Series Thread: 2nd Round: Golden State Warriors vs Utah Jazz

[bksballer89]

And I honestly don't even care who you guys think it is better. My biggest issue with Draymond comments is that he is bitching about the Cavs opponents not competing hard enough when the Cavs opponents been more competitive than the Warriors opponents.

Indiana competed hard as hell in all 4 games. Just not enough talent. If he wants to say Toronto did not compete in games 1 and 2 then I agree with that but outside of that they competed hard in games 3 and 4.

It is really just a stupid comment to say the teams are not competing hard enough

 

[CitySushi]

I don't think Portland is a good team to be honest with you. Very flawed team who basically got in the playoffs by playing good basketball for one month.

I totally disagree on Utah and Toronto. I don't see how anyone can say Utah is much better than Toronto. I think they're close to even. I don't think either team is much better than the other

I'm honestly not a fan of Dwayne Casey. I don't think he's that great of a coach. I think the Raptors offense as a whole is very inefficient. I think that weighs heavily against them. He didn't really make any counter moves to the Cavs, even though they were getting their ass handed to them.

I believe Utah is a much more efficient team than the Raptors. Overall, I think the Raptors have more talent, but not being able to put it together matters, imo.

 

[bksballer89]

"I thought teams would compete a little harder," Green said after shootaround on Monday. "I just watched San Antonio-Houston. I like to watch good basketball. When you watch Cleveland play, you're only watching one side of the good basketball. That's kind of weak

So Portland and Utah played good basketball against the Warriors? Some people just need to know when to shut up

 

[Heatles84]

Pacers and Portland are equal. Toronto and Utah are equal and both teams were without their starting PG for most of that series. And on top of that, Indy actually pushed Cleveland really hard in 3 of the 4 games....Same can't be said for Portland.

There is not a case where you can tell me the Warriors had a tougher road to the conference finals than Cleveland

Next round might be a different scenario. But overall, this year the road for both teams have been relatively easy. Especially if the Rockets somehow beat the Spurs considering they won't have Nene for the rest of the playoffs.

 

[bksballer89]

You must be a real idiot to think Portland competed harder than Indy and that exactly what Draymond is.

I said it last night on the Cavs/Raptors series thread, in 3 of the 4 games against Indy, the biggest lead either team had with 3 to go in the 4th was 2 but yeah Indy sure didn't compete

 

[CitySushi]

You must be a real idiot to think Portland competed harder than Indy and that exactly what Draymond is.

I said it last night on the Cavs/Raptors series thread, in 3 of the 4 games against Indy, the biggest lead either team had with 3 to go in the 4th was 2 but yeah Indy sure didn't compete

Draymond gonna Draymond.

 

[LAD]

"I thought teams would compete a little harder," Green said after shootaround on Monday. "I just watched San Antonio-Houston. I like to watch good basketball. When you watch Cleveland play, you're only watching one side of the good basketball. That's kind of weak

So Portland and Utah played good basketball against the Warriors? Some people just need to know when to shut up

Actually, yes Utah played good basketball. They were competitive throughout. Having said that, I also think the Raps did too. They did as much as they could given their circumstances.

 

[tlance]

Actually, yes Utah played good basketball. They were competitive throughout. Having said that, I also think the Raps did too. They did as much as they could given their circumstances.

I agree.

Utah played GS tough, they just didn't have enough to win. Games 1-3 were relatively close (10-15 points) and in game 4, Utah came back and made it a game for awhile after getting blitzed early. Most teams would have folded down 24 in the first half of an elimination game. Utah didn't.

 

[trojanfan12]

Championship series, not Finals.

 

[trojanfan12]

I agree.

Utah played GS tough, they just didn't have enough to win. Games 1-3 were relatively close (10-15 points) and in game 4, Utah came back and made it a game for awhile after getting blitzed early. Most teams would have folded down 24 in the first half of an elimination game. Utah didn't.

Agree. All 4 games went essentially the same way. Utah kept it pretty close through most of the game. But the Warriors just have too many weapons, would wear them down and pull away in the 4th quarter, making the games look worse than they really were.

 

[trojanfan12]

And on top of that, Indy actually pushed Cleveland really hard in 3 of the 4 games....Same can't be said for Portland.

I think the difference is that the Pacers pushing the Cavs had more to do with the Cavs defense (or lack thereof) than how good the Pacers actually are. If the Cavs had played even close to the level of defense they played last year, they'd have won each of those games by about 15+ points.

 

[gordontrue]

"I thought teams would compete a little harder," Green said after shootaround on Monday. "I just watched San Antonio-Houston. I like to watch good basketball. When you watch Cleveland play, you're only watching one side of the good basketball. That's kind of weak

So Portland and Utah played good basketball against the Warriors? Some people just need to know when to shut up

I agree, it doesn't make any sense. But its not just Draymond. I'm hearing the same thing from analysts, people on this forum, people on other forums.

This comment got hundreds of upvotes on reddit: "The Warriors have a cakewalk because they're stacked. Cleveland has a cakewalk because the rest of the East is a joke."

 

[bksballer89]

I think the difference is that the Pacers pushing the Cavs had more to do with the Cavs defense (or lack thereof) than how good the Pacers actually are. If the Cavs had played even close to the level of defense they played last year, they'd have won each of those games by about 15+ points.

