Just reading about the Celtics having the 2nd lowest defensive # in the playoffs at 102.__ - but having seen several of their games against the Bucks and the Heat, those teams could not BUY a shot for long stretches. So that 2nd ranked playoff defense seems more than a bit like BS to me. Less to do with their defense and more to do with the weakness of their opponents' offenses. And they swept the Nets in the first round, which was not all that difficult.
Don’t wanna talk about prediction or schedule, I want to enjoy fully the history of what I hope will be a challenging and heart stopping series, because the last thing I want to think about it is what I will feel when there will be four months of no NBA in front of me.
Ciao Dubs. I have watched the Colin Cowherd (doesn’t his surname sound weird for you? I mean ‘mandria di mucche’ does in Italian) podcast, hosting Dray. It was a clash of journalism titans. I love Colin (and I’m sorry he’s so almost full on Football), and I love Dray when he has an analysis challenger. When will we see a session with Pat Beverley?
Prediction: dubs blitz the Celtics in the 3rd quarter game 1 and win a blowout. Game 2 will cause some lemon booty as Celtics take a double digit lead into the middle of the 3rd, then Steph and Klay trade 3s and ultimately win a relatively comfortable game and put the pressure on Boston down 0-2
I usually have a strong feeling about a teams chances against the Warriors. The Celtics I can’t get a read on them. I didn’t watch very many of their games, but I knew from when we played them last they were a very cohesive team. I just can’t tell what will happen. I could see them taking game 1 but I could also see us punching them in the mouth from the tip. I honestly feel our vet savvy, sheer will, timely defense and playmaking will have us come out on top in 5 games, maybe six. I just see no way barring injury these Warriors leave without a ring. They know what is on the line.
Just Read Monique’s letter to GPII in the athletic, makes me proud to be a dubs fan and gives another reason to hope for GP2 to get at least a little run in the finals. So awesome to see a guy work so hard to make the league, and in his first real year turn around and use his position to help give some kids hope. I know there are a lot of guys in the NBA that try to help out their communities in different ways, so shout out to them too - but so great to see GP2 do some good deeds as well. My only hope is he can add some cash to his foundation by picking Tarun’s pocket a few times.
Match-ups aside, one of the things I am looking forward to is seeing how the Celtics react the Warriors unwavering desire to win a game. Our cores ability to stay locked in 48 minutes should be considered legendary, and it will be fun to see how the Celtics react to to relentless pressure.
How the Celtics react over the course of seven games could decide the series. Mind you, when I say this, its 5-8 minute lapses that can decide the series. It's not like I'm imagining the Warriors can break the Celtics but create just enough winning moments for themself that it is enough.
People keep saying Boston is going to play a switch everything defense, but if they want to guarantee that Robert Williams is near the rim (which they do), they cannot switch everything against the Warriors:
And if he's switching, the gameplan at least early in the series should be to make him test out his change of direction with his knee and all that from Curry and Poole (like in the video posted in the comments). It's a valid strategy, the Cavs took advantage of Curry's knee in 2016 and you don't hear anyone except us loser Warrior fans pointing out his physical issues. If he's playing then it's on the Celtics if anything happens to him.
The Celtics have a great smallball unit but if they can run R Williams off the floor I think that's advantage Warriors. Big if...if he's healthy.
I have loads of thoughts about this series. In no particular order:
1. I don't see them having a great offensive series. I think we're very well equipped to guard them, especially if GP2, OPJ and Iggy are healthy. That is unless we're playing JP heavy minutes.
2. I don't think this is a Jordan Poole series. I think the Celtics will struggle to score against us in the half-court whenever Poole is not on the floor. However, I do believe Marcus Smart and Derrick White can bully Poole offensively (we saw Dinwiddie and even Bullock doing it a few times in the past series). Additionally, contingent on Robert Williams' health, I don't think is a team where Poole will be transcendent against offensively either.
3. Imo our best approach this series is to make this a defensive rock fight and try to outscore them in transition (we need to be running off makes and misses this series). This means lots of GP2 (hopefully) and perhaps even Kuminga.
