Not Being a Joker, We Need A The Finals Thread
- Thread starter ElUno20
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I wish, but they’ll just find other castoffs to turn into stars for three months.
If the C’s weren’t going to win the chip, I was happy to see the Nuggets do so, more than any other possible team.
My earliest Jokic take I could find from 2017
I did kill him for being fat in 2019, lol
Heat owe something like $150 million to Butler, Bam, Herro, Lowry, and Robinson next season. Guessing they will be stapling 1sts to a couple of those guys so they can try to retain the better players without having a $200 million play-in team.
Jokic’s brother tossing him up in the air was the holy shit moment for me post game. His brothers are beasts.
Glad for the Nuggets, especially Murray, they’ve had some great regular season battles with the Celts the last few years. Woulda loved to see that matchup in the finals.
Glad for the Nuggets, especially Murray, they’ve had some great regular season battles with the Celts the last few years. Woulda loved to see that matchup in the finals.
Nuggets won three games this series shooting 29% or worse from three. Out of all the things the Celtics need to work on next season, the #1 is finding ways to win games like that IMO.
They did win game 6 against Miami while shooting 20% from 3, literally their worst shooting game of the year.
The Heat were better than the Bucks, Knicks and Celtics. The Nuggets had the offensive recipe to demoralize them and the lockdown defense to frustrate Miami. The better team won every one of those series imo.
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The Celts need to learn how to maintain their poise and win 1 possession games. I dont care if they do it with timely 3 pt shooting or shutdown D and making foul shots. CHAMPIONSHIP teams find a way to win. Celts found ways to lose this year. They were unprepared for the post season.
If the Celts learned anything from tonight's game I hope their takeaway is "when you get kicked in the balls you don't quit".
This seems unlikely. I'd guess the first three you named aren't going anywhere, Lowry is expiring so you won't have to add anything to him nor would they really have to move him.
That leaves Duncan....who only has two guaranteed years remaining each under $20m. He could be traded but his contract doesn't carry much negative value to where you'd have to pay a team assets to take him.
ECF superstar Caleb Martin 5-15 from three in the Finals, 10-25 from two, 2FTs, 37 total points
Strus 6-32 from three in the Finals, 4-11 from two, 2FTs, 28 total points
Vincent 10-30 from three in the Finals 13-32 from two, 5FTs, 61 total points
Robinson 9-21 from three in the Final, 7-12 from two, 0FTs, 41 total points
The Undrafteds Finals totals: 30-98 from three, 34-80 from two, 9FTs.
167 Finals total points, only 33.4 ppg. They averaged 55.9 ppg in the EFC
Strus 6-32 from three in the Finals, 4-11 from two, 2FTs, 28 total points
Vincent 10-30 from three in the Finals 13-32 from two, 5FTs, 61 total points
Robinson 9-21 from three in the Final, 7-12 from two, 0FTs, 41 total points
The Undrafteds Finals totals: 30-98 from three, 34-80 from two, 9FTs.
167 Finals total points, only 33.4 ppg. They averaged 55.9 ppg in the EFC
Denver is just that much better than everyone else, I think.
I don't watch as much ball as some of you, but that Nuggets team was an absolute monster. Starting with their height, their quick passing, their communication, their team defense - without even getting into what Jokic brings to the table. The C's might have had a puncher's chance if everything was clicking, but we could much more easily have gotten our faces pushed in like Miami did.
Certainly makes our loss easier to take. Finals Games 1 and 4 were some beautiful basketball.
I see a pretty decent sized gap between this year's championship Denver team and the rest of the league, Celtics included.
Cs healthy or at least as equally healthy matchup much better with Denver than the Heat do. But the Cs were beat up so limping in we probably lose. But even steven, we have been a good matchup for them when we played’em.
Go 33-56 from two, while holding your opponent to 24-61 from two and 9-35 from three, while being awarded 7 more FTs
Denver won the battle from two big time in their three wins, while they shot poorly from deep. They also shot 36 more FTs than the Heat in the series, and held “Himmy“ to 31 FTs in the series, and Bam to 21.
