Celtics 2024-2025 Discussion

[UrbanCowboy]

.. or maybe they will make a series of stupid plays right after that and the Knicks go.

[edit] I'm tapping out

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

KAT is really a dirty player. Several knees to the balls looked intentional. Brunson should probably been ejected or at least a flagrant 2 for that head butt to Nembhard. Nebhard is completely in his head with 6 steals. Interesting strategy…Nembhard has been extremely aggressive guarding Brunson. Instead of reacting to Brunson’s dribbling, he’s just attacking and forcing Brunson to counter.

Haliburton is probably my favorite NBA player who isn’t associated with the Celtics. Dude is just so fun to watch. He’s always in control.

Knicks must have given up a dozen over the top fast break layups. KAT has been responsible for at least half of them due to his laziness.

 

[Real fan 02]

He has some serious range with his rainbow jumper. He's a special player for sure.

Halliburton has always been this good.. he was stuck in Sacramento for a while...

 

[Real fan 02]

KAT is really a dirty player. Several knees to the balls looked intentional. Brunson should probably been ejected or at least a flagrant 2 for that head butt to Nembhard. Nebhard is completely in his head with 6 steals. Interesting strategy…Nembhard has been extremely aggressive guarding Brunson. Instead of reacting to Brunson’s dribbling, he’s just attacking and forcing Brunson to counter.

Haliburton is probably my favorite NBA player who isn’t associated with the Celtics. Dude is just so fun to watch. He’s always in control.

Knicks must have given up a dozen over the top fast break layups. KAT has been responsible for at least half of them due to his laziness.

I thought it was interesting that both the Knicks and the wolves traded thier bigs and both went to the conference finals.. Knicks courtesy of the Cs blunders of course, and wolves got thier because steph got hurt.

Goes back to why I say in the post season teams need to have thier top echelon players in order to win. KAT isn't athletic so he has so play of energy, effort and dirty play. The Pacers are so similarly close to the thunder.. where yes SAG is the MVP but they have a roster full of guys that can easily be all stars. Both have young, deep teams that love to run. It's good for the NBA is feel. Both teams aren't infatuated with the 3 but they take it when available.

 

[Kdo5]

Go Pacers.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Great pic

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I grew up in Indiana, born in 1962, so I was an adult well before the Colts moved there in '84. By then I was a Patriots fan, since the early 70s, and of course I did not switch. Especially since as an adult I lived in MA from 1996-2005.

I was also a Pacers fan since I was 8 from when they won their first of 3 ABA championships in 1970.

Lots of down years in the NBA and lots of Pacers heartbreaks:
-losing to Orlando / Shaq & Penny in 7 games in the ECFs,
-losing to Jordan in 7 games in the ECFs,
-losing to the Knicks in 6 games in the ECFs,
-losing to the Shaq-Kobe Lakers in 6 games in the finals after a home double OT loss that would likely have extended the series to 7 games,
-losing to Detroit in 7 games in the ECFs,
-improving the team the next year and having it destroyed by Malice at the Palace,
-losing to Lebron in 7 games in the ECFs

This is an exciting team to watch and hopefully they will pull it off, finally. OKC will be tough.

 

[Real fan 02]

I grew up in Indiana, born in 1962, so I was an adult well before the Colts moved there in '84. By then I was a Patriots fan, since the early 70s, and of course I did not switch. Especially since as an adult I lived in MA from 1996-2005.

I was also a Pacers fan since I was 8 from when they won their first of 3 ABA championships in 1970.

Lots of down years in the NBA and lots of Pacers heartbreaks:
-losing to Orlando / Shaq & Penny in 7 games in the ECFs,
-losing to Jordan in 7 games in the ECFs,
-losing to the Knicks in 6 games in the ECFs,
-losing to the Shaq-Kobe Lakers in 6 games in the finals after a home double OT loss that would likely have extended the series to 7 games,
-losing to Detroit in 7 games in the ECFs,
-improving the team the next year and having it destroyed by Malice at the Palace,
-losing to Lebron in 7 games in the ECFs

This is an exciting team to watch and hopefully they will pull it off, finally. OKC will be tough.