4. We can guard them in various different ways. We can switch (definitely with Draymond, probably with Looney, maybe with OPJ), we can double (we have guys who are experienced in scram situations and good at rotating over) and I also think we can get away with a conventional drop against them too. I'd like to see If Brown and Tatum can make enough pullup 3s and ideally long 2s to break open our defense. Plus, we saw how Milwaukee (with better personnel for a drop obviously) forced them into shooting jumpers all game. And of course, we will throw in weird zones in there as well.
5. I don't think we can score over them in the halfcourt consistently without having all 4 of Steph/Klay/Poole/Wiggs out there.
6. GP2 and Iggy can feast on JT/JB in terms of causing TOs which will boost our offense. Let's hope they're both healthy. Also, this might be the only series where I'm fairly okay with Steph reaching lol.
7. The crucial point in this series imo is Robert Williams' health. He's a JJJ level rim protector and we saw how much trouble JJJ gave us (and even Williams gave us hell in the game where Steph got hurt). However, he has not looked right since he re-aggravated his injury.
8. They're not a great defensive rebounding team. We've been pretty goddamn great on the offensive glass. It would be amazing if we could win the possession battle due to our rebounding.
9. We need Steph more than they need Tatum. Basically, Steph needs to be the best player in the series if we want to win. If he has series that is anything close to his 2019 Raptors series, our odds of winning go up substantially.
10. This might be a series for OPJ more than Looney. Contingent on health obviously.
11. We also should look to exploit Jaylen Brown off-ball. That might be their only weak link defensively.
12. This is going to be more of a mid-range series too. We're not getting as many rim attempts this series as in the WCF. Steph, Klay, Poole and even Wiggins/OPJ will need to take and hopefully make mid-range jumpers.
Just reading about the Celtics having the 2nd lowest defensive # in the playoffs at 102.__ - but having seen several of their games against the Bucks and the Heat, those teams could not BUY a shot for long stretches. So that 2nd ranked playoff defense seems more than a bit like BS to me. Less to do with their defense and more to do with the weakness of their opponents' offenses. And they swept the Nets in the first round, which was not all that difficult.
Don’t wanna talk about prediction or schedule, I want to enjoy fully the history of what I hope will be a challenging and heart stopping series, because the last thing I want to think about it is what I will feel when there will be four months of no NBA in front of me.
Ciao Dubs. I have watched the Colin Cowherd (doesn’t his surname sound weird for you? I mean ‘mandria di mucche’ does in Italian) podcast, hosting Dray. It was a clash of journalism titans. I love Colin (and I’m sorry he’s so almost full on Football), and I love Dray when he has an analysis challenger. When will we see a session with Pat Beverley?
This is turning into a long wait…. I’m ready to go, and the game is not until tomorrow! I hope the players are staying more calm than me!
Dray Finals Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUOHyNm6_nA
Prediction: dubs blitz the Celtics in the 3rd quarter game 1 and win a blowout. Game 2 will cause some lemon booty as Celtics take a double digit lead into the middle of the 3rd, then Steph and Klay trade 3s and ultimately win a relatively comfortable game and put the pressure on Boston down 0-2
This dog predicts who will win the 2022 NBA Finals.
https://old.reddit.com/r/warriors/comments/v28nes/your_2022_nba_champions/
If you don't want to watch the video, the dog predicts that Warriors win in 6 games (W, W, L, L, W, W).
I so want to see this lockdown on Tatum ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZwheyBpiO8
I usually have a strong feeling about a teams chances against the Warriors. The Celtics I can’t get a read on them. I didn’t watch very many of their games, but I knew from when we played them last they were a very cohesive team. I just can’t tell what will happen. I could see them taking game 1 but I could also see us punching them in the mouth from the tip. I honestly feel our vet savvy, sheer will, timely defense and playmaking will have us come out on top in 5 games, maybe six. I just see no way barring injury these Warriors leave without a ring. They know what is on the line.
Reading the newswires and listening to the talking heads, it seems we are the underdogs here ...
Just Read Monique’s letter to GPII in the athletic, makes me proud to be a dubs fan and gives another reason to hope for GP2 to get at least a little run in the finals. So awesome to see a guy work so hard to make the league, and in his first real year turn around and use his position to help give some kids hope. I know there are a lot of guys in the NBA that try to help out their communities in different ways, so shout out to them too - but so great to see GP2 do some good deeds as well. My only hope is he can add some cash to his foundation by picking Tarun’s pocket a few times.
