₦airaland Forum

cckris:
The TRUTH is that, Senator Olusola Saraki had, in 1983, CONCLUDED INVESTIGATIONS, into how Gen Buhari, as Minister of Petroleum, had CORRUPTLY deposited $2.4 billion NNPC money, into an account that didn't belong to the Federal Govt of Nigeria, at the Midlands Bank London.

The TRUTH is that Gen Buhari quickly overthrew the Government of Shehu Shagari, together with the independent-minded Senate that was investigating him.

And you KNOW THESE TRUTHS.

All that Affluence yet Saraki Junior is still richer than PMB.

We hear you!

SmooshCHN:
This Bob Myers and Joe Lacob are Werey... Mad Men

Anyone seen this yet??

For y'all, I'm not in support of this I hope the NBA blocks it.. There wouldn't be any competition

Must be a joke joor. LOOOOL

Mizzzbeee:
That would be one hell of a dramatic season

OKC fans no chill

One thing is certain: Whether we win more rings or not is undecided. What is definitely decided is that OKC is no longer a competition.

SAS did well in getting Paul Gasol. If it is possible to still get Dirk, I don't mind. People who say they will not count the rings for KD because it came at GSW, should do well and count sand.

Mizzzbeee:
We should just sign Gasol at C for minimum wage then the NBA WOULD BLOW UPP FOR SURE

And funny enough, KD once tried to recruit Gasol before at OKC.

I don't know why you people feel for Russell. He strikes me like he plays for the stats. So let him stack them up. KD was more interested in a ring. LOL.

Imagine if Russell heads to Cavs?

Mizzzbeee:
But now every loss would be a hate party (4 stars yet they lost to blah blah) and

every win would be a hate party ( 4 stars nba isnt competitive anymore)

BUT WE WUD TAKE IT

I was so flushed with emotions I liked everybody's posts from page 328 down. I know in KDs mind, someway, he knew posterity will not forgive him if he didn't have rings to solidify his claims to be an NBA legend.

When every other "elite" player was turning down the Olympics I was surprised he still opted to play. That's the desperation of a winner. Obviously, Klay too opted but that's because he too is a winner and needed that title on his resumé as he already has an NBA title. But KD doesn't, and didn't look like he was going to have one in 2017.

I can see his contract is just for 2 years and it is not even earth-shattering, except there are some hidden millions not available for us to see. I think he did that, just to prove his move was solely for the rings. I guess he would return to them in 2019 should he have racked up 2 rings in the interim seasons leading to that year.

SIRcumalot:
mizzzbee,SmooshCHN,eruditor and Utd guy.

I hope you guys know you are the villains now?

I still can't believe this stuff I was still laughing at the warrior owner.

I won't be surprise if blackmail was involved in this recruiting process.

Jerry west, I fear this guy.

Jerry West is a GOD. I can't believe he could pull this off. I think GSW not winning the Title played into his hands, KD. At least he won't claim he joined the latest champions.

I can't contain myself.

SmooshCHN:
God help me if I don't get a heart attack today..

Memphis Grizzlies and Mike Conley agrees to $153M/5yrs..

Eruditor, A40, Mizzzbeee, lolawilliams, Sircumalot and we're here arguing statistics.

Took a hardlook at my life following the contracts of these players. I share the general sentiment on the thread that my sons (whenever they come) will play professional sport most likely Basketball.

I am hearing good news that Harrison Barnes is off to Dallas for $95M/year.

A40, your beloved Dallas took him from us

nairamaniac:
When you said "they didn't need curry to be big" its a very political way of covering up for him. "He didn't play well", means "he didn't play well". And bench players stepped up. Luckily for golden state, they didn't need curry that much by 4th quarter, cos them Livingston and barbosa had done well enough to blow cavs out of the match.

I agree with you one defence being judged by end product (steals and blocks) .
Kyrie has the potentials of being a better defender. I see it in him. But only shows if in playoffs.

I still disagree with you on Jordan. His greatness cannot over exaggerated well enough. I noticed you are so much into stats. Hence you downplayed his greatness and mocked him by saying "If some of us don't have present evidence to buttress some of these points, you'd have changed the whole narrative to tell us Jordan never missed a shot. Even that "flu game" people keep talking about has been disproved. Jordan was hung over. But that's talk for another day. "

Those were your words above. No matter how much you later tried to flatter him by adding "he is still the goat" , you had already blasphemed.

Bro, whatever happened to Jordan whether flu, hangover or poison, he was deadsick.

The world stood still for Jordan on that day. And believe me, that wasn't even one of my best Jordan moments.

There is no political covering. If GSW had won game 7 Curry's no show would've been inconsequential. There's no quibbling over this. A player is needed when his team would have lost the game otherwise. That's why albeit Lebron had 25pts in game 4 he was still mocked and censured online for having a bad game. And that's what it means to be the MOST VALUABLE player for your team. So saying Curry didn't play well in a game where his team won by 33pts is farcical. He played well in game 6 but his team still lost.

