Poll

Who wins the finals

The Cavs
22 (19.3%)
The Warriors
92 (80.7%)

Total Members Voted: 114

Author Topic: Poll: Who Wins the Finals  (Read 18889 times)

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Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #60 on: May 30, 2015, 01:10:28 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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LeBron is objectively a worse player than last year. His supporting cast is better though. I'm curious if the difference is enough to overcome a superior all-round team. Cleveland have not faced a team with an elite offense, and more importantly, one of the league's best five players.

I'll go with Warriors in 5 or 6.
Atlanta was a pretty darn good offensive team this year.  Now granted they don't have the MVP on their bench, but they did have 4 all stars.

Atlanta hadn't been a very good team for months, and were dealing with injuries to multiple key players.

The Cavs had injuries too, but Atlanta effectively had their key strengths -- chemistry, depth, and balance -- taken away before they met the Cavs.

Quote from: Moranis
You don't think Shumpert can guard Thompson.  Really?

Shumpert is a good defender, but Klay is a great scorer.  So can Shump guard Klay?  Sure.  But he's not going to shut him down.

I would expect the Cavs to put Shump on Curry, in any case.  Irving cannot guard Curry, and LeBron would waste a great deal of energy trying to keep up with Curry defensively.  Energy they need him to use on offense.
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Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #61 on: May 30, 2015, 01:42:49 PM »

Offline GreenWarrior

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Atlanta was a regular season wonder. When teams started game planning for them in the playoffs their offense wasn't very effective.

And, you know, they lost important players to injury. It's easy to scoff at it on the face of it, but Kyle Korver is just as important to Atlanta as Kyrie Irving is to Cleveland. Not that they're comparable talents, but that you'd expect a bit of suffering on the offensive end if you took them out.

sure, they lost players because of injury. but a lot of the analysts and such believed the losses they had in the Washington series had more to do with the lack of that one star. which I agree with and believe it would have caught up with them eventually. Atlanta now has an excuse not to go after a star because they'll believe they didn't compete because of injuries.

I personally think this Atlanta team is now further away from actually winning a title than we are.

It's an interesting point about having an excuse to not pursue a star, but how is Atlanta further from winning a title than we are? They had a legit shot this year if not for injuries. I can see you you'd argue their regular season slightly overrated them, but the fact is they were one of the top 2 teams in the East and we were lucky to make the playoffs at all.

Atlanta has probably a 10-20% chance of winning the title each year over the next few years. Odds are solid they will win it all before 2020. We on the other hand are probably years from contention-- even if we win the Kevin Love sweepstakes (optimistically, 25%), we'll still need another major upgrade to reach the point that the Hawks are at now.

well I personally never saw them as a team that's taking down one of the top teams. if there was ever a team to benefit from the state of the east, it's them.

with that said we're closer because we know we suck and need to improve. Atlanta still thinks they're "almost there" because of their record and the fact that they had all the injuries. they don't know they suck yet.

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #62 on: May 30, 2015, 01:47:14 PM »

Offline TheFlex

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Cavs in 6. LBJ gets his career-defining game winner in the last game.


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Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #63 on: May 30, 2015, 02:28:25 PM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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I see 50 people are going to be wrong  ;D

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #64 on: May 30, 2015, 02:42:37 PM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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I see 50 people are going to be wrong  ;D
ha, ha...lets have more fun. i will provide a well deserved tp to you should the cavs prevail. on the other hand, you give 50 folks who voted dubs a tp in return.  ;D
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Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #65 on: May 30, 2015, 03:15:17 PM »

Offline Ogaju

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Cavs in 5 or 6 (probably 6).  I think the Cavs go with the Grizzlies very physical up in your face style of play and just do it better than the Grizzlies.  I don't see the Warriors doing much against Lebron and think the Cavs have the necessary pieces to stifle Curry.

Looks like someone is actually watching the games and is not so consumed with LeBron hate that he cannot be objective.

Cavs will win the finals I believe they will do it in 5 or 6 games. Cavs are too experienced and too good for the newbie Warriors to beat them. X factor is the Cavs have the GOAT on their team. Yes I said the GOAT.

