The NBA

[Magog]

I never ever thought that the Thunder would even win last night & in a shock to nobody, they flat out failed. I hope that Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook be kicking themselves all offseason because that might of been their best chance of them both getting a ring. That choke job is going to haunt them for the rest of their careers. What a bunch of losers. 

 

As for the Finals, I have been waiting for this since last June. Stephen Curry is still mocking us over last June & is constantly rubbing it in our faces. I want to see them go down by any mean possible. Seeing him possibly holding that NBA Trophy again is making me sick to my stomach & is coughing up blood inducing. I'm still pissed about last June & being thrown in the mud (losing by a lot) by these Warriors last January. 

I don't know how many games that the Cavaliers will take this series in (6 or 7), but it is going to be an absolute battle. I know that I can count on LeBron & Kyrie to show up & bring it. J R Smith better be ready this time around because I'm still not happy about his MIA performance in last years Finals. Hopefully, Kevin Love will finally win me over by showing up & bringing his A game to the Finals because I know that the Warriors will have their A game ready. 

[rippleintime17]

I don't think it's fair to OKC that no one is shocked that they lost. They put up a huge fight and really showed that the Warriors cannot just roll through a team. They should have been able to close it out but that's where the Warriors edge showed up in Klay & Steph just being able to drain endless threes. 

I'm excited for the healthy Cavs to face the Warriors and for an awesome series. Hearing the narrative that the Cavs would have beaten the Warriors last season if they had been healthy was pretty annoying and I hope the Warriors prove that they can work around Kyrie and Love just as they worked around KD and Russ. The Warriors are a confident team but I don't think they take things for granted. They showed up when the going got tough in this series.

As for cockiness, find me a superstar athlete that is confident, extremely good and very popular and find me a way they can continue to be all of those things without any hint of cockiness? It's not possible and I don't think anyone would really want it to be. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Sacramento King Darren Collison has been arrested for domestic violence.

[roamyn]

I'll agree that every superstar is cocky - and have a right to be to some extent.  And trash talking is all part of the game.  Even LeBron is cocky.  But he's also very down to earth & protective abt his reputation down the road 20 years or so.

The only BB superstar I never saw as cocky is Shaq.  Shaq is downright hilarious.  He should be a comedian.

But from Curry I also sense arrogance and entitlement. I get that sense more from him than from even Kobe.  And I HATE Kobe.

JR Smith is the one who worries me the most. After having a great 1st & 2nd rounds last year, he completely dissappeared in the Finals.

[DrSpaceman73]

Honestly I have never seen or heard of Curry mocking anyone.  He celebrates on the court but its more being excited about his teams accomplishments it seems to me rather than demeaning the other type.  I can see people not liking Green and his antics.  He has to watch it or he will be lucky to make it the whole series without a suspension.  I've never seen Curry do much in the way or trash talking or go after other teams/players though. 

 

My wife pointed out Steve kerr looks a lot like an older, smaller version of Neil Patrick Harris.  I think she is right. 

[roamyn]

Are you kidding me?

Curry was mocking & jawing at the OKC fans in Game 6!  THE FANS!  Now I can see him jswing at the players - that's part of any sport. But you don't mock the opposing team's fans! 

That's parr of the reason I hate Cam Newton - and I live in Raleigh.

[DrSpaceman73]

6 hours ago, roamyn said:

Are you kidding me?

Curry was mocking & jawing at the OKC fans in Game 6!  THE FANS!  Now I can see him jswing at the players - that's part of any sport. But you don't mock the opposing team's fans! 

That's parr of the reason I hate Cam Newton - and I live in Raleigh.

I honestly don't know what it is he does that you are referring to. 

I have seen him get excited during games and yell and wave his hands in the air at crucial times, but he does that at home or on the road.  I have never noticed a difference between how he acts depending on where the game is and have never seen him doing anything I would interpret as you have.   Maybe I missed it.  I have also never seen entitlement or arrogance out of him. 