Since you say I am dependent on stats then I'd extend the same courtesy to you and say you have a penchant for constantly changing the narrative. Now Kyrie's numbers on 3s, FGs dipped, so the narrative has changed to him being the better defender in future. Well, he didn't steal the ball more than Curry, he didn't block more etc. So I have to assume that your assertion is only a hunch. And you know that hunches are bad for the back! LOL

Muhammad Ali KOed Liston in their rematch but many pundits till date say that fight was staged. There is sufficient evidence in any direction to make a case but Ali's GOAT status is not in question. Russian Astronauts till date still believe that E.Aldrin and N. Armstrong only acted like they landed on the moon in 1969. Listening to both sides make arguments to and fro, one can be swayed whichever way. The one that is not in question is USAs standing as the major powerhouse wrt space travels. In the same vein, the ability to decide what blasphemes Jordan or not is not arrogated to you or anyone else for that matter. So I can say the "flu thing" was a ruse and still believe him to be the greatest (I'd put a period here)

lolawilliams:
Bro k.D has been in new york for over a week now, looks like he'ld be going to the knicks. God wont let him come to gsw

KD goes to the Knicks I go chop my hand. Player wants Rings and they are telling me Knicks. Lol. That's career suicide.

nairamaniac:
CONTINUED BELOW:

In those games u said GSW didn't need Curry to be big, I actually saw it more of him not playing well from the very beginning, but bench players like Livingston and Barbosa showed up early from the very first half.

I didn't use one block to place kyrie over curry defensively. I only emphasized with that. Im a pointguard, tho not professionally. I see other things beyond having good steals-stats when it comes to defence: Quick feet, shuffles, balance wide open legs, skipping whoever screens you on either side of your body, staying close. And kyrie showed all these things on defence more than curry.

Yeah, I watched Jordan's games on real time. I also know bout the Jordan rules. Not just I watching them, I recorded most of his matches, studied dem, paused dem, slow motioned them and all that. You are so on point on all you said bout the Jordan rules, pistons and Chuck Daly. I respect you for that.

I never said or gave an impression that Jordan nevertheless u missed a shot. You must really be a new-school-bie basketball fan. Eruditor, back then no one really took note of things like percentages as much as they do now. Jordan averaged less than 33% field-goals or about that, in his first 8 years in the league and no one ever noticed or criticised him for it.
Its this era of twitter and computer-age you all wanna see percentages everywhere after each match. That's why Iverson would always be my most beloved pointguard even tho I know he's not the best conventional point guard ever, cause I don't even wanna remember his percentages/efficiency. Cos back then he himself wasn't conscious of it or selecting his shots like all then Curry are doing today.

I judge players with their eras, their rules and what matters to their fans at their own eras. Believe me, I would take Iverson to his era anytime above curry to this era anytime any day.
All I know is that iverson gave me one of my best years of basketball and you have no idea how he influenced me and his era.

Please my Oga what do you mean bout "people talking bout that flugame and it being disproved, hung up and all that"? That game can only be disproved to those that never watched it but later grew up to hear bout it from analysts and social medias.

With all due, respect no let me and you fight here o (LOL). I watched that FLUGAME (live) thru the night. It was one of those matches I stayed awake in the following afternoon to see it on all sport centers on ESPN the following day to see it again and again.

Please did you watch that game? Please you need to answer with honesty. Did you watch it?

Jordan was deadsick. Even his sidekick(pippen) was having a bad day.

And guess what? One against One, Utah had more fire power than bulls. All the bulls had was JORDAN who played like Kratos from GOD OF WAR.

Please don't blasphem. JORDAN is a god in human skin.

1. I didn't say that Curry played well in those games but that his underwhelming game didn't matter because his team did the business. If Heats had beaten Mavs in 2011 people won't have noticed Brons abscence in game 6.

2. See feet shuffling, skipping screens? They are means to an end. The end is weighed by seeing steals or blocks. So the way to tell who was doing what is to see the end product. That's why some people are constantly called out when they underestimate Curry's defending. Chances are PGs are not judged on how many blocks they get per game as it is not quotidian to see such.

3. I did not watch the MJ vs Jazz game in real time as I am not that old. LOL. But I watched it on YouTube as those games are still available. Nobody and I mean nobody has said Jordan was not the goat. The point is that one can watch a game via a blue screen and swear that every one they saw was blue in color.

The point is, the narrative concerning Jordan's greatness is sometimes skewed and overreaching. Doesn't take anything from his shine. I believe I called him the GOAT still.

nairamaniac:
Well, what can I say? U obviously pay more attention to the details and every data of the Stats more than I do. Maybe that's y lolawilliams crowned u da MVP.

But I think u may be a bit wrong bout Curry. More often dan not, he usually beats taller players with dribbles and not shots over them, wenever they guard him beyond the arc, except at clutch moments.
Steven Adams gave him some problems on shooting beyond the arc.
Its hard to stick it all up to one player marking curry all thru a game or set of games, becos the way GSW plays. There are too many screens that always changes curry's primary defender. U can't stick it up to one player.

2) I beg to differ on kyrie being easier to mark than Lebron. Its easier to mark a point guard one on one than a strong forward like Lebron. But believe me, its much easier to set up an entire team to mark a Lebron who can't shoot efficiently from the outside than setting up your team to mark a kyrie at the perimeter.

All the marking-team needs to do against Lebron is stuff their paint against Lebron. So that he ends most of his moves with layups, rather than dunks.

