2017/18 NBA Thread

tempo_n_groove

Charging foul taken away...
Hill choking and missing the second free throw...
Smith running out the clock...

There are a few other plays in the last 3 minutes that were disastrous...

Cavs are inventing new ways to lose with the help of the refs, good job...

I Hope the Cavs realize they can beat the Warriors.  They found weaknesses.

When the long ball starts falling for them and a rhythm gets going it'll be fun to watch.

Lebron's drive deep and dish was beautiful to watch.

The Juggler

Golden State in five

Poncier

We may finally know the answer to the long mystery of "Who shot JR" if he's found dead in his hotel room this morning and there is a smoking gun under LeBron's pillow.
Getting blazed at halftime was probably not the best idea.

tempo_n_groove

The Juggler said:

Golden State in five

I'll take that bet.

How much?

Poncier

tempo_n_groove said:

The Juggler said:

Golden State in five

I'll take that bet.

How much?

You think it'll be a s sweep, eh?

tempo_n_groove

Poncier said:

tempo_n_groove said:

The Juggler said:

Golden State in five

I'll take that bet.

How much?

You think it'll be a s sweep, eh?

No  Cavs are going to do better than that.

This game can either be used as motivation or a woe as me.

Nobody will be pouting next game.

tbergs

Poncier said:

We may finally know the answer to the long mystery of "Who shot JR" if he's found dead in his hotel room this morning and there is a smoking gun under LeBron's pillow.
Getting blazed at halftime was probably not the best idea.

Haha!

Indifference71

I didn't even know they could review and overturn an offensive foul call like that.  The NBA is getting ridiculous with the replay reviews.

And JR Smith...what the fuck.  Unbelievable.  It's hard to see the Cavs coming back after pissing away a game like this on the road.

tempo_n_groove

Lue messed up last night too.  No TO called...

Poncier

tempo_n_groove said:

Lue messed up last night too.  No TO called...

But he sure did a fine job displaying the befuddled look on his face that he's practiced so often.
He probably thought they were ahead also.

tempo_n_groove

Poncier said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Lue messed up last night too.  No TO called...

But he sure did a fine job displaying the befuddled look on his face that he's practiced so often.
He probably thought they were ahead also.

That's funny!

tbergs

What I don't get is the schedule for the games. Game 1 on a Thursday night and now the next game isn't until Sunday?! What the hell do they need 2 days off for? It's almost 3 weeks to play 7 games. That's just plain dumb.

tempo_n_groove

tbergs said:

What I don't get is the schedule for the games. Game 1 on a Thursday night and now the next game isn't until Sunday?! What the hell do they need 2 days off for? It's almost 3 weeks to play 7 games. That's just plain dumb.

This also doesn't help the lingering Colangelo debacle...

lastexit78

I know we are all about placing blame on the officials or J.R. but there were about 50 other minutes of great basketball that decided the outcome. At this point but I'd rather focus on some amazing things about Game 1.

- LeBron played as well as he possibly can, incredible performance, had nothing left in overtime but that's understandable.

- Thompson's left leg nearly snapped, comes back and plays great down the stretch. Although his mental lapse on defense and the foul of Hill could have decided the game.

- Great game by Curry, that driving 3 point layup was amazing. As was the 3 over Love with about 4 minutes to go.  

- Nice game from Kevin Love, I like how he faces up defenders now and uses the glass Tim Duncan style.

- Cleveland bench is atrocious, Clarkson shouldn't even be playing, they are better off using 50 year old Calderon.

- Warriors rimmed out a bunch of 3's they usually hit, unfortunate for Cavs because those probably fall in Game 2 and beyond.

HesCalledDyer

lastexit78 said:

I know we are all about placing blame on the officials or J.R. but there were about 50 other minutes of great basketball that decided the outcome. At this point but I'd rather focus on some amazing things about Game 1.

- LeBron played as well as he possibly can, incredible performance, had nothing left in overtime but that's understandable.

- Thompson's left leg nearly snapped, comes back and plays great down the stretch. Although his mental lapse on defense and the foul of Hill could have decided the game.

- Great game by Curry, that driving 3 point layup was amazing. As was the 3 over Love with about 4 minutes to go.  

- Nice game from Kevin Love, I like how he faces up defenders now and uses the glass Tim Duncan style.

- Cleveland bench is atrocious, Clarkson shouldn't even be playing, they are better off using 50 year old Calderon.

- Warriors rimmed out a bunch of 3's they usually hit, unfortunate for Cavs because those probably fall in Game 2 and beyond.

A buddy of mine at work had a good point.  If we're gonna blame JR Smith, what about the play at the buzzer before half where he goes for the steal leaving Curry wide open to hit a 38 footer to tie the game?  Just play defense and Curry has no shot to take.

mrussel1

lastexit78 said:

I know we are all about placing blame on the officials or J.R. but there were about 50 other minutes of great basketball that decided the outcome. At this point but I'd rather focus on some amazing things about Game 1.

- LeBron played as well as he possibly can, incredible performance, had nothing left in overtime but that's understandable.

- Thompson's left leg nearly snapped, comes back and plays great down the stretch. Although his mental lapse on defense and the foul of Hill could have decided the game.

- Great game by Curry, that driving 3 point layup was amazing. As was the 3 over Love with about 4 minutes to go.  

- Nice game from Kevin Love, I like how he faces up defenders now and uses the glass Tim Duncan style.

- Cleveland bench is atrocious, Clarkson shouldn't even be playing, they are better off using 50 year old Calderon.

