If the best thing your defense can do is conceded open corner 3s(AND a choking Harden not being aggressive) than your defense wasnt that good. Or at least it wasnt good enough to actually stop Philly, dude's just missed shots and they coulndt make them pay.
How is that weasel Morey again coming out unscathed from all this? James, Doc, Embiid get all the heat, but what about fatso? Why is nobody calling him out for the fraud he is? He went from all "fancy math genius", "revolutionizing the game through math", "trad Center is dead, I killed him, coz of math", to “I’m gonna build my team around a trad Center, plus the guy who made my career and all his homies", and that didn’t work too, and he[s still not getting fired? When will people realize that what we have here is a mediocre intellect, a sleazy human being who made a whole career out of OKC unwillingness to pay James. A brilliant self-promoter, hoodwinked the entire NBA commentariat with fancy buzzwords and fake math. Affinity defrauded all the "white and nerdy" blogger boys into idolizing him… Basically your typical business school grad: zero subject matter expertise, no basketball knowledge whatsoever, all fancy buzzwords and self-promotion.
Morey is a min/maxer. It's something I've noticed about every single team he's assembled. He seems almost pathologically allergic to signing anyone who is a great two-way player and is well-rounded and just solid in every category. His players are puzzle pieces and they each have one job and they need to be the best at that job and nothing else matters. The problem is, come playoff time when teams are intensely studying each and every player on your roster and gameplanning the best ways to beat that guy, it's much easier to nullify his strengths and exploit his weaknesses.
Archetype m*ngs taking another L. Love it. The fact that people put their voting emphasis on the last couple of weeks of the season is enough to make you give up on the entire human race. We really are faulty creatures and picking Embiid was just another proof of it. I mean can we even be saved?
McGrady mostly had good numbers in the playoffs despite having to carry some of the worst NBA playoff rosters of all time, don't think it's comparable to what rosters Embiid has atm. T-Mac even upped his playoff PPG compared to regular season constantly.
The fact that people put their voting emphasis on the last couple of weeks of the season is enough to make you give up on the entire human race. Hyperhyperbole. I mean, the entire human race? Entire???
You have alot of nonsensical hate in you because of bad results. He doesn't control coaching aspects like you might think but I think he's finally come to terms with Harden.
I think Morey's problem is that he grossly underestimates the human factor in winning. He believes that if you collect enough talents, you will win, and ignores things like character, grit, heart, mental toughness, leadership, intelligence, etc. It's ironic that people who embrace analytics should look at things deeper, beyond the surface. There has to be some data that measure players' performance in certain situations. I am guessing that in his mind, he would just dismiss Harden's elimination games problem as random fluctuations.
I think all of this is likely true, but I also think Morey has a soft spot for James that borders on wishful thinking--almost a "hope for the best" attitude or faith in James that increasingly looks disconnected from the historical reality of Harden's performances in big games
Or simply Harden is among one of the only superstars who had a good working relationship with Morey. Work environment buddies. Morey just did not happen to value defensive superstars as much.
Video was a decent watch. Mazzula attempted to take away their 1st (Embid) and 2nd (Harden) options with game 6 and 7 adjustments. By product was that that Maxey and PJ's numbers ticked up. As fans were saying the latter two guys 'showed up'. It was by design of what BOS wanted to see how much of Philly's 'others' can carry. Technically, Harden made the "correct" read in trying to get the ball to the open shooter (Tucker/Maxey), since BOS also played the passing lane to cut off Harden's pass to Embid. In hindsight, Harden probably should have took some chances with Rob Williams, even if it might look bad getting blocked. Folks can point to the bad fg% of Harden and Embid. Like anything it's the defense that caused their FG% to be lower than their averages. Brown defended Harden well. Embid had Horford and at times Smart defending him, with Rob at the backline. The game 7 win, BOS fans showering Tatum with praise. Few tipped their hat to Mazzula on the defensive scheme that Doc/Harden/Embid couldn't overcome. Similar to last year, where apparently Mazzula was one of the brains behind their X's and O's.
It's not so much Harden is a bad defender but more he ate the wrong thing before certain games looking constipated while on the court whether it be offense or defense.
