2016 Playoffs

[saintEscaton]

This is a great game by Irving. He might be quite a bit better than Knight after all.

"Quite" meaning 100X better. When Uncle Drew is on he is the most aesthetically pleasing guard to watch IMO. Moreso than Curry

[bwgood77]

This is a great game by Irving. He might be quite a bit better than Knight after all.

"Quite" meaning 100X better. When he is on he is the most aesthetically pleasing guard to watch IMO. Moreso than Curry

I want to see the Cavs win this game and I am glad he is stepping up because everyone else seems so tentative. I'm not sure yet if I want the Cavs to win the series. I probably would want the Cavs to win if I knew we would not sign Barnes, but I'm a little afraid if the Warriors don't win it all, that they don't match Barnes, or sign and trade him, and not only would I hate a large contract for him, but I'd REALLY hate giving up assets in addition to that. So it would be nice to see the Cavs take it to 7 and then maybe have GS prevail in game 7 and keep their core together.

Edit..interesting...when I originally started to post this response, your first sentence wasn't there.

[thamadkant]

Who was saying Irving and Knight was close?

Was it from this forum?

Also Irving's offense is 1 tier and a half better than Bledsoe's defense.
But Bledsoe's offense is a tier better than Irving's defense.

[bwgood77]

Who was saying Irving and Knight was close?

Was it from this forum?

Also Irving's offense is 1 tier and a half better than Bledsoe's defense.
But Bledsoe's offense is a tier better than Irving's defense.

I actually said they measured out fairly similarly this year when you look at the numbers, and he hadn't played all that much better, and didn't really want him because I don't like shoot first point guards, but I guess watching him and Curry can make you maybe change your mind on shoot first point guards.

For the record, having said the above, I still don't really prefer shoot first point guards, but if they are historically elite, I'll take it. I'm not just going to jump on and say Murray is the next Curry because he is a shoot first point guard who played well as a freshman.

[saintEscaton]

Who was saying Irving and Knight was close?

Was it from this forum?

Also Irving's offense is 1 tier and a half better than Bledsoe's defense.
But Bledsoe's offense is a tier better than Irving's defense.

Yeah Kyrie's isolation skills, ridicilous handle and off hand finishing put him on another level entirely, doesn't matter if he's a sieve on the other end.You need elite high volume scorers in the playoffs to win shootouts Bledsoe is not the lockdown on ball defender he gets talked up to being, thats why I was laughing when I saw articles of him getting swapped. As if he would make a difference on the Cavs holding his own against Steph on an island with little help, he would do a little better than Shumpert but he is known for losing track of his man in space, he would also would depend on teammates properly switching and not over helping .

[lilfishi22]

This is exactly why I don't want to sign Barnes

[Cactus Jack]

This is exactly why I don't want to sign Barnes

Awful. Just Awful.

[DirtyDez]

Imagine had Lebron played half as bad as Curry tonight.

[bwgood77]

Who was saying Irving and Knight was close?

Was it from this forum?

Also Irving's offense is 1 tier and a half better than Bledsoe's defense.
But Bledsoe's offense is a tier better than Irving's defense.

Yeah Kyrie's isolation skills, ridicilous handle and off hand finishing put him on another level entirely, doesn't matter if he's a sieve on the other end.You need elite high volume scorers in the playoffs to win shootouts Bledsoe is not the lockdown on ball defender he gets talked up to being, thats why I was laughing when I saw articles of him getting swapped. As if he would make a difference on the Cavs holding his own against Steph on an island with little help, he would do a little better than Shumpert but he is known for losing track of his man in space, he would also would depend on teammates properly switching and not over helping .

Yeah, I think Curry scored like 41 on Bledsoe in the one time we played them when Bledsoe was healthy this year.

[Mulhollanddrive]

How can Kevin Love go from a 25 / 12 player to having 2 / 3 in the most important game in his life.

[MrMiyagi]

How can Kevin Love go from a 25 / 12 player to having 2 / 3 in the most important game in his life.

