2024 NBA Playoffs - West 1st Round: #4 Los Angeles Clippers vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (DAL WINS 4-2)

[Bob8]

Bob, ignore me. This isn't that hard. There are posters itt just trolling. Its super obvious. It would be cool if they stopped. No idea why you are worried about this unless you feel guilty. But so you can relax, I was not talking about you. Please forget I even said anything lol.

There is one misunderstanding that many mods don't or don't want to understand. Mods can be normal partner in conversation, if we're talking strictly about basketball. But in the moment mods start to talk about who and what should be written, who's troll...you're not anymore just a basketball fan, you're a mod. We're not equal anymore. It's like talking to policeman until he cuffs you.

I am not a mod on this board, Bob. And we've had this conversation too many times for you to keep being so hyper focused on it.

I am not saying as a Mod to not troll. I can't. I don't Mod this forum. I am asking as a board reg if in a really good series, we could please not troll.

But I wish I hadn't because you have turned this into some whole thing. For no reason.

Carry on. Troll or don't troll. Whatever at this point lol.

Someone saying that here are writing only trolls is trolling for me. So maybe we can agree, that we both are trolls? Blue and black one.

[Dirk]

His priorities and mindset made him top5 player in the World and will bring him 1 billion dollars in his career. I hope your priorities and mindset are as good as his.

It's not necessary to reply to every post that hates on Luka. Particularly when the posts are so blatantly screaming for attention.

I.e, when someone is talking about "all that fat " and "wanted to statpad for that MVP in the regular season" or some other things... you simply ignore. There is no real value in replying to that.

There are more than enough normal users who criticize Luka and don't come off that way, so you can just engage when it actually adds value to a topic.

I will not be replying further about any of this in the thread.

[ChipotleWest]

Luka not being right is giving the coach a total pass, it should be 3-1 with a hobbled Luka who's shooting poorly. We had the lead with this Luka we have right now, but the coach decided to keep Maxi as the only center in for the rest of the game for "spacing" purposes (which is dumb because he shot only one 3 pointer, he's not Dirk) and Harden and everyone ate at the rim. Harden got the most points in the paint he ever got in a quarter in his career, think about that.

And no I'm not giving Luka any passes for his conditioning, but we had that game won with Lively in there no one can convince me otherwise.

[Bob8]

His priorities and mindset made him top5 player in the World and will bring him 1 billion dollars in his career. I hope your priorities and mindset are as good as his.

It's not necessary to reply to every post that hates on Luka. Particularly when the posts are so blatantly screaming for attention.

I.e, when someone is talking about "all that fat " and "wanted to statpad for that MVP in the regular season" or some other things... you simply ignore. There is no real value in replying to that.

There are more than enough normal users who criticize Luka and don't come off that way, so you can just engage when it actually adds value to a topic.

I will not be replying further about any of this in the thread.

I used stats to show the case, so maybe someone else had something from that.

Every time the same story. I say something to "no"
mod and mod comes in defend, explanation...I wonder why that never happens, if I have conversation with "normal" user?

Don't worry 2 more losses for Mavs and you will get rid of me for a year at least.

[madmaxmedia]

It's probably already been discussed in here but are Clippers a better team w/o Kawhi?

Absolutely not, it's the situation surrounding his health and the timing of his return that have disrupted the team somewhat.

Any chance of them going deep into the playoffs involves a healthy Kawhi getting integrated back into the team.

[WestbrookGOATed]

I can't decide who I want more. I'd love to see Luka get knocked out in the 1st round so I could enjoy watching his worshippers cry and make sure he isn't gifted MVP, but I'd also love to see my team knock the hype train out themselves.

[Bob8]

I can't decide who I want more. I'd love to see Luka get knocked out in the 1st round so I could enjoy watching his worshippers cry and make sure he isn't gifted MVP, but I'd also love to see my team knock the hype train out themselves.

You better hope that Clippers win, OKC won't.

[ChipotleWest]

I can't decide who I want more. I'd love to see Luka get knocked out in the 1st round so I could enjoy watching his worshippers cry and make sure he isn't gifted MVP, but I'd also love to see my team knock the hype train out themselves.

Be careful what you wish for, you should be rooting for Clippers with no Kawhi.

Watch on YouTube

But if Luka's knee is not right, you'll probably win either series. However if either team were at full strength and healthy, either team would beat you.

