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2015 NBA PLAYOFFS |OT| One man's Smith.. Is another man's treasure.

Too early to put them in the grave? Did I just hear that statement about a team that went down 3-0 and doesn't have homecourt advantage in the series? That's mind boggling.

You are aware it has never been done before right? I'd say this is EXACTLY the situation where you do put them in the grave by all rational standards. Only those who are praying for miracles wouldn't.

Golden State won 3 in a row, so can Houston. Then it's winner takes all. I think they could realistically pull it off if they. Ignore the pressure.

Realistic is not the word you're looking for when describing something that has never been done in NBA history.
 
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Rockets eek out a win after giving their best all year, and some of you think that's going to carry them to a game 7?LMAO. This is not the clippers man.
 
Rockets shot 53% from 3. The Warriors hit 20 3s and lost. The chances of the Rocket duplicating that performance for 3 straight games is impossible. Its over.
 
It's not like GS has just destroyed them this series..... It could easily be 3-1 rockets if some plays went different.

People have been saying this every year since the dawn of man. If the ball had bounced another way it could have been X, Y, and Z. There's a reason why the best teams seem to win all those close games.
 

Fjordson

Member
A team has never come back from a 0-3 in the playoffs, right? Maybe this is the year...*prays to the basketball lords*.
NBA teams that have gone down 3-0 are 0-116 all-time.

It's not like GS has just destroyed them this series..... It could easily be 3-1 rockets if some plays went different.
Eh, you could basically go back through "ifs" on every play in basketball. I mean if the Warriors avoid 2-3 turnovers in the 4th quarter of game 2 after they were up 11 then the Rockets have no shot at the end.
 
They had 45 points in the first quarter on 77 percent shooting while going 8/9 from 3. Despite all that the Warriors still made a game out of it. This is as good as it's ever gonna get for them, it's over.
Rockets shot 53% from 3. The Warriors hit 20 3s and lost. The chances of the Rocket duplicating that performance for 3 straight games is impossible. Its over.


Are you forgetting the first two extremely close games in oracle before claiming this series is over? These teams may be more evenly matched than people think despite the 3-1 lead.

Im not saying theyll win 4 in a row Im just saying its not over yet and could very likely go to 6 games
 
Winning 4 in a row against GS is going to be very very tough. GS aren't the Clippers.

If they can pull the unprecedented historic series comeback, Houston will get all the props in the world.

Oh I never said they'd win 4 in a row. But they can win one. Hell, they could win 2. Especially with the young roster GS has that has never been here before. That Rockets team is playing largely like shit, but they have a bunch of vets that know what it takes to get to the Finals. How much influence they have on the guys who also haven't been here before is the question. My impression would honestly be: they have very little influence, or their collective play would be much more stable and consistent. Though perhaps that's a bit unfair, as they were a hair's breath away from this series being 2-2 or even 3-1 in their favor. Outside of Game 3, this series has been played on a knife's edge.

Too early to put them in the grave? Did I just hear that statement about a team that went down 3-0 and doesn't have homecourt advantage in the series? That's mind boggling.

You're dense as fuck. People are saying the series may not end TOMORROW (or whenever the next game is), not that it's likely that these Rockets will be the first to make a 3-0 comeback. They're not dead yet, just like Atlanta isn't dead yet. Go outside and get some air. And lose the persecution complex and chip while you're out there.
 

zychi

Banned
Do people really think Cle is a bunch of "castoffs?"

ESPN just said it, this is the best team he's played with overall(Mia was clearly made for championships with three stars). Injuries hurt the team, but that's every NBA team up to this point.

