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ConstableGeneva wrote:We **** swept the Sixers who had Embiid. Who cares if he averaged 40 points and 20 rebounds. We weren't outrebounded in the Miami series. We weren't outscored in the paint. We were the 2nd best playoff team in defending within 3 feet of the rim (behind Utah). So to me, our "lack of physical, rim-protecting, rebounding bigs" wasn't the primary reason we lost to the Heat.
Our inability to pressure the ball and our inability to contain their player movement were the main culprits imo. Dragic got wherever he wanted on the floor. Their shooters got away from our defenders constantly. Passing and cutting lanes were open. Sure, you'd wish your last line of defense was Anthony Davis but you also wish our guards/wings did a better job with their individual assignments, with communicating, and with executing scheme.
I would point to our defensive guard play and scheme first before pointing a finger on Theis. But of course, people will just remember the consecutive possessions Bam overpowered Theis in the 4th qtr of game 6 and ignore the fact the we let a rookie put up 37 points on us or that late in games, our crappy offense was also our worst defense. Chucking up threes often led to runouts or easy transition points for Miami. None of that was on Theis' lack of size or physicality.

klemen4 wrote:Boston and Indy imo are a great fit for Hayward trade.
I see two options:
1) Hayward for Turner/Lamb
We get starting C and very good scoring guard. If we do not want Lamb because of his 21/22 10 million salary than there is 2nd option.
2) Hayward for Turner/ McDermott/ McConnell
Both MCs are expiring, but imo would be good bench pieces.

Asian Celtic wrote:SmartWentCrazy wrote:Asian Celtic wrote:So hard to understand when even if we all agree that we neee an upgrade in the Center position, a lot of people want a center that can space the floor, block shots, defend guards, and cannot be abused by Embiid or Adebayo.
The only player I can think of is Anthony Freaking Davis. What the actual ****. Unrealistic.
We dont need spacing the floor or blocking shots. Just need one to be okay on switches and not beasted against by a physical big.
List of bigs that can defend Embiid, Jokic, Adebayo, Davis by physicality off the top of my head in no particular order.
1) Howard
2) Marjanovic
3) Biyombo
4) Ibaka
5) Fall
6) McGee
7) Sabonis
8) Gobert
9) Vucevic
10) Drummond
11) Valanciunas
12) Favors
13) Whiteside
14) Adams
15) Holmes
16) DeAndre
Then out of those in the list that can switch against forwards / guards.
1) None
Sad list.
klemen4 wrote:Boston and Indy imo are a great fit for Hayward trade.
I see two options:
1) Hayward for Turner/Lamb
We get starting C and very good scoring guard. If we do not want Lamb because of his 21/22 10 million salary than there is 2nd option.
2) Hayward for Turner/ McDermott/ McConnell
Both MCs are expiring, but imo would be good bench pieces.
SmartWentCrazy wrote:ConstableGeneva wrote:We **** swept the Sixers who had Embiid. Who cares if he averaged 40 points and 20 rebounds. We weren't outrebounded in the Miami series. We weren't outscored in the paint. We were the 2nd best playoff team in defending within 3 feet of the rim (behind Utah). So to me, our "lack of physical, rim-protecting, rebounding bigs" wasn't the primary reason we lost to the Heat.
Our inability to pressure the ball and our inability to contain their player movement were the main culprits imo. Dragic got wherever he wanted on the floor. Their shooters got away from our defenders constantly. Passing and cutting lanes were open. Sure, you'd wish your last line of defense was Anthony Davis but you also wish our guards/wings did a better job with their individual assignments, with communicating, and with executing scheme.
I would point to our defensive guard play and scheme first before pointing a finger on Theis. But of course, people will just remember the consecutive possessions Bam overpowered Theis in the 4th qtr of game 6 and ignore the fact the we let a rookie put up 37 points on us or that late in games, our crappy offense was also our worst defense. Chucking up threes often led to runouts or easy transition points for Miami. None of that was on Theis' lack of size or physicality.
Not being able to guard the Dragic-Bam PnR was a pretty big reason for our defensive collapse, IMO. When we collapsed to stop it, their shooters got even more room.
We need a big who is better at handling the PnR. Its a hard ask, but winning a championship is hard.

ConstableGeneva wrote:SmartWentCrazy wrote:ConstableGeneva wrote:We **** swept the Sixers who had Embiid. Who cares if he averaged 40 points and 20 rebounds. We weren't outrebounded in the Miami series. We weren't outscored in the paint. We were the 2nd best playoff team in defending within 3 feet of the rim (behind Utah). So to me, our "lack of physical, rim-protecting, rebounding bigs" wasn't the primary reason we lost to the Heat.
