₦airaland Forum

A40:
I have found the Western bracket far more entertaining

Luka beat a 64 win team. To put in perspective Lebron beat just 1 50+ win team from 2003-2010

Body of work beats one game here and there. Lebron struggling and overcoming the Pistons, and the Celtics was defining imho, even before going to the Heat. I need to see Luka put in that body of work over time as well. In order to generate news, people like to anoint people to early - but you gotta put in the time first.

By the same tokem, Giannis has put in the time, and now has a ring. But other than Shaq, he never really gets the accolades. I think he is closer to best player in the league than Luka at this point.

Khanben:
I have a question, does losing a series mean a player on the losing side cannot be the best player?

Of course, it can be. But I think the talking heads on TV like to annoint based on one game, rather than a body of work.

A40:
Lol. Which kin series be this

E better pass WCF, we go manage am like dat abeg.

Where are the dodos annointing Luka as the next Lebron, best player left in the playoffs, etc Lol

Roland17:
Baba, you are not far from the truth, albeit with a lot of sweat, stress and anxiety..not so much for this series I must say.

Your Rockets are picking number 1 in this year's draft. Remember you said, you guys should be good in 3 years I think, that's 2 now if we remove this season. I am keeping tabs.

The thrill is worth it. You guys have had many heartbreak seasons, and I enjoyed them

Rockets are picking 3rd, but no excuses

I have to say, Roland17 has had the most excitement and enjoyment this playoffs. I dont think celtics have won 2 in a row except in round 1

Thanos:
You are buttressing my point, boss. The people that have an axe to grind against harden are more focused on his off the court antics and personality rather than his play. If we were to remove all the noise and focus strictly on play off resume, CP3 should not be exonerated at all. five 2-0 leads blow, the most by any player ever. Where is the consistency in the criticism? That is all we are asking? The crazy part is asides from his early years with the bobcats. Paul has always been in teams that were at the top of the league and championship contenders, yet in the postseason, they always end up shitting the bed. Please, let's call a spade a spade and stop making excuses for this man. The manner of that loss was nothing short of pathetic. It was not a one game thing. It has become a recurring theme in his career and he deserves every critic he gets. The simple truth of the matter is that if he had a typical Chris paul game of 21 points 14 assists with maybe 12 points In the 4th quarter and a dub, we would revel in the 'Renaissance man' called Chris Paul, so now that he shat the bed, let call it as it is.

No, its on court. If you partied hard the night before and cant play in sync the next night because you missed practice, its on court.

If you sulk and choose to take only 2 shots in do or die game 6, its on court.

CP3 has neither of these issues. To compare them is overreaching

A40:
Gary Payton get ring oh

Android22:
Gary Payton won a ring with Miami Heats with Shaq and D Wade.

True that, I forgot. Seattle Supersonics were our bitter enemies, and we had the satisfaction those spoilers never won anything I forgot GP slipped thru the backdoor. Of course I will never acknowledge this ring

Thanos:
Bros, what do you mean by casual? What is the ultimate purpose of an NBA team? No be to win championships abi am I missing something?

Of course, but that has little to do with who the best players are. When you say ring is all that matters when evaluating a player, I beg to differ. Derek Fisher has 5 rings, Robert Horry has 7 rings. Barkley has 0, TMac has 0. Gary Payton 0. So obviously just rings is not enough. That is why there are many good players on the nba 75 anniversary that didnt win a ring. You need a good front office, solid team, solid coach and fewer injuries than your opponent to win a ring. Some of this is outside the control of you individual skill. Go ask Durant how it went this season.

