Around the League

[joedumars1]

As much as I hate the Cavs, Im rooting for Lebron to win this title and shut all the haters up once and for all

He has been unbelievable this series. If he somehow keeps this up it will go down as one of, if not the best Finals performance in NBA history.

"LeBron James has scored, assisted, or created 200 of the Cavaliers' 291 points through the first 3 games of the #NBAFinals. Beyond unreal. 12:21 AM - 10 Jun 2015"

"LeBron's 123 points this series are the most points scored through the first 3 games of an #NBAFinals (41.0 PPG)
11:53 PM - 9 Jun 2015"

"Cavs have been up 6 or more with 3 minutes left in the 4th of every game in the #NBAFinals 12:09 AM - 10 Jun 2015"

Lebron is averaging 41 points, 9.7 assists, and 12 rebounds a game

Meanwhile the refs clearly rigged game 1 (Mozgov travel would have iced that game) and especially game 2 against the Cavs and they still pulled out the victory in game 2. Really this series is a Mozgov travel away from being 3-0.

No chance in hell Love leaves now. If EITHER Love or Irving were playing this series would be a lock for Cleveland. No way Gilbert doesnt pay the biggest tax bill in NBA history to keep this team together until the cap goes up after next season. Love - Thompson - Varejao - Mozgov is the big man line up to beat next year.

Imo it's actually not crazy to think they would make them worse. TT they have needed for rebounding and Defense, Delly they have needed for D, hustle and energy, Kyrie for sure can't play the D, he can. Kyrie and Love would also take the ball out of Lebrons hands more than is happening atm

[tmorgan]

Imo it's actually not crazy to think they would make them worse. TT they have needed for rebounding and Defense, Delly they have needed for D, hustle and energy, Kyrie for sure can't play the D, he can. Kyrie and Love would also take the ball out of Lebrons hands more than is happening atm

For the playoffs, quite possibly, but for the regular season, they need Love and Kyrie.

If LeBron played every game like this he'd be in a casket by mid-season. This is something a great athlete can do for a couple of weeks, not for six months.

[sc8581]

They need to play former all star David Lee more. He's a great option with the second unit.

Otherwise, Curry's teammates have to step up in getting those shots up. You can't win with just relying solely on one player, Curry ain't Jordan.

You say that as though Jordan carried a team by himself, nothing even close to that ever happened but LeBron is looking like he might be able to pull it off.

To be fair, Lebron needed Delly game 2&3, Tristan game 3, not sure about game 2. He is playing some insane ball tho.

To actually be fair, nobody has ever gotten such little help like LeBron has so far in this series and it's not even close. The scary thing is that he's putting up these numbers in low scoring games, he could be averaging 50-13-13 if he had just one more legitimate capable scorer on the squad, even a guy like Boobie Gibson.

[Pharaoh]

Bulls v Utah...the Finals with the flu game...

What did Jordan's supporting cast average that series?

I'm aging but recall Pippen being pretty useless that series

[sc8581]

Bulls v Utah...the Finals with the flu game...

What did Jordan's supporting cast average that series?

I'm aging but recall Pippen being pretty useless that series

Pippen averaged 20ppg 8.3rpg 3.5apg 1.7spg 1.8bpg in that series with a higher ts% than MJ.

[princeofpalace]

Green has been hot garbage most of the playoffs. He's the epitome of a role player who only looks passable when defense pays no attention to him since he has zero post game and no reliable jumper. Tristan Thompson has looked 10 times better than Green

In any case, GSW is struggling big time- the jumpers arent falling and they have no post scorer or guy with the ability to consistently score at the hoop to get them easy buckets. I thought Cavs would take it in 6, but its looking like 5 TBH.

[Pharaoh]

Bulls v Utah...the Finals with the flu game...

What did Jordan's supporting cast average that series?

I'm aging but recall Pippen being pretty useless that series

Pippen averaged 20ppg 8.3rpg 3.5apg 1.7spg 1.8bpg in that series with a higher ts% than MJ.

