2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

[wco81]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Actually, Warriors have had problems defending the 3 in this series against Portland.

But a lot of the shots are contested 3s, yet Lillard and McCollum were hitting some Curry-esque shots. Certainly Kyrie and JR Smith are capable of making a lot of contested 3s.

However the Warriors also allowed a fair number of uncontested 3s from the corner. Aminu is 13-24 in the series, a lot of them uncontested.

Best thing Warriors can hope for is that Klay has 41 made 3s and Curry only has 11.

By the end of the playoffs, if Curry catches up and passes Klay, it would be a good sign. Curry is only hitting 36.7% and he's used to shooting more around 45%. So if he reverts to the mean ...

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

if CLE plan is to try to out Warriors the Warriors then i suspect it's going to end very badly for you.

and please let's not do the oh they lost 4-2 last year and get Love and Kyrie back thing again...

[cima]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

The Cavs certainly have a chance to win the Finals just based on the fact that they'll be IN the Finals and there's one of two ways that can go, either they'll win it or lose it. The Warriors (provided they get there) are and should be the favorites though.

All the Cav/LeBron fans I talk to all love to hang their hats on this 'didn't have Kyrie and Love thing' as if everything else just stands in place or something. Nobody ever addresses that the Warriors are a year better as well. Getting back Love and Kyrie is a huge defensive issue created where you can't just run Delly and Shump out there for 30+ minutes a game solely to chase Steph around and try to wear him out. If you're starting Kyrie and Shump, Shump has to help off Curry more or Klay whichever you start him off guarding because they'll both get off on Irving. Speights is a better player for them than he was last year. Clark gives solid minutes off the bench. I can't imagine Klay playing as atrocious as he did last year again.

There's so much more to this potential series than "we'll have Kyrie and Love this time and we took them to 6 games without them."

I just did, lol. I said Golden State is better, that's obvious. Yes you can make an argument that they might be worse defensively with Irving and Love in there instead of Delly and Mozgov...but do you remember that LeBron literally had to do everything last year becuase he had ZERO help on offense? He started a longside Delly, Shumpert, Thompson, and Mozgov...not exactly offensive juggernauts there. While you may lose some defensively, this CLE team is 100x better on offense than last year's.

I don't know why people keep shooting down the Irving/Love thing. Their presence alone makes a world of difference because LeBron doesn't have to try and score 40 PPG. He averaged 32.6 FGA/game in the Finals last year. That's not LeBron's game.

Also with Irving especially, Thompson/Curry have to work way harder on defense than having to worry about Delly/Shump. Irving smoked them in game one last year on a bum knee. The Cavs couldn't space the floor in the Finals last year. That won't be an issue this year (barring injury) and it will make a world of difference. We have an 8 game sample so far of an extremely elite offensive team that's showing you can't pack the paint against them or you'll pay big time. And if they're gonna iso LeBron and Irving, I'll take my chances with them one-on-one.

Finally, there's JR Smith. We all know how great he is when he's the 3rd or less option. He won't have to be the second guy, which we know is when he isn't nearly as good. He'll get to be the 4th or 5th guy.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

I have no idea wether Cleveland is ready for a GS/SAS finals matchup up or not. It's literally something that we'll just have to wait and see. I thought they would be slaughtered last year.. That didn't happen. I though GS would slaughter Portland, that isn't happening. Playoffs are a different animal, and I don't see how people just toss that aside year after year.

That said this "GS has Curry" while completely ignoring that Cleveland has LeBron argument is horse**** lol. Nobody (even Curry) has yet proven to be a better player, bigger matchup problem, more impactful than LeBron once he reaches the finals.

He just has so much impact on what his team does.. The guy is accounting for over 43 points per game right now with his points and points from assists.. Not a peep about it.


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[cima]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

I have no idea wether Cleveland is ready for a GS/SAS finals matchup up or not. It's literally something that we'll just have to wait and see. I thought they would be slaughtered last year.. That didn't happen. I though GS would slaughter Portland, that isn't happening. Playoffs are a different animal, and I don't see how people just toss that aside year after year.

That said this "GS has Curry" while completely ignoring that Cleveland has LeBron argument is horse**** lol. Nobody (even Curry) has yet proven to be a better player, bigger matchup problem, more impactful than LeBron once he reaches the finals.

