chicko1983
Member
Cavs win in seven.
Lebron MVP.
Lebron MVP.
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NBA Finals 2017 |OT| Same As It Ever Was
- Thread starter Jarate
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Hyperactivity
Banned
Jordan had a thing about losing to one star teams when that team had one star that had previously been to the finals, had once had a reputation of being a knucklehead but calmed down and became awesome, had underdog playoff runs, etc.
You wanna talk about disappearing acts?!
YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT DISAPPEARING ACTS?!
Jordan decides to leave the league to inexplicably start a baseball career
Yes? The people that watched MJ his entire career instead of just six specific years. The man was great but he wasn't a god. 13 seasons we had him. Made 6 finals, those other years don't just magically 'not count' just because people no longer talk about them. We were getting bounced early in the playoffs with MJ on our team those years, and you dudes pretend like those seasons dont exist.
Not sure "HOW DEY GONNA STOP LEBRON DOH?" is the approach the warriors will use. Warriors will care about making him low efficiency and won't care if he ball hogs his way to 40...that is almost always how they handle him and other stars. They won't double unless he posts someone much smaller (Curry) who got switched on the pick and roll and will just have their great defenders focused on making him take difficult shots. If he gets 40 on 55% shooting he wins that matchup (and the Warriors could lose), if he gets 40 on 40% shooting the Warriors win the matchup as you can be sure the Warriors as a team will be much more offensively efficient than that. Don't stress so much about "WHO GONNA GARD HIMZ?" as the warriors D switches like no D I have ever seen before...the better question is who is on Kyrie and how are they going to defend that P&R. And, who do they have behind the primary defender? Most guards and wings play more against the defense behind their primary defender and not the primary/initial defender himself.
Hyperactivity
Banned
2016 NBA Finals
GSW on left, Cleveland on right
Game 1: 104 - 89
Game 2: 110 - 77
Game 3: 90 - 120
Game 4: 108 - 97
Game 5: 97 - 112
Game 6: 101 - 115
Game 7: 89 - 93
I love hot takes as much as everyone else, but a reminder of how blow-outy some of the games last year were
GSW on left, Cleveland on right
Game 1: 104 - 89
Game 2: 110 - 77
Game 3: 90 - 120
Game 4: 108 - 97
Game 5: 97 - 112
Game 6: 101 - 115
Game 7: 89 - 93
I love hot takes as much as everyone else, but a reminder of how blow-outy some of the games last year were
Can we draw anything from this though? Yeah, overall series was close but individual game lacked drama (except game 7 where neither team could make a shot the last 4 minutes...damn you kyrie!).
One warning for the Warriors is that we really don't know how/if their offense will work if the game is really tight in the last few minutes. They just have almost no experience in playing close games. If they stop their movement offense and play hero ball (as they did at the end of game 7 last year) because they mentally freeze up...that definitely helps the Cavs. Of course, they now have Durant who helps make hero ball work so who knows.
Khalifa Jayy
Banned
eBay Huckster
Member
this is a very strong and stable take
BlazinSkatinAxel
Member
gordon hayward
Hyperactivity
Banned
That's just white LeBron
Bam Bam
We get it, you don't like LeBron. You hate his success. You hate the fact that as a player, he's better than Michael. You hate the fact that if LeBron beats this Warriors team, he's officially the GOAT because guess what? Michael ain't face a team this talented in the finals. Not once. You hate the fact that for the last 10 years, LeBron has been the best player in the NBA. You hate the fact that he is undoubtedly better than your fave. You hate the fact you can't bring up anything but saying "WHATABOUT THE MAVS" you hate the fact he is already seen as the #2 GOAT by many, supporters, detractors, you name it. You hate greatness. And that's okay.
Not really, it's asinine, dumb, and above all else, stupid to hold your ground this long on something you're obviously wrong about.
Gully State
Member
I personally think limiting Kyrie as a scorer is more important than limiting Lebron as one. Lebron's at his best when he's attacking the hoop and creating shots for his teammates. He obviously can score but it hurts his efficiency way more and isn't his preferred style (unlike MJ and Kobe). Easier said than done though considering James' talent + BBIQ. Like Draymond said, nobody in the league is smarter than Lebron.. you show him a certain set more than a couple of times and he'll adapt fairly quickly.
BadAss2961
Member
Agree completely. The key to beating LeBron has always been to put him on an island, containing his teammates as much as possible and making him have to be the one to beat you.
Stay home on the shooters and focus on shutting down Kyrie.
Most the team is comprised if shooters though. They're gonna hedge on LeBron constantly, gonna roll with him to rim, close out on one shooter leaving another open. The team is full of smart passers.
Lebron has also LITERALLY chipped off of teams trying to simply force him to shoot the ball while covering his team. He absolutely ate the Spurs alive when they tried that in Game 7 by shooting 52% from 2, 50% from 3 and 100% from the FT line or something like that.
There's no real guarantee that he doesn't just torch you regardless.
There's no real guarantee that he doesn't just torch you regardless.
BadAss2961
Member
Let LeBron barrel into the paint. When he scores, he scores... Just don't leave guys open when he does it. He'll tire in the 4th.
On top of being so deep, Golden State actually has bigs as well as multiple guys that can do a respectable job defending LeBron. Zaza and McGee are a couple big bodies in the paint to account for. Dray, Klay, Iggy, and Durant are all different looks to give him defensively.
ryutaro's mama
Member
Yeah I fully expect ZaZa and McGee to use all 12 of those fouls per game.
