The Finals 2016

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:38 pm

Two big momentum swings, led by JR, then by Steph.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:44 pm

Have you figured yet that Varejão is not a finisher?

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:48 pm

11-0 Cavs run.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:49 pm

Uncle Drew! That dude's nuts. With the left. Damn.

Post by **Sabo** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:50 pm

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:56 pm

Shaun makes two plays in a row. The Force is back in balance.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:07 pm

This is the shit

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:09 pm

Ryan wrote:This is the shit

Wish I could enjoy it.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:16 pm

It's Bron time.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:27 pm

Fuck, this is tense.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:28 pm

Mark Jackson is the literal worst. I hate every little quip he states when they go to commercial.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:29 pm

I had to turn him off, go to the local radio

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:33 pm

interesting call for Kyrie, and he comes through.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:35 pm

Collie's wrist fracture. Tough to make free throws with a broken wrist.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:36 pm

Dubs couldn't convert a ton of possessions in the last three minutes. Props to Cav's defense. Need a miracle.

duff · Post by **duff** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:38 pm

Glad I decided to watch this game. So glad Cleveland won. Good for James.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:38 pm

Congrats AB and the whole city of Cleveland. Epic performance, come back from 1-3.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:39 pm

Thanks ESPN app. There's still time left on your WatchESPN feed. Fuckers.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:40 pm

What a fucking game though. Man oh man.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:41 pm

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:43 pm

That block was incredible turned the game

duff · Post by **duff** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:43 pm

Forgot to mention, Fuck Draymond! So glad that POS cost his team the chance to repeat.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:44 pm

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:44 pm

We're not Detroit!

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:49 pm

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:59 pm

Just spoke to a buddy of mine from Cleveland. 55 year old man in tears!

What a game!

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 10:00 pm

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 10:06 pm

This one's good too.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 10:27 pm

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:11 am

Wow. Fun finish to the weekend. Few thoughts:

- OMG Festus Ezeli was unplayable.

- The block on Iguodala was the play of the year. Kyrie's shot obviously mattered, but that one play (and he had a few in the past three games just like it) showed Lebron wasn't gonna go out without putting it all out there.

- You've never been as happy as Kevin Love was when Lebron was going in for that dunk at the end where he got fouled. It was pure joy. Quickly turned to concern, but that moment was real. Love was huge in this game. Decided he could be Rodman and that's OK.

- Watched most of Curry's presser. Great dude. Humble, took the blame on his shoulders. Wouldn't bite on a couple of leading questions.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:09 am

How did the Warriors, of all teams, end up with only 4 good players in the end?

(4.5, I guess Livingston was good but there was nowhere to put him.)

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:12 am

Rex wrote:How did the Warriors, of all teams, end up with only 4 good players in the end?

(4.5, I guess Livingston was good but there was nowhere to put him.)

Bogut being hurt screwed up the rotations a little. Which I think is why Ezeli started, to let Iggy come in with that second unit like normal. It didn't work. Lue, or Lebron or whoever, got JR and Shump to buy in to just harassing Thompson and Curry on defense all the time. They got nowhere near the usual number of clean looks. It was CLE hustle that did that. Hard to do that in January, but in a do or die game Cleveland found the energy reserves.

Post by **Sabo** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:55 am

howard · Post by **howard** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:56 am

Rex wrote:How did the Warriors, of all teams, end up with only 4 good players in the end?

(4.5, I guess Livingston was good but there was nowhere to put him.)

Barnes suffered from a shooting slump. Happens to the greatest of shooters as well as to average players, the timing of his was unlucky. He significantly contributed with defense and rebounding, but he is a limited defender against Bron and against smaller players.

Livingston similarly had a shooting slump. Again, unlucky. Festus came back from his injury in April, and was rusty. He got irregular minutes throughout the playoffs, and I think never shed that rust nor did he find a day-to-day rhythm. Between the changing situations of the playoffs and his irregular play, Kerr was not able to establish a stable role for him or a steady place in the rotation. And Barbosa is just too short to throw out there with the other four.

The problem for the five/six players on the floor at the end of the game, Curry-Klay-Dray-Iggy-Barnes/Shaun is simply that they did not/could not hit their shots. Except for Dray. They held LeBron James and the Champion Cleveland Cavaliers to 18 points in the fourth quarter. That's because of some good defending and rebounding. Yes, Cavs played great defense too, LeBron's memorable block at the end but he had two others that were loud and significant, on Curry and on Barbosa. But 13 points and all those missed shots and empty possessions that reflected poor shot selection.

Again, I am not slighting the Cavs a bit. The series was much more than the last twelve minutes. LeBron and Irving were spectacular in the three game sweep. They won the title; the Warriors did not lose it nor did they give it away. Dubs were beat by a team that was better, last night and over the past week.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:24 am

Joe K wrote:Is it too late to bring back David Blatt? Lue is completely lost you've gotta think that the main reason they made the coaching change was to try and give themselves a better shot in the Finals.

I'm gonna bring this back from late in Game 2 and give Lue and the rest of his staff some credit. They coached a really good series after the first two games. Sure they got some breaks with the Green suspension and Bogut injury but what they did was still really impressive. On the other hand, Kerr seemed to get a little spooked by Barnes' struggles, which made him reluctant to play their top small ball lineups as much as I would've expected.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:44 am

Sabo wrote:

Funny how the same tweet from about 6 months ago would have been incredibly sad

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:57 am

If I can be allowed one moment of hubris: I see little question that if some newcomer watched all 7 games of this series and has any doubt about who the best basketball player on earth is, they were not watching the same thing as I did. Curry almost unquestionably the greatest shooter I've ever seen, but when you don't get good looks, the best shooters look human. Lebron did not look human in the last three games.

Such a great great series.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:01 am

So LeBron leaves again, right? Talk about a massive motivation dropoff. Probably too old and more probably too difficult to catch 6 rings.

howard · Post by **howard** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:10 am

God Clarifies That He Still Hates Cleveland Fans Despite Cavaliers Championship

God also clarified that His contempt for Cleveland fans is nothing compared to His total and utter hatred for “those fucking scumbag fans” in Philadelphia.

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:14 am

A_B wrote:If I can be allowed one moment of hubris: I see little question that if some newcomer watched all 7 games of this series and has any doubt about who the best basketball player on earth is, they were not watching the same thing as I did. Curry almost unquestionably the greatest shooter I've ever seen, but when you don't get good looks, the best shooters look human. Lebron did not look human in the last three games.

Such a great great series.

If a newcomer watched all 7 games, they probably wouldn't have even thought Curry was the best player on his team.