Can we talk about the absolutely terrible performance KAT put up?
Fouled out in 20 minutes and shot 3-11. MIN love to say "Greatest shooting big man of all time" but it's clear to me KAT shrinks when the going gets tough while the REAL greatest shooting big man of all time consistently rose to meet the challenge.
This is also was why Dirk dragged his teams to the playoffs 5 times in his first 7 years while KAT has barely made it twice. (53 games vs. 5+TBD amount).
(04-13-2022, 01:45 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]Can we talk about the absolutely terrible performance KAT put up?
Fouled out in 20 minutes and shot 3-11. MIN love to say "Greatest shooting big man of all time" but it's clear to me KAT shrinks when the going gets tough while the REAL greatest shooting big man of all time consistently rose to meet the challenge.
This is also was why Dirk dragged his teams to the playoffs 5 times in his first 7 years while KAT has barely made it twice. (53 games vs. 5+TBD amount).
Playoff Dirk:
19. Dirk, 25.26 points per game
58. Dirk, 9.97 rebounds per game
Take a look at some of the players Dirk is ahead of:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/lea...eer_p.html
https://www.basketball-reference.com/lea...eer_p.html
(04-13-2022, 01:52 AM)Hogmelon Wrote: [ -> ]Playoff Dirk:
19. Dirk, 25.26 points per game
58. Dirk, 9.97 rebounds per game
Take a look at some of the players Dirk is ahead of:
Absolutely. Dirk was a machine. Miss the German Wunderkind. Can you imagine Dirk in his prime with Luka? SHEESH.
On a side note, Inside the NBA appropriately made fun of the Wolves lol:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzIw95bNgjs
(04-12-2022, 10:22 PM)Hogmelon Wrote: [ -> ]I thought the choice of words ["head-spinning statistic"] by the author of the article was funny, because the East won the season series against the West by the smallest margin possible.
The "head spinning statistic" is not the small margin of the east over the west....it is the fact that it has been SO LONG since that has happened and how dominant the west has been for decades. THAT is shocking and astonishing. It is an incredible run.
(04-13-2022, 07:42 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]The "head spinning statistic" is not the small margin of the east over the west....it is the fact that it has been SO LONG since that has happened and how dominant the west has been for decades. THAT is shocking and astonishing. It is an incredible run.
That's what I was speaking of. First time in 13 years. Even though the West has been dominant, there were some East teams that have won titles during that span, Miami (B2B), Cleveland, Toronto, and Milwaukee. Winning a title is all that really matters in the grand scheme of things.
(04-13-2022, 02:15 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]Absolutely. Dirk was a machine. Miss the German Wunderkind. Can you imagine Dirk in his prime with Luka? SHEESH.
On a side note, Inside the NBA appropriately made fun of the Wolves lol:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzIw95bNgjs
I love Inside The NBA. Those guys crack me up making fun of the T-Pups celebrating like they won the NBA title. But I get it. They haven't had much success. And mocking Pat Bev for crying lol. All jokes aside, Memphis / Minny should be a great series. This is a good test for the Grizz as well. Kenny and Ernie picked the Grizz. Shaq and Chuck picked the T-Pups to pull the upset... Pat Bev is going to irritate Ja to no end and Dillon Brooks is going to do the same to Minny.
(04-13-2022, 01:45 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]Can we talk about the absolutely terrible performance KAT put up?
Fouled out in 20 minutes and shot 3-11. MIN love to say "Greatest shooting big man of all time" but it's clear to me KAT shrinks when the going gets tough while the REAL greatest shooting big man of all time consistently rose to meet the challenge.
This is also was why Dirk dragged his teams to the playoffs 5 times in his first 7 years while KAT has barely made it twice. (53 games vs. 5+TBD amount).
KAT had a bad game for sure and he lost his composure crying to the refs about fouls. You have to give the Clippers credit for the scheme they used to throw double teams at KAT and he got frustrated. AntMan and DLo picked up his slack, they won the game for him. I don't expect him to have another stinker like that going forward. He's still one of the top bigs in the league when he's on his game.
(04-13-2022, 07:42 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]The "head spinning statistic" is not the small margin of the east over the west....it is the fact that it has been SO LONG since that has happened and how dominant the west has been for decades. THAT is shocking and astonishing. It is an incredible run.
Yes, I certainly understand that, but I don't think the East finally catching up with the West is any more "shocking and astonishing" than it would be if a coin that had landed on heads for twelve consecutive flips finally landed on tails.
It may have been "shocking and astonishing" that the West dominated for so long (similar to the 4095 to 1 odds against the coin that landed on heads twelve times in a row), but the endings (East catches West, or coin lands on tails) are not really very shocking, astonishing, or head-spinning.
(04-13-2022, 08:11 AM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: [ -> ]I love Inside The NBA. Those guys crack me up making fun of the T-Pups celebrating like they won the NBA title. But I get it. They haven't had much success. And mocking Pat Bev for crying lol. All jokes aside, Memphis / Minny should be a great series. This is a good test for the Grizz as well. Kenny and Ernie picked the Grizz. Shaq and Chuck picked the T-Pups to pull the upset... Pat Bev is going to irritate Ja to no end and Dillon Brooks is going to do the same to Minny.
