Suns up 3-1 series over?

[adcoop]

There was zero pressure to win tonights game. Let's see what happens next game. I mean, if they lose 4-2, nothing different.

Zero pressure? Game 5 in a 3-1 comeback is the hardest one to win. You are usually on the road and the expectation is that you are going to go on and bow out. You get Game 5 and the whole momentum of a series changes. It's not like the Clippers have not done it before. It's not like Ty Lue hasn't coached in this situation before. They have been coming back all playoffs. The Suns have done well, but they are young team and shaky as well. They are already a couple years ahead of schedule. Would not be surprised at all if they lose this series. What people are forgetting is that Paul George doesn't have to outplay LeBron James or Kevin Durant right now. All he has to do is outplay Chris Paul or Devin Booker. He can do that.

 

[Silver_Coconut]

Zero pressure? Game 5 in a 3-1 comeback is the hardest one to win. You are usually on the road and the expectation is that you are going to go on and bow out. You get Game 5 and the whole momentum of a series changes. It's not like the Clippers have not done it before. It's not like Ty Lue hasn't coached in this situation before. They have been coming back all playoffs. The Suns have done well, but they are young team and shaky as well. They are already a couple years ahead of schedule. Would not be surprised at all if they lose this series. What people are forgetting is that Paul George doesn't have to outplay LeBron James or Kevin Durant right now. All he has to do is outplay Chris Paul or Devin Booker. He can do that.

Sure. Paul George had a great game. If he push game 7 and take the series, great. It would surely be a coming out party so to speak, since he’s never won a conference final.

 

[BobbyBReloaded1975]

All I know is this years playoffs have been the most fun I’ve had watching the NBA since the Magic / Bird / Jordan days . The bucks vs net game 7 might have been the best game I’ve ever seen . The NBA is going to be so much fun the next 5 or 6 years . So many amazing young players Trae , Luka , Booker , Joker , Mitchell , Dame , Lamelo , Antman , etc etc . The talent level is at an all time high

 

[adcoop]

All I know is this years playoffs have been the most fun I’ve had watching the NBA since the Magic / Bird / Jordan days . The bucks vs net game 7 might have been the best game I’ve ever seen . The NBA is going to be so much fun the next 5 or 6 years . So many amazing young players Trae , Luka , Booker , Joker , Mitchell , Dame , Lamelo , Antman , etc etc . The talent level is at an all time high

I'm going to watch it, but the playoffs, with all the injuries, have been a little of a let down for me. I wanted to see Clippers and Lakers finally meet. I wanted to see if the winner of that meet Brooklyn. Those are the three best rosters in the NBA and injuries have the Nets and the Lakers out and the Clippers hanging on by a thread. I like the young stars, but I don't feel it is their time yet. Lebron and Durant need to meet one last time to settle who was the guy for this generation.

 

[BobbyBReloaded1975]

I'm going to watch it, but the playoffs, with all the injuries, have been a little of a let down for me. I wanted to see Clippers and Lakers finally meet. I wanted to see if the winner of that meet Brooklyn. Those are the three best rosters in the NBA and injuries have the Nets and the Lakers out and the Clippers hanging on by a thread. I like the young stars, but I don't feel it is their time yet. Lebron and Durant need to meet one last time to settle who was the guy for this generation.

I love KD and Lebron’s talent but honestly they will never have the same clout as MJ , Kobe , Magic , Bird or Duncan . The fact that both KD and Lebron had to chase titles by jumping from team to team just irks me . If Giannis can bring a title to the bucks he vaults over Lebron and KD in my book . Same with Trae Young or Devin Booker . Those guys can’t hold a candle to lebron or KD’s skill sets but the fact they could raise the level of everyone around them means something .

 

[adcoop]

I love KD and Lebron’s talent but honestly they will never have the same clout as MJ , Kobe , Magic , Bird or Duncan . The fact that both KD and Lebron had to chase titles by jumping from team to team just irks me . If Giannis can bring a title to the bucks he vaults over Lebron and KD in my book . Same with Trae Young or Devin Booker . Those guys can’t hold a candle to lebron or KD’s skill sets but the fact they could raise the level of everyone around them means something .

I have to totally disagree with this. People try to hold on to Bird and Magic. However, their careers were too short to be considered better than Lebron or KD in the All-Time category. Bird was essentially through after 10 seasons due to his back and Magic was through in that time as well due to the virus. Also, the game has evolved and people like to talk about how great the 80's were, but Larry had a year where he shot 22% from the 3 point line. Just think about that. Probably the best shooter of that decade shot 22% from the 3 point line in a year. We all like to hold on to the era that we grew up in. However, if you really look at it objectively there were a lot of flaws to the 80's game. Just about every play began with a post up. A lot of bricks for jumpers. Many of the players jumped as high as they could to shoot a jump shot only to line drive the ball at the basket. My son, who is a pretty good high school player, points this out to me all the time when we watch one of the old games on NBA TV. I don't like it when he says it, but I have to shake my head because he makes a lot good points. It's like my Dad who thinks no one can top Bill Russell. However, I always point out that Russell shot 44% from the field for his career as a Center. There are flaws to today's game as well and the game will evolve and change and my son will be holding on to his heroes to the next generation.

