Around the NBA - Conference Finals and Finals

[MrDollarBills]

How about that Obi Toppin.

Fine player, he is. Finals MVP?

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Two 2nd round picks. The hell....

Again, it wouldn't shock me if having to jettison Obi for nothing was a huge strike against Tom in the front office.

[BKlutch]

Of all they guys they showed META WORLD PEACE is the guy I'd wanna be. Looks incredible for his age.

But he's still crazy after all these years.

[BKlutch]

How about that Obi Toppin.

Fine player, he is. Finals MVP?

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Two 2nd round picks. The hell....

Again, it wouldn't shock me if having to jettison Obi for nothing was a huge strike against Tom in the front office.

I can hardly imagine how things would have gone if Randle played only 30 minutes/game and Obi played 18. The benefit to both of them and to the team... Oh well, maybe one day, Thibs won't be our coach and the new coach will handle the bench better.

[kNicksGmen]

Hard to trust the OKC offense at this point. Them being at home should help but man they go through some brutal stretches. I was watching the game on a delay so I could fast forward through etc - and to start the 3rd quarter I skipped ahead to see if it was going to get closer, and like 3-4 minutes in the score hadn't changed for either team SMH. OKC seemingly had an opportunity right there to cut the lead but instead went scoreless for almost the 1st half of the quarter. Just brutal stuff.

Have to think the Pacers have a huge mental edge at this point. They got blown out by us last year in game 5 but then went on to blow us out in games 6 and 7. Somewhat similar this year with us blowing them out in game 5 once again and then they closed us out in game 6.

The hater in me can't stand to see the pacers win, but taking that out of it - makes the Knicks look better and closer to a chip than we realized. Also tired of hearing the narrative that the east is weak etc etc - East might have had 4-5 of the 6-7 best teams in the NBA this year (Cavs being injured and losing to the Pacers doesn't look nearly as bad for them now).

[thebuzzardman]

Hard to trust the OKC offense at this point. Them being at home should help but man they go through some brutal stretches. I was watching the game on a delay so I could fast forward through etc - and to start the 3rd quarter I skipped ahead to see if it was going to get closer, and like 3-4 minutes in the score hadn't changed for either team SMH. OKC seemingly had an opportunity right there to cut the lead but instead went scoreless for almost the 1st half of the quarter. Just brutal stuff.

Have to think the Pacers have a huge mental edge at this point. They got blown out by us last year in game 5 but then went on to blow us out in games 6 and 7. Somewhat similar this year with us blowing them out in game 5 once again and then they closed us out in game 6.

The hater in me can't stand to see the pacers win, but taking that out of it - makes the Knicks look better and closer to a chip than we realized. Also tired of hearing the narrative that the east is weak etc etc - East might have had 4-5 of the 6-7 best teams in the NBA this year (Cavs being injured and losing to the Pacers doesn't look nearly as bad for them now).

Knicks aren’t anywhere near a chip

[thebuzzardman]

Obi found a team and role where he doesn’t have to play any defense. Good for him.

[Gravy]

When you go all in on fat contracts for your top 5, never swing on upside, and dont play the rooks you have ...then our 6-10 likely won't match other team's 6-10 in the short run.

I don't believe the secret to winning the championship is playing 11 guys if those 11 guys are not that good. That means the wizards should put all 15 players in the rotation and instantly become contenders.

If you dont give your players consistent minutes you will never know if theyre good. Thats the point. Thibs didnt give those guys any real time on the bench. We've covered this all season. In these modern times of NBA ball you have no choice but to play guys and if you dont trust them -well you need to find new guys. and you need to do it by december.

Mitch, Shamet and Precious were injured to begin the season so they could not get consistent minutes. Payne got regular minutes and he still sucks, so that didnt work for him. Only the kids did not play much. We realistically dont have anybody on the bench as good as Obi, TJ or Mathurin. It may take the kids years to reach that level if they ever do, not a couple of months.

