Game Thread 2016 NBA Finals, Game 7, Warriors vs Cavaliers

Stren is used to flying solo, he's not sure what to do when others are involved.

 

LOL!!!
Well, maybe bigger headache, bigger problem, bigger police file...

 

Thank you to @crandc for beheading so many snakes

 

Lost amidst everything, was LeBron faking it on the landing on that last possession? He sure looked to be in a lot of pain, like a broken wrist or something, but the replay showed absolutely nothing and he shook it off awfully fast. Was he trying to bait the refs into suspending Draymond Groin for Game 8?

 

Steph Curry had 30 turnovers to just 26 assists for the entire Finals ... Surprised this isn't being talked about more.

 

He's just not really a point guard. Not in the older sense of the term. He's a REALLY REALLY great scorer.

 

And many (perhaps most) of those TOVs were of the unforced, showboating kind. It's one thing to play with a flashy style, it's quite another when you start to value style more than results. Hey Steph, this isn't figure skating. There are no style points in basketball. You might want to focus more on protecting the ball than attempting fancy passes that might make SportsCenter if you connect, but cost your team when they don't.

BNM

 

GSW is an aberration in that they don't have, nor do they need a true point guard.

This is ONLY because their 1-8 are all exceptional ball handlers and passers. Don't need one key guy to do it if your team can do it by committee.

 

The media doesn't like talking shit to Curry for some reason.

 

So do the Warriors win the title last year if Kyrie/Love aren't injured?

 

Yes. No question.

 

Why would last year be any different than this year?

 

Two reasons. Cleveland has now had another year to figure themselves out. They were better this year than last regardless of their injuries. I mean with regards to team ball. At the same time GSW was the opposite. They were completely healthy in the finals last year. Not this year.

GSW was 1:07 minutes away from winning it this year even when LBJ played like a monster, Cleveland was completely healthy and GSW was beat up.

Put both healthy teams against each other and I think GSW wins 8 out of 10 matchups.

 

Impossible to say. Does CLE with the title this year if Bogut isn't injured? Probably not.

I think many fans underestimate Boguts contributions based on his limited minutes, but without him in the middle, it opens up the lane for some easy baskets. He blocked 10 shots in only 60 minutes played in the finals. Without him in the game, it made t much easier for CLE to score in the paint in games 5, 6 and 7.

BNM

 

In fairness, @Sedatedfork it was my cat Zoey who beheaded the snakes.

 

Actually, he was. Under Mark Jackson, Curry averaged 8.5 APG (5th in the league). But, that was the problem. Jackson was asking Curry to do too much, He was their leading scorer, and their primary ballhandler and leading playmaker. He was asked to create for himself and the rest of the team, as well. It wore him down too much.

Under Steve Kerr, the ballhandling and distribution is divided among multiple players offloading much of that responsibility from Curry. Under Kerr, Curry is no longer a traditional PG, he's a scoring guard who can focus more of his energy on creating for himself while Green and Livingston divvy up the ballhandling and distribution duties. As a result, Curry's scoring has jumped by 8.0 points per 36 minutes, and his scoring average jumped from 24.0 ppg to 30.1 ppg while playing fewer minutes per game. Curry's apg has dropped from 8.5 to 6.7, but the Warriors as a team have seen their apg jump from 23.3 to 28.9.

So, Curry can play the traditional PG role, but that wears him down and doesn't take full advantage of his unique scoring ability.

BNM

 

It's weird the media isn't putting more heat on the Warriors (Steph in particular) for their historic choke job ... If Bron had those Curry numbers and Cleveland was the team to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals (let alone being 73-9 in the regular season), there would be non-stop, wall-to-wall ESPN programming on it.

 

Christ, they still bring up the Blazers losing in 2000 whenever they get the chance. Hard to believe the 'greatest team of all time' gets a pass.

 

Does anyone really think the Warriors don't win in 5 without the Green suspension? I admit it was poetic justice for it to happen, but they had all the momentum and were going home. I actually picked it to go 7, but after game 4, I admitted I was wrong......until the NBA office got involved.