Problem with this team is that Harden and Lebron need the ball to be successful. What makes the warriors great is Curry is probably the best off ball player in the league and he's amazing with the ball.
actually lebron doesn't need the ball to be successful. he has a variety of other ways to be effective without it. that should be pretty obvious
I dunno how you mean by that. He definately has great court vision, but I'm watching these finals and when Kyrie has the ball he just stands around in the corner. Steph would be running around aimlessly trying to get open for three.
not sure what you dont know if you've actually followed him throughout his time in the nba. lebron moves without the ball just fine. he sets plenty of screens/picks. is an option for any kind of pass to the rim or shot. more than a threat defensively. an obvious decoy without the ball where the defense has to account for him. obviously you're basing this off your most recent memory compared to what lebron has done his entire career. saying lebron needs the ball to be successful is just false. running around the court trying to get open for three isn't the only way someone can play off ball. steph does the exact same thing when guys like kd and klay are going off and have the ball in their hands so what. the same goes for kd or klay
I'm not saying he needs the ball to be effective. I am just saying him and Harden are both more effective when they have the ball. I am not taking shots at Lebron, I think he's greatest player of all time. Even better than Jordan. Problem is this GSW built a team of stars that actually mesh well together. Because they have possibly the 3 best shooters in the league on the same team. There is no way to defend or help off on them. Curry and Thompson are two of the best players without the ball, which is why GS works.
In my opinion, the Spurs are the closest. If they could acquire CP3 while keeping Simmons, Mills, and Dedmon, and then draft Jordan Bell, that would be a killer team. They'd have to let Pau go. And they'd have to dump Parker and Manu. Or at least threaten to. Although I highly suspect that if CP3 declared his intentions that the Spurs may be able to turn that into a sign and trade with the Clips. And if push chins to shove they could let go of one of Mills/Dedmon to get it done. Spurs are the closest to the Warriors. And Pops is doing things His way and being innovative himself. He's playing a slow-paced game with lots of ball movement, denying the quick shots and forcing the opponent to expend energy defensively while his offense hunts shots at the rim, or in the paint, and at the free throw line that have an even higher efficiency than any three-ball shots outside the corners. He's doing this while continuing to play two bigs together who in turn really help his half-court defense and rebounding. When I think about adding a Chris Paul to that, upgrading everything from Parker, shooting, playmaking, handle, passing, and defense, and also adding Bell's defensive tenacity, flexibility, and rebounding to what they've already got going......that makes a Warriors/Spurs series look very appealing. A perimeter defense of Paul, Green, and Kawhi would be as good as it gets....especially with Simmons coming off the bench for them. Then you add LaMarcus and Bell up front with Dedmon and that's a nasty, nasty defense, especially when they make buckets and come down and set it up. ================================ As far as our team, there are a lot more "if" factors that would come into play. But one of the main if factors would be youngsters like Dekker and Qi breaking out combined with pulling an immediate rotation piece ir two out of this draft. In my opinion, the two most ready-made immediate rotation pieces available in this draft with skills we need to add to beat the Warriors are Jordan Bell and Frank Mason. I frankly dread the thought of Bell going to the Spurs......or God forbid the Warriors. Both teams could conceivably acquire him. The Warriors through trade and the Spurs directly through the draft out by trading up to get him. The draft is critical. And the Wsrriors ability to pluck Green and Ezeli out of the late first and second round combined with the tremendous rise in the cap while already having Curry on a value long-term contract was the perfect storm to build the Warriors into a champion and then still add Durant. We aren't going to have a huge increase in cap to work with. And we've already maxed out Harden and then raised him to the new max after that. So it's even mute critical for us to find another Draymond or Chandler Parsons Middleton that we can get into the primary rotation with significant contributions immediately. And it's important that guys like Dekker and Xi become significant rotation pieces. We need to see Dekker shooting a ton of C&S threes. And we have to investigate all trade scenarios. Then we have to decide who the keepers are and who we have to move. I think it's obvious there. We have to move Anderson and Capela. We need Anderson's salary back and we've got Wiltjer set to replace his skill set. And we need to move Capela because he's going to get paid in a year And we can't afford to pay him fit mediocrity in the middle. The center position is the keep position to exploit the Warriors. We gotta get a guy that can exploit their starting center and also match up favorably with Draymond as well. It is time to bring back the post-up. But we've got to get the right match up to use it. Draymond is not big enough tip stop a great post-up center. Just as he himself takes advantage of smaller, weaker defenders, so should teams take advantage of him by spreading the floor and posting up a bigger stronger skilled post up player (DeMarcus) on Draymond in the low block. That means you gotta get that player and that means you gotta be able to throw the post entry pass to him. Which leads me to the point guard scenario. And why I suggest a player like Frank Mason as an acquirable upgrade to our rotation. I'm not pessimistic that we can't beat the Warriors. I believe it can be built quickly. But only if one James Harden catches the vision and let's it happen.
one is a two time and current mvp and the other is an all star as well as all nba caliber player. it's not exactly a surprise it works. Not that it would ever happen but lebron and harden would be plenty effective together
You can't stop the warriors. Just let them win for a few years. In the meantime set your team up to win right after they are done setting records.
Disagree. For one Curry is NOT a top 5 player. 2 - You're telling me a team of Harden/Kawhi/Lebron wouldn't take down the Warriors. That's just a ridiculous assumption.
Spurs are definitely the closest in terms of structure and bench personnel. The problem they got too much tied up in aging players or players like Aldridge who the modern game have left behind. CP3 joining the Spurs is not going to cut it. Any combinations other then Lebron joining the Spurs will not put fear into the Warriors hearts.
Harden, Kawhi, and Davis are next on the list of top 10 players not currently playing in these Finals. Disclaimer: Westbrook is not a team player in my view so he's out of the running. Put those three together and let's see what happens. Kawhi would complement Harden so well with his defense and off the ball shooting. Meanwhile, Davis would make a great pick and roll partner and mop the floor with the Warriors on the glass rebounding and swatting those Curry floaters in the lane. I feel excited already just writing about it. Gonna go home and try it on 2K17 with the Rockets. I wish there was a way to make this pipe dream happen!
I know a while back there was talk of Melo, Lebron, CP3, and Wade all wanting to play together. If there was some way for that to happen I think they would have a chance at beating the Warriors. There is no such thing as parity in the NBA. I don't think there ever will be. Players want to play for the big named teams. No one wants to play in Minnesota or Memphis. The only reason Lebron is in Cleveland is because that's where he is from. I know this is highly unlikely but I would love to see Paul George, Blake Griffin/Boogie Cousins, and James Harden all on the Rockets. I would trade Ariza, Rhyno, Williams, Dekker, Trez, and whatever other assets to make that happen.
that's a big assumption breh. jerry lin, harden, and donatas would annihilate the warriors. they would destroy the universe, and not even the avengers and justice league combined could stop them.
