Around the NBA (and other Sports), 2023-24, Part 4: Son of daughter of nephew of Around the NBA thread

Tyakack · Post #181 » by **Tyakack** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:16 am

Gotta give Denver credit. I thought they were dead and buried after they lost their first 2 home games. If they win this series they will be in the finals again. I don't see the mavs or okc stopping them. The Wolves were the only team in the west that I thought could.

Parasite · Post #182 » by **Parasite** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:18 am

Chuckling at the boneheads who dug Denver’s premature grave. Jokic is far and away the best player in the league. That matters. A lot.

JaMarco · Post #183 » by **JaMarco** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:22 am

OnlyTheTruth wrote:If we face the Nuggets, what do you think is the best way to defend Nuggets. Double team Jokic every time he touches the ball

Double team Jokic? He's literally like the best player I've ever seen at burning double teams.

Jaqua92 · Post #184 » by **Jaqua92** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:23 am

Thought Denver was dead..they looked cramped and injured. They got healthy and wow.

I can't imagine they lose this series, and will likely end up back in the finals. ****. I think we're gonna face another finals loss this year.

Tyakack · Post #185 » by **Tyakack** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:25 am

Parasite wrote:Chuckling at the boneheads who dug Denver’s premature grave. Jokic is far and away the best player in the league. That matters. A lot.

To be fair, nobody except maybe the biggest denver homers realistically thought Denver was winning that series after they lost their first 2 home games. To pretend this is something we should have all seen coming is pretty disingenuous.

It's not often the home team loses their first 2 home games and then wins the series. Almost never happens.

Captain_Caveman · Post #186 » by **Captain_Caveman** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:25 am

zoyathedestroya · Post #187 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:26 am

Hopefully, this stops the Embiid-Jokic debate/comparisons once and for all.

FlatearthZorro · Post #188 » by **FlatearthZorro** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:28 am

Triple7 wrote:Ant is nowhere near MJ. Not even 85-86 MJ. We’ve been fooled haha. He’s still good though.

He's 22, has had 3-4 40+ point games in this playoff run.. He can pass and plays all NBA defense. His athletic ability, shooting/finishing and body type are all very similar to Jordan...

FlatearthZorro · Post #189 » by **FlatearthZorro** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:31 am

OnlyTheTruth wrote:If we face the Nuggets, what do you think is the best way to defend Nuggets. Double team Jokic every time he touches the ball

let Jokic score, limit Murray as much as possible, if you double Jokic, he'll get everybody else easy baskets

playa-hater · Post #190 » by **playa-hater** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:33 am

OnlyTheTruth wrote:If we face the Nuggets, what do you think is the best way to defend Nuggets. Double team Jokic every time he touches the ball

Truthfully I don't know... But I would put the pressure on trying to wear down the joker with putting him in constant pick and roll defense..

or in other words I would focus a lot more on executing our offensive game since we probably can't stop him on defense..

zoyathedestroya · Post #191 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:37 am

Play fast, make them run, make them move/rotate on defense. Something the Celtics aren't really great at.

Nuggets are more comfortable playing slowdown bball than us. We don't have anyone who can single-cover Jokic. We would have to out-execute them on offense.

None of that might matter if we can't rain and make threes.

batabatuta · Post #192 » by **batabatuta** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:45 am

zoyathedestroya wrote:Play fast, make them run, make them move/rotate on defense. Something the Celtics aren't really great at. Nuggets are more comfortable playing slowdown bball than us. We don't have anyone who can single-cover Jokic. We would have to out-execute them on offense.

None of that might matter if we can't rain and make threes.

3s is the only way to beat them. They score a two, you score a three. They score a two, you score a two + a foul. They score a three, you better reciprocate with a two, a two and foul or another 3.

Double teaming Jokic will open the floor for Murray, Gordon and the rest so don't do that. Best way to defend him is to let him force a pass. He's super good at passing but the receiver may not always get the ball in. Hope his teammates don't have a big night.

Memokerobi · Post #193 » by **Memokerobi** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:47 am

Just returned home from the Nuggets game. I really don’t know how you beat this Nuggets team 4 times. Jokic is on a level that has a single occupant

If anyone has a chance I think its us but we have to play 4 perfect games

batabatuta · Post #194 » by **batabatuta** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:49 am

Memokerobi wrote:Just returned home from the Nuggets game. I really don’t know how you beat this Nuggets team 4 times. Jokic is on a level that has a single occupant

If by some miracle, some team beats them in the finals (us or somebody else), their coach should get a raise.

Triple7 · Post #195 » by **Triple7** » Wed May 15, 2024 5:55 am

Fierce1 wrote:
Triple7 wrote:Ant is nowhere near MJ. Not even 85-86 MJ. We’ve been fooled haha. He’s still good though.

Some of us here did not agree with the narrative that Ant is already better than JT because of the small sample size.

Team USA, led by Ant, was a flop in the FIBA World Cup.

Same thing happened in this Game 5, Ant has trouble against double teams.

Even in their last meeting at the Garden, when the Cs doubled Ant, he was not great, to say the least.

Ok i admit i was wrong about Ant lol. It was brought about by my frustrations of Tatum. He’s not better than Tatum. They are on the same tier.

Fierce1 · Post #196 » by **Fierce1** » Wed May 15, 2024 6:05 am

Memokerobi wrote:Just returned home from the Nuggets game. I really don’t know how you beat this Nuggets team 4 times. Jokic is on a level that has a single occupant

If anyone has a chance I think its us but we have to play 4 perfect games

It's still May.

Who knows what June will bring.

Maybe JT needs spinach, like Popeye.

We all know what happens when Popeye eats spinach. :lol:

Triple7 · Post #197 » by **Triple7** » Wed May 15, 2024 6:05 am

Memokerobi wrote:Just returned home from the Nuggets game. I really don’t know how you beat this Nuggets team 4 times. Jokic is on a level that has a single occupant

If anyone has a chance I think its us but we have to play 4 perfect games

We are the only team capable. We just need to shoot lights out for 4 games. Plus they are just in a groove this past games. They looked beatable against the lakers. We can’t beat them on a close grind it out games. We need to blow them out to beat them.

Fierce1 · Post #198 » by **Fierce1** » Wed May 15, 2024 6:12 am

The finals is 3 weeks away.

A lot can happen in 3 weeks.

There's even a chance both Denver and Boston are not in the finals.

Smart2Nesmith43 · Post #199 » by **Smart2Nesmith43** » Wed May 15, 2024 6:49 am

Celts17Pride wrote:For a shooter to miss a 3 and then get his own rebound for a layup is embarrassing. Pacers should be embarrassed

Agreed. The only correct play after missing a three is dunking your own miss:

Watch on YouTube

GrandTheftRondo · Post #200 » by **GrandTheftRondo** » Wed May 15, 2024 7:30 am

Fierce1 wrote:
TheMartian wrote:Remind me again why we didn't go after Aaron Gordon when he was available? Would've been a decent big for this team.

Orlando wanted 2 1st rnd picks for Gordon.

Ainge was not willing to pay the price, so he opted for Fournier instead.

Gordon also wasn’t exactly hot property.

Teams didn’t know what to make of him.

His skill set also perfectly fits with Jokic which I think covers up some clear flaws in his game.