2015-2016 NBA

[Jay]

Damian Lillard is pretty ridiculous. I really liked the Blazers in the playoffs and 4-1 isn't representative of how close it actually was.

[Jay]

Gregg Pop gives epic post game press conferences.

[Lyion]

Heat vs Raptors has been a better series than I anticipated. Too bad the winner is going to get rolled by Cleveland.

I'm bummed about the Thunder beating the Spurs. I think SA was a much tougher matchup for Golden State.

[Jay]

Heat vs Raptors has been a better series than I anticipated. Too bad the winner is going to get rolled by Cleveland.

I'm bummed about the Thunder beating the Spurs. I think SA was a much tougher matchup for Golden State.

OKC is no joke either barring any clutch game winning 3 pters from almost 40 ft away. I wanna see the Raptors beat Cleveland so bad!

[Zanchief]

Unlike the Miami series where most of the casual fans were rooting against us, I really feel if we can steal a game or two there's going to be a big ground swell of interest in our team because of how despicable the city and fans of Cleveland have been.

[Jay]

Well I didn't see that one coming.

The look on Steve Kerr's face when they didn't call the travel was awesome lol

[Lyion]

Heat vs Raptors has been a better series than I anticipated. Too bad the winner is going to get rolled by Cleveland.

I'm bummed about the Thunder beating the Spurs. I think SA was a much tougher matchup for Golden State.

OKC is no joke either barring any clutch game winning 3 pters from almost 40 ft away. I wanna see the Raptors beat Cleveland so bad!

Man, I didn't see that coming either. Here's to hoping the whole series is this competitive.

I'd say the Raptors don't have a lot of hope against Cleveland, but I was thinking GS would sweep OKC, too.

[Jay]

...aaaaaand that's not happening lol. Grats on making it to the Finals Cleveland.

[Jay]

Golden State is donezo. Westbrook on a other level.

[Zanchief]

Biggest game of my life tonight. My brain says Cavs blowout but my heart says Raptors steal it.

Just to get ahead of ourselves here...If Toronto and OKC advance, Toronto would have HCA in the NBA Finals. Let that sink in.

[Jay]

Oh and Arlos, just to give you an idea of the odds of success for Golden State, 9 teams in the NBA's history have come back from a 3-1 deficit in a playoff series. 7 of them did have HCA (home court advantage) though. Also, teams with the 3-1 deficit of the NBA Finals are 0-32. Then there's just the fact of beating OKC 3 times in a row. They are playing some incredible ball. Draymond should have groin kicked Westbrook lol.

If it's not GSW, I'm gonna root for the Raptors.

PS - Arlos you've been awfully quiet here. Did you retreat and become a Sharks fan now that GSW are losing?

[Arlos]

Heh, I've always been far more a Sharks fan than a Warriors fan. I've been a Sharks fan for more than 20 years now, back since their miracle playoff run in '94. So yes, I've been paying far more attention to that these days. There just hasn't been that much to say about the Warriors of late, until the recent couple debacles. The Warriors sure picked the worst possible time to have their worst slump of the year. I think they can come back. But it's pretty unlikely. Would be such a tragedy if they failed, would be as bad as the undefeated Patriots team that lost in the Superbowl to the helmet catch. No clue why the Warriors have been doing so poorly, and I doubt I have anywhere near the basketball knowledge to properly diagnose it. Football or hockey, I could give an educated guess. Basketball, not so much. (Baseball too, but who in hell cares about baseball? )

[Jay]

Heh, I've always been far more a Sharks fan than a Warriors fan. I've been a Sharks fan for more than 20 years now, back since their miracle playoff run in '94. So yes, I've been paying far more attention to that these days. There just hasn't been that much to say about the Warriors of late, until the recent couple debacles. The Warriors sure picked the worst possible time to have their worst slump of the year. I think they can come back. But it's pretty unlikely. Would be such a tragedy if they failed, would be as bad as the undefeated Patriots team that lost in the Superbowl to the helmet catch. No clue why the Warriors have been doing so poorly, and I doubt I have anywhere near the basketball knowledge to properly diagnose it. Football or hockey, I could give an educated guess. Basketball, not so much. (Baseball too, but who in hell cares about baseball? )

