[NBA] The 2025 Finals

Who Ya Got?

  • Total voters
    18
  • Poll closed .
Tyrese has that Rajon Rondo-like impulse to just completely ignore the basket for entire games. Which is fine. He prefers to create for others and he's very good at it. But too often, he's wallpaper out there. A trajectory somewhere between Rondo and Steve Nash is an awesome career in this league. I just don't know where all these "superstar" takes keep coming from. The impact stats say he's not in that tier. The eye test says he's not in that tier. I certainly don't see it. You're not a "superstar" in a scorer's league if you only toss up 6 attempts in an NBA Finals matchup and hit exactly 0 of them. His team's up against the wall now. Let's see how he responds.
 
Padrino said:
Tyrese has that Rajon Rondo-like impulse to just completely ignore the basket for entire games. Which is fine. He prefers to create for others and he's very good at it. But too often, he's wallpaper out there. A trajectory somewhere between Rondo and Steve Nash is an awesome career in this league. I just don't know where all these "superstar" takes keep coming from. The impact stats say he's not in that tier. The eye test says he's not in that tier. I certainly don't see it. You're not a "superstar" in a scorer's league if you only toss up 6 attempts in an NBA Finals matchup and hit exactly 0 of them. His team's up against the wall now. Let's see how he responds.
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Careful now. Some around here might get mad at you for even suggesting Hali is playing poorly.

So far his calculus hasn't really changed in my mind. He's an all-star, fringe/All-NBA guy that's run exceptionally hot on hitting clutch shots this post-season. That matters of course because hitting game winners is very important, but he has not proven he belongs in the conversation with the big dogs yet (Luka/Steph/Jokic/Giannis/SGA) tier of player. There were statements that teams would take Hali over Luka, that he's a generational talent. Welp, if that's the "evaluation" on him, then he needs to be held to that standard of player.
 
Padrino said:
Tyrese has that Rajon Rondo-like impulse to just completely ignore the basket for entire games. Which is fine. He prefers to create for others and he's very good at it. But too often, he's wallpaper out there. A trajectory somewhere between Rondo and Steve Nash is an awesome career in this league. I just don't know where all these "superstar" takes keep coming from. The impact stats say he's not in that tier. The eye test says he's not in that tier. I certainly don't see it. You're not a "superstar" in a scorer's league if you only toss up 6 attempts in an NBA Finals matchup and hit exactly 0 of them. His team's up against the wall now. Let's see how he responds.
Click to expand...

Uh oh, you done stepped in it now! lol. J/K @Tizzy Flip.

Hali is obviously a much better scorer but just like the Thunder before the last game, this is gameplan now. Carlisle will now have to show his chops. The hardest thing to overcome these days is a team going full on switch and making things tough. Haliburton might be able to get downhill himself off some short middle pick and roll or maybe even being that screen all the way out to the dang mid court line if they have to. I would expect Haliburton going for broke in the next one.
 
The_Jamal said:
Careful now. Some around here might get mad at you for even suggesting Hali is playing poorly.

So far his calculus hasn't really changed in my mind. He's an all-star, fringe/All-NBA guy that's run exceptionally hot on hitting clutch shots this post-season. That matters of course because hitting game winners is very important, but he has not proven he belongs in the conversation with the big dogs yet (Luka/Steph/Jokic/Giannis/SGA) tier of player.
Click to expand...

The funny thing is, Hali first got noticed by a bunch of analytics types in the media who boosted his profile due to his strong early-career advanced statistical profile. But that profile never screamed "superstar". And now, despite the analytics guiding our understanding of exactly what Haliburton's impact on the game actually is, people keep projecting a narrative onto him that doesn't square with his actual talent level. Could he yet grow into an honest-to-goodness "superstar"? Sure, it's possible. He's only 25. But his temperament and style of play seem to suggest that it's not terribly likely.
 
SacTownKid said:
Uh oh, you done stepped in it now! lol. J/K @Tizzy Flip.

Hali is obviously a much better scorer but just like the Thunder before the last game, this is gameplan now. Carlisle will now have to show his chops. The hardest thing to overcome these days is a team going full on switch and making things tough. Haliburton might be able to get downhill himself off some short middle pick and roll or maybe even being that screen all the way out to the dang mid court line if they have to. I would expect Haliburton going for broke in the next one.
Click to expand...

He's definitely a better scorer than Rondo ever was, which is what makes his occasional Rondo-esque disinterest in scoring all the more maddening. Rondo had an excuse; he was a pretty terrible shooter. Hali doesn't have that excuse.
 
Pacers had their chance(s). Extremely poor, and sloppy, play down the stretch resulted in them shooting themselves in the foot. You're not gonna win many games by handing the ball over to the other team for an uncontested layup on multiple possessions. They were very sloppy on offense. A team like OKC is gonna pounce on that 9 out of 10 times, if not all 10 times.
 
Padrino said:
Tyrese has that Rajon Rondo-like impulse to just completely ignore the basket for entire games. Which is fine. He prefers to create for others and he's very good at it. But too often, he's wallpaper out there. A trajectory somewhere between Rondo and Steve Nash is an awesome career in this league. I just don't know where all these "superstar" takes keep coming from. The impact stats say he's not in that tier. The eye test says he's not in that tier. I certainly don't see it. You're not a "superstar" in a scorer's league if you only toss up 6 attempts in an NBA Finals matchup and hit exactly 0 of them. His team's up against the wall now. Let's see how he responds.
Click to expand...
And this has always been the case to a lot of us but of course Kings fans dare not say such a thing because omg we’re haters, but everyone can pile on Sabonis with no issue lol
 
QWERTYLICIOUS said:
Pacers had their chance(s). Extremely poor, and sloppy, play down the stretch resulted in them shooting themselves in the foot. You're not gonna win many games by handing the ball over to the other team for an uncontested layup on multiple possessions. They were very sloppy on offense. A team like OKC is gonna pounce on that 9 out of 10 times, if not all 10 times.
Click to expand...
You can’t convince me that Pacers team would even get out of round 2 in the West depending on matchups.
 
that Nesmith put back was vicious, happened so fast that the broadcast crew didn't process it in real time. Hali being a no show is a death sentence for the Pacers. Still love seeing the Pacers pressuring full court all game long rather than in spurts.
 
SacTownKid said:
Dort and Chet on the switch is what nightmares are made of. A big that can slide with guards and a guard that can bang around with bigs.
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Yeah that defense was going to catch up to Indi at some point. They should honestly be proud of what they've accomplished up to this point because i thought OKC would gentlemen sweep these guys
 
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