- Warriors rimmed out a bunch of 3's they usually hit, unfortunate for Cavs because those probably fall in Game 2 and beyond.

I agree with all points, except for the bench comment.  Korver will have some good games in this series.  Nance played great off the bench.  Clarkson was trying WAY too hard to get involved.  He never sees a shot he doesn't like.  But I think this is a maturity issue.  I have confidence he will get better as he settles into the series. 

I also think the Warriors are beatable.  They are not playing good defense and haven't yet in the playoffs.  You can get good shots and without Iggy, they have NO ONE that can handle Lebron.  Once he is in the paint, the only defense that exists is poking him in the eye. 

One other disagreement, the Cavs didn't hit their long range shots either, like the Warriors.  But I think the Cavs generally did a slightly better job with all the switching and at least feigning a contest.  The Hill switch on Durant is trouble though. Need a new plan there.  That's really hard to defend because without the switch, Curry gets an open look.  

Cliffy6745

Lebron is good

lastexit78

mrussel1 said:

lastexit78 said:

I know we are all about placing blame on the officials or J.R. but there were about 50 other minutes of great basketball that decided the outcome. At this point but I'd rather focus on some amazing things about Game 1.

- LeBron played as well as he possibly can, incredible performance, had nothing left in overtime but that's understandable.

- Thompson's left leg nearly snapped, comes back and plays great down the stretch. Although his mental lapse on defense and the foul of Hill could have decided the game.

- Great game by Curry, that driving 3 point layup was amazing. As was the 3 over Love with about 4 minutes to go.  

- Nice game from Kevin Love, I like how he faces up defenders now and uses the glass Tim Duncan style.

- Cleveland bench is atrocious, Clarkson shouldn't even be playing, they are better off using 50 year old Calderon.

- Warriors rimmed out a bunch of 3's they usually hit, unfortunate for Cavs because those probably fall in Game 2 and beyond.

I agree with all points, except for the bench comment.  Korver will have some good games in this series.  Nance played great off the bench.  Clarkson was trying WAY too hard to get involved.  He never sees a shot he doesn't like.  But I think this is a maturity issue.  I have confidence he will get better as he settles into the series. 

I also think the Warriors are beatable.  They are not playing good defense and haven't yet in the playoffs.  You can get good shots and without Iggy, they have NO ONE that can handle Lebron.  Once he is in the paint, the only defense that exists is poking him in the eye. 

One other disagreement, the Cavs didn't hit their long range shots either, like the Warriors.  But I think the Cavs generally did a slightly better job with all the switching and at least feigning a contest.  The Hill switch on Durant is trouble though. Need a new plan there.  That's really hard to defend because without the switch, Curry gets an open look.  

The Warriors haven't been playing good defense in the playoffs? They just held an all time Houston offense under a 100 points for 5 consecutive games. They have the BEST defensive rating of any of the 16 playoff teams at 103.4 In OT they completely swarmed the Cavs who could barely get a decent look. They couldn't control LeBron last night because the guy is unstoppable and the one guy who could maybe slow him down a little wasn't playing.

We'll have to disagree about the CLE bench, Korver will be a non factor because the Warriors won't leave him to double LeBron and that's the ONLY way he can get open. Maybe it's a reckless strategy as LeBron might average 45ppg but it's what they've done 4 years running. Nance was a beast, I'll give you that but minus Jeff Green showing up and playing a lot better that bench is worthless. Clarkson will play better? He's averaging 4.9ppg in these playoffs on 30% shooting! That's 18 games now, hardly a small sample size. He might play better going forward because it's almost mathematically impossible to play much worse.

mrussel1

I agree they played better in OT, but I don't think their interior defense is good at all.  Houston is one dimensional and with Paul out, they were able to turn the screws on them.  I understand how the numbers play out, but I simply don't believe they have played stronger inside out defense than either the Celtics or the Pacers.  It doesn't pass the eye test.  The Cavs had much better looks and a much easier time getting inside last night vs the two 7 game series that they played in the East.
If the Warriors choose to play one on one with Lebron, to prevent Korver from getting a look, well I think that's okay with the Cavs.  Lebron's going to shoot 80% in that scenario and take a lot of foul shots.  So yeah, maybe Kyle doesn't get his points, but he served his purpose.  
Regarding Clarkson, I understand his numbers are less than half of his regular season, but he's not playing at all.  Last night was particularly bad because he didn't let the game come to him.  He made one good play when he floated to the baseline and hit a jumper from a Lebron kick.  He needs to do more of that and I think he will.  George Hill actually had the worst defensive night, but he was stuck on Durant.  

The Juggler

lastexit78 said:

I know we are all about placing blame on the officials or J.R. but there were about 50 other minutes of great basketball that decided the outcome. At this point but I'd rather focus on some amazing things about Game 1.

- LeBron played as well as he possibly can, incredible performance, had nothing left in overtime but that's understandable.

- Thompson's left leg nearly snapped, comes back and plays great down the stretch. Although his mental lapse on defense and the foul of Hill could have decided the game.

- Great game by Curry, that driving 3 point layup was amazing. As was the 3 over Love with about 4 minutes to go.  

- Nice game from Kevin Love, I like how he faces up defenders now and uses the glass Tim Duncan style.

- Cleveland bench is atrocious, Clarkson shouldn't even be playing, they are better off using 50 year old Calderon.

- Warriors rimmed out a bunch of 3's they usually hit, unfortunate for Cavs because those probably fall in Game 2 and beyond.

That's the biggest point to me. Cavs needed that one last night and that game was ripe for the taking and they blew it. And losing like that is so deflating. They'd probably be better off getting blown out.