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M

Merckx index

Jul 27, 2010
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Re:

jmdirt said:
KD to NY for '16-'17.
Click to expand...

No way. He's looking for a team that can go all the way, right now.

Warriors’ Advantages:
1) home court
2) beat the Cavs in Finals last year
3) beat the Cavs in both regular season meetings, including blow-out in Cleveland
4) much better regular season record

Cavs’ Advantages:
1) two key players who missed the Finals last year are healthy, along with some new players
2) team has looked very strong in the postseason
3) now a very good three point shooting team, to go along with LeBron’s inside terror
4) more rested, not only for Game 1 (five days off vs. two for GS), but has not been stressed or pushed nearly as much in postseason as GS has.

Wild Cards
1) Curry has been inconsistent, spectacular at some times, poor at others. Is he still feeling the effects of ankle, knee and even elbow injuries?
2) OKC seemed to provide a blueprint for beating the Warriors, with length and quickness taking away both long range shots and lanes to the hoop. Can Cleveland do that, and will they try?
3) If a game turns into a three point shootout, can the Cavs hang with the Warriors?

Most wins in a single season plus postseason:

87 1995-96 Bulls
85 (so far) 2015-16 Warriors
84 1996-97 Bulls
83 2014-15 Warriors
 
Angliru

Angliru

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@ Merckx Index.....you are leaving out an advantage that the Warriors have: that they are a better team cohesively than last season evidenced by their NBA record of regular season wins.

They also have the advantage of playing in the Western Conference which is infinitely tougher than the East. It could be argued that 4 top teams from the West (Warriors, Spurs, Thunder, Clippers), if healthy all are capable of winning NBA titles, while the East has only the Cavaliers and just maybe the Heat.

Plus the Cavaliers didn't really dominate the East playoffs. Almost all the games versus the Pistons were competitive, while they actually lost 2 games to the Raptors who can't seriously be considered threats to win an NBA title any time soon. If one thinks that the Cavaliers were impressive in this years playoffs they have to consider their competition.

Now we have game one where Curry and Thompson have below sub-standard games...and the Cavaliers still lose by double digits. it doesn't bode well for the rest of the series when Curry and Thompson inevitably find their shooting strokes. Couple that with the confidence boost that their bench has gained from their game one performance (they probably already had a degree of confidence anyway).
 
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Merckx index

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@ Angry Lou: Yeah, I agree with just about all of your points. I was just trying to present a balanced view of strengths and weaknesses.

The best teams in the West are definitely better than the best teams in the East, though the overall strength of the East is greater. One thing I like about the NBA is that they try to be fair as much as possible—so playoff seedings are based largely on regular season record, rather than winning a division, and now there’s even talk about taking the teams with the sixteen best records, rather than eight from each conference. That suggests a situation where the two teams in the Finals would not necessarily represent each conference. If the seeding had worked that way this year, we might have seen a Finals with GS and SA, the two teams with the best records.

It could be added that OKC seems to have the personnel and the style to be a particularly difficult matchup for the Warriors. The Cavs actually play somewhat like the Warriors, spreading the floor and now shooting a lot of threes, and since no one beats the Warriors at their own game, that doesn’t bode well for them, either.

ESPN has given the Warriors a 75% chance of winning the series—that was before last night’s game. Based on their odds for a sweep, five game series, etc., that seems to assume about a 60% chance of the Warriors winning any particular game, probably adjusted for home/away. If that’s the case, the odds of the Warriors’ winning the series are now a little over 80%.
 
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robtmitchell

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Decent game last night, the Cavs missed their chance with the cold shooting performance of Curry and Thompson.
At times, Cleveland tries to play too much like Golden State (like other teams) and it just does not work as well.
When the 3 point game goes bad, it looks real bad, teams passing up easier shots to miss a 3, leads to blow outs.

Plus Curry and the Warriors figured out they were over playing Curry so much it was easier for him to drive and the other players to score.
Good to see Barbosa play well and if they want to give Barnes a big contract they better give Livingston a big raise, he seems better in the half court game and has hitting that pull up all year. Those jumpers were soft and smooth. Kerr should have let the second team keep playing, they lost momentum when he took them out in the 4th.

Not sure where Durant can go that has a better chance than OKC. It seems they need a pass only point guard (if such a player still exist) to run the offense. There are only 3-4 teams as good as OKC, so anywhere else may not be better.
 
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jmdirt

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I have to change my prediction because there is no way that the Cavs will win 4 in a row, so Cavs in 7.

EDIT: JEEHHZZ! Warriors in 5.
EDIT: OK, no close games, who will win the next blow out?!

Players complaining about every call is almost as bad as the myotonia congenita in football (soccer for us USAers).
 
Angliru

Angliru

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Re:

jmdirt said:
I have to change my prediction because there is no way that the Cavs will win 4 in a row, so Cavs in 7.

EDIT: JEEHHZZ! Warriors in 5.
EDIT: OK, no close games, who will win the next blow out?!

Players complaining about every call is almost as bad as the myotonia congenita in football (soccer for us USAers).
Click to expand...