Hope you know Lebron isnt good in ending his moves with layups compared to dunks. Kyrie, harden and curry are much better at that. And that's one edge Jordan had over everyone else. As good as Jordan was with dunks, his layup, double-pumps and finger-rolls were even prettier.

Don't let this last regular deceive you by calling kyrie a "steak shooter". He got back from injury after 6months and didn't find his rhythm till playoffs.

His 3-point% only tanked due to loss of form from injury he suffered. He wd never be as efficient as curry, but he's also very good, would get open looks and create his own shots off dribbles on both 2's and 3's.

I totally agree with you that injuries slowed down curry's early development. Iv always known that. Same with him not being their primary scorer. I'm not using statistics to compare and judge this. Its like you are a Stats-man. I'm using raw-talent of what I see with my eyes. Curry didn't have supernatural ball handles and movements in his rookie/early years compared to kyrie.

Those thing came to Curry after several years of practice. And they all came together in like his 5th year. Meanwyl it all showed in kyrie from his rookie year.
I don't think any rookie has ever had such handles as curry in the history of the NBA besides Iverson and maybe Stephon Marbury. That's why Stephon Marbury was called "THE QUESTION" and Iverson was called "THE ANSWER".

All in all, kyrie was far better as a rookie than curry was. Kyrie was touched by God after like 4years due to his hardwork and talent.

Let me make something else clear, when I mentioned Horry, Kobe and Fisher being great shooters, I wasn't comparing them to curry or klay. Curry is the best shooter the NBA has ever seen. And to me he has brought something new to the NBA which is shooting-off-the-dribble with such quick release.
But those guys I mentioned were good for the Lakers. They all were great for Phil jackson's Lakers and they did it for a 3peat. Take nothing away from those guys.

In those games u said GSW didn't need Curry to be big, I actually saw it more of him not playing well from the very beginning, but bench players like Livingston and Barbosa showed up early from the very first half.


MY RESPONSE CONTINUES IN MY VERY NEXT POST.
I NEVER KNEW THERE WAS A LIMIT TO WORDS YOU CAN POST ON NAIRALAND TILL TODAY.

I see you are a Kyrie lover and really he is good. The thing about ceilings is, you expect a player with a so-called higher ceiling to get better at other areas of his game. That's how you can project he will get better. That's why I showed you 2 key areas of his game that are dipping. I could have added his steals or assists. Those are the metrics that PGs should be assessed by and if Kyrie is not improving there- he may not have the higher ceiling. That's what I am putting out.

The Jordan the NBA got to see was not better than Worthy in North Carolina. So when a player improves in his handles it doesn't mean he is less than someone who already had it. That's another area you need to consider in order not to present a lopsided argument. The improvement we expect Kyrie to make to solidify your appraisal of him is he doesn't just need to be the best PG but the MVP of the NBA at least twice. So the clock is ticking.

There is not much to add. I think the evidence supports the claim that Kyrie is indeed a streak shooter. Apart from that, it is also beyond stats. If you watched the games against OKC you'd see copious occasions that Curry hit his 3s on Ibaka, Adams, Kante and KD. I mean even Curry joked that Tall players marking him around the arc is barbecue chicken.

And lastly, you said greatER shooters and mentioned Kobe, Fischer and Horry. The "er" made it a comparison and that's why I took exceptions to the statement. Obviously those players are greats especially Kobe who is top 7 to me. Nobody can possibly denigrate him With a straight face. Least of all, me.

SmooshCHN:
Cousins doesn't do anything different from what Tristan Thompson does. They both don't have range, grab offensive and defensive rebound as primary role and set picks. Unlike when you have Love and T.T where love gives you that flexibility. You can find someone else like him but Cousins won't cut it. You can't have two guys doing the same thing on the floor. Cousins is like the only big thing in Sacramento after they sent off Isaiah Thomas. I'm sure he's not going anywhere.

Cousins is good offensively in fact he is the best at his position offensively. He is just a dressing-room nightmare.

lolawilliams:
They both play center and power forward, T.T is just 6'9,he'll play power forward and cousins is 6'11, center wld be great for him, he'll put more radical change to the position that what T.T is doing..

Let me be honest with you, Cousins is at best 6'10. Players lie about their heights a lot so they can play different positions that they are accustomed to. KD for example, is 6'11 but he doesn't want to be played as a center so he lied about his height by claiming 6'9.

lolawilliams:
smooshCHN, mizzzbeee, eruditor

Dwight howard turned down his $23m, pay $25M and take him na

Naa, the guy is a mental midget. I want someone who believes he can win.

A40:
Lol. Pippen was present for all the previous losses so I doubt his impact was as profound as you suggest. The Pistons were the best team in the league at the time but they were also the dirtiest. This is basketball not UFC/MMA. They were the most heavily fined team in the league and their style of play was unsustainable. The game evolved and left them behind. I would not take the opinion of a salty Isiah Thomas serious anyway he is coincidentally from the CHI and was clearly mad at all the love M.J was getting. Evidence suggests that the Bulls simply got better each year. They lost 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3 respectively all the while being the lower seed. Heck there was a year they were 0-12 in the regular season vs the Cavs and Pistons and finished 6th only to get to the playoffs and upset the Cavs. The Bulls peaked the Pistons plateaued

Where did the flu game get disproved btw? Haba who dey feed you this zobo? What are the odds M.J would get wasted the night before a pivotal Game 5 on the road in Goddamn Utah of all places? We all know M.J's vice and its never been alcohol. And as a drinking man myself I can tell you for a fact that mere watching M.J's game and body language an inebriated person is incapable of that.

