A first round exit for the Clips in this scenario would provide enough hilarious meme material to last years
I don't know. His only value seems to be in the playoffs, and at some point, he's going to get too old to flip that switch.(Might be watching that point right now). I think we're better off giving those minutes to THT and Caruso...especially Caruso. As much as we praise him, he might very well be the most underrated player in the league as it pertains to the national media and other team's fans. It's pretty obvious from Cookie's doom threads and listening to the national media that they still view him as a meme or a solid contributor, at best. But he is every bit as valuable as Derek Fisher at this point (personally I think he's better) with his elite defense and smart plays on offense. The reason I bring this up is I want more Caruso and Rondo might eat into his minutes.
This is so fascinating. Clips losing 5 playoff games in a row. Kawhi being a snake by feigning interest to join the Lakers and colluding with George to wait to the last minute for the FA market to dry up. PG talking all that smack. Tanking to face the Mavs and avoid the Lakers. Firing Doc for the collapse. Rondo going there. So many subplots. I think they can come back and win this. But I note one historical point - teams that come back from 0-2 (Heat over Mavs, Bulls over Knicks, Rockets over Suns, Cavs over Celts) or 3-1 (Cavs over Ws; Nuggs over Clips) or that face multiple elimination games and still win (Lakers over C-bags, winning 6 and 7) have the best player in the series. So comebacks are not that surprising. D Wade. MJ. Dream. Bron. Kobe. Joker (or Murray). The Mavs have the best player here. And with home court. I struggle to see how the Clips win 4 of 5, unless Kawhi goes full Kobe-Wade-Bron-Mj and wins the next 4. EDIT - Kawhi and the Raps were down 0-2 to the Bucks. But Kawhi was the best player then, and didn’t lose two at home. Giannis can’t control games like Luka. Put it in reverse - when have you seen the best player in a series squander a 2 game lead?
Isn’t Dallas allowed to have near max capacity of fans for their arena too? They will have a big home court advantage while being up 2-0. I would be very happy if they sweep the clippers. Having said that, let’s assume the Clippers get knocked out in the first round. Would Kawhi still re-sign?
Who knows... he likes living in Cali. To be fair, maybe he doesn't care about winning that much anymore and is about lifestyle at this point in his career? Possible, right?
If the Mavs sweep the Clippers, you will have to peel me off the floor the next morning and hydrate me with intravenous fluids, assuming I didn't already die laughing.
Wasn’t that the Kwame / “cake incident” series? Effing Kwame and effing cake? Or am I confusing Kwame low lights?
It couldn't happen to a more deserving team. Not only to get kicked out by the team they chose to play by dodging us (big mistake), but to potentially construct a team built to beat us but never get the chance to play us. I wonder if Kawhi still thinks he made the tight move. He did us a favor, because he's the cowardly lion and I would trust any of our guys in battle over a shady load management cripple like him. I don't think he leaves because he bought another house in LA this year. He's got a few now, I think. I love seeing Pat Bev get ABUSED. This is NSFW, but it's also not the first time Luka has yelled it to Bev this series. Spoiler: NSFW
i think some folks would argue rondo is a fool. him not getting along with carlisle was swept under the national rug, but it's worth noting. caruso is better than rondo. i think fisher is a tough case because of how many huge plays he made in huge moments. caruso hasn't done that yet. but plenty of huge plays in smaller moments. and on average, much more consistent play than fisher, really. i'm a huge luka fan, but kawhi in beast mode is maybe the scariest player in the game--mostly because he relies not at all on any other player. on offense, he just wills himself to a spot and a shot, and on defense, he's a one-man wrecking crew. but that kawhi isn't available every night for every minute. so we'll see. i just think luka depends on guys to eat at the table he sets. if they keep finishing, there's nothing to be done. but that hasn't been the story for the past two years in dallas. so, yes, overall, i think luka is more valuable than kawhi, but in short spurts maybe nobody is more valuable than kawhi. maybe cp3? same bigger problem with both--you can't get that over a sustained period. they're reverse-giannis in this regard--he destroys worlds most of the time...except in those few moments when you really need it.
Cap experts: Can the Lakers sign Kawhi this summer assuming he opts out of his contract? Like how players do we need to move to create the space for his contract? I assume Kuz and KCP are gone.
Carlisle is the kind of coach that calls all the plays and likes total control. Rondo is the opposite. That match was never going to work. It is Dallas’s fault IMO more so then Rondos. It’s the old, know your personal. Rondo only works in situations where he respects the coach, that didn’t happen in Dallas. Rondo is partially to blame for that, so he does share some blame.
Is he that bad on defense? he's got a nice offensive game when I've watched - able to use the dribble to set up his shot or a pass to a teammate Yeah I checked and he's really bad on defense: Luka would hunt him down on offense
West is losing it? Ballmer can’t be a happy clown about now. Hate to see it. Why isn’t Cousins getting any minutes since Zu can’t score much?
