**NBA FINALS THREAD - RAPTORS DEFY GRAVITY**

[P C H]

Same thing I told Sox, I'm not going to assume Portland or Denver or anyone else will dominate Utah until I see it. There's no reason to, especially after the OKC series

Dominate? No. But I think once you get past R1 in the offs (this year it was r1 for them), that kind of defense and player archetype becomes exploitable. You’re going to be playing someone really good out west by that point.

Also, depending on what changes happen in the west this summer, that kind of center and player could end up not as valuable

 

[B Sox]

Giannis and Draymond are the best defensive players in the league. Least amount of weaknesses.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Derrick Rose was the best player on the best team in the NBA at 22 years old. 4 games better than a Miami team with prime LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. 6 games better than a Celtics team with Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen who just came off a finals run. A whole 10 games better than the Magic, Dwight Howard did not deserve no ******* MVP. Better than the Timmy, Manu, Tony Spurs. Better record than the Kobe/Pau/Bynum Lakers who just won the championship.

Rose's #2 and #3 were Boozer and Noah. They missed 57 games combined and he carried that ******* squad. My guy was out there with mutha****ing KEITH BOGANS and a GODDAMN 38 YEAR OLD KURT THOMAS. YALL GOT ME HEATED AF RIGHT NOW BECAUSE YOU SOUND STUPID. He put out one of the GOAT mixtapes of all time in the discussion with Trap or Die, drought 3, we got it 4 cheap, Tru realigion etc. Some people are just ignorant I swear!!!

 

[Air Pope]

Less than 2 hours leftttt

 

[Maximus Meridius]

It's a pic with no source so who knows but this sound like something CP0 would do

piss paul never learns

last year he taunted curry minutes later got injured and out for the series

this year he blockin a ***** from shoot around and got thrown out the playoffs by curry at home

Confirmed

Steph got gangsta on 'em

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Dominate? No. But I think once you get past R1 in the offs (this year it was r1 for them), that kind of defense and player archetype becomes exploitable. You’re going to be playing someone really good out west by that point.

Also, depending on what changes happen in the west this summer, that kind of center and player could end up not as valuable

Yeah I used dominate in relation to what Houston has done to them. I honestly would say Portland is a more difficult matchup for Utah but this discussion is going to get long and away from playoff convo

But yeah, it's fair to question Rudy and Capela's values going forward. I'm a bit more hesitant to assume these other teams (the Denvers the Portlands) past the first round are going to be any type of lock to be a superior team than the Jazz

 

[shotsrangout]

So that's the only thing they needed?

So...if they had DJ, they win?

 

[100027]

Rose's #2 and #3 were Boozer and Noah. They missed 57 games combined and he carried that ****ing squad. M]

This is a horrendous take because they weren't a great offensive team, they were a great defensive team that held opponents to 91 ppg. They had a great defensive roster that included the two guys you mentioned and Loul Deng, Taj Gibson, and Kyle Korver off the bench. Also Noah and Boozer were very good players.

Can't tell if your memory is just bad or you're intentionally messing with the truth. The team wasn't #1 seed because they were "carried" by Rose's offense (though he was good and had a year he's never come close to before or since) they were carried because their defense was historic.

 

[second2nonee]

Clint was playable against them last year and in the regular season. He generally does struggle against Dray but the drop off was steep this year. Has to be a mental thing. Probably what's so befuddling about the whole situation.

 

[dacomeup]

I saw Capela In the GSW series catch the ball 7 feet from the basket, turn around and pass it back to EG who was 30 feet from the basket

Nah man, I’m out on those kinds of centers too. They have tremendous value in the regular season, especially if roster construction supports it, but I just can’t get with having players That are strictly lob threats on offense. And I get the gravity that comes with the roles, and I get the rim protection aspect of it, but if I can I’d rather have someone who maybe is not as good defensively but someone who doesn’t look like a fish out of water if he catches the ball more than 3 feet from the hoop.

It’s more of a barbershop take, but I can’t have my best player (Gobert) being that bad with the ball In his hands in non lob scenarios

Completely agree. That deal for Capela looks awful when you can't play him or rely on him in the most important moment of the season.

 

[friscostylez]

Prime D-Rose's athleticism


fword injuries mang

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Rudy aint all that but yall are acting like he didn't do a great job against Houston. Their whole defensive game plan was to send Harden into him and he had that boy putting up Russ numbers. Harden in the first round was putting up the worst playoff numbers in his career up to that point (and that's saying a lot because that ***** is trash in the playoffs) and that had everything to do with Gobert defending him at the rim. They just had no consistent offense whatsoever so the end result made it seem like it wasn't even competitive. A team with Gobert and just an average offense would've beaten this year's rockets

This is a horrendous take because they weren't a great offensive team, they were a great defensive team that held opponents to 91 ppg. They had a great defensive roster that included the two guys you mentioned and Loul Deng, Taj Gibson, and Kyle Korver off the bench. Also Noah and Boozer were very good players.

Can't tell if your memory is just bad or you're intentionally messing with the truth. The team wasn't #1 seed because they were "carried" by Rose's offense (though he was good and had a year he's never come close to before or since) they were carried because their defense was historic.

Noah and boozer were good, not very good and they each missed damn near half the season. That's the point. Not talking to you anymore, thanks

 

[ballinsam23]

Obviously Gobert can’t be your best player. But to say he’s trash or you rather not have him on your team is such a NT thing to say.

 

[100027]

Noah and boozer were good, not very good and they each missed damn near half the season. That's the point. Not talking to you anymore, thanks

I agree, no point of clogging the playoffs thread with more "Pooh Bear" talk. I can hear the stans grinding their teeth already preparing to jump into the fray.