I agree that Bulls got better as the Pistons plateaued. I agree that M.J gained body mass and got tougher. I also agree that the Pistons were a dirty team but I think the consensus by vets and even seasoned journalists was that M.J began to trust his teammates more.

I. Thomas for all his saltiness said they knew MJ was very competitive and used it to their advantage all those times. That each time he tried to drive and you forced him to one direction, he still obstinately tried to go towards that very direction. If you forced him to attempt shots more instead of lay ups, he tried all the more to force his lay ups and in doing so,he forgot to pass the ball.

In 1991 when they first beat the Pistons in the playoffs, Jordan began to move the ball a lot more when he was cornered and it gave way for a player like Pippen to contribute more significantly.

As for the "flu game" I have watched a documentary and all parties involved seemed to easily disprove the flu theory. The 2 excuses that seemed more plausible was him being hungover or that he had food poisoning.

A former body guard of his said he ordered bad pizza very late on the eve of the game and that it was very plausible that the delivery guy who brought the pizza knew Jordan was in that room and may have tried to sell him something rancid to affect his game.

Whatever the case was, Jordan had a long history of gambling and partying before games. Even Magic said so during the 92 Olympics in Barcelona. That Jordan will smoke, drink and sleep late before big games and still drop 40. So it was very easy to believe the inebriated story.

nairamaniac:
Truely, spurs traditionally based their plays on ball movements from half court as you said. And not transitions. But they used to be faster from those halfcourt plays than they later became.

Let me agree with you that it was a bit of fluke that got OKC past spurs, but faster ballgame and athleticism would most times give okc the edge against spurs, if both Durant and Westbrook are healthy.

To me bad shot selections worked against OKC but not GSW.

Why it used to be easier for GSW to beat teams prior to WCF against OKC was that after several screens set by GSW, there would be mismatches everywhere. And in most cases leaving curry being marked by a center or a big. His marker would hesitate marking him on the perimeter or at least fidget. More often than not, Curry takes advantage of those few seconds of confusion. his new-marker would stay stay further away from him and giving him space to rain 3's on you.

But the playoffs is a different ballgame entirely. you must have noticed that against OKC, whoever found himself with curry or klay even when mismatched stood strong with him and never felt out of place. Steve Adams, Tristan, kelvin love all stood their grounds against Curry to at least disturb his shooting.

Cavs adopted the same pattern and strategy.

I tell people, the secret of GSW aren't their 3-Ball, its their multiple screens and ball movements to force mismatches but end up in 3pointers most times. Cos they have great shooters. normally when guarding a player, your mind should be focused on either blocking or stealing. but against GSW, you have a third problem: the screen at either side of your body. It would always come but its the ability to detect it as quickly as possible. Then skip it. Problem is that the refs don't call enuf moving-screens these days, or else GSW would be guilty of sooooooo many. The whole world knows this.

Kerr adopted these multiple screens/movements from Phil Jackson. The bulls of 90's did it and it was called "TEX WINTERS TRIANGLE". The only difference between GSW set up and the bulls was that the bulls didn't end their plays with 3's.

Phil Jacksons Lakers was more similar to this current GSW, cos they had greater shooters in Hurry, Fisher, Kobe (though voluminous).

Like you sed and I agree, Curry got more attention on defence than kyrie did. But its still gonna be hard for teams to increase their focus on kyrie in the foreseeable future, cause they would always be a Lebron next to him to deal with.

To me, all in all Kyrie played better in the finals than Curry did. He even blocked curry point bland at a point. Kyrie was more defensive than curry thru the series.

Let's be careful people, kyrie may dethrone Curry very soon or at least get close.

Kyrie should/would average 25points-plus consistently within the next 2 years. If you need to know, his role models are scorers like Kobe and wade, and not any past point guards.
He was a scorer in highschool, not a playmaker.

Curry wasn't close to being as good as kyrie when he was 23.


Now talking of the god called Jordan. I didn't read about him or watched his highlights to know bout him and those games. I watched them (on TV though)

It would be blasphemy to say pippen and NBA helped jordan.
Jordan was sooo good and a competitive-freak that his skills rubbed of on pippen. Do you know that after three straight years of pistons knocking the bulls out between 1987 and 1990, Jordan gained 40pounds of muscle before the 1990/91 season? Bros, 40 pounds of muscle in 4 months ain't no joke. He became so strong in between that summer and the rest of the bulls including pippen and grant followed him to become strong.

It was mainly the improved physique by the entire bulls and employment of phil jackson that got them to match teams like the bad boy pistons and newyork as from the 90's. Prior to that, the bulls were just tooo soft.

I remember during one of the regular season games in the 1990/91 season. The bulls for the first time matched up physically against the pistons. for the first time in 3years. They out muscled the pistons. end of that game, pippen. stepped up to a piston player and said "we would meet in the playoffs, but this time it would be different".

