DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NBA Finals: Avoiding the Sweep

Keep the conversation going..

The narrative about last nights game should have been about how bad Curry and Klay played.. but when you have 3 guys who are all capable of going off for 40.. I guess it only takes one.

Which is a luxury that LeBron doesn't have. He doesn't just have to be the best player on the Cavs every night, he has to be the best player on the floor by a fairly wide margin every night and it's just not possible... Game 2 it was Curry keeping up with LeBron, game 3 Curry goes away and it's KD..

I mean, LeBron had 33-10-11 last night.. that's HoF numbers for anybody in the finals and would be a huge story.. for LeBron all they can say is it wasn't enough, he needs to do more, pick apart a couple defensive lapses, or bad shots down the stretch, etc.. I don't know what more the dude can be expected to do.

Is this LeBron’s last game with the Cavs?

Yes it is, and it probably should be.

He'll end up 1 of 3 places: Philadelphia, Los Angeles, or Houston

I hope he finds a way to go to GSW..

I've heard rumors that he and Durant may team up in LA

Probably. If I were Lebron, I'd probably leave for Houston. Although, CP3's injury history would have me worried. Plus, Harden likes to play small under the brightest lights.

If CP3 were healthy, they beat GS in 6.

If Lebron does leave, I won't hold it against him at all. It would suck to be a lottery team again, and we'd probably be that way for a long time, but he came back and gave us our championship. He can do whatever he wants in my opinion.

I suppose I'd still root for him and his new team, assuming he leaves, but the Cavs would still be my team.

And anyone complaining we should have won more titles in the 4 years is just greedy. In 2015 Kyrie and Kevin were hurt and it's amazing they won two against GS. In 2017 and 2018, after adding Durant, there's no way. Only Houston had a chance, and they were specifically built to beat GS, something Cleveland didn't have the luxury to do with their cap situation (which is their own fault to a degree).

I've said it on here before, but I can rattle off close to 20 NBA teams that would give just about anything to have the last 4 years on their resume. There are so many team that have never won a title or it's been so long since their last title, barely anyone alive remembers it. I'm grateful to have experienced it.

This Warriors team is probably the best collection of talent the league has ever seen. They're well coached. They play good enough defense and have three all-time great shooters, so there's less of a clash of starpower as you might think.

Only Houston has taken that team past 5 games in a playoff series since they added Durant a couple years ago. Even that took what is arguably a super team in its own right, built specifically to counter Golden State, and 2 of the 3 wins were kind of flukey.

I mean.. it is what it is. The most frustrating thing is how all of this unfolded. This should have been the Cavs dynasty. Lebron coming back, three #1 overall picks, two #4 overall picks, a warchest of future picks from other teams, a clean cap sheet and four years later we still just have Lebron (ok, and Love I guess). How does that happen? How does a team get mismanaged that poorly. Tyronn Lue as the head coach, are you [censored] kidding me?

I know, 4 straight Finals appearances and we do have the one championship to show for it. I'm greedy though. I wanted Showtime Lakers, 80s Celtics, 90s Bulls, 2000s Spurs/Lakers, or this Warriors team...

When we had Kyrie and Love healthy ... and the Warriors just had Klay, Steph, and Green ... I thought it was a MIRACLE we beat them.

Now, subtract Kyrie from us ... and add DURANT to them ... it's laughable

probably.

I thought I saw it game 7 vs Boston. He came out like a beast, but then as the game progressed, he just didn't give all that much effort. Lackadaisical on defense, wouldn't attack the hole on offense. Just passed it to teammates over and over again even though they were missing everything.

A funny thing happened though.. the Celtics missed everything too. Lebron had huge numbers and got a ton of credit. Seriously though, the difference between those last three quarters vs the Celtics and game 1 vs the Warriors (actual beast-mode Lebron) was night and day.

pretty much

Yesterday's game (Love actually playing pretty good defense, with a hand in Durant's face) reminds me of Pop's quotes from earlier in the playoffs..

I wish the Warriors had to play the Rockets in another series this year, but with Chris Paul healthy. That was my fav matchup this year, very exciting to watch.

Weird isn't it.. even without Kyrie, all things being equal, I would expect this years Cavs to beat GSW if they didn't have Durant (granted they probably wouldn't even be in the finals if they didn't have Durant)..

Could be, but I think he will stay.

He is wanting to make it to 9 straight finals. He is tied with a few Celtics.

I don't think he will go west because of GS and don't think it possible he can join that bunch.

So, who in the east does he go to that would give him a better shot then staying here? I doubt he goes to Boston.

We still have the ability to trade or pick a good player in the draft. We will tweak the roster more between now and next season.

edit - nevermind, I've already said about all that can be said about this Warriors team.

