2016 NBA Finals-Things to do in Cleveland When the King is Dead

[Proudfeet]

11 hours ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

I feel sick

 Seems its just the two of us.

Well, congrats to the Cleveland fans. I have to find some other meaningless statistic to support now. 

Regarding the game, I only managed to catch game 4, but is rebounding generally an issue for the Warriors? As demoralising as their 3 point barrage is, I have to think that giving up all those rebounds is just as deflating. 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

54 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

The Warriors were one of the most prolific offenses of all time, and yet they didn't score in the final 4:40.  That is ridiculous.  The Warriors strategy of "always switch" meant that the Cavaliers could make Curry work on defense time and time again.  That is exhausting.  Combine that with more grabbing, holding, bumping allowed in the Final, along with possible knee soreness and Curry just wasn't himself.  He wasn't able to knock down his shot and he wasn't able to make crazy passes for assists.  That behind the back pass that went OB to Thompson was just a microcosm of everything that was going wrong for Steph. 

I'm actually a little surprised that K. Thompson didn't take over late.  The Cavs were always switching away from him, so he didn't have a ton of defensive duties, and he showed several times that he is capable of being a one-man offense in these playoffs.  But in the final 4:40, he took only one shot (in comparison, Curry missed four 3 pointers in that period). 

I think that Kerr got outcoached.  He had a talented enough team to win, but games 5, 6 and 7 were always played at Cleveland's pace.  The Cavs figured out how to switch effectively to defend Curry, and how to make Curry be the main defender over and over.  The Warriors needed to adjust, and they didn't. 

 I think that first bit was key to this whole series, not just this game. The Cavs really managed to expose Steph defensively, especially in Games 5, 6 and 7. Despite not really playing all that many minutes in the earlier games, the loss of Bogut was big, especially in Game 6 when Tristan Thompson went off. And you can't take anything away from The Bron, whose totals over those last three games were obscene. 109 points, 35 boards, 29 assists and 9 blocks. 

 Not to make excuses, but the Warriors play-by-play man made an interesting point in the postgame yesterday. He said he felt that Curry really hadn't been the same since the slip in Houston and that from that point on, he hadn't been driving in for layups at anywhere near the percentage he had prior. From that point on he really only had one takeover type performance, and that was in OT in Game 4 @ Portland. This guy sees more Warriors basketball than anybody, so I tend to agree with him. That last shot he took against Love with about a minute left was pretty telling. He had an open lane, but refused to take it and seemed deadset on shooting the 3. 

[SkynJay]

2 hours ago, Calibandar said:

Nice block from LeBron but perhaps a little overhyped because of the critical moment the block was done.

As per this video he's done even more spectacular ones.

 

 

It's the moment, the fact that the block kept the ball in play (a turnover instead of ball out of bounds) and that fact that he brought this back at such a critical time.  He used to block from behind all the time but it's an aspect of his game that I thought he was mostly aged out of.

[DunderMifflin]

^ That's called Chasedown Artist and only Lebron has it

[sperry]

1 hour ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

 I think that first bit was key to this whole series, not just this game. The Cavs really managed to expose Steph defensively, especially in Games 5, 6 and 7. Despite not really playing all that many minutes in the earlier games, the loss of Bogut was big, especially in Game 6 when Tristan Thompson went off. And you can't take anything away from The Bron, whose totals over those last three games were obscene. 109 points, 35 boards, 29 assists and 9 blocks. 

 Not to make excuses, but the Warriors play-by-play man made an interesting point in the postgame yesterday. He said he felt that Curry really hadn't been the same since the slip in Houston and that from that point on, he hadn't been driving in for layups at anywhere near the percentage he had prior. From that point on he really only had one takeover type performance, and that was in OT in Game 4 @ Portland. This guy sees more Warriors basketball than anybody, so I tend to agree with him. That last shot he took against Love with about a minute left was pretty telling. He had an open lane, but refused to take it and seemed deadset on shooting the 3. 

