NBA FINALS 2019 |——| WARRIORS -vs- RAPTORS |——| USA -vs- CANADA

i did wonder abt that timeout too

seem like it killed the momentum.

i haven't listened to the game audio, but the pub i was at had some cheering when kd went down and i my friend and i both said at the time it was classless. didn't even occur to me how bad it might have sounded in the stadium.

there's a big elephant in the room here, Durant was awesome in the first quarter and the Dubs won by 1. had he not played they would likely have been eliminated. so the "do u regret bringing Durant back" thing has a bit of a subtext

that game was just a survive if you can type game doesnt matter how much you win by.

i broke my collar bone when i was like 8 and the memory of the pain still haunts me so idk what the heck looney thinks he's doing but jeez what a soldier

apart from nerve pain, most painful injury I've had. it affects your whole body. I couldn't walk for prob a week. Sleep was even painful. Even years after it healed, I'd get a bad ache from it occasionally.

"In a rule that was instituted last season, teams can have only two timeouts inside of the final three minutes in the fourth quarter. Any extra timeouts are lost, causing many coaches to call one in exactly the same spot Nurse did Monday night."

Still not a good reason to call a TO with the Warriors flailing imo

there is only one good reason to call a time out
https://img.beckett.com/images/items/3036691/marketplace/FRONT_custom_sf_794_18396258_1405467235.png

I'll stand by the time out. Basically I'd say, "You're six up and two minutes away from a title. Play smart. Play smart. Play smart." I mean, I know they're not supposed to need such reminders, but they sure didn't play very smart those last two minutes.

It also gives Kawhi a breather after his crazy two minutes.

it was a bad timeout but like... pop benched tim duncan on the ray allen shot. idk. a lot of game happened after that.

the most bizarre coaching decision to me was kerr not changing up their defense at all in the fourth quarter and letting cousins get routinely roasted at the top of the key off very simple switching action. i think nurse's one bad decision was far less damaging than kerr like conceding 5 possessions in the fourth Q of an elimination game but he will escape w his reputation intact

kerr's been making weird decisions all series

I think Nurse's reputation is doing just fine. If Kerr quit and the Warriors wanted to hire him, I wouldn't complain.

It's those kinds of weird decisions that make Kerr "a player's coach", meaning among other things that he dislikes making decisions that imply he doesn't trust a player to make important plays. In the 4th quarter of a close NBA Finals elimination game, that is a pretty shaky idea to stand on, but old habits run deep.

I don't have a problem with Kerr leaving Cousins in too long if it means I don't have to see Quinn Cook in fucking crunch time, sheesh

i don't have a problem w/ kerr playing cousins, clearly he was one of their best options and they prob don't win the game w/o his run right after KD got hurt. i just feel like if you're going to run him out there like that you have to have some other plan on defense beyond "let kyle lowry roast him one on one every play"

i guess the warriors have always played like that... kerr let curry get switched onto the ball for 150 straight possessions in those cavs finals. but...

Curry is infinitely better at defense than boog atm

def but curry took a pounding in those series and was never right offensively really. anyway, i guess the warriors have a strategy of letting the opponent hunt a match up bcuz they just think they're better. but i wish them good luck when it comes to busted up boogie guarding guards 25 feet from the rim.

The Warriors have played 'switch everything' defense for several years now. It has worked out well for them so they've stuck to it. This late in the season, a coach doesn't have the option of suddenly installing a whole new defensive scheme, just because they don't have their full complement of players. It makes for a weakness the raptors can exploit, and that's how you play playoff hoops.

This late in the season, a coach doesn't have the option of suddenly installing a whole new defensive scheme

i don't think the history of playoff basketball really supports this theory. i mean in this series alone nick nurse shut steph curry down for a whole quarter w a box and 1

steve kerr is a great coach and it's a lie to say that he's incapable of summoning a different defensive strategy in the elimination game of an NBA finals

xp are you saying the raptors haven't ever played box and 1 before that game?

this seems like a more reasonable explanation

Our @DanFeldmanNBA w/ perspective on Raps fans cheering Durant injury. "Ibaka got a steal and drew a shooting foul as Durant went down... the telecast immediately noticed Durant’s injury, many eyes in the arena were following the ball... I certainly was.https://t.co/ADXCD17kUX

— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) June 11, 2019

i don't think the history of playoff basketball really supports this theory. i mean in this series alone nick nurse shut steph curry down for a whole quarter w a box and 1