The pistons were ruff. The bulls became strong. pippen was a skinny kid wen he came into the league.

Fine, basket ball is a team sport. Every great player needed a side kick.

But no one has ever done it alone as that god called Jordan.

1. Curry made most his 3s all playoffs against big players especially Love and Tristan in the CAVS series. There are some details that will skip over a fan especially when your team ends up winning the game. It is smaller players that give Curry hesitation in releasing his shots and that's because he likes to shoot off the dribble and with smaller players who can stay close, it gets harder. That's why he hesitated to shoot over Westbrook and Kyrie in the last 2 series.

So don't be obfuscated by the last shot against Cavs where Love didn't buy the 4pt play Curry was aiming for. I am sure you know Curry shot 10 3s in the last 2 games against the Cavs. Please come back and tell us who was marking him when he made those shots. I am waiting.

2. It is easier to focus on Kyrie than Lebron because Kyrie is not unmarkable. With Lebron, if you ensure his jump shots don't work in any game, you have taken out most of the danger he can do to you. Because nobody can consistently prevent Bron from going to the rim, but Bron cannot take the beatings he will get all series. That's why he needs his jumpshots.

Kyrie has very good layups but that works best in iso-plays. The strength of Kyrie's game is his midrange jumpers which he tends to make with great consistency, but Kyrie is a streak shooter. If his shots don't drop in a rhythm, they won't drop all game.

3. As for the legendary paintbrush you are coloring Kyrie with, please pipe down. Kyrie is phenomenal at age 24. That he will improve is probably not in question. The question is in what angle? His 3pt % is tanking and his FG % dipped as well this season. For the volume of shots Curry takes and drives to the rim, both his numbers didn't dip, and this is a 29 year old who should have peaked 3 seasons ago. So you'd need to convince me that Kyrie will get better at shooting 3pt shots from here on, because I do not believe he will.

Also, age 23 is the point Curry had his recurrent injuries and surgeries. If I am not mistaken, he didn't play more than 27 regular season games that season. Kyrie hasn't had a season in which he played less than 45 regular season games, so he has been more relatively healthy than Curry when we compare what they were at certain ages.

You also have to realise that until Kerr came, Curry was not the primary scorer of his team, so if you are using ppg to rate them at similar ages, you'd already be amiss.

The thing is, I have seen you use words like "Greater shooters" in referring to Horry, Kobe and Fischer and I cringed. Players whose 3 pts all career will be less than what Curry did in just one season. Or you think any of those players shoot better than Klay? LOL.

Yes Kyrie had a better finals series particularly games 5 and 7. I used the term particularly because his team NEEDED him to be big in those games and he delivered. Curry didn't need to be anything in games 1&2 because they blew Cavs off the building in both games. So his 34 combined points in those games were insignificant. Curry was needed most in game 7 and that's exactly when he did not show up. So kudos to Kyrie for his 10/23 (26pts) and Curry's 6/19 (17pts). But saying Kyrie was more defensive because of a block is funny. I did see Curry steal the ball from Kyrie atleast 2ce and in one instance, refs called a foul. Everyone agreed the call was terrible and that was on Curry's way to getting 6 fouls in game 6. I do also remember Curry blocking a taller player in JR Smith in game 7, and finishing the resultant fast break on Love.

4. Seeing that my post is already too long, I won't even spend that much time on Jordan. If you said you watched those games in real time, perhaps you would have known that part of the "Jordan Rules" was to keep Jordan driving from the byline so he would be rammed and blocked. Isaiah Thomas clearly stated that what changed in 1991 was the NBA began calling fouls for those things on Jordan and as such players were fouling out whilst he was knocking his resultant free throws. So teams had to switch up.

Also, Jordan became less selfish (which was a weakness Chuck Daily and his pistons had noticed and exploited) and started trusting his teammates especially Pippen more, so the Jordan rules eventually stopped working.

If some of us don't have present evidence to buttress some of these points, you'd have changed the whole narrative to tell us Jordan never missed a shot. Even that "flu game" people keep talking about has been disproved. Jordan was hung over. But that's talk for another day. He is still the GOAT.

nairamaniac:
The cavs have the east locked down for at least next 2seasons. The only teams DAT WD HV edged dem out are pacers and bulls. And dos 2 are rebuilding.

Forget the raptors and hawks. They WD never beat the cavs.

As for the west, it would remain between golden state and okc . I loved the spurs, but too many things WD work against them. Parker is slower, Green doesn't shoot so well, and mills is just there.

Leornard is good, but he isn't an offensive force like Paul George or Butler.

They shouldnt have gotten Aldridge. He is top 4 power forwards, but his style doesn't suit what we knew the spurs for. They became slower with Aldridge. Maybe it was deliberate as only slowball can give GSW problems.

Truely, GSW has several ways of hurting any team. But they are more dangerous with threes.
Funny enough, I don't even think its their 3's that causes prOblems. Their 3's are just the end product of their system, which are:
1) multiple screens off the ball to force mismatches.
2) starting their offence from high up the arc.

Iv found the solution to that offence and OKC also cracked it.

