Cavs defeat Warriors 4-3 in 2016 NBA Finals

ice cream man said:

1. JR cannot stop Klay. No way. He couldn't stop Derozan. Klay is more than a stand still 3pt shooter.

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To be fair, if JR could stop Klay, we would have a sweep on our hands. Stopping Klay is an extremely tall task. JR doesn't have to stop Klay. He just can't get obliterated in the matchup. We are going to be conceding the SG matchup, almost surely.

ice cream man said:

2. Draymond will not be guarding LeBron unless he gets switched. If they do end up sticking him on LeBron, great - lets get Draymond in foul trouble. Draymond will likely be on Love, in which case I'd still want Love to go at him and get him in foul trouble. Regardless, we HAVE to involve Love more than we did against Toronto. Iggy/Barnes will be guarding LeBron. When Iggy is on LeBron, LeBron should be in the post, not the perimeter. Otherwise let Irving/Love run the show.

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Yeah I think Iggy will be logging some big minutes this finals. Not quite mirroring LBJ's, but close.

ice cream man said:

3. I would start Fry and Love together. We can't stop them, but we can control how efficient our offense is. This lineup would render Bogut useless.

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I think I mentioned upthread not messing with the rotation (in regards to Shump). but I would be cool with starting with the death lineup. Whenever KI and LBJ are in the game I think our best lineup is Love-Frye-JR against the Warriors. They can't possibly have Bogut in the game for this, or if they do they are doing us a favor. And Bogut is a good rim protector. Having him out of the game has proven to be an absolute layup line for GS a lot of games this postseason (think Lillard and McCollum). Frye will be invaluable this series.

ice cream man said:

4. Talking about matchups in pretty useless as well in my opinion. OKC switched everything which is the way to go, even if we end up with Love on Curry multiple times. They will have to work harder to get open shots this way. One screen or back-cut if we don't switch. If we switch, multiple drive and kicks will be needed.

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Adams had some good plays, but for the most part got killed on switches for Curry. TT got somewhat abused by it last year too. I would rather trap the P&R and let Draymond blow a layup contested by the backside (he has been doing that a lot recently) than have TT guarding Curry on the perimeter. That matchup just doesn't end well for us.

ice cream man said:

5. You forgot one important matchup: the benches. Livingston and Barbosa will destroy us. Always have.

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But this time we actually have all of our starters so our bench unit is our actual bench and not James Jones averaging 20 minutes per game or the starters just playing the entire game. Last year's series is just a completely different beast. Last year there were people that actually contemplated going to Perkins. We were that short on bodies. Lol!

ice cream man said:

I think we get destroyed in Game 1. Then we gotta take Game 2. I think the only way the Cavs win this series is if they go up 3-1 like the Thunder did. I predict Warriors will win the series. I hope I'm wrong.

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I can see us having one stinker this series, but I doubt it is game 1. I think we are going to come out like a pack of rabid wolves with mad cow disease who just intercepted a truck full of cocaine.

In other words, a lot of energy.

I said Cavs in 5, but a sweep really wouldn't be too shocking.

I'm amazed at how afraid so many are of this Warriors team when their defense has looked far worse than Cleveland's. How are they going to possibly match up with this offense? Honestly I still believe last years team without Kyrie & Love were easily the better team until Blatt developed this obsession that he had to match up with GS strengths and shortened an already thin rotation by sitting Moz who had just scored 28. Why on Earth would a coach do this to an already short-handed team when you were beating them at your game?

Cavs only lost game 4 due to obvious fatigue and Blatt overreacted big time. Also his refusal to hack Iggy was mind-boggling. The guy was killing it and Blatt's reply was 'I don't like that strategy', really? Down two all-stars and a very short rotation and you don't want to consider the option of making Kerr take out their MVP? Okay. That said I do like Blatt though. Very good coach that just wasn't NBA ready.

Both teams will be highly motivated since even though only one trophy will be given, two titles are on the line and the Warriors and their fans know it. The pressure is on. I'm just glad Klay was able to save them and they were able to finish off OKC. As a Sonics fan in Ohio, I haven't been this excited for a series since the Sonics-Bulls in '96. Similarities for sure, but the big difference is, this one I actually expect to win.