He has to get home for a horse race on Sunday.
HAHAHAHA
This guy is great
View: https://twitter.com/pardonmytake/status/1668477898007642113?s=46&t=WNUE08imv33kOt1BO6WMzQ
View: https://twitter.com/raahibs/status/1668479466140745728?s=46&t=WNUE08imv33kOt1BO6WMzQ
HAHAHAHA
This guy is great
View: https://twitter.com/pardonmytake/status/1668477898007642113?s=46&t=WNUE08imv33kOt1BO6WMzQ
View: https://twitter.com/raahibs/status/1668479466140745728?s=46&t=WNUE08imv33kOt1BO6WMzQ
This keeps getting repeated but the stats show that the Heat actually had more wide open threes against Denver.. they just missed most of them.
Not sure why role players shooting 10% above their season averages has to mean the celts were playing shitty D.
I'm sure I would have found a way but this might have been the rare time it would have been difficult to conjure up any vitriol for a championship opponent. Jokic is just not the kind of player to inspire those feelings in a fan—maybe if he were a Bird-level shit-talker it would be different. And same for Murray, nice Canadian boy. KCP and Brown are both gamers, and Gordon is basically their Timelord. I've always had a soft spot for Denver since they saved Ainge from making the AI mistake trade that he was considering.
Last time I was this happy for the winner and not just happy about the loser was the Mavs title team but they also had the benefit of going up against the league villains.
My theory is that MIA shot better against BOS because they knew they could get stops against BOS (and MIL and NYK). I didn't watch the last game but to quote from Lowe's podcast, MIA eeally didn't have any answers for the Murray/Jokic PnR and that put a lot more pressure on their offense.
The rest of the NBA is going to have to figure out how to defend that set. Wish BOS had something similar.
The stats show "open" threes and not rhythm threes created by Butler collapsing the defense. I was texting friend last night about how a pass to corner from top of circle resulting in a missed three is going to be considered an "open" look. The other thing we were speaking all series was how their inability to get stops on one end is affecting their performance on the other.
Context matters so much in these shooting numbers. Game flow REALLY matters.
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Haha, the Heat were a trash team that got hot and lucky that there opponents best player got hurt.
Any narrative beyond that is false.
They went 2-7 in their last 9 playoff games. That is not a good team
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Best thing that could’ve happened for Denver in those closing minutes is Butler hitting those two 3PA and getting that terrible whistle. He begins to think he’s hot at that point (he isn’t) and he can shoot three’s (he can’t). About a half dozen TO’s later, it’s game over, series over, season over.
yeah.. I just don’t think that explains why Caleb Martin and Vincent were shooting so much higher than their career averages. I think it’s more a case of players cooling off than most of what you wrote. I saw Martin miss plenty of in rhythm, wide open shots against Denver.
Miami shot at their season long 3pt percentage in the Finals and got crushed.
Miami shot ten points higher than their season long 3pm percentage and won the ECF with two blowout wins, and two wins where they better managed crunch time. In three of the wins, they shot 50% or better from three on high volume, and in the one win where they shot only 9-26 from deep, they put up a 46 point quarter.
Boston’s defense wasn’t connected enough, and Miami’s role players got comfortable early. Just dismissing Boston’s failure to get to the Finals on Miami being hot from three is not right. Besides a few brief stints in the Finals, Denver never let The Undrafteds get going, holding Miami to 95 points and under in their four wins. Denver played with the required connectivity, and Boston didn’t.
Miami shot ten points higher than their season long 3pm percentage and won the ECF with two blowout wins, and two wins where they better managed crunch time. In three of the wins, they shot 50% or better from three on high volume, and in the one win where they shot only 9-26 from deep, they put up a 46 point quarter.
Boston’s defense wasn’t connected enough, and Miami’s role players got comfortable early. Just dismissing Boston’s failure to get to the Finals on Miami being hot from three is not right. Besides a few brief stints in the Finals, Denver never let The Undrafteds get going, holding Miami to 95 points and under in their four wins. Denver played with the required connectivity, and Boston didn’t.