Thanos:
Egbon, let's be objective. The biggest Knock on harden who I would say is the best comp for Chris Paul is that he consistently fails to show up in the postseason. Despite the fact that this man has been a one man offensive hub for the majority of his prime and could have one 3 straight MVPs. Now, they have so much attacked harden that the criticism goes beyond his post season play; they talk about his strip club addiction, his inability to keep fit, his foul-baiting style of play. My point is this man gets the brunt of the blame every goddam year for not leading his teams to post season success. But now when it comes to CP3. Because he is friends with everyone and probably his influence amongst players as he served as the president of the NBAP association, no one wants to speak bad off him. It's almost comical. This is someone that is blasphemously called the 'point god' and the steven A's of the planet will consistently not allow us to rest by calling him TOP 5 point guards ever. At this point, I do not want to hear it. Pat Bev acknowledged that he was a great player. But the same way you guys were singing his praise when he had that perfect game against the pelicans. Keep that same energy now. Chikena!
P.s Top 5 point guards better than CP3 : Magic,curry,thomas,stockton,kidd,nash

Haba, you too, look at what you yourself wrote about Harden, compared to CP3.
- goes to strip clubs even nights before road games and so skips practice and film session
- refuses to keep fit to get himself out of teams, even though he is getting paid
- let me add, now in the mix of 2 team implosions and a third one loading
- I skip style of play, that is what you want your superstar to do. Find a way to win

So, lets be objective: list your negatives on CP3 that compares to above.

Roland17:
What Pat Beverley did on ESPN today crossed the line in my opinion and was just disrespectful and personal. Why ESPN allowed him to continue with what seemed like a tour throughout the day on their network is even more egregious.

You can criticize a player, your peer if you want but this was just too personal. I remember talking about players who play on the edge and need that edge but this didn’t seem like just basketball.

CP3 has his flaws in the game, but who doesn’t? What has Pat achieved in the NBA to criticize Paul to the extent he did today throughout the day on ESPN? It did not sit well with me.

These days, people get accolades and rep just for saying outrageous things. Even Draymond is on this table - inability to have decorum and know when to shut up is being celebrated. Its the social media era

Thanos:
Championships
CP3 = 0
Bev = 0

That's all that matters

To a casual NBA fan, yes.

Thanos:
Oga, what are you saying? This is what exactly Pat Bev was passing across. The way you people like to protect CP3 and insulate from accountability is mind-boggling. I know the kind of insult Ben Simmons, LeBron James, Kahwi, and PG13 have received from exactly the same so-called analyst. When it comes to CP3, everybody changes their tune. He was trash throughout the series because he was the biggest liability on defense and we kept on exploiting him on mismatches. Pat Bev is preaching. If you like, compare all the stats in the world, the bottom line remains both CP3 nd Pat Bev have 0 championships.

Look at the list of names you put down, then list what they did. Before you claim they all received the same thing

Am in shock. Haaa, e gba mi o! This is a red sunday. Need to stay away for like a week

Khanben:
Steve Nash has repeatedly said it that he wished he had just gone all the way and shot more 3s, during his time with the Suns. The results might just have pushed the analysts to figure out why they were winning with this weird brand of basketball, which is what they did when GSW started doing it. If he and Dantoni had just went all the way, he would have been the figure head of the modern 3 dominant basketball rather than Steph

Nash is wrong on 2 fronts.

First, skill: The level of skill Steph is displaying is far above anything Nash had either on the Suns or with the Mavs. On both teams, Nash had offensive minded coaches in Dantoni and the crazy genius Don Nelson. The reason Nash didnt shoot more 3s is because of the cap on his skill level. Many of Nash's 3s were as a result of being open, not contested shots like Steph.

Secondly, style of play: There is nothing in Dantoni's Suns style of play that is worth emulating or that can produce one ring, let alone 3. In fact, the suns lost rings to the Lakers and Spurs because Dantoni could never make the in game adjustments required. The Spurs and Lakers constantly figured out how to clamp down on the hot shooting Suns.

The warriors style of play are more like the princeton offense popularized by Rick Adelman while with Kings, and also Rockets. Completely different beast even though it looks flashy like Dantonis's style. You will notice that just like Webber a big PF on the Kings touched the ball a lot, the bigs on the warriors are very involved in ball movement.

