Minnesota Sports Forum

BizarroJerry wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:Cavs miss Mozgov, he was a beast last year. Too bad he's either hurt or not being utilized by Ty Lue.

Just listened to Lowe and Windhorst discussing this. The Cavs played better this season without Mozgov. Plus, the team that used Mozgov in the Finals last season was very different than this one.

How so? Injuries last year? I heard Windy on a different show discussing how they also haven't gone after Draymond Green, has anybody hit him with a hard foul yet or even tried to rattle him? I know it's easier said than done.

Yeah. That team was built on defense. This year, it's built on offense. When they got Frye, they had much better spacing and Mozgov became expendable in many ways.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:Cavs miss Mozgov, he was a beast last year. Too bad he's either hurt or not being utilized by Ty Lue.

Just listened to Lowe and Windhorst discussing this. The Cavs played better this season without Mozgov. Plus, the team that used Mozgov in the Finals last season was very different than this one.

How so? Injuries last year? I heard Windy on a different show discussing how they also haven't gone after Draymond Green, has anybody hit him with a hard foul yet or even tried to rattle him? I know it's easier said than done.

Yeah. That team was built on defense. This year, it's built on offense. When they got Frye, they had much better spacing and Mozgov became expendable in many ways.

Maybe Mozgov finds himself again but there has been plenty written about him struggling not this season. I linked 2 articles below. Keep in mind he was a guy that always had some nice numbers but seemed to struggle to put it all together consistently...until probably last year when he was terrific for 2 teams.

http://www.fearthesword.com/2016/4/8/11393810/infographic-timofey-mozgov-is-hurting-the-cavaliers

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2016/04/cleveland_cavaliers_have_terry_48.html

One thing that I don't understand is why Lue has almost totally stopped using Frye who has been on fire in previous playoff series?

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:Cavs miss Mozgov, he was a beast last year. Too bad he's either hurt or not being utilized by Ty Lue.

Just listened to Lowe and Windhorst discussing this. The Cavs played better this season without Mozgov. Plus, the team that used Mozgov in the Finals last season was very different than this one.

I also believe they used a trapping strategy on high ball screens instead of a switching strategy. If Curry was able to pass out of it (usually to Bogut or Green), it quickly became 4 on 3 and inevitably led to a layup or corner 3. If you put Mozgov in a switching scheme, he'll be even more exposed on the perimeter than a trapping scheme.

(not that either strategy has worked anyway, at least for the Cavs).

When LeBron has confidence in his outside shot, he goes back to being the best player in the world.

I think Kerr messed this one up. Left his starters in at the beginning to send them a message as they were getting whooped. Got back into the game with a small lineup and started the 3rd with a big lineup again and Cleveland built the lead right back up. Pop would have pulled his starters right away for guys who were ready from the start and he wouldn't be messing around with his lineups. The Warriors haven't been good, but Kerr didn't help things with the way he managed the game.

Q12543 wrote:When LeBron has confidence in his outside shot, he goes back to being the best player in the world.

Yep it sure makes him much more dangerous as a scorer.

khans2k5 wrote:I think Kerr messed this one up. Left his starters in at the beginning to send them a message as they were getting whooped. Got back into the game with a small lineup and started the 3rd with a big lineup again and Cleveland built the lead right back up. Pop would have pulled his starters right away for guys who were ready from the start and he wouldn't be messing around with his lineups. The Warriors haven't been good, but Kerr didn't help things with the way he managed the game.

No. You absolutely don't blame the coach after this one. You blame the players. It's ALL on the players. Think about it... should you have to bench the two-time MVP to send a message? Teams have set lineups for a reason. Players thrive with continuity and to a certain point, the Warriors starters earned the right to it.

Curry played terribly tonight. The Warriors played soft and without energy. All they needed to do was put forth legit effort and they could be looking at a 3 - 0 lead. Instead, they conceded defeat EARLY. They let Cleveland gain more and more and more confidence. How much more motivation do NBA players need to play with close to max effort every night? Now it's a series again.

They had three days off for chrissakes. Very disappointing performance and I can't help but find it to be a damning testament to today's pro athlete.


[Note: Kerr actually did bench Curry in the 2nd quarter and you could see on tv him asking "You ok?" I don't know what else you can expect from a coach when his two leading scorers start off 0 - 8 and the league MVP has 2 points, 4 TOs at halftime. I think coaches get blamed too often sometimes for crappy efforts from players.]

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:I think Kerr messed this one up. Left his starters in at the beginning to send them a message as they were getting whooped. Got back into the game with a small lineup and started the 3rd with a big lineup again and Cleveland built the lead right back up. Pop would have pulled his starters right away for guys who were ready from the start and he wouldn't be messing around with his lineups. The Warriors haven't been good, but Kerr didn't help things with the way he managed the game.

