Around The NBA : 2023-24 Season #3

[DASMACKDOWN]

Guess I was right that it was over after game 1.

[drosestruts]

I really thought too many people we're crowning Boston too fast before Dallas even played a game on their home court. Turns out I was wrong. This thing is over.

Odd playoffs overall. Best series has to have been the Nuggets vs Timberwolves.

I know injuries influence every post-season but they just really feel like they played a huge factor in this one.

And it's not like Boston has been without their injury issues (mainly Porzingis) - they just weathered it all so much better.

[Gant]

I really thought too many people we're crowning Boston too fast before Dallas even played a game on their home court. Turns out I was wrong. This thing is over.

Odd playoffs overall. Best series has to have been the Nuggets vs Timberwolves.

I know injuries influence every post-season but they just really feel like they played a huge factor in this one.

And it's not like Boston has been without their injury issues (mainly Porzingis) - they just weathered it all so much better.

A little more on Boston weathering injuries- Brad Stevens put together an unusual roster that has been immune to the loss of any one player all year long.

Their record without key players this season: 11-2 without Holiday. 7-1 without Tatum. 21-4 without Porzingis in the regular season, plus 10-1 in the playoffs. 12-0 without Brown. 6-3 without White. 13-4 without Horford.

[Ice Man]

Ah, shucks. I can't even rag on Tatum/Brown any more. This is a nightmare playoffs for me, my least favorite team is rolling to a title and I can offer no criticisms. The only thing worse would be if LeBron were on the Celtics.

[drosestruts]

Ah, shucks. I can't even rag on Tatum/Brown any more. This is a nightmare playoffs for me, my least favorite team is rolling to a title and I can offer no criticisms. The only thing worse would be if LeBron were on the Celtics.

You can still make fun of Brown for saying he'd have 6 rings by the time he was 28 or whatever it is he said.

One is still very good, but he set that bar, not me.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Ah, shucks. I can't even rag on Tatum/Brown any more. This is a nightmare playoffs for me, my least favorite team is rolling to a title and I can offer no criticisms. The only thing worse would be if LeBron were on the Celtics.

I mean they have gone to the conference finals 11 times between them. They have had several bites at the apple and finally chomped their teeth into one.

Well buckle up though because they will be a perpetual 55 win team for at least another 2 years if healthy. I can also see them repeating.

[sco]

Ah, shucks. I can't even rag on Tatum/Brown any more. This is a nightmare playoffs for me, my least favorite team is rolling to a title and I can offer no criticisms. The only thing worse would be if LeBron were on the Celtics.

I mean they have gone to the conference finals 11 times between them. They have had several bites at the apple and finally chomped their teeth into one.

Well buckle up though because they will be a perpetual 55 win team for at least another 2 years if healthy. I can also see them repeating.

Sadly this BOS team is about as well constructed of a team as I can remember. If there is solace to find it may be that Holiday is old and KP is perpetually injured. Picking up White, while I questioned it at the time, was an absolute genius move.

[kodo]

Ah, shucks. I can't even rag on Tatum/Brown any more. This is a nightmare playoffs for me, my least favorite team is rolling to a title and I can offer no criticisms. The only thing worse would be if LeBron were on the Celtics.

I mean they have gone to the conference finals 11 times between them. They have had several bites at the apple and finally chomped their teeth into one.

Well buckle up though because they will be a perpetual 55 win team for at least another 2 years if healthy. I can also see them repeating.

They should be contenders for a long time but I can't see Milwaukee, Cleveland, Philly, and Indiana all being injured every season (well maybe Philly). Indiana really should have been up 3-1, but asking Nembhard to lead the clutch minutes of those 3 games was a little too much.

I do think the EC will be more contested in the future, but definitely with Boston up there. Along with the healthy Knicks, they were just decimated.

