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NBA Finals 2017 |OT| Same As It Ever Was

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Was hoping the Cavs could pull this one out but the Warriors simply were the better team. I mean, the Cavs put out their best effort, JR knocking down 3's that had no right to go in, LeBron getting 41, and a defensive effort in the 1st quarter that set the tone that they weren't going to lay down, but man... the Warriors just hit so many shots it made my head spin. Congrats to them. Can't wait to see what the Cavs do next year to taken them on again in the Finals for a 4th straight year.
 

BadAss2961

Member
Honestly, asides from maybe Wilt and Jerry West (and that was more relative to their era), Lebron is honestly in the conversation for greatest finals opponents of all times. At least 3 of the teams he faced (2014 Spurs, 2016 Warriors, and 2017 Warriors) have legitimate arguments for GOAT team, and he's never really had a blow-over finals series. Fucking ridiculous.
People don't talk about this enough as well. Before GS became the GS we now know, the 2014 Spurs were looked at as one of the greatest teams of all time with maybe the best Finals performance ever.

He's now 3 and 5 in the Finals, but two of the teams he beat are considered some of the best teams ever assembled. It did take some really crazy luck to beat those Spurs and Warriors, but he got the W's.
Or maybe LeBron's just been overhyped and very beatable for someone constantly pushed for GOAT status. He did handpick his team for the last 7 years, and the result since then is 3 Finals wins and 4 losses. Each of his losses were kinda blowups by the end.

Remember when Miami was supposed to rule the league for a decade? They simply underachieved more than they lost to some juggernauts. That Spurs team played great basketball, but they weren't one of the greatest teams ever assembled. They just schooled LeBron with a bunch of old guys, role players, a budding star, and a great coach... Last year's Warriors got the regular season record, but OKC showed they were vulnerable, and they ran out of gas against Cleveland... And Dallas, no excuse for losing to them.

Now this Warriors team is legitimately stacked. The addition of KD puts them over the edge. But yeah, other than this one, i'm not gonna anoint every team LeBron lost to in order elevate him back up again. lol

Hold those Ls.
 
Remember when Miami was supposed to rule the league for a decade? They simply underachieved more than they lost to some juggernauts. That Spurs team played great basketball, but they weren't one of the greatest teams ever assembled. They just schooled LeBron with a bunch of old guys, role players, a budding star, and a great coach... Last year's Warriors got the regular season record, but OKC showed they were vulnerable, and they ran out of gas against Cleveland... And Dallas, no excuse for losing to them.



Hold those Ls.

Some revisionist history there. The Spurs from 2012 to 2014 were absolutely an all time special squad, obviously especially the 2014 group. The Warriors 2015 to 2017 run is currently speaking for itself.

The East has been pathetic for a long time outside of the Celtics era, sure. Still LBJ's comp in the Finals is absolutely unrivaled. I'm not a huge fan or anything. It's just the truth. I will say without Ray Allen and Draymond Green, he's 1-7 which is insane. He's had to face all time great teams in the Finals and is actually quite fortunate to be 3 and 5.

I agree with you that the GOAT status talk has been a bit much as of late, but I think that'll stop now unless he wins another title soon. Unlikely unless Curry runs into some debilitating injuries.
 

beat

Member
Dubs in 5.

I really wanted 16-0 but I'll settle for being cautious but right.


Also, props to the Warriors for winning despite having no first-team All NBA players and facing a team starting four former top-five draft picks, two of them first overalls.
 

TTG

Member
Did I mention how impressed I was with Lebron and Kyrie? Nothing more needs to be said about Lebron, but Kyrie Irving is the best number 2 in the East for James. He's also better than the big 3 D Wade ever was. I was also impressed with the way those 2 carry themselves on the court. I mean, look at Kyrie and Draymond teaming up to save Klay's life.

From an eagle's eye macro perspective, the Warriors' aggression started off at an all time high. That game 1 was manic. It declined steadily from there, but their shot making was just back breaking in later games. There's also the simple fact that if Durant played Lebron even, or outplayed him, the Cavs wouldn't have much of a chance. And he did, a lot. I would have left him on Lebron more in games 4 and 5 because I bet it gave the Warriors all the confidence in the world to see him torch Lebron on offense, then be right there for the contest on defense.

