The sidekick to the main Thinking Basketball channel, "More Thinking Basketball" contains extra videos, shorts, unedited Thinking Basketball podcasts, and even deep cuts that are left out of videos from the Thinking Basketball team.
People are down on the Celtics cause they are bored with them. There's so much talent they should have won it already, but they haven't. Personally I'm underwhelmed by these teams. On one side there's Luka hogging all the attention and the green team is drive and kick drive and kick till forever. Hope I'm wrong.
On the topic of expanding the definition of clutch from high pressure game deciding plays in the final minutes of games to whole game/series performances, i think the two great examples of the extremes of this are Robert Horry and James Worthy. Whereas Big Shot Rob is legendary for his many game clinching shots and single plays, Worthy was a great example of the other archetype, someone who constantly came through in the clutch in terms of ramping up his performance in all four quarters when the games mattered most, not necessarily just in the decisive final moments of games.
The Celtics takes looks ridiculous and obviously because literally nobody watches Mavs games just highlights that's why everyone is saying how the Mavs gonna stop Boston offense like seriously? The reason why there's people clowning the Celtics run is because they didn't prove anything in their run. Cavs has smaller guards who plays no defense, Indiana is worst with literally kids in the wing. You can put an argument of how good or perfect the Boston offense is but the fact is that they're not tested and proven in their run meanwhile the Mavs on the other hand proved they can do good against their weaknesses in their previous match-ups. Mavs haven't faced like Celtics is a cap they did with OKC it's just the Celtics is better and Mavs proved they can do good at that kind of team. Did the Celtics played a team like the Mavs? Hell fxxxxxg no because all of their opponents were without their best players it's fact. Yeah Pacers are good but you can't say Boston's defense is tested in that series when you're playing against baby Nembhard and TJ McConnell 😂
Celtics fan here. 29:20 onward, and more specifically at 34:20 - that is the best description of what's going on with Boston's offense that I've heard anyone describe.
Cody earlier in the year brought up the possibility that the Celtics just roll through this season all the way to the title. I think the assumption then was it would be Boston Denver, but with it being this mavs team I think it’s even more possible that they just clamp Luka and the lobs up and the guys around regress to their career 3 point percentages and it becomes Boston just being absolutely surgical with the series. Edit: And then I get to end of the episode and realize I shouldn’t comment in the middle of the episode. Because now I just posted a comment saying the exact same thing that was just said in the video.
They're a legendarily great offense and yet everyone can acknowledge that one single opposing player can steal the series from them. This creates great anxiety in a fan base that is accustomed to winning and has been too close for too long. Then that anxiety gets concentrated on Tatum because he's the best player on the best team and still not a top 5 talent. Then the rest of the league and media see the uncertainty of the city and team and blow it out of proportion. I think Joe's mentality, then, is and has been perfect for this group. We're taking 18.
It’s idiotic that the best team in the NBA with a historic net margin is treated like the underdogs by NBA media and even channels like this one that didn’t even make Celtics videos all season.
Completely glossing over the fact that Luka was clearly hobbled in OKC series, and then when it mattered in Game 5 & 6 he delivered, also in the game 2 win to split away from home.
Excellent work as always! 🔥🔥🔥 By the way, thank you for diving into that whole "best player in the series ALWAYS wins" adage. It's used so often and it is worth analyzing on a deeper level. 👍👍
Why do you guys use so many regular season stats to make arguments for the playoffs? What does it matter to me if the Celtics are 33-4 at home if they are barely over .500 at home in the playoffs the last couple of years including 2 bad losses this year.
The 2 bad losses literally had amazing 3 point luck in the other teams camp. They literally said if 3 point luck is that imbalanced you aren't gonna win anyway.
@@taptiotrevizo9415 yeah good point for Miami but I don’t know, the Cavs win was pretty convincing IMO. It still doesn’t change the fact that they have not been good at home the last couple of years in the playoffs.
It’s a lopsided finals. Anyone who disagrees is fooling themselves because if they believed it wasn’t they should put a ton of money on the Mavs considering you’d get one of the largest pay days in finals history from a bet.
