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NBA Finals 2017 |OT| Same As It Ever Was

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Butler's not going to get the Celtics past the Cavaliers.
Anthony Davis is the only one that can.

Celtic's has a war chest full of top picks for the draft and some young stars ...adding bulter and probably another ALL-Star and maybe one or two of there young star developing can put them over Cav's .....

I also like the young 76er's team ....one or two veteran might make this really tough
 
Celtic's has a war chest full of top picks for the draft and some young stars ...adding bulter and probably another ALL-Star and maybe one or two of there young star developing can put them over Cav's .....

I also like the young 76er's team ....one or two veteran might make this really tough
What young stars???
 

Servbot24

Banned
The adjustment the Cavs need to make is they need to get good to compete with this Warriors team.

Coach/GM Lebron will make off season moves. He doesn't want to finish his career with a Finals record of 3-8 (which could arguably be 1-10).
Why, are the refs still reviewing those two Finals wins?
 

Fjordson

Member
So weird. They stole 2 games in 2015 with Delly the second best player by mucking up the game. Last year the final score in game 7 was in the 80's.

They know the formula, but they won't change it because this style worked against Toronto and Boston? Alright then.
I think they still may try it, despite what Lebron says publicly.

Though I also think it's much harder to force pace on this year's Warriors than last year. Steph is much healthier (or just playing better, whichever you prefer), KD adds another rare Draymond-type element as someone who can rebound and then immediately push the ball up the floor. And because of his scoring ability he's even more dangerous than Draymond on the break.

And the Warriors are just in general a lot fresher than last year. Last year they were redlining until the very last game of the season pushing for 73, then they didn't sweep a single series and went into the finals coming off of 7 tough games against OKC. This year they rested a bunch near the end of the season and are now coming off of 3 straight sweeps.

This could totally change in Cleveland so we'll see, but it feels like they're able to force pace and play their usual style much more than last year.

edit: also worth noting that Clevleand's defense was top 10 last year and it's been much, much worse this season. But again - this could all completely flip tomorrow.
 

Mrbob

Member
That's why we co sign to becoming Bucks fans.

They are going to be better than the Celtics soon. Maybe not next season but in the next two I predict.
 
must be rough to watch the bulls window open and close so quickly, hang in there!
Would have swept the weakest 1 seed in history if 31 year old(!!!) Rondo didn't go down.
But I am sure you guys will get there eventually, just keep "hitting singles" as genius Brad Stevens often says.
 
Box scores are numbers on a page. Watch the game with your eyes.

Kawhi predominantly guarded Westbrook in last year's OKC/Spurs series. Danny Green guarded Durant.

In the 2014 WCF, the first 5 games were total blowouts, which gave Kevin some minutes without Kawhi even on the floor. Leonard made a number of well-timed strips and stops on Durant in that series. Also- since you're all about box scores and stats, take a look at Durant's 3-point % in that series. How did he do with "just rising up and shooting" over Leonard?
lol

I watched the entire series. I've watched every single time the Spurs and the Thunder played when KD was there.

KD shot 34% from the 3 during the playoffs. You think him shooting 33% from the 3 in the series means Kawhi had a tremendous impact.

next you're gonna tell me Kawhi was out there dropping KD's FT% to 77 that series
 

Bread

Banned
Would have swept the weakest 1 seed in history if 31 year old(!!!) Rondo didn't go down.
But I am sure you guys will get there eventually, just keep "hitting singles" as genius Brad Stevens often says.
ohhh i forgot you're the guy who's oddly hung up on brad stevens using baseball analogies
 

FZZ

Banned
Just

Slow

The

Game

Down

I think the issue is that the roster they have isn't equipped to do that

Cavs slow it down, Warriors go big and bully everyone Cavs have

2015 Finals worked because in a fucked up way the roster they had access to was perfect for slowing the temp down and grinding out the Warriors

This years roster is an offensive assault with subpar defense, a literal glass canon

Only LeBron and maybe Love would succeed in slowing the tempo down, everyone else Cavs have would perform worse. Harder to get your shooters hot when they rarely get a shot off
 

Gorillaz

Member
There is no way bron wasn't looking at those contracts after game 2 looking to shift things. This current line up is modern Larry Holmes status.


Wanted to call aarp for Jefferson last game.
 

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
Curious, what's the best lineup Cleveland can put on the court against this GSW team? Not really a lineup expert, but just looking at how you can possibly matchup, and can't much find any other lineups.

Shumpert/ Kyrie/ Love/ Tristan / Lebron
Curry/ Klay/ Iggy/ Draymond/ Durant

Best I can come up with. Having to hide Kyrie (and Love) just makes it so difficult, cause Klay should body him all day, and Curry's too good. Blows my mind how Kyrie came into the league as this super fundamentally sound young guy, but doesn't look like he'll figure out defense.

His defense is flat.
 

Nafai1123

Banned
Even last year the Cavs were able to slow GS down from their regular pace. GS averaged 97 in the playoffs, Cavs averaged 91. In the Finals, they both averaged 92, so the Cavs clearly dictated the pace more-so than GS.

Right now GS is averaging 101, while the Cavs are at 96 in the playoffs. In the two Finals games, both averaging 103. Wonder who that benefits?
 
lol

I watched the entire series. I've watched every single time the Spurs and the Thunder played when KD was there.

Then I find it strange that you failed to notice Kawhi being primarily on Westbrook in last year's series instead of KD.

The spread on this game seems too low.

readImage
 
Tomorrow is the big one! If GSW wins, they take a commanding 3-0. This means we might see the best game from both team this round. Do the Warriors go for the 3-0 to avenge last season? Or does Lebron and team remind the league why they were able to upset this team last year!?

Score Prediction:
No clue!
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
Tomorrow is the big one! If GSW wins, they take a commanding 3-0. This means we might see the best game from both team this round. Do the Warriors go for the 3-0 to avenge last season? Or does Lebron and team remind the league why they were able to upset this team last year!?

Score Prediction:
No clue!
One correction, this isn't last years team nor is CLE the same team.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
Ehhhh. Missing Delly and who? No one who was a factor last year. Durrant is the difference, there is no mystery here.
Well yeah, I never said KD wasn't the major difference. In addition to him the Warriors have a better bench and a healthy Steph. Mosgav wasn't a huge difference maker but he did add size and rim protection. I don't think CLE being a much worse defensive team this year is really debatable at this point. Point being, you can't just look at this 2-0 deficit and say yeah, they did it last year so the odds of them doing it again are the same when all things are not equal.
 
The thing that might throw it all off the most is that Durant is just so fucking tall. He lets the Warriors play small ball with a size advantage, it's fucking ridiculous.

He's tall and strong as fuck. There was that play on the last game where Lebron flat out pushed him and he didn't move a single inch. Between him and Steph being sneakily ridiculous strong, the Warriors are somehow a quietly very athletic team.
 
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