GT: NBA Play In Tournament Rd: Nets vs. Cavs 7pm EST (TNT)

[cam24thomas]

Very sad for Grffin, he's already in the doghouse and when Simmons returns, hard to imagine Griffin getting anything in these playoffs....

I saw some Reddit tactical analysis recently on why Blake isn't playing these days, and I'm not sure what to think at this point. Guy was laying out why Griffin has gaping holes at the 4 on one hand, and a somewhat-different gaping set of flaws at the 5. It sounded pretty savvy, but in a lot of ways doesn't pass my personal eye-test.

Blake IMO is a heady player, excellent defender, and total asset, outside of his crap-shoot of a jumper and diminished knees. The fact that Nash had James Johnson eating in to so many of his (and Aldridge's) minutes is borderline insane to me, and maybe kinda suggests Marks may have just smacked his favorite puppy dog on the nose with yon proverbial rolled-up newspaper, when he dismissed the guy for an open slot.

Yeah I gave up on Redick a long time ago, strikes me as a con artist.
I can't remember if it was any one incident or take, but Redick is in my doghouse forever.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I still think we can beat Boston.

Tatum is not Giannis or Embiid. We can work on slowing him down a bit.

If we don't win it will be because of coaching.

[cam24thomas]

I still think we can beat Boston.

Tatum is not Giannis or Embiid. We can work on slowing him down a bit.

If we don't win it will be because of coaching.

I agree, plus Tatum is inconsistent in big moments, so Boston will have to win by big margins (which they won't) because KD and Kyrie will deliver when it matters most.

[MrDollarBills]

I still think we can beat Boston.

Tatum is not Giannis or Embiid. We can work on slowing him down a bit.

If we don't win it will be because of coaching.

if we lose it will be 100% because of coaching. That goes for any series.

We have Kyrie and KD in playoff form dropping nuclear bombs and we barely win. This is not a talent issue.

[MrDollarBills]

Very sad for Grffin, he's already in the doghouse and when Simmons returns, hard to imagine Griffin getting anything in these playoffs....

I saw some Reddit tactical analysis recently on why Blake isn't playing these days, and I'm not sure what to think at this point. Guy was laying out why Griffin has gaping holes at the 4 on one hand, and a somewhat-different gaping set of flaws at the 5. It sounded pretty savvy, but in a lot of ways doesn't pass my personal eye-test.

Blake IMO is a heady player, excellent defender, and total asset, outside of his crap-shoot of a jumper and diminished knees. The fact that Nash had James Johnson eating in to so many of his (and Aldridge's) minutes is borderline insane to me, and maybe kinda suggests Marks may have just smacked his favorite puppy dog on the nose with yon proverbial rolled-up newspaper, when he dismissed the guy for an open slot.

Yeah I gave up on Redick a long time ago, strikes me as a con artist.
I can't remember if it was any one incident or take, but Redick is in my doghouse forever.

Blake's 3 point shot disappearing has a lot to do with why he doesn't play imo.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Blake not playing is just stupid.

Honestly he doesn't have to play the 5. Why can't he play the 4 or even the 3?

I would probably trust him more than Kessler Edwards after last night. Blake has had some really good 3 point shooting nights in the second half of the season. Hes a good passer. Smart defender.

The fact that he can't even see the floor makes no sense.

[Claud]

Blake not playing is just stupid.

Honestly he doesn't have to play the 5. Why can't he play the 4 or even the 3?

I would probably trust him more than Kessler Edwards after last night. Blake has had some really good 3 point shooting nights in the second half of the season. Hes a good passer. Smart defender.

The fact that he can't even see the floor makes no sense.

Agreed.

I like Kess a lot, but he's very green.

Blake has a lot of experience and has rested a lot this season. He plays with high IQ both ways.

Not sure why Blake is in the doghouse.

[Prokorov]

This was one of the most discouraging games of the season. After the 1st quarter we were awful and what should have been a 30 point blowout was a 6 point game late. Pathetic display of coaching. I just dont see how we beat anyone in a 7-game series with how inept our coaching is and other teams being able to adjust.

Kyrie/KD combined for 60/20 and barely missed a shot and we still struggled to put away a hobbled cavs team that played poorly.

