NBA 2021-22---- NBA LEGEND Bill Russell 1934-2022 RIP

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I'm not sure what you do if you're the Celtics.  They seemed absolutely determined that Steph was not going to get 43 again (although he might have gotten 30 if he could buy a bucket from deep).  So instead they forced Wiggins to beat them, and well, he did.  26 from him felt like 50 from most other players. 

[bosk1]

Another round of massive props:  This time to Robert Williams.  The hustle out of that guy is incredible. 

[Azyiu]

Have you guys watched Hustle on Netflix? I liked it. Some parts were pretty predictable, but overall it was pretty good. A great film to watch and to fill out the void between game 5 and 6.

[bosk1]

Wow, no comments on the actual game?

[King Postwhore]

I did bosk1. 

[TAC]

Wow, no comments on the actual game?

One thing the Celtics have done in this series that they did not do in the previous two series was start on time. But I had a feeling Monday that they would not. And it happened.

I actually went to bed in the 2nd quarter when Curry came back into the game and the Celts hadn't closed the gap.

I had considered not watching the game at all, because I was freaking exhausted all day, and my wife and I  had a meeting scheduled after work on Tuesday that I could not sleep through. She was in bed by 8;30, and I almost went too, but I decided to watch the game, but it was clearly not their night from the jump.

[Lonk]

Expecting the Celtics to come out and fight tonight, but I wouldn't be surprised if the season is over by the end of the day. Should be a good game.

[King Postwhore]

I'm heading into Boston tonight for a concert.  I won't be able to watch the game.  Hopefully the C's win so we get a game 7. 

[bosk1]

From the interview clips I have heard, Tatum and Brown seem pretty defeated.  If the Celtics get behind early, I can see the two of them phoning it in, and Smart getting frustrated with them.

[King Postwhore]

From the interview clips I have heard, Tatum and Brown seem pretty defeated.  If the Celtics get behind early, I can see the two of them phoning it in, and Smart getting frustrated with them.

I wouldn't say that bosk1.  Tatum in interviews has never been a demonstrative person in interviews.  Brown as well but a little more firm.  They are not one to joust with other teams through the media.

A lot of local writers complain about Tatum's demeanor all the time. 

[bosk1]

Fair enough.  I don't really know either of them or their interview history.  They just sound defeated to me. 

[King Postwhore]

I definitely could see your side though.  It's weird to have the 2 leaders of your team not boisterous.

[TAC]

Fair enough.  I don't really know either of them or their interview history.  They just sound defeated to me.

They very well could be. It is really hard to tell with them. They both speak in a very underwhelming monotone manor.

That said, it would not surprise me in the least if the Warriors blow them out tonight. I can see them going into the fetal position early.

[bosk1]

They both speak in a very underwhelming monotone manor.

I've never seen a house I would describe that way, King.  But anyway...

But it isn't their tone of voice.  It was more what they were actually saying that made me feel that way.  Seemed very pessimistic rather than what I would expect of a team that is down 3-2, along the lines of:  "We know we need to come out and play our game on Thursday to get the win.  And then it's a 1 game series, winner take all.  We have a good team, and we've been here before, and we know we can do that.  Or something like that."

That said, it would not surprise me in the least if the Warriors blow them out tonight. I can see them going into the fetal position early.

I hope not.  But if the Warriors get out to a fast start and hold a sizable lead a few minutes into the 3rd quarter, I can see it happening. 

[TAC]

They both speak in a very underwhelming monotone manor.

I've never seen a house I would describe that way, King.  But anyway...

Well, if the walls could talk, Webster.


I'm expecting the Celts to get blown out tonight.

[bosk1]

Sorry, man.  I hate that feeling.  I wish I could say I didn't want that to happen, but I do.  Nothing has been easy for the Warriors this season.  I wouldn't mind seeing them dominate the final game from wire to wire. 

[T-ski]

Not going to lie, I’ve been in draft mode the last couple of weeks and really haven’t watched much of the Finals.

[TAC]

Sorry, man.  I hate that feeling.  I wish I could say I didn't want that to happen, but I do.  Nothing has been easy for the Warriors this season.  I wouldn't mind seeing them dominate the final game from wire to wire.

No worries Bosk. Of course it'd be great for the Celts to win, but if they don't, I'm not too stuffed. It's not like the Bruins where I literally want to puke every time the Blues are on TV.

[TAC]

Congrats Bosk! I knew the Celts were getting blown out tonight.

The Warriors are like the Patriots, where if they stayed cool, the upstart opponent would eventually puke all over themselves. I said the Warriors experience would be the key.

