||| WARRIORS ||| CAVALIERS ||| NBA ||| FINALS ||| 2017 ||| PART ||| 3 |||

warriors sweep, curry finals mvp, draymond no flagrants

sounds abt right

dray 1 flagrant maybe

voted w in 5 tho

the cavs are gonna be trying so hard to push his buttons guarenteed

I had to decide between dubs in 5 or in 6. I went conservative and voted 6. Finals Bron is formidable, but not invincible, as has been proved more than once in the past.

cavs in 7

gonna post this here so everyone has to read it when they open the thread

my fav outcome of this series wld be cavs winning via bron having the greatest finals performance ever, not cause im really rooting for the them just cause i wld like to see something like that, and it wld be cool to see the dubs lose after adding kd, i do not think thats whatll happen, i think the dubs will win in 5

― lag∞n, Friday, May 26, 2017 7:22 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

bron v kd matchup will be very interesting and crucial, both teams will try to not have them guard each other but in the crunch time there will be no choice

remember when harrison barnes went 3-95 games 5-7. he's been swapped for KD. no rest for lebron.

this series is the ultimate challenge for bron and if he can do it he is the goat

maybe kyrie can play a lil D too who knows lol

the warriors cannot be stopped

also k love has looked as good as ever leading up to the finals but the warriors matchup has not been good for him.

Cavs should have Kyrie back on defense to help out, might be a nice change of pace for him.

Cavs in 6

never forget
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py0-l1M_870

never happened

z lowe on TT
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19491943/zach-lowe-cleveland-cavaliers-tristan-thompson-becoming-elite-role-player-nba

no it definitely happened, i provided video evidence of this happening, see above for reference xp

im allergic to any evidence of the 2016 finals.

i predict it will come down to two free-throws to be taken by lebron - lebron will make one and miss one, with slightly different free-throw routines for each

lmao

offs so far:
https://bballbreakdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Screen-Shot-2017-05-28-at-6.50.38-AM.png

i really just hope its an epic finals cause otherwise whats the point of having two superteams

yea i don't want any chokers

in that same regard both teams have totally coasted up til now which is weird and adds an element of instability, like u cld see the dubs kinda freaking out when the spurs were torching them before they intentionally injured kawhi

its like training to run a 4 hour marathon then suddenly having to do a six minute 26th mile

this series is the ultimate challenge for bron and if he can do it he is the goat

yep

I agree that it'll probably be Warriors in 5 but I definitely think Bron will be the best player in the series

please no injuries for this series either

^^ injuries would only muddy up the results, which need to be crystal clear this time

stephen a smith changed his official prediction to dubs

yes very sad about that

i would genuinely encourage any posters here who are totally picking the cavs in good faith and not just because they're homers or anything to find your local bookie or log onto bovada and start printing money

don't worry I'm a homer though I do think cavs chances are higher than most people are giving them credit for

what are the odds rn? i would give the cavs at least 40% chance to win

right now it's warriors -240 which is 70/30. it opened at -260 or -270 i think

538 saying it's 90/10

dont forget friends, betting on sports is dumb for making money

i don't gamble but 70/30 sounds ridiculous for a finals to me, let alone 90/10

dont forget friends, betting on sports is dumb for making money

― lag∞n, Tuesday, May 30, 2017 2:14 PM (four seconds ago)

def, but every once in a while there's obvious money to be made. finals 2 years ago was pretty easy money for anyone paying attention.

70/30 seems like a very fair price, even if i think the warriors should probably be stronger favorites. don't think it's attractive enough to bet

90/10 is pretty far out but dont think anyones giving those odds, wonder what it was for that year the lakers beat the nets, had to have been one of the most lopsided matchups ever

538 is probably over-weighting the Cav's regular season after the ASB.

havent read the 538 thing but that's probably right

yeah I'd take 70/30 for sure, but my book doesn't have a price on the series yet, lol

that said I do get a little suspicious of projection systems when they're dealing with superteams like this.

main thing that 538 model doesn't account for iirc is ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ playoff lebron ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

more or less

i recall nate silver saying is ELO model or whatever doesn't really treat playoff basketball as different from regular season

i very rarely bet sports, i think the last time i did was the finals 2 years ago. i just like thinking about it

NBA finals are kind of an interesting betting phenomenon tho, if you're a reasonably discerning and plugged-in fan there can probably be money to be made. combination of the better team usually wins + lots of media attention/terrible opinions by stephen a smith probably cause people to bet on the cavs when they shouldnt, making the warriors odds better

warriors odds are probably as good as they're gonna get because most books probably got a lot of money on the dubs last summer after KD signed

Just remember that LeBron has appeared in 7 consecutive finals but he doesn't have 7 rings.

if u add the number he has to the number jordan has he has 9

also remember that LeBron has yet to be on a team that would manage a .500 record without him

ehhhhhhh

lol he's literally been on 'superteams' since he left Cavs the first time

yeah any of those heat teams and kyrie/love would still easily be over .500 if lebron's place was taken by Arbitrary Defense Man

those Heat teams look a lot less good without Bron dragging Wade's corpse around with him. Cavs numbers w/o him have been pretty awful.

they're what, 4-18 in games Lebron sits?

dont think ur gonna get anyone on board w this one

team wins more games when best player plays, full story after this message

i don't think you understand how low the bar is for .500 in the east

hey I'm a Bucks fan, .500 in the East still feels like a feat to me

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/19483056/closer-look-warriors-cavaliers-matchup

http://i.imgur.com/oOIkopj.png

jesus

KD was asked if he'll do better converting open shots than Harrison Barnes did in last year's Finals. "what do you think?" he responded.

