NBA Finals Discussion thread

emkee said:
Numbers say the Cavs aren't winning this series unless the league intervenes.

Dubs with a better rating than last season's Spurs.
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Numbers, shmumbers. Golden St. Is 0-0 in the finals, last time Lebron saw 'em he took a 42-point dump on their heads.
 
I'll be here all week. Because they don't play for a week. Try the veal.
 
ArizonaKid said:
0-0 is better than LeBron's record in the Finals.
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Really? Guy's been to five straight now. Should put his name on the fucking trophy. I think I'll take Lebron +200 over Curry in everything except limbo dancing.
 
tipyerbartender said:
Really? Guy's been to five straight now. Should put his name on the fucking trophy. I think I'll take Lebron +200 over Curry in everything except limbo dancing.
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OK how much $ you wanna lose ?

I'll take Curry over LeBron in hottest Mom contest

Soyna Curry....MILF

Gloria James...Akron whore to the core
 
Instead of the yellow playoff t-shirts the Warriors give their fans for playoff games, they should hand out Delonte West jerseys to piss Lebron off.
 
Looking at the 2 teams and the line I feel like GSW should win the series....but something about Lebron being such a big dog has me hesitant. I have GSW +300 from just before playoffs and Im thinking about a little hedge on Cleveland.
 
I don't know. I'm not saying that Cleveland don't have a shot here, but GSW are the better team with HCA.
I want to play Cleveland mostly because the odds are too high and I do expect the series to go to Cleveland tied 1 - 1 (and then back to Oakland tied 2 - 2).
I think that playing Cleveland 4 - 2 (5.70 odds) & GSW 4 - 3 (4.50 odds) should be good bets imho.
 
But divol u forgot that Cleveland has the best coach in the world
That gotta mean something
 
An empty chair could coach the Cavs, they're still winning the thing.
 
Finals fun fact. I sized and sold the pool heaters at LeBron's mansion in Bath. Wrote the spec and sold the boilers at the Cavs practice facility in Independence. Never even got a t-shirt.
 
tipyerbartender said:
An empty chair could coach the Cavs, they're still winning the thing.
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I think you're forgetting the stroke of genius that led to this improbable run to the Finals...

lebron-bowling-o.gif
 
My biggest problem with Lebron is a small one. Run from that "King" thing. It's a bad look. Don't wear stuff with crowns, unless you cheer for the Royals.
 
Wow at the Cleveland to win in 6 price on 5 Dimes...+500. Think if you like Cleveland to win the series this is the route to take.
 
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/colleagues-kerr-blatt-rare-rookies-finals-31415255



The path to the NBA Finals for Steve Kerr and David Blatt, a rare pair of rookie coaches on basketball's biggest stage, started with a meeting organized by their agent at Los Angeles International Airport last June.
The two clicked immediately, talking about their philosophies for basketball and life, and Kerr offered Blatt a spot on his new staff with the Golden State Warriors. Blatt, a successful coach internationally, had been waiting for the right opportunity to break into the NBA and initially accepted.
Then, an unexpected call gave their plans a twist.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers asked Blatt to interview for their coaching vacancy, Kerr encouraged him to seek the job. Now the next time they see each other will be from opposite benches when the Warriors host the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the finals Thursday night.
"No way we could've guessed back then that we'd be facing each other in the NBA Finals less than a year later. It's crazy to think about," Kerr said, echoing his counterpart's amazement.
"That's a great irony and story," Blatt said. "The way that I look at it is, especially when I look back to our conversation, is that we both got exactly what we wanted. We wanted to be part of a successful team that competes for the championship of the NBA. And it's happened — only we're on different sides."
The matchup is more than a coincidence. It's historic.
This is the first time rookie coaches have met in the finals time since the NBA's inaugural season in 1946-47. And no first-year coach has won the title since Pat Riley with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982.
Both took different roads to NBA coaching careers — Kerr as a five-time champion player, broadcaster and general manager, and Blatt as a coach in Europe and the Middle East.
In the past 12 months, their journeys have varied just as much.
Kerr took over a 51-win team led by Stephen Curry, this season's MVP, and loaded with talent. He coached the Warriors to a franchise-record 67 victories, rolling through the schedule with relative ease to earn the league's top playoff seed.
LeBron James came back to Cleveland in free agency shortly after Blatt took over, and Blatt faced constant questions about his abilities — which are magnified for anybody coaching the four-time MVP — when the Cavaliers got off to a slow start.
Kerr and Blatt admired each from afar before they had ever met. They got a chance to study their teams more closely this season, and that bond grew as they went through the NBA coaching grind for the first time.
"Anytime you're put in the spotlight like he was early in the season when things weren't going well for them, that's when your character shows, that's when your grit comes out," Kerr said. "I thought he handled all that stuff beautifully and just kept going and they righted the ship. I'm glad to see that he's getting the credit that's due."
For as quickly as their friendship formed, they never talked at length until Kerr got the Warriors job last May.
They were brought together by their shared agent, Mike Tannenbaum, who is now the executive vice president of the NFL's Miami Dolphins. Mark Bartelstein, who introduced Tannenbaum to both, represents each coach now.
Tannenbaum thought Kerr and Blatt had similar personalities. What he didn't know — nobody in the NBA did before this season — is their basketball minds worked in similar ways, too.




