REED's Watched 5-10 ENTIRE Games of Simmons, This Season...The ONLY Knock on Him is his Lack of Overall ASSERTIVENESS Offensively (Which is Funny, Considering Dude AVERAGES 19pts a Game) & the Fact Dude WILL NOT Shoot from the Perimeter... In 5-10 Games, REED has Yet to See Simmons Take Even 1 Shot Outside of the Paint/Free Throw Area... His BODY/BUILD is Very Much That of an Enforcer, Yet He DRIBBLES and PASSES like a Point Guard...These Facets Make Simmons Bron-Like and he ATTACKS the Basket Off the Dribble, w/Similar Tenacity...Doesn't Finish ABOVE the Rim To the Degree a 20 Year Old Bron Did, but he Still Converts Most of the Time... REED Hates to Use the Words "Can't Miss" w/a Player that's YET to Set Foot on an NBA Court, but Ben Simmons is as CLOSE to that as We've Seen, Since a Young LeBron James... REED:hammert:
That's Just It, Brother X... REED Thinks Bron is STILL Capable of Playing to his 2015 NBA Finals Level, When He HAS To...That was Only 6-7 MONTHS Ago, Bruh...Bron Can No Loooooooooooooonger Bring It EVERY Night for 82 Games, but in a 7 Game Series, for a Championship, he's STILL Capable of Turning Back the Hands of Time... REED Would Agree Steph Curry is Better Night to Night, for 82 Games, but In a 1 Game/1 Series Scenario, Give REED LeBron James...Steph Got the Ring, but Bron's Finals Performance SHITTED on Steph's, this Past Summer...And Steph Guards NOBODY...EVER...Whereas, For All of the Hype he's Gotten, Bron's a 2-Way Player... Until Somebody Out-Performs Bron Individually, Head to Head, in a PLAYOFF Series, REED's Reluctant to Give His "Title" Away...That Time IS Coming, but REED Doesn't Think we're THERE Just Yet...Maybe Another Year or 2... REED:hammert:
That's All Fine and Dandy, Brother Ugo, but Pops' TIMING is What REED Takes Issue w/...If Your Team has a Back to Back, Rest Your Guys for the Game vs. the Lottery Bound Squad, NOT the Team w/Championship Aspirations, In a Game Being Nationally Televised... In This Instance, the Spurs DON'T Play Again Until Monday, So There's NO Excuse for Pop "Resting" Guys...& If he Does, it's a Simple Case of Pop Being an Asshole... REED:hammert:
During the regular season last year, he was showing more consistency than this year. He gave A LOT of himself in the finals. One of the best finals performances in a losing effort. You can't just duplicate series like that every year when you're Lebron's age. Lebron has soooooooooo much mileage on him at this point, from making finals run after finals run year in and out. This year, he just looks like a declined player. Curry is consistently amazing on a nightly basis, and actually seems MORE determined to win back-to-back rings than he was to win his first. The fact that the Dubs just walked onto the Cavs' home term, and Curry made it a point to EMBARRASS Lebron on national TV, and Lebron didn't even seem to care, speaks volumes. Curry WANTS to be an all time great and is playing with that fire. Lebron doesn't care as much. He's already an all time great. He's never gonna pass Jordan in greatness at this point, and he's likely content with that.
I hear you but my point was, I think Pop doesn't want to "rest" his team but keep his big guns hidden against their probable Finals opponent. I am not sure how common that is or if it even makes sense but I know European basketball coaches have used such strategy
What does everybody reckon Kawhi's ceiling is? This year, he's gonna finish runner up in MVP (Curry has it won already). He's one of the better perimeter defenders we've seen since Pippen, and he's a GOOD offensive player. He'll never be an awesome scorer like Kobe, Lebron, or Wade, but what's his ceiling look like?
Yeah, Pops would just as soon forfeit every game against the Warriors, rather then show his hand before the Playoffs. Wouldn't surprise me if Warriors swept the Spurs in the regular season, and then the Spurs put the hurt on them in the playoffs. Spurs are more fragile to. One of their old guys goes down and they might be done. Pops will do whatever he can to keep them fresh.
I can envision an upset - OKC beating the Spurs in the semi-finals, preventing a Spurs-Warriors conference finals. I could see it happening.
