NBA Finals: Cleveland Cavs VS Golden State Warriors

[Shanemansj13]

Are the cavs fans getting their panties in a bunch because we're not picking their bunch of mis-fits to win the title?

I would rather be underdogs but it really doesn't matter the Warriors seem to love the pressure of being the favorites anyway.

 

[Hambombs]

Wasn't it Klay and Green?

I know there were more pieces than just Klay straight up. Would have literally altered the course of history.

Our offer was klay, Lee and a first rounder for love. I remember they wanted us to take kevin martins contract too

 

[Flauge]

Give me Warriors in 6. Steph MVP. I think he is going to absolutely torch Kyrie.

 

[Shanemansj13]

If you thought Kanter was bad on Curry, watch what happens when they put Love and Frye in the P&R all day. It's going to be glorious.

I think Love has done better on the pick-and-roll of late and his defense in general, he is more athletic than Kanter but they both not very good. I don't see how you can be worse than Kanter though, he was piss poor.

 

[Flauge]

What I will find interesting is what happens in Cleveland if they lose? What are the options for this team with an aging LeBron? I get the resigning of LeBron.. all that. But what do they change next year especially if they get smoked in 5 games or so.

 

[Heatles84]

Give me Warriors in 6. Steph MVP. I think he is going to absolutely torch Kyrie.

Yup. This series will also settle one of the debates we haven't gone into much - why Love and Irving wouldn't have made a significant difference in the series. Irving and Love are both extremely weak in the pick and roll, something that Golden State excels at. The Dubs have personnel that could at least play respectable defense on Irving and Lebron. With Irving and Love on the floor at the same time, that's 2/5 of your defense if you're the Cavs that are completely liabilities on Golden State's strength.

 

[tlance]

Our offer was klay, Lee and a first rounder for love. I remember they wanted us to take kevin martins contract too

Ok. Lee better than Green!

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Give me Warriors in 6. Steph MVP. I think he is going to absolutely torch Kyrie.

If the Warriors win, Klay will be MVP.

I think the Cavs will put Shump on Curry and Thompson will light them up because of it.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Ehhh. Steph is a solid defender lol

It isn't about defending, it is about him running around wasting energy. I see Curry on Kyrie a lot but we will see. Plus JR is one of those shooters where it really doesn't matter if you defend him well or not (like Klay or Curry), he is either on a hot streak or a cold one. Hoping his hotness continues in the Finals.

 

[Flauge]

Yup. This series will also settle one of the debates we haven't gone into much - why Love and Irving wouldn't have made a significant difference in the series. Irving and Love are both extremely weak in the pick and roll, something that Golden State excels at. The Dubs have personnel that could at least play respectable defense on Irving and Lebron. With Irving and Love on the floor at the same time, that's 2/5 of your defense if you're the Cavs that are completely liabilities on Golden State's strength.

The thing that got me on LeBron's move to Cleveland, wasn't the move itself, but the pairing up with Kyrie and eventually Love. Neither one plays defense particularly well. I get him looking at Wade and thinking he is on the decline and potentially broken as a player. I don't get the solution being two subpar defenders. Most teams that have sustained championship success have players that play both ways. Part of why I think Melo and Harden are overrated as players. Kobe & Shaq/Jordan & Pippen/Wade & LeBron/ the entire 80s C's and Lakers.

 

[RazorsEdge]

Give me Warriors in 6. Steph MVP. I think he is going to absolutely torch Kyrie.

Kyrie wont be on Curry very often.

 

[Flauge]

It isn't about defending, it is about him running around wasting energy. I see Curry on Kyrie a lot but we will see. Plus JR is one of those shooters where it really doesn't matter if you defend him well or not (like Klay or Curry), he is either on a hot streak or a cold one. Hoping his hotness continues in the Finals.

Yeah JR is really crazy that way. It's almost best just to cheat off him if he starts cold.. cause it's not likely to change that night. But if he starts hitting.. he is deadly.

 

[Shanemansj13]

What I will find interesting is what happens in Cleveland if they lose? What are the options for this team with an aging LeBron? I get the resigning of LeBron.. all that. But what do they change next year especially if they get smoked in 5 games or so.

Nothing lol. They compete to win it again. I'm sure the role players might change a bit but the core is there for awhile.

 

[Flauge]

Nothing lol. They compete to win it again. I'm sure the role players might change a bit but the core is there for awhile.

