Carter Pearson: John, my boy.
I just finished watching Game 6 of Raptors-Celts. Whoa. That was some shit.
Amazing basketball for 44 mins, followed by 14 minutes of really terrible refereeing and people bitching. There was a lot of review motion waving, fake tough guy smirking and General Tom-foolery. Nick Nurse kept standing in the corner like a 6th defender. It was bad.
But, it spurred a good idea. I’d like to play a game called “Annoying or Amazing”. The premise is simple.
I’ll propose a player, and then choose a side: either Annoying or Amazing. I’ll cherry pick facts and stats to make my case, and
then you do the same for the other side and propose another player.
I’m choosing Kyle Lowry. He is very very annoying. Here’s why.
Before last season, Kyle was a perennial playoff choker. He was completely shut out by LeBron’s Cavs in multiple series and was known more for how his shooting went off a cliff each spring than for making winning plays. This is when Kyle’s luck and #narrative changed.
He lucked into a superstar teammate when his GM was the only one with enough cojones to trade for one season of Kawhi. His team was a Joel Embiid injury and/or being fat and a lucky shot from the previously mentioned superstar/mercenary/finance bro shoe company spokesman from being bounced in the second round.
Kyle then proceeded to luck into a Finals opponent who lost the best player in the league and the second best shooter of all time to catastrophic injury. And even with all that, they still needed 6 games to win.
Last, but certainly not least, he takes a shit load of charges. You know who else took a lot of charges? Duke PGs. Kyle Lowry is basically Steve Wojciechowski and Greg Paulus, but in the NBA. Did anyone besides Hurst and I like those guys? I rest my case.
The floor is yours counselor.
J.D. Crabtree: Boy, am I glad I waited to watch Game 7 Clippers/Nuggets and Game 1 Heat/Celtics before writing you back.
I’ve got 2ish words for you Cookie: Bam-Wagon
In one evening the bubble proved any champion, no matter the amount of memes stacked against them, can rise to this unique Orlandoan occasion. Really though, this environment has equalized several parts of basketball we take for granted in the razzle dazzle world of non-bubble seasons. I believe the best teams are winning the basketball game. All we have are the refs, the players, the staff, and Rajon Rondo’s brother, so the strange distractions and homecourt advantages (COUGH COUGH BOSTON GETTING CONTROVERSIAL CALLS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME COUGH COUGH) aren’t swaying outcomes. Russell can’t get in arguments with courtside boomers to distract us from a 30% shooting night is my point.
Ok time to play your “Annoying or Amazing” game.
Kyle Lowry is simply amazing. Here’s why.
Kyle has taken the anti-body shaming movement to heart and showed it can translate to the athletic aesthetic of the NBA. Kyle is thicc. But Kyle does not shy from his natural shape, instead he flails and flops his excess pounds across the court with no shame. He is the NBA’s Lizzo. Not afraid. Bearing all. Vocal about his goals. Telling you to look at the championship ring on his finger, not the rolls near his waistline.
Ok, my turn.
I choose Goran Dragić. He is amazing.
Dragić has been to four playoff series in his life including the current run. He is 33 years old, and peaking in regards to playoff performance.
This year he is averaging 22/5/5 with 2 TOs, while shooting 47% FG and 39% 3PT. I repeat at 33 years old.
In the ’15-16 over the span of 14 games he averaged 17/5/4 with 2 TOs, while shooting 44% FG and 35% 3PT. That was at 29 years old, the supposed prime of his career.
I don’t need any other data. The man is rising to the occasion.
Go off king.
Also talk to me about the bubble chaos.
CP: Okay, I only have a few things to say about why Goran is annoying.
He plays basketball the way Arjen Robben played soccer. He’s all left handed, wants to get to that side at all costs. Everyone should know this, but he is so crafty that he gets there anyway. Honestly, I can’t even be mad at him for that.
Also, he flops a lot. But everyone does and he’s European so it’s almost endearing.
I know I started this construct, but now that we are on to the Finals, it seems almost meaningless. Also, there aren’t enough people left to disagree about. LeBron and Bam and clearly amazing; KCP and Jae Crowder are clearly annoying. I’m so ready for the Finals. We talked about this previously, but I think it’s interesting that the Bubble victors from each conference have tended towards mental toughness and experience over “young legs”. The nuggets and Celtics were the young contenders, but they got put back in the box by 1) sheer talent from the Lakers and 2) #heatculture.
I think that is wildly overblown, but watching Tatum and Smart settle for 3s while Bam eviscerated Daniel Theis last night showed the importance of playing with force. It’s a make-miss league, but if you’re tired, go to the rim and get a dunk or get fouled.
Even Jimmy Butler, who I think is less talented than Tatum or Brown, showed what true superstars have to do when their teams are struggling. This is not scientific at all, but it felt like every single time the Celtics made a run, Jimmy took the ball into the post and got fouled, a layup or someone else a dunk. The mental and physical toughness to realize when things are shifting and go get hit is really impressive.
Way too early warning sign alert: I’m getting Thunder 2012 vibes from the Celtics. I really like their team and would probably choose them first in terms of long term potential 1-2s (Joker-Murray a close second, followed by Coby White and Zach Lavine). But, that’s 3 conference finals and no actual Finals for Stevens and Brown, and 2 for Tatum. They should max those guys out and build the team around them for the next 10 years. Big wings as championship currency.
Windows to make the finals usually don’t stay open more than 4-5 years unless you have an all time great. If I were a Celtics fan, I’d be hoping my 2017 conference finals was a fluke, and that our true “window” opened this year.
Anyways, enough about the losers. Please serenade me with your thoughts about the Lakers and / or Heat. What are we in for? Besides a lot of texts from Kegan about Kentucky.
JD: Not going to allow the Jae Crowder blanket statement. I love every minute he is on the floor.
Couldn’t agree more on playing with force. Bam, AD, Butler, and LeBron know best, whether it be statistics or game feel, to attack downhill and get as close as you can to that orange cylinder, because when you are close to it things happen. Sorry but your boy Tatum loves to launch jumpers in big games, and that ultimately makes life easier on a defense if he is hitting at normal clips.
I want to battle you on the long term potential of the Celtics but we have a whole offseason for that, along with forcing college basketball.
I wish I had a legendary take but the Lakers are going to win this NBA Finals. Bam and Butler are a poor man’s AD and LeBron, and everything else will wash out. Though I am excited to see Caruso battle Duncan Robinson, Herro, and Goran for 40 minutes every night.
The Heat have a puncher’s chance due to #heatculture, but they are banking on off nights and injuries to pull this off.
My hottest take is that we should all thank our lord and savior, The Bubble. Because of its spherical influence and magic we were able to see another year of overrated teams implode, coaches get canned for coming up short, and JR Smith sneak back into the finals. And you can’t put a price tag on any of those things.
...
