PorkChop wrote:Butler at his age is more likely to be a 2nd or 3rd option on a title contending team going forward. A shortened season and player injury no doubt contributed to the Heats success. I highly doubt Miami duplicates what has transpired this season with their current roster. IMO
Who on Milwaukee and Boston were hurt during those series? They destroyed the Bucks (1 seed) and took down the Celtics (3 seed) with very little injuries to both teams. Those were legit series wins. Their core pieces outside of Jimmy are 20 (Herro), 23 (Bam) and 26 (Robinson). Iggy and Crowder are veteran role players that can be replaced and Dragic as a scoring PG is in one of the most replaceable roles in the league if they don't want to bring him back. And they've got 24 million in cap space they can spend this summer if they want. They seem to be in prime position to take this current roster and improve on it because they've managed the cap well and most of their core is just getting better. What if they find a way to get CP3 and their closing lineup is CP3, Herro, Robinson, Butler and Bam? They have lots of options to improve on a finals team which is rarely the case.
Jersey played well in the Bubble without Kyrie or Durant. I still think Milwaukee is a better team and will also improve upon their lineup moving forward. Miami had a great run no doubt, but repeating it will be difficult given a full season and with other team's looking to be much improved as well. Again, JMO!
It's fine to think they might struggle to repeat but it's just tired rhetoric to claim they are here because of a shortened season and injuries. That's always the excuse when an unexpected team takes care of business in the playoffs. Everyone had the same circumstances, this was literally the most even the playing field can get in basketball and they came out on top beating what likely would have been the top 2 seeds in the conference if the full year played out. No need to downplay their achievement this year just because you don't believe they'll be able to repeat what they've done next year.
It can't always be the excuse when it's never happened before.
Injuries are an excuse for teams literally every year. Does Toronto beat GS if Durant and Klay don't get hurt? They beat what was put in front of them. That's all you can do. That shouldn't take away from what teams accomplish in a given year. Miami beat Milwaukee and Boston fair and square, no excuses. That's it.
PorkChop wrote:Butler at his age is more likely to be a 2nd or 3rd option on a title contending team going forward. A shortened season and player injury no doubt contributed to the Heats success. I highly doubt Miami duplicates what has transpired this season with their current roster. IMO
Who on Milwaukee and Boston were hurt during those series? They destroyed the Bucks (1 seed) and took down the Celtics (3 seed) with very little injuries to both teams. Those were legit series wins. Their core pieces outside of Jimmy are 20 (Herro), 23 (Bam) and 26 (Robinson). Iggy and Crowder are veteran role players that can be replaced and Dragic as a scoring PG is in one of the most replaceable roles in the league if they don't want to bring him back. And they've got 24 million in cap space they can spend this summer if they want. They seem to be in prime position to take this current roster and improve on it because they've managed the cap well and most of their core is just getting better. What if they find a way to get CP3 and their closing lineup is CP3, Herro, Robinson, Butler and Bam? They have lots of options to improve on a finals team which is rarely the case.
Jersey played well in the Bubble without Kyrie or Durant. I still think Milwaukee is a better team and will also improve upon their lineup moving forward. Miami had a great run no doubt, but repeating it will be difficult given a full season and with other team's looking to be much improved as well. Again, JMO!
It's fine to think they might struggle to repeat but it's just tired rhetoric to claim they are here because of a shortened season and injuries. That's always the excuse when an unexpected team takes care of business in the playoffs. Everyone had the same circumstances, this was literally the most even the playing field can get in basketball and they came out on top beating what likely would have been the top 2 seeds in the conference if the full year played out. No need to downplay their achievement this year just because you don't believe they'll be able to repeat what they've done next year.
Miami played very well. Deserve to be there. And I won't take that away from them.
But homecourt shouldn't be dismissed so easily. Teams battle hard for 82 games to earn it under normal circumstances... for a reason.
PorkChop wrote:Butler at his age is more likely to be a 2nd or 3rd option on a title contending team going forward. A shortened season and player injury no doubt contributed to the Heats success. I highly doubt Miami duplicates what has transpired this season with their current roster. IMO
Who on Milwaukee and Boston were hurt during those series? They destroyed the Bucks (1 seed) and took down the Celtics (3 seed) with very little injuries to both teams. Those were legit series wins. Their core pieces outside of Jimmy are 20 (Herro), 23 (Bam) and 26 (Robinson). Iggy and Crowder are veteran role players that can be replaced and Dragic as a scoring PG is in one of the most replaceable roles in the league if they don't want to bring him back. And they've got 24 million in cap space they can spend this summer if they want. They seem to be in prime position to take this current roster and improve on it because they've managed the cap well and most of their core is just getting better. What if they find a way to get CP3 and their closing lineup is CP3, Herro, Robinson, Butler and Bam? They have lots of options to improve on a finals team which is rarely the case.
Jersey played well in the Bubble without Kyrie or Durant. I still think Milwaukee is a better team and will also improve upon their lineup moving forward. Miami had a great run no doubt, but repeating it will be difficult given a full season and with other team's looking to be much improved as well. Again, JMO!
It's fine to think they might struggle to repeat but it's just tired rhetoric to claim they are here because of a shortened season and injuries. That's always the excuse when an unexpected team takes care of business in the playoffs. Everyone had the same circumstances, this was literally the most even the playing field can get in basketball and they came out on top beating what likely would have been the top 2 seeds in the conference if the full year played out. No need to downplay their achievement this year just because you don't believe they'll be able to repeat what they've done next year.
