NBA Playoffs Thread

[Negrodamus]

Is ANYONE here going to acknowledge McConnell was let go by Sixers to sign Trey Burke?

Burke can play with Ben, unlike TJ.

It’s sad to think we spent like 7 years worrying about fit with a guy who hates basketball.

[76ciology]

Is ANYONE here going to acknowledge McConnell was let go by Sixers to sign Trey Burke?

Burke can play with Ben, unlike TJ.

It’s sad to think we spent like 7 years worrying about fit with a guy who hates basketball.

I was watching the Wolves vs Nuggets game earlier, and i remember there was a time when we were looking to trade Ben and we discussed here about trading him for Anthony Edwards. Funny times

[Kobblehead]

In fairness to the Sixers at the time, Trey Burke was brought in to be a point producer (which he had a track record of being). McConnell has been a connective glue piece for his entire career, but this season has been an outlier where he's been a productive scorer in his minutes.

[XtremeDunkz]

I think it's safe to say the Knicks played well above their heads against us. Similar to Atlanta a few years ago. Brunson, Mcbride and Hart aren't making all of the insane shots at near the clip they were against us.

[eyeatoma]

I think it's safe to say the Knicks played well above their heads against us. Similar to Atlanta a few years ago. Brunson, Mcbride and Hart aren't making all of the insane shots at near the clip they were against us.

As always we suffer from the outliers.

[Iverson Armband]

Burke can play with Ben, unlike TJ.

It’s sad to think we spent like 7 years worrying about fit with a guy who hates basketball.

I was watching the Wolves vs Nuggets game earlier, and i remember there was a time when we were looking to trade Ben and we discussed here about trading him for Anthony Edwards. Funny times

There were actually people saying the Wolves needed to throw in more than Edwards.

[Iverson Armband]

I think it's safe to say the Knicks played well above their heads against us. Similar to Atlanta a few years ago. Brunson, Mcbride and Hart aren't making all of the insane shots at near the clip they were against us.

As always we suffer from the outliers.

How many coincidences does it take before it’s no longer a coincidence?

[eyeatoma]

I think it's safe to say the Knicks played well above their heads against us. Similar to Atlanta a few years ago. Brunson, Mcbride and Hart aren't making all of the insane shots at near the clip they were against us.

As always we suffer from the outliers.

How many coincidences does it take before it’s no longer a coincidence?

Right so Embiid is to blame for everything.

[Iverson Armband]

As always we suffer from the outliers.

How many coincidences does it take before it’s no longer a coincidence?

Right so Embiid is to blame for everything.

No, absolutely not. But tired of the “best player in the NBA” talk when he can’t be counted on to carry us through a meaningful series. Hopefully that crap is dead.

[eyeatoma]

How many coincidences does it take before it’s no longer a coincidence?

Right so Embiid is to blame for everything.

No, absolutely not. But tired of the “best player in the NBA” talk when he can’t be counted on to carry us through a meaningful series. Hopefully that crap is dead.

It won't be dead until he's traded, which won't happen unless he requests one. Fact of the matter is, he needs to lose weight, like a massive amount. 25-30 lbs, get to about 265-270, and then take it from there.

He can still be a great offensive hub, but it'll let him focus on defense. This will extend his career. It's the biggest factor to his injuries. His body can't handle that much weight and the torque it puts on his body when he does quick twitch moves. There are so many other reasons whey things didn't work out. The biggest being that the common thread with every season was yes, Embiid was injured, but more so, we had a pathetic bench that haemorrhages points the moment he sits. That solely lies on team building, and creating a them that doesn't require him to succeed. Hopefully this off season they rectify that.

[Iverson Armband]

Right so Embiid is to blame for everything.

No, absolutely not. But tired of the “best player in the NBA” talk when he can’t be counted on to carry us through a meaningful series. Hopefully that crap is dead.

It won't be dead until he's traded, which won't happen unless he requests one. Fact of the matter is, he needs to lose weight, like a massive amount. 25-30 lbs, get to about 265-270, and then take it from there.

He can still be a great offensive hub, but it'll let him focus on defense. This will extend his career. It's the biggest factor to his injuries. His body can't handle that much weight and the torque it puts on his body when he does quick twitch moves. There are so many other reasons whey things didn't work out. The biggest being that the common thread with every season was yes, Embiid was injured, but more so, we had a pathetic bench that haemorrhages points the moment he sits. That solely lies on team building, and creating a them that doesn't require him to succeed. Hopefully this off season they rectify that.

Whatever sacrifice he needs to make; whether it’s to his body or his actual physical game, he needs to make it. Period. It’s on him. If he doesn’t, they’ll continue down this same path of disappointment every year regardless of the “help” you want to blame.

[stormi]

I think it's safe to say the Knicks played well above their heads against us. Similar to Atlanta a few years ago. Brunson, Mcbride and Hart aren't making all of the insane shots at near the clip they were against us.

As always we suffer from the outliers.

How many coincidences does it take before it’s no longer a coincidence?

