Yep, karma is a b.
NBA 2016-17
- Thread starter ArmchairCritic
- Start date
Neither Boston or Washington have any shot against Cleveland but I do believe Wizards would give a better fight. Wall vs Kyrie would be a great matchup. Either way, Cleveland with LeBron playing as is will win in 5 games, maybe even sweep.
If the Timberwolves had Aldridge...
Like there is no doubt the Warriors only won the year before because of Cleveland's injuries?
No doubt - no. Possible - yes. Steph being injured was a bigger factor than anything else over the two seasons and the Dubs still almost won last year. The Cavs were nowhere near as close to winning in 2015. Having Steph hobbled for the Warriors is like having LeBron playing hurt for the Cavs.
So Boston are in. The only upset in the entire playoffs was the Jazz over the Clippers and even there both teams had the same number of wins in the regular season. Predictable - much!
Great showdown between Olynyk from Celtics and Beal from Wizards in that 4th quarter.
Deserved for Celtica and they took advantage from playing home well. Hope they do well in the final and doesn't end by a sweep, although I don't think it'll extend beyond game 5.
Deserved for Celtica and they took advantage from playing home well. Hope they do well in the final and doesn't end by a sweep, although I don't think it'll extend beyond game 5.
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Predicted Jazz will pass Clippers at this time. Wasn't a big Surprise for me. Didn't like the form Clippers ended the regular season with much so I predicted Jazz can do it with them and it happened.
Brought to you by a fan of the team who broke the regular season record and then signed Kevin Durant.
Thanks, I appreciate that. I do what I can to keep you updated.
So Curry being a bit injured but still playing was a bigger factor than two of the three best Cavaliers players being completely out?
It ended 4-2 in 2015. Cavs were 2-1 at one point. Let's not pretend Warriors ran away with it. And don't even compare Curry's impact on Warriors to LeBron's impact on Cavaliers.
Yep, you just have to look at their record over the last three seasons whenever LeBron hasn't played.
Hobble schmobble. It all came down to one 3 point shot that was taken by Steph Curry at the end of Game 7, and he missed it.
Draymond's suspension was far more detrimental to the team's chances than Curry apparently playing under injury (is there anything on record suggesting he was still injured at that point?). The series was done in Game 5 if Draymond had played, plus Bogut's injury (a player actually injured and not being able to play, you know) came at a really unfortunate timing. One would think Curry was playing on a wheelchair going by these posts.
Not a regular watcher of NBA, but why were warriors playing yesterday while the cavs first game will start on the 18th of May? Doesnt it give an advantage to one side,more rest period, for the finals if both games go to seven matches.
Had to wait for the winner of Celtics and Wizards which went to Game 7.
Hope the Celtics gets swept. Could do with the Cavs being fresh and SAS hopefully tiring the Warriors.
Shouldnt they both wait and start the finals on consecutive days then?
Warriors did not need to wait though because Spurs were already through. I know what you mean though but I still suspect Cavaliers will be done with Celtics before Warriors are done with Spurs (unless Kawhi is out permanently, in which case it'll probably be a 4-0 or 4-1, or they try to injure him again when he comes back).
Nah, it has never been like that. You cannot predict how many matches there will be on conference finals.
Last year, Cavaliers had much more rest than Warriors considering that the Warriors had to go in seven matches against Thunders and had some trouble also against other teams, while Cavaliers swept the other teams and rest more.
He scored slightly less than he did during regular season. Curry being at 80-90% hurts the team much more than having your two best players out though!!!
Curry had just had what was possibly the greatest offensive season in NBA history and the Dubs were still up 3-1. If he is 100% the series is over in 5 possibly even 4. Draymond's suspension may never even been a factor or Bogut's injuries. As to "playing in a wheelchair" as you point out this all came down to one missed shot at the end of game 7 - fine lines and all that. It is obvious he was rushed back to play in the Portland series and the more he played the more the injuries (3 of them) took their toll. By game 7 of the Cavs series his lateral movement was shot. If he is 100% the Dubs win - easily.
