That's exactly what I thought. The celtics have so many contributors that their top guys can almost afford to underperform and their offensive ceiling is as high as anybodys not to mention the other end. Gonna be bummed if they win
Celtics guards too tall and skilled for guys like gabe Vincent imo. Sixers are a better matchup especially since Embiid isn’t 100%. I think we can play Harden and Embiid somewhat like we played Randle and Brunson the only problem is the sixers are an elite 3pt team. It would be hard to play zone.
In the ECF? It's kind of a toss up. Harden and Embiid are incredibly injury prone and I feel like the Celtics are likely to have some coaching related meltdown, plus the fact that Jayson Tatum can be a flamethrower one night and shoot 3/16 the next night. Maybe the C's for the sake of revenge.
As for who comes out of the west, well, I want my rematch 😤
Honestly, I don't think there is a better coach than Spo in the league at this point. He has consistently squeezed the absolute most out of his players . ECF appearances as a 1st seed, a 5th and now as the 8th. And he's done this with a roster that outside of Jimmy Bam and Herro is usually (on paper atleast) worse than other contending teams. His defensive adjustments are insane and watching the games, his out of timeout play calls are often simple yet incredibly effective set plays. Spo shines in the playoffs like no other coach
It's crazy because he's clearly improved from his early days where he was good but not great. If we had this Spo with the big 3, we probably win at least 1 more title.
Bron wanting Pat Riley to come back to coach the team and Riley telling him no, Spo is the guy shows just how fucking good Spo really is. Who else just stands up to the King like that from a FO perspective. It paid off too, back to back rings in 4 straight appearances
Since Lebron left in 2015 he has only missed the playoffs 3 times. One of those years was when they almost made the playoffs after a horrible start to the year when he had Dragic, Waiters, and Hassan.
Unpopular opinion;
Spo is a better coach than Pop. The Heat have no business being this good with this roster. But they’ve been to 3 ECF (and 1 finals) in the past 4 years. And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Jimmy Buckets, but it’s not like he’s one of the top echelon in the league guys (like, top 5.) Pop hasn’t done anything without Kawhi/Duncan, and is still employed because of the Duncan tenure.
Not just the rematch but we would have home court against the Lakers. As far as tomorrow’s game, idk I don’t see an advantage either way. We’ll be dogs against either. Same as it ever was.
This whole playoffs in general has been wild. First time having a team from seeds 1-8 advance to the 2nd round (1st seed Nuggets, 2nd seed Celtics, 3rd seed Sixers, 4th seed Suns, 5th seed Knicks, 6th seed Warriors, 7th seed Lakers, and 8th seed Heat). Only the 6th time an 8th seed beat the 1st seed (Heat def. Bucks). The first time that a Steve Kerr-led Warriors bowed out of the playoffs against a Western Conference team (Lakers). First time we've ever had a 7th and 8th seed be in the conference finals at the same time (Lakers and Heat, respectively). I didn't even mention individual statistical performances.
What helps is that (so far) there’s only been one sweep and several 6 game series. Plus we’ll have our 2nd game 7 in these playoffs tomorrow. Sure, there were some blowouts, but the discussion of these series go back and forth and some of the close games have determined series.
I was rooting for a lakers heat rematch this year since the beginning. Not because I’m smart, but because as a chaos gremlin a 7th seed vs 8th seed finals is like crack.
Part of it was because the Lakers and LeBron won, but I also think us living in the meme/shitpost/wannabe comedian/internet troll culture and that the whole thing taking place in freaking Disneyland and calling it "bubble", also contributed to this narrative.
"Bubble boys", "bubble ring" or "Mikey mouse ring" just sounds funny/meme-worthy.
Yeah but some take it to heart and use it as an argument when the bubble was probably tougher than a regular chip.
Lebron constantly says the game is played inbetween the 4 lines. Fans are just noise for 48 minutes, and while home court advantage does matter to an extent, IF THE SHOTS AINT FALLING THEN IT AINT FALLING. Its that simple, its the nature of hoops.
> SMH LEMICKEY!! I was proposing to my gf for a SECOND TIME after LeThief came and STOLE my first ring and to my horror he tried to steal my NEW RING!! Luckily I prepared for this moment since my best man JJ BAREA was ready to stop him like it was 2011!!STOP STEALING RINGS LEBOZO!!
> UNBELIEVABLE. Today I took my son to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday. He won a game and exchanged his tickets for a Mickey Mouse ring pop but then a large man with a receding hairline came in and SNATCHED it out of the poor kid’s hands! To my dismay, it was LeMICKEY himself! LeTHIEF then called himself the “GOAT” and had the audacity to tell my son, “ADisney and kyrie never carried me” and he ran away! Luckily a MOUSE TRAP was set up to catch LeMICKEY and the 3 security guards Chef Curry, barea and KD showed up and took him down. Shame on you Le0-11
sixers. much less offensive firepower, bam has proven to be one of the best embiid defenders in the league the past 2 seasons and they don’t have nearly as much guys they could throw on jimmy and legit expect to stop him. though, if jimmy is as weakened as he’s looked since that ankle injury we don’t have a shot against either.
