Locked in - GM 3 Finals

Bill Simmons posted the video on his Twitter feed and discussed it on his podcast. A lot of people feel this way. If Bill was on Covers he would be banned for expressing his opinion. 

@begginerboy

 I'm sure the jimmy kimmel show got a lot of complaint emails from their largely liberal audience.

@Raiders22

 No, I mean in general, teams that make a commitment to playing physical defense, even those well coached and well disciplined, tend to get handsy and foul. They aren't always whistled. It's just a thing. And yes, Golden State tends to foul too. It comes from 1)Physical defenders a la Draymond, much like physical defenders a la Marcus Smart but also 2) undersized defenders a la Curry and Poole.

Smart is no taller than Steph and Poole, though he is larger, but he is a more skilled defender. Typically undersized defenders have a propensity to get handsy. Curry has done it his entire career. Poole does it. CP3 has been one of the worst, and was simply labeled as being a good defender until finally, this playoffs, they started whistling his ass. They also started whistling his b.s. creating contact to draw a foul. Like I said before, much like the old adage of, "There is holding on every play. The refs decide when and how to enforce it." There is fouling on just about every play. And the refs decide when and how to enforce it.

The Celtics are my second team so I have watched the majority of their games this season, and all of their postseason games. I felt that against Miami especially, two physical defensive teams, they were getting the benefit of the referees whistle more often than not. So I find it comical that guys are crying about the refs whistle affecting the outcome of the game,in the first quarter, and ignoring the fact that the Celtics didn't play well enough to win. They turned the ball over entirely to much. Most of those turnovers we're actual ball turnovers rather than shit clock violations, moving violations, etc. The Warriors had 12 turnovers, which would be a lot for some teams, but is right in the Warriors comfort zone. The Celtics gave up 40 points in the paint!! They lost because the Time Lord was hobbled, and they turned the ball over. Period. Guys just love the fairytale soap opera storylines. Not so much the X's and O's of basketball.

The Warriors had 15 steals!!!

Nope, that couldn't have had anything to do with it. I was those gosh darn refs!

Sometimes, yes; sometimes, no.  It depends a little on the players, coaching and the refs.  

This season Golden State has the 4th most fouls at 21.0/game.  Boston has the 26th most at 18.5.  That is a huge advantage to Boston.  They do seem to play better team defense.  But GS does have Draymond Green, etc.

In the playoffs they are almost even with GS averaging 21.2 and Boston 21.6. 

In game 1 of finals Boston had 13 and GS 16. 

In game 2 Boston bad 18 and GS 17.  

I have not seen fouls being that big a difference in this series...yet.  I have not really seen the refs making inopportune calls or seeing one-sided calls being made.  

But I do not care who wins the series really.  It is who I wanted in the finals because I thought it would be the best series and I thought Boston could play good enough defense and team ball to slow down GS.  

But they need to figure out that pick and roll deal at the top of the key.  They have to slow Curry down.  They have to have a better transition game as well.  

And you are absolutely correct — they have to take better care of the ball.  

But it looks like they got ‘disheartened’? ‘disinterested’? or ‘discombobulated’? Or something in the last game.  Absolutely the opposite of what they did late in the 1st game.

Maybe in the back of their minds they knew they had HC adv now.  But they should have been even more urgent to try to go home 2-0!

So, adjustments have to be made — just like both teams did last game.  

It should be a great game and a fantastic rest of the series.  But I haven’t seen bad calls really.  Maybe, just because I am not biased for either team.  

You guys follow this much closer and know alot more re the technical intricacies of the game,matchup,etc... But after that can of whoop azz,seeing GS backers getting these pts induces me to respect the above avg probability of this being a trap line as such. Not good to let that recency bias influence decisions.

Obviously Boston has the talent to beat the Warriors.  I do think that Draymon got away with murder, especially that Grant Williams foul.  Draymon aggressively created the contact. 

The home playoff team off a bad beat usually shows up in game 3.  The guy with the shackles said whoever wins game three loses game four.  That makes sense.  The big money would best be on game four.  Just like the Warriors in game two was a big money game.

Igoudala out and Young Glove in is a huge difference maker.  With the Boston Center obviously hobbled all things look even.  I think Udoka should've let Jaylen Brown play with fouls in the first half.  Ride him to six fouls.   Give Boston it's best shot.  Someone says he's inconsistent.  But he's looked fantastic of late.  Let him play.  Don't let Draymon dictate. 

Alas, that will be another factor.  Boston is going to hurt someone.  That will be a determining factor in this game.

Can't wait!  Experience versus youthful talent.

Yes, it’s going to be a war, but for how long, that’s the question. Both teams will have to play another game in 48 hours. Who will throw in the towel first, and at what point in the game? This is also a chess match. It could come down to losing the battle to win the war. 

@dustmiester

This was my thoughts going into game 1. Not only that celtics are overrated, but warriors were clearly the best team. Not sure anymore

And your name is Brady2Gronk? Shame on you!

