Coming out of the East

[Wurider05]

 I was thinking about the likelihood of the Hawks coming out of the east. The funny thing is that of the top three teams in the East (Nets, Bucks, Sixers) we actually have a better chance of beating the Nets. Anyone else share this sentiment that if we were to face any one of those teams in the conference finals we would have the best chance against the Nets?

[marco102]

1 minute ago, Wurider05 said:

 I was thinking about the likelihood of the Hawks coming out of the east. The funny thing is that of the top three teams in the East (Nets, Bucks, Sixers) we actually have a better chance of beating the Nets. Anyone else share this sentiment that if we were to face any one of those teams in the conference finals we would have the best chance against the Nets?

All depends on Harden. If the Nets have Harden and we don't have Dre or Cam, I just don't see it.  Harden, in my opinion, is the player that makes them almost unbeatable. KD is great scorer and everything, but Harden's ability to score, get to the line and facilitate with the Kyrie and KD is just an explosive offense. 

The top 3 I don't have a preference. I say bring them on and let the chips fall where they may. 

[RedDawg#8]

I think so too, with the Bucks right there as well.

We lost the season series but won the point differential against BKN. And we are one of the few teams that got to play them at full strength this season with all three, and we lost by 4 in OT with no Bogi, Lou, or Snell.

The only thing that worries me is that Cam has had some of his best games vs the Nets, and is a great matchup against their stars. I would want him around for that series. 

 

[kg01]

In order of scaring me, I'd go PHI, MIL, BKN.

We went toe-to-toe with BKN when they were full strength and we decidedly were not.  That plus I expect them to have questionable health in the playoffs.

MIL, eh, I'm not confident they won't out-coach themselves.  They should make the Finals with that roster but I gotta see them 'beat the wall', so to speak.

PHI - Eh, now that they have Embiid seemingly treating his body better, we can't match up well with them.

[Spud2nique]

I just want the refs call fair games, that’s it. 

[macdaddy]

The Bucks don't scare me.   I think we have the best chance against them for sure.    

Sixers i think we'd play tough but Embiid is really something.

Nets - here's the thing - if KD, Kyrie and Harden are all fully healthy then no one is beating them.   Quote me on that. 

[Spud2nique]

2 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

if KD, Kyrie and Harden are all fully healthy then no one is beating them. 

No concerns on the D there? Offensively no question.

[REHawksFan]

I say BKN because they don't play much defense so the hawks would have a fighting chance with all the offensive firepower we have.  With that said, the Nets have the potential to just overwhelm when their big 3 are all healthy.  So I don't actually think the Hawks would win, but I think they'd stand a better chance vs the Nets than the other 2.

Next would be the bucks because I just don't trust Bud in the playoffs.  Philly would be the worst due to Embiid and Doc imo.  But none of them are invincible if the Hawks are healthy.  They could all be beat.   

[macdaddy]

19 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

No concerns on the D there? Offensively no question.

No.  One because they can be unstoppable but also because we've seen that all those guys, well except maybe kyrie, can be effective on D when they choose to.  

[RedDawg#8]

Brooklyn to me is the least well coached of maybe the top 7 teams. They win mostly on talent and energy from the reserves when they are handed a lead. I feel like when it comes to a 7 game series, they will not be able to execute anything at a high level other than ISO-drive and kick. They are top candidates this year along with Boston to self implode in a hostile environment. 

Literally, Harden and KD, not even including Kyrie, will have to simultaneously go bersrk  to carry them against any of the other top 7.  Kyrie can be hot or cold, he doesn't really impact winning. He is good for a clutch bucket late and that's it really.

Nets can be had this year. The next 2 years may be a different story

[macdaddy]

1 hour ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Brooklyn to me is the least well coached of maybe the top 7 teams. They win mostly on talent and energy from the reserves when they are handed a lead. I feel like when it comes to a 7 game series, they will not be able to execute anything at a high level other than ISO-drive and kick. They are top candidates this year along with Boston to self implode in a hostile environment. 

