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  1. m0ckduck

    Round 2: Celtics vs Cavs

    It's still a fine point, though, even if the phrasing should have been "playoff Celtics are at parity with regular season Celtics." If the team had a 9 game stretch in February where they were playing opponents with an aggregate .570 winning percentage and missing KP for the majority, we'd all...
  2. m0ckduck

    An Ode to the Fallen: 2024 - 2025 Offseason Thread

    If Mitchell wants out, and given that he's under contract, is there sense to a trade based around him and Maxey? I've beaten this drum before but: Maxey, good as he is, isn't a prefect fit with Embiid since he can't (yet) reliably carry the offense on his own, which is what they desperately...
  3. m0ckduck

    (2) New York Knicks vs (6) Indiana Pacers - 2024 EC Second Round

    Had the same thought. In any case, Nesmith barely moved. I thought the broadcast was making too big a deal out of that.
  4. m0ckduck

    (1) OKC Thunder vs (5) Dallas Mavericks - 2024 WC Second Round

    Agree, but I attribute this more to uneven implementation. The intent is to call fewer fouls, the problem is that so far its been uneven because it's easier to let physical play go in crowded hack-a-thon situations than in 1-v-1 iso situations where guys still try hard to sell the contact. I...
  5. m0ckduck

    (1) OKC Thunder vs (5) Dallas Mavericks - 2024 WC Second Round

    The only plausible explanation is the new media rights deal. Silver must have felt that the current product was bad (there's reporting that he was personally upset about the All-Star game) and that with the new deal looming, they couldn't' wait til the end of the season to fix it— that another...
  6. m0ckduck

    (2) New York Knicks vs (6) Indiana Pacers - 2024 EC Second Round

    This x100. The only thing I can equate it to as a Boston sports fan was Patriots heading into the Super Bowl in 2014 after the Deflategate allegations broke, whets yurts was the feeling that, if we didn't win it all, the offseason national narratives about "cheaters blah blah blah!" might...
  7. m0ckduck

    (2) Denver Nuggets vs (3) Minnesota Timberwolves - 2024 WC Second Round

    I'll be surprised if he isn't suspended. Throwing stuff at the ref from behind crosses the line from "bad optics" into "fundamentally destabilizing to the game." Lest that sound histrionic, I mean that, as a ref, you're like, "I can't do my job if I'm worried about projectiles being thrown at me...
  8. m0ckduck

    Round 2: Celtics vs Cavs

    Surprisingly for a team with two bigs, they're pretty bad in OReb% (22nd overall)— perhaps partly a reflection of injuries but also the fact that there isn't a lot of size after Mobley and Allen. I wonder if we could see some small lineups in the non-Horford minutes with Tatum at the 5? Would...
  9. m0ckduck

    2024 Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round: (4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs (5) Orlando Magic

    Speaking of empty stats, how bad was Garland today? I was joking with my kids at half-time that best chance for a Cleveland comeback involved Darius fouling out. The badness of his box score was only obscured by (a) getting 4 FTs after the game was already decided and (b) the next-level badness...
  10. m0ckduck

    2024 Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round: (4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs (5) Orlando Magic

    If by "scoring diversity", you mean players who can score and players who can't score, then I agree. Orlando attempted the 3rd fewest threes in the NBA and ranked 24th in 3PT percentage. At 22nd overall, they have the lowest offensive efficiency rating of any team in the playoffs. That's not...
  11. m0ckduck

    2024 Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round: (2) New York Knicks vs (7) Philadelphia 76ers - The Danse Macabre

    There was something subtly hilarious about watching the game knowing both coaches would be determined not to repeat the mistakes of G5 by failing to get their star any rest down the stretch... but then seeing how badly each team sagged in the few minutes that Brunson/Embiid sat.
  12. m0ckduck

    Jayson Tatum's Rise to the Top

    It's the new market inefficiency: two-way All-NBA guys who lead the league in playoff wins since their rookie year.
  13. m0ckduck

    (2) New York Knicks vs (6) Indiana Pacers - 2024 EC Second Round

    This feels like an old-school 1980's 2-2-1-1-1 series, where each team enjoys a big HCA and struggles on the other team's floor. I don't think Indy is ready to take this series. They've been very trick-or-treat already, losing twice solidly to a team with PatBev and Malik Beasley logging 60-70...
  14. m0ckduck

    2024 Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round: (3) Milwaukee Bucks vs (6) Indiana Pacers

    They're thoroughly in the zone of "run it back and hope for the best possible health outcome for every key player." There's nothing else to do, and they still have better title odds next year than 20+ teams. If you can't really improve in the NBA, then you're in the business of selling hope—...
  15. m0ckduck

    An Ode to the Fallen: 2024 - 2025 Offseason Thread

    I think the Heat, like the Lakers, want to cultivate a reputation of taking care of older stars as part of their free agent recruitment strategy. I don't see them pursuing it as recklessly as LA (e.g. last Kobe contract) but I doubt they will move on aggressively and Bellichick-ianly from Jimmy...
  16. m0ckduck

    The Unikornet

    I certainly didn't expect it. But it makes sense in hindsight. Bam doesn't have lots of range or quickness to his game, so Kornet's relative lack of lateral movement is mostly a non-factor. When it comes to holding up in the post, he like a blend of Porzingis and Horford: stronger than KP but a...
  17. m0ckduck

    Joe Mazzulla officially named head coach

    In the calculus of "CJM vs Udoka as better head coach", White's startling improvement has to count in Mazzulla's favor. Maybe the same improvement would have happened under Udoka, but I doubt it when I recall how tentative White looked during the 2022 playoffs. Lots of athletes are wired with...
  18. m0ckduck

    Derrick White, playoff Alpha

    Remember, guys, he's not one of the NBA's top 100 players according to ESPN circa October. Maybe we could trade him + a 2nd to Charlotte and acquire that Grant Williams guy (#97).
  19. m0ckduck

    Jayson Tatum's Rise to the Top

    Since this Heat series showcased Tatum playing within himself and leading the evisceration by taking what the opponent gives him, I wanted to spotlight one specific "doing the small things" sequence yesterday that was so amazing I had to rewatch it several times: Early 1st quarter. DW and JT...
  20. m0ckduck

    2024 Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round: (2) New York Knicks vs (7) Philadelphia 76ers - The Danse Macabre

    The most Sixers-Embiid thing ever would be him completely dominating G6 but picking up a flagrant and missing G7 where Philly gets handily eliminated. "Most Sixers-Embiid thing ever" in the sense of leaving franchise and fans in an endless purgatory of dueling glass-half-empty vs glass-half-full...
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