On October 27 2018 05:51 cLutZ wrote: The thing about the Warriors is that the criticism wasn't all wrong when it came to the playoffs. Based on regular season record they should have never had multiple series go past 4-1 in either of those seasons maybe one 4-2 series a year.
Golden State was exploitable in the way old school guys thought, its just they also had things old school guys weren't appreciating like really good floor spacing and switchablity on defense.
Thus far, Golden State's dynasty has been aided by key injuries to other teams. in 2015 the Cavs lost Love and Irving. in 2018 the Rockets lost Chris Paul.
Were there any big injuries to other teams that helped propel the Bulls past a tough competitor during their late 90s dynasty ? not that i recall. The Pacers 7-gamer involved the Pacers winning 3 very close games. did the Pacers incur any big injuries ? not that i recall.
On the flip side, a few key injuries ruined what should have been their second of 4-straight Championships.
Iggy was hurt, Bogut got hurt, Steph was playing on a bum knee, and to top it all off Draymond got suspended for what looked like a gentle smack.
I don't really think the second championship loss has any real complaint aside from the obvious league favoritism towards Lebron on the nut tap. Lebron also should have been suspended for what he did. He tried to teabag a man, then ran down the court like a crybaby.
But if that had happened KD would not have jumped to GSW, and they would have been extremely vulnerable. Their shooting would have devolved to just Klay+Steph. KD is the difference maker for the team in important situations. Steph can be defended if you try hard enough ala the 1st 2 title series. Putting KD on that team changed things a lot.
Pre-Durant Warriors have definitely become overrated. They lacked a second shot creator on Curry/Durant's level. Against keyed in playoff defenses, their heralded ball movement frequently ended up as moving the ball aimlessly around the perimeter a la college offenses. It was most evident during their second year when Curry had a bum knee during the playoffs.
Durant gave them a safety valve who can generate decent enough efficiency on possessions when their ball movement isn't creating anything good. His one on one ability would frequently start good ball movement. That said, there's no way they get Durant had they won their second year.
That said, the Bulls dynasty was helped by massive league expansion that diluted the talent base at a time when international players were rare in the NBA. Magic Johnson got AIDS. Larry Bird's career was shortened by a bum back.
Lakers/Celtics in the 80s were helped by a lot of idiot owners giving away their draft picks that the league had to repeatedly step in to protect idiot owners from themselves. Just check how many top picks both got while they were already good teams. Not to mention there were much fewer rules to stop certain teams (ahem Lakers) from just being able to outspend everybody else.
Forgot to say above that part of the reason that Warriors team went 73-9 was that the Spurs were on a 70 win pace for much of the season. They only took the foot off the gas when it became clear very late in the season that they were not going to catch the Warriors. OKC beat that team 4-2. The Thunder were a clear playoff overperformer. Lebron's Cavs teams were similar. They all overperformed their regular season stats mightily in the playoffs.
Post-Durant Warriors are easily the greatest NBA team of all-time. Warriors are the favorite vs the entire field before the season even starts. I don't think people appreciate how insane that is especially for a 30-team league. I doubt that's ever been the case before in any of the Big 4 Sports, at least not in my lifetime.
Chicago was -110 preseason for the 96-97 season. Basketball is the only American sport where you could realistically have such a favorite because postseasons in NFL, MLB, and NHL are super random.
On the other hand Man City was -165 this year to win the EPL and Bayern -200 to -250 depending.
On October 29 2018 06:50 cLutZ wrote: Chicago was -110 preseason for the 96-97 season. Basketball is the only American sport where you could realistically have such a favorite because postseasons in NFL, MLB, and NHL are super random.
On the other hand Man City was -165 this year to win the EPL and Bayern -200 to -250 depending.
On October 29 2018 23:25 Jerubaal wrote: I don't really know what the Cavs are hoping to gain by firing Lue. Maybe they just want to tank at this point.
Well, it's hard to fire a coach after making back to back to back NBA finals, even if it was mostly because of Lebron. Lue had to "mess up" first, and the 0-6 start was the pretense to do it. That being said, probably should give a coach more time, but my guess is that Gilbert already wanted Lue out and just needed an excuse.
Toronto versus Milwaukee is the first time two 6-0 teams have ever met in the NBA regular season.
On October 29 2018 23:25 Jerubaal wrote: I don't really know what the Cavs are hoping to gain by firing Lue. Maybe they just want to tank at this point.
i think you nailed it. Love has been hurt all year including pre-season. JR Smith is hurt as well. So 0-6 is no surprise.
Cavs upper management probably asked Lue to tank while "developing the young players"... when Lue said "no" the cavs canned him.
if the Cavs want to motivate Love to take the year off just tell him they are "developing the youngsters" and get the DR to call the toe injury plantar fasciitis. Love can have a nice long vacation... maybe get in some Fortnite.
On October 29 2018 23:25 Jerubaal wrote: I don't really know what the Cavs are hoping to gain by firing Lue. Maybe they just want to tank at this point.
Well, it's hard to fire a coach after making back to back to back NBA finals, even if it was mostly because of Lebron. Lue had to "mess up" first, and the 0-6 start was the pretense to do it. That being said, probably should give a coach more time, but my guess is that Gilbert already wanted Lue out and just needed an excuse.
Gilbert seems like such a dick. I could see this being a shot at LeBron since lue was LeBron's guy.
But it is pretty good for Lue, his winning % will remain high which it wouldn't if he didn't get fired, so he will likely get another shot somewhere. He still gets paid and doesn't have to live in the factory of sadness that the Cavs will be this year.
Here is Giannis getting elbowed in the jaw/face. Hopefully, he can play tonight. Officially, he is listed as "questionable".
The Raptors have never put Ibaka and Jonas on the floor at the same time this year. The Raptors strat in the past against Giannis was to pack the paint. If Giannis plays, I wonder if we'll see Serge and Jonas together tonight?
Kawhi is out for rest reasons. Ends a lot of the luster of the game. Maybe if the Freak misses as well it will be more interesting as the best two teams battle without their best players?
Edit: And the freak is out too, gentlemen's agreement perhaps? lol.
Yesterday, Nurse told the National Post Leonard was playing tonight. Furthermore, he added to that saying there was no set plan to remove Leonard from 1 game of back-to-backs. hmmmm......