2019 NBA Playoff Discussion

[Superbone]

Missing a blue dot in south Texas.

As well as many red dots in California.

 

[Yuma]

And we could have had him, but took Markeiff freaking Morris instead.

I would have taken him, not because I was smart, but because I almost attended SDSU. I like how Indiana selected him.

Leonard was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers but was traded that night to the San Antonio Spurs along with the rights to Erazem Lorbek and Dāvis Bertāns in exchange for George Hill.[11] On December 10, 2011, following the conclusion of the NBA lockout, he signed a multi-year deal with the Spurs.[12]

Stupid Indiana!

 

[1Sun]

I would have taken him, not because I was smart, but because I almost attended SDSU. I like how Indiana selected him.

Leonard was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers but was traded that night to the San Antonio Spurs along with the rights to Erazem Lorbek and Dāvis Bertāns in exchange for George Hill.[11] On December 10, 2011, following the conclusion of the NBA lockout, he signed a multi-year deal with the Spurs.[12]

Stupid Indiana!

I thought Kawhi was going as high as 4th or 5th that draft. When he fell, I was ecstatic, because there were reports the Suns were going to reach for Iman Shumpert, so I figured if they wanted a defensive wing, Kawhi was an absolute gift to them. Then they took Morris, and I very nearly threw my TV out the window...

 

[AzStevenCal]

I would have taken him, not because I was smart, but because I almost attended SDSU. I like how Indiana selected him.

Leonard was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers but was traded that night to the San Antonio Spurs along with the rights to Erazem Lorbek and Dāvis Bertāns in exchange for George Hill.[11] On December 10, 2011, following the conclusion of the NBA lockout, he signed a multi-year deal with the Spurs.[12]

Stupid Indiana!

He played a year of high school a few blocks from my house and then moved to a school about 10 minutes away. I saw him play pick-up ball in Riverside a few times and then I watched a lot of his games at San Diego State. And I don't think I would have taken him. The player that came out of school is not the player that we see today. Had we drafted him, I suspect he'd mostly be an older version of the player he was in college which is a slightly better than average starter - valuable but not MVP level.

 

[Yuma]

It was funny. Two athletes I overheard everyone talking about in SoCal, were Junior Seau when he was in college. Every where I went in San Diego everyone kept talking the Chargers need to get Junior Seau. I kept thinking, "Who the hell is Junior Seau?" Then SDSU started growing their basketball program successfully. It was the "in" thing to go see there for awhile. I kept hearing people talk about Kawhi. I'm thinking, "Another Hawaiian guy again?" LOL.

 

[devilalum]

With regards to luck as a Warriors fan there's been luck in the last 5 playoff runs. The first one Cleveland had injuries which helped the Warriors. next one the Green suspension and Bogut out and Iggy playing hurt helped Cleveland. Next 2 years injuries helped teh Warriors and this year injuries are helping the Raptors. That's just part of the game.

I do agree with the idea the NBA is slowly allowing the game to get more physical again. Things I want cleaned up are offensive players using their off hand to create contact and get fouls, Looney not only got a broken rib(?) from Kawhi jumping into him and got the foul, in the last game he was called for fouls twice for fouling Kawhi's off hand when it was a clear out. They need to clear up the walks, Steph and Kawhi are travelling so much in this series that both coaches are standing up asking for walks. They need to clear up the faking trying to get fouls, maybe the Klay injury doing it will help. It was a good call and had no impact but the fact that the only guy I've seen in the postseason get called for a foul for creating contact was the kick by Steph shooting a 3 in this series. Again he did kick the leg but when you watched Harden and Paul, and now Kawhi constantly creating contact and getting FT's out of it the irony that they finally called it, on Curry, is funny.

I'm still holding out hope in game 5, I don't expect the Warriors have it in them they just can't guard Kawhi.

My least favorite play right now is when the offensive player ball fakes a 3 then jumps sideways into the defender that is trying to block the shot.

On many of these the defender takes off with a clear landing spot in mind but the foul is caused by the offensive player jumping in an unnatural way to initiate contact.

Harden and Curry are masters. It’s BS.


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[Mainstreet]

Kevin Durant is listed as questionable heading into game 5.


Shams Charania‏Verified account @ShamsCharania

Kevin Durant (calf) has been listed as questionable for Game 5 of NBA Finals on Monday night.

2:31 PM - 9 Jun 2019

 

[Ronin]

Creepy

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[Hoop Head]

My least favorite play right now is when the offensive player ball fakes a 3 then jumps sideways into the defender that is trying to block the shot.

On many of these the defender takes off with a clear landing spot in mind but the foul is caused by the offensive player jumping in an unnatural way to initiate contact.

Harden and Curry are masters. It’s BS.


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Dewayne Wade is the player that comes to mind when I think of guys doing that. I agree that Curry and Harden are the current masters but I think Wade showed everyone that move could be repeated over and over in a game with no consequences.

 

[devilalum]

Dewayne Wade is the player that comes to mind when I think of guys doing that. I agree that Curry and Harden are the current masters but I think Wade showed everyone that move could be repeated over and over in a game with no consequences.

Yep, it should be an offensive foul.


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[Russ Smith]

My least favorite play right now is when the offensive player ball fakes a 3 then jumps sideways into the defender that is trying to block the shot.

