Around the NBA (non-Wolves talk)

[Monster]

It's early but honestly I have a hard time getting excited about the Finals. Lebron is a great player but that Cavs squad hasn't really shown much to make me think they can deal with the Warriors who I think are a bit more vulnerable than they have been in the past because their D isn't as good and their depth is less known. Warriors in 5 I guess.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

It's early but honestly I have a hard time getting excited about the Finals. Lebron is a great player but that Cavs squad hasn't really shown much to make me think they can deal with the Warriors who I think are a bit more vulnerable than they have been in the past because their D isn't as good and their depth is less known. Warriors in 5 I guess.

This to me was the Finals and it's just too bad CP3 got hurt. Up 3-2 with at least one more shot at home to take down the Warriors. They needed him badly tonight when the game unraveled in the 3rd. I really think with how they played to get up 3-2 that they win this series with a healthy CP3. He was in soul crushing mode and he would have just put the Warriors down tonight when they made the run to get back in the game. I would expect 5 games in the finals as well as this Warriors team has shown they can have some bad shooting nights that can hold them back. I hope Houston runs it back because they are a legitimate threat to the Warriors especially the longer into this run the Warriors get.

[Lipoli390]

What happened to Houston underscores the importance of durability -- particularly among your top players. Chris Paul missed 24 regular season games, which was fairly common for a guy who has played 70+ games in less than half of his 13 seasons in the League. He's one of those guys who has routinely missed a lot of games with one injury or another. So not surprisingly, he came up lame with a hamstring injury in game 5 of the series against the Warriors. Credit the Rockets for overcoming Chris Paul's regulator-season injury issues to win the West. But the Rockets couldn't overcome his hamstring injury in the final two games of the Western Conference Finals. We can't know for sure, but I think Houston would have won tonight if Chris Paul had been healthy and played.

The main point is this. If you're building a championship contender your stars have to be durable. LeBron played all 82 games this season and has logged big minutes in every playoff game this season at age 32. But that's not surprising since he's always been durable his entire career. The critical importance of durability strongly suggests that the Wolves should not build around Jimmy Butler as the team's main guy going forward. Doing so would be even more problematic when considering his age and contract situation. The durability issue is also why I'm not sold on dealing for Kawhi Leonard.

I'm still confidence that the all-star KAT will eventually become a superstar, but he has to improve his defense and the coaching staff needs to make him more of a focal point of the team's offense to make that happen. His combination of talent, peformance and durability to date makes him the optimal guy to build around. Wiggins' durability and widely recognized talent still make him a potentially good building block behind KAT. If Butler could be counted on to stay healthy and play in at least 75 games then I'd see him as an obvious key to the Wolves improving on last season and possibly becoming a playoff contender. But history tells us that's a big if. And then at age 30 he's up for a max deal far in excess of the rookie max deal Wiggins just got. So I just have a hard time seeing him as part of a multi-year progression to becoming and remaining a championship contender for a period of time. But the rest of that discussion is for another thread.

Back to the Rockets, I hope they come back strong next season because I like the idea of at least one Western Conference team that can challenge the Warriors. I'd love for the Wolves to become another team in the mix with those two franchises. If Kyrie and Hayward come back strong next season then maybe we'll finally have a team in the East to challenge the Warriors. If Simmons develops a jump shot and Embiid stays healthy, then we might have two teams in the East as legitimate title contenders. If LeBron stays in Cleveland next season then you can't entirely count them out because he's a superstar and yes, he's durable.

[thedoper]

Well that was fun for a while. Warriors dynasty continues. I said earlier in the playoffs my big hope is that we can keep our young guys engaged for 3 more years, which really makes me not worry about the Wiggins contract that much. Our play like the rest of the league is when Golden State significantly declines. The only solace in that to me is that Green has not been quite as dominant this year and may be the piece that ultimately becomes their demise. But their talent is still far superior to other teams. Good for Houston to put up a legit fight this season. They certainly suprassed my expectations this series.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Don't underestimate the longevity of this Warriors squad. None of their top four players rely on elite athleticism. They have three of the greatest shooters to ever play the game and that isn't a skill that goes away really. My guess is that we will be in another rebuild by the time they lose the top perch and be a completely different team than we are today.

[Monster]

Don't underestimate the longevity of this Warriors squad. None of their top four players rely on elite athleticism. They have three of the greatest shooters to ever play the game and that isn't a skill that goes away really. My guess is that we will be in another rebuild by the time they lose the top perch and be a completely different team than we are today.