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, June 11, 2019 2:53 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah and like it cld just be a change in emphasis rather than doing something totally new

seems like a more reasonable explanation

that would depend on how long the cheering went on.

look they doubled kawhi on the final possession. it's not like they just play straight up man D every play. they made a choice to let boogie guard lowry one on one for a handful of possessions after the raptors specifically hunted that match up out and imo it nearly cost them a title

saw vid of Raps fan grinning and waving byebye to a prone Durant

hooligans!

re kerr. playing jordan bell in the 4th was just mind blowing. almost up there with the Ezili minutes in the 4th q of game 7 vs the cavs in 2016. they got the W so you just have to shrug at it but between that and boogie almost blowing the game like 4 times he's def made some kerr-esque whacko decisions.

anyway their defense is broken right now. boogie just bleeds buckets and iggy (been a very rough series for him) and klay are half step slow. looney is playing with one arm. livingston is a full step slow. they have to give minutes to quinn cook so they can have three shooters out there but he cant guard anyone. draymond is trying to turn off as many leaky faucets as he can. there's only so much that can be done. imo they will have to win this series with offense and gambling on defense to try and stir up turnovers so they can get out and run. game 6 could be a blowout if toronto just stays steady and makes the extra pass.

i'm still processing what happened last night. mostly my thoughts are that it really sucks if peak KD is never coming back which seems likely, and that the warriors made, at minimum, a less than responsible decision in clearing him to play.

i have to wonder at this point how much better of an option boogie is over bogut even. There were numerous times when it felt like he was absolutely gonna cost them the game.

still cant believe they let their training staff guru take a new job with the hawks (chelsea lane). the new guy in charge will be fired im sure. theyve mishandled everything in these playoffs, especially the communication. they shouldve ruled KD out for the rest of the season immiediatly on the first injury to take the pressure of coming back. im sure kd and team overrode or at least pushed for playing but man this does not look good. they technically didnt even clear him until like warmups or something. everyone knows he wouldnt have played if they had the lead in the series. really sad all around i hope its not a full tear.

boogie gives you an offensive punch or at least the threat of one. and they need offense. i dont mind seeing him out there if looney is hurt but if they are picking on him over and over when you have the lead then you have to get him out.

i think boogie and bogut are giving you pretty much the exact same thing on defense -- size, rebounding, and no chance in space -- but boogie is much better offensively, at least in theory. that's why i didn't really mind kerr playing bell in the fourth last night and i'd probably wanna see more minutes from him frankly since he's their only big left w/ any shred of athleticism.

yeah its not like they have any really good options at this point

it seems like with boogie you can tell within 3 or 4 minutes whether he's got it that day or not.

boogie was getting fn roasted tho lol, on the other hand him having a big game is one of their realistic paths to taking the series

the real problem like spottie alluded to is that igoudala was basically unplayable last night. kerr is going to have to be really smart about using his timeouts and manipulating offensive/defensive lineups in dead ball situations in the fourth quarter because clearly the warriors only have 3 guys who you can trust on both ends of the floor.

bogut seems less likely than boogie to turn the ball over/stupidly foul when he's beaten off the dribble right now. it's just driving me crazy watching him.
where is iggy on offense is very much the other big question

im fine with him playing bell! but just throwing him in the 4th q of an elimination game when he hadnt played in 2 games was insane.

if i was the warriors i'd play a slow game w/ no transition and gear my offense mostly towards 3s and just try and outshoot them, basically

curry gets no rhythm when games are slowed down. you lose any threat of a splashplosion really.

and draymond running the break energizes his defense

btw bogut is a way better pnr defender than boog and is also an all time screen setter. hes not gonna kill you but you have almost no upside playing him. i like boogie vs second units in general but ibaka has been running circles around him. toronto just has a counter for everything right now, as they should vs the banged up dubs. gonna take a lot of luck and some home cooking to get this to a game 7.

somehow iggy had 4 blocks last night lol

the warriors are at their best in transition but so are the raptors... there are just no great options

i think draymond running off rebounds and dead balls is sort of its own universe of game play, i just think for various reasons the warriors don't want to get in an up and down game at this point even if that's their best style generally

but also you could argue they could/should play differently at home. i hope the warriors win mostly bcuz this series is really fascinating.

this series deserves a game 7

ya

Hoping KD didn't fully tear anything. I don't think he would have been able to limp at all if that was the case. They would have had to carry him off.