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Oh... Hawks.. Let's face our nemesis. Paul Pierce? I'm actually hoping we get to play Washington. Not because it's supposed to be the "easier" team, but because it would renew an old rivalry and continue our "Revenge" tour. We knocked off the Celtics, who bumped us out of the playoffs a couple of times. We finished off the Bulls, who were our nemesis in the 80's and 90's. Now it would be nice to get some playoff revenge on Pierce and Gortat (who was on that 2009 Orlando team). I would just love for the city to win a championship. If that means Steph Curry accidentally gets trapped in a basement somewhere and people can't find him for days so be it. I have no doubt the Cavs will be in the Finals. But the Warriors are starting to scare me. Curry is just ridiculous good.
LOL - The Rish will be upset with this news as well. KS just doesn't prioritize winning...
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Going forward I hope Della keeps improving his 3 point shot. If he does, he will definitely earn the backup PG spot for a long time. I'd like him to work on his ball-handling too. He does alright on those pick and rolls, but I'd really like him to be a guy that can run an offense off the bench when everyone else is sitting. His defense is already Varejao-like, where you know he's under-sized and not as athletic, but he still pesters, gets under people's skin, and makes plays that you didn't think he could make. If TT improves his defense to an elite level, he would deserve a max. However, he would need to be Dennis Rodman level. Completely agree here. If he wants anything close to max money, he needs to be either an elite defender or an elite offensive contributor. He's actually improved his defense from abysmal to decent this past year. He just needs to keep working at it.
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If we can beat Atlanta we can avenge the '95 series although the real enemy there were the NL umpires. Oh yeah, forgot about that one.  Then maybe avenge Oakland in the Finals for Red Right 88?
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I don't think Delly has room for much improvement. His biggest downfall is he doesn't really possess the athleticism to compete and play at the professional level. But he is absolutely making up for it with heart, effort, and hustle. But you can't fix the things that he doesn't have.
I'm not supporting leadtheway here who is way too overcritical of Delly, but from my untrained eye, the guy doesn't really belong on a professional basketball court from an athletic stand point.
Kudos to him for making up for it in other areas. And kudos to him for the game he had.
LOL - The Rish will be upset with this news as well. KS just doesn't prioritize winning...
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Delly was really good on the defensive end last night. His 3 pointers were open looks that the Bulls disrespected him on all series. He's never gonna break anyone down on the dribble but he can play. Right now he's the perfect bench guy. He's just gotta stop with that east-west pass that always gets picked off like a Charlie Frye wounded duck.
As good as Irving is, he has trouble staying in front of guys and once he left the game the Bulls were hoisting up bad shots. There was almost no penetration. He's a big part of why Chicago flat out mailed it in early in the fourth.
If he can knock down open 3's and defend the perimeter why wouldn't you want him out there in backup pg minutes? And if they start covering him better? That's going to open up other options.
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If we can beat Atlanta we can avenge the '95 series although the real enemy there were the NL umpires. No shiite - those umps gave Maddux, Glavine, and Avery a 3 foot wide strike zone.
Last edited by Dave; 05/15/15 02:49 PM.
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so who would yall rather see in the EFC's?
Wiz or hawks?
i think i rather see the Wiz Wizards easily, though they may be a tougher opponent matchup wise, you can't overstate the importance of home court.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
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DEFLATE THIS!!!
At least you don't live here in NE.
It was on the front page of the Hartford Courant yesterday. Right next to: "Seven More Bodies Found - Serial Killer Suspected" I live in NC and the day the Wells report was released it was the lead story on all 3 7:00 news stations, not the lead sports story, the LEAD story...
yebat' Putin
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Not only did Delly impress me, but that Shumpert kid is a baller as well.
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Some grocery store in Cleveland should start a promotion that anytime Delly has 3 3-pointers in a game, you get 20% off a deli tray... get it? Delly Tres... Deli Tray... my daughter thought it was funny. 
yebat' Putin
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I don't think Delly has room for much improvement. His biggest downfall is he doesn't really possess the athleticism to compete and play at the professional level. But he is absolutely making up for it with heart, effort, and hustle. But you can't fix the things that he doesn't have. He's bigger than John Stockton was and John managed to get by in the league. I'm not saying he has to break down guys on the dribble with athleticism, but he can work on his ball-handling, court vision, and pick & roll skills ... He could become a competent back-up point guard capable of generating some bench points, while maintaining that energy and hustle on the defensive end. Those things don't require him to become an elite athlete and we don't need him to replace Irving, we just need a steady backup.