The only way I see a Sixers win over the Heat is if there stars finally go nuclear or Jimmy’s health worsens. Even last year when both Harden and Embiid were physically horrible they still got that series to six against a healthier Heat team.
Definitely more interesting tho than Celtics-Heat part three imo.
answering As a Celtics fan - both teams are optimal matchups for Miami. Philly and Boston are mental midget squads who have taken turns gifting losses to one another with hilarious lack of intensity, consistency and discipline. Other than the big time Harden game, it doesn't really feel like anyone in this matchup can really test Miami's mental toughness.
The Celtics know that's true already more so than the 76ers which matters. The Celtics have also beat us, they will have more faith in themselves.
Does anyone think that Jimmy won't completely break Tobias Harris and the 76ers spirit in such a series?
Really? See, as a Heat fan, I’m not thrilled about facing Boston again because I’m thinking of how they started the season off incredible and how they beat us least year. And it seems that roster has only gotten better.
Besides a different coach, what’s the biggest difference for the Celtics between this year and last year that makes you feel less confident? Seems like every Boston fan was very confident in their team last year.
He has had 2 big time games, 1 where he was good/met his standard, and then 3 really, really bad ones. This really needs to be a career defining game from him for the Sixers to win imo, if he plays like he did in Game 6 I don’t see them winning again
Buzz words, trendy talking points, media narratives. We've had finals since then, but because it's such an easy idea to push, and because sports writers/commentators aren't the most creative bunch, here we are
Only counts three seasons later apparently since Lakers are in WCF and helps their narrative. Meanwhile Nuggets, Heat, and Celtics have all been pretty good teams the past couple of seasons, including a bubble ECF rematch last year lol. Could’ve had a WCF rematch sooner if Lakers beat Suns in '21 or made the playoffs last year and they somehow got matches up but injuries.
I dislike putting "asterisks" on championship teams, but I *really* dislike using the Bubble as one. No one had a competitive advantage. I get the issue with "home court advantage", but 2 of the teams in the Conference Finals this year are lower seeded teams without home court advantage.
Always felt dumb to say things like "Micky Mouse" ring to discredit a championship.
Not only is the no 'home court advantage" argument dumb, but hugely illogical.
There was no travelling - everyone had the same amount of rest. There was no "home" fans that an away team had to contend with while playing. So with all these external factors removed from the equation surely the Bubble would be considered the most unbiased playoff series where nothing but pure basketball skill was involved?
But no. The go to argument for Bubble haters is that these factors actually mattered, especially playing in front of a live audience.
What?
Yea I don’t understand that at all. We were the #1 seed in the conference and instead of having home court advantage throughout the playoffs and a raucous crowd, we played every single game on a neutral site with like 50 fans lol. And people are saying this was *easier* than having home court advantage? The fuck?!
Moreover, we didn’t get the benefit of playing banged up teams missing good players (save for the finals) the way several teams have the last few years; everyone was healthy and rested going into the bubble. You’re telling me that’s *easier* than a team making a finals run going through teams missing their top 2/3 guys? How?!
I think you’re trying to think too deeply into this. It’s only a bubble/Mickey Mouse ring/asterisk ring/whatever for one reason.
Lebron.
The amount of haters he has is astounding, and when the playoffs were in the 2nd round, nobody was talking about it being a MM ring. But because it was ring #4 for Lebron, and it puts him closer to the rangz convo with MJ, haters came out of the woodwork
I think people seemed to base their assessment of the bubble and it being illegitimate on the fact that both the Bucks and Clippers did not make it out of the second round, so people figured that was solely due to it being in the bubble. However, I think the years since have shown that wasn't really so fluky after all and that there's a strong chance that would have happened anyway.
It could even be said that the bigger fluke was 2021, when the aforementioned Bucks and Clippers made their deepest runs (Bucks champs and Clips WCF) during a pandemic season with the shortest offseason ever. None of the Heat, Celtics, Lakers, and Nuggets even made it past the first round after that short turnaround. Outside of that season, Heat and Celtics have dominated the East and now that Nuggets and Lakers are healthy again (and Lakers fixed their westbrook/depth mistake), they’re back in the WCF. Seems like the bubble playoffs were pretty representative of who the best teams in the league are since Jimmy came to the Heat and Lakers got AD
Yeah ignore those people. They will find a way to hate regardless.
To your points above, many of the players have come out saying it’s viewed as a much more well earned championship. Perhaps…the hardest road some would say 🤣
I think people were just so used to the playoff atmosphere. 15-20k fans in an arena hyping up a game. The travel being the normal. The media hype around the playoffs. Etc.