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #66 on: May 30, 2015, 04:22:12 PM »

Offline blink

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Warriors in 6.  Lebron is worth a couple wins, but GS is playing really well, has more weapons, and is a much deeper team.

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #67 on: May 30, 2015, 04:37:44 PM »

Offline greece66

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I see 50 people are going to be wrong  ;D
ha, ha...lets have more fun. i will provide a well deserved tp to you should the cavs prevail. on the other hand, you give 50 folks who voted dubs a tp in return.  ;D
Count me in too. If Cavs win, i'll give Shaqattack 5 TPs no problem. All I ask in return is 2 TPs if GSW wins.

Why the Warriors will win
« Reply #68 on: May 30, 2015, 04:55:21 PM »

Offline MJohnnyboy

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This whole "Cavs are winning because Lebron is invincible" sounds eerily similar to the sentiment I heard in 2008 when the Lakers were facing the Celtics. Everyone told me it was going to be the Lakers and why? "Because Kobe is unreal. He's a man on a mission. No one's stopping him". Well, look what happened. The Celtics may not have shut Kobe down in that series, but he definitely struggled atleast by Kobe Bryant standards, and why was that? Because the Celtics had the assets to make him earn his points. Ray played exceptional defense on him, as did Posey and even Pierce made him struggle. There's no doubt Lebron is an all-time player and I know he's going to bring it, but you can limit an all-time player if you have the assets to do so. The Celtics had them in 2008 to slow Kobe down, and the Warriors have players that can slow down Lebron. They have Iggy (really hope his shoulders ok), Barnes, and even Livingston to throw at him (You can even throw in Green). Those guys may not be Kawhi Leonard, but they are all above-average defenders. I know Kobe and Lebron are different players but they are about neck-and-neck in their legacies.

Think of the teams that have given Lebron the most trouble in past few post-seasons: 2011 Mavericks (Beat him in 6), 2012 Celtics (He beat them in 7), 2013 Pacers (He beat them in 7), 2013-14. Spurs (He beat them in 7 thanks to Ray, They beat him in 5 respectively)

What did those teams have?
A. Guys who could stay in front of him
2011 Mavericks: Shawn Marion and Deshawn Stevenson
2012 Celtics: Paul Pierce Mickael Pietrus and Marquis Daniels
2013 Pacers: Paul George and Lance Stephenson
2014-15 Spurs: Kawhi Leonard

B. A defensive presence in the post
2011 Mavericks: Tyson Chandler
2012 Celtics: Kevin Garnett
2013 Pacers: Roy Hibbert (before he self-destructed)
2014-15 Spurs: Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter (atleast in 2015 Splitter was better)

C. Someone who his team had trouble stopping
2011 Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki
2012 Celtics: Rajon Rondo
2013 Pacers: Paul George
2013-14 Spurs: I'm not sure if anyone in particular stood out they just had a phenomenal offense. Maybe Leonard? Diaw? Parker?

On paper, the Warriors have A (Iggy, Livingston, Barnes, Green), B (Bogut, Green, Ezeli), and they should have C (Curry and the Warriors offense in general is a spectacle and the Cavs D isn't that good).

I mean heck, I think the primary reason why the 2012 Celtics and 2013 Pacers lost to Lebron were because they had no depth on their team outside of their starters. Imagine if the 2012 Celtics had Jeff Green (Green stepped up when he played against the Heat post-2011), Avery Bradley (The wade stopper), and Jermaine O'Neal (if he had given a crap) at their disposal. Not saying that would have led them to the finals, but it would have made the Heat's championship quest harder. That was definitely better than Keyon Dooling, Marquis Daniels, and Ryan Hollins. So again those teams didn't have depth, but the 2015 Warriors do.

If people feel the Warriors lack of experience will hurt them fine, but who on the Cavs has experience outside of Lebron? Sure they have Perk, Marion, James Jones, Miller, and Brendan Haywood, but none of those guys are any good anymore. I also know Lebron's Heat teams and Lebron's Cavs teams are different teams, but both of them relied primarily on Lebron.

