****OFFICIAL NBA Playoffs Thread****

[KC_Connection]

Have been banned from the other thread by an apparently sensitive snowflake (ironically after dozens of pages of political discussion from others) so I'll stick my thoughts on the NBA Playoffs here from now on. We needed a new thread anyway.

[KC_Connection]

CP3 is playing just a fantastic game. If he’s going to be anything like this, they will win the series. The talent disparity outside of Jokic is too significant.

[Why Not?]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

CP3 is playing just a fantastic game. If he’s going to be anything like this, they will win the series. The talent disparity outside of Jokic is too significant.

Right. Jokic was the only significant matchup advantage. If Ayton hangs, I don’t see a way Denver can win the series or even keep it particularly close.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Right. Jokic was the only significant matchup advantage. If Ayton hangs, I don’t see a way Denver can win the series or even keep it particularly close.

Ayton won’t hang, Jokic will have some crazy 40/10/15 game at some point. But it won’t matter overall, not if CP3 can play and facilitate like this. He’s their most important player because of how he opens things up for everyone else. It looked like he was gonna be diminished all postseason but not anymore.

[Why Not?]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Ayton won’t hang, Jokic will have some crazy 40/10/15 game at some point. But it won’t matter overall, not if CP3 can play and facilitate like this. He’s their most important player because of how he opens things up for everyone else. It looked like he was gonna be diminished all postseason but not anymore.

Oh I’m sure Jokic will have a game like that. He’s to good not to. The key was not letting him have multiple games like that. Obviously that’s still possible but I thought Ayton made a hell of a statement tonight and the TNT guys pointed it out several times. Paul has been a Godsend for this team both physically and mentally.

[Wisconsin_Chief]

Tell you one thing, the Milwaukee Bucks should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Ownership has shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars to these posers and this is the kind of performance they get? Down by 49 at one point in the game. And none of them seem to care one bit. I've seen more passion at a nursing home luncheon than what these tools have displayed these first two games.

I used to think Giannis was at least a Pippen level #2 on the brink of being great, but he's not even in that class. Dude is nothing more than a Mitch Richmond or Glenn Rice level player. Stat stacker in the regular season then disappears against elite competition. He's nothing more than a #3 guy on the modern NBA super team.

What a joke. If I was ownership I'd withhold paychecks to these losers.

[dirk digler]

Since we are sort of back talking BB what is everyone's thoughts on KD's legacy? If he wins this year he will have won 3 rings out of basically 4 tries and was the best player on the court for all of the ones he won.

I said it a few years ago I thought he was the best player in the NBA and I starting to feel that way again. He is unstoppable offensively and his defense has improved dramatically.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Since we are sort of back talking BB what is everyone's thoughts on KD's legacy? If he wins this year he will have won 3 rings out of basically 4 tries and was the best player on the court for all of the ones he won.

I said it a few years ago I thought he was the best player in the NBA and I starting to feel that way again. He is unstoppable offensively and his defense has improved dramatically.

When healthy, he’s been the best player in the league ever since….





Which then led to Lebron running away the next time and another dagger.

But his legacy is ruined because for some reason he’s held to a higher standard than Lebron, and he beat Lebron at his own super team game twice now.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by staylor26

When healthy, he’s been the best player in the league ever since….





Which then led to Lebron running away the next time and another dagger.

But his legacy is ruined because for some reason he’s held to a higher standard than Lebron, and he beat Lebron at his own super team game twice now.

yeah I tend to agree and that was a defining moment in his career for sure. he is probably the only player I feel every time he shoots it is pretty much a lock it goes in. He is unstoppable.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Since we are sort of back talking BB what is everyone's thoughts on KD's legacy? If he wins this year he will have won 3 rings out of basically 4 tries and was the best player on the court for all of the ones he won.

I said it a few years ago I thought he was the best player in the NBA and I starting to feel that way again. He is unstoppable offensively and his defense has improved dramatically.

Top 10 player in NBA history. Obviously not on LeBron's level for most of his career, but he's one of the best scorers to ever play and virtually unstoppable if you have to deal with him 1 on 1 (and playing on the stacked Warriors and Nets in recent years have forced teams to play him that way).