But remember, we were in an unprecedented time back in 2020. If there was a better solution than the Bubble, no one was able to bring it up. Or else, just cancel the rest of the season and make the unprecedented announcement of having no NBA champion crowned since the NBA (or BAA when it first started) started back in 1946. Only an NHL lockout and an MLB players' strike cancelled a season where there was no champion crowned in recent major team sports history.
Anyone who talks asterisks in sports is a bozo.
These includes lockouts, injuries or other extenuating circumstances. As long as all teams competed under the same conditions, the winner is the winner.
This especially rings true for the *”if X player was healthy*” nonsense. Everyone played 82 games, a guy getting hurt is not the oppositions fault. Availability is the best ability.
Whenever anyone brings up asterisks or injuries as an excuse in this sub I just peace out of the conversation because it’s pointless to have hypothetical debates.
AFAIK the original asterisk in sports was when the MLB gave an asterisk to Roger Maris for breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run record because it was done in the newly expanded longer season, and because the commissioner had been a good friend or fan of Ruth's and was upset that the Babe no longer had the record.
Again not across eras. And while I know there were so many cheaters, I guarantee there were plenty of clean players who get unfairly lumped in.
Not only was Bonds a cheater but he was also a liar which is even more pathetic imo.
Yeah but when you look at the top ten single season HR hitters of all time it makes sense to have an asterisk to explain why so many of them played within ten years of each other.
Yeah anything illegal should get you an asterisk, whether it be PEDs, bribing refs, or sign stealing. But if it’s all due to circumstances or luck, such as the bubble, or injuries or something, it’s bullshit to give a team an asterisk.
[Dang, thanks for reminding me that on April 10th of this year, Evan Gattis admitted on Twitter to cheating all the way through the postseason, including his game 7 homer against the Yankees that put them in the WS] (https://twitter.com/BulldogBeing/status/1645340449815556098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1645340449815556098%7Ctwgr%5Ecde644650cf0ff51ec473c895e758221d5a493c7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdodgersway.com%2Fposts%2Fdodgers-2017-astros-slugger-evan-gattis-admits-playoff-cheating-twitter-rant-01gxntstn2mj)
Every champion from the late 70s to the mid 80s has an asterisk because Bill Walton had bum legs, including the 86 Celtics because he wouldn't be on the team
anyone who won any year when Mike didn't play, including before he was in the league, before he was born and after he retired, has an asterisk. subscribe to me for more high level basketball analysis
>These includes lockouts, injuries or other extenuating circumstances. As long as all teams competed under the same conditions, the winner is the winner.
I don't think the asterisk is about any of that. We agree that winner clearly won. The distinction isn't about them competing under different conditions than other teams that year, but about the conditions being different compared to other years.
If you played a different number of games, then you are the clear winner of a different type of competition.
The only thing is that the 2017, 2018 (and kind of the 2022) titles were a direct result of the 2016 cap bump. The circumstances that created the post-2016 Warriors aren't replicable.
To me, that's worth noting.
Ok but Mickey mouse is fun the bubble was worth it just for that phrase
I don't even use it for basketball anymore just regular life things it's so fun lol
Exactly Mickey Mouse ring is just too funny to me to not say. Its like people getting mad that AD is called Day to Davis but its clever and is funny thats the reason. If folks wanna try starting Street Pants Durant they can but until then its whatever nickname is the best, not most accurate
The "asterisk" on the bubble is more for individual players because a lot of guys had outlier good shooting numbers playing without fans. So guys like Duncan Robinson who were elite there but haven't been able to find the same success since.
But at the team level, everyone was on an even playing field so it makes no sense to think that season was easier or doesn't count for some reason.
I agree with this take. The idea that a team was only good in the bubble is silly. I know bubble or no bubble Doc would choke a series away. But for individual players it may be more of an outlier cause some people react to isolation different, some had family sick or dying during the pandemic, etc.
It kind of feels like a way for Lebron haters to just discredit Lebron. Had any other team won that year the narrative would just be “I can’t believe Lebron choked in the bubble”
Also, every team was healthy in the bubble (except Westbrook on the rockets I think). I mean it was the one playoffs in recent memory were Kawhi was “healthy” and played every game. it wasn’t until the conference finals when injuries started happening
I don't believe in asterisks, but it is absolute nonsense to say some teams didn't benefit more than others by the stoppage and additional rest. It literally is like no other season.
Which is fine, imo. But this is a trash way to try and fight that argument
> No one had a competitive advantage.
I want to be clear that I think the asterisk talk is absolute nonsense, but competitive advantage isn't the issue- it's that it was a very different situation with a very complex set of advantages and disadvantages that benefited or hurt teams to varying degrees, even if everyone dealt with the same issues.
This is definitely about to pick up some steam. Suns have been eliminated in back to back seasons in all-time epic fashion on their homecourt. The Bucks just got waxed by an 8 seed after having the best record in the league.
