along with Justin Holiday and KCP is so elite on defense. They get support from every player that even when Jokic sits their small team still holds serve.

Minny has such impressive defense but Gobert is such a weak point on offense. The fourth was letting Gobert be open or do any postup he wanted. Towns still hasn't elevated his game.

[mdenny]

Denver is so far ahead of teams it's crazy. They have a great one-two punch with Jokic and Murray, but Aaron Gordon is hitting everything along with Justin Holiday and KCP is so elite on defense. They get support from every player that even when Jokic sits their small team still holds serve.

Minny has such impressive defense but Gobert is such a weak point on offense. The fourth was letting Gobert be open or do any postup he wanted. Towns still hasn't elevated his game.

as much as Gordon is thriving in this role with the nuggets.....let's be real about him being unlocked by jokic''s genius.

Does anyone think Gordon would've rejuvenated his career arc with any other team instead of the nuggets? I don't. And to be honest....there's probably 20 to 30 players in the league who could have their whole career rejuvenated simply by playing beside jokic.

He is THAT good.

Rememeber that line Dr Dre said about ll cool j:

"When your album sales wasn't doing so good
Who's the doctor they told you to go see".

Jokic is like that. He'll revive your whole career.

[Los_29]

Refs in game 3 gave that game to Pacers or it would 3-0 now.

What about the refs gift-wrapping game 1 for the Knicks when they made that egregious kicked ball call which immediately led to a 5-point swing in favour of NYK in a tie game in the final minute though? It should probably be 3-1 for the Pacers after today lol.

But the moving screen on Turner was correct call. Brunson been getting fouled all series by full court pressing. Missed goaltend call on divincenzo drive game 3 was as impactful as the kickball. You could tell game three refs were responding to Carlyle's rant after game 2.

And the crazy thing is Pacers doing all this whining against an injury depleted team. But we'll see game 5 what happens. It's crazy the game is Tuesday not Wednesday. That hurts NY. Thibs needs to rest guys right now but I don't think he's wired that way

Usually that would be a play on at that point of the game. You rarely see borderline plays like that being called with less than 30 seconds left in a game. I was stunned they called that and Pacers could’ve taken the lead with a basket and came out of MSG with a game 1 win.

What’s very interesting is the Pacers have been called for more fouls than the Knicks in every single game. Last night the Pacers had more than double the amount of fouls than the Knicks. I’m actually amazed by this considering how handsy the Knicks are defensively.

Managing minutes is an important skill and Thibs has not managed the minutes effectively. The TNT crew brought it up. You have Carlisle playing his bench guys and Thibs is playing Hart and Donte 45+ minutes a game it seems.

You can’t blame the schedule. The schedule was out before the series even started.

[WaltFrazier]

What about the refs gift-wrapping game 1 for the Knicks when they made that egregious kicked ball call which immediately led to a 5-point swing in favour of NYK in a tie game in the final minute though? It should probably be 3-1 for the Pacers after today lol.

But the moving screen on Turner was correct call. Brunson been getting fouled all series by full court pressing. Missed goaltend call on divincenzo drive game 3 was as impactful as the kickball. You could tell game three refs were responding to Carlyle's rant after game 2.

And the crazy thing is Pacers doing all this whining against an injury depleted team. But we'll see game 5 what happens. It's crazy the game is Tuesday not Wednesday. That hurts NY. Thibs needs to rest guys right now but I don't think he's wired that way

Usually that would be a play on at that point of the game. You rarely see borderline plays like that being called with less than 30 seconds left in a game. I was stunned they called that and Pacers could’ve taken the lead with a basket and came out of MSG with a game 1 win.

What’s very interesting is the Pacers have been called for more fouls than the Knicks in every single game. Last night the Pacers had more than double the amount of fouls than the Knicks. I’m actually amazed by this considering how handsy the Knicks are defensively.

Managing minutes is an important skill and Thibs has not managed the minutes effectively. The TNT crew brought it up. You have Carlisle playing his bench guys and Thibs is playing Hart and Donte 45+ minutes a game it seems.

You can’t blame the schedule. The schedule was out before the series even started.

