benhillboy

Clint and John rebounded great last series. I want to see a whole team effort to box out Giannis and Brook and some crashing the offensive glass too. Draw a nice number of over-the-back fouls. Easier said than done but I’m sure Coach will stress it. While you’re at it gimme some illegal screens from Brook by getting over.

I made an error referencing the shooting disparity between us and the Sixers (-.040 percentage points instead of 40%, still a significant margin to overcome against a talented defensive team). It’s beyond impossible to beat a team shooting 80-something percent lol.

If a rookie SG with nice size has a .522 eFG and a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio you just let that man rock. Drafting Cam understandably had him a little shaken about his role but he’s back to his arc of damn near exponential growth. More muscle, more free throws, more wins, more dough.

This team is built to win, clearly. Shooting from the field doesn’t really determine their outcome, I don’t trip off poor shooting halves or even games from any of our guys, especially Trae. You have a miraculous season turnaround and win a series as an underdog shooting 40% worse than your opponent with excellent team-wide FT shooting, exquisite help defense, data analysts and Nate who were hell-bent on significantly shrinking the turnovers, and Trae’s passing wizardry. And one more aspect: shout out to @NBASupes to get me to accept three point variance. Old School Nate has clearly embraced it too. There are simply too many dependable three point shots for the defense to cover: Trae 30 footer and step back John catch and shoot from the corner (for best results, set up Baptist with Ice Trae skip pass) Kevin open weak side or transition walk up Bogi iso, curl screen, catch and shoot Hot-hand 2K Gallo from anywhere Lemon Pepper: see 2K Gallo, add off the dribble The Sixers only had 2 (!): Curry catch and shoot (arguably the most efficient shot going, but still limited variance) and Embiid in a groove after made FTs. That’s it. Danny Green is good in transition and from the corner but no one’s gonna act like his absence was glaring. The Bucks are very limited as well: Middleton can hit all types assisted or not, and Lopez from the corner. Giannis taking threes is like Clint taking em. Not very smart. Call me crazy but I think we have a good chance to steamroll these folks like Miami did last season.

Y’all do realize we won a series shooting 40% worse and scoring 3 points per less than our opponent as a road dog. The Bucks couldn’t dream of doing no sh*t like that with their style. They like to play on a pristine playground with manicured landscape and all the modern slides and sh*t. The Hawks play throw-up-tackle in the mud.

Two people who I sorely miss around today’s NBA: Kobe and Larry Brown.

Or when he looks at Darvin who has a look of half bewilderment, half disgust on his face.

That wasn’t enough curses coach gimme some more lol. The chemistry on this team man. Exceptional.

Y’all know I’m a ratings nerd. Gallo (!) with the gold star versus Philly at 133 to 116. He and the coaching staff just found that perfect niche for him to score fairly easily versus their forwards and help on Embiid. In 180 minutes he shot majestically from three and the line with only 3 turnovers and held his own on the glass. His well-timed help forced Embiid to a much lower shooting percentage than he’s used to. Gallo was the man. OO with the silver star finishing with the lowest defensive rating (117 to 103). Point blank he just chumped Dwight off in terms of winning plays. His positioning is so polished on both ends and he had 1 stinking turnover. When he calls Lemon Pepper his ringtone is “I Like The Way You Move.” Bronze star to Johnny Max (118 to 111). 15 and 10 on spectacular efficiency (.632 TS) on only 17% usage gets it done. The two posters on Embiid were huge even if one came in a loss. Never tried to do too much, helped neutralize Harris, and Korkmaz shouldn’t have even been on the floor with him. Honorable mention to Trae (112 to 113) and Kevin (112 even). Our backcourt that was supposed to be dreadful defensively sustained us. Granted the offense from Philly PGs is shaky at very best but Trae has made huge strides as a team defender and communicator. Had Curry not gone ballistic for most of the series Kevin would be +4 or 5. He just did everything.

Jrue (awful shooting for 40 minutes), Giannis (more turnovers than assists, pathetic FT shooting), and Middleton (.408 shooting, nearly a turnover for each assist) had an average 104 offensive rating against a mediocre defensive team last series. That certainly won’t cut it against us they might be ripe to get smashed out here.

Simmons deserves all the blame he gets no question. Don’t forget to look at Embiid and Korkmaz’s shooting though, both 40-something percent lower than in the regular season. Korkmaz wouldn’t even get on the floor for us and he’s starting for them. The team defense was just outstanding.

We have built in advantages again in getting to the line much more, converting much more, and they don’t force turnovers, helping us keep the pace deliberate. They’re also liable to fold on any given night. These Hawks are anti-fold. I got us in 6.

Shout out to Rod Higgins for assisting The General. Shout out to Dotun Akinwale and Danko Miholic for the awesome scouting. Big up to Dwight Lutz and Maksim Horowitz. Clearly they have a grasp of this analytics sh@t. Peace to Jim Sleeper, who never sleeps on the advance scouting. I’m a pretty damn good pro player scout but I’m no Stephen Giles. Lastly shout out to Dipesh Mistry and the crew breaking down film to unlock 2K Gallo. The next Erik Spo over here. All the senior managers, equipment guys, personnel people, trainers, thank you. All we see is the play on the floor but getting to this level and beyond truly takes a solid franchise.

Why? He seems like a fun loving dude and he can barely walk. He’s like d*ck Clark.

Ugh. That seems like 10 years ago. Baze’s energy was his saving grace. But that Taurean Prince character man I didn’t care for that dude not one bit.

His health and ball handling damn sure patched up some big holes we had due to injury and not having a full time BU. I think he’s the only player on our team opposing fans don’t hate right now lol. Well him and Gallo.

Nate with a 70% winning percentage with no All Stars, All NBA, or All Defensive players. The man can coach a bit eh?

Rarely are the last 4 teams standing not the true best 4. This year is no exception although I’m straight on the Clippers.

Lol right

Nique would’ve done a two hand windmill

Yeah I saw the free throw and three point numbers before the series and I knew it was a clear edge for us. Would’ve finished in 6 had we not blew so many freebies. But of course Nate kicked em in the ass, got em back to the high FT volume and conversion we’re used to, and we’re in the Con Finals WTF. What I’m so surprised and ecstatic with is winning the turnover margin nearly every game. Nate’s style of play, being instilled in Trae, who then spreads it team-wide. The transformation in play and the value of our possessions has just been gorgeous to watch. Then realizing how sound team defense leads to turnovers without gambling, further compounding the offensive efficiency, the Bucks are in trouble.

We won this series in spite of Bogi. 37 field goals to 33 fouls and turnovers. Hope he’s back to normal next round. Besides being hobbled chasing Curry around off ball just ain’t his style so I can see how he struggled. Kevin saved his and the team’s bacon all at once. The staff seemingly asked Bogi for 20 minutes to kill and he gutted it out like a G tho.

Kevin helped hold Curry to only 10 attempts and kept him in foul trouble all game, something I’m sure was top priority for Nate. He’s climbing up that 2-way player ranking like a squirrel.

That one handed jumper he created off the dribble pretty much took their heart. He was possessed.

7 new threads on realGM about Ben and/ or Doc lol.