NBA Thread 2020-21

[JWags85]

This Suns-Clips series is objectively horrible.  Every game has been awful or grinding in some way.  They may not hit 50 in a single quarter tonight

EDIT: both teams under 38% shooting and a combined 9/45 from 3. Holy hell.  And it's not cause the defense has been thrilling and tight

[BM1090]

This Suns-Clips series is objectively horrible.  Every game has been awful or grinding in some way.  They may not hit 50 in a single quarter tonight

EDIT: both teams under 38% shooting and a combined 9/45 from 3. Holy hell.  And it's not cause the defense has been thrilling and tight

I thought game one was pretty damn good. Game two wasn't good but had the exciting finish. Not great since then. Tonight is particularly awful.

[MuggsyB]

This Suns-Clips series is objectively horrible.  Every game has been awful or grinding in some way.  They may not hit 50 in a single quarter tonight

EDIT: both teams under 38% shooting and a combined 9/45 from 3. Holy hell.  And it's not cause the defense has been thrilling and tight

Exactly right.  I don't want to hear it's because of great defense.  This is a brick-fest.  I don't think either team has scored in 6 full mins of game-time. 

[Billy Hoyle]

I thought game one was pretty damn good. Game two wasn't good but had the exciting finish. Not great since then. Tonight is particularly awful.

Awful is being kind. I'd rather watch the Pat Riley Knicks teams. This is hideous.

[MuggsyB]

Awful is being kind. I'd rather watch the Pat Riley Knicks teams. This is hideous.

It's as if they have no idea what to do other than the two best players on each team go one.  Hideous fundamental basketball.

[MuggsyB]

I'm absolutely dumbfounded watching the end of this game. Never seen so many boneheaded plays in my life.

[JWags85]

I thought game one was pretty damn good. Game two wasn't good but had the exciting finish. Not great since then. Tonight is particularly awful.

Game 1 was good but still featured an awful first quarter.  Game 2 had about 40 min of bad basketball with a good ending.

This is just offensive.  Chris Paul has come back and completely slowed down the pace and tempo of the Suns offense to a major detriment

[Jockey]

This Suns-Clips series is objectively horrible.  Every game has been awful or grinding in some way.  They may not hit 50 in a single quarter tonight

EDIT: both teams under 38% shooting and a combined 9/45 from 3. Holy hell.  And it's not cause the defense has been thrilling and tight

Overreaction. This is just like 90's playoff games.

Example? When the Bulls beat Utah, no team scored even 100 points - in the entire series. If fact, 90 points was reached by one team only twice.

Bulls shot 43% for the series thanks to Kukoc. Jordan shot 42%; Pippen 41%. No one else scored more than 5 pts a game. Only one Jazz player scored more than 10.7 a game.

And that was better offense than the Championship series the year before.

Ugly, slow, and boring. Just like tonite's game. Nothing new to see.

[JWags85]

Overreaction. This is just like 90's playoff games.

Example? When the Bulls beat Utah, no team scored even 100 points - in the entire series. If fact, 90 points was reached by one team only twice.

Bulls shot 43% for the series thanks to Kukoc. Jordan shot 42%; Pippen 41%. No one else scored more than 5 pts a game. Only one Jazz player scored more than 10.7 a game.

And that was better offense than the Championship series the year before.

Ugly, slow, and boring. Just like tonite's game. Nothing new to see.

Can you be anything but needlessly contrarian lately?  I never said it was historically bad, or would be remembered in in a decade, it's just crappy basketball.  Then you had to add some worthless "well actually..."

Basketball series that happened 25 years ago have nothing to do with the quality of the game today.  It's a far more free flowing offensive style of basketball with emphasis on the 3pt shot.  The Bulls averaged under 100 pts a game in the 97/98 season, and just over 100 the year before.  That's not even the same realm as two teams who averaged around 115 for the season.

Tonight's game wasn't slow and boring, both teams had about 85 possessions, it was just terrible basketball.

[GB Warrior]

It's hard to get into this series without Kawhi. I can't think of a star player less suited to go it alone than Paul George.

[MU82]

That was the worst NBA playoff game I have seen in a long, long time.

For one thing, the refs let the game get way too physical; that happens early in games sometimes and the refs reel it in. This time, they didn't.