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I'm not supporting leadtheway here who is way too overcritical of Delly, but from my untrained eye, the guy doesn't really belong on a professional basketball court from an athletic stand point. Neither did Larry Bird.... not that Delly will ever be Larry Bird but the guy is a fairly valuable contributor on one of the best teams in the NBA... and proved last night that when needed he is capable of doing even more. The dude hustles, he's scrappy, he's tough.. you need a couple of these guys on your team.
yebat' Putin
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j/c:
Late to the party again, but here are my observations from Thursday night's game.
--I hate to start w/this, but the one dude who keeps ripping TT about his defense is so far off freaking base that it is nauseating. What the hell are you watching?
--Piggybacking off of that, the same guy rips Delladava all the time. Dude, how wrong can you be?
--TT and Dell were awesome in this series and in this last game.
--There was one dude who said TT was a dime a dozen player. I say you know absolutely nothing about the game. Guys like TT are a lot harder to find than a guy like Waiters, or in other words, a guy who can score.
--Alright, off my rant and to other observations. Both teams were brutal for long stretches offensively.
--We get the 3s in bunches and it's huge.
--Chicago's offense sucks so bad and it makes me wonder what will happen when we face a good offense.
--Our defense is actually now a strength. Can that be right?????
--We are so much better defensively w/Della.... at PG than we are w/Kyrie. The guy really frustrated Rose.
--LBJ was making me so angry for much of the game, but he really stepped it up in the middle of the 3rd.
--I have to say this again, the acquistions of Smith, Schumpert, and Mozgov were huge. I was skeptical of the trades at first, but man, those moves were awesome! I mean........out of the ballpark awesome!
--Someone said [oh yeah, it was cfrs, who is actually a Hawks fan] that we better hope Washington wins over ATL. I disagree. Washington has some athletes that would give us trouble. Atlanta is a boring team that has some good role players, but they won't beat us athletically like Washington could.
--Frankly, I don't fear either team because they both have their issues. The problem is that Love is out, and despite what ThatGuy insinuated, that is a huge loss......Kyrie is hurt and that is huge for us on offense, Shumpert is hobbled and that is very concerning. But, I feel pretty good about our chances against either team.
--I have one more question. I know that it was very popular to bash TT on this board for a long time. But man, aren't you guys ready to change your opinion, or is it once you formulate that original opinion, it is a sin to change it? Because man...........you guys were so freaking far off in evaluating that guy that I can't even comprehend how .............you were.
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TT is the type of guy built for playoff basketball. Man if he could ever develop a 15 footer.
Lebron's outside shooting is as bad as I have ever seen it. I don't know what it is. He shot a point percentage better than his career average for the season, but he's at 14% in the playoffs. I think at this point it may just be a confidence thing.
I think it's also a blessing in disguise, because his efficiency otherwise has been damn good, outside of the turnovers. The Lebron you saw yesterday is the Lebron we need. 38 the other night is nice, but once he went cold the team struggled. Yesterday guys were flying around the court, blocking shots, and doing every little thing they needed to win the next possession.
I honestly don't care who we face. I don't think it will matter either way. Both present challenges. You may be able to steal an early game in Atlanta just because the Cavs played a far more physical, far more intense series with the Bulls, whereas, you get the comfort of home against the Wizards, but I think them beating the Bulls last year, and adding Pierce, and having solid defensive bigs could present problems.
The Cavs are probably the series favorite in either series according to Vegas, if I had to bet. Strong favorite over Washington, and probably a slight favorite over the Hawks, despite starting out on the road.
Regardless of what happens, I'm damn proud to be a fan of this team. They've shown so much growth and toughness. I remember making a post in one of these threads in January where I said this team was unwatchable. They were. It was pretty bad. To see where they are now, it's pretty cool.
I also think it sent a message to Kevin Love, both that this is a team, going forward that is probaly going to stick around together, and some of our struggles in the Chicago series showed his value. I've said it before, throw the stats out, the Cavs are just better when he's out there.
