NBA Playoffs 2023

[Who]

Who everyone got in Denver-Phoenix series? I say Denver in 6

I believe Phoenix are the best equipped team in the league to exploit Jokic's defensive weaknesses. They did that a few years ago with CP3 and Booker killing Jokic in high PnRs. A lot of midrange shots, some long ones, some drives.

Now they have Durant as well. They have the best personnel in the league to attack Jokic's defense.

This is a really tough matchup for Denver. I am rooting for them cause I much prefer their team but I am not optimistic. I expect Phoenix to win. I'll go Suns in 6.

[Who]

Back to basketball, what are the predictions for the NYK - MIA series?  538 (Nate Silver) has both having more or less the same odds to advance to the ECF, really a 50-50 proposition.  I don't know.  Sure, MIA played inspired basketball against MIL but NYK looked really good against CLE and has looked good for the last few months of the regular season.  NYK looks like the better team to me.

NYK had the 7th best Net rating in the league post ASG at 4.7. That is impressive.

Interestingly, BOS was #1 at 7.9 which was way ahead of the pack. Next best team was GSW at 5.8. Chicago, Cleveland and Philly above 5 also. LAL just below 5 at 4.9. Then NY at 4.7.

[Who]

Who everyone got in Denver-Phoenix series? I say Denver in 6

It's tough, but I'm also going Denver in 6. If Murray can keep playing like that, Denver will be tough to beat. I know the Suns now have Durant, but they didn't look that convincing against a Clippers team missing George, and also missing Kawhi the final 3 games of that series.

They won them, but it was close and they nearly lost a few of them. And the Suns bench is putrid. They are relying A TON on Booker and KD, and it's not a guarantee Ayton consistently shows up.

Is the Nuggets bench any better?

They got one good sub in Bruce Brown and then a whole pile of garbage behind him.

I actually think the Suns bench has more talent on it but Monty Williams isn't using it. He refuses to play Terrence Ross. He doesn't play TJ Warren enough. When is Cameron Payne back? I love his game. He has been a big miss for PHO's bench. Then some solid guys behind those three with Damion Lee, Biyombo, Londale ... further down Shamet.

[Atzar]

Who everyone got in Denver-Phoenix series? I say Denver in 6

Suns in 6, maybe less.  I just don't think Denver can stop them.  And I don't think Denver has enough depth to exploit Phoenix's bad bench.

Phoenix is the best team out west unless somebody important goes down with an injury.  They rely on some fragile players and have nobody behind them.  But they get to the finals if they stay healthy IMO. 

[jpotter33]

I'm sorry, but all this praise about Giannis' remarks last night about "there not being failure in sports" and that the Bucks did not fail this year is just nonsense. This segment on Inside the NBA is so cringe.

The Bucks' season was absolutely a failure. They were the odds-on favorite to win the title, so it is objectively a failure for them to not make it past the first round, let alone a five game series. There's simply no arguing it. Even considering the injuries, that's part of the sport, and it's still a failure. They don't win the title in 2021 without injuries to Brooklyn.

His remarks really just are "participation trophy-esque" to me. Nonsense.

Or it's a reasonable rejoinder to a stupid question.

At it's core, asking a professional athlete in so many words 'would you rather win than lose?' is insipid. Even for a journalist that can't rock the boat.

Yeah, I think if the question was are you disappointed with how the season ended, then it is not as much of an issue.  But it is a trigger word to use failure.  There no right way to answer the question when worded that way.

Yeah I thought Giannis' response to that question was solid and well-said.

Disappointed? Absolutely. Failure? Idk, seems a bit much.

But that said, people are acting like he took the high road but Giannis was pretty disrespectful when interacting with the reporter too. Idk if people actually heard the entire cut, but he literally asked the reporter, "is that a failure, yes or no", - silence -, "YES OR NO" he asked pretty loudly back to the reporter. I mean I get he just came off a tough season-ending loss but that felt disrespectful too. Didn't even feel like a sarcastic jab or anything, it felt hostile to me.

But again, maybe that was just my interpretation.

Yeah, I just completely disagree. Feels like this is just whitewashing what was a complete collapse and failure on the part of the Bucks. Sure, there were definitely injuries, but they even lost the games that Giannis was available, both at home and at Miami.

When you’re the odds on title favorite coming into the playoffs, losing in five JB the first round is the very definition of failure. Any attempt to obscure that is just whitewashing.