The consecutive Finals streak is nice but by and large, NBA greats are measured by rings.

I personally think there's a lot of black and white thinking when it comes to 'rings' (people think they either mean everything or nothing.. cue the silly Lebron vs MJ vs Horry comparisons), but that's just how it is.

If Lebron wants to go down as the greatest ever, he's going to need to win more championships. It's hard to make the case that the Cavs offer him a great opportunity for that. We're capped out, only have one other good player besides Lebron, and not a whole lot in the way of assets.

I say he stays home and enjoys his kids high school career. Help retool this team, pad his stats and see what happens. Ultimately, I don't really like basketball so not overly concerned what he does...

That's probably the Cavs best shot. He grew up here, came back home, it's a good story. After he came back, he said he wasn't going anywhere.

As a basketball player, he has to feel somewhat dejected. We'll see what happens I guess. There's really no dream scenario waiting for him. I've thought for a while that if he left, it would probably be for Houston. I just don't see Philly happening. L.A. hasn't shown much from the basketball side of things.

Philly?

Here's my odds for now:

Houston: 35%
Philly: 30%
Cleveland: 15%
San Antonio: 15%
Los Angeles: 4%
Golden State: 1%

We know how he likes playing with his buddies. I could see him wanting to go to Houston to team up with Paul, and maybe convincing Carmelo to take a mid-level exception or something to come along too. Houston's also the only other team that really put up a fight with Golden State, so if he's looking to dethrone them, that's probably his best shot.

Philly puts him with a young roster that ready for the next level, and keeps him in the East where he can enjoy an easier walk to the Finals (although Boston is getting better). Cleveland gives him the same easier path, and he can cement his legacy as the best Ohio kid ever.

San Antonio is my sleeper pick though. He really likes Pops, both as a coach, and politically as well. I think he'd like to play under a coach respected league-wide for once, and SA would give him his best chance to do that.

Los Angeles makes pretty much zero sense for Lebron, but he does own a home there, so whatever. The talk is that he would team up with Paul George or Durant to play with Brandon Ingram ... which is funny, because all 4 are small forwards. I can't see him wanting to boost the status of the Ball family and their show brand either. But Laker fans (aka, half the media) have convinced themselves that he's going to LA, because ... they're the Lakers! I mean just look at all the free agents that have flooded there in the last 5 years or so.

And I give Golden State a small chance as well. I wouldn't really blame him either. The media is so obsessed with "You have to win Championships to cement your legacy", that they don't care how you do it. Kevin Durant made the biggest cupcake move of all time by joining the Warriors to get his ring, and the press really doesn't question it. I could see Lebron doing it, just sort as a sort of "FU" to the league for allowing it to happen and scoop up a couple of "legacy defining" championships in the process.

He can't sign with Golden State. They're already over the cap with no way to get under and sign Lebron. The only way it could happen is if both Lebron and Gilbert want to give a big "screw you" to the league, and send him there via sign-and-trade. It actually would be kind of humorous.

Is it really?

Lets just take a look 3 years ago. Steph Curry was the best player in the league for many, and a contender for GOAT...

Fast forward 3 years and Durant in GSW, what do people think now? Most in not all wouldn't even put LB and Stephen in the same sentence.

Lebron has made much more for his legacy by taking the Cavs to the finals and playing like he is playing than winning a ring in Golden State or Houston... Also don't think Harden would vouch for the move.

I don't know if I entirely agree with that. Wilt is wildly considered to be one of the best, and he kept losing in the Championship game too. Lebron has a few other things going for him too, mostly records.

Unless his body breaks down terribly, he's likely going to pass Kareem as the NBA's leading scorer. He will also likely be top 5 or 10 in assists. More points then Jordan and more assists than Magic? That's going to pretty weighty in "best ever talks". If he can get to 4 more Finals too, he'd set a few more records with that. Even if he loses all 4 of them.

Which is why I put it at 1%, because the only way he does it if he wants to do the "screw you" scenario you are talking about.

Good points but you are actually thinking and using logic whereas like half the NBA fanboys out there only know one word: rangz

LBJ only compares to Michael Jordan, he does not need another ring, that's silly..

Stephen Curry now is on the third tier at best behind Steve Nash, Dirk, and he's not even the best Golden State player, Durant is....

I think its quite the opposite, because there are a large number of players that would appreciate Lebron to become legends. Westbrook, Lawry, Anthony Davis, etc

Just give to Lebron what Lebron wants, even rename the team to the Cleveland Gloria's... if that's what it takes

No. He'll be back with the Cavs next year.

While I'm not sure he'll be back with the Cavs next year. I get the feeling he might go chase rings for 2-3 years, and then come back to the Cavs to finish off his career.

Well if it were up to this board, he would leave in a hurry...