What u do against them is:

On defence, always anticipate a screen. So u can just it as quickly as possible. But if you fail to, stick with whoever you find yourself with when mismatched.

Its harder and riskier to double team a player from the arc. Its easier to double-team bigs rather than guards.

OKC did very well switching up to guard curry and Klay on perimeter.

What killed OKC where bad shot selections, especially by Westbrook.

Pls OKC should either tame Westbrook or shift him out of point guard.

Philadelphia Sixer's did the same thing with Iverson when they shifted him to shooting-guard and played Eric snow next to him.

To be honest with you, OKC has a chance against GSW if they keep their players, tame Westbrook and get their acts together.

Durant is one of the best natural scorers iv ever seen.

Then I disagree with you on kyrie, he has never been,underestimated.
Hes gonna be top-3 in less than next 2-seasons.
U wd remember i told u this.
He can't be figured out. Its hard to figure pointguards out. They play high up the floor. You can't double team point guards, cos the middle would be opened.


Its gonna be hard to focus on him with a Lebron always next to him.

The only thing that can stop cavs from repeating is keeping Kelvin Love next season and coach lue.

Lue tried, but he didnt run enough offensive plays for cavs. Lue needs to upgrade or they find someone else.

Spurs traditionally do not play fast ball. They have been a team that bases it's attack with ball movements at half court. Aldridge is a wonderful addition to them and only faltered because when their perimeter shots didn't fall against OKC he became the only source of buckets for them and he was worn out. You forget so soon that he dropped 41 and 38 is it in the first 2 games against OKC.

OKC on the other hand were rather fortunate. Their game 2 (albeit deserved) was aided by a bad refereeing decision and bad play by Ginobili in the final seconds. In fact 4 of the 6 games between OKC and SAS were decided by not more than 2pts. If we include the fact that 2 significant refereeing decisions went against SAS in 2 games, then we can say SAS and not OKC deserved to win that series.

Speaking about OKC was it bad shot selection that helped them overturn a 13pt first half deficit to beat GSW ahome in game 1? Or bad shot selection that made them lose a 13pt lead twice in games 6&7 on their way to losing the series? If the answer to all questions is yes, then we can say bad shot selection was the same reason GSW lost 3 games in the series at all. You can't have it one way.

As for Kyrie, I didn't say he was unknown but that defensive schemes were not created to forestall him the way CAVS did for Curry. And that's purely because Kyrie is not the player that wins you a series- Lebron is.

It is the same reason players like Livingston & Green had particularly good games against CAVS especially games 1, 2 and 7 in which Green dropped 28 and 32 in the latter whilst Shaun had 20 in the first.

CAVS essentially made their defense to get Curry off rhythm by shoving him during screens, ramming him at the perimeter, and pushing him off his sweet spots. If those were regular season games refs would have called too many fouls that they would have been forced to switch but as they noticed the calls weren't getting called consistently it fueled them to keep going at it all series long.

We shouldn't be overstating what was seen. Kyrie had 3 good games or at most 4. I think he dropped less than 10pts in game 2 or so. As bad as Curry was touted to be in the series he had no such games.

What remains to be seen is when Kyrie is the man left to deliver the team and when plays are devised by coaches to defend him the way it is with Lebron. That is when you can gauge what a player will turn out to be. If you are in doubt, ask Jordan how many games he won against the bad boys Pistons until Pippen and the NBA helped him.

nairamaniac:
hi. they say you are the MVP. nice to meet you. you have all have been doing a wonderful job. Weldon!

I doubt their would be another rivalry again like the 80's Lakers/Celtics. The NBA has expanded beyond 2 teams dominating their conferences.

if okc keeps its core, they would easily edge out warriors dominance in the west. I still believe Westbrook is a liability though. he plays too fast for the team and its hurting them. To me, he's more of a scoring/shooting guard than a point.
OKC either slows him down or get a pure point-guard like Chris Paul to set their plays.

The only advantage warriors have is that they have such a big cap-space, especially if they trade out Harrison Barnse.
I see them going for Dirk or a pure defensive center to come off the bench for Bogut.
Make no mistake, Lebron is the leader of my cavs, but in like 2 to 3 years, the team would belong to kyrie, especially offensively. Kyrie may edge out Steph. Kyrie is just 23, and steph wasn't this good @ that age.
Kyrie is a Kobe/Wade hybrid with a little bit of Curry in him.

You are welcome too.

Looking at the east do you think any other team save the CAVS would come out of the ECFs? Looking at the west, it is a bit harder to choose, but I can tell you unequivocally that GSW is still the team to beat.

There are only two things that can work against GSW:

1. If the refs keep letting the type of fouls that they let happen against the MVP (especially in the finals)

2. If Kerr makes most of his team's offence predicated on 3s and the 3s don't drop in said game.

GSW came up with different ways of beating many teams in the regular season and that's why they won 73 games. Don't be waylaid by the NBA finals this year. Unidirectional play and arrogance cost them that title.

In the regular season after SAS beat GSW 87-79 in their second outing people said they had been figured out and that if the 3s don't drop they are done for. The game 3 proved that to be wrong as not only did GSW reduce the 3s, they matched iso-plays with, driving to the rim and solid D and they beat SAS in Texas. The point here is that Kerr made the right adjustments.

