2020 End of Season / Playoffs

[KeonClark]

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.”

They haven't been together? They haven't had 2 separate training camps, about 90 pre season regular season and bubble games, and 3 weeks locked up together prior to the nuggets series? He makes it sound like they added a bunch of new guys at the trade deadline of a normal season. Cry me a river doc.

[007]

They haven't been together? They haven't had 2 separate training camps, about 90 pre season regular season and bubble games, and 3 weeks locked up together prior to the nuggets series? He makes it sound like they added a bunch of new guys at the trade deadline of a normal season. Cry me a river doc.

Paul George went from saying "we expect to win the championship immediately" before the restart to saying "we didn't feel this season was championship or bust" after Game 7

[S.R.]

They haven't been together? They haven't had 2 separate training camps, about 90 pre season regular season and bubble games, and 3 weeks locked up together prior to the nuggets series? He makes it sound like they added a bunch of new guys at the trade deadline of a normal season. Cry me a river doc.

Clippers excuses are: we were tired, we didn't play as a team, the bubble was hard, we had low IQ, we weren't really thinking of this as a championship year.

These are not the excuses they seem to think they are? These are all just admitting you sucked/lost. Just own it - "We were not good enough." Honestly the reaction has just increased my skepticism for them for next year. Champs don't make excuses.

[planetmars]

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!

https://sports.yahoo.com/disappointm...172338674.html

The two stars — Leonard and George — are under contract for one more year, and then they each have player options for the 2021-22 season. Rivers is rightfully being criticized for his lack of adjustments in the series, but discourse on his job status is premature at the moment.

Playing for Rivers was a major component in Leonard joining the Clippers. Rivers will be running it back next season, sources said.

[KeonClark]

Today, we are all CJ McCollum

[KeonClark]

Good read

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/9...leonard-game-7

LeBron planned out his moves years in advance, while Kawhi seemed to be flying by the seat of his pants. The timetable of LeBron’s relationship with Anthony Davis is hazy, but rumors about LeBron joining the Lakers first began picking up steam in 2017. He signed in 2018, with Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins, who cowrote his open letter to Cleveland in 2014, writing that he viewed the current Lakers players as “assets.” Davis signed with Klutch Sports in the fall of 2018. He demanded a trade in January 2019, and was eventually dealt for many of those assets, including Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, in the summer.
Kawhi had a more haphazard recruitment process. He reportedly reached out to Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, and Paul George in the weeks before free agency last summer. According to ESPN, Durant was shocked because the two had never spoken much before. Partnering with another star is as much about the relationship off the court as the fit on it. Durant and Kyrie Irving became close while playing for Team USA in 2016, long before they teamed up in Brooklyn. The same thing happened with LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in 2008. Kawhi never played for Team USA. He was playing catch-up in a game LeBron had been playing for more than a decade.

George is a natural partner for Kawhi. He makes sense on paper because he can defend multiple positions, space the floor, and score without dominating the ball. But he also might have just been the best costar that Kawhi could get in the moment. LeBron seemingly zeroed in on Davis at least a year beforehand. It’s like the scene in Training Day when Ethan Hawke’s character suddenly realizes that Denzel Washington’s character has been setting him up. Denzel responds with a knowing smile: “I’ve been planning it all week, son!”

[The Great One]

https://sports.yahoo.com/disappointm...172338674.html

[S.R.]

Good read

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/9...leonard-game-7

Ha, no real surprise Kawhi may not be great at greasing palms/working the crowd, I guess.

I really think Kawhi did focus all last season then just figured out what he was doing after the season. I'm sure he knew he wanted to get near home, but it sounds like that was about it. Don't mind that at all from a Raptors perspective, appreciate everything he threw into the year. Could have easily coasted through a transition season.

[slaw]

Clippers excuses are: we were tired, we didn't play as a team, the bubble was hard, we had low IQ, we weren't really thinking of this as a championship year.

These are not the excuses they seem to think they are? These are all just admitting you sucked/lost. Just own it - "We were not good enough." Honestly the reaction has just increased my skepticism for them for next year. Champs don't make excuses.

Saw Tim Legler talking about the Clips and he made a comment like, "Doc Rivers will say all the right things but will he actually take ownership of it and does he really believe he is partly to blame'. Based on what I am seeing today, sounds like nobody is really taking any responsibility but blaming all sorts of vague factors like chemistry. Feels like everyone is in CYA mode. That's not a good sign if you're one of the 30 Clippers fans around.

[KeonClark]

Ha, no real surprise Kawhi may not be great at greasing palms/working the crowd, I guess.

I really think Kawhi did focus all last season then just figured out what he was doing after the season. I'm sure he knew he wanted to get near home, but it sounds like that was about it. Don't mind that at all from a Raptors perspective, appreciate everything he threw into the year. Could have easily coasted through a transition season.

To be fair, Kawhi also worked his ass off and focused for himself. NBA champion Kawhi Leonard had carte blanche and was known as the greatest player in the game at that point. If he half assed it and didn't play a full year, or even say lost to Philly in round 2 but didn't play quite as well, he would have been just another star free agent, but his stock wouldn't have been a ton higher than his current teammate PG13.

Kawhi completely revitalized his brand. In August 2018 we were wondering where his head was at and if he would even play, and if he did, could we still consider him a top 5 player. Look how much a year changed for him.

The Raptors and Kawhi had a completely mutual and beneficial one year handshake to put everything into a winning a championship and both come out looking like absolute gold standards of their craft.

[S.R.]

lmfaooooooo where is Playoff P now

[The Great One]

Westbrook over Lowry? what a joke. Siakam over Butler and Tatum? hmm.

[Joey]

lmfaooooooo where is Playoff P now

Daamn, Spicy P All-NBA 2nd Team! Fucking Love it! Well deserved and well earned.

[planetmars]

Damn it! Siakam gets more money now. Why couldn't they throw him on the 3rd team. Ugh


Happy for him.. sucks for the Raptors.

[Joey]

Westbrook over Lowry? what a joke. Siakam over Butler and Tatum? hmm.

Ya, we would all agree that Lowry shoulda been in over Westbrook, but his Brodie's numbers were legit - even though I know some would argue Westbrooks stats are hollow.