[sco]

Ah, shucks. I can't even rag on Tatum/Brown any more. This is a nightmare playoffs for me, my least favorite team is rolling to a title and I can offer no criticisms. The only thing worse would be if LeBron were on the Celtics.

I mean they have gone to the conference finals 11 times between them. They have had several bites at the apple and finally chomped their teeth into one.

Well buckle up though because they will be a perpetual 55 win team for at least another 2 years if healthy. I can also see them repeating.

They should be contenders for a long time but I can't see Milwaukee, Cleveland, Philly, and Indiana all being injured every season (well maybe Philly). Indiana really should have been up 3-1, but asking Nembhard to lead the clutch minutes of those 3 games was a little too much.

I do think the EC will be more contested in the future, but definitely with Boston up there. Along with the healthy Knicks, they were just decimated.

I like the Knicks, but let's be honest, with Thibs there, they'll never make it to the EC finals uninjured.

[Ice Man]

I like the Knicks, but let's be honest, with Thibs there, they'll never make it to the EC finals uninjured.

Hmmm ... Tatum, Brown, Holiday, and White logged the same minutes per game this year as did Brunson, Randle, Hart, and OG. I guess you can say that the Knicks got hurt during the playoffs because they played harder than Boston did, but they had to, no? Unlike Boston, they didn't have the talent to win through cruise control.

[Repeat 3-peat]

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[DASMACKDOWN]

I like the Knicks, but let's be honest, with Thibs there, they'll never make it to the EC finals uninjured.

Hmmm ... Tatum, Brown, Holiday, and White logged the same minutes per game this year as did Brunson, Randle, Hart, and OG. I guess you can say that the Knicks got hurt during the playoffs because they played harder than Boston did, but they had to, no? Unlike Boston, they didn't have the talent to win through cruise control.

I see your point Ice.

I don't think anyone ever complained once about Demar or Coby playing too many minutes. Demar led the entire NBA in minutes at 34 years old. Which is Lebron type stuff.

But since Demar doesn't play a grueling style of play or is punching above his weight class, it doesn't seem so bad.

At the same time though, it feels TONS different than with Thibs though. Thibs generally likes guys that are over achievers and will prepare to play them 48 mins a night.

Josh Hart was playing 40 mins a game as a starter before the allstar break. Then when the playoffs hit, played 46 mins per game for the Sixers series. Then was playing nearly the entire game for 3 straight games till the wheels fell off.

If Thibs were coaching us now with our exact roster, Caruso would be the one playing 40+ mins per game till the wheels fall off. Maybe Ayo would be as well. Those are Thibs type of guys.

I think the point that sco was trying to make, is that Thibs puts these guys in playoff mode in like January. As with all Thibs teams, they don't have another gear come playoff time. Thibs always put them in top gear which is great for the regular season. They will always win maybe 5 more games than they probably should. But in the playoffs when you dont have another gear, all he can do is throw even more minutes at it. Which could lead to breaking down even more.

[Red8911]

Don’t get me wrong Boston has a stacked roster and they were probably the favorites along with Denver all year long but this has been the easiest path to a championship.

They never faced the 2 other best teams in the east Milwaukee and Philly mostly because of injuries. Miami, Cleveland,Indiana, and Dallas is probably the easiest path since the LeBron Championships. They even got lucky Denver messed up with Minnesota. Barely broke a sweat to win this lol.

[MrSparkle]

Thibs has never (head) coached players better than Rose (1.5 seasons as a superstar), Jimmy (1+1 years as a dysfunctional/hostile star, in Chi and Min), and Brunson (going on his 2nd year as a star).

Considering none of these guys were ever in their prime (esp. MVP Rose, going up against prime Lebron/Wade/Bosh), and none of them were ever really top-3 players…

As cool as Rose’s MVP year was, I’d say Lebron/Durant/Kobe/Dirk/Wade/Dwight/Duncan in their primes/late-primes were still definitively more rounded and experienced players. And then considering Rose’s #2 scoring option was Boozer (or Deng, pick your offensive stud ), I’m just not buying any argument that Thibs can’t take a playoff team over the hump because he over works them in January. Even when he had these all stars, he also lacked some legit #2 options (young KAT? Post-prime/injured Pau?).