I noticed that for some reason you are one of those who believed OKC edged GSW. They didn't at all. The same arrogance and unidirectional play that will cost GSW the title was exactly what cost them 3 games against OKC.

I am not saying OKC may not have won at least 2 games especially those games at Chesapeake. But the blow-out scores was as a result of living and dying by the 3. Had GSW (on realizing that it wasn't their night for the 3s) made adjustments, the games would have been like the game 7 against CAVS and would require clutch shooting to nick it.

A good example is the game 5 that GSW won 120-111. OKC out scored GSW from the perimeter but still lost because Curry and the gang switched up.

So people should just die the talk about OKC or whatnot. OKC is a solid team but they needed refereeing help to beat Spurs. And SAS on the other hand, great as they are, had lost 3 times already to GSW in the regular season.

The synopsis is either one of GSW, OKC or SAS will still come out of the West but GSW still edges it. That's why I think it could be a burgeoning rivalry against the CAVS.

As for Kyrie, he is very good on Iso-plays and he had a great series against GSW but now that he has been noticed, let us see how he would play when teams switch up their defense to accommodate him. That's when it matters.

It is easy to play well when you are underestimated. But when teams watch copious tapes of you, your every move, shots, weaknesses etc and device means to stop you, and you still do big things. That's when you have arrived.

Smoosh, Mizzzbeee, Manutd19, make una no vex, Sircumalot was trolling.

Basketball fans like almost all fans are fair-weather. Someone like loj who is a curry fan was obviously disappointed that Curry did not bring it in the finals. But unlike us, he has a unique way of voicing his displeasure.

It seems this CAVS/GSW rivalry is going to be like 80s Celtics and Lakers. Perhaps only difference is Bron Bron is on the other side of 30 that isn't too favorable. So l think GSW will edge it come next 2 years.

For those wondering why I said what I said, they should go and see how atrocious legends like Magic and Bird were in finals games that their teams didn't win. Curry is not an exception. Bron Bron was trolled for his performance against the Mavs in 2011. Basketball is like that.

We have accepted that Curry did not bring it and Bron did. Doesn't make him a one trick pony. According to % Curry drives to the rim better than Kyrie. But we did not see him do that in game 7 and we all know his knees did not let him.

Let us not forget it was 89-89 with 5 mins to go. Iggy was blocked by Bron and Kyrie hit a 3pt. Curry wanted to aim for a 4pt play against Love but Love didn't fall for it and the ensuing shot did not drop. There would be games like that.

We would be back 2017.

lolawilliams:
Welcome to the thread. Too bad you came late , the season is over.
But I believe youre a nigerian, and olympics wld be starting soon, we would be discussing about that here altogether until the 2016/2017 season start.
We already have a MVP in this thread called Eruditor (just that he's a warriors fan ), but as time goes, you'ld get farmiliar with everyone here

You are far too kind Lola

lolawilliams:
Alright, what do you have to say about the sixers draft, last it was okafor, now its ben simmons.. They're getting the best draft, taking the young talented NCAA players, if they keep on getting them, and they step up together, dont you think it wld be a threat in the NBA?

Tbh, I don't think this year's draft picks were any fantastic. Sure there are good players here and there but I didn't see anyone that could single-handedly upturn the fate of a whole franchise like Bron, Bird, Magic, Jordan etc.

Ben Simmons doesn't shoot well. He is still inexperienced and the sixers (Like Smoosh said) still need vets. I don't think they will win more than 15 games the following season. The team is still shallow.

SmooshCHN:
Elite PGs according to ESPN.

He's on a different level IMO. Their not on his level.

I never let such things bother me. Jordan was trolled in 95 when he returned from his hiatus. I remember Horace Grant saying the only Jordan he knew was the number 23. That he didn't know who the number 45 was. In fact, Jordan changed his number back to 23 because of that game.

What many of those oldies were lucky not to have experienced is social media and it's effect. Trolls with short memory can just come and type any rubbish and be cool.

Kyrie was not existent games 1 & 2. Played ball game 3 &4 but was outplayed by Curry in game 4. Then he played ball in 5 but again was outplayed by curry in 6 (only that GSW lost). Then Kyrie outplays him in game 7 and voila is elite. But someone who averaged 30ppg in 79 games with 7 assists and 3 steals etc is not elite.

Even about Westbrook, Curry out-scored him games 2, 5,6,7 but somehow trolls still say nonsense about him. It is so funny.

lolawilliams:
Alright then, was just thinking that they might go for him if he's available.
Which team do you support?

Team GSW and will be so for the foreseeable future.

lolawilliams:
Lol sorry, Playoffs Guaranteed I mean. But if that happens, it would be a killer combination. I just hope it wont happen.
why dont gsw just leave k.d and go for paul george, I feel p.george wld do better in warriors than k.d, as in there wld be unity in there than if k.d goes

Paul George is the franchise player for Indiana. He ain't going nowhere if he is not available.

Mizzzbeee:
No I don't mind I have always liked him.. BIYOMBO opted out... Now that's a center with passion but dnt knw if he is dat consistent

Does Biyombo shoot good FTs? I Doubt it. But he rebounds absolutely well and is a rim-protector. I won't mind him o. Ezeli and Varejao can be going.

