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You see Brown slap hit McConnel right in the face mid air and only get a common foul?
Can't see anybody with an ounce of nba knowledge watching the mavs play and think an untested eastern conference team has a remote chance.
Should be mavs in 5 but nba will protect lakers east and stretch it to 6.
You see Brown slap hit McConnel right in the face mid air and only get a common foul?
Tatum is a better overall player than Irving, but Irving is a better shot creator/maker.
I'd easily favour them if they had Porzingis healthy, but unfortunately they don't, and I always feel dubious bringing a player back into a finals series if they hadn't played earlier. I remember the 2009 Orlando Magic were playing great going in to the finals with Rafer Alston starting for them, then they bring Jameer Nelson back for the finals, and I think that threw their rhythm and team chemistry off (not saying they would have won, but I think they would have had a better chance leaving it as it was with Rafer starting). I hope the same doesn't happen for Boston when Porzingis comes back. Having said that, Boston did play huge parts of the regular season with him, so hopefully he slots back in and they pick up where they left off from.
Kyrie is not better than Tatum as a player. He's a better finisher and shot creator, but that is it (He's never been a great PG or playmaker, he's just a great one on one player). I don't know why people are elevating Kyrie so high when they trashed him for the past 4 or 5 years (for the record, I am very high on Kyrie and didn't trash him the past 3 or 4 years like most people have done in the media and here). Boston as a team, is also not trash. Just because they weren't tested, doesn't mean they're trash like people are thinking. They might be at a disadvantage having not gone against high quality opponents, but during the regular season, they proved they were legit.
Last edited by Ice009; 06-01-2024 at 12:56 AM.
Boston might be the favorite due to their depth and 3 point shooting, but Dallas has the two best players on the court. Mavs in 6 if they keep the games close.
I’ve just seen too many years’ worth of the Celtics getting bogged down late in close games against the really good teams to think that this time will be any different. When the 3’s aren’t falling, Tatum and Brown struggle as playmakers to create good shots late. Meanwhile, we just watched Doncic and Irving make mincemeat of an elite defensive team.
The Mavs have been a different team since getting Gafford and Washington acclimated.
Porzingis is the key.
If he's healthy and can give them 30mpg while shooting high percentages, I can't see the Mavs winning.
Their defense looked great so far, but every opponent had non-shooters on the floor and then someone else also shat the bed if we talk 3pt shooting. (Read: Chet and KAT.)
Celtics can play 5-out for 48 minutes with healthy Porzingis which means Mavs rim protection won't be as nearly as good.
Celtics also don't have a weak link offensively when it comes to putting the ball on the floor and attacking the basket. Everyone can punish mismatches or bad closeouts.
There's no O'Neale, Dort or McDaniels in this series, every Celtic can run shoot, attack the rim and even run PNR. Tbh, Brown is the only questionable ballhandler for them.
There won't be any rest for Luka or Kyrie on defense, I expect Celtics to relentlessly attack them.
Still, as already said Celtics tend to have these awful runs where they just resort to chucking, MDA Rockets style, and they lose winnable games because of it.
This is also the series where Tatum needs to show he's an actual MVP level player. Numbers are there, accolades if we talk deep playoff runs are there, but he's never shown us any all-time great performances every MVP candidate has.
There will surely be a couple of games where he needs to be the difference maker and not Brown, Derrick or Jrue. Those games probably decide the series.
Overall, Mavs can certainly win this, but their margin for error is much lower. If Luka and Kyrie don't average close to 60ppg combined, they won't win.
Celtics haven't really been tested in the East, but it's not their fault. They're a 64 win team that cruised to the finals.
Fwiw, they won both games against the Mavs this season, scored 138 in their last meeting.
Tatum is not an MVP caliber player (check his "catch-all" metrics); that's always been their problem or at least biggest one is that they're trying to win a championship without the most important piece.
With how relatively open the league is at the moment and how complete they are, they have a shot to pull it off, but I'd never count on that construct doing so.