Literally, Harden and KD, not even including Kyrie, will have to simultaneously go bersrk  to carry them against any of the other top 7.  Kyrie can be hot or cold, he doesn't really impact winning. He is good for a clutch bucket late and that's it really.

Nets can be had this year. The next 2 years may be a different story

I mean they have 2 guys shooting 48% from 3 this year.   And one of those guys is KD.    Kyrie is the only one of the big 3 not to miss a bunch of games and they have almost the best record in the league.   Seems like he impacts winning a bit.

I'd love to see them lose but i'm not convinced that the talent won't win out.  At least in the east. 

[benhillboy]

I’m guessing the Nets are poorly ranked in defending the PNR.  If so it’s gonna be a lot of finger pointing, media dodging, and ill-advised tweet sending if they face us.  
 

We get Dre back bring on whomever.  None of the coaches of the teams above us are tough enough in the moment to match Nate (and I’m a Bud guy).  Now Thibs I would worry about a little.

Edited May 6, 2021 by benhillboy

[macdaddy]

1 minute ago, benhillboy said:

I’m guessing the Nets are poorly ranked in defending the PNR.  If so it’s gonna be a lot of finger pointing, media dodging, and ill-advised tweet sending if they face us.  
 

We get Dre back bring on whomever.  None of the coaches of the teams above us are tough enough in the moment to match Nate (and I’m a Bud guy), they need Thibs.

I was as big a Bud fan as there was but he hasn't done a great job with the Bucks when it mattered.  Maybe the system just fails in playoff style or something i don't know.   We'll see this year.  The bubble was a carnival so i won't knock him too much for that. 

[benhillboy]

2 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I was as big a Bud fan as there was but he hasn't done a great job with the Bucks when it mattered.  Maybe the system just fails in playoff style or something i don't know.   We'll see this year.  The bubble was a carnival so i won't knock him too much for that. 

The jury has to make a decision on him after this playoff run.  Their roster fit has always a little quirky to me (and I like most of their guys, especially the addition of Portis) and I think Bud historically keeps his Cs too far from the basket on offense. Ultimately I think they’ll sink or swim with Giannis’ FT, midrange, and three point shooting.

[NBASupes]

We need a lot of luck to be honest. Avoid Brooklyn to the ECF because we actually need Cam for that matchup. He's critical in that matchup like Jason Collins was against Dwight for us in the mid 2000s. 

We need Cam and Dre against Philly. 

Against Milwaukee, we gotta just stick to our guns. NO CAM REDDISH. They abused his ball watching. We need Hunter back in a real series against them. We need Hunter back period. 

With NY, I wish we had Dre back but we can win against them without him. 

We need Dre and Cam against Boston. They were critical in both wins. 

Miami, we can beat them without Dre or Cam. 

Philly, we need Cam and Dre. 

We need Dre back badly. We need Cam back if we are talking Boston, Philly, and Brooklyn. 

 

While Snell has been fine for the regular season, we do need our talented wings back. We will need luck as well but we can fight and compete, I feel good about that. The playoffs are a monster, hard work and smart play is NOT enough. 

 

If you want my truth. I'll rather play NYK and MIA right now. We need the wings for the others. 

Edited May 6, 2021 by NBASupes

[RedDawg#8]

38 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I mean they have 2 guys shooting 48% from 3 this year.   And one of those guys is KD.    Kyrie is the only one of the big 3 not to miss a bunch of games and they have almost the best record in the league.   Seems like he impacts winning a bit.

I'd love to see them lose but i'm not convinced that the talent won't win out.  At least in the east. 

They have a great record and earned it. They aren't a fluke. But they are 2-4 against the Sixers and Bucks. They are not a lock versus teams in their same weight class. And there is a reason they havent run way with the best record . They are human, they bleed blood lol

[JayBirdHawk]

10 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

We need Dre and Cam against Boston. They were critical in both wins.

Hunter did not play in any of the Boston games.  Cam played in the first 2 games - won one, loss one.

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Hunter did not play in any of the Boston games.  Cam played in the first 2 games - won one, loss one.

Ugh, my memory has been shit lately. You are 100% right. I need to start eating a lot of brain food.