The core isn't bad. Hard to argue it is. But if that core loses back to back finals and LeBron being 32 in December, the decline of him is coming and winning that title will get harder as each year passes. I am not really saying they should blow up the core, but change the offense so it flows more through Kyrie? I don't really know the answer to my question, I just feel losing back to back finals with your weapon of mass destruction in LeBron aging, you got to adjust something. Unless of course losing finals is adequate.

 

[Heatles84]

The thing that got me on LeBron's move to Cleveland, wasn't the move itself, but the pairing up with Kyrie and eventually Love. Neither one plays defense particularly well. I get him looking at Wade and thinking he is on the decline and potentially broken as a player. I don't get the solution being two subpar defenders. Most teams that have sustained championship success have players that play both ways. Part of why I think Melo and Harden are overrated as players. Kobe & Shaq/Jordan & Pippen/Wade & LeBron/ the entire 80s C's and Lakers.

Exactly. We got into debates on how the combo of Wade/Bosh were better than Irving/Love. What settles that debate is, that although the latter may be a tad better offensively. The former (Wade and Bosh) are much better defensively. Something I would've imagined that Lebron would've learned while being down in Miami is that defense makes a world of defense.

 

[tlance]

It isn't about defending, it is about him running around wasting energy. I see Curry on Kyrie a lot but we will see. Plus JR is one of those shooters where it really doesn't matter if you defend him well or not (like Klay or Curry), he is either on a hot streak or a cold one. Hoping his hotness continues in the Finals.

One of the main reasons GS struggled in games 1-4 was because Curry was guarding Westbrook so much. There is literally no reason for Curry to ever be the primary defender in Kyrie. That should be Klay. If Kerr messes this up, he is not nearly as good as I thought he was.

 

[tlance]

Honestly, unless Kerr tries to get too cute with his matchups, I think this is more likely to be a sweep than a 7 game series. I am taking GS in 5 or 6, depending on what happens in game 1.

I think Cleveland is a lot better than they were, but the matchups are really bad for them in this particular series.

 

[CitySushi]

One of the main reasons GS struggled in games 1-4 was because Curry was guarding Westbrook so much. There is literally no reason for Curry to ever be the primary defender in Kyrie. That should be Klay. If Kerr messes this up, he is not nearly as good as I thought he was.

Games 5-7, you saw Klay as the exclusive defender on RW, and this immensely helped the team. I said from the start of the series that Klay was one of the better one on one defenders of Westbrook and not sure why it took Kerr so long to adjust to putting him on RW full time. I thought Kerr tried to get a bit too cute in the first few games by having Draymond guard Roberson to allow him to be a rover.

I think in this series, you'll see Klay get after Kyrie right away. Klay has been the best Warriors player so far in these playoffs. What everyone forgets is he guarded the best guy on each team in each series. First it was Harden, then Lillard, then RW. Add to the fact that he was getting buckets, and he has been amazing.

 

[Heatles84]

Games 5-7, you saw Klay as the exclusive defender on RW, and this immensely helped the team. I said from the start of the series that Klay was one of the better one on one defenders of Westbrook and not sure why it took Kerr so long to adjust to putting him on RW full time. I thought Kerr tried to get a bit too cute in the first few games by having Draymond guard Roberson to allow him to be a rover.

I think in this series, you'll see Klay get after Kyrie right away. Klay has been the best Warriors player so far in these playoffs. What everyone forgets is he guarded the best guy on each team in each series. First it was Harden, then Lillard, then RW. Add to the fact that he was getting buckets, and he has been amazing.

If Klay has his normal output offensively. Then holds Irving to a respectable game where he's not able to blow up and the Dubs win the series. Then I agree with you.

 

[CitySushi]

If Klay has his normal output offensively. Then holds Irving to a respectable game where he's not able to blow up and the Dubs win the series. Then I agree with you.

Yeah I was more pointing out that Klay is exerting a TON of energy on the defensive end, while still being able to carry the team for more than a handful of games. Last year in the finals, Klay was overall really bad on offense. He shot terribly and just didn't play up to par. This year, I've seen him make huge strides in improving his play. His improvement has been great this year as well, and mostly overshadowed because of Curry and Draymond's improvement as well.

If Klay can keep this up, it's going to be a huge plus over last year's Klay.