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NBA 2018 - Soup's on!


Jaime L

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13 hours ago, KingintheNorth4 said:

Yeah no, even with their depth, I don't see Toronto coming out of the East this year.

Think it'd be a helluva series vs. Cleveland. I have genuine doubt who would win. This is the first time I've felt this way about Lebron in the Eastern conference playoffs since his first go around in Cleveland. The ultimate team vs. a transcendent star matchup. Yeah Kevin Love, but still. Haven't seen this since Lebron vs. the Pistons back in the day. I think it'll unfold very differently than the last couple Raptors-Cavs series. This isn't the same Raptors team and it isn't remotely the same Cavs team. 

Cavs pulled out last night but it took basically a perfect Lebron performance (35/7/17, 0 turnovers) at home. I guess he could play a few more minutes in the playoffs than the 39 he played last night but still an insane load, especially as the guy who is the primary ballhandler and runs the entire offense when he's on the floor. There's been times in the past where the load is too high and the opponent has been too much for him to overcome (last year with the Heat against the Spurs, last year with the Cavs against the Celtics). Wonder if the Raptors can present another one. Definitely need a way more locked in DeRozan and Lowry than we've seen in the playoffs previously to get it. I think we will though. 

Not that I'm rooting for it as a series. I hope the Wizards disrupt. But if we get it, I think it'll be good. 

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24 minutes ago, Jaime L said:

Think it'd be a helluva series vs. Cleveland. I have genuine doubt who would win. This is the first time I've felt this way about Lebron in the Eastern conference playoffs since his first go around in Cleveland. The ultimate team vs. a transcendent star matchup. Yeah Kevin Love, but still. Haven't seen this since Lebron vs. the Pistons back in the day. I think it'll unfold very differently than the last couple Raptors-Cavs series. This isn't the same Raptors team and it isn't remotely the same Cavs team. 

Cavs pulled out last night but it took basically a perfect Lebron performance (35/7/17, 0 turnovers) at home. I guess he could play a few more minutes in the playoffs than the 39 he played last night but still an insane load, especially as the guy who is the primary ballhandler and runs the entire offense when he's on the floor. There's been times in the past where the load is too high and the opponent has been too much for him to overcome (last year with the Heat against the Spurs, last year with the Cavs against the Celtics). Wonder if the Raptors can present another one. Definitely need a way more locked in DeRozan and Lowry than we've seen in the playoffs previously to get it. I think we will though. 

Not that I'm rooting for it as a series. I hope the Wizards disrupt. But if we get it, I think it'll be good. 

Thing is, Raps usually win with their bench, and come playoffs that tends to get marginalized when rotations get cut. What would get interesting would be for a team with that profile to turn on the press come playoff time, but it would take a brave coach.

Additionally it puts more pressure on the refs, and is that more or less likely to break for Lebron? But even with those issues, it’s probably the best way to translate depth to success in the playoffs, especially if DeRozen and Lowry struggle as per. I agree, though, the Cavs haven’t looked this vulnerable (in the East) in a long time. 

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2 hours ago, James Arryn said:

Thing is, Raps usually win with their bench, and come playoffs that tends to get marginalized when rotations get cut. What would get interesting would be for a team with that profile to turn on the press come playoff time, but it would take a brave coach.

Additionally it puts more pressure on the refs, and is that more or less likely to break for Lebron? But even with those issues, it’s probably the best way to translate depth to success in the playoffs, especially if DeRozen and Lowry struggle as per. I agree, though, the Cavs haven’t looked this vulnerable (in the East) in a long time. 

It's a good point. Guys like Van Vleet and Poeltl are big difference makers in the regular season against other bench guys but how useful will they be in a playoff series where starters are going 40+ min?

I like the press idea as something to try. I do think the goal has to be wearing down the opposing team's stars with waves of competent players. Also gives them versatility to exploit specific matchups depending on the series. If depth is your biggest edge, gotta find ways to bring it to bear. I'm curious how Casey plays it. 

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14 hours ago, Jaime L said:

It's a good point. Guys like Van Vleet and Poeltl are big difference makers in the regular season against other bench guys but how useful will they be in a playoff series where starters are going 40+ min?

I like the press idea as something to try. I do think the goal has to be wearing down the opposing team's stars with waves of competent players. Also gives them versatility to exploit specific matchups depending on the series. If depth is your biggest edge, gotta find ways to bring it to bear. I'm curious how Casey plays it. 

Yeah, and i’d be really, really impressed with Casey if he went that way. Not so much for the strategy itself, but rather what it would say about his priorities. Given the season they’ve had, his job is pretty much safe, and playing conventional and losing to Lebron probably wouldn’t change that, it would just be a talent issue.

 But if he goes unconventional, it opens him up to all kinds of criticism, and losing would be or become about him. So if he goes that way, that tells you he’s a guy who wants to win more than he wants job security.

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The Grizzlies lost to the Hornets by 61 points last night, the worst loss in the league since 1998. 

In case you're wondering, yes, they're clearly riding the tank train all the way to the bottom this year (thanks to the idiotic Jeff Green trade they may not even have a first rounder in '19) and yes, they're also actually that bad. 

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Sounds like Kyrie is going to be out a while.  He's having a procedure done on his knee.  The Celtics team doctors tried to pressure him to play through it, but he went for a second opinion and opted for surgery.  I'm sure he saw how the Celtics fucked Thomas last year by giving him the same advice and said, "Fuck that."

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2 hours ago, briantw said:

Sounds like Kyrie is going to be out a while.  He's having a procedure done on his knee.  The Celtics team doctors tried to pressure him to play through it, but he went for a second opinion and opted for surgery.  I'm sure he saw how the Celtics fucked Thomas last year by giving him the same advice and said, "Fuck that."

Celtics have had some rotten luck this year. Looks like they'll probably get bounced in the first round. 

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Just getting unrealistic at this point.  LeBron was clearly designed in a lab.

Also, side note...for as much shit as Love has gotten since coming to Cleveland, the Cavs' offense is just historically good when he's on the court.  He makes a huge difference even if he rarely gets any credit for it.

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2 hours ago, briantw said:

 

Just getting unrealistic at this point.  LeBron was clearly designed in a lab.

Also, side note...for as much shit as Love has gotten since coming to Cleveland, the Cavs' offense is just historically good when he's on the court.  He makes a huge difference even if he rarely gets any credit for it.

I remember saying at the height of the Miami Big Three that Bosh was eventually going to have to become the top dog on the team because LeBron and Wade’s games wouldn’t age well. I was right about Wade’s, but good lord was I wrong about LeBron.

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4 hours ago, briantw said:
Just getting unrealistic at this point.  LeBron was clearly designed in a lab.

Also, side note...for as much shit as Love has gotten since coming to Cleveland, the Cavs' offense is just historically good when he's on the court.  He makes a huge difference even if he rarely gets any credit for it.

I would've sworn Lebron would have started slowing down by now. There's no precedent for what he's doing. The closest is, like, Kareem who was great for an insanely long time. But even he doesn't match Lebron somehow still being at the peak he reached a full decade ago. You'd really have to dig in deep to figure out if his '09 season or this one was more dominant. 

On Love, he's a big time help to Lebron, but I think it's largely because a ) you can run the offense through him and he's big for spacing the floor as a 5 and  b )  he's the only other player on the roster who is demonstrably above average this season.

The Cavs chart is just nuts. The fact Lebron can barely be seen on it is further testament to his greatness: 

 

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