Great information and thanks for sharing your experiences on the forum. Indy is a young, fun team and I love the way they play. OKC is the same offensively, the difference here is OKC is a relentless defensive team and they don't let up on defense.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I grew up in Indiana, born in 1962, so I was an adult well before the Colts moved there in '84. By then I was a Patriots fan, since the early 70s, and of course I did not switch. Especially since as an adult I lived in MA from 1996-2005.

I was also a Pacers fan since I was 8 from when they won their first of 3 ABA championships in 1970.

Lots of down years in the NBA and lots of Pacers heartbreaks:
-losing to Orlando / Shaq & Penny in 7 games in the ECFs,
-losing to Jordan in 7 games in the ECFs,
-losing to the Knicks in 6 games in the ECFs,
-losing to the Shaq-Kobe Lakers in 6 games in the finals after a home double OT loss that would likely have extended the series to 7 games,
-losing to Detroit in 7 games in the ECFs,
-improving the team the next year and having it destroyed by Malice at the Palace,
-losing to Lebron in 7 games in the ECFs

This is an exciting team to watch and hopefully they will pull it off, finally. OKC will be tough.

It’s hard not to root for the Pacers if they’re not playing your favorite team. They play well together, unselfishly, and they play their best in the tightest moments. It’s kind of a repeat of the 90s for me. I was always rooting for Reggie Miller against the Knicks back then. He became like my favorite non-Cs player, or maybe second after MJ. Continued to root for them against other east teams like the Nets.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

I'm trying to muster up motivation to watch the Finals. I find OKC a good team, but dreadfully dull and I think they might sweep the Pacers. Can anyone talk me off the no-watch ledge?

edit: plus I hate how they drag it out

 

[1960Pats]

I'm trying to muster up motivation to watch the Finals. I find OKC a good team, but dreadfully dull and I think they might sweep the Pacers. Can anyone talk me off the no-watch ledge?

edit: plus I hate how they drag it out

I don't really care much about either team, but for @Palm Beach Pats Fan, Rick Carlisle and our DIL from Evansville, I'm pulling for the Pacers.

Edit: Do the Pacers have a chance?

 

[UrbanCowboy]

good point about Carlisle.... geez, doesn't seem like a good matchup for them. I can see OKC being able to slow them down, which the Knicks could do once a while, but not consistently.

 

[aluminum seats]

The talent level between the two conferences is so wildly out of whack, it’s hard to know how well the Pacers will do here. I’d love to see them make it a series but at the end of the day I think they’ll only be able to win game three.

But Carlisle is an elite coach and OKC is young, the Finals lights are bright and Indiana’s gonna be loose. If the Pacers can steal game one it could get interesting

 

[bresna]

I'm trying to muster up motivation to watch the Finals. I find OKC a good team, but dreadfully dull and I think they might sweep the Pacers. Can anyone talk me off the no-watch ledge?

edit: plus I hate how they drag it out

I wouldn't watch OKC flop like wounded soccer players even if I was paid to do it.

 

[RobertWeathers]

The talent level between the two conferences is so wildly out of whack, it’s hard to know how well the Pacers will do here. I’d love to see them make it a series but at the end of the day I think they’ll only be able to win game three.

But Carlisle is an elite coach and OKC is young, the Finals lights are bright and Indiana’s gonna be loose. If the Pacers can steal game one it could get interesting

Agree. OKC should win the series in 5-6 games as they are the better defensive team.

Indy has their athleticism going for them. The defend the 3 and the paint well and come up with steals. They could push it to 7 games if OKC loses it's head but I doubt it.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I’ve been watching some old NBA drafts on YouTube.

