Finals PodCap: Warriors 129, Cavs 120 (or, Falling Short)
2017-06-13https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-139-falling-short
Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press
When are 120 points not enough? When you give up 129. That’s obvious and simple math… but the Cavs chose to try and sprint along next to the Warriors in an attempt to outrun, outgun and outscore them with a team loaded with shooters. In the end… they just couldn’t quite match the offensive firepower, which was magnified by their own mistakes and inability to get stops when they desperately needed them.
LeBron James did his part, racking up 41 points on 19-30 shooting, with 13 rebounds, eight assists and two steals… on his way to averaging a triple double for the Finals (33.6 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 10.0 apg). Kyrie Irving chipped in 26 points, six assists and two steals, but seemed to struggle with his knee and back. JR Smith made almost every shot (9-11, 7-8 from downtown) for a scintillating 25 points, in trying to back up his deleted “Cavs in 7” Tweet. Tristan Thompson was also effective again, with 15 points and eight boards. Only Kevin Love struggled (among the starters anyway), picking up two early fouls and having a miserable shooting night (2-8, 0-3 from deep), yet still snagged 10 rebounds. The bench did very little, providing just seven points in a combined 51 minutes of play.
For the now Champion again Warriors, Kevin Durant was brilliant once more, scoring 39 points on 14-20 (5-8 from three), to earn Finals MVP honors. Steph Curry added 34 points with 10 assists, and Andre Iguodala was big off the bench with 20 points, three rebounds and three assists. The Larry O’Brien trophy is back in the Bay Area for another year, and the Cavs will have the summer months to regroup and devise a plan to take it back next season.
Nate, Tom and EG spent an extra-long session in the booth following this final game of the season. We touched on this game, the series in general, and reflect on the entire season, as well as discussed the immediate future of both teams, what the Cavs need to do to improve, and where we go from here. Fair warning, this pod does get awfully long in the tooth. But, hopefully, it helps in coping with the end of another Cavalier campaign. We’ve greatly enjoyed bringing you all of our news, views and hot takes throughout the season… and we wish you all an awesome summer from Cavs: the Blog.
Listen above, on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Google Play, and as always… GO CAVS!
Mission #2 is get Danny Green.
(Side note get rid of Shump this summer)
Hmm, he used to play for Cleveland, right?
My big hope is that we get Wade and Carmelo on buy outs next February. That strengthens the bench.
Mission #1 is to retain Griff.
Since almost all teams are trying to imitate how the Warriors play, it’s time to let go or trade Cavs players who only knows offense like jr, love, deron etc.. I would retain kyrie because he’s still young and looks up to LeBron. Time to get 2 way players then we can reclaim the title next year.
My oven does not get hot enough for great pizza crust. Sucks.
I think there is def a changing of the guard on officiating. Days of accountibilty is gone. No more will players be ejected for anything unless you are Dahnty. It’s ridiculous what we seen let go from Draymond , Zaza and then David West’s weird almost kissing violence?. My mind exploded on what we were seeing exactly. I was repulsed and horrified simultaneously. I don’t know what it was.. But WE Never want to see that again. Therefore if there was any readon to boot someone that was it. Adam Silver should def make that … whatever that was ,,,grounds… Read more »
Zaza is dirty to begin with. He should have been kicked out with his punch/swipe. David West, who gave up $10mm last year for a chance at a championship, wildly loses his cool in a game that he could win a championship (and ultimately did). He clearly should have been ejected with two technicals. But JR should have also been ejected – 3rd person in is supposed to be an automatic ejection.
The NBA certainly had a problem on its hands with moving screens, jersey holding, and this ridiculous jump sideways into a jump shot to get contact crap.
All teams do these things but with the rise of pace and space (thanks Spoelstra) they need to start cracking down on it. Make a screener have to keep his arms in. Make no movement doing a screen. And get rid of his ridiculous thing that Green does where he just plows people out of the way in the lane like a lead blocker.
The jump Sideways will get fixed cause it slows down the game. Don’t expect traction on the screening issues. The NBA doesn’t help the defense much.
No they don’t. It’s a shame
Lebron was prepared to go against the KD Warrior team. He purposely got better shooting especially on the 3 . This had to be his best shooting playoff in his career. If only…. some of the other players put in some of that work..
Yep – over the year you could see him crafting his skillset into something he thought would work come the Finals. I think he desperately wanted FTs to be part of this, but he just couldn’t get it going. Agh well, I’ll take the 3 ball improvement over FTs – it certainly kept the defence honest.