The refs were ignoring some pretty blatant fouls. LeBron's take down of Green. LeBron's jersey grab of Curry. Both right in front of the ref at halfcourt. By not making these calls they pretty much encourage events to escalate as they did with LeBron and Green. There were calls missed at both ends. I accept that as you advance further in the playoffs that the game becomes more and more physical but the referees have to exert a certain level of control at some point or there will be chaos and the potential that someone may be hurt. A pattern of calls is made to give the players an idea of what is allowed and what is not but Game 4 was no holds-barred-neglect by the entire crew. Even the commentators took note of it.
 
J

jmdirt

Dec 6, 2013
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Re: Re:

Angliru said:
jmdirt said:
I have to change my prediction because there is no way that the Cavs will win 4 in a row, so Cavs in 7.

EDIT: JEEHHZZ! Warriors in 5.
EDIT: OK, no close games, who will win the next blow out?!

Players complaining about every call is almost as bad as the myotonia congenita in football (soccer for us USAers).
Click to expand...

The refs were ignoring some pretty blatant fouls. LeBron's take down of Green. LeBron's jersey grab of Curry. Both right in front of the ref at halfcourt. By not making these calls they pretty much encourage events to escalate as they did with LeBron and Green. There were calls missed at both ends. I accept that as you advance further in the playoffs that the game becomes more and more physical but the referees have to exert a certain level of control at some point or there will be chaos and the potential that someone may be hurt. A pattern of calls is made to give the players an idea of what is allowed and what is not but Game 4 was no holds-barred-neglect by the entire crew. Even the commentators took note of it.
Click to expand...
Call consistency sets the tone for game, but the players question every call from call one in every game. I'm surprised that the guy who "hacks a Thompson" hasn't raised his hands and wrinkled his face about the call. I like the way that the finals have been officiated for the most part.
 
Angliru

Angliru

Mar 10, 2009
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Re: Re:

jmdirt said:
Angliru said:
jmdirt said:
I have to change my prediction because there is no way that the Cavs will win 4 in a row, so Cavs in 7.

EDIT: JEEHHZZ! Warriors in 5.
EDIT: OK, no close games, who will win the next blow out?!

Players complaining about every call is almost as bad as the myotonia congenita in football (soccer for us USAers).
Click to expand...

The refs were ignoring some pretty blatant fouls. LeBron's take down of Green. LeBron's jersey grab of Curry. Both right in front of the ref at halfcourt. By not making these calls they pretty much encourage events to escalate as they did with LeBron and Green. There were calls missed at both ends. I accept that as you advance further in the playoffs that the game becomes more and more physical but the referees have to exert a certain level of control at some point or there will be chaos and the potential that someone may be hurt. A pattern of calls is made to give the players an idea of what is allowed and what is not but Game 4 was no holds-barred-neglect by the entire crew. Even the commentators took note of it.
Click to expand...
Call consistency sets the tone for game, but the players question every call from call one in every game. I'm surprised that the guy who "hacks a Thompson" hasn't raised his hands and wrinkled his face about the call. I like the way that the finals have been officiated for the most part.
Click to expand...

I was speaking specifically about game 5 which was called a lot looser than the previous games. I was just waiting for a brawl to break out as a result of the player frustration. "Letting them play" has its limits. Strangely they continually fell for Varejao's (sp) antics but couldn't bring it upon themselves to call some of the more obvious offenses. Players will bawl about missed calls, even when there was no foul to be called, primarily to save face for having a shot blocked, a missed layup, turning the ball over, etc... Nevertheless these are supposed to be the cream of the crop of NBA referees. I just think that they lost control of the game by letting it become a bit too physical.


Edit: ...I meant to say game 5, not game 4 in my previous post.
 
JackRabbitSlims

JackRabbitSlims

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I don't know the game well enough to know if it was a good one or not, I loved it though and very happy that Cleveland came through in the end.

I've been watching each game since the Conference Semi's - was hoping OKC would go all the way......Steve Adams is a becoming a bit of a hero in these parts :)
Maybe next year?
 
JackRabbitSlims

JackRabbitSlims

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Durant going to Golden State!!!

I never understand all this chopping and changing with these players...it can't be about the $$...surely??

Yeah, I know he wants a title ring, but OKC have that potential.

GSW have 3 super stars already and now KD!! - Unless others are on the move?
 
J

jmdirt

Dec 6, 2013
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Re:

JackRabbitSlims said:
Durant going to Golden State!!!

I never understand all this chopping and changing with these players...it can't be about the $$...surely??

Yeah, I know he wants a title ring, but OKC have that potential.

GSW have 3 super stars already and now KD!! - Unless others are on the move?
Click to expand...
I really thought that he was going to stay in OKC.
 
Alpe d'Huez

Alpe d'Huez

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I don't much follow the NBA that close. Can someone explain to me how the Warriors can afford Durant and only lose maybe one (lesser) player in the process?

When they did the last CBA the one thing I remember hearing Stern and others talk about how this new contract would level the playing field and allow more teams to compete overall. But as I see it, even at the start of the season this year people said there were maybe 5 teams with a chance to win the title. Now, everyone is saying almost for certain we'll see Golden State vs. Cleveland for the third year in a row.

What gives?
 
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