1) We are WAY to content when it comes to KD/Kyrie going stretches without getting touches. Van Gundy mentioned this on the broadcast... We were doing well but Brown/Drummond had taken 80% of our shots and KD was just standing in the corner. Kyrie barely touched the ball.

That works great vs the Cavs and when things are falling. but a couple brown missed floaters and a drummond foul where he splits 3 free throws could be an 8-1 run where KD/Kyrie dont even touch the ball. I get with Zone you want the easy ones but we need to also get stars touches. if they go zone flash KD to the FT line. thats a layup for him or dump down to drummond if they swarm KD.

2) similarly, We went away from a nuclear/white hot Kyrie. he had a great 1st quarter. We started the 2nd with Kyrie + bench guys. he took 1 shot over the next 8 minutes and cavs went on a run as dragic/edwards missed jump shots. They didnt even double kyrie much to make him give it up or antyhing. we need to feed Kyrie there.

3) Even if drummond is going well we need to pull him when he hits a certain minute load. keep him at 18-22. he goes from beast to a walking up and down the floor. which is fine cause claxton is playing well.

4) pretty much all our turnovers were terrible avoidable ones. stepping out of bounds 3 - 4 times? lazy passes. justy terrible all around and then we have the worst transition defense ive ever seen

5) All they have is garland. did we make him give up the ball? no. why? because we are morons. Did we try and make rondo/okoro/mobley shooters? no we just let garland go wherever he wants and run pick and rolls all day.

6) STOP LEAVING GOOD THREE POINT SHOOTERS WIDE OPEN TO DOUBLE TEAM SCRUBS IN THE POST. I'm not worried about cedi osman doing a dream shake over patty. live with that result.

7) on the plus side, pattys shot is falling. Edwards i worry may be a non factor. first taste of the playoffs. i expect nothing from role guys in the playoffs on the road... less from him. not his fault. but this is why you cut LMA or Blake and not Johnson.

8) like 2 shots for curry all game, in a game where they played a ton of zone. a good coach finds a way to get three point shooters open shots vs zone. us? nope. F U steve nash, you ruined this teams chances

I just dont see how we beat anyone in a playoff series no matter who it was going to be. we got lucky and drew boston who we would sweep or destroy in 5 uncompetitve games with a competant coach but nash is worth like a -15 or -20 which is impossible to overcome vs playoff teams.

Even when Kyrie/KD play at superstar level and dont miss shots we look awful. Hell they both even played excellent defense.

this is so depressing

This is a good breakdown of the game + our problems but I'm not as down on the team as you are. Strategically, I was fine with the game plan for the most part. It just felt like we weren't locked in for big chunks of the game. One of the running themes for the year. Silly TOs + Bruce/Dre/Dragic/Mills randomly doing too much + not getting back in transition.

My big concerns are Drummond + Claxton's FT shooting + the team not trusting Kessler Edwards + Curry's ankle. Udoka might intentionally foul Dre + Clax and they seem to miss FTs any time the other team has momentum. Kess needs to make teams pay if they ignore him and our guys need to be willing to get him the ball. They seemed to hesitate which got him out of rhythm. We 100% need him to guard Boston's wings. We also need Curry to light it up if they trap Kyrie + KD. Yesterday felt like his ankle was shaky and they didn't want to run him off screens or anything. He just stood in the corner.

The problem with hack-a-drummond is that he doesnt really touch the ball outside of 1 foot and often finishes through contact. The other problem is you dont want to get in the bonus when Kyrie/KD both shoot over 90% from the FT line. you just put yourself in a situaiton where its harded to defend those 2 (without fouling) and if you foul its 2 easy points

so hack-a-drummond is only really viable late in games and if we are up and worried about fouls you can always throw in aldridge

[Prokorov]

I still think we can beat Boston.

Tatum is not Giannis or Embiid. We can work on slowing him down a bit.

If we don't win it will be because of coaching.

im not worried about boston the team. they are not some world beaters. they are a 4/5 type meh seed. PHI/MIL tanked to avoid us so boston was de-facto #2.

its the coaching. in a long series, were toast.

How many times have KD/Kyrie played insane and we lose or scrape by?

[Prokorov]

Blake not playing is just stupid.

