I wouldn't read anything into the two previous games, especially the first. Kyrie was just getting back and if he wasn't out Schumpert was just getting back as well. Plus Lebron wasn't officially coaching I don't believe. Blatt was pretending to coach. Also, I don't believe they had Channing Frye but I could be wrong.
We'll see. Just seems like the Warriors are ALWAYS doubted, despite all their winning. And beyond the team, Curry is more doubted than any other superstar in recent memory. I think as a team, they feel they have a point to prove to the Cavs. They didn't have anything personal against the Thunder, but I think they take beating Cleveland very personally. And furthermore, Steph wants to prove a point to Lebron. Personally.... I think Curry's gonna torch Irving.
Lebron is more well rounded than Steph. Lebron averaged more assists that Steph during the season as well. Who's the better passer is debatable but Lebron is clearly the better rebounder, shot blocker, post player, better attacking the basket, better post and perimeter defender (when he wants). Just a better all around player. Steph is the best shooter, ever in phonetap's opinion. Watch during the series, phonetap guarantees you Lebron will make attempts to guard Curry, but Curry will go nowhere near Lebron unless he gets caught up in a switch. Watch Lebron's eyes light up in that case, .
One thing for sure, this is gonna be one of the most watched finals in history. Been YEARS YEARS since there's been so much buzz about a finals. Curry was a star last year, but this year he's become the most popular athlete in the country. And Lebron is still a megastar. And Klay has performed MUCCCHHH better this year's playoffs than last year. And Love and Kyrie are healthy. Yeah.... everybody's gonna be tuned in.
Curry IS the best shooter of all time, but when will people realize.... he's not JUST a shooter! Dude gets to the basket at will, by virtue of having some of the best handles ever. And when he gets to the basket, he finishes extremely well and at a high rate. He's a damn good playmaker, and has excellent court vision. His basketball IQ is off the charts, and he's an above average defender, which people don't give him credit for. He's also got that mean streak and that cockiness in him that many of the great ones had. There's really no WEAKNESS in current Curry's game. Dude's ONLY weakness is his knee/ankle.
Last year's excuse: Kyrie and Love were injured so Lebron had no help (valid excuse, actually). This year's excuse will be: Ehhh, Lebron's past his prime. Plus, Love and Kyrie aren't proven winners.
No need for excuses this time, Cavs will win. I'm rooting for GSW make no mistake, but I think the Cavs will have it. Now if the splash brothers are on top form and are swishing 3s left right and centre then of course GSW win but for me....they have to be hitting their 3s consistently to stop Lebron and Co. They cannot match them in the paint IMO
not disagreeing with anything you said, however the fact still remains Lebron is the more skilled and better overall player. Steph is considered the best player right now, so be it but the FACT remains skill for skill, ability for ability, Lebron James is the better player. Sorry.
boxing wise the only situation/comparison phonetap can relate this Steph/Lebron debate to is the one between Floyd/Pac. The time Pac was knocking people out spectacularly was when the consensus was Pac was P4P but phonetap never at any time thought Pac was a better or more skilled fighter than Floyd. Curry's electrifying shooting and ballhandling can't be ignored but sorry, he isn't better than LeBron.
The only arguments for MVP last year was between Steph and Harden. Last season Harden was actually voted league MVP by his peers in the NBA over Curry who won the official award. It's not that LBJ has fallen off so much as it is that at this stage of his career he doesn't need to kill himself during the regular season for MVP stats. Bron's getting up there in age so he needs to leave a bit more on the table so he can perform at a high level in the playoffs. As for the Curry vs Irving discussion, don't be surprised if Delevadova plays more then Irving seeing as how Irving is such a horrendous defender. No way Curry loses that battle.
Good analogy. Put it this way, if I was on a team with four of my buddies and we were playing against a group of friends with similar skill and each team was given the choice to replace one of their players with either Lebron or Curry......if I was given first choice I'd choose Lebron without hesitating. Curry is a bad bad boy, no doubt. Never seen anyone in the history of basketball shoot the way he does, never, but Lebron is more valuable to a team in my honest opinion. He's a rock/foundation and the rest of the team revolves around him. Curry is great, truly great but his skill set means he's more in need of good supporting players than Lebron ( like a good striker in soccer)
This NBA finals is going to come down to how well Kevin Love plays. If Love is content to play soft, stand around the 3pt line and not be aggressive the Cavs have almost no chance. LeBron will dominate, Kyrie will do his usual damage but Love is the key.