It's really a fit issue. He's a guy who rebounds by boxing out, not a guy who rim runs from the perimeter on misses. He's also getting 4 less touches on the block where he could operate very effectively. I'd still be open to snagging him if Cleveland makes some changes.

Plus tonight Lebron and Kyrie decided they were going to play 1 on 5 when they got the ball. Lebron took more shots than the rest of the squad minus Kyrie and the rest of the Cavs took 5 more shots than Kyrie. It didn't really feel like a no-show to me, just two iso players going off and trusting themselves over their teammates. 4 of Lebron's 7 assists were to Kyrie and 2 of Kyrie's 6 assists were to Lebron.

[RaisingArizona]

Love is done. Not a fit issue; he's just a role player now.

[GMATCallahan]

How can Kevin Love go from a 25 / 12 player to having 2 / 3 in the most important game in his life.

A) He was only a 25/12 (26/13, actually) guy on lottery teams in Minnesota.

B) In Love's defense, how many scoring opportunities is he going to receive when Irving and James both score over 40 points and combine to attempt 54 field goals? Granted, the lack of scoring opportunities do not account for his lack of rebounds, but when James corrals 16 caroms and Tristan Thompson grabs 15, there may be a lack of rebounding opportunities, too.

Anyway, I still believe that Love plays an important role by virtue of his floor spacing, which forces the opposing defense to switch more. The spacing and/or switching that occurs, due in part to Love's presence, gives Irving and James more room to operate. Sure, Channing Frye could play the same role shooting-wise, but Love is better at most other aspects of the game, even if they did not necessarily show up in the box score last night. And I feel that Love played good defense overall last night, although he is very vulnerable when switching against Stephen Curry on the perimeter.

[GMATCallahan]

It's really a fit issue.

He's a guy who rebounds by boxing out, not a guy who rim runs from the perimeter on misses.

But that factor would only explain his decline in offensive rebounds, not defensive rebounds. Besides, Love has averaged 5.5 three-point field goal attempts per game in his two regular seasons in Cleveland (5.8 in the playoffs), compared to 5.9 three-point field goal attempts per game in his last three regular seasons in Minnesota. His volume of two-point field goal attempts has declined, and thus Love's proportion of three-point field goal attempts has risen, but he is not attempting a greater number of threes as a Cavalier. Of course, he is offensively positioned on the perimeter to a greater extent, but again, that reality would only explain his drop in offensive rebounds.

Regardless, Love still averaged 9.9 rebounds per game during this past regular season.

He's also getting 4 less touches on the block where he could operate very effectively. I'd still be open to snagging him if Cleveland makes some changes.

Plus tonight Lebron and Kyrie decided they were going to play 1 on 5 when they got the ball. Lebron took more shots than the rest of the squad minus Kyrie and the rest of the Cavs took 5 more shots than Kyrie. It didn't really feel like a no-show to me, just two iso players going off and trusting themselves over their teammates. 4 of Lebron's 7 assists were to Kyrie and 2 of Kyrie's 6 assists were to Lebron.

As indicated in my previous post, I concur with your conclusion, although I would not characterize James and Irving's play as going "one on five" so much as "one on one." Unlike in previous games, they generally were not over-dribbling or stagnantly dribbling or forcing themselves to the rim. Although they were dominating the offense, they were doing so with more of a rhythm and a flow, keeping the game simpler and crisper.

As for Love, I actually feel that he constitutes an important and logical fit for Cleveland, because he is the kind of player who creates operating room for James and Irving while not just being a one-dimensional floor-spacer. (Again, I discuss this matter in my previous post.) Certainly, the Suns could use him, but I do not see a match in terms of a trade.

[ducler]

[RaisingArizona]

Love is so bad lol

[MrMiyagi]

Harrison Barnes needs to get out of this game right now....

[dremill24]

I wish home court officiating wasn't a problem like this. Its especially apparent in playoff games, and applies to all teams. Its frustrating.

[dremill24]

This game is over in the 1st quarter.

[RaisingArizona]

Love is so bad lol

.