Our inability to pressure the ball and our inability to contain their player movement were the main culprits imo. Dragic got wherever he wanted on the floor. Their shooters got away from our defenders constantly. Passing and cutting lanes were open. Sure, you'd wish your last line of defense was Anthony Davis but you also wish our guards/wings did a better job with their individual assignments, with communicating, and with executing scheme.
I would point to our defensive guard play and scheme first before pointing a finger on Theis. But of course, people will just remember the consecutive possessions Bam overpowered Theis in the 4th qtr of game 6 and ignore the fact the we let a rookie put up 37 points on us or that late in games, our crappy offense was also our worst defense. Chucking up threes often led to runouts or easy transition points for Miami. None of that was on Theis' lack of size or physicality.
Not being able to guard the Dragic-Bam PnR was a pretty big reason for our defensive collapse, IMO. When we collapsed to stop it, their shooters got even more room.
We need a big who is better at handling the PnR. Its a hard ask, but winning a championship is hard.
I thought Theis did his part on PnR coverage for the most part. If Dragic gets away from his defender, Theis was there to close driving lanes. It was then the wings' job to tag Bam and for whoever was guarding Dragic to rotate. Most of the time, Theis was left on an island, having to cover both the driver and the big. That's not on him.
Case in point, when we put Smart on Dragic, ball pressure was better and these breakdowns on PnR happen less. When it's Kemba, we have to make up for his weakness on that end. So it's really not on Theis.
So it's mostly on the guard or the scheme that was not working. We're asking too much from Theis when Kemba is on the floor (the way we did from Horford to cover for IT's deficiencies). Same thing will happen even if we bring in Myles Turner or Vucevic as long as Kemba is still the guy harassing the ballhandler.
Also, it was rarely brought up that Tatum's defense dipped considerably from Toronto series to the Miami series. (Herro's hero game was mostly on Tatum's poor individual effort imo.) Unfair to demand a high level from him defensively when he's already carrying the bulk of the offense/playmaking, but if he's to become a top 5 player, that's the ask.
SmartWentCrazy wrote:ConstableGeneva wrote:SmartWentCrazy wrote:
Not being able to guard the Dragic-Bam PnR was a pretty big reason for our defensive collapse, IMO. When we collapsed to stop it, their shooters got even more room.
We need a big who is better at handling the PnR. Its a hard ask, but winning a championship is hard.
I thought Theis did his part on PnR coverage for the most part. If Dragic gets away from his defender, Theis was there to close driving lanes. It was then the wings' job to tag Bam and for whoever was guarding Dragic to rotate. Most of the time, Theis was left on an island, having to cover both the driver and the big. That's not on him.
Case in point, when we put Smart on Dragic, ball pressure was better and these breakdowns on PnR happen less. When it's Kemba, we have to make up for his weakness on that end. So it's really not on Theis.
So it's mostly on the guard or the scheme that was not working. We're asking too much from Theis when Kemba is on the floor (the way we did from Horford to cover for IT's deficiencies). Same thing will happen even if we bring in Myles Turner or Vucevic as long as Kemba is still the guy harassing the ballhandler.
Also, it was rarely brought up that Tatum's defense dipped considerably from Toronto series to the Miami series. (Herro's hero game was mostly on Tatum's poor individual effort imo.) Unfair to demand a high level from him defensively when he's already carrying the bulk of the offense/playmaking, but if he's to become a top 5 player, that's the ask.
Eh, I remember Dragic shooting over or blowing by Theis quite a lot on the switch and Bam yamming it home quite a bit as well. At 6’8, he’s just not big/athletic enough to stop that attack.
Also, Herro just hit a **** load of contested jumpers vs us. He missed the same looks vs LA and looked dreadful. It sucks but thats how the ball bounces sometimes.

ConstableGeneva wrote:SmartWentCrazy wrote:ConstableGeneva wrote:I thought Theis did his part on PnR coverage for the most part. If Dragic gets away from his defender, Theis was there to close driving lanes. It was then the wings' job to tag Bam and for whoever was guarding Dragic to rotate. Most of the time, Theis was left on an island, having to cover both the driver and the big. That's not on him.
Case in point, when we put Smart on Dragic, ball pressure was better and these breakdowns on PnR happen less. When it's Kemba, we have to make up for his weakness on that end. So it's really not on Theis.
So it's mostly on the guard or the scheme that was not working. We're asking too much from Theis when Kemba is on the floor (the way we did from Horford to cover for IT's deficiencies). Same thing will happen even if we bring in Myles Turner or Vucevic as long as Kemba is still the guy harassing the ballhandler.
Also, it was rarely brought up that Tatum's defense dipped considerably from Toronto series to the Miami series. (Herro's hero game was mostly on Tatum's poor individual effort imo.) Unfair to demand a high level from him defensively when he's already carrying the bulk of the offense/playmaking, but if he's to become a top 5 player, that's the ask.