Most of the ugliness was on the players and coaches, though. It was horrendous basketball.

[MuggsyB]

That was the worst NBA playoff game I have seen in a long, long time.

For one thing, the refs let the game get way too physical; that happens early in games sometimes and the refs reel it in. This time, they didn't.

Most of the ugliness was on the players and coaches, though. It was horrendous basketball.

Also, I have no idea what either the players or the coaches were doing on Phoenix to close that game.  They fouled up three with 13.5 secs left.  Then they nearly turn the ball over but get a favorable whistle and sink two free throws.  I'm not sure why the play wasn't reviewed because it probably would have been Clippers ball . 

They foui again up 3 with 7 secs left which wasn't so bad even though George wasn't in a great scoring position.   But after sinking two more free throws, to get it back to 3, and the Clippers going the length of the court,  they foul immediately, 90 ft from the rim with about 3 secs remaining  The Clipper player literally had his back to the basket 90 ft away, it would have taken him 2-3 secs to gather and  heave a shot from beyond half court and they could have fouled before that and knocked another 2 full secs off the clock.  Terrible game management despite Mark Jackson saying they should foul at 13.5 secs. 

[MU82]

Also, I have no idea what either the players or the coaches were doing on Phoenix to close that game.  They fouled up three with 13.5 secs left.  Then they nearly turn the ball over but get a favorable whistle and sink two free throws.  I'm not sure why the play wasn't reviewed because it probably would have been Clippers ball . 

They foui again up 3 with 7 secs left which wasn't so bad even though George wasn't in a great scoring position.   But after sinking two more free throws, to get it back to 3, and the Clippers going the length of the court,  they foul immediately, 90 ft from the rim with about 3 secs remaining  The Clipper player literally had his back to the basket 90 ft away, it would have taken him 2-3 secs to gather and  heave a shot from beyond half court and they could have fouled before that and knocked another 2 full secs off the clock.  Terrible game management despite Mark Jackson saying they should foul at 13.5 secs.

I wouldn't have fouled any of those times. The Clippers couldn't hit 3s all game. But like you, I at least could see the point to the one with about 7 seconds left. The foul with 3 seconds left was especially idiotic and gave the Clippers their only chance to actually win the game.

Most NBA coaches do not foul up 3 in those situations.

NBA refs are far more likely to call continuation than college refs are. NBA players are better than college players at making it look like they were shooting. NBA players are stronger and more used to shooting through contact, so if they are fouled while shooting they are more likely to get a chance at a 4-point play. Lots of NBA bigs are great at getting their hand on a missed FT and slapping it outside, where a teammate could be waiting to shoot a 3 that would win the game. NBA refs rarely enforce in-the-lane-too-early calls, and they mostly allow mortal combat in the lane on last-second rebound battles.

For all of those reasons, NBA coaches mostly are content to try to force opponents to shoot rushed and/or well-defended 3s.

Related: Because refs do allow mortal combat on FT misses, I was surprised Saric was called for fouling Cousins on a rebound battle with 6 seconds left. Of course, replays showed the ref blew the call, as it was Cousins who had hooked Saric. That foul call could have given LA a chance to tie, but Playoff P again had choked from the FT line. Anyway, it did give Cousins 2 shots and yet another attempt for LA to try to miss on purpose, but he fired his intentional miss off the backboard, seemingly not knowing a rule that even many middle-schoolers do. All part of the shyteshow that was that horrendous game.

[MuggsyB]

I wouldn't have fouled any of those times. The Clippers couldn't hit 3s all game. But like you, I at least could see the point to the one with about 7 seconds left. The foul with 3 seconds left was especially idiotic and gave the Clippers their only chance to actually win the game.

Most NBA coaches do not foul up 3 in those situations.

NBA refs are far more likely to call continuation than college refs are. NBA players are better than college players at making it look like they were shooting. NBA players are stronger and more used to shooting through contact, so if they are fouled while shooting they are more likely to get a chance at a 4-point play. Lots of NBA bigs are great at getting their hand on a missed FT and slapping it outside, where a teammate could be waiting to shoot a 3 that would win the game. NBA refs rarely enforce in-the-lane-too-early calls, and they mostly allow mortal combat in the lane on last-second rebound battles.

