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NBA Finals 2017 |OT| Same As It Ever Was

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But refs! Stern!




This should be the game plan all the time for the Cavs. Usually the team and players who drive and go into the paint will get the calls.

Btw as impressive as the effort was last night it took a record performance (most points in 1 qrt, most in a half, most 3s in a game, and LeBron surpassing Magic for most triple doubles to win), the better game was game 3 by the Cavs.

They can't replicate game 4 but they can replicate game 3.

But will replicating game 3 be enough to win game 5?
 

bud23

Member
Interesting series. Warriors have the more talented team overall, but I think they lack the mental toughness of Cleveland.

When the moment of truth came in the final minutes of game 3 (probably the only one in a series full of blow outs), Cleveland choked

I don´t know, man
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
lol at the side-eye at JR. Bonus sleeping coach.

DB-Ldn0UMAIn9XX.jpg
 
Couldn't watch the game last night and just saw the stats today.

It looks like the cavs support rooster finally showed up. For the warriors what happened to curry and klay?

Did they played that bad or were they mostly contained? The KD stats are much higher...

The truth is, the box score doesn't tell the story of what happened last night.

Klay didn't have the greatest shooting night like the Cavs did, and Curry was being manhandled like he was a human pinball all over the court.

The Refs were atrocious all game, but blatantly called some non calls or one-sided calls mostly against the Warriors in the 1st quarter giving the Cavs 22 free throws in the first, and had all the Dub starters in foul trouble in the first 5-6 minutes of the game.
This 1st quarter disparity ended up getting the Cavs a 16 point lead in the 1st Qtr, even though the Warriors had also scored 32pts.
The terrible reffing of the 1st set the tone for the rest of game (terrible reffing all around) and the next 3 quarters, despite the Cavs having and Amazing night (Kyrie was incredible), the Cavs only outscored the dubs by 2 in the 2nd, 1 in the 3rd, and 2 in the 4th.

So outside of the 1st quarter, the Warriors were hanging w/ the Cavs even though the calls being made on the floor were just terrible. Had the 1st quarter not happened the way it did (talking about the beyond excusable officiating, not how well the Cavs were shooting) we might have had another competitive game that the Cavs may have won anyway.

I'm sure someone is making a video of ALL the bad calls made in last nights game, and I can tell you it will be a very long video, by most bad call per game standards.
It became obvious that they were trying to set up a situation where the Cavs had an opportunity to at least force a game 5 by keeping the Warriors from ever gaining any sort of momentum. The Cavs responded with an amazing output on the offensive end to do just that. Warriors were kept off rhythm, but somehow managed to stay in the game, despite the Cavs performance.

If the Warriors could at the very least get some calls on the blatant abuse on Steph so he could at least navigate the floor without getting bruised up, it would have been a much different game. Theres a difference between good D and bully ball, and Steph was being bully balled out there the whole night. Good D is what Klay was doing to Kyrie this whole series, but Kyrie is just too good at making impossible shots for even good D to be completely effective.

So hopefully win or lose, Game 5 is called by some refs that don't look like they have some skin in the game. Warriors can win 5 on 8, but officiating last night was just an embarrassment that the Cavs were in position to take full advantage of.
 

Tom Penny

Member
The truth is, the box score doesn't tell the story of what happened last night.

Klay didn't have the greatest shooting night like the Cavs did, and Curry was being manhandled like he was a human pinball all over the court.

The Refs were atrocious all game, but blatantly called some non calls or one-sided calls mostly against the Warriors in the 1st quarter giving the Cavs 22 free throws in the first, and had all the Dub starters in foul trouble in the first 5-6 minutes of the game.
This 1st quarter disparity ended up getting the Cavs a 16 point lead in the 1st Qtr, even though the Warriors had also scored 32pts.
The terrible reffing of the 1st set the tone for the rest of game (terrible reffing all around) and the next 3 quarters, despite the Cavs having and Amazing night (Kyrie was incredible), the Cavs only outscored the dubs by 2 in the 2nd, 1 in the 3rd, and 2 in the 4th.

