2022-23 NBA Thread

[MuggsyB]

Joe Mazulla is gonna be coaching D2 ball again by next year.  Seriously, he has been absolutely atrocious the entire playoffs.

What was the over/under tonight on Gabe Vincent dropping 30?

[JWags85]

Jaylen Brown on the cusp of eligibility for a Supermax, is shooting 37% and 10% from 3 in the ECF.  WOOF

Also, averaged nearly 27 a game this year…hasn’t even gotten to his average since the Atlanta series.  He’s on a milk carton

[MuggsyB]

Jaylen Brown on the cusp of eligibility for a Supermax, is shooting 37% and 10% from 3 in the ECF.  WOOF

Also, averaged nearly 27 a game this year…hasn’t even gotten to his average since the Atlanta series.  He’s on a milk carton

Great point.  He's been absolutely awful and I certainly didn't expect this. 

[forgetful]

In kind of must win game 3's.

The Lakers get dominated at home.
Boston gets humiliated by an 8-seed.

The big difference.

For the Nuggets. You either double Jokic, or he kills you. And they have auxiliary players that know their roles and can knock down open shots, so you are damned if you do..damned if you don't.

For Miami. In these playoffs, you either double Butler, or he kills you. And they have the auxiliary players that know their roles and can knock down open shots, so you are damned if you do..damned if you don't.

The other teams haven't had those kind of guys show up.

[MU82]

Joe Mazulla is gonna be coaching D2 ball again by next year.  Seriously, he has been absolutely atrocious the entire playoffs.

If so, at least he’ll have a nice pile of money, thanks to Brad Stevens inexplicably feeling he had to give Mazzulla a contract extension.

Back in February, after removing Mazzulla’s interim tag and foolishly extending him, Stevens said:

"Well, I think one of the things that's pretty obvious and evident about Joe is he's a really good coach and he also is just an outstanding leader. … As far as the timing of it from the standpoint of this is the one thing that they've obviously done a great job. They've obviously put themselves in position to compete for the things we want to ultimately compete for thus far. … Joe specifically has just done a great job. I mean, he really has. He's always prepared. He's really driven. He does all of the work necessary, but he also has a pulse on when the work needs to be put aside for the people. And so we were not only really comfortable with it, we're also really excited about him leading us now and into the future."

That’s working real well for ya, Brad.

Jaylen Brown on the cusp of eligibility for a Supermax, is shooting 37% and 10% from 3 in the ECF.  WOOF

Also, averaged nearly 27 a game this year…hasn’t even gotten to his average since the Atlanta series.  He’s on a milk carton

Yep. Way overrated.

[MU82]

“I just didn’t have them ready to play. That’s on me. I have to be better.” - Mazzulla

At least he deserves high grades for self-awareness and accountability.

[PGsHeroes32]

Boston was bad

But that was a clinic by Miami. They came out ready and controlled the tempo and the passing was off the charts. Kept getting so many open look 3s on the extra pass or back door cuts at the rim.

[PointWarrior]

Sammy has entered the game.

Waiting for Herman to give us his stat line in the Hauser thread.

[tower912]

Amazingly, ESPN analytics now give the Celtics an 80% chance of winning the series.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Amazingly, ESPN analytics now give the Celtics an 80% chance of winning the series.

Stop exaggerating.  Only 72%...

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1660500413517377537?s=20

[MuggsyB]

Is that ESPN thing serious?

[MuggsyB]

Boston was bad

But that was a clinic by Miami. They came out ready and controlled the tempo and the passing was off the charts. Kept getting so many open look 3s on the extra pass or back door cuts at the rim.

It really was a clinic.  I mean clearly Mazzulla is totally over his head but Tatum and Brown were 1-14 from distance.  Miami deserves all the credit for playing tremendous basketball. 

[MU82]

It really was a clinic.  I mean clearly Mazzulla is totally over his head but Tatum and Brown were 1-14 from distance.  Miami deserves all the credit for playing tremendous basketball.

Yeah, when your two alleged superduperstars combine to get outscored by Gabe Vincent, you've got some problems.

Also, methinks you were a little overly exuberant early in the season not only about the Celtics as a whole but even more about Brown being a top-7 player in the world. He's talented, obviously, but he really hasn't accomplished much in his career to date -- unless one counts playing second fiddle on an annually disappointing NBA team as an accomplishment.

[Jockey]

“I just didn’t have them ready to play. That’s on me. I have to be better.” - Mazzulla

At least he deserves high grades for self-awareness and accountability.

I don’t think we know if Mazzulla is or isn’t a good coach. He was certainly as good as Coach Bud was in Milwaukee this year. In two more years we will be able to judge his coaching talent.

