PLAYOFFS, 2nd RND, GM #1 – Celtics @ Bucks – 1:00PM, Sun, 04-28-19

[truth18]

A face only a mother could love

Good thing he's rich..

Not the teeth, but the rest of his face and body I rate as quite reminiscent of Paul Pierce.

Breathe, Ex! I didn't say his game!

Paul is handsome as hell

Spoiler:

Nah but that was the busted era for real, long era too, only good thing Young ever did for us was being a hot boy going after RiRi and Bey with no shame at all

Edit:

Spoiler:

top of the page again **** it

[thelarrybirdx]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26604729/2019-nba-playoffs-expert-predictions-conference-semifinals

Pleasantly surprised to see how many analysts are picking this series to go 7 games and/or for Boston to win it.

[Bleeding Green]

Horford and then Theis to spell him mostly. You can't have Baynes on the court when Lopez is out there, he'll just be ripping threes the entire time. The Bucks don't have anyone who plays in the paint besides Giannis, and Baynes isn't suited to do anything against Giannis. None of the Bucks bigs play in the paint at all unless Pau Gasol makes a 5 minute cameo in one of these games. I don't care about physicality, I care about running everyone off the three point line in this series.

I was thinking about Baynes being ineffective. Theis can guard the 3, and shoot it, as well.
Maybe, Start Morris with Horford, and have Ojeleye and Theis spell them?
With Baynes as a Break-Glass-In-Case-Of-Emergency.


PLAYOFF ROTATION

Irving - Brown - Tatum - Morris - Horford
Rozier - Hayward - Ojeleye - Theis (- Baynes)

Personally I'd go with Semi over Morris, particularly as long as Brown is in there instead of Smart.

I'm an avid Morris hater so maybe I'm biased, but against a team like the Bucks I think he'd be especially exposed on the defensive end. He loses huge points for having very little defensive versatility on switches and doesn't defend the three point line anywhere near well enough for my liking. Against Philly, sure, play Morris all you want and go throw a party when he he scores 20 on 17 shots. Against the Bucks? Nah.

[SLCceltic]

But they wont admit for his size and what he does on the court is skilled in his own ways. It's really simple to see how great he really is and is ridiculous seeing peoples comments. He is the MVP this year.

Agree. He is the MVP

AND I would really appreciate your thoughts on Semi Ojeleye, is there a better Defender in league vs Yonniss ??

I don't know much about Semi. So i'm not really going to comment on who is a better defender, but...
1. Semi (6'7") typically guards different players than Giannis (6'11) might be hard to compare
2. Giannis on ball defense probably not very highly rated as certain players
3. Giannis off ball defense I would say is very highly rated because he's had so many come from behind/hustle blocks and blocks on BIG men. Its where he stands out. He is not afraid to get dunked on.

Do think Semi gives GA problems defensively ? Have you seen another defender guard GA better than Semi ??

[MAC1987]

Agree. He is the MVP

AND I would really appreciate your thoughts on Semi Ojeleye, is there a better Defender in league vs Yonniss ??

I don't know much about Semi. So i'm not really going to comment on who is a better defender, but...
1. Semi (6'7") typically guards different players than Giannis (6'11) might be hard to compare
2. Giannis on ball defense probably not very highly rated as certain players
3. Giannis off ball defense I would say is very highly rated because he's had so many come from behind/hustle blocks and blocks on BIG men. Its where he stands out. He is not afraid to get dunked on.

Do think Semi gives GA problems defensively ? Have you seen another defender guard GA better than Semi ??

The Celtics definitely gives Giannis the most fits if that's what you're getting at. Again idk much about Semi and how he plays D against Giannis. But a simple Google search says he does well against Giannis.
What exactly are you getting at here?
I'm not going to act like I know all Celtic players.
When I watch I try to see what Buck players are doing.


Sent from my SM-G935V using RealGM mobile app

[reload141]

2 more days until we throttle the Bucks? Ugh. So far away.

[SLCceltic]

I don't know much about Semi. So i'm not really going to comment on who is a better defender, but...
1. Semi (6'7") typically guards different players than Giannis (6'11) might be hard to compare
2. Giannis on ball defense probably not very highly rated as certain players
3. Giannis off ball defense I would say is very highly rated because he's had so many come from behind/hustle blocks and blocks on BIG men. Its where he stands out. He is not afraid to get dunked on.

Do think Semi gives GA problems defensively ? Have you seen another defender guard GA better than Semi ??

The Celtics definitely gives Giannis the most fits if that's what you're getting at. Again idk much about Semi and how he plays D against Giannis. But a simple Google search says he does well against Giannis.
What exactly are you getting at here?
I'm not going to act like I know all Celtic players.
When I watch I try to see what Buck players are doing.