The main reason the Kings dont have a ring with Adelman was the infamous game where the refs decided Lakers must win. Was it game 6 WCF? Cant remember now. Man, I have goosebumps just remembering Peja and Bibby

Roland17:
Nothing to see or say here.
On to a game 7 that was avoidable..

As it should be. Only fair this is settled in game 7. I took the liberty of deleting your unprintable quotes

A40:
If the Sixers have any goddamn sense they would move Harden, Harris and offload Morey as quickly as they can. Certain players just aren't built for that grind. Harden can jump from team to team but when it's really on the line he can't be your first or your second option on a championship contending team and thus it would be foolishness to retain him on that salary

The owner is strip club paddies with Harden. The way Im seeing it, Harden is looking for this to be his team and he has the owners backing. He also has the GM's backing. I think Embiid senses this as well - he already offered up himself for trade during his after game interview.

felix00:
Joel Embiid threw Ben Simmons under the bus last year and James Harden this year. Maybe he’s just a really bad teammate

Nah. There were rumors Harden was trying to throw games to get Doc Rivers fired. So that he could get D'antoni to coach the sixers. I thought this was rubbish conspiracy theory. After last night, I realize Harden low key sabotaged his own team. And everyone on the team knows it. That is why even the rookie Maxey was cussing him out.

Simmons is the guy went after his paddy's wife (micahel blackson), and refused to stop even while his friend and wife were like, nah, bro this is wrong. It was obvious this is a down low snake brother.

So in this case, Embiid has a point on these 2 guys. I have never seen him go after anyone else the same way.

[quote author=donlittle25 post=112763155][/quote]Phil Jackson is too small to worry about.

50pt gap. I dont understand

I keep doing the subtraction is my head. My head is like nah, that cant be

Khanben:
Just rewatched the last 3 minutes on youtube and IMHO based on the final sequences, the loss was not on any failure pertaining to XnOs. The loss boils down to effort by Bobby on the put back, timely shots by Jrue and Giannis on those 2 late 3s and finally incredible defense by Jrue to get the block and the presence of mind to throw it at Smart and keep it Bucks ball.
So the loss boils down to the Bucks 2 big shots making plays on both ends and Bobby getting an incredible offensive board plus the basket to give them a 1 point lead.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st3PF3Wx6vg

Yeah, looked like it to me. It just seemed weird though, when celtic lead was single digits, everybody could smell the upset. Yet celtics seemed to not be able to do much about it

Kilishihunter:
Omo this kind bottling dey pain, To think the crowd thought it was over when Giannis missed his 2nd FT

That cheering turned to shock real quick. Its going to take 3 days for Boston to come out of this shock. It might carry over to the next game even.

Can someone explain the x/os of the celtic loss. That was a gutsy comeback by Bucks. I feel like Celtics folded mentally

Strange news on Tatum coming out right now...





na joke i dey joke o. roland17 calm down before tonite ok? No kee yaself o

steady986:
According to Nick Wright:

The official reveal of @FTFonFS1 & @purehoop’s Club Superstar.

Who is in (12 person capacity):
Giannis
LeBron
Luka
KD
Steph
CP3
Embiid
Ja
Jokic
Tatum
Kawhi
Dame

Waiting in line, for someone to leave (1 in, 1 out policy):
Booker
Trae
Jimmy
Ant Man

Kicked out:
AD

Jimmy has no business in that line. Dame should be evicted as well. KD dey probation.
AD

steady986:
Me I don't know what to answer you again o. That they were last means there were teams better than them.

Are you now judging them based on one playoff series in which they played the best team in the East? Did you watch Trae during the regular season?

I did. They have been doing this annoying habit not only this season, but last as well. It worked well in playoffs vs imploding Sixers last year, and a crappy knicks team.

