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Lo Wang wrote:

Jaqua92 wrote:

Lo Wang wrote:
I'm sorry I don't mean to be offensive in anyway but you have to put everything in context:

1. They are the youngest team in the league.

2. They are blowing teams out by 20+ at the start of the season.

3. Celtics are getting older and Pozingis's health is questionable. Who is going to stop Chet? They already have a problem staying in front of Shai. They are literally sending the entire squad to suffocate Shai. How are they going to stop Chet? Then we have JDub. He's playing like a young DWade; yes he's that explosive. Even Dort is shooting a record percentage of 3s.

You're stuck in the past.

I've watched all 4 games. This is a different OKC team.

Ooooooh.

I get it. You're trolling. Hopefully mods lock this up.

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Total cop out bro.

You don't want to have a respectable conversation, so you're calling on the mods to bail you out.

Have you even watched any Thunder games besides the highlights?

See above

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Lo Wang wrote:

Jaqua92 wrote:
Edit: Saw your comment about Chet being the best center in the NBA. Jig is up now. Hopefully mods lock this bait up.

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I said POTENTIALLY. That is not a statement of fact.

Chet has potential to be the best center same with Wemby and Jokic. Hell Embiid has potential.

Not only are you calling on the mods to bail you out, you're using a fallacy to misconstrue my statement.

Come on man lololol I'm not biting anymore

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OKC defense is crazy,they have so much elite defensive wing players

OKC remind me of the 2022 Celtics but with even more firepower. I think in this hypothetical match-up they could run up against the same problem that C's team did against the Warriors. The lights were a bit too bright for the C's young stars who also seemed like they ran out of gas after a gruelling season. Boston definitely could have won, but the Warriors were simply too good and too experienced for them to afford to make mistakes.

The difference here is that although that 2022 C's team was great, the Warriors were still probably the better team on paper. They had the best player (Steph) they had great continuity, they had the most experience. I don't think it's crazy to think OKC has as good, if not better roster.

The Thunder arguably have the best player (Shai), they've got good continuity, but they still lack that level of experience and even more-so than that '22 Celtics team. At this stage I think you've got to give the benefit of the doubt to the defending champs who are coming back literally fully whole year-on-year.

The match-up is a fascinating one. Would be great to see it in the Finals.

last i saw, okc hasn't won SQUAT

cl2117 wrote:OKC remind me of the 2022 Celtics but with even more firepower. I think in this hypothetical match-up they could run up against the same problem that C's team did against the Warriors. The lights were a bit too bright for the C's young stars who also seemed like they ran out of gas after a gruelling season. Boston definitely could have won, but the Warriors were simply too good and too experienced for them to afford to make mistakes.

The difference here is that although that 2022 C's team was great, the Warriors were still probably the better team on paper. They had the best player (Steph) they had great continuity, they had the most experience. I don't think it's crazy to think OKC has as good, if not better roster.

The Thunder arguably have the best player (Shai), they've got good continuity, but they still lack that level of experience and even more-so than that '22 Celtics team. At this stage I think you've got to give the benefit of the doubt to the defending champs who are coming back literally fully whole year-on-year.

The match-up is a fascinating one. Would be great to see it in the Finals.

maybe this is a new era in basketball but the best players being a pg has historically not worked out for ring teams. magic(a very very and not altogether a pg in the traditional sense), and isiah

the c's are deluging the nba with sheer numbers in 3pt attempts at the 5th best %, while okc is in the bottom third

but i think okc best chances will come from chet not sga. imho

i think it's real close because okc has the #1 D and i think good D will stop volume 3s. it' ll be crazy in the regular season but the celts will swarm okc with D should they meet in the playoffs

This is the most optimistic I've felt about a championship since 2012, aside from our choke job against Golden State in 2016 obviously

Mavrelous wrote:Celtics are just much better, JDub and Chet would need to prove they are legit #2 options offensively, they simply weren't against the Mavs, while all 5 on the Celtics are legit #2 offensive player, except maybe White.

fwiw, the thunder offense outperformed the celtics offense against the mavs in the playoffs last season.

slick_watts wrote:

Mavrelous wrote:Celtics are just much better, JDub and Chet would need to prove they are legit #2 options offensively, they simply weren't against the Mavs, while all 5 on the Celtics are legit #2 offensive player, except maybe White.

fwiw, the thunder offense outperformed the celtics offense against the mavs in the playoffs last season.

The pressure of the finals makes it a little different to make a straight comparison

Lalouie wrote:

cl2117 wrote:OKC remind me of the 2022 Celtics but with even more firepower. I think in this hypothetical match-up they could run up against the same problem that C's team did against the Warriors. The lights were a bit too bright for the C's young stars who also seemed like they ran out of gas after a gruelling season. Boston definitely could have won, but the Warriors were simply too good and too experienced for them to afford to make mistakes.

The difference here is that although that 2022 C's team was great, the Warriors were still probably the better team on paper. They had the best player (Steph) they had great continuity, they had the most experience. I don't think it's crazy to think OKC has as good, if not better roster.

The Thunder arguably have the best player (Shai), they've got good continuity, but they still lack that level of experience and even more-so than that '22 Celtics team. At this stage I think you've got to give the benefit of the doubt to the defending champs who are coming back literally fully whole year-on-year.

