2016 NBA Playoffs

I watched Klay so close the other night after our discussion. He never ever makes the offensive player work, never gets up on a guy physically at all. I understand he wants his legs for the end of a game but damn. He also never attempts to work through screens. I guess he is guessing the offensive player is going to come off screen everytime, but again very little effort. He is long and fills passing lanes nicely, that's about it. I am not going to argue with the teams success but we are calling this guy one of the best defenders in the league. That's a stretch even by today's standards. Magic would be Bruce Bowen if he played for the Warriors.

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Letterboxd

The Lakers had a team full of Hall of Famers, Bob McAdoo came off the bench! Let's not forget Kareem has one more ring than Magic, has the most points in NBA history, and a shot that was unguardable.

To use your grades, if you have a guy who is an A- on offense, and an A- on defense, it's better than a guy who is an A on offense, and a C on defense. It's also hard for Klay to guard the best perimeter player every single night. The guy saved their season, he set a record for 11 3-pters, which people don't mention. I have a feeling if Curry did it, it would have been advertised more. I try not to get confused between marketing and the game itself.

I've played basketball my entire life, and you can tell without stats who brings what. But it's a team game. There's also individual defense, and team defense; knowing whether or not to go under the screen, or over. Also, it's a tactic at times to let a guy get past you because Ezeli is waiting to block a shot, or Draymond to take a charge.

Bill Russell averaged double-figures, a ton of rebounds, and when he got blocked a shot, he didn't throw it in the stands, instead it led to a fast-break.

It's almost impossible to compare eras - I think the best thing would be to have a "commentary" during the game so we'd all be on the same page. Of course I won't do it live, but I honestly wouldn't mind recording it, and going play by play this Finals. As I said before, a lot of the best players in each decade were guys I didn't like.

If you have played basketball your whole life you know that this terrible reasoning. The more your defense has to rotate, the more good offenses will swing the ball for open shots. I'm not saying working through every single screen is imperative but never doing it sure as hell is detrimental. I think I will probably miss game 1 but let me know how often Klay makes his man work on offense. If I start seeing him do it, I will come in here and eat crow. Promise.

Because they have great help defense, they are encouraged to get up on a defender very closely, but no one in the league, not even Kahwi Leonard could stop Westbrook, but they have good trust, and is a good strategy.. The 2004 Pistons did this all the time with Ben Wallace waiting.

Klay is going to have to defend Lebron, so this will be exciting to see if he can slow him down. Curry is the #1 option, but the offense goes through Draymond, but I still think Klay will help his team a lot on both ends.. He leads his team in scoring for the entire playoffs.

Btw, they replay the Finals games on NBATV (maybe on ABC too?) which is free now. Also, if anyone else DVR's, I can wait to talk about the game. If you don't have cable, you can always find a streaming game.

I know we are starting to beat a dead horse and probably won't end up agreeing, one more question though. You no longer seem to be disagreeing with me that Klay allows his offensive player to the interior. Would agree that considering someone who plays this style defense to be the second best 2 on defense in the league is silly?

I'm not saying he intentionally allowed Westbrook to get into the paint, but the greatest defensive player couldn't stop him. They have good team defense, Warriors communicate well, switch pretty quickly, so I think they pressure more than most teams in the half-court.

Kahwi Leonard, who I think is the best defensive player, couldn't stop him from going to the paint. Russ has size, speed, and is like a train (sometimes reckless)... Sometimes a guy gets beat, happens all the time, but I saw at least 20 Warriors games, and he usually stays in front of a guy. I haven't bothered to look at new defensive stats because they don't factor in the other guys who are also playing. Sometimes a guy can play good defense and get scored on. Some guys play bad defense, give up an open shot, and the offensive player misses. Again, I don't like using awards, etc., but he didn't make the All-Defense team for nothing.

I wasn't going to bring up the best defensive player in the game, but compare how Leonard guards him to the way Thompson does. No one can stop a good offensive player 100% of the time in the NBA, these guys are way too good. Leonard makes him work though. I have never seen much defensive effort from Thompson, and until I do I don't care how many steals he gets. They play the way they play and it is working, but of the main guys Green is the only one putting in good effort on the defensive end. That's why so many of their games are 110-100.

Anyway hope for more good discussion during the Finals. My sports watching has really gone down the last few years but there is still nothing like playoff sports in the big three. I enjoy seeing some talk about it.

I do agree with MJ, Kareem, and McHale, but claiming Pippen was the best small forward of the 80s is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I do find all the "experts" in this thread sort of amusing.

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

Warriors Curry and Klay shooting 4-17, yet they are still up by 9..

Warriors won. I cannot watch these games after what they allowed Dray to get away with. I wanted to see Bron destroyed so bad, but it just feels fake.

Looks like everybody will have to wait until Thursday for that taco.

How Crappy is this it that The OKC and The Warriors were better games then the finals.

People love to watcdh Bron lose, it's not that bad.

I'm hoping the Cavs can win at home and make this a better series.

I think they will. I'm still expecting them to win two games.

Cavs should sit Love out - they played much better last Finals without him, and in the playoffs when he was on the bench in the 4th quarter, playing Channing Frye... They could use Mosgov, who was really good last year's Finals.

This Makes D Wade allot more underrated in there wins with lebron as a heat player.

Wade is better than Irving... Bosh is better than Love.. I think they should try to get Chris Paul and a big man who can play defense. Lebron is at his peak, so he needs to win soon for Cleveland before it's too late.

Lebron i garantee you would ditch cleveland for Lakers, because he can mold a team being a good passer. 2 Heat is not far out of a playoff thing. But Riley holds a grudge. I can see him getting Durant before a Lebron. But I can see lebron leaving for Clippers too or Knicks as well.

What do you guys think, any chance Cleveland will bounce back?

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