The 2017 NBA Finals Thread: Golden State vs Cleveland

[Power Man]

I cant believe how non-existent Cleveland's D was in game 1

I'm not taking anything away from GSW and KD, they were ready and they were great, but holy ****, I lost count on how many easy trips to the basket Durant got in this game

Cleveland is gonna have to find a solution; last year all they had to do is keep the ball off Curry's hands, which worked since Klay vanished.
But now with Durant in the lineup, they have to pick their poison.
They will have to play physical and risk a flagrant and try to send a message

It doesn't help that some of LeBron's teammates played like ****
Also as I predicted wen they acquqired him, having Korver on the floor is like playing 4 vs 5, he doesn't offer anything beyond his outside shooting; GSW are too athletic and versatile

 

[La Masse]

I cant believe how non-existent Cleveland's D was in game 1

I'm not taking anything away from GSW and KD, they were ready and they were great, but holy ****, I lost count on how many easy trips to the basket Durant got in this game

Cleveland is gonna have to find a solution; last year all they had to do is keep the ball off Curry's hands, which worked since Klay vanished.
But now with Durant in the lineup, they have to pick their poison.
They will have to play physical and risk a flagrant and try to send a message

It doesn't help that some of LeBron's teammates played like ****
Also as I predicted wen they acquqired him, having Korver on the floor is like playing 4 vs 5, he doesn't offer anything beyond his outside shooting; GSW are too athletic and versatile

Cleveland basically needs everyone to have crazy shooting percentages to have a shot.They obviously need to limit the turnovers and the second chances for GSW as well.Love is probably the softest PFW in the league.Does this guy ever back down another player in the post? Irving and James played well but even that isnt enough for them to have a chance in this series. They need another player to be an unsung hero every need like a JR Smith or Kyle Korver. Does anyone know why Channing Frye isnt playing? The guy always seems to get at least one or two important 3's a game

 

[Stylizer1]

CLE actually has a higher payroll, something like 20 million more.

Also, loved seeing KD put LBJ on skates. Best part about G1

Golden state has the 8th highest payroll with KD.

I want to think that the Cavs were sitting back but I hope they get swept.

 

[JS19]

When GSW can beat you by 22 and still have Draymond and Klay going what like 6/25? That's just embarrassing. Never mind that Shumpert and J.R. Smith were a joke on defense, Lebron wasn't good. Cavaliers overall just looked rusty and outmatched.

Ty Lue is exposing himself when he said he had some kind of grand plan to fix Cleveland's defense. There's no way to fix this since you're forced to guess whether GSW wants the transition 3 or easy 2s, and constantly wondering which guys to guard and which ones to leave open.

 

[Virtanen18]

Turnovers aside, LeBron was definitely good.

 

[K Fleur]

Turnovers aside, LeBron was definitely good.

Kinda hard to put 8 turnovers aside.

 

[EpochLink]

Kevin Durant makes up for Harrison Barnes no show in last years Finals.
Last year the Cavs kept Steph in check while Klay went AWOL, now Durant has the hot hand and either Steph or Klay can play support role with him.

Klay wasn't that great scoring wise last night but played great defense, it may reverse for game 2 when he may have the hot hand.

 

[Virtanen18]

Kinda hard to put 8 turnovers aside.

Not when you look at the rest of the line.

 

[Stylizer1]

Turnovers aside, LeBron was definitely good.

Good at not guarding KD.

 

[Stylizer1]

Kevin Durant makes up for Harrison Barnes no show in last years Finals.
Last year the Cavs kept Steph in check while Klay went AWOL, now Durant has the hot hand and either Steph or Klay can play support role with him.

Klay wasn't that great scoring wise last night but played great defense, it may reverse for game 2 when he may have the hot hand.

Remember Curry was also hurt in the finals.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Remember Curry was also hurt in the finals.

Funny how we didn't hear about that until after they lost. He had a minor sprain 2 months prior to game 7.

 

[K Fleur]

Not when you look at the rest of the line.

Just looking at the line is a lazy way of evaluating a player's performance.

8 turnovers combined with his awful performance defensively makes it impossible(for me) to say LeBron was "definitely good".

 

[SB164]

How do you stop KD driving to the basket with the option of passing it to Steph Curry waiting at the three point line?

 

[Virtanen18]

Just looking at the line is a lazy way of evaluating a player's performance.

8 turnovers combined with his awful performance defensively makes it impossible(for me) to say LeBron was "definitely good".

I did watch the game. And I can't say he "wasn't good". Some of those turnovers came off passes he's been completing in the first 3 rounds. The Warriors just have elite defense.

 

[weastern bias]

The problem isn't Lebron playing poorly (if Westbrook had that same statline noone bats an eye, Lebron James is held to a ridiculously high standard), it's that he it the only guy on his team who is actually good at creating offence for his team mates

Kyrie is elite at creating offense for himself, but not at making plays for others, after James the best creator on the team is Derron Williams, and after him there is literally no one

The team is full of shooters, but fundamentally lacking in shot creators; JR, Love, Korver, Frye & Shumpert can all hit 3s, but they need someone to create the space for them and get them the ball wide open

The problem is that Golden State is very good and very smart defensively and they know Lebron is gonna make the play so they just shut him down which shuts the whole team down outside of Kyrie

Irving and Love did their thing out there (Love had 21 rebounds in game 1), but three guys won't get it done against this GSW squad, they need other guys to create some offense so Lebron isn't forced to do everything

 

[Virtanen18]

Very well put. They should've done the trifecta and signed Jason Williams too.

 

[bluesfan94]

Funny how we didn't hear about that until after they lost. He had a minor sprain 2 months prior to game 7.

I take it you don't follow hockey much.

 

[Stylizer1]

Funny how we didn't hear about that until after they lost. He had a minor sprain 2 months prior to game 7.

Concussion?



2 injuries in the same game before the finals .

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Concussion?



2 injuries in the same game before the finals .

Pretty impressive that GS was up 2-1 and 3-0 in the same game. Probably never done before.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Pretty impressive that GS was up 2-1 and 3-0 in the same game. Probably never done before.

They did a lot of things that season never done before

 

[Stylizer1]

Pretty impressive that GS was up 2-1 and 3-0 in the same game. Probably never done before.

I'm just trying to show his injuries not how impressive the team was.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Yeah that head injury was obviously from 2015. But his knee/ankle injury from last year was legit, he couldn't beat anyone off the dribble.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I think I'm starting to like when the Anthem is played more than it's sung. I mean last night Martina McBride did the Anthem in Nashville and it sounded depressingly awful. I love what McBride has brought to Country Music but last night was not one of her better efforts, even though she has been in the business for 25 years. Tonight, they bring out Carlos Santana and all he's doing is giving a nice shredding on the Guitar in a respectful way. Nice rendition.

 

[Troy McClure]

To do the anthem, we will have Carlos Santana on guitar. Beside him, a bass player will play an entirely different song.

 

[Virtanen18]

Cleveland in the good luck blacks.