There is all this talk on Cavs better than “Teams of the East” . Take it further. What team in the West (besides GS) do you think Cavs can’t beat? All of them! Including Spurs. They are this good! I wish someone would challenge these ESPN people and ask that.
Yeah. That’s crazy. Cavs desert the Spurs rockets or anyone else
I didn’t quite grammatically state that right. But yes, any of them in a series the Cav would beat. I don’t see Spurs the powerhouse they use to be. Clippers , pft so inconsistent. The rest of the West doesn’t have that kind of talent that matches Cavs.
To me the most important things the Cavs need to improve for next season are: 1) They have to try be a top 5 defensive team next season. If that means more practice time for them then so be it. 2) They need to find a 6’7″-6’8″ wingman that can take away from LeBron the responsibility of guarding the top player on the opposing team. That way Lebron can finally get some rest at least on that facet of the game. Maybe Derrick Williams can be that guy. 3) And finally and to me the most important thing that they… Read more »
Coach Lue dropped the ball by not turning Derrick and Liggins (why was he waived?) into usable pieces for the playoffs/finals during the regular season. My trust level of him is at an all time low…
Derrick Williams wasn’t used because he’s inexperienced and isn’t that good. There’s a reason he was cut from a lot of teams before getting some run with Cleveland. Liggins is completely ignored on offense which takes any value he provides on defense and throws it away.
They could use someone and Williams is still young enough to learn, but it’s just not easy to find those guys.
Lue did go 10 deep in the regular season. Korver Shump Frye RJ Deron and Derrick all got playing time.
Derrick Williams didn’t play much in April. To me the Cavs have a bit of a situation that doesn’t help LBJ in the long run, why? There are a ton of excellent forwards in the league that Lebron has to defend night and night out and yes he still has the will do it but to be honest all the greats like Kobe who had Ron Artest and MJ who had Pippen and Rodman had a great defender that took that responsibility away from those guys.
I think is time for LBJ to have someone do that for him.
No doubt. Those guys are hard to find though. They can’t be a zero on offense either, that just changes the problem instead of solving it.
Now I’m sad. Bye guys.
Interstellar was miserable.
No way does Tom have kids, if he’s playing softball, watching movies, and golfing.
Kudos to someone’s dog barking letting you all know you’re wrong on Kyrie!! Smart dog. Give him some treats!
LBJ is still definitely the best player in the NBA. He’s been the best player in the Finals for the last 6 years.
Unfortunately not this year.
He was though. He scored 8 fewer points than Durant, but outrebounded and outassisted him by a ton.
His impact was negligent. If he had put the last 3min of game three on his back, and won, then yeah sure. But for as much as I like the guy, he didn’t will this team to win game 3 which was pivotal.
Who are you?
TV63 – me or Mike Podracky?
If the question was meant for me, not sure what to answer… I’m just another fan.
Regarding LeBron and his triple double stats for the finals – that’s incredible and an awesome feat but Durant, in my opinion, was the most impactful player on the court.
LeBron was not “the best player of the world” during this finals. 2015? Abso-freaking-lutely. 2016? He was definitely the best player of those finals. This year? Nope. Sorry!
LeBron was 100% the best player in the world during these Finals. You are comparing what Durant did against a defense that, simply put, wasn’t that good, versus what LeBron did to the best defense in the regular season and playoffs. LeBron averaged 34/12/10 on 63% TS%, was the first to ever average a triple double, and did it against what is probably the best team of all time. His statistics were better than Durant’s, period. He did more for his team, period. Durant was fantastic, but he wasn’t better than LeBron. In what way was LeBron not the best… Read more »
And how many of Durant’s points in this series came on uncontested dunks/layups because of our broken defensive coverage? It’s just insane that you think he was better than LeBron in this series. Come on, man.
I don’t know what else to say other than it’s only my opinion. Durant’s points were more impactful than LeBron’s.
Whenever GS needed a spark, Durant was the one to provide it. On the other hand, when the Cavs needed some offense during the last 3min of game 3, LeBron wasn’t able to provide it… My opinion.
I’m a horrid sore loser, so take my rents with a grain of salt.
*rants
Durant switching onto Kyrie and scoring over him doesn’t make him the best player in the world. He was a stretch to cover so didn’t have to do much.
