NBA 2019 Playoffs Thread

[Somebody]

Kawhi actually holds and dribbles the ball more than Kyrie does.

Kawhi can make himself a decoy and play as a role player when needed. Something Kyrie couldn't. Don't get me started with his defense and off-ball movement.

Don't worry, he will be gone in 2019 & you guys will go back to winning your 50 games never coming close to title contention.

Curry could not carry a team with Klay & Draymond against Toronto, what the heck makes you think Kyrie was carrying  a team full of lesser players?

Who is winning titles without at least two superstars? In like the last 30 years it happened once, Detroit. Kawhi is pulling this off because the other superstar is hurt.

 Ya'll need to get over it, your team was never that good. You lost  dang near all your road games on the path to your magical 2018 playoff run in which our lottery team bounced you in 7 lol.

You lost to a guy on the decline who can't make the postseason out west, and a now lottery team, let that sink in.

On topic, KD can salvage this season. He is that good.

Say what you want about the Celtics and Kyrie the bottom line is Kyrie Irving cannot carry Kawhi Leonard's jock when it comes to leading a team.

Agree with you there. Kawhi is on another level to Kyrie as a player because he can defend five positions on the defensive end and he has a quiet confidence and composure that rubs off on his teammates. Just pointing out that their actual offensive play styles are similar in terms of "dribbling the air out of the ball". Kawhi said that Nick Nurse has let him do that and find mismatches and iso much more than Pop did, so this season, particularly these playoffs as his usage has gone up, he looks like the closest thing to Michael Jordan in style of play in the league right now. He knows when to pass out of double teams, his teammates understand and accept their roles, he has a Pippen in Pascal Siakam, and he's a killer defender.

Dribbling the air out of the ball implies that you're dribbling without a purpose, or that you're dribbling to no avail. Kawhi isn't that, yes he dribbles a lot, but he does that to get to his spots and create at a high level and efficiency, unlike Kyrie.

Excellent post Somebody.  This is the difference. 

As I watch this Toronto team, that is the thing I like most, Kawhi's efficient approach.  Kyrie is Kyrie, he can blow the roof off the stadium when he's on....when he's not on it can be painful.  But I keep hoping Jayson Tatum is watching Kawhi closely.  Tatum will never be as strong as Kawhi, but he can still learn a lot about how to create efficient, low level of difficulty shots, using time with the ball more wisely instead of putting teammates to sleep with bedazzling moves.  Jaylen Brown is ahead of Tatum in this area...simpler approach on offense.

Absolutely. The two Jays I have high hopes on, I think they can develop their skills this offseason with this disappointment of an offseason as motivation.

[NKY fan]

Gotta tip my hat to Thompson ! 28 points on injured hamstring. What a warrior. Danny should keep some draft picks in his bag 2 years from now when the warriors are tearing it down and trade for him!

[Birdman]

Goes to show u that u still got to have a big lineup to win sometimes...Gasol, Kawhi, Serge, Pascual

[RodyTur10]

Goes to show u that u still got to have a big lineup to win sometimes...Gasol, Kawhi, Serge, Pascual

Yes, small ball doesn't work in the modern game. Having a size disadvantage at multiple positions is a 'big' problem.

Building a team, you should think of a 1-2-2 system (guards-wings-bigs). What Stevens has mostly been playing is 1-3-1 or even 2-2-1.

Milwaukee played basically 1-1-3 against us (guard: Bledsoe, wing: Middleton, bigs: Giannis, Mirotic, Lopez) and their length advantage was impossible to overcome.

[Vox_Populi]

leonard is way better than current lebron. The cavs had a second all star in love (can't say he is worse than lowry) and a bunch of traditionally excellent role players that balled out in this years playoffs (hill and hood come to mind), plus thompson etc. Man, tough series for lebron fan boys. I believe people were still arguing a 35 year old lebron was still better than leonard a month ago. Woof.

I think Toronto are in the same position they are now if you replace Leonard with James. And I've agreed with those who said Leonard has clearly been the best player in the post-season.

LeBron last Playoffs was a behemoth. His regular season play suggested not much drop off. The Lakers are just a bottom 5 organization in basketball.

