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2015 NBA Finals |OT| the deli is closed

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piratethingy

Self professed bad raider
I would propose that their best chance to win would be to play this shit-ball even with those two out there. We know that was their choice when Kyrie was in the line-up in game one. Thompson is an infinitely better defender and offensive rebounder than Love so not sure that he would even be playing that much.

Still ignoring my main point though that LeBron's numbers, to a large extent, are a by-product of the system they are playing. I actually think he is playing really well but just not to this orgasmic state other people seem to believe based on just "the numbers!".

I'm ignoring your main point because the other smaller point is the only part I disagree with.
 

Zoned

Actively hates charity
Who touts him as the greatest of all time?

Pointing to the finals record is devoid of any context or logic. His teams, cept the Mavs, finals lost to the better teams. In fact his two rings could be argued were against better teams who they upset.

See this is why these arguments are stupid. He is being punished for losing in the finals. For reaching the finals. Had he only made the finals 2 times and won, people would think that's better? Losing in the first round or 2nd is better?

Why should he go to the west? Is the goal winning the final or going through the toughest road possible so that fans who have no sense can somehow consider him worthy enough? Hell if players were smart they'd migrate more to the East to try to win. It also would help balance the league.

Just say you don't like him and move on. Inventing stupid ass reasons when he is putting up great #S and leading a team of lower level players in the finals is denying everything you can logically see.
Yep good post. At this point even if Lebron gets 100 points in a finals game, someone will criticize him and call him asshole/loser/chump or other team didn't play to their potential/they suck/james would get his ass handed in 90's/ he flops/crybaby or whatever.
 

piratethingy

Self professed bad raider
Gotcha. I still think the Cavs have a chance but it will require the Warriors (Curry specifically) to go cold again.

Yeah, I just feel like we're reaching that tipping point where the odds Curry goes ice cold for these last two games in a row AND Iggy somehow goes cold even though he hasn't yet all series (except his super yelp FTs). Etc Etc.

I think it's much more likely Curry goes absolutely OFF in the last game of the series, whichever that may be.
 

BadAss2961

Member
Pointing to the finals record is devoid of any context or logic. His teams, cept the Mavs, finals lost to the better teams. In fact his two rings could be argued were against better teams who they upset.
That's a lot of underdog play for the best player in the world. Miami was supposed to be unstoppable when they put that team together. Not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7, and there was no reason to believe it couldn't happen.
 

Spinluck

Member
Well, at least it wasn't a sweep, which is what I thought would happen after Irving went down.

Considering the current match ups, this series was a lot better than I expected. I think we can get a game 7. I want one really bad. Hoping GS fucks next game, only way Cavs win it lol. Them playing as a solid 10 man squad negates anything Lebron does. Him making that crunch time 3 only to be instantly shat on by the Splash Bros. Just demoralizing mang lol...

Historic effort from him though.. Still one of my favorite players to watch period. Just one of those guys who are the engine of their team (or are the team lol).

LOL at Wade's Twitter account during the game:

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Bruh lol.
 

toneroni

Member
Always been a Lebron hater but he's doing all he can this series. They're gonna be back next year if Love stays.

What's up with Iggys FTs. Ridiculous lol.
And can't really say anything else about Curry... Except I wiiiiish the Knicks got him. I bet we would have developed him all wrong anyways!
 
The hate stems from the people who tout him as the greatest of all time. He's a GREAT player, and one of the best of this generation, but he's about to fall to 2-4 in NBA finals. Let's not forget he plays in the Eastern conference where making it to a final is a cakewalk compared to the West. If he moves to a western conference team and wins a title I would have a lot more praise for him.

Lebron would be 0-0 if he played in the west.
 

dorkkaos

Member
Always been a Lebron hater but he's doing all he can this series. They're gonna be back next year if Love stays.

What's up with Iggys FTs. Ridiculous lol.
And can't really say anything else about Curry... Except I wiiiiish the Knicks got him. I bet we would have developed him all wrong anyways!

Definitely. I've always hated Lebron, but I can't fault him for this series, tbh. Just a bad injury ridden run. Though, somehow, I think the Love injury was a blessing in disguise. That's just me.
 
Geeze, talk about an overwhelming night. NBA Finals, GoT seasons finale, Bethesda's E3 conference, and top of that there's the steam summer sale.........
 
curry-mean-mug.gif

That's a lot of underdog play for the best player in the world. Miami was supposed to be unstoppable when they put that team together. Not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7, and there was no reason to believe it couldn't happen.

They lost as the underdog once. They lost as the favorite once. And in Cleveland, well, sure he's the best player in the world but look at the rosters that surrounded him.
 
I'll second this. He controls the ball, he'd have his own collection of inefficient 40 point games, and he'd run around like a mad man to get 10 rebounds every night.

