Around the NBA - the 2020 Playoff Edition!

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by SlyPokerDog, Aug 15, 2020.

  1. AldoTrapani

    AldoTrapani Well-Known Member

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    Superstar!
     
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  2. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    Green and KCP are really solid defenders and can both knock down the three. They have two good true Cs that can clog the lane and get blocks. Kuzma can score, he isn't consistent yet but he can get buckets. Green, Morris, Howard and McGee didn't show up tonight, your Nuggets can't count on all of those guys laying eggs every game. Even Caruso (who I don't know how he's in the league) didn't give his usual contribution tonight. So every role player that the Lakers have didn't show up except KCP and he didn't play up to where he can. Go back through the playoffs and see how often that happens and then remember that the Lakers were within three points in the final minutes of the game. You keep pointing out that the Lakers had a horrible game tonight as if that proves your point that Denver is the better team... the Lakers had a really off night and still almost won, end of story.
     
  3. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    Those are all terrible basketball players that wouldn't get minutes on the Nuggets. Honestly. And no, the Lakers didn't almost win. Rondo got a few steals and made it look like they were trying but when it was winning time, the Nuggets forcefully put the Lakers to bed. As I said in a post to you the other day, the Nuggets learn as a series goes on. They figure out how to stop the other team and how to score on them and then they execute like assassins. Ask the Clippers, a team most people thought were going to win the whole thing.
     
  4. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    Our defense made him garbage. We had plenty of good defenders to put on him. The Lakers have no one. LeBron just stands around while Grant waltzes past him.
     
  5. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    His court vision is astonishing!!! Can't teach that skill!
     
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  6. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    OK man, you are delusional about how good and deep the Nuggets are, you obviously undervalue role players, you are also delusional about LeBron's abilities defensively and you're definitely just wrong if you don't see that the game was really close, as in a one possession game inside of four minutes left... that's a close game... that's a game that if the Nuggets would have lost the same way you would be saying that they almost won.
     
  7. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Sigh
     
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  8. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    I value good role players. Would you play any of the Lakers guards over Gary Harris and Monte Morris? I wouldn't and I'd bet Mike Malone wouldn't either. I'd play Jerami Grant and Michael Porter Jr over Kuzma and Danny Greeen all day, every day of the week. Tell me which Lakers would get minutes on the Nuggets besides LeBron and AD. There aren't any. Also- LeBron rests on defense and if you can't see that, you're not paying attention. He let Grant do whatever he wanted. Eventually, they had to double Grant! LeBron used to be a great defender but those days are behind him. This is his 17th year and he's played in 9 NBA Finals. He just doesn't have the energy to play hard on both sides of the court anymore. The Nuggets are younger, faster, and simply better than the Lakers and they will win the series. They just started slow cuz they were still tired from playing 7 games against the Clippers. But they've been through wars that this Lakers team just hasn't been. I think LeBron's championship days are behind him. Lakers will be better next season but they still have to get through the Nuggets again and they'll have Barton back and a more developed Bol Bol. Also- the Warriors will be back and probably the favorite to win it all.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2020
  9. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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  10. AldoTrapani

    AldoTrapani Well-Known Member

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    The best teams in the west will be warriors nuggets and lakers.. nuggets are the clear future of the west though
     
  11. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    HCP- Why didn't you post my whole quote? I said "Lakers have nothing but an old LeBron and a prime AD." That is 100% correct. No one else on the Lakers is a threat to score 25 points while guys like Michael Porter Jr and Jerami Grant are. Surely, you can see that. You can't win a championship with just two guys.
     
  12. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    If Olshey makes the right moves in the offseason and CJ and Hood and Collins come back healthy, the Blazers should be a fringe contender too.
     
  13. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    Why didn't you post my whole quote? I said "Lakers have nothing but an old LeBron and a prime AD." That is 100% correct. No one else on the Lakers is a threat to score 25 points while guys like Michael Porter Jr and Jerami Grant are. Surely, you can see that. You can't win a championship with just two guys.
     
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  14. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    See? I can post out of context too.
     
  15. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    We'll just have to completely disagree about LeBron's defense... he helps a lot and stuck too much to his game plan which obviously didn't have Grant being the threat he was tonight... and he's not going to continue to make that mistake. You continue to look at this one game like the other games didn't happen, it's pretty ridiculous honestly and you still refuse to recognize that this game was much closer than the final score. As far as your questions about the role players on the Lakers go, I don't think Kuzma would start over Grant but he might on that team, I do think that Kuzma would get just as much PT on the Nuggets as he does on the Lakers he is better than Porter is right now. Obviously Danny Green isn't in the same class as those guys... at least not in these playoffs. I would also play KCP over Monte Morris and it's pretty obvious why, KCP is the better three point shooter and he is the better and more versatile defender. Murray is a better PG than anyone on the Lakers but both LeBron and AD are better than any player on the Nuggets. AD happens to play at center a lot of the time so yeah I would say that the Lakers have a better center than Jokic. The Lakers are up 2-1 not the other way around and there has only been one easy win in this series and it was when the Lakers destroyed the Nuggets in game one. I still contend that the Nuggets are the far inferior team, up until now they hadn't beaten the Lakers, we saw and then Houston saw how the Lakers respond to a loss... now it's Denver's turn.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2020
  16. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    I'm not sure on this one?
    The thing is here i really dislike the Lakers (Don't like the Hate word). I am also really pulling for the Nuggets to get their first Championship.
    So i am going to tentatively hope you are right. I'm just not willing to trash a player named LeBron James or Anthony Davis for having a tough game that they still made a big run in and could have won had a couple things happened differently.
     
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  17. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    it's not just his vision. it's his timing and general feel for the game. he makes the absolute perfect decision nearly every play.

    i haven't seen anyone have this kinda skill since guys like nash/kidd/lebron in that respect. becoming one of my favorite players in the league.
     
  18. SharpesTriumph

    SharpesTriumph Well-Known Member

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    Dallas may have the best future.
     
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  19. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    yeah, I really didn't want to credit him as being all-league talent, and at times he's looked out of shape and like the Pillsbury dough boy...

    but, he really has put it all together, especially on offense. His defense is a little suspect, but he's big enough and long enough to still be solid, unless he gets switched onto the perimeter. But just about every C except AD will have issues then. Jokic isn't a strong rebounder either, although his defensive rebounding rate is fine. His offensive rebounding rate drags down his total rebounding mark, but that's explained by how much time he spends as the high post hub of the offense, well out of good rebounding position

    something else is that the tag-team C rotation of Jokic/Plumlee may quietly be the best C rotation in the league. They are both unorthodox C's but they just seem to fit well as #1 and #2
     
  20. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Dallas has the best player (arguably) but I don't think Porzingis is durable, and I'm not sure about the rest of their roster. Meanwhile Jokic already was a superstar, Murray's turning into one, and everybody was salivating over Porter Jr. and Bol Bol at various points in the Bubble.
     

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