— jacob c. palmer (@jacobc_palmer) May 30, 2017

z lowe on TT
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19491943/zach-lowe-cleveland-cavaliers-tristan-thompson-becoming-elite-role-player-nba

― Spottie, Tuesday, May 30, 2017 1:11 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is really good

tho lowe describing thompsons floater as silky is a bit much

i'm finding it hard to have much of a rooting interest in either of these teams. i guess i'll lean towards lebron becoming the goat he was born to be but it seems like such a long shot.

anyways imo lebron is the goat and i'm sticking to dubs in five

ya i dont really care just want to see some stuff

lebron didnt prove it already last year?

lol it's true my only preferred champ is Messy D xp

bron proved it last year but the dubs are so much better this year it wld be even more proving it

yea if Bron somehow pulls this off he's 100% the goat, instead of like 75% or whatever he is now

imo hes at 35% GOAT rn

if he wins hell be at 85% goat

http://www.sbnation.com/2017/5/30/15707478/lebron-james-defense-strategy-cavaliers-warriors-nba-finals-2017

538 saying it's 90/10

― frogbs, Tuesday, May 30, 2017 7:13 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cavs in 6

by the final two minutes of game 7

http://i.imgur.com/Xvk9049.png

lmao

i think if you're the cavs you just have to let draymond hoist, there's no route to victory if everyone's making outside shots and he's the most likely to go cold

yep

last year steph was hurt and dray missed an elimination game, bron was great but i'm not sure it proved much other than that he's great

I just want a nice competitive series which is what would have def occurred vs the Spurs if the desperate warriors hadn't on purpose taken out kawhi

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

12 dubs votes, 8 cavs votes, considerably closer than i'd have thought

sounds abt right for a site full of dummies homers and contrarians

more importantly, this means ilh thinks javale will get himself a ring.

congratulations to matt

Hm weird I set this poll to end tomorrow

lebron's already in your head bro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd_SDGZvANk

good video! i may understand only half of it, but definitely the kind of basketball nerdity i find interesting

also shows the more subtle stuff Draymond is doing defensively

yeah wow that's great stuff

dray is an extremely special defender but contrary to what that guy says i have to believe that stuff is in the scheme. still, like he says, GS can do it better than any other team because dray is just that versatile and good

these are the kinds of little things that don't show up in the box score but add so much value to the team. our understanding of defense is so elementary because we can't easily quantify things like how often a guy switches to a higher-percentage defensive play compared to the average defender. shows up in plus-minus stats tho

they ought to take two weeks off between the semis and finals, like the super bowl, really build the buzz

But I don't want year round NBA.

the triple switch shd be called the double switch

seems like there shd be a counter in there while theyre doing that extra switch if the team moves fast enough

these schemes contradict the conventional wisdom about the warriors switchablilty, here theyre putting a lot of effort into getting back into conventional size on size matchups after the initial switch

if you switch 5 times on a single possession you unlock turbo mode

death mode

these schemes contradict the conventional wisdom about the warriors switchablilty, here theyre putting a lot of effort into getting back into conventional size on size matchups after the initial switch

― lag∞n, Wednesday, May 31, 2017 10:15 AM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this is a good point, they do a ton of switching but not because they don't care about matchups or think their guys can all guard 1-4. and draymond may be able to guard 1-5 but more of his value may come from knowing the correct secondary switch, which seems like a really hard thing to consistently get right.

yeah this makes their switch heavy scheme seem more based on skill than natural ability

http://www.tmz.com/2017/05/31/lebron-james-home-vandalized-with-n-word-graffiti-hate-crime/

ugh

gross

fuck that shit

awful

Lowe predix dubs in 6
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19500294/zach-lowe-2017-nba-finals-preview-prediction-golden-state-warriors-vs-cleveland-cavaliers

despite the predicition lowe's piece has me amped up for a good series

yeah well balanced hope its good

how do you all think mike brown will fare v. lue? does it matter?

it doesnt matter too much, kerr is heavily involved. where brown may actually be a difference is hes already said he will fall back to basic PnR and mismatch ball when necessary (when things get bogged down), something kerr has shown reluctance to do.

http://www.tmz.com/2017/05/31/lebron-james-home-vandalized-with-n-word-graffiti-hate-crime/

ugh

― 龜, Wednesday, May 31, 2017 12:15 PM (two hours ago

:( :( :( :( :(

http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/columnists/full/lowe_zach.png&w=160&h=160&scale=crop

seriously what is wrong with his hair

it's trying to escape his head

LeBron James is the best player. Kevin Love is playing perhaps the best basketball of his Cleveland tenure, and when he produces like this, the talent gap between Cleveland's Big Three and Golden State's three best players -- Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green -- isn't insurmountable.

another one on our side in the great debate

lol

i can't begrudge him for the hair line, most of us have/will have thinning hair, it's the asymmetry that is bad, that part on his left side sticks out a little too much. but whatever he is very good at writing/speaking about basketball

re kerr

Mike Brown says Steve Kerr hasn't yet told him whether he's coaching Game 1

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) May 31, 2017

lowe does the come-over is my main issue. balding/thinning happens no biggy. if he is gonna go full wild hair then he should just really go for it. it cant seem to decide.

also i've been trying to think of who kevin love reminds me of for so long and it just occured to me that it is pryzbelewski from the wire!