Lebron is a legend here, he will be GOAT here, does not need rings to be what he is.

Let them win the ring and celebrate LBJ, he's so much more than that.

WHY?

He has clearly established himself has the best player in the league by far.

Its not even close, Durant going to Golden State made it clear has water.

Stephen Curry is now an average good player... what did 2 rings do for him?

Why would he want to go to the Western Conference, where he would have to beat Golden State just to get to the Finals?

I think he stays in the eastern Conference, and either stays in Cleveland, or goes to Philly.

I think it would be funny if he signed with Boston for a mid level ..... just to rain on Kyrie's parade .....

Kyrie made a fool of himself...

Why would James move? I still don't get the motivation.

How long do you think Curry and Durant can stay in the same team?

Stephen is a normal player now, don't think he will stand this for much longer...

2 finals were Durant and LBJ were much better than him, and the legend of Stephen Curry is gone.

My power went out early in the third, and I just went to bed instead of waiting to see if it would return.

That's all I'm going to say about it...

I must have missed the people who were talking about Curry as contender for GOAT. He's still widely seen as a top-5 NBA player by the way. >28 PER, #2 in the league in real-plus minus, I think you're writing Curry off a bit too much.

Why are we even talking about Curry anyway? He didn't change teams, Durant did. And I guarantee you that if GS finishes this out (and Durant probably takes back to back Finals MVP awards), his stock will be much higher than it would have been had he stayed in OKC. It might be seen differently here in Cleveland, but we're not exactly unbiased if we're being honest here.

And no I don't think Lebron's legacy is better off getting to the Finals and losing as a Cav than it would be going elsewhere and winning. For better or for worse, that's just not now basketball/NBA culture is.

We are talking about legacy and player pride here..

This year was very clear that the biggest loser was, ironically, Stephen Curry...

So yes, Curry has 2 more rings but he is less of a legend than he was 2 years ago when he lost to super Lebron...

Now Curry is behind Steve Nash, Dirk Novitzy, and many others, when on the imaginary of many he was the greatest player playing and one of the all time best.


Legends are part stats but most are emotion and illusion, and Lebron can only achieve a higher status by beating GSW with the CAVS, not Houston nor the Spurs...

Curry on the other hand, is now going to be in history because of the bad sneakers, and for playing in a super team with Durant...

I don’t think he’s going to leave, in that letter he wrote when he came back he said it was as much about (and this is all paraphrasing) helping turn the perception of North East Ohio around as it was about championships.

Hope he still means that, cause I’m greedy too.

Bugs me why do people want for him to stay, if they don't enjoy and appreciate seeing him play in the first place.

People should be praising the Cavs for this finals, yet most are bitching, and don't even see the games....

AMAZING

Goodness. Almost every post is negative. It's the NBA Finals! If you can't enjoy your team in the Finals.......what do you enjoy. Oh yeah, the draft. I swear, guys like lead, 4Life, Haus, LBer, etc love trashing this team.

cfrs, a known Cavs hater asks a question about whether or not Friday will be LeBron's last game as a Cav [and he meant it as an insult to the Cavs] and y'all fall right into his trap.

About the game:

--I think we came out very physical. TT and Love were hurting the Warriors inside.

--It was nice to see JR and Love hitting early shots.

--Love had an excellent game.

--Lue should not have left Love and TT out for such extended time. Those guys were setting the tone. That sat way too long in both halves.

--George Hill had a very bad game.

--Hood had his best game of the playoffs. He seemed like he was choking in the other games, but he had a nice game last night.

--LeBron had big numbers, but he was not his dominate self. He had too many careless passes and had a hard time getting his shot off.

--Korver struggled again.

--Durant was a monster. Man, he's hard to cover.

--Golden State is very good and I don't think we have anything to be ashamed of.

--I liked how TT was messing w/Green. And JVG said it right away about no way would they give Green a second tech. Dude was flying off the handle, but that's okay.

--They shot 13 FTs in the first half. We shot 0. And LeBron is on our team. We also pounded them on the boards, yet we were fouling them and they weren't fouling us? LMAO

Moving On:

No, I do not think this will be LeBron's last game as a Cav because I think we win tomorrow night.

Because I’m a Cavs fan and I want the best player ever to be on my team.

Who wouldn’t?

Glad to see we agree in something....

We have been playing great and we are going to win this one, Lebron and the Refs will make sure of it.

And I do not believe Lebron will leave, unless the team does not want him...

But with fans like this, I wouldn't criticize him...

There are very little Cavs fans...but glad to see you are one...

I'm a Lebron fan first and Cavs second, I must admit, in the sense that the Cavs without LBJ are just too bad to cheer for, I have the Browns for that.

But, hey, when the Browns go 4 times in a row to the SB, I will cheer for the losing Cavs...