No. You absolutely don't blame the coach after this one. You blame the players. It's ALL on the players. Think about it... should you have to bench the two-time MVP to send a message? Teams have set lineups for a reason. Players thrive with continuity and to a certain point, the Warriors starters earned the right to it.

Curry played terribly tonight. The Warriors played soft and without energy. All they needed to do was put forth legit effort and they could be looking at a 3 - 0 lead. Instead, they conceded defeat EARLY. They let Cleveland gain more and more and more confidence. How much more motivation do NBA players need to play with close to max effort every night? Now it's a series again.

They had three days off for chrissakes. Very disappointing performance and I can't help but find it to be a damning testament to today's pro athlete.


[Note: Kerr actually did bench Curry in the 2nd quarter and you could see on tv him asking "You ok?" I don't know what else you can expect from a coach when his two leading scorers start off 0 - 8 and the league MVP has 2 points, 4 TOs at halftime. I think coaches get blamed too often sometimes for crappy efforts from players.]

You absolutely cannot give Cleveland a free 15 point lead and all the confidence in the world in an NBA finals game because you are too stubborn to call a timeout and re-group or sub out guys who didn't show up to play. I will absolutely blame the coach for such an arrogant move to give up basically a free 15 point lead to send a message to his players. This is the finals. You can't pull shit like that. This game was effectively over in the 1st quarter because Cleveland got rolling and and GS did nothing to break their momentum. The coach is in charge of managing the momentum of the game with timeouts and rotation management and he failed tonight. Your team can't get blown out like that and the coach be blameless especially when he does something as stupid as letting a 15 point lead build with no timeouts or substitutions to try to stop it. As soon as the lead hit double digits I was shocked he just let them keep playing into a bigger deficit because you just don't let that happen as a coach without trying something.

khans2k5 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:I think Kerr messed this one up. Left his starters in at the beginning to send them a message as they were getting whooped. Got back into the game with a small lineup and started the 3rd with a big lineup again and Cleveland built the lead right back up. Pop would have pulled his starters right away for guys who were ready from the start and he wouldn't be messing around with his lineups. The Warriors haven't been good, but Kerr didn't help things with the way he managed the game.

No. You absolutely don't blame the coach after this one. You blame the players. It's ALL on the players. Think about it... should you have to bench the two-time MVP to send a message? Teams have set lineups for a reason. Players thrive with continuity and to a certain point, the Warriors starters earned the right to it.

Curry played terribly tonight. The Warriors played soft and without energy. All they needed to do was put forth legit effort and they could be looking at a 3 - 0 lead. Instead, they conceded defeat EARLY. They let Cleveland gain more and more and more confidence. How much more motivation do NBA players need to play with close to max effort every night? Now it's a series again.

They had three days off for chrissakes. Very disappointing performance and I can't help but find it to be a damning testament to today's pro athlete.


[Note: Kerr actually did bench Curry in the 2nd quarter and you could see on tv him asking "You ok?" I don't know what else you can expect from a coach when his two leading scorers start off 0 - 8 and the league MVP has 2 points, 4 TOs at halftime. I think coaches get blamed too often sometimes for crappy efforts from players.]

You absolutely cannot give Cleveland a free 15 point lead and all the confidence in the world in an NBA finals game because you are too stubborn to call a timeout and re-group or sub out guys who didn't show up to play. I will absolutely blame the coach for such an arrogant move to give up basically a free 15 point lead to send a message to his players. This is the finals. You can't pull shit like that. This game was effectively over in the 1st quarter because Cleveland got rolling and and GS did nothing to break their momentum. The coach is in charge of managing the momentum of the game with timeouts and rotation management and he failed tonight. Your team can't get blown out like that and the coach be blameless especially when he does something as stupid as letting a 15 point lead build with no timeouts or substitutions to try to stop it. As soon as the lead hit double digits I was shocked he just let them keep playing into a bigger deficit because you just don't let that happen as a coach.

We're so far off on this one, it's probably not worth continuing the discussion. I couldn't disagree with you more.

It's a players league. Popovich has stuck with his starters. Jackson has. Others have. They're your stars. And tonight... the stars for the Warriors played their worst game of the season. I just don't see how making the coach the scapegoat for their putrid performances is remotely in play here.

As I said, we're too far apart to come to any sort of agreeable compromise on this one so I'm just gonna bow out. Sorry.



[Note: Not saying Kerr did a great job. And a timeout might have helped. But benching starters in that situation just doesn't play well in today's NBA. And the players sucked balls tonight... and should be ripped for it. The coach is far far down the list.]