Who you got: NBA Finals Addition

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

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 the NBA. And the players sucked balls tonight... and should be ripped for it. The coach is far far down the list.]

Pop is notorious for pulling his whole lineup for not showing up to games. Not sure why you are saying it doesn't play well in the NBA when the best coach in the NBA does it when it happens. Why do we even have coaches if the players are the be all end all of winning and losing? We have them because they do little things that can win you or lose you a game (just look at how many times we ripped Sam this year for poor coaching) and tonight his decisions really hurt the team's chances of taking the initial punch and then recovering because he let it become a haymaker instead of a jab. All he had to do was coach a normal game and I wouldn't even bring him up because then it is all on the players, but he made some poor decisions tonight that hurt the team.

[Coolbreeze44]

Abe, I really hope you stick to your guns and let this one go. IMO you won the debate, but this is what feeds Khans. Right now he's like one of the Pac-Man guys who just got energized. He wants to eat as much as possible until someone will stop feeding him. Save the board the trouble.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I just don't see how it's possible to watch that game and think Kerr did fine, his players just sucked. He's blameless. It's all on the players. Newsflash, they all sucked tonight and they all deserve blame. If you really think a coach matters that little then never bring up a bad coaching move again because you've already confirmed here that coaches don't matter.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Much ado about nothing in my opinion. Cleveland had their backs against the wall and were in a must win situation. This to me was a team playing like their life depended on it with their home crowd cheering like their lives depended on it. This isn't the first time a team up 2-0 had a let down. Trying to parse out who is to blame on Golden State takes away from all the things Cleveland did right.

[bleedspeed]

I am sure the Cavs won this game for Love. I hope it goes 7.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Much ado about nothing in my opinion. Cleveland had their backs against the wall and were in a must win situation. This to me was a team playing like their life depended on it with their home crowd cheering like their lives depended on it. This isn't the first time a team up 2-0 had a let down. Trying to parse out who is to blame on Golden State takes away from all the things Cleveland did right.

Maybe. But a 63-point swing is about more than "backs against the wall."

Does it ultimately matter if a team loses by 2 points or 32? Maybe not... but for guys at this point in the season to come out and play that "soft"... I didn't like it. But you're right, it's happened before.

"We played like a bunch of sissies."
- Larry Bird, 1984 NBA Finals

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Make no mistake about it...the Cavs won last night because they are a good team with their backs to the wall at home. But they won by 30 because Lue didn't have to find a way to hide the absurdly bad pick and roll defense of Love and Irving. The announcers kept talking about the Cavs' defensive intensity in the first quarter, and they were correct...but they neglected to add how much better their defensive execution was too. Defense is a team game, and you simply can't stop a super team like the Warriors with 2 guys like Love and Irving on the floor. Irving is by no measure a good defender, but he is at least acceptable when not playing next to an equally bad defender...his defense was fine last night.

I predicted that Love would play last night and the Cavs would win by 5, but I said I hoped he would sit, in which case the Cavs would win by 15...I was off by 15 points. Now, what happens in game 4? It has a lot to do with whether Love returns or not. Lue isn't a great coach, but he's capable of watching and analyzing video of how his team looks against GS with and without Love, and I have to believe he won't lose any sleep if Love can't pass the concussion test.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Make no mistake about it...the Cavs won last night because they are a good team with their backs to the wall at home. But they won by 30 because Lue didn't have to find a way to hide the absurdly bad pick and roll defense of Love and Irving. The announcers kept talking about the Cavs' defensive intensity in the first quarter, and they were correct...but they neglected to add how much better their defensive execution was too. Defense is a team game, and you simply can't stop a super team like the Warriors with 2 guys like Love and Irving on the floor. Irving is by no measure a good defender, but he is at least acceptable when not playing next to an equally bad defender...his defense was fine last night.

I predicted that Love would play last night and the Cavs would win by 5, but I said I hoped he would sit, in which case the Cavs would win by 15...I was off by 15 points. Now, what happens in game 4? It has a lot to do with whether Love returns or not. Lue isn't a great coach, but he's capable of watching and analyzing video of how his team looks against GS with and without Love, and I have to believe he won't lose any sleep if Love can't pass the concussion test.

LST, Your obsession with Love is only rivaled by Pork's obsession with Rubio. This series is not just about Kevin Love. There are actually other factors involved.

By the way, his On/Off ratings - both gross and net - have been tremendous throughout the playoffs, yet you make him sound like a guy sucking the life force out of the game of basketball.

I do think there is credence to his "fitting out" in Cleveland and ultimately it not being the right place for him. I also wouldn't blame Lue for bringing him off the bench the rest of the way, assuming he's cleared to play.

[thedoper]

I don't like Kevin Love....I was happy to see him leave.

That being said. He is still a really good player. The reason Cleveland won was 100% on Lebron making shots and forcing GS's D. On a team where this is happening Love would have only contributed. I think it just goes to show you how effective an offense can be when your primary ball handler is a great passer and can hit shots;) Even though I don't like Love I am a bit tired of him being the fall guy.

[Monster]

Love coming off the bench. I think that's the right move it give better match ups for the Cavs (Lebron on Green is significant) and it also give the Cavs Bench a lift. I'm now really looking forward to watching this game.