Miami played very well. Deserve to be there. And I won't take that away from them.
But homecourt shouldn't be dismissed so easily. Teams battle hard for 82 games to earn it under normal circumstances... for a reason.
I'm not dismissing home court advantage at all. I'm just not accepting that as an excuse for why teams like the Clippers, Milwaukee, Boston, etc. didn't make the finals and using it as a way to diminish Miami's accomplishment this year. Denver has the best home court advantage in the league and still made the conference finals without it (looking at Milwaukee and the Clippers on this one). On an even playing field Miami came out on top because their 1-9 outplayed the best teams in the East's 1-9. It doesn't get more fair than the bubble so the teams that needed the home court advantage to advance were fraudulent contenders. If March Madness went through Lexington or Durham they'd probably have a lot more titles then they do too. At the end of the day the only contender that got disadvantaged by the bubble was the Lakers with Bradley staying home so I'm not on board with any excuses for why they or the Heat made it to this finals to diminish what they are doing this year.
PorkChop wrote:Butler at his age is more likely to be a 2nd or 3rd option on a title contending team going forward. A shortened season and player injury no doubt contributed to the Heats success. I highly doubt Miami duplicates what has transpired this season with their current roster. IMO
Who on Milwaukee and Boston were hurt during those series? They destroyed the Bucks (1 seed) and took down the Celtics (3 seed) with very little injuries to both teams. Those were legit series wins. Their core pieces outside of Jimmy are 20 (Herro), 23 (Bam) and 26 (Robinson). Iggy and Crowder are veteran role players that can be replaced and Dragic as a scoring PG is in one of the most replaceable roles in the league if they don't want to bring him back. And they've got 24 million in cap space they can spend this summer if they want. They seem to be in prime position to take this current roster and improve on it because they've managed the cap well and most of their core is just getting better. What if they find a way to get CP3 and their closing lineup is CP3, Herro, Robinson, Butler and Bam? They have lots of options to improve on a finals team which is rarely the case.
Jersey played well in the Bubble without Kyrie or Durant. I still think Milwaukee is a better team and will also improve upon their lineup moving forward. Miami had a great run no doubt, but repeating it will be difficult given a full season and with other team's looking to be much improved as well. Again, JMO!
It's fine to think they might struggle to repeat but it's just tired rhetoric to claim they are here because of a shortened season and injuries. That's always the excuse when an unexpected team takes care of business in the playoffs. Everyone had the same circumstances, this was literally the most even the playing field can get in basketball and they came out on top beating what likely would have been the top 2 seeds in the conference if the full year played out. No need to downplay their achievement this year just because you don't believe they'll be able to repeat what they've done next year.
Miami played very well. Deserve to be there. And I won't take that away from them.
But homecourt shouldn't be dismissed so easily. Teams battle hard for 82 games to earn it under normal circumstances... for a reason.
I'm not dismissing home court advantage at all. I'm just not accepting that as an excuse for why teams like the Clippers, Milwaukee, Boston, etc. didn't make the finals and using it as a way to diminish Miami's accomplishment this year. Denver has the best home court advantage in the league and still made the conference finals without it (looking at Milwaukee and the Clippers on this one). On an even playing field Miami came out on top because their 1-9 outplayed the best teams in the East's 1-9. It doesn't get more fair than the bubble so the teams that needed the home court advantage to advance were fraudulent contenders. If March Madness went through Lexington or Durham they'd probably have a lot more titles then they do too. At the end of the day the only contender that got disadvantaged by the bubble was the Lakers with Bradley staying home so I'm not on board with any excuses for why they or the Heat made it to this finals to diminish what they are doing this year.
Not having homecourt throughout the playoffs is an unprecedented event in NBA history.
Of course, we have no idea which one of those teams who advanced on their home courts in the past were "fraudulent contenders" because they literally never had to waive their homecourt advantage.
And that's not to say that Miami STILL wouldn't have advanced by beating Milwaukee and Boston on the road. They seemed like the type of team that could do it. But it's all conjecture.
Personally I think a greater equalizer...or maybe disequalizer is the fact that the season restarted teams played a few warmup games and then the playoffs started. Talent is supposed to win out but even in the age of NBA where players have more power then ever playing together and doing it with some sort of organization can still matter...or maybe the team that isn't quite as good but their style of play and what they do well just sorta comes together better than another team that really never came together. Home court advantage is something to consider too but I agree it shouldn't be an excuse either. Whoever wins the championship this year will have an * but that shouldn't take away from the title because there was some unique things to overcome to get to this point and in some ways this championship will be a celebration of success for the whole league that they could even play etc.
Heck of a performance by Butler and the cast around him. I can't help but wonder how we will view these guys 5-10 years from now. When GS won their first championship their group was collectively more proven but I don't know if people thought there would be a possible 3 HOFers on that squad. Duncan Robinson is basically a better 3 point shooter than anyone that's been on the wolves in over 30 years...ok maybe Wally Z but seriously Robinson is a really nice player.
Meanwhile the Heat have built a team making things interesting in the Finals against a LeBron and AD squad. They didn't build that team with top picks. Seriously any team in THEORY can build a legit contender if it's a good and smart organization and the Heat made some mistakes and were in salary cap hell. Same thing with the Raptors last year. Maybe Lip is onto something trade away all those top picks!!! Lol
I'll be watching the rest of this Finals it's interesting now. I'm cheering for the Heat I can't help but go for the underdog and the Heat have a whole roster of them including Jimmy Butler.