The Cavs had 2 all time performances, but it was too late by the time their role players got going. First 2 games the Warriors were out for blood and all the Cavs could do is hang on through the first half, especially with Thompson and JR MIA. Then comes game 3, the margin for error is zip for the Cavs and Durant rips your heart out. I thought the Cavs would look like they did in game 5 for most of the series, which is why I thought it would go to 6, but obviously not. Draymond was essentially borked for this series and Kevin Love couldn't take advantage. If a trade is out there they should jump at it. From that point you hope Thompson and JR are ready game 1, not 3 or 4 and take it again from the top.
 
Did I mention how impressed I was with Lebron and Kyrie? Nothing more needs to be said about Lebron, but Kyrie Irving is the best number 2 in the East for James. He's also better than the big 3 D Wade ever was. I was also impressed with the way those 2 carry themselves on the court. I mean, look at Kyrie and Draymond teaming up to save Klay's life.

From an eagle's eye macro perspective, the Warriors' aggression started off at an all time high. That game 1 was manic. It declined steadily from there, but their shot making was just back breaking in later games. There's also the simple fact that if Durant played Lebron even, or outplayed him, the Cavs wouldn't have much of a chance. And he did, a lot. I would have left him on Lebron more in games 4 and 5 because I bet it gave the Warriors all the confidence in the world to see him torch Lebron on offense, then be right there for the contest on defense.

The Cavs had 2 all time performances, but it was too late by the time their role players got going. First 2 games the Warriors were out for blood and all the Cavs could do is hang on through the first half, especially with Thompson and JR MIA. Then comes game 3, the margin for error is zip for the Cavs and Durant rips your heart out. I thought the Cavs would look like they did in game 5 for most of the series, which is why I thought it would go to 6, but obviously not. Draymond was essentially borked for this series and Kevin Love couldn't take advantage. If a trade is out there they should jump at it. From that point you hope Thompson and JR are ready game 1, not 3 or 4 and take it again from the top.

It flat out feels like Kyrie is the most liked NBA star among his peers. He, and I'd probably Damian Lillard too, just always seem to get a ton of credit from other players whenever they come up in a conversation.

Kyrie is a ridiculous #2 option. He's almost like the anti-Westbrook in a way XD

Some revisionist history there. The Spurs from 2012 to 2014 were absolutely an all time special squad, obviously especially the 2014 group. The Warriors 2015 to 2017 run is currently speaking for itself.

The East has been pathetic for a long time outside of the Celtics era, sure. Still LBJ's comp in the Finals is absolutely unrivaled. I'm not a huge fan or anything. It's just the truth. I will say without Ray Allen and Draymond Green, he's 1-7 which is insane. He's had to face all time great teams in the Finals and is actually quite fortunate to be 3 and 5.

I agree with you that the GOAT status talk has been a bit much as of late, but I think that'll stop now unless he wins another title soon. Unlikely unless Curry runs into some debilitating injuries.

With Kyrie entering his prime, LeBron is gonna be like aging Kareem to Kyrie's Magic. It will be tough to say when Kyrie takes over, but either way, Kyrie entering his prime should keep LeBron in contendership status for a decent while
 
tumblr_orhf6lMvCX1sbxj8ao1_540.jpg


good company
 
Good job, good effort by the Cavs.

Shittiest post season I remember and the finals were ugly as sin.

Next year D-Wade is gonna take the Bulls to the championship. I can feel it. You just need to believe.
 
This nigga's name is Gilbert lmao

Still never got over that

Gilbert

Lol

Fuuuuuuuu.....

There goes my impression of Arenas

yup and former all star.

On any other team, he's a legitimate bonified starter.

dude is probably better than every player on my Cs team except Isiah and maybe Avery.

You wanna know what's fucked?

On a lot of teams, any of Shaun Livingston, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Klay Thompson would probably have a good case for best defender.

Warriors perimeter defenders are ridiculous. A passable big man to rotate properly and then Steph being allowed to operate in the passing lanes thanks to all the crazy defenders makes them so fucking good.

