SimWorld Presents: The Race to Greatness (A SimWorld NBA2K Dynasty)

[AdamJones113]

Is It Time For Regret?

It's May 10th, 2015, and the Cavaliers' season is once again in jeopardy. They're tied 84-84 with the Chicago Bulls in Game 4, but down 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Cavs are no stranger to challenge; they started the year 19-20 before turning it on to get to the point they're at now. With eight seconds left, Derrick Rose has just a layup to tie the game. LeBron James rushes down the floor... but back at the Cavs bench, coach David Blatt, who was brought over to teach Andrew Wiggins but instead found himself at the helm of a Big 3, is motioning for a timeout. But luckily for the Cavs, he isn't able to recreate Chris Webber's infamous NCAA Championship game error; assistant coach Tyronn Lue pulls Blatt back to the bench. Moments later, LeBron will hit a fadeaway to tie the series and eventually launch the Cavs to the Finals. It's the beginning of the end for Blatt.

On January 22nd, earlier this year, the Cavs fired Blatt and his .675 winning percentage, citing "a lack of fit with our personnel and vision." At the time, the move was widely construed as a machination by LeBron to oust Blatt and instil Lue, who he likes, as the coach. Whether that was the case is no longer important; what is important is that the Cavaliers are down 3-0 to the Warriors in the NBA Finals and, despite the presence of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, poised to lose to the Warriors again. And this time, under Lue, they're poised to lose in ugly fashion.

It's June 2nd, and Cleveland has produced, well, arguably the worst performance in recent Finals history. That's no discredit to the Warriors—one the best teams in NBA history, period. Sure, the series is far from over. Sure, the Cavs (some of them) looked good in the tough Game 1 loss. They can't be as bad as they've looked, right? No. In the Finals, you can't judge by hypotheticals. There are at most seven games (this one doesn't look like it will last that long), and teams need to take each game at a time and play as hard as they can. They need to come in prepared with a gameplan that they can adapt based on their performance and the performance of the other team.

Cleveland hasn't done that. They've been outplayed and outcoached. There's no way around it. Key players have disappeared at times, thrown games away, and the role players have played the parts of mice. Verbal spat or not, why is LeBron James—the best player on the planet—getting fewer looks than Kevin Love (12 vs. 14 in the last game)? Why is he just being stuck on the wing, the offense led by Kyrie? The Cavs have looked lost without an identity, and that's no way to win games, much less the Finals. Cleveland is playing scared and vulnerable. Cleveland is playing like they want LeBron to inbound the ball with 1.5 seconds left in a tie, key playoff game.

Isn't that what getting rid of Blatt was all about? LeBron took over in that moment back on May 10th, 2015, changed the inbounds play to the play that won the game. That cemented the Cavaliers as his team, not Blatt's. Why isn't that the team showing up? The team playing these finals is bland, uninspired. Did Blatt seep the energy on his way out? Was the friction and contention the force that drove the Cavs to their great heights? Didn't Shaq and Kobe pull a three-peat despite, well, hating each other's guts?

"What I see is that we need to build a collective spirit, a strength of spirit, a collective will," [Cavs' GM David] Griffin said [at the time of Blatt's firing]. "Elite teams always have that, and you see it everywhere. To be truly elite, we have to buy into a set of values and principles that we believe in. That becomes our identity."

It's time to find those values and principles. Tyronn Lue may have Dan Gilbert's support now, but as David Blatt can tell him, owners' support is fickle.

[ronyell]

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[ronyell]

POST GAME: MEDIA ROOM


"LeBron what could you guys have done to make this a more competitive series?"

LeBron James: I mean you just said it. We could have competed. We are all professionals and we know what we have to do and we didn't do it.

"Is it frustrating for you to lose to the same team in the finals for two consecutive years?"

LeBron James: What kinda question is that?! We just got swept! That's frustrating. As far as the Golden State Warriors... I take my hat off to them.

"Do you feel that Lue should get some of the blame for how the team performed in this series and does any of this affect your thought making process for where else you may want to play this off season?"

LeBron James: ... Next question.

"LeBron, what is it about the Warriors that your Cavs couldn't figure out in this series?"

LeBron James: I mean... the same things that the rest of the league struggled with. They spread you out. They have knock down shooters and we weren't working hard enough defensively or offensively to get it done.