One cool aspect of this year's finals is that it marks the second year in a row that will feature a superstar from a country that was formerly part of Yugoslavia. Lots of younger NBA fans understandably don't know about the history of basketball in Europe, but for many years Yugoslavia competed with the USSR in multiple Olympics and World Cups from the 70s onward for the le of best team outside of the NBA, a run that started in 1970 with a FIBA World Cup gold where Yugoslavia defeated both the USA and the USSR. Basketball in a beloved sport in all of the former Yugoslavian countries, and Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic are the beneficiaries of that tradition.
I was thinking about this dynamic after having a conversation with a friend who's a big soccer fan. He was complaining about the influence that Saudi Arabia now has on the world soccer scene because they can throw more money at players than most other places. I imagine for many years-- and probably still-- many Europeans felt the same way, wishing they could stay at home and make money playing their sport, rather than relocating to the USA. I remember many years ago after Arvydas Sabonis went back to Europe despite more lucrative offers to stay, I read an interview he gave to a newspaper in Lithuania, and he said something along the lines of "I didn't like the American lifestyle or culture nearly as much as I do the European..." of course, he played for the infamous Jailblazers, so his view of American culture was probably at least a little bit skewed.
NBA is honestly not just about the money for europeans. That remains a dream for any kid playing BB, as the best, most entertaining league in the world full of stars... Most BB fans in Europe, specially younger ones, barely care about or watch local compe ions. It's all about the NBA.I was thinking about this dynamic after having a conversation with a friend who's a big soccer fan. He was complaining about the influence that Saudi Arabia now has on the world soccer scene because they can throw more money at players than most other places. I imagine for many years-- and probably still-- many Europeans felt the same way, wishing they could stay at home and make money playing their sport, rather than relocating to the USA. I remember many years ago after Arvydas Sabonis went back to Europe despite more lucrative offers to stay, I read an interview he gave to a newspaper in Lithuania, and he said something along the lines of "I didn't like the American lifestyle or culture nearly as much as I do the European..." of course, he played for the infamous Jailblazers, so his view of American culture was probably at least a little bit skewed
I was in Serbia last year, and that is definitely not what I saw. People were extremely excited about Serbian basketball, and pissed that Jokic was taking off the FIBA tournament. I thought I'd connect with people by being a Jokic fan, but I wound up being the apologist and telling Serbs that all will be forgiven if Nikola gets them an Olympic Gold
Yeah, you're right about national teams, specially in die hard BB countries like former Yougoslavia ones, or Turkey/Grece, maybe not so much in western european countries where football (soccer) is vampirizing everything. But my main point was NBA remains the ultimate dream for euro players, as the best, most compe ive league in the world, plus ofc better money (in most cases).I was in Serbia last year, and that is definitely not what I saw. People were extremely excited about Serbian basketball, and pissed that Jokic was taking off the FIBA tournament. I thought I'd connect with people by being a Jokic fan, but I wound up being the apologist and telling Serbs that all will be forgiven if Nikola gets them an Olympic Gold
The thing about these "young, new" countries like Serbia or Slovenia, who are not economically or politically dominant, is that sport, and BB in particular, is really a way to rally everyone behind the nation and affim their iden y, pride and relevance, speciailly if you consider the "tensions" and resentment that are still very strong in the aftermath of the war.
Last edited by JPB; 06-02-2024 at 02:50 PM.
I mean we are all rooting for Dallas here if no one else, right? Texas pride and all that.
Tbh I've never even encountered a Mavericks fan in real life so it's not like gloating is factor.
Born and raised in Texas.
the Mavs.
the Rockets.
Let them burn and rot before glory.
+1
I don't hate the Mavs that much, but I want Celtics to win it just because of the Lakers fans meltdown and obviously Derrick is our guy.
FTM
Luka is ok
FTL
Go Celts
D White
THE MAVS and Marc Cuban
lmao finley smooth as silk taking that beer away
GO MAVS GO
no ing way, the mavs
Frfr. Kyrie all grown and mature now also. Who doesn’t love a redemption story!?!?
Honestly though a 7 game series bout bodes well for all.
Last edited by KingKev; 06-03-2024 at 06:27 PM.
So because Irving, who was so toxic he lost significant money on and off court and was running out of chances, has been on his best behavior, that automatically means he's grown and matured five minutes after the fact?
This is the oldest move in the playbook for a fallen superstar/star, basketball or otherwise. Look no further than Bryant.
Fvck the mavs.
Fvck nazi kyrie
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