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Alright, so both teams readily dispatched their opponents after dropping the first game and now the real playoffs begin. All tough games going forward and lets get down to business discussing this matchup. I am particularly interested in the Raps defensive assignments. Kawhi had great success against Simmons this season so maybe the Raps maintain that matchup. Gasol obviously guards Embiid, what to do with the other 3? Is Lowry suitable to chasing Reddick around the court all game, and if not can he slow Butler or Harris? Can Lowry handle Simmons for stretches? The Sixers seem to be in a situation where they can pick on Lowry regardless of who he guards, but Lowry is a tenacious defender and surprisingly good post defender despite his height disadvantage. I dont think he's the best option for chasing Reddick around screens, considering the energy required to do so and that Lowry is one of our main ball handlers. No need to sap his energy with that matchup. Maybe Danny can handle that and undoubtably the Raps will switch alot to keep Reddick from getting clean looks. Pascal is interesting too causr hr can basically guard anyone besidex Embiid and Boban. Gonna be a fun series. Go Raps!,
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Very interesting matchups. A couple thoughts:
—i like kawhi on ben Simmons. Lowry on JJ.
—Playing Lowry and FVV together could be tricky or too small against phillys big bodies.
—when Embiid is out do we go small against Boban and try to run him off the court? Might be a good match up to try some small ball with a fast pace.
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I like the options the Raps will have when Boban and Serge are on the court. I think Serge can dominate that matchup, and alot can be done to drag Boban out to the perimeter where he will be almost useless.Comment
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We've never played Philly with Harris.. and they never played us with Gasol. So we're basically two new teams here facing each other for the first time. Going to take some great coaching to win this series.
What worked well from the regular season was Kawhi on Simmons. Seems like we should stick with that if possible. You force Philly to go ISO if Simmons can't do his thing and that helps our defense out.
Kyle was on Butler the last time we played Philly if I remember correctly. JJ was not playing though. I suspect we'll be doing a lot of switching, but Lowry did such a good job on Fournier and Ross that I think it would be fine to have Lowry cover JJ and get him off his game. And have Green on Butler for the most part.
Harris is strong.. sort of like Griffin so that might make it hard on Siakam. But I assumed he'd struggle against Orlando and he obviously succeeded there. So I have faith in Siakam in winning that match up.
This team goes as Simmons goes (not Embiid). If Simmons has a good game they usually win. You take Simmons out and we win. So I can see us winning in 5 or 6. I don't see us playing lackadaisical in the first game like against Orlando.. and Philly has not won in Toronto for like 6 years.
We just need to steal one on the road to end it quickly. I see us being up 3-0 and then losing the 4th game, to take them out in 5 at home.
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I would suspect Philly will double Kawhi to try and get the ball out of his hands. Shooters better be ready if that is the case.Comment
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Keys to this matchup:
Win the transition and turnover game. Simmons is a monster running downhill in transition, but conversely Philly gives up a ton of turnovers and isn’t as disciplined as Orlando, and we know Lowry is always looking up court.
The rebounding battle. This one is a huge advantage Philly. They have plenty of big bodies and Embiid is a monster on the Oglass. Team rebounding is going to have to be good.
Im not scared of Philly in the half court too much, it’ll be about making Embiid uncomfortable, tracking Redick well and active hands. Offensively a lot will come down to attacking Embiid at the basket, hitting open shots and persision.
I think the Orlando series was a nice primer for this one, if Raps keep playing at tight and cohesive its probably Raps in 6, but I may talk myself into Raps in 5.Comment
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The key for Philly is going to be getting Simmons away from Kawhi. And they are going to need Butler to be a playmaker, not just a scorer.planetmars wrote: View Post
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I dont think this will be a quick series. Possibly 6 games. Philly can play good D and have a very strong starting unit. Butler may be the difference IMO. If he is engaged and getting opportunites with the ball, that coukd be a problem for the Raps. But if he is complacent and we effectively neuter Simmons, then maybe Raps can take it in 5. Hard to see though, this isnt the Magic we are facing. Can Gasol slow Embiid?Comment
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Lowry - Redick
Green - Butler
Kawhi - Simmons
Siakam - Harris
Gasol - Embiid
Potential adjustment - Lowry on Butler; Green on Redick
Our starting 5 are strong, but our transition lineups make me nervous. Norm should be on TJ McConell imo. I like the idea of going small and fast when Boban is on as well like someone said here. Force them to matchup to us and run Boban off the court. If we put Siakam at the 5 and run and gun in transition, their Boban lineups would be a negative for them.Comment
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Both teams are very similiar, top heavy with 4 stars/borderline stars, and an ultimate 3 pt shooting glue guy. Then a sketchy bench.inthepaint wrote: View Post
Lowry and Green need to be able to shoot and shoot well, because Reddick and Simmons average about 35 points combine in the regular season, whereas our backcourt was closer to 24. We're giving up points that can be made up by Kawhi and Pascal vs Jimmy and Tobias, but then that leaves a big elephant in the room at center matchup.
Our Snickers Keys To The Series: Backcourt shooting, Marc vs Joell.9 time first team all-RR, First Ballot Hall of ForumComment
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Embiid can be great but also reckless on the O glass to the point where he almost looks to injure guys or at least show no concern for who he lands on. Keep Kyle away from him.
Embiid can go from clowning a guy to hamming it up for the crowd to angry-Joel in a heartbeat. Plus he intimidates the refs and gets the phantom calls. I'll be really impressed if Gasol can neutralize him over 7 games.Comment
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It's going to be a loooong series. Coaching is going to play a big role.Only one thing matters: We The Champs.Comment
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https://www.nba.com/playoffs/2019/eastseries6/preview
Noob coach’s real test is this series against a very talented team with almost similar make up. The individual players resilience, talent and skillset of the Sixers will definitely match what the Raptors have.But the Sixers will always have at least two starters in the game, and they've been starting the second and fourth quarters will all five on the floor, something not seen anywhere else. That could force Toronto head coach Nick Nurse to change his rotation, which usually has (and hasn't played well with) four reserves on the floor at the start of the second and fourth periods.
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4-2 raps, Butler gonna win nervous breakdown award.
Also, OT, but Westbrook sucks
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Coaching is always important but it's also vastly over rated imo
Kerr is a great coach because he has all-world players who execute
Pops is the greatest coach of all time who also happened to have some of the greatest players ever on the same team for years and years.
Stevens was the new wonder-coach who won a lot of games with a stacked roster but now is questioned since an even more stacked group is under achieving. He'll be a guru again if the Celtics beat the Bucks and people will point out their great advantage over our rookie coach lol
Bottom line is great players make great coaches and they still have to execute the plan.Comment
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