"We share a lot of the same philosophies in terms of how we see the game, ball movement and spacing and pace and the chemistry that happens when the ball does move," Kerr said.
Kerr's credibility in the NBA — he won three titles playing alongside Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls and two more under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, then went on to be the general manager of the Phoenix Suns and a well-liked broadcaster for TNT — helped him become the hottest candidate last summer despite never being a coach before.
That only accelerated when mentor Phil Jackson, the president of the Knicks and coach of those great Bulls teams, offered him New York's coaching job. But Kerr chose Golden State in large part so he could be close to his family in California.
Blatt had to leave his family in Israel to chase his dream. He had a successful coaching career overseas, leading Russia to the bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics and Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Euroleague championship last year, but he always wanted to coach in the world's top league.
At the time, the Warriors looked like his NBA springboard.
After he verbally committed to come to Golden State, the Cavaliers asked Blatt for an interview. Blatt wanted to pursue the position but also didn't want to sour his relationship with Kerr and the Warriors. So, he simply asked Kerr what to do.
"I told him, 'Of course, go see if you can get that. And if not, we'll talk,'" Kerr said.
Blatt has been thankful ever since. He even waited outside the Warriors' locker room to talk with Kerr before the Cavs' lone game at Oracle Arena in January.
"Life has taught me to never be convinced of anything until it happens," Blatt said. "Had Steve not been willing to allow me to interview for the job, I'd be in Golden State right now."
Instead, he'll be trying to take what Kerr and the Warriors want most: an NBA title.
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What is your opinion, if GSW are the same both coaching staff and players staff, but Jackson isn't replaced by Kerr (but they still got Gentry, Ron Adams and etc...), would GSW still be in the Finals?
 
hard to say, because the big reason he was fired was his unwillingness to hire better asst coaches. He doesn't seem like a guy who works well with others, so I would say no
 
So divol thinks Kerr did nothing. Was all his assistants.
And blatt did it all. Best coach in the league
Amazing
 
divol said:
What is your opinion, if GSW are the same both coaching staff and players staff, but Jackson isn't replaced by Kerr (but they still got Gentry, Ron Adams and etc...), would GSW still be in the Finals?
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Probably not because Jackson didn't listen to his assistants last season and replace Lee in the starting lineup w/ Draymond Green. Add to that Kerr inserted Harrison Barnes into the lineup and made Iguodala the 6th man which made Harrison much more effective playing off of Curry and Klay while giving the 2nd unit a veteran presence and great wing defender.

Blatt got to add LeBron and Kevin Love, then they added Mozgov, Shumpert, and JR Smith and improved by 20 games.

All Kerr got to add to the rotation was Shaun Livingston and the Warriors improved by 16 games.


Finals note, Cleveland is going to need about 30 minutes a game from Dellavedova and James Jones....neither player would even suit up for the Warriors.
 
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http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2015/05/isnt_it_time_cleveland_cavalie.html

Article about Blatt... :)

One point here that I liked and maybe that's why I'm annoyed about all the bad talks about Blatt, besides truly believing in him.

