nba playoffs aka the 'offs (which includes the 'ins) 2021

^maybe because no one thinks they should lose to the Suns

and yet

tbf they were a lottery team for like an entire decade & the last few years they were in dead last in the West, it took me half the season to realize they were actually good and even still I thought they were gonna get massacred by the Lakers

the bubble run was a big clue, in retrospect. but I didn't think they'd beat a healthy lakers team either

I just think it's interesting that the suns somehow piss off the opposing team's best players over a series so much that by the deciding game, those players either take insane rage-fouls or storm off the court

― symsymsym, Thursday, July 1, 2021 9:28 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

CP

well yeah. booker, crowder and payne all talk a lot of shit too

none of them seem to care too much about being friendly w the competition

sun are a lil bit feisty, its nice

Paul's antics aside, I actually think the Suns carry themselves really, really well. I'm sure they talk, but Booker, Bridges and Ayton seem like relatively calm, cool and collected youngsters, and Crowder's wily vet moves are reasonable enough. None of 'em look like Pat Bev, Draymond, Boogie or Luka out there.

Booker in particular has evolved into exactly the kind of guy you want leading your team for 20 years. Talented, obviously, but also tough, even-keeled, willing to do the little stuff, says all the right stuff, seems passionate about team and winning. He may never be Kobe but he's definitely a guy you can hang a franchise on, imo.

otm
Ayton is such a refreshing player in so many ways - personality at the podium as well as how he is reviving some old school big man energy but making it work in the era of hoisting

^^^OTM

but don't know that I want Booker to ever be Kobe

CP3 trolling and flopping is funny at least, it was hard to stomach when he was complaining to the refs on every play during the rockets and late clippers years. fortunately he doesn't do much of that on this suns team.

these suns don't whine much, even when the clippers were getting all the calls.

yeah, i didn't even get into Ayton. that interview with him after the game-winning oop was, honestly, unlike any i've seen in a long time. i don't want to insult him but he just had a sort of child-like gentleness about him that was really endearing. and his improvement has been incredible to watch.

and i didn't mean to imply that i want Booker to ever be Kobe. i just think, like ... he is - especially in the world's eyes - the paragon of the "mentally tough alpha dog team leader" thing that i see shades of in Booker. he'll probably end up being less of an asshole and also a rung or two less talented and accomplished than Kobe was when all is said and done. he's an impressive guy right now, tho.

the Suns in the finals makes me want to be...a better man

xxpost might be easier to do less complaining when you're winning games and not trying to beat an unbeatable team every year

yeah there's a funny discrepancy between this platonic ideal of Kobe that NBA players (and lots of fans) worship and what Kobe was actually like on and off the court

Billy's with the Clippers and the crystal meth...

lol sufjan. love it.

xps re complaining - there was some whining last night, but kinda feel like cp is toning down at least that part of his lil bastardism now that he's the elder statesmen and all these young dudes looking up to him. with blake and later harden they kind of gave each other the implicit green light to act like babies

ayton also had some great interviews in the nuggets series gushing about jokic, same energy

(meaning same energy as his interview after the oop)

suns taking the clippers out would be very funny i support it

― lag∞n, Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:41 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

big revenge series for cp3 which means his quad will rip clean off the bone in game 6

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:56 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol

― lag∞n, Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:59 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

lmao

― i was too much listening to your accent (Spottie), Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:59 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

one more series for CP to shake off the curse for good.

the ayton-jokic mutual adoration is fantastic

otm
Ayton is such a refreshing player in so many ways - personality at the podium as well as how he is reviving some old school big man energy but making it work in the era of hoisting

― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Thursday, July 1, 2021 12:25 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

my man was doing honest to god hook shots in the post last night, the traditional C is BYKE

the degree to which he outplayed gobert in the same match up is pretty shocking

offense > defense

he def outplayed gobert but the jazz were badly outcoached in that series. no one was put in a position to succeed.

yeah if a team is going to basically play only guards and wings, it's gonna be really hard to stop them on offense, that's kinda the whole point. but you need able to hurt them on the other end and ayton could do that. that said, he also moved his feet on the perimeter better and was a more willing/better contester imo. reggie jackson went cold in the second half last night and i thought a lot of it was ayton making jackson shoot over him.

alright I'm really trying to talk myself into a Bucks win tonight. no Giannis is gonna change so much for them as the Bucks have led the playoffs in rebounds and 2pt%, but they're also doing really poorly in 3pt% and FG% which I hope will improve since on paper they're not a bad shooting team? plus I've also noticed that the Bucks play up/down to their competition - I know this is small sample size/Sportscenter shit but the Bucks do seem pretty motivated & feisty in elimination games & matchups vs. the team that knocked them out last year, hoping Game 5 at home knowing a win will at least get you back to Milwaukee counts

hard one to predict. if trae plays that will be tough.

if Trae plays they won't get suffocated so much by the Hawks D though

lou will suffocating people???

assuming trae is out again middleton will be the best player on the floor. jrue prob the second best. and they're at home. it would be a very bad loss

Being completely uncompetitive in playoff games they should win is kind of their signature. But they also must feel like their backs are against the wall which usually brings out their best. Idk weird energy going into this game

i feel optimistic that giannis' absence is going to compel the bucks' other scorers to level up

well the whole genius of pat bev, as it were, is that he’s the one under control and getting under someone else’s skin, goading them into techs and ejections while never crossing the line. but when he’s the one shoving someone in the back it all kinda falls apart and he just looks like a petulant asshole. you can’t ever get out pat bev’d if you’re pat bev

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, June 30, 2021 11:56 PM

this was a good post and honestly a guide for life tbh

you can't ever get out mookieproof'd if you're mookieproof

nba playoffs baby

Now officially no Trae Young or Giannis Antetokounmpo for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. https://t.co/siDlpDOuaU

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2021

If Trae played game 4 Giannis probably wouldn’t have gotten hurt, crazy how an official being a little close to the line changed the entire series

I wanna believe this is the night Brook Lopez has the game of his life

Well that first sequence was exactly what I wanted to see in game 4 and didn't -- Lopez gets a block, Bucks hustle down to the other end and attack the rim for a layup instead of dicking around and then clanking a poorly placed three with 2 on the shot clock.

Well this is a nice start

bucks amped up

Trade Giannis

Ladies and gentlemen Brook Lopez

Because I'm a ninny I'm afraid that was the turning point, Lopez goes up for his third or fourth easy dunk and gets stripped, suddenly the Hawks are executing again

And suddenly Bucks can't shoot and the Hawks are beating them for rebounds

not sure i can watch this, it's two teams whose entire thing is having one guy and both of those guys are out

milwaukee has more than one guy cmon

feels like this could just go 7 based on homecourt advantage--big factor when the talent is pretty flat.

put some respkht on khris middleton's name

they mostly have one guy xp