Tristian is a 1st rd 4th overall pick
Shump was a 1st rnd 17th overall pick
JR 1st rnd 18th overall
Kendrick 1st rnd 27th overall
Shawn Marion 1 rnd 9th overall (old tho)
Mike Miller 1st rnd 5th overall(old tho)
KLove(injured) 1st rnd 5th overall


Kyrie 1st rnd 1st overall

Not taking anything away from what Lebron is doing, but this isn't the 76ers Lebron is carrying. This team is a playoff team without Lebron in the East.
This isn't the rookie year Cavs team Lebron had.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
Kendrick 1st rnd 27th overall
Shawn Marion 1 rnd 9th overall (old tho)
Mike Miller 1st rnd 5th overall(old tho)
Corpses don't count. They've probably played less than 5 minutes of meaningful time.

Obviously this team is way more talented than the 2007 team.
 
Do people really think Cle is a bunch of "castoffs?"

ESPN just said it, this is the best team he's played with overall(Mia was clearly made for championships with three stars). Injuries hurt the team, but that's every NBA team up to this point.

Tristian is a 1st rd 4th overall pick
Shump was a 1st rnd 17th overall pick
JR 1st rnd 18th overall
Kendrick 1st rnd 27th overall
Shawn Marion 1 rnd 9th overall (old tho)
Mike Miller 1st rnd 5th overall(old tho)
KLove(injured) 1st rnd 5th overall


Kyrie 1st rnd 1st overall

Not taking anything away from what Lebron is doing, but this isn't the 76ers Lebron is carrying. This team is a playoff team without Lebron in the East.
This isn't the rookie year Cavs team Lebron had.

Well...

JR has had a very up and down career. This is about as "up" as he's been since his glory days in Denver, but he's been down so low that he had to play overseas in recent years. That's about as "cast off" as it comes. Shump was a solid role player and about what you hope for out of a #17 pick, but that's all he's been: a role player. Kyrie is a known quantity at this point. KLove is injured. TT is playing great, but is in no way what you hope for out of a #4 pick on offense. He's like...a Beta version of Draymond Green, where Green is the final release version. They play a similar role for their team, but Green does it on offense AND Defense. I *wish* TT could become an offensive threat...but he isn't. That's not what the Cavs were hoping for out of him. There's a reason why he's been a bench player most of his career: he's been an offensive disappointment. He's always worked this hard on the glass (even before LeBron), but he couldn't help the team put points on the board. That will limit his money in free agency, as it should.

The other names are invalid, bro. They're all at the tail ends of their careers.

IMO, considering the injury to Love, this is the 3rd best (or, 3rd worst if your glass is half empty) group LeBron has taken to the Finals. Better than last years Heat group to be sure, but behind the Heat squads that won rings. Maybe roughly as good as or slightly better than the Heat group that lost to the Mavericks since LBJ has grown a lot since then.
 
Tristan Thompson is gonna get paid though after the season.

Cleveland is going to need to put up a lot to match any offers he gets. He could get a 4yr deal at 10-15 a year easily imo.

smh, they're going to be paying Varejao and Brendan Haywood 20 million next year. That Varejao contract needs to be amnestied.....
 
Tristan Thompson is gonna get paid though after the season.

Cleveland is going to need to put up a lot to match any offers he gets. He could get a 4yr deal at 10-15 a year easily imo.

smh, they're going to be paying Varejao and Brendan Haywood 20 million next year. That Varejao contract needs to be amnestied.....

Haywood has a team option, no way in hell they pick that up.
 

Fjordson

Member
Didn't Thompson turn down a 4 year $50 million offer? Wonder if he'll get even more now. Would be an overpay, but wouldn't shock me.
 
Tristan Thompson is gonna get paid though after the season.

Cleveland is going to need to put up a lot to match any offers he gets. He could get a 4yr deal at 10-15 a year easily imo.

smh, they're going to be paying Varejao and Brendan Haywood 20 million next year. That Varejao contract needs to be amnestied.....

fwiw, Haywood's 2015-16 money is nonguaranteed

and if there isn't a lockout before 2017-18 (in which case he'd get amnestied anyway) Varejao's money is also nonguaranteed

still, kind of dreading the cap situation this team's gonna have paying 3 maxes and one near-max
 
fwiw, Haywood's 2015-16 money is nonguaranteed

and if there isn't a lockout before 2017-18 (in which case he'd get amnestied anyway) Varejao's money is also nonguaranteed

still, kind of dreading the cap situation this team's gonna have paying 3 maxes and one near-max

oh, it didn't say it was a team option for Haywood's for Haywoods contract next year.