8 hours ago, roamyn said:

I'll agree that every superstar is cocky - and have a right to be to some extent.  And trash talking is all part of the game.  Even LeBron is cocky.  But he's also very down to earth & protective abt his reputation down the road 20 years or so.

The only BB superstar I never saw as cocky is Shaq.  Shaq is downright hilarious.  He should be a comedian.

But from Curry I also sense arrogance and entitlement. I get that sense more from him than from even Kobe.  And I HATE Kobe.

JR Smith is the one who worries me the most. After having a great 1st & 2nd rounds last year, he completely dissappeared in the Finals.

And we have very different views of Shaq and Lebron as well. 

Lebron had his coach fired this year and pretty much tries to run the teams he is on, from GM on down.  "Down to earth".  I will say "Agree to disagree" and leave it at that.   

[rippleintime17]

I don't really get arrogance from Curry either. He sure does know how good he is but he still comes across as genuine and down to earth to me. Curry worked his way up to help get the Warriors where they are now so he deserves the success they're enjoying now, but I don't agree that he appears to be entitled to it. And when it comes to being entertaining, he's got that in the bag. His reaction to his insane shots are part of what makes watching them so fun. Coming from behind in a Game 6 on the road to force a Game 7 is different than eliminating the home team to end a series. I like that LeBron did that but his team had just ended the series and won. Competitive mode was off. If the worst thing Curry did was hold up seven fingers to say "hey, we're going to a Game 7!", it kind of seems like people are trying to find things to be worked up about. I like when star players fan the flames of competition. 

Edited June 1, 2016 by rippleintime17

[ganesh]

Yeah, it seems we're in the part of the success cycle where everyone has to tear at the superstar. I mean, talking trash to the fans has been around since the game was invented. I'm rooting for the Warriors, but I really hope this is just a really good basketball series. 

Edited June 1, 2016 by ganesh

[MarkHB]

I heard a mention on the radio this morning that this is the 6th consecutive NBA Finals for LeBron.  There are 6 or 7 other players who have done it... and they are all Bill Russell or his Celtics teammates.

[roamyn]

3 hours ago, ganesh said:

Yeah, it seems we're in the part of the success cycle where everyone has to tear at the superstar. I mean, talking trash to the fans has been around since the game was invented. I'm rooting for the Warriors, but I really hope this is just a really good basketball series. 

He's the first to do it since the 60s.  

Lebron is cocky and as much as I liked David Blatt (one of the most winningest coaches i the world), the team was falling apart & fighting.  Also Lebron was technically co-coach.  But Lebron does more for Akron & Cleveland kids than probably all the other Cleveland sports personalities combined.  He's very down to Earth.  Married his high-school sweetheart.  Doesn't have an "entourage" of yes men.

And this is from someone who will never forgive Lebron unless he brings us a championship.

I never saw Shaq as arrogant.  Cocky at times, yes.  But he's so damn endearing.

If Curry pulls any of that fist bumping up at fans, or fingerpointing & laughing crsp while in Cleveland, I hope someone Tonya Harding's him.

Oh, and he also supports HB2 in NC.  Another reason to hate him.

[rippleintime17]

37 minutes ago, roamyn said:

 He's very down to Earth.  Married his high-school sweetheart.  Doesn't have an "entourage" of yes men.

 

This all applies to Curry.

Seems like you have a pretty good idea of what you want Curry to be. I do hope no one Tonya Hardings him. Wouldn't want the Cavs to beat an injured Warriors team, doesn't count as much, you know.

[topanga]

1 hour ago, roamyn said:

He's the first to do it since the 60s.  

Lebron is cocky and as much as I liked David Blatt (one of the most winningest coaches i the world), the team was falling apart & fighting.  Also Lebron was technically co-coach.  But Lebron does more for Akron & Cleveland kids than probably all the other Cleveland sports personalities combined.  He's very down to Earth.  Married his high-school sweetheart.  Doesn't have an "entourage" of yes men.

