2015 NBA Finals Thread

#1
zjcvols

zjcvols

"On a Tennessee saturday night."
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#1
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors

Who ya got?
 
#3
#3
I haven't been able to decide who I think will win.

If I had to pick I would go Warriors in 6 or 7.

I've been thinking of the LeBron effect lately, he leaves Cleveland, they drop from a 60 win team to the #1 pick. He elevated Miami from an also-ran to 4 straight Finals appearances. Goes back to Cleveland and their back in the Finals, Miami didn't make the playoffs.

I was hard on James for leaving Miami, mainly because I hate Cleveland management and I think it was foolish to leave the more sustainable franchise. At this point, he could take any Eastern Conference team to a Final. Drop any other "superstar" in his place, on this Cavs team.

Where are they?
 
#4
#4
Cavs in 2.5; they humilate the Warriors so badly GS calls uncle at halftime of Game 3. LeBron scores 3,000 points.
 
#6
#6
GahLee said:
I haven't been able to decide who I think will win.

If I had to pick I would go Warriors in 6 or 7.

I've been thinking of the LeBron effect lately, he leaves Cleveland, they drop from a 60 win team to the #1 pick. He elevated Miami from an also-ran to 4 straight Finals appearances. Goes back to Cleveland and their back in the Finals, Miami didn't make the playoffs.

I was hard on James for leaving Miami, mainly because I hate Cleveland management and I think it was foolish to leave the more sustainable franchise. At this point, he could take any Eastern Conference team to a Final. Drop any other "superstar" in his place, on this Cavs team.

Where are they?
Click to expand...


By that logic, what about the Chris Bosh effect? Raptors won 18 fewer games the following season Bosh left. Probably because the 2nd best player besides Chris Bosh was Andrea Garbagani. How they finished 40-42 the year before Bosh left is beyond me. If he hadn't missed 38 games for the Heat, I think they make the playoffs no problem even without acquiring Dragic.

With that being said, by the time Lebron left Cleveland the East was completely different. All of the super teams started forming which watered down the conference. The best team in the East this season was led by Milsap, Horford, Teague. There's nothing all that impressive about that core imo. And in the playoffs, even Pau Gasol missed two games for the Bulls in the Cavs series while Horford/Carroll missed games for the Hawk. The East is flat out terrible and has been for like the past 3-4 years. It's why the Pacers were the Heat's only competition in the playoffs. A starting line up that had 4 starters between the ages of 22-26.

When multiple (sub).500 teams are making the playoffs, it's clear as day how watered down the conference is. Thunder(though not in the West) and Pacers for example went from being two of the best teams in the NBA to missing the playoffs completely because star players were injured. In place of what was a good Pacers team previously, you got the washed up Nets, under aged Celtics and the wtf Bucks. Not only did an above average Hawks team run away with the conference in the end, but the crappy Raptors actually were in first place the first half of the season. Yes, the same Raptors team that has been eliminated in the first round back to back season despite being the higher seed. That's what happens when you rely on Derozan shooting 5 of 23 from the field like it's his business. And yet, that's a 3 and 4 seed the last two seasons in the awful East.

So yeah... while losing Lebron will affect any team, it doesn't change the fact that the conference is totally watered down today and outside of like the Celtics, Bulls and Pacers, Lebron never really played anybody good in the playoffs until the finals. He's been getting a pass 2 rounds a year since leaving the Cavs and I'd certainly hope that Lebron/Bosh/Wade and Lebron/Irving/Love(and or Thompson) should finish near the top of the of the conference given how atrocious it is. To me, the Hawks and Raptors don't really have any superstars. And until Butler(logged a zillion minutes) broke out this season, neither did the Bulls when Rose is out. And even with Rose back, is he still a superstar? Debatable until he actually makes it back for a majority of a season. That's how watered down the East is and how easy the path has been for Lebron and his fellow superstar(s) to make it to the finals. It's pretty sad when one of the closest players to being a superstar in the East bracket is John Wall(inconsistent) and the Cavs didn't even have to play the Wizards.

Ultimately what it comes down to is, Curry on any given night can match Lebron's production even if they do it in a totally different manner. If Curry catches fire, you can do about as much to stop it as you can slowing Lebron down in the lane. So unless you're getting a hand on the ball for a block or you're a 300lb center, you're gonna stop Curry from making that shot about as much as a 225lb small forward is going to stop Lebron from getting to the rim and finishing. And it's not like Curry is doing it by himself...

Klay Thompson might be the second best shooter in the league outside of Curry. Bogut is a beast on defense. Iggy is a do it all player. Draymond is a do it all player. Barnes is a do it all player. Livingston is streaky and can score in bunches. Barbosa is streaky and score in bunched. As for bigs, you could do worse for back ups than David Lee, Marreese Speights(missed Hou series) and Festus Ezeli. To top it all off, if the Warriors keep winning and do go on to win it all, Kerr might be a top 5 or even top 3 coach in the league(Pop #1). He could also just be part of the product that comes with having shooters like Curry and Thompson. In terms of shooting, that would be like having Carmello and Allen or Reggie and Durant. It's hard enough to guard one of those guys on the wing, but two?

So... I want to say warriors in 4 or 5 but with Lebron being Lebron and the refs being the refs, I'll give them each a W and say Warriors in 6. If the refs call it evenly, I'd be astonished if the Cavs beat the Warriors 4 times. I am trying to picture it and I can't other than injuries to the Warriors or if Love returns(still might not make a difference) which he isn't. The Warriors to me seem superior across the board. They just railroaded a bunch of great teams. I don't see why the trains stops in Cleveland. To me, the Cavs have about as much chance of stopping the Warriors as defenders have of stopping Lebron. Unstoppable team outweighs unstoppable player. Warriors also have an unstoppable player of their own. Only person stopping Curry, is Curry. Or maybe diarrhea from eating too much curry.
 
#9
#9
It's going to be fun in the final six minutes when LeBron goes Beast Mode and shuts Curry's ass down.
 
#10
#10
I want to say Cavs in 6 because of Bron and rebounding but GS is going to get every call and I'm worried about Kyrie. So GS in 7.
 
#14
#14
By the way TOP, bad teams have been making the playoffs well before LeBron ever stepped on an NBA court.

The Spurs beat a team that was 4 games over .500 for a title. It's just seen as one of five rings.
 
#16
#16
GahLee said:
I don't feel like the games will come down to how the refs are calling the game.
Click to expand...

If they let GS set as many illegal screens off ball as they want and let them play Bron and Kyrie physical it can.
 
#23
#23
865dude said:
This. I love people crying about biased refs before a series even starts.

I think warriors in 6. Unless the lights are too bright for them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's my concern with GS. It isn't going to be as easy as just going out there and shooting lights out.
 
#25
#25
Nerd-Vol said:
Golden state in 5. Anyone picking the cavaliers is a dope.
Click to expand...

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