Must be the other Utah finals then

I recall an important game where Pip essentially did nothing due to his bad back

[The Penguin]

Green has been hot garbage most of the playoffs. He's the epitome of a role player who only looks passable when defense pays no attention to him since he has zero post game and no reliable jumper. Tristan Thompson has looked 10 times better than Green

In any case, GSW is struggling big time- the jumpers arent falling and they have no post scorer or guy with the ability to consistently score at the hoop to get them easy buckets. I thought Cavs would take it in 6, but its looking like 5 TBH.

The same people who've been wanting Draymond all season laughed at me when I said I wanted Thompson. Draymond is overly emotional and has lost confidence in his shot, a couple of times he drove right into Mozgov when a jumper was wide open, meanwhile Thompson just keeps coming every single play. If he brought that same effort every night and we put him next to Drummond, we'd be the best rebounding team in the league. Unless we could get someone like LMA or Millsap, I really wouldn't mind forcing the Cavs to match a max on him at all and I wonder what Stan is thinking given JVG has done soo many Cavs games and raves about Thompson every time. Spacing is important, but when you've got guys who take it to the rim fearlessly and you can frustrate a defense by getting second chances it wears on the psyche of a team.

[princeofpalace]

Green has been hot garbage most of the playoffs. He's the epitome of a role player who only looks passable when defense pays no attention to him since he has zero post game and no reliable jumper. Tristan Thompson has looked 10 times better than Green

In any case, GSW is struggling big time- the jumpers arent falling and they have no post scorer or guy with the ability to consistently score at the hoop to get them easy buckets. I thought Cavs would take it in 6, but its looking like 5 TBH.

The same people who've been wanting Draymond all season laughed at me when I said I wanted Thompson. Draymond is overly emotional and has lost confidence in his shot, a couple of times he drove right into Mozgov when a jumper was wide open, meanwhile Thompson just keeps coming every single play. If he brought that same effort every night and we put him next to Drummond, we'd be the best rebounding team in the league. Unless we could get someone like LMA or Millsap, I really wouldn't mind forcing the Cavs to match a max on him at all and I wonder what Stan is thinking given JVG has done soo many Cavs games and raves about Thompson every time. Spacing is important, but when you've got guys who take it to the rim fearlessly and you can frustrate a defense by getting second chances it wears on the psyche of a team.

There are certain players on good teams that get highly overrated every year. Last year it was Lance Stephenson, this year its Draymond Green. I like Green, but he's not nearly as good as some have made him out to be and not a floor spacer.

Green is shooting 33.7% from deep on 4.2 attempts; Smith is shooting 33% from deep on 3.5 attempts. Opposing teams allow both Fs to take unguarded jumpers and yet the former is seen as some "stretch 4" and the latter is a chucker. Not saying Green is as bad as Pistons Josh Smith since he has solid ball IQ but as shooters they are comparable.

I don't see Cavs letting Thompson go, even with Love. Cavs offered Thompson $14 million last season and he declined- so I think they easily give him the max now with the cap going up. Also, FTR- Thompson is a good rebounder much better than Green but not as good as Monroe!

[sfballa13]

Bulls v Utah...the Finals with the flu game...

What did Jordan's supporting cast average that series?

I'm aging but recall Pippen being pretty useless that series

Pippen averaged 20ppg 8.3rpg 3.5apg 1.7spg 1.8bpg in that series with a higher ts% than MJ.

Must be the other Utah finals then

I recall an important game where Pip essentially did nothing due to his bad back

There were plenty of times where Pippen would take himself out of games due to injury or ignorance but to compare this supporting cast on the Cavs to any of the Bulls team is unrealistic.

Kerr, Longley, Kukoc, Horace Grant, RODMAN. These were consistent rotation players who could be counted on.

In Game 1, THREE Cavs scored in the entire second half and overtime. Kyrie Irving, Mozgov, and Thompson thats it.