At least they got a team option on Mosgov next year for 5 mil.
 
Oh I never said they'd win 4 in a row. But they can win one. Hell, they could win 2. Especially with the young roster GS has that has never been here before. That Rockets team is playing largely like shit, but they have a bunch of vets that know what it takes to get to the Finals. How much influence they have on the guys who also haven't been here before is the question. My impression would honestly be: they have very little influence, or their collective play would be much more stable and consistent. Though perhaps that's a bit unfair, as they were a hair's breath away from this series being 2-2 or even 3-1 in their favor. Outside of Game 3, this series has been played on a knife's edge.



You're dense as fuck. People are saying the series may not end TOMORROW (or whenever the next game is), not that it's likely that these Rockets will be the first to make a 3-0 comeback. They're not dead yet, just like Atlanta isn't dead yet. Go outside and get some air. And lose the persecution complex and chip while you're out there.

I don't need to go anywhere to realize the series is over. But by all means continue calling me an idiot, it's very becoming.
 
while we're still on the subject of the Cavs (and in full realization that I'm about a week late with this joke), was anyone else surprised that they didn't somehow win the draft lottery?
 
Didn't Thompson turn down a 4 year $50 million offer? Wonder if he'll get even more now. Would be an overpay, but wouldn't shock me.

Of course he'll get more now, plus he's got LeBron's blessing to basically "pay the man"

Gilbert is on record for his willingness to go over the Tax. Plus the Cap will be much higher in two years which should cushion the blow.

Gonna be interesting how much Smith and Shump command tho.

while we're still on the subject of the Cavs (and in full realization that I'm about a week late with this joke), was anyone else surprised that they didn't somehow win the draft lottery?

:jnc would have been hilarious.
 
Of course he'll get more now, plus he's got LeBron's blessing to basically "pay the man"

Gilbert is on record for his willingness to go over the Tax. Plus the Cap will be much higher in two years which should cushion the blow.

Gonna be interesting how much Smith and Shump command tho.

When are their contracts up?
 
Smith's got a player option for around 6 mil next year I believe,(I don't see him opting out, but who knows.) and like Thompson, Shump is a RFA next year.

He'd be dumb not to opt out. He could pretty easily get a 2 year contract cor $8 million per right now. 1 year/$6 million is chump change.
 

neptunes

Member
Lebron is not going to return any calls until all the teammates he thinks should get paid actually do. Everyone will be kept in the dark until the FO makes the necessary moves regarding everyone else.
 

ViciousDS

Banned
Smith's got a player option for around 6 mil next year I believe,(I don't see him opting out, but who knows.) and like Thompson, Shump is a RFA next year.

Smith has been the anchor of Cleveland these playoffs with his insane 3 pointers. He could easily command more next season.
 
Smith has been the anchor of Cleveland these playoffs with his insane 3 pointers. He could easily command more next season.

Nah.

JR's issue is that he's a known quantity: up and down. It's defined his career, really. He was good in Denver, then he was so shit in NY he had to go play for a year in China because he had no place. Then came back and was briefly good, then slumped into a pile of shit that Phil Jackson was happy to be rid of.

You don't get to be a box of chocolates in the NBA and "easily command more" going into contract negotiations. It's true for a bank loan...so how much more with tens of millions on the line? You have to show some consistency...and more than 1 year is needed, imo. If he signs a 1 year or 2 year contract and balls out for the duration...then yes give him a good payday.

TT deserves to get paid because he's played this hard every game even when the Cavs were shit. TT has played in like...300 straight games? Consistency is worth paying for. JR less so.

Kevin is as good as gone.

He might be. I'm still not sold on him leaving because the team clearly needs him. But...the Cavs don't need a guy that young with an ailing back, to be honest. We can probably upgrade that position through FA if he leaves. With respect to KL.
 
