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Stevens is a legitimately high quality defensive coach 90% of the time, but his offensive scheme, whatever it is, is woeful. If his players are feeling great and hitting shots, it works, but if anyone is having a bad night he just has nothing in the tank for it. His bag of tricks on O is empty.
Basketball.
Superstar matchups:
Giannis: 34/14/4 on 14 of 20 in 32 minutes.
Kyrie: 23/6/10 on 7 of 22 in 41 minutes.
Levels to it.
Good. Make Boston desperate so we can get Tatum and Brown.
A 1-3starting lineup of Jrue, Tatum, Brown is pretty darn good offensively and defensively.
Had Eric Gordon stayed healthy here he might have been an all star caliber player. Jrue and Gordon could have been a great backcourt that complimented each other very well. I think he could have been our CJ McColum. We were missing that legit wing and of course health which killed us. Had we stayed healthy no telling what Dell could have done with more trades and the chance to actually put together a team. I always believed instead of letting Gordon was walk for nothing he was signed to be traded for other pieces and that plan got derailed due to his injuries. Gordon has looked very good in his role with the Rockets and has been great in the playoffs.
These are 2 completely different players. There is simply no comparison at all here especially trying to use FG% along with rebounds and assists where Giannis should win all everytime. Most coaches don’t have very good offensive night when their players can’t hit shots. Coach Pop has raved about Stevens offensive coaching before. He is playing the best and most versatile defense in the NBA that’s wears you down on the other side of the ball. The Bucks are just that good.
Kevin Durant is just incredible!! The Warriors would be in some trouble without him having probably 1 less ring. If Durant would be willing to stay if it meant moving Green then I’m moving Green. I would call up the Kings who had mutual interest with Green before the Warriors resigned him. Draymon Green for Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic. The Warriors need a couple of young guys and some cap relief to create a deeper team which made them so great. IMO Green would be a great fit next to Cauley-Stein on a young Kings team that would compliment his skill set very well. The Warriors get a 20 year old versatile big in Bagley that would add something they don’t have while Bogdan gives them a legit 6th man wing.
This isn't a direct comparison of players. Everyone knows that guards and forwards have different expectations and responsibilities. The question is only who shows up on the night. Kyrie didn't show up. Giannis did. That's all.
Most coaches have systems they run that generate looks. If players don't make the shots, then there's nothing the coach can do, but their job is to set up the plays and sets that create the looks. Every team has a couple of plays every game where the offense breaks down and a tough shot gets forced. Sometimes it's because a player is out of position. Sometimes it's because the opposing defense was really good and forced things to get difficult.
However, no coach should run an offense that requires their players to be superhuman just to GET the looks in the first place. Look at the quality of the looks the Bucks get VS the quality of the looks the Celtics get. Not whether or not they make the shots: that's on the players. But just, how do their sets move? What kind of cutting action comes up, time and time again? What's the spacing like? Look at those things and it's clear that Budenholzer is coaching offensive RINGS around Stevens in this series, and it isn't close. One of them is putting their players in a position to win, and daring them to be great. The other is forcing their team to be great just to get a look in the first place.
Curry with a better game than his last few tonight, but still big concerns about his current play. 4 of 14 from three is just not good enough. That's 28%. If you're shooting 14 threes, you better be shooting more than 28%.
I really hope Houston win this series. And I hate Houston.
But if Houston win, then suddenly the playoffs are exciting again. If Golden State win against Houston, they'll almost certainly beat either Denver or Portland, make it to the finals, and will almost certainly beat the Celtics, Raptors, or Sixers. The only team that would put up a convincing fight against them would be Milwaukee, I believe.
But if Houston win, then I could easily see them losing to Denver or Portland in the WCF. Then, all of a sudden, we could have a Portland/Milwaukee final. Or a Denver/Raptors final. Which is actually INTERESTING!
Kawhi picks Embiid's pocket and then on the other end, Embiid doesn't even bother playing up on Gasol and gets a three dropped on his head as a reward.
also, 8k posts.
This is the difference between a superstar and a none superstar.
Kyrie's shot was off last game, so he was largely useless.
Kawhi's shot is off so far tonight, and he's still just a presence on the floor. His defense has been superb. His hustle plays have been on point (keeping that rebound alive vs Monroe? Big play), and he's rebounding at a high rate. Even though he's missing, nobody is giving him room on D because they know if they do, he'll light it up.
Embiid has 5 points and 4 rebounds on 2 of 6 shooting. He has 0 assists and 4 turnovers. His defense has been appallingly poor.
So I expect we'll be hearing about him having a virus or a stomach bug or a janky elbow any minute now.
Stick a fork in the Sixers
Gasol just stopped at the three point line, being guarded by Embiid. Looked Embiid dead in the face, and gestured at him to come out of the paint and guard him. Embiid didn't move. Gasol shrugged, shot the three, and sunk it, putting the Raptors up 31.
Cold. Blooded.
Kawhi's done for the night. Rough shooting night, he only shot 44% from the floor, but he finishes with 21/13/4 with 3 steals. Zero turnovers, only 1 foul.
Ben Simmons is regressing
Just checked on this: no, he was actually mostly alright last playoffs, at least statistically. 16.3/9.4/7.7 per game, on 49% from the floor. 4.4 TOs and 3.4 PFs per game isn't great but hey, it's not the end of the world.
He did have that 1 point game though. Yowch.
This year, Simmons has averaged 14.0/6.9/6.3 per game in the playoffs leading into tonight, where he had 7 points. He's shooting 60% from the floor overall, but that's largely because he's barely shooting at all. If you look at just his stats for the Toronto series, he's averaging 9.4 points per game. Just terrible.
Brett Brown, explaining the Philadelphia 76ers pic.twitter.com/sIMcAhM4Yw
— NOTSportsCenter (@NOTSportsCenter) May 8, 2019
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