This is one of the weakest rosters in Finals history, Kyrie Irving was on the roster last night despite being in the hospital because they have so little players. They are running a 7-8 man rotation vs a 67 win team from a historically good Western Conference

Also Phil Jackson makes David Blatt look like a guy from InsideHoops

Jordan in the Finals simply would never allow himself to lose and could/would put Lebron's numbers up if Lebron gets this title he moves ahead Kobe all time.

[MrBigShot]

Win or lose I think LeBron will solidify his place as the 2nd most talented player ever. He's not going to let up...he might continue to shoot the ball poorly by his standards, but he's not going to let up and win or lose this will be a monster series for him.

He doesn't have the laser focused killer mentality that MJ had/Kobe has, but he's got aspects of his game that neither of them had, and that makes him special.

[Blkbrd671]

Win or lose I think LeBron will solidify his place as the 2nd most talented player ever. He's not going to let up...he might continue to shoot the ball poorly by his standards, but he's not going to let up and win or lose this will be a monster series for him.

He doesn't have the laser focused killer mentality that MJ had/Kobe has, but he's got aspects of his game that neither of them had, and that makes him special.

Bron Bron is really showing a maturity here. He's learned how to win and overcome the mental aspect of the playoffs. This is wear the Spurs thrived. He really has grown in miami in terms of the player he is. And though he's shooting poorly, any shot brons taking is normally the shot you want. I've been a avid MJ>Bron , however Bron is showing me that he belongs in the discussion.

[DBC10]

So far it's been experience > talent since arguably the overall lineup and depth GS has is better than the Cavs since the Cavs run like literally 7 or maybe 8 players while GS has more options. Lebron is totally inside the GS guys heads. It's going to be interesting how they stack up next game.

One thing to note, Draymond is being Josh Smith-like right now. He's lost total confidence in his shot which allows the Cavs to double Curry which he passes off to Dray as a secondary play maker. Once they seal off Curry, the other guys that are left are Bogut and Draymond since the Cavs have been hounding every shooter not named Curry, Klay, and maybe Barnes. Once the ball is in Dray's hands, the entire play is broken since GS doesn't run too many plays for Dray other than the simple assist. Kerr needs to find out if they need to play Lee over Dray at some point, since Dray and even Bogut has been killing them. Outside of Klay and Curry, no one can consistently be an elite threat from a shooter's stand point. Barnes gets benefits heavily from Curry setting him up for an outside jumper or if they double up on Klay and he passes it off.

I would honestly experiment playing Iggy and Lee more over Barnes and Draymond. At least Iggy could slow down Lebron more than Barnes could.

[kamal2_espn]

Green has been hot garbage most of the playoffs. He's the epitome of a role player who only looks passable when defense pays no attention to him since he has zero post game and no reliable jumper. Tristan Thompson has looked 10 times better than Green

In any case, GSW is struggling big time- the jumpers arent falling and they have no post scorer or guy with the ability to consistently score at the hoop to get them easy buckets. I thought Cavs would take it in 6, but its looking like 5 TBH.

The same people who've been wanting Draymond all season laughed at me when I said I wanted Thompson. Draymond is overly emotional and has lost confidence in his shot, a couple of times he drove right into Mozgov when a jumper was wide open, meanwhile Thompson just keeps coming every single play. If he brought that same effort every night and we put him next to Drummond, we'd be the best rebounding team in the league. Unless we could get someone like LMA or Millsap, I really wouldn't mind forcing the Cavs to match a max on him at all and I wonder what Stan is thinking given JVG has done soo many Cavs games and raves about Thompson every time. Spacing is important, but when you've got guys who take it to the rim fearlessly and you can frustrate a defense by getting second chances it wears on the psyche of a team.

There are certain players on good teams that get highly overrated every year. Last year it was Lance Stephenson, this year its Draymond Green. I like Green, but he's not nearly as good as some have made him out to be and not a floor spacer.