So outside of the 1st quarter, the Warriors were hanging w/ the Cavs even though the calls being made on the floor were just terrible. Had the 1st quarter not happened the way it did (talking about the beyond excusable officiating, not how well the Cavs were shooting) we might have had another competitive game that the Cavs may have won anyway.

I'm sure someone is making a video of ALL the bad calls made in last nights game, and I can tell you it will be a very long video, by most bad call per game standards.
It became obvious that they were trying to set up a situation where the Cavs had an opportunity to at least force a game 5 by keeping the Warriors from ever gaining any sort of momentum. The Cavs responded with an amazing output on the offensive end to do just that. Warriors were kept off rhythm, but somehow managed to stay in the game, despite the Cavs performance.

If the Warriors could at the very least get some calls on the blatant abuse on Steph so he could at least navigate the floor without getting bruised up, it would have been a much different game. Theres a difference between good D and bully ball, and Steph was being bully balled out there the whole night. Good D is what Klay was doing to Kyrie this whole series, but Kyrie is just too good at making impossible shots for even good D to be completely effective.

So hopefully win or lose, Game 5 is called by some refs that don't look like they have some skin in the game. Warriors can win 5 on 8, but officiating last night was just an embarrassment that the Cavs were in position to take full advantage of.

YX6ZTJ2.gif
 

Shogun413

Member
Cavs have more mental toughness than GSW because they avoided a sweep on their home court? I don't think you can repeat that kind of 3 point proficiency in Game 5. GSW in 5.
 

effzee

Member
But will replicating game 3 be enough to win game 5?

No.

It wasn't enough in game 3 because to beat the Warriors you need to play mistake free and not have mental lapses where at the end of the game you forget to score the ball, don't hustle back on D while arguing call, or just don't put the effort in on the glass.

But point was that game wasn't a blowout either way, outside of the last 3 minutes Cavs played like they should all the time, and it didn't take record breaking performances as a team to beat the Warriors.

The blueprint should be more game 3, more going into the paint to get fouls called, but most importantly guys like Tristan doing what they are paid to, like rebound and clean up around the rim.
 

Marz

Member
Cavs came back from 3-1 last year, I don't think anyone can question their mental toughness regardless of what else happens in this series.

Also it's sad how little people understand basketball in this thread. The Lebron pass off the backboard is considered a shot it was perfectly legal.
 

phanphare

Banned
Cavs came back from 3-1 last year, I don't think anyone can question their mental toughness regardless of what else happens in this series.

Also it's sad how little people understand basketball in this thread. The Lebron pass off the backboard could is considered a shot it was perfectly legal.

it's funny earlier yesterday kemba got brought up and I watched his highlights from game 4 of the 2014 series against lebron and the heat

he does the same thing lebron did. kemba doesn't slam it home obviously but he gets stuck and passes the ball to himself off the backboard. was pretty funny to see that twice in a day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmKLiUvX9nM;t=2m38s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmKLiUvX9nM;t=3m6s
 

VeeP

Member
Cavs came back from 3-1 last year, I don't think anyone can question their mental toughness regardless of what else happens in this series.

Also it's sad how little people understand basketball in this thread. The Lebron pass off the backboard is considered a shot it was perfectly legal.