JRL, you are criticizing a player who averaged a triple double in the Finals. As you probably know, that is a first in Finals history. You are one tough audience.
Durant: 35/8/5, 56%, 47% from three
LBJ: 34/12/10, 56%, 39% from three
Not only averaged a triple double. He averaged a 33 point triple double on efficient shooting.
I place much of the blame on Coach Lue for not adjusting the lineups after games 1 and 2, not calling a time out on game 3 to slow down the momentum during the last 3min. and his lack of riding the hot hands of JR on game 5. The fact he continued to go back to Shump and Deron, who both played horribly, while having Derrick and D. Jones on the bench is perplexing. He is a “no risks” coach and the front office should be questioning if he’s the right person to lead this group next year. Sorry… Read more »
I’m going to slightly disagree. We have to remember Lue is still a young coach and still learning. He could definitely make some improvements, but overall I think he’s been great and I think it’s safe to say the players like/respect him. Also, I don’t think MAJOR changes are needed to be competitive next year. We still have a great team…a loaded team.
Yep. Lue is fine. He made some mistakes but so does every coach. Even the beloved Popovich screws up rotations and he’s in his 25th year. Kerr definitely messes up stuff in the Finals.
Ok, sorry about the major changes aspect. Maybe a bit too dramatic. But I still think this team will need to move one of the their starting five, more than likely Love, in order to compete next year.
Wait, there’s an article that details the crying and begging for Durant?!?!?!?!!!!
I feel like we need a couple of more days to vent and commiserate . Ugh. Dear God , no more old vets next year on the bench! Cavs need some youth and for cryin out loud, Lue. Play them ! Kerr plays his bench and after a routine of reps in every game, they get good.
Kerr plays his bench way too much to be considered a good coach. And none of the young guys did much.. It was basically all Iggy.
+1
Really? You couldn’t wait 24 hours
Dudes a troll.
Of course he couldn’t.
We don’t have any easy way to get cheap good youthful players. We would have to trade a major piece like love, Irving, or TT. Our team is really hampered by the salaries we have locked up in terms of getting any player but a mid level exception or the vet minimum. Those guys are almost always going to be older vets who get bought out mid season or who nobody really wants to splurge on in the offseason free agency. There is usually a reason they get bought out or don’t sign for anything but the mid level exception.… Read more »
It wouldn’t matter. Lue just doesn’t trust younger players. It’s hurting the Cavs. I hope we can at least keep Derrik Williams. And you know what, there is just too many excuses on this. Look at Spoelstra, they pulled a couple of good players from D league. Whiteside? Amish guy that drains 3’s all day.? Popovich pulled a young guy too. They are there. Does the FO not have the smarts to find guys like these two did?
Well, the Spurs have the best scouts in the league for the last 15 years and their player development is second to none. Organizationally they are difficult to replicate. Whiteside was a good find. He is still a head case though. I don’t see him ever reaching his full potential, even though he has become a very good player. The cavs scouting has not really been very good the last 15 years. I don’t know if that has changed even with Griffin. Their player development was awful during Kyrie’s first three years, and it might not have changed all that… Read more »
My point is it is possible. If other teams can do it, no reason Cavs can’t.
Nate is correct. Durant jumping to the team that just beat him, because Durant sucked in games 5-7, was a total joke move.
Westbrook has to be thinking, where the heck was this version of Durant last year?
He was standing right next to him trying to get the basketball out of his hands.
Man, I wish I could have a beer with this version of Tom.
Yes! Nate is correct it was fun to be champs. Tom, it was not irritating.
Nate is correct. Spurs were old and slow.
Yes. Their ceiling is higher. But we are pretty close. And there’s no reason we can’t beat them in a 7 game series if we just get a bit better.
It was disappointing to see the season end like this, but all the issues we were dreading that killed the team – came out to fruition in this Game 5 and existed in other losses as well this series. The poor defense, lack of rebounding, no real offensive identity outside of Lebron/Kyri ISOs….and Warriors are great enough team to combat that. Saw that Cavs shot 54% from field and 46% from 3 yet still lost a game they didn’t have much control of after the 1st quarter. Maybe props to GS for being too good, who knows, but it was… Read more »
Give Kyrie some Coach Nick audio tapes and one of those pillow speaker things and let him absorb knowledge in his sleep.
Hahahaha
Kyrie will get better, he is only 25. He has to learn how to use his skills to make his teammates better that is his next step.
