*** Official 2014-2015 NBA Playoff thread ***

[manly]

Cavs decided to stop playing with 2 min to go.

And then tried to mount a rally with 48 seconds to go.

God still hates Cleveland.

 

[brianmanahan]

like i said, cleveland will not win a championship in my lifetime

and i probably have 40-50 years left

 

[zinfamous]

And then tried to mount a rally with 48 seconds to go.

God still hates Cleveland.

seriously--what the fuck were they thinking? they just stood around and gave up 5 points on a 10 point lead with 2 minutes left. makes no sense....then try to rally with under a minute to go, cutting it to 4?

morans.

 

[Retro Rob]

LeBron didn't look really engaged tonight.

Reminds me before we walked off when they lost to the Celtics...tired of doing everything.

But that's why he makes 20 million per year.

 

[Retro Rob]

Oh, and lol Lefail!

 

[QueBert]

like i said, cleveland will not win a championship in my lifetime

and i probably have 40-50 years left

Calm down, with THREE Cav's starters out the Warriors struggled to take down James + a buncha bench players. If Irving hadn't gotten injured no way would it have played out like this. Sans injuries they'll be back next year and kill whoever they face in the finals. Hell, with bench players they made a good run in these finals.

 

[brianmanahan]

yeah, maybe if love and irving make it back next year and don't shatter appendages while playing, the cavs might be able to make it to the finals again

only to once again lose

 

[Retro Rob]

Calm down, with THREE starters out the Warriors struggled to take down James + a buncha bench players. If Irving hadn't gotten injured no way would it have played out like this. Sans injuries they'll be back next year and kill whoever they face in the finals. Hell, with bench players they made a good run.

Cannot agree more with this.

Warriors got lucky somewhat because they played bad really. Thompson fouled out with 5 points.

Ridiculous.

 

[Retro Rob]

But this team will be compared to the 07 Cavs. I think this team was worse.

I know one man cannot do it himself, but a 2-4 finals record cannot be ignored for Lebron.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Andre Iguodala for MVP over LeBron? Yeah, no. That is fucking retarded. Yes, the Cavs lost, and James had a "bad" game with 32-18-9, but he still had 2 triple doubles and averaged 36-13-9 for the series. If that's not an MVP performance, that award is utterly pointless.

 

[maddogchen]

YEA!!!! Warriors NBA CHAMPIONS!!!

So strange.....so wonderful

 

[Retro Rob]

Andre Iguodala for MVP over LeBron? Yeah, no. That is fucking retarded. Yes, the Cavs lost, and James had a "bad" game with 32-18-9, but he still had 2 triple doubles and averaged 36-13-9 for the series. If that's not an MVP performance, that award is utterly pointless.

Iggy, while not putting up the numbers, was clearly the X factor. For an average player, or slightly above average, he came off the bench and was a primary reason why they won.

Thompson, OTOH, was garbage. Iggy picked up that slack well, IMO.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Calm down, with THREE Cav's starters out the Warriors struggled to take down James + a buncha bench players. If Irving hadn't gotten injured no way would it have played out like this. Sans injuries they'll be back next year and kill whoever they face in the finals. Hell, with bench players they made a good run in these finals.

I would've been ok with playing the Cavs healthy. I think the warriors' offensive struggles would've been a lot easier when you can attack Love/Kyrie in the PnR. And can we not pretend that varejao is a) always hurt b) the cavs would not have traded for Mozgov if Varejao was healthy.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

But this team will be compared to the 07 Cavs. I think this team was worse.

I know one man cannot do it himself, but a 2-4 finals record cannot be ignored for Lebron.

Jerry West was 1-8 in the Finals. Because he was awful. No, wait, that's not it... It's because the Celtics went more than one player deep. Judging individual success by counting team championships doesn't make sense, especially when considering that two of LeBron's championship losses came when his team was a clear underdog by every standard. Those two losses in Miami matter much more to his legacy than dragging an overmatched Cleveland squad to the Finals despite injuries to the rest of his supporting cast. That said, I do think those two losses in Miami matter to his legacy, given that he failed as a favorite with a super team. That never happened to Michael.

 

[badchoice]

James really needed Irving and Love to win the series

It would've been like Curry trying to do it on his own without Thompson and Green

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Iggy, while not putting up the numbers, was clearly the X factor. For an average player, or slightly above average, he came off the bench and was a primary reason why they won.

Thompson, OTOH, was garbage. Iggy picked up that slack well, IMO.

