« Reply #4391 on: April 01, 2024, 08:59:24 PM »
There are regular season teams and then there are playoff teams. And there are often differences. In fact, in the East Boston is the only team I'd have in the top 4 for each (and they are 1 in both).
Regular season
Boston, Orlando, New York, Cleveland
Post season
Boston, Milwaukee, Miami, Philly (with Embiid)
To win in each requires different things. To win in the playoffs you need a top level reliable player and you just don't need that in the regular season where quality depth is far more important to winning. Take the Cavs, they have a bunch of really good players and very solid overall depth, but they don't have a top 15 player to take over when you need him to in the playoffs. The depth has allowed them to withstand injuries and win at a good level in the regular season, but they aren't a deep playoff contender. And conversely a team like the Bucks can look like a train wreck at times in the regular season, but when push comes to shove they have 2 top level players they can rely on to finish games.
Isn’t Mitchell someone that can take over a playoff game for the Cavs? He has had some pretty good success in the last individually https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/donovan-mitchell-playoff-stats
and yet that led to very limited team success.
I mean I don’t think they under achieved. They just didn’t have enough talent. In his best playoff run 2020-2021 they lost to the clippers in the second round as Mitchell averaged like 35 points. That jazz team had Mitchell, Gobert, Conley, clarkson, ingles etc. how far should that team have gone if not the second round? This Cleveland certainly has more talent than that team imo with garland, Mobley, Allen and Mitchell. Now the Cavs did underperform last year in the playoffs but I wouldn’t completely
Write them off based on that.
the 21 Clippers lost Kawhi in game 4 with the series tied at 2. The Jazz were at home in game 5 and Mitchell was 6 of 19 and they lost at home. Then in game 6, Mitchell basically got out dueled by Terrance Mann. The Jazz that year, were the top seed in the West. You know basically a great regular season team that isn't built like a playoff team because Mitchell is quite simply not good enough. You need that guy and that isn't Mitchell. If the Cavs become a true contender with this group it will be because Mobley reaches that upper echelon and that looks less and less likely to happen.
Mitchell did have a stinker in game 5 but hard to pin the game 6 on him when he had 39 points 9 rebounds and 9 assists. I think the Gobert was a much bigger disappointment that playoff run than Mitchell. If Mitchell is bad in this years run I would agree with you, but I think he has a chance at monster games.
Utah was up 4 ending to the 4th quarter of that game 6. Mitchell was 2 of 8 for 9 points with 2 assists, and 1 rebound (along with a turnover). He was also just 3 of 6 from the line. Patrick Beverley essentially neutralized him in the 4th quarter, playing all 12 minutes (he only had 27 in the game). That is the problem with Mitchell. He isn't a good enough player to be a #1 guy. He also doesn't defend basically at all. Mitchell can certainly have big scoring games as he is an excellent scorer, but he has come up small in big moments a lot, gets torched on defense, and even with those big scoring games there is about a 50/50 shot of his team losing. Mitchell is a great regular season player, but he isn't leading a team anywhere in the post season. He just isn't good enough. That doesn't seem controversial at all, not sure why you are arguing the point.
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2023 Historical Draft - Brooklyn Nets - 9th pick
Bigs - Pau, Amar'e, Issel, McGinnis, Roundfield
Wings - Dantley, Bowen, J. Jackson
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