AG@RICE said:

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Banes was a direct shot to the nuts and his arm went through the opponents legs. Harden was more of a forearm to the lower abs and within his normal motion. Seemed weak to me. No intent, no follow through, and not even sure he hit the jewels.

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I think the intent was a weak shot to the balls. Nothing malicious to injure, but a little cup check to shock and get that extra step. There isn't really another reason to have his hand there. ONeal wasn't reaching, so he wasn't protecting the dribble or using the reach to pull back and get around. He wasn't creating separation. Just a weak tap to the junk. To hit him there, Harden had to have his arm pulled back at a weird angle. If he was trying to create separation or go around, that's not how anyone does it, especially having the arm vertically down rather than horizontally across the waist.

Intentional or not it is always something with James in the playoffs.

WES2006AG said:

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Intentional or not it is always something with James in the playoffs.

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With Harden shooting 38% for the series and Maxey shooting 54% and the 76ers down 4 at the end of the Third, Doc Rivers probably lobbied for the Flag2 to get rid of Playoff Harden for the 4th Quarter. And it worked! After the FTs, the 76ers were down 6 at the end of the quarter, then won by 7.


More surprising to me that Embiid didn't get ejected for his kick. Maybe they held back since Claxton clearly instigated it. But Embiid has more Flagrants than Draymond (21 to 19) in half as many career games. He certainly has a dirty history.

Nurse will immediately become a prominent candidate in the Houston Rockets’ coaching search, sources tell ESPN. He won the 2019 NBA title as Raptors coach, and was voted the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2023

Been a while since this gem has made it onto the thread. Let's not forget that James was sitting for this entire magical moment.

CFTXAG10 said:

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Nurse will immediately become a prominent candidate in the Houston Rockets’ coaching search, sources tell ESPN. He won the 2019 NBA title as Raptors coach, and was voted the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2023

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That sounds like a done deal. I think Mavs wanted to target him as well.

Also probably means the Raptors fall apart. VanVleet, Poeltl, Trent are all free agents. If the Rockets don't draft Scoot Henderson, it wouldn't surprise me to see them sign VanVleet to play point under Nurse.

Hell yes!

Meh

Something about the way Boston had to fire him gives me pause.

As long as he focuses on coaching instead of chasing co-eds I'm all for it

Strong hire

I don't know. This isn't Boston where he's coaching an experienced team. We're young and undisciplined and bringing in a coach who was suspended for a year.

My faith in Rockets basketball has been restored. Can't wait

Good hire. Tatum and Brown were considered raw and full of potential when he took over for Boston, now they are both considered 2-way stars. He brought toughness and accountability to that squad. We desperately need that.

Lol at assessment of Tatum/Brown

Tone2002 said:

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My faith in Rockets basketball has been restored. Can't wait

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100% agree. The guy knows how to coach defense. Him f**ing around with the Celtics is the best thing that's happened to the Rockets in forever. Haven't been this excited about a Rockets' coaching hire since JVG.

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The year before they were a .500 team that lost in the first round. The 1 year he coached they transformed into a great defensive unit and made it to the finals.

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Boston made the ECF in 3 of the 4 seasons prior to that .500 season. In the .500 season, they struggled with a lot of injuries and the fall off of Kemba Walker.

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He continually challenged and built their collective toughness and Tatum/Brown were definitely playing at a much higher level. This was the first time that they were the leaders of a good defensive team.

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Boston was 4th in DRTG in 2020 when they made the ECF. Boston was 7th in 2019. Boston was 1st in 2018. Boston was built around defense every year. The year before Ime, they struggled with injuries, Kemba started becoming less effective and was a huge downgrade, Hortford left for Philly, Gordie and Rozier left for Charlotte, and it was a minor rebuilding year. Then they bring back Hortford and trade for Derrick White to replace lost front and back court defensive players and they are back to where they were.

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Tatum had previously finished on 3rd team All-NBA. Under Ime he landed on the first team.