Fuck Harden, seriously, fuck that guy! Fuck his beard, and fuck his perfectly round and tiny eyes. That he was ever in the running for MVP should have made Adam Silver come up with about a dozen different Anti-Harden amendments in the next round of collective bargaining between the owners and the players. :flip:
Yeah, Delly actually had some success at times slowing Curry down defensively which is a hell of a lot more then you can expect Irving to do. It's kind of how OKC had to chose between the defense of Roberson or the offense of Waiters and their is nobody on the Dubs they can hide Irving on.
basketball is not like football where a dominating defense can and will win you a championship. Steph will get his 30+ regardless who is defending him because the NBA's rules are designed for offensive play. Delly's one or two defensive stops (so to speak) will not replace Kyrie's 25 ppg. All you will do is make Steph's job defensively easy because Delly isn't going to score at a pace that will force GS to have to respect him.
No, basketball isn't like football but you can pick and choose where you can be lighter on offense then you are on defense. For instance, teams like OKC and the Grizzlies starting guys like Roberson and Tony Allen who are defenders only know they can get their offense from Durant/Westbrook and Randolph/Gasol. Same thing with the Cavs who can get their offense elsewhere. It's not like Irving was totally killing it in the last series was he? I know Curry is probably going to get his 30 regardless, but at least Delly will make it a hard 30 as opposed to Irving making it an easy 45. If you can slow Steph down a little I think that's more important then trying to outscore them, because those dagger threes he hits tends to give his team huge confidence while at the same time demoralizing the opposition.
Make No Mistake, OKC LOST That Series More than Golden State WON It... OKC is More TALENTED, More ATHLETIC, BIGGER and they OUTPLAYED Golden State for the Majority of the Series...But OKC's Also DUMBER, Which Repeatedly Manifested Itself in Piss Poor Execution During Important Stretches of Games... REED's Hoping Durant Stays...Upsetting the Spurs and Being Up 3-1 on Golden State Should Be MORE than Enough to Convince Durant to Stay...If Durant DOES Leave, he'd Better Not Go to Golden State Or That'd Be THE Biggest NBA Bitch Move Ever...JOINING the Team You Choked Away a 3-1 Lead Against???... As for the Finals, REED Likes Cleveland in 7... REED Suggests People Rewatch Game 1 of Last Year's Finals, Where Kyrie Irving Played on Even Terms (@ Absolute WORST) w/Steph...Kyrie Had a Couple Clean Steals AND 2 Nice Blocked Shots, All on Steph...REED Thinks we were DEFINITELY Robbed of a Potentially GREAT Matchup of Smaller Guards... REED:hammert:<strike></strike>
Here's the Head to Head Stats from Game 1 of Last Year's Finals: Steph - 26pts, 4reb, 8ast, 2stl, 0blk, 4TO's, 10-20fg, 2-6 3's, 4-4ft Kyrie - 23pts, 7reb, 6ast, 4stl, 2blk 1 TO, 10-22fg, 2-8 3's, 1-1ft REED:hammert:
Brother REED, the Cavs chances hinge on Kevin Love. Dude has to show up and produce, Bron and Kyrie will do their thing...
That's interesting info. I did not know Irving did that well matched up against Curry. I'm picking GS in this one. I haven't been watching the eastern playoffs but I just think GS is the more poised team not to mention they've had the tougher competition and just deal with adversity better. It also doesn't hurt that they're arguably the best team in history. I do know LBJ really needs to not lose another playoff series or his legacy will suffer.
Epic choke job from OKC. 3-1 up and drop their pants for GS. It's a shame as I wanted to see them in the finals. GS (mainly Curry) has the most annoying fans online I've seen for a long time. Glad they got one last year but was hoping the Curry jockers would have to take a step back. Durant will leave IMO. Not sure where but at a pinch I'll say NY.
Kyries current rate of 1 point per shot while not defending won't be the difference in the series. The series will hinge upon Kevin Love's consistency
i think cleveland can still win even if love isnt producing big numbers. sure if he is taking 15-20 shots and only making 5 then it can be a problem. but if he's not bringing it offensively they can take his ass out and/or not give him as many shots and STILL win
id say JR Smith is more crucial to the success of cleveland than love. he has been playing defense more consistently this year and will need to continue that to make life harder for thompson. if he is being lazy getting around screens then thompson may go off as he did in game six vs OKC. then there is smiths streaky shooting. he can go off himself in 2 of these games possibly.
This just shows what I knew all along. I've been saying for awhile now that people shouldn't be giving Westbrook so much credit for how hard he plays since he only does it on one end of the court. If playing at a superhuman level on offense leaves him too spent to play defense, then maybe he needs to play offense at a more human level because he's killing his team. I even watched him single handedly cost us this Minnesota game by breaking his defensive assignment. I love Westbrook but he needs to shore that defense up. It's almost Harden bad.
His eyes should light up. He's more than 6 inches taller and 70 pounds heavier than Steph. I would have liked to see Lebron try to take on a prime Shaq. Bron would never go to the rim.
Detroit Pistons won back to back titles in the 90's. Plus...it's not as though the Bulls were terrible defensively. Jordan, Pippen and Horace Grant were NBA all-defensive players as were the trio of Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. Don't forget Ron Harper as a perimeter defender.