Match-ups aside, one of the things I am looking forward to is seeing how the Celtics react the Warriors unwavering desire to win a game. Our cores ability to stay locked in 48 minutes should be considered legendary, and it will be fun to see how the Celtics react to to relentless pressure.
How the Celtics react over the course of seven games could decide the series. Mind you, when I say this, its 5-8 minute lapses that can decide the series. It's not like I'm imagining the Warriors can break the Celtics but create just enough winning moments for themself that it is enough.
DNHQ finger to the wind: Who's better on defense, Kevon Looney or Robert Williams III? (assuming both healthy)
People keep saying Boston is going to play a switch everything defense, but if they want to guarantee that Robert Williams is near the rim (which they do), they cannot switch everything against the Warriors:
https://twitter.com/_JasonLT/status/1531708981181173765
And if he's switching, the gameplan at least early in the series should be to make him test out his change of direction with his knee and all that from Curry and Poole (like in the video posted in the comments). It's a valid strategy, the Cavs took advantage of Curry's knee in 2016 and you don't hear anyone except us loser Warrior fans pointing out his physical issues. If he's playing then it's on the Celtics if anything happens to him.
The Celtics have a great smallball unit but if they can run R Williams off the floor I think that's advantage Warriors. Big if...if he's healthy.
I have loads of thoughts about this series. In no particular order:
1. I don't see them having a great offensive series. I think we're very well equipped to guard them, especially if GP2, OPJ and Iggy are healthy. That is unless we're playing JP heavy minutes.
2. I don't think this is a Jordan Poole series. I think the Celtics will struggle to score against us in the half-court whenever Poole is not on the floor. However, I do believe Marcus Smart and Derrick White can bully Poole offensively (we saw Dinwiddie and even Bullock doing it a few times in the past series). Additionally, contingent on Robert Williams' health, I don't think is a team where Poole will be transcendent against offensively either.
3. Imo our best approach this series is to make this a defensive rock fight and try to outscore them in transition (we need to be running off makes and misses this series). This means lots of GP2 (hopefully) and perhaps even Kuminga.
4. We can guard them in various different ways. We can switch (definitely with Draymond, probably with Looney, maybe with OPJ), we can double (we have guys who are experienced in scram situations and good at rotating over) and I also think we can get away with a conventional drop against them too. I'd like to see If Brown and Tatum can make enough pullup 3s and ideally long 2s to break open our defense. Plus, we saw how Milwaukee (with better personnel for a drop obviously) forced them into shooting jumpers all game. And of course, we will throw in weird zones in there as well.
5. I don't think we can score over them in the halfcourt consistently without having all 4 of Steph/Klay/Poole/Wiggs out there.
6. GP2 and Iggy can feast on JT/JB in terms of causing TOs which will boost our offense. Let's hope they're both healthy. Also, this might be the only series where I'm fairly okay with Steph reaching lol.
7. The crucial point in this series imo is Robert Williams' health. He's a JJJ level rim protector and we saw how much trouble JJJ gave us (and even Williams gave us hell in the game where Steph got hurt). However, he has not looked right since he re-aggravated his injury.
8. They're not a great defensive rebounding team. We've been pretty goddamn great on the offensive glass. It would be amazing if we could win the possession battle due to our rebounding.
9. We need Steph more than they need Tatum. Basically, Steph needs to be the best player in the series if we want to win. If he has series that is anything close to his 2019 Raptors series, our odds of winning go up substantially.
10. This might be a series for OPJ more than Looney. Contingent on health obviously.
11. We also should look to exploit Jaylen Brown off-ball. That might be their only weak link defensively.
12. This is going to be more of a mid-range series too. We're not getting as many rim attempts this series as in the WCF. Steph, Klay, Poole and even Wiggins/OPJ will need to take and hopefully make mid-range jumpers.
Gary Payton not there yet, in his own words. https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors/status/1531768701799784451?s=20&t=zH50X5GG_jihxwPUIPXCKg