2015-2016 NBA Discussion Thread

Cavaliers - Spurs..As a Cavs fan, what can you say? We score 32 points in the 1st, the last 3 quarters we score 21 per quarter (63 total). Horrible game, and Ive been a LeBron fan for a long time now; He has to put the team on his shoulders. He was 9-17 shooting (22 points), so if he takes (lets say) 5 more shots, atleast 2 would've gone in, he wouldve had a better % than all other Cavaliers and we wouldve won the game.


If LeBron puts the Cavs' on his shoulders, Kyrie starts being the 20ppg Kyrie again, and Love can put up atleast 15ppg every time, we should be good.

Im looking forward to the 18th of January though when we play GS at home. Should be good, @Houston tonight.

 

That game pissed me off.

Here is how I assess the blame:

Mozgov: What the fuck happened to him? His ability has significantly decreased from last year. He can barely catch a pass with his butter fingers and his defensive presence is a joke. He contributed nothing in that game.

Kevin Love: This guy is not even an allstar, he's a spot up shooter nowadays. His body is built like a sack of rice and has no footwork whatsoever. He can't defend for his life and got burnt by SA offense in the 4th Q. It was "all offense on Kevin Love" at that point. It was a disgusting sight to see. I can't believe we paid 100m for this bum.

JR Smith: This guy has the intellect of a dung beetle. He heavily lacks basketball IQ when it comes to defending. He is easily prone to fouling whoever he is defending. The guy is a complete idiot and goes ghost when we need him.

Lebron James: He was amazing in the first half, and went quiet in the second. I'm not sure if he is afraid of Leonard, but it definitely looked that way. He froze up and made some stupid shots. He kept passing the ball when he got to the hoop, it was pissing me off. He also stops ball movement. I've always hated that from him.

Kyrie Irving: He couldn't get in the lane without the ball getting swatted. I wish he did more PnR's with Tristan Thompson or Mozgov. He couldn't defend Tony Parker for his life.

Pretty much Tony Parker burned us in the paint. We had no answer for that all game. There were definitely ticky tack calls from the refs which swayed the direction of the game, but our inability to move the ball is a definite factor.

 

Warriors fall and Sixers win tonight. As a neutral Raps fan I cheer for the opposing team in all Sixers games and for the Warriors, would be neat to see at least one of these records being broken, especially the 72-10 '96 Bulls were so dominant.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_best_records.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_worst_records.html

 

perfect here. mozgov got to get with the program

 

Thoughts on all-star lineup?

Call me a homer, but personally I'm really happy that Lowry got in instead of Irving. Imo he just deserves it more, and sending someone to the all-star game who played in barely any games so far doesn't make that much sense to me.

 

Can Boogie & The Kings Get 6 Straight Tonight Vs. The Hornets? LETS HOPE SO #8thSeedGoingFor7th #Boogie4MVP

 

Lebron is NEVER winning a championship for Cleveland he wasted his prime years in Miami.

Cleveland as a team is dysfunctional Lebron doesn't play defence his offensive skill set seems to have taken a step back from previous years...

Irving plays no defence and if he's having a bad night in shooting then I'd say he's one of the worst point guards in the East.

Love has literally become a spot up 3 point shooter which is not his game and comfort zone... he is totally lost and has no idea what to do.

Why people have already checked them down for a instant finals debut again I scratch my head over....

Last year they luckily got by Chicago with a miracle Lebron game winner which was very ill advised from a coaching stand point at the time seeing how Lebron was shooting 30%? that night or less...



Best case scenario for Cleveland would be if Toronto finished 2nd and Chicago finished 3rd so they would have to go through one another instead of Cleveland battling one of them then another one in the ECF which I don't think this Cleveland team can get through.

Of course I could be wrong but the clock is ticking and Lebron is getting older and older...

 

Their talent alone is enough to get them to the finals in the east. I don't see any eastern conference team beating them.

 

They are the favourites to get out off the East but it won't be as easy as last year in my opinion I like Toronto I like Chicago Jimmy Buttler is becoming an elite two way player and when Chicago's big men score they are a hard team to beat.

Toronto plays defence this year so they should see there first playoff series win since 2002 Derozan and Lowry have improved again and their bench is very good.

Golden State is on another level though they have become the greatest basket-ball team ever so to say they won't win another championship this year is a lot of disrespect.

 

Didn't the cavs blow out the raptors this season? Anyways, I don't see the bulls beating the cavs in a 7 game series unless they make some good roster changes. The warriors are favored to win, but they still have to go through the spurs and possibly the thunder to even get to the finals again. It won't be easy.