Too bad he's such an unlikable clown off the court, though. You get the feeling from his tweets (both on burner accounts and otherwise) he spends way too much time worrying about what others think of him. I would have liked to have seen him stay on OKC and win there (and I have little doubt that he would have eventually given they were up 3-1 on the Warriors in the West finals). He gave up way too easily and I think that (and what followed) plays a part in his inferiority complex now.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Wisconsin_Chief

Tell you one thing, the Milwaukee Bucks should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Ownership has shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars to these posers and this is the kind of performance they get? Down by 49 at one point in the game. And none of them seem to care one bit. I've seen more passion at a nursing home luncheon than what these tools have displayed these first two games.

I used to think Giannis was at least a Pippen level #2 on the brink of being great, but he's not even in that class. Dude is nothing more than a Mitch Richmond or Glenn Rice level player. Stat stacker in the regular season then disappears against elite competition. He's nothing more than a #3 guy on the modern NBA super team.

What a joke. If I was ownership I'd withhold paychecks to these losers.

The Bucks have a number of issues and most of them come back to an inability to create in the half court. I knew two years ago that the Raptors would beat the Bucks as long as they could limit transition and make them a half court team and they did eventually force them into that. The Bucks have not yet been able to overcome this problem come playoff time when the game slows down (and trading basically their entire future away for an overrated Jrue Holiday didn't help much in that regard either).

Giannis is still way better than the guys you named because of his absurd level of defense that he plays, but I don't think he's a guy you can just hand the ball to and ask to score in the playoffs. Teams just play way off him when it matters and force him to shoot and he's unable to do that. The Bucks need a guy who can create offense in the half court that isn't Giannis going forward if they want to take advantage of what it is that he can actually do.

Middleton very clearly isn't that guy with his repeated playoff failures and Holiday isn't much of a creator himself either. I don't know what they are going to do to rework that roster given the contracts they've handed out, but it's going to have to start with an admission that Giannis just isn't a guy like LeBron, Durant, Kawhi, etc. that you can just give the ball to and ask to create. He doesn't have that skillset. He's still great in transition and incredible defensively, but he's got to be playing off ball in half court sets if the Bucks are ever going to overcome a great team.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Top 10 player in NBA history. Obviously not on LeBron's level for most of his career, but he's one of the best scorers to ever play and virtually unstoppable if you have to deal with him 1 on 1 (and playing on the stacked Warriors and Nets in recent years have forced teams to play him that way).

Too bad he's such an unlikable clown off the court, though. You get the feeling from his tweets (both on burner accounts and otherwise) he spends way too much time worrying about what others think of him. I would have liked to have seen him stay on OKC and win there (and I have little doubt that he would have eventually given they were up 3-1 on the Warriors in the West finals). He gave up way too easily and I think that (and what followed) plays a part in his inferiority complex now.

It's crazy how similar he is to Lebron. What Kobe is to Jordan, Durant is to LBJ.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

It's crazy how similar he is to Lebron. What Kobe is to Jordan, Durant is to LBJ.

I don't know about that, but what I can say is that Kobe/Durant pale in comparison to Jordan/LBJ as players.

LeBron also plays a pretty different style of basketball than the other three.

[ChiefsCountry]

Lillard and Gianis are made for each other. They need to team up somehow.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Top 10 player in NBA history. Obviously not on LeBron's level for most of his career, but he's one of the best scorers to ever play and virtually unstoppable if you have to deal with him 1 on 1 (and playing on the stacked Warriors and Nets in recent years have forced teams to play him that way).

Too bad he's such an unlikable clown off the court, though. You get the feeling from his tweets (both on burner accounts and otherwise) he spends way too much time worrying about what others think of him. I would have liked to have seen him stay on OKC and win there (and I have little doubt that he would have eventually given they were up 3-1 on the Warriors in the West finals). He gave up way too easily and I think that (and what followed) plays a part in his inferiority complex now.

I would definitely agree he is super sensitive but on the court when healthy there isn't anybody better right now IMHO.

If he wouldn't have gotten hurt he would probably be going for his 5th championship right now.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

The Nuggets just can’t score easily enough outside of Jokic. They’re especially dreadful when he’s off the floor.

Michael Porter Jr seems to score super effectively. He's just a pussy.