The guy has never coached a roster remotely as good as Spoelstra, Riley, JVG, Larry Brown, Donovan (Durant and Westbrook), Phil Jackson, Kerr, Nurse, Bud, Popovich, and I could go on…

The Knicks roster was the best depth chart he’s ever had, but he didn’t have Randle and Robinson for most the season, and the freak injuries in the playoffs mounting were overwhelming.

[Ice Man]

I don't think anyone ever complained once about Demar or Coby playing too many minutes. Demar led the entire NBA in minutes at 34 years old. Which is Lebron type stuff.

But since Demar doesn't play a grueling style of play or is punching above his weight class, it doesn't seem so bad.

At the same time though, it feels TONS different than with Thibs though. Thibs generally likes guys that are over achievers and will prepare to play them 48 mins a night.

Josh Hart was playing 40 mins a game as a starter before the allstar break. Then when the playoffs hit, played 46 mins per game for the Sixers series. Then was playing nearly the entire game for 3 straight games till the wheels fell off.

That's a good point and fair. Thibs does tend to give the most minutes to the guys who are likeliest to get hurt, due to their playing style, and he takes it even further in the playoffs than do most coaches. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Thibs has had some bad luck, and many of the injuries which he is alleged to have caused are nothing of the sort ... but he also does flirt with danger, especially during the playoffs.

Of course, he won't change. Ever. That's both the beauty and the peril of Thibs.

[sco]

Thibs has never (head) coached players better than Rose (1.5 seasons as a superstar), Jimmy (1+1 years as a dysfunctional/hostile star, in Chi and Min), and Brunson (going on his 2nd year as a star).

Considering none of these guys were ever in their prime (esp. MVP Rose, going up against prime Lebron/Wade/Bosh), and none of them were ever really top-3 players…

As cool as Rose’s MVP year was, I’d say Lebron/Durant/Kobe/Dirk/Wade/Dwight/Duncan in their primes/late-primes were still definitively more rounded and experienced players. And then considering Rose’s #2 scoring option was Boozer (or Deng, pick your offensive stud ), I’m just not buying any argument that Thibs can’t take a playoff team over the hump because he over works them in January. Even when he had these all stars, he also lacked some legit #2 options (young KAT? Post-prime/injured Pau?).

The guy has never coached a roster remotely as good as Spoelstra, Riley, JVG, Larry Brown, Donovan (Durant and Westbrook), Phil Jackson, Kerr, Nurse, Bud, Popovich, and I could go on…

The Knicks roster was the best depth chart he’s ever had, but he didn’t have Randle and Robinson for most the season, and the freak injuries in the playoffs mounting were overwhelming.

Good points. I might argue that Brunson was a top 5 player this season though. I really wanted us to nab him instead of Ball. That said, I have a hard time seeing Brunson make it though an entire season and playoffs not wearing down/getting injured. Dude gets the crap beaten out of him every night. He is a tough mofo, but not a big guy.

[kodo]

Wow that was about as dominant a response to going down 0-3 I've ever seen. Bulls Finals record of +42 still stands.

[Jcool0]

Wow

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[Ice Man]

Wow that was about as dominant a response to going down 0-3 I've ever seen. Bulls Finals record of +42 still stands.

When Dallas has it, it has it. Recall what the Mavs did to Phoenix a couple of years back. A fun game, although ultimately it will not be remembered, barring an all-time basketball miracle.

[DASMACKDOWN]

That was about as bad a no show for a title clinching game as it gets. Maybe the worst.

The thing is people have always expected the Celtics to no show at least one time. But I didn't expect it to be like that.

Now if the Mavs can win game 5 in Boston, man.... might be looking at a Cleveland/GS type situation.