NBA Playoff Thread

Way to man up Magic. :

Does Stan Van Gundy get canned after this? Like Mike Brown, he's been to the Finals once. Like Mike Brown, he's fallen short of winning the big one in large part (though not exclusively) because of his coaching shortcomings. And Van Gundy arguably has had more talent than Mike Brown has had.

 

Howard with seven points. So stellar.

 

I think there is a sharp difference here. Van Gundy is a very, VERY good coach in this league. I'd X-and-O him against the best. Also, if you look at his W-L, year by year (except for when Riles ran him over in '05-'06), in Miami and Orlando, his team has won more games than the year before.

As for winning "the big one", if Bricks Howard hits a free throw to ice Game 4 last year in the Finals, it's 2-2 and something might have happened. (I still doubt it. Phil Jackson hates those Van Gundy brothers).

This is just matchups. Hedu was a threat because of his size and shooting ability. Orlando got "smaller" this year and Vince Carter is a "B" player. In this series, Orlando does not have one elite player. Howard WANTS to be elite, between his chiseled chest and his persona. Yet his terrible free throw shooting and lack of production (in the past) against Boston is here again. Some guys just don't play well against certain teams. I thought Cleveland and Shaq would get in Dwight Howard's head but Boston has REALLY screwed with his mind.

The Celtics have guys who aren't afraid to 'hit game point at the Y'. Pierce. Ray Allen. Kevin Garnett. Rondo. Shoot...that's a Murderer's Row of Talent. The difference was that, somewhere about 2 months ago, the old guys finally trusted Rondo to run the offense. When they "bought in", it clicked.

Van Gundy has been doing this for 30 years and doing it pretty well. He is searching for a solution but - with this team - Boston has all of the answers.

Would it be different with Hedu? Sure, they probably wouldn't be as fragile. I'm surprised Howard is as up and down as he is.

If Orlando fires Stan Van Gundy, what are they gonna do... hire Billy Donovan? Who is out there? Don Nelson? P.J. Carlesimo?

If Orlando fires Van Gundy, he'll have a new head coaching job within 72 hours. Guy is a grinder but this is just a terrible matchup for him.

I don't think the Magic will fire Stan but if they start off 12-17 next year, I could see it happening.

 

Orlando is getting worked over like a speed bag. After the way Boston played vs. the Cavs, I thought they had a very good chance of winning this series. But like this? Wow.

Know who has to be loving this? Mike Brown.

10 days ago, he was responsible for presiding over an underachieving team that melted down against an old, washed up opponent. The Cavs' postseason flameout, while still not acceptable to management, doesn't look nearly as bad now, does it?

I thought Brown was a goner, but the longer the Cavs go through their "evaluation process" and the longer this Celtics run goes on, the better his chances of hanging on for another year.

 

For Mike Brown, that is for LeBron to decide. If he comes back, it's Mr. James' call as to whether Brown says. If no #23, I am of the "may as well see if Mike Brown can coach" and give him another year.

The Magic are a different beast. Howard wants to be a superstar but, in this series, Boston has had the 4 best players: Rondo, Pierce, Garnett and Allen. That's hard to overcome as a coach.

Going back to the Charlotte series, every thime I would see Howard smirking and snorting after each foul called on him, I would wonder "why can't he just play off his man a little bit" or "why can't he avoid the charge by keeping his shoulders and elbows up?". We are now through 11 playoff games and he just hasn't adjusted. Right now, Howard is all hat/no cattle and turning into a coach killer.

Orlando's issues with me are that they are too heavy on shooting threes. Eventually, that will catch up to you. Defense gets tighter by this round. Players themselves are tighter with the pressure. It's not that different than why passing teams don't win when they play a January road game in snowflakes. Boston creates a "running game", "grind it out" atmosphere -- except they have snipers who aren't nervous.

Boston's prep work was simple and very effective. Guard the perimeter and let that brick-shooting body builder wearing #12 try and hit his little baby hook shots.

For Van Gundy, it's more of a challenge. Stop Rondo on the drive but watch out for Allen and Pierce on the perimeter, or KG from 12 feet. Shoot, Big Baby had a big game last night. I can't recall a team flipping the switch like the 2010 Celts have but some veteran teams can do this.

 

Can anyone for Orlando consistantly create a shot without being set up?

I was blasted last year for suggesting that Hedo was a better playoff piece than Howard. If Howard does not figure out how to properly shoot a jump hook, fuck, that is not a hard shot to teach. Tree fucking Rollins could at least shoot a jump hook.

 

Orlando would still be losing this series despite this, but it's a blowout loss because of their atrocious shooting. From layups to threes, they're missing all the relatively open shots they do get. So they stand around, hoping somebody else shoots, and it gets worse.
It happens. The 1968 76ers, who had Wilt, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham, had a 3-1 lead on the Celtics in the conference finals, shot a team 33 percent in the final three games, and lost.
I think S. Van Gundy would have a better reputation as a coach if he refused to let himsefl be mic-ed up during games. He's a like a cartoon character -- Angry Coach. I mean, when ESPN gave us sideline shots of Van Gundy's slow burn last night, it was hilarious. Most entertaining part of the game.

 

Anybody that thinks Hedo Turkeyglue would have made an ounce of difference in this series is kidding themselves.

At some point, when everyone stops talking about LeBron choking and Vince Carter choking, people will realize this very crucial fact.......

THE BOSTON CELTICS ARE A FUCKING REALLY GOOD BASKETBALL TEAM WHO IS WELL COACHED, HAS THE BEST TOP FOUR PLAYERS OF ANY ROSTER IN THE LEAGUE AND RIGHT NOW THEY ARE HEALTHY, WELL RESTED AND PLAYING REALLY WELL.

The only team who has the goods to stop the Celtics right now playing at this level is the Lakers and I'm not sure that is even a given right now.

Stop talking about other teams choking - they aren't choking the Celtics are just better and they are kicking their asses.

 

Zag, the Celtics are playing very, very well. But I watched them all season, and from January 1 until the start of the playoffs, they were anything but a top team. It is startling to watch the transition. If they are surprising people, I understand the surprise. It is difficult to watch a team lose to the Nets and Wizards at home in the same month and still think "Oh, yeah, once the playoffs start, they'll be golden." That's what happened, but it was hardly a percentage prediction.

 

The Cavs did choke, especially LeBron, and especially in Games 5 and 6. The Magic aren't necessarily choking, but they are who they are - frontrunning bunch that can't accept physical play and has a glorified defensive specialist as their leading man. I'm not shocked with how Orlando is playing as much as I was by the fact that Cleveland (undoubtedly the top team in the regular season) so willingly folded up.

 

The Celtics are a very good team. I don't dispute that. And I also agree that Doc Rivers is an outstanding coach, better than many give him credit for.

But the Magic are a very talented squad too that shouldn't be getting run out of the gym like this. As much shit as the Cavs got for laying down against the Celtics (and deservedly so), what they did is nothing compared to what the Magic are currently doing.

If Mike Brown is likely to be canned, why isn't Stan Van Gundy getting the same treatment?

 

This in no way is defending Carter, but if you watched Hedo play this year he was awful. Turkolu would have made zero difference in this series.