Around the NBA - Conference Finals and Finals

[spree2kawhi]

Perfect storm for obi. In a thibs scheme he is not thriving. In most likely 70% of teams in the nba obi doesn’t thrive. He’s not a strong rebounder. He’s not a good defender and his handle is pure ass. He’s in a turbocharged sprint off every shot offense. Make or miss doesn’t matter he’s leaking out. It was never gonna work with thibs but I think his results with Carlisle are not what would have been if we dealt him to every other team in the league. That being said. That’s on Leon as much as it is on thibs. You drafted him at 8 and thibs said fck you im not playing him and your best return was 2 seconds.

Oh well. Leon better figure this coach situation out.

He’s also the lob threat we’ve needed.

[iLLSonChandla]

We would've beaten the Thunder

[HopelessKnick]

OKC **** the bed is on band. This really was our year, huh?

We could’ve beaten them, and we’ll be in the Finals next year, too.

I really hope they turn it around. Not necessarily because I have that great hate for Indy but I feel like if OKC loses they will feel compelled to make a major upgrade move and they certainly have the assets to do it. That could push them into a different stratosphere. If they beat Indy they'll likely stay mostly put and Indy does as well because they feel they have been close.

[Iron Mantis]

Perfect storm for obi. In a thibs scheme he is not thriving. In most likely 70% of teams in the nba obi doesn’t thrive. He’s not a strong rebounder. He’s not a good defender and his handle is pure ass. He’s in a turbocharged sprint off every shot offense. Make or miss doesn’t matter he’s leaking out. It was never gonna work with thibs but I think his results with Carlisle are not what would have been if we dealt him to every other team in the league. That being said. That’s on Leon as much as it is on thibs. You drafted him at 8 and thibs said fck you im not playing him and your best return was 2 seconds.

Oh well. Leon better figure this coach situation out.

He’s also the lob threat we’ve needed.

He can also catch fire from 3.

And he also plays with boundless energy. He is NEVER lethargic.... And that high energy is contagious and can galvanize the team when we do our usual sleepwalking for several minutes per quarter.

[Jalen Bluntson]

We would've beaten the Thunder

Not the way Thibs coaches.

[8516knicks]

Perfect storm for obi. In a thibs scheme he is not thriving. In most likely 70% of teams in the nba obi doesn’t thrive. He’s not a strong rebounder. He’s not a good defender and his handle is pure ass. He’s in a turbocharged sprint off every shot offense. Make or miss doesn’t matter he’s leaking out. It was never gonna work with thibs but I think his results with Carlisle are not what would have been if we dealt him to every other team in the league. That being said. That’s on Leon as much as it is on thibs. You drafted him at 8 and thibs said fck you im not playing him and your best return was 2 seconds.

Oh well. Leon better figure this coach situation out.

He’s also the lob threat we’ve needed.

He can also catch fire from 3.

And he also plays with boundless energy. He is NEVER lethargic.... And that high energy is contagious and can galvanize the team when we do our usual sleepwalking for several minutes per quarter.

We are (or were) the most geriatric looking team in the NBA under Thibs. Not clear we'll be more than medicare eligible going forward.

[HopelessKnick]

Yeah I think the series would have been different. Keep in mind Carlisle established that bench long ago and they are benefitting heavily. 49 bench points, high pressure and high tempo because they play so many bodies. Complete opposite of Thibs. We would have slowed the pace down, close to zero bench play or bench points. After being down 2-0 media, fans etc. would have increased so much on Thibs he would have played 10 minutes of Wright and Shamet reluctantly.

I still think the Thuder will pull it out but it will be Denver style close. They have no margin for error anymore. They essentially must win game 4.

[8516knicks]

Would rather see the PACERS win than a modern-day Hinkie be rewarded.

[Fury]

Would rather see the PACERS win than a modern-day Hinkie be rewarded.

You gotta look at the big picture, man. Do you really want Hailburton led Pacers to a win a title the same year he did the choke sign on us and to hold over for rest of our basketball watching lives?! Reggie Miller wouldn't stfu about it either. This is not the way.