BadAss2961
Member
Was that one game? Spurs were kinda done in that game 7 after blowing game 6. The next year when the Spurs were on a mission, they had everyone calling his teammates bums, and LeBron couldn't do shit about that series and ended up quitting. Warriors made bums out of Cleveland last year in the first couple games too. Everyone was saying Kyrie, Love, and JR were all trash. But then Kyrie started to find his game, then Love and JR had their moments late in the series when the pressure started getting to Golden State.Lebron has also LITERALLY chipped off of teams trying to simply force him to shoot the ball while covering his team. He absolutely ate the Spurs alive when they tried that in Game 7 by shooting 52% from 2, 50% from 3 and 100% from the FT line or something like that.
There's no real guarantee that he doesn't just torch you regardless.
LeBron's jumpshot is not going to beat the Warriors. Kyrie/Love/JR/Korver together could possibly do it.
Exploratory
Banned
Yeah down with these Superteams! I'm so glad we can root for Cleveland the plucky underdog with 3 all stars and by far the highest player salaries in the league.
BadAss2961
Member
Exactly. lol
Don't get how people pile on the Warriors when they just outdid LeBron at his own game. Least they did it mostly through the draft and without any secret meetings and collusion between players and ownership.
Love guarding Zaza.
Lebron guarding Green.
Thompson guarding Durant.
Irving guarding Klay.
Smith guarding Curry.
I would just have it like that. Klay doesn't do as much these days and Zaza is a non-factor where you can put a weaker defender like Love on him.
See how athletic Tristen really is.
ryutaro's mama
Member
Exactly. In the endless rush to annoint LeBron, people love glazing over the fact that dude checked out of Game 5, down 16, with 6 minutes to go and never returned. That was the last time he would wear a Heat jersey too.
Could you imagine if Kobe quit like that in the FINALS, in a close out game? Holy shit. People still talk shit over that Game 7 in Phoenix in the FIRST ROUND, in 2006.
If he pulled that LeBron stunt in the Finals, it would define his legacy.
Lionel Richie
Member
No tampering ever!!
The media can only remember the past 24 hours.
When the Warriors win a game they will be the greatest team of all time and LeBron won't be shit or they will say his teammates suck.
When the Cavs win a game they will say LeBron is the greatest player of all time and will have some hot take on the Warriors big 3.
OfficerRaichu15
Member
Durant and Klay are gonna choke only Steph and Dray show up so Cavs in 6.
TrumanBurbank
Member
Only dray will show up. The guy is a warrior.
The media is just as bad as the fans when it comes to "analysis" and hot takes. Only difference is they get paid to do that.
Seems to be what people want.
PadWarrior
Member
Man Thompson on Durant would be bad I think for cavs. Hope they do it lol.Love guarding Zaza.
Lebron guarding Green.
Thompson guarding Durant.
Irving guarding Klay.
Smith guarding Curry.
I would just have it like that. Klay doesn't do as much these days and Zaza is a non-factor where you can put a weaker defender like Love on him.
See how athletic Tristen really is.
Cleveland did the same thing. Warriors drafted 3 of their 4 all stars while gm Lebron got the highest payroll of a team.
They don't have anyone to cover Durant. LeBron could slow him down but he can't guard him for the whole game and run the offense.
KD kind of breaks the game of basketball on that team.
You just have to hope they miss and put up points on the other end.
Peter Ian Staker
Member
Steph and Klay choke.
Draymond does OK.
KD saves the day, doing exactly what they brought him to do.
GSW in 6. (God help them if it goes to 7 though)
reggieandTFE
Member
The Warriors should win based on talent and performance. But Lebron is obviously an X factor.
If Durant balls like he has been, they'll win. If he chokes like he has in previous playoffs when the pressure was on, then the Cavs have a chance.
If Durant balls like he has been, they'll win. If he chokes like he has in previous playoffs when the pressure was on, then the Cavs have a chance.
PadWarrior
Member
Yeah I have see some writers say that Lue may put Smith on him at times. I would hate to have to coach against this team.
Or maybe Klay bursts out of his slump? That would be nice
PadWarrior
Member
I hope Steph does great this finals. Really like the guy.
BadAss2961
Member
lol, I remember this. Kobe's checking out was some spiteful shit that he wasn't trying to hide. It was like fuck this team, fuck this series. When LeBron checks out it's like, I got my averages, can't put this on me. Thank god free agency's coming up.
One of my favorite things people forget is how before all this super team nonsense, LeBron's #1 seeded Cavs got spanked by Dwight when they both had the kind of talent around them people would sneeze at now. Granted, Orlando was a little better, but still...
Their payroll does not really reflect the strength of the team, because let's be honest only 2 guys on that team "deserve" their salary, so to speak. No other team that's not desperate would shell so much money to Tristan Thompson for example.
There's just almost no objectivity on the side of the fans. It's either you are a homer or a hater. And the media simply represent those 2 camps so it's no surprise they want it to be that way.
Peter Ian Staker
Member
Cavs can live with that.
Even if he breaks out of his slump his impact will be limited. He doesn't have the ball as much with KD on the team.
Warriors need Steph to show up in the Finals for once.
LeBron quit and still put up 30 and 10 and played more minutes than anyone, while Bosh and Wade were crap.
Klay is one of those players who can explode for a lot of points in a short period of time. If he catches fire, Kevin is a smart enough player to get him the ball. His bball IQ is very high.
ryutaro's mama
Member
BadAssDaGawd has you covered:
LeBron didn't just mentally check out of that Game 5, he literally checked out (and left) with 6 minutes left in a close out game.
GTFOOH with that "but he got 30 and 10" noise. This is the Finals and it was a close out game. If you ain't going down swinging there, where are you gonna do it?
PadWarrior
Member
Valid point. But I guess I don't understand the hate for the warriors superteam. They drafted well for three of the four all stars and did it naturally so to speak. And if a former MVP wants to join your team did people expect the warriors to say no thanks? The hate they get just boggles my mind.
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