I understand that but point was for Draymond to say the Pacers did not compete was a false claim and flat out a lie. Really no other way to look at it.

 

[gordontrue]

I think the difference is that the Pacers pushing the Cavs had more to do with the Cavs defense (or lack thereof) than how good the Pacers actually are. If the Cavs had played even close to the level of defense they played last year, they'd have won each of those games by about 15+ points.

I think the difference is the Warriors had a great season and the Cavs had a meh season.

People have their mind made up about the disparity between the 2 teams. So when they see similar dominance from both teams they have to interpret the Cavs competition as inferior.

Like, I can't wrap my mind around people thinking that the Jazz competed better than the Raptors? If you look at the margins and the time lead, the Raps were more competitive.

 

[trojanfan12]

I think the difference is the Warriors had a great season and the Cavs had a meh season.

People have their mind made up about the disparity between the 2 teams. So when they see similar dominance from both teams they have to interpret the Cavs competition as inferior.

Like, I can't wrap my mind around people thinking that the Jazz competed better than the Raptors? If you look at the margins and the time lead, the Raps were more competitive.

Yeah, I think some of that had to do with how each game went. Each team won their games by an average of about 15 points (15 for the Warriors vs. 15.25 for the Cavs). I was actually a little surprised when I looked it up, that the Cavs hadn't won their games by more.

But it seemed like the Jazz would stay relatively close throughout most of the game and the Warriors would pull away late.

The Raptors would get behind big, then make a run to get close, then get taken apart again.

So, visually (for lack of a better term) it gave the appearance that the Jazz were more competitive, even though both teams ended up winning by pretty much the same margin.

 

[tlance]

Yeah, I think some of that had to do with how each game went. Each team won their games by an average of about 15 points (15 for the Warriors vs. 15.25 for the Cavs). I was actually a little surprised when I looked it up, that the Cavs hadn't won their games by more.

But it seemed like the Jazz would stay relatively close throughout most of the game and the Warriors would pull away late.

The Raptors would get behind big, then make a run to get close, then get taken apart again.

So, visually (for lack of a better term) it gave the appearance that the Jazz were more competitive, even though both teams ended up winning by pretty much the same margin.

The sense that I got watching Cleveland, is that they would play hard until they got up 15-20, then they would relax. Toronto makes a run and cuts the lead to single digits, then Cleveland would run away again.

It just looked to me like Cleveland could have won every game by 30+ if they played with the same focus and energy that they did when the game was close. I did not get the same indication in the Utah/GS series.

Maybe I am wrong, but that is how it looked to me. I think this is why so many people have the viewpoint that the Cavs competition was weaker.

 

[LAD]

Like, I can't wrap my mind around people thinking that the Jazz competed better than the Raptors?If you look at the margins and the time lead, the Raps were more competitive.

I think this might be accurate if the Cavs & Warriors are equal.

 

[LAD]

Yeah, I think some of that had to do with how each game went. Each team won their games by an average of about 15 points (15 for the Warriors vs. 15.25 for the Cavs). I was actually a little surprised when I looked it up, that the Cavs hadn't won their games by more.

But it seemed like the Jazz would stay relatively close throughout most of the game and the Warriors would pull away late.

The Raptors would get behind big, then make a run to get close, then get taken apart again.

So, visually (for lack of a better term) it gave the appearance that the Jazz were more competitive, even though both teams ended up winning by pretty much the same margin.

So what do you think the end score would look like if they were reversed. Warriors/Raps & Cavs/Jazz?

 

[CitySushi]

Draymond's response to the reaction of his comments about Cleveland's competition:

"I didn't say I was disappointed with their competition," Green said. "First off, people always want to take a piece of a statement and then say, 'Ah man, Draymond said the Cavs aren't playing anybody.' They never say, 'Draymond said Cleveland is playing great basketball.'

"'Draymond is disappointed with who Cleveland plays.' You think I care who Cleveland plays or how the other team plays?" he said. "But I am a basketball fan and I know what I want to watch as a basketball fan. So I don't understand how all these things are always made so controversial. Not that it alters my daily life. I still go home and have fun with my kids and have a great day. But it's just ridiculous how everybody is always searching for a controversy."

"So there goes your headline of the day. 'Draymond says Cleveland is playing great basketball.' Let's see if that one makes it," Green said.


Here's his original quote:

"I thought teams would compete a little harder. I just watched San Antonio-Houston. I like to watch good basketball. When you watch Cleveland play, you're only watching one side of the good basketball. That's kind of weak. I like watching a good game, not even necessarily that it's going to be a close game. I like to watch teams playing good basketball. When you watch them, you watch one team playing good basketball and everybody else do something. I don't know what that something is."

Kind of true though. Raptors to me were very disappointing in the brand of basketball they played. But he did say they didn't compete hard enough, which is NOT true. I just don't think the Raptors were put in the best position to succeed.

 

[trojanfan12]

So what do you think the end score would look like if they were reversed. Warriors/Raps & Cavs/Jazz?

Hard to say. As @tlance points out, it did look like the Cavs would get a big lead, take their foot off the gas and then turn it back up again when the Raps made it close.

Maybe the Warriors beat the Raps by more because I don't think they'd take their foot off the gas like the Cavs seemed to.