[NBA] The Finals

Who Ya Got?

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SacTownKid said:
Well, Malone is in a very familiar spot. Took until the finals to finally see it, but the Heat aren't messing around anymore. They are going to put Jokic in the pick and roll blender for real from the looks of it. It's going to be very interesting to see how Malone responds. Will he go with that smaller lineup which looks to be a pretty good defensive one? Or stick to his superstar?
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Nuggets have seen everything in regards to how teams will attack Jokic on either end. The benefits of keeping a team/core and coaching staff together for years. Malone will know what to do. Of course they’re going to stick with Jokic

Denver has proven they aren’t the team you go to the same well twice against in this postseason. Lakers thought they had it all figured out with Rui on Jokic and AD protecting the hoop after game 1. It was completely meaningless halfway through game 2.

Spamming Jokic against pick and rolls is an obvious strategy that the Nuggets have faced continuously through this season and over the years. I’m sure it will be a familiar adjustment. If you brought it up to Malone he would probably respond as incredulously as he did when media tried to act like the Lakers found the secret sauce with Rui

And even if not…Murray, Porter and KCP can play better and Denver can win this series comfortably regardless
 
SacTownKid said:
Well, Malone is in a very familiar spot. Took until the finals to finally see it, but the Heat aren't messing around anymore. They are going to put Jokic in the pick and roll blender for real from the looks of it. It's going to be very interesting to see how Malone responds. Will he go with that smaller lineup which looks to be a pretty good defensive one? Or stick to his superstar?
Click to expand...

They can find better defensive lineups with Jokic on the floor. Brown playing more minutes than MPJ went a long way in that direction. I expect his minutes to stay low.

KCP was pretty horrible while Jeff Green prob should've gotten more burn. But with 8 dudes total seeing the floor there's not a lot Malone can move around.
 
The Nuggets looked invincible in Game 1. Miami is a resilient team with a great coach. They have great role players. Bam is impressive. Jovic is absolutely slow on defense. When Miami is shooting well they are tough. But how many games out of 7 can they shoot over 45% from 3? Even with great shooting they squeeked one out in Game 2. Miami continues to surprise people. I think the Nuggets can win at least one in Florida.
 
kingdivac said:
Jokic wasn't the problem it was Murray and especially Porter Jr having poorer outings. I'm not sure what the McNuggets are gonna do when Butler finds his mojo which he hasn't yet. Spoelstra needs to up Love's minutes and limit Zeller's.
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He was on defense. Bam started to feast on pick and roll. They can't let Bam do that so doubling off pick and roll might be a no no now.
 
captain bill said:
They can find better defensive lineups with Jokic on the floor. Brown playing more minutes than MPJ went a long way in that direction. I expect his minutes to stay low.

KCP was pretty horrible while Jeff Green prob should've gotten more burn. But with 8 dudes total seeing the floor there's not a lot Malone can move around.
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Yeah, until it becomes a major issue and minutes have to change along with sub patterns I think just playing off might be a better call. Jokic to his credit has been coming out pretty high on the screens. Maybe too high. Perhaps zone will do some damage. The Heat have always pretty much been a team that if they hit their 3's they're going to be in the midst of it so maybe let them play the long top of the key 3 game.
 
Smart teams make Jokic beat them scoring because at heart he's a pass first guy who can put up 30-50 on a good %, if he's doing that the rest of the guys are not getting easy looks/making them better. Spo flipped the script the first game the Nuggets made Bam beat them shooting 26 shots and now the Heat made Jokic beat them shooting I think 28 shots. I've said it before if Jokic is getting 20-25 points (sending doubles at him) with a triple double while Murray/Portor are playing average or above you will get smashed.
 
The Heat out coached the Nuggets in game two. The Heat mixed up their defenses. The zone came and went but was very effective in the fourth quarter. Giving Jokic his points and playing him more straight up slowed down the Nuggetts offense somewhat. Murray had an average game. The Heats' offense is sophisticated. They had the Nuggets way out of position lots of times and got many wide open looks. Then they cut to the basket for some easy baskets.

Coach Malone was very disappointed in Game 2. He talked about lack of communication on defense. Lack of effort. Mostly he just got out coached.
 
My favorite Finals moment so far has to be earlier during a free throw session when JVG started his little speech on Duncan Robinson and ESPN didn't get the memo and threw up their obnoxiously huge graphic that somehow also had the job to mimic a real-life Jumbotron-size banner hanging on top of the arena with Jokic's numbers. JVG presumably got a notification to make a comment on that obnoxiously huge graphic and he went,

"... * begrudgingly * and you see Jokic's number... " and resumed his Duncan Robinson speech.
 
Is the Heat's arena designed so the main exit row is right on the same screen as the tv broadcast or are there just a ton of bandwagon fans ready for next round into the night?
 
That was a beautiful demolition of the Heat by the Nuggets. The three pointers weren't falling and they won it with their defense. Jokic and Murray with ridiculous triple doubles. That Jokic guy makes things look so easy. Can we get a fearless rookie like Braun, please?
 
Denver, tonight, clearly showed why they are the superior team. Jokic was unstoppable, and will continue to be unstoppable.

Miami is in deep trouble if they don't get some serious production from someone not named Jimmy or Bam.

If Miami doesn't take game 4 at home, this series ends in 5.
 
Braun has that Tyler Hansbourgh face, crazy look with a good NBA body and smart player with insane D/hustle what a pick in terms of a guy where effort>stats.
 
Nuggets won the rebounding battle something like 58-34. That comes from the effort that Malone was talking about.
 
It's crazy how Domas is an All Star and one of the best players in the game while Jokic is still insanely better at almost everything.
 
ESP47 said:
It's crazy how Domas is an All Star and one of the best players in the game while Jokic is still insanely better at almost everything.
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Domas Sabonis all around smaller at 6-10.5 240 lb with quite a bit shorter wingspan than Nicola Jokic at 6-11 284 lb with long 7-3 wingspan.
 
Neymar and Pogba are in the crowd tonight and the Miami crowd is giving them absolutely no love lol
 
Stick a fork in the Heat......came out thinking they could play the same way as game 3 with a different result .....that's on Spolstra
 
Really expected Miami to make a run after refs took Jokic out and gave them some cheap FTs. Hell of a way to close.
 
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