I always thought the Dallas fans were the biggest crybabies in sports, but boy the Celtics and their fans are sure giving them a run for their money.
I always thought the Dallas fans were the biggest crybabies in sports, but boy the Celtics and their fans are sure giving them a run for their money.
Nobody won or lost because of the refs, but that was horribly officiated for both sides.Originally Posted by Mutaman
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
Butler's 45/ 9/ 7/ 4 night is among the best in Heat history. And it was largely done on one leg with the entire Celtic club knowing he was going to be the guy doing it. That turnaround 20-footer against two defenders is a poor shot, but it went in. Those shots, IMO, are the difference between regular season basketball and playoff basketball. That's what I've tried to explain, but have done a really poor job of it. Because NBA defenders aren't as locked in during the regular season, because coaches are more likely to play poor defenders in the regular season, because officials often swallow their whistles and the brand of basketball is rougher and tougher with all the little hand checks that were called fouls two months ago, the game is different. Specific skill sets are more important in the playoffs than in the regular season.
Making those contested twos against top-flight defenses willing to hack and slap is a skill, and Butler is really good at scoring and controlling the game against those defenses.
I'd love to know the all-time playoff shooting numbers for long twos (16 - 23 feet) that were heavily guarded. I'm pretty positive Jordan would rank number one, but that might be hagiographic.
Be interesting to rank the top 10 big-shot playoff guys all time and in the league now.
Kingspoint (05-28-2022),M2 (05-28-2022)
Butler's performance was, dare I say, Jordanesque.
goreds2 (05-28-2022)
Sunday, May 29
8:30 PM ET
ESPN
Boston Celtics
Miami Heat
Game 7: Series tied 3-3
* Attended the 1990 and 2010 Reds Division clinchers *
Go 76ers, Go Steelers and Go Bucks
I think the criteria you're looking at is very narrow. There is data available for a player's performance on two-point field goal attemptes when tightly covered, but the distance criteria is limited to shots 10 or more feet away from the bucket:
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/sh...ort=FG2A&dir=1
Shots happen so seldom when very closely guarded (0-2 Feet) at that range, it's only informative to look at the "Tight" coverage (2-4 Feet). With a =/>1 attempt qualifier, you'll find Butler with 3.1 tightly guarded attempts per game this playoff season. That sounds like a low qualifier, but you have to do that to find any real volume of players. Those shots don't happen as often as we might think, and Butler is at the start of the high end of attempts.
Butler has hit them at a 42.9% clip in the playoffs so far this season, ranking 20th among all of this season's playoff performers. He hit 41.7% of them last season (ranking 28th), and 46.9% the year before that (ranking 13th) with reduced shot volume. He was 14th at 43.5% in the 2018-19 playoffs.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
Robert Horry says it is Lillard.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
Jimmy Butler is going it nearly solo versus the Celtics tonight. He has 24 points at the half, Miami still trails by 6, 55-49. For all of you PJ Masks fans out there, it is time for Tyler to be a Herro. He is scoreless in the game.
I have little doubt that Jimmy Butler will be in Miami ownership's ear in the offseason begging for another star player to join him. Yes, he missed a huge 3-pointer down by two after the Heat inexplicably made a game of it late. Yes he scored only four points in the fourth quarter, missing 4 of 6 shots. But how gassed is he at that point? Any game plan that requires Butler to play 46-48 minutes and take 25 to 30 shots per game is specious at best. Offensively for the series, Adebayo was about as useful as expected, vacillating between good and non-existent at that end of the court game to game. Lowry stunk. Oladipo had only a couple decent games. Max Strus is a bench guy getting starters minutes to keep Herro- injured now sure, but who had a rough postseason overall- in a bench rotation slot.
Good run by the Heat. The Celtics/Warriors finals will be fascinating.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
I do think Miami will try to find a secondary scorer to pair with Butler (or a tertiary guy to hang with he and Herro), as Lowry looked washed. (To be fair, he also had injuries that would have likely kept him out of regular season games, so he might have something other than what we saw against Boston.) They've got $18M of space to play with before getting into cap gymnastics. Duncan Robinson (and his nearly $17M salary) might well be attractive to teams looking for scoring from the wing. They may well package he and others for a guy who can stay on the floor in the playoffs.