Sent from my SM-G935V using RealGM mobile app

Semi plays more vs Mil than any other team. He even started against you some in playoffs last year. He never starts !

He is able to guard GA with some success .. I was just wondering if you have noticed a stronger defender than Semi on GA
You mainly answered my question THX

Cheers.... here's to an injury free series !

[MAC1987]

Do think Semi gives GA problems defensively ? Have you seen another defender guard GA better than Semi ??

The Celtics definitely gives Giannis the most fits if that's what you're getting at. Again idk much about Semi and how he plays D against Giannis. But a simple Google search says he does well against Giannis.
What exactly are you getting at here?
I'm not going to act like I know all Celtic players.
When I watch I try to see what Buck players are doing.


Sent from my SM-G935V using RealGM mobile app

Semi plays more vs Mil than any other team. He even started against you some in playoffs last year. He never starts !

He is able to guard GA with some success .. I was just wondering if you have noticed a stronger defender than Semi on GA
You mainly answered my question THX

Cheers.... here's to an injury free series !

Agree. And this should finally be fun to watch. Been waiting all season after that horrid first round.

Sent from my SM-G935V using RealGM mobile app

[Big Joke Line]

We have no chance. Lets just pack it in now

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Ben falk ? TF.....who is this kevin Arnold’s best friend Paul from wonder years looking dweeb. Celtics in 7

Nice

[Big Joke Line]

Has anybody mentioned or posted a link to the team’s travel? Are they already in MIL? Going tomorrow?

[JJHondo17]

Give America what they want!!! Boston v Philly eastern conference finals. Will it into existence!!

[celticfan42487]

I don't know about start, but I'm expecting 20+ mins of Semi with all of them occurring when Giannis is on the court. Not sure how Baynes is going to even get on the court this series.

Well with no Baynes who do you expect to fill the C position.

I expected a ton of Horford and Baynes because they're the only one on our team with some physicality to them defensively.

I also expect at least Baynes to attempt to take a number of charges on Greek Freak.

Horford and then Theis to spell him mostly. You can't have Baynes on the court when Lopez is out there, he'll just be ripping threes the entire time. The Bucks don't have anyone who plays in the paint besides Giannis, and Baynes isn't suited to do anything against Giannis. None of the Bucks bigs play in the paint at all unless Pau Gasol makes a 5 minute cameo in one of these games. I don't care about physicality, I care about running everyone off the three point line in this series.

Well that sounds good if you're planning to play 1 on 1 defense against the Greek Freak.

But then again I also don't rate Theis as highly as you do based on this analysis, and yet I know we'll be going deep into our rotation from fouls alone.

But my theory on the Greek Freak in the playoffs is you have to match his size (6'10 240lbs) on him and ideally on the man rotating over to hard foul him going to the basket. Also you have to hope the refs swallow their whistle a bit more in the playoffs so when you are playing a mobile big like Horford on him he can bump him into the help defense without being called for a foul every single time.

Obviously, he's the MVP so 90% of the time it doesn't matter and he'll score on a dunk. But if you aren't playing rotational or double team basketball and giving up the 3 on defense then this doesn't matter and you can pick guys that cover their bigs from 3.

But if you're planning to play stay at home 1 on 1 defense then you're saying you can stop the Greek Freak's driving to the basket game with just one lockdown defender.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And fouls alone on our PFs and Cs should mean we'll try both often in the series. I'd rather start with Horford on Giannas and Baynes back there to try and take charges or try to hard him as hard as is legally allowed. It's going to require a large effort on rotational defense and Giannas and unlock that defense with his kickouts but hopefully we rotate hard enough to force them off the 3 point line and into a mid range 2 or a drive where with both Horford and Baynes in they can challenge the man driving to the basket in the "open" lane.


We're going to need a lot of flopping. This is where Smart's rotational flop defense will be missed the most. It's our best hope (we also may need on need instead to just catch fire from 3 on offense).

[Celtics_History_Lesson]

Milwaukee does not play playoff style basketball.

They started to panic when Blake left the hospital and took off all that knee covering and got on the court for a few minutes. Kennard was finding lots of gaps and spots to shoot, so Irving can as well.

Horford will defend, and stop, The Greek Fork.

The only thing the Celtics have to fear are the refs. If the fix is in, you will know as 40 free throw attempts by the Bucks and 8 free throw attempts for Boston. Baynes will also pick up two fouls within the first 28 seconds, and Tatum will not get a free throw attempt the entire series, despite needing stitches to his head from the fouls.

No stupid shots means no fast breaks for the Bucks. That is all they score on, fast breaks and then open threes when teams are lazy to cover Middleton and the big is too stubborn to cover Lopez.

Horford may not get double-figure points average, but will still be Boston's best player.