The match-up is a fascinating one. Would be great to see it in the Finals.

maybe this is a new era in basketball but the best players being a pg has historically not worked out for ring teams. magic(a very very and not altogether a pg in the traditional sense), and isiah

the c's are deluging the nba with sheer numbers in 3pt attempts at the 5th best %, while okc is in the bottom third

but i think okc best chances will come from chet not sga. imho

i think it's real close because okc has the #1 D and i think good D will stop volume 3s. it' ll be crazy in the regular season but the celts will swarm okc with D should they meet in the playoffs

Yeah I think the most valuable "best player" would be a wing, so given how close Shai and Tatum are in talent it might be a wash really (that is even if Shai is better and I think that's arguable). But a lot of times these games come down to a heroic performance, exactly like what Steph did in that '22 Finals, so if Tatum fades and Shai shines, that could be the difference maker.

The other thing I tend to come back to is that good offense beats good defense. So even if OKC are playing outstanding connected defense, if Boston is rolling from deep, they could just get outgunned. C's can go 8 deep with guys who could go +40% from three for a whole series. It's really hard to beat that if you can't do the same/similar.

WestbrookGOATed wrote:This is the most optimistic I've felt about a championship since 2012, aside from our choke job against Golden State in 2016 obviously

OKC gonna bring Hartenstein off the bench when he gets healthy? I like that pickup for yall.

The Thunder are my favorites to win it all barring major injuries. That team is special defensively. I mean potentially one of the greatest defensive teams ever type special once Hartenstein comes back. They have a championship level #1 option and I think JDub and Chet are both capable of being championship level secondary and tertiary options. Great coach and great depth, also.

Going back-to-back is a very difficult thing to do. The Celtics are great, easily the best team in the East, and have a good shot at winning again, but they're not the unbeatable juggernaut some Celtics fans here make them out to be.

Lalouie wrote:last i saw, okc hasn't won SQUAT

You are not a winner until you are. Having not won before doesn't mean you won't win.

Celtics are better right now but the thunder will be NBA champs at some point during SGA's prime. Thunder have a harder road through Minny and Dallas but the Celtics will have tougher playoffs than last year if NY, Philly and Milwaulkee are healthy.

Bloodbather wrote:

Lalouie wrote:last i saw, okc hasn't won SQUAT

You are not a winner until you are. Having not won before doesn't mean you won't win.

it means talk is just talk

cl2117 wrote:

Lalouie wrote:

cl2117 wrote:OKC remind me of the 2022 Celtics but with even more firepower. I think in this hypothetical match-up they could run up against the same problem that C's team did against the Warriors. The lights were a bit too bright for the C's young stars who also seemed like they ran out of gas after a gruelling season. Boston definitely could have won, but the Warriors were simply too good and too experienced for them to afford to make mistakes.

The difference here is that although that 2022 C's team was great, the Warriors were still probably the better team on paper. They had the best player (Steph) they had great continuity, they had the most experience. I don't think it's crazy to think OKC has as good, if not better roster.

The Thunder arguably have the best player (Shai), they've got good continuity, but they still lack that level of experience and even more-so than that '22 Celtics team. At this stage I think you've got to give the benefit of the doubt to the defending champs who are coming back literally fully whole year-on-year.

The match-up is a fascinating one. Would be great to see it in the Finals.

maybe this is a new era in basketball but the best players being a pg has historically not worked out for ring teams. magic(a very very and not altogether a pg in the traditional sense), and isiah

the c's are deluging the nba with sheer numbers in 3pt attempts at the 5th best %, while okc is in the bottom third

but i think okc best chances will come from chet not sga. imho

i think it's real close because okc has the #1 D and i think good D will stop volume 3s. it' ll be crazy in the regular season but the celts will swarm okc with D should they meet in the playoffs

Yeah I think the most valuable "best player" would be a wing, so given how close Shai and Tatum are in talent it might be a wash really (that is even if Shai is better and I think that's arguable). But a lot of times these games come down to a heroic performance, exactly like what Steph did in that '22 Finals, so if Tatum fades and Shai shines, that could be the difference maker.

The other thing I tend to come back to is that good offense beats good defense. So even if OKC are playing outstanding connected defense, if Boston is rolling from deep, they could just get outgunned. C's can go 8 deep with guys who could go +40% from three for a whole series. It's really hard to beat that if you can't do the same/similar.

i think a dedicated D can hold a 45 3pt attempt team down by 10>15 attempts less

Lo Wang wrote:

Jaqua92 wrote:

Lo Wang wrote:
I'm sorry I don't mean to be offensive in anyway but you have to put everything in context:

1. They are the youngest team in the league.

2. They are blowing teams out by 20+ at the start of the season.

3. Celtics are getting older and Pozingis's health is questionable. Who is going to stop Chet? They already have a problem staying in front of Shai. They are literally sending the entire squad to suffocate Shai. How are they going to stop Chet? Then we have JDub. He's playing like a young DWade; yes he's that explosive. Even Dort is shooting a record percentage of 3s.

You're stuck in the past.

I've watched all 4 games. This is a different OKC team.

Ooooooh.

I get it. You're trolling. Hopefully mods lock this up.

Sent from my SM-G975U using RealGM mobile app

Total cop out bro.

You don't want to have a respectable conversation, so you're calling on the mods to bail you out.

Have you even watched any Thunder games besides the highlights?

Mate you’re not even trying to have a conversation. You’ve just made this to argue with people that disagree with you.

Too early to speculate, but both teams look dominant right now and, as the most biased Thunder fan I know, I REALLY hope we get that finals matchup and the opportunity to find out.

Still the Celtics, but we're coming for ya!

Think I like the Thunder more, tbh. Neither team has any holes really, but i just like the top end talent on Okc more. They seem more impactful to my eye.