Honestly he doesn't have to play the 5. Why can't he play the 4 or even the 3?

I would probably trust him more than Kessler Edwards after last night. Blake has had some really good 3 point shooting nights in the second half of the season. Hes a good passer. Smart defender.

The fact that he can't even see the floor makes no sense.

I saw something where the 2 most negative lineups we had , and by a large margin, where with Blake/LMA and Blake/Claxton. and we saw how bad LMA/Claxton was the other night.

this team stinks going big.

[gigantes]

I saw some Reddit tactical analysis recently on why Blake isn't playing these days, and I'm not sure what to think at this point. Guy was laying out why Griffin has gaping holes at the 4 on one hand, and a somewhat-different gaping set of flaws at the 5. It sounded pretty savvy, but in a lot of ways doesn't pass my personal eye-test.

Blake IMO is a heady player, excellent defender, and total asset, outside of his crap-shoot of a jumper and diminished knees. The fact that Nash had James Johnson eating in to so many of his (and Aldridge's) minutes is borderline insane to me, and maybe kinda suggests Marks may have just smacked his favorite puppy dog on the nose with yon proverbial rolled-up newspaper, when he dismissed the guy for an open slot.

Yeah I gave up on Redick a long time ago, strikes me as a con artist.
I can't remember if it was any one incident or take, but Redick is in my doghouse forever.

Blake's 3 point shot disappearing has a lot to do with why he doesn't play imo.

I don't know man. Blake's three has become cringeworthy, but it's not like he looks for it, and meanwhile, he's so wonderful at so many others areas of the game. For example, he actually tied for the charges-drawn record this year, despite playing massively-less minutes than the other guy.

Nash isn't some new variety for baking things down in to a core rotation for the playoffs, but at the very least, I'm thinking he should have kept his options open with Blake. Yeah, it's terrible the way his shot disappeared this year, but Griffin's a legit badass defender at the big man slots, plus a very smart player. You'd think we'd need some of that, going forward. Lumbering, huge-man Aldridge's phase-out is more understandable IMO, but Blake is a really nifty player who can fill in at almost three slots, as needed.

Steve gave significant minutes to C-Thomas late in the year, a completely one-dimensional player, by contrast. Yeah, there's a point to that, but personally I think he should have shared more of those minutes with Blake, maybe even the rookies. Kessler's different right, as a natural 3-pt shooter who it seemed could only handle so many minutes. But meanwhile of course, a great defender. We'll need him. Point is though, Blake Griffin's still has specific value to add, Steve Nash's weird biases notwithstanding.

[MrDollarBills]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/266518/Kevin-Durant-Scolds-Bruce-Brown-For-Comments-On-Boston-Big-Men

KD has been there. Brown is feeling himself.

i also dont buy into the "billboard material" stuff. if you need a comment like that to get you "up" for a game you werent going to win anyway.

If Kyrie calling out boston fans as racist, then destroying them wanst going to be enough motivation then browns comments wont be enough either

Boston will bring it, because they know they have to to beat the Nets.

no motivation for boston is bigger then Ime wanting to beat nash. thats a win for minority candidates everywhere

I agree with Ime 100% if he is pissed. He should have been NEVER passed over for this job.

Can you imagine how well oiled this machine would be if we had him over Nash? my god. it's not like Boston's roster is that much better than ours.

[MGrand15]

The only upside of Nash is that he's a super calm and positive guy that didn't let the team implode during tough times. And he himself didn't freak out over all the drama. I feel like Udoka would've chokeslammed Harden or Kyrie this year Nash is more like KD who just rolls with whatever happens

[3pt_chucker]

We're gonna get smacked hard on the defense end.... Boston has capable scoring options

The Celtics defense is what makes them a legit team. Apart from Tatum, I'm not really scared of anyone. Yes, Brown is good but he's nowhere near Tatum's ability to score no matter the defense. Smart is a good player and always lights up the Nets from 3 but he can be guarded. With no Rob Williams lob, it will be a lot of Horford & Theis, I love that. I bet by game 3, Theis barely plays...

If the series turns into KD & KAI vs Tatum & Brown, I know who I'm taking...