[Saint Lazarus]

Oh hey, look— its thelarrybirdx, here to tell everyone that he’s better than them again.

Yawn. Your schtick is pretty boring.

I would delete the post if I could

Ah, yes, the James Young of this forum gives his take on things.

Jesus christ that man has a family.

Spoiler:

I want my player comparison asap

[exculpatory]

The Eastern Conference Finals might as well have been propelled to the second round this year between these teams. It wouldn't defy many preseason expectations that the Celtics are featured in the conference finals—actual or de facto—or even that they've steamrolled their way here, except those expectations have been revised during all of their turbulent regular season; now, it'll entail an upset for the Celtics to advance past the Bucks—the same team they ousted in the first round last year with Irving and Hayward on the sidelines.

While the Celtics added their two-best players to this rematch—in addition to the cohort of rookie-contract players and journeymen that knocked on the door of the Finals last year—the Bucks replaced Kidd/Prunty with a coach in Brad Stevens's league, and the latter has reaped HCA, top-five offense and defense, and favorable series odds from it. The Bucks simply didn't synergize under the previous coaching staff, and the tables have turned with the Celtics looking much less than the sum of their parts despite the new parts, Irving and Hayward, that most expected to bolster the roster.

But I'm not too lulled by the turnaround. The betting odds might have been recalculated in the Bucks' favor, but it hasn't declawed the Celtics to me—who I've still found to be the most daunting opponent out East. Although the Celtics won less regular-season games on-paper than last year, they've still upticked their average margin of victory; they've had ample time for Hayward and Irving to gel after starting off the season rockily; and they're once again peaking at the most opportune time in the playoffs, clashing with the Bucks as the only-remaining undefeated teams this postseason.

The Bucks are more upsettable here than most acknowledge, but their favorability—to whatever justifiable degree—is perfectly well-grounded—especially when assaying the match-ups, which are, in one word, nightmarish for the Celtics. Irving and Hayward are fairly containable by our defenders thanks to Giannis's multipositional capabilities on that end and Bledsoe's underrated defense, and Lopez and Middleton won't leave too many points unanswered against Horford and Tatum/Brown, but who even has the physique to defend Giannis: Semi Ojeleye, who's more inimical to their offense than he is contributive to their defense, or Marcus Morris, who's their worst-rated defender among frequent starters?

The sidelining of Malcolm Brogdon—the newest member of the 50/40/90 club—will hurt our floor-spacing at times; however, he shouldn't be sorely missed as long as the Bucks protect the Fiserv Forum—the most successful home court this season next to the Nuggets' Pepsi Center—and if Giannis continues to play like the BITW—a throne more will be ready to anoint him to if he beats his toughest opponent yet.

My biggest misgiving this series is crunch time, where the Celtics have consistently excelled with Kyrie (and even without him often enough last postseason) and where the Bucks aren't too battle-tested this season owing to 46 double-digit victories. Of course, Milwaukee can obviate the need for crunch time if they continue to vise-grip the games from the outset, but that may be easier said than done if the Celtics manage to control the pace as they're provenly capable of doing.

It'll be a hard-fought series like last year, but the Bucks will complete the turnaround by edging out the Celtics this time around. The Bucks are finally starting to own the future that's eluded them for too long; otherwise, the Celtics wouldn't have had every reason to believe the conference was theirs moving into this season.

Bottom-line prediction: Bucks in seven.

Very well written & thoughtful.
Greek Freak is frightening - if he ever develops even average ability from distance, yikes!
And your supporting cast is very good.
With all due respect, I obviously VERY much hope you are wrong.
We are gelling at the right time - after a disappointing RS.
Hayward is the X factor - the quality of his play has skyrocketed in the last couple of months as he continues to return to All Star form S/P a beyond gruesome injury.
Kyrie closes as well as anyone in the NBA.
Cs up!

PS All that said, is Milwaukee a suburb of Toronto?

(I just posted this on the GB - the first time I have posted on the GB in at least 10 years.)

[VeryMuchWoke]

Teams are 7-7 h2h since the start of last season. Gonna be a battle, and anyone who thinks otherwise is talking out of their ass, IMO.

Just enjoy the show, people. Good luck to both teams.

I'd give us a slight advantage due to better versatility and a coach that's better at adjustments. I think, especially this year, the differential between our regular season team and our playoff team is bigger than the Buck's delta. On the other hand, they have home court advantage, so it's pretty dead even I think.

I don't feel great making a prediction either way.


This guy was a head video coordinator for the Wiz. I haven't dove into much of his content yet, but it seems pretty decent. He predicts C's will win in 7.

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[ConstableGeneva]

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[K For Three]

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[Tatumfor2]

Two more sleeps!

[FlatearthZorro]

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Still looking good for potential to come back sooner than later.

I'm expecting Smartacus back for game 3 at home.