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/The_Wire_Prez.jpg

lol yea i can kinda see it

Hopefully Klay swings the pendulum back

Klay Thompson is averaging 14.4 PPG, a .455 eFG%, and an 8.4 PER in the playoffs, all career lows https://t.co/qrWKqI9jq0 pic.twitter.com/0hpxl3oNJ8

— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) May 31, 2017

LeBron James responds to racial slur sprayed on front gate of his LA home with strong statement on race issues in America pic.twitter.com/CjUvCXixGB

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 31, 2017

I know we make fun of messy drama lebron but he's been a real dude about anything that matters his entire career

I totally missed the poll but dubs in 7 and if bron pulls off a win I think he moves into undisputed co-goat status at least

Btw on one of the pods I think it was Lowe and windhorst discussing something about the Celtics and other non cavs east teams that could make moves and mentioned that the east is "wide open"

I totally knew what they meant but then I remembered a lebron team has won the east and gone to the finals SEVEN straight years so uh it's really not wide open oops

some day lebron will lose

perhaps

perhaps not?

apt
https://fansided.com/2017/05/31/lebron-james-nostalgia-future-inevitable/

on a pod yesterday dave mcmenamin said he thought lebron was only going to play 3 or 4 more years. he didn't offer any particulars but sounded more sure than someone who was just speculating.

honestly when you think about it these guys have ridiculous work ethic and drive. none of these guys need to lift a finger for the rest of their lives and about 2-3 generations of their families will be filthy rich. if i were lebron i'm not sure what playing past 35 would really do for me

i think he shd play longer

unless he quits to make a series of buddy comedies w peyton manning

no reason to stop when you're still a top 10 player

i think part of the theory was that lebron wouldn't want to turn himself into a role player

he cld def be more than a roleplayer into his l8 30s

i wanna see ol man james just parked in the post all day

#TheJump Distant Replay: 18 years ago today, Sean Elliott graced us with the Memorial Day Miracle. pic.twitter.com/Hf1fslaa8o

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 1, 2017

that spurs court design takes me back

found lagoon's secret twitter account https://twitter.com/StephKlayKevin/with_replies

please cease doxxing me immediately

his only non-bball follow being minecraft is a nice touch

these guys have ridiculous work ethic and drive. none of these guys need to lift a finger for the rest of their lives

this is the thing that i think most ppl miss -- especially with black players, of course. being a world-class athlete requires psychotic drive and commitment. manny ramirez has this rep of being completely half-assed but no one (except for maybe tony gwynn) worked harder at video/bp/preparation. the training that top tennis players do, with the diets and the oxygen chambers, is ridiculous

there are lots of dudes like lavar ball who think that if the breaks had gone differently they could have been players. and yeah some guys got by on height or being lefty or whatever, but the superstars are just insanely competitive, and they will not quit until they're forced to

oh hey the finals starts tomorrow my dudes

today the nba finals is available for viewing

I know we make fun of messy drama lebron but he's been a real dude about anything that matters his entire career

― gis for westbrook shark jump (agent hibachi), Wednesday, May 31, 2017 5:49 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agree

ive always thought lebron the guy seems like a good guy

def

kinda weird hes so widely loathed

ppl want their athletes to be kobe, are fd in the head

seems like it started with jordan, or maybe it just seems that way because of my age

prob comes down to some deeply held cultural beliefs abt strength and heroes that are really just toxic and nonsensical

racism too

theres always that

hated Lebron for going to Miami the way he did, though I guess that was selfish on my part

now I root for him to destroy everyone

lebron loves memes

miami announcement was done poorly but he was young so i forgive him

yeah easy to hate Lebron for a while when he was all NWO, but i think he seems like a genuinely decent guy, if any one of us can ever know

most of my extended family lives in Akron. my grandma lives like a half-mile from his house. she would go on and on about how much he was doing for the community, apparently he pours a lot of money into local schools and charities. when he was in Miami she said "I'm really sad he's gone but he's still a wonderful young man". I figured if my Granny, a lifelong Cavs fan, could forgive him, I could too.

the decision was def majorly boneheaded but the distaste for him is so wide spread i think theres more there

some of it is his game isnt elegant like mike it doesnt really have that high level of charisma that most star perimeter players do

hes a lil more like shaq a bruiser who plays w insane skill thats easy to discount

idk I guess he flops some

more than that I think he gets a lot of hatred from my generation b/c people are comparing him to Jordan and they don't like that

he does flop and whine everyone does these days tho

definitely a generational thing "no one can be as good as jordan, the star of my youth"

also he takes himself pretty seriously, people don't always like that, part of why that championship parade moment when he was all loose and dropping f-bombs and joking about all the players was so special

i think its cause ppl sense his vulnerability and it makes them uncomfortable

I really think if the league keeps shrinking and more young guys model their games on curry/isiah etc lebron could be a tremendous micro ball center from age 35-40

