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golden wrote: View Post
Funny you mention Gasol, Lowry and Siakam because they were deathly afraid to shoot. The only Raptor helping Kawhi in game 7 was Ibaka. If Kawhi missed that shot, then it felt like the Sixers had more momentum heading into OT.
Ibaka was the unsung hero of the game. THAT MAN WENT OFF along with Kawhi. Everyone else played scared and thus it became a weird rock fight of a game. In fact out of all the games in the series outside of it being a game 7 situation. It was my least favorite game beyond "the shot".
Underrated in all of this is two things. First of all, I am curious what would have changed if OG was back and in the line up. I think it would have made a significant difference. Some of our best line ups were with him and Kawhi on the floor at the same time, along with Siakam. Siakam played decently in the series but that game was literally a rock fight.
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golden wrote: View Post
Funny you mention Gasol, Lowry and Siakam because they were deathly afraid to shoot. The only Raptor helping Kawhi in game 7 was Ibaka. If Kawhi missed that shot, then it felt like the Sixers had more momentum heading into OT.Mamba Mentality
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golden wrote: View Post
Funny you mention Gasol, Lowry and Siakam because they were deathly afraid to shoot. The only Raptor helping Kawhi in game 7 was Ibaka. If Kawhi missed that shot, then it felt like the Sixers had more momentum heading into OT.
Embiid - 18
Serge- 17
Butler- 14
Lowry- 13
Redick - 11
Siakam - 11
Harris - 9
Gasol - 8
Simmons - 5
Fred - 5
And that's typically what you'll get on a hard-fought playoff defensive battle on both sides, just 1 or 2 guys standing out while the others hold the fort on other critical areas of the game that go beyond volume shot-taking. Defensively, all of Siakam, Kyle and Gasol were massive on that series. That game 7 was a grind-out 90-90 till the last shot mainly for that reason. I've been very critical of Gasol post-wash, but on that series he handled Embiid beautifully. Siakam on offence wasn't taking a lot of shots but he was still putting a lot of pressure on the rim on both ends (averaged a series high 11 boards, tied with Embiid), attracting attention and allowing more space for Kawhi and Serge.
I didn't see anyone from the Sixers threatening to singlehandedly take over that game in OT. Butler was getting feisty at the end but all-in-all was shooting around 33% on that series, again, because of our defence. Philly fans can ponder 'what could have been' all they want (I would too if I was on the losing end), but the reality is it's far from a given they'd just walk away with a road game 7 OT victory, that's historically extremely hard to do, especially vs a grounded 2-way team full of vets like that Raptors team.Last edited by inthepaint; Fri Oct 1, 2021, 09:12 PM.
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golden wrote: View Post
Funny you mention Gasol, Lowry and Siakam because they were deathly afraid to shoot. The only Raptor helping Kawhi in game 7 was Ibaka. If Kawhi missed that shot, then it felt like the Sixers had more momentum heading into OT.
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LJ2 wrote: View Post
That's certainly one perspective and I don't think it's an incorrect one necessarily but we all forget how quickly that team was slapped together. First year playing with Kawhi and he missed a big chunk of the regular season games and Gasol, a later than mid season acquisition. That's 40% of the starting unit with little to no chemistry with with the rest of the guys. It's ridiculous they won it all and sad at the same time because they really could have become a special team if they stayed together and built some chemistry.
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inthepaint wrote: View Post
Meh, that's the impression we sometimes get on defensive battles like that, but the shot attempts were pretty even between the 2 teams on that series (outside Kawhi):
Embiid - 18
Serge- 17
Butler- 14
Lowry- 13
Redick - 11
Siakam - 11
Harris - 9
Gasol - 8
Simmons - 5
Fred - 5
And that's typically what you'll get on a hard-fought playoff defensive battle on both sides, just 1 or 2 guys standing out while the others hold the fort on other critical areas of the game that go beyond volume shot-taking. Defensively, all of Siakam, Kyle and Gasol were massive on that series. That game 7 was a grind-out 90-90 till the last shot mainly for that reason. I've been very critical of Gasol post-wash, but on that series he handled Embiid beautifully. Siakam on offence wasn't taking a lot of shots but he was still putting a lot of pressure on the rim on both ends (averaged a series high 11 boards, tied with Embiid), attracting attention and allowing more space for Kawhi and Serge.
I didn't see anyone from the Sixers threatening to singlehandedly take over that game in OT. Butler was getting feisty at the end but all-in-all was shooting around 33% on that series, again, because of our defence. Philly fans can ponder 'what could have been' all they want (I would too if I was on the losing end), but the reality is it's far from a given they'd just walk away with a road game 7 OT victory, that's historically extremely hard to do, especially vs a grounded 2-way team full of vets like that Raptors team.
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401129105
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golden wrote: View Post
Serge had 17 points on only 10 shots. Not 17 shots. lol. That's one of the main reasons why we won that game. Memories indeed getting foggy.
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401129105
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golden wrote: View Post
Serge had 17 points on only 10 shots. Not 17 shots. lol. That's one of the main reasons why we won that game. Memories indeed getting foggy.
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401129105
The only duds on that game (the whole series actually) were Fred & Green. In the end, that was a pretty textbook game-7 win: 1 superstar doing his thing (Kawhi); 2 or 3 other starters heavily game-planned against but still putting up shots, defending and doing all the other necessary stuff (Siakam, Lowry, Gasol); and 1 guy off the bench with less attention from the opposing D, surprising everyone with a good scoring punch (Serge).Last edited by inthepaint; Sat Oct 2, 2021, 12:31 PM.
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inthepaint wrote: View Post...and 1 guy off the bench with less attention from the opposing D, surprising everyone with a good scoring punch (Serge).
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Puffer wrote: View Post
Which doesn't happen unless the other guys are drawing attention. Serge is/was a good player but no Alpha Dog the way it is generally used. He's a good 3rd or 4th banana.
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I have changed my opinion on Simmons. Still don't think he is a number one guy but he is talented and he could potentially work on this team. You would have to keep Scottie, OG, Fred, Pascal. Everyone else can be on the table and future assets.
If you had a line up of Simmons at the 5, with Scottie, Siakam, Fred, OG. it would be a ridiculous line up defensively.
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Puffer wrote: View Post
Which doesn't happen unless the other guys are drawing attention. Serge is/was a good player but no Alpha Dog the way it is generally used. He's a good 3rd or 4th banana.
The other thing is, playoff games in the nba level are very nuanced/complex with a lot of adjustments and counter-adjustments that often go under the radar. Especially games 5-6-7 where teams have played each other consecutively multiple times. You're not gonna get 4 or 5 starters all putting up 11 shots each on 60% efficiency with good defence and rebounding to boot. If you do it's a blowout, and that's pretty rare in game 7's. The opposing defence is gonna take something away.
That said, as long as your main guys continue to put pressure on it and space it (while also taking care of their own defence like our main guys did), good role players will find more space and take advantage offensively. Until there's an opponent adjustment to close that door, which may in turn open another one, and so on.
Ultimately though, 2-way teams with good depth that exert a collective pressure on offence - meaning not passing up open shots, putting pressure on the rim etc (like the Raps that year), are very, very difficult to be beaten on a 7-game series. Especially with a superior coach, homecourt advantage, and tons of combined, deep playoff experience like that team.
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