1) Small lineup is ass for rebounds. GSW getting murdered by rebounding (-16 last game compared to OKC)
2) They are actually trying to defend Westbrook and that is exhausting. He's the fastest SG in the league and one of the fastest of all time if not THE fastest.
3) Westbrook is on fire
4) Curry is not 100%
5) Iguodala is not 100%
6) Ezeli is not 100%
7) Klay and Dray are carrying the team and are exhausted. Dray becomes a giant baby when he's tired or frustrated.
8) Bogut is not 100%

Those are my thoughts anyways. I think they are a little gassed and not chasing down loose balls as well. I think they need to not depend on the small lineup and always keep either Festus, Bogut or Speights in or any 2 of them if you're gonna sit Draymond. Only problem with that is if you have Livingston come in for Curry and there's a big in play, it drastically lowers their offense since Livingston can't shoot 3's. Honestly no idea what to do about Westbrook. Dude is playing above MVP level.

[Zanchief]

They spent most of the year chasing 73 wins when they should have been dialing back some of their starters. They look beat. I don't buy Curry's injury. He was playing fine after he came back, now that hes not shooting well he's injured again. Rebounding is a problem though, likely their biggest. Rebounding and turnovers have such a huge effect on so many different parts of basketball that if you lose those two battles you almost always lose the game.

[Lyion]

I'm not buying it. I don't care if they rested most of their guys a month, it would not change the fact OKC is beating them up currently, in my opinion. They are being outplayed and outcoached. It's as simple as that. Anyways, the series isn't over yet.

Raptors were a tough out, but there's a reason they were the #2 seed. I actually expected this series to go to 7, as bad as Kyrie and Love were playing in Toronto. I'm glad it didn't.

It's a shame GS probably won't make the finals, as I'd be interested in them playing Cleveland while the Cavs are peaking, unlike last year when they were down 2 of their top 4.

[Zanchief]

The two seven game series really took their toll on Toronto. Their entire starting lineup were banged up. Would have liked to go seven but it was clear Toronto was outmatched. Great year for them moving forward.

[Jay]

Klay Thompson is a god holy shit.

[Arlos]

Wow, the W's survived the series. How many people thought that back when they were down 3-1? Hats off to them. (and yes, I watched most of the 2nd half, once the hockey game finished. Boooo, Sharks losing game 1 3-2.)

[Jay]

Sharks lose, dubs win, Arlos posts here lol. Welcome back Mr. Fairweather.

[Zanchief]

Because of you Arlos, I'm rooting for LeBron. You're making me side with Lyion...that's how much I hate fans like you. My support pretty much ensures GSWs victory though.

[Arlos]

Apparently I'm not allowed to have a team I follow more closely than the Warriors. I'm sorry my NBA fandom isn't pure enough for you.

[Jay]

Because of you Arlos, I'm rooting for LeBron. You're making me side with Lyion...that's how much I hate fans like you. My support pretty much ensures GSWs victory though.

On a serious note though, do you think Cleveland is succeeding due to the East being kinda weak or are they real or both? They didn't play anyone in the playoffs with the Warriors' roster dynamic because the East is kinda ass but at the same time I do think they are good.

Back to the last series though, I really like Steven Adams. OKC has a ton of talent but they are too focused on KD and RW. RW played like a monster though.

[Zanchief]

OKC: They lived and died by Westbrook. You could watch a quarter and think Westbrook is pure trash, you could watch the next and think he's the best player in the NBA. It must be crazy coaching him. He's so talented but often makes bad decisions. The team really reverts to Hero Ball too much. The problem is, they get away with it a lot so it works. Westbrook had an off game in the biggest game of the year. Oh well.

Cleveland: The east teams are flawed offensively, but most are very good defensively. I don't see this being such a big deal to Cleveland. If they were used to playing soft teams, it might be more difficult to adjust, but the way it is I don't think it will be that much of an issue. Cleveland's problem is the they don't play elite defense all the time. Compound that with the fact that two of their biggest defense problems are Irving and Smith, they are going to have a handful with Curry / Thompson.

I know I said Cleveland will win a few series a while ago (when Curry was injured) but who knows. GSWs could sweep for all I know.

Arlos, it's more that you flip flop based on the recent games and make posts like Question: Are the Golden State Warriors the greatest sports team in the Galaxy? Like it's your first season watching ball. Calm down.

[Arlos]

Whatever. I'll stay out of this thread from now on, because apparently me liking hockey more is somehow offensive.

[Zanchief]

Did you like the Sharks when they were bad?