 

[adcoop]

I love KD and Lebron’s talent but honestly they will never have the same clout as MJ , Kobe , Magic , Bird or Duncan . The fact that both KD and Lebron had to chase titles by jumping from team to team just irks me . If Giannis can bring a title to the bucks he vaults over Lebron and KD in my book . Same with Trae Young or Devin Booker . Those guys can’t hold a candle to lebron or KD’s skill sets but the fact they could raise the level of everyone around them means something .

The 80's was a no salary cap era for half of Bird and Magic's career where there was little player movement. You didn't have social media and tons of talk shows killing the 80's guys for the not winning a title. In the 80's management created super teams and they did it with no salary cap restriction. Today's game has financial restrictions and the players create the super teams. It actually results in a similar league makeup. As always, you have 5-6 teams that contend, 5/6 teams that are awful, and the rest are stuck in the middle. Whether a player gets with his friends and creates a super team or not, you still have to go out, have good fortune, and win a title. Case in point, the Brooklyn Nets this year. Finally, you can't be serious with the Giannis vaults over Lebron with one title. You also can't be serious with the comment that some of the younger players raise the level of everyone more than Lebron. Scoring is not Lebron's biggest asset. It's raising the level of everyone around him with his court vision and passing, especially in the half court. Lebron is probably the best passer in a half court set of all time. No one surpasses Magic on the break, but Lebron is the guy in the half court. How do you think scrubs like Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mosgov got paid? They played with Lebron and people got fooled that they actually could play.

 

[BobbyBReloaded1975]

The 80's was a no salary cap era for half of Bird and Magic's career where there was little player movement. You didn't have social media and tons of talk shows killing the 80's guys for the not winning a title. In the 80's management created super teams and they did it with no salary cap restriction. Today's game has financial restrictions and the players create the super teams. It actually results in a similar league makeup. As always, you have 5-6 teams that contend, 5/6 teams that are awful, and the rest are stuck in the middle. Whether a player gets with his friends and creates a super team or not, you still have to go out, have good fortune, and win a title. Case in point, the Brooklyn Nets this year. Finally, you can't be serious with the Giannis vaults over Lebron with one title. You also can't be serious with the comment that some of the younger players raise the level of everyone more than Lebron. Scoring is not Lebron's biggest asset. It's raising the level of everyone around him with his court vision and passing, especially in the half court. Lebron is probably the best passer in a half court set of all time. No one surpasses Magic on the break, but Lebron is the guy in the half court. How do you think scrubs like Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mosgov got paid? They played with Lebron and people got fooled that they actually could play.

Totally agree with you on Lebron . The guy is without a doubt the most talented All Around player the league has ever seen . There will never be another one like him . However if you’re in a game 7 must win who are you riding with in the final two 5 minutes .. MJ , Kobe or Lebron ?? Lebron just doesn’t have the killer instinct they had . Again Lebron is without a doubt the most most talented all around player to step on the court without a doubt . However he never wins a title without other All Stars surrounding him . Giannis will never be the player Lebron is but if he can win multiple rings in Milwaukee with a team he basically carries (even though Kris Middleton has been fantastic) then it’s a big feather in his cap . I’m was super excited that Brooklyn got bounced because it’s just not good for the game to have super teams . If Phoenix plays Atlanta in the finals I’ll be stoked . Now the NBA will hate it because no Lebron, KD or Giannis probably equals poor finals ratings but I’ll watch every game .

 

[adcoop]

Totally agree with you on Lebron . The guy is without a doubt the most talented All Around player the league has ever seen . There will never be another one like him . However if you’re in a game 7 must win who are you riding with in the final two 5 minutes .. MJ , Kobe or Lebron ?? Lebron just doesn’t have the killer instinct they had . Again Lebron is without a doubt the most most talented all around player to step on the court without a doubt . However he never wins a title without other All Stars surrounding him . Giannis will never be the player Lebron is but if he can win multiple rings in Milwaukee with a team he basically carries (even though Kris Middleton has been fantastic) then it’s a big feather in his cap . I’m was super excited that Brooklyn got bounced because it’s just not good for the game to have super teams . If Phoenix plays Atlanta in the finals I’ll be stoked . Now the NBA will hate it because no Lebron, KD or Giannis probably equals poor finals ratings but I’ll watch every game .