The Hawks are a well built and deep, but they are under performing. As soon as they get a lead, they fall in love with that 3 and if it starts falling, thats all they do all game.

Similarly when they are behind by double digits, they start chucking 3as hoping to generate something.When they have hot hands, it allows them get back in the game. When they dont, they lose by double digits.

The John Collins they are hailing, has had issues with their style of play all season. Word is he is looking for other teams as well. He will thrive in a traditional half court set. He has serious hops, even post injuries and a reliable mid range jumper. And he will knock down a 3 if open.
There should be no reason for Trae and Bogie to be launching 3s anyhow with Collins and Capela on the floor. Granted, Bogdnaovich is usually more measured, picks his spots, takes better shots and plays withing flow of offense.

steady986:
Come on. That's not entirely true. The Trae Young/Capela pick n roll is a thing. Trae is responsible for a huge chunk of Capela's buckets. The numbers are there for us to see.

I watch the Hawks often. This is flat out not true. Which one is assist to dunks again. If its such a good stat, they would not have been last to enter playoffs in the east, and get bounced by the Heat. Cmon you watched those games as well? Does that tally with what you saw against Heat? Did you have a Trae/Collins combo highlight reel?

Khanben:
Whenever I hear the spamming 3s comment, I just sometimes wonder what people mean. If a star player is taking only 3s I can very well understand how that can be an issue, because it is expected that the star players should be three level scorers. But for role players, people act as if in the OG days role players don't go 1-10 from the field.

It doesnt apply to everybody. I am aware some people use the phrase as a way to down this generation of players. They are wrong - there are some flat out talented shooters in the league today. Better than anything we have ever seen.

But then, there are guys who are guilty of just shooting 3s and hope to get lucky and win a few. See atlanta hawks as a prime example. That is all they do, for real. The game doesnt even make sense at that point. Many times Trae doesnt even run a set. just chucks it - sometimes it goes in enough for them to try for a win. Other times, they just lose by double digits.

donlittle25:
ah oga

accept it like dat. ahan

Skrrrrrrr:
Either curry isn't the shooter he used to be or he is suffering from some trauma. His shooting has been terrible this entire season.
The shots he missed were mostly wide open looks.
Him and Thompson were a combined 5 of 23 from deep. If they were 40% at least they would have won game 2.
If Curry doesn't get out of this slump, the grizzlies are going to send them home.
Kerr's coaching has also been questionable, Morant scored 15 points off wide open 3s. They deliberately left him open and dared him to shoot and he scored 5 times, that's as many 3s as Steph and Klay combined.

NBA has tightened up rules that favored 3pt spammers. Curry has been the least hit, because he is a really good shooter even without tricks. It has affected Harden and Trae much more. Guys can actually play honest defense on them, and not get punished with crap fouls

afrodoc2:
Point God.

Na so I take jinx cp3 last year. abeg stop eet

Khanben:
They are only lacking consistent half court offense, if they figure that out, they will be very hard to beat moving forward.
They have depth, incredibly hustle, spacing and big shot takers and makers, and the role players that fit their stars.

They are like the cool gen z version of the tim duncan spurs. They will not beat themselves, you will have to play better than them consistently to beat them. Talentwise, they arent all that, but they play their game with consistency and confidence.

steady986:
Bros, leave that matter. That one na old story. The bottomline is Kyrie was available in the playoffs. He was even balling in the games preceding the playoffs, dropping 50 and 40 balls here and there. So he was ready to go in that playoffs, same with KD. They lost this series because KD didn't show up, plain and simple. Not because Kyrie missed 3/4 of the season.

no sir, that is not good enough. How many Kyrie to Durant passes or screens did you see? That was not a team, just individual pieces. Thats because they have only had less than a month to actually firm up that rotation. So , yeah its majorly on Kyrie.

I'm not saying Durant doesnt have some blame, but of all the culprits, the guy showed up! I dont see how you can blame Durant over Harden, or Kyrie.