Ugh. If 2016 WCF Durant showed up instead, Cavs probably win in 5.
Yep. Bogut could’ve helped a bit. Especially against Zaza. McGee sucks so bad it probably doesn’t matter.
This is why I don’t think the defense was as bad as Nate says. Durant was 45-78 (58%) on CONTESTED shots. And 13-24 (54%) on CONTESTED threes. So that’s 20 points per game or so on contested shots. That was the difference in the Finals. Thanks to FTS commenter EVR for pointing this out.
So yeah, I think the defense can improve. But when a dude is hitting those shots, shrug. And the Cavs still should’ve won game 3 and could’ve won game 5.
Contested by who? Makes a difference. Contested by guys who are 6’8″ or 6’9″ like LBJ matters more than contested by shorter guys for a guy like Durant. Durant shooting over shump or Irving isn’t like him shooting over LBJ. Would be interested to see how many of those contests were with LBJ on him versus, literally anyone else on our team. We only have one guy that matches up size wise with Durant and that is mobile enough to stop his drives. They have a ton of 6’7″ + guys who are way more mobile than all but LBJ.
Contested by JR, LBJ, RJ, and Shump. I mean the dude is 6’11”. I don’t know what you expect. My point is they were in his face and contesting. And he was just draining shots.
Again, LBJ is the only guy who has a chance of even bothering Durant on this team. He wasn’t/couldn’t be on Durant the whole time. Rj is too slow, and jr and shump too short.
Also agree with EG to bring back Korver
Yes!!!! I agree Tom. Bring the core back!!!!!!!
JR was great.
I’m again with Tom. Glass is more than half-full.
Again I’m with Tom. Cavs played well after game two. Improve a bit and we are right there. Run it back! Man. Tom I think you spoke for me during that part. I too was worried that they would have to blow it up. But I’m not anymore.
I’m with Tom. LeBron was dominating in the 4th quarter.
Thanks Tom. The focus is on what Durant did in ISO not what the Cavs could’ve done. I mean give me a break. Durant went nutso.
Full-on Banana Boat team would be so much fun.
Tom is correct that Irving can improve still. But he’s great and is a big reason we were in the last three games.
Gotta be ready to compete before game 3 next year. To get used to the pace, maybe they can scrimmage against that D-II or D-III college team the scores 150 points a game.
Also need to solve a conundrum: how to be consistent defensively in the Finals when LeBron and Kyrie coast on defense during the regular season.
In the Eastern Conference playoffs, they can scheme to take away one guy. But against the Warriors, they have to be solid against almost everybody. And they have to avoid all the getting beat so often in transition and on basic motion.
He’s also right that Kyrie was outstanding. Nate is wrong as usual.
Tom is correct. This Cavs team is better than last year’s team.
I’m all in on Vince Carter and buy-out Wade in February.
No on Vince, yes on Wade.
Where’s warriorsfan? Keeping a low profile until we burn off our steam I suspect.
Good. It would be very awful if he showed up to say something dumb.
ha, you cover everyone for dumb comments.
just saw your message. would have been easier to post here if Cavs won :-) Thanks for the shout out. My 2 cents. I always thought Cavs had a chance in the series and had they started playing in game 1 of how they played from game3, it would have been a closer series. Tristan Thompson was key to Cavs win last year and for Cavs being competitive in games 3-5 this year. We know TT’s D turned last year playoffs in cavs favor. If you can trade Love for a 2 way player like may be Paul George, you… Read more »
The one model is to add a player that is talented but seen as overpaid or a locker room distraction the way J.R. was when the Knicks offloaded him. There was some Lance Stephenson talk around here at the trade deadline. Who fits that bill? I wouldn’t want Rondo. Would Phil deal Melo for Cedi + Shumpert + spare parts just to be rid of him?
Cavs should be headed back to Cleveland right now, up 3-2. Preparing to close in game 6.
The fun thing I learned this Finals was that beating the warriors last year was not a fluke. Take Durant off that team and Cavs absolutely dominated them.
The other fun thing I learned is that we can totally compete with them. Just need our bench guys to not shoot like crap for the series and for Tristan to play like himself.
I’m already pumped for the Finals next year. Bring back the core group of Leb, Kyrie, Love, TT, JR, and Korver and add or subtract whatever veteran ring chasers you can find.
So…Shump will be traded for ____________________. You can throw in Frye if you want to make contracts work (together they are 18 millioin).