[GreenCoffeeBean]

Goes to show u that u still got to have a big lineup to win sometimes...Gasol, Kawhi, Serge, Pascual

This is the team composition everyone said would beat the Warriors

[NKY fan]

leonard is way better than current lebron. The cavs had a second all star in love (can't say he is worse than lowry) and a bunch of traditionally excellent role players that balled out in this years playoffs (hill and hood come to mind), plus thompson etc. Man, tough series for lebron fan boys. I believe people were still arguing a 35 year old lebron was still better than leonard a month ago. Woof.

I think Toronto are in the same position they are now if you replace Leonard with James. And I've agreed with those who said Leonard has clearly been the best player in the post-season.

LeBron last Playoffs was a behemoth. His regular season play suggested not much drop off. The Lakers are just a bottom 5 organization in basketball.

I bet Lebron is kicking himself in the head for not staying in Cleveland. He could have been on his way to a fourth ring right now with a super max contract secured

[gouki88]

leonard is way better than current lebron. The cavs had a second all star in love (can't say he is worse than lowry) and a bunch of traditionally excellent role players that balled out in this years playoffs (hill and hood come to mind), plus thompson etc. Man, tough series for lebron fan boys. I believe people were still arguing a 35 year old lebron was still better than leonard a month ago. Woof.

I think Toronto are in the same position they are now if you replace Leonard with James. And I've agreed with those who said Leonard has clearly been the best player in the post-season.

LeBron last Playoffs was a behemoth. His regular season play suggested not much drop off. The Lakers are just a bottom 5 organization in basketball.

I bet Lebron is kicking himself in the head for not staying in Cleveland. He could have been on his way to a fourth ring right now with a super max contract secured

Wuuut? LeBron and the Cavs don't beat Toronto or Milwaukee this playoffs. Might not beat Philly or us either.

[RodyTur10]

leonard is way better than current lebron. The cavs had a second all star in love (can't say he is worse than lowry) and a bunch of traditionally excellent role players that balled out in this years playoffs (hill and hood come to mind), plus thompson etc. Man, tough series for lebron fan boys. I believe people were still arguing a 35 year old lebron was still better than leonard a month ago. Woof.

I think Toronto are in the same position they are now if you replace Leonard with James. And I've agreed with those who said Leonard has clearly been the best player in the post-season.

LeBron last Playoffs was a behemoth. His regular season play suggested not much drop off. The Lakers are just a bottom 5 organization in basketball.

I bet Lebron is kicking himself in the head for not staying in Cleveland. He could have been on his way to a fourth ring right now with a super max contract secured

Wuuut? LeBron and the Cavs don't beat Toronto or Milwaukee this playoffs. Might not beat Philly or us either.

Cleveland quite obviously was done. They were an embarrasment last year as an NBA finalist.

[NKY fan]

leonard is way better than current lebron. The cavs had a second all star in love (can't say he is worse than lowry) and a bunch of traditionally excellent role players that balled out in this years playoffs (hill and hood come to mind), plus thompson etc. Man, tough series for lebron fan boys. I believe people were still arguing a 35 year old lebron was still better than leonard a month ago. Woof.

I think Toronto are in the same position they are now if you replace Leonard with James. And I've agreed with those who said Leonard has clearly been the best player in the post-season.

LeBron last Playoffs was a behemoth. His regular season play suggested not much drop off. The Lakers are just a bottom 5 organization in basketball.

I bet Lebron is kicking himself in the head for not staying in Cleveland. He could have been on his way to a fourth ring right now with a super max contract secured

Wuuut? LeBron and the Cavs don't beat Toronto or Milwaukee this playoffs. Might not beat Philly or us either.

If he stayed in Cleveland they would have traded Sexton and others for reinforcements. Lebron could have had Conley and Gasol on his side. Maybe a couple shooters and ariza ?
Cleveland would have stil been competing for a finals spot.

[gouki88]

leonard is way better than current lebron. The cavs had a second all star in love (can't say he is worse than lowry) and a bunch of traditionally excellent role players that balled out in this years playoffs (hill and hood come to mind), plus thompson etc. Man, tough series for lebron fan boys. I believe people were still arguing a 35 year old lebron was still better than leonard a month ago. Woof.

I think Toronto are in the same position they are now if you replace Leonard with James. And I've agreed with those who said Leonard has clearly been the best player in the post-season.

LeBron last Playoffs was a behemoth. His regular season play suggested not much drop off. The Lakers are just a bottom 5 organization in basketball.

