2020-21 NBA Season Discussion

[cpower]

this is probably the worse defensive display in the NBA playoff history...mavs defense suck so bad

[Goudelock]

this is probably the worse defensive display in the NBA playoff history...mavs defense suck so bad

The Nuggets gave up 153 points against the Lakers in the 1985 WCF.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198505220LAL.html

[cpower]

this is probably the worse defensive display in the NBA playoff history...mavs defense suck so bad

The Nuggets gave up 153 points against the Lakers in the 1985 WCF.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198505220LAL.html

i am talking about effort not score. every single three point shot is wide open...thats crazy

[GSP]

Is there a playing day when you don't post terrible hot takes here?

Embiids defense isnt a hot take. Ive been critical of it for years now including how badly it got exposed when we swept them last year. His defense outside the paint is ass.

You know that you don't need to switch everything to be good defensively right? Sixers lost last year because they were overmatched, not because of Embiid's defense.

Yes and which of them is Joel actually good at? Too slow to stunt and recover, shows on ball handlers lazily leaving 5ft of space. Doesnt recover well to the paint when drawn out. Poor defensive footwork on hedges. Trae and even Bogdan were splitting his hedges at will. Blitzing is not really much of a choice given all of Joels footwork and poor mobility issues

Jokic is arguably a better pick and roll defender than Joel. Nikola just cant protect the rim like he can. Joel is one of the best rim protectors in the league but thats all he excels at defensively. Hes lucky he plays with the most versatile defender in the league.

They were overmatched and we were attacking Joel defensively all series. That series wouldve been much more competitive if it was just Ben solo against us than Joel solo.

[70sFan]

Embiids defense isnt a hot take. Ive been critical of it for years now including how badly it got exposed when we swept them last year. His defense outside the paint is ass.

You know that you don't need to switch everything to be good defensively right? Sixers lost last year because they were overmatched, not because of Embiid's defense.

Yes and which of them is Joel actually good at? Too slow to stunt and recover, shows on ball handlers lazily leaving 5ft of space. Doesnt recover well to the paint when drawn out. Poor defensive footwork on hedges. Trae and even Bogdan were splitting his hedges at will. Blitzing is not really much of a choice given all of Joels footwork and poor mobility issues

Jokic is arguably a better pick and roll defender than Joel. Nikola just cant protect the rim like he can. Joel is one of the best rim protectors in the league but thats all he excels at defensively. Hes lucky he plays with the most versatile defender in the league.

They were overmatched and we were attacking Joel defensively all series. That series wouldve been much more competitive if it was just Ben solo against us than Joel solo.

I don't believe you can believe that...

[70sFan]

Have you ever seen a worse rebounder than Porzingis?

[yoyoboy]

Kawhi's playmaking today was awesome.

[GSP]

You know that you don't need to switch everything to be good defensively right? Sixers lost last year because they were overmatched, not because of Embiid's defense.

Yes and which of them is Joel actually good at? Too slow to stunt and recover, shows on ball handlers lazily leaving 5ft of space. Doesnt recover well to the paint when drawn out. Poor defensive footwork on hedges. Trae and even Bogdan were splitting his hedges at will. Blitzing is not really much of a choice given all of Joels footwork and poor mobility issues

Jokic is arguably a better pick and roll defender than Joel. Nikola just cant protect the rim like he can. Joel is one of the best rim protectors in the league but thats all he excels at defensively. Hes lucky he plays with the most versatile defender in the league.

They were overmatched and we were attacking Joel defensively all series. That series wouldve been much more competitive if it was just Ben solo against us than Joel solo.

I don't believe you can believe that...

Ben is prolly the best Tatum defender in the league. Jayson torched Philly without him. He wouldve gotten their shooters a lot more. I think he takes 1 game from us and defensively he wouldve been hell for us specially with Hayward out.

[70sFan]

Yes and which of them is Joel actually good at? Too slow to stunt and recover, shows on ball handlers lazily leaving 5ft of space. Doesnt recover well to the paint when drawn out. Poor defensive footwork on hedges. Trae and even Bogdan were splitting his hedges at will. Blitzing is not really much of a choice given all of Joels footwork and poor mobility issues

Jokic is arguably a better pick and roll defender than Joel. Nikola just cant protect the rim like he can. Joel is one of the best rim protectors in the league but thats all he excels at defensively. Hes lucky he plays with the most versatile defender in the league.

They were overmatched and we were attacking Joel defensively all series. That series wouldve been much more competitive if it was just Ben solo against us than Joel solo.

I don't believe you can believe that...

Ben is prolly the best Tatum defender in the league. Jayson torched Philly without him. He wouldve gotten their shooters a lot more. I think he takes 1 game from us and defensively he wouldve been hell for us specially with Hayward out.

How people can still believe that Simmons could lead anything offensively is beyond my comprehension...

Let's wait for the end of the series before you start calling Embiid trash. I wouldn't be surprised if Hawks finish with one win in the series...

[GSP]

I don't believe you can believe that...

Ben is prolly the best Tatum defender in the league. Jayson torched Philly without him. He wouldve gotten their shooters a lot more. I think he takes 1 game from us and defensively he wouldve been hell for us specially with Hayward out.