That being said, Iggy probably doesn't start, or at the very least is on minutes restrictions, at this point in his career. Sorta want him to get 6MOY, despite me loving Gordon and Sweet Lou, because he/Kanter got ROBBED last year.
 

Kettch

Member
Granted he's playing with 2 hall of famers (maybe 4?), but jesus the guy is a workhorse.

That's not really a fair statistic, because of how he always tended to sub in for Zaza. Says as much about how terrible he was, bringing down everyone else he played with.

You can see this pretty clearly with all the +/- totals (hopefully I added correctly).

Durant: +31
Green: +39
Pachulia: -5
Thompson: +22
Curry: +30
 

effzee

Member
Congrats to the Warriors and their fans! Love that they already said they are not going to the WH. Love Kerr and all the players outside of Green.

Also heard this morning Paul Pierce claiming KD is now the best player in the world. Lol what a salty bitch.
 
Its the Nba, not the NFL bro.

its not till like 35-36 till they need limited minutes.

Iggy has already BEEN playing with extra rest days, limited minutes, etc. When he's rested he beasts, and when gassed, which still happens, he suffers. C'mon man. At least try to follow him a little more if you're gonna talk about this.

He's good where he as the 6th man off the bench. Perfect role for this point in his career. He's still getting starting type minutes, but on the lower end of that spectrum. Maybe he started coming off the bench a little earlier, but at this point he's good where he is.
 
tumblr_orh7fjaHDQ1r0jlbgo1_540.jpg


Granted he's playing with 2 hall of famers (maybe 4?), but jesus the guy is a workhorse.

Iggy is the reason the Warriors won the game last night. He played some insane defense on Lebron and Kyrie, it was amazing.

Some revisionist history there. The Spurs from 2012 to 2014 were absolutely an all time special squad, obviously especially the 2014 group. The Warriors 2015 to 2017 run is currently speaking for itself.

I'm gonna have to disagree here, those Spurs were fantastic but they were not an "all time special squad". They weren't dominant on either offense or defense, they were just very well rounded. They were led by an old as fuck Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, a very green Kawhi and some role players. That's great, but that's not my definition of an all timer (the 2007 Spurs were IMO). If they are an all timer than any team that won the Finals is an all timer, which I guess is a fine way to look at it but I just disagree.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
That's not really a fair statistic, because of how he always tended to sub in for Zaza. Says as much about how terrible he was, bringing down everyone else he played with.

You can see this pretty clearly with all the +/- totals (hopefully I added correctly).

Durant: +31
Green: +39
Pachulia: -5
Thompson: +22
Curry: +30
Honestly expected that Pachulia number to be -200
 

BadAss2961

Member
Some revisionist history there. The Spurs from 2012 to 2014 were absolutely an all time special squad, obviously especially the 2014 group. The Warriors 2015 to 2017 run is currently speaking for itself.

The East has been pathetic for a long time outside of the Celtics era, sure. Still LBJ's comp in the Finals is absolutely unrivaled. I'm not a huge fan or anything. It's just the truth. I will say without Ray Allen and Draymond Green, he's 1-7 which is insane. He's had to face all time great teams in the Finals and is actually quite fortunate to be 3 and 5.

I agree with you that the GOAT status talk has been a bit much as of late, but I think that'll stop now unless he wins another title soon. Unlikely unless Curry runs into some debilitating injuries.
Don't get me wrong, Spurs were really good, but they weren't a team loaded with talent. They were just well coached and played a great brand of basketball. Duncan/Parker/Ginobli were winning championships back in the Shaq & Kobe era -- that's how long they'd been around. Boris Diaw, who at that point looked like the old guy at the playground who could play some ball back in his day, was making a case for Finals MVP against LeBron's super team. LeBron should've retired them, not the other way around with them shipping him back to Cleveland.

That same team that humiliated Miami in 5 games lost to the shaky Clippers the following year. So I wouldn't say they were 'all-time' special.
 

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
The fuck is going on First Take

Steven A Smith: Lebron looking to leave Cleveland after contract up and eyeing LALakers... LOLWUT?

Also Momma Durant schooled SAS with simple "If I had a mic, I drop it"
 
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