Shump showed some unique defense required on Steph, at least as I see it... His layups are just calling for strip, he carries ball low and waits until he flips it up. You can't block that the regular way, you have to bother his shot pocket to force a miss, if you wait for release you are dead. IMO it's better to let him have some more space when he drives and give yourslef a chance to interfere with his loading space. Same on his shots, chase him low, he anticipates regular hand up and designed his shot to go over anyway.
Anyway, I would not bother to set team defense to stop him specifically. Get individual defenenders ready for him and stop Klay systematically.

ice cream man said:

1. JR cannot stop Klay. No way. He couldn't stop Derozan. Klay is more than a stand still 3pt shooter.

2. Draymond will not be guarding LeBron unless he gets switched. If they do end up sticking him on LeBron, great - lets get Draymond in foul trouble. Draymond will likely be on Love, in which case I'd still want Love to go at him and get him in foul trouble. Regardless, we HAVE to involve Love more than we did against Toronto. Iggy/Barnes will be guarding LeBron. When Iggy is on LeBron, LeBron should be in the post, not the perimeter. Otherwise let Irving/Love run the show.

3. I would start Fry and Love together. We can't stop them, but we can control how efficient our offense is. This lineup would render Bogut useless.

4. Talking about matchups in pretty useless as well in my opinion. OKC switched everything which is the way to go, even if we end up with Love on Curry multiple times. They will have to work harder to get open shots this way. One screen or back-cut if we don't switch. If we switch, multiple drive and kicks will be needed.

5. You forgot one important matchup: the benches. Livingston and Barbosa will destroy us. Always have.

I think we get destroyed in Game 1. Then we gotta take Game 2. I think the only way the Cavs win this series is if they go up 3-1 like the Thunder did. I predict Warriors will win the series. I hope I'm wrong.

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I have to say I couldn't agree with you less. On top of that, I find your overall assessment to be treasonous and very much qualifies as conduct unbecoming of a Cleveland sports fan. Good day, sir!

CLEistheCITY said:

I don't know where some of you all are getting this cavs in 5 confidence.

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Because we have the best player in the world? With stars in Kyrie and Love? Is it really that hard to have a lot of confidence in this team?

BimboColesHair said:

My god...on our own board people are giving the Warriors too much credit, while giving our own team too little...this is fucking ridiculous...

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And it's not even done intelligently. It's all "LOL CAVS!!!" type of $#!+. Embarrassing.

In curious if the Warriors will be starting iguodola or Barnes? Iguodola started last game and the second half of game 6.

It seems there is a better than average chance that Barnes will be the sixth man to start this series.

If this is the case then I'm putting love on Bogut to start the game and probably putting Tristan on green and Lebron on iguodola.

I just feel sorry some people can't seem to enjoy this ride. Whatever happens, happens.

Of course GS is capable of beating us. No one has said they can't. They are an outstanding team.

But the gull that some think we can beat this team. The nerve of us!

The Cavs currently have the 2nd best ORtg in post merger NBA playoff history...2nd to the fucking prime Showtime Lakers by 0.7...

Yet all people want to talk about is how the Cavs are going to stop GS...

Anderson Varejao played for the us earlier this season, so he will get a ring, regardless of the winner.

MrFilmkritik said:

Anderson Varejao played for the us earlier this season, so he will get a ring, regardless of the winner.

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Not quite...if the Cavs win, they don't have to give him a ring, just like they don't have to give one to Cunningham or Joe Harris...though I'd venture in this case they wouldn't do that to Andy...sorry Wizard of Moz...

BimboColesHair said:

The Cavs currently have the 2nd best ORtg in post merger NBA playoff history...2nd to the fucking prime Showtime Lakers by 0.7...

Yet all people want to talk about is how the Cavs are going to stop GS...

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Yep, and I don't really see them having any kind of answer for us either.

The Cavs have played better defensive teams that match up pretty well against them. And they still torched them.

MrFilmkritik said:

Anderson Varejao played for the us earlier this season, so he will get a ring, regardless of the winner.

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I don't think that has been confirmed anywhere. Like I said before, I wouldn't give him a ring. We don't get rings if they win do we? If it was a team we weren't facing, maybe.

But on the other hand, it might be kind of funny to piss off GS players with Andy walking around with a ring from the team that just beat you.

Things I feel confident about....

1.) LeBron James.
2.) Cavs can hold leads when OKC couldn't.
3.) Cavs have more shooters than OKC, we won't get into those long droughts that have plagued OKC.
4.) Golden State played behind in most of the series vs. OKC. If we have a big lead heading into halftime or the end of the 3Q, we will most likely when that game.
5.) Cavs play consistent defense when needed and don't quit on both ends of the floor.

godfather said:

Yep, and I don't really see them having any kind of answer for us either.

The Cavs have played better defensive teams that match up pretty well against them. And they still torched them.

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Too add to the godfathers post:

DRtg rank of the Cavs opponents in the regular season:

Detroit: 12th
Atlanta: 2nd
Toronto: 11th

DRtg rank of the Warriors opponents in the regular season:

Houston: 21st
Portland: 20th
Oklahoma City: 13th