Going to bed at halftime.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Draymond 50% from 3.  Yikes. 

[Lonk]

Should be a good 4th

[lonestar]

Dubs 

[Lonk]

The second half was really entertaining, and that was with Thompson having a bad game offensively.

[T-ski]

I enjoyed my year as champs, congrats to the Warriors and their fans.

[King Postwhore]

Congrats to RJ & Bosk1 fir the victory. Got out of the concert to find the C's down 10.

RJ, you are up first to pick my avatar.  Bosk1, you have the second week.

[bosk1]

I'm out until after the Fourth, so either RJ can pick for me, you can pick your own (honor system), or just wait til I get back. 

Good series.  As I've said before, I can't claim to be a lifelong Warriors fan.  When it comes to NBA, I tend to root for players.  I've loved this Warriors lineup since day 1, so they're my team for now, but I'm admittedly "bandwagon" and may or may not root for them when Steph, Klay, and Draymond are gone.  The one team I keep coming back to since the '80s is Boston, and I'm glad I got to see them with players I can get behind (I had to take a Celtics hiatus when Kyrie was their alpha player).  Truth be told, I don't like Brown or Tatum very much and would have been bummed to have to sport pics of them as my avatar if it came to that.  But I can definitely get behind players like Smart, R. Williams, and White.  I hope they can keep their core together and continue to grow. 

[Azyiu]

This year's playoffs were quite interesting and sort of memorable for me in some weird ways. Interesting as in we've got so many blowouts, and then you have hyped up teams like the Nets, Suns just gone frigid and were out rather early. On second thought, "Memorable" might not be the best word to describe my feelings. I recently have relocated into the UK, so I had to catch most of the games literally at 3 or 4am my time. In many cases I either couldn't watch the whole game or I could only catch most of the second half. So really, I remember I "don't remember much" of the details at all.

Anyway, congrats to the Warriors. 

[jingle.boy]

I tuned in partway into the 2nd last night, and instantly heard "and that's 21 straight for Golden State".  I was like "are you fucking kidding me".  I'm no fan of Boston, but that's terrible in an elimination game to be dominated THAT much.  Another comment I caught was that this was the "weakest" GS team that Kerr has coached to a title.  Kudos to everyone involved.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I'm something of a bandwagon Warriors fan myself, and really more of a Steph fan.  I'm not from the bay area, though I did have a great vacation there a couple decades ago that probably helps a bit.  But Steph is basically the reason I started watching basketball again after losing interest in it after high school for a long time.  For reasons I might mention at some other point I had started paying very casual attention to playoff results in the early 10s, but it was hearing about the 24-0 run the Warriors had to start the '15-'16 season that really started sucking me back in, and I actually started watching occasional full games again.  Not much in the regular season, but I still keep up with results, news, rumors and such decently, and then ramp it up more in the playoffs. 

Particularly memorable was the night Steph broke the 3-point record against the Grizzlies (also caught a bit of Kobe's last game that night since the station feed switched to it).  Steph just had this fascinating playstyle that remains endlessly entertaining to watch.  But if Steph retires or (god forbid) goes to another team my interest will likely diminish or shift. 

I'm sure there's going to be an excessive amount of all-time ranking talk in the media for days to come and more, so here's my small contribution to get ahead of the curve before it gets exhausting.  I think there is tier 1 which is MJ, KAJ, and LBJ in some order.  After that I think it's a relatively level playing field for tier 2, with some ordering of Duncan, Hakeem, Bird, Magic, Russell, Wilt, Shaq, Kobe, and now, Steph.  Everyone else is a tier below.  Depending upon what it is you value, you could put that 9 in almost any order and I wouldn't complain too much. 

So yeah, there's some recency bias and glow at work, but I can see a possible argument for Steph at #4, though I could also be talked out of it.  Probably more reasonable to have him on the lower end of the tier since he's arguably just moved into it, and reevaluate when his career is over.  It's just been so intriguing to see how at an age where a lot of players are in a steep decline (heck, just look at Westbrook and Harden this year), he's continued to be dazzling with the ball, and even when he doesn't have it he seems to make players like Wiggins and Looney look like superstars at times, when they would probably just be good role players if they weren't playing with him. 

It's curious how Wiggins and Looney have arguably been more impactful than Klay and Dray.  Klay is just too inconsistent right now, and it's hard to say how much is the rust of not playing for two years, age-related decline, or just that'll he'll never be back fully to what he used to be because of the two serious injuries he'd had to come back from.  We'll have a better idea next season.  Draymond has pissed me off at various points in the playoffs, but he's had some redemptive moments in the last few games. 

