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NBA Finals: TRILOGY Edition!!!


Mr. Chatywin et al.

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12 hours ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

Draymond Green just punched himself in the nuts.

Right in the little Drays.

I will say, I get the yearlong criticism of Durant. A lot of it is justified. But have a few thoughts on the whole deal:

1) You could not have devised in a lab a more perfect fit to somehow make a 73 win team even better. Almost any other superstar goes to this Warriors team and takes as much (if not more) off the table than they bring. Durant though just slides right into their position of greatest need and uses his length to score all the kinds of baskets the Warriors did not get in the Finals last year, assist Draymond with the defense and rebounding load and keeps the ball moving like Dray, Iggy, Livingston and all the rest do. What's scary is think he can be even more dominant if they start playing as a world-destroying stretch 5 more often. 

2) Also watching the Finals, I do feel like the Warriors absolutely needed him. Felt like they would've been in big trouble without him when things got tight late and the offense bogged down. Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut IMO wouldn't have made a lick of difference. He made virtually every critical shot for the Warriors in this series. 

3) The bad news for us is it deprived us of a potential 6-7 game series. But I do find this higher level of basketball they've reached to be absolutely riveting. Thought the Cavs played out of their mind in games 3-5. That it wasn't enough is less relevant to me than the level of basketball being played by the best teams in 2017 is standard deviations higher than 2007. It just is. People are so bummed about this superteam that's going to run roughshod over the league. My take is this needs to be the extra kick in the ass for the other superstars of the league to form their own. 

4) The Cavs trading Kevin Love for Paul George is a no-brainer to me. All that matters, if you're the Cavs, is how you match up with the Warriors and Paul George is the absolute perfect counter move to KD. Cavs need more Lebrons out on the court and Paul George is the closest thing available to that. It makes them significantly better on the perimeter and resolves the "do we play Love or Thompson in crunch time" dilemma in one fell swoop. Makes sense for Indiana too as they exchange a superstar who will definitely leave for one who still has 3 years left on his contract.

5) Would love to see Chris Paul go to the Spurs to build a counterweight in the West to the Warriors. Though if that falls through, hope it's because he's got designs on his own superteam with Lebron. What I fear is that's not the case and he just re-signs with the Clips because they can offer the most money by far and that's his top priority. It doesn't have to be next year (next year is tough) but I need a rival superteam to the Warriors in whatever form. There's two things we want as sports fans 1) greatness but even more than that 2) we need to see greatness challenged. I was never bored by the Warriors this season - was fascinating to watch such complimentary greatness. But now the novelty is over. I'll be bored if they have another playoff run like this one. 

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Jaime L said:

5) Would love to see Chris Paul go to the Spurs to build a counterweight in the West to the Warriors. Though if that falls through, hope it's because he's got designs on his own superteam with Lebron. What I fear is that's not the case and he just re-signs with the Clips because they can offer the most money by far and that's his top priority. It doesn't have to be next year (next year is tough) but I need a rival superteam to the Warriors in whatever form. There's two things we want as sports fans 1) greatness but even more than that 2) we need to see greatness challenged. I was never bored by the Warriors this season - was fascinating to watch such complimentary greatness. But now the novelty is over. I'll be bored if they have another playoff run like this one. 

Simmons and House were talking about the fact that it looks like Jerry West is showing interest in going to the Clips as either a GM or in his usual player personnel guru role. That could be interesting. If that team "kept the band together" plus added another big star, things could get really interesting in the West. And Jerry West would be the perfect guy to put a Warriors-busters sort of team together.

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30 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

Simmons and House were talking about the fact that it looks like Jerry West is showing interest in going to the Clips as either a GM or in his usual player personnel guru role. That could be interesting. If that team "kept the band together" plus added another big star, things could get really interesting in the West. And Jerry West would be the perfect guy to put a Warriors-busters sort of team together.

Yeah, I listened to that podcast. I'm in favor if they can do it legit. Jerry West is a genius after all.

And hey I'll take a superteam whereever it forms. My one concern with the Clips is if some of the rumors turn out to be true and it ends up being the Banana Boat team (Lebron, Paul, Melo, Wade) which I think the Warriors would destroy. Lebron's nostalgic to play with his bros, but think he's got a better chance at another title sticking with Kyrie as a killer #2 and building around that to the extent possible. The answer to me is not aligning with old and slow.  

Problem with the Cavs is the lack of possible options for getting better outside of moving either Thompson or Love.

The other wildcard is if Lebron opts out after next season and builds a superteam from scratch with Paul George and who knows who else on the Lakers. That's kinda intriguing to me. 

 

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5 minutes ago, Jaime L said:

Problem with the Cavs is the lack of possible options for getting better outside of moving either Thompson or Love.

The other wildcard is if Lebron opts out after next season and builds a superteam from scratch with Paul George and who knows who else on the Lakers. That's kinda intriguing to me. 

I don't see LeBron leaving Cleveland again, but I suppose anything is possible. Seems to me they are a good wing defender away from being able to give the Warriors a run for their money.

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7 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

I don't see LeBron leaving Cleveland again, but I suppose anything is possible. Seems to me they are a good wing defender away from being able to give the Warriors a run for their money.

Oh, I could. He's already made good on his "coming home" promise by delivering Cleveland its first title in 60 years. I also wonder if that whole "I've never been on a superteam" bullshit was hinting that he's considering another one. 

That said, I'm not convinced his best option isn't necessarily to stay with Kyrie and bring in Paul George. 

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2 hours ago, Jaime L said:

Problem with the Cavs is the lack of possible options for getting better outside of moving either Thompson or Love.

Why is moving Thompson such a big deal?  He's a good hustle player, but he's also just a role-player.  

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George to offset KD makes a lot of sense and the man is good on both ends of the court. If I'm LeBron id trade Love for George. Still, is love to see another wing that can play both ways too, come on board.

One thing is for sure, if the Cavs sit idle they don't compete with the Warriors. We all can agree on that.

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Thompson was atrocious against the Warriors. His rim proteciton is completely negated because the Warriors aren't playing guys down low.  Thompson is out on the perimeter. He can defend guys on the perimeter well for a guy his size, but his rim protection is basically irrelevant. Hence, 3 blocks in the entire series. His biggest problem, though, was his complete ineptness on the offensive end and his inability to rebound. He has to be able to punish the Warriors for going small. He needs to be posting guys up, catching lobs, and dominating the boards. He did none of those things until game 5.

 

Love, on the other hand, was phenomenal. He got TOUGH rebounds. He got buckets down low when the Warriors put Thompson on him, and he got blocks and steals, and he was a 3 point threat. Was a big time impact player.  But the biggest thing about Love, and this cannot possibly be understated, is that he is a guy with superstar level talent who has completely buried his ego. He's happy to battle for rebounds, shoot 3s, and be 3rd banana, all while taking pretty much constant criticism from the fans and media for playing his role. He's not a good defender, but he plays hard on defense. He's about as good a fit as you could get for your third banana.

 

Is Paul George going to be content to be a glorified 3 and D guy who opens up the offense for LeBron and Kyrie?

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