Author Topic: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?  (Read 5250 times)

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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #30 on: May 27, 2015, 11:07:52 AM »

Offline JohnBoy65

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I wouldn't say that the Cavs have had a cakewalk as much as their playoff opponents have underperformed in the playoffs except maybe the C's who played about to their level.

Lebron looks like he's on a mission this year to get that chip.  with or without Curry, the finals are not going to be a cakewalk for GSW and I wouldn't be the least surprised to see the Cavs win it even with Curry playing at his best.  GSW had the best record but as a team I don't look at them and think they're just unbeatable.

I mean GSW hasn't really had to tough of a time in the West, and they're facing better teams.

Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #31 on: May 27, 2015, 11:08:18 AM »

Offline Vox_Populi

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Yes, of course. Miami breezed through a bad East again last year, beating a shell of a Pacers team in 6 games, and were completely lobotomized by the Spurs. LeBron James is having the least efficient post-season of his career. He can't shoot at all anymore. Their offense is stale and isolation heavy. And yet, they consistently have the two best players on the floor, so it's rarely mattered.
sure looked like he could shoot when they played the C's.
He was 4-20 from 3 that series.

Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #32 on: May 27, 2015, 11:08:42 AM »

Offline Moranis

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The easy road to the Finals for the Cavs exaggerates how good the team is.

As others said, they have done the best they can with the talent on their team, and have beaten the opponents put in front of them.

Unless Curry suffers a catastrophic injury, the Cavs have no chance.  Zilch.

The Warriors have the stars and the dominant two-way team game.  The Cavs are as one dimensional as they ever have been with Bron at the helm.

Lebron is a great player, but it is a shame that in his prime he has hardly been challenged in his own conference.  And no, carrying an utterly mediocre roster to the Finals in an absolutely gutted conference isn't the sort of challenge we hope to see an all-time great face.
You are significantly underselling the Cavs roster and seriously underrating how good a chance Cleveland has against the Warriors.  The Warriors have no one that can come close to shutting James down.  He will have a field day.  I mean triple doubles all day long type field day.  And I fully expect James to be guarding Curry, which will pose significant problems for Golden State, just like it did the one time James played against GS in the regular season.  James will be a triple double machine, slow Curry down, and force the Warriors into a style of play they aren't accustomed to.  Cavs will win in 6.

I'm tired of hearing this... James CAN'T guard someone like Curry for more than a couple possessions at a time. He's too quick, with too good of ball-handling for the 6'8" 265 lb. Lebron to guard him most of the game. Hell, Turner's ball-handling was able to get past James in our series, he just wasn't able to finish or kick it out for a finish. James is a good defender, but this whole notion that he can shut down opposing point guards for a whole game like Curry, Paul, or even Irving is just ridiculous.
Except you know Curry was totally shut down by the Cavs when they met in February shooting a "blistering" 5 of 17 from the floor.  James had a terrible 42 point, 11 rebound, 5 assist game. 

I get that it is a regular season game and Love was playing, but I expect to see an awful lot of those type games in the finals. 
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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #33 on: May 27, 2015, 11:10:47 AM »

Offline PhoSita

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Yes, of course. Miami breezed through a bad East again last year, beating a shell of a Pacers team in 6 games, and were completely lobotomized by the Spurs. LeBron James is having the least efficient post-season of his career. He can't shoot at all anymore. Their offense is stale and isolation heavy. And yet, they consistently have the two best players on the floor, so it's rarely mattered.
sure looked like he could shoot when they played the C's.

It's easy to look like a good shooter when the opponent never puts somebody in your face tall enough to actually properly contest your shot.
he hit plenty of contested shots.  not every shot was open.  believe me, I'd love nothing better than to belittle his game/accomplishments but I can't downplay his effort or accomplishments against the C's.  He played like he wants it this year and I seriously think he'll do whatever it takes to win.  I don't think that was always the case in Miami

LeBron is definitely playing as hard as he can in these playoffs.  Calling the Cavs weak is not about him, it's about his supporting cast.  This Cavs team reminds me of the shallow Cavs teams that LeBron went to Miami to get away from.
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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #34 on: May 27, 2015, 11:11:25 AM »

Offline Donoghus

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Pretty easy road in the East although that Chicago series had the potential to go another way if a few things changed. 

Things are about to get a helluva lot more difficult in the Final for them, though.   They about to face a very complete & explosive basketball team in Golden State (barring an absolute epic collapse)


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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #35 on: May 27, 2015, 11:11:26 AM »

Offline PhoSita

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Except you know Curry was totally shut down by the Cavs when they met in February shooting a "blistering" 5 of 17 from the floor.  James had a terrible 42 point, 11 rebound, 5 assist game. 

I get that it is a regular season game and Love was playing, but I expect to see an awful lot of those type games in the finals.

You're seriously pointing to a game in the doldrums of February as evidence of how a Finals series will go?
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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #36 on: May 27, 2015, 11:16:51 AM »

Offline Moranis

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To me, the big men are no contest.  Big Z, Gooden, and a young Varejao are superior to Mozgov and Tristan Thompson. 

No two players have been elevated in the public estimation more as a result of the Cavs' romp through the midden heap that is the Eastern Conference than those two guys.

So then it comes down to Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, and Eric Snow versus Irving, Delly, JR, and Shump.

