[2017 NBA Finals] Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

QUESTION: Would Bogut have made *any* difference in this series?

Rocket River
I don't think so but . . . .

 

Maybe. He would help the Cavs stop giving up so many offensive rebounds. He would be another option for them when Tristan isn't getting it done. What they really need is a high level 3&D guy out on the wing that can check Durant so that Lebron can be on Green and function more as a roamer and help defender on defense which is what he's best at.

 

This is so fun watching a team sweep through the finals, I don't like close competitive competition! Gsw should pick up Gianni's or the brow too

 

Spoiler: Stinky Cavs

Kay Felder & Edy Tavares DNP

 

Jr did ok offensively. U right though. Everyone else sucked.

 

Facts!!

 

Highest payroll in the league though

 

They are going to trade Love this summer, that is almost a sure thing, but can they get a good return for Love, that is a question.

 

why would they trade love? bc they ran into one of greatest teams in the NBA finals while cruising through the east playoffs. yeah that doesn't make sense. almost a sure thing? nah hes not going anywhere.

 

Barkley will say: Yes. King James can do it. GS is playing small ball, too soft. Let do it.

 

I don't know if they needed Durant. Did you see the way they were playing without him late in the regular season and in the first round? And that was without Durant AND Barnes(not to mention Bogut, Ezeli, Speights, or Barbosa). Would they have gone 15-0 up until this point? Of course not. But they were within one shot of a 2nd straight title a year ago before falling to a younger, hungrier Cavs team.

What the addition of Durant, all that's happened is that the team favored to win the title has become the team guaranteed to win the title(barring injury) for the next few years. The talk all last summer was how Durant signing with the Warriors rendered the regular season meaningless since we all knew it would be Golden State vs Cleveland in the Finals(yet again). The problem now for the NBA is that Durant's signing has rendered the regular season AND playoffs meaningless. There is no suspense whatsoever in any round of the postseason including the Finals.

 

He is the only player who has a trade value. I heard it on the radio that Cavs fans hate him so much whenever he missed the shots.
Almost sure thing for lots of takes for the Love trade, but a big problem is if they can get a good return. If they do not make trades, the just can not beat GS, that is the bottom line.

 

Yes, they need KD. Without KD, GS lost last night game. Do not compare Barnes, Bogut, Ezeli etc to KD, all others were just role players.

 

It's not about as much. Is Durant a better fit? Maybe, but is Harden or a Westbrook a bad fit? Hell no. Harden and Westbrook still have the highest usage in the league. Durant was able to take a month off to recover from an injury and the warriors didn't lose a step. That team was a well oiled machine before Durant even got there. Give Harden all those illegal screens, the knock down shooters of Curry and Klay, and watch his assist numbers rise to levels only 2K could see. Harden plays hero ball when the Rockets get lethargic and can't make shots. You won't see hero ball on a team as capable as the warriors plus Harden. Would the warriors play style change a little? Sure, but didn't we see a bit of that already this year when they took on Durant anyways?

 

hes not the only one who has value. he's just the scapegoat now during this series. cavs fans sure were quiet when he was destroying the likes of the celtics just a couple weeks ago. again trading him makes no sense.

 

I can't say this enough, when you are able to afford 4 super stars and decent backups, exhaustion isn't as much of a factor. Then again, if you're in the leastern conference, able to finish the season 23-23 and still score the number 2 record, you shouldn't be tired either. Want parity? Move San Antonio and Houston to the east tomorrow.

 

They lose last night, but they might not have lost Games 1 and 2. This Cavs team is not as good as last year's. And last year's team barely won the title thanks in part to Bogut's injury, Curry not being 100%, and Green's Game 5 suspension.

The Warriors don't need Durant. But he definitely makes them even more difficult(if not impossible) to beat.

 

The turning point of the series last year was Bogut going down. With Pachulia in hand, they don't have that fear anymore. So I could definitely see this argument. Then again, if they didn't have Durant, chances are they would have kept Bogut and Barnes. Regardless, the cavs needed a lot to go right for them to win last year, hence why I thought maybe Boston (having not lost in Oracle in the last 2 seasons and being a new kid on the block) would have been a HELL of a lot more of an interesting matchup. But Boston is still really really weak.

 

A couple of thoughts:

1. When Cleveland was up by like 5 points with 2 minutes to go, they started burning the clock on offense and then go one-on-one. This seems like way too early to start this strategy.

2. Cleveland has decent role players on the team-- at least they looked decent until the Cavs ran into Golden State. They probably can use some more energetic wing defenders.