congrats to Cleveland Cavaliers

[kambo]

OMG,  what a come back from 3-1
congrats 

 

[JohnRoberts]

Coming back from down 1-3 was remarkable. I was rooting for Cleveland but not willing to bet against  Golden State. The Warriors had a record season this year and home court advantage. They only lost 9 games during the entire regular season (a record) then lost another 9 during the finals.

Lebron played a strong game (triple double). About 3 minutes from the end when he got tangled up with Curry, Lebron gave him a hand up, then a friendly pat on the butt as he walked away... Michael Jordan used to do that to the younger up and coming players to mess with their heads. Mentally they are competing at a very high level, so that creates some cognitive  dissonance when he acts out of character. Green was kicking other team's players in their crown jewels, and Lebron shared a friendly pat. Definitely a super-star move.. .

He finally gave his home town a championship (first in over 50 years), maybe they'll forgive him now for going to Miami several years ago. 

JR

PS: I have been critical of officiating for years, we need robot referees. Since everybody fouls almost every play, how they selectively call them can change games. That also need to give out emmys for the flops...

 

[john12ax7]

The real MVP was Irving, he seemed to be the only one on either team that  consistently made the clutch shots.

Must say though that the way the league plays favorites is downright comical.  Lebron got Green suspended which turned the series.

 

[kambo]

The real MVP was Irving, he seemed to be the only one on either team that  consistently made the clutch shots.

1+
Irving  is a rock star,

 

[JohnRoberts]

The real MVP was Irving, he seemed to be the only one on either team that  consistently made the clutch shots.

I liked his 40 pt game along with Lebron, it is instructive that both Irving and Love were injured last year. The cavaliers had many role players this year who stepped up and delivered.  Jefferson, who is retiring also played well. JR Smith made a lot of clutch shots also. Dellavedova was a strong defender.

There is a reason everyone on the roster gets a ring, they all contributed, but Lebron scored 109 pts in the critical final three games, and either made or assisted on 50% of the points scored. IMO he deserves the award. Some of his blocks and steals were remarkable (poster material).

Must say though that the way the league plays favorites is downright comical.  Lebron got Green suspended which turned the series.

Green got himself suspended for kicking that Thunder player in the nuts. I've played against guys like that, and it's a dirty trick to secure some more space to get a shot off. When he messed with the king's junk the league sent him a message.

I rather dislike the power that the referees have to alter game outcomes. When there are almost continuous infractions occurring, selective enforcement can change game dynamics and outcomes. I don't know that there is outright cheating (again), but both the refs and league benefit from having the series run the full 7 games.

Curry was almost in constant foul trouble and even fouled out one game (first time ever IIRC). I also saw Lebron called for traveling a rare call against a super-star (it's called "NBA steps" when super stars get the extra step. ).  I think GS has a valid complaint but no smoking gun. The NBA is actually improving the accuracy of calls with extra post game rigorous video reviews, and the referees union complained about making the ref missed call reports public.

We need some way to improve the accuracy of calls, without slowing down and disrupting the game even more. I watch games on a DVR and fast forward through more than 50% of the dead playing time. I was only half kidding about robot referees.  The delays and reviews become free timeouts for both teams to write up plays. 48 minutes of playing time takes well over 3 hours to complete. 

JR

PS: I really miss playing basketball... up until a couple years ago when my right knee went arthritic I was still playing pick-up basketball once a week. I couldn't beat the HS kids one on one, but I could out smart them in a team context (I could also make my open shots when they left me unguarded).

 

[kambo]

i am with you John
1+


to me; Lebron has his own kingdom
i dont understand how he is able to do all that. he is a beast(in a good way) and looks very stiff...
but he is amazingly athletic.  and scoring 3 points out of nowhere...

i wonder what  was Lebron saying to Curry, when he slammed the ball on his head on game 6 ))))
Curry was so pissed... he had "when did this guy catch me, he was 100 feet behind me" look !

whole team was amazing....

i havent  played for  sometime too

 

[JohnRoberts]

Kevin Durant has signed with golden state, so we might as well skip the regular NBA season next year and just schedule another finals playoff between Cavaliers and Golden State.

GS broke the record for most wins last season, don't expect them to do worse next year unless they get mentally lazy.

Interesting conflict at golden state between Nike and Under armor endorsees.

JR

 

[kambo]

Kevin Durant has signed with golden state,

wooooo
he is one of those magical players in NBA...

so we might as well skip the regular NBA season next year and just schedule
another finals playoff between Cavaliers and Golden State.

1+
good luck to Cavaliers ;D

 

[john12ax7]

Yes basically seems like a GS Cleveland rematch is inevitable. Eliminating conferences would be interesting though, would be a harder climb for Cleveland. I also think GS  will win less games next year, they will have learned their lesson from this year.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Yes basically seems like a GS Cleveland rematch is inevitable. Eliminating conferences would be interesting though, would be a harder climb for Cleveland. I also think GS  will win less games next year, they will have learned their lesson from this year.

I think Lebron is a free agent too... maybe he should go to Golden State and they can all coast.  8)

New TV contracts have brought a lot of new money into the team budget caps so good players will get even more money in the near future.

Golden state seems almost too talented at least on offense.

Still waiting to see if nike reacquires Curry (Curry was nike but jumped to UA), or UA converts Durant... now that's a ball game (within the ball game).

JR 

 

[john12ax7]

Lebron going to GS would be hilarious. He will basically be a free agent every year for the rest of his career. Just continuously signing 1 yr deals so it can be the max every time.