Pascal Siakam Back into the Nba Finals Celebration Party

[mihaic]

Very happy for Siakam. I always believed in him.

On draft night I had no idea who he was but when I saw the highlights I said to my brother, “this dude looks better than our lottery pick.” From that point I saw a dude with all-star potential.

C'mon now, nobody saw all star from Siakam on draft night. We were hoping for a Reggie Evans or Amir Johnson

I remember he started 20 games or so as a rookie. I obviously didn't think at that point he'd get where he is now, but you could see his ceiling was way up. That stretch, he was making a lot of mistakes, but you could see his potential.

[Tripod]

You guys see when the MVP was about to be announced, Hali started walking up...but then is was Siakam!

Go see it if you haven't yet...too funny!

[ontnut]

Okc in 4 or 5?

That's where I put my money.
OKC just has a counter for everything the Pacers do.

I think the series will be closer than folks think. OKC wins by playing off their D, but that may not be as easy against Indiana because their O is special. They push the ball every possession which won’t allow OKC’s defence to set up as quickly and the Pacers also have a lot of capable three point shooters. Where the Pacers will struggle is the 5 matchup. And that might determine the series. But it won’t be a cakewalk. If the Pacers can protect the ball then they push it to six, maybe even seven games.

Also, in a close game I am much more comfortable with the Pacers playing in the clutch than I am with OKC.

If you do, you should take the over bets on some of the game # totals. They're pretty juicy right now.

OKC held opponents to a league worst 34.1% from 3 during the season. They know how to neutralize the 3p line. IND has been good too, but not as good.
In the playoffs, OKC allows a league low 13.6% transition frequency. They're VERY good at stopping transition. In fact, both teams are excellent at stopping teams in transition. It might become a halfcourt grind it out kind of situation, and in that case, I'm more comfortable with OKC over 4 quarters than I am with IND. OKC simply has more options.

And I agree with you on the 5 matchup - iHart and Chet vs Turner might force the Pacers to eventually go small with Siakam at the 5 vs Chet. That would be really interesting.

[HiJiNX]

Very happy for Siakam. I always believed in him.

On draft night I had no idea who he was but when I saw the highlights I said to my brother, “this dude looks better than our lottery pick.” From that point I saw a dude with all-star potential.

C'mon now, nobody saw all star from Siakam on draft night. We were hoping for a Reggie Evans or Amir Johnson

I did.

[HiJiNX]

That's where I put my money.
OKC just has a counter for everything the Pacers do.

I think the series will be closer than folks think. OKC wins by playing off their D, but that may not be as easy against Indiana because their O is special. They push the ball every possession which won’t allow OKC’s defence to set up as quickly and the Pacers also have a lot of capable three point shooters. Where the Pacers will struggle is the 5 matchup. And that might determine the series. But it won’t be a cakewalk. If the Pacers can protect the ball then they push it to six, maybe even seven games.

Also, in a close game I am much more comfortable with the Pacers playing in the clutch than I am with OKC.

If you do, you should take the over bets on some of the game # totals. They're pretty juicy right now.

OKC held opponents to a league worst 34.1% from 3 during the season. They know how to neutralize the 3p line. IND has been good too, but not as good.
In the playoffs, OKC allows a league low 13.6% transition frequency. They're VERY good at stopping transition. In fact, both teams are excellent at stopping teams in transition. It might become a halfcourt grind it out kind of situation, and in that case, I'm more comfortable with OKC over 4 quarters than I am with IND. OKC simply has more options.

And I agree with you on the 5 matchup - iHart and Chet vs Turner might force the Pacers to eventually go small with Siakam at the 5 vs Chet. That would be really interesting.

I think a halfcourt oriented game favours the Pacers because both Siakam and Hali are great playmakers. On the other side, Shai is a pretty good playmaker, albeit a much better scorer than anyone the Pacers have on their squad. I think the difference is that the Pacers have two legit halfcourt initiators whereas OKC just has Shai. I don’t trust JDubb to initiate consistently in the halfcourt.

Still, I think OKC wins a hard fought series in six where Chet and Hartenstein are the huge difference makers. If I’m the Pacers I’m trying to use Siakam to hunt mismatches at the elbow with Turner spacing to pull OKC bigs away from the rim. I think initiating through Hali on the perimeter too much might be a mistake because OKC has wing defenders to slow him down.

