Series Thread: 2014-15 NBA Finals Series Thread

[MHSL82]

I seriously don't know what I want to happen in this series.

I want Andrew Bogut to win.
I get more and more annoyed with Curry's celebrations.
I don't really want LeBron James to get another Finals loss with the supporting cast he has.
I want Golden State to get a ring finally.
I feel bad for Cleveland not having one ring in any sport for a long time.
As a Jazz fan, even though I liked Kerr before we lost, I can't really root for a Bull.
I don't really like Draymond Green.

But I figured the tie-breaker out. Mark Jackson used to coach the Warriors. I want his rookie replacement to win without him. Plus, a few of my uncles live in San Francisco.

 

[nuraman00]

I seriously don't know what I want to happen in this series.

I want Andrew Bogut to win.
I get more and more annoyed with Curry's celebrations.
I don't really want LeBron James to get another Finals loss with the supporting cast he has.
I want Golden State to get a ring finally.
I feel bad for Cleveland not having one ring in any sport for a long time.
As a Jazz fan, even though I liked Kerr before we lost, I can't really root for a Bull.
I don't really like Draymond Green.

But I figured the tie-breaker out. Mark Jackson used to coach the Warriors. I want his rookie replacement to win without him. Plus, a few of my uncles live in San Francisco.

Stats like this for a team that hasn't won in a long time, are a little meaningless, or lacking context, for me.

The Indians might not have won in 60+ years, but they weren't supposed to be good most of those years. They weren't a perennial playoffs team, that just couldn't get over the hump. They were a good team for maybe 12 of those years, or something. So to me, it's more like they haven't won out of 12 years when they were decent.

Same with Golden State. They went 13 years without making the playoffs. So even those years are added to the total years of having a title drought, it doesn't mean as much to me, because that's a long period of time when they weren't supposed to be good. Blame it on their organization for making the wrong moves for so long.

It's different, with a team like the Bucks in the 80s, who could never beat both Boston and Philly in the same year. They always made the playoffs, but if they beat one of those teams, they'd lose to the other. So that's more heartbreaking to me.

With the Jazz or Trail Blazers, it's similar to the Bucks. They were reasonable expectations of being a good to great team, so every year they couldn't win, it hurt more.

The Clippers are more like the Warriors, Cavs, or Indians to me. The Clippers might not have ever made the conference Finals, but they weren't supposed to most of those years. Only these past few years, has not making the conference finals, been more significant.

So I feel more bad for teams that were good, with reasonable expectations of being a contender, but couldn't get over the hump. Then teams that were perennially bad for decades, and didn't have expectations of being good.

 

[nuraman00]

I seriously don't know what I want to happen in this series.

I want Andrew Bogut to win.
I get more and more annoyed with Curry's celebrations.
I don't really want LeBron James to get another Finals loss with the supporting cast he has.
I want Golden State to get a ring finally.
I feel bad for Cleveland not having one ring in any sport for a long time.
As a Jazz fan, even though I liked Kerr before we lost, I can't really root for a Bull.
I don't really like Draymond Green.

But I figured the tie-breaker out. Mark Jackson used to coach the Warriors. I want his rookie replacement to win without him. Plus, a few of my uncles live in San Francisco.

Jackson will still get credit for bringing the Warriors from a lottery team, to a good team. It was an important step in their development.

Just like Rick Carlisle gets credit for the Pistons teams, even though Larry Brown won the title in 2004 in his first year with the Pistons, after replacing Carlisle. Carlisle brought the team from a bad team, to a good team. He also probably could have won with the 2004 team too, but management didn't like some things about Carlisle's personality, so they went with Brown. They might have also thought Brown was a better coach than Carlisle too, and Brown wasn't available years earlier because he was content with Philly.

Larry Brown was the first to give credit to Carlisle. I love how the first words after the Pistons won the title, were to give credit to Carlisle, and Michael Curry (who was traded to the Raptors during the 2003 offseason, as they felt Okur or Elden Cambell were better fits to start next to Ben Wallace in 2003-2004, but Curry was an important member in getting Detroit to be a good team from 2001-2003).

So just like Carlisle and Curry got credit for getting Detroit to be a good team, even though they weren't on the final championship team, Jackson will get credit for Golden State too.

 

[nuraman00]

Cleveland didn't play great, but they lead for more of the game then Golden State did.

Then at the end of regulation, and OT, Cleveland couldn't do anything right.



Wish Cleveland could have won that. I still enjoyed watching the game. Cleveland was nice and methodical on most of their isolations.

Hope Irving is ready to go for game 2.

Wish James had a bigger role on defense. Probably the last real moment of defense that I remember in the playoffs, was when he guarded Tony Parker for the last 2 games in the 2013 Finals.

