Game Thread 2017 NBA Championship - Cavs vs Warriors

I had hoped that at the very least the finals would be a great matchup between two very good teams. So far it's sucked and left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

This year, Curry isn't hurt and Harrison Barnes is...Kevin Durant.

I don't really expect the Cavs to come back, but stranger things have happened.

 

There were a lot of calls the warriors got they won't get in Cleveland. I expect the next two games to be much more entertaining. But even last year with a gimpy Curry and no Durant they were up 3-1. If Green does not get suspended we are talking potential 3-peat. Although as I argued last year I don't think Durrant would have joined the Warriors if they were coming off two straight chips. The loss gave Durant the justification (in his mind) to join the best team in basketball.

 

I think you're right. I vaguely recall Durant saying the same thing.

Yeah, here it is:

So, I guess, the Warriors got the greatest consolation prize in league history?

 

I don't believe the refs and the front office discuss things in advance of each game. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I just think the refs are influenced by the crowd and how star players use it effectively to their advantage. For example if someone holds on to Lebron's jersey....the crowd will be all over it. When Steph takes 3 steps before making a pass....they might at least think about calling it..... as the crowd goes crazy.

 

I also don't believe refs are part of some grand conspiracy. I think they call the game differently for stars, not due to league directive, just subconsciously. Kobe Byrant would get a different call, for the same thing, than someone like Steve Smith.

Both teams have stars and Cleveland has the biggest.

 

There's often a team with "more stars." The Heatles had more stars than their opponents. The Jordan/Pippen/Rodman Bulls had more stars than their opponents. Even two-star teams like the Shaq/Kobe Lakers had more stars than most of their opponents.

I don't think it's suddenly a problem. The Warriors are just the latest. The Warriors didn't invent the concept of stars--it's not like teams are going to say, "Hey, look at the Warriors' success! Should we add a bunch of stars to our team?" It's hard to build a team like the Warriors. It probably either will never happen again or not for a generation.

 

In the past teams were limited by the salary cap to only have 3 max contract players + mid level player + bunch of minimum salary players.

The Warriors basically got away with 4 max contract players + 1 player who makes starter money + 2 mid level players + min salary guys.

The NBA fucked up and they took advantage of the situation.
We don't know if the NBA will fuck up like this again, but i'm guessing they will because this whole shitstorm was pretty easy to foresee yet Silver didn't want to anger anybody in the players union.

Also, it's important to add that the Heat and the Lakers were not THAT overpowered:
-The Lakers were given 1 chip courtesy of the Blazers (in 7 games) and 1 chip from the refs.
-The Heat lost 1 chip to the Mavs, barely won one against the Spurs and lost shamefully against the Spurs the following year. It's kinda funny to compare Wade and Bosh to Curry,Klay and Green to be honest.

 

A lot of that was just great drafting. The NBA salary cap was never really intended to deprive teams of homegrown players. Getting Kevin Durant was definitely due to a fluky circumstance, but a lot of things had to line up, not just the cap spiking up (for example, the Cavaliers weren't able to add another max salary--lots of teams weren't). I really wouldn't count on that (the best team in the league with their stars no longer on rookie contracts being able to add a max superstar) happening again.

My main point, though, was I don't really see what long-lasting effects this will have. The Warriors didn't invent the concept of superteams and their success isn't going to suddenly lead to the rise of more of them. It's hard to stack a roster like this (once in a generation hard, maybe once in a lifetime hard)--there's really nothing repeatable about this that the rest of the league can emulate. So yes, the Warriors are probably going to be dominant for at least the next 3 years, but once they start to fade, things are going to return to normal.

 

Defense was still a problem.

 

Defense will always be a problem for them. James is their only two-way player. The rest of their players are offense-only (Irving, Love, Korver, Frye, Williams), defense-only (Thompson, Shumpert) or invisible (JR Smith).

They survived last year because Curry wasn't 100% and Harrison Barnes gave them someone they could ignore so James could help all over the court. With a healthy Curry and Durant forcing James to guard him, all their defensive minuses are being exposed.

I suppose Richard Jefferson has some use on both ends, but he's so old, he can't really be a difference-maker.

 

You can easily tell Thompson is dating a Kardashian

 

Pertaining to his latest comments, either Ty Lue is insane or is just trying to throw smokescreens.

 

He has two other stars, but they're not as good as the Warriors' stars and they're offense-only. Yeah, there's only so much he can do.

At this point, his best defensive asset is the ability to play free safety and put out fires his teammates start. But covering Durant, he can't do that.