Of course it did. As everybody has already pointed out w/o LeBron this team doesn't win. Losing Kyrie and Love was massive but as we saw last year when they were all fit they were getting killed anyway. I repeat if Curry is 100% the Dubs have 2 Championships.
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That's pretty arrogant, to say the least. Regular season is regular season, playoffs are playoffs. Just look at how Cavs ended their regular season and what they are doing in playoffs.
Arrogant - come on. It was 3-1 and going back to Oracle where they'd only lost twice all year. 4-0 might be pushing it but 4-1 was definitely on the cards.
....and you guys are making me late for work now going on about this.
I already said that if Draymond was there, the game 5 would have most probably ended the series, which is far bigger factor than Curry's excuses. But even then, it wasn't a foregone conclusion by any stretch. You weren't playing against a pub team and I've already said how counting your regular season achievement holds little weight here. In their last match, Golden State scored 16 points in their first quarter, 26 in their second and were down by 20 points at half time. It wasn't till 17 minutes in the match were played till they had more field goals than turnovers. Now, can you please give me a list from this season's regular season games at Oakland where that happened? You were playing against potentially the greatest basketball player of all time in that series last year, with a pretty excellent supporting cast. You were in a great position obviously but what they had was something on a different level, and it showed in the next three games.
Yes, I actually reckon that if the amazing Curry was fit they would have closed this in 3 games because Cavaliers would not even walk out for the 4th. Incredible arrogance.
Stop with this nonsense. He was still playing, and Cavaliers had 2 out of their big 3 missing the year before. Having two great players out is much more of a factor than having one mildly injured.
How about we go with the game where they scored 17 in the first quarter and were down by 20 mid way through the second. It's not exact but it's pretty close (don't remember the turnover situation so I can't comment). It wasn't at Oracle it was on the road at - lo and behold, what do you know San Antonio. Down 29-7 at the end of one, win 110-98 at the end of 4.
Now you are letting your dislike of the Warriors show here. Curry had 3 separate injuries in last years playoffs - two of which were fairly serious, so mildly injured is a massive understatement. Also as I pointed out (and has been pointed out to me), when LeBron doesn't play the Cavs don't win so losing his supporting cast although important is not a death knell for the team. I would rather have Irving and Love out than LeBron playing injured if I was a Cavs fan. LeBron is the Cavs and for most of last year Steph was the Warriors - so much so people were saying (rightly or wrongly that he was now the best player in the NBA). Wrongly IMLTHO, but that's another story.
Yes, I actually reckon that if the amazing Curry was fit they would have closed this in 3 games because Cavaliers would not even walk out for the 4th. Incredible arrogance.
Stop with this nonsense. He was still playing, and Cavaliers had 2 out of their big 3 missing the year before. Having two great players out is much more of a factor than having one mildly injured.
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Yeah and how many games out of the 82 you played resemble that situation remotely?
Come on now, give me a break. You asked for a game, I even gave you a game featuring the same team.
....and I was also late for work.
I didn't ask for a game. My point was Warriors rarely had that kind of a situation in the regular season, and most times were far away from that. You shouldn't be taking regular season as a measure for everything. Especially against a team like Cavs who are known to save themselves particularly for the final series. I find it funny that I have to explain this given what actually happened last year.
Alright, we are going round the houses here. Straight up question - hand on heart. If Curry has no injuries last year and comes into the finals in tip-top shape, who do you think wins last year's finals? If you honestly believe the Cavs win, then we must agree to disagree.
I don't think his injury hampered his performances as much as you make them out to be.
But, saying it hampered the Warriors more than Irving and Love not featuring at all for the Cavs is just batshit insane.
One of the reasons why Warriors are disliked as much as they are, their fans come up with some of the most insane statements. Forget currently, there were claims of Curry being the best basketball player since Michael Jordan.
Naughty, naughty, you didn't answer the question.