I would 100% root for a lebron-lebron jnr 1-5 pick and roll in 2023

thing w playing an old at positions hes undersized for is its really tiring, one wld think hell end up seeing more time at the 4 at least tho

the reg season/playoffs bron contrast will get bigger too which will be fun

if the cavs win this year have a feeling a lot of ppl will just give in and love him

kinda weird hes so widely loathed

that televised "The Decision" thing was a monumental dick move on his part, but he seems to have learned from it. his being caught on camera mocking dirk during the finals against the mavs was also a dick move, but he seems to have learned from that, too. he's grown up slowly, but he does make progress.

kobe had court dates for rape

the things held against bron relative to other athletes only make sense through the most paternalist petty prism

yeah like if the people he's up against are MJ and kobe i don't see how you can possibly get him on character

also he takes himself pretty seriously, people don't always like that, part of why that championship parade moment when he was all loose and dropping f-bombs and joking about all the players was so special

― marcos, Thursday, June 1, 2017 8:38 AM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idk I think its kinda the opposite maybe? remember when everyone was mad @ him for dancing

kobe is a sociopath and therefore much worse than a monumental dick. and while we're at it. Jordan was a monumental dick, too. Nike and his other sponsors spent hundreds of millions disguising this fact.

shaq is a weirdly apt comparison actually imo

i wld argue the money was spent glorifying it xp

yeah I've seen a hundred commercials and one movie starring Michael Jordan and he is not likeable in any of them

I think part of the resentment towards Lebron comes from the fact that he's bewn The Anointed One since high school, so when he couldn't win a title in 6 years it gave a lot of people a reason to yell "OVERRATED!!" at him.

?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AGiq9j_Ak

most of my extended family lives in Akron. my grandma lives like a half-mile from his house. she would go on and on about how much he was doing for the community, apparently he pours a lot of money into local schools and charities. when he was in Miami she said "I'm really sad he's gone but he's still a wonderful young man". I figured if my Granny, a lifelong Cavs fan, could forgive him, I could too.

Same here; my cousin worked for Lebron's foundation and has never had a single bad word to say about him, even through the Miami years.

Also this feels apropos: http://verysmartbrothas.com/lebron-james-may-or-may-not-be-a-better-basketball-player-than-michael-jordan-but-hes-a-better-man/

yeah

bron is the best.. but also f him.

reasonable

lol

ugh i cant focus at all at work TOO AMPED

Another #NBAFinals hype vid! Any others we missed? #LetsGoWarriors 👌💛💙 (🎥: @SamHustis) pic.twitter.com/H0ZdoMoWVa

— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) June 1, 2017

yup!

btw seeing klay eat his words after talking shit last year was a special joy for me personally

poor klay hes such a nice young man and so bad at talking shit, the media goaded him into it

oh hope the pettiness goes to all time highs no matter the outcome. need. more. pettiness.

lebrons high road comment is all time

klay should really stick to his lane which is staring at mundane objects with wonder

https://i.redd.it/dlfvh6iab3ky.gif

never really found klay attractive but he looks v handsome there I have to admit

i have never ever liked bron's game though the moments when he goes into the zone are undeniably transcendent.
he's been a better human being while playing the game than charles or shaq or michael ever were tho.

Spoke with NBA executive who predicted #Cavs overcome 3-0 deficit to win title this year. "I stand by it. Just don't use my name" #NBAFinals

— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) June 1, 2017

I would retire from NBA fandom.

fair

shows how little anon front office takes are worth, theyre subject to shit talking just like everyone else

why is this game at 9 thats so late

the bay area billionaires don't even need to work they can deal w/ an afternoon start time

hmm i checked and its at 7

very weird

6 yall. move west, improve your life

its actually been cancelled sorry

bets reg season record wins by default?

warriors in 5 btw

yeah that's my real predic too. if they dont wrap it in 5 then theyre in trouble imo.

lmao javale is the best

Javale arrives rockin' a @SHAQ hat. pic.twitter.com/vF69x2TNfd

— NBCS Warriors News (@NBCSWarriors) June 1, 2017

lol, they need to get a room

javale is the most 9 year old dude i swear

If he's 9 then Shaq is 4

my friends, it is time for the very last basketball game aka the final

good luck, cleveland

yay it's time!

let the drama be heavy and real, bless us

lol everyone is too amped up

lil bit of yips here lol

bron guarding kd

klay's 1 on 1 d has been unbelievable

klay w a few great defensive possessions early lol xp

kd lookin v srs

yeah klay's been textbook on d

rihanna mvp

some quality javale content so far

cavs lucky not to be down more dubs missing a lot of easy ones

feel like durant's impact on this game is greater than harrison barnes' would have been

omg that Irving shot

you know who came to play, kevin "kevin durant" durant did.