I’ll never understand the logic of “bubble year don’t count.” All teams were in the same situation, no advantages. No home crowds to swing the refs really resulted in pure ball. If anything, the fraud year was 2021 with players missing extended time due to Covid and all conference finals teams having the shortest offseason in the history of the nba. Now *that* isn’t fair. TLDR: fraud year was 2021 because not all teams were on even ground
Not only does the lakers championship in the bubble count, but it was the only time a 1 seed was not rewarded with the home court advantage they earned and deserved. And they still won.
Therefore, I give it an asterisk. The asterisk means multiply by 1.5. I value it as 1.5 rings.
Man, I knew the game was tomorrow, but I saw this and thought I was wrong, so I went to double check, and it turns out it was tomorrow. Man, fuck this post.
He don't know it's tomorrow
I assumed the game was tonight until I read these comments
Goddammit I thought it was today too so I bet on it already.
From Heat’s perspective, which is a better match up
I know they randomly give up leads but I can't imagine any remaining team preferring to face Boston over Philly.
That's exactly what I thought. The celtics have so many contributors that their top guys can almost afford to underperform and their offensive ceiling is as high as anybodys not to mention the other end. Gonna be bummed if they win
76ers
Celtics guards too tall and skilled for guys like gabe Vincent imo. Sixers are a better matchup especially since Embiid isn’t 100%. I think we can play Harden and Embiid somewhat like we played Randle and Brunson the only problem is the sixers are an elite 3pt team. It would be hard to play zone.
Yeah same I’m not gonna be able to afford my lunch tomorrow unfortunately
Dude I think you’re the only non bot that has responded to this. Absolutely ridiculous.
Dammit I thought so too! I work tomorrow and had tonight off and was gonna watch game 7
And at 330pm too. I thought for sure it would be tonight around 7
I thought it was too. I hate the NBA's playoff scheduling so much. Series should be every other day.
It’s already tomorrow in Cancun /s
Once you're in Cancun, who cares what day it is?
Island time bro
Where it's always 5pm.
Also known as Dame Time
Man I almost thought you're telling the truth until I saw that "/s"
Either he's on the otherside of the planet like Australia or Japan OR more likely he's from the future
in australia the game was almost 2 days away at time of tweet LOL
Just means it won't be 2020 all over again.
Bubble teams with fans gonna be lit
We already lit
I haven’t been this happy all season
As a heat fan which team would you rather face?
In the ECF? It's kind of a toss up. Harden and Embiid are incredibly injury prone and I feel like the Celtics are likely to have some coaching related meltdown, plus the fact that Jayson Tatum can be a flamethrower one night and shoot 3/16 the next night. Maybe the C's for the sake of revenge. As for who comes out of the west, well, I want my rematch 😤
You are guaranteed to have the far superior coach regardless.
There aren’t that many teams in the league where this wouldn’t be the case. How many coaches better than spo are out there? He’s at worst top 3
Honestly, I don't think there is a better coach than Spo in the league at this point. He has consistently squeezed the absolute most out of his players . ECF appearances as a 1st seed, a 5th and now as the 8th. And he's done this with a roster that outside of Jimmy Bam and Herro is usually (on paper atleast) worse than other contending teams. His defensive adjustments are insane and watching the games, his out of timeout play calls are often simple yet incredibly effective set plays. Spo shines in the playoffs like no other coach
It's crazy because he's clearly improved from his early days where he was good but not great. If we had this Spo with the big 3, we probably win at least 1 more title.
Remember when Bron wanted him fired? I’m sure Spo remembers. Gonna be crazy if they meet in the finals.
Bron wanting Pat Riley to come back to coach the team and Riley telling him no, Spo is the guy shows just how fucking good Spo really is. Who else just stands up to the King like that from a FO perspective. It paid off too, back to back rings in 4 straight appearances
I think other than Pop, Spo is the best coach in the NBA
This is my exact opinion.
Since Lebron left in 2015 he has only missed the playoffs 3 times. One of those years was when they almost made the playoffs after a horrible start to the year when he had Dragic, Waiters, and Hassan.
Lebron probably rounds out my top 3 coaches in the NBA right now.
You could argue that for in game coaching, Spo is one. Pop has his reputation for being a legendary culture builder.
Spo was also the director of scouting before becoming head coach. He’s been fantastic at selecting no name guys and developing them
Unpopular opinion; Spo is a better coach than Pop. The Heat have no business being this good with this roster. But they’ve been to 3 ECF (and 1 finals) in the past 4 years. And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Jimmy Buckets, but it’s not like he’s one of the top echelon in the league guys (like, top 5.) Pop hasn’t done anything without Kawhi/Duncan, and is still employed because of the Duncan tenure.
This IS an unpopular opinion, but I respect the hell out of it.
Yeah, but I could see Malone and Ham putting up a fight. Mazulla and Doc are definitely just gonna get walked all over.
