Cavs defeat Warriors 4-3 in 2016 NBA Finals

[LeShaq]

I agree with what Windy said about the Warriors: It's all about Green. He's really the key.

You can let Steph get his, but if Green gets going you're going to lose. Curry scored 38 or something against the Pistons and the Warriors still got crushed in that game.

We have to figure out some strategy to deal with Green. Until then, we're going to have problems, I think.

 

[Birdy89]

Green might be the leagues most improved player this year.

He went from being a good player to a top 10 player, and that is why GS looks so much better than even last year. Throw that in with Curry taking his game to another level and it is why it feels like they are so much further ahead than we are even though both rosters are the same as last year.

They have the same roster, but their guys almost across the board have taken their games up another notch where it feels like they are a different team.

 

[Mdog1]

I think once the game fell apart, Blatt decided to try and see what we had to show Griff what we need in a trade.

I know we wanted to win the game, but when we got down 20, I think it turned in to an experiment to see if player x could guard player y. For example, didn't JJ, and RJ spend some time on Green? If we really were trying to see if we could win, why wasn't that LeBron on him.

The game showed, we only have LBJ that can guard Green. Shump is too small, JR is too small, RJ is too slow, JJ is JJ. Love can't keep up, TT maybe could do it in spot minutes, but I don't think TT is a good defender on the perimeter.

So I believe in order to match up with the Warriors, we are going to need to play a really small team, and leave Love/TT on a perimeter player like Barnes/Iggy. It isn't ideal, but it's our only chance when they go small. I would rather Barnes get 20, than let Green get 20.

So example match ups would be Shump - Curry, Kyrie - Klay, Love - Barnes, JR- Iggy, LeBron - Green.

The other option is getting rid of Kyrie and Love from the line up, but that really harms our offense.

Delly on Curry, Shump on Klay, JR on Barnes, TT on Iggy, LeBron on Green.

If we were going to go with the latter route, a trade for a 3 and D player would really help.

Edit: The other option that we could do is slow the game down. Way down, use the whole shot clock, male them use the whole shot clock. It's one way a team that is less talented than another can beat a more talented team.

We could also try "hockey" shifts to keep our guys fresh AF. Tell them to go all out as hard as they can for 30 seconds to a minute. Full court press for 48 minutes.

Edit 2: Just to clarify. I mean hockey shifts for the full court presses. Of course we want LeBron on the court for 35+ minutes. Delly/Shump on Curry, Kyrie/Mo on Klay full court, for the whole game. Get in them, frustrate them, make them pass.

 

[Ohio]

I agree with what Windy said about the Warriors: It's all about Green. He's really the key.

You can let Steph get his, but if Green gets going you're going to lose. Curry scored 38 or something against the Pistons and the Warriors still got crushed in that game.

We have to figure out some strategy to deal with Green. Until then, we're going to have problems, I think.

Totally agree.

The answer is simple: LeBron James.

 

[cavsfever]

Have people posted Tim Legler's great interview with Hooley? Really valuable stuff here on how GS solved Blatt's strategy of trapping Curry, and how over relying on this strategy is obsolete. Also good stuff on over-dribbling on offense and under using Love.

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/playPopup?id=14605895

 

[jon connor]

Good thing we wont have to face them in the Finals. Popp is gonna be VERY prepared for the Warriors. Hes not going to play stupid trapping defense that leaves Draymond (a top 10 player and great playmaker) wiiiiiide open. Hes gonna do the smart thing and make Curry beat you by himself.

I'm very worried about the Spurs though when we face them in the finals

 

[Delly9]

Good thing we wont have to face them in the Finals. Popp is gonna be VERY prepared for the Warriors. Hes not going to play stupid trapping defense that leaves Draymond (a top 10 player and great playmaker) wiiiiiide open. Hes gonna do the smart thing and make Curry beat you by himself.

I'm very worried about the Spurs though when we face them in the finals

As much as I love the Spurs what I saw from Golden State the other night was historically good. I have never seen a beat down like that coming against another title contender who was playing decently good bball at the time.

The Warriors are one of the most explosive teams I have ever seen. They can put 5 playmakers on the floor at one time and still be the best defensive team in the league. No disrespect to the Spurs, but if Golden State plays anything like they did the other night they ain't beating that team

 

[Mr. Orange]

As much as I love the Spurs what I saw from Golden State the other night was historically good. I have never seen a beat down like that coming against another title contender who was playing decently good bball at the time.

The Warriors are one of the most explosive teams I have ever seen. They can put 5 playmakers on the floor at one time and still be the best defensive team in the league. No disrespect to the Spurs, but if Golden State plays anything like they did the other night they ain't beating that team

I think "historically good" is being thrown around here quite liberally these days. This reminds me of the "bush league" posts of last April.

The Warriors were hot and our game plan did not work. They also were blown out in Detroit two nights earlier. Let's see where the chips fall in the spring before we start anointing anyone the 72 Dolphins.

 

[TitleTown]

Good thing we wont have to face them in the Finals. Popp is gonna be VERY prepared for the Warriors. Hes not going to play stupid trapping defense that leaves Draymond (a top 10 player and great playmaker) wiiiiiide open. Hes gonna do the smart thing and make Curry beat you by himself.