He’s gotta be untradeable at this point. He’s garbage.
If Dion Waiters wasn’t untradeable, Shump isn’t.
We were able to trade Waiters because we took a player NY wanted to get rid of in the worst way. I mean, I suppose we could do that now – but Shump’s contract isn’t chump change. We would have to trade for a guy that the other team reaaaally wants to get rid of.
Waiters was also young and had a lot of potential at that time. I just don’t know why a team would want Shump if they watch him play.
I’m beginning to wonder if the biggest offseason move we make is to bring in a new coaching staff. Lue’s rotations have been questionable all season (why the hell did we stop using the Wildcat lineup when it proved so effective? and why do none of our young players develop under Lue?) Also, defensive and offensive schemes appear pedestrian compared to what GS rolls out. Also, why the hell are we so bad when LeBron sits – some of this needs to land on the coaches. If you look at all of our supposed weaknesses and shortcomings this season, most… Read more »
The Wildcat lineup wasn’t likely going to work against GS. Rick Williams and Frye, in particular, were very bad matchups for GS. GS can rotate to cover Frye pretty easily, and they have enough speed to cover Williams. Both of those guys give to much back defensively to make up for whatever they give you on offense. The reason Rick Williams hasn’t made it in the NBA is that his defensive intelligence is bad. His rotations are slow, against a team like GS, that is death. Same with Frye. It is also why Shump, in the end, was toast against… Read more »
All good points. But I wasn’t necessarily talking about using the Wildcat against GS. I was wondering more about why that lineup disappeared for no particular reason in March/April. It was an example to Lue’s questionable rotation decisions.
I think one of the reasons we are so bad when LBJ sits is that the team doesn’t practice enough non-Lebron line ups. His presence on the floor is such a huge impact that nothing runs the same without him. It is something they really need to work on – an offense and defense specifically designed for players without LBJ on the floor. It often seems like they are just out there on their own to hopefully tread water until he’s back. It’s a serious problem they need to correct. I think it’s a coaching problem.
Yes, exactly. That’s on Lue.
Our young players don’t develop because we’re contending for titles. Since we don’t run away with the regular season (which is a complacency problem), we don’t have a lot of time to develop youngsters.
Not sure about this one. I really think that we could have given Liggins and Enchilada more run. I feel that Lue uses vets as a security blanket, which isn’t good for the team overall.
2 PRIMARY RESIGNS THIS OFF SEASON—1) GRIFF—–2 ) ENCHILADA—-STILL YOUNG / ATHLETIC / COACHABLE / LIKE NEWENFINITE MENTIONED —GROOM THIS GUY TO FIT YOUR TEAM —BELIEVE HE IS MORE VALUABLE / MORE POTENTIAL THAN RESIGNING A 33 YR OLD PAST HIS PRIME VET .
Nomad – totally agree. As I mentioned in my post above, one of the biggest shortcomings of this team is that we don’t develop young players. All the great teams do it.
Proud of the Cavs. I think we are actually just as talented – just not as disciplined and coordinated / fluid from a teamwork standpoint. Just too many moving pieces that came together too late to consistently mesh. We’ll get better next year. LBJ’s focus during the next regular season should be building a team that has the capability to win without him on the court. He needs to be the turbo boost that carries us home but with our personnel. We should be in a position to be good enough to take the top seed in the east without… Read more »
They beat us by talent. Durant went ISO. It wasn’t fluid or teamwork.
BS. Talent wasn’t the reason the turnover battle was 20-4 in game one or that the Cavs mismanaged the end of the game in game three. They failed to compete in games one and two, blew the game in three, and got outplayed in golden state’s building in game 4. They Lost one game due to “talent” the other three were game management, decision making, preparation, and failure to compete: all coaching issues
Eh. If you have to play the absolute perfect game to beat a team then it’s talent. Coaching was fine. If anything Lue outcoached Kerr, but Mike Brown knew that ISO and play your best players as much as possible was the way to go.
The narratives you concoct…
Offensively, our individual players might be close to as talented in a vacuum. Defensively we are not even close. That is their trump card. They have a ton of long mobile defenders, most of which are also decent or great offensive players in Kerr’s system. We have one great individual defender (LBJ), a couple decent individual defenders, and a bunch of poor individual defenders. On top of that, we really only have one great help defender in LBJ to make up for all the guys who get beat one on one, stuck on screens, or just plain lost. The refs… Read more »
It’s pretty funny that Mike Brown had to show Kerr how to coach in the Finals. Scrap that passing movement garbage and run some simple pick n rolls with Durant. If that fails let Durant ISO in the 4th.