[Fury]

Shai, PLEASE

[Jeff Van Gully]

we have more than enough thibs threads. no need to fully derail around the nba, regardless of how you feel about the knicks not being in the finals.

continue that line of discussion here if you want.

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2462236

[Guano]

This is awful man. I hate haliburton so **** much

the league is so much more entertaining with a strong villain.

[sol537]

Can't believe OKC may choke this away as well. On the one hand I'm mighty impressed by the Pacers and Carlisle. Their roster construction, fit, and chemistry is nothing short of amazon given what they had to work with. They hit home runs with the Siakam and Hali trades and a nice double with the Toppin trade. They also got Neismith for peanuts. Just elite GM work there.

On the other hand, I will be quite upset if IND goes all the way because of how they beat us the last two years. I'll be further upset with our players and with the Orc (Thibs). It may take me a while to recover from such a reality.

[aq_ua]

This is awful man. I hate haliburton so **** much

the league is so much more entertaining with a strong villain.

Also more impactful narrative when the villain leads a good team (unlike Trae). NBA needs rivalries.

[HerSports85]

Are the sixers planning to rebuild??

Read on Twitter

[Jeff Van Gully]

This is awful man. I hate haliburton so **** much

the league is so much more entertaining with a strong villain.

Also more impactful narrative when the villain leads a good team (unlike Trae). NBA needs rivalries.

i think unc sums up my feelings on hali right now perfectly



i went from team hali hardcore during the draft to recognizing the villain we face but also understanding the origin story.

and I've also said here somewhere that he's a shepherd for the damn devil.

not rooting for him or the pacers. but there's a part of me that absolutely respects this and has a lot of compassion for his mental health journey at the same time. there's a heroism to his villainy i don't want to accept. and i would probably love this pacers team if they weren't the pacers.

[knicks1999]

Are the sixers planning to rebuild??

Read on Twitter

Paul George and #2 pick for KD seems perfect for both sides

[Jeff Van Gully]

Are the sixers planning to rebuild??

Read on Twitter

Paul George and #2 pick for KD seems perfect for both sides

i can't make that make sense for Philly. if they're going into a rebuild they'd keep that #2, i imagine.

also, what are they giving up to get it.

you don't gut the team for a #2 pick then go get KD.

assuming embiid comes back and healthy (right.) and you're trying to do a big three with KD instead of george... how'd you get the #2 pick? oubre and them scrubs they call depth wouldn't cut it for me.

[Galvationknicks]

OKC **** the bed is on band. This really was our year, huh?

Thibs coached team wasn't beating OKC. C'mon.

With Mitch we kill them lol
Chet is weak asf. Ihart can't guard Kat.
We probably still lose lol

[HopelessKnick]

OKC **** the bed is on band. This really was our year, huh?

Thibs coached team wasn't beating OKC. C'mon.

With Mitch we kill them lol
Chet is weak asf. Ihart can't guard Kat.
We probably still lose lol

What is winning it for Indy is deep bench and fast pace. Two things we really didn't have. The type of iso ball offense Thibs ran is exactly the type of offense OKC thrives on. Static, little movement, no pace so that all their defensive hyenas (meant in a positive sense) can jump on you. Add to that that Thibs disliked making any adjustments and you had the making of a lopsided series.

I do however admit that this is all pure speculation....we may have, we may not have...it was not meant to be...IMHO the seed for this year's playoff letdown was sown in November/december/January when Thibs was adamant on playing a 7,5 man rotation and not experimenting with the starting line-up at all. He was driving the bus into a wall.

but all that being said I believe OKC will rebound. They were down 2-1 to Denver and recovered, they can do the same now. I still feel they could be the better team....they really really need to take care of the ball. Some of that is Indy's good pressure, some of that in the second quarter was sloppy play by OKC. I also think Daignault will make some sort of adustment....and really Isaiah needs to step up big big time. He plays pretty scared right now...he never looks at the basket anymore...he is playing like Mitch...when he gets a board he immediately turns away from the basket. He is not even playing to 20% of what he can do...he really needs to turn it up big time.