 

[MHSL82]

I was rooting for the Cavaliers this past game because I hate 2–0 series when my team is not involved.

 

[nuraman00]

Watching the post-game press conference for game 3.

James: "I went 7 straight seasons with improving my efficiency. This is the first year that it dipped. But its a different challenge playing without 2 All-Stars, so I'm stepping outside the box and doing whatever it takes."

. . .

"Whether it's high volume shooting, high volume rebounding, high volume assisting, I'm just doing whatever it takes."

. . .

"I took 36 shots but only 6 were 3's. That means I'm being aggressive, and taking shots in the paint."

 

[nuraman00]

I don't think he's taking shots he shouldn't take. Maybe its hard to improve efficiency every year.

He's also facing a top rated defensive team, so that's going to have something to do with it too.

He also passes a lot. His judgement still seems fine.

 

[MHSL82]

Well, on the radio I heard an "expert" say that if Curry wins the Championship that puts him ahead of Stockton, who never won a ring nor MVP. Guess who is now rooting for the Cavaliers? (I am.) As much as I want Jackson's old team to win without him, I just want this guy to postpone his proclamations.

In his defense, he was asked the question, didn't just pull it out of thin air and he did allude to a requirement of both the ring and MVP coming in the same year.

I still think Stockton's 17.5 PTs, 14.5 Asts, 3+ SPG while shooting over 50% from the field was more impressive to me. We didn't win enough and I venture to guess we didn't win against the best teams.

Oh well.

Stockton probably did have his quarters, halves, games, or series where he struggled, but it seems that Curry is more mentally affected by how he's doing. It's a bit unfair for me to say that because Stockton facilitated (the best IMO) and Curry has to score, but Curry has disappeared a few times this playoffs since winning the MVP (just coincidence, not suggesting anything). Malone did too and I bet Stockton did too, I just think there's a ways to go before one should make prisoner of the moment conclusions. Vince Carter and Travy McGrady scored a lot on good teams, are they more worthy of recognition? At least they have a longer track record than Curry. Just wait and he may NOT get there.

With a lot of passing scorers out there, especially in this era, it's going to take a lot to convince me, at least before one gets to retirement age. Or maybe when I get to retirement age, I will lose enough memory to not know what's what.

 

[nuraman00]

Well, on the radio I heard an "expert" say that if Curry wins the Championship that puts him ahead of Stockton, who never won a ring nor MVP. Guess who is now rooting for the Cavaliers? (I am.) As much as I want Jackson's old team to win without him, I just want this guy to postpone his proclamations.

In his defense, he was asked the question, didn't just pull it out of thin air and he did allude to a requirement of both the ring and MVP coming in the same year.

I still think Stockton's 17.5 PTs, 14.5 Asts, 3+ SPG while shooting over 50% from the field was more impressive to me. We didn't win enough and I venture to guess we didn't win against the best teams.

Oh well.

Stockton probably did have his quarters, halves, games, or series where he struggled, but it seems that Curry is more mentally affected by how he's doing. It's a bit unfair for me to say that because Stockton facilitated (the best IMO) and Curry has to score, but Curry has disappeared a few times this playoffs since winning the MVP (just coincidence, not suggesting anything). Malone did too and I bet Stockton did too, I just think there's a ways to go before one should make prisoner of the moment conclusions. Vince Carter and Travy McGrady scored a lot on good teams, are they more worthy of recognition? At least they have a longer track record than Curry. Just wait and he may NOT get there.

With a lot of passing scorers out there, especially in this era, it's going to take a lot to convince me, at least before one gets to retirement age. Or maybe when I get to retirement age, I will lose enough memory to not know what's what.

Stockton can affect the game in more ways than Curry. That's why he's better.

Stockton is more like Lebron James, in that regard.

I'm still disappointed that James doesn't guard anyone good. The last time I was excited to see him guard someone was when he guarded Tony Parker in games 6 and 7 of the 2013 Finals. He wasn't on him the whole game, but during certain stretches.

A guard from Stockton's era would have been on Tony Parker the entire game.

If James guarded Stockton then, then I want to see him guard Curry or Thompson now. Sure, it puts a bigger load on him, but he can do it, and I think he'd want to do it, if the coach asked him to.

Curry is mentally tough and has the right leadership qualities.

 

[nuraman00]

I still think Stockton's 17.5 PTs, 14.5 Asts, 3+ SPG while shooting over 50% from the field was more impressive to me. We didn't win enough and I venture to guess we didn't win against the best teams.

One of my fantasies is to see a game where a player gets 16+ assists, and 16+ rebounds, with 4+ steals, in the same game. The former two haven't even been done in the same game. Hmm, I'll have to check this again. I can't believe Oscar Robertson never did it. Maybe I'm wrong.

That would be the best individual game (or rank up there), and it's all about the activity with the arms and hands (hands for passing, hands for rebounds, hands for steals).