Eh, I remember Dragic shooting over or blowing by Theis quite a lot on the switch and Bam yamming it home quite a bit as well. At 6’8, he’s just not big/athletic enough to stop that attack.
Also, Herro just hit a **** load of contested jumpers vs us. He missed the same looks vs LA and looked dreadful. It sucks but thats how the ball bounces sometimes.
Those dunks happened because no one was tagging Bam on the roll. Had a free lane going up for the lobs. Theis was there to stop the drives. Bam got the better of him in those game 6 4th Q isos though (mistake on Stevens part to pull out Grant).
So you're putting a black mark on Theis for contesting Dragic's ridiculous threes over him while also giving Tatum a pass on Herro? Maybe we saw it differently 'cos those Dragic daggers were well-contested while Herro got free from Tatum quite a bit especially in the first half. That got him into a rhythm. I won't ask anyone to rewatch but Tatum was pretty bad in that one game where he not only had an egg in the half but also missed his defensive assignment to the point people were wondering whether he was injured. He even took the blame for that game 4.
ConstableGeneva wrote:We **** swept the Sixers who had Embiid. Who cares if he averaged 40 points and 20 rebounds. We weren't outrebounded in the Miami series. We weren't outscored in the paint. We were the 2nd best playoff team in defending within 3 feet of the rim (behind Utah). So to me, our "lack of physical, rim-protecting, rebounding bigs" wasn't the primary reason we lost to the Heat.
Our inability to pressure the ball and our inability to contain their player movement were the main culprits imo. Dragic got wherever he wanted on the floor. Their shooters got away from our defenders constantly. Passing and cutting lanes were open. Sure, you'd wish your last line of defense was Anthony Davis but you also wish our guards/wings did a better job with their individual assignments, with communicating, and with executing scheme.
I would point to our defensive guard play and scheme first before pointing a finger on Theis. But of course, people will just remember the consecutive possessions Bam overpowered Theis in the 4th qtr of game 6 and ignore the fact the we let a rookie put up 37 points on us or that late in games, our crappy offense was also our worst defense. Chucking up threes often led to runouts or easy transition points for Miami. None of that was on Theis' lack of size or physicality.
SmartWentCrazy wrote:ConstableGeneva wrote:SmartWentCrazy wrote:
Eh, I remember Dragic shooting over or blowing by Theis quite a lot on the switch and Bam yamming it home quite a bit as well. At 6’8, he’s just not big/athletic enough to stop that attack.
Also, Herro just hit a **** load of contested jumpers vs us. He missed the same looks vs LA and looked dreadful. It sucks but thats how the ball bounces sometimes.
Those dunks happened because no one was tagging Bam on the roll. Had a free lane going up for the lobs. Theis was there to stop the drives. Bam got the better of him in those game 6 4th Q isos though (mistake on Stevens part to pull out Grant).
So you're putting a black mark on Theis for contesting Dragic's ridiculous threes over him while also giving Tatum a pass on Herro? Maybe we saw it differently 'cos those Dragic daggers were well-contested while Herro got free from Tatum quite a bit especially in the first half. That got him into a rhythm. I won't ask anyone to rewatch but Tatum was pretty bad in that one game where he not only had an egg in the half but also missed his defensive assignment to the point people were wondering whether he was injured. He even took the blame for that game 4.
We stopped them for a game when we had Jaylen tag out, but then they adjusted and Bam kicked it to the open shooter. The passing is what makes him so difficult to guard and expecting more rotations just puts too much stress on the defense.
The difference is that youre arguing results and I’m arguing process. Were structurally deficient vs PnR bigs due to Theis’ limitations. Hes an awesome player, probably the 20th best big in the league, but he’s just unable to guard in the way we need to win a title. Its not a detriment to him, more of an acknowledgement of whom he is.
FWIW, its one reason why I’m so high on time lord, he can be that guy and has all the physical ability in the world.
robbie84 wrote:klemen4 wrote:Boston and Indy imo are a great fit for Hayward trade.
I see two options:
1) Hayward for Turner/Lamb
We get starting C and very good scoring guard. If we do not want Lamb because of his 21/22 10 million salary than there is 2nd option.
2) Hayward for Turner/ McDermott/ McConnell
Both MCs are expiring, but imo would be good bench pieces.
Lamb sucks doesn't he? I remember him having the IQ of a carrot.
ConstableGeneva wrote:Saw this somewhere. Just wondering if this is an easy NO for everyone here:
DEN gets Hayward, Smart, Langford
BOS gets Porter Jr., Harris, Barton

ConstableGeneva wrote:SmartWentCrazy wrote:ConstableGeneva wrote:Those dunks happened because no one was tagging Bam on the roll. Had a free lane going up for the lobs. Theis was there to stop the drives. Bam got the better of him in those game 6 4th Q isos though (mistake on Stevens part to pull out Grant).
