Series Thread: NBA Finals. Cleveland vs. Golden State...

[cwalke3408]

Well, didn't LBJ form the first superteam in Miami?

Well the hype fell short after losing to Dallas.
Not 1 Not 2 Not 3 Not 4 Not 5 ...

 

[msgkings322]

Here's the thing about the 'Cavs shoulda won game 1 and it would be a series' narrative. Let's say they win game 1 by 1-2 points, after a superhuman LBJ game. The talent differential doesn't change. The Warriors would still be favored by 11 for game 2, and they would have played with intensity and fire the whole game and probably built the 20 point lead in the first half. Heck maybe that wakes them up and they win both games in Cleveland who knows? Winning a squeaker in game 1 doesn't mean the Cavs are good enough to win 4.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Name a player on Miami or Cleveland better than Pau Gasol from 2008-2010 not named Wade or James.

I'll wait

Not many teams at the time were even equipped to handle 7 footers like Odom and Gasol. When Bynum was actually healthy (which wasn't often) he was considered a top 2 center in the league. Sure, you have guys like Vuijacic and Farmar who probably shouldn't be in the rotation but the Lakers bigs were extremely hard to deal with for a time. That's not including the Kobe/Fisher backcourt that won 5 titles or great 3 and D players like Artest and Ariza.

 

[Kold]

Jordan had way more help. In different iterations him, Pippen, Rodman, (<-HOF's) then Cartwright, Longley, Kukoc, Ron Harper, Kerr, and others. The situations aren't comparable.

Those were role players. Rodman averaged like 6 pts a game, so to me Jordan never played on a superteam. He had Pippen(whom wasn't that guy for a while), and role players that played their roles really well

 

[cwalke3408]

Only 2-2 with the Heat. A wasted opportunity.

 

[msgkings322]

Who played with more all-stars/HOFers ? MJ or Lebron. Lebron hasn't done more with less. Hes done less with MORE actually.



Hell, I wish MJ could have gotten end of prime Shaq, Prime Wade, Past Prime Allen, Prime Irving, Prime Love, Prime Bosh and a host of 3 point sharpshooters, WHILE playing in a far inferior Eastern Conference..

By the time Rodman got to Chicago he was past his prime. MJ never had a big man to play with that was very good. And Pips was the only prime HOFer he ever played with.

If MJ could have had such easy routes to the finals, anything could have happened

LeBron never had a big man to play with who was any good either. If you say Kevin Love you will be banned LOL

Also are you really counting Shaq's corpse as help for Lebron? How many minutes did he play for the Cavs? And who are these sharpshooters? You already said Allen and Love, that's it.

 

[DorianRo]

Warriors would still be favored but you have to beat them on their HC to stand a chance of beating them. If Cavs could split and then bust their Rear to win both Home Games in Cleveland, that would have put tremendous pressure on the Warriors and they would probably start to 2nd guess themselves.

 

[DorianRo]

LeBron never had a big man to play with who was any good either. If you say Kevin Love you will be banned LOL

Love/Bosh are far superior BIGS than Carwrright, Grant, Wennington or Longley. ROFLMAO

 

[msgkings322]

Warriors would still be favored but you have to beat them on their HC to stand a chance of beating them. If Cavs could split and then bust their Rear to win both Home Games in Cleveland, that would have put tremendous pressure on the Warriors and they would probably start to 2nd guess themselves.

Again I ask you, is this a character? You don't really believe this nonsense do you?

 

[bksballer89]

Not many teams at the time were even equipped to handle 7 footers like Odom and Gasol. When Bynum was actually healthy (which wasn't often) he was considered a top 2 center in the league. Sure, you have guys like Vuijacic and Farmar who probably shouldn't be in the rotation but the Lakers bigs were extremely hard to deal with for a time. That's not including the Kobe/Fisher backcourt that won 5 titles or great 3 and D players like Artest and Ariza.

Plus it was a different NBA. Boston was the only "superteam" and I believe KG just came off his tore ACL in the previous season before the Lakers beat them in the 2010 finals.