[Context]

I don't believe the secret to winning the championship is playing 11 guys if those 11 guys are not that good. That means the wizards should put all 15 players in the rotation and instantly become contenders.

If you dont give your players consistent minutes you will never know if theyre good. Thats the point. Thibs didnt give those guys any real time on the bench. We've covered this all season. In these modern times of NBA ball you have no choice but to play guys and if you dont trust them -well you need to find new guys. and you need to do it by december.

Mitch, Shamet and Precious were injured to begin the season so they could not get consistent minutes. Payne got regular minutes and he still sucks, so that didnt work for him. Only the kids did not play much. We realistically dont have anybody on the bench as good as Obi, TJ or Mathurin. It may take the kids years to reach that level if they ever do, not a couple of months.

I can tell you didnt watch every game. I may have missed 2-3 full games. Yes they were injured but Mitch was the only one you mentioned that got consistent minutes. Even Payne's minutes weren't consistent. Payne had some bad games but never got the consistent minutes he deserved. And Payne had MORE games where he single handedly came in and contributed as a winning player.

[ctorres]

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I guess since Ric Carlisle walks out to Many Men, 50 Cent switched his allegiance from NY to IND

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[spree8]

Missed the game. Sure silver is pissed his illegal streams numbers are dropping in the finals. Mayeb this will teach him to give kat a better whistle.

Anyways, good thing im dead inside or i might be angry that Hali and the pacers are 1 win away from a chip.

Im fully prepared to live in a world where Hali is a champion cause sports are pain like life. Especially cause this should be us.

Shtty things happen yet we persist.

Siakam doing black magic caught in 4k

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Scarier angle..

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[sol537]

If IND wins, I might be done with the nba for a long while

[seren]

Tickets are going for $1500 a piece in the nosebleeds for game 7. This is in OKC! Who the hell can afford that in OKC? Sometimes the game just feels so rigged. At the end of the day we all just puppets and the top 1% be pulling the strings.

I doubt a lot of people are paying that price. You are looking at the secondary market prices. This is not the price season ticket holders paid for sure. Not sure how it has anything to do with your point about games being rigged or top 1 percent.

[Gravy]

If you dont give your players consistent minutes you will never know if theyre good. Thats the point. Thibs didnt give those guys any real time on the bench. We've covered this all season. In these modern times of NBA ball you have no choice but to play guys and if you dont trust them -well you need to find new guys. and you need to do it by december.

Mitch, Shamet and Precious were injured to begin the season so they could not get consistent minutes. Payne got regular minutes and he still sucks, so that didnt work for him. Only the kids did not play much. We realistically dont have anybody on the bench as good as Obi, TJ or Mathurin. It may take the kids years to reach that level if they ever do, not a couple of months.

I can tell you didnt watch every game. I may have missed 2-3 full games. Yes they were injured but Mitch was the only one you mentioned that got consistent minutes. Even Payne's minutes weren't consistent. Payne had some bad games but never got the consistent minutes he deserved. And Payne had MORE games where he single handedly came in and contributed as a winning player.

You thought Cam Payne was really good in the playoffs and wanted to see more of him?

[Context]

Mitch, Shamet and Precious were injured to begin the season so they could not get consistent minutes. Payne got regular minutes and he still sucks, so that didnt work for him. Only the kids did not play much. We realistically dont have anybody on the bench as good as Obi, TJ or Mathurin. It may take the kids years to reach that level if they ever do, not a couple of months.

I can tell you didnt watch every game. I may have missed 2-3 full games. Yes they were injured but Mitch was the only one you mentioned that got consistent minutes. Even Payne's minutes weren't consistent. Payne had some bad games but never got the consistent minutes he deserved. And Payne had MORE games where he single handedly came in and contributed as a winning player.

You thought Cam Payne was really good in the playoffs and wanted to see more of him?

Payne arguably saved our series vs Detroit- remember? Also, my point about Payne is we will never know how much better he would have been because
Thibs didnt show him enough "trust". The inconsistencies we saw from several players - thats on Thibs.