[MrGoat]

Luka not being right is giving the coach a total pass, it should be 3-1 with a hobbled Luka who's shooting poorly. We had the lead with this Luka we have right now, but the coach decided to keep Maxi as the only center in for the rest of the game for "spacing" purposes (which is dumb because he shot only one 3 pointer, he's not Dirk) and Harden and everyone ate at the rim. Harden got the most points in the paint he ever got in a quarter in his career, think about that.

And no I'm not giving Luka any passes for his conditioning, but we had that game won with Lively in there no one can convince me otherwise.

You know the expectations on Luka are getting ridiculous when you're getting the blame after a 29-10-10 game where he was a team leading +10. It was pure coaching malpractice by Kidd, they completely turned around a 31 point lead and then went away from what was working. The Ty Lue vs. Jason Kidd matchup was the biggest thing that scared me about this series going in

[ChipotleWest]

In the games the Mavs won this series Clippers shot 26.7% from 3 and 34.5% from 3
In the games the Clippers won this series they shot 62.1% from 3 (!) and 50% from 3

How does a team shoot 62% from 3 on the road?

Answer: magnets

[zshawn10]

Read on Twitter

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[ChipotleWest]

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WTF, does this mean we're getting Maxi the whole 4th again? I may not even watch. I got so angry last time, why bother to just to get angry when we lose again?

[Handlez]

Ya Luka's hurt.

Sucks.

[ChipotleWest]

Luka's knee advantage Clippers
Kidd's decision making advantage Clippers

It's over, Clippers in 6.

[Texas Chuck]

so for all the Maxi haters --- Dallas is losing the minutes with any of the 3 centers on the court. They are losing them the least with Maxi. He's been good defensively in this series. Like he always is. He's a very good defensive player. He doesn't block shots out of bounds a lot so its not as visually impressive, but he's good.

The problem is Kidd has to put a 5th guy out there with Luka/Kyrie/PF/DJJ. They've all struggled. But as I look at that roster I think I'd trust Maxi more than anyone else too. I don't blame Kidd for that. When they went to the WCF, he was one of the 5 guys Kidd could trust that year. Kidd is going to remember that.

Stop worrying about his box scores, they will never impressive. Stop overreacting to the floaters in one quarter. Variance is a bitch, sorry.

[ChipotleWest]

so for all the Maxi haters --- Dallas is losing the minutes with any of the 3 centers on the court. They are losing them the least with Maxi. He's been good defensively in this series. Like he always is. He's a very good defensive player. He doesn't block shots out of bounds a lot so its not as visually impressive, but he's good.

The problem is Kidd has to put a 5th guy out there with Luka/Kyrie/PF/DJJ. They've all struggled. But as I look at that roster I think I'd trust Maxi more than anyone else too. I don't blame Kidd for that. When they went to the WCF, he was one of the 5 guys Kidd could trust that year. Kidd is going to remember that.

Stop worrying about his box scores, they will never impressive. Stop overreacting to the floaters in one quarter. Variance is a bitch, sorry.

Dude you're better than that, can't just use plus/minus for everything. Did you watch the 4th quarter? Harden exploited Maxi. It was very clear for the eyes to see.

Plus minus does not paint the entire picture, it only shows what the team did while you were in or not in the game. It doesn't mean that one player was responsible. I think it works when you're saying Luka was off the court and the team was a -8 than saying the team was a -5 while Lively was in there.

[Texas Chuck]

so for all the Maxi haters --- Dallas is losing the minutes with any of the 3 centers on the court. They are losing them the least with Maxi. He's been good defensively in this series. Like he always is. He's a very good defensive player. He doesn't block shots out of bounds a lot so its not as visually impressive, but he's good.

The problem is Kidd has to put a 5th guy out there with Luka/Kyrie/PF/DJJ. They've all struggled. But as I look at that roster I think I'd trust Maxi more than anyone else too. I don't blame Kidd for that. When they went to the WCF, he was one of the 5 guys Kidd could trust that year. Kidd is going to remember that.

Stop worrying about his box scores, they will never impressive. Stop overreacting to the floaters in one quarter. Variance is a bitch, sorry.

Dude you're better than that, can't just use plus/minus for everything. Did you watch the 4th quarter? Harden exploited Maxi. It was very clear for the eyes to see.