durant running the fast break with steph on his flank is apparently the most unstoppable play in basketball

feels like the warriors have missed like 3 layups too

that was a very chill 23/6/4 durant put up

not sure the gameplan was to let the dubs get 60 in the first half the finals

we're halfway through the finals

this is it baby the final game

durant's scary

12-1 in turnovers.

yeesh, this thing will be lucky to go 6

yeah. dubs may just have too much firepower.

i have been informed that there will be at least three more games

Durant is doing a little lebron impression, barreling down the lane and finding open shooters

Well, we'll always have that first quarter

brutal

warriors D is suffocating

game 1s are frequently misleading but this doesn't feel super encouraging for the cavs. less "the cavs didn't play great" and more "if KD and steph play this well they probably have no chance"

or "if draymond or klay has a big game they're even more screwed"

klay...seems broken

i've never considered durant the single best player in the world but this game could trick me

its a trick

play the game of "switch lebron and KD, what would happen" and it would be this bad and maybe worse

bron looked tired tonight

i really hope this isn't going to be a blowout.

cavs have some srs work to do on defensive strategy before game 2

they really need to dominate the glass to have a shot

yeah what the heck happened to tristan tonight

Crazy that Love got 21 rebounds and dubs still seemed to be dominating the boards.

welp basketball is bad now

the one thing the cavs should know from the last two finals is that they can't play at GSW's pace, especially in oakland. obv we saw tonight what up tempo fastbreak games will look like. they have to play slow and in the half court which maybe suits them anyway since bron and kyrie are the best 1 on 1 players in this series.

turned this off a few minutes into the third

kept hoping it would become competitive but nope. ah well, we'll see how game 2 goes

klay...seems broken

― k3vin k., Thursday, June 1, 2017 11:15 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he played great D though

kd negates a huge portion of the cavs halfcourt advantage on both sides of the ball

kyrie, lebron, steph, and durant are all roughly equals at isos

the pace thing is probably true but it's really just a function of turnovers. easier said than done of course

i do not think this series is going to be competitive, sorry. i know it's in everyone's best interest to look for ways it can somehow happen but the two teams just aren't close

Warriors aren't gonna win the turnover battle or get rebounds like that again.

38-8-8 w 0 TOs is an insane line

cancel the nba

usually when a team has 3 of the 4 best players in a series and blows the other team out in game 1, it's a bad sign for the other team

maybe the nba should consider rule changes to prevent the winners of the last 3 mvps awards to not be on the same team idk

They smoked em game 1 and 2 last year too. I'm not getting my hopes up.

nba should consider rule changes to prevent the winners of the last 3 mvps awards to not be on the same team

But what do you do if all the last three mvp winners are the same player?

Klay Thompson contested 10 shots Thursday. The Cavs went 1-of-12 when he was the primary defender. He was a plus player despite scoring 6.

— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) June 2, 2017

What happened to Tristan tonight?

the warriors, iirc

But what do you do if all the last three mvp winners are the same player?

― A is for (Aimless), Thursday, June 1, 2017 11:25 PM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that plural 'winners' is doing a lot of favors for me

Steph was outshined a bit but

Steph Curry had 28 points, 10 assists, 6 boards and 3 steals in 34 minutes. He was a game-high +20. He shot 50% from field and 54.5% from 3.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 2, 2017

They smoked em game 1 and 2 last year too. I'm not getting my hopes up.

― fo, fo, fo, fo (Spottie), Friday, June 2, 2017 12:21 AM (eight hours ago) Bookmark

yeah i remember everybody making the same predix / hand-wringing after games 1 and 2 last year

bron looked tired tonight

― lag∞n, Friday, 2 June 2017 1:19 PM

yeah this was weird

forgot to juice

i still think the games in cleveland will be very competitive at worst, and i could see the cavs winning both. but them winning in oakland seems like a really tall task.

the cavs did win the one game b/w these two teams in cleveland this year

also the reffing was pretty generous towards the warriors last night, which will prob regress back the other way naturally

20 turnovers was ..... bad

if cavs want to win i suggest they don't do that again lol

warriors missed a ton of open shots too

yea could've easily been a much worse blowout

starting a gofundme to keep the dubs together

cavs d was sooo bad last night multiple possessions where kd went coast to coast without anyone attempting to stop the ball

yea it was terrible

i'm waiting for the supercut of all the times KD had an uncontested dunk

i had no idea what cavs were doing on so many offensive plays too, so many bad lob passes to nowhere

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--5INSY9dl--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/amfmm2zqzl0hjtzifavm.jpg

They're game plan was clearly to run out to the three point shooters on fast breaks.

