OT: BOSTON CELTICS vs. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (Eastern Conference Finals)

[BTTA]

The lesson here, I think, is to build the team with IT, but not around him as the centerpiece that he currently is. They need to be able to score consistently without him in the lineup, so against certain teams they aren't stuck with the defensive liability at the end of games. Fultz sounds like a great way to make that transition.

My 2 cents:
Without tiny Isaiah......aka .......the biggest defensive liability in the NBA, the Celtics could now defend all 5 Cavaliers without having to swing a 2nd defender to help out IT. It wasn't lockdown defense tonight but no question it was better defense. Without a 2nd consistent scorer, this team needs to make stops. Thankfully, several Celts stepped up tonight offensively and it was great to see some confidence in these guys. Boston just earned another home game....which is a fantastic accomplishment.

this might have shown that IT isn't all what we thought he was to the team..unfortunately cuz i like him and maybe...just maybe...Smart is just better as a starter rather than coming off the bench

I think the point about defense without IT is a valid one - better matchups all around. But consistently scoring 100+ points a game will be a challenge - and it will take that to have a shot.

 

[Kontradiction]

As I mentioned earlier, Lebron has the potential to put up stinkers in big games. This was just another one.

Lebron also whines constantly even while getting the star treatment from the refs.

He sucks as a passer too. I saw plays this game where he threw a bounce pass that went way over the other players head and another that hit a player in the face.

He's certainly a fine physical specimen, but he's not as great as he's been built up to be by Nike or his own ego.

Say what? He sucks as a passer?

 

[VectorPrime]

Lebron is a generational passer, like this isn't up for debate. He is insanely good at it.

 

[borg]

The lesson here, I think, is to build the team with IT, but not around him as the centerpiece that he currently is. They need to be able to score consistently without him in the lineup, so against certain teams they aren't stuck with the defensive liability at the end of games. Fultz sounds like a great way to make that transition.

Issues at hand: Teams don't pay max contracts for "pieces" even though that is what Boston bought with Horford. Ainge will be hard pressed to pay max dollars for another non-centerpiece. In an ideal NBA world, IT is your instant offense 6th man....and that type of player doesn't deserve max dollars. I suspect Ainge will low ball him with a $20 mill per year type deal where IT can get paid early instead of waiting and risking another year. I predict IT rejects "non-max"money and he will be shopped between now and the trading deadline.
IT has been a Celtic for three playoff runs now and despite occasional flurries of awesomeness, he gets swallowed up by big teams...the Cavs in '15, the Hawks in '16, and the Cavs again this year. IT is a great regular season player when teams don't have the time to refine their defense against IT...but in the playoffs....these teams get down to business and IT has been limited. It is what it is. Like Drew Bledsoe....IT too can awe with his skills...but the flaws are the flaws and he is not the guy to bank the team's future on

 

[RobertWeathers]

For sure he is overrated particular by those under 20-somethings but also fans in generals.

Chamberlain, Russel, Jordan, Magic, Bird, Bryant, Shaq, Duncan, Abdul-Jabbar IMO are all better players. Some due to be more versatility and some better at being singularly dominant and taking over games without needing the Lebron treatment.

So for now that is 9 off the bat i put over him. Then you have other players you could as well like Olajuwon, Erving, Marlone for instance though idk how i'd feel about that.

I would take Olajuwon over LeBron.

 

[shmessy]

Did anyone else think that all that bouncing around before finally falling though, killed just enough clock to completely remove any chance Cleveland had to get a good tying shot?

Great point. That, and the fact of Jerebko hitting that earlier 2 pointer with 30.5 seconds left - - I immediately said to my son - - "That's awesome - means we'll probably get the last shot even if the Cavs come down and score now."

He hit that shot with 18 seconds still on the 24 shot clock - - I'll bet Stevens made it a priority to do it that way given the situation.

.

 

[deroc5050]

Issues at hand: Teams don't pay max contracts for "pieces" even though that is what Boston bought with Horford. Ainge will be hard pressed to pay max dollars to for another non-centerpiece. In an ideal NBA world, IT is your instant offense 6th man....and that type of player doesn't deserve max dollars. I suspect Ainge will low ball him with a $20 mill per year type deal where IT can get paid early instead of waiting and risking another year. I predict IT rejects "non-max"money and he will be shopped between now and the trading deadline.
IT has been a Celtic for three playoff runs now and despite occasional flurries of awesomeness, he gets swallowed up by big teams...the Cavs in '15, the Hawks in '16, and the Cavs again this year. IT is a great regular season player when teams don't have the time to refine their defense against IT...but in the playoffs....these teams get down to business and IT has been limited. It is what it is. Like Drew Bledsoe....IT too can awe with his skills...but the flaws are the flaws and he is not the guy to bank the team's future on

Well according to what I heard today it won't matter if we pay him 20 or 30 mil. We will be over the cap either way. That is if we sign another max contract and then him last. I guess the owner would be happy to save 10 mil a year but in the grand scheme of things it won't matter much to the Celtics going forward if we keep him.