Of course he has been out-coached by Spo, but I think the best coach in the league should be out-coaching a rookie.

[MU82]

I don’t think we know if Mazzulla is or isn’t a good coach. He was certainly as good as Coach Bud was in Milwaukee this year. In two more years we will be able to judge his coaching talent.

Of course he has been out-coached by Spo, but I think the best coach in the league should be out-coaching a rookie.

I did not see enough Bucks basketball to judge Budenholzer. Plenty of y'all have, and you say he was horrible, and the Bucks fired him, so I'll take everyone's word that he was horrible.

Mazzulla has been every bit the rookie coach in pretty much every Celtics game I've seen this season. Just as players often improve, coaches often improve. We'll see how good he can be (if the Celtics don't fire him). But he has done a poor job for months, and not just against Spo.

[MuggsyB]

Yeah, when your two alleged superduperstars combine to get outscored by Gabe Vincent, you've got some problems.

Also, methinks you were a little overly exuberant early in the season not only about the Celtics as a whole but even more about Brown being a top-7 player in the world. He's talented, obviously, but he really hasn't accomplished much in his career to date -- unless one counts playing second fiddle on an annually disappointing NBA team as an accomplishment.

That team and Brown aren't close to the level they were playing at earlier in the season.  When they have played team basketball they're not too dissimilar from what we're seeing from Miami right now.  But when they iso ball and launch indiscriminately they have been very mediocre.  I will also say that their propensity to bitch about every call when they're getting their asses handed to them makes them look really foolish.

 As for Mazzulla, instead of this lip service accepting all of the responsibility I would be laying into my players.  I get he's young and getting worked by Spo but Tatum and Brown's ineptitude is the C's biggest issue.  I also think how well Miami has played, especially yesterday, is sort of getting lost in the discussion.   Truthfully, regardless if they have a bunch of unheralded players, they are playing at a ridiculously high level led by Jimmy of course.  Even if Boston was playing well who's to say they would be winning or win this series?  MIami is showing they're the better team in all phases of the game. 

[MuggsyB]

How good was Bernard King?  He appears to have been a bit of a badass from what I've read and seen on video.  His FGP with the Knicks is rather impressive.  Anyway, should his number or Carmelo Anthony's number be retired at MSG?

Wow.....look at his '84-85 stats. 

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

How good was Bernard King?  He appears to have been a bit of a badass from what I've read and seen on video.  His FGP with the Knicks is rather impressive.  Anyway, should his number or Carmelo Anthony's number be retired at MSG?

Wow.....look at his '84-85 stats. 

Prototypical small forward. High volume scorer who was one of the best players for awhile in the mid-80s, but he had knee issues that cut his career short. He was on a lot of mediocre teams too, being overshadowed by the Celtics and Sixers in the east.  He only won two playoff series his entire career.

Carmello is a good comp.

[MuggsyB]

Prototypical small forward. High volume scorer who was one of the best players for awhile in the mid-80s, but he had knee issues that cut his career short. He was on a lot of mediocre teams too, being overshadowed by the Celtics and Sixers in the east.  He only won two playoff series his entire career.

Carmello is a good comp.

Anthony is 8th on the career scoring list.   Obviously he's a Hall of Famer but which team retires his jersey?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Anthony is 8th on the career scoring list.   Obviously he's a Hall of Famer but which team retires his jersey?

Both King and Carmello averaged 22.5 for their careers but 'Melo played in 50% more games. King also had a better career EFG despite the three point shot really not being part of his arsenal. (The early to mid 80s wasn't an era known for its defense however.)

I don't really care about who retires his number.

[JWags85]

Anthony is 8th on the career scoring list.   Obviously he's a Hall of Famer but which team retires his jersey?

The Nuggets.  Until Jokic, he was the best player in franchise history pretty comfortably, depending how you feel about Alex English..  4x All NBA (no other Nugget had more than 2).  Would have been ROY if not for Lebron.  Won an Olympic Gold as a Nugget.  Only other player of his stature in franchise besides English was Dikembe, and his best years were in Philly, not Denver.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

That 2009 team with Anthony, Chauncey Billups, JR Smith, the Birdman, and Kenyon Martin, and coached by George Karl, was just a ton of fun. Ran into a buzzsaw in the WCF playing the Lakers in what would be their first championship of the Kobe/Gasol era.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Lebron has 23 already and Tristan Thompson is playing. Have I entered a time warp?

[tower912]

There was a Bernard King, Isaiah Thomas shootout in the playoffs in 85 or 86 that was just amazing.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

There was a Bernard King, Isaiah Thomas shootout in the playoffs in 85 or 86 that was just amazing.

My recollection is that the Pistons were playing in the Silver Dome in front of huge crowds too.