I'm sure Bill Simmons will be crying in his beer when he doesn't go to the Celtics since he was sizing him up for different suburbs back in March.
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Another very good post, Sperg.
You have a good grasp of BB.
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j/c:
Late to the party again, but here are my observations from Thursday night's game.
--I hate to start w/this, but the one dude who keeps ripping TT about his defense is so far off freaking base that it is nauseating. What the hell are you watching?
--Piggybacking off of that, the same guy rips Delladava all the time. Dude, how wrong can you be?
--TT and Dell were awesome in this series and in this last game.
--There was one dude who said TT was a dime a dozen player. I say you know absolutely nothing about the game. Guys like TT are a lot harder to find than a guy like Waiters, or in other words, a guy who can score.
--Alright, off my rant and to other observations. Both teams were brutal for long stretches offensively.
--We get the 3s in bunches and it's huge.
--Chicago's offense sucks so bad and it makes me wonder what will happen when we face a good offense.
--Our defense is actually now a strength. Can that be right?????
--We are so much better defensively w/Della.... at PG than we are w/Kyrie. The guy really frustrated Rose.
--LBJ was making me so angry for much of the game, but he really stepped it up in the middle of the 3rd.
--I have to say this again, the acquistions of Smith, Schumpert, and Mozgov were huge. I was skeptical of the trades at first, but man, those moves were awesome! I mean........out of the ballpark awesome!
--Someone said [oh yeah, it was cfrs, who is actually a Hawks fan] that we better hope Washington wins over ATL. I disagree. Washington has some athletes that would give us trouble. Atlanta is a boring team that has some good role players, but they won't beat us athletically like Washington could.
--Frankly, I don't fear either team because they both have their issues. The problem is that Love is out, and despite what ThatGuy insinuated, that is a huge loss......Kyrie is hurt and that is huge for us on offense, Shumpert is hobbled and that is very concerning. But, I feel pretty good about our chances against either team.
--I have one more question. I know that it was very popular to bash TT on this board for a long time. But man, aren't you guys ready to change your opinion, or is it once you formulate that original opinion, it is a sin to change it? Because man...........you guys were so freaking far off in evaluating that guy that I can't even comprehend how .............you were. No what's nauseating is your complete love affair with Thompson. He's no where near as good as you make him to be...he's a mid level player. He has decent rebounding games and alot of his points come off of pick and roll with the best player on the planet on the floor..His defense is bad, not as bad as years past, but do you even watch him on defense..most of the time he has no idea where he's supposed to be..it's coachable for sure, but you're making him sound like he's Kareem. I have been hard on him and delly, but they have proven to be solid in the playoffs. I think TT has more upside than Delly does because he has more athleticism. Everyone isall on the Delly bandwagon for a good game...it happens...but for most of the year when you watch him he's consistently overmatched. I've said all year, he's the PG version of Andy. His defense isn't technically good, but he's hustle and in your face and gets under peoples skin. Thats awesome in the playoffs and its working for him. And as long as he can keep knocking down the spot up 3, he'll be able to play awhile in the league. Ala Bowen and Terry. The end of the day I root for them but I am also not so blind to see the deficiencies with some of these guys. In the end all that matters is we win. When we stop winning, then all these things matter, if we don't..who cares.. I'm just enjoying playing meaningful games in the summer until browns kick off..past years was a long wait for TC to roll around. This year I don't even really follow the off season activities. Too much NBA action.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
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I don't disagree with you or DC at all about Delly, and I am not trying to be overly critical or diminish what he's done.
I am just trying to be objective when the discussion is around his improvement. I think the lack of athleticism will be tough to overcome. I could be competely wrong. JMO.
In the meantime I'm pulling for the guy.
LOL - The Rish will be upset with this news as well. KS just doesn't prioritize winning...
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The lack of paragraphs is a little nauseating.
LOL - The Rish will be upset with this news as well. KS just doesn't prioritize winning...
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Haha The Truth almost pulled another miracle. A split too late.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
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I don't disagree with you or DC at all about Delly, and I am not trying to be overly critical or diminish what he's done.
I am just trying to be objective when the discussion is around his improvement. I think the lack of athleticism will be tough to overcome. I could be competely wrong. JMO.
