NBA General Discussion

[Jailblazers7]

Pacers really do feel like a team of destiny. Their shooting has been unbelievable all playoffs but last night felt like fate intervened with some of those Neismith shots.

I did find Halli pretty annoying for a while but I’ve been really enjoying the Reggie Miller 2.0 vibes this year. I give him props too for how he handled the situation between Giannis and his dad.

[Iverson Armband]

Pacers really do feel like a team of destiny. Their shooting has been unbelievable all playoffs but last night felt like fate intervened with some of those Neismith shots.

I did find Halli pretty annoying for a while but I’ve been really enjoying the Reggie Miller 2.0 vibes this year. I give him props too for how he handled the situation between Giannis and his dad.

If you listen to his interviews, he’s actually really, really like able and refreshing. I never really got the annoying stuff.

[76ciology]

You can’t afford to have weak endurance when trying to run good offense against the Thunder. It’s tough, but you have to stay disciplined, limit turnovers and focus on getting high quality shots. That’s how the Nuggets manage to stay in the game. More often than not, OKC wears teams down by the end of the third quarter, then goes on one of those signature scoring runs they’re known for.

[76ciology]

The Wolves just need to take away all the mid-post actions. The push-off + stepback mid-range shot is maybe more efficient than trying to create from the mid-post. Offensively, their best approach might be to run a 2 man game without Ant as the primary option. If that action gets denied, swing it to the weak side and let Ant attack, ideally against a defender who’s been pulled out of position by the initial strong-side action.

[mjkvol]

The Wolves just need to take away all the mid-post actions. The push-off + stepback mid-range shot is maybe more efficient than trying to create from the mid-post. Offensively, their best approach might be to run a 2 man game without Ant as the primary option. If that action gets denied, swing it to the weak side and let Ant attack, ideally against a defender who’s been pulled out of position by the initial strong-side action.

Easier said than done. OKC is the best defensive team we've seen since those great Warriors teams, maybe better. They have the athletes to defend the 3 and the size to defend the restricted area, the two places that analytics says are where scoring is most efficient. They create turnovers and force tough looks, which is going to wear teams down over the course of a game and series.

Aside from SGA, they haven't been great offensively in these two games, and still won handily. I think the game 7 rout over Denver was the springboard and this group is going to roll the rest of the way, especially without the Celtics to deal with.

[Negrodamus]

Thunder are winning it all; possibly a sweep here with the T'Wolves. Pacers will go 7 with the Knicks.

Even if the Knicks somehow pull it out, they're gonna be dead tired heading into the Finals.

I love that SGA is becoming so hated right now. He does the same thing all other superstars do by drawing questionable fouls and now is the ire of NBA fans.

[Jailblazers7]

I think the Pacers probably get whooped by OKC too. They’ve been a matchup problem because of their pace, athleticism, and depth so far but OKC can match up with their style very easily.

[mjkvol]

I think the Pacers probably get whooped by OKC too. They’ve been a matchup problem because of their pace, athleticism, and depth so far but OKC can match up with their style very easily.

Yeah, only a healthy Boston team would have made the Finals interesting. Scary thing is that as deep and young as OKC is, and with the amount of draft capital they have to replace guys that become too expensive, they have a shot to be as close to a dynasty as we might see again.

HOU and SA are best positioned to challenge them if they do the right things over the next couple of years. Like not listening to idiotic fantasy trade deals for 30+ year old players.

[Stanford]

I think Houston would need Amen to emerge as an MVP candidate to be considered in that conversation.

[Eyeamok]

Pacers really do feel like a team of destiny. Their shooting has been unbelievable all playoffs but last night felt like fate intervened with some of those Neismith shots.

I did find Halli pretty annoying for a while but I’ve been really enjoying the Reggie Miller 2.0 vibes this year. I give him props too for how he handled the situation between Giannis and his dad.

If you listen to his interviews, he’s actually really, really like able and refreshing. I never really got the annoying stuff.

At first I was on the fence about Halliburton. But if he wants to be a villain I am 100% in favor of that. He'll make a good one. I feel since he was voted the most overrated player in the NBA he has been on a mission to show just how overrated he is. Good for him.

[Arsenal]

Haliburton is so good for a league that desperately needs that kind of character who is utterly unconcerned if he is reviled by fans and even his fellow players - he actually enjoys it. With Draymond on the down side of his career, it has become a cookie-cutter league with regard to personalities, as most of the players are friendly going back to their college days.

It's nice to rekindle actual rivalries, and Pacers-Knicks was a great one in the '90's. The question today is if teams can stay together long enough to generate any real rivalries again.

