Eastern Conference Finals discussion thread

tipyerbartender said:
They've more or less been without him for weeks.
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He has yet to miss a playoff game and is averaging 19 a game in the playoffs.

Of course Atlanta might end up being forced to start Bazemore tonight, boy do they miss Sefolosha tonight.


Matthew Dellavedova...Kent Bazemore...NBA playoffs at it's finest.
 
ArizonaKid said:
He has yet to miss a playoff game and is averaging 19 a game in the playoffs.

Of course Atlanta might end up being forced to start Bazemore tonight, boy do they miss Sefolosha tonight.
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Have you followed the playoffs? Toss Boston series out. Save for a game since, he's been a ghost.
 
Game 1 and game 5 were the only times he's looked himself, even remotely. Two out of the last seven. He's hurt.
 
Tip must be drunk
Some moronic statements
Good luck k with delle playing big minutes tonight lol
 
I don't even think this game will be close. Atlanta's heart is gone, like slavery and the wind.
 
Why isn't Marion getting any minutes at all ? that bench sucks and while he can't knock down the 3 he played pretty decent last season in the playoffs for the Mavs....has he just completely lost it now ??
 
ArizonaKid said:
Why isn't Marion getting any minutes at all ? that bench sucks and while he can't knock down the 3 he played pretty decent last season in the playoffs for the Mavs....has he just completely lost it now ??
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The Cavs have a like three of those old do-nothings on the bench. Miller, Marion, Perkins … worthless. Maybe Perk can throw a forearm.
 
tipyerbartender said:
The Cavs have a like three of those old do-nothings on the bench. Miller, Marion, Perkins … worthless. Maybe Perk can throw a forearm.
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Miller and Perkins are done but I still think Marion can hold his own for 12 minutes just on vet savy. James Jones sucks.

I like Delly, sat 3 rows behind the Cavs bench last season when they lost by 30 to the Spurs and he was playing as if it was game 7 of the NBA Finals...Jarrett Jack and Dion Waiters could barely be bothered to play, as if the game was delaying them from more important matters that evening.
 
The one thing that concerns me is the rabid and frenzied Atlanta crowd.
 
ArizonaKid said:
Miller and Perkins are done but I still think Marion can hold his own for 12 minutes just on vet savy. James Jones sucks.

I like Delly, sat 3 rows behind the Cavs bench 2 seasons ago when they lost by 30 to the Spurs and he was playing as if it was game 7 of the NBA Finals...Jarrett Jack and Dion Waiters could barely be bothered to play, as if the game was delaying them from more important matters that evening.
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Yeah, he plays with hair on fire. Goes 0-fer-10 once in a while though.
 
Delly's the guy you don't want guarding you at the rec center lunch game.
 
I will be shocked if this one goes Over. Took Under 99 on the Hawks here.
Cleveland can roll here, but even if they lose, defense should be just fine.
 
Hawks obviously still favorites to win, but I don't know... I really don't like their play.
They are playing a team without two of their three best players and they can't find their play both on defense and on offense. Cleveland missed some good looks and still scored 38 points with 6 minutes to go.
On offense, other than Korver going off for few minutes, all of their baskets look so random...
 
Cleveland sends a big f*ck you to the Hawks and their shooting. All but Korver get so much space to shoot open three pointers and mid ranges and they are biting on that and shoot... Obviously sometimes it goes in, but mostly... it just doesn't...
Zero confidence in Hawks shots by both teams...
 
I took Cleveland to win the moment the line came out, but when I learned that Kyrie is out and Carroll will play really wasn't sure of the play, but Hawks... they are coming a part... for a shooting team, to have such low confidence in their shots...
They aren't just missing the shots, they are wide open and miss them by a mile...
 
I honestly wonder, how many of the people that voted for Coach Bud for COY, after watching the playoffs, think that the Blatt should have been instead of him.
Really, one of the best coaching jobs I have ever seen in the playoffs.
Without Love, without Kyrie, up 20 on the road, playing amazing basketball, especially on defense...
 
divol said:
I honestly wonder, how many of the people that voted for Coach Bud for COY, after watching the playoffs, think that the Blatt should have been instead of him.
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Nobody. Even if you remove Budenholzer from the ballot Blatt wouldn't have finished top 5 nor should he...It's a regular season award.
 
Obviously, I'm just saying...
Kyrie on one leg and today out, Love out of the playoffs... the level of defense that Cleveland plays... it's really amazing...
I believe that GSW will win the Finals, but if I do think there is a chance for Cleveland, is that advantage in the coach position (and obviously LeBron :) )
 
Btw, why Schroder plays so little minutes? He has 13 points in 12 minutes, going 6 from 11... He is their top scorer and the only one that actually came to play (with Horford).
 
divol said:
Btw, why Schroder plays so little minutes? He has 13 points in 12 minutes, going 6 from 11... He is their top scorer and the only one that actually came to play (with Horford).
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They never tried a Teague/Schroder backcourt except maybe the first 2 minutes of the 2nd Quarter...that was it.
 
