I like CJ McCollum. This will definitely be a referendum on James. All sorts of strategy and whatnot that will come into play, but ultimately, while you can have an "off" game, championship teams are led by their MVP player that dominate throughout entire series.
Just for the record, CJ McCollum is completely incorrect by saying GSW gets the most wide-open shots -- per NBA.com stats for 6' Wide Open Shots. GSW is actually 27th in the league in wide open shots, and not much better in the playoffs. Part of this is the heavy reliance on plays to Durant, and Curry's propensity (and ability) to hit contested jumpers....they had more wide-open shots in the 2 years without Durant....but nothing league-leading nor better than the Rockets. Maybe he means easy buckets at the rim. He probably meant the layups (cuts, backdoors, etc) they can get when breaking down defenses. Still willing to bet that the Rockets simple attack with Capela produce more easy buckets (layup or fouls by Harden, or oop to Capela) at the rim vs what GSW gets from breaking down defenses with complexity.
Does NBA do it in closer increments. 6' is indeed WIDE OPEN. Is it really a relevant distance? What's the difference between last and first in that stat?
It's the same for the next increment. No matter how you slice it, GSW is no where close to top in 4+ or 6+ feet. It's a big difference in amount between Rockets and GSW, or first and last. If you don't think it's a big difference, then CJ's point is irrelevant anyhow. They probably actually shoot the most contested shots in the league. (edit: and they do. by a big margin). This is clearly due to Durant and Curry having the ability to shoot and make contested shots, and CJ even mentions that they rely heavily on going to Durant and Curry and having them create shots with defenders on them. CJ must have been talking about the most shots from defensive breakdowns. But I don't know where to find stats for easy layups.
I can't take CJ McCollum seriously after he had a candlelit dinner with Damian Lillard and some dude from ESPN saying "there ain't gonna be anymore layups", then gets swept by a 6 seed lmaoooooo
Man, I can't wait till Monday so you f***ers can stop posting all these 'who gaf opinion' videos. I don't care what these guys think because so far we've won and lost just as many games as the Warriors through two series' against two pretty formidable opponents. These are the two best teams in the league just enjoy it as much as possible. No one even expected the Worriers to have a contested title run... now we get to see two titans go toe-to-toe in the middle of the ring. Lets fu**in go Rockets!!!!
Wonder if Nick Wright wants to work for ESPN, but in his interview he said he like the Rockets, so he had to go to Fox Sports 1, instead.
He has a Dwight/tmac persona that works on tv in small doses. We'll see if he owns being a leader in Portland, leave the baby role and takes on more responsibility. Doubtful... He has everything handed to him without the assumption of winning.
In the 2 years of Kerr before Durant, their numbers wrt what CJ was saying are better. Swapping out a premier passer/screener in Bogut for an ISO-god in Durant has made them a better team, but their motion has gone down by doing so. Durant is best utilized in different ways. Their movement still helps eliminate the ability to double team Durant or Curry, and getting mismatches for Durant. It's just now, they have a 6'11 scorer better than Nowitzki, who they'd be fools to not use in Nowitzki type ways.
It definitely gets them better looks. But as hp said, mostly off layups and cuts. KD and steph make a living off draining "contested" jumpers.