And this is from someone who will never forgive Lebron unless he brings us a championship.

I never saw Shaq as arrogant.  Cocky at times, yes.  But he's so damn endearing.

If Curry pulls any of that fist bumping up at fans, or fingerpointing & laughing crsp while in Cleveland, I hope someone Tonya Harding's him.

Oh, and he also supports HB2 in NC.  Another reason to hate him.

I like your comments about LeBron. But I'm curious why you've labeled him as cocky. Based on what I've hear other people say: Is it the chalk thing he used to do before games (which he doesn't do anymore)? Is it because his Twitter handle is 'King James' (a name other people gave him)? Is it because he had a press conference to announce that he was taking his talents to South Beach? Okay, that was dumb, but weren't people curious about it? That little ESPN show had millions of viewers, so someone, somewhere, wanted to hear what he had to say

 Is it because he's been in the media spotlight since he was 16? Keep in mind that he never asked for any of it. He never asked to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He never asked to be compared to Michael Jordan. People naturally do that when discussing dominant NBA players. Many people thought he was arrogant when he said in an interview that he wants to be better than Michael Jordan. What's an athlete supposed to say? "Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. I hope I have a great career, but I'll never live up to his talent and accomplishments." Really? No athlete would ever say that.  You're finished before you ever start. 

I'm looking forward to a good series. I'll be rooting for the Cavs, but I still admire the GSW as an organization. And I like Steph Curry as a player and a person. But I wouldn't mind him and Klay Thompson having a bad series. 

 

I don't really get arrogance from Curry either. He sure does know how good he is but he still comes across as genuine and down to earth to me. Curry worked his way up to help get the Warriors where they are now so he deserves the success they're enjoying now, but I don't agree that he appears to be entitled to it. And when it comes to being entertaining, he's got that in the bag. His reaction to his insane shots are part of what makes watching them so fun. Coming from behind in a Game 6 on the road to force a Game 7 is different than eliminating the home team to end a series. I like that LeBron did that but his team had just ended the series and won. Competitive mode was off. If the worst thing Curry did was hold up seven fingers to say "hey, we're going to a Game 7!", it kind of seems like people are trying to find things to be worked up about. I like when star players fan the flames of competition. 

Worked his way up from where? His dad was in the NBA. He had a head start compared to other players out there. Or did you mean work his way back from injury during the playoffs? 

Edited June 1, 2016 by topanga

[roamyn]

1 hour ago, rippleintime17 said:

This all applies to Curry.

Seems like you have a pretty good idea of what you want Curry to be. I do hope no one Tonya Hardings him. Wouldn't want the Cavs to beat an injured Warriors team, doesn't count as much, you know.

You nean the way the Warriors won last year? (BEG)

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, roamyn said:

He's the first to do it since the 60s.  

Lebron is cocky and as much as I liked David Blatt (one of the most winningest coaches i the world), the team was falling apart & fighting.  Also Lebron was technically co-coach.  But Lebron does more for Akron & Cleveland kids than probably all the other Cleveland sports personalities combined.  He's very down to Earth.  Married his high-school sweetheart.  Doesn't have an "entourage" of yes men.

And this is from someone who will never forgive Lebron unless he brings us a championship.

I never saw Shaq as arrogant.  Cocky at times, yes.  But he's so damn endearing.

If Curry pulls any of that fist bumping up at fans, or fingerpointing & laughing crsp while in Cleveland, I hope someone Tonya Harding's him.

Oh, and he also supports HB2 in NC.  Another reason to hate him.

The fact that Lebron was the co-coach was the reason the team was falling apart and fighting.  Doing a bunch of charity and married your high school sweetheart doesn't prove you are down to earth.  He is also known to publicly criticize teammates via social media, or at least make very cryptic comments about them.  Lebron is a control freak, in my opinion.  Wants control of who is on his team, his coach, who is around him.  Rumors came out recently he would go out to dinner with Dwayne Wade and order for Wade. On the surface that sounds innocent and kind of funny, but it makes me think of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, they made a big joke out of Dennis doing the exact same thing for his friends one episode.  Except that is a dark sitcom.  And Dennis is ......just that way.  And its for Lebron to a certain extent, acting this way.  He has leveraged and used his power as a top player to produce a great career, titles, winning teams lately. I just have a hard time reconciling these actions though with being "down to earth". 

