I'd say Greg better keep a close eye on that ole panther tail of his...but unlike LA's heart and Batum's brain, I don't think any of us ever had any doubts about that thing.
Clippers seem to be forfeiting tonight's game. DJ and Griffin not traveling with the team so they will be thin in the frontcourt on the 2nd of a back to back vs a strong frontcourt in Denver.
No, not yet. He's not in Kawhi's situation, because he's not Kawhi. Giannis does a lot of things well, but he's a .274 three point shooter. Kawhi is a .388 three point shooter, but more importantly, he is the 2-time reigning DPOY, was 1st team all-NBA last year and came in second in MVP voting last season. If you swapped the players, MIL would definitely get better, and I suspect SAS would get a little worse. Again Giannis does a lot of things well, but so does Kawhi and I think the things Kawhi does better are more vital to the Spurs success (better shooter and much better defender - the best in the league). BNM
Great points, but certainly he has the tools physically to be molded into Kawhi's role in SA. I guess I was talking more freaky friday where Giannis has been in Kawhi's role his whole career.
I was wondering if Pop looked at his opponent last night and realized he wanted to try to keep them out of the playoffs while they race for the 1 seed. I'm sure most coaches would rather play an inexperienced Denver team who they probably figure they can scout and attack weaknesses of in a playoff series. Quite different than going up against a Blazer team who always plays to their competition and made it to the second round last season. Aldridge went from out indefinitely to back real quick...
Yeah, I just don't think he would be in the MVP conversation this year if their roles/teams had been reversed. He was just very raw coming into the NBA. Despite being pretty young himself, Kawhi had two years as a starter at an NCAA Div. 1 school under his belt when he came into the league. Kawhi was an above average player his rookie season. Giannis was not. It's hard to project how Giannis would have improved playing in SAS vs. playing in MIL, but I actually think playing in MIL may have worked in his favor. Because MIL wasn't contending for a championship, he was given the freedom to play big minutes and play through his mistakes his first two seasons. I'm not sure if he would have been given that same latitude in SAS. Kawhi played from day 1 in SAS, because he was ready. Giannis wasn't, at least not ready to be a starter and play big minutes on a team with championship aspirations. Giannis was so raw when he came into the league, his year-to-year improvement has been amazing. He just started at a lower place than Kawhi, but may eventually have a higher ceiling (which is pretty scary to imagine). BNM
I think last night was more about GSW than about POR. I think Pop wants the psychological advantage of going into the post season with a better record than GSW. He normally doesn't put much stock in these things, but I think he senses GSW is a great front running team, but vulnerable when they face adversity. I think he wanted that win last night to pull into a tie with, and eventually overtake, the Warriors in the standings. BNM
Playing game 7 in SA vs Oakland is a huge difference. Pop was working the refs more than he usually does as of late. He has kind of mellowed on that the last few years. (Comparatively speaking) But last night he seemed to be in playoff mode. He wants the hC advantage. He would be stupid not to.
This tank fest is getting outta hand. After the Lakers shut down a healthy Deng/Mozgov, now the Suns have shut down a healthy Bledsoe. I mean, we did the same in Dame's rookie year and lost 13 straight, but still. A bad look for potential FAs.
We didn't shut Dame down his rookie year. He played all 82. It was LA who had some surgery to justify shutting him down for the rest of the season.
Didn't say we did. We shut down Nic and Wes on "injuries." Same with JJ Hickson. I remember a Dame v Kobe game where we played Claver, Barton, et al extended minutes in a stealth tank.
You really think so? He finished tied for 16th last year. He had a slightly better season statistically last year, but is shooting better from 3 this year. The big difference was last year, the team overachieved and was the 5th seed in the West. This year, the team is underachieving and struggling for the 8th seed. Players on sub .500 teams are rarely rewarded for their individual performances, unless they truly excel. The Rockets alone have two better 6th men - Eric Gordon and Lou Williams. Z-Bo will get votes, as will Patty Mills, Enes Kanter, Jamal Crawford and Andre Iguodala. Kyle Korver is averaging more points, shooting better from 3 and doing it for the No. 1 seed in the East. I'm not sure if he'll qualify for 6th man of the year, but since being traded to WAS, Bogan Bogdanovic has been averaing 15.9 ppg and shooting .475 from 3-point range. Tim Hardaway Jr. is averaging 13.7 ppg off the bench for ATL. Tobias Harris was moved to the bench back in January and s averaging 16.4 ppg for DET. Greg Monroe is averaging 11.8/6.6 and a surprising 2.3 APG coming off the bench for MIL. Frank Kaminsky averages 115/4.7/2.1 for CHO. Winston Chandler is at 16.1/6.6/2.1 and Will Barton is at 13.2/4.4/3.4 in DEN. Hell, that's 15 players who are all more deserving than Crabbe and I didn't even mentions guys like Manu, Joe Jonson and Mo Speights, who will get votes based on past reputation. Yeah, still not seeing Crabbe finishing in the top 10 for 6th Man of the Year voting. BNM
