RD 1 GAME 1: LAC (0-0) @ DEN (0-0)—SAT 4/19 12:30 PM, ESPN

[Clemenza]

Exactly as I predicted in the first thread.
Ty would play Dunn
Ty would bench Bogi after a few missed shots.
Recipe for a loss. That's why a junior coach beat Ty
Dunn played well in the FQ and after that was 1 for 5. Finished with -7 and Murray didn't even feel him in the second half scoring 15 points
Bogi- He did miss all 3 shots, and had 3 TO's but he still had 5 rebounds and 2 assists and finished +2 in his minutes. I said in the other thread that if you're not playing Bogi 22-25 mins you better don't play him at all. He'll give you next to nothing in 12 mins. Shooters need to feel the ball and the shoots will start falling in.
We're not beating them exchanging 2's. Dunn won't beat them from the corner but Bogi will. Also Bogi would provide more space for Norm which Dunn is not providing.
If we repeat it, we'll lose again. As simple as that
We'll cut TO's but then Jokic won't miss that many layups and Murray will be more efficient. Next game they'll force 2 men game more and that'll surprise Ty.
We're not beating this team exchanging 2's. We have way better shooters than them so we need to beat them from 3. We took out of the game mpj like a little kid but still didn't capitalize on it

Bogdan was awful today. Looked like a deer in the headlights, couldn't even dribble and kept losing the ball. Yeah I'm sure Denver will shoot better in Game 2, but if we can get anything from Norm and the bench on Monday that will nullify a better Denver shooting team. Also maybe Russ gets a big head and starts shooting away which will be a bonus for us. Jokic and Murray might get gassed as well since it looks like they have to do everything for the team to even stay in the game. Kawhi can't have 7 turnovers and play small in the 4th, that's for sure.

[neshy]

Bogdan finished his minutes +2 despite looking shook. He came to this PO shooting almost 60% from 3 in the last month. He needs to play more and shoot more to get most of him. After missing the first 3, shooters hit next 3. That's how it works. It's definitely beneficial that their starters sans mpj played more minutes than our starters but their stars are also younger than our stars. Will Harden score again 30+ on 50% fg. PO Harden was never an efficient player. It'll be really tough after a loss like this

[Jay555]

Powell/Bogi dog poop

Kawhi was very mid

Harden was good except too many stupid turnovers.

Simmons worthless

Lue good offensive game plan to start but went away from it quickly. Forgot about Zubac pretty much the whole second half

Defensive game to double Joker was stupid. Lue is overrated and got beat by a rookie coach

Harden had 2 turnovers while Kawhi had 7 and Powell had 4...I would not say "too many"....

Harden & Zu were great but no one else showed up.

Kawhi & Lue lost us this game.. Kawhi only had 6 FGA in the sec half..Dude needs to be aggressive for us to have a chance. If he does not average at least 28-30 pts a game, we ain't winning this series. Harden can carry us 2-3 games but can not do it all.

Lue is overrated for sure. Batum were great and got subbed out when it mattered. Denver's rookie coach basically DNPed MPJ towards the end there which is a game changer.

Despite all this, I think this is a very winnable series. I expect us to beat them in 6 games if Kawhi can be who he is.

[MartinToVaught]

As for Norm, I don't have a clue. He's not known as a post season guy anyways. And who in the f*ck is going to score on the 2nd unit? That's the question. Bogdan was awful and looked shook out there.

I said a couple months ago that we should have sold high on Norm at the trade deadline, and unless he pulls his head out of his ass, it's looking like my gut feeling was right.

The Bogdan trade is looking pointless, just another typical Frank move that makes the team older, not better. If he doesn't even show up in our home games, it'll officially be another bust of a trade.

Again, if we lose this series, there's no valid reason to run it back with Frank and Lue again. It's asinine to keep building the oldest and lowest-upside team we possibly can every year and still not be able to even win a series. One of the main arguments in favor of these retirement-home squads is having a veteran presence that knows how to win in the postseason, but we're stuck watching playoff collapses like these where the veterans crap the bed like they're rookies. At least if we had a team full of 23-year-olds melting down like this, we could tell ourselves that they'll figure it out eventually.

[CodeBreaker]

Kawhi really is bad at navigating double teams.

[jengmann3]

Couldn't watch but feels like an ok loss. I know no moral victories but Kawhi seemed awful with the turnovers, norm and bogi seemed to struggle and lost on the road in overtime with Westbrook making the go ahead 3?! We'll see how game 2 plays out but I'm loving Hardens efficiency

[KL2]

Kawhi really is bad at navigating double teams.

He can be hit or miss. The good thing is he usually makes adjustments and better next time. GS did the same thing and he was fine because someone was available in the middle to pass to. He’s a willing passer but guys can’t ball watch they need to move to an open area to make easier passes. Leonard mentioned needing to be quicker and more decisive. They all do.

It’ll be interesting to see what adjustments Lue makes. Parking Leonard in the corner is not it.

I expect Leonard to bring the ball up court a little bit and when those double teams come about half court someone (GS game was Dunn) will move to the ft line area to make the pass to.

I bet he’ll be used as a decoy/screener a little more too.

[LamarWho]

That's why I didn't want to hear all that praise from the media all of a sudden. Let us prove it first.

Exactly how I felt. Team was playing well heading into the post season. Harden and Kawhi were putting up big numbers. All those ESPN "analysts" were singing our praises, I think one of them even predicted us sweeping them. Been a fan for too long to know you can't get your hopes up too high for this team.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Kawhi really is bad at navigating double teams.

He can be hit or miss. The good thing is he usually makes adjustments and better next time. GS did the same thing and he was fine because someone was available in the middle to pass to. He’s a willing passer but guys can’t ball watch they need to move to an open area to make easier passes. Leonard mentioned needing to be quicker and more decisive. They all do.