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Tatum in 2021: 26.4 ppg, 7.4rpg, 4.3apg, 1.2spg, 0.5bpg, .459fg%, .386 3fg%, .868ft%
Tatum in 2022: 26.9 ppg, 8.0rpg, 4.4apg, 1.0spg, 0.6bpg, .453fg%, .353 3fg%, .853ft% *** WITH UDOKA***
Tatum in 2023: 30.1 ppg, 8.8rpg, 4.6apg, 1.1spg, 0.7bpg, .466fg%, .350 3fg%, .854ft%

So there is the season with Udoka and the season before and after. Yes, it is quite clear Udoka made him who he is and he would be nothing without Udoka. Those are the seasons he was 22, 23, and 24yo.

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For the record, I didn't say they were ***** I said "raw and full of potential". Going from third team NBA to one of the five best players in the league is taking a leap.

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Maybe the voting just sucked, looking at the stats. Tatum was already there as the stats show.

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Going from an average team that lost in the first round to the NBA finals is a big leap.

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They were in the ECF for 3 of 4 years prior to that one down year when they lost significant pieces to the team and had a lot of injury problems.

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Going from 16th in defensive rating to #2 is a massive leap.

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They were 4th, 7th, and 1st in the three years prior to that one down year.

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They were certainly very talented offensive players before Ime showed up, but he helped them grow defensively. Its just my opinion, but no player can be considered great until they learn how to play D. It might have been 1-year, but it was a damn impressive year and I think it helped Tatum and Brown become true 2-way star players.

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They were both receiving All-Defense votes prior to Ime being their coach. Tatum was 15th in All-Defense team votes prior to Ime, but only 22nd with Ime. Brown was as high at 19th prior to Ime, but only 25th with Ime.

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Ime could end up being a meathead POS, but I think its worth the risk because our team could really use what he brought Tatum and Brown.

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I agree that Ime Udoka is a good coach and should be good for this Rockets team. I just think you are giving him WAY too much credit for Brown and Tatum. They were both clearly stars prior to Udoka coaching them. They were 22 and 24 and very well established offensively and defensively before Udoka was ever there. Brown's numbers actually dipped with Udoka as coach. Both Tatum and Brown have better numbers this year than last year and Boston went from 51 wins with Udoka to 57 wins this year. 7th to 2nd in ORTG and 2nd to 3rd in DRTG. #1 overall this year in NET.

Again, I think he is a good coach, it's just very clear you are overstating his impact a bit. Boston had a down/transition year as they moved from Kyrie/Hortford/Gordon to handing the reigns over to Tatum and Brown and finding the right mix of players around them (like bringing back Hortford and bringing in Derrick White.)

Also, you are missing the very obvious "Udoka changed this guy's career trajectory" argument.

Kawhi Leonard.

Pop brought Ime in as a player to be a short-minute defensive stopper to rest Bowen more as Bowen approached his late 30s.

Then after drafting Kawhi Leonard, Pop brought Udoka back for his first coaching gig specifically to mentor Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi was very raw and didn't come into the league with the expectations that Brown or Tatum had (both #3 picks.)

Celtics F Jayson Tatum on his relationship with Ime Udoka: "Whatever happened, happened and that doesn't have anything to do with me. But I can't take away the relationship that me and him had and the impact that he had on me in that one season." pic.twitter.com/ep60832qU3

— Tramel Raggs (@Raggs_No_Riches) February 18, 2023

The Celtics having to follow protocol and fire him is the best thing that has happened to the Rockets since we suckered Orlando into taking Steve, Cuttino, and Kelvin Cato for T-Mac.

I happened to stumble upon John & Lance interviewing Jeff Van Gundy this a.m. JVG has extensive experience with the new coach from various experiences over the year and was really enthused about it. He also stressed that there are going to be confrontations between the coach and the existing players where they see who is actually tired of losing and wants to commit to a new brand of all and who is just happy to be in the NBA; JVG intimated those guys would be getting moved out.

He also said that a lot of older veterans are toxic guys by now and won't fit into a change culture. He followed that up with "That's why this James Harden reunion thing ... well that's probably not going to happen."

What will be interesting with Udoka is if he will put more emphasis on defensive guys if Houston falls out of the top 2. Will Jarace Walker and Anthony Black be higher on his big board? His two big mentors in his career are Pop and Brad Stevens and both are strong defense guys.

Take a good chunk of that money we'd throw at Harden and throw it at Mikal Bridges instead.