Gilbert loved the idea of Blatt. He was frustrated with recycled coaches such as Byron Scott and Mike Brown. He wanted something different.
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That's a great point that many times I think is getting overlooked. The musical chairs game in the NBA is really annoying most of the times. 90% of the time, you hire a coach that already coached in the NBA and got fired because he did a bad job and now another team hires him, hoping that suddenly he will turn things around.
Looking at the list of the champions the last three decades (didn't look before that), we can see that most coaches that coached champion team were never fired from NBA team.
Rudy, Jackson, Pop, Spoelstra, Riley and Larry Brown - Never been fired.
Daly, Doc and Carlisle are the other three. Daly and Rivers got fired exactly once before taking the job with their teams and bringing them to the title. Rivers was fired due to one bad start.
Carlisle was fired once as well, from the Pistons job (he resigned from the Pacers).
This year, no matter who wins the title, it will be his first NBA gig as well.

To be honest, I'm surprised that more teams don't hire Euro coaches, college coaches and etc... I get the fact that teams are worried and that many times, it turned out to be a disaster, but clearly, playing musical chairs with the coaches, doesn't bring team a title - it's absolutely clear.
 
Grantaland posted crazy stat (in my eyes):
Kobe eliminated 24 teams that had 50+ wins - more than anyone in the history (Jordan is second with 20).
LeBron? Only 7(!) teams.
 
divol said:
Grantaland posted crazy stat (in my eyes):
Kobe eliminated 24 teams that had 50+ wins - more than anyone in the history (Jordan is second with 20).
LeBron? Only 7(!) teams.
Click to expand...
yeah Kobe did it alone
How many were with shaq
 
This is why I've stopped reading divol's posts in this forum. Nothing personal against him, but he is so full of crap and does not know what he is talking about. He takes the strangest side and has faulty reasoning to back his position. David Blatt as one of the best coaches in history? Ha! This is basically a Lebron led and coached team. As far as Blatt's success in international league play...so what? What has he done in the NBA to justify his greatness? Nothing, yet. He is a rookie coach. Period.
 
Blatt is an unproven rookie coach until proven otherwise, not the greatest coaching mind in the game.

Simply put, Monty Williams would still be employed if LeBron had been on his roster this season.
 
ArizonaKid said:
Probably not because Jackson didn't listen to his assistants last season and replace Lee in the starting lineup w/ Draymond Green. Add to that Kerr inserted Harrison Barnes into the lineup and made Iguodala the 6th man which made Harrison much more effective playing off of Curry and Klay while giving the 2nd unit a veteran presence and great wing defender.

Blatt got to add LeBron and Kevin Love, then they added Mozgov, Shumpert, and JR Smith and improved by 20 games.

All Kerr got to add to the rotation was Shaun Livingston and the Warriors improved by 16 games.


Finals note, Cleveland is going to need about 30 minutes a game from Dellavedova and James Jones....neither player would even suit up for the Warriors.
Click to expand...

Your posts are winning this thread!
 
emkee said:
Blatt is an unproven rookie coach until proven otherwise, not the greatest coaching mind in the game.

Simply put, Monty Williams would still be employed if LeBron had been on his roster this season.
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That's BS. No one knows who would have been employed and who wouldn't and that's just theories. I doubt that Cleveland would have been 12 - 2 this postseason so far, if Monty would have coached instead of David, but we won't know.
But that doesn't matter.
The fact that David coaches LeBron, doesn't make him better or worst coach than he is.

I NEVER claimed he is great coaching mind in the game. He is a good NBA coach, that gets tons of hate, just because he wouldn't consider himself a rookie and because he coaches LeBron and can't get any credit for any of the team's success.
Slowly that changes around the league, but CTG prefers to stay behind I guess...
 
NBA Finals trivia...

there are 7 players in NBA history that have shot 45% from 3 and 50% from the field (minimum 200 3's attempted) and one of them is in this Finals...who is it ? (and for you hardcore NBA fans name the other 6)
 
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Mike Miller did 50% and 48%, but had only 171 three pointers that season for the Wizards.
 
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