So you're putting a black mark on Theis for contesting Dragic's ridiculous threes over him while also giving Tatum a pass on Herro? Maybe we saw it differently 'cos those Dragic daggers were well-contested while Herro got free from Tatum quite a bit especially in the first half. That got him into a rhythm. I won't ask anyone to rewatch but Tatum was pretty bad in that one game where he not only had an egg in the half but also missed his defensive assignment to the point people were wondering whether he was injured. He even took the blame for that game 4.
We stopped them for a game when we had Jaylen tag out, but then they adjusted and Bam kicked it to the open shooter. The passing is what makes him so difficult to guard and expecting more rotations just puts too much stress on the defense.
The difference is that youre arguing results and I’m arguing process. Were structurally deficient vs PnR bigs due to Theis’ limitations. Hes an awesome player, probably the 20th best big in the league, but he’s just unable to guard in the way we need to win a title. Its not a detriment to him, more of an acknowledgement of whom he is.
FWIW, its one reason why I’m so high on time lord, he can be that guy and has all the physical ability in the world.
I'm arguing that replacing Theis with a different/perceived-better available big won't make much of a difference as long as Kemba is still the one covering the ball. I won't pretend to know more than our coaching staff, but it irked me why we didn't just hide him on Crowder (and OG in Raps series) instead. But even that presented problems. Butler would call for Jae to screen and for the life of me, I don't know why we surrendered the switch readily every time.
We'd have to pick our poison less with Kemba off the floor. Theis wouldn't be much of an issue defensively if we covered that glaring hole at PG. But since Kemba is too valuable on offense to keep off the court, Stevens has to come up with a better scheme to cover for him. 'Cos there aren't a lot of bigs that are strong/athletic enough to defend opposing bigs inside while also agile enough to switch or slow down ballhandlers. Even if there were, they're beyond our reach due to our cap situation. Turner isn't the answer imo. Some are bringing up Dwight like WTF are we being serious here. And as much as I love Favors, he's still a drop big. Drop bigs are getting killed in playoffs. Maybe Noel? And hopefully, Timelord as you say once he understands positioning, footwork, and timing.
ConstableGeneva wrote:Saw this somewhere. Just wondering if this is an easy NO for everyone here:
DEN gets Hayward, Smart, Langford
BOS gets Porter Jr., Harris, Barton
SmartWentCrazy wrote:ConstableGeneva wrote:SmartWentCrazy wrote:
We stopped them for a game when we had Jaylen tag out, but then they adjusted and Bam kicked it to the open shooter. The passing is what makes him so difficult to guard and expecting more rotations just puts too much stress on the defense.
The difference is that youre arguing results and I’m arguing process. Were structurally deficient vs PnR bigs due to Theis’ limitations. Hes an awesome player, probably the 20th best big in the league, but he’s just unable to guard in the way we need to win a title. Its not a detriment to him, more of an acknowledgement of whom he is.
FWIW, its one reason why I’m so high on time lord, he can be that guy and has all the physical ability in the world.
I'm arguing that replacing Theis with a different/perceived-better available big won't make much of a difference as long as Kemba is still the one covering the ball. I won't pretend to know more than our coaching staff, but it irked me why we didn't just hide him on Crowder (and OG in Raps series) instead. But even that presented problems. Butler would call for Jae to screen and for the life of me, I don't know why we surrendered the switch readily every time.
We'd have to pick our poison less with Kemba off the floor. Theis wouldn't be much of an issue defensively if we covered that glaring hole at PG. But since Kemba is too valuable on offense to keep off the court, Stevens has to come up with a better scheme to cover for him. 'Cos there aren't a lot of bigs that are strong/athletic enough to defend opposing bigs inside while also agile enough to switch or slow down ballhandlers. Even if there were, they're beyond our reach due to our cap situation. Turner isn't the answer imo. Some are bringing up Dwight like WTF are we being serious here. And as much as I love Favors, he's still a drop big. Drop bigs are getting killed in playoffs. Maybe Noel? And hopefully, Timelord as you say once he understands positioning, footwork, and timing.
To be honest, I agree with you on Kemba— its one of the reasons I’ve advocated bringing him off the bench and starting/closing with Smart. I just think Theis is probably best served as our bench big as well.
Asian Celtic wrote:ConstableGeneva wrote:Saw this somewhere. Just wondering if this is an easy NO for everyone here:
DEN gets Hayward, Smart, Langford
BOS gets Porter Jr., Harris, Barton
On paper I would say NO directly. After checking Harris and Barton contract situation that has two years remaining makes me think yes if we can somehow flip Harris to a third team for a bigman.