2020-21 NBA Season Discussion

[yoyoboy]

Brooklyn is impossible to stop on offense. If you switch the action on top, all three of Kyrie, Harden, and KD can burn the mismatch with their handles, size advantage, quickness advantage, or whatever it may be. If you go under the screen, all of them will make you pay from three. If you play drop coverage, Kyrie and KD are pull up gods while Harden can spam the floater. And then you have Joe Harris running around causing havoc, who’s one of the best snipers in the league.

I mean how are you supposed to guard that?

[Basileus777]

Brooklyn is impossible to stop on offense. If you switch the action on top, all three of Kyrie, Harden, and KD can burn the mismatch with their handles, size advantage, quickness advantage, or whatever it may be. If you go under the screen, all of them will make you pay from three. If you play drop coverage, Kyrie and KD are pull up gods while Harden can spam the floater. And then you have Joe Harris running around causing havoc, who’s one of the best snipers in the league.

I mean how are you supposed to guard that?

I don't disagree in general, but the Bucks are playing a ton of fundamentally poor defense. And are certainly not helped by Lopez's drop coverage that just leads to an open shot every time he is screened.

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Like look how easy this is for Brooklyn?

I think you have to switch Brooklyn and make them ISO you, letting them just get wide open shot after shot for their shooters is not the way to go.

And on the other end the Brooklyn is switching everything and crowding the paint, forcing the Bucks to try to iso in the half-court (and failing miserably at it, they had a 72 ORTG in the halfcourt tonight)

[GSP]

GSP, you said there was no way the Nets are making the finals.

Come on man. Eat some crow

This without Harden too.

I didnt see this level of defense from them still a long series

Without Jaylen, Timelord and basically Kemba out we still put up a 118 ortg that series

I underestimated how horrific of a defender James Harden is and Kd/Clax is looking like one of the best defensive frontcourts in the league. We'll see how the series plays.....

[GSP]

The Nets might be more stacked than the Warriors in terms of talent lmao

Not the version that's playing this series.

Steph > Kyrie
Klay >>>> Harris

And it's not like the rest of the roster is making up the gap, especially with Green injured.

lol I forgot about dimwit. Crazy.

No way they can afford to keep Spencer at least. Hes basically not on the team since he isnt coming back from the Acl surgery these playoffs and hes gonna get paid by someone in the offseason

[GSP]

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And there's not really an easy fix for the Bucks. Tucker isn't even guarded by the Nets, they are playing 4 on 5 with him, but their other options aren't much better, especially with how much the Nets have abused Lopez on defense.

Pj Tucker dilemma hurts them. Hes the only one on their team who can even hope to defend Kd well enough even Giannis gets cooked.

[therealbig3]

I think it's time to acknowledge that for a singular year, it's hard to call Sean Marks EOY, but if we review the last 5 years as a whole, he's easily been the best executive in the league, not even close.

Took the absolute worst situation in the league and turned it into this. No cap space, weak draft capital, laughingstock of the league, little brother franchise, not a free agent destination at all, and one of the worst teams in the league...turned it into an unlikely playoff team on the back of extremely shrewd moves (picking up Dinwiddie and Harris off the scrap heap, turning Lopez into D-Lo who ended up being a 1st time All-Star with them, drafting Levert and Allen, and unloading the D-Will and Joe Johnson contracts), to the point that it impressed big time free agents like Durant and Irving and got them to sign, and also hit on a 2nd round gem in Nic Claxton. Also traded for Bruce Brown and Landry Shamet.

Everything else is picking up ring-chasing vets (DJ, Griffin, Green) after you signed or traded for the big names, but it all started with turning around the cesspool of a franchise he was given. Really easy to just say, oh the Nets are in Brooklyn, of course they were able to get free agents, but why hasn't that worked out for the Knicks for the last 20-something years?

Marks should win EOY imo. He's made so many smart moves to even put them in position for this. And he's continued to make smart moves, like drafting Claxton and trading for Brown and Shamet.

[MartinToVaught]

why hasn't that worked out for the Knicks for the last 20-something years?

[eminence]

Suns with a heck of a team effort through the early 4th.

[Fadeaway_J]

Suns have to be encouraged by that CP3 stretch.

[bondom34]

I really just want to have a best of 107 series between Denver and Phoenix and call it a year.

[HeartBreakKid]

Well, guess it's time for my "hot take".

CP3 is getting better and better as every game passes by which is likely not a coincidence. This is the first game where he was better than Booker unless I am misremembering, and he was better than Booker by a lot. Even if CP3 had scored 6 points and everything else was the same he'd had already had more impact than Booker (notable gap in their defense).

It'd be great for Booker to go off because I want the Suns to win the championship. But I still dont fully understand the logic of how the Suns beat the injured 7th seed means that Booker > Paul when during the RS that very much was not the case.

[TheGOATRises007]

Well, guess it's time for my "hot take".

