Hey all. Like always for me, the NBA season has been entertaining and fun to see what actually unfolds. We only have a game 7 and one series left in the 2022-2023 season before we crown a champion. But even without knowing who the champion is going to be, my thoughts (and hopefully your’s too) are pretty cemented about what I observed during the season. Here’s my take on what I saw.
NIKOLA JOKIC
First off, that Jokic is a baaaad boy! Maybe he’s the best player in the NBA or maybe there is someone that is better at times. But there is no doubt that he has proven why he won back to back MVP awards. He almost won a 3rd straight this year. He can’t be stopped. First, Kendrick Perkins was talking trash about how Jokic was the MVP because of race. Then he said Jokic was stat padding in games to get triple doubles.
But now he is singing the Joker’s praises and calling him the best player in the league after these playoff performances.
If you’ve watched Denver in these playoffs, you’ve seen Jokic beat up on three of the top 10 centers in the NBA. First, there was Rudy Gobert on Minnesota. Then there was DeAndre Ayton of Phoenix and lastly there was Anthony Davis of the Lakers. He carried Denver in all three series by destroying each of those players in their matchups. And when they sent double teams, he found the open man for an on time and on target pass. Those players delivered with made backets. I mean enough said on the guy. He’s not as popular as some other players but he simply is the best player in the game right now.
JOE MAZZULLA
I don’t know what’s going to happen in game 7 today. What I do know is that the expectations for the 1st year head coach seemed to have been unrealistic. Yes, I understand that last year’s coach, Ime Udoka, was also a 1st time rookie head coach that coached the Celtics to the Finals. But please, do we think coaching in the NBA is easy? I know the team was down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals but do we also realize that they were in the……. Eastern Conference Finals? Even though it’s not as far as they made it last year, that’s still a decent accomplishment for a rookie head coach. The media calling for his firing if they had gotten swept seemed flat out wrong to me. Are we not going to allow anyone to grow on the job and learn from failures? I thought that’s what life was about, learning from your failures. I guess not in the NBA when expectations are close to unrealistic!
PLAYOFF JIMMY IS REAL
Look at the last two seasons and postseasons. He takes more shots, scores more points, grabs more rebounds and has a upticks in steals. Assists are the only thing that fluctuates. He takes it up another level in the playoffs.
TOM THIBODEAU
Thibs is a very good coach. He’s a disciplined, defensive minded coach that has his team prepared and playing hard every game. He’s helped the Knicks to turn around their futility by guiding them to two playoff appearances over the last three seasons. They have a grit and grind, East coast defensive identity now.
Here’s the issue. Thibs is so structured that it makes him a rigid coach. He still barely plays his young guys or develops them. Obi Toppin, Miles McBride and Quentin Grimes seems like they could give the Knicks more than what Thibs allows them to. Also, Thibs sticks to his 8 man rotation and doesn’t deviate during the playoffs, depending on matchups, like other coaches. We’ve seen Joe Mazzulla put Derrick White in the starting lineup for Boston and that has given them a spark. We saw Darvin Ham put Lonnie Walker IV in the rotation after not playing him for 2 months. That move helped them to win a playoff game against Golden State to put the Lakers up 3-1 in the series.
We’ve seen Eric Spoelstra change his lineup in each series to see what works. This is what the best coaches do. They play different lineups during the season so when playoff times comes, they have the ability to mix and match players to find the best lineups for that particular series. The 7th or 8th man in one series may need to not play in the next series. The offensive game plan for a three game stretch may need to change for the next two games.
Thibs doesn’t show this type of flexibility in the playoffs when coaches can lock in on player’s tendencies and the offensive game plan. Because of this, there will always be a cap on how far he can take a team that doesn’t have the very best talent. The Miami Heat shouldn’t have looked that much better than the Knicks in the 2nd round. Both teams play equally as hard and have equal talent. Spolstra is less rigid and more flexible on finding the players that will help him win that particular series. Thibs is going to stick with his same 7 or 8 players the whole time. That only works for so long.
JULIUS RANDLE
You can’t talk about Thibs and the Knicks playoff inabilities without talking about Randle. Here’s a quick look at his numbers in postseason compared to the regular season.
Look at those red numbers, which signifies declining stats from the regular season. He hasn’t figured out how to play successfully in the playoffs yet. Thib’s coaching and Randle’s declining production are not a recipe for deep runs in the playoffs with the Knicks right now.
THE OLD GUARD
Lebron, KD and Kawhi are no longer in the top 5 players in the NBA in my opinion. We all know they still have the goods to have a spectacular stretch for a game or two in the playoffs. But they can no longer carry their teams for long stretches on offense, stay healthy for an extended period of time, nor play defense at a high level for extended stretches. Lebron is still great but he can’t carry a team in the playoffs a whole game like he used to. KD may not even be the best scorer or player on his team anymore. Anytime Kawhi plays hard on both ends for the whole game, he has to sit out the next couple of games, or worse, the rest of the season. While we are at it, Klay Thompson is much less dependable on offense and defense too. It is what it is. Father time is undefeated.
THE NEW GUARD
OKC and Sacramento are coming in the West. Everyone except for Denver better prepare for these teams for the next few seasons.
And that wraps up my thoughts about the 2022-2023 NBA season. Enjoy the Finals and drop a comment if you liked this blog post.