His nickname is The King.  OK to its a natural association with James, King James, but still, The King?  Nothing to do with basketball.  And what is his 11 year old son's nickname?  Prince.  Very down to earth. 

Jordan may have had his own set of rules and standards in Chicago, but he never tried to get Phil Jackson fired.  Phil Jackson was in control of the team.  Heck the same even with Kobe, who is much the same way, in LA.  I don't recall Kobe ever trying to get Phil fired.  Got rid of Shaq, yes, but not getting a coach fired.  And a coach at that, midseason, who had coached you to the brink of a title the year before in your first season together. 

[DrSpaceman73]

I don't care about players being cocky.  All good players are to some extent.  Its part of what makes them great. 

 

Plus I don't know where you get that Curry supports HB2.  He has publicly stated pretty much the opposite, according to this source, with quotes from him :

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/04/16/nbas-reigning-mvp-stephen-curry-speaks-out-against-north-carolinas-hb2/

[rippleintime17]

35 minutes ago, roamyn said:

You nean the way the Warriors won last year? (BEG)

I said that because many Cavs fans brought that up in regards to the Warriors winning last year. If you really believe that to be true, it'd be as true if the Cavs beat a team missing its MVP.

Quote

Worked his way up from where? His dad was in the NBA. He had a head start compared to other players out there. Or did you mean work his way back from injury during the playoffs? 

The Warriors were not a powerhouse team when Curry first started playing with them. It's not like all he's known in his NBA career is success. 

Edited June 1, 2016 by rippleintime17

[mojoween]

Davidson isn't Duke either.  I think it would have been worse for Steph if he was ordinary.

And not for nothing, aren't people already slobbering all over the young James and his basketball skills?

[roamyn]

44 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

 

Plus I don't know where you get that Curry supports HB2.  He has publicly stated pretty much the opposite, according to this source, with quotes from him :

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/04/16/nbas-reigning-mvp-stephen-curry-speaks-out-against-north-carolinas-hb2/

Ok, that's new to me.

Initially he fully supported the state of NC and HB2.

He may have gotten blacklash, and/or changed his opinion if he didn't realize the full extent of the "law".

[Ohwell]

3 hours ago, roamyn said:

If Curry pulls any of that fist bumping up at fans, or fingerpointing & laughing crsp while in Cleveland, I hope someone Tonya Harding's him.

I don't have a horse in this race, but I wouldn't want to see any player get the Tonya Harding treatment.  Just no.  

[Crs97]

IMO, the only player who needs to be careful is Green.  If his legs decide to flail again, I hope a Cavs player's elbow catches the disease.

[DrSpaceman73]

Despite my comments about Lebron I still think he is a great player, the best of his generation.  He isn't my favorite player, but he is an incredible talent.  He is HUGE, strong, fast, great on both side of the ball. I don't deny his talent on the court. I just don't agree with the way he seems to go about chasing titles.  But I think this should be a great series. 

Warriors are favored but it would not shock me if Cleveland would win.  ANd I do feel kind of bad for the city and its 50 year futility. 

And I would have been happy as well for OKC to see them win if they beat GS.  Not a big fan of the team itself but being in a very small market, where its hard to win in the NBA, I think would have been great for that city too.  Being a Pacers fan and watching them be so close to many teams, but never having everything come together exactly as needed for a title, I feel for them.  Its hard to win in the NBA when you are the team that does not have that once in a generation player like Jordan, Kobe, Shaq or Lebron, that one dominant player that just makes it near impossible to conquer in a 7 game series.  You can put together great teams and just never be quite good enough in any single year.  The NBA is littered with teams and players just like that. 

