2019 NBA Finals: Golden State Warriors vs. Toronto Raptors

Well I never said the system matter, just that the most important thing is have star players.

Yes if Curry was asked to slowly walk the ball up and iso or wait at halfcourt the rockets would probably be worse.

 

Why is durant obviously better? Curry's efficiency is so much higher.

But defense is also about playing smart, understanding switches, playing hard, being opportunistic on steals. Durant just isn't that. You can switch him into more players but he isn't a smart or instinctive player.

 

With ratings down, Raptors may be allowed to win one at GS.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA’s first international Finals may be a coup for Canada, but decidedly not for ABC.

Viewership for the first two games of the series between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors was down sharply from last year’s finals — 28 percent for the first game and 29 percent for the second, the Nielsen company said.

While LeBron James fans may point to the star’s absence, geography likely accounts for most of the drop. Toronto’s television audience is not included in the Nielsen ratings, since it’s out of the U.S. Missing one team’s fan base is a huge hurdle for ABC.

It’s Golden State’s fifth straight appearance in the finals, while Toronto is there for the first time.

 

So how did the Piston pull it off against the Shaq+Kobe Lakers?

 

So, you're saying that Durant would be the better player in a one-on-one league. I agree with that. But in a five-on-five league, Curry is better. Not only is he a better play-maker for others, his unprecedented gravity creates open shots for his teammates moreso than any other player in history. We saw this pretty clearly in the Finals a couple years ago, when multiple times the Cavaliers ran to Curry on fast breaks and conceded uncontested dunks to Durant. Uncontested dunks to prevent giving Curry any opening to shoot from three-point range!

Curry might be the greatest offensive force in history and is definitely in the top-five--again, in a five-on-five league, where impact on teammates matters, as opposed to a one-on-one league. It's fairly absurd that Curry can take bench units comprised mostly of scrubs other than him and create solid, good or even great Offensive Ratings.

People get far too caught up in individual stats in determining the overall best player. Individual stats matter (and Curry is no slouch there) but creating amazing team offenses due to your threat and motion also matters a lot.

 

Whoa there. Curry's amazing, but we're still living in a world where Jordan played basketball, right?

 

With half the Warriors out or limping, I'd say it's likely.

 

I've always felt that the "best player wins championship" cliche is a classic example of circular reasoning.

Why did he win the championship? Because he's the best player.
How do you know he's the best player? Because he won the championship.

The fact is, there is no simple way to compare which player is "better."

 

Sure, that's why I said "might." But even Jordan never warped defenses like Curry does. Jordan was a more personally disruptive offensive player than Curry, but more comparable to players like LeBron James, James Harden and Kevin Durant--conventionally incredible offensive weapons. Curry is disruptive in a completely different way (in addition to being pretty great as an individual scorer/play-maker). It's actually fairly hard, IMO, to compare Curry to most other players as an "offensive force"--I don't think there's actually a good historical comp for how he effects team offense.

 

I asked a group of my friends during the Clippers series if Durant or Curry was more important to the warriors.. everyone said Durant while I said Curry. Damn noobs

 

you don't seem to understand. curry would blow out jordan. he's white and cute.

 

If that makes sense, Durant is the more gifted overall player, while Curry is the better shooter and the most important building block if you want to build a Juggernaut.

It is harder to build around Durant. You'd still need Curry and Klay type of players to move off the ball.

WB is a poorer fit.

 

Durant is a better 1 v 1 player but he slows down the warriors. Curry can space the floor and break down players and get his teammates good shots.

 

Thats why I think Durant is going to struggle to win a championship outside of GS, even if he does team up with Kyrie, cos both are need-ball-in-my-hand scorers and dont really make others around them better.

With GS, you have Curry and Draymond running the showing and keeping everyone involved, while Durant can get the ball where he wants and go do his thing.

 

And it shouldn't be. Canadian viewers don't exactly help US networks. ESPN is not a presence in Canada. I am sure that Canada provides very little actual revenue to the NBA.
Furthermore, I highly doubt the vast majority of these Canadian viewers will continue to watch the league without the Raptors in the Finals.

The numbers in the US clearly show that national interest in the NBA is dwindling. And with this crap product, why shouldn't it be?

 

Yes that is the one example of winning without stars. Problem is it's much rarer and harder to pull off.

Also Ben Wallace was the best defensive player in the league. And it was Shaqs first down year as he aged plus Kobe was still only 25.

 

It'll be like Durant in OKC. He struggled a lot in the playoffs last few years. He doesn't really have the space he needs to put up crazy stats if curry isn't on the floor.

 

Did you happen to see him when he averaged 32/game in OKC while shooting over 50%?

 

Wow, GS is 4.5 point favorites tonight without KD or Looney, and with Klay either out or limited??

I'd feel pretty insulted by that if I were a Raptor.