^^^

KD ain't going anywhere. He will give it another try and probably leave if they play worse next year.

As for Dirk and Mavs, let us see who they will rather trade him to. I remember when NBA announced Paul Gasol would go to OKC and he instead went to the Bulls.

Do you mind Paul Gasol at GSW?

LoJ:
I really did not imply that Westbrook>KD. Potentially Durant outclass Westbrook offensively. West is more like a warrior.

Westbrook's tendencies for one man shows sometimes made their team loose some games during these playoffs. West can be the best or the worst for a team depending on his mood. Yes he gets frequently triple doubles but sometimes it costs his team the victory.

My point however was that during the series against GSW he was more constant and important than Durant. Some even argue that Durant is getting old and his game is stereotyped.

But I would take Durant over Westbrook any day.

Concerning GSW, people can give all excuses they want but the truth is in life Shit happens. what you do is preparing for alternatives ahead of time and thinking your team well through.

Green deserved to be suspended lets get that clear. Whether Nba wanted to help their cause is another debate, but Green deserved it. If you don't want to be cheated, play by the rules.

Again, Green was suspended only once. GSW lost 3 games, 2 at home including the final. They can't but blame themselves.

Westbrook was not the best player in the series AT ALL. In his team KD was. Nobody can take anything away from West, as he is great. But his team could have survived without his free scoring and gotten similar assists from Waiters. Perhaps, his greatest presence was in game one when he had 19pts in the third quarter. Other than that, look at things critically and OKC would have won games 3 and 4 without him. Perhaps it won't have been a blowout but they would have won.

But I agree with all you said about GSW.

SIRcumalot:
ready yourself for the bullet.

I could say the same about the okc-warriors series.
don't try to cheapen what the cavs just achieved,cavs fans tried to do the same last year una no gree

David was not a better fighter than Goliath. David just defeated Goliath.

The Warriors proved themselves all season to be the best team. They won 73 games, got to the finals and were up 3-1 against the Cavs that had dropped only 2 games before playing GSW.

Nobody and I repeat nobody can or has said Cavs didn't deserve their win. But you would be unjust to say GSW was not the best team all season. Similar to when Chelsea beat Bayern in 2012.

If we look at it head to head against OKC and Cavs in both regular season and P/Os, GSW beat OKC 7 times and lost 3 times while they beat Cavs 5 times and lost 4 times. In both cases they beat both teams more times than they lost. That's why losing to any of them would have been an UPSET.

Mizzzbeee:
Andre Drummond has no offensive presence... Wud be big on defence but cud hurt us when "hack a Drummond" starts, doubt if Anthony Davis wud leave Pelicans for now, dnt knw if he is eligible for a trade. Cousins tho good na wahala boy!! Flagrant fouls wud just be flying left, right and center.

Just imagine Draymond and Cousins on the same floor... One wud Trash talk the refs to death while the other wud nearly beat someone up on court.

Beee, you have to consider what we have to Andre Drummond. He will force plays better than Ezeli or Bogut and he definitely finishes better than Ezeli. He is quicker and he protects the rim better. Sure if they put him on the FT line, he will miss as many as Bogut or Ezeli so nothing spoil!

Cousins will grow up. He is still considerably young and in a team he knows won't win jack in the next 5 years. If he is lured to come to GSW, he knows he has it all to lose as they are already a championship side.

SmooshCHN:
Mizzzbeee and others what's your take??

I see him signing a one year deal with OKC. Curry, Durant, Klay Thompson, Green, Iguodala/Bogut is too much for anyone to handle before talking Livingston, Burbosa, Speights, Rush. who else?? No one because money's finished..

KD will not leave OKC and I don't mind. He will be too afraid to be given the Lebron treatment should he leave and he would feel his team is good enough again since they were just a win away from another NBA finals.

But just like Mizzzbeee said, he is not what we are missing. I know Curry and Klay will fine tune their game and add some more grit to it come next season, but we are in dire need of another 2 way player to upset Barnes and we need a more forceful scoring Center.

I know whiteside is the consensus favorite but I won't also mind Andre Drummond, Anthony Davis or Demarcus Cousins if Whiteside is out of it.

Al Horford is good, Paul Gasol too would be good, but age is not on either of their sides with Al underwhelming me against CAVS this past season. But at least both are decent FT shooters and they can score buckets.

I don't also mind Jimmy Butler. I hope he would be cheaper to bring in than Keep Barnes. I am sorry it had to end this way for Barnes but we need at least 2 more rings.

If we can make the necessary trades and keep Iggy, Livingston, Barbosa, Speights etc. It would be difficult for GSW not to win it all in 2017.

Mizzzbeee:
Over confidence killed them. I hope they learn from it I7points in a game 7 for a MVP is rubbish.

But the deed has been done,

It pained me for him ehn. Wow. I couldn't even explain it. It was like I should cry for him. I just thank God that unlike the FIFA World Cup that comes up every 4 years, there would be another playoffs next year.

I have no doubt that he will bounce back. Bron has put 13 years into this. Curry just has 7 (and we can remove almost 2 years for injuries). I still think they have at least 2 more rings in them. This year was a learning curve.