Anyway, I think it’ll be a dog fight but OKC just has too much size and athleticism combined with Shai and difference makers like Chet, IHart, and Caruso. I’m excited to see it all play out though.

[Appostis]

We all Pacers fans now.

[WaltFrazier]

I understand the Raptors wanted to rebuild, but they couldnt recreate a good team with Pascal and OG? Even keep Norm? Fred was gone, no one sane was giving him a max deal.

Wasn't a good team fit....Siakam needs a different 2nd best player to play with beside him than OG/Barnes/FVV....Which is why it was hard for these teams to even reach playoff birth status.....Our benches were also always thin....Siakam needs a full good team along with a better or equal level player beside him....

If we traded for KD that offseason and gave up Barnes you could argue we might have made a run....But thing is the East was also not as easy as it is today....So who knows how it would play out...

But yeah....Anyone who thinks we could have built a legit contender around that team without making a move is lying to them self....We would have needed to trade for a legit superstar to pair Siakam with to be a finals team...Or had the same luck with the East becoming less competitive and injuries to Celtics...

Raps also had the worst bench in the league with no three point shooters. Even before getting a star player, improving the bench would have gone a long way to supporting the core.

[canada_dry]

To close the game:

Siakam free throw

Siakam blocked shot

Siakam offensive rebound.

Siakam put back bucket

Which lead to the haliburton shot.

Stole game 1.


Spectacular .



Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

[pingpongrac]

To close the game:

Siakam free throw

Siakam blocked shot

Siakam offensive rebound.

Siakam put back bucket

Which lead to the haliburton shot.

Stole game 1.


Spectacular .



Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

I saw someone say he was having a bad game then he made an impact on 4 or 5 straight possessions in the clutch which directly led to the Pacers mounting another ridiculous comeback.

[Grew]

Pascal def had a nice block. Nice offensive rebound even though the thunder were small. The lane violation made free throw after missing 2 is pushing it a bit

The thing that really got them into it at the end was the nesmith tough three, followed by the nembhard tough 3. The game is just over if they don't hit. Then obviously Hali won it.

Happy for Pascal but he definitely didn't do anything more than any of the other starters there. Even Turner hit some ridiculous side step bank 3 followed by an odd mid range pull up to get them within striking distance with about 5 min left.

[canada_dry]

Pascal def had a nice block. Nice offensive rebound even though the thunder were small. The lane violation made free throw after missing 2 is pushing it a bit

The thing that really got them into it at the end was the nesmith tough three, followed by the nembhard tough 3. The game is just over if they don't hit. Then obviously Hali won it.

Happy for Pascal but he definitely didn't do anything more than any of the other starters there. Even Turner hit some ridiculous side step bank 3 followed by an odd mid range pull up to get them within striking distance with about 5 min left.

All of the above was in sequence directly before haliburton hit the shot. Without all of the above immediately before the shot, they're not in a position to win the game at all.

Stop it.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

[Grew]

Pascal def had a nice block. Nice offensive rebound even though the thunder were small. The lane violation made free throw after missing 2 is pushing it a bit

The thing that really got them into it at the end was the nesmith tough three, followed by the nembhard tough 3. The game is just over if they don't hit. Then obviously Hali won it.

Happy for Pascal but he definitely didn't do anything more than any of the other starters there. Even Turner hit some ridiculous side step bank 3 followed by an odd mid range pull up to get them within striking distance with about 5 min left.

All of the above was in sequence directly before haliburton hit the shot. Without all of the above immediately before the shot, they're not in a position to win the game at all.

Stop it.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

And if the sequences before never happened he wouldn't have been in position to make his contribution. Everything I said is true. The block was his most impressive moment in the sequence. That comeback was a total team effort, I think singling out Pascal like he won them the game single handedly is bias.

In another world the ref doesn't blow the whistle on a lane violation when every player on the court moved off the line early, and we are talking about how Pascal chokes on the free throw line in the clutch.

[canada_dry]

Pascal def had a nice block. Nice offensive rebound even though the thunder were small. The lane violation made free throw after missing 2 is pushing it a bit

The thing that really got them into it at the end was the nesmith tough three, followed by the nembhard tough 3. The game is just over if they don't hit. Then obviously Hali won it.

Happy for Pascal but he definitely didn't do anything more than any of the other starters there. Even Turner hit some ridiculous side step bank 3 followed by an odd mid range pull up to get them within striking distance with about 5 min left.