[roamyn]

I fully expect the Cavs to lose 2nite.  Maybe that means I'm not a good fan, but after all the almosts, you think worse first.

But I did my Christian duty today and helped out a poor guy standing in the heat wilting, while waiting for a bus.  I bought him some water on my way out of the store, and gave him the last $3 in my wallet.

So maybe that will buy some brownie points with God.

[Carey]

It's been a year of history for Golden State. To best culminate that, I guess I'd bet on Cleveland winning its first three games, only for the Warriors to deny the Cavs of a sweep as they go on their 4-game winning streak on their way toward repeating.

In other words, I'd say it, but hardly bet big, the mortgage or my life on that.  Warriors are not dropping both of their first games at Oracle.  IMO, they should have beaten OKC in 6 (by winning each of their first two games).

It should be a great series, but there are no guarantees.  Tough to choose a side to root for or against.  LeBron is due, but I can't say I'll pull for Cleveland winning a title for the first time in 50 years.  Curry is due for that glorified Finals MVP (and the Warriors are due for obtaining the best team at the ESPY awards that they were sorta robbed from last year).

Either team winning is okay, but I guess I'll flip a coin. Heads = Warriors in 5; Tails = Warriors in 7

[roamyn]

On Wednesday, June 01, 2016 at 6:55 PM, Ohwell said:

I don't have a horse in this race, but I wouldn't want to see any player get the Tonya Harding treatment.  Just no.  

Um...

Apparently eveyone is NOT thinking.

To Tonya Harding someone is to PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE (ala her boxing match).

To whack someone in the knees is to NANCY KERRIGAN them.

[xaxat]

I was thinking of the Urban Dictionary definition. Never heard of the other one.

Quote

Tonya Harding

Resorting to underhanded means to eliminate one's competition. 

Comes from the ice-skater Tonya Harding, who had her boyfriend purposefully club Nancy Kerrigan, who was favored to win the gold, in an attempt to improve her chances in the 1994 Winter Olympics.

[ebk57]

19 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Um...

Apparently eveyone is NOT thinking.

To Tonya Harding someone is to PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE (ala her boxing match).

To whack someone in the knees is to NANCY KERRIGAN them.

 

I don't think either of those choices are necessary.  For anyone.

[twoods]

Yikes. I thought the game would be closer. Guess nothing has changed from last year. Curry and Thompson had a subpar game but the reserves really stepped it up. Impressive game one by them. I'm sure Cleveland fans are pissed.

[Jx223]

Golden State’s bench played well tonight. They really helped the Warriors win this game, especially with Steph and Klay not playing so well. Shaun Livingston was great tonight. Barbosa was pretty effective too and so was Andre Igoudala off the bench. Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes also were solid.

This was a game that the Cavs could have stolen, but they weren’t able to do that. JR Smith is definitely going to have to be a lot more effective if the Cavs want to have a chance at winning this series. He was almost scoreless throughout the whole game, that is not going to cut it.

Golden State is such a deep and talented team, the Cavs are going to have to hustle really hard if they want to beat them. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

On 6/1/2016 at 8:01 AM, rippleintime17 said:

I don't really get arrogance from Curry either. He sure does know how good he is but he still comes across as genuine and down to earth to me. Curry worked his way up to help get the Warriors where they are now so he deserves the success they're enjoying now, but I don't agree that he appears to be entitled to it. And when it comes to being entertaining, he's got that in the bag. His reaction to his insane shots are part of what makes watching them so fun. Coming from behind in a Game 6 on the road to force a Game 7 is different than eliminating the home team to end a series. I like that LeBron did that but his team had just ended the series and won. Competitive mode was off. If the worst thing Curry did was hold up seven fingers to say "hey, we're going to a Game 7!", it kind of seems like people are trying to find things to be worked up about. I like when star players fan the flames of competition. 