He's a better 3-pt shooter than Pippen, and a bit better one-on-one. But Pippen was a MUCH better playmaker, and a better ball handler.
No one believes Lebron had nothing to do with it. The way Lebron was disrespectful to Blatt during last year's playoffs and finals...how he blatantly ignored plays and Blatt himself this season, the writing was on the wall. I hope none of this works out for Cleveland simply because Lebron's basically making the Cav's a team of his boys with the exception of K Love. I said from day one the trade for Love was dumb. he would have been better served with playing alongside Wiggins whose basically Shumpert and JR Smith without the headache Smith is. As long as Love can't guard anyone he's going to be a liability against any western conference team. The East is basically a JV league. Lebron has no plans to ever leaving the east. He's pretty much guaranteed a spot in the finals every year. If Cleveland doesn't win a title in the next two years will be interesting to see what happens. You know Gilbert isn't happy with paying the luxury tax and Love nor Thompson have shown they're worth the money they've gotten. My guess is, if they don't win this year or next year Gilbert blows up the team. The signing of Thompson and Love cost Gilbert an additional $65 million on top of the $110 million in salary he's paying out. If they don't win this year will be VERY interesting seeing that Lebron will certainly opt of of the last year of his contract due to the CBA agreement expiring. I don't blame Lebron for basically signing 1 year deals to max his money. There's no reason he shouldn't be the highest paid player in the league and is worth far more than whatever max money he'll get. Will be interesting to see how long Gilbert is willing to pay all those guys and not see a championship in return.
Improved player alert: Kemba Walker this year has been one of the best PG's in the East and IMO deserves a spot on the All Star team. I doubt he'll make it though.
That was ONE Game, Brother X...Everything that COULD Go Wrong for Cleveland DID Go Wrong that Night... Piss POOR Start, Fell Behind Early, Foolishly Decided to Try to Get Back Into the Game via 3pt Shooting (Which ISN'T Cleveland's Forte) & Next Thing You Know, the Cavs are Getting their Asses Whipped... The Cavs Are Still LEARNING to Integrate Bron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love Together...Remember, Irving and Love Played a Total of ONE NBA Finals Game...Nonetheless, the Cavs Had a LEAD in the Series and Extended it to 6 Games... Feel Free to Write Off LeBron James if You Wish...But REED Certainly WON'T... REEDhno:
In the NBA, it's Always Better to PLAY Your Guys Against Potential Playoff Opponents...In Terms of "Hiding" Information or Strategy, a Coach has the Option of Playing a Very VANILLA Offense/Defense, then Switching it Up in the Playoffs... But in Terms of SEEING How your Players Skill/Talent Matches Up w/Another Teams, Sans Strategy, it's Always Better to Just PLAY the Game... REED:hammert:
His Ceiling Is Being Regarded as THE Best 2-Way Player in the Game, as the Decline of LeBron James Continues...& his Closest Competition for that Designation will Be Jimmy Butler... REED:hammert:
Dan Gilbert Wants to Be LIKED in Cleveland...He Won't Rock the LeBron Boat... agREED Cleveland Has a SHORT Window to Get a Ring...They've Got a LOT of Work to Do, from Now til the Finals, but REED Wouldn't Count Cleveland Out... REED:hammert:
The only scenario I can see Cleveland winning the finals against OKC, the Spurs or Golden State is if either of them were so worn out from playing each other they had nothing left. Cleveland basically has bye's the first two rounds of the playoffs...just like last year just like Lebron's Miami years. What's interesting is how Lebron's hell bent on re-creating the Heat in Cleveland except he forgot that Kyrie nor Love had won a playoff game and neither were winners without him. Love isn't unselfish enough to willingly sacrifice his game like Bosh did, Kyrie isn't proven and battle tested like Wade was/is. If this doesn't work (meaning they win it all) would be curious to get Lebron's take years down the road. Makes me immediately think of Kobe's take and how he said it wasn't until he played with Dwight Howard that he realized how good he had it with Shaq.