I agree with you -- Irving is what tilts it in favor of the 2015 version of the team.  That's it, though, and he's been limited in a number of these games.
It isn't close.  Varejao wasn't very good that year and Drew Gooden, come on.  Big Z was on the down slope of his career at that point.  I'd take Mozgov over Z any day of the week.  I'd take Thompson over Gooden and Sideshow combined.  And the backcourt, even without Irving, isn't close.  Shumpert and Smith are easily the best wings on either team.  Hughes had his moments, but was incredibly inconsistent and was no where near a good defender.  Snow barely played in the playoffs, he had been replaced by Boobie Gibson, who is not as good as Delly.  And Pavlovic, come on.  That is stretching of epic proportions.  IMO, the 06-07 Cavs team is the worst team to ever play in the Finals and that is including James.  That team was terrible.  It was by the shear will of a 22 year old emerging superstar that they even made it that far.
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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #37 on: May 27, 2015, 11:19:30 AM »

Offline Moranis

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Except you know Curry was totally shut down by the Cavs when they met in February shooting a "blistering" 5 of 17 from the floor.  James had a terrible 42 point, 11 rebound, 5 assist game. 

I get that it is a regular season game and Love was playing, but I expect to see an awful lot of those type games in the finals.

You're seriously pointing to a game in the doldrums of February as evidence of how a Finals series will go?
Not at all, just pointing out that what I think will happen has you know already happened.  I don't think it will happen in the Finals because it happened in February, I think it will happen in the Finals because of match-ups, styles, etc.  The Cavs match up incredibly well with the Warriors.  The Rocekts are a terrible match-up for the Cavs, the Warriors not so much.  You can look at the Memphis series to see what Cleveland is going to do, and they are going to do it much better than the Grizzlies. 
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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #38 on: May 27, 2015, 11:20:22 AM »

Offline PhoSita

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I'm willing to agree that this year's team is better, but I think you're overrating Moz and Thompson, not to mention Shump and JR (who, let's remember, were basically dumped by their former team). 

It's easy to overrate the players of the present moment when we can look back on that 2007 Cavs team with fresher memories of those players declining and falling out of the league than of how they played at the time.
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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #39 on: May 27, 2015, 11:46:22 AM »

Offline Moranis

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I'm willing to agree that this year's team is better, but I think you're overrating Moz and Thompson, not to mention Shump and JR (who, let's remember, were basically dumped by their former team). 

It's easy to overrate the players of the present moment when we can look back on that 2007 Cavs team with fresher memories of those players declining and falling out of the league than of how they played at the time.
Except that's not what I'm doing.  Look at the regular season stats from the 06/07 Cavs.  They are terrible aside from James.  That was a bad team.  An epically bad team aside from James you know a less than 20 win team without their 22 year old superstar.  There was no PG on the team, there was no wing defender (aside from James), there was no real 3 point shooting, they had no interior offense, and were a way below average rebounding squad.  No one can stress enough just how bad that the 06/07 Cavs team was.  It was terrible.
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Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #40 on: May 27, 2015, 11:50:47 AM »

Offline jpotter33

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Except you know Curry was totally shut down by the Cavs when they met in February shooting a "blistering" 5 of 17 from the floor.  James had a terrible 42 point, 11 rebound, 5 assist game. 

I get that it is a regular season game and Love was playing, but I expect to see an awful lot of those type games in the finals.

You're seriously pointing to a game in the doldrums of February as evidence of how a Finals series will go?
Not at all, just pointing out that what I think will happen has you know already happened.  I don't think it will happen in the Finals because it happened in February, I think it will happen in the Finals because of match-ups, styles, etc.  The Cavs match up incredibly well with the Warriors.  The Rocekts are a terrible match-up for the Cavs, the Warriors not so much.  You can look at the Memphis series to see what Cleveland is going to do, and they are going to do it much better than the Grizzlies.

How are the Cavs a horrible matchup for the Warriors? Lebron will not guard Curry for most of the game. That's a given, because he will use up too much energy on that end of the court. And if he does, good, because Curry will wear him out and score on him all day long or kick it out for one of their other shooters. An injured Irving is going to HAVE to guard Klay or Steph, which means one of them will be going off. Green has been one of the best defenders in the playoffs so far, so he'll probably do better at restricting James than anyone else has so far. Plus, let's not forget that this will be the first team in the playoffs that has an actual rim protector that isn't undersized or injured and past his prime (Noah).

Re: Have the Cavs had it too easy in the playoffs?
« Reply #41 on: May 27, 2015, 12:19:33 PM »

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The easy road to the Finals for the Cavs exaggerates how good the team is.

As others said, they have done the best they can with the talent on their team, and have beaten the opponents put in front of them.

Unless Curry suffers a catastrophic injury, the Cavs have no chance.  Zilch.

The Warriors have the stars and the dominant two-way team game.  The Cavs are as one dimensional as they ever have been with Bron at the helm.

Lebron is a great player, but it is a shame that in his prime he has hardly been challenged in his own conference.  And no, carrying an utterly mediocre roster to the Finals in an absolutely gutted conference isn't the sort of challenge we hope to see an all-time great face.
You are significantly underselling the Cavs roster and seriously underrating how good a chance Cleveland has against the Warriors.  The Warriors have no one that can come close to shutting James down.  He will have a field day.  I mean triple doubles all day long type field day.  And I fully expect James to be guarding Curry, which will pose significant problems for Golden State, just like it did the one time James played against GS in the regular season.  James will be a triple double machine, slow Curry down, and force the Warriors into a style of play they aren't accustomed to.  Cavs will win in 6.

I'm tired of hearing this... James CAN'T guard someone like Curry for more than a couple possessions at a time. He's too quick, with too good of ball-handling for the 6'8" 265 lb. Lebron to guard him most of the game. Hell, Turner's ball-handling was able to get past James in our series, he just wasn't able to finish or kick it out for a finish. James is a good defender, but this whole notion that he can shut down opposing point guards for a whole game like Curry, Paul, or even Irving is just ridiculous.

LeBron does well on PGs with dodgy jump-shots. Guys like Derrick Rose.

Harder for him to defend a top shooting PG like Steph Curry.