Plus minus does not paint the entire picture, it only shows what the team did while you were in or not in the game. It doesn't mean that one player was responsible.

Well aware. I'm just providing the data that shows Kleber isn't getting abused more than the other centers. Gafford has been by far the worst of the trio.

And yes asking Maxi to guard Harden is a big ask. But Lively isn't going to do better. But this isn't 3 years ago when Kawhi stuffed Maxi in his locker over and over and over. That was abuse. This? Good on James for making the plays. I'm not benching Maxi for the series over it. They need him.

[ChipotleWest]

so for all the Maxi haters --- Dallas is losing the minutes with any of the 3 centers on the court. They are losing them the least with Maxi. He's been good defensively in this series. Like he always is. He's a very good defensive player. He doesn't block shots out of bounds a lot so its not as visually impressive, but he's good.

The problem is Kidd has to put a 5th guy out there with Luka/Kyrie/PF/DJJ. They've all struggled. But as I look at that roster I think I'd trust Maxi more than anyone else too. I don't blame Kidd for that. When they went to the WCF, he was one of the 5 guys Kidd could trust that year. Kidd is going to remember that.

Stop worrying about his box scores, they will never impressive. Stop overreacting to the floaters in one quarter. Variance is a bitch, sorry.

Dude you're better than that, can't just use plus/minus for everything. Did you watch the 4th quarter? Harden exploited Maxi. It was very clear for the eyes to see.

Plus minus does not paint the entire picture, it only shows what the team did while you were in or not in the game. It doesn't mean that one player was responsible.

Well aware. I'm just providing the data that shows Kleber isn't getting abused more than the other centers. Gafford has been by far the worst of the trio.

And yes asking Maxi to guard Harden is a big ask. But Lively isn't going to do better. But this isn't 3 years ago when Kawhi stuffed Maxi in his locker over and over and over. That was abuse. This? Good on James for making the plays. I'm not benching Maxi for the series over it. They need him.

I think you have some built it defense that you just want to use for Maxi and you don't care about the truth. Lively and Gafford did stop Harden from shooting floaters when they were in there, because he wasn't even trying them. As soon as Maxi was the only center he used them. That is not a coincidence. Lively is a much better rim protector than Maxi that is not debatable I will not have that debate further with anyone.

You do understand you can play both Maxi and one of the other centers right? You don't have to have Maxi as the main center. So this rant about benching Maxi wasn't necessary, no one said that. I'm not benching the other centers but guess what? I'm not the coach Kidd is he decides not me.

[Texas Chuck]

I think you have some built it defense that you just want to use for Maxi and you don't care about the truth. Lively and Gafford did stop Harden from shooting floaters when they were in there, because he wasn't even trying them. As soon as Maxi was the only center he used them. That is not a coincidence. Lively is a much better rim protector than Maxi that is not debatable I will not have that debate further with anyone.

I defend Maxi's defense because well he's good at defense. Which emcompasses more than rim protection. Yes Lively is a better help shot blocker. Gafford is too. But when the Clippers go small as they did, Maxi is the only one of the three with a fighting chance on the perimeter. You do realize that just like Luka often hunts centers Harden would do the same to Lively/Gafford?

But I also know just as I "defend Maxi and ignore truth" (giggles) some of you have players you just hate and aren't open to how they might be useful...

[ChipotleWest]

I think you have some built it defense that you just want to use for Maxi and you don't care about the truth. Lively and Gafford did stop Harden from shooting floaters when they were in there, because he wasn't even trying them. As soon as Maxi was the only center he used them. That is not a coincidence. Lively is a much better rim protector than Maxi that is not debatable I will not have that debate further with anyone.

I defend Maxi's defense because well he's good at defense. Which emcompasses more than rim protection. Yes Lively is a better help shot blocker. Gafford is too. But when the Clippers go small as they did, Maxi is the only one of the three with a fighting chance on the perimeter. You do realize that just like Luka often hunts centers Harden would do the same to Lively/Gafford?

But I also know just as I "defend Maxi and ignore truth" (giggles) some of you have players you just hate and aren't open to how they might be useful...

It sounds like he's going to do it again in Game 5, if he gets exploited again are you going to still defend it? I just don't get the logic defending something that clearly isn't working. A Division II coach would have made an adjustment in Game 4.