So rather than a big three, the Warriors' roster this playoffs has really been a big one with just a rotating cast of players stepping up at key times to contribute.  Poole and Payton particularly as well.  I'd have to think/read more about it, but it has to be somewhere up there with carry jobs like Hakeem in '94 or Dirk in '11.  Maybe a bit below those for a variety of reasons, but still really impressive.  The offseason and next year will be fascinating to see what happens with Kuminga, Moody, and Wiseman as well.  Crazy to think that the Warriors might be even better next year. 

[KevShmev]

I still don't know why seemingly everyone automatically puts Magic ahead of Bird. Okay, I get it, Magic won more titles (and needed Kareem for all five; Bird never had a player close to Kareem on all-time level), but if titles were all that mattered, Russell would be the GOAT, not Jordan or James, right?

Kevin Wildes' made a great point on FS1 this morning about how a Curry 3 is the most devastating offensive play in sports today (to an opponent).  Anyone else hits a 3, you move on, but when Curry hits one, you can almost feel the other team thinking, "Oh shit, if he heats up, there is nothing we can do and we are screwed."

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I'm not sure what's left to say about Steph Curry. The guy's an all-time great who revolutionized the sport and just had perhaps his best playoff series. I've also come to really appreciate his attitude and leadership style. You simply won't find a single teammate who has a bad word to say about him. I hope he can stay healthy and keep this up for many years to come.

[lonestar]

I'm not sure what's left to say about Steph Curry. The guy's an all-time great who revolutionized the sport and just had perhaps his best playoff series. I've also come to really appreciate his attitude and leadership style. You simply won't find a single teammate who has a bad word to say about him. I hope he can stay healthy and keep this up for many years to come.

Yup, he's just in general such a solid person. A few years back, he and another teammate (can't remember right now) went into SF for a night of fun, and took the public transportation in. They had a blast just socializing with the peeps, and local media was flooded with them taking selfies with fans, and just being grateful to be a part of the city's vibe.

He was a regular at my brother's old restaurant, and would just chill at the bar by himself, chat with the bartender and guests, just being a human without any real overblown ego. His and Ayesha's social programs, the Eat Learn Play foundation, are tremendous as well, delivering over 15 million meals to local families during the pandemic.

It's really impossible to find a bad thing to say about the guy.

[hunnus2000]

Well congrats to the Warriors as they certainly deserved the Title. And Boston played horribly! The story of this series is that Boston either couldn't make layups or they flat turned the ball over and everytime they looked to make a go of it - turnovers and missed layups and GS just took the game over. Last night's game was decided in the 2nd quarter as the other games were decided in the 3rd quarter.

When it was halftime, my wife and I went to bed and I was watching the 3rd quarter. GS came out on fire and decided the game was done. Good night Boston.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I'm not sure what's left to say about Steph Curry. The guy's an all-time great who revolutionized the sport and just had perhaps his best playoff series. I've also come to really appreciate his attitude and leadership style. You simply won't find a single teammate who has a bad word to say about him. I hope he can stay healthy and keep this up for many years to come.

Yup, he's just in general such a solid person. A few years back, he and another teammate (can't remember right now) went into SF for a night of fun, and took the public transportation in. They had a blast just socializing with the peeps, and local media was flooded with them taking selfies with fans, and just being grateful to be a part of the city's vibe.

He was a regular at my brother's old restaurant, and would just chill at the bar by himself, chat with the bartender and guests, just being a human without any real overblown ego. His and Ayesha's social programs, the Eat Learn Play foundation, are tremendous as well, delivering over 15 million meals to local families during the pandemic.

It's really impossible to find a bad thing to say about the guy.

What's also amazing is how improbable his success is. When he was in high school, he was barely even a college prospect. A work buddy of mine grew up in Charlotte and used to play pickup with both Curry brothers. They weren't heads and shoulders above everyone else or anything. Then he went to another level at Davidson and then in the NBA. To think he almost didn't make it because people thought he was "too small" or "shoots from the chest" or "takes too many threes". The game wasn't built for him so he decided to break it and make it work his way.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I was just thinking that the big regular season awards are really starting to becoming curses more than accomplishment.  Most Valuable Player Jokic is almost swept in the first round.  Coach of the Year Williams has a historic collapse in the semis.  Defensive Player of the Year Smart plays relatively poorly in the finals.  Rookie of the Year Barnes gets injured.  Most Improved Player Morant gets injured.  Sixth Man of the Year Herro gets injured.  Of the All-NBA First Team (Giannis, Jokic, Booker, Doncic, Tatum), only Tatum makes the finals, who severely underperforms, Booker gets injured and plays terribly in the semis).