Minnesota Sports Forum

bleedspeed177 wrote:I am not worried about the Spurs yet. I think they will make adjustments for game 2, but this game got out of hand so fast they didn't bother making any changes. It will be a fun series and should be a good chess match.

Yes, I am very interested in what Pop does. Will he just brush off last night as an outlier or will he make some fairly significant adjustments? LMA, Lee, and Gasol looked old and slow out there.

Q12543 wrote:Good call on Boston Abe. By the way, in their two games against Houston, they held them below both their average 3PA per game and 3Pt % in both games. I'm not sure how they defended them, but Bradley, Crowder, Rozier, and Smart can pretty much switch everything. Horford isn't bad in space either.

Harden/Williams flopping 30 feet from the hoop on offense... Marcus Smart flopping 30 feet from the hoop guarding them...

Oh. Goodie.

Woe.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Good call on Boston Abe. By the way, in their two games against Houston, they held them below both their average 3PA per game and 3Pt % in both games. I'm not sure how they defended them, but Bradley, Crowder, Rozier, and Smart can pretty much switch everything. Horford isn't bad in space either.

Harden/Williams flopping 30 feet from the hoop on offense... Marcus Smart flopping 30 feet from the hoop guarding them...

Oh. Goodie.

Woe.

Abe I got a chuckle out of this post. Thanks.

Washington is a talented team, but they just don't have the defensive chops needed to climb to the top of the East.

interesting article

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/potential-raptors-lineup-changes-ujiri-finally-facing-scrutiny/

Can't say enough about the Celtic's Thomas. What a great player -- not just in tonight's game but throughout this series and the last one as well as the regular season. He's shorter than Tyus Jones, but he's an elite player who imposes his will in games. He's a treat to watch and the kind of player every true championship contender needs. But Horford ain't bad either and credit the play of Crowder as well as other role players on the Celtics. Boston's defense is all the more amazing when you consider Thomas's defensive shortcomings. Just shows that that defense is about effort and it's a team thing.

Thomas is amazing for sure, especially of late, with his sister's death. Inspirational performances for sure.

However....color me skeptical if they advance and get to Cleveland. I just have to believe his height at some point is going to be a problem, whether it's through traps thrown at him that he can't see over or not getting calls at the rim where he's been very good at throwing his body into people.

Monster,

I read that article, I thought it was very interesting also. I think the wolves need to embrace the pace and space thinking more. I'd love to find a small ball 4 to play along side Kat. Either one of the Morris brothers comes to mind. I don't think DJ or another big is the answer.

We we doing it for a bit with Belly for about a 15-20 game stretch. He was getting more minutes then Gorgi. It was the best stretch of the year, that coincided with our improved defense. We don't need to go bigger IMO. Obviously I don't think Rubio is the PG of the future with this style.

Duke13 wrote:Monster,

I read that article, I thought it was very interesting also. I think the wolves need to embrace the pace and space thinking more. I'd love to find a small ball 4 to play along side Kat. Either one of the Morris brothers comes to mind. I don't think DJ or another big is the answer.

We we doing it for a bit with Belly for about a 15-20 game stretch. He was getting more minutes then Gorgi. It was the best stretch of the year, that coincided with our improved defense. We don't need to go bigger IMO. Obviously I don't think Rubio is the PG of the future with this style.

Yep that's what I have been saying about the Wolves PF position for a while now. One thing that's nice about Belly is he still gives you plenty of length when he is out there too. They need to add at least another combo forward type especially since Belly had a foot surgery I am nervous about him being healthy next year.

Q12543 wrote:Thomas is amazing for sure, especially of late, with his sister's death. Inspirational performances for sure.

However....color me skeptical if they advance and get to Cleveland. I just have to believe his height at some point is going to be a problem, whether it's through traps thrown at him that he can't see over or not getting calls at the rim where he's been very good at throwing his body into people.

People keep underestimating Thomas and it makes sense to do so however...the guy is super quick and VERY skilled. How do you guard him? He can beat you off the dribble not just because he is quick but his moves and ball handling are very good. He can hit long distance shots also. If he penetrates the Celtics have a bunch of guys that take 3's. I'll compare him to Iverson. He is a little smaller but much more efficient as a scorer. The game plays more to players like that now than when Iverson played. Kyrie has stepped up his defense a couple times against very good PGs. I'll be interested if he does it whichever of these guys he faces in the next series.