[kraidstar]

But what about Phoenix's defense?

 Paul is undersized and very old. Durant is still competent but not the physical presence he used to be.

  I don't really trust Booker against high level talent.

And Ayton is not a real rim protector and has a dubious basketball IQ.

 I think Denver is going to gash the suns defense badly. Maybe some of the posters here are right. Maybe Jokic will get exploited to a point.  Maybe the suns will be able to outshoot them. But honestly this sun's team reminds me a lot of last year's nets team. Their defense will be their fatal flaw.

Denver in 6.

[Donoghus]

If the Celtics were a 1 seed that just got upset by an 8 seed in the first round, this place would be a nuclear cesspool right now

[Celtics2021]

If the Celtics were a 1 seed that just got upset by an 8 seed, this place would be a nuclear cesspool right now

And the radioactivity probably wouldn’t go away until every last player and coach were traded or fired.  I’m not sure what happens if we lose to 8-seed Miami in the conference finals, however.

[Kernewek]

I'm sorry, but all this praise about Giannis' remarks last night about "there not being failure in sports" and that the Bucks did not fail this year is just nonsense. This segment on Inside the NBA is so cringe.

The Bucks' season was absolutely a failure. They were the odds-on favorite to win the title, so it is objectively a failure for them to not make it past the first round, let alone a five game series. There's simply no arguing it. Even considering the injuries, that's part of the sport, and it's still a failure. They don't win the title in 2021 without injuries to Brooklyn.

His remarks really just are "participation trophy-esque" to me. Nonsense.

Or it's a reasonable rejoinder to a stupid question.

At it's core, asking a professional athlete in so many words 'would you rather win than lose?' is insipid. Even for a journalist that can't rock the boat.

Yeah, I think if the question was are you disappointed with how the season ended, then it is not as much of an issue.  But it is a trigger word to use failure.  There no right way to answer the question when worded that way.

Yeah I thought Giannis' response to that question was solid and well-said.

Disappointed? Absolutely. Failure? Idk, seems a bit much.

But that said, people are acting like he took the high road but Giannis was pretty disrespectful when interacting with the reporter too. Idk if people actually heard the entire cut, but he literally asked the reporter, "is that a failure, yes or no", - silence -, "YES OR NO" he asked pretty loudly back to the reporter. I mean I get he just came off a tough season-ending loss but that felt disrespectful too. Didn't even feel like a sarcastic jab or anything, it felt hostile to me.

But again, maybe that was just my interpretation.

Yeah, I just completely disagree. Feels like this is just whitewashing what was a complete collapse and failure on the part of the Bucks. Sure, there were definitely injuries, but they even lost the games that Giannis was available, both at home and at Miami.

When you’re the odds on title favorite coming into the playoffs, losing in five JB the first round is the very definition of failure. Any attempt to obscure that is just whitewashing.

Surely missing the playoffs entirely would be the very definition of failure. Or deciding to trade away your core mid-season.

That's why 'failure' is a fata morgana when you talk about this stuff - unless you are of the position that every season 29 NBA teams fail (which is defensible, if not particularly naunced thinking) - things can almost always go better and things can almost always go worse.

Now, having said that, you're absolutely right that Milwaukee got steamrolled by Jimmy Butler & friends. Massive upset. Arguably shouldn't have happened.

[kraidstar]

If the Celtics were a 1 seed that just got upset by an 8 seed, this place would be a nuclear cesspool right now

And the radioactivity probably wouldn’t go away until every last player and coach were traded or fired.  I’m not sure what happens if we lose to 8-seed Miami in the conference finals, however.

 That would certainly be devasting, But if the heat can make it that far you kind of have to tip your cap to them.

As much as I hate them, they do play with a lot of discipline and heart.  They are resilient. Hopefully after the near disaster last year we will be more prepared.  This team is going to face plenty of adversity going forward. We need to stop sulking and keep our heads up and we'll be fine.

[footey]

If the Celtics were a 1 seed that just got upset by an 8 seed, this place would be a nuclear cesspool right now

And the radioactivity probably wouldn’t go away until every last player and coach were traded or fired.  I’m not sure what happens if we lose to 8-seed Miami in the conference finals, however.

I think Knicks will beat the Heat handily, in 5-6 games. 