 

On 6/1/2016 at 8:29 AM, ganesh said:

Yeah, it seems we're in the part of the success cycle where everyone has to tear at the superstar. I mean, talking trash to the fans has been around since the game was invented. I'm rooting for the Warriors, but I really hope this is just a really good basketball series. 

Yeah, I think people push their own bitterness/disappointment onto whoever is having a golden moment/season and they interpret someone's actions based on their own emotions. But I have friends who are not Warriors fans and even they like him, so this arrogance stuff seems exaggerated to me from some folks. And he can't help having an adorable family. They're just really charismatic and supportive of him. I'm pretty sure Steph and Ayesha didn't sit around thinking, "hmm, how can we use our daughter to get more attention? Let's coach her to "improv" being hilarious during press conferences and pretend that it was unplanned!"..... 

Even when Lebron made that remark about what he thinks it means to be an MVP and the media asked Curry about it, he said he's gotten good at ignoring people, whereas athletes with big heads and egos would feed into that and throw back an offhand comment. 

On 6/1/2016 at 0:29 PM, roamyn said:

If Curry pulls any of that fist bumping up at fans, or fingerpointing & laughing crsp while in Cleveland, I hope someone Tonya Harding's him.

That's messed up, I wouldn't wish that on even my least favorite athletes. o.O

[FuriousStyles]

Just to add my two cents to the discussion...Yes Curry IS arrogant as hell.  The way he looks away before his shot even hits the net. In the last series he stared down Ibaka before the ball was halfway to the rim! But you know what....I freaking love it! Any superstar player worth his contract is gonna have an ego, gonna be cocky and gonna be damn near arrogant.  I dont understand why people hate on Steph and/or Lebron regarding this arrogance stuff, meanwhile probably praise Kobe and MJ for being outright assholes.  Steph and Lebron seem to be great guys who have great families, dont get into trouble etc.  If the worse thing they do is show some fire on the court they're doing just fine.  I personally didnt care for Lebron dismissing Curry earning MVP this year, but whatever. Im not gonna get worked up over it because he's entitled to his opinion even if it is sour grapes.

Oh and LMAO at the poster who said something about Curry fingerpointing or taunting the Cleveland fans. Because really, Im sure none of those fans said anything negative or abusive to him. Please.  As long as Curry isnt cursing or flipping the fans the bird, I see absolutely nothing wrong with him or any other player engaging with the fans. In the Miami/Charlotte series DWade was jarring at a Charlotte fan ALL game. And it was fun to watch!  Obviously Reggie Miller and Spike Lee stuff is legendary. 

Back to the Finals. Umm didnt quite see this coming. How both Steph and Klay struggle and the Cavs still lose by 15 pts?  Smh.  I know its only game 1, but if i was a Cavs fan, I'd be in panic mode right now.  Because its not like Love and Kyrie were terrible, so you're not gonna get a huge improvement from them. And i doubt both Steph and Klay will be this bad in the same game again. This was probably the Cavs best chance to steal a game.

Edited June 3, 2016 by FuriousStyles

[mojoween]

I see the excuse machine has already been revved up - "well Kyrie only has one Finals game and Kevin Love has never played in the Finals before last night."  So playing in the Finals is a different sport from the rest of the playoffs or what?

[roamyn]

Yes, actually it is different.  The emotions and the adrenaline.  Yes, Kevin was there last year - but he didn't play.

Don't know what happened last night because I didn't watch, because I've resigned myself to the fact that we will never win again.

Edited June 3, 2016 by roamyn

[Magog]

 

Quote

Don't know what happened last night because I didn't watch, because I've resigned myself to the fact that we will never win again.

Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson were very average (20 points combined), but their bench kicked out butts (45-5). We were in it at the end of the 3rd quarter & sadly, it went south very fast. Hopefully, the Cavaliers performance will be better on Sunday Night. It really has to be because that 4th quarter performance won't cut it. I can't count on Curry & Thompson having another bad shooting game.