So the Cavs just need to add Paul George and it’s all good right? I realize Lebron’s move to Miami sowed the seeds for Durant to move to GS but talk about taking the fun out of the game. Hopefully some of the wheels will fall off soon in terms of clash of egos and Klay or Dray will jump ship to be the man some place else and they’ll break up over time. Curry can’t be feeling too great in terms of having his status usurped by Durant, I can’t imagine it will last. I’m personally boycotting ESPN and… Read more »
+100 on your last point.
Tom, thank you for calling out Curry for his boorish play at the end. This shot was especially obnoxious: a 30-footer with about 10 seconds on the shot clock and the game decided.
http://stats.nba.com/events/#!/?flag=1&GameID=0041600405&GameEventID=527&Season=2016-17&title=MISS%20Curry%2028'%203PT%20Jump%20Shot&sct=plot
He followed it up by hitting the side of the backboard on a 3 from the corner in the final minute.
Yeah he was way to eager to try to make his mark on the outcome of the game. His prancing in the backcourt with 3 minutes left as he walked up court was particularly grating. Not sure why he’s acting like that – he wasn’t a difference maker, he once again was not even close to being Finals MVP, and he’s already got a ring. He was bouncing around like he finally got over some insane hump. He padded a ring count by watching Durant dominate.
I had assumed that the Warriors were going to be so much better than us. I was wrong. Cavs will win the title next year. They had no answer for Lebron. No answer for Kyrie. No answer for the three point barrage. The Cavs played all year as if defense was an afterthought. Unfortunately, for some reason Kyrie doesn’t engage himself unless he loses first. I predict a much better defensive team next year, a much angrier team, and the Warriors will lose the finals, unless they don’t make it because Durant’s knees fall apart again. In two years, the… Read more »
Cavs showed they can definitely compete with the insufferable smug squad. But Durant ISOs really killed us in the 4th quarter of games 3 and 5.
I assume you meant pay cut but haircut sounds good too!
When the Cavs lost to the Warriors in 6 games in 2015 they didn’t trade Kyrie or KLove or made any other big addition to their roster like the FRAUDS did. They just got healthy and return the favor with the biggest comeback in Finals history.
The FRAUDS can’t say the same.
And I’m proud of that.
Let’s Go Cavs!! ??????
Yep. There’s no way this title feels as good to them as last year’s did to these Cavs and especially LeBron.
This is a response to the question, “What did Coach Mike Brown do?” The answer is that Coach Kerr gave Coach Brown credit on PostGame live with the local broadcast for coming up with the idea of the 1 3 pick and roll. Apparently they had talked about it practiced it and sat on it for the right time. More to come in the following seasons…
One thing I thought Brown did better was keep Draymond in check. When he seen him lose his temper, he yanked him. Kerr on the other hand seems to enjoy his antics and is willing to let him just go overboard.
It was rather odd that that Oracle chanted M-V-P when Curry was on the mic just a few minutes after Durant was adjudged finals MVP. I wonder how Curry is truly taking this as he is practically relegated to an afterthought status. Now nobody even talks of his daughter, his wife, his mom. Attention has shifted to Durant and his mom who clearly is relishing her renewed celebrity status.
Come on, man. We’re not going to be ragging on players’ Moms and wives. We’re better than that. (some of the original commen was edited)
Sorry for the rude post, Nate. We are all frustrated and annoyed but I suppose you’re right. Just to reiterate my point . Steph Curry, after basking from so much attention from the basketball universe where we were inundated by endless coverage of how goody-goody Currry is (yeah the same Curry who professes to be a true Christian and proclaimed that the Holy Spirit is moving in their locker room where the devious Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut also dwell and proved his point by poop-squatting in celebration and hurling his mouthpiece in celebration) , of his daughter, wife, and… Read more »
Interesting take. I just don’t want to rag on people for their appearance, so I appreciate you sticking with that desire. As for LeBron James’ mom, she was a… distraction at times. https://youtu.be/7Wzk_k6S_7A
Lebron’s mom’s reaction in that video was spontaneous, ignited by a maternal instinct. She’s always around but I don’t remember her looking to do media rounds and wanting that microphone so badly.