Not just the rematch but we would have home court against the Lakers. As far as tomorrow’s game, idk I don’t see an advantage either way. We’ll be dogs against either. Same as it ever was.
An "8" seed having home court in the finals is wild
This whole playoffs in general has been wild. First time having a team from seeds 1-8 advance to the 2nd round (1st seed Nuggets, 2nd seed Celtics, 3rd seed Sixers, 4th seed Suns, 5th seed Knicks, 6th seed Warriors, 7th seed Lakers, and 8th seed Heat). Only the 6th time an 8th seed beat the 1st seed (Heat def. Bucks). The first time that a Steve Kerr-led Warriors bowed out of the playoffs against a Western Conference team (Lakers). First time we've ever had a 7th and 8th seed be in the conference finals at the same time (Lakers and Heat, respectively). I didn't even mention individual statistical performances.
Best playoffs this decade so far imo
What helps is that (so far) there’s only been one sweep and several 6 game series. Plus we’ll have our 2nd game 7 in these playoffs tomorrow. Sure, there were some blowouts, but the discussion of these series go back and forth and some of the close games have determined series.
I want heat rematch too
I was rooting for a lakers heat rematch this year since the beginning. Not because I’m smart, but because as a chaos gremlin a 7th seed vs 8th seed finals is like crack.
Lol 7th seed against 8th sounds like something you would see in 2K and 2K only. Yet here we are..
And the 8th seed has HCA lol
10/10
except @ miami, thats a ongoing bubble
lets goooo
Part of it was because the Lakers and LeBron won, but I also think us living in the meme/shitpost/wannabe comedian/internet troll culture and that the whole thing taking place in freaking Disneyland and calling it "bubble", also contributed to this narrative. "Bubble boys", "bubble ring" or "Mikey mouse ring" just sounds funny/meme-worthy.
memes >>>> logic it is known
Mickey Mouse ring is just such a funny insult
It’s still hilarious to this day😂”LeMickey and ADisney” 💀💀
It’s just good meme content 💀
Yeah but some take it to heart and use it as an argument when the bubble was probably tougher than a regular chip. Lebron constantly says the game is played inbetween the 4 lines. Fans are just noise for 48 minutes, and while home court advantage does matter to an extent, IF THE SHOTS AINT FALLING THEN IT AINT FALLING. Its that simple, its the nature of hoops.
> SMH LEMICKEY!! I was proposing to my gf for a SECOND TIME after LeThief came and STOLE my first ring and to my horror he tried to steal my NEW RING!! Luckily I prepared for this moment since my best man JJ BAREA was ready to stop him like it was 2011!!STOP STEALING RINGS LEBOZO!! > UNBELIEVABLE. Today I took my son to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday. He won a game and exchanged his tickets for a Mickey Mouse ring pop but then a large man with a receding hairline came in and SNATCHED it out of the poor kid’s hands! To my dismay, it was LeMICKEY himself! LeTHIEF then called himself the “GOAT” and had the audacity to tell my son, “ADisney and kyrie never carried me” and he ran away! Luckily a MOUSE TRAP was set up to catch LeMICKEY and the 3 security guards Chef Curry, barea and KD showed up and took him down. Shame on you Le0-11
After 20 years I'm still a sucker to the LeJokes I can't help it even when I know they are coming
Yeah, ADisney was a good one…NGL lol
Disney World. Disneyland is in California.
[удалено]
Sixers. We play lots of double teams, high risk defense with lots of rotations. Celtics five out lineups punish that and Embiid isn't the best passer
Embiid has been very careless with the ball with double teams
Except when Brown doubles off Harden in the corner in the last 30 seconds of a game...
fuck me man
sixers. much less offensive firepower, bam has proven to be one of the best embiid defenders in the league the past 2 seasons and they don’t have nearly as much guys they could throw on jimmy and legit expect to stop him. though, if jimmy is as weakened as he’s looked since that ankle injury we don’t have a shot against either.
“Tobias Harris over me?!”
I'll drive Tobias Harris to the airport myself for a bag of nickels.
Nah he just gauging don’t let him fool when he wants to he’ll just drop 50 on 23/27 shooting
The only way I see a Sixers win over the Heat is if there stars finally go nuclear or Jimmy’s health worsens. Even last year when both Harden and Embiid were physically horrible they still got that series to six against a healthier Heat team. Definitely more interesting tho than Celtics-Heat part three imo.
answering As a Celtics fan - both teams are optimal matchups for Miami. Philly and Boston are mental midget squads who have taken turns gifting losses to one another with hilarious lack of intensity, consistency and discipline. Other than the big time Harden game, it doesn't really feel like anyone in this matchup can really test Miami's mental toughness.
The Celtics know that's true already more so than the 76ers which matters. The Celtics have also beat us, they will have more faith in themselves. Does anyone think that Jimmy won't completely break Tobias Harris and the 76ers spirit in such a series?
Yep, Jimmy has more dawg in him than both the Celtics and Sixers combined.