In the meantime I'm pulling for the guy. Delly is not overly athletic, yet somehow he manages to completely frustrate some great, athletic players. He brings an intensity with him that, I think, his teammates feed off of. They also know that he is always willing to take the other teams toughest match-up. This is a guy who has guarded the 1, 2, 3, and even the occasional 4.  Fortunately, with the defensive upgrades we have added, he can take the opposing PG or SG more often than not. I think that his teammates respect him for all of those things that he brings, and for his toughness as well. Man, in the 1st quarter of yesterday's game, the Bulls scored 31 points. In the final 3 quarters, they scored 42 points. Kyrie played 12 minutes, and Delly played most of the rest. Think about this ..... Rose had 14 points in the 1st quarter, and he finished the game with ....... 14 points.  That is just incredible. Now I do think that Shumpert played him some of the time, as well as Delly .... but still, to completely shut him out is just incredible. I really love what Delly brings to the team. Someone said that a great team needs a guy like Delly, and I agree completely, He is a guy who is a 100% effort player, who doesn't take a single minute on the court for granted. Man, Memphis just got jobbed there. How was that not a foul right before the end of the quarter, and then to have the Warriors make an "impossible" 3 .... double pain on horrible officiating. Man, Green for Memphis got mugged, and no call.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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I was going to post this during the celtics series, before Kevin love went down, but I realized we are playing with house money.
We could be on a redemption tour, Boston for the 2000's, Chicago for the 90's, Atlanta for the World Series.
I don't know if it's me getting older, 34, but I'm not taking the losses to heart like I used to. It's a fan strategy that worked for Ohio State this year, I'm implementing that philosophy for the Cavs this year.
President - Fort Collins Browns Backers
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I am 52, and the losses still hurt. I do hope that your method works though.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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What a crappy sports night... No hockey or basketball tonight...
<><
#gmstrong
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What a crappy sports night... No hockey or basketball tonight... Yup. But there was softball. At my house. Sooga got a new bat.........so dad has to pitch to her. Little bugger about knocked my jaw out of place.
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What a crappy sports night... No hockey or basketball tonight... Clips/Rockets should be great tomorrow. What's hockey?
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~ Legend
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Well I now know which "CA" you're using for your location
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I watched a little softball tonight... I wish they would have moved the Rangers game to tonight
<><
#gmstrong
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Yeah and Wednesday is still a distance away. Not complaining in terms of the team and players needing the rest, but in terms of the same sentiment as the above post.
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Kinda crazy seeing guys like Josh Smith and JR Smith play the best basketball of their lives
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Would absolutely LOVE to get the Rockets in the Finals.
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Would absolutely LOVE to get the Rockets in the Finals. That is not happening. The Warriors are going to crush them.
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my predictions:
Warriors in 5
Cavs in 6
Warriors in 7
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Jeudy is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Tillman is flanked out wide to the right. Judkins and Ford are split in the backfield as Flacco takes the snap ... Here we go."
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my predictions:
Warriors in 5
Cavs in 6
Warriors in 7 Those sounds about right, although I would say Warriors in five.
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j/c:
I really think that if we had Love and a healthy Kyrie, we would have won it this year. This team is peaking at the right time. They have improved tremendously defensively and can really hurt you from outside.
Losing Love was huge. Kyrie not being healthy is huge. I don't think we can win it under those circumstances, but I have been happy w/how the Cavs have played in this year's playoffs.
Next year should be our year.
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“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
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I think the Rockets will give the Warriors a tough fight. Any "new" news on Patrick Bevelry?
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I think the Rockets will give the Warriors a tough fight. Any "new" news on Patrick Bevelry? Marc Stein said that Beverley is not playing. Harden is going to get a healthy dose of Green, Thompson, and Igoudala. Not many teams have three guys to throw at him.
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Warriors in 5 over the Cavs?
Cfrs loves him some regular season. Is that what the rs stands for?
LOL - The Rish will be upset with this news as well. KS just doesn't prioritize winning...
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Warriors in 5 over the Cavs?
Cfrs loves him some regular season. Is that what the rs stands for? The Warriors were historically good. Teams like that don't lose in the finals. They have two guys to guard LeBron (Green and Iguodala), a rim protector (Bogut), and two guys who are knock down shooters (Curry and Thompson). They also have a major coaching advantage with Kerr and his staff (Gentry and Adams).
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Ig's is past his prime but otherwise I agree with you.
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