Lakers finished with the 2nd best record in the league and Boston finished 4th in the east that year because they played Miami in round 1.

 

[bksballer89]

Only 2-2 with the Heat. A wasted opportunity.

And he is at fault for that.

Should have been 3-1.

Nothing he could have done about 2014 vs the Spurs. They were just better but 2011 vs Mavs should have been a W

 

[msgkings322]

Love/Bosh are far superior BIGS than Carwrright, Grant, Wennington or Longley. ROFLMAO

Jordan never faced any superteams, ever, especially the Finals. It's the exact reason one guy is 3-6 and the other is 6-0. And 9>6 by the way.

 

[cwalke3408]

Jordan never faced any superteams, ever, especially the Finals. It's the exact reason one guy is 3-6 and the other is 6-0. And 9>6 by the way.

2nd place finishes are great for moral victories

 

[msgkings322]

2nd place finishes are great for moral victories

So are stupid posts.

 

[DorianRo]

Jordan never faced any superteams, ever, especially the Finals. It's the exact reason one guy is 3-6 and the other is 6-0. And 9>6 by the way.

Jordan faced plenty of quality teams all throughout his tenure in the east. Great teams full of talent. Maybe he hasn't played anyone on the level of this Warriors team but doesn't mean he couldn't beat them.

And NewsFlash, I would HARDLY Call the Warriors "unbeatable" this year. ROFLMAO. MJ Bulls would pounce on this team like their mama stole something from him.

Last years Warriors team, Maybe a bit of a struggle. Regardless Ive seen better teams in the past than these Warriors.

And you act like its only been the Warriors that Lebron has lost to in the finals. Jeesh

 

[Golden Spur]

Those were role players. Rodman averaged like 6 pts a game, so to me Jordan never played on a superteam. He had Pippen(whom wasn't that guy for a while), and role players that played their roles really well

They were good role players, that were fit to Jackson's scheme. And lol @ pointing at Rodman's offensive stats. The guy was a force on D and rebounding. The game was also different then -> it was important to have an effective big man, when you might have to get through Patrick Ewing and O'Neal in the playoffs.

 

[DorianRo]

Also, even if you are a "superteam" on paper you still have to PLAY like a SuperTeam. What I have seen from the Warriors this year, I wouldn't say their "super teaming it" like they did last year. I could probably count 10 teams within the last 20-30 years that would beat this year's Warriors team in a Best of 7. Maybe even more than 10 teams if we got down to the nook and crannies of it.

The Warriors have NOT been that good this year

 

[msgkings322]

Also, even if you are a "superteam" on paper you still have to PLAY like a SuperTeam. What I have seen from the Warriors this year, I wouldn't say their "super teaming it" like they did last year. I could probably count 10 teams within the last 20-30 years that would beat this year's Warriors team in a Best of 7. Maybe even more than 10 teams if we got down to the nook and crannies of it

This is closer to reality than normal for you, but I sense some complacency from the Dubs this year. Also, and this is serious, Iguodala matters. He's kinda like Harper on the 90s Bulls

 

[Kold]

Name a player on Miami or Cleveland better than Pau Gasol from 2008-2010 not named Wade or James.

I'll wait

Ehh, Pau was better...but I think the talent that Kobe won with as a whole gets vastly overrated. Bynum was never healthy for the Finals run, and after that it was role players. I would say that Odom was much more than a role player, but not close to a star. After that, you had your farmar's, Vujacic's, Ariza's(well he was hobbled in 08)...not bums in the slightest, but guys that were contributors. Just on a sidenote, speaking of 08, it tends to gets overlooked that Kobe doesn't get the he faced too much excuse that Bron has gotten

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

The 2011 Mavericks are probably the only blackmark on his finals resume.
It is likely offset by beating the 73-9 team.

But, in some ways the 2011 Mavericks are criminally under-rated.
Remember that Nowitzki got hurt for a month in the middle of the season when they had the #1 overall record.

They were the best team all season long in the games that Dirk played.
The team went something like 2-12 in the games he was hurt.

And lest we forget, Kobe got swept in 4 games to the same Maverick team.