 

[shotsrangout]

Obviously Gobert can’t be your best player. But to say he’s trash or you rather not have him on your team is such a NT thing to say.

He’s French deandre Jordan

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Finally finished watching.

The energy they came out with in this game compared to G4 was night & day. Inexcusable.

No Durant. First half zero points for Steph, foul trouble too so he’s not even on the damn floor to affect the game with his “gravity”.... tie game anyway. Klay Dray & co. actually outplayed them & had the lead late before a quick flurry before the half. 9 points alone to Klay Thompson from lazy off-ball defense. Ridiculous.

Harden checks in with 10 mins left in the 4th. 20 possessions, just 7 conversions before that Klay dagger. Over that stretch, three complete bonehead turnovers from James and a blown layup. In between two buckets, both Harden on Steph, they went scoreless for 4 minutes trying to iso Klay & Iguodala.

Chris Paul also had a few brain farts defending that Steph/Dray pnr. 10 min mark Dray slipped it, Steph drove & Paul literally stopped playing & gave up a layup. Matador defense. Few mins later Dray slipped it again, Steph gave it up, CP watching the ball instead of his man, Steph got it back for an open 3.

Then on the Klay dagger, GSW ran it again. Rockets game plan had been to trap Steph, hug Klay, and make Draymond either make a floater, tough lob to Looney, or pass to Iggy.

He made the pass to Iggy open in the corner, on the close out Paul leaves an open passing lane to Klay, ball game.

The few times they actually hunted Steph, late they were decently successful, while GSW spammed that 1/4 pnr almost every time down. 5 missed free throws in the game by James & his 3 idiotic turnovers in the 4th killed them.

PREACH! People will point to the statbox or blame Gerald green but that man flat out did not impact the game like that. 1st quarter he inexplicably leaves Draymond wide open on a fast break for an easy layup. Few plays later he's completely clueless on defense and leaves igoudala wide open from 3 and that got him going for the rest of the game. He does that type of **** all the time. There was a play I think in the second quarter where fricking Kevon Looney went off the dribble from 30 feet out for a layup and Harden was just standing right there and didn't even attempt to make a play on it. As a leader, that type of **** sets the tone for the rest of the team. When he didn't have the ball on offense a lot of times you can't even see him on the screen because he's just standing around half court while the rockets go 4 on 5. Has anyone ever seen James Harden set a screen? There's a reason he fails every single year. He's not a championship caliber player, period.

 

[HOU$TON]

Clint was terrible on both sides of the ball. I have to check the numbers but EYE saw 1 block the entire series.

Food on the perimeter and in the paint

About to get upset again

Faried should’ve started

 

[Zainjal26]

I said this before

Don’t care who wins

Just want warriors to take an L

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Woulda thought Mike or Shaq had this

 

[JD617]

This is a horrendous take because they weren't a great offensive team, they were a great defensive team that held opponents to 91 ppg. They had a great defensive roster that included the two guys you mentioned and Loul Deng, Taj Gibson, and Kyle Korver off the bench. Also Noah and Boozer were very good players.

Can't tell if your memory is just bad or you're intentionally messing with the truth. The team wasn't #1 seed because they were "carried" by Rose's offense (though he was good and had a year he's never come close to before or since) they were carried because their defense was historic.

Repped because I agree but you can't leave out Thibodeau even though I know you hate him.

The game may have passed him by now but at the time he had the best defensive scheme in the league. The Bulls went from outside the top 10 on defense to #1 in Thibs' first year there with mostly the same players.

 

[second2nonee]

Nuggets should've been the night game

 

[HIM]

Rudy aint all that but yall are acting like he didn't do a great job against Houston. Their whole defensive game plan was to send Harden into him and he had that boy putting up Russ numbers. Harden in the first round was putting up the worst playoff numbers in his career up to that point (and that's saying a lot because that ***** is trash in the playoffs) and that had everything to do with Gobert defending him at the rim. They just had no consistent offense whatsoever so the end result made it seem like it wasn't even competitive. A team with Gobert and just an average offense would've beaten this year's rockets



Noah and boozer were good, not very good and they each missed damn near half the season. That's the point. Not talking to you anymore, thanks

Is stopping Harden in the postseason supposed to be difficult?

 

[moe200069]

Outside "MAYBE" the warriors?

Man sit your *** down.

There's no maybe. Neither of them 3 would start for the warriors. 6th man at best and I legit would pick Iggy for that.

Now that's not every team.

I can continue but I wont.

Bunch of bums outside of Harden and when I say that is in relation to other professional athletes of their caliber.

hmm tell someone to "sit their *** down" but don't want to explain his own thinking...

no ****, of course they wouldn't start for the warriors if klay, KD, and dray are there. but let's hear your reasons as to why Gordon and Tucker are considered "bums"? those same bums were the ones hitting shots, going 8/10 down the stretch of game 5 when harden was out there "making the right plays" by not handling the ball or shooting. but "bums"

 

[Lovetohate3000]

This is a horrendous take because they weren't a great offensive team, they were a great defensive team that held opponents to 91 ppg. They had a great defensive roster that included the two guys you mentioned and Loul Deng, Taj Gibson, and Kyle Korver off the bench. Also Noah and Boozer were very good players.

Can't tell if your memory is just bad or you're intentionally messing with the truth. The team wasn't #1 seed because they were "carried" by Rose's offense (though he was good and had a year he's never come close to before or since) they were carried because their defense was historic.

this is the same take as Iverson carried a team to the finals. That never happened . It's the equivalent to saying Russell Wilson carried his team to the super bowl the year they beat the broncos in the title game.
And that isn't to take anything away from either of them

 

[af1 1982]