Warriors came back from 3-1 last year, and clutched game 3 this year. Maybe Warriors aren't as mentally tough as Cavs, but saying they're mentally weak would be wrong (not saying you said it, just saying in general).
 

beat

Member
Also it's sad how little people understand basketball in this thread. The Lebron pass off the backboard is considered a shot it was perfectly legal.
The announcers literally said on the broadcast that LeBron wouldn't be credited with a missed shot and rebound on that play.
 

otapnam

Member
The reffing was bad for sure. But they called the T's. Draymond should not have been in the game. It was an embarrassment to the refs and the whole NBA to leave him in the game and make some shit up about the first T being on Kerr. This is how people end up believing shit is ACTUALLY rigged,

Lol yeah that's what happened - their bad officiating created a lose lose situation, they were going to be marked for their bad job reffing the game at that point whether or not they kept dray in
 
I think warriors in five or six, but I enjoyed games three and four. Two great teams. Cavs need a draymond to compete with the warriors in a consistent fashion, though. Not sure what can happen in the offseason, but hopefully cavs figure out a way to improve their defense.
 

Nafai1123

Banned
In regards to Steph underperforming, we all know the way to slow down Steph is to hold him off-ball and throw him off rythyme. The Cavs admitted as such after last years Finals. This is a strategy entirely dependent on how the game is officiated. In game 2, the precedent was set that those fouls would be called. Steph had a surprising 10FTs in the first qtr. The result is the Cavs have to give Steph room to shed off screens and get space, which is how he gets in rythyme. This carried over into games 2 and 3. With their backs against the wall, the Cavs went back to their strategy from last year, and they were able to do so due to those fouls not being called. This is not salt, it's an argument based on previous statements from yhe Cavs and observation of the games.

That doesn't excuse Steph from missing open looks, which he did. It's not downplaying the Cavs offensive domination, which was historically amazing. It's merely an observation of how much physicality can change the efficiency of Curry.
 

LionPride

Banned
Ever notice that Kerr is very reactive to things as a coach. He's never really been proactive

Took him an injury to trot out the Lineup of Death two years ago, took the Grizz coming back to even up the series to put Bogut on Allen, he tends to be reactive in his decision making

Still a top 2 coach in the league, but it's interesting
 
Ever notice that Kerr is very reactive to things as a coach. He's never really been proactive

Took him an injury to trot out the Lineup of Death two years ago, took the Grizz coming back to even up the series to put Bogut on Allen, he tends to be reactive in his decision making

Still a top 2 coach in the league, but it's interesting
Just say he's 2, and that's at best, come on. No way he's better than pop

edit: mods, sorry for double post, not sure how to change it
 
In regards to Steph underperforming, we all know the way to slow down Steph is to hold him off-ball and throw him off rythyme. The Cavs admitted as such after last years Finals. This is a strategy entirely dependent on how the game is officiated. In game 1, the precedent was set that those fouls would be called. Steph had a surprising 10FTs in the first qtr. The result is the Cavs have to give Steph room to shed off screens and get space, which is how he gets in rythyme. This carried over into games 2 and 3. With their backs against the wall, the Cavs went back to their strategy from last year, and they were able to do so due to those fouls not being called. This is not salt, it's an argument based on previous statements from yhe Cavs and observation of the games.

That doesn't excuse Steph from missing open looks, which he did. It's not downplaying the Cavs offensive domination, which was historically amazing. It's merely an observation of how much physicality can change the efficiency of Curry.

the 10 free throws was in game 2

Ever notice that Kerr is very reactive to things as a coach. He's never really been proactive

Took him an injury to trot out the Lineup of Death two years ago, took the Grizz coming back to even up the series to put Bogut on Allen, he tends to be reactive in his decision making

Still a top 2 coach in the league, but it's interesting


didnt the warriors go 26-1 or something without him coaching this year?

didnt they start last year undefeated or something for like 36 games without him?
 

Jindrax

Member
Cavs were down three one too last year right?
But they one one earlier? They didn't have to win 4 in a row?

Man if they do this it'll be the greatest comeback of all time (horrible odds though)
 

Tall4Life

Member
Cavs were down three one too last year right?
But they one one earlier? They didn't have to win 4 in a row?

Man if they do this it'll be the greatest comeback of all time (horrible odds though)

They had won one game before the Warriors won their third, yes. Want to say it was Game 3. They had to win three in a row after that.

Winning 4 in a row would be absolutely insane, yes
 
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