...and what happened before that? I believe the answer is "they were 11-3 in the playoffs".
If they were "not a good team", what were the Bucks, or the Knicks? It's almost like, even good teams lurch between good stretches and bad stretches.
If he doesn't make those 3's and FT's Denver walks away with a double digit win.
Jimmy "Bailout" struck again and almost ruined the finals with one of the worst calls I have ever saw.
It is kind of amazing how many Bailout calls Jimmy Butler gets. Sometimes it is just players making idiotic plays but Jimmy literally lives and dies off in the playoffs off of the Bailout foul shoots
It is kind of amazing how many Bailout calls Jimmy Butler gets. Sometimes it is just players making idiotic plays but Jimmy literally lives and dies off in the playoffs off of the Bailout foul shoots
Very well stated. Denver never had the lapses that the Celtics did espeically over those final 3 games when the defenses have such a tremendous advantage in a playoff series. I don't want to beat this horse but defensive game plans are largely put together by an assistant coach or group of assistants. Did not having proper support hurt the Celtics in this area? Well it sure didn't help as we saw in our series and after watching the Nuggets this week.
I would argue that wasn’t the case in the Bucks series. That game where he first went off (game 4?) he was just amazing. That wasn’t a flopfest – it was him consistently creating separation with those midrange jumpers that are almost impossible to stop. It was literally one of the best playoff performances I’ve ever seen.
Jimmy is a great player. I respect him and like his game. When refs do bail him out it’s infuriating. But unlike Harden in his prime, I don’t think his game *depends* on it.
Jimmy was spectacular vs Bucks and occasionally vs Celtics...but overall, he seemed to run out of gas in Celtics series and vs Denver. Miami really needed Herro, and he wasn't an option - they just don't have a lot of creation.
I do think some of Miami success vs Cs was defensive lapses, but some was also lucky shooting---that's what the open shooting stats show (and consistent with eye test). I'd be more bothered by that if Celtics had shown up in Game 7; if you don't answer the bell there you don't get to complain about calls, bad shooting luck, or injuries in my book.
I do think some of Miami success vs Cs was defensive lapses, but some was also lucky shooting---that's what the open shooting stats show (and consistent with eye test). I'd be more bothered by that if Celtics had shown up in Game 7; if you don't answer the bell there you don't get to complain about calls, bad shooting luck, or injuries in my book.
They aren't flops. I want to be very clear. Jimmy doesn't flop (Lowry does). But he does get a ton of calls that don't match the tone of the game. Like I said some times he draws them where you are absolutely mystified why he was fouled, but there are others where everyone else is getting mugged but he gets technically fouled.
Jimmy scored over 25% of his points off free throws and absolutely destroyed everyone else in foul calls for the playoffs (Jimmy got 186 FTA over 139 for Jokic with 2 more games)
Denver is such a "boring" team that the game they play is a joy to watch...they use the whole 24 second clock if necessary to find a good shot, they don't panic if shots aren't falling, they trust their teammates, they don't fall apart defensively if they are missing shots on offense, their coach doesn't have to worry about managing personalities when he tells them what to do on timeouts. And of course Jokic is such a valuable player in terms of providing stability.
Not saying that I wish the Celtics were more like Denver but the emotionless game they play is refreshing for a Celtics fan. Not a huge swing between highs and lows. No huge runs. No drama when fouls aren't called. No ball hogging and ensuing predictable turnovers. If the problem is turnovers, they focus on fixing that. If shots aren't falling, they adjust and go with what's working.
Agree. Boston underwhelmed during their first 2 playoff series, and so were ripe for the picking if Miami got some shot luck. It wasn't only make/miss luck; Miami outplayed Boston overall during the 7 game series. The Heat would have needed their run of shot luck to continue to have had a chance of even extending the Finals series past 5 games, and it obviously did not.
"run out of gas" is true and and a huge understatement....he was a lot worse (imo) than Tatum was in last year's Finals, but he's not getting dragged for it because he's a Dog or a Winner or something.