It’s an evolution, that’s for sure.
Good move. I actually like Durant’s Mom. There was a movie made a couple of years ago on how hard it was for their family growing up. They were very poor. It’s a very inspiring movie.
Hahaha. Curry was shrinking again in games 4, and 5. Durant really bailed him out.
The Cavs dropped 137 points against the best defense in the NBA. Shore up the bench, hope that Shaun Livingston and or AI2 stop being Cavs killers and the mouth guard’ll be flying and the nuts’ll be getting kicked.
Yep. I agree. This Cavs team was pretty freaking awesome.
+severalfreakinthousand
In fact the chatter is that Shaun and Iggy will be gone if GSW wanna hang on to their stars…
All depends if KD agrees to take a haircut on another 1+1… If that happens, they can probably re-sign one of those two…
I’m OK with that. Iggy and Livingston are getting old and are not LeBron type of cyborgs.
I’ll take Korver back and maybe Deron (for the regular season anyways). For two seasons now we’ve had a backup PG problem where our backup PG is good enough for the regular season and this year Deron was fantastic in the ECP. But then the Finals come and they are unplayable. It’d be nice to upgrade there. As for the rest, I’m happy playing it again.
Bench outscored 35-7. That was the most miserable bench performance I’ve witnessed in a long time, and for the entire series. Other than those totally worthless bench guys, my biggest qualm was in Lue’s rotations and his defensive scheme tonight. Golden State absolutely torched the trap. They scored at will on it. Lue made zero adjustments in that respect. What makes it worse is that he decided to play Kyle Korver and Deron Williams a combined 30 minutes while Iman Shumpert played 4 minutes. How many times did we see Deron and Korver trapping together in the 4th Q, only… Read more »
Korver with 3 points in 18 minutes and didn’t log any other statistic other than 3 fouls (including 2 on jump shooters in the first half, like a moron). I don’t know how we can possibly do it, but we need guys who can play defense. These three point shooters on the bench totally wilted under any pressure. Pretty embarrassing performance in the Finals for those guys. Talk about shrinking from the moment.
Not disagreeing with any of your points, but I would point out that Shump played 4 of the worst minutes I seen him play – Lue isn’t the most reactionary of coaches but I think he saw Shump was off and made the call. To the bench, not to come back. Wouldn’t have necessarily been the key decision, but if Shump was on (no turnovers, some good D, maybe a bucket or 2), the outcome of this game may have been different.
Shump is garbage too. My point is that it didn’t make sense to me to continue having two players trap the basketball when we were burned by it time and time again throughout the game (especially in the 4th quarter with our season on the line). If those two guys were 100% ineffective on defense and 100% (we’ll got with 95% for Korver) provided zero on offense throughout the series, and you absolutely HAVE to get stops to give yourself a chance in the 4th quarter, why not put a guy in that has shown that he can at least… Read more »
Delly in last year’s Finals was so bad they wouldn’t let him off the bench unless garbage time.
You are just insufferable. Can you be traded in free agency to another blog?
LMAO! At least I got a good laugh today
My God, Man. Did you watch shump? -9 in FOUR MINUTES. He was an absolute dumpster fire. Do you read this blog? Ben Werth has illustrated Korver’s rotational defensive superiority to Shump for the last two weeks.
Really? Korver was burned numerous times last night. His defensive rotations might be better than Shump, but we didn’t have Korver rotating on defense in the 4th quarter. We had him and Deron Williams trapping when the game was still in reach. They were absolutely blasted because they aren’t athletic enough. Trapping with Deron Williams and Kyle Korver in the 4th quarter over and over again when the score was still close and we needed stops was SUPER effective. Shumpert could not possibly have done a better job than either of those two unathletic players. How many times did Lue… Read more »
Who cares if a guy is “athletic” if he’s always turning the ball over, making bad fouls, and out of position?
Because GS simply attacked our trap. There was no opportunity for Shump to be out of position if he is the one trapping the ball. You can honestly say with a straight face that you’d rather have Deron Williams or Kyle Korver trapping rather than Shump? We’re talking in the 4th quarter when we were still in the game. We just trapped over and over again and did it with unathletic players while fresh legs were on the bench. It was the wrong game plan and it killed us.
