News from the Orlando Bubble

[Lipoli390]

Give me Billy Donovan in Minnesota.

Yeah Id be ok with that. Strange firing. Maybe he wasnt on board for tanking.

I'd be all in on hiring Billy as well. I agree, Doper, that the firing seems strange. The Thunder had a surprisingly good season. I also had a hard time understanding the Nets' decision to fire Atkinson, although I'm guessing it was dictated by Durant and Irving. But I can't come up with any rational explanation for firing Billy.

I'm sorry to say that i have no confidence in Ryan Saunders as head coach. I think he was hired for the wrong reason and is in way over his head. I'd like him to prove me wrong, but I'll be really surprised if he does. Meanwhile far better head coaches like Atkinson and Donovan are available.

[thedoper]

The Raps Celts series is great. Great personalities, both teams play hard. Excited for game 7.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The Raps Celts series is great. Great personalities, both teams play hard. Excited for game 7.

Such an entertaining game. It had a bit of everything... but it comes down to that old adage/myth/mantra "heart of a champion."

Kyle Lowry is a badass. A flopper... but a bad ass.

_____

The officiating wasn't great. It's interesting the difference one crew makes.

Officials call Giannis for a foul touching Butler's midsection on a 21 foot jump shot after it left his hand... Bucks lose the game and the series and the world falls down around the franchise.

Meanwhile, Kemba Walker gets tackled after releasing the ball near the rim with 2 seconds left... no call. Every championship team needs breaks like those to go their way.

But is it more than one crew vs. another crew making tough calls? Does it show how the league is officiated today? Stay away from the hoop is basically the message being sent when jump shooters get the benefit of calls vs. aggressive players driving to the hole.

[thedoper]

The Raps Celts series is great. Great personalities, both teams play hard. Excited for game 7.

Such an entertaining game. It had a bit of everything... but it comes down to that old adage/myth/mantra "heart of a champion."

Kyle Lowry is a badass. A flopper... but a bad ass.

_____

The officiating wasn't great. It's interesting the difference one crew makes.

Officials call Giannis for a foul touching Butler's midsection on a 21 foot jump shot after it left his hand... Bucks lose the game and the series and the world falls down around the franchise.

Meanwhile, Kemba Walker gets tackled after releasing the ball near the rim with 2 seconds left... no call. Every championship team needs breaks like those to go their way.

But is it more than one crew vs. another crew making tough calls? Does it show how the league is officiated today? Stay away from the hoop is basically the message being sent when jump shooters get the benefit of calls vs. aggressive players driving to the hole.

Marcus Smart is a badass/flopper too. Fun games, Im happy it went 7. If Tatum can come up big and the Celts get the win I like their chances of really competing for the title.

[Lipoli390]

it was a great game. I found myself rooting for both teams. Normally, I'd root for the underdog, which in this case is Toronto. But I'll be rooting for the Celtics in game 7 only because I see them having a better chance than Toronto of knocking off the LA team that emerges from the West. And the last thing I want to see is one of the LA teams, especially the Lakers, winning the championship.

[Lipoli390]

Another thing I love about the Raptors is that none of their stars were high picks. In fact, they don't have any lottery picks on the roster. Lowry was the 24th pick. Siakam was the 27th pick. Anunoby was the 23rd pick. Powell was the 46th pick. And VanVleet was undrafted. They were NBA champions last year with the those guys and a 15th pick named Kawhi Leonard who has become one of the top two or three players in the League. Now the Raptors are on the cusp of making the Eastern Conference finals without Kawhi. Nick Nurse definitely deserves a lot of credit. But credit those players and credit the organization for drafting or acquiring those guys and sticking with them as they developed.

[thedoper]

Another thing I love about the Raptors is that none of their stars were high picks. In fact, they don't have any lottery picks on the roster. Lowry was the 24th pick. Siakam was the 27th pick. Anunoby was the 23rd pick. Powell was the 46th pick. And VanVleet was undrafted. They were NBA champions last year with the those guys and a 15th pick named Kawhi Leonard who has become one of the top two or three players in the League. Now the Raptors are on the cusp of making the Eastern Conference finals without Kawhi. Nick Nurse definitely deserves a lot of credit. But credit those players and credit the organization for drafting or acquiring those guys and sticking with them as they developed.

Every time that Lowry draft comes up it makes me mad. It was obvious that Foye wasnt even the best player on that Villanova team, but that was back when taking a freshman was still considered a risk. We took Foye and McHale let the world know that was the guy he wanted. Really the nail in the coffin on the KG era. You did it again Lip, old wounds. The real funny thing was that McHale passed up on Lowry twice once he started coaching him in Houston.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The Raps Celts series is great. Great personalities, both teams play hard. Excited for game 7.

Such an entertaining game. It had a bit of everything... but it comes down to that old adage/myth/mantra "heart of a champion."

Kyle Lowry is a badass. A flopper... but a bad ass.

_____

The officiating wasn't great. It's interesting the difference one crew makes.

Officials call Giannis for a foul touching Butler's midsection on a 21 foot jump shot after it left his hand... Bucks lose the game and the series and the world falls down around the franchise.

Meanwhile, Kemba Walker gets tackled after releasing the ball near the rim with 2 seconds left... no call. Every championship team needs breaks like those to go their way.

But is it more than one crew vs. another crew making tough calls? Does it show how the league is officiated today? Stay away from the hoop is basically the message being sent when jump shooters get the benefit of calls vs. aggressive players driving to the hole.

Marcus Smart is a badass/flopper too. Fun games, Im happy it went 7. If Tatum can come up big and the Celts get the win I like their chances of really competing for the title.

Indeed. Smart might be worse.

But I'd love to have either guy on my favorite team. I even called the Lowry strip of Brown late in the game. Brown slowed things down, and tried to bang Lowry a bit. Eventually, he was gonna turn and try to shoot over him.

Nope. Lowry knew it, too. He did the little guy trick of slapping down on the ball the moment the "big" turns around. Brilliant play that guys like him and Smart do all the time.


[Note: Go Celtics. Please win Game 7.]

[kekgeek]

Michael Porter Jr complains about lack of touches and coaches play calling after game 4. Also hints at Jokic and Murray need to pass him the ball more if they want to win.

Porter is averaging 11 shots per game in the series, and .5 asts.

It seems like Micheal Porter will be on many teams in his career even though he is offensively talented

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Michael Porter Jr complains about lack of touches and coaches play calling after game 4. Also hints at Jokic and Murray need to pass him the ball more if they want to win.

Porter is averaging 11 shots per game in the series, and .5 asts.

It seems like Micheal Porter will be on many teams in his career even though he is offensively talented

There are better ways to go about this, but his sentiment is accurate, in my opinion.