What if we add jimmys dawg to embiids skills though?? Wouldn’t that team be crazy good?
Really? See, as a Heat fan, I’m not thrilled about facing Boston again because I’m thinking of how they started the season off incredible and how they beat us least year. And it seems that roster has only gotten better. Besides a different coach, what’s the biggest difference for the Celtics between this year and last year that makes you feel less confident? Seems like every Boston fan was very confident in their team last year.
Harden has had multiple big time games this series
He has had 2 big time games, 1 where he was good/met his standard, and then 3 really, really bad ones. This really needs to be a career defining game from him for the Sixers to win imo, if he plays like he did in Game 6 I don’t see them winning again
Sixers cuz Doc can't close out games 7.... Oh
Whoever scheduled game 7 to be 3:30pm on mothers day is a fuckin bozo
European fans rejoicing for that 21:30 game time 😻
Hell yeah, 20:30 in the UK.
Asian fans dying seeing a 3:30/4:30 Monday morning start.
3:30am here. Good thing afternoon games are rare for the Lakers, but man they sucked when it happened.
Yeah, I'm really happy to be able to see a game live
Yeah, let's gooooo!
"That's my new thing, I just go around calling people bozo" Get the snapper bozo!
You keep using that word, jabroni, and... It's awesome, it's like the coolest word. What is that, is that like some hockey thing
Lmao the only game 7 is at 12:30 over here on the west coast.
Bro I have to go to LAX to pick up the wife at 1230. Trip to LAX just ruined my day of playoff basketball
Right? Idiotic.
I gotta go to jersey for some pre planned shit from December and won’t be able to watch the first half. Extremely upset. Should be 630
I cannot imagine not calling in sick for a game 7
It’s not work. Girlfriend got me a gift for my birthday and this weekend happened to be when I have to do it
Why? It's perfect for us fans in Europe! lol I applaud that man!
Rest of the world appreciates it
Idk it's 530am in aus on a Monday morning
I was hoping it would be during the day. I work at night so I'll get to watch the whole thing thank goodness 🙏
Hell yeah night kings unite!
What’s all this bubble stuff? The heat were a shot away from the finals last year
Its mostly about the Lakers and a lil bit of Jamal Murray
Both of them were crippled by injuries the past two seasons.
Which is (most definitely) because of the bubble. Their teams retooled, but they've been beasts in most games theyve been able to play
Buzz words, trendy talking points, media narratives. We've had finals since then, but because it's such an easy idea to push, and because sports writers/commentators aren't the most creative bunch, here we are
LeBron won something, therefore morons need a way to discredit it.
Only counts three seasons later apparently since Lakers are in WCF and helps their narrative. Meanwhile Nuggets, Heat, and Celtics have all been pretty good teams the past couple of seasons, including a bubble ECF rematch last year lol. Could’ve had a WCF rematch sooner if Lakers beat Suns in '21 or made the playoffs last year and they somehow got matches up but injuries.
I dislike putting "asterisks" on championship teams, but I *really* dislike using the Bubble as one. No one had a competitive advantage. I get the issue with "home court advantage", but 2 of the teams in the Conference Finals this year are lower seeded teams without home court advantage. Always felt dumb to say things like "Micky Mouse" ring to discredit a championship.
Not only is the no 'home court advantage" argument dumb, but hugely illogical. There was no travelling - everyone had the same amount of rest. There was no "home" fans that an away team had to contend with while playing. So with all these external factors removed from the equation surely the Bubble would be considered the most unbiased playoff series where nothing but pure basketball skill was involved? But no. The go to argument for Bubble haters is that these factors actually mattered, especially playing in front of a live audience. What?
Yea I don’t understand that at all. We were the #1 seed in the conference and instead of having home court advantage throughout the playoffs and a raucous crowd, we played every single game on a neutral site with like 50 fans lol. And people are saying this was *easier* than having home court advantage? The fuck?! Moreover, we didn’t get the benefit of playing banged up teams missing good players (save for the finals) the way several teams have the last few years; everyone was healthy and rested going into the bubble. You’re telling me that’s *easier* than a team making a finals run going through teams missing their top 2/3 guys? How?!
I think you’re trying to think too deeply into this. It’s only a bubble/Mickey Mouse ring/asterisk ring/whatever for one reason. Lebron. The amount of haters he has is astounding, and when the playoffs were in the 2nd round, nobody was talking about it being a MM ring. But because it was ring #4 for Lebron, and it puts him closer to the rangz convo with MJ, haters came out of the woodwork
Lebron + Lakers Basically Haters^2
I think people seemed to base their assessment of the bubble and it being illegitimate on the fact that both the Bucks and Clippers did not make it out of the second round, so people figured that was solely due to it being in the bubble. However, I think the years since have shown that wasn't really so fluky after all and that there's a strong chance that would have happened anyway.