 

You don't think any of that had to do with the teams he was playing having a lot of athletic freaks to d him up with? LeBron, Tristan Thompson, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams, and Kevin Durant make it a lot harder for a 6'2" guy to get shots in the lane.  Both those teams were athletic enough to make the "death lineup" not particularly viable.  Speaking of which, perhaps the best thing to emerge from these playoffs is the death of the death lineup.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

3 minutes ago, sperry said:

You don't think any of that had to do with the teams he was playing having a lot of athletic freaks to d him up with? LeBron, Tristan Thompson, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams, and Kevin Durant make it a lot harder for a 6'2" guy to get shots in the lane.  Both those teams were athletic enough to make the "death lineup" not particularly viable.  Speaking of which, perhaps the best thing to emerge from these playoffs is the death of the death lineup.

Oh yeah, I'm not trying to take anything away from the job both the Thunder and the Cavs did on him defensively. The level of competition in the last two rounds was telling. Both teams made him work harder on defense for starters, and both severely limited his game in the paint. That said, I think there were some pretty obvious signs that Curry was not 100%. That last possession vs Love was one that stood out. Another was Game 4 in the OKC series where he repeatedly tried to get past Stephen Adams and could not.    

[Maithanet]

14 minutes ago, sperry said:

 

You don't think any of that had to do with the teams he was playing having a lot of athletic freaks to d him up with? LeBron, Tristan Thompson, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams, and Kevin Durant make it a lot harder for a 6'2" guy to get shots in the lane.  Both those teams were athletic enough to make the "death lineup" not particularly viable.  Speaking of which, perhaps the best thing to emerge from these playoffs is the death of the death lineup.

Honestly, I don't think that.  You could make that argument with OKC, they could trot out a "small" lineup featuring Adams, Ibaka and Durant, which gave them an incredible size advantage over GSW without sacrificing athleticism.  But Cleveland didn't have that.  Curry made plenty of excellent defenders look bad this year.  Remember this play vs Kawhi Leonard?  That's that defensive MVP, with five inches on Curry and a 7 foot wingspan, and he looks like a clumsy drunk out there.  Tristan Thompson is individually a very good defender, but every lineup the Cavs ran out had at least one and possibly several weak links defensively, namely Kevin Love, Richard Jefferson, and Kyrie Irving.  Those guys didn't suddenly morph into defensive stalwarts just for this series. 

I still contend that part of it was Kerr doing a poor job of putting Curry in a position to succeed, and I blame him more than anyone for the Warriors falling short.  But I also think it's pretty obvious that Curry wasn't quite himself in these Finals, because even when Curry got semi open (or even wide open) shots, he wasn't hitting them at nearly the rate he did in the regular season. 

[Guess who's back]

Unbelievable. Feeling so happy for cavs.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

 I think it's fair to hang a bit of this loss on Curry outside of any injury as well. He has to have enough awareness of his condition to alter his game to suit the situation. Seems to me he could've switched gears some and played decoy more. Try to draw double teams and dish as opposed to continuing to launch contested 3's and whatnot. 

[Maithanet]

9 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

 I think it's fair to hang a bit of this loss on Curry outside of any injury as well. He has to have enough awareness of his condition to alter his game to suit the situation. Seems to me he could've switched gears some and played decoy more. Try to draw double teams and dish as opposed to continuing to launch contested 3's and whatnot. 

Oh definitely.  I think that if in the final minutes they had run a more Thompson/Green centric offense, there's a good chance they are celebrating today. 

And of course, credit to Cleveland for pushing through after losing game 4.   The Warriors failed to secure the championship, and the Cavaliers were there to pull down the rebound. 

[DunderMifflin]

I think warriors may have just run out of gas a bit, that Thunder series was more intense than I think a lot of people realize. Russ&KD are starting to run out of credit so they were super focused on getting a ring

[Mexal]

35 minutes ago, DunderMifflin said:

I think warriors may have just run out of gas a bit, that Thunder series was more intense than I think a lot of people realize. Russ&KD are starting to run out of credit so they were super focused on getting a ring

This is my thought as well. Coupled with the incredible physical nature of the finals (Curry/Thompson was grabbed and shoulder checked on almost every pick) and I just don't think they had enough in the tank. I do tend to agree with Maith that Kerr was outcoached. He just didn't do a good job defensively to combat the Cavs switching to Curry and driving at him. That is not only tiring from a stamina perspective but physically draining given the size/strength of the guys driving at him.

Also think the loss of Bogut really hurt. Warriors had more or less no rim protection.

[DireWolfSpirit]

The beast is slain, the Sun is back up and the children can play outside again. Thank You Lebron. 

Mission Impossible completed!