Tyrese Haliburton is leaning all the way into being a heel, and I'm here for it. Doing the Reggie Miller choke sign at MSG was chef's kiss.

[ivysixer2000]

Gotta love seeing a quiet Knick crowd.

[sodmoraes]

TJ is so quick and good passer. If he had a good 3 PT shooter he would be a legit starter.

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[mjkvol]

Gotta love seeing a quiet Knick crowd.

1000 x this ^^^^^

The Pacers are a really fun team to watch. They aren't championship good, but they're the type of team that could still win one if they got the right matchups, which they've had so far.

[Sixersftw]

I haven't checked in but, we're still a TJ McConnell house round here, right?

[Murray_17]

The issue the Knicks have IMO, is the same every Thibs team had: The offense is a one man army...for no reason at all and that's on the coach

They play the Embiid offense for entire quarters: Clean one side of the court, let Brunson go one-on-one, and don't misunderstand the guy is amazing and he's making it work. The team is +4 in these 2 games with Brunson and -9 when he sits (and this includes that miracle run they had without Brunson on the 4th quarter of game 1) but he's bound to have one bad game eventually.

On the other hand, the Pacers are making KAT look like Enes Kanter on defense because KAT and Brunson are a terrible defensive lineup, and playing the Robinson/KAT lineup, to solve the problems in the paint, against a team that plays as fast as the Pacers is not sustainable.

I think it's too many problems for the Knicks to solve.

[76ciology]

Knicks vs Pacers:
- fight the switch
- switch
- and a lot of miscommunications on cross matches and switching

If I’m the Knicks, I’m switching the screens and living with Haliburton trying to score. He’s much more comfortable as a facilitator than a 30-40 point scorer, and he struggled all night finishing against the Knicks’ length, especially the bigs. When Siakam gets the ball, I’d zone up and force him to beat us with jumpers. I’ll take those odds.

On a side note, I really believe we could’ve made a similar run to what the Pacers are doing if we had Maxey and Siakam. That’s why I was pushing hard for a Siakam trade before. If Embiid’s not 100%, he could still play a version of the Myles Turner role, anchor the paint, space the floor, and let others drive the offense.

[Murray_17]

If I’m the Knicks, I’m switching the screens and living with Haliburton trying to score. He’s much more comfortable as a facilitator than a 30-40 point scorer, and he struggled all night finishing against the Knicks’ length, especially the bigs. When Siakam gets the ball, I’d zone up and force him to beat us with jumpers. I’ll take those odds.

The Knicks are not OKC or the Celtics, this would end with Brunson on Haliburton 90 times out of 100 and Haliburton can just spam 3s over Brunson at will.

There is a reason Brunson had 5 fouls in game 1

[76ciology]

If I’m the Knicks, I’m switching the screens and living with Haliburton trying to score. He’s much more comfortable as a facilitator than a 30-40 point scorer, and he struggled all night finishing against the Knicks’ length, especially the bigs. When Siakam gets the ball, I’d zone up and force him to beat us with jumpers. I’ll take those odds.

The Knicks are not OKC or the Celtics, this would end with Brunson on Haliburton 90 times out of 100 and Haliburton can just spam 3s over Brunson at will.

There is a reason Brunson had 5 fouls in game 1

Yeah and i’d take that chance. Knicks had a 99.7% chance of winning game one until Nesmith made 6 3s in like 2 minutes and Knicks missed FTs and turned the ball over.

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[Murray_17]

Yeah and i’d take that chance. Knicks had a 99.7% chance of winning game one until Nesmith made 6 3s in like 2 minutes and Knicks missed FTs and turned the ball over.

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If you want a volume shooter getting guard by a guy 8 cms smaller with shorter arms, fine, it's just an lmao tactic IMO but whatever.

The lead you're talking about was built on the 4th, on the minutes Brunson was off the floor, you're selecting a general statistic to show that "Brunson on Haliburton" can work when that lead was built in minutes where your tactic could not been deploy. All of this only to build the "Haliburton is an average scorer who can be guarded by Brunson" or whatever point.

I already said that the Knicks are -9 without Brunson on the floor even after getting that double-digit lead on the 4th.

You're cherrypicking odds of victory to build an argument over what the actual data of the two games say.

If you prefer Haliburton taking practice shots over Brunson, fine, but i just don't see how there is any statistical argument for it. Even if you discount this issue and try to protect Brunson from switches, you end up with Towns on Haliburton which gives a straight line to the paint after a simple PnR or a drive.