i liked luka committing a blatant offensive foul, then throwing the ball at the ref, and the ref holding such a harden-level vendetta against him that he...made one of the weakest make-up calls ever for the mavs. really, you think we didn't notice you calling paul george for a "push-off" 45 feet from the basket 2 seconds after the golden boy had a foul called on him?
Not scared of the Clippers at all, they got lucky. Had Porzingis not been ejected and had played, I swear this series would've been won by Dallas, 90% sure of it. Lakers are a bigger obstacle.
I don't get why teams don't double Kawhi in these situations. He's literally going to hit almost every single shot right now.
I think the Jazz or Nuggets have a good shot at LAC though. Their best players are bigs and so they can theoretically be a matchup issue for the Clippers.
Happy and sad Luka is gone from the playoffs. Fun to watch but I'm a hater and hate to see him succeed. Media has turned me into a hater. I apologize for my b****asness, I'm working on it.
Clippers still look good without Morris and Beverley.... They are going to be a tough out if we get past the lakers.... it would be a dog fight. I can easily see a fight break out. Harrell, Morris and Beverley are dirty. I can see Harrell trying to throw elbows into harden in the post trying to hurt him. that said if we can beat the Lakers and clippers harden will finally get his due props.
I think JVG discussed this last year when Kawhi was playing out of his mind versus the sixers. Its a lot harder to double team a ball handler in the mid post, elbow and mid-range, especially with a live dribble, as it leave the defense so vulnerable. In the paint or trapping a pick and roll or out on the 3 point line, the defense has a lot more time & space to recover. That said, you're probably right - doubling is probably the right strategy lol. kawhi is such an incredible playoff performer and really jordan-like in his ability to control the game and situation, almost always getting to his spots and shots. When the pressure/defense is on, this ability is probably the most valuable and rare in a player... Jordan had it, Hakeem, Duncan, all the greats had it - the ability to get to their spot, their shot when it mattered. Kawhi's got it IMO.
I agree. Kawhi's mentality is his #1 strength and is what makes him a championship-level leader despite his introverted nature. If he had elite athleticism, we would have the closest thing to Jordan that we've seen. Even closer than Kobe. As is, though, Kawhi is not as reliable as Jordan in last-second situations. He doesn't have the quickness or the lift required to get off a good shot when the defense knows that he has to shoot.
Not quite a hater but the press he gets is crazy. That flagrant foul just looked like a regular 1980's foul. He flopped to the ground and then people were ready to fight. Same as Schroder last night. Oh lord.
Yep. And I'd add KD and Latrell Sprewell in there too. KD for different reasons- so tall and such a good shooter, he can basically "get to his spot" any time it matters bc his spot is anywhere he decides to pull up. & Latrell for obvious reasons- Spoiler
It's not only mentality thing. It's hands/palming the ball along with superstar-ability thing. I swear those big hand dudes are always best performers in playoffs Kawhi basically just grabs the ball and throws it into the hoop from midrange and with ability to control the ball all the way from the ground to the release + adjust in midair without lousing touch is what makes him unstoppable