All of the above was in sequence directly before haliburton hit the shot. Without all of the above immediately before the shot, they're not in a position to win the game at all.

Stop it.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

And if the sequences before never happened he wouldn't have been in position to make his contribution. Everything I said is true. The block was his most impressive moment in the sequence. That comeback was a total team effort, I think singling out Pascal like he won them the game single handedly is bias.

In another world the ref doesn't blow the whistle on a lane violation when every player on the court moved off the line early, and we are talking about how Pascal chokes on the free throw line in the clutch.

My claim wasn't that he won it singlehandedly or that he carried.

The later in games you get **** done the more important it is. Therefore his plays were more critical than the others you mentioned even though of course everyone played there part. Again, in not claiming he carried. Im just claiming he was big time once again in a big game in big moments and operated as the perfect #2 , literally setting the scene for the teams #1 to win the game by making all the plays he made before said #1 finished everything off. A lot of people in here were calling him an incapable or mid #2 and more suited as a #3...

The last bit is just hater mumbo jumbo and just you fantasizing about what you wish would have happened.

IF your aunt had balls in this hypothetical other world she'd be your uncle. IF doesn't count for much.

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[EastonEddy]

Is there any reply/close up of that Siakam block on SGA? That play was absolutely huge and it seems to have gone unnoticed.

[MEDIC]

I was really hoping the Raps could build another contemder with Siakam & OG (Fred got too expensive).

I still don't think it was a good idea to prioritize Scottie over those.guys. The Raptors lost control the team in Scotties Rookie year. Kind of embarrassing really.

You don't let a rookie (that isn't a generational talent) dictate your lockerroom culture or the future if the team. Bad look.

[Los_29]

Pascal had a crazy good stretch of plays there. With that said, Nembhard was the true MVP of the game. Haliburton hit the shot to win it but Nembhard handled the ball a lot in that 4th quarter and got them back in that game. Total team effort again.

[Scase]

To close the game:

Siakam free throw

Siakam blocked shot

Siakam offensive rebound.

Siakam put back bucket

Which lead to the haliburton shot.

Stole game 1.


Spectacular .



Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

I saw someone say he was having a bad game then he made an impact on 4 or 5 straight possessions in the clutch which directly led to the Pacers mounting another ridiculous comeback.

Probably just watching the box score, I wouldn't say he had an incredible game, but he played well when it mattered, and at that point the rest of the game, who cares.

[Tripod]

Pascal had a crazy good stretch of plays there. With that said, Nembhard was the true MVP of the game. Haliburton hit the shot to win it but Nembhard handled the ball a lot in that 4th quarter and got them back in that game. Total team effort again.

Yeah team effort perfectly describes them.

And honestly, it's why I am excited about our team next year even if we make no moves expect our 2 draft picks...and adding a legit back up C. We had such good vibes this past year and you could see guys playing as a team, not individual stats. And that's how the Raps will need to play to get great results.

[Grew]

All of the above was in sequence directly before haliburton hit the shot. Without all of the above immediately before the shot, they're not in a position to win the game at all.

Stop it.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

And if the sequences before never happened he wouldn't have been in position to make his contribution. Everything I said is true. The block was his most impressive moment in the sequence. That comeback was a total team effort, I think singling out Pascal like he won them the game single handedly is bias.

In another world the ref doesn't blow the whistle on a lane violation when every player on the court moved off the line early, and we are talking about how Pascal chokes on the free throw line in the clutch.

My claim wasn't that he won it singlehandedly or that he carried.

The later in games you get **** done the more important it is. Therefore his plays were more critical than the others you mentioned even though of course everyone played there part. Again, in not claiming he carried. Im just claiming he was big time once again in a big game in big moments and operated as the perfect #2 , literally setting the scene for the teams #1 to win the game by making all the plays he made before said #1 finished everything off. A lot of people in here were calling him an incapable or mid #2 and more suited as a #3...

The last bit is just hater mumbo jumbo and just you fantasizing about what you wish would have happened.

IF your aunt had balls in this hypothetical other world she'd be your uncle. IF doesn't count for much.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

I've always seen him as a good number 2.I stand by what I said.

[junot111]

Siakam is not doing anything different now that disproves past decisions... Unless we had Halliburton and Carlisle ready to grow on a tree, it made sense to move on from him before the new contract was due. Let's stop lamenting on the past. I'm happy for his success, as well as seeing all the Canadians in the spotlight