He just has so much impact on what his team does.. The guy is accounting for over 43 points per game right now with his points and points from assists.. Not a peep about it.


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That's because LeBron is old news and people take him for granted. Curry is the new face of the league and he's the media darling. He's averaging 24.3/8.5/7.8 with 3 SPG shooting 50.7% and 42% from 3. His FT shooting though is 59%...I think he's shook when he actually gets to the line because he's hardly getting there at all, lol.

EDIT: Those were actually his ATL series stats. Didn't realize. With DET series too, he's at 23.5/8.8/7.3 49.7% 31.6% from 3. 65% from FT line, which is still terrible.

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

The Cavs have one of the worst D Ratings in the playoffs playing the likes of the Pistons and the Hawks.

O Numbers are off the charts but that's gonna be a problem.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Somebody else done replaced Lebron as front page news or opening segment discussion and now we're apparently taking him for granted.

Interesting take to me.

[wco81]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

You would think either Toronto or Miami would defend Lebron way better than Atlanta did, using mainly one on one defense with Carroll or Winslow, though it might be asking a lot out of a 19-year old rookie.

Hawks were awful at defending the 3 and clearing the defensive rebounds so you would think the remaining EC teams would do better.

But their offenses may not do well against the Cavs, unless Wade can continue to play the way he has and Dragic is more consistent. Or that Lowry and Derozan play like they did in the regular season.

They'd also need Whiteside and JV back as well.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

See this why we can't have nice discussions here. Who the hell made the GS has Curry, but ignoring LeBron argument? I can't with this today man lol


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[ojandpizza]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

See this why we can't have nice discussions here. Who the hell made the GS has Curry, but ignoring LeBron argument? I can't with this today man lol


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Because I keep seeing "with Curry" like its some added boost that Cleveland doesn't have.. But they have LeBron.

[Vni]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Because I keep seeing "with Curry" like its some added boost that Cleveland doesn't have.. But they have LeBron.

You think this has been is gonna save them from demi god 158 2K rating Stephen Curry ?

[King_B_Mack]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Because I keep seeing "with Curry" like its some added boost that Cleveland doesn't have.. But they have LeBron.

Who's saying with Curry? And is he not playing at a level significantly better than he was last year? I know you should know he is because you're cool with his MVP this year after I could have sworn you were poo pooing him getting it over LeBron based on stats and worth to team last year weren't you?

[Vni]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Honestly all that Curry and the warriors have done this season and in the playoffs, all the hype (well deserved hype at that) around Curry, it gives Lebron and the cavs an opportunity to do something very special. Lebron will be the man again if they beat them this year. That's why I want the Warriors to advance and I want to see Lebron be an animal again.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Honestly all that Curry and the warriors have done this season and in the playoffs, all the hype (well deserved hype at that) around Curry, it gives Lebron and the cavs an opportunity to do something very special. Lebron will be the man again if they beat them this year. That's why I want the Warriors to advance and I want to see Lebron be an animal again.

If there was a perfect time for him to play the "Nobody believed in us but us" card, this would be the year.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

Who's saying with Curry? And is he not playing at a level significantly better than he was last year? I know you should know he is because you're cool with his MVP this year after I could have sworn you were poo pooing him getting it over LeBron based on stats and worth to team last year weren't you?

But I didn't say Curry wasn't playing better than he was last year... Idk where that is even coming from. Or how it's related.

As far as the quote goes I don't really care to scroll back 2-3 pages on tapatalk just to see a user name. Someone said something along the lines of "with Curry I don't see them losing". I just thought it was ironic because the guy who has been to what will be 6 straight finals is on the other squad yet seemingly "forgotten", for lack of a better world, in that analogy.

I said I was fine with Curry winning the award last year, but my vote would have been Harden.. They were nearly a toss up, but Harden did it with much less which is why he was my vote. GS without Curry would have been a playoff team, Houston without Harden would have been in the lottery with all those injuries.. I didn't say anything at all about LeBron winning MVP last season, you can go back and look if you want. He had a deserved 3rd place for last seasons performance.

LeBron likely won't even compete for another MVP, he's not going to give that effort for 82 games anymore. But playoff LeBron is the best player in the world so...