I had a fun year being champs. LeBron still the best player in the world. Cavs made a bunch of good moves but just couldn’t beat that team with Durant going nuts. And there’s no way that title felt as good for them as it did for us last year. I made the joke earlier but was Durant yelling “Oakland this is for you” while crying over how hard the struggle was? I don’t think so. Run it back. This is the best three year stretch of Cavs basketball ever. Kyrie probably still has another level. LeBron still is easily… Read more »
https://twitter.com/jaycaspiankang/status/874472657265340417
Simmo – this is great.
Certainly made me guffaw.
Can I follow up on my angry/depressed post earlier just to say a massive thankyou to Nate, TOm & EG for taking the time to do a cast straight after the game. It’s the last thing I would have felt like doing. Actually got me thinking about next year rather than what could have been. Cheers guys.
Thanks Simmo! I’m excited about next season too.
God, ESPN’s coverage is sickening.
The fans are clearly as classy as the players they root for…
WOW ARE YOU WARRIORS FANS IN DISGUISE ——GO GET EM COLS !!
Children learning how to express themselves. Leave them be, Nomad.
The pod was laughable. Complaining about calls? lmao Are you serious. Did you watch game 4? I bet you didn’t complain about the calls then! Irving wasn’t injured…please, he got a little hurt in this game but overall he was fine. Every player is banged up. Also the Steph hate haha, so he can’t celebrate a championship now lol? If you played defense he wouldn’t go “shot hunting” as you say. I will bet you he won’t do something childish like Halloween cookies and tombstones! It’s pretty obvious he was injured last season, he couldn’t even shake K-Love or TT… Read more »
Lol. Nice, troll.
How sad is it that on the night your team wins, you spend an hour and a half listening to a podcast of the team you beat, and have to come on their website and trash people to make you feel better about yourself? Get some help.
What else is a 13 year old troll going to do? Past his bedtime so no TV and no friends to hang out with.
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/131/351/eb6.jpg?1307463786
Oh EG….did you just abuse your admin rights? If so I would like to express my deep love for you.
Trolls have no rights… ;)
THANK YOU CAVS AND CTB BROTHERS FOR ANOTHER EXCITING ( ESPECIALLY THE PLAYOFFS ) SEASON——SIGN GRIFF 1ST AND IMMEDIATELY AND THEN START TO RETOOL— THE BENCH/ GETTING YOUNGER —MORE ATHLETIC—–JONES AND DERON CAN GO ( KORVER TOO UNLESS YOU CAN KEEP AT BARGAIN PRICE ) —-WOULD LIKE FOR THEM TO REIGN ENCHILADA —-NOT SURE WHEN R.J’S AND CHANNING CONTRACTS ARE UP——-BIG TRADE —POSSIBLY ( LOVE / SHUMP / T.T. )–FREE AGENT SIGNINGS—MAYBE WADE COMES HERE ——-WOULD YOU CHANCE SIGNING BOSH ( MEDICAL ISSUES )—–RUDY GAY IS FREE AGENT ——-TRADE UP IN THE DRAFT– ( RUMORS ARE THEY ARE TALKING WITH… Read more »
Lue is still a young coach. He’ll continue to get better. I’m hopeful this offseason he can design an offense that transforms Kyrie into a playmaker. The games this year where he had 10+ assists were a revelation.
Tom you are spot on regarding Curry. Wrote to a friend in Cleveland straight after the game who was disconsolate. I made the point that Cavs lost with class and showing effort, and I’d rather lose like that than win like GSW. I reiterated to him that they show hubris, lack of class, and arrogance at every turn. And it’s always the usual suspects. I honestly struggle to comprehend a world in which last year’s MVP and most popular jersey sales guy can be held up as a role model when they pretend to crap on the home team’s floor,… Read more »
Lost in all of these is the fact that Lebron and the Cavs congratulated Curry and the Warriors- something Curry and Klay Thompson didn’t do last year when they lost.
Indeed. So many instances I have neglected to mention some.
Yep. GS are sickening. A bunch of crybabies plus Durant, who I liked before he embarrassed himself by playing Madden on rookie.
An interesting season that ended predictably…with a historically stacked team making it look relatively easy in the playoffs. Disappointing beginning to this season and an equally disappointing end. This cavs team wins the title in just about every one of the last 30 NBA seasons. But the warriors were literally built like team USA…and this their title is a bit like a United States’ gold medal campaign: a little boring, and expected. Anything else would have been more than failure…they’d have been the laughingstock of history. Kudos to…no. No I can’t give them kudos. They’re cheaters and dirty and cocky.… Read more »