Minnesota Sports Forum

New Orleans is fascinating. Portland as a 3 seed was fool's gold. But for NO to lose Boogie and become that much better is so crazy. I hope Holiday and Davis continue this streak of good health, because they're playing great. And Rondo has so much poise. Big win for them.

thedoper wrote:New Orleans is fascinating. Portland as a 3 seed was fool's gold. But for NO to lose Boogie and become that much better is so crazy. I hope Holiday and Davis continue this streak of good health, because they're playing great. And Rondo has so much poise. Big win for them.

I've found myself pulling for New Orleans. Holiday has been incredible this series, but you can't say enough about what Rondo brings to that team. Tonight he provided 16 efficient points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. But beyond that, as you noted, he brought tremendous poise. He has a great feel for the game and elite ballhandling skills. I agree that Portland as a 3 seed was fool's gold. I've never been impressed by the their roster and was amazed at that streak they had to propel them into that position. They had already come back to earth at the very end of the season and it's showing thus far in the playoffs. It's fun to imagine what might have been if our Wolves had landed the 6 seed. Oh well. Maybe we can surprise Houston tomorrow night.

Playoff Rondo is different than regular season Rondo for some reason.

I stayed up late and watched that Pelicans game. Holiday looks like a new man and Mirotic is a better all around player than I had previously thought (defense, rebounding, etc.). I think without Cousins there, it has really allowed other guys to blossom. They look really good.

crazy-canuck wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

crazy-canuck wrote:Celtics are so well coached.

Find the mismatch and attack the mismatch.

CC -- I was thinking the same thing watching this game tonight.

Thibs needs to take some lessons from Stevens.

We run basically the same things and the same types of motion.

Biggest differences are that they attack mismatches and they make quick decisions. when they get an open shot, they let it fly. Monroe or someone gets doubled, pass it out and attack or let it fly. When we pass it out, we dribble and dribble and dribble until the player decides what to do which eventually ends up with a contested iso.

Id love Bjelly or teague to just let it fly without thinking. But they always hesitate and gives the defense time to gather. The one guy that doesnt hesitate to let it fly is wiggins, but he isnt our most accurate shooter.

Watched that game off and on. Pretty amazing what Boston is doing without Hayward, Irving and Smart (3 of the top 6 players).

1. Stevens the coach. The Celtics were up 12 near the end of the 3rd quarter. They stopped Milwaukee and grabbed the rebound with 4 seconds left. Stevens called a TO instantly. Then, they set up a play to take advantage of the extra possession. Larkin hit a three pointer. Never take a possession off.

2. Rozier the player. He shot 27% shooter as a rookie!!! 37% last season. Only 39.5% this season. But I thought he gave them good minutes in the playoffs last season a few times. He started to look the part as sort of a Marcus Smart v2.0 who rebounded and provided great energy. He ran with it this season. So far in the playoffs:

23.0 ppg / 0 TOs.

He's making a seasoned vet, Eric Bledsoe, look absolutely foolish.

3. Horford the vet. He's not flashy. He's not going to score a lot. Or rebound a ton. Or fill the boxscore in many ways. But he's so f-ing good. Need him to switch on to a guard? check. Need to spread the floor with your bigs with a 3? check. Need to body up a big post guy? check. Need another guy to bring the ball up the floor vs. pressure? Check. Need a great screen? check. Need... you get the idea. He does a bit of everything. A lot of little things that add up.

4. Comparison. Minnesota was pretty healthy this season. Still... 9 different players started a game this season. Boston has had 16 different starters.

Boston is amazing.

thedoper wrote:New Orleans is fascinating. Portland as a 3 seed was fool's gold. But for NO to lose Boogie and become that much better is so crazy. I hope Holiday and Davis continue this streak of good health, because they're playing great. And Rondo has so much poise. Big win for them.

I've never been more certain that DeMarcus Cousins is a very bad teammate.

He's basically the anti-Al Horford. All those little things that Horford does to help teams win games? Cousins does just as many little things that don't lead to wins... and may even lead to losses.

Both guys get paid handsomely. Dumber teams pay for Cousins' production. Smarter teams pay for Horford's impact. What would you rather have?

Utah gets home court advantage now with the win in OKC. Rubio the second leading scorer with 22 points and 5-8 from 3!

Q12543 wrote:Utah gets home court advantage now with the win in OKC. Rubio the second leading scorer with 22 points and 5-8 from 3!

Good for Utah. I'm rooting for them. Great to see Ricky have success in the playoffs.

Once again, Gibson did not have to come off Tucker there. Dieng was at the rim.

Tyus is actually playing some solid defense on Paul.