 

BTW, here goes another no-show from J R Smith. I don't even know how many points he had last night or if even scored at all. But (just like last year), he didn't show up. I'm just about at my wits end about this. 

Edited June 3, 2016 by Magog

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

My wife pointed out Steve kerr looks a lot like an older, smaller version of Neil Patrick Harris.  I think she is right.

My husband thinks he looks like Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) all grown up. 

[DrSpaceman73]

I was listening but not watching most of the second half

What surprised me the first half was Warriors getting a lot of easy buckets inside.  It appeared Cleveland's plan was to stop the 3s so GS just went to the interior.  Lots of uncontested twos in especially the first quarter

Edited June 3, 2016 by DrSpaceman73

[isalicat]

Well that was unexpected! I mean, I knew the Warriors bench was deep, but last night they looked not just deep but vast....so much for Cleveland being so much healthier and therefore better this year. Now I'm getting excited - when Steph and/or Klay can figure out their game its going to be fireworks!

[xaxat]

It looks like market size doesn't matter for the NBA.

Quote

The opening game of the NBA Finals scored a huge win for ABC Thursday, averaging a 6.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 15.58 million viewers, pending updates. Ratings for the game itself will likely go up in the finals, while “Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night” and “NBA Countdown” will probably come down.

In the overnight metered markets, Game 1 scored a 13.1 household rating, ABC’s best series opener since it started airing the finals in 2003. It’s up a bit from a 12.9 for Game 1 last year.

I wonder if Goodell is hearing footsteps. The NBA clearly lags in the TV ratings, but it has a much younger fan base, is played internationally in a way the NFL can't even dream of and has stars that are truly global in nature. 

[lyric]

7 hours ago, Magog said:

BTW, here goes another no-show from J R Smith. I don't even know how many points he had last night or if even scored at all. But (just like last year), he didn't show up. I'm just about at my wits end about this. 

How about this - even if the Cavs don't make it to Game 7, as the Thunder did, I promise not to call them a bunch of losers or hope this series haunts them for the rest of their careers.

Because that would be way harsh, Tai.

[DrSpaceman73]

2 hours ago, xaxat said:

It looks like market size doesn't matter for the NBA.

I wonder if Goodell is hearing footsteps. The NBA clearly lags in the TV ratings, but it has a much younger fan base, is played internationally in a way the NFL can't even dream of and has stars that are truly global in nature. 

The NFL has little to worry about. 

Regular season NFL games draw that many viewers often. 

The playoffs can draw 3x that many or more.  Sure fewer games, but still, viewership dwarfs the other sports

[Jx223]

19 hours ago, FuriousStyles said:

 

Back to the Finals. Umm didnt quite see this coming. How both Steph and Klay struggle and the Cavs still lose by 15 pts?...This was probably the Cavs best chance to steal a game.

 

9 hours ago, Magog said:

BTW, here goes another no-show from J R Smith. I don't even know how many points he had last night or if even scored at all. But (just like last year), he didn't show up. I'm just about at my wits end about this. 

I wonder if JR was injured. Not only did he have a very small amount of points, he didn't attempt to shoot the ball much at all last night. Usually even when he has an off night, he will still shoot the ball. He was shaking his hand in the first half, I wonder if he's hurt. 

I wonder what is the Cav's game plan now. Maybe they will still to try and continue to hold Klay/Steph to a small amount of points. Which I think is a good idea, within itself, but more than likely Klay/Steph will get hot again. And even they continue to struggle for a bit GSW bench is deep and has shown they can win without them playing well.

The Cavs are just going to have to play as hard and efficiently as they can and hope for the best. I think that Kevin Love played decent last night, he needs to continue to keep that up. Kyrie scored the most points, but he also missed a lot of shots. Maybe he will also play better. 

2 hours ago, lyric said:

How about this - even if the Cavs don't make it to Game 7, as the Thunder did, I promise not to call them a bunch of losers or hope this series haunts them for the rest of their careers.

