2020 End of Season / Playoffs

[KeonClark]

Does this do anything to the suggestion that all you need in the center's role is a $5 million role player? Jokic is a smart and skilled big man. Maybe they still have a place in the league.

No, it doesnt change anything to that end. Jokic is a freaking unicorn man. Best passing big in nba history, and may break a mark formerly thought unbeatable, wilt chamberlain's 8.6 apg at center for a full season. Hes a nightly threat for a 20 point triple double.

so no it doesnt change much, as theres no real modern comparison to Nikola jokic. We've heard the sabonis and divac comps before, but hes surpassed both of them.

[Apollo]

That mentality started the minute they got Kawhi.

Their failures certainly hushes all those experts out there claiming Kawhi won a chip last year of his own.

[planetmars]

No, it doesnt change anything to that end. Jokic is a freaking unicorn man. Best passing big in nba history, and may break a mark formerly thought unbeatable, wilt chamberlain's 8.6 apg at center for a full season. Hes a nightly threat for a 20 point triple double.

so no it doesnt change much, as theres no real modern comparison to Nikola jokic. We've heard the sabonis and divac comps before, but hes surpassed both of them.

Yeah I think you can still win without a center. As long as you have a backup that can handle big guys like Jokic and Embiid. Kanter had no issues with Jokic last season and he's making less than $5M.

You could find a big stiff like Kanter for the vet minimum. I'm sure Monroe would love to come back to the NBA for example. Then staple him to the bench until you have to face one of these giants. Otherwise just go small.

[slaw]

Ballmer has deep pockets and so did the new Nets owner and this isn't done yet (they've got another season) but the Clippers may have just Nets'd themselves the same way Brooklyn did with Pierce/Garnett/Deron.

Can we give Masai one more standing o for knowing when to pull back during all the Kawhi drama last offseason?

Kawhi tried to pull a Lebron but: he picked the wrong guy to play with (George), didn't ensure that they surrounded them with the right kinds of vets (Gasol, Howard, Rondo, Green, Ibaka, etc.) and didn't make sure he had the right coach in place. If you're going play GM you have to understand what it takes to win a ring and Kawhi clearly doesn't. And, unlike James, I think Kawhi needs a strong, vocal leader cause he doesn't do that. In SA, he had Parker, Duncan, Ginobli to do that and in Toronto he had Lowry. That presence is lacking in LA.

[SkywalkerAC]

Revenge is a dish best served a la Paul George.

[planetmars]

I find what's interesting between this season and last is that in both cases we had to have a game 7 in the second round. In 2019, Kawhi put the entire team on his shoulders. Took 39 shots and took the last shot to clinch it. The entire team (except for Serge) look rattled.

In 2020, Kawhi did nothing. He seemed to panic and choke like the rest of the team.

The dude is a robot. What happened to him yesterday that didn't happen to him a year ago? I was expecting him to just take the ball and go super nova. It's not like the Nuggets had great defenders. Last season he had Simmons and Butler on him and had to drive through Embiid who's a much better defender than Jokic is.

And he looked far healthier this year than last year.

Was it the cookies that he and Kyle ate in Philly? Were they magical cookies?

[slaw]

I find what's interesting between this season and last is that in both cases we had to have a game 7 in the second round. In 2019, Kawhi put the entire team on his shoulders. Took 39 shots and took the last shot to clinch it. The entire team (except for Serge) look rattled.

In 2020, Kawhi did nothing. He seemed to panic and choke like the rest of the team.

The dude is a robot. What happened to him yesterday that didn't happen to him a year ago? I was expecting him to just take the ball and go super nova. It's not like the Nuggets had great defenders. Last season he had Simmons and Butler on him and had to drive through Embiid who's a much better defender than Jokic is.

And he looked far healthier this year than last year.

Was it the cookies that he and Kyle ate in Philly? Were they magical cookies?

Clips looked fatigued. I thought they were completely gassed in game 6 midway through the third, too. Don't often talk about conditioning at this level cause it shouldn't be an issue but when a team collapses three games in a row in the second half it is about more than tactics and missing shots. When you're tired you make mental mistakes and much harder to shoot. Can't know for sure but it definitely looked like an issue watching the last 3 games.

[LJ2]

Ballmer has deep pockets and so did the new Nets owner and this isn't done yet (they've got another season) but the Clippers may have just Nets'd themselves the same way Brooklyn did with Pierce/Garnett/Deron.

Can we give Masai one more standing o for knowing when to pull back during all the Kawhi drama last offseason?

Fingers crossed they get in so deep trying to win a chip that they can't dig their way out, but this guy has upwards of $70B. He can afford to dig that hole pretty damn deep.

Masai deserves all the accolades, but Raps aren't the Clips and who knows what he and Nurse could have accomplished with the players that were talked about it that trade. If it's all about winning Championships then screwing your long term future might have to be part of the deal. Lose big like the nets or lose like the Spurs are doing, it's not all the same but the results are...no championship.

Having said that I'm happy Masai chose not to bite on the PG/Westbrook deal if a deal was actually there to be made. We're still competitive and I'm excited to see what comes next.