If I was in KLove's shoes I'd opt in, play another year in Cleveland, and then get paid absurd money in 2016.

If he proves himself worthy of a big payday, he'll get it 2016.

and if he proves himself worthy of a big payday, the Cavs probably get rings.

He can also play himself right out of a big payday if he plays like shit or continues to struggle with injuries.

He needs TT to teach him how to be a bit tougher. He lets himself get pushed around much more than he should. I really like him though, and hope things work out for him. He's such a capable player and so valuable to CLE when he's healthy and rolling.
 
Nah.

JR's issue is that he's a known quantity: up and down. It's defined his career, really. He was good in Denver, then he was so shit in NY he had to go play for a year in China because he had no place. Then came back and was briefly good, then slumped into a pile of shit that Phil Jackson was happy to be rid of.

You don't get to be a box of chocolates in the NBA and "easily command more" going into contract negotiations. It's true for a bank loan...so how much more with tens of millions on the line? You have to show some consistency...and more than 1 year is needed, imo. If he signs a 1 year or 2 year contract and balls out for the duration...then yes give him a good payday.

TT deserves to get paid because he's played this hard every game even when the Cavs were shit. TT has played in like...300 straight games? Consistency is worth paying for. JR less so.



He might be. I'm still not sold on him leaving because the team clearly needs him. But...the Cavs don't need a guy that young with an ailing back, to be honest. We can probably upgrade that position through FA if he leaves. With respect to KL.

I'm with you in that i know that they need him but....

its obvious that he is not happy with the offense and his role in it and he's not a member of LeBron's club. his heart is in LA and they will draft someone to go with him and it will be his team after Kobe retires just as his contract comes up.

Plus GM LeBron might say that him and his back dont deserve a max deal.
 
I'm with you in that i know that they need him but....

its obvious that he is not happy with the offense and his role in it and he's not a member of LeBron's club.

okay, that sounds fair eno--

his heart is in LA and they will draft someone to go with him and it will be his team after Kobe retires just as his contract comes up.

Plus GM LeBron might say that him and his back dont deserve a max deal.

TLrDScb.gif
 
How is what Howard did any different from what JR smith did? The only difference I can see is that JR damn near KO'd the guy he hit and Dwight didn't. That's it. One gets a 2 game suspension the other gets nothing. Fucking NBA man.
 
What JR did was a lot worse. He wasn't reacting to something that was happening to him like Dwight did. He waited for the right moment and struck harder and with a closed fist. Note that I'm not saying the NBA's rules make sense or are evenly enforced, just that what JR did was worse.
 

Fjordson

Member
The suspension wouldn't have come from last night's flagrant alone, but from Howard hitting the limit of flagrant points allowed in a single postseason.
 

zychi

Banned
How is what Howard did any different from what JR smith did? The only difference I can see is that JR damn near KO'd the guy he hit and Dwight didn't. That's it. One gets a 2 game suspension the other gets nothing. Fucking NBA man.

I'm confused by this too. For all the shit I've talked about Delagonnahitya, Howard deserves some form of suspension.
 

effzee

Member
Do people really think Cle is a bunch of "castoffs?"

ESPN just said it, this is the best team he's played with overall(Mia was clearly made for championships with three stars). Injuries hurt the team, but that's every NBA team up to this point.

Tristian is a 1st rd 4th overall pick
Shump was a 1st rnd 17th overall pick
JR 1st rnd 18th overall
Kendrick 1st rnd 27th overall
Shawn Marion 1 rnd 9th overall (old tho)
Mike Miller 1st rnd 5th overall(old tho)
KLove(injured) 1st rnd 5th overall


Kyrie 1st rnd 1st overall

Not taking anything away from what Lebron is doing, but this isn't the 76ers Lebron is carrying. This team is a playoff team without Lebron in the East.
This isn't the rookie year Cavs team Lebron had.

Sixers team is all first round picks. They'd be in the finals with Lebron.
 
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