I'll give LeBron credit because he's actually trying, but there comes a point where he's just getting his, and no one else really has a chance to get anything going outside of the occasional open jumper he feeds them. He's playing point guard, shooting guard, and the forward spots, and it isn't necessarily because of the team he's playing with -- this is what he always does. His offensive game is built around him doing everything, encroaching on everyone's role who isn't a spot-up shooter. It makes him look good, but it hurts the team at the end of games sometimes.

Co-sign this powerful post.
 

rambis

Banned
Older posts but I wanna get in on this.


I don't get what you don't get.

This is the only way Cavs can play and even then after game 1 people were all but assured they would be swept.

Lebron has never played iso ball and this is a first in terms of minutes, shots, ball dominance. But that he is doing it and led the team to 2 wins is what's impressive. Averaging a triple double is phenomenal.

Like I said he can't win. When with Miami is fg% and efficiency was through the roof people said yeah well he has such a great cast and he is a front runner. Now that he is leading this team by himself we are going to pick at his fg%? If this was with Kyrie and Love there then yes but that'S not how they were playing before.

Whatever I'm going to bed. Can't believe how the discussion hasn't evolved in the past 5 years. It's hard to comment on the games when the same group of Lebron haters shit up every discussion.
This happens is most major sports. Rationality has no real place in sports discussions.
So, I'm super impressed with LeBron's effort this series but, just like WestFraud through a month or two, his numbers are the byproduct of a highly inefficient philosophy. They can bludgeon their way to 35-40% shooting every game playing this shit-ball and hope the Warriors don't make their normal shots. In doing so LeBron's usage rate is astronomically high and that doesn't even count his crashing the defensive boards on every play for rebounds. I guess I'm not super impressed with huge numbers produced at a low percentage when you take every shot and the other team doesn't double team you.

People saying he is way outplaying Curry...I'm not so sure even though Curry hasn't been as hot as he can be. It is almost impossible to compare as the offensive philosophies are completely different - the warriors play a ball movement game while the Cavs just iso every single play and then crash the boards when shots go up. OF COURSE the numbers will be unbalanced.

I mean, if Curry just ran around jacking up contested 3s he would probably still hit 33%. If he took LeBron's 40 shots/game that equates to 13 3s or 39 points per game. I just wouldn't find that as impressive as, obviously, a lot of LeBron fans would. I'd rather have him average 25 and have the team play as they do now.
I know the PPG and FG% are somewhat similar but what lebron is doing doesn't really compare at all to WBs run this year. Westbrook's usage, while high is still lower than lebrons in these finals yet he turned the ball over more than twice the amount of time. Westbrook also didn't lead the team, hell both teams in virtually every category like lebron is.

Lebron has sacrificed a lot of his efficiency but that still doesn't make him as bad as Westbrook.
You're not hearing me. One guy accounting for 81% of the offense is not a good thing. Yeah, Deli is his PG, but LeBron plays the same game with Kyrie on the floor, meaning he still controls the ball instead of the point guard. The only difference Kyrie makes under LeBron is that he'll score more points than Deli.
Kyrie dropped 50 pts in an OT game versus the Spurs where Lebron was his backup. The fact that Lebrons usage almost doubled over the course of the season also highlights a significant change in Clevelands offensive strategy, a change that just so happened to coincide with them becoming one of the best teams of the second half versus that abysmal start to the season.

This was a change out of necessity. No, its not good to have 80% of your teams offense ran thru one player. But they literally have nobody else on the team that could come close to running the offense outside of a few lucky plays.

James is averaging a 44 percent usage rate these finals. Game 4 saw GSW start to double and trap Lebron and he registered a 30% usage. And strangely that coincided with Cleveland's worse loss of the series and one of the worst in the history of the Finals.

Its crazy that people make these BS arguments that are easily quantifiable. Lebron is playing inefficiently but that is the only way this team has a shot. Its not to their detriment.
 
LeBron got this MVP on lock though

I know the precedent exists, but FMVP from a losing team hasn't happened since the Jerry West days, probably for good reason. I really would prefer to avoid the league re-establishing that practice.

If Curry has another great game in a win, he has to get it. He had a better overall game than LeBron tonight, as well as in Game 4. Plus LeBron has been padding his stats a lot, whereas Curry has been much less selfish.
 
The hate stems from the people who tout him as the greatest of all time. He's a GREAT player, and one of the best of this generation, but he's about to fall to 2-4 in NBA finals. Let's not forget he plays in the Eastern conference where making it to a final is a cakewalk compared to the West. If he moves to a western conference team and wins a title I would have a lot more praise for him.

I'm not ready to gloat yet, but losing 4 out of 6 Finals really isn't that good for a supposed "GOAT".

I hate Lebron, but I will give him credit that pretty much every team he's been on the last 8 years has been a contender. He's definitely been "King" of the Leastern conference for almost the past decade. A few guys who came East from the West like Melo haven't come close to being as dominant.