[celticsclay]

It was nice seeing Kemba watching game 6. How many times has he been seen watching the Celtics? It seems like he’s really following the team’s games in the playoffs. I would love to see back as part of Joe’s staff. Or if he somehow proves that he can still play, maybe he can be a PP replacement as an end of the bench energy guy?

If everyone loves him why can’t he be our version of haslem?

[Celtics2021]

It was nice seeing Kemba watching game 6. How many times has he been seen watching the Celtics? It seems like he’s really following the team’s games in the playoffs. I would love to see back as part of Joe’s staff. Or if he somehow proves that he can still play, maybe he can be a PP replacement as an end of the bench energy guy?

If everyone loves him why can’t he be our version of haslem?

That’s my hope for when we trade Pritchard over the summer.  He can be our Haslem while JD Davison is our 4th PG.

[angryguy77]

I'm sorry, but all this praise about Giannis' remarks last night about "there not being failure in sports" and that the Bucks did not fail this year is just nonsense. This segment on Inside the NBA is so cringe.

The Bucks' season was absolutely a failure. They were the odds-on favorite to win the title, so it is objectively a failure for them to not make it past the first round, let alone a five game series. There's simply no arguing it. Even considering the injuries, that's part of the sport, and it's still a failure. They don't win the title in 2021 without injuries to Brooklyn.

His remarks really just are "participation trophy-esque" to me. Nonsense.

Or it's a reasonable rejoinder to a stupid question.

At it's core, asking a professional athlete in so many words 'would you rather win than lose?' is insipid. Even for a journalist that can't rock the boat.

Yeah, I think if the question was are you disappointed with how the season ended, then it is not as much of an issue.  But it is a trigger word to use failure.  There no right way to answer the question when worded that way.

Yeah I thought Giannis' response to that question was solid and well-said.

Disappointed? Absolutely. Failure? Idk, seems a bit much.

But that said, people are acting like he took the high road but Giannis was pretty disrespectful when interacting with the reporter too. Idk if people actually heard the entire cut, but he literally asked the reporter, "is that a failure, yes or no", - silence -, "YES OR NO" he asked pretty loudly back to the reporter. I mean I get he just came off a tough season-ending loss but that felt disrespectful too. Didn't even feel like a sarcastic jab or anything, it felt hostile to me.

But again, maybe that was just my interpretation.

Yeah, I just completely disagree. Feels like this is just whitewashing what was a complete collapse and failure on the part of the Bucks. Sure, there were definitely injuries, but they even lost the games that Giannis was available, both at home and at Miami.

When you’re the odds on title favorite coming into the playoffs, losing in five JB the first round is the very definition of failure. Any attempt to obscure that is just whitewashing.

Surely missing the playoffs entirely would be the very definition of failure. Or deciding to trade away your core mid-season.

That's why 'failure' is a fata morgana when you talk about this stuff - unless you are of the position that every season 29 NBA teams fail (which is defensible, if not particularly naunced thinking) - things can almost always go better and things can almost always go worse.

Now, having said that, you're absolutely right that Milwaukee got steamrolled by Jimmy Butler & friends. Massive upset. Arguably shouldn't have happened.

Any team that is in its window of contention that doesn't win it all, failed. This is especially so when getting tossed in the first round to the bottom seed. There is no growing or positives that come out of this for the bucks. They're old and don't have a lot of ability to get better. This year was squandered and there's no way to look at it any differently.

Giannis' response to the reporter and asking him about if it's a failure if he doesn't get a promotion every year sounds good, but logically flawed.
If the goal of that reporter is to obtain a promotion every year and has a realistic chance to do so, it would be a failure if it didn't happen.

Giannis sounding like the parent of a kid who just got his participation trophy.

[Kernewek]

Again, defensible if not particularly nuanced.

The guy just lost one of the biggest upsets in the last 20 years to a team, and in particular, a player, that absolutely balled out of control. He's pretty obviously trying to keep his negativity in line, gave a very reasonable answer to a very stupid question (we are all in agreement that it's a stupid question, I take it), and caught himself multiple times from getting personal with the reporter, even apologising at the end for snapping.

This is exactly what we should expect from NBA players. To be honest, Giannis is basically just riffing on the old Jordan quote about failure (I've missed 26 game winning shots &c).

Also "they're old" - Giannis is 28. He's five years younger than the guy who bounced him out and, unlike that guy, he's already got a ring. Are we really taking the position that Miami is going to have a brighter future than Milwaukee?