Actually the Lebron is not clutch in the last two minutes is an incorrect narrative. LeBron is known to pass and make the correct basketball play. However, he has more game winning shots and has a higher FG% on game winning shots than MJ or Kobe. The league is just so over-exposed now that everything Lebron does is hyper-scrutinized. MJ is a better overall player than Lebron. However, I put Lebron above Kobe. Just a more efficient and bigger player that you can use at any position. I, also, give Lebron a lot of credit for continuing to keep his body in shape and stretch out his prime. Lebron has a prime now that has gone over 17 seasons. I exclude his rookie year because he needed some time to get acclimated and didn't start putting up the monster number until his second year. Very few players have had a prime that have lasted this long. This years playoffs was the first time where you could finally say, "Is Lebron slowing down or is it the High Ankle Sprain?".

 

[adcoop]

Totally agree with you on Lebron . The guy is without a doubt the most talented All Around player the league has ever seen . There will never be another one like him . However if you’re in a game 7 must win who are you riding with in the final two 5 minutes .. MJ , Kobe or Lebron ?? Lebron just doesn’t have the killer instinct they had . Again Lebron is without a doubt the most most talented all around player to step on the court without a doubt . However he never wins a title without other All Stars surrounding him . Giannis will never be the player Lebron is but if he can win multiple rings in Milwaukee with a team he basically carries (even though Kris Middleton has been fantastic) then it’s a big feather in his cap . I’m was super excited that Brooklyn got bounced because it’s just not good for the game to have super teams . If Phoenix plays Atlanta in the finals I’ll be stoked . Now the NBA will hate it because no Lebron, KD or Giannis probably equals poor finals ratings but I’ll watch every game .

Did you have a problem with Boston having 4 Hall of Famers and the Lakers having 5 Hall of Famers in the 80's? League rules dictate what happens and those teams were able to use the rules of the time to stack their teams. Boston used a little known rule to draft Larry Bird in a year that he wasn't entering the draft to gain his rights. Can't do that anymore. You may say that is smart. However, what is the difference in organizations being smart and players being smart? Players in the 80's and 90's were just grateful to play, signed long-term deals against their best interests and did everything for the team. The players growing up in Lebron's era learned from that, signed shorter term deals, put pressure on management to field a competitive team, and left for better situations at times. Lebron actually signed a deal after his rookie deal in Cleveland. He game Cleveland 8 years to field a team and he had the good sense to leave after that in my opinion. Giannis just signed a new deal with Milwaukee. However, I promise you he leaves if the Bucks don't get a title in the next 3-4 years. I just don't see players as owing an organization anything for drafting them. Players should look out for their own individual careers as the media doesn't give a player any credit for staying in a bad situation and losing.

 

[BobbyBReloaded1975]

Did you have a problem with Boston having 4 Hall of Famers and the Lakers having 5 Hall of Famers in the 80's? League rules dictate what happens and those teams were able to use the rules of the time to stack their teams. Boston used a little known rule to draft Larry Bird in a year that he wasn't entering the draft to gain his rights. Can't do that anymore. You may say that is smart. However, what is the difference in organizations being smart and players being smart? Players in the 80's and 90's were just grateful to play, signed long-term deals against their best interests and did everything for the team. The players growing up in Lebron's era learned from that, signed shorter term deals, put pressure on management to field a competitive team, and left for better situations at times. Lebron actually signed a deal after his rookie deal in Cleveland. He game Cleveland 8 years to field a team and he had the good sense to leave after that in my opinion. Giannis just signed a new deal with Milwaukee. However, I promise you he leaves if the Bucks don't get a title in the next 3-4 years. I just don't see players as owing an organization anything for drafting them. Players should look out for their own individual careers as the media doesn't give a player any credit for staying in a bad situation and losing.

Totally agree with you that it’s a good thing to put the power in the players hands . That’s the way it should be since it’s their careers on the line and they are the ones packing out arenas . As I fan I just don’t like the fact that if you support a small market team you basically have zero chance of a title . Perfect example.., I can almost guarantee that if a kid like lamelo ball becomes a superstar as soon as his rookie deal runs out he’s a laker , Clipper or Net . Same with Trae Young or Anthony Edwards . You hit it right on the head , realistically you have 3 or 4 teams that can legitimately win a title and everyone else is SOL . I think it’s great to have a guy like Giannis is Milwaukee or Dame in Portland or Steph In Golden State. Those small market teams basically become farm systems for the big boys almost like MLB . I just don’t think it’s good for the game . Not disagreeing with anything you said .

 

[ToddFlanders]

Paul George is who we thought he was - a loser. Great skills, no head for the game. If he had Marcus Morris' head, he'd be the next LeBron. Unfortunately for any team that has him, he'll shrink under expectations. That's why he's a perfect #3 dude - no expectations for the #3 guy, but if your #3 can perform, you're a championship contender.