monsterpile wrote:Pelicans got on track at home against GS in decisive fashion. There were a lot of smart people that did not like them adding Rondo to that squad but it's looking like an absolute genius move and it was cheap.
I liked the Rondo signing and it's definitely paying off for the Pelicans. He was a big part of their nice stretch run and he's also been a huge part of their success thus far in the playoffs.
I was in favor of it also Lip. The Pelicans didn't exactly have a ton of options and Rondo was a worthwhile gamble especially considering he and Cousins had some history together as well. I read an article about how Gentry really went all in with Rondo and he has responded well. I think Rose could be this kind of low level gamble on a talented player that on the surface may not fit the team's needs but if he stays healthy and plays well again well then you have a very nice player. Hopefully the price tag for Rose this year is still the vet min. We will see. Maybe there is another guy worth taking a bit of a chance on. The Wizards got Mile Scott for the vet min and he was fantastic for them. He was a guy I wanted the Wolves to kick the tires on and would have given them another option for the bench and a guy that could space the floor.
monsterpile wrote:Pelicans got on track at home against GS in decisive fashion. There were a lot of smart people that did not like them adding Rondo to that squad but it's looking like an absolute genius move and it was cheap.
I liked the Rondo signing and it's definitely paying off for the Pelicans. He was a big part of their nice stretch run and he's also been a huge part of their success thus far in the playoffs.
I was in favor of it also Lip. The Pelicans didn't exactly have a ton of options and Rondo was a worthwhile gamble especially considering he and Cousins had some history together as well. I read an article about how Gentry really went all in with Rondo and he has responded well. I think Rose could be this kind of low level gamble on a talented player that on the surface may not fit the team's needs but if he stays healthy and plays well again well then you have a very nice player. Hopefully the price tag for Rose this year is still the vet min. We will see. Maybe there is another guy worth taking a bit of a chance on. The Wizards got Mile Scott for the vet min and he was fantastic for them. He was a guy I wanted the Wolves to kick the tires on and would have given them another option for the bench and a guy that could space the floor.
Rondo played a weird game today. It looked like sometimes he was half-assing it on defense and he made some bad passes too....such a contrast to a couple days ago.
Chris Paul....I may dislike him more than Harden at this point.
Some of those drives to the hoop by Mitchell....just nuts. He might be a bigger, more athletic version of Kyrie Irving when it's all said and done. He's just got all sorts of tricks up his sleeve when he's going down hill. What a draft pick by the Jazz.
Q12543 wrote:Chris Paul....I may dislike him more than Harden at this point.
Some of those drives to the hoop by Mitchell....just nuts. He might be a bigger, more athletic version of Kyrie Irving when it's all said and done. He's just got all sorts of tricks up his sleeve when he's going down hill. What a draft pick by the Jazz.
I dislike Paul more than Harden no doubt.
Donovan Mitchell. What a player and it was a good pick. The Jazz got lucky even if it was a good pick. They deserved it and it should be a fun team to watch for a few years if guys stay healthy.
Q12543 wrote:Chris Paul....I may dislike him more than Harden at this point.
Some of those drives to the hoop by Mitchell....just nuts. He might be a bigger, more athletic version of Kyrie Irving when it's all said and done. He's just got all sorts of tricks up his sleeve when he's going down hill. What a draft pick by the Jazz.
I've disliked Chris Paul far more than Harden for a long time. As for Mitchell, he's definitely a lot quicker and more athletic than Kyrie. I'm not sure he's bigger and he's not yet at Kyrie's level as a perimeter shooter. No doubt it was a great pick. And remember that the Jazz traded up to get him. So they clearly had their eye on him and didn't just put their front office finger to the wind in choosing him from a bunch of others on their draft board. The three best picks in last year's draft at a level above all others were Mitchell, Tatum and Kuzma.
Another game, another Celtics win... and another "Abe gushing over another coach even though he continually claims that players >>>> coaches" nonsense.
So the Celtics are down 1 with the ball on the side and about 8 seconds left. Like most late-game NBA situations, the first action is clogged up, so Boston calls another TO. They come back and run a lot of movement away from the hoop and toward the ball or midcourt.
EXCEPT for one player... all the movement caused the 76ers to switch and that left Al Horford vs. Robert Covington literally right under the hoop with nobody else within the three point line to help.
Layup. Celtics win.
[Note: It's those big things that matter. But it's also probably about 400 other little things that the coaches teach (and players actually do) that add up over time to build a winning culture.]
Good timing... I didn't see this article before posting the previous post. But it discusses Stevens and that Horford play... along with one only 17 seconds earlier.
I love the informal poll about who would you rather have if starting from scratch, Stevens versus Giannis, then the author continues to rattle off other options and Stevens basically comes out on top with the exception of the existing top 5 or so players and a couple of the up and comers (including KAT). So in other words, he's worth a max NBA contract or damn near it!
That being said, the players had to execute. That is not an easy pass to make. It's not like Covington is a little guy. He's really not THAT much smaller than Horford. And then Horford proceeds to snuff out the Sixers last gasp chance with a steal at the other end. Who has been more valuable to the Celtics this year in particular: Al Horford or Brad Stevens? Now that is a difficult question in my opinion.
Q12543 wrote:Chris Paul....I may dislike him more than Harden at this point.
Some of those drives to the hoop by Mitchell....just nuts. He might be a bigger, more athletic version of Kyrie Irving when it's all said and done. He's just got all sorts of tricks up his sleeve when he's going down hill. What a draft pick by the Jazz.
I've disliked Chris Paul far more than Harden for a long time. As for Mitchell, he's definitely a lot quicker and more athletic than Kyrie. I'm not sure he's bigger and he's not yet at Kyrie's level as a perimeter shooter. No doubt it was a great pick. And remember that the Jazz traded up to get him. So they clearly had their eye on him and didn't just put their front office finger to the wind in choosing him from a bunch of others on their draft board. The three best picks in last year's draft at a level above all others were Mitchell, Tatum and Kuzma.
Right, Mitchell does need a more reliable outside shot. I think that will come. He's still just a rookie!
Now here is the bad news...Utah was one of those teams a lot of us sort of wrote off as "meh" for this year. Nope. These guys are going to be entrenched in the playoffs for many years to come so long as Gobert and Mitchell stay healthy. I think they probably need one more decent shot creator (Wiggins for Ingles anyone??? Utah says no I bet).
Q12543 wrote:I love the informal poll about who would you rather have if starting from scratch, Stevens versus Giannis, then the author continues to rattle off other options and Stevens basically comes out on top with the exception of the existing top 5 or so players and a couple of the up and comers (including KAT). So in other words, he's worth a max NBA contract or damn near it!
That being said, the players had to execute. That is not an easy pass to make. It's not like Covington is a little guy. He's really not THAT much smaller than Horford. And then Horford proceeds to snuff out the Sixers last gasp chance with a steal at the other end. Who has been more valuable to the Celtics this year in particular: Al Horford or Brad Stevens? Now that is a difficult question in my opinion.
Random NBA fan: "Al Horford makes $28M for 13 ppg / 7 reb / 5 asts? WHAT????"
Any fan watching these playoffs: "Holy shit. Al Horford is so great. He's good at literally everything."