A 14 assist and 3 steal season is along the same lines of my fantasy individual performance in a game, but extended to the season. I just need to see rebounds added to it.

 

[nuraman00]

2015 NBA playoffs - LeBron's numbers don't lie

In an interview with Dwyane Wade for SportsCenter after the game, Wade needled James for his high volume and low percentage. After all, as teammates the pair maxed out their efficiency together while both hitting career highs in 2013-14, with James shooting 56.7 percent and Wade hitting 54.5 percent -- unheard of for a wing duo.

"[It is] out of my character, but I have no choice. I have no choice," James told Wade. "And it's not like I'm going out and I'm just casting shots -- I'm pulling up in transition or I'm just throwing things up there. I'm just trying to put pressure on the defense and let my teammates know that I'm just going to go, no matter how it's going. I'm going to continue to fight and push forward. And I don't like to shoot this much."

James averaged 18.5 shots per game in the regular season. In the Finals, he's averaging 35.7.

 

[nuraman00]

"During the season we had Kevin and Kyrie who were able to take a little bit of the load off LeBron in terms of how many shots or what he had to do. But right now in the playoffs, he's getting it in good spots," said Tristan Thompson. "He's getting it on the block and in terms of the matchups, who is guarding him, he is taking advantage of it. ... He's special, so he's got to do what he's got to do and if that means taking 30 shots for us to win, that's our best bet."

 

[MHSL82]

I watched the last game and the beginning of the first and I saw good shots being missed by everyone - James and cast. I think Game 3 probably had more "bad shots" but that's relative.

 

[MHSL82]

I'm happy this is happening. I never understood how the analysis on teams who are facing up-tempo offenses would seem to always be, "how are they going to keep up with the high paced offense?"

I admit that I'm a bit simple minded when it comes to basketball strategies, but I always thought, "why wouldn't you just run a slow offense and see how the other team has to adjust to you? You each get the ball and both strategies would be jarring to the other team." It's one thing if you have old players who can't run as fast as the high tempo offense (on defense), it's another thing if it's just about styles or flow of game.

Make the other team storm down the court and try to score and then you take 20 seconds off the shot clock. You have to know that this is only if your offense is best at a slow pace. You'd obviously not combat a high tempo offense with a slow offense if your team was best at a fast or medium pace.

I only against going against what your offense does best to adjust to the other team. you obviously need to adjust on defense to what other team does, but that should not affect your offense. Hopefully, your team is mentally tough enough to compartmentalize offense and defense a bit. You would still run a transition offense if the situation called for it if you're slow team.

NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers dominating time of possession vs. Golden State Warriors

 

[MHSL82]

2015 NBA Playoffs: How to beat Stephen Curry rules

 

[nuraman00]

I'm happy this is happening. I never understood how the analysis on teams who are facing up-tempo offenses would seem to always be, "how are they going to keep up with the high paced offense?"

I admit that I'm a bit simple minded when it comes to basketball strategies, but I always thought, "why wouldn't you just run a slow offense and see how the other team has to adjust to you? You each get the ball and both strategies would be jarring to the other team." It's one thing if you have old players who can't run as fast as the high tempo offense (on defense), it's another thing if it's just about styles or flow of game.

Make the other team storm down the court and try to score and then you take 20 seconds off the shot clock. You have to know that this is only if your offense is best at a slow pace. You'd obviously not combat a high tempo offense with a slow offense if your team was best at a fast or medium pace.

I only against going against what your offense does best to adjust to the other team. you obviously need to adjust on defense to what other team does, but that should not affect your offense. Hopefully, your team is mentally tough enough to compartmentalize offense and defense a bit. You would still run a transition offense if the situation called for it if you're slow team.

NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers dominating time of possession vs. Golden State Warriors

Haven't read it yet, but full article:

NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers dominating time of possession vs. Golden State Warriors

 

[nuraman00]

Haven't read it yet, but full article:

NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers dominating time of possession vs. Golden State Warriors

Finished reading.

 

[MHSL82]

Haven't read it yet, but full article:

NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers dominating time of possession vs. Golden State Warriors

Was my link to a partial article? Or is this just your way of tracking your to-do list?

 

[nuraman00]

Was my link to a partial article? Or is this just your way of tracking your to-do list?

It seems like the US version of Insider articles only posts partial articles, while the UK version will post full articles.

Edit: Nevermind, this wasn't an Insider article. So I don't know why you only got a partial article.

 

[MHSL82]

It seems like the US version of Insider articles only posts partial articles, while the UK version will post full articles.

Well, my link will only post partial because I don't have Insider. I was supposed to have it, because my dad got me the ESPN magazine, but it didn't work and I didn't want to go through the trouble of getting them involved after a few emails to them.