Also, Adebayo got away with a goal tend and Jimmy Buckets stepped on the line. At least two calls missed. Also, I saw some of the craziest flopping ever by Miami lol. I am ok with it though. I'm fine with either time winning.
Miami can go on to win the series, a possibility for sure. But why does other teams losing to Denver(or Miami) in the previous rounds not say something negative about their system or players, but Denver losing in the finals, due to poor play from guards, say something so strong about Jokic?
LOL. Denver lost a game and you are coming out. I called you out because you kept evading that you were wrong about players like Jokic. Now you are shifting the tune to teams that don't focus on defense and 3 point shooting. Nobody is denying that. Are you saying that teams built around Jokic-type players don't focus on defense and 3 point shooting? Come out and admit that you were wrong about Jokic (and players like Sengun if they reach superstar level) and I won't pester you any more. Let me give you a way out. You let your emotions about Sengun fans push you to dismiss those kind of players.
How was I wrong about Jokic? I've given the guy his just due and at no point tried to paint him as anything less than a great player. You guys just get bent out of shape when others point out that a center who plays inside the 3 point line is not going to impact important games and the last 10 years of NBA basketball back that up. Jokic trimmed down his volume from 3 this year and allowed the players who can actually make those shots on a consistent basis to maximize their team concept(s). Denver is a 3&D team who has the unique ability to morph on the fly with Jokic - I've been pushing THAT, but still you guys would rather cast stones and focus on the selfish viewpoints because some of the fans here dont think Sengun will be a b2b MVP or be a driving force to the Houston Rockets reaching the NBA Finals. I've already said if that becomes the case why would I be upset or argumentative? I dont need to run around this place self quoting and looking for a cyber ego boost! I want Houston to return to prominence and hopefully reward the fans with another parade. I think if they focus on filling the roster with good 3 point shooters that can defende whether they be via the 'stars' or role players is incidental. Not sure how much more clear I could make that for you all.
I think you kept saying building around a big man who is not a great defender would not go deep in the playoffs. I know you never said Jokic wasn't a great offensive player. So can Sengun lead a team to championship if he reaches similar level like Jokic? BTW, talking about outlier. Did you know that the Warriors were an outlier when they first won? Remember talking heads like Barkley said that a jump shooting team could not win in the playoffs? Yeah, they've turned all other champions into outliers.
Right, but then you have the surface level responder who goes on to say "but but Jokic has great defensive metrics" .. so lets expand. Jokic on paper looks like he's a difference maker maybe even DPOY worthy if some wanted to spin it so. When you watch him play do you see that? What has been en vogue at the position for years now - run the court for easy put backs, dunks and protect the rim. Jokic is just a massive human being. He is a good defender in a similar way that I would say Yao was a good defender during his era. Not particularly agile or athletic, but so much mass to get in the way and alter shots and make driving to the rim very difficult and Yao enjoyed even better defensive metrics and was never even considered a DPOY worthy player. You can funnel the action towards these big guys and they can wreck movement just by being in the way. The game is played at crazy speeds now in the freedom of movement era, pace has become a driving factor and getting up a bunch of shots steered some towards mathematical models that present a likely outcome. Sengun put up 0.7 3PA last year. If he doesnt improve there and never becomes a threat outside of 6 feet then no even if he were to reach the ridiculous offensive threat that Jokic is he wouldnt be a likely source of being the focal part of a championship run without hiding him on defense and surrounding him with a roster full of 3pt shooters. I want Sengun to keep the defense honest and hopefully become a decent 3pt shooter who can force his defender to stay at home and get his 3PA around where Jokic is with 5 per game. Yes - I made mention of GS earlier in these exchanges about how I was proven wrong when I took the foolish stance that jump shooting teams couldnt win a ring. Rules changes particularly on defense have created the 3 point era. The stat geeks crunched the numbers and told everyone if a team could hit X amount via the 3 point shot they could overcome another team who could shoot X amount via the midrange. I doubted that too, but then I have to admit that for at least a decade maybe a little longer that has certainly been the case.
Let me say the last thing and I'll stop bickering. A jump shooting team like the Warriors could dominate because they were a great jump shooting team AND they were also very good at defense. Barkley was wrong because he neglected the fact that the Warriors was also a top defensive team. Now people like you are saying that is the only philosophy to win. No, the Warriors did not prove that you need to be a jump shooting team to win. You are wrong because you think that there is only ONE winning philosophy, namely 3&D. The fact is, you can win in a lot of different ways. The only unchanging philosophies are: efficient scoring, great defense, and team cohesion. There are a variety of ways that can achieve those. But most importantly, almost always you need at least one guy who can take over games and a bunch of other guys who are unselfish and know their roles. By dismissing certain kind of star player, you fall into the same mistake like those who dismissed the Warriors.
You're exactly right. The rules as they are reward shooting teams. If they are great at defense then everything works in their favor. GS took the world by storm with their 3pt barrage and then when teams started to go balls to the wall in the switch everything defense to try and limit those attempts these guys just said "fk it" we'll start shooting mid range shots to open up those shots! The Warriors NEVER highlighted post play during their dynasty. When they tried to get cute and go BPA outside of that philosophy during their down year they ended up with James Wiseman. They should have kept true to their identity and went with Tyrese Halliburton in hindsight who was a 43% 3pt shooter in college. Imagine if they did that! I just disagree with anyone who says that dumping it into a center and trying to work inside out is a method that could win a ring when you are playing against teams that promote the 3pt shot.
This is where I don't agree with you. I believe you can still win with a dominant low post player provided that you also have other ways to score. I think Rudy T's philosophy could still win in today's NBA. Dump it to Hakeem and have four guys ready to shoot 3s. Teams would still need to double team Hakeem and he could still kick it out to the shooters. Today's NBA is moving away from this philosophy because they assume that the only way to create 3pt shooting is by PnR and dribble penetration. Any good low post player can play effective PnR. Dribble penetration is just another version of inside-out game. You can penetrate by entry passing or by dribbling. It would achieve the same effect.
Good that nobody says that except for you. that’s exactly what you thought jokic and Sengun are doing, playing an old school post-up game. That’s how you concluded that jokic cannot win in the playoffs, jokic will be played off the court, jokic cannot win a championship, all of which turned out to be false, naturally.
Right - so how many Hakeem type post players exist in todays NBA? Ask yourself why has the focus shifted with big men? Nowadays centers are asked to be 3pt threats. Teams dont want to slow it down and give a plodding big guy long winded possessions that end with 2 points even at high percentages because the other teams are just going to push pace and bomb away. 5 out basketball and 3&D concepts rule the day. If you have a good offensive big guy who is a liability on defense you can hunt and expose him if he doesnt have the right supporting teammates.
What are you talking about? The false equivalence that you and the other Sengun die hards have created has led to the obvious disconnect with what is going on in the sport today. So since Jokic finally breaks through this year its easy to blame all his other failures on teammates, injuries yada yada yada, but never admitting that they just didnt have the adequate shooting and defense to maximize a talent like Jokic and everything that you mentioned actually happened on the court - he was hunted and exposed by GS and PHX the prior years while he enjoyed similar stats to this playoff run. "Naturally" since Sengun mimics some of what Jokic did at an early age the logical thing is to assume that it will happen here with Houston! Alrighty then! So you take 4 straight years of Jokic/DEN getting eaten alive in the playoffs and then conclude all that didnt happen because this year its the opposite! This is bizarro world!
If you are getting doubled you are always money. Sengun does, jokic doesn’t much because he immediately makes the correct pass. If the rockets played a more motion offense we could have seen how Sengun does with that.