 

Looking at last night’s game made me appreciate the Thunder’s performance against the Warriors even more. Not only did they contain Steph/Klay for a couple of games but GSW’s bench was nonexistent in that series. However, in this series so far, they hurt the Cavs, and Shaun Livingston is such a mismatch for the Cavs and is causing problems for them. If the Cavs lose this series and it only goes to like 5 games, then I think that OKC might have been the only team that really could have defeated the Warriors this year.

Edited June 4, 2016 by Jx223

[Carey]

3 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

The NFL has little to worry about. 

Regular season NFL games draw that many viewers often. 

The playoffs can draw 3x that many or more.  Sure fewer games, but still, viewership dwarfs the other sports

Yeah the NFL really doesn't have anything to worry about.  You can put an entire series and combined it with a Game 7, and that would still trail the NFL.  I know people have sighted some cases where the NFL lost to the NBA, but I think it's more likely that the NFL would schedule a Super Bowl opposite a Finals (game 7 or whatever) than the other way around.  The NBA wouldn't even be happy going up against the World Series, whereas the NFL decided that they would no longer skip SNF for the Fall Classic.

Despite that, those are very good numbers for Game One without the huge market areas.  People would factor in summer and no competition, but it's the best ever (especially after comments that the game isn't as great as it once was).

I'll wait and hold judgement on Cleveland until they play at home.  They blew it at the end, but if they don't win substantially there, then that might be it.  Every game is different so there's that

[Rick Kitchen]

San Francisco area is a major market.

[azshadowwalker]

11 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

San Francisco area is a major market.

Since the Warriors market includes Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and the ten million little towns and mid-sized cities we have in the Bay Area, it sure as hell is. 

I'm a transplant to the Bay Area, so my original rooting interest is the Phoenix Suns. I've come to love this team, though. Admittedly, it's largely because they have so many ties to the University of Arizona. (I also want to see Jefferson and Frye do well for the Cavs. I just don't want them to win.) Regardless, nothing would make me happier to see the Warriors take this one decisively, so Cleveland fans can stop whining about "oh, the injuries" from last season. The new excuses about playoff experience in the finals also makes me laugh. How much experience did the Warriors have last season when they won? A new season, a new excuse, I guess.

Edited June 4, 2016 by azshadowwalker

[FuriousStyles]

As a Knicks fan, I cant help but laugh, strickly regarding JR Smith.  He is the ultimate tease. He can be really good at times and then other times (particularly when it counts most) you're like where the hell are you? 

Not sure what adjustments the Cavs can make to win even at home.  They just got destroyed in Game 2. And Steph nor Klay have really put their stamp on this series yet. The Warriors are really and truly the better team, in every sense of the word. The Dubs have so many options its ridiculous.  Who knows if this series even goes 5 games.  Ohh and Kevin Love may be concussed, so I guess the Cavs will still have their "we were injured" excuse.

Edited June 6, 2016 by FuriousStyles

[Jx223]

The Warriors had a great game tonight and really dominated the Cavs. Steph got in foul trouble early and didn’t have his best game, but the team as a whole played very well. Draymond had a pretty good game and the role players were solid. The Cavs don’t seem to have an answer for Warriors.  

LeBron didn't have a really strong performance and had several turnovers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him called for that many travels before. Kyrie was struggling tonight, and Kevin Love left early and may be injured again. The second best player for the Cavs for much of the night was Richard Jefferson. They can’t win like this.

Unfortunately, I think that this series might end up being a short one. It might end in 5 games. I wonder if it might even end in four games.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

This game makes up for how the giants lost the lead yet again in a game that's going on at the same time. GO DUBS!

[AndreaK1041]

That was highly enjoyable. 

[Rick Kitchen]

13 minutes ago, MattDuffysCat said:

This game makes up for how the giants lost the lead yet again in a game that's going on at the same time. GO DUBS!

 

Hush, I'm ignoring that game.

[lyric]

I really hope the next games are better, because this Finals series is BORING.