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The Finals | Game 1 | Cavs @ Warriors | June 2nd, 2016 | 9:00pm EST

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I don't disagree, which is why I included the caveat of "they let them get comfortable" this first time I posted the stat.

But the idea that they lost because of "too many wide open shots" is not supported by the numbers. THAT is what I was responding to the second time.

This is part of the reason why I think contested shot stats can be useless.

Livingston shooting a contested shot over a player he is 3-4 inches taller than goes down as the same as Irving shooting a contested shot over a player that is 4-8 inches taller than he is. Those aren't the same thing.

Livingston can drain those "contested" shots over our perimeter players all day. It's not as if it is a bad shot. He's shooting a turn around or pull up jumper from 12-14 feet away, against players who have a zero percent chance of blocking his shot.
 
Ill have to disagree about the perimeter not being open. there was several opportunities throughout the game where there were kickback threes wide open and LeBron or james either tried to make the harder pass or ignored it altogether.

There was also no movement and Golden State constantly left the opposite side shooter wide open to cut in from the weakside and they never did.

Irving and LeBron are gonna drive the ball and they are gonna draw fouls but there was no balance to it.
 
agreed. Kevin Love didn't even assume his usual playoff "corner sniper" role for much of this game and I think it was some of the best basketball he had played all season. maybe since the Detroit series. real aggressive on both sides of the ball.

Ironically, I think some of the best defense the Cavs played tonight was in a line up that involved both Kyrie and Kevin Love. Lending more credence to the idea that's more about effort than anything else with the both of them.

Super ironic. The bench lineups got murdered tonight (though to be fair, the fourth quarter was sans LeBron instead of Kyrie).
 
After the cakewalk to the finals. We sort of needed that punch in the mouth. Role players know they have to step the **** up on the road.

I feel good about them at home though..


It's tough because of the length and the youth of Golden State. This makes it harder for old guys like Frye and Jefferson, or unathletic guys like Delly.

Still, our bench will play better at home I'm sure.
 
If that's what you took from tonight, then we saw two completely different games.
It's not about what I took from tonight. What I took from tonight was mentioned a few pages ago.

What needs to happen is one of Love or Irving not starting the next game. Irving was continually switched to and taken advantage of.

If you did not witness this, then yes, we watched two completely different games.
 
This is part of the reason why I think contested shot stats can be useless.

Livingston shooting a contested shot over a player he is 3-4 inches taller than goes down as the same as Irving shooting a contested shot over a player that is 4-8 inches taller than he is. Those aren't the same thing.

Livingston can drain those "contested" shots over our perimeter players all day. It's not as if it is a bad shot. He's shooting a turn around or pull up jumper from 12-14 feet away, against players who have a zero percent chance of blocking his shot.

Which is part of what makes this team such a nightmare. What other team can put in a 6-9 point guard who's money from 15 feet and a dynamite passer on the floor with their 2nd unit?

Pretty sure the answer is: no one.
 
Exactly. LeBron basically said this. He all but said "we did what we wanted on defense." They just didn't expect Livingston and the rest of the bench to go crazy.

We freaking held Steph to 11 points on 4/15. That's very good.
They also got a few transition baskets because we missed a few bunnies around the rim/refs not calling the foul.

For some context.

LeBron had a game where the Heat beat the Spurs by 19 because the bench scored 40. Wade only scored 10 that game.

The Spurs bounced back and won two out of the next three. Then the Ray Allen play saved them.

Sometimes in the finals there are games where one bench goes crazy and you have to just chalk it up and move on.

Lets see if they can constantly score 40 a game on us..
 
Also both our ORTG and DRTG sucked tonight. It wasn't like one or the other. Both need cleaned up. Approximate values below.

ORTG = 096.7
DRTG = 114.3

If I had to pick one of those to be mad about, I'd pick the offense. Our offense has been amazing in the playoffs (119.2 coming into tonight), but not tonight. We need more firepower than what we showed tonight.
 
It's not about what I took from tonight. What I took from tonight was mentioned a few pages ago.

What needs to happen is one of Love or Irving not starting the next game. Irving was continually switched to and taken advantage of.

If you did not witness this, then yes, we watched two completely different games.

Just don't see who you put in the game to avoid getting burned by post ups, which is really the only time Kyrie failed defensively. Delly would get killed. You could try Shump, but then you're putting he or LeBron at point. You're sure as hell not putting in Frye. Jefferson leads to the same issues as Shump.

Bringing one of Irving or Love off the bench isn't going to magically change anything. In fact, their may NOT be a lineup move that flips this series in the Cavs favor. That's the reality of the situation.
 
The pace was more to our liking, too. I think it was around 92 possessions or so. So we brought the Warriors more into our zone tonight with the pace (they like it up around 100). We just have to execute better.

We had a run and a rhythm there in the third. We just need more of that. But the Warriors are good; they affect our offense. Just have to fight through it.
 
Just don't see who you put in the game to avoid getting burned by post ups, which is really the only time Kyrie failed defensively. Delly would get killed. You could try Shump, but then you're putting he or LeBron at point. You're sure as hell not putting in Frye. Jefferson leads to the same issues as Shump.

Bringing one of Irving or Love off the bench isn't going to magically change anything. In fact, their may NOT be a lineup move that flips this series in the Cavs favor. That's the reality of the situation.

How many times did Delly get screened off his man compared to Kyrie? How many points were scored against Delly on mismatches compared to Kyrie?

I'm genuinely curious. Got anything to back this up?
 
OK, I see where this is going... I'm not going to engage in this argument. Its nonsense.
 
Ohh look. Scapegoating players after Game 1.

Have some fucking trust in the team, man.
 
Honestly hats off to you guys who remain confident.

I'll feel a lot better closer to Sunday.
 

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