On many of these the defender takes off with a clear landing spot in mind but the foul is caused by the offensive player jumping in an unnatural way to initiate contact.

Harden and Curry are masters. It’s BS.


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Agreed. I also hate the move that Kawhi has patented where he uses his offhand to move the defender back and when the defender moves forward to regain his position Kawhi leans in and draws the foul. There's a foul on Iggy in the last game that was the perfect example, he shoved Iggy back with his right hand, Iggy recovers and reaches in and deflects the ball but they call a foul. Again Iggy rarely argues calls but he argued this one vehemently while Kerr was on the bench asking for a clearout./ That's the play Harden has patented too.

The other one I hate is the sweep up to hit the arm of the defender, so many guys doing that now. If they're going to call a foul the rule should be no free throws, even if in the bonus.

 

[Yuma]

Basically I hate the three point side step. As a defender though, I do not jump at a shooter unless he's already picked up his dribble though. That seems like an easy defensive key.

 

[Russ Smith]

Basically I hat the three point side step. As a defender though, I do not jump at a shooter unless he's already picked up his dribble though. That seems like an easy defensive key.

I don't think they've called a foul for the landing zone violation in this series. They've called fouls for hitting the shooter or him jumping into the defender, but no landing zone violations. Been a much cleaner series in that regard than the Houston one where Harden just keeps guessing where the defender is going and jumping into his path.

 

[Cheesebeef]

has anyone done more for himself off the court to show he's a leader/has the heart of a champion than Lowry while simultaneously putting up relatively modest stats on it?

this interview moment is pretty great, to go along with the poise he showed during the front row shove in a heated Game 3:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/kyle-lowry-thrown-loop-kid-210003299.html

 

[Superbone]

has anyone done more for himself off the court to show he's a leader/has the heart of a champion than Lowry while simultaneously putting up relatively modest stats on it?

this interview moment is pretty great, to go along with the poise he showed during the front row shove in a heated Game 3:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/kyle-lowry-thrown-loop-kid-210003299.html

That was really cool. What was with the next reporter asking “What question?” Was he trying to be funny? Was he not paying attention? Really strange.

 

[Ronin]

Lol

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[Ronin]

Field Yates‏Verified account @FieldYates 3m3 minutes ago
Jay Williams, who had dinner with Kevin Durant last night, said on Get Up this morning he “would be shocked” if KD doesn’t play tonight.

 

[Ronin]

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[Russ Smith]

has anyone done more for himself off the court to show he's a leader/has the heart of a champion than Lowry while simultaneously putting up relatively modest stats on it?

this interview moment is pretty great, to go along with the poise he showed during the front row shove in a heated Game 3:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/kyle-lowry-thrown-loop-kid-210003299.html

One of the keys to their wins is his ability to get into the paint and draw help and then pass the ball to the right guy. For a guy with a history of folding it's obvious he has a different mindset, don't settle for 3's be aggressive and now the 3's are falling too

 

[Russ Smith]

A bunch of Kawhi articles out right now for obvious reasons. One of the more interesting ones is the one that says Kawhi wanted to go to UCLA and it was basically a done deal until Renardo Sidney's dad screwed up the whole thing. Sidney's dad was "coaching" an AAU team called Dream Team, it was basically Nike paying Sidney by hiring his dad as a coach(like they did Bagley), Kawhi was on the team and Kawhi was "showing up" Sidney by out playing him in big AAU events. So the dad "removed" Kawhi from the team and then started bad mouthing him to a bunch of college coaches including Ben Howland. Because Kawhi was such a quiet kid he didn't bother to defend himself just figured people that listen to that will be sorry, UCLA and a bunch of other schools backed off so he went to SDSU and the rest is history.

THe irony of all ironies Howland actually tried to get Sidney, UCLA's AD had to stop him, his career was of course a disaster. Howland wanted the Wear twins, they went to UNC so he signed Reeves Nelson and Brendan Lane and then Tyler Honeycutt. The twins wound up transferring to UCLA, Nelson was a disaster, Honeycutt of course a tragic story took his own life a few years ago. Lane was the only one of that group that wasn't a problem and Howland mishandled him so badly he eventually transferred. The 2 kids in that class that wound up the best were Kawhi and Derrick Williams and obviously Kawhi is probably the best player in the NBA now.

 

[Mainstreet]

Kevin Durant plans to play in game 5 tonight.


Adrian Wojnarowski‏Verified account @wojespn

Golden State's Kevin Durant plans to play in Game 5 tonight, league source tells ESP

11:42 AM - 10 Jun 2019

 

[Cheesebeef]

Kevin Durant plans to play in game 5 tonight.


Adrian Wojnarowski‏Verified account @wojespn

Golden State's Kevin Durant plans to play in Game 5 tonight, league source tells ESP

11:42 AM - 10 Jun 2019

and the plot thickens!

 

[Superbone]

Warriors are now 1 point favorites.

 

[95pro]

ok if the raptors win, no excuses, they won game 1 and game 5.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

and the plot thickens!

Too little too late. Raptors feel like a team of destiny. All of their players have risen to the occasion and Nick Nurse has dialed up all the right moves. KD doesn’t solve the front court issues of Dubs who’ve been outscored by the Raptors front court to the margin of 38 pts per contest.