Boston's offense is good. they have bigs who shoot, white gives them the punch they needed off the bench and tatum/Brown combine to average just 4 less PPG then Kyrie/KD.

they were 6th in offense this year (114.5 oRTG)

White is shooting 30% from 3 & 40% FG since the trade, not worried about him whatsoever.

[Eatgreenz]

The only upside of Nash is that he's a super calm and positive guy that didn't let the team implode during tough times. And he himself didn't freak out over all the drama. I feel like Udoka would've chokeslammed Harden or Kyrie this year Nash is more like KD who just rolls with whatever happens

I can see that but at the sametime a Coach like Udoka could have still kept us somwhere atleast 6th seed even with every going on. Not spiral to the 10th spot like Trash Nash

[3pt_chucker]

THe game plan last night was fine. The game got close because:

1) Sloppy turnovers that lead to easy baskets. Nash can't force guys to not be sloppy, they need to focus better
2) Missed FTs. Clax and Drumm need to be better. Too many 0-2 FT trips
3) Missed open shots. Kess missed way to many WIDE open looks, which gave the Cavs some momentum. Seth and Dragic also missed makeable shots. KD also had an untimely cold stretch in the 3rd when the Cavs were making a run. The Cavs struggled to defend the Nets as a team most of the night.

Also the Cavs decided to limit Seth 3's in exchange it allowed multiple high % looks at the rim for Bruce Brown, Clax and Drummond. I'm sure the the Celtics will be a lot different since they are going to switch all the time. Expect heavy iso-ball(switch killer) and more open looks for Seth & Patty.

Defensively, there was no reason to do too much. We defended them much better and the they shot poorly for the most part.

[MrDollarBills]

The only upside of Nash is that he's a super calm and positive guy that didn't let the team implode during tough times. And he himself didn't freak out over all the drama. I feel like Udoka would've chokeslammed Harden or Kyrie this year Nash is more like KD who just rolls with whatever happens

Nash is a great personality guy and a player friendly coach, but we need Xs and Os to win 16 games from now til June. We should have never let D'Antoni leave. pay the guy more than Nash if you have to

[MrDollarBills]

The Celtics defense is what makes them a legit team. Apart from Tatum, I'm not really scared of anyone. Yes, Brown is good but he's nowhere near Tatum's ability to score no matter the defense. Smart is a good player and always lights up the Nets from 3 but he can be guarded. With no Rob Williams lob, it will be a lot of Horford & Theis, I love that. I bet by game 3, Theis barely plays...

If the series turns into KD & KAI vs Tatum & Brown, I know who I'm taking...

Boston's offense is good. they have bigs who shoot, white gives them the punch they needed off the bench and tatum/Brown combine to average just 4 less PPG then Kyrie/KD.

they were 6th in offense this year (114.5 oRTG)

White is shooting 30% from 3 & 40% FG since the trade, not worried about him whatsoever.

What worries me is Nash sending overhelp inside on switches, leaving Tatum, Brown, and Smart wide open on the 3 point line.

If Al Horford wants to try to back down Patty Mills on a switch, be my guest. I'll take that over wide open threes from Jason Tatum.

[NetsWorld]

Well, I guess Nets wanted Boston. It will be a tough series; I predict Nets in 7. Boston is a well coached team on both ends of the floor.

Like it or not, Boston has been an elite team, and the best team in the East for some months now. Tatum has finally turned in to a do-everything superstar, and their defense has been downright wizardly.

Me, I halfways wish we'd blown this game and wound up winning the second one, thereby facing MIA. They seem ripe for the slaying these days, with Butler finally showing his age, and maybe some internal strife going on, too.

Anyway yeah, I fear the first round will go more like: BOSTON IN SIX, with KD's individual brilliance not being quite enough to overcome the fact that our team still feels kinda half-constructed, or at least compromised by missing parts. Big X-factor though is Simmons, so let's hope!

Not saying you are wrong but I won’t bet against KD/Kai. The minute we do that iin the playoffs is the minute we get schooled and reminded who those fellas are. Simmons will be back this series which will impact Boston’s offense. I won’t overreact to Boston winning game 1, which will most likely happen. But I expect Nets to take Game 2 and probably even both games at home. Simmons WILL be the X factor this series. After that, I don’t think Bucks can take us out unless the refs say hello to us.