 

[shmessy]

Yeah, Stevens referred to exactly that in his PC...he liked all those clock-killing bounces.

Bradley has that shooter's touch, huh? Looked like Sam Jones there, at the end.

I kept thinking and giggling "Nelson, '69, game 7, Jack Kent Cooke, balloons in the rafters........."


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[Jackson 2]

I am going to stop watching. It may help.

Hell, no! You should keep watching... just don't post anymore.

 

[1960Pats]

To be fair no one really expected them in their heart of hearts to have a good chance at Cleveland. That is why we all felt stealing a game at home was so important.

I'm only talking about the 'fans' who insisted that the C's didn't have a chance to win even one game. What a joke those people are.

 

[1960Pats]

Say what? He sucks as a passer?

 

[1960Pats]

BFD. He threw a couple of bounce passes to wide open teammates.

Show us the video of his bounce pass that he slammed to the ground so hard that it bounced over his teammates head and out of bounds.

Or the bullet bounce pass he threw to one player that was about 5 feet away and he bounced it off the guy's nose.

Yeah, every time I see him I think of Larry or Magic... not!

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Say what? He sucks as a passer?

He meant to say, he passes as a sucker

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I kept thinking and giggling "Nelson, '69, game 7, Jack kent Cooke, balloons in the rafter........."


.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

BFD. He threw a couple of bounce passes to wide open teammates.

Show us the video of his bounce pass that he slammed to the ground so hard that it bounced over his teammates head and out of bounds.

Or the bullet bounce pass he threw to one player that was about 5 feet away and he bounced it off the guy's nose.

Yeah, every time I see him I think of Larry or Magic... not!

Hmmm...speaking of Larry...

check out Bird's shot @12:17...and Kevin's block @12:50
Do you believe they showed these games on tape delay?

 

[raduray]

My hope was that we would win one game, but I see now that I was wildly optimistic.

I'm a wildly optimistic guy

 

[TB_Helmet]

A little OT of an OT thread...

I thought this was an interesting post by Deadspin:

http://deadspin.com/the-nbas-push-for-parity-backfired-with-these-garbage-p-1795436797

In particular:

The NBA playoffs, in theory if not always in practice, is the best postseason system in all of sports. After a bloated and distended regular season, the playoffs come around and pit the great teams against the merely good ones, the former whittling down the latter until all that’s left is the very best of the very best. Yet here we are, nearing the climax of what should’ve been an already thrilling playoffs, and the basketball has been uniformly terrible. This isn’t the fault of the playoff bracket as a system, which remains good. It’s the NBA itself that’s ****ing everything up.

The problem with the playoffs this season is that all the teams are bad. Like, painfully, unwatchably bad. Now, saying all the teams are bad is of course a slight exaggeration, but only a small one. The Warriors are truly great, the Spurs (when healthy) probably aren’t too far back from that, and the Cavaliers are miles better than all their opponents in the East. The Finals rubber match that everyone has expected for a year will almost certainly be fun to watch because of the quality of the top two. But everyone beneath those two (the Spurs included, thanks to the Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard injuries) sucks ass, and that’s exactly how the NBA has designed it.

When I read that, it reminded me of the Patriots this past season. The NFL wanted parity, and they got it, except for one team (at least in the AFC).

Remember how everyone said the Patriots were never tested? And they kept saying that right up to the Super Bowl? Feels the same way with the Warriors and Cavs (as much as I hope the Celtics win game 4).

The really interesting thing is that in the NBA, you can break parity with one or two transcendent players on your team, because the roster is so small. In the NFL, you need to have a genius head coach and also a transcendent / GOAT QB. It's much harder in the NFL, IMO.

 

[Kontradiction]

BFD. He threw a couple of bounce passes to wide open teammates.

Show us the video of his bounce pass that he slammed to the ground so hard that it bounced over his teammates head and out of bounds.

Or the bullet bounce pass he threw to one player that was about 5 feet away and he bounced it off the guy's nose.

Yeah, every time I see him I think of Larry or Magic... not!

You must not watch a whole lot of basketball. LeBron is the best passer in the NBA by far.

 

[Froob]

You must not watch a whole lot of basketball. LeBron is the best passer in the NBA by far.

I dunno if I'd say that, but hes probably top 3. I think CP3 and Rondo can arguably throw a better pass. LeBron is certainly the best ball handler in the league by far. I'll be SHOCKED if LeBron doesn't kill us tonight. I'll say 40pts/10ast/17rebounds.

 

[varjao]

MANUUUUUUUUUU

Great to see at the end of the game yesterday, possibly Manu Ginobili's last game, the public giving him a nice support and even the GSW playere clapping hands.