Any thoughts on how Hawks respond to this loss?
I think that getting demolished at home, trailing 0 - 1, going to Cleveland can easily result in blowout for Cleveland. On the other hand, Hawks have few fighters on their team, if Coach Bud decides to trust them.
 
only reason why Bron would want to come back to ATL for game 5 is the strippers

this should be closed out in 4
 
Blatt said that all he asks for a birthday present is a win in Game 2, so players decided to give him a present :)
 
divol you have got to stop with the Blatt love affair. Thank god he isn't coaching the Lakers

Alright lets get these games over with, move to the finals
 
braves said:
divol you have got to stop with the Blatt love affair. Thank god he isn't coaching the Lakers

Alright lets get these games over with, move to the finals
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Nah, as long as people are dumb enough to question him, I will be backing him. It's really absurd and to some way offensive to me, that one of the best coaches I have ever watched and I been watching basketball for 24 years now, gets zero respect, just because he comes from European basketball.
I watch tons of NBA and a lot of European basketball as well. European coaches are so much better than US coaches. Pop is one of the greatest coaches in the league, just because he went European. His style is the same as most coaches in Europe coach.
Obviously there is a lot of adaption to do, but from that, to being called a rookie and question coaching skills?! That's absurd...

And you know, during Game 2, Israeli broadcasters talked about how many places gave Hawks advantage in coaches position and how off they were and it has merit. I mean, Coach Bud hasn't been a head coach for full two years yet.
Blatt been assistant coach on maybe the greatest ever Euroleague team for three years and a head coach for almost two decades now, winning titles, winning playoff games, winning Final Four last year in Euroleague.
He been in Finals, he been in last second situations with the season on the line. He won titles as an underdog, as absolute favorite and so on.
NBA based on athlets, not high basketball IQ and that's why when you have a combo of both, like LeBron, suddenly you position yourself to be one of the greatest.
To see so little respect to European baksetball, the one that I grew up on, a basketball that is ten times smarter and played much more as basketball should be played, that truly offensive to me on some level.
I know that Americans are ignorant and think that the world doesn't exist beyond US borders, but it's just not true.
 
I know that I bring Blatt a lot and try to point out all of the things that he does, because I really want him to get recognition, but am I wrong about most of the things?
Obviously he got LeBron, the best player on the planet right now (but also a huge headache for Blatt), but still...
He was put in almost impossible situation, he improved his team by a lot. In the playoffs, he played against three of the best coaches in the league, Stevens, Tibs and now COY, Coach Bud. Am I wrong to claim that his team was more ready than the rival team and that he responded better during the games than the rival coaches?

And again, he got new players, needed to adjust and did it great. In the playoffs, he lost Love and needed to adjust. Then Kyrie's injury - again - needed to adjust. How can people still give him zero credit?!
 
I mean he is ok. Sounds like he means a lot to you, so no disrespect.

He can't reel in his star player. Lebron ran his own 1 v 1 offense in game 1 and nearly cost them the game. I'm sure he is a great X and O guy( an assistant can do that), but a coach in the NBA needs much much more than that. Seems like a nice guy, so Ill root for him. Honestly, there are probably 30 other coaches I'd rather have coaching my NBA team before him
 
Mike Brown also went to the finals and won Coach of the year as well...didn't do shit w/out LeBron.

For the record, I really like Blatt, great X's and O's guy but while proven in Europe that doesn't mean he can translate that in the NBA...Pitino and Calipari are masterful college coaches but they bombed out in the NBA. Blatt has made mistakes...like saying Kevin Love wasn't a max player....while brutally honest is was a dumb thing to say; this isn't Europe and the coach isn't king. Drawing up a game ending play in Chicago that has LeBron inbounding the ball with 1.5 seconds left...just a poor play selection. He was also lucky not to cost them a game in Chicago with his timeout call when he had none, and his staff isn't that great. That's my main reason for believing Kerr(plus assistants) is a better coach than him, Kerr selected one hell of a staff.
 
Love the Mike Brown example, by all accounts a very good X and O guy, just terrible beyond belief at managing stars
 
Time out obviously was a dumb mistake. But one... no matter how dumb, it was still, only one mistake.
LeBron inbounding the ball - I actually don't think it's a bad idea. He has the highest IQ on the team and the best passer by far.
That also can really confuse the other team, since you get zero idea who is the go to guy now.
I'm 99% sure that Hawks time out was all about how to stop LeBron from getting the ball.
The absurd with all the fuss about it, is that in the same game, in the end of one of the quarters, LeBron made a great inbound pass and Mozgov scored to end the quarter with less time than it was in the end of the game.
Obviously different situation, but I don't think it was such a bad idea.
How many great baskets won titles with star player passing the ball and not shooting.
Paxon, Kerr, Fisher, Horry, Elie and a lot more names come to mind when you think about hitting great shots that won big games and none of them was a superstar...