I'm very worried about the Spurs though when we face them in the finals

Agreed. Not to mention, people keep writing off OKC--a team that has taken the Cavs place as third overall in the NBA standings. People seem to forget that one of the reasons OKC has struggled in recent years is health issues, and now that they are working their way into full health they will be a scary matchup in the postseason.

Also, the Clippers took out the Spurs in the postseason last year, and they could do the same with GSW this year. It's VERY common in sports for a team to kickass all season, and then not know how to face REAL adversity in the playoffs.

Finally, writing off the Grizzlies would also be a mistake.

But hell, lets just all get on the GSW bandwagon and pretend that regular season success guarantees them a spot in the finals. If I were forced to bet $1000 on the field vs. GSW in the West, I would take the field every time. The West is stacked.

 

[Birdy89]

It's VERY common in sports for a team to kickass all season, and then not know how to face REAL adversity in the playoffs.

Seeing as they won a title last year (and came back from down 2-1 twice to do so) pretty sure their ability to handle adversity is well established.

The way some people talk about them you'd think they are last years Hawks that have never won a thing and the playoffs is some big unknown.

They won 67 games and a title last year, and are off to an even better start this year.

It doesn't guarantee anything, but at some point this delusion among some in these parts that they are some lucky fluke really needs to go away because that ship has sailed.

 

[Delly9]

I think "historically good" is being thrown around here quite liberally these days. This reminds me of the "bush league" posts of last April.

The Warriors were hot and our game plan did not work. They also were blown out in Detroit two nights earlier. Let's see where the chips fall in the spring before we start anointing anyone the 72 Dolphins.

Well to be fair to Golden State they kind of are on a historical pace, or at least they were to start the season.

I don't agree that they were just "hot and our gameplan didn't work." Both teams came into the game and were talking about it as a measuring stick. It was a impressive performance by them.

I have been one of the many who have tried to discredit their championship last season and been one of their main doubters. But eventually fans like us will have to step back and start giving them credit. They have beaten us 5 straight times and are the best team in the league.

 

[Jordan]

Agreed. Not to mention, people keep writing off OKC--a team that has taken the Cavs place as third overall in the NBA standings. People seem to forget that one of the reasons OKC has struggled in recent years is health issues, and now that they are working their way into full health they will be a scary matchup in the postseason.

Also, the Clippers took out the Spurs in the postseason last year, and they could do the same with GSW this year. It's VERY common in sports for a team to kickass all season, and then not know how to face REAL adversity in the playoffs.

Finally, writing off the Grizzlies would also be a mistake.

But hell, lets just all get on the GSW bandwagon and pretend that regular season success guarantees them a spot in the finals. If I were forced to bet $1000 on the field vs. GSW in the West, I would take the field every time. The West is stacked.

Your point about OKC is so true. When they are firing on all cylinders, they are playing better than I've ever seen that core play. The advent of Cameron Payne is really helping their bench unit. I still find it unlikely they'll get out of the West, but, I would absolutely not write them off either.

 

[Sea]

I'm going to throw out a crazy theory here... one full of optimism

What if the Cavs found enough good things in the Christmas Day game (they actually matched up well vs. GSW) that they felt confident enough they could reuse the same formula in June to beat these guys. They would have won that game with free throws.

They chose not to use the same gameplan the other night to not put it on film.

Say the Cavs beat the Warriors the other night using the same gameplan, it gives Warriors 6 months to find ways to beat it. So you go into the game without a plan, lose badly, and the Warriors are no longer strategizing as eagerly to beat the Cavs. What if the Cavs played dead?

We can all agree there was no defensive or offensive gameplan the other night, maybe it was partially on purpose.

 

[Deezus]

I'm going to throw out a crazy theory here... one full of optimism

What if the Cavs found enough good things in the Christmas Day game (they actually matched up well vs. GSW) that they felt confident enough they could reuse the same formula in June to beat these guys. They would have won that game with free throws.

They chose not to use the same gameplan the other night to not put it on film.

Say the Cavs beat the Warriors the other night using the same gameplan, it gives Warriors 6 months to find ways to beat it. So you go into the game without a plan, lose badly, and the Warriors are no longer strategizing as eagerly to beat the Cavs. What if the Cavs played dead?

We can all agree there was no defensive or offensive gameplan the other night, maybe it was partially on purpose.

I don't think this is that crazy of a theory. What incentive did we have to break out all of our best strategies in Mid-January? Why would we start Mozzie when he's already been struggling and we already figured out that our best lineup was with Tristan at C back in the Finals? It just doesn't make sense. Also, as others have pointed out, why put RJ on Draymond Green if you're truly trying to win the game (albeit, we were already down by 20+ at that point)?

 

[Ohio]

Good thing we wont have to face them in the Finals. Popp is gonna be VERY prepared for the Warriors. Hes not going to play stupid trapping defense that leaves Draymond (a top 10 player and great playmaker) wiiiiiide open. Hes gonna do the smart thing and make Curry beat you by himself.

I'm very worried about the Spurs though when we face them in the finals

I think the Spurs will be in The Finals as well.

Feel free to talk about that potential series here:

http://realcavsfans.com/community/index.php?threads/a-potential-cavs-vs-spurs-series.45651/page-5