In 2003, like everyone in the studio was sky high on Darko, saying he’d be the #1 pick any other year and marveling about how he was a sure fire hit.

1998 is a really interesting one. It’s hindsight that some picks don’t hit but sometimes it’s obvious. Robert “Tractor” Traylor at #6. Dude was so fat and out of shape he looked like he was falling over walking to the stage. And he’s 6’7”, so if he slims down and loses his power, he has no skills to be anything but a power forward.

The Mavs wanted Dirk Nowitzki but couldn’t get him at #6 for some reason (salary cap?) so picked Traylor and swapped for Nowitzki with Milwaukee. The footage of Dirk is hilarious, 1990s camcorder style in some little European gym. After the crew asks Doc Rivers (then a player correspondent) about international players and Doc talks very negatively about them, claiming they don’t know how to play defense and strongly insinuating it’s a wasted pick.

Pierce at #10 isn’t some huge surprise for the draft crew, but I remember at the time being a teenager and jumping up and down thinking we got one of the best players in the draft. They acknowledged the Celtics were fortunate.

In the 1996 draft, the Suns pick Steve Nash at #15. After, they interview Danny Ainge and he says the pick was made out of need, not best player available, because they need point guard help and that Nash was the best one remaining. 2X MVP. Sometimes teams just get really lucky.

Teams should never draft for need, especially towards the top of the draft. Watching these drafts in retrospect and listening to the reasoning makes them seem foolish years later. Team X doesn’t want Player X because Player Z is already a shot maker, etc. That stuff changes like every year or two. Passing on a perennial all-star talent for a seemingly solid cog in the wheel is peak stupidity and short term thinking.

 

[jimnance]

I’ve been watching some old NBA drafts on YouTube.

In 2003, like everyone in the studio was sky high on Darko, saying he’d be the #1 pick any other year and marveling about how he was a sure fire hit.

1998 is a really interesting one. It’s hindsight that some picks don’t hit but sometimes it’s obvious. Robert “Tractor” Traylor at #6. Dude was so fat and out of shape he looked like he was falling over walking to the stage. And he’s 6’7”, so if he slims down and loses his power, he has no skills to be anything but a power forward.

The Mavs wanted Dirk Nowitzki but couldn’t get him at #6 for some reason (salary cap?) so picked Traylor and swapped for Nowitzki with Milwaukee. The footage of Dirk is hilarious, 1990s camcorder style in some little European gym. After the crew asks Doc Rivers (then a player correspondent) about international players and Doc talks very negatively about them, claiming they don’t know how to play defense and strongly insinuating it’s a wasted pick.

Pierce at #10 isn’t some huge surprise for the draft crew, but I remember at the time being a teenager and jumping up and down thinking we got one of the best players in the draft. They acknowledged the Celtics were fortunate.

In the 1996 draft, the Suns pick Steve Nash at #15. After, they interview Danny Ainge and he says the pick was made out of need, not best player available, because they need point guard help and that Nash was the best one remaining. 2X MVP. Sometimes teams just get really lucky.

Teams should never draft for need, especially towards the top of the draft. Watching these drafts in retrospect and listening to the reasoning makes them seem foolish years later. Team X doesn’t want Player X because Player Z is already a shot maker, etc. That stuff changes like every year or two. Passing on a perennial all-star talent for a seemingly solid cog in the wheel is peak stupidity and short term thinking.

C's absolutely stole Pierce. I thought he was the best college player in the country.
Was astounded and happy when they picked him.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

well, there goes my OKC sweep! ha! I peeked in, heard Doris screeching, and changed the channel. but saw it was close with 5 minutes to go and watched it, and, geez o' man, the pacers did it again. amazing!

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Pacers on a historic run probably never to be seen again. This is just crazy stuff.

 

[aluminum seats]

Pacers on a historic run probably never to be seen again. This is just crazy stuff.

They led for .3 seconds. Hilarious.