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Well, first off congrats to the city of Cleveland! I'm a fan of LeBron and am so glad he got this title in this fashion. Games 5,6 and 7 he was an absolute beast. First player ever to lead in points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks for a 7 game series. First team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in NBA finals. So, all the haters can just go on hating, this cements his legacy, period. 

That being said, there was a point last night when I thought scared LeBron was making a sighting. You know, dribble off his knee and can't make a layup. And, I thought it was a great coaching move to take a timeout and get the ball in Kyrie's hands when he hit that three. In fact, Kyrie was a huuuge part of the reason the Cavs won this series, that's a bad man. Agree with others that Lue outcoached Kerr, hands down. As much as I love LeBron and have defended him, his ugliest attributes showed up in the post game. He was a big reason why they won this series, goes without saying, but I wish he would've gave credit where credit was due. Instead of me, me, me, greatest player in the world. Its the one thing that will tarnish his career, other greats never had to say how great they were, the just were. 

Did Golden Stage choke? Nah, I don't think so. LeBron was a man on a mission, and after they stole that Game 5, it looked to me to be anyone's series. Cavs did a great job of dictating pace and making Curry work hard on both ends, and it took its toll. But, one thing that hasn't been mentioned and I think has to be, is I felt LeBron was in Curry's head. After that block in Game 6, Curry melted down and was tossed. Last night when Bron threw his junk in the stands, I felt, as if LeBron was totally in his head. And, it had an effect on the way Curry played. I know they say Curry shows no emotion on the court and keeps a even keel. But, you can still see his confidence and swagger in his step. Last night? I seen a man who looked defeated, before the game was even close to being over. He did a lot of head in the towel, and puffy cheeks last night. To me, it truly looked as if the moment and his competion were a bit too big for him to handle. 

[DunderMifflin]

ESPN gets so conflicted about when to proclaim Curry God of basketball.

When they lost those games to OKC, ESPN immediately turned on him. There was even an article on ESPN comparing Steph Curry to Linsanity......Linsanity!!

Then when the pulled out that series he immediately went back to being God again

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

1 minute ago, DunderMifflin said:

ESPN gets so conflicted about when to proclaim Curry God of basketball.

When they lost those games to OKC, ESPN immediately turned on him. There was even an article on ESPN comparing Steph Curry to Linsanity......Linsanity!!

Then when the pulled out that series he immediately went back to being God again

Well, Curry was definitely the MVP this year, that was no mistake. And he's definitely basketball royalty right now and for the foreseeable future. Oh, I expect GS to be right back next year. Linsanity? That's hogwash. He's transcendent, and this series takes nothing away from that. 

[DunderMifflin]

Im just really addicted to hate-watching ESPN experts now.

The dramatic mood swings of hype is like bi polar.

Win today = greatest guy ever

Lose tommorrow = overrated scrub

[James Arryn]

I don't blame Kerr as much as some of you seem to...Curry's the MVP and offensive leader on an all time great offence and wasn't off the charts awful or anything heading into the crunch. I think if he does go hard away from Curry as suggested and they lose, then that would be 100 per cent on his shoulders...and, more, the locker room might not get it; it could feel like panic. 

I think a lot of great coaches also ride Curry in that situation. Only variable is if his health is legit issue, and to me he didn't seem to be suffering any loss of mobility or quickness. He just seemed like he'd lost his rhythm, maybe a little confidence.

[DunderMifflin]

Yeh a lot of professional coaching in all sports seems to have the golden rule of covering your own ass, which leads to a very uncreative calls.

 

[Jaime L]

So pissed to miss game 7 and that the Warriors lost. When I left for the UK the series was 3-1 and the eventual victor was all but a formality. And I wake up each morning to some absurd statline from Lebron (and Irving, but mainly Lebron) and I'm just dying, wishing I could've seen how it went down. Or WTF happened to Steph and Klay. Anyway, I hear Lebron's Games 5-6 were the best two game stretch by anyone ever in the Finals and stats on a page, even surreal ones, don't really capture it. Greatness needs to be witnessed. 

Same with history. Can't imagine how huge this is for Cleveland, a city that's gone half a century without a title in any sport. This is equal to '04 Red Sox in meaning and how they did it. 

At least I get shitty eggs so not a total loss. Hey Relic, where's my shitty eggs?