MEM thrives on pace and getting out in transition. That's also what the Wolves like to do too. MEM was first in the league with 17.7 fast break points a game. MIN was 4th with 15.8.
MEM weakpoint is that they can't play a slowed down halfcourt game. Neither can MIN. I expect MEM to walk away with this one as their just better in every aspect in the way MIN likes to run their offense. If they both slow it down then I expect it to be a slug fest, but I don't think either team wants to do that.
Also want to know what team limited the most fast break attempts in the league? Dallas. Want to know what MEM scored against Dallas in their 4 matchups? 97, 96, 85, and 91. MEM only scored less than 100 points in a game 10 times this season. And Dallas is the owner of 4!
(04-13-2022, 08:18 AM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: [ -> ]KAT had a bad game for sure and he lost his composure crying to the refs about fouls. You have to give the Clippers credit for the scheme they used to throw double teams at KAT and he got frustrated. AntMan and DLo picked up his slack, they won the game for him. I don't expect him to have another stinker like that going forward. He's still one of the top bigs in the league when he's on his game.
100% credit to Ty Lue and how they played. I just am a firm believer that despite KAT's gaudy shooting stats (And they are fantastic) he doesn't make winning plays often enough. He might have incredible gravity because of his shooting, but he doesn't know how to effectively use it to make his team better. A skill that made Dirk legendary.
KAT is still a top 5 center today. I don't expect him to foul out again in the playoffs. But I also don't think he's going to be as effective as in the regular season.
(04-13-2022, 09:36 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]MEM thrives on pace and getting out in transition. That's also what the Wolves like to do too. MEM was first in the league with 17.7 fast break points a game. MIN was 4th with 15.8.
MEM weakpoint is that they can't play a slowed down halfcourt game. Neither can MIN. I expect MEM to walk away with this one as their just better in every aspect in the way MIN likes to run their offense. If they both slow it down then I expect it to be a slug fest, but I don't think either team wants to do that.
Also want to know what team limited the most fast break attempts in the league? Dallas. Want to know what MEM scored against Dallas in their 4 matchups? 97, 96, 85, and 91. MEM only scored less than 100 points in a game 10 times this season. And Dallas is the owner of 4!
100% credit to Ty Lue and how they played. I just am a firm believer that despite KAT's gaudy shooting stats (And they are fantastic) he doesn't make winning plays often enough. He might have incredible gravity because of his shooting, but he doesn't know how to effectively use it to make his team better. A skill that made Dirk legendary.
KAT is still a top 5 center today. I don't expect him to foul out again in the playoffs. But I also don't think he's going to be as effective as in the regular season.
Those are fair points. However, I'm a firm believer that what happened during the regular season, rarely translates to the playoffs. Credit Dallas's improved defense under JK to hold them under 100 pts in those matchups, but I don't think that will happen 4 times in the playoffs even with a supposedly slower pace. Memphis led the league in steals pg, rebounds pg, and blocked shots pg. They turn you over and create offense off those TO's. We're getting ahead of ourselves because they might not even meet in the later rounds of the playoffs. Anything can happen.
(04-13-2022, 11:33 AM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: [ -> ]Those are fair points. However, I'm a firm believer that what happened during the regular season, rarely translates to the playoffs. Credit Dallas's improved defense under JK to hold them under 100 pts in those matchups, but I don't think that will happen 4 times in the playoffs even with a supposedly slower pace. Memphis led the league in steals pg, rebounds pg, and blocked shots pg. They turn you over and create offense off those TO's. We're getting ahead of ourselves because they might not even meet in the later rounds of the playoffs. Anything can happen.
Anything can happen 100%. Excited to see how MEM performs when the going gets tough. They have a very fun team.
I just want MIN to get swept. I really dislike their team's personalities outside of Edwards and mayyyyyyyyyyybe Russell. Imagine the jokes that can be created if/when MIN gets swept out of the first round after they just celebrated like they won a championship?
https://twitter.com/ringernba/status/151...02471?s=20&t=Xq8ITKaaaFIjQ6I4YjZh5g
I mean they write themselves lol.
(04-13-2022, 12:03 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]Anything can happen 100%. Excited to see how MEM performs when the going gets tough. They have a very fun team.
I just want MIN to get swept. I really dislike their team's personalities outside of Edwards and mayyyyyyyyyyybe Russell. Imagine the jokes that can be created if/when MIN gets swept out of the first round after they just celebrated like they won a championship?
https://twitter.com/ringernba/status/151...02471?s=20&t=Xq8ITKaaaFIjQ6I4YjZh5g
I mean they write themselves lol.
I agree that another Pat Bev celebration would be a bitter pill to swallow, but I am nevertheless pulling for Minnesota to upset Memphis (as predicted by TNT's two profound prognosticators, Shaq and Charles).
https://sports.yahoo.com/tnts-charles-ba...59359.html
(04-15-2022, 04:39 PM)ItsGoTime Wrote: [ -> ]LaC not in the playoffs this year? Wow!
I wouldn´t rule them out yet. I found the whole play-in to be pretty predictable. Until the PG13 and JA news, I´d have picked the Clippers and Hawks comfortably. Now it´s more like 50/50, though I now lean toward Pelicans, but still got the Hawks.
Not sure if anyone else is watching right now but this fully healthy Cavs team is incredibly fun to watch.