OT- NBA playoffs Lillard

[superjohn]

McGee definitely wasn't the main problem. I agree with you on that. But LeBron ideally will be surrounded by 3 shooters and a complementary scorer. Lopez was so perfect. Dave McMenamin is their great beat writer and he wrote last week that contrary to all the AD nonsense the real reason they struggled because how low their open 3 point percentage was, which makes sense based on their signings. Fwiw, according to the front office, it wasn't really McGee vs Brook...it was Beasley vs Brook. All you can say about that is yikes.

It will be really interesting to see who they get this offseason, Rob Pelinka is hated around the league.

 

[the Q]

McGee definitely wasn't the main problem. I agree with you on that. But LeBron ideally will be surrounded by 3 shooters and a complementary scorer. Lopez was so perfect. Dave McMenamin is their great beat writer and he wrote last week that contrary to all the AD nonsense the real reason they struggled because how low their open 3 point percentage was, which makes sense based on their signings. Fwiw, according to the front office, it wasn't really McGee vs Brook...it was Beasley vs Brook. All you can say about that is yikes.

Yeah...that’s a bad life decision.

 

[Mano]

Without Durant they have a very good chance. No Durant I think it goes 7 and who knows

Yes.

 

[tzznandrew]

Without Durant they have a very good chance. No Durant I think it goes 7 and who knows

Without Durant they're dead in the water. Milwaukee is a fantastic defensive team, they're long and tough, and no one on Golden State can protect the rim without Durant, particularly in late games.

With him it will be a good series that Golden State probably wins.

 

[superjohn]

Did Lillard run out of gas this playoffs? He's been up and down since the first game of the Denver series and has sucked the past 4 games.

 

[superjohn]

I'm so friggin' impressed with the Warriors they take other teams souls.

Still obviously want Durant available for the Bucks because the Bucks are so deep and you need all the firepower to beat them (plus Durant can help in slowing down Giannis) but there is no denying they all play better without him. Everyone is more engaged offensively and defensively, don't know how you quantify that but it's evident visually.

 

[UCDaveD]

Dame Dollar is playing like absolute TRASH. Utter garbage. Disgusting.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Say what you want about draymond but he was great tonight.

 

[superjohn]

Say what you want about draymond but he was great tonight.

I've never been a big Draymond guy but he's been awesome this playoffs. I have a whole new appreciation for his game.

 

[navery12]

KD weighing in on the discussion

 

[Crank]

Regarding GS's dominance of pathetic Portland.

1. Horrid for KD's legacy. Unneeded. Does not add much to the Warriors. If they win it all, just more confirmation that he hitched a ride on their wagon.

2. Draymond Green will never get credit for how awesome he is. He is a cornerstone, and a beast when it matters. Don't love him or the team, but totally respect his ability to bring it when it matters. Stone cold winner.

 

[the Q]

Regarding GS's dominance of pathetic Portland.

1. Horrid for KD's legacy. Unneeded. Does not add much to the Warriors. If they win it all, just more confirmation that he hitched a ride on their wagon.

2. Draymond Green will never get credit for how awesome he is. He is a cornerstone, and a beast when it matters. Don't love him or the team, but totally respect his ability to bring it when it matters. Stone cold winner.

Again, this teams title run without KD was against the Cavs without love and without Kyrie for 83% of the series....and it still went 6 games...and then they lost to them in 7 the following season.

With KD they absolutely demolished the entire NBA, twice.

 

[tzznandrew]

Again, this teams title run without KD was against the Cavs without love and without Kyrie for 83% of the series....and it still went 6 games...and then they lost to them in 7 the following season.

With KD they absolutely demolished the entire NBA, twice.

And the guy won the NBA Finals MVP twice averaging 32points over both series and putting up monster performances in the most important games.

This Blazers team really shouldn't be here; their starting center is out and they're a great story, but they lucked out by being on the weaker side of the bracket. Without Nurcic they're only a two person team led by a two 6'3" guards. If you shut one of them down, you're in trouble, and the Warriors are a good defensive team. Additionally, the Blazers aren't.

They might not win a full series against Houston without Durant. We'll never know. They won 5 quarters. I'd be absolutely shocked if they beat the Bucks without Durant, and if Durant is healthy I'd be (mildly) shocked if the Bucks beat them.

 

[Crank]

Again, this teams title run without KD was . . .

So, GS did not win by enough without him?
They appear to be going to the finals without Durant.
Point is, they were great without him, they are great with him, and they are great without him.
If he was that good, and GS was that not great, he wouldn't have needed to go to them to win. Pretty simple. As you argue, GS "only" beat depleted Cavs teams. So why didn't Durant beat those GS teams?

 

[Walker11]

So, GS did not win by enough without him?
They appear to be going to the finals without Durant.
Point is, they were great without him, they are great with him, and they are great without him.
If he was that good, and GS was that not great, he wouldn't have needed to go to them to win. Pretty simple. As you argue, GS "only" beat depleted Cavs teams. So why didn't Durant beat those GS teams?

What is there that you don't understand? GSW was terrific before KD and even better post KD.

I would argue that KD couldn't get past those GSW teams because Presti failed to find a single competent 2 way wing in his entire tenure and the roster construction was senseless. And there is no way you don't have an aggressive Westbrook take.

 

[tzznandrew]

What is there that you don't understand? GSW was terrific before KD and even better post KD.

KD gave them another dimension. It's pretty obvious.

The Warriors are a good team regardless, but when they ran up against teams with experienced superstars (OKC, Cleveland) they struggled, and they were a Kyrie injury away from maybe not winning a title in their 2 non-KD appearances. The Bucks are a different beast than Portland, and the Warriors know they'll need Durant to win that series.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The Warriors signed KD for two reasons:
1) To beat Lebron
2) if you can sign the second player in the league without giving anything up, you have to do it.

 

[superjohn]

Again, this teams title run without KD was against the Cavs without love and without Kyrie for 83% of the series....and it still went 6 games...and then they lost to them in 7 the following season.

With KD they absolutely demolished the entire NBA, twice.

Without KD they had the best record in the history of the NBA, with KD there is a good chance they don't even make the finals last year had CP3 not gotten hurt. Do the Warriors beat the Rockets in 6 this year had KD not gotten hurt? Would they be up 3-0 on the Blazers with KD? The what if game can be spun a million different ways.

What is not disputable, without KD the Warriors are still a juggernaut and without Steph the Warriors become ordinary.

 

[tzznandrew]

Without KD they had the best record in the history of the NBA

And barely made the Finals. And lost in the Finals.

And barely beat an injured LeBron team in the Finals the prior year.

 

[superjohn]

KD gave them another dimension. It's pretty obvious.

The Warriors are a good team regardless, but when they ran up against teams with experienced superstars (OKC, Cleveland) they struggled, and they were a Kyrie injury away from maybe not winning a title in their 2 non-KD appearances. The Bucks are a different beast than Portland, and the Warriors know they'll need Durant