Iggy was great in an understated way. And I like Iggy's game. But LeBron was literally solely responsible for two victories. If Iggy hadn't played, the Warriors probably still win that series. If LeBron doesn't play, it's a sweep by double digits every game.

 

[QueBert]

Would have been hilarious if the NBA trolled everyone and given the MVP award to Dellavedova. He had a Jeremy Lin on the Nicks level hype thrown on him. I feel kind of bad for dude because he didn't ask for it and probably didn't like it. He did have 2 outstanding games.

 

[Retro Rob]

Jerry West was 1-8 in the Finals. Because he was awful. No, wait, that's not it... It's because the Celtics went more than one player deep. Judging individual success by counting team championships doesn't make sense.

Oh please. People gauge greatness because of Finals wins as well, you know.

A BIG REASON Jordan is considered the best is because of his 6 rings.

 

[Retro Rob]

Iggy was great in an understated way. And I like Iggy's game. But LeBron was literally solely responsible for two victories. If Iggy hadn't played, the Warriors probably still win that series. If LeBron doesn't play, it's a sweep by double digits every game.

Nobody is comparing Iggy's impact to Lebron's. Fact is though, James was killing Warriors defenders in the post when Iggy wasn't in the game...KILLING them.

James can post Iggy, but it wasn't nearly as easy to push him under the rim like he did the other guys.

 

[calyco]

What an amazing team effort by GS, well deserved win!

 

[manly]

But this team will be compared to the 07 Cavs. I think this team was worse.

I know one man cannot do it himself, but a 2-4 finals record cannot be ignored for Lebron.

You can't even make up your mind. On the one hand, James carried scrubs to the Finals in both '07 and '15, making this a much tougher series than most people expected after Irving went down.

OTOH, it was James fault the rest of those 2 rosters were not championship-caliber (to be quite generous).

Which is it??

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Nobody is comparing Iggy's impact to Lebron's.

In an award specifically designed to measure the impact of a single player? Yes they absolutely are. If I say Steph Curry is the MVP and you say James Harden is the MVP, are we not comparing their relative impact? That's my objection. Iggy had a great series. But LeBron put up literally historic numbers. It's not reasonable to say "well, his team lost, therefore he clearly doesn't have as much value as this guy who didn't even necessarily play the best on his own team." It's an absolutely absurd interpretation of what MVP means.

 

[Retro Rob]

You can't even make up your mind. On the one hand, James carried scrubs to the Finals in both '07 and '15, making this a much tougher series than most people expected after Irving went down.

OTOH, it was James fault the rest of those 2 rosters were not championship-caliber (to be quite generous).

Which is it??

He made it to the Finals, didn't he? He's the "best player in the world", and is getting paid like it, right?

You just want to erase the 4 losses, or better still, the 2 with the Cavs?

 

[Retro Rob]

In an award specifically designed to measure the impact of a single player? Yes they absolutely are. If I say Steph Curry is the MVP and you say James Harden is the MVP, are we not comparing their relative impact? That's my objection. Iggy had a great series. But LeBron put up literally historic numbers. It's not reasonable to say "well, his team lost, therefore he clearly doesn't have as much value as this guy who didn't even necessarily play the best on his own team." It's an absolutely absurd interpretation of what MVP means.

But why give the MVP award to the losing player on the losing team?

I recall James saying he wouldn't even want it if they lost. That could have factored into it.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Oh please. People gauge greatness because of Finals wins as well, you know.

A BIG REASON Jordan is considered the best is because of his 6 rings.

Another BIG REASON Jordan is considered the best all time is because he had 8 seasons averaging over 30 points per game as a high-efficiency volume scorer shooting over 50% from the field, who could also rebound, and pass, and was the greatest defender ever at the position. If MJ had a career trajectory more like LeBron, where he doesn't get paired up with another top 25 all-time player in Pippen, and he drags a couple of overmatched squads to the Finals to lose to the Blazers or Jazz, does it tarnish his legacy? I don't think it does. Not with the videogame numbers he put up. Not with the highlight reel he was putting together every single time he stepped on the court. You could watch Jordan play and see that he was the best to ever play the game regardless of the outcome.

Magic lost in the Finals 4 times. Bird lost a couple. When great individual talent comes up against a great team, the team is going to win. That doesn't diminish the success of the individual. LeBron has shown that he's one of the best to ever play the game. And in a generation, no one is going to be looking at his record and saying "whoa, he lost 4 Finals? What a loser!" Just like no one does with Jerry West. Because it's an absurd argument.