It’ll be interesting to see what adjustments Lue makes. Parking Leonard in the corner is not it.

I expect Leonard to bring the ball up court a little bit and when those double teams come about half court someone (GS game was Dunn) will move to the ft line area to make the pass to.

I bet he’ll be used as a decoy/screener a little more too.

They need to get Kawhi on the move more- he is a great isolation player, but Gordon is playing him tough.

They need to run him off of some screens off the ball and also when he has the ball, they should try to screen Gordon off of him because nobody else on Denver has really a chance guarding him.

[CodeBreaker]

Kawhi really is bad at navigating double teams.

He can be hit or miss. The good thing is he usually makes adjustments and better next time. GS did the same thing and he was fine because someone was available in the middle to pass to. He’s a willing passer but guys can’t ball watch they need to move to an open area to make easier passes. Leonard mentioned needing to be quicker and more decisive. They all do.

It’ll be interesting to see what adjustments Lue makes. Parking Leonard in the corner is not it.

I expect Leonard to bring the ball up court a little bit and when those double teams come about half court someone (GS game was Dunn) will move to the ft line area to make the pass to.

I bet he’ll be used as a decoy/screener a little more too.

They need to get Kawhi on the move more- he is a great isolation player, but Gordon is playing him tough.

They need to run him off of some screens off the ball and also when he has the ball, they should try to screen Gordon off of him because nobody else on Denver has really a chance guarding him.

Yea I wonder why they not letting Gordon off Kawhi through switches. I saw some last possessions where CB was on Kawhi, and Harden didn't give him the ball. Those mismatches for Kawhi should have been taken advantage of.

Also I think having Kawhi bring the ball up court is not a good idea. He's really great off-ball and picking his spots with few dribbles and pull up. Harden and Bogi should be the one bring the ball up, not Kawhi.

[KL2]

Yeah, I don’t want Leonard to be the primary ball handler bringing the ball up court either. I’m talking about mixing it up and not be so predictable.

Bring the ball up, quick pass, and move into whatever action. Have screens set as others have said. Be used as a decoy/screener. A few post ups with guys moving to an open area when the double comes.

Anything but stationary in the corners for such long stretches.

[neshy]

If there is a player in the league built to guard Kawai it's Gordon. Gordon totally outplayed him yesterday

[KL2]

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Ya think coach?

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It should be Powell to the bench if he doesn’t snap out of it but it’ll probably be Dunn.

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[Clemenza]

This sh*t right here can't happen ever again if we're serious about winning this series. Norm better start playing the right way or he needs to sit. Zu was wide open screaming for the ball. Even Harden was hot from the at this moment, but nope Norm has to do Norm.

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[Clemenza]

As for Norm, I don't have a clue. He's not known as a post season guy anyways. And who in the f*ck is going to score on the 2nd unit? That's the question. Bogdan was awful and looked shook out there.

I said a couple months ago that we should have sold high on Norm at the trade deadline, and unless he pulls his head out of his ass, it's looking like my gut feeling was right.

The Bogdan trade is looking pointless, just another typical Frank move that makes the team older, not better. If he doesn't even show up in our home games, it'll officially be another bust of a trade.

Again, if we lose this series, there's no valid reason to run it back with Frank and Lue again. It's asinine to keep building the oldest and lowest-upside team we possibly can every year and still not be able to even win a series. One of the main arguments in favor of these retirement-home squads is having a veteran presence that knows how to win in the postseason, but we're stuck watching playoff collapses like these where the veterans crap the bed like they're rookies. At least if we had a team full of 23-year-olds melting down like this, we could tell ourselves that they'll figure it out eventually.

Lets wait to see what happens in game 2 before any rash statements. Lue and Frank will be back next season no matter what and they'll run the Kawhi, Harden, Zu trio once more. How could they not. I'm praying Norm plays better on Monday and going forward. He should. Worst, worst, worst case scenario if things go completely south, I'm still thinking you attach Norm to our 30th pick in the first round and try to move up into the late teens-early twenties of the first round. But I don't even want to get into that talk. Lets win tomorrow and get the split!

[Ballings7]

The loss is a tough one.. but not like got blown out. Denver won at home and settled down in a feel-out game.. not worried at all at this point.

Kawhi, Norm, and Bogi will play better.

[esqtvd]

at least the Lakers lost and Skip eats another shttburger

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[esqtvd]

This sh*t right here can't happen ever again if we're serious about winning this series. Norm better start playing the right way or he needs to sit. Zu was wide open screaming for the ball. Even Harden was hot from the at this moment, but nope Norm has to do Norm.

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Ty is a players' coach. First, he always lets them do it THEIR way. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, they'll be a LOT more receptive to getting coached up. Ty's giving them one more half to do it THEIR way.

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And one more thing--the 49 Million Dollar Man better step the hell up. But hey, that's also Kawhi's thing--lay back and see what the other guys do on their own before he goes turbo.

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[KL2]

Down 4 and Leonard gets the offensive rebound with 50 seconds left. AG pushes him out of bounds and instead credited with one of his 7 turnovers. Wasn’t the only time he as fouled. Has the worst whistle and that’s concerning. Especially in the playoffs.

https://bsky.app/profile/vbenedetto.bsky.social/post/3lnbif63cfc2x

[Jay555]

Down 4 and Leonard gets the offensive rebound with 50 seconds left. AG pushes him out of bounds and instead credited with one of his 7 turnovers. Wasn’t the only time he as fouled. Has the worst whistle and that’s concerning. Especially in the playoffs.

https://bsky.app/profile/vbenedetto.bsky.social/post/3lnbif63cfc2x

that's called home court advantage. Harden early foul trouble etc.