Sure but unfortunately the schedule is dictated by TV not player welfare. An extra travel day whenever a series changed cities used to be standard. Didn't Denver and Minnesota have 3 days between games already?

No doubt the combination of injuries and Thibs inclination to heavy minutes is a factor. He's a very good coach especially defensively but overplaying players seems to be a weakness. I see now why posters here were calling Nurse, Nick Thibs, a year ago. I still believe with just OG and Bogdanovic, never mind Robinson and Randle, Knicks sweep. But that's moot. It is what it is, and Boston is going to the Finals.

[Los_29]

But the moving screen on Turner was correct call. Brunson been getting fouled all series by full court pressing. Missed goaltend call on divincenzo drive game 3 was as impactful as the kickball. You could tell game three refs were responding to Carlyle's rant after game 2.

And the crazy thing is Pacers doing all this whining against an injury depleted team. But we'll see game 5 what happens. It's crazy the game is Tuesday not Wednesday. That hurts NY. Thibs needs to rest guys right now but I don't think he's wired that way

Usually that would be a play on at that point of the game. You rarely see borderline plays like that being called with less than 30 seconds left in a game. I was stunned they called that and Pacers could’ve taken the lead with a basket and came out of MSG with a game 1 win.

What’s very interesting is the Pacers have been called for more fouls than the Knicks in every single game. Last night the Pacers had more than double the amount of fouls than the Knicks. I’m actually amazed by this considering how handsy the Knicks are defensively.

Managing minutes is an important skill and Thibs has not managed the minutes effectively. The TNT crew brought it up. You have Carlisle playing his bench guys and Thibs is playing Hart and Donte 45+ minutes a game it seems.

You can’t blame the schedule. The schedule was out before the series even started.

Sure but unfortunately the schedule is dictated by TV not player welfare. An extra travel day whenever a series changed cities used to be standard. Didn't Denver and Minnesota have 3 days between games already?

No doubt the combination of injuries and Thibs inclination to heavy minutes is a factor. He's a very good coach especially defensively but overplaying players seems to be a weakness. I see now why posters here were calling Nurse, Nick Thibs, a year ago. I still believe with just OG and Bogdanovic, never mind Robinson and Randle, Knicks sweep. But that's moot. It is what it is, and Boston is going to the Finals.

Nuggets/Wolves started two days earlier than the Knicks series. Every other series has had two days between games.

OG isn’t making up a 30 point difference yesterday. Pacers are a good team. Some people were just hating on them because they can’t stomach the success that Pascal is having. This must be really tough for them to watch. Both these teams don’t stand a chance against the elite teams but I’ve enjoyed this series a lot. Been super competitive.

[mdenny]

What about the refs gift-wrapping game 1 for the Knicks when they made that egregious kicked ball call which immediately led to a 5-point swing in favour of NYK in a tie game in the final minute though? It should probably be 3-1 for the Pacers after today lol.

But the moving screen on Turner was correct call. Brunson been getting fouled all series by full court pressing. Missed goaltend call on divincenzo drive game 3 was as impactful as the kickball. You could tell game three refs were responding to Carlyle's rant after game 2.

And the crazy thing is Pacers doing all this whining against an injury depleted team. But we'll see game 5 what happens. It's crazy the game is Tuesday not Wednesday. That hurts NY. Thibs needs to rest guys right now but I don't think he's wired that way

Usually that would be a play on at that point of the game. You rarely see borderline plays like that being called with less than 30 seconds left in a game. I was stunned they called that and Pacers could’ve taken the lead with a basket and came out of MSG with a game 1 win.

What’s very interesting is the Pacers have been called for more fouls than the Knicks in every single game. Last night the Pacers had more than double the amount of fouls than the Knicks. I’m actually amazed by this considering how handsy the Knicks are defensively.

Managing minutes is an important skill and Thibs has not managed the minutes effectively. The TNT crew brought it up. You have Carlisle playing his bench guys and Thibs is playing Hart and Donte 45+ minutes a game it seems.

You can’t blame the schedule. The schedule was out before the series even started.

It doesn't help that OG is incapable of dribbling a basketball.