 

Season series is tied 1-1 for Cav's and T.O

As for Chicago only time will tell I'm assuming Toronto and Chicago will finish 2nd and 3rd and will have to go through one another in the 2nd round that would really help Cleveland a lot.

Let me tell you right now if Golden State get's passed San Antonio which I'm pretty sure they will they will sweep Cleveland in the finals.

It won't even be a contest it will be blow out wins every game 20+ points.

You have to understand the age of Lebron is ending... The time of the Curry has begun and ain't nobody stopping him from winning another ring as of right now.

Injuries are the only thing that stand in the way of the Dubs winning back to back.

 

Toronto beat the cavs without Kyrie or Shump I'm pretty sure of that. Also, everything is not certain, the trade deadline is not over and the cavs still have moves to make. Everything can change within a week or two. If the cavs beat the spurs saturday, does the narrative change? Dallas can also make some noise come playoff time. The west in terms of super power teams isn't how it was last year, and if we are to determine how games will pan out based on the regular season it would be foolish to do. The warriors without a doubt are the favored team, but you need to slow your roll with jumping the gun.

 

Very evident with dropping blatt for Hue. I'm big LeBron fan but to see his teams lack key components sucks cause all he wants is rings and he's not getting provided with the personnel he needs (I think).

 

raps going to win their franchise best 10 wins in a row tonight. They are the only team that will push the cavs imo

 

Don't give me that non sense man Golden State is 42-4 they are winning back to back guaranteed unless Curry or Green get's a serious injury they have beaten every "Elite" team in the NBA by 30+ points...

Last season and this season combined they are

125-24 (Post season included)

Just take it in they have 125 wins and 24 losses over the past two seasons


They are the greatest NBA team off all time they will beat 95-96 Bulls 72-10 they will destroy everyone they play in a 7 game series

San Antonio is the only team that might be able to beat them but I'm not convinced because Curry is not part of the NBA any more he's reached a status only Michael Jordan ascended too.

Toronto has won 10 in a row if they do end up losing in the first round of the post season they will be the first franchise in history to do so after having such a win streak this late into the season.

As of right now I'd still bet on Cleveland to win the East again but that could change I mean look at it this way...

Lebron is not offensively gifted as he was maybe 2-3 years ago honestly play good defence on Irving play good defence on Love let Lebron settle for jump shots or toss it to any of those other guys JR Smith is inconsistent I can live with him shooting 3's.

Cleveland is not that great certainly not great enough to compete against Golden State or San Antonio but they can rough it out through the East with the squad they have at the moment.

 

Again, it's dumb to make such bold predictions based off of a regular season, when the age-old mantra in any sports league is that the postseason is a whole new season. Literally just last year, Kentucky riding a 34-0 (!!) record into March Madness fell to Wisconsin not in the finals, but in the semifinals. Note that this was THE best record a team has ever held going into March Madness (tied with Wichita State , the year before also entering as 34-0. And they didn't go on to win it either - they lost to Kentucky in the round of 32). I'll make my predictions once the postseason is rolling and underway. As of right now yes, I think they'll finish atop the West but I'm holding back on saying anything more.

 

Yawwwn you're comparing college team to Golden State Warriors lol. Warriors have been to the finals they have gone through the war that is the playoffs.

They have the best player in the world on their team and putting up league records for point differential, field gold percentage, and points per game.

If nobody makes any trades it's already over.

 

Let's see who the raptors faced on their 10 win streak.

Wizards 2x
Nets 2x
76ers
Magic
Celtics
Heat (few players were injured, dnp)
Clippers (no blake griffin)
Knicks (no carmelo or porzingis)

This is an easy schedule. I guarantee if the cavs had this schedule, they would also be on a 10 game winning streak.

Let's take a look back at 2007. The Dallas Mavericks had a 67-15 season record and lost in the first round to Golden state in 6 games. Everyone thought they'd be in the finals for sure. Why wasn't it so easy? They're in the west, upsets are possible.

What does this say? The regular season does not determine what will happen in the post season. Still plenty of games to play in this season, along with possible trades. The cavs are playing better with an uptempo style of play. What if they beat the spurs tomorrow? What will your narrative be then? What if the thunder beat golden state a week from now? What will your narrative be then? "Just the regular season" I bet.

Golden state are favored to win and rightfully so, but I'll wait to see if they keep this up during the playoffs when teams are playing their best and aren't resting players.

 

Cavs blow out the spurs 117-103. What is your narrative now?

 

"Duncan wasn't playing" red herring so you can bank on them to win next time they play.

Cavs new up-tempo style seems to be working much better. Slowed down to their old play in the third against the Spurs, but Kyrie and LeBron really took over in the second half with their individual skill.