CP3 is getting better and better as every game passes by which is likely not a coincidence. This is the first game where he was better than Booker unless I am misremembering, and he was better than Booker by a lot. Even if CP3 had scored 6 points and everything else was the same he'd had already had more impact than Booker (notable gap in their defense).

It'd be great for Booker to go off because I want the Suns to win the championship. But I still dont fully understand the logic of how the Suns beat the injured 7th seed means that Booker > Paul when during the RS that very much was not the case.

It's a hot take to say Paul is better than Booker?

[Joey Wheeler]

Well, guess it's time for my "hot take".

CP3 is getting better and better as every game passes by which is likely not a coincidence. This is the first game where he was better than Booker unless I am misremembering, and he was better than Booker by a lot. Even if CP3 had scored 6 points and everything else was the same he'd had already had more impact than Booker (notable gap in their defense).

It'd be great for Booker to go off because I want the Suns to win the championship. But I still dont fully understand the logic of how the Suns beat the injured 7th seed means that Booker > Paul when during the RS that very much was not the case.

The Suns are a very deep team, full of talent. Paul is the one who holds it all together and the best player on the team (not by a big margin).

I think they'll make it to the Finals with relative ease if Paul's body holds up.

That said, they'd not have beaten the Lakers without Davis's injury. Referring to the Lakers as the "7th seed" is highly disingenious, at full health they're the best team in the league. Even with AD out, the Lakers are still a tough out, the Suns beating them easily only happened because they're really, really good.

[HeartBreakKid]

Well, guess it's time for my "hot take".

CP3 is getting better and better as every game passes by which is likely not a coincidence. This is the first game where he was better than Booker unless I am misremembering, and he was better than Booker by a lot. Even if CP3 had scored 6 points and everything else was the same he'd had already had more impact than Booker (notable gap in their defense).

It'd be great for Booker to go off because I want the Suns to win the championship. But I still dont fully understand the logic of how the Suns beat the injured 7th seed means that Booker > Paul when during the RS that very much was not the case.

The Suns are a very deep team, full of talent. Paul is the one who holds it all together and the best player on the team (not by a big margin).

I think they'll make it to the Finals with relative ease if Paul's body holds up.

That said, they'd not have beaten the Lakers without Davis's injury. Referring to the Lakers as the "7th seed" is highly disingenious, at full health they're the best team in the league. Even with AD out, the Lakers are still a tough out, the Suns beating them easily only happened because they're really, really good.

They were the 7th seed because they weren't healthy in the RS. And they weren't healthy in the PS. Therefore, they pretty much performed like their seeding would have suggested - no?

It's not disingenuous, that's what they were. If the Lakers had been beaten while healthy during the post season (Davis wasn't good during the RS anyway but I'll digress), then it would be disingenuous to call them a 7th seed.

[Dupp]

Hot take alert but I’m not sure giannis is a top 10 player come playoffs. I think there’s close to 10 guys you’d take over him come playoffs.

[TheGOATRises007]

Hot take alert but I’m not sure giannis is a top 10 player come playoffs. I think there’s close to 10 guys you’d take over him come playoffs.

He needs to be the AD to someone's Lebron.

Middleton/Jrue Holiday aren't good enough to be the #2 option on a title team.

I was really surprised the Bucks were getting so much hype, because Giannis wasn't that great against the Heat yet again(from an offensive point of view). Their offense just lulls in the playoffs too much.

[GSP]

Hot take alert but I’m not sure giannis is a top 10 player come playoffs. I think there’s close to 10 guys you’d take over him come playoffs.

Bron, Kd, Kawhi, Jokic, Luka, Ad, Steph, Harden

who else tho? and Harden has only been good in the playoffs recently. Hes had bigger meltdowns and worse losses than Giannis in the past

Dame was terrific these playoffs but lets not ignore Denvers backcourt was 5'9 Fauko Campazzo and Austin Rivers. Dame has a history of poor playoff performances himself.

Trae and Booker have been great but i think its too premature to list them now. Embiid has had a lot of horrible series we'll see how the rest of this one goes. Giannis has outplayed and dominated Tatum h2h (Kyrie as well) so i cant really put Jayson above him ATM

Jimmy was great last playoffs but the bubble factor should be considered. Cp3 is prolly too past it at this point even tho hes still good.

[TheGOATRises007]

Even if the Lakers were fully healthy, I don't see a fathomable way they would have beat Brooklyn in a 7 game series. They don't have enough shooting. Who is guarding KD? Who is guarding Harden?

Both Lebron/AD this season weren't as good as 2020 and their role players are worse than last year IMO.

[70sFan]

I'm disappointed by Milwaukee again... it seems that you can't be on their side against quality opponent. Giannis embarasses himself again in playoffs. Yet a lot of people call him better offensively than peak Shaq less than a year ago.

[HeartBreakKid]

Bucks are having some awesome highs and awesome lows, sweeping the Heat and then getting trounced by the Nets.

But then again everyone thought the Clippers were done in the first round. Let's see if Budenholzer can adapt, but I've been pretty dissapointed with their strategy.