Probably not. Cleveland was a better defensive team last year and still had to rely on "leave Harrison Barnes open and hope he misses a lot," which he did. Now Cleveland's playing much worse defense and Barnes is Durant. Plus Steph Curry isn't recovering from an MCL sprain. I think Cleveland and James will struggle to make it even as close as last year's 3-1, before the Warriors ran out of steam.
If he even gets a chance. Sure, he can beat any one of those guys 1-on-1, but basketball is a team game and GSW is a WAY better team than CLE. BNM
No. There's some advanced stat that says Kanter is the worst defender in the history of the league when he played for Utah.
Idk, I think Cleveland is just being flat out lazy. I hope so at least, they are the only team I can see push the Warriors. It's also hard to doubt James leading his team to success now too.
Why is it hard to doubt? He lost in the finals twice with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in their primes, with a better coach. And the two teams he lost to were not as good as this year's Warriors. And, he's now six year's older than he was when that Heatles team lost to the 57-win Mavericks. CLE was pretty bad defensively this year. That's not being lazy, that's who they are. BNM
He lost twice in the finals with them because D-Wade and Bosh's bodies couldn't hold up and he choked against Dallas but he is far from that LeBron we know today .
Where is the proof for this? You can just as easily say we lost Aldridge to free agency because of Dame. Man, your level of hatred for Russ is really unfounded. He's a polarizing figure, but he will also win MVP this season. He's not Ricky Davis or Andray Blatche in terms of stat chasers.
Proof, you mean like a smoking gun? Durant isn't stupid enough to publicly say he left OKC because Russ is a selfish ballhog who cares more about his own stats than winning. But, all the evidence is there and there are plenty of articles that describe the tension between the two. Ultimately, do you think if Durant was happy playing with Westbrook and felt they had ANY chance of winning a championship he would have taken less money to go to GSW? Here's just one article on the topic. If you want more, just google why did Kevin Durant leave OKC. Saturday Shows Why Kevin Durant Left Russell Westbrook Don't like articles and quotes from sources close to the team (no one will ever say anything on record, or they will be fired like Kim Hughes), just go back and look at the game logs and stats for the 4th quarters of playoff games where Westbrook consistently froze out the more efficient scoring Durant. This goes all the way back to their second season together in OKC and continued right up until they blew a 3-1 lead against GSW last year. Just go back and look at the stats for their 2012 finals series against MIA. In that series, Durant got 104 FGA to Westbrook's 120. Durant shot .548 FG% and .394 3FG%. Westbrook shot .433 FG% and .136 3FG%, yet he constantly called his own number more than Durant's especially in the 4th quarter when Durant would often go several minutes without touching the ball on offense. Durant was always a far more efficient scorer than Westbrook, but with the game on the line, Westbrook consistently resorted to hero ball. The bigger the stage the more Russ craved, make that demanded, the spotlight - always to the detriment of his team. That's just one example, but it was part of a pattern that was repeated year after year after year until Durant had had enough and left. He was unhappy playing with Russ and knew he could never win a championship with Russ playing hero ball and freezing him out. He was right. I've been saying the same thing for years and also predicted back in 2012 that Durant would eventually get fed up with Westbrook's me first attitude and flee OKC. But hey, triple doubles, MVP! MVP! MVP, slurp, slurp go the fan boys. Sure, Westbrook is an amazing physical talent that puts up video game like numbers. Too bad there is also a mental aspect to the game that will always hold Westbrook back. He will never trust his teammates when it matters. He will always try to do too much and he will always fail. He'll continue to have gaudy stats (both good and bad - 47.0 USG% and 6.0 TOV/G in that HOU series), but will never win anything. Basketball is still a team sport and Westbrook just isn't a team player. BNM
Which would you rather see: LaMarcus win a championship with the Spurs or Durant win a championship with the Warriors I'm super torn on this...
I hate both options. But I have no real skin in the game with Durant - I just hate him and stupid "super friends" team-ups. So, I'd rather GSW win. I don't want LA to EVER play in the Finals.
Well, I would never wish an injury on anyone, but given I only have two choices, in my perfect storm of an answer, I'd love to see GSW beat CLE with Durant sidelined for the series. He'd get his ring, but if Golden State beats the Cavs this year, without Durant contributing in any way, it would cement his status as the ultimate coat tail rider. I respect what SAS has accomplished as an organization, and I like Kawhi as a player, but when it comes to LaMarcus Aldridge, I don't ever want to see him make a finals appearance. I want him to always be healthy, but left on the outside looking in. I don't want any injury excuses. I want him to fail to make the finals because he just isn't good enough to get his team there. I want him to be the scapegoat when they lose and come up short of expectations year after year. I want him to regret his decision to leave Portland and I want the Spurs and their fans to regret signing him. BNM