That said, the fact that he's about to go 2 and 6 against Western Conference teams, he's not the easiest player to build championship teams around. He struggles against the more team-based Western Conference teams almost every time. And among the great players to ever play the game of basketball, he's definitely probably the weakest mentally among them. Maybe Lebron is the product of this social media self-pity era but guys like Kobe, Jordan, Bird and Magic they never looked rattled even when they played poorly. Lebron is a frontrunner and has always struggled when the tides start to turn.

Lebron will get his stats for the reasons other people in this thread have already mentioned. the Miami Heat with a healthy Wade was probably the best scenario for Lebron to win titles.
 

TTG

Member
Saved by the Dell?

CHg9jwJWwAAKaHY.jpg


Curry(and the Warriors) have figured out what to do when the Cavs double off every screen. That and he's hitting a lot of the tough shots he was missing in the earlier games. I love this idea that Deli was doing what first team all defense Mike Conley couldn't though, Deli should intern at ESPN as thanks for that narrative over the summer.
 

rambis

Banned
I'm not ready to gloat yet, but losing 4 out of 6 Finals really isn't that good for a supposed "GOAT".

I hate Lebron, but I will give him credit that pretty much every team he's been on the last 8 years has been a contender. He's definitely been "King" of the Leastern conference for almost the past decade. A few guys who came East from the West like Melo haven't come close to being as dominant.

That said, the fact that he's about to go 2 and 6 against Western Conference teams, he's not the easiest player to build championship teams around. He struggles against the more team-based Western Conference teams almost every time. And among the great players to ever play the game of basketball, he's definitely probably the weakest mentally among them. Maybe Lebron is the product of this social media self-pity era but guys like Kobe, Jordan, Bird and Magic they never looked rattled even when they played poorly. Lebron is a frontrunner and has always struggled when the tides start to turn.

Lebron will get his stats for the reasons other people in this thread have already mentioned. the Miami Heat with a healthy Wade was probably the best scenario for Lebron to win titles.
This has to be some of the most cherry picked drivel I've ever read. He's two wins away from a chip on a team lacking three starters, on a roster whose remains are literally filled with rejects from one of the worst Knick teams in recent memory and an undrafted PG against what was supposed to be the best finals team in the last 5 seasons. Fuck out of here. Hes been the best player in the Finals for the last 4 years.

I will say I absolutely love how Lebron haters pick and choose when to post context less stats.


But yeah, the 2012 and 2013 Heat sweep this golden state squad or at the most 5 games.
 

TTG

Member
This has to be some of the most cherry picked drivel I've ever read. He's two wins away from a chip on a team lacking three starters, on a roster whose remains are literally filled with rejects from one of the worst Knick teams in recent memory and an undrafted PG. Fuck out of here. Hes been the best player in the Finals for the last 4 years.

I will say I absolutely love how Lebron haters pick and choose when to post context less stats.


You mean four starters. Dion is sorely missed in Ohio I bet.
 
Klay Thompson who's been playing alright all playoffs long is just 3 3s away from passing Reggie Miller for second place in most 3s made in a single playoffs.

He and Curry will be #1 and #2 if he does it. Curry has 95.
 

kazinova

Member
New game plan for the Cavs, free up your guards for 3-pointers with MOVING SCREENS and SCREEN FOULS. It's clearly not getting called, all you can do is fight fire with fire. If they start calling the Cavs for moving screens at least you'll be able to show them the 5-minute moving screen compilation from games 3 and 4.

No sense in following the rules if it's not going to be punished.
 
New game plan for the Cavs, free up your guards for 3-pointers with MOVING SCREENS and SCREEN FOULS. It's clearly not getting called, all you can do is fight fire with fire. If they start calling the Cavs for moving screens at least you'll be able to show them the 5-minute moving screen compilation from games 3 and 4.

No sense in following the rules if it's not going to be punished.

Cry me a river. Thompson and Mozgov don't even attempt to stop on half their screens. The difference is that Golden State is making their jumpers.
If they're going to call the rules straight, Lebron would foul out in the first quarter after the sixth time he cleared out with his left arm while driving or posting up. They could also start calling the continuous 3 second violations on Thompson trolling for offebsive rebounds. Bron Bron fans crying about the refs is hilarious considering we're two series removed from the three blind mice helping him beat the Bulls.
 

rambis

Banned
Well...he is..?
Yeah I don't see the problem. I have a problem with the question more than anything. Best player in the world who is a 2x champion, who has also been the best player in this series by far and you ask him about his confidence level.

Its almost like the reporter was fishing for an answer like that.
 
Not bad from the Cavs. Certainly they could have rebounded better all game and shot better at the end, but it was better than I expected for them to do. Not much they could do when Curry went nuts. The game that bothers me more is game 4 when they shot horribly all game and pretty much lost their chance to win the series. I mean, yes they could still win, but I doubt they will even get to game 7 at this point. It's like the Memphis series. Golden State gives you a taste, like yeah, we could win this, then they take over the series and don't look back. Impressive on their part.
 
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