Thrilled that the C Bags lost! Glad for Curry to get that Finals MVP at long last too. Well deserved.
yeah, it was a sort of magical combination. dallas had something similar. though i disagree that a third star is the way to go for either team. what each needed was two more guys who could play as part of a playoff rotation, imo. in boston, one of those has to be a ballhandler. in dallas, one has to be a big (maybe wood's it, but i'm skeptical). to me, the real thing for boston is that i can't believe horford has that much left in the tank, and he's not replaceable with what they've got. anyway, both dallas and boston's heavy rotation players got tired as each series wore on. which makes sense--that's a lot of 40-44mpg outings in a month-long period. said all year i thought he was overrated. he is. very good player, not in the conversation with the mvps, though. all star, yes. all-nba (top 15), yes. but top 5 no, and top 10 is debatable (e.g., jimmy butler was definitely the best player in the previous series). those analytics were out of context, comparing boston's full healthy season playing a playoff rotation for most of the latter part and gs playing half the season minus klay and another 1/4 minus steph, and gs used a much deeper rotation during the regular season (precisely so that curry would be able to stomp out the C Bags' dreams in game 6 of the finals). i think it's fair to start asking questions like that. i think kobe being a top defender for most of his career gives him the edge, but you can't argue with steph's results, nor with how important he is to his team's success. vital. like shaq effect but from a guard. finally (if anyone got this far), this, to me, is a VERY important note re: gs: they are not a jack-it-up three point team like those who emulate them. they use the imminent threat of the three to create a ball and player movement offense that just generates quality shots. they're a high IQ basketball team, which is why you were more likely to see iguodala in an important game than kuminga. a lot of people say they ruined the game by making everyone focus on threes to much, but i disagree. those that tried to emulate their model without their personnel ruined the game from an aesthetic standpoint (the worst offender being harden's rockets, but there are many others now that think any three is a good three). golden state plays a good brand of basketball because their star allows it, and that's why they're a dynasty.
ok, i'll quibble here, though--the warriors have never had to make a financial move. just about everyone not named the nets and clippers (including and especially the lakers) has had to do this. how many teams could just employ russell for a year plus knowing he was holding space for another huge salary? how many teams' 4th best player could be making 33 million per? 4th highest paid is 25 million. any other team would be fielding questions about how they're going to pay looney this summer and poole next summer, but everyone knows gs isn't going to just let them walk because their payroll is too big like we did with caruso. so yeah, you drafted your big players save wiggins and are a well-run organization. but you have a safety net almost no one else has.
i was confused by the amount of confidence fans and the media (especially the analytics folks) had about boston. i mean, i guess they were sort of right in that boston made the finals? but i'd still argue that milwaukee beats them with middleton and miami beats them if lowry and herro were healthy. they needed 7 against both teams, and their only injuries were smart and williams for a couple games each, and both guys looked perfectly fine when they were available (unlike lowry, who was dragging a leg, cp3 style). i just don't think boston was some sort of juggernaut and found it weird anyone did? gs, on the other hand, looked nearly unbeatable to me. i suppose they caught a break with ja going down, but i think they beat memphis anyway (they were ahead). and they just wasted dallas, who beat the team with the league's best record. anyway, i was going to be shocked if boston won.
yeah, i wasn't too worried going into the series because of exactly what you mentioned about boston needing 7 games to beat a bucks team without middleton and a heat team with all its stars playing hurt, but that game 1 win officially had me worried. felt like they were just one of those teams of destiny with the way guys like horford and williams were stepping it up whenever they needed them too. their luck ran out these last couple games though, and wiggins completely shutting down tatum was the key factor
I always thought the Warriors would win. Game 1 did make me pause and wonder if I was being driven by my hate if that team. Luckily that wasn’t the case.
The MEDIA was drooling all over Boston , deep down inside they knew Gs will win but couldn’t stop hyping up the C Bags ONLY due to having 17 titles … they made us believe this will be an all out war and Boston will prevail because, well they are the C Bags. Tatum was going to channel his inner Kobe and somehow the dead red is watching his beloved Boston team and that was enough to beat the warriors F U Boston !
It’s funny how they never said a word about how MIL/ MIA both were banged up and nets were complete trash … all media said this Boston team is amazing for defeating MIA/ Bucks in game 7! I guess injuries are excuses but I mean cm on !
oh yeah, game 1 spooked me. i'm glad it was just one weird quarter. boston's lack of a pg and success despite this fact confused me all year. i mean, that's why schroder went there--they had no pg and he thought he could step in. he (of course) didn't, and then they got rid of him without bringing in a point. gs finally made them pay for it by forcing brown and tatum to have to make decisions instead of just finish plays. i'll be curious to see if boston thinks this formula works and that tatum will just grow into a better ballhandler/distributor (i don't think brown can, and i'm actually dubious on tatum), or if they'll try to get a pg somehow.
Soooo much a better outcome than the Clippers, Boston, Phoenix, Nets or Philly winning. Our season could have been worse with one of those teams picking up the ring.