Green is shooting 33.7% from deep on 4.2 attempts; Smith is shooting 33% from deep on 3.5 attempts. Opposing teams allow both Fs to take unguarded jumpers and yet the former is seen as some "stretch 4" and the latter is a chucker. Not saying Green is as bad as Pistons Josh Smith since he has solid ball IQ but as shooters they are comparable.

I don't see Cavs letting Thompson go, even with Love. Cavs offered Thompson $14 million last season and he declined- so I think they easily give him the max now with the cap going up. Also, FTR- Thompson is a good rebounder much better than Green but not as good as Monroe!

I remember when it was Tayshaun Prince. And before him it was Devan George. Hell, I remember when people thought BJ Armstrong was a top player.

Green is a role player - that's it. He looks great playing next to great players but when those great players struggle, he ain't gonna step up and carry the team.

I never thought he was an answer for the Pistons.

[Pharaoh]

Green is just another example of the perfect complimentary piece.

Tayshaun was our Green during our dominant period. Capable of a little bit of everything but could never be the alpha.

But Green doesn't need to be, just like Tay never had to be. You don't rely in those types to win - you rely in them to excel in their roles.

Green does that. It's only when people ask for more that they get disappointed.

That's not his fault - people have unrealistic expectations

[Cowology]

I loathe to admit it but what Lebron is doing is damn impressive. W's definitely showing their inexperience.

[Blkbrd671]

I loathe to admit it but what Lebron is doing is damn impressive. W's definitely showing their inexperience.

More credit should be going to Blatt


http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/6/10/8 ... e-warriors

[DBC10]

I loathe to admit it but what Lebron is doing is damn impressive. W's definitely showing their inexperience.

More credit should be going to Blatt


http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/6/10/8 ... e-warriors

Yep, they're doing what they did with the Hawks too by letting anyone not named Korver have the 3 except more extreme since it's the splash brothers.

They have to play Lee more and Iggy since he can handle the ball a bit even though he doesn't shoot. Curry needs an extra ball handler since they'll zero in on him and the lane is clogged with Bogut and Draymond. Nobody on that starting lineup, aside from Curry and Klay can create anything nor are they jump shooters as pure as they are. You take away the splash brothers, combined with the fact that Lebron is inside Draymond's head, and you got no offense.

[kurtis48239]

I hear green is having back problems guess that fall did more damage than good,he definitly dosent look the same.Kerr playing barnes on james needs to stop,they either need to throw iggy or green at him.The inexperience is showing,I mean jesus,curry is a turn over machine this series and just doing the dumbest things,throw a behind the back pass outta bounds when they were down 4 in gm3 with 2 min left,then in gm 2 if he would of hustled for the ball instead of letting it bounce right past him and then bounce another 5 times outta bounds, they probably would have won that one.They need to give lee more minutes as well,just having another experienced vet who can shoot,would help spread out the cavs defenders and cut down on all the traps curry is going thru.

I think if they can win this next one and take it back home,they have a really good chance of wining.Lebron hurt something in gm 3 and I dont think he can keep up much more of the way he is playing without doing some more damage,also delladova isnt going to be hitting shots like hes curry,curry needs to use his size advantge and start taking it to the hole more instead of settling for jumper after jumper when hes not hot .I also think the warriors will come with the same intensited that the cavs had in gm 3,curry is the guy who gets them going and when hes looking like his dog just died,isnt going to help anyone,same thing for green.Looked like iggy was the only player to show up for them.

[Pharaoh]

Delly has Curry's number. Nothing coming easy for the league MVP - no easy catches means he's gotta work for every little thing, every step is a grind and that's not something these Warriors are used to.

Lebron is the best player on the planet and IF he brings a title to Cleveland it will be THE biggest thing ever for them. Ain't nothing gonna stop him IMO

I said it before the series - I wanna see Cleveland win. Not for a fustercluck organization that fell into good fortune, no way! But for an entire state that has experienced years or pain.

We can't possibly understand what it's like - cause we're better than them