[kNicksGmen]

crazy stuff

[Gravy]

I can tell you didnt watch every game. I may have missed 2-3 full games. Yes they were injured but Mitch was the only one you mentioned that got consistent minutes. Even Payne's minutes weren't consistent. Payne had some bad games but never got the consistent minutes he deserved. And Payne had MORE games where he single handedly came in and contributed as a winning player.

You thought Cam Payne was really good in the playoffs and wanted to see more of him?

Payne arguably saved our series vs Detroit- remember? Also, my point about Payne is we will never know how much better he would have been because
Thibs didnt show him enough "trust". The inconsistencies we saw from several players - thats on Thibs.

He had one good game and then was terrible. He shot 42% from the field and 23% from three in the playoffs. Thats on the player, Thibs isnt the one on the court bricking every shot

[Context]

You thought Cam Payne was really good in the playoffs and wanted to see more of him?

Payne arguably saved our series vs Detroit- remember? Also, my point about Payne is we will never know how much better he would have been because
Thibs didnt show him enough "trust". The inconsistencies we saw from several players - thats on Thibs.

He had one good game and then was terrible. He shot 42% from the field and 23% from three in the playoffs. Thats on the player, Thibs isnt the one on the court bricking every shot

this is a serious question and its with all due respect. whats the most shots you've put up personally on a basketball court?

[St Knick]

If Indiana wins on Sunday, it will be incredibly impressive and also painful as a Knicks fan. OKC will have one of the worst choke series of all time.

I’m not sure if I could take an IND win… damn

anyone who really bought that nonsense about OKC being one of the geatest teams of all time needs to be studied. they already got taken to 7 by a mediocre denver team. It's far from shocking that indy took them to 7 and I wasn't that worried about them if we played them

they have zero offense outside of shai. they kind of just pray the other team stupidly commits 30 turnovers and never learns their lesson

amen to that! i can't stand the "this is the most historic dominant team" narrative of the moment.. last year, Boston's "stats" showed it to be amongst the best teams ever... but cmon we all know they dont belong in the 90s bulls, 80 lakers/celts, Durant Warriors conversation. same for this OKC team.

With the trend of offense/space.. and stats... eveyr year we have a new "this is the most historic offense of all time" or similar narrative. as a 40 something guy who's been around for a bit, the hyperbole becomes tiresome and quite.. dumb

The Thunder are very good, but not THAT good. This isn't amongst the worst chokes of all time IMO. Pacers deserve respect, what their doing it truely special and unique. (god i hate saying that but it's true)

[Gravy]

Payne arguably saved our series vs Detroit- remember? Also, my point about Payne is we will never know how much better he would have been because
Thibs didnt show him enough "trust". The inconsistencies we saw from several players - thats on Thibs.

He had one good game and then was terrible. He shot 42% from the field and 23% from three in the playoffs. Thats on the player, Thibs isnt the one on the court bricking every shot

this is a serious question and its with all due respect. whats the most shots you've put up personally on a basketball court?

I've never played organized ball, so I did not keep track of my stats. I was a good shooter and got compliments from friends, much better form than Payne

[Context]

He had one good game and then was terrible. He shot 42% from the field and 23% from three in the playoffs. Thats on the player, Thibs isnt the one on the court bricking every shot

this is a serious question and its with all due respect. whats the most shots you've put up personally on a basketball court?

I've never played organized ball, so I did not keep track of my stats. I was a good shooter and got compliments from friends, much better form than Payne

we all wish we were better than payne...You should try shooting 50k shots over the summer. After the 50k you will become a poormans Ray Allen
You will want to try out for a league Then you will get busy and not shoot for a month or two. When you finally get back to the court- you will
notice that no matter how much you improved as a shooter- If you dont get consistent shots- you cant and wont be at your best.

I say all of this to say- This is the reason Thibs is at fault. Just look at all of the guys Carlisle plays. They do well because they get consistent TRUST.

on edit: and I'm serious - if you really want to understand what players go through- just put up 50k shots over a 2-4 month period and you will be amazed bro...