[KeonClark]

Kawhi tried to pull a Lebron but: he picked the wrong guy to play with (George), didn't ensure that they surrounded them with the right kinds of vets (Gasol, Howard, Rondo, Green, Ibaka, etc.) and didn't make sure he had the right coach in place. If you're going play GM you have to understand what it takes to win a ring and Kawhi clearly doesn't. And, unlike James, I think Kawhi needs a strong, vocal leader cause he doesn't do that. In SA, he had Parker, Duncan, Ginobli to do that and in Toronto he had Lowry. That presence is lacking in LA.

I think Kawhi got a big head after last year (who wouldn't, I mean they had news choppers following him down the freeway like OJ simpson) and the press clippings read he was the sole reason for bringing Toronto a championship.

And sure offensively he carried us thru philly, but we also held them to under 96 pts 4 times in that series. Including 89 and 90 points in games 5 and 7. Nuggets hung 111, 111, and 104 on LA in the 3 comeback games, and that's with basically 2 offensive threats. Philly had butler, Reddick, Embiid, Harris, Simmons.. it was an offensive dream team. The Raptors were then and are now a much better complete team than this clippers collection of one trick ponys.

anyway, this will bring Kawhi back to the cold reality of pro sports. Nothing is promised, winning is fucking hard, and hopefully it will reinforce how special last years group was.

[G__Deane]

Does this do anything to the suggestion that all you need in the center's role is a $5 million role player? Jokic is a smart and skilled big man. Maybe they still have a place in the league.

If Jokic had played the Raps, he would have grabbed 30 rebounds against nowhere to be found Gasol .....

“We were right there. There’s no excuses,” Leonard said. “We should have finished it off. Like I said, the last three games pretty much mirrored each other.”

No excuses is right, Kawhi. You and George laid matching eggs. But then your over rated coach throws out the excuses lol

“Honestly, you could just see the difference in the two teams. That team’s been together,” Rivers said. “We haven’t. And you could see it as the games went on.”

[The Great One]

Doc Rivers has been coaching in the NBA since the early 2000's. He's won a grand total of ONE championship but yet people talk about him like he's in the Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Gregg Pop, Red Auerbach's level lol. I will never get it. He's nowhere near in that level. I wouldn't even put him in Rudy T, Kerr and Spoelstra's level. He's had great teams too. He had T-Mac in Orlando - never won a playoff round there - which is actually crazy if you think about it. Never come close to winning anything in Boston until they got KG and Allen. Then when he got to LA, he had CP, Blake and Jordan. They never won anything. Now he's part of an all time choke job. His team this year is loaded and they never even got the WCF lol. I hope they keep him around. Sign him to a long term extension!

[GOLDBLUM]

If Jokic had played the Raps, he would have grabbed 30 rebounds against nowhere to be found Gasol .....

I don't buy that. Jokic is the kind of center Gasol could actually still thrive against, certainly on the defensive end. Had Marc had the good fortune of running into an Embiid, a Vucevic, and even an Anthony Davis, or yes a Jokic, I think defensively his impact would be much greater felt. Theis is the kind of guy he can't run with... Marc's just too big and lumbering at this stage. He still has every bit of his positional awareness on D to take on the bigger centres in the NBA though. It wouldn't be easy.. he'd have to work for it, running back and forth from the arch to the post. But you want Marc in a classic C matchup, not these new 6'8 small ball centers like Theis.

[G__Deane]

I don't buy that. Jokic is the kind of center Gasol could actually still thrive against, certainly on the defensive end. Had Marc had the good fortune of running into an Embiid, a Vucevic, and even an Anthony Davis, or yes a Jokic, I think defensively his impact would be much greater felt. Theis is the kind of guy he can't run with... Marc's just too big and lumbering at this stage. He still has every bit of his positional awareness on D to take on the bigger centres in the NBA though. It wouldn't be easy.. he'd have to work for it, running back and forth from the arch to the post. But you want Marc in a classic C matchup, not these new 6'8 small ball centers like Theis.

Yeah I get it back Jokic actually moves and fights for rebounds. A lot of Marc's pitiful rebounding numbers are were positionally uncontested.

[Scraptor]

I don't buy that. Jokic is the kind of center Gasol could actually still thrive against, certainly on the defensive end. Had Marc had the good fortune of running into an Embiid, a Vucevic, and even an Anthony Davis, or yes a Jokic, I think defensively his impact would be much greater felt. Theis is the kind of guy he can't run with... Marc's just too big and lumbering at this stage. He still has every bit of his positional awareness on D to take on the bigger centres in the NBA though. It wouldn't be easy.. he'd have to work for it, running back and forth from the arch to the post. But you want Marc in a classic C matchup, not these new 6'8 small ball centers like Theis.

Only caveat is that Slim Jokic is a lot quicker these days. He was running the break a fair bit with the Nuggets, he would probably tire out Marc fairly quick.

But yeah Marc is only useful in select matchups nowadays. And given that the Celtics dealt with Embiid pretty easily, you have to wonder if Marc is even necessary in a matchup like that, or if you can gameplan around it. I would prefer someone more mobile to deal with the ADs/Jokics of the world.

[G__Deane]

At least you still have wildfires, COVID and the nice weather Kawhi. If New Balance was public, the stock would be dropping off a cliff