EL Playoffs 2021

[Killer Bob]

You are saying Calathes is the worst player of all time in the playoffs but when you look much better especially that series against Real he was actually pretty, pretty good. 1st game he had like 15 assists. 2nd game best PIR. In the 3rd game he was knocking 3pt by 3pt in the 2nd half and he was keeping Pao alive in that game and he was basically the reason why Pao catched huge deficit in 2nd half. He had by far the most points. 4th game also very good. In that series he was the best player. Its not his fault that Real just had brutally good playoff that year and that Reyes somehow showed in the 4th q od the 2nd game and that Doncic knocked that crazy 3pt bank shot in the last min of the 4th game. Year before he had to play against probably the strongest team and the team which was in the best form in the playoffs in the last 7-8 years (fener). In 2019 against Real PAO was just huge underdog and I think Lebron couldnt help them to beat them. So actually for me his only bad playoff performance even tho he wasnt leader then was against Baskonia. But that roster of Pao that year was just laughable (Jankovic, Feldeine, Eliott Williams, Diamantidis last season, Sasha Pavlovic....) and Baskonia was damn good and played the best basketball (something like Efes this year). Even today idk how did u make a conclusion that Calathes is the reason why Barca lost? Calathes is the strongest when he has freedom and when team plays a little bit faster so he can dominate on the open court. Barca plays slow af...if he is better shooter we wouldn't even talk here abt him cuz he would be in the NBA with the nice minutes in the rotation of pretty much any nba club.

You got it wrong. I said the most overrated player. Expectations for player like Calathes is a bit different than for Ulanovas.

We can start with yesterday. What would have happened, if he had played just 75% of Pangos performance? Barca would have won easily.

If supposedly 1 of the best playmakers of the game is 1/14 in playoffs as a leader something must be wrong. Leaders are the ones, who should lead their team to the win and that is even more true, if they're playmakers. They should takeover games, when it's crunch time. Pangos did exactly that yesterday. I agree, even the best players cannot win everything alone. But 1/14 are brutal numbers. Yes Pao played against some good clubs, but Pao was good team too. They had home court advantage twice. Real with Luka was without Campazzo and Llull returned for last 2 games after 1 year long injury. So Real basically had only 18 years old playmaker.

The problem with Calathes is obvious in playoffs, coaches just leave him open and risk that he makes some 3s, but take his driving and spacing away. It's exactly the same problems Simmons has in Nba.

He was awful in Fener series too. Just compare leader Bogdanovic and leader Calathes. What happens if you switch those 2? And that's the only thing I'm saying, leader should lead and win some games.

Yes, if he was a shooter, he would have been...Simmons would have been better than LeBron, if he was an average shooter. Unfortunately basketball is about putting basketball in a basket.

[Serbian_Layup]

I think Barca-Zenit game was a good example what it takes for underdogs to win against best basketball teams. Aside from good coaching, disciplined and engaged defense, there will be moments where you will be forced to hit some tough shots to win the game no matter how much better you played throughout the game and even had a big lead. Barca has the best perimeter defense in the league with Calathes, Higgins, Hanga and Claver who is one of the most switchable forwards, and it was clear that they were going to bring hell to Zenit from the start of the second half. There were few moments where anybody could think "this is it, Barca got them", but those are the moments where big shots are due to not just keep you in the game but also kill the spirits of tough and engaged defense. More talented teams have a possibility to put other teams in various difficult situations and heavy pressure, but that exactly is a sword with two blades, because the other less talented team if ready and up to challenge to last longer in adversity can break a team with more powerful weapons, because sheer power can't last longer than resilience. That's the beauty of life, because everything balances out in the end. David had nothing to do with Goliath, but that's exactly the story that tells no one is left without weapons no matter how unjust it looks on the surface, just need to accept adversity and look for those weapons without fear (by weapons I tend not to think about physical weapons).

Zenit had Pangos and KC Rivers who hit more than a few tough shots last night and completely deservedly won the game. I don't expect Barca to be too dejected after this loss though, it will be hard for Zenit to repeat such a good game on both ends. In the best of 5 series it's a lot harder to win against heavily favored teams than in one knockout game. And there is another problem for Zenit - Pangos and Billy Baron (so as Hollins) are all thinner than all of the players in Barca's backcourt/perimeter, it's questionable how much they can cope physically on both ends of the floor while being expected to hit important shots and defend reasonably well. I'm not a coach, but I would look into possibility of switching Pangos/Baron on Barca's best drivers and attack them and wear them out on defensive end. Anyway, Pascual is good and Zenit is a tough nut to break.

[ncjazz]

Cant get much worse for Madrid. Now no Tavares. As we all know they should have gotten a better upgrade for Randolph than Tyus.

[Killer Bob]

There're some seasons that you just cannot do anything.

[Serbian_Layup]

Causeur and Lull have been a little bit selfish, they could have easily made a couple of extra passes for wide open shots instead of taking bad layups at the rim.

[Straight forward]

Disappointing Real. The impression is that none is really ready for PO in this team. I like Garuba's energy, but that's it. Probably teams like Valencia, Baskonia would give better run for Efes now.

[Katastroika]

I cannot believe that Laso didn't hedge on Efes guards one single time. He has ideal personel for that today as Tavares doesn't play and it's literally your only chance against Efes.

Horrible flopping on both sides by the way

[Killer Bob]

Disappointing Real. The impression is that none is really ready for PO in this team. I like Garuba's energy, but that's it. Probably teams like Valencia, Baskonia would give better run for Efes now.

My guess is that every team has breaking point from where is no coming back. Tavares was the last crucial player still playing.

[wyopeq]

There're some seasons that you just cannot do anything.

With or without Tavares, Efes is too much for Real Madrid. It is not that hard to admit this reality Bob.

[Killer Bob]

With or without Tavares, Efes is too much for Real Madrid. It is not that hard to admit this reality Bob.

Players have nothing with that, but some minor injuries directly before F4 would probably be needed for understanding how difficult is playing without all important players. Tavares is half of Real's D. I don't like Barca, but because of Efes fans, I will have big problems not to be against Efes, if they by chance meet.

[ncjazz]

One glimmer of hope for Madrid. Efes backcourt in some foul trouble.

[madmax]

dayum...didn't expect Madrid to be THIS kind of hopeless in this series.

[Toruko]

Easy playoff series for Efes as I predicted

[saritasbora]

Jesus !!
I always root for the underdogs but Rudy f***** Fernandes is unbearable!
I do not understand why he has to flop that much.

[PowerForward]

Massive win by Efes thanks to great team spirit.
Although Micic(1/9) and Larkin(5/14) were very weak in offense the rest of the team were really great such as Beaubois , Sanli and Simon .
Simon is really great leader so i admire him

Now it is Micic's turn . What an amazing performance from him.
I hope there will be no injuries or covid cases in Efes till the last day of season.