The Celtics are the real deal. Marcus Smart is one of my favorite players in the league. A guy who started as a key reserve/6th man type. And unlike most players in that role, who are brought in for an offensive spark, he was a defensive specialist. They would put him on speedy point guards, athletic wings, and even bigs 6" taller than him. It has made him a versatile defender. At times he struggled to find his role as a starter, and forced shots, but now he has settled into the position. He realizes his primary responsibility is still defense. He's a 3rd or 4th scoring option, not a 1st or 2nd. He needs to facilitate and play defense, and look to score only when it's there and/or necessary.

What can I say about Brown and Tatum that everybody doesn't know, right? So I won't say much other than to say I believe in a 2/3 tandems that have height and length. Brown and Tatum have prototypical 2/3 size. We all know what they can do offensively but there size and length already gives them the tools to be good defenders, with the potential to one day be great defenders.

Al Horford and Grant Williams are good complimentary players but I will gloss over them to talk about the Time Lord. This team,in these finals, will go as the Time Lord goes. If he is hobbled, I like my Warriors. If he is healthy, it will be a tough task. Many people are confused about the identity of this iteration of the Warriors. They don't get a chance to watch much Warriors basketball, being that they're on the west coast. So many people think: Warriors? Splash Brothers, right? Shoot a ton of 3's. Wrong. These aren't those same Warriors. There are probably several teams in the league that outshoot the Warriors from behind the arc in both volume and percentage. If you look at how the Warriors have won. Look at the Memphis Series and the Dallas series, they look to out rebound and outscore teams in the paint (even though they are undersized). There points in the paint don't come from bigs and post moves though. They lack that kind of true big. There points in the paint come from the likes of Steph, DeadPoole, and Two-Way Wiggs attacking the basket. Enter the Time Lord. With his length and athlecism, he alters so many shots, and gets his hands on many balls. (giggidy) He had four blocks in Game 1. He had two blocks in like 11 minutes in Game 2. Grant Williams is a competent defender though undersized a la Draymond Green. Horford can be a competent defender though he just turned 36. Time Lord is the Golden State stopper and X-factor.

Boston can score with anybody but I don't think they want to get into five straight shootouts with Golden State. They need to win with defense. And that starts with Marcus Smart, and ends with the Time Lord. 

@ActionMagnet

 Enjoy. Yes!

DUBS + and ML

@xMORTICIANx

 BOSTON CELTICS WIN TONIGHT AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 

#TITLETOWNAGAIN

LFG!!! Dubz +4 

Korver goes off tonight when least expected 

@theMatrix24

@begginerboy

The Warriors had 33 points off turnovers!

It's funny when dudes don't know shite about a sport but they're so smug in their ignorance. And they have the audacity to stroke each other off. About. No offense to you two, as you're both alright in my book.

Yep, it was the refs, Brodies. It wasn't the 33 points of turnovers and 40 points in the paint. That's ridiculous.

@fts1409

GS had 16 TO and 23 PF while BOS had 12 TO and 17 PF.

So, it is still holding that BOS has the fewer PFs.  But like we talked about -- they also took better care of the ball.  I saw somewhere a couple of days ago that they were like 10-2 or something when under 15 TO -- or something like that.  But like we discussed on here -- it is all about making adjustments.

So, it will be very interesting what happens Friday night.  I feel that is obviously the key game in the series -- very well could be that who wins that game wins the series.

Either way it is turning out to be a very good series.  Maybe I am biased because these are the teams I felt would be here and the ones I wanted to be here.

Not sure exactly what you meant by Golden State not being as much of a 3 point team or as efficient? They very much are, maybe even more so now.

This year their 3 pt rate was 45% last year it was 43.8%

This year GS attempted the 3rd most 3pointers/game at 39.4 Boston was 9th at 37.1.

This year GS 3pt% made was 8th at 36.4% Boston was 14th at 35.6%.

Teams like Minn and Utah who were 1st and 2nd with attempts were 12th and 11th in pct. made.

Teams like Miami or Atlanta who were 1st and 2nd in pct. made were 14th and 18th in attempts.

So, you could make the argument that GS shoots the 3 pointer a lot and is very efficient at making them and relies on them even more this year.

But you are correct that they are good at attacking the basket as well.  They for sure take advantage of TOs, fastbreaks, and are good in transition.  The 3 pointer is not their only way to win.  But they for sure use it and use it very effectively and efficiently. 

The 3 pointer has absolutely changed the NBA (for better or worse is another discussion) and the Warriors have been the absolute best at taking advantage of that and still are.

If your point was that they can win by other means -- good defense and scoring in the paint when it is there.  Then sure, but most championship teams can win by several means.

Or maybe I misunderstood what you meant here?  But I do not think it is just perception.  They still are great with the threes.  A point could be made that they are a better all-around team now AND do others things better now also.