__________________________________________________ _________________________

"Tyronne; do you think that you should have gone to some smaller lineups in this series to combat the Warriors perimeter play?"

Tyronne Lue: I did what I felt that we needed to do. I thought we had advantages on the boards & in the paint & that was the gameplan.

"At any point in this series did you consider putting LeBron on Curry?

Tyronne Lue: I did but Barnes & Klay & Iggy were playing so well that I wanted to keep him on those guys because of his athleticism. You know we did a great job on Curry for the better part of this series so I think we did what we wanted to do in that regard.

"Being that the Cavs are essentiallly championship or bust right now & taking into account the circumstances in which you took over the team; do you feel a burden by this loss?"

Tyronne Lue: Of course I feel burdened. This is not how we saw our season ending but I do appreciate what our team has accomplished this season. We had to overcome a lot & we will regroup.

__________________________________________________ _________________________

"Steph how does it feel to repeat when people thought your win last year was a fluke?"

Stephen Curry: You know we know who we are as a team and we knew what we were capable of. We just wanna go out and play hard & the rest will fall into place.

"Steph; you struggled in a few gaes in this series what changed tonight?"

Stephen Curry: Nothing. My teammates told me to go out & do what I do & coach Kerr always gives me his support & he told me before the game... take us home & that's what we tried to do.

__________________________________________________ _________________________

"Steve... Steve; Did you ever think that this team would be in this position this quickly?"

Steve Kerr: You know when I took over this team, Mark Jackson had put some magical things into place & i just wanted to expand on those building blocks. These guys play their hearts out & they know how to win. So to answer your question Rick yes. That was the xpectation & the plan.

"How do you plan on keeping this nucleus together?"

Steve Kerr: I think we have guys that wanna play for this organization. I think we can figure something out but right now we just wanna celebrate this victory for all of our fans.

__________________________________________________ _________________________

"Draymond, from bench prospect to two-time champ... how does it feel?

Draymond Green: Awe man it feels great! I love this team, my teammates,the city of Oakland & we gonna do what we gotta do to make it three!

[ronyell]

[Dreece]

The King Dethroned

The city of Cleveland forgave Lebron James after his decision when he returned "home" in hopes that he would once again lead them out of the lottery and back to the NBA finals. So now we have had two consecutive finals appearances for King James and Co. but the results left much to be desired.

"This year was supposed to be different" uttered a somber Kyrie in a post game interview. "We fought all year to get to this point only to be swept, there needs to be some changes around here."

Changes?! Yes there needs to be some change... but where? Lebron James; the face of the franchise had a golden opportunity to show the Cleveland faithful that he has changed as a player [from the way many percieved his final performance before leaving Cleveland for Miami] but it was not to be.

After two pretty solid outings in Oakland, King James put on the biggest disappearing act of his career. In Game 3 he was thoroughly outplayed by Andre Igoudala and Harrison Barnes. He tallied only for 8 pts on 3-12 shooting including 0-4 from downtown, coupled with three turnovers. The Cavs [Tyronne Lue's] lack of halftime adjustments led to a 37-20 3rd quarter that cemented that contest.

In Game 4 the Cavs showed up for a fight led by Kyrie Irving's 28 pts and 5 dimes. The game was a back and forth affair all game long and it seemed like Cleveland wanted to make the series a little longer than the nay sayers had hoped for. J.R. Smith hit two consecutive threes from the left corner to knot the game at 94. After Iggy hit a tough contested jumper over Kevin Love to go up one; that again set the stage for a potential Bronny game winner. 6 seconds... Lebron makes his move and loses Klay on the drive only to miss at the rim... GAME. SET. MATCH!

This loss is probably the most damaging to Lebron's legacy thus far. Last season there was no Kevin Love which allowed room for excuse. This year he did not get it done... with his full arsenal. This year might be the reason why this team get dismantled in this upcoming offseason. Only time will tell...

Oh... and by the way. Congratulations to the 2015-16 NBA Champions. The Golden State Warriors.

[Hushroom]

I'm curious to see what happens with Lebron in the offseason.

[vicebeliever42]

Quote: Originally Posted by DyNaStY JOSH

I'm curious to see what happens with Lebron in the offseason.

Actually I'm curious to see Kyrie's attitude in the off season. Something tells me from his comments lately he's not to happy.

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[ronyell]