HotardRat said:

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Take a good chunk of that money we'd throw at Harden and throw it at Mikal Bridges instead.

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Yeah, old ass Harden certainly doesn't seem like a Udoka guy.

Go after Miles Bridges, too.

The Houston Rockets have addressed the idea of packaging Jalen Green in a potential trade for a star, per @JakeLFischer pic.twitter.com/9L4fKDUQNy

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 28, 2023

Interesting turn to the rebuild.

Stone showing off the moves he learned from Morey

WES2006AG said:

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The Houston Rockets have addressed the idea of packaging Jalen Green in a potential trade for a star, per @JakeLFischer pic.twitter.com/9L4fKDUQNy

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 28, 2023

Interesting turn to the rebuild.

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Rumors that Trae Young is on the block. Not sure what other players considered a star would be on there. Toronto turned down 3 firsts for OG Anougby and wanted 3 firsts plus a good player. OG is a nice player to have, but wouldn't consider him a star.

There has been talk that Jaylen Brown wants to leave the Celtics to be the #1 guy on another team. Brown has one more year on his contract. Bringing in Udoka could add fire there.

There is the Harden rumors, but he's a FA and Houston has cap space, so that wouldn't work here.

I could see everyone wanting off the sinking SS Gobert ship. Minnesota is trash. But Edwards is better and trading KAT for him would give them another young player at Edwards' position.

Lilliard? Is Portland gonna blow up?

Guitarsoup said:

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WES2006AG said:

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The Houston Rockets have addressed the idea of packaging Jalen Green in a potential trade for a star, per @JakeLFischer pic.twitter.com/9L4fKDUQNy

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 28, 2023

Interesting turn to the rebuild.

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Rumors that Trae Young is on the block. Not sure what other players considered a star would be on there. Toronto turned down 3 firsts for OG Anougby and wanted 3 firsts plus a good player. OG is a nice player to have, but wouldn't consider him a star.

There has been talk that Jaylen Brown wants to leave the Celtics to be the #1 guy on another team. Brown has one more year on his contract. Bringing in Udoka could add fire there.

There is the Harden rumors, but he's a FA and Houston has cap space, so that wouldn't work here.

I could see everyone wanting off the sinking SS Gobert ship. Minnesota is trash. But Edwards is better and trading KAT for him would give them another young player at Edwards' position.

Lilliard? Is Portland gonna blow up?

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Saw Khris Middleton's name attached to this rumor as well.

WES2006AG said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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WES2006AG said:

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The Houston Rockets have addressed the idea of packaging Jalen Green in a potential trade for a star, per @JakeLFischer pic.twitter.com/9L4fKDUQNy

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 28, 2023

Interesting turn to the rebuild.

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Rumors that Trae Young is on the block. Not sure what other players considered a star would be on there. Toronto turned down 3 firsts for OG Anougby and wanted 3 firsts plus a good player. OG is a nice player to have, but wouldn't consider him a star.

There has been talk that Jaylen Brown wants to leave the Celtics to be the #1 guy on another team. Brown has one more year on his contract. Bringing in Udoka could add fire there.

There is the Harden rumors, but he's a FA and Houston has cap space, so that wouldn't work here.

I could see everyone wanting off the sinking SS Gobert ship. Minnesota is trash. But Edwards is better and trading KAT for him would give them another young player at Edwards' position.

Lilliard? Is Portland gonna blow up?

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Saw Khris Middleton's name attached to this rumor as well.

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Obviously a big fan of Khris, but not sure I think of Khris as a star at this point. About to turn 32, dealing with lots of injuries. He's in the last year of his contract that will pay him $40mm. Doesn't seem to be the guy that would turn the tide for a team that is tanking. He's that glue guy you add to bring together a team that is almost there. All three Texas teams could benefit from a guy like Khris, but I don't know he is a difference maker for where the three Texas teams are at right now.

Also, it only really makes sense for Milwaukee if they are doing it to get a scorer and move Grayson to SF. They have huge cap/lux tax problems this summer. So maybe that makes sense, but their defense would obviously take a big hit.

Just be really hard for me to trade a 21yo guard for a 32yo SF with injury issues that has never been an All-NBA guy.