2021 NBA PLAYOFFS MEGA THREAD

Steve_424 said:

Again, it's not the Bucks' fault - you can only play who is in front of you. But the truth is they barely got by a Nets team that was crushed by injuries and likely lose if either Kyrie or Harden is 100% all series

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You can play this game/apply this standard every postseason with every team. Hell, the Cavaliers were a nutsack tap and Bogut injury away from being the Buffalo Bills.

DJTJ said:

Realistically, the last three games are some of the best finals basketball you could imagine.

Just a total slugfest.

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Agreed, it's why the regular season should be referee'd like the playoffs.

Man's game.

Awesome series and season.

That’s the most I’ve enjoyed watching basketball league-wide in quite some time.

Steve_424 said:

I guess to me it's two different things - super teams vs players forcing their way somewhere. I thought KD to GS was weak as hell, but he was a free agent. Same with LeBron to Miami and Kyrie/KD to Brooklyn.

Then there's guys forcing their way somewhere when under contract - Harden with Houston, AD with the Pelicans.

It seems maybe Giannis' problem is more with the latter, and if that's true I'm with him. But super teams can form legitimately as well.

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Giannis did not make a distinction based on contract status. To YOU there is a difference; that does not mean there is to HIM.

Derek said:

Awesome series and season.

That’s the most I’ve enjoyed watching basketball league-wide in quite some time.

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I found many parts during the season to be a lull, but the weeks leading up to that play in game is where it sucked me in. I hope they keep that. Definitely hightens intensity for alot of teams.

NorthCoastBias said:

Let’s not ignore that the Cavaliers fall under this umbrella as well. Two of their three best players arrived via mercenary signing and mercenary trade.

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Absolutely. On the other hand LeBron did leave us before he came back. As far as Kevin Love is concerned the idiots in Minnesota didn’t max him out so he was rightfully pissed at them and they knew he was going to leave eventually.

What is clear is that we would not have been in the lottery 2011-14 if LeBron had stayed.

How does this series inform our player personnel decisions going forward.. ?

IMO we are constructed more like the suns.. I playoff basketball is a physical game, we need to consider our own make up. Holiday for example is a good defender, and shut down Booker for long stretches.. Portis is a tough vet coming off the bench, very Taj Gibson like.. Middleton is a big 2-3 who can defend 1-5..Giannis is a physical brutal multiskilled 7 footer who can play 3-5.. the rest are banger role players. Big, physical..

Mobley looks very skinny.. I am talking Nerlen Noles skinny.. if he is the pick, we need to throw him in the weight room for a year before he sees the floor..

bigfoot5415 said:

"I could go to a super team and do my job and just win a championship"- Giannis the GOAT

Shots fired at literally everyone.

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Came here to post this quote, and also include the part where he said it would be easy.

He 100% was @ing KD and maybe LeBron. No one cares about KD’s unearned rings with GSW or LeBron’s with the Heat. I hope they both know that.

TheLand1287 said:

Came here to post this quote, and also include the part where he said it would be easy.

He 100% was @ing KD and maybe LeBron. No one cares about KD’s unearned rings with GSW or LeBron’s with the Heat. I hope they both know that.

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I don't think he's in danger of being invited to any banana boat rides for the foreseeable future.

CleveRocks said:

How does this series inform our player personnel decisions going forward.. ?

IMO we are constructed more like the suns.. I playoff basketball is a physical game, we need to consider our own make up. Holiday for example is a good defender, and shut down Booker for long stretches.. Portis is a tough vet coming off the bench, very Taj Gibson like.. Middleton is a big 2-3 who can defend 1-5..Giannis is a physical brutal multiskilled 7 footer who can play 3-5.. the rest are banger role players. Big, physical..

Mobley looks very skinny.. I am talking Nerlen Noles skinny.. if he is the pick, we need to throw him in the weight room for a year before he sees the floor..

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It took Giannis many years of practice and bulking up to get to this point. We need Mobley to work with a young vet who has incredible work habits. If only we had a player like that on our team … but we won’t because we have to trade him for a midfirst pick.

I think the way these playoffs were officiated had a huge impact. I appreciated the lack of bullshit calls for weak fouls. On the other hand they did call more fouls on Giannis (correctly imho) then we ever saw for LeBron.

As always the tricky part is determining which players shine in high pressure games deep in the playoffs and late in a series. We have no way of knowing how Sexton for example would perform in that situation. Helps to be big and physical which is one reason why we need to keep Okoro. Most of our players are players are thin although being young they might fill out to some extent (not sure Allen will).

Nice to see a series that wasn’t all about 3 point shooting.

The Human Q-Tip said:

I don't think he's in danger of being invited to any banana boat rides for the foreseeable future.

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ryanf said:

and this is why it puzzles me why fans don't like sexton. he has flaws in his game (like giannis), but he also has that fire to be better and to win (like giannis).

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Will the 'fire within' give Collin a 7'3" wingspan? Giannis winning a title should in no way influence the Cavs offseason plans...

I think we pretty much all like him as a person.

NorthCoastBias said:

You can play this game/apply this standard every postseason with every team. Hell, the Cavaliers were a nutsack tap and Bogut injury away from being the Buffalo Bills.

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Yeah, but if the warriors win in 2016 does KD go there? Doubt it. Then again who knows if the Cavs stay in tact too.

TheLand1287 said:

Came here to post this quote, and also include the part where he said it would be easy.

He 100% was @ing KD and maybe LeBron. No one cares about KD’s unearned rings with GSW or LeBron’s with the Heat. I hope they both know that.

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Or the bubble ring with Bron and AD, another chaser. Or Harden with Kyrie and Durant (hope they don’t win shit).

After watching the game, the fans and the presser last night it does feel like Bucks fans got theirs from a hot virgin while we got a mercy fuq from a ho - even if the ho was our HS girlfriend who never put out back then. Sad part is I still don’t care that much - just wanted to get on the scoreboard even if it was a bit dirty. Sucks having basketball herpes though. Good for Milwaukee though - nice to see a disrespected Midwest city have their moment in the Suns (like Tatooine - Giannis, it is your destiny).

TheLand1287 said:

Yeah, but if the warriors win in 2016 does KD go there? Doubt it. Then again who knows if the Cavs stay in tact too.

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It's the disease of more and the Cavs momentarily prevented the Warriors from succumbing to it with our 2016 championship.

If a team wins for long enough eventually everybody wants more. These guys are competitive, and once it's obvious their competition isn't with the rest of the league, they start looking at their teammates. They'll start wanting more touches, more shots, and more money than the guys around them.

If the Warriors win in '16, who knows? Maybe Klay eventually wants to go lead his own team and be "the guy". If KD doesn't go and the Cavs end up with championships in '16 and '17, I'll bet Kyrie still goes out on his own looking to be the alpha.