And please, don't compare Brown to Blatt. Brown's best idea of offense was to give the ball to LeBron.
Blatt won dozens of titles, Brown didn't win anything.
The comparision to college coaches is fair and Blatt can fall flat just like they did. But they got respect from the NBA guys (media, ex players and so on) - Blatt doesn't get any.

Maybe Cleveland without Kyrie and Love the best team in the East, but I'm not sure and if he manages to bring his team to NBA Finals, he got to get some credit for that.
 
And star management is important and Blatt sucked at it in Europe as well. He always done much better with a unit of 7 - 8 more or less equal players - all fighters.
But, what about player development? He improved Kyrie, Delli and Thompson. Look at Mozgov and Smith - he really plays to their strong elements of their games.
Blatt put so much faith in Delli and Thompson during regular season - now he is harvesting the seeds he planted during regular season. Shouldn't he get some credit for that?
 
It was interesting to read an interview with Spahija, assistant coach in Atlanta and another former coach of Maccabi TA, how he says that Americans view European basketball and how everybody in Europe coach community rooting for David Blatt.
 
Love the passion regardless, divol. I think he is a quality coach... the problem is that the nba is a players league. Has been for almost as long as I can remember. If a depleted Cavs team takes the title, Lebron will get all the credit and Blatt very little. So don't get bent out of shape when it happens because we all know that is how it will go down.

Looks like Kyrie will be full strength for the finals.

Hard to see Hawks winning one from here. Demoralizing to think you need to take 4 of 5 from a team that just handed you your butt two consecutive games (final score deceiving in game 1 in my opinion).
 
divol said:
Time out obviously was a dumb mistake. But one... no matter how dumb, it was still, only one mistake.
LeBron inbounding the ball - I actually don't think it's a bad idea. He has the highest IQ on the team and the best passer by far.
That also can really confuse the other team, since you get zero idea who is the go to guy now.
I'm 99% sure that Hawks time out was all about how to stop LeBron from getting the ball.
The absurd with all the fuss about it, is that in the same game, in the end of one of the quarters, LeBron made a great inbound pass and Mozgov scored to end the quarter with less time than it was in the end of the game.
Obviously different situation, but I don't think it was such a bad idea.
How many great baskets won titles with star player passing the ball and not shooting.
Paxon, Kerr, Fisher, Horry, Elie and a lot more names come to mind when you think about hitting great shots that won big games and none of them was a superstar...

And please, don't compare Brown to Blatt. Brown's best idea of offense was to give the ball to LeBron.
Blatt won dozens of titles, Brown didn't win anything.
The comparision to college coaches is fair and Blatt can fall flat just like they did. But they got respect from the NBA guys (media, ex players and so on) - Blatt doesn't get any.

Maybe Cleveland without Kyrie and Love the best team in the East, but I'm not sure and if he manages to bring his team to NBA Finals, he got to get some credit for that.
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No, it was a terrible play call to have Lebron inbound the ball. You have to have the defense account for him by being on the floor, maybe over adjust leave another player wide open possibly. Jordan or Kobe would never be inbounding the ball with 2 seconds left.
 
Whether it's fair or not, Americans look down on European basketball because we see guys that weren't good enough to play in the NBA go over there and become stars, while conversely European stars come over to the NBA and are busts. It's a different game...different rules and different scheduling.

Personally, I would love to see the NBA go to 40 minute games like Europe, and for FIBA and the NBA to make one set of rules globally. We see what happens at the Olympics when the USA is forced to play with FIBA rules, in 2004 Argentina knocked off a less than full strength USA squad, in 2008 Spain would have beaten the USA if not for Kobe, and in 2012 a stacked USA squad only beat Spain by 7.
 
I actually enjoy Euro-basketball as a product over the nba while knowing our players are much better. Just talking from a viewership point of view. I admit I grew up watching basketball and playing every day, and just love the game as it was intended to be played. I don't much care for the product now (though it is slightly better than a few years ago where it probably bottomed) other than the Spurs style which is ... Euro.

The thing is .. we call it Euro-style but it used to be how we played it in the states too... not the rules but the passing.

We cannot even make Free Throws anymore.

Wish we had players staying all through college, wish we still had college coaches that taught the game to the best players (most successful college coaches now just roll the ball out ... and they are the ones getting future nba players) and wish we appreciated the pass more as fans too.

I rambled. It's who I am, don't judge me.
 
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