It wasn't just Warriors fans saying that. Personally, I didn't think it was anywhere near close to the truth but it was being said.
http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-curry-the-best-basketball-player-in-the-world-2015-11
As to the bolded statement, that's not quite what I said or at least meant to say. Losing Irving and Love was not as big a deal to the Cavs because LeBron is good enough to offset the loss. To be honest, when Kyrie and Love are there, LeBron shares the ball more which I'm not sure is entirely a good thing. When he goes "full Westbrook" he is almost impossible to stop. The rest of the Warriors, on the other hand, were not quite good enough (almost were) to offset Steph's injuries. To be honest, I think that says more about LeBron than anything else. You asked me once whether I thought the Dubs were a shoe-in this year. By rights they should be, but I respect LeBron's abilities far more than most it appears and until the fourth win is in the books (assuming they get to the finals) I'm not taking anything for granted.
With Draymond suspended as he was and Bogut injured as he was? The result wouldn't change.
As what though? Warriors didn't lose Curry. Plenty of players come back from injury and can be playing below 100%, Kawhi just did that in Game 1 and eviscerated the Warriors when he was on the pitch. There's no big deal in that, and it's definitely not as big a deal as actually losing two players, not one, both of whom are in your top 3. It's bizarre to say that when it was none other than Kyrie Irving who put the dagger to seal the championship last year. If it was just one of them, especially Love, I would have understood even though that is still not the same as a player playing below 100% but still playing, and not missing due to injury. But two of them? C'mon. As great as LeBron is, he's just one player and it's completely unrealistic to say that he can offset the loss of two of their top 3 players. Simply isn't, not even close.
Fair enough.
This is just beating a dead horse now. The way I look at it, all things being equal, no injuries or suspensions for the Dubs in both 2015 and 2016, the Cavs w/o Irving and Love lose 4-2 (actually happened), with Irving and Love they lose 4-1. LeBron going "full Westbrook" is just that good.
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You regularly compare him with Curry so I'm not sure of that.
No one is doubting LeBron's ability or the fact that he is the only player in the league who can singlehandedly turn any game on it's head. However, there's a limit on what a single player can do and it's not great for a franchise to depend on one player as much as Cavs depend on LeBron, or Spurs on Kawhi or Rockets on Harden. He is under constant pressure to be at his absolute best in every game during the playoffs, especially at this stage. Given the greatness of the man, he is usually the one who delivers and rarely goes missing but you can't rule that out especially in the final series, which is the main reason why people always prefer Warriors on paper. They have multiple weapons who can all take over if one gets guarded out or goes missing. The last match, Thompson was absolutely woeful but KD and Curry went on to combine for 74 points and snatched a win despite trailing by 20+ points till second half. In Curry, Durant and Thompson they have three players who can go nuclear on the scoring end and turn the game in a matter of minutes, so that's the most difficult thing while playing against them. It's hard enough guarding one of Curry and Durant, but both of them scoring against you is really difficult to stop.
It's obviously not as black and white, Pop showed that you can go in against them with a plan and actually contain them with quality perimeter defending and forcing them into low% shots. At one stage, Warriors were 7-23 from the field, 0-5 from 3 and with 9 turnovers, this was deep into 2nd Q as far as I remember, while the game being at Oakland. So there are obviously ways in which you can counter them. However, the biggest thing is Cavs aren't exactly a defensive juggernaut themselves and have been shambolic in defending at times, and they are the ones we have to measure the Warriors against when talking about the championship. It's funny really, both teams have weaknesses and neither are equipped to exploit the other properly. Not that I expect the numbnut that is Ty to come up with anything spectacular.
Just saw these two segments on Twitter, and thought they'd be worth sharing in this thread. Some great arguments from both of them.
MJ is still GOAT, though
MJ is still GOAT, though
I do, but it's in things like marketability, or face of the NBA not actual ability. In terms of ability LeBron IMLTHO is top 3 all time. Steph may be top 20.You regularly compare him with Curry so I'm not sure of that.
Really hope the Cavs sweep Boston so they can be as well rested as possible. I expect Warriors to cruise past the Spurs with Leonard possibly out for a large amount of the series (definitely not 100% even if he does come back). Nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing LeBron beat Curry, Durant and co. Preferably in Oracle again .
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