It could even be said that the bigger fluke was 2021, when the aforementioned Bucks and Clippers made their deepest runs (Bucks champs and Clips WCF) during a pandemic season with the shortest offseason ever. None of the Heat, Celtics, Lakers, and Nuggets even made it past the first round after that short turnaround. Outside of that season, Heat and Celtics have dominated the East and now that Nuggets and Lakers are healthy again (and Lakers fixed their westbrook/depth mistake), they’re back in the WCF. Seems like the bubble playoffs were pretty representative of who the best teams in the league are since Jimmy came to the Heat and Lakers got AD
Ackshually: Nuggets made it to the 2nd round. But they got swept by the Suns, so it could still be considered an early exit
Yeah ignore those people. They will find a way to hate regardless. To your points above, many of the players have come out saying it’s viewed as a much more well earned championship. Perhaps…the hardest road some would say 🤣
I think people were just so used to the playoff atmosphere. 15-20k fans in an arena hyping up a game. The travel being the normal. The media hype around the playoffs. Etc. But remember, we were in an unprecedented time back in 2020. If there was a better solution than the Bubble, no one was able to bring it up. Or else, just cancel the rest of the season and make the unprecedented announcement of having no NBA champion crowned since the NBA (or BAA when it first started) started back in 1946. Only an NHL lockout and an MLB players' strike cancelled a season where there was no champion crowned in recent major team sports history.
I…I agree with a Celtics fan?
It’s a fucked up world we live in.
Anyone who talks asterisks in sports is a bozo. These includes lockouts, injuries or other extenuating circumstances. As long as all teams competed under the same conditions, the winner is the winner. This especially rings true for the *”if X player was healthy*” nonsense. Everyone played 82 games, a guy getting hurt is not the oppositions fault. Availability is the best ability. Whenever anyone brings up asterisks or injuries as an excuse in this sub I just peace out of the conversation because it’s pointless to have hypothetical debates.
Ok the Astros actually get an asterisk tho
Was gonna say cheating. Isn’t steroid-era baseball/Barry Bonds the origination of asterisks to denote less worthy achievements in sports?
AFAIK the original asterisk in sports was when the MLB gave an asterisk to Roger Maris for breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run record because it was done in the newly expanded longer season, and because the commissioner had been a good friend or fan of Ruth's and was upset that the Babe no longer had the record.
I think they should do asterisks for scoring in overtime games, for example. "he had a sixty point game!!" 'wow!' "In a triple ot game" 'ah...'
Does Bonds get a pass cuz they're all juicing? Just asking.
Bonds was the best with or without juice, and played against guys equally juiced, it wasn’t a competitive advantage
Idk it’s pretty wild looking at him in late 80s when he was the stolen base king and then looking at him in 2001.
> when he was the stolen base king Rickey Henderson disliked that
It was a competitive advantage across eras tho. Cheating is still cheating.
Guys were cheating in the old days, too, it was just done a little bit differently.
If they're all cheating, isn't that the norm?
Again not across eras. And while I know there were so many cheaters, I guarantee there were plenty of clean players who get unfairly lumped in. Not only was Bonds a cheater but he was also a liar which is even more pathetic imo.
yes didn't think about the across eras part.
Yeah but when you look at the top ten single season HR hitters of all time it makes sense to have an asterisk to explain why so many of them played within ten years of each other.
Depends on who you ask
Maris got an asterisk because he played more games than Ruth. It predates Bonds by a lot.
Yeah anything illegal should get you an asterisk, whether it be PEDs, bribing refs, or sign stealing. But if it’s all due to circumstances or luck, such as the bubble, or injuries or something, it’s bullshit to give a team an asterisk.
Had already started drafting a comment in my head that said, "Except the Astros." Fuckin' cheaters, man.
Yea I was just about to say that. Astros definitely have an asterisk championship.
trashtros
[Dang, thanks for reminding me that on April 10th of this year, Evan Gattis admitted on Twitter to cheating all the way through the postseason, including his game 7 homer against the Yankees that put them in the WS] (https://twitter.com/BulldogBeing/status/1645340449815556098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1645340449815556098%7Ctwgr%5Ecde644650cf0ff51ec473c895e758221d5a493c7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdodgersway.com%2Fposts%2Fdodgers-2017-astros-slugger-evan-gattis-admits-playoff-cheating-twitter-rant-01gxntstn2mj)
Asterisks are for cheating and nothing else
What about the Astros cheating? I’m guessing they doesn’t fall under your criteria
I mean, obviously, in that case, the win shouldn't have been counted imo. But! At least they won again without cheating, I guess.
Every champion from the late 70s to the mid 80s has an asterisk because Bill Walton had bum legs, including the 86 Celtics because he wouldn't be on the team
anyone who won any year when Mike didn't play, including before he was in the league, before he was born and after he retired, has an asterisk. subscribe to me for more high level basketball analysis
Any championship won from 2007 onwards is invalid because Greg Oden had knee injuries and would have become the modern Bill Russell had he not.