I tend to agre I'm not worried as much about their top guys. One problem I see with the Warriors is right now it's a top heavy roster and the young guys that show some promise but at this point in time haven't shown enough IMO during the playoffs. McCaw wasn't playing super well this year before he got hurt. They are going to attract some ring chasers but this offseason they need to reload with some better depth. David West and Iggy won't be solid forever. I'm not suggesting that the Warriors can't or won't improve their roster but as of right now IMO it's lacking. I've praised them plenty in the past and there is certainly some promise on the roster like Bell and Cook but they need to get more because the rest of the league isn't going to be standing still. The Rockets could add and be better. Imagine if they sign a solid backup PG instead of the basically nobody they had this year? Players are gonna want to play for that team too.

[Monster]

It's early but honestly I have a hard time getting excited about the Finals. Lebron is a great player but that Cavs squad hasn't really shown much to make me think they can deal with the Warriors who I think are a bit more vulnerable than they have been in the past because their D isn't as good and their depth is less known. Warriors in 5 I guess.

This to me was the Finals and it's just too bad CP3 got hurt. Up 3-2 with at least one more shot at home to take down the Warriors. They needed him badly tonight when the game unraveled in the 3rd. I really think with how they played to get up 3-2 that they win this series with a healthy CP3. He was in soul crushing mode and he would have just put the Warriors down tonight when they made the run to get back in the game. I would expect 5 games in the finals as well as this Warriors team has shown they can have some bad shooting nights that can hold them back. I hope Houston runs it back because they are a legitimate threat to the Warriors especially the longer into this run the Warriors get.

One thing that has not been talked about much but was a key factor was Luc being hurt. With those bad shoulders he was basically a complete non-factor and liability offensively. Even if he couldn't hit a 3 in this series he would have been useful but he couldn't finish around the rim and they basically stopped playing him. It's been brought up about Houston's 7 man rotation might have caught up to them last night. If Luc was healthy he would have played some solid minutes. GS was down Iggy which I think was pretty huge (had to play much lesser players) but Luc is somewhat that type of glue guy for the Rockets only not as much as Iggy. He is another guy that has struggled to stay healthy but for the vet min Nobody is gonna complain about that.

[Monster]

Well that wasn't boring. Game 1 goes to OT. Javelle McGee has an absolutely terrific defensive possession defensively against Lebron and then a couple loses a fight against the rim after being wide open. JR is JR. Lebron was absolutely incredible. Some officiating will be talked about. I guess I'll come back for game 2.

[Lipoli390]

Well that wasn't boring. Game 1 goes to OT. Javelle McGee has an absolutely terrific defensive possession defensively against Lebron and then a couple loses a fight against the rim after being wide open. JR is JR. Lebron was absolutely incredible. Some officiating will be talked about. I guess I'll come back for game 2.

I actually felt sorry for LeBron at the end of tonight's game. He fought and clawed to put the Cavs in a position to win with his 51 points, 8 boards and 8 assists. Then at the end of the game, George Hill misses his second free throw that would have given the Cavs a 1-point lead and JR rebounds the miss but dribbles away from the basket towards half court to preserve what he thought was a lead. What an idiot!! No way LeBron returns next season to play with that group. The Cavs needed to win this one and almost did. If they had, then we'd probably be looking at a 6 or 7 game series. But I now see the Warriors winning in 5. Too bad. I'd love to see an extended, competitive series.

[Monster]

Well that wasn't boring. Game 1 goes to OT. Javelle McGee has an absolutely terrific defensive possession defensively against Lebron and then a couple loses a fight against the rim after being wide open. JR is JR. Lebron was absolutely incredible. Some officiating will be talked about. I guess I'll come back for game 2.

I actually felt sorry for LeBron at the end of tonight's game. He fought and clawed to put the Cavs in a position to win with his 51 points, 8 boards and 8 assists. Then at the end of the game, George Hill misses his second free throw that would have given the Cavs a 1-point lead and JR rebounds the miss but dribbles away from the basket towards half court to preserve what he thought was a lead. What an idiot!! No way LeBron returns next season to play with that group. The Cavs needed to win this one and almost did. If they had, then we'd probably be looking at a 6 or 7 game series. But I now see the Warriors winning in 5. Too bad. I'd love to see an extended, competitive series.

History repeats itself...

"Steve Kerr compares J.R. Smith's blunder to Mavericks' Derek Harper dribbling out the clock in a tie game to force OT against Lakers in 1984 playoffs. Here's video:"

https://twitter.com/bengolliver/status/1002400040386613248?s=21

And yeah I felt bad for Lebron too.

https://twitter.com/justinsuperbuck/status/1002408494153125888?s=21

I mean Hill missed the FT and the Cavs got lucky bounce. JR Smith was one of the smallest guys on the floor Durant went for the rebound and it went long and JR gets it and cluelessly dribbles around. Maybe they don't get off a good shot or they miss it and it still goes to OT but man that was tough. It's worth mentioning Love had a pretty good game includinf some pretty worthwhile defensive possessions when he was being targeted down the stretch.