The KEY to It All is Kyrie Irving... He was Dueling on EVEN Terms w/Steph Curry, Until Getting Hurt Late in Game 1 of the Finals...If Health FINDS Irving (Finally), the Sky is the Limit for the Cavs...Irving's Also the Key for LESSENING the Impact of Bron's Inevitable Decline...As that's Happening, the HOPE is Kyrie Assumes More of an ON COURT Leadership Role... Love Seems CONTENT w/Jacking Up 3's on Offense, Which REED Doesn't Like...Mozgov Seems to have REGRESSED, so the Cavs Can AFFORD to Post Up Love More....Otherwise, the Cavs Have NO Post Game Offense to Speak Of... Ultimately, it Comes Down to Motivation and Bron has a Cause BIGGER than Himself; Winning a Championship for His CITY...Even if it Leads to Arthritic Knees in the 2nd Half of his Life, Bron Would GLADLY Make the Sacrifice to Get it Done for Cleveland...That's Why REED Wouldn't Rule Against It... REED:hammert:
Muzse, it's more than just Kyrie not being battle tested. There's a sizable gap in ability between Wade and Kyrie that the media never wanted to mention. Wade is the 3rd best/greatest shooting guard of all time. A truly great player. Kyrie isn't a great player, and never will be. He's a very good scorer, but most other facets of his game are lacking, like defense and playmaking. Forget Wade, Irving is a lesser player than Damian Lillard. When they're both healthy, it's close between them, but Lillard is far LESS injury prone, thus has the edge. The whole expectation about Kyrie being a similar sidekick to Lebron was an insult to Wade from the start. Wade in his prime was SEVERAL levels better than Irving.
Curry has traditionally RAPED Kyrie throughout their careers. Kyrie is capable of scoring on ANYBODY, but the guy simply has no defense. He can't guard Steph to save his mother's life. If the Cavs had CP3 in place of Kyrie, they'd be capable of winning a ring.
REED Suggests You Re-Watch Game 1 of Last Years Finals... Kyrie Irving was VERY MUCH Playing w/, and Arguably OUTPLAYING Steph Curry...Defensively, Kyrie had 3 Blocks, ALL Of Which Came @ Curry's Expense....He WAS Guarding Curry, EFFECTIVELY, REED Might Add... Steph's the BETTER Player, Undoubtedly, but @ FULL Strength, Kyrie is MORE than Capable of Keeping Steph HONEST... REED:hammert:
I agree that Kyrie is the key to all of this. I think he has to play more like westbrook has this season. I'm curious as to what the dynamics between he and lebron are. I'm sure he wasn't happy that Lebron came back shortly after he signed his max deal. It wasn't that long ago that Kyrie wasn't happy in Cleveland. hell even last year during the playoffs there was friction between Kyrie's team and the Cavs due his knee issues. The Cav's wanted him to play through his injuries even in the Finals and we saw how that worked out. Kyrie is an interesting story...I can't forget how he wrecked the team chemistry when at Dook. After he got hurt and missed a ton of games he comes back during the tournament and wanted to be "the man." Completely ruined Dook's flow and they exited the tourney. Also, I vividly recall Lebron and management team actively recruiting him to sign with them and Kyrie basically told them to get the fuck away from him. To then see Lebron and company roll in and run the franchise must be disheartening when he thought he'd be "the man" for the franchise. Interesting dynamics. X is correct about the Kyrie-Wade comparison. My only point is that I think Lebron thought he'd get the Miami band back together. Why else would he drag along Mike Miller, James Jones and aggressively recruit Ray Allen to join him in Cleveland? The Tyronn Lue coaching thing may or may not work. As soon as lebron said, "me and Lue have been close since I was 17. Now that relationship has changed." As far as I'm concerned that's confirmation lebron passively aggressively nudged Blatt out the door. In some ways Lebron has done a Chip Kelly with the Cav's. We'll see if it ultimately work. Lastly, Akron is Lebron's city. Not Cleveland.
Westbrook is more talented than Kyrie and is on a higher level the last two years than Irving will EVER reach. WB would be the best PG in the league if Curry wasn't in God mode.
agREED... Russell Westbrook is THE Most Athletic PG Ever and Few, if Any, In History Played as HARD or Played THROUGH Injuries, as Westbrook Has... There's NO Sense of ENTITLEMENT or HALF ASSING to Westbrook's Approach, Something that CAN'T Always Be Said about Kyrie Irving... REED:hammert:
