NBA Finals discussion

[Indy]

By the way, although I think Love is gone no matter what, I am 100% sure he would be gone if they win game 3 and then lose the next two when he comes back.

[OE32]

By the way, although I think Love is gone no matter what, I am 100% sure he would be gone if they win game 3 and then lose the next two when he comes back.

I'm sure we could make one of the best offers for him. Problem is, that deal would have to include Bledsoe - and I think we'd want more in return. That means Irving to a third team. That might be a non-starter for us, frankly - Knight and Love on the same squad poses many of the same problems as the Cavs are having with Love and Irving.

That is to say, I don't think we'll be in on the Kevin Love sweepstakes.

[Indy]

Keep in mind that the Cavs gave up two #1 picks to get him and another 1st round pick to get him. There is no way they would take just Bledsoe for him (and yes, I know this contradicts what I was saying around the trade deadline before they got Frye and took off). And honestly, a ton has been said about what a bad contract he has, but really, it isn't if you use him right.

[Shabazz]

I saw an interesting proposal the other day: Irving for Boogie.

[Mori Chu]

Kevin Love isn't used where he is best. They basically use him like a spot up shooter, and hardly get him the ball.

Kyrie bought into his hype. He is a good player, but when you are the 2nd best player on your team, and the 1st best is Lebron, try not dribbling the ball for 18 seconds on half of your possessions. It is maddening.

I don't think Cleveland is a great team, despite having those guys. I think it was Cap or V9 that said they are less than the sum of their parts, and I agree. I would put the Warriors, OKC, and the Spurs clearly ahead of them.

I agree with 100% of this post.

I also think their coaching is shaky. I'm not sure how well Blatt would be doing, and I'm not saying Lue is worse than Blatt. But I love some of these advanced stats coming out about things like how the Cavs are the worst team in the league at scoring on plays out of timeouts or whatever it was. They just don't feel cleverly coached to me. Feels like OKC under Scott Brooks, where they'd just roll the ball out and let the guys run without much of a plan.

I also think that this particular roster exposes some of Lebron's weaknesses as a teammate and leader. Lebron does so much for his team, but he also acts like a petulant child and pouts when things aren't going his way. You can feel his annoyance with his teammates and I don't think that is helping them. MJ would get furious at his teammates for mistakes, but then he'd go out and score 50 and win them the game. Lebron does something similar but instead of rage it's more whiny pouting, and instead of going out and scoring 50 he withdraws into his shell or stops shooting or whatever. I don't think his reaction to the teammates' play helps the team win at all.

I'm enjoying the schadenfreude of seeing this Cavs team lose. I don't dislike these Cavs as much as I disliked Lebron going to the stacked-deck Heat, but I still don't like seeing flawed players, flawed coaches, and flawed rosters win titles. The Warriors are a much better team, they play closer to the "right" way, and they deserve this much more.

[Indy]

I saw an interesting proposal the other day: Irving for Boogie.

Hmmm. I would doubt Sac would do it, but I could see them trying to get Love and Kyrie for Boogie.

[Hermen]

I saw an interesting proposal the other day: Irving for Boogie.

Hmmm. I would doubt Sac would do it, but I could see them trying to get Love and Kyrie for Boogie.

Well, I wouldn't do it if I were the Kings, because I'd rather get a load of picks from, say, Boston. But then again, Cleveland did get a few #1 picks with Irving as their top guy. And I can totally see Kings saying that's why they traded for him

[Superbone]

I'm enjoying the schadenfreude of seeing this Cavs team lose. I don't dislike these Cavs as much as I disliked Lebron going to the stacked-deck Heat, but I still don't like seeing flawed players, flawed coaches, and flawed rosters win titles. The Warriors are a much better team, they play closer to the "right" way, and they deserve this much more.

I also don't want to see another franchise win their first championship before we do. Already saw that in the not too distant past with the Heat and Mavericks.

[Mori Chu]

Cavs without Kevin Love tonight, starting Lebron at the 4. Here is their starting lineup:

Irving-Smith-Jefferson-James-Thompson

I just hate that lineup. I think they might get creamed and go down 3-0. Oof.

[Cap]

I heard some chatter on sports radio (I forget the program) that a Bledsoe-Irving swap might make sense for both teams, especially if we take someone like Bender at #4. We get the actual offense-running PG we need. LeBron gets a better defensive PG who doesn't need the ball in his hands as much and won't interfere with LeBron doing his thing. And of course there's the Klutch Sports connection, etc. How do you like the idea of Irving-Booker-Warren-Bender-Len as building blocks for the next few years?

[Mori Chu]

I heard some chatter on sports radio (I forget the program) that a Bledsoe-Irving swap might make sense for both teams, especially if we take someone like Bender at #4. We get the actual offense-running PG we need. LeBron gets a better defensive PG who doesn't need the ball in his hands as much and won't interfere with LeBron doing his thing. And of course there's the Klutch Sports connection, etc. How do you like the idea of Irving-Booker-Warren-Bender-Len as building blocks for the next few years?

On the surface a Bledsoe-Irving trade doesn't make much sense for either team. Irving is a #1 draft pick of the Cavs and could spend his whole career there if things fell right. He's way more explosive offensively and probably has a lot more big games ahead of him. And his knees aren't shattered like Bledsoe's.

But if the Cavs get swept in the Finals, with Love and Irving both basically being unable to contribute, you could start to hear rumors. Both Love and Irving are horrible on defense, and they will never beat a top Western team without an elite defense. And the Suns probably wouldn't mind losing Bledsoe's defense because our team has no defensive scheme anyway and hasn't finished building a roster. We would probably benefit from having a bona fide offensive star player here, and we wouldn't really miss Bledsoe because Bled didn't really pass the ball enough either.

I do think that we'd be swapping one flawed player for another, and that we still wouldn't have a true PG to run our offense. But I would probably rather have Irving and his set of benefits/flaws instead of Bledsoe and his.

[Sunsfan4life]

LB is playing really well tonight. Hima nd Harrison Barnes are the main reasons the Warriors are back in the game. Good to see the Blur still having an impact.

[Wally_West]

Cavs are destroying the Warriors, which doesn't surprise me. This was a must win for them. Warriors might come back to make it interesting but I don't see them winning this game. I actually think the Cavs will tie the series, but I think Warriors still win the championship.

[Hermen]

That was a shitty effort by GSW. They deserved the spanking. Also kudos to Cleveland for playing as hard as they did.

[carey]

Cavs without Kevin Love tonight, starting Lebron at the 4. Here is their starting lineup:

Irving-Smith-Jefferson-James-Thompson

I just hate that lineup. I think they might get creamed and go down 3-0. Oof.

Not picking on you Mori, but this post right here is what I've been saying about my own posts for months. I don't know anything. When it comes to basketball: the draft, the roster, the line-ups, or whatever, we're all amateurs. I would have thought that line-up gets blown out as well but the opposite happened. Why? Was it just effort or did Love's injury tap into some sort of zeitgeist with the Cavs? The antidote to the death line-up? We'll see Friday, but my hunch is the Warriors are going to be royally pissed and play like it. Again though, I don't know anything.

[O_Gardino]

That was a shitty effort by GSW. They deserved the spanking. Also kudos to Cleveland for playing as hard as they did.

Couldn't have said it better.

[Mori Chu]

Cavs without Kevin Love tonight, starting Lebron at the 4. Here is their starting lineup:

Irving-Smith-Jefferson-James-Thompson

I just hate that lineup. I think they might get creamed and go down 3-0. Oof.

Not picking on you Mori, but this post right here is what I've been saying about my own posts for months. I don't know anything. When it comes to basketball: the draft, the roster, the line-ups, or whatever, we're all amateurs. I would have thought that line-up gets blown out as well but the opposite happened. Why? Was it just effort or did Love's injury tap into some sort of zeitgeist with the Cavs? The antidote to the death line-up? We'll see Friday, but my hunch is the Warriors are going to be royally pissed and play like it. Again though, I don't know anything.

Sure. We're all amateurs and most of our posts are just talking out of our asses. Nobody really knows what's going to happen in any given game. I still feel pretty confident that the Warriors will take the series, but in any given game, you never know what will happen.

[Mori Chu]

Warriors gut out a win to go up 3-1. That was the best game of the Finals so far, an actually somewhat close game. Curry and Thompson finally both showed up. Really liked the play of Iggy and Livingston as usual. Lebron had a decent all-around game (1 assist shy of a triple-double) but Cavs fall anyway. Unlike in the last round, I don't foresee anybody coming back from down 3-1 this time.

[carey]

I don't think there's a chance in hell the Ws go cold for 3 straight games especially when sometimes it only takes a ten minute hot stretch to bury you by 20 points.

[Superbone]

It's over.