How people can still believe that Simmons could lead anything offensively is beyond my comprehension...

Let's wait for the end of the series before you start calling Embiid trash. I wouldn't be surprised if Hawks finish with one win in the series...

No ones saying Embiid his trash but his defense outside the paint is.

Philly will win the series specially if Hunter isnt back. Solomon Hill is a bum that cant do anything but injure players

[70sFan]

By the way, Doncic is unreal. He's younger than me and he's dominating the locked-in Kawhi without any effort. His scoring repertoire and handles are out of mind for someone his size. People also vastly underestimate his strength, most people can't do much against Kawhi physically but Luka held his own and he rag-dolled any other Clippers defender he faced. Can you imagine him a few years later? It's scary to imagine...

It's such a shame that Mavs didn't win the series. They need secondary star, Porzingis is terrible. Boban has been better than him throughout the series.

[GSP]

Luka is basically showing what 06-08 Bron wouldve done in todays league with todays spacing. Both streaky shooters and Luka has a better post game and in between game but Bron was a far better athlete with one of the quickest first steps ever. Luka is behind defensively but Bron wasnt a great defender yet in that span

[70sFan]

No ones saying Embiid his trash but his defense outside the paint is.

No, it's not. I've been saying for a long time that Embiid can be lazy at times against P&Rs and that he's not close to Gobert in this department, but comparing him to Jokic is ridiculous.

You also think that Gobert has been exposed this playoffs, so I shouldn't expect anything else from you.

[Goudelock]

By the way, Doncic is unreal. He's younger than me and he's dominating the locked-in Kawhi without any effort. His scoring repertoire and handles are out of mind for someone his size. People also vastly underestimate his strength, most people can't do much against Kawhi physically but Luka held his own and he rag-dolled any other Clippers defender he faced. Can you imagine him a few years later? It's scary to imagine...

It's such a shame that Mavs didn't win the series. They need secondary star, Porzingis is terrible. Boban has been better than him throughout the series.

I forgot that Porzingis was even out there on the floor during stretches of the fourth quarter. If Porzingis had any vertical athleticism or jumpiness left, he could've had a field day in the pick and roll when the Clippers were trapping Doncic. And while his interior defense is still okay at times, he's trash in space.

[Texas Chuck]

Damn I was assured Kawhi was selfish and stupid and was responsible for a dumb team construction. So why did my little Mavs lose?

[Texas Chuck]

Have you ever seen a worse rebounder than Porzingis?

He's not great, but he's been solid in Dallas. But its hard to rebound as a wing in a zone. I wouldn't use this series to judge his rebounding.

[70sFan]

Have you ever seen a worse rebounder than Porzingis?

He's not great, but he's been solid in Dallas. But its hard to rebound as a wing in a zone. I wouldn't use this series to judge his rebounding.

I didn't watch much Dallas this season during RS, but he basically never boxed out in this series. It's not about his averages, it's his approach. Even mediocre rebounding wings outhustled him on that end, it was terrible to watch.

As I said, Boban was bigger factor in this series and if anything he proved that he's not the liability people call him (though his offense is overrated by some people who think he'd be star in different era).

[70sFan]

By the way, Doncic is unreal. He's younger than me and he's dominating the locked-in Kawhi without any effort. His scoring repertoire and handles are out of mind for someone his size. People also vastly underestimate his strength, most people can't do much against Kawhi physically but Luka held his own and he rag-dolled any other Clippers defender he faced. Can you imagine him a few years later? It's scary to imagine...

It's such a shame that Mavs didn't win the series. They need secondary star, Porzingis is terrible. Boban has been better than him throughout the series.

I forgot that Porzingis was even out there on the floor during stretches of the fourth quarter. If Porzingis had any vertical athleticism or jumpiness left, he could've had a field day in the pick and roll when the Clippers were trapping Doncic. And while his interior defense is still okay at times, he's trash in space.

His height is only an issue, he takes no advantage out of it outside of a few help defense moments (though he's not smart defender either). I don't want him to post up, but he's horrible inside and he has no faceup game.

[70sFan]

Damn I was assured Kawhi was selfish and stupid and was responsible for a dumb team construction. So why did my little Mavs lose?

I'm afraid that Clippers won't win the series against better structured team. Dallas roster isn't untalented, but they have weak defense and their offense isn't multidimensional either. I see a lot of flaws in Clippers team and they don't defend well.

[Texas Chuck]

Have you ever seen a worse rebounder than Porzingis?

He's not great, but he's been solid in Dallas. But its hard to rebound as a wing in a zone. I wouldn't use this series to judge his rebounding.

I didn't watch much Dallas this season during RS, but he basically never boxed out in this series. It's not about his averages, it's his approach. Even mediocre rebounding wings outhustled him on that end, it was terrible to watch.
.

Lots of bad boxing out. Luka with a couple of egregious failures too. But again, one of the issues with zones is you are vulnerable to offensive rebounds because you aren't matched up on a body and its easier for guys to slide baseline.

I'm not trying to defend KP the player. He was not nearly good enough this series and its pretty clear to me after 2 years that he and Luka are not additive. I think Dallas looks to move on if they can and I am all for it.

But with this much zone, I'm not judging a guy's defensive rebounding too harsly.