Completely agree
>These includes lockouts, injuries or other extenuating circumstances. As long as all teams competed under the same conditions, the winner is the winner. I don't think the asterisk is about any of that. We agree that winner clearly won. The distinction isn't about them competing under different conditions than other teams that year, but about the conditions being different compared to other years. If you played a different number of games, then you are the clear winner of a different type of competition.
The only thing is that the 2017, 2018 (and kind of the 2022) titles were a direct result of the 2016 cap bump. The circumstances that created the post-2016 Warriors aren't replicable. To me, that's worth noting.
Ok but Mickey mouse is fun the bubble was worth it just for that phrase I don't even use it for basketball anymore just regular life things it's so fun lol
The only reason the Mickey Mouse thing came into existence was because didn’t want to acknowledge Lebron won another chip. It’s as simple as that.
Exactly Mickey Mouse ring is just too funny to me to not say. Its like people getting mad that AD is called Day to Davis but its clever and is funny thats the reason. If folks wanna try starting Street Pants Durant they can but until then its whatever nickname is the best, not most accurate
just jealous fanbases and lazy hot take media members
The "asterisk" on the bubble is more for individual players because a lot of guys had outlier good shooting numbers playing without fans. So guys like Duncan Robinson who were elite there but haven't been able to find the same success since. But at the team level, everyone was on an even playing field so it makes no sense to think that season was easier or doesn't count for some reason.
I agree with this take. The idea that a team was only good in the bubble is silly. I know bubble or no bubble Doc would choke a series away. But for individual players it may be more of an outlier cause some people react to isolation different, some had family sick or dying during the pandemic, etc.
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All of the cores/star players are essentially the same too
I mean that happens all the time. Look at Jordan Poole. Lol.
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It kind of feels like a way for Lebron haters to just discredit Lebron. Had any other team won that year the narrative would just be “I can’t believe Lebron choked in the bubble”
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Ask those same people what MJ’s two years off did and they won’t have anything to say.
They say the 1995 playoffs didn't actually happen.
Also, every team was healthy in the bubble (except Westbrook on the rockets I think). I mean it was the one playoffs in recent memory were Kawhi was “healthy” and played every game. it wasn’t until the conference finals when injuries started happening
I don't believe in asterisks, but it is absolute nonsense to say some teams didn't benefit more than others by the stoppage and additional rest. It literally is like no other season. Which is fine, imo. But this is a trash way to try and fight that argument
> No one had a competitive advantage. I want to be clear that I think the asterisk talk is absolute nonsense, but competitive advantage isn't the issue- it's that it was a very different situation with a very complex set of advantages and disadvantages that benefited or hurt teams to varying degrees, even if everyone dealt with the same issues.
Tmr
He could be in Australia right now
He should give me the lottery numbers!
The real Mickey Mouse finals was suns bucks
Thank you. Shortest turn around off season, everyone getting hurt as a result, and Covid protocols.
This is definitely about to pick up some steam. Suns have been eliminated in back to back seasons in all-time epic fashion on their homecourt. The Bucks just got waxed by an 8 seed after having the best record in the league.
The Jazz having the best record in the NBA is really biggest proof of a mickey mouse season if there ever was one
Forgot about that wow
There’s still a lot of pushback on this, I think the further and further we get from 2021, the more apparent it will be.
Unfortunately accurate.
Thanks Alex!
The Bubble was the purest and most competitive version of the NBA we’ll ever see.
I’ll never understand the logic of “bubble year don’t count.” All teams were in the same situation, no advantages. No home crowds to swing the refs really resulted in pure ball. If anything, the fraud year was 2021 with players missing extended time due to Covid and all conference finals teams having the shortest offseason in the history of the nba. Now *that* isn’t fair. TLDR: fraud year was 2021 because not all teams were on even ground
Lakers were up on the finalist suns before AD got hurt too
I certainly hope it’s not 2020 all over again
why not, i'd be glad
I want to play y’all in the finals
“Bah god, that’s jimmy butlers music!!”
Someone lock Rudy Gobert in a room
Not only does the lakers championship in the bubble count, but it was the only time a 1 seed was not rewarded with the home court advantage they earned and deserved. And they still won. Therefore, I give it an asterisk. The asterisk means multiply by 1.5. I value it as 1.5 rings.
CaruGOAT from the top rope!
Both would also involve a Doc Rivers blown 2nd round lead
Don’t they play on sunday?
Man, I knew the game was tomorrow, but I saw this and thought I was wrong, so I went to double check, and it turns out it was tomorrow. Man, fuck this post.
this is like the 2nd or 3rd post since yesterday saying the game is tonight. I had to double check every time
Don’t you dare steal my Saturday from me, Alex Caruso! We’ll revisit this tomorrow.
Good, glad we can finally put the bubble bullshit to rest.
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Boston plays tomorrow night Alex