Ben was unsure Mavs would beat Clippers. Yes everyone is saying Dallas is going to win but what they mean is "I want Dallas to win". Dallas has such a low margin of error it's hard to see them pulling this off. People are hype because their playoff run has been so impressive & Celtics has been so blahh. But at the end of the day, Celtics are the most talented team we have seen for a long while.
Ideas for naming Lukas strategy: - Jay walking (just in case he does this to dominate the celtics) - Crip walking (Mavs are blue) - Euro Nashing - REC Hour (when prisoners are allowed out of their cells to walk around but theyre still incarcerated) - Slothing - Snailing
Great content guys, but unfortunately I recently saw a definitely not cherry-picked clip of you not calling Luka the greatest player of all time so I'm going to be toxic to you on social media unfortunately (I consume content through 30 second clips and what other people tell me the content was about).
Yeah that's fair. They said Luka had an average performance one time too and that his game isn't completely flawless so these guys are clearly haters and know nothing.
Lmao no. Lebron led the finals in every statistical category while being the best defender and they mistakenly gave it to Iggy. If Lebron didn’t get it then no one will get it moving forward. Luka has never had a playoff series that is close to that finals series by Lebron and Luka doesn’t play defense while Boston has plenty of guys who would be deserving of FMVP
Please make a video comparing the impact on Luka on the team between the regular season and the playoffs. I really like the video you made about him the last time, but really want to know how he changes come the big stage.
Just check bballref. Luka was +9.4 this year which was much higher than previous years (+4.9 was previous high) Hes +3.4 in playoffs which is lower than 2 years ago
I doubt it's higher than it was cuz he was hardly great in the first two series. But yeah in that video they show he is more impactful in the playoffs iirc
As a longtime Mavs fan (since '99) I just want to say I think you guys do GREAT work. I have learned a ton about this game I love from watching your channel. Our fanbase has recently been diluted by a bunch of immature Luka and Kyrie stans that can't appreciate objective discourse and aren't willing to ever hear anything remotely critical of their team. Keep doing what you guys do an ignore these dumb homers. Real Mavs fans appreciate you guys
when playoffs come around... you guys need to be doing this shit for every series. yea its season based, however the information and the conversation is what people want to listen to. not a radio show from espn where they have boundaries. LET YOUR GUYS THOUGHTS FLOW, and just have a convo. i love it. i know other people do too
Please don’t pretend like you don’t know why Mavs and Luka fans are oversensitive, you’ve seen the coordinated undermining of European players by US national bball media
Very intersting discussion, thank you. But! The comments about shelving Kleber were totally wrong and I don't mean in hindsight now. Kleber is a 4 and only a small ball 5 when really needed. Why would you shelve your backup 4 to Washington? The whole strength of the Mavs defense since the trade deadline was not just having the two centers, but always having a pair of Gafford/Washington, Lively/Kleber out there, since Kleber can also guard lots of different positions and people have to think twice about driving to the rim when Lively and Kleber are in the area around the basket. Not to mention Washington can sometimes accumulate quick fouls, since he is guarding the opponents best players, so having Kleber to throw in there is essential. "Shelving Kleber" sounds like he would only play a stretch 5, but he has never been that guy.
As a Mavs and Luka fan I sometimes get annoyed with his behavior constantly complaining with the refs and not giving effort on defense. Yes, you can criticize him and I think Kyrie has a lot to do with the way he’s playing now. Very focused on both ends. When he plays like that he is nearly unstoppable.
I see it as a package deal. He's such a ruthless competitor because he hates losing so much, and that means he complains every time the rules don't seem fair to him. I bet he's a terrible person to play monopoly with. He's incapable of hiding or curating his emotions, so you see the joy and the frustration equally. Maybe he'll become more mellow with age, who knows, but that would mean losing the competitive edge. The defense thing is not so true anymore, their strategy before was always to outscore their opponents because they knew they didn't have the personnel to defend, so effort was definitely not there.
It's interesting yall brought up rim finishers being supreme. I haven't forgotten that one Zion game where he got hurt. It reminded me so much of young lebron where he is just young and strong and athletic and freakishly huge and skilled just hurling himself towards the rim like its a wide receiver route. When a guy is committed to doing that it changes the rules on defense
Here, to remind the two of you that you DID NOT INCLUDE Luka and Kyrie as top duo... I remember being sad about that. But I still love both of you guys.
