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Simmons needed to take the ball to the rim instead of trying to force kickouts to the rim over defenced
Got to give Boston some real credit here they took the sixers out of their game and forced the game. The sixers youth showed
Embid needs to play closer to rim he took as many 3 pointers as foul shots
Simmons needs a post game
they let this one get away through inexperience, tough spot to come back from this was the Sixers game and Boston took it away and the sixers looked lost to stop the bleeding
Brown also dint make any significant changes, even appropriate timeouts just poor all around and well played and coached by Boston
Tatum looked great too, nice pick for the Celtics
Inexperience is definitely a factor. The Sixers don't have veteran leadership the way the Celtics do with Horford. At the same time, though, they're only a slightly older squad than ours if you look at the talent they're putting on the court (no KI or Hayward).
The fact is the Sixers are offensively limited. Simmons has no offense apart from putting his head down and going to the basket and Saric, Bellinelli and Redick aren't the kind of players who can get theirs against more athletic defenders (though Redick has played some good ball these playoffs). Hopefully Fultz will give us some of that offensive dynamism we need in the future, but it's hard not to feel a bit of buyer's remorse when you see Tatum. He's exactly the type of 2-way talent you need if you want to even think about contending with Golden State or Houston.
Cov must have heard everyone talking bad about him. He shot the ball well and played great defense last night so I have to give him credit.
The Raptors now have to win 4 of the possible final 5 games to win the series. They still have the talent on paper to make it a series----but they aren't winning 4/5 against this team...
This potentially is going to go down as the most mentally weak and fragile teams and organizations in NBA history. That goes for their "stars" too, DeRozan and Lowry. They had the second-best record in the entire NBA this year. #2 offense, #5 defense, franchise record 59 wins, home court throughout, not to mention the way the East was seemingly laid out for them: Boston minus their two best players, Philly being led by youngsters, Lebron with his seemingly worst team in a decade and fresh off a 1st Round series they easily could have lost...
This may be the most mentally weak display I've ever seen by an organization and star players. The only way I could change my mind is not only if they came back and won this series, they need to win the whole thing this year...
Further proof that Lebron will be much more highly regarded when he's gone and there's some distance from his playing days. No individual player has ever dominated one conference this powerfully since Jordan. Every challenger he's had this decade--Chicago, Indiana, Toronto, different incarnations if the Celtics--are put down year after year. Nothing will erase his Finals losses, but at least they were to all-time great teams. He's 3-3 in his last six Finals with wins and losses versus all time great teams. The NBA needed a team as powerful as Golden State to come along, otherwise, Lebron probably could have won six championships in this decade alone...
I don't know that there's ever been an example of a single player that bent the league to his will to this extent, or that teams had to be unimaginably good (Warriors of last four years) to prevent one player from going on potentially an unconscionable championship winning streak. Even Tim Legler just said Jordan in his prime toyed with people, but he wasn't doing this at this level as what Lebron displayed in the second half...
This is good news for Cleveland. They appear to be gelling at the right time. They may still lose a lot of games but if the trajectory continues upwards, the Cavs have to increasingly be seen as viable contenders...
I continue to like this Cleveland team better than last year's. They still have to improve to get past Boston, I think.
LBJ is unquestionably a Mt. Rushmore basketball player. But Jordan led his era's Warriors--as did Russell, Kareem, and Magic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRob4JC
If the Cavs sweep, is this more about LBJs greatness, or the Raptors being total pretenders?
Mostly the former, but a little bit of the latter, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by murksiderock
Where is magalot with his Simmons stats? Hahahaha...
Again, he was a great rookie and I think at minimum he'll turn into a very good player, but magalot has to pump the brakes on this GOAT talk after one season...
LOL, definitely a bit much. Promising, but still young.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidphilly
Simmons needed to take the ball to the rim instead of trying to force kickouts to the rim over defenced
Got to give Boston some real credit here they took the sixers out of their game and forced the game. The sixers youth showed
Embid needs to play closer to rim he took as many 3 pointers as foul shots
Simmons needs a post game
they let this one get away through inexperience, tough spot to come back from this was the Sixers game and Boston took it away and the sixers looked lost to stop the bleeding
Brown also dint make any significant changes, even appropriate timeouts just poor all around and well played and coached by Boston
Tatum looked great too, nice pick for the Celtics
Boston's an excellent defensive team, and has the right bodies to throw at Simmons. Simmons needs to develop a mid range pull-up jumper. LBJ's lack of a reliable jumper put a ceiling on his game that only came off when he became comfortable taking shots that opponents were willing to give him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee
Inexperience is definitely a factor. The Sixers don't have veteran leadership the way the Celtics do with Horford. At the same time, though, they're only a slightly older squad than ours if you look at the talent they're putting on the court (no KI or Hayward).
The fact is the Sixers are offensively limited. Simmons has no offense apart from putting his head down and going to the basket and Saric, Bellinelli and Redick aren't the kind of players who can get theirs against more athletic defenders (though Redick has played some good ball these playoffs). Hopefully Fultz will give us some of that offensive dynamism we need in the future, but it's hard not to feel a bit of buyer's remorse when you see Tatum. He's exactly the type of 2-way talent you need if you want to even think about contending with Golden State or Houston.
Cov must have heard everyone talking bad about him. He shot the ball well and played great defense last night so I have to give him credit.
The Celtics have the best player in the series (for now). The Process remains ongoing, and this team will be a threat soon.
I've not really stopped considering him the best player in the NBA for many years now.
Clearly, he is unleashing but against the east.
Tell you right now. With the talent he has around him, if he wins the championship it will put a serious exclamation point on any claim he may have on GOAT.
But yeah, nobody expects that and most honest non-rabid NBA fans see that he's likely to end his career in GOAT territory regardless.
The key point here though is that a team like HOU or GS would arse-w*pe their way through the east with KI out. This is the eternal double edged sword for Lebron where people credit him for making the finals but then chop him down for losing in the finals.
Carrying a non-championship calibre squad to the finals is somehow a negative? Not in my book.
Well, I can appreciate the problem, rating the top 3-5 is incredibly subjective and crosses massive rule changes etc. so it's always going to be OPINION.
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