I think a lot of it has to do with how unathletic and weak we are at the POA.

Guys like Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey for the most part have been turnstyles that allow drive (collapse the defense) and kick (wide open) shooting galleries.

I thought Maxey was a lot more physical and combative this year, same with Oubre.

However, a majority of the roleplayers that we've relied upon to play big minutes like Seth Curry, JJ Redick and James Harden have also suffered from typically being the lowest percentile athletes in every series we've played in.

I think the aspect of it being a sport / athletics has gotten lost in our team building composition. We've routinely lost the physical battle outside of the C position (and that hardly matters anyways because by April and May Joel Embiid is typically hobbled)

[76ciology]

I think it's safe to say the Knicks played well above their heads against us. Similar to Atlanta a few years ago. Brunson, Mcbride and Hart aren't making all of the insane shots at near the clip they were against us.

As always we suffer from the outliers.

It's due to a lot of factors, but for me, it's mostly because our opponents can shut down Embiid by stacking size at their 3-4-5 positions. Once their 4 and 5 can alternately defend Embiid, it's over.

In 2018, the Baynes-Horford duo with the Celtics saw their wings attacking JJ.

In 2019, the Raptors' triple big lineup of Ibaka, Siakam, and Gasol outrebounded us.

In 2020, we lacked perimeter scoring and Ben, who plays a big part on Tobi being playable at the 4, didnt play.

In 2021, the Hawks' lineup of Huerter, Gallinari, Collins, and Capela was lethal. Huerter attacked Seth while the Hawks' frontcourt and Ben clogged the paint.

In 2022, Tucker and Bam were effective, with Tucker defending Embiid and Bam as the helper. The Heat effectively shut down our basic two-man game.

In 2023, I believe we would have beaten the Celtics in Game 6 more than half the time if the game were played ten times. Tucker not being a threat allowed Rob Williams to play goalie with Al Horford defending Embiid.

This playoffs, while we were bigger than the Knicks, we didn't play like the bigger team. OG even was able to be effective defending Embiid, which was my x factor in the series.

All teams need to do is focus on embiid by playing double bigs, make it hard for Embiid to score, rotate on defense, and get extra opportunities with offensive rebounds. We don’t see that in regular season because most teams don’t play hard and just run their vanilla schemes.

The way to counter this is to have the right balance of shooting, length, and players who are all threats, so the defense has to stay busy and can't just focus on Embiid. We also need the length to get shots off, contest, and limit extra opportunities for the opponent.

[76ciology]

NBA made a mistake choosing the Knicks over us.

[mjkvol]

NBA made a mistake choosing the Knicks over us.

I still think Silver will have his Celtics-Knicks ECF when it's said and done. Funny stuff will continue to happen in MSG and the Pacers just aren't that good when they aren't flying around and have to score in the half court. Thibs will find a way to make these games a grind.

[76ciology]

NBA made a mistake choosing the Knicks over us.

I still think Silver will have his Celtics-Knicks ECF when it's said and done. Funny stuff will continue to happen in MSG and the Pacers just aren't that good when they aren't flying around and have to score in the half court. Thibs will find a way to make these games a grind.

It would be hilarious if Knicks made it to the finals then we have another sub-par finals

[mjkvol]

NBA made a mistake choosing the Knicks over us.

I still think Silver will have his Celtics-Knicks ECF when it's said and done. Funny stuff will continue to happen in MSG and the Pacers just aren't that good when they aren't flying around and have to score in the half court. Thibs will find a way to make these games a grind.

It would be hilarious if Knicks made it to the finals then we have another sub-par finals

Not to worry, I'm sure Silver has his henchmen on the job and they'll find a way to get a 7-game Finals this time regardless who's there.

[76ciology]

Looking at the Nuggets, they don't play with a traditional backup center. Aaron Gordon serves as their backup center, and the five-man units where Gordon plays center while Jokic is on the bench have great NetRtg numbers.

That should be our blueprint.

https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612743/lineups-advanced

[Zumramania]

To me it's no wonder that we lost to the Knicks, especially as they were still healthy against us. It was not an easy series for us, but we were also the 7th seed - it's never easy for the 7th seed. The supporting cast around Joel and Maxey is just very weak.

Tobias Harris would not be on the roster of any remaining playoff team. Batum is very old - too many minutes, Lowry is also very old and he got too many minutes, Oubre as well, Reed cannot really shoot and his other talents were not apparent against the Knicks...

Even with a healthy Embiid, we were unfortunately built like a stereotypical team that does well in the regular season and then fails in the playoffs. Embiid in the playoffs, be it because of injuries or something else, does not even look like a proper option B offensively, let alone option A.

Even if they bring an (aging) star like Paul George, Morey should be worried about the supporting cast. He should be forced to actually watch every playoff game and not just look at numbers lol. I think guys like Alex Caruso may be expensive, but they will be worth the investment. Morey should be ready to overpay for a playoff-caliber role player.

[ProcessDoctor]

Can’t believe one these teams playing right now will be in the ECF. Most years teams of this caliber are eliminated R1.