But your characterization of Miami is perpetually dour. Butler just had a dominant playoff series playing on one leg. He willed his team to a Game Six win and almost a Game Seven win. Yet the only thing you talk about is a missed shot. Ppfffffttt. He was the best player on the court for large swaths of that series even on a bum knee. Dude deserves respect. Too, your characterization of Herro clearly lacks much nuance. He was putrid from three, but, as we learned, was playing with his own injuries. Despite that, he shot 45% over his last 10 games and scored at least 30 three times.
Lowry looks washed. Not sure how much of that was his own injuries and how much was Father Time beating him down. Oladipo is a cypher-- not sure if this isn't what you'll have with him moving forward. (Reminds me a bit of Boogie Cousins in Denver.) Markieff Morris will surely leave. Dedmon is probably gone. They need a PG, but don't have the cash for an elite one. Would a Duncan Robinson and change (Strus and Mulder) for Brogdon deal work? If not (and I suspect Indiana will try to go big-game hunting with that Brogdon deal), how about Lowry, Duncan Robinson, and a contract for John Wall?
I posted after ESPN threw up a front-page headline about Butler missing the three-pointer and after watching him have to answer questions about that shot. Frankly, that question's implication ticked me off, given that Miami doesn't sniff a game 7 or stay competitive in it without Butler. He deserved better, given how heavily Miami leaned on him during the last two games of the series, leading to my point about him needing someone who can consistently help him on offense rather than up/down crew Miami is currently running out there while grinding Butler into dust. You might want to re-read the post, because I'm a Jimmy Butler fan. That I don't buy into a romanticized version of Jimmy Butler doesn't make me somehow dislike him.
And yes, up/down (mostly down) is exactly what Tyler Herro was during the playoffs prior to his ECF game-three groin injury. The guy was awful against Atlanta, mediocre against Philly, and putrid versus Boston. No more "nuance" needed. You seem to agree with the rest of what I posted, so I don't really think my take on Miami is all that negative. Anyway...
Not sure how Miami goes about their offseason. Yeah, Duncan Robinson is the most likely piece to be moved, but Spoelstra may have just nuked his value by benching him, especially given his contract. Oladipo is a UFA. Lowry will be 37 next March. If they can move off of his contract, that would give them some real cap space, but I don't think John Wall is the right target for a team that should be trying to find a puzzle's last piece. And while Miami is great at turning over rocks for talent (Strus, Gabe Vincent), I'm not sure how much actual value guys like that actually have. If Kendrick Nunn's Lakers contract is a market litmus test, the answer is "not much".
In the end, I do think that Lowry is probably the key. If they can move him to improve, I'd expect them to do that. If not, we may be looking at a couple tweaks here and there, but mostly a run-back with the hope that things just go better.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
Miami had a good run. Progressed further than I thiught, by beating Philly. But Boston was better. Tatum and Brown were the best players in the series. Sorry that I am not impressed with Butler’s great four games and three garbage games. That is how Butler rolls. Year after year he only plays about 55 games. He has had the nickname “general soreness” for five years. He’s definitely a smart, crafty effective two way player. He’s not a top 10-15 guy. He needs to be a sidekick for someone else with more talent, and he doesn’t see himself as a side kick.
Tatum made all the key plays needed (except for the last three minutes of game 7 when Boston seemed to lose focus, and almost lost their lead)
Brown was agressive and effective getting to the hoop and finished consistently well.
I like that Butler went for the kill shot. I think he was metaphysically correct in assessing that the only way the Heat were going to win was if he hits that shot.
As for where Miami goes from here, maybe they ball Herro and Robinson together to see what they can get. Bradley Beal? Put me down as being highly suspect of Herro's ultimate value after these playoffs. I don't think the Heat are going to want to give him the extension he'll be seeking.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Chip R (06-02-2022)
You underestimate Herro, man.
His career playoff numbers are 14.0 ppg, .486 eFG%, 102 Ortg - 113 Drtg, -5.2 on court. He was a non-factor all playoffs. I wouldn't pay $20M+ for that. The Heat are trying to win a title. IMO, time to cash in on his 6th man award and find out what he can get you. Beal, Dame, Spida? Hell, if they packaged Herro, Robinson and Lowry could they get LeBron? It's the NBA, crazy things happen.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
SteelSD (05-30-2022)
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