This will be a great series, but I see the Warriors hoisting up the trophy after they win in 6 games. But if Lebron wins it all again, I'll give him all the props in the world for proving me wrong.

On a side-note, who here wished the Warriors had traded for Bass last summer? Not only would he have given them another body who can stay in front of Lebron, but he'd be going for a ring. We would all have had the extra incentive to root for them. Too bad. Funny enough I wouldn't be surprised if they go after him this summer after they inevitably get rid of Lee and re-sign Green.

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #69 on: May 30, 2015, 05:09:46 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Looks like someone is actually watching the games and is not so consumed with LeBron hate that he cannot be objective.


He says before going, "LeBron is the GOAT.  Cavs will win because LeBron. Peace."

You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #70 on: May 30, 2015, 07:14:03 PM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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I see 50 people are going to be wrong  ;D
ha, ha...lets have more fun. i will provide a well deserved tp to you should the cavs prevail. on the other hand, you give 50 folks who voted dubs a tp in return.  ;D

Crikey man!  LOL

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #71 on: May 30, 2015, 07:17:56 PM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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I see 50 people are going to be wrong  ;D
ha, ha...lets have more fun. i will provide a well deserved tp to you should the cavs prevail. on the other hand, you give 50 folks who voted dubs a tp in return.  ;D
Count me in too. If Cavs win, i'll give Shaqattack 5 TPs no problem. All I ask in return is 2 TPs if GSW wins.

Ok .......but no way I'll cheer for the Diva ...I can't do it ........LoL.......I ll be cheering for myself to lose ..... ;D

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #72 on: May 30, 2015, 08:54:40 PM »

Offline Al91

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Finals experience means absolutely nothing to me in this series. I remember a Celtics starting five that never lost a playoff series and also never had experience in the finals before winning the whole thing (yes naysayers, I know they found experience bench-wise). Great teams are great teams. Their dominance or missteps in the NBA finals are not enough to be considered valuable in my opinion, especially when we're dealing with a historically great regular season team that has been able to keep that level of play going into the playoffs.

Frankly, battling and crushing teams in the West is more valuable to me than "finals experience", especially considering how the Warriors have the Roar-acle advantage.
Long-form is far from dead, but please refrain from paragraph-laden posts! Who wants to read that?!

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #73 on: May 30, 2015, 08:56:19 PM »

Offline greenhead85

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Cavs.

Lebron is the real deal. The Answer. I believe he could beat on anybody the Warriors will put up on him. OTOH, he will shut down Step Curry.

How much of this "LeBron is God, can score on anybody and will shut down the league MVP" is based on the fact that the Cavs swept the Celtics?

Like, seriously, have people watched the Warriors play?

How about last year's Finals?  Did people not notice that LeBron was (a) seriously flummoxed by the other team's defense and (b) wasn't exactly phenomenal defensively?


LBJ is a great player, but this idea that he can score on anyone while simultaneously shutting down one of the best scorers in the league is not based in reality.

Never treated LeBron as some kind of a basketball god. His level of play has reached to a very high and matured level in recent years.

Curry, the current MVP, will be defended by LeBron when needed. Rose is a more athletic and mobile player than Curry. Bron had been very successful in defending Rose when the latter attempts to change the game and increase his level of play. Bron could do the same. I could see LeBron frustrating Curry's game and that would probably determine the outcome of the series.

Re: Poll: Who Wins the Finals
« Reply #74 on: May 30, 2015, 09:09:38 PM »

Offline wayupnorth

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Cavs in 5 or 6 (probably 6).  I think the Cavs go with the Grizzlies very physical up in your face style of play and just do it better than the Grizzlies.  I don't see the Warriors doing much against Lebron and think the Cavs have the necessary pieces to stifle Curry.

Looks like someone is actually watching the games and is not so consumed with LeBron hate that he cannot be objective.

Cavs will win the finals I believe they will do it in 5 or 6 games. Cavs are too experienced and too good for the newbie Warriors to beat them. X factor is the Cavs have the GOAT on their team. Yes I said the GOAT.

Lol