Author Topic: Thoughts of 2nd game  (Read 3207 times)

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Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #30 on: October 20, 2018, 01:19:52 PM »

Offline footey

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Biggest takeaway:

We have a Kawhi Leonard problem. He was clearly the best player on the floor last night. He is his old self, less a little rust, and clearly the best all around  player in the East (including Giannis). Frankly, I would not be surprised if he becomes league MVP.

Second biggest: Gordon Hayward is really good, again.  He is finding his shot, rebounds very well, and can really help spark the offense.  He is more valuable to us right now than Tatum. Tatum has more talent, and will eventually be better. But Gordon's service in the league all these years just makes him a better basketball player right now. Tatum trying to drive through a triple team last night was just a dumb mistake at a critical time. He will learn.

Brown seems to be left out someone during crunch time.

Morris is hot and cold.

Terry struggled.

In conclusion, we have a KL problem. And therefore a Toronto problem.  He is an amazing basketball player.  In retrospect, Danny probably should have been more aggressive pursuing him.  Jaylen Brown and picks probably could have gotten it done.  Take the risk like Toronto that he would fall in love with the team.

I hope all the JB comparisons to KL will now stop. Just not in the same category. And I love JB, still do.

Could you imagine having KL to guard Lebron or KD in the playoffs?  Wow.

Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #31 on: October 20, 2018, 01:50:25 PM »

Offline Moranis

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Biggest takeaway:

We have a Kawhi Leonard problem. He was clearly the best player on the floor last night. He is his old self, less a little rust, and clearly the best all around  player in the East (including Giannis). Frankly, I would not be surprised if he becomes league MVP.

Second biggest: Gordon Hayward is really good, again.  He is finding his shot, rebounds very well, and can really help spark the offense.  He is more valuable to us right now than Tatum. Tatum has more talent, and will eventually be better. But Gordon's service in the league all these years just makes him a better basketball player right now. Tatum trying to drive through a triple team last night was just a dumb mistake at a critical time. He will learn.

Brown seems to be left out someone during crunch time.

Morris is hot and cold.

Terry struggled.

In conclusion, we have a KL problem. And therefore a Toronto problem.  He is an amazing basketball player.  In retrospect, Danny probably should have been more aggressive pursuing him.  Jaylen Brown and picks probably could have gotten it done.  Take the risk like Toronto that he would fall in love with the team.

I hope all the JB comparisons to KL will now stop. Just not in the same category. And I love JB, still do.

Could you imagine having KL to guard Lebron or KD in the playoffs?  Wow.
The problem with the risk, is Boston could have never afforded to keep both Irving and Leonard next summer with Hayward and Horford on the roster.  Just too much salary to pay.  Though, I'd have still probably done it and just moved on from Irving as Leonard is clearly a better player.

The team that should have gone all in, is clearly Philly.  They absolutely should have been willing to give up Fultz along with Saric and Covington.  Throw in a couple of protected 1st's and Bayless and also get Green.  How good would the Sixers be right now with Leonard and Green?  Simmons, Redick, Green, Leonard, Embiid with Chandler, Muscala, McConnell, Johnson, and all their young wings (Shamet, Bolden, Smith, Korkmaz).  Probably could have signed a couple of vets for some depth (especially down low), but they would be absolutely nasty had they just been willing to pull the trigger.  And unlike Boston, they wouldn't have had a salary problem giving Leonard the max next summer.
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Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #32 on: October 20, 2018, 02:16:13 PM »

Offline DefenseWinsChamps

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I've been a pretty big apologist for Kyrie Irving, but this was the worst defensive effort I've seen from him. He consistently got stuck on screens, lost his guy getting open for threes, and was taken advantage of in mismatches.

Given that it is the second game of the season and he is coming back from injury, I'll give him considerable leeway. He should improve throughout the rest of the year. I just wanted to point out (for all the Irving-haters) that there is an in-between ground between Kyrie-hate and Kyrie-fanaticism. 

I thought the same thing about Hayward, but not to the same extent.

I also thought that the Raptors had pretty obvious potential to be a very scary team defensively. They weren't there yet, but there were possessions where they looked awesome.
Irving has a crappy game and has a big + and the C's win.  Irving has a good game and is a huge - and the C's lose.  And I know it is just 2 games, but thus far Irving is making me look like a genius in all those threads when I claimed his value to wins and losses is greatly overrated on this blog.  and yeah, his defense is awful and always has been.  If I hadn't seen these performances for years, I'd be much more inclined to give him an injury pass, but this really is who Irving is and the fast this board comes to this realization, the better the viewing experience will be as this board won't collectively expect things to happen that just won't happen.

Irving's best value will come playoff time when the C's offense grinds to a halt.

That said, especially early last year, I thought Irving was pretty good on defense, at least not as bad as his reputation suggested. He had a mid-season lull (somewhat expected), and then missed the end of the season.

Last night, he looked far worse than I've seen him.


Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #33 on: October 20, 2018, 02:46:56 PM »

Offline CelticSooner

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What people keep forgetting about the Kawhi trade is SA didn't want youth. DeRozan was the best win now guy they could have traded for considering Kawhi's contract situation.

As for the topic: Tatum may just end up being the best player on this team by the end of the season.

Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #34 on: October 20, 2018, 03:00:42 PM »

Offline Kuberski33

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Two biggest takeaways -
1. If Leonard stays healthy, Toronto is real competition in the East. 
2. It was Game 2 on the road vs a talented opponent.  Even if they still had DeRozan I'd have given really good odds that we'd get an L in this one.


Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #35 on: October 20, 2018, 03:07:04 PM »

Offline feckless

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Brad was experimenting with lineups and defensive assignment.  Toronto has improved.Brad will figure it out.  Rozier was better marking Lowry and Van Fleet than Smartand  Irving
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Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #36 on: October 20, 2018, 03:36:09 PM »

Offline KGs Knee

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I'm not really surprised Toronto has been able to integrate their new players more quickly than Boston has been able to integrate Hayward/Irving. Toronto has a clear pecking order and less 'mouths' to feed. Boston on the other hand has a number of guys who could easily be first options in their own right, and are still trying to figure out how to best utilize everyone.

I suspect once Boston figures things out we'll start to see some clear separation between the two teams.

Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #37 on: October 20, 2018, 03:49:04 PM »

Offline Spicoli

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1. Brad Stevens rotations are still terrible and i'm skeptical that they can win a title until he gets better at this.

2. Kyrie is playing too passively. He is a scorer and needs to look more for his shot.

3. The Raptors are really good.

4. Gordon Hayward is a stud and i really enjoy watching him play.

5. Robert Williams needs to play.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 03:58:59 PM by Spicoli »

Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #38 on: October 20, 2018, 04:14:14 PM »

Offline spikelovetheCelts

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  • Peace it's a board. We all will never agree.
The loss to me should help to motivate this team. Sometimes having to many good players is a disadvantage. I saw people not passing the ball to the open man. Ibaka is not going to play like this every night. Leonard and Green showed their Championship skills in the final 3 minutes of the game. It was terrible are lack of execution. The Raptors were ready to close we were looking at how to do it.
This should humble our team. Watch out Knicks tonight.
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Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #39 on: October 20, 2018, 04:37:54 PM »

Offline manl_lui

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the loss isn't that bad, seeing Hayward get more comfortable out there and Irving improving from game one is refreshing. Seeing those two guys healthy is all it matters, Tatum and Brown still attacking. The defense was concerning that game, so many open 3s and communication on D wasn't great BUT it's a work in progress which i see will improve as time goes on. Not to mention, I really don't think Ibaka can do this every game :).

Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #40 on: October 20, 2018, 04:44:11 PM »

Offline keevsnick

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I hope all the JB comparisons to KL will now stop. Just not in the same category. And I love JB, still do.


What? Jaylen Brown ISN'T Kawhi Leonard? I'm shocked. The comparisons arent saying Jaylen is as good as Kawhi, its's saying they are similar at the same age (they are), and much like Kawhi Jaylen needs to improve skills like shooting, ball handling and passing to get to the star level. I hope these comparisons continue, because if they do it likely means Jaylen is living up to the comparison.

Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #41 on: October 20, 2018, 05:35:46 PM »

Offline 86MaxwellSmart

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Not aggressive enough. SOFT.
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Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #42 on: October 20, 2018, 08:36:18 PM »

Offline CF033

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This is one ugly game on both sides.

Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #43 on: October 20, 2018, 09:46:20 PM »

Offline knuckleballer

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This is one ugly game on both sides.

It's so bad that it is infecting other threads. 

Re: Thoughts of 2nd game
« Reply #44 on: October 20, 2018, 10:07:26 PM »

Offline DefenseWinsChamps

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I've been a pretty big apologist for Kyrie Irving, but this was the worst defensive effort I've seen from him. He consistently got stuck on screens, lost his guy getting open for threes, and was taken advantage of in mismatches.

Given that it is the second game of the season and he is coming back from injury, I'll give him considerable leeway. He should improve throughout the rest of the year. I just wanted to point out (for all the Irving-haters) that there is an in-between ground between Kyrie-hate and Kyrie-fanaticism. 

I thought the same thing about Hayward, but not to the same extent.

I also thought that the Raptors had pretty obvious potential to be a very scary team defensively. They weren't there yet, but there were possessions where they looked awesome.
Irving has a crappy game and has a big + and the C's win.  Irving has a good game and is a huge - and the C's lose.  And I know it is just 2 games, but thus far Irving is making me look like a genius in all those threads when I claimed his value to wins and losses is greatly overrated on this blog.  and yeah, his defense is awful and always has been.  If I hadn't seen these performances for years, I'd be much more inclined to give him an injury pass, but this really is who Irving is and the fast this board comes to this realization, the better the viewing experience will be as this board won't collectively expect things to happen that just won't happen.

Irving's best value will come playoff time when the C's offense grinds to a halt.

That said, especially early last year, I thought Irving was pretty good on defense, at least not as bad as his reputation suggested. He had a mid-season lull (somewhat expected), and then missed the end of the season.

Last night, he looked far worse than I've seen him.

I thought Irving looked much more engaged in the 4th quarter. It was against Burke, but the way he fought around screens and stayed engaged off-ball was much better.

He can be a decent defender with effort, but the effort comes and goes.