Thursday, June 04, 2015

NBA Finals Preview

To answer a question Mark posed in the comments thread from yesterday's post, it's been a long, long time since I was as excited by an NBA Finals as I am about this one. You might have to go back as far as the 1987 matchup between the Celtics and the Lakers to find one that compares, and my excitement for that one had much more to do with my rooting interests - back then, I was a hardcore Celtics fan.

This time, three of my favorite NBA players match up for the title, and in Golden State, we're given the chance to watch the most exciting team in decades. One the one hand, Draymond Green and Steph Curry. On the other, FOGTB LeBron James.

We're not going to spend a lot of pixels on a detailed breakdown of the series - that's the province of other, far smarter and more motivated keyboarders. We do think the Warriors will win, and we think it'll be reasonably easy - let's say five games. No, we won't give you analysis. But we'll give you something nobody else will:

Cookie Monster and Busta Rhymes asking for seven games.



42 comments:

zman said...

You can stream old Sesame Street episodes through Netflix. I watched the very first episode ever with zson yesterday. Oscar was orange! Gordon had hair! And mutton chops! Very confusing for both of us.

T.J. said...

good use of my filler email, tiny

rob said...

teamwork, teejus!

Mark said...

I've noticed most of the former NBA players turned analysts are picking Cleveland. I think this has much to do with their continued resistance to Golden State being as good as the numbers and our eyes tell us they are as well as the tired "I can't go against LeBron" theory. Also, I think many of these 'analysts' are lazy and haven't/won't adjust their analysis to the way the game has changed.

rob said...

golden state is historically good. the cavs are playing without two of their three best players (1.5, maybe, depending on what kyrie) can do. i really think the warriors wreck them.

rob said...

fun with parentheses!

zman said...

Saying "I can't go against LeBron" doesn't make a ton of statistical sense given that he's 2-3 in the Finals so far. And he had Wade and Bosh for two of those losses. I'm not knocking him, but it's not like he's unbeatable.

Mark said...

Golden St is historically good according to the numbers. Which is part of the disconnect with many of these ex NBA players. They don't believe in the numbers nor do they understand that today's game is a different game than they played so instead they're holding on to tired cliches like "a jump shooting team can't win in the playoffs" (The warriors are for more than a jump shooting team) and "you need to know how to win" in order to back up their antiquated beliefs. All of this makes me root for Golden State even more.

I don't dislike Cleveland at all. I'm a huge LeBron and Kyrie fan and was dead wrong on Tristan Thompson. I just really want Barkley, Reggie Miller and those of their ilk to have to eat it.

Mark said...

I also finally finished season 3 of The Americans last night. I dislike Paige as much as any TV character in recent memory.

Mark said...

That's the other thing, Z. People trotting our that reasoning for going with the Cavs cite that LeBron is playing the best basketball of his career. He's shooting 18% from 3 during the playoffs. 18%!!

Dave said...

wow . . . some good reading here at g:tb. i just caught up on the last three posts, and none of them were filler! now i am excited about the nba finals, the women's world cup, and the resignation of sepp blatter.

TR said...

Jalen Rose picked Warriors in 5.

zman said...

I assume everyone else is excited for Meow the Jewels.

rob said...

holy shit. i am now.

Marls said...

65k pledged for cat jewels. Love it. I got a lazy ass pussy at home that needs some work.

zman said...

Whoooooo!

zman said...

And if that pussy's sitting idle, that's on you. Reverse it! Whip that pussy!

rob said...

you guys wouldn't talk like this if shlara hadn't gone to that convent and taken a vow of ghelibacy.

rob said...

apparently fifa paid ireland $5m in exchange for staying quiet about the thierry henry handball non-call that kept the irish out of the 2010 world cup. those fuckers are more corrupt than clay davis. sheeeeeit.

zman said...

Can anyone give me a good reason why the Stanley cup finals and NBA finals are on opposite each other? They couldn't alternate nights?

zman said...

THE clay Davis? Downtown clay Davis?

zman said...

Is everyone required to take bad shots in the NBA finals tonight? It's like a bricklayers' convention.

Mark said...

Some nerves at play I suspect, Z. And Cleveland is destroying Golden St on the glass.

Mark said...

LeBron is putting on a masterful performance and the Warriors won't go away. This game is highly entertaining.

zman said...

Yes. It would be better if he would just shave his head once and for all.

Unknown said...

Awesome, this is a great article... I'm very like it sir... Thank you for Cara menghilangkan benjolan di ketiak

Pengobatan tumor jinak di kepala

Obat benjolan dibawah dagu

Clarence said...

zoan is one letter off from zman. Strangely not creative, buddy.

Cavs.

Mark said...

The quality of basketball played last night makes it easier to make it to midnight. If this series goes 7 I'm going to need to take a day to catch up on sleep.

rob said...

yeah, i fell asleep at the end of the third. looks like i didn't miss much.

Mark said...

I was ready for bed around the same time but I refuse to watch games I care about in bed for that very reason. Only so much basketball before baseball takes over our lives. Ill sleep then.

rob said...

what are lebron's detractors gonna say when he drops 40 per game, keeps his team in this series singlehandedly, but still gets swept? never mind. don't answer that.

TR said...

THEY'RE GONNA YELL AT THE TV CAMERA! THEY'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT KEVIN LOVE AND KYRIE AND MICHAEL JORDAN AND DWAYNE WADE.

And I'm gonna change the channel as soon as that starts.

rob said...

see, they're *not* gonna talk about love and irving. they're gonna conveniently forget that part. they will talk about jordan and wade, though. jordan would beat these warriors with four peter dinklages as his teammates.

Mark said...

Anybody who says that is stupid. Or named Skip Bayless.

Since we're here, these are my Game 1 takeaways:

- Iguodala was terrific last night. He made LeBron take tough, contested shots (many of which he made) and carried the Warriors second unit offense for two different stretches.

- Mozgov was a monster. He tried to dunk everything near the rim and nearly did. He was great on the offensive glass and cutting to the hoop.

- Tristan Thompson was Rodman 2.0 on the boards. The offensive rebounding advantage was nearly the difference in the game.

- LeBron played, at times, like a supercharged version of Mark Jackson. Mid post dribble back downs into floaters in the lane. He was unstoppable when he did that.

- It felt like Steph played average. He still ended up with 26/8 on 50% shooting.

- Kyrie was great on both ends of the floor. He's the best below the rim finisher in the game today. If he's significantly injured then the series is just about over. And that sucks.

rob said...

and the warriors' second unit (including iguodala) was a huge part of the story. they brought golden state back from that big deficit in the first quarter. mo speights got key buckets!

totally agreed on steph. he didn't seem to do much for large stretches, but thinking back on it, he occupied a defender way away from the basket, which opened the floor. and he did score 26 on 50% shooting and drop 8 assists.

Mark said...

I remain amazed that Mo Speights is the Gator big man who is the significant contributor on this Warriors team instead of David Lee.

Shit, I amazed Speights is a big time bench scorer.

Clarence said...

Thanks go out to Rob for restating Curry's stats that Mark had given us immediately prior.

Mark said...

We're discussing some of the preposterously easy classes I took at Florida on Twitter. Marls is baffled by them.

rob said...

i was affirming mark's statement by emphasizing the conclusion, you dick.

i miss igor. that guy actually posted stuff on g:tb instead of swanning into comments threads just to be an asshole. or maybe i'm thinking of whitney. whatever.

zman said...

Swanning!

zman said...

Gack!

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/absurd-creature-of-the-week-weta/

rob said...

just found out that a colleague and very good dude has been diagnosed with cancer. fuck you, cancer. you suck.