I bet Lebron is kicking himself in the head for not staying in Cleveland. He could have been on his way to a fourth ring right now with a super max contract secured

Wuuut? LeBron and the Cavs don't beat Toronto or Milwaukee this playoffs. Might not beat Philly or us either.

If he stayed in Cleveland they would have traded Sexton and others for reinforcements. Lebron could have had Conley and Gasol on his side. Maybe a couple shooters and ariza ?
Cleveland would have stil been competing for a finals spot.

Um, no he could not have. Memphis would have absolutely no incentive to take on the awful contracts Cleveland have for the mediocre prospect that is Sexton.

[NKY fan]

leonard is way better than current lebron. The cavs had a second all star in love (can't say he is worse than lowry) and a bunch of traditionally excellent role players that balled out in this years playoffs (hill and hood come to mind), plus thompson etc. Man, tough series for lebron fan boys. I believe people were still arguing a 35 year old lebron was still better than leonard a month ago. Woof.

I think Toronto are in the same position they are now if you replace Leonard with James. And I've agreed with those who said Leonard has clearly been the best player in the post-season.

LeBron last Playoffs was a behemoth. His regular season play suggested not much drop off. The Lakers are just a bottom 5 organization in basketball.

I bet Lebron is kicking himself in the head for not staying in Cleveland. He could have been on his way to a fourth ring right now with a super max contract secured

Wuuut? LeBron and the Cavs don't beat Toronto or Milwaukee this playoffs. Might not beat Philly or us either.

If he stayed in Cleveland they would have traded Sexton and others for reinforcements. Lebron could have had Conley and Gasol on his side. Maybe a couple shooters and ariza ?
Cleveland would have stil been competing for a finals spot.

Um, no he could not have. Memphis would have absolutely no incentive to take on the awful contracts Cleveland have for the mediocre prospect that is Sexton.

Actually I wouldn’t mind having Sexton for this upcoming season on the Celtics. He is shaping up to be a slightly better version of Lou Williams. Less free throws but better outside shooting.

[gouki88]

leonard is way better than current lebron. The cavs had a second all star in love (can't say he is worse than lowry) and a bunch of traditionally excellent role players that balled out in this years playoffs (hill and hood come to mind), plus thompson etc. Man, tough series for lebron fan boys. I believe people were still arguing a 35 year old lebron was still better than leonard a month ago. Woof.

I think Toronto are in the same position they are now if you replace Leonard with James. And I've agreed with those who said Leonard has clearly been the best player in the post-season.

LeBron last Playoffs was a behemoth. His regular season play suggested not much drop off. The Lakers are just a bottom 5 organization in basketball.

I bet Lebron is kicking himself in the head for not staying in Cleveland. He could have been on his way to a fourth ring right now with a super max contract secured

Wuuut? LeBron and the Cavs don't beat Toronto or Milwaukee this playoffs. Might not beat Philly or us either.

If he stayed in Cleveland they would have traded Sexton and others for reinforcements. Lebron could have had Conley and Gasol on his side. Maybe a couple shooters and ariza ?
Cleveland would have stil been competing for a finals spot.

Um, no he could not have. Memphis would have absolutely no incentive to take on the awful contracts Cleveland have for the mediocre prospect that is Sexton.

Actually I wouldn’t mind having Sexton for this upcoming season on the Celtics. He is shaping up to be a slightly better version of Lou Williams. Less free throws but better outside shooting.

I would. He's probably the worst passer of all the starting point guards in the entire league. No thanks. At his best he might be as good as LAC Lou Williams. Might be.

[nickagneta]

Karma is a ****.

Kawhi and San Antonio should have been champions a couple years ago by knocking off Golden State but Zaza went dirty and the Warriors rolled to the Finals.

Now Kawhi is back and ready to shut down the Warriors. Good. After they purposely injured Kawhi, I will be glad to see Kawhi put an end to the Dubs run.

[gouki88]

Karma is a ****.

Kawhi and San Antonio should have been champions a couple years ago by knocking off Golden State but Zaza went dirty and the Warriors rolled to the Finals.

Now Kawhi is back and ready to shut down the Warriors. Good. After they purposely injured Kawhi, I will be glad to see Kawhi put an end to the Dubs run.

I really would be so happy if Kawhi ends the Dubs run. First he stopped LeBron getting a 3-peat, now he could do it to GSW. Dynasty-wrecker!