Just a gutting moment when Hali went down. I think the Pacers had a shot with a healthy Hali.
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Felt like a lot of should wpulda coulda moments I’ve had as a cyclone fan when he went down honestly
Hes gotta be more selfish offensively. There's no other way to put it. His unselfishness can be a detriment at times. Sometimes when youre "the man" on your team you gotta say "give me the ball and get the **** out of the way." Especially when you arent a good team offensively. He needs to average 25ppg
I agree with the sentiment. If Hali were on a bad offensive team, he absolutely would need to take over and average 25ppg. But Indy is literally the best offense in the league. Clearly what they're doing, and what he's doing, is exactly how they should be doing.
I don't "dislike" OKC or SGA, but SGA just doesn't have a lot of exciting plays for a 30ppg guy. It's like MJ or Wade or Kobe but more pullups, fade aways, and less dunks or acrobatic scoring at the rim.
Guys like Jokic, Edwards, yes Haliburton, Doncic, Mitchell, begrudgingly Brunson, and even aging Steph all create more fun memorable plays though Joker is the only one who puts up better numbers than SGA. Even in this series a guy on the bench for Indy, Toppin, just objectively created more highlight reel "wow" type of plays in terms of dunks, plays at rim and 3s, Siakam too. If OKC is your team that doesn't matter, but to fanatics like myself who aren't OKC fans or casual fans it does mean something. People watch for the no look passes, dunks and 3s, not pull up/push off mid range shots and free throws.
I am intrigued by Williams and curious to see where his game goes. He's the most fun player on OKC to watch and none of his game is dependent on getting the whistle on offense or defense the way many of their other starters are. Chet...I would not like to be the guy giving him a $200 million extension. Maybe he'll improve but he just got absolutely dominated by Turner in most of this series. I doubt Turner gets anywhere near max as an aging player this off season (Indy or anywhere else) and he's got to be a much better value the next year or two.
I'm not sure I agree as long as they keep a deep team around him. He's been 1st and 3rd in assists last two years. Joker is one of the only players near him and that's a different kind of passer, although maybe even more skilled.
There are certain games where he needs to do that, but overall Indy is better with him as 20 and 10 than 25 and 7.
He'll finally start getting a whistle now too (provided he comes back at same level) which will increase his scoring #s a little.
So sad for TH's injury. Feels like we're part of an adoptive sports family when these things happen. Thankful he chose to play and give it all for his team, this is who guaranteed contracts are meant for.
That's because SGA is a free throw merchant. He got 50% of his points today from FTs while going 8-27 from the floor.
I felt like there were a handful of times in the playoffs where they dug themselves in deficits because he was spending too much time trying to get everyone involved. Id like to see him go to the rim a little more too. He almost there as a player imo. Hes on the verge of being an MVP type player.
Hes also gotta show up every night. People can ***** all they want but it's a legitimate criticism.
After finally watching the NBA for the first time as an adult I have 3 thoughts.
1. The offensive stiff arm is idiotic. It's hard enough to defend in the NBA but you can just shove your defender out of the way for a pull up jumper? No wonder thats all these young "superstars" do.
2. The challenge rule is idiotic, you win a challenge on a ******** call, you get that challenge back.
3. Height is everything in this sport, not many people are 6'8+ and seems like thats what it takes for most of the league. Not like at all for most other sports outside of football, probably why the world doesn't embrace these sports like they do soccer, hockey, baseball.
1. The offensive stiff arm is idiotic. It's hard enough to defend in the NBA but you can just shove your defender out of the way for a pull up jumper? No wonder thats all these young "superstars" do.
2. The challenge rule is idiotic, you win a challenge on a ******** call, you get that challenge back.
3. Height is everything in this sport, not many people are 6'8+ and seems like thats what it takes for most of the league. Not like at all for most other sports outside of football, probably why the world doesn't embrace these sports like they do soccer, hockey, baseball.
TH had a calf issue too right? I'm no physical therapist but I would guess tonight's injury is related...maybe returning too early or imbalance somewhere even if it was the other leg (I don't remember which was which).
SVP just brought up what Paul Azinger said about Tiger Woods: "some people are comfortable being noticed, few are comfortable being watched. TH is very comfortable being watched".
So sad.
Brian Windhorst just said he was as gutted as he has ever been when TH went down.
So sad.
Brian Windhorst just said he was as gutted as he has ever been when TH went down.
I agree but if you dont think people like Jordan got away with stuff youre nuts. If you were guarding Jordan and he missed the shot you were getting a foul. As someone who wasnt a Bulls fan it drove me nuts. I would say length is probably more important than height itself.
There's a reason why everyone outside the state of Oklahoma (and maybe New York) wanted the Pacers to win.
He averaged almost 30 ppg the season following his tear. Had one more good season (26 ppg) then fell off.
Demarcus Cousins and Brandon Jennings both had it in their 20s and never really regained form. Isaih Thomas was 32 and never played again but I think he had announced he was retiring at the end of that season, which is crazy.
Hopefully Hali can recover, just isn’t a lot of data out there to support it. Maybe he will be the first.