For all of those reasons, NBA coaches mostly are content to try to force opponents to shoot rushed and/or well-defended 3s.

Related: Because refs do allow mortal combat on FT misses, I was surprised Saric was called for fouling Cousins on a rebound battle with 6 seconds left. Of course, replays showed the ref blew the call, as it was Cousins who had hooked Saric. That foul call could have given LA a chance to tie, but Playoff P again had choked from the FT line. Anyway, it did give Cousins 2 shots and yet another attempt for LA to try to miss on purpose, but he fired his intentional miss off the backboard, seemingly not knowing a rule that even many middle-schoolers do. All part of the shyteshow that was that horrendous game.

We agree here. There's a difference say with a team in bounding at half court and five secs left down 3.  I wouldn't have fouled any of those times last night, they were pretty fortunate.  And the foul 90 ft from the rim at 3 secs left was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.  Could you imagine if that game was lost on that play?  I thought the game actually WAS historically bad with awful fundamentals and execution.  It was far more than great D or missing open looks.  These were very poor possessions with the players and coaches seemingly gripping psychologically and in full meltdown mode.

[Jockey]

Can you be anything but needlessly contrarian lately?  I never said it was historically bad, or would be remembered in in a decade, it's just crappy basketball.  Then you had to add some worthless "well actually..."

Maybe so, but this IS playoff basketball. Past championships are remembered fondly, but a lot of the time it was very ugly. Try watching Bulls-Pistons from the early 90s. Absolutely brutal. Almost unwatchable. Almost as bad as last night.

Today, if teams aren't hitting 3s, it is almost always ugly. People here called the Bucks-Nets series ugly, as well, but that was/is more the norm in the NBA come playoff time.

You say the game has changed, and it has. But that change is way more evident in the regular season than it is in the playoffs. And the deeper you get in the post-season, the "uglier" the games tend to get.

[MuggsyB]

Maybe so, but this IS playoff basketball. Past championships are remembered fondly, but a lot of the time it was very ugly. Try watching Bulls-Pistons from the early 90s. Absolutely brutal. Almost unwatchable. Almost as bad as last night.

Today, if teams aren't hitting 3s, it is almost always ugly. People here called the Bucks-Nets series ugly, as well, but that was/is more the norm in the NBA come playoff time.

You say the game has changed, and it has. But that change is way more evident in the regular season than it is in the playoffs. And the deeper you get in the post-season, the "uglier" the games tend to get.

Perusing the box scorers from the Bulls/Pistons there's no question there were a couple of dud offensive games.  But of course the style of play was much more physical and both were considered very good defensive teams.  Last night the teams combined to go 9-51 from downtown.  There was a stretch in the 4th Q when it was like 4-2 after six mins.  I'm not saying you're wrong Jockey but last night was a dumpster fire, and has to be in the discussion among the worst playoff games ever when you take into account both teams and their futility.

[MuggsyB]

Bucks come out with three turns their first three possessions.  Down a touchdown early because of a complete lack of focus.  This is why people are often frustrated with their play.

[MuggsyB]

Marv Albert should move his retirement to halftime.

[cheebs09]

Yea, when he said Thanasis subbed in for Solomon Hill, I wasn't sure if we got a new player.

If the Hawks want to keep shooting 35 footers, I'm here for it.

[GB Warrior]

Yea, when he said Thanasis subbed in for Solomon Hill, I wasn't sure if we got a new player.

If the Hawks want to keep shooting 35 footers, I'm here for it.

Good for Trae for proving he can make them at a 25% clip. Keep going.

Bucks should be thrilled with that half. Got Giannis to the half with two fouls and still very active on both ends, and they overcame the Hawks surge you had to know was coming.

[MuggsyB]

The Hawks are +21 from 3 and it's tied.  The Bucks need to come out in the 3Qwith a sense of urgency and take control.

[MuggsyB]

Holiday is having a brutal game.  Way out of control.

[MuggsyB]

Disappointing to see the lack of poise from the Bucks. 

[The Sultan]

I'm about to flip out with the lack of energy and urgency. Just terrible.

[Jockey]

I'm about to flip out with the lack of energy and urgency. Just terrible.

Been a problem in the playoffs for the 3rd year in a row now.