Their*

yeah

lol rihanna

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBSVn9LUwAAfJhi.jpg:large

^ five warriors, but only four cavs in view. also, what a lovely pic.

the Fifth Cav is just an urban legend

Anyone else see Eddy Cue @cue say "tell that bitch to sit down" after @rihanna was cheering court side? #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/iwRjjYEqno

— BaerFace (@BaerFace) June 2, 2017

who the fuck is that guy

apple executive. also as a pretty good lip-reader i'm not positive he said "bitch", but it's possible

"tell her she should sit down" seems equally plausible

the problem is that he is also standing when he tells her to sit down

as long as he didn't say bitch it's crazy that anyone would have a problem w/ trash talk between fans at a sporting event

also rihanna loves to trash talk

lol it's obv typical home fan trash talking to fans of the opposing team xxp

rihanna apparently yelled "brick" during one of durant's free throws

lol jealous bay area billionaire

this bitch ass nerd is good actually --jordan and kevin

i mostly posted it to see if we could summon the ghost of markers

i think celeb sideline trash talk is 100% ineffective but in this case i'm not sure. rip cavs probably either way.

have to say if the billionaires are gonna take all the good seats at least it's good that they're getting into the games

for example unlike court side fans of the previous NBA dynasty at least these guys seem to come to the game on time

kevin wld def go nazi

ur mom is nazti in bed

lol pwned

please remove this filth from the sacred nba finals thread

this bay area billionaire is good i admire his hoarding of resources, also i admire hitler --kevin

i just want to say i am literally stuck in my house for the past month studying for a huge test and talking trash on ILH makes my day so much better, love you all

except lagoon obv

rude

change yr shirt

i did :)

i actually didn't mention what the shirt was because i knew i would get mocked on ILH mercilessly

what shirt tell us

lmao

have to say if the billionaires are gonna take all the good seats at least it's good that they're getting into the games

― k3vin k., Friday, June 2, 2017 1:53 PM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

bunch of dubs fans still left early last night tho

it's a steph curry shirt that my gf got for me when she was in SF for a conference. i don't wear it out because i don't want to look like a frontrunner but wearing it often inside makes it clear that i appreciate the gift :)

i am also drinking from a warriors mug D:

:(

lol

same here

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41hCGxUU4HL._SY355_.jpg

heh nice

i don't wear it out because i don't want to look like a frontrunner

lol

KEV YES! wore my dubs hat to work (CASUAL DAY!) today and am getting lots of gruff for it.

kev is a true warriors fan, glad to have you on board until the nuggets get good.

heh

i have an ancient detroit pistons cap that has this version of the logo
http://i.imgur.com/Av0ZwPX.gif

nice one

i don't know where it came from ive never been to detroit nor has anyone in my family

wore my World B. Free t-shirt to work yesterday. All for naught.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91AetB5GZeL._SX355_.jpg

the world will never b. free again

ha that is a cool shirt

ya v nice

nice shirt tho. wear it proud

FYI I do not wear clothes when the spurs lose, just a heads up

http://www.anorak.co.uk/193165/news/naked-spurs-fan-caught-up-tesco-chinmey.html/

rong spurs

i know...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4567094/Apple-VP-told-Rihanna-sit-NBA-Finals.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailus

lol its made the daily mail

lol nomar.

lebruh thought he was still guarding harrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YH_F1mgqFg

i have an ancient detroit pistons cap that has this version of the logo

― ciderpress, Friday, June 2, 2017 2:32 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I had the same one, still in my parents house somewhere I think. No idea why I had it

maybe they just spawn in to this world at random locations

http://imgur.com/a/bEczT

just wanted to let you guys know i've had this screenshot sitting on my desktop for like 3 weeks

http://i.imgur.com/abTMtiN.jpg

embrace the dray

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roY6RseK5cw

hey there is a basketball game today

Kerr back!

Vaguely remember some other guitarist doing something similar.

this is more like it

i'm watching in colorado right now, 6pm Sunday game is great!

fuckin zaza

uhh kyrie is is overdribbling so much

theres always been an unwritten rule about not calling shooting fouls on heaves, curry shouldnt have got that

Clev with the sleeves, good sign.

lol I thought this started at six on the west coast I'm a moron

nah i was confused as to whether it was 8 or 9 eastern earlier today

ban Jeff

So far a better quality game than the first. Cavs aren't asleep at the wheel this time.

bron w the slight hesitation then driving through four dubs my lord

yeah that was nuts

loves defensive effort is still lamentable

well that was a pretty sweet half of basketball

i cant stop watching the the guy cleaning the floor glide to the next spot. what a move. pic.twitter.com/sWtk5PaF4O

— Whitney Medworth (@its_whitney) June 5, 2017

bron not shooting one j that whole half is p awesome

My god steph

Cavs shoot too many 3s. Trying to be GS at their own game is not the way to win.

*to beat

cavs are a really good 3 point shooting team tho. upping the variance as a huge underdog seems like the way to go

cavs keep digging themselves out of uh oh territory

Klay trying to contest that three from under the basket was a thing of beauty.

My local ABC channel is suddenly AWOL. WTF?!?!

try espn.com

curry gotta feel good about his finals performance so far

Sigh. This series is over in four or five. The Warriors are just too damn good.

warriors have absorbed a couple body blows and are coming out just fine

bron not shooting one j that whole half is p awesome

― lag∞n, Sunday, June 4, 2017 9:28 PM (forty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it was awesome and he is real tired now

the snrub has spoken

ridiculous

not sure the 92 dream team could put a dent in these dubs when they're clicking

took ABC 30 minutes to come back up, sadly couldn't watch on ESPN.com. Luckily, it looks like I missed a pretty lopsided stretch.

you missed the warriors going nuclear which unless you have a rooting interest is a wonderful thing to witness

I don't really have a rooting interest but I wish these games were a bit more competitive. Four blowouts in a row will be pretty dull.

i mean what the hell can you do when durant, curry, and thompson are hitting everything

felt like lebron was really locked in tonight and.......

if he can give that kind of effort every game i think they'll take at least one in cleveland. but including the regular season they've been down by like 30 points in every game in oakland this time around.

if steph and KD keep playing like this it's not gonna matter tho, there's nothing you can do

yeah this game was an interesting study as far as the limits of what lebron can do. every other team would have been staggering from the first half he had.

LeBron is taking questions, but he does not have much patience for this one pic.twitter.com/QfUObUZWM6

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) June 5, 2017

5b 3s for KD curry trip dub man alive. Currys been so good all playoffs.

lol that was the dumbest question

Lebron was pretty good that whole interview but there were a couple really dumb qs

Bron looked pretty gassed by the middle of the third

lol can't blame bron for that shit

Cavs locker room has a strong reefer aroma to it tonight. Hey, it's Cali. You're down 2-0 and it's all about pain control. #NBAFinals

— Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) June 5, 2017

lol

i've analyzed some historical data and the most likely outcome from this point is for the cavs to win game 3, lose game 4, then win games 5, 6, and 7

Bron looked pretty gassed by the middle of the third
― i believe that (s)he is sincere (forksclovetofu), Monday, June 5, 2017 4:36 AM

lol can't blame bron for that shit
― Nhex, Monday, June 5, 2017 6:11 AM

Baseline angle of Curry and LeBron pic.twitter.com/TxUVQqtwrk

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) June 5, 2017

gosh

great defense, better offense

in the interest of fairness, this was a thing to see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1odS_FWoPw

his dunk in game 1 was one of his best ever imo

great defense, better offense

― k3vin k., Monday, June 5, 2017 12:33 PM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah this is incredible by both of them, lebron only error was overcomitting a bit to contesting a possible step back 3 after steph opened up one step worth of space, curry was just faster to bail on that and drive instead and lebron correctly played for the block from behind instead of pushing up and probably fouling since he was beat. No one else on the planet has a chance on that play

http://i.imgur.com/r3CHGTO.png

wow how did steph get bron to bite so hard on that upfake

lol

lol that the plays ppl made the biggest deal abt this offs were both obvious double dribbles

ive noticed that fake bringing the off hand up to load the ball for a shot then go has become an important play, but you have to make sure not to actually grab the ball

what was the other one? IT2?

bron shaking jalen brown in the corner

tbf bron destroying IT was prob bigger but it wasnt really a play more of a hopeless massacre

if you watch that steph play in real time him putting his hand on the ball is imperceptible and i don't think had any effect on the play

i'm still not convinced. i need that intel 360 technology

the exact purpose of the move is to get the defender to bite so i'd say it had an effect on the play!

the only effect it had on the play was bron defended it accordingly leading to a layup for steph LOL

as i detailed upthread its a good fake but its important to not actually do the thing youre faking

lol yes

i like the part where steph got away with a dd and roasted lebron

kyrie had a really blatant carry last night i stood up and yelled CARRY AHHHH and my kids were scared of me for a second.

lol classic dad moment

the fake works whether or not he puts his hand on the ball, he does it all the time

yup

also JR was almost the MVP

I'm not saying JR Smith was trying to hurt Kevin Durant, but what is this exactly? pic.twitter.com/g4FEYvALFz

— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) June 5, 2017

here was when i had my dad moment

the carry is dead. pic.twitter.com/QhdPyx4EJf

— From The WaterCooler (@FTWaterCooler) June 5, 2017

that's the one where he plants his foot under KD on the 3 right? i was surprised to see twitter not going nuts about that

yup

the fake works whether or not he puts his hand on the ball, he does it all the time

― J0rdan S., Monday, June 5, 2017 3:27 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

one way is a fake, the other is not, feel like i shdnt have to explain this, also youre positing an unprovable counterfactual, and saying something insanely stupid

the little flair JR puts on his leg was bowen-esque. way more blatant than zaza's

that kyrie carry is ok because also other times when he does not carry he continues to dribble the ball

zaza got kawhis back leg on a second hop lol jfc whats up w u ppl today

thats basically what happened on that play i linked, just got lucky he didnt roll

if you watch the video jr does a third hop

its a shitty play by jr def but not worse than zazas which took an extra hop to specifically target kawhis injured rear leg

iirc you coudl see JR mouth to lebron on the sidelines later "damn dude sorry, i almost got him, shoulda added an extra hop"

more importantly zaza has been >>> Tristan so far in this series. dont expect that to hold in cle but hes been weirdly absent so far.

not really the sort of job u shd send jr to do

tru

frankly im surprised more people didn't complain when JR was on the bench and threw the banana peel right in front of KD on the break

ha

more importantly zaza has been >>> Tristan so far in this series. dont expect that to hold in cle but hes been weirdly absent so far.

― fo, fo, fo, fo (Spottie), Monday, June 5, 2017 3:42 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

zaza playing 13mins last night is more the problem, theres no one for tristan to guard, putting him on dray and and having him sag back into the paint has some appeal theoretically but it hasnt worked so far

btw dray has been in foul trouble both games and it hasnt really mattered cause the dubs r just scoring so many points, doesnt seem like he affecting the series that much defensively anyway, kinda a weird first couple games in a the warriors are breaking basketball sort of way

yeah love outplayed him last night, the foul trouble is hurting him for sure. he hit those early threes tho and that opened everything up.

cavs are def in full do not even bother to guard dray mode, he cld prob hit 10 3s and they wldnt change that, not like they have many options

i feel infinite in my brain power to be able to decide when a minor rules violation in basketball mattered or didn't

i am ready to predict the outcome of the 2017 nba playoffs

smh jordan

i mean it was a cool play, he got away with it, but it was clearly a DD and it was the difference between perfect defense and a bucket. what is the point of rules even then

i feel confident bron wldve continued to shut him down without the violation

its too bad we cant have access to infinite universes instead we only have this one in which steph double dribbled

there is no point to rules even, abolish the nba

it's the finals; let the players play /hockey

btw ive rewatched the play from a number of angles at different speeds and in the interest of balance i will say fouls cldve been called on bron at least twice but... the double dribble was def not imperceptible particularly not up close from brons angle as it impeded the path of the ball

feel like bron already left his feet before it happened

nope

http://i.imgur.com/ueCwap0.png

his jump is a total reaction to the double, his left foot in that pic is on the way down, then he jumps

that's his second step towards steph - his weight is already shifted

lol thought u said he left his feet, your honor this witness is totally unreliable

sustained

here is the video enjoy neither second step nor left his feet is true

Here is another angle of Steph Curry doing Bron dirty...pic.twitter.com/98qWiOadnx

— The Shadow League (@ShadowLeagueTSL) June 5, 2017

what is a fact is steph had both hands on the ball and bron reacted in a way completely appropriately to that fact

alternative ILH facts

what that video shows is lebron getting owned lmao

i cld prob own lebron if i were allowed to double dribble (i cld not)

what if you could double dribble on every dribble

believe the obvious counter to that is to introduce another ball

can't double dribble if each hand is dribbling its own ball ;)

steph does that pump fake all the time and doesn't place his hand on the ball, which is what bron was reacting to, his movement toward steph that allowed steph to get by him had already been made

feel like that argument wld be better suited as a call in to the worst sports radio show possible

or coming out of the mouth of levar ball, one of the two

i urge you to unshackle your brain from the limitations of the NBA rule book

sry the double dribble is sacrosanct basketball cannot survive without it

i can live with not calling the occasional double dribble. the hill that i will die on is refs not calling self (which i acknowledge is just a more advanced double dribble)

the rule that i pay attention to the most that needs to be eliminated is the charge bcuz it makes for bad basketball, as opposed to overlooking a double dribble which makes for great basketball

if you eliminate the charge, you could never switch a smaller man onto a larger man, bcz the big would just knock the little guy straight onto his ass and roll to the basket unguarded.

i think he means eliminating the play where the defender just slides in front an offensive player attacking the basket

glad someone finally figured out the secret to making great bball

it was right under our noses this whole time

have seen several basketball experts smarter than myself advocating for that in the past couple years

yeah this is very standard stuff

if they just called it so u had to be in place on the gather, which is how its written iirc, it wld be fine, then otherwise u have to be guarding the guy to take a charge

The worst most bullshity version of that is when the guy on offense makes a pass prior to the "charge" yet they still call a charge

obv offensive players could still be called for fouls if the defender is playing active defense and gets in front of the ball handler. i'm talking about charges where the defender makes no play on the ball handler except to stand still in front of him to draw a charge.

also need to stop calling shooting fouls behind the 3 point line when the player never intended on actually shooting!! but i think they're gonna do that

they're gonna do that

hot take on the double dribble, i really don't care either way.

there should be...no rules Ⓐ

wow that is bold

i agree they are gonna have to insert some language about the player being in the shooting motion at the moment the whistle is blown or whatever

they should allow carrying...OPEN carrying

try fouling me in THIS shooting motion, hoss *pew pew*

pure texas through and through

*cuts thumb with bowie knife, drips oil*

you see this here son? this here is what texas was built on

*is rushed to hospital bc omg why dont i have regular blood*

obv offensive players could still be called for fouls if the defender is playing active defense and gets in front of the ball handler. i'm talking about charges where the defender makes no play on the ball handler except to stand still in front of him to draw a charge.

Anthony Slater‏Verified account @anthonyVslater 2m2 minutes ago
More
LeBron James reiterates that Cavaliers don't want to slow pace vs Warriors: "That's not our game. We don't play slow down basketball."

ok the series is over

yeah that really just makes no sense

sounds like 4d chess to me; can't imagine they're gonna try to run in game three

Yeah they totally got served when the dubs went into chaos mode and tricked the cavs into trying it too! Slow it down and muck it up buds

Btw I never even noticed stephs double dribble because I was totally watching the footwork (and also lebrons little hand rave when steph gets close to the lane initially) but it totally affected the play

Otoh I'm fine with virtually carries except maybe as part of a drive/shooting motion, guys carry all the time in the backcourt brining up the ball and it's totally irrelevant