Your 2018-2019 GSW

Tschmack posted:

Honestly if Boston gets their act together they are the biggest threat in the East by far.  When they are “on” you see what they are capable of doing and it’s scary. 

The Bucks do not want any part of that team.   They are the only team in the East that concerns me.   That’s why I hope they end up drawing an Indiana or Philly in round one.   I would still favor them to advance to round two but knocking the Celtics out in round one would be the best outcome for Milwaukee. 

The Celtics and Sixers are very similar in that if either gets their acts together they are good enough to win the East without it being an upset. For both teams, their players from #2 to #6 are better than the Bucks or the Raptors. Maybe we shouldn't be wishing for a matchup with the Pacers, but without Oladipo they shouldn't scare you much. 

The Bucks will go into the playoffs as the 1 or 2 seed and I would guess most people will pick them to be the 4th most likely team to come out of the east. The Bucks have the best coaching and the best team chemistry, but if you take Giannis out of a series they might not beat a 20 win team in a 7 game series. 

Isn’t that a little contradictory? Best team, best chemistry, but without Giannis they’re so bad they can’t beat a 20 win team? Giannis is the lynchpin, sure, but that’s just crazy. 

Their issues right now is their offense, which has fed their defense. Both are really substandard right now. We’ll see how a little home cooking helps them this week...

It’s all about matchups and chemistry.  The Bucks don’t match up well with Boston especially when Horford is playing well.  But that’s the question - which Boston team will show up? 

Philly has talent, but that team is soft.  Those issues tend to be exacerbated in the playoffs. 

We should be more concerned about Toronto, but the Bucks have played well against them.   A big reason is Bledsoe can negate Lowry on defense and the Bucks bench is better.  

Music City posted:

Isn’t that a little contradictory? Best team, best chemistry, but without Giannis they’re so bad they can’t beat a 20 win team? Giannis is the lynchpin, sure, but that’s just crazy. 

Their issues right now is their offense, which has fed their defense. Both are really substandard right now. We’ll see how a little home cooking helps them this week...

20 maybe crazy, but is this a playoff team if you take Giannis off? 

In the east? Yeah... unfortunately they probably are with Buds as coach. 

Tschmack posted:

 But that’s the question - which Boston team will show up? 

The one with Gordon Heyward dropping 30 points. They're going to the finals if that continues. 

Music City posted:

In the east? Yeah... unfortunately they probably are with Buds as coach. 

It probably would be because he'd design an entirely different offense without Giannis.

Flipping Middleton into Giannis' role would make them a 20-25 win team. As discussed at length, unlike Giannis, Middleton does not pass well out of double teams and can be shut down by a lot of decent defenders one on one. Getting Middleton the ball in space on the move where he can make decisive moves or getting him on the block would be the feature rather than clearing him out on a side or at the top of the key and letting him go one on one.

Boris posted:

Tschmack posted:

 But that’s the question - which Boston team will show up? 

The one with Gordon Heyward dropping 30 points. They're going to the finals if that continues. 

They have to figure out the wild card that is Kyrie Irving. He's on the top 5 offensive players in the league, but the Celtics are 27-22 when he play (a 45 win pace) and they are 13-4 (a 63 win pace) when he sits.

In case you were feeling crappy about the Bucks losing to the Suns, don't....

They just came in to Oakland & beat the Warriors for the first time in 5 years. 

Yes, W's had won 18 straight vs. the Suns.....until tonight. 115-111 Suns 

If the Suns get Zion, they're going to be damn good next year. DAMN GOOD!

Warriors, minus Kevin Durant, just snapped the Rockets 9 game win streak. 

That was some pretty impressive basketball. Good playoff preview. 

Warriors just lost by 35 to the Mavs in Oakland.

A supremely pitiful display of basketball. 

Good God....I can't wait for the playoffs to start. 

Hawks beat the Sixers, Hornets beat the Celtics... in the words of Vince Lombardi:

”What the hell’s going on out there???”

Dogs and cats living together!

W's pickup win #50

Only 3 coaches have started their coaching career & won 50 games in 5 straight seasons.

Pat Riley / Phil Jackson & now Steve Kerr

I know he has a ridiculous amount of talent - but that's still pretty impressive

This tweet made me laugh

The NBA has issued fines to 3 Warriors:

1. Draymond Green (broke a really nice lamp horsing around while mom and dad were away) $35k

2. Steph Curry (glued lamp back together, tried to hide it) $25k

3. Kevin Durant (lied and said he didn't see who broke the lamp) $15k

— NBA Injury Report (@NBAInjuryR3port) April 2, 2019

WC has a couple interesting story lines. Houston has caught Denver for the 2 seed. After their start, that’s pretty amazing. Denver really struggling down the stretch- could they be a candidate to lose in the first round to OKC, Spurs, or Clippers depending on the order? 

OKC has slumped all the way to 7th, and finish against Houston and the Bucks back to back. Bucks are not likely to play any starters on Wednesday for the season finale. How about an OKC Golden State first round matchup?

In the east Detroit, Miami, and Charlotte are all jockeying for the final spot after Charlotte beat the Pistons Sunday. Winner of this race gets to pop Fiserv’s playoff cherry. Most of the rest is settled. 

Tuesday/Wednesday should be really interesting. 

57 wins this season. 1 less than last year. 

"Worst" season of Kerr's coaching career. 

I feel bad for Demarcus. Only his 2nd playoff game ever & blows out a quad. 

Good news is it doesn't require surgery, I guess.

I pulled my quad playing softball. I couldn't run for 2 months. Walking with a limp for a while too. Glad I didn't tear it.

Bogut gets the start. 

I have this weird feeling the Warriors aren't going to make the finals. Houston or Portland will. Just a guess.

If Paul plays, I think it’s Houston...

Warriors not ****ing around tonight. 7:19 left in 4th & up by 31.

They've been relentless tonight. If they play like that - I can't wait to watch Rockets v. W's. It will be delicious 😋.

Bucks will win the east.

Interesting 1st quarter minus KD vs. the T-Blazers

One of these days. Curry and Thompson will play a perfect 48 together and the Warriors will score 130 points in a playoff game  

And then Durant returns. 

Curry and Thompson seem to take half’s off for the **** of it. More Klay than Steph. Klay is ****ing maddening. 

Portland's body language makes it seem like they know they have no chance. Maybe it's just a Game 1 letdown after a tough game 7, but man they look completely overmatched. 

Funny thing is they should've been down about 50. Yet in the 4th Q they were only down by 6. It's the kind of game that can get stolen. But Klay & Steph did their thang & Draymond hit the dagger.

Portland really needs Nurkic against the W's

Could the KD injury be exactly what the Warriors needed to coalesce? They’re playing better ball now than they were before...

KD injury gave them focus. TBH....I think the game was getting too easy for them. Portland doesn't have the defense to hold down the Warriors & when Portland shoots as poorly as they did last night, you get blown out. 

I just want Toronto to get crushed so we can experience must-see TV -- Bucks vs. Warriors

Interesting 1st half in Game 2. Portland up by 17. 

Then.....here come the Warriors. In a blink....they're down by 3. 

Now we get to see what Portland is made of. 

.....annnnnd we're tied at the end of 3

The Warriors are plenty good enough as is to win another title.  With KD and Boogie Cousins I’m not sure how you beat them 4 out of 7. 

The Bucks are the team best equipped to take them down. 

Steph Curry's last 9 quarters. 96 points - 47% from 3. He now has 79 straight free throws in the 4th Q & OT in the playoffs. Hasn't missed a FT since the NBA Finals in 2015 --- 4 effing years ago!!

KD goes down -- he's been insane ever since. The GSW needed every bit of it too.

@ChilliJon said it best.... "That belt is going to be tough to take away."

If any team can do it..... The Bucks can. It's going to be epic if they do!

I underrated how good the Warriors would be without KD and Cousins.  They look a lot like the 2014-2016 versions of the team which won 1 title and lost to Lebron/Kyrie in the other year.  I didn't think this year's team could do what those teams could do without KD and Cousins, but they have played with a spark and urgency after KD went out that maybe they weren't playing with before that.

It will be very tough for whichever team comes out of the East to dethrone the champs even if KD/Cousins are out. 

Something to watch is since Game 4 v the Rockets, Steph Curry is playing almost 39 minutes per game.  Klay Thompson is playing almost 41 minutes per game over that stretch.   Both guys are playing about 5-7 minutes more per game than usual.  

Now, if they sweep or make quick work of the Blazers it may not matter but the effect of not having KD is those two have basically been on the floor a lot more minutes.  Given Curry’s ankle injury history he’s at risk a bit more.  Not that they have much choice but it could become problematic and actually create a double edged sword scenario. 

They need to buy time for KD to return.  Probably a couple of weeks from what it sounds like.  But buying time (extending the series) puts more wear and tear on Curry and Klay.  If they sweep the Blazers and the Bucks sweep the Raptors it’s very possible Durant may miss some of that series and I honestly don’t think they beat a fully healthy Bucks squad without Durant.  

Should be interesting.  I was a bit surprised when they initially downplayed the Durant injury because calf injuries can take a while to heal and playing basketball puts a lot of strain on the calves.   Now they are saying he won’t be re-evaluated until next week.  That’s not a good sign. 

Durant to Draymond after Game 2: ‘Finals? They don’t want to go there’

KD was putting together a postseason that was hard to comprehend. It was such a ripple shock that he was gone it ****ed with James Harden. Not that it takes much to **** Harden in the playoffs. 

Curry and Giannis have been incredible but they aren’t where they are without Looney, Hill, and Iguodala. Some of the supporting cast play the last 8 days has been incredible and fun to watch. 

I feel bad for Damian Lillard who might be the purest sniper in the NBA behind Curry. Lillard hates GS. And he’s from Oakland!

Bucks Warriors without KD is a great series. Even without KD. Bucks are going to have to fight like hell to get that belt. 

Interesting first half again for Portland. Up by 13 to start the 3rd Quarter.

Warriors back up 1 after a huge run.

Going to be a mother ****er talking that belt away. 

Bucks won't blow a 17-20 point lead in Milwaukee.

Warriors got that Championship pedigree though.....

Bucks are humble, focused & hungry.

going to be epic --- just extinct the Raptors - follow suit & go up 3-0

Portland is kind of like Toronto a really solid team but they just don’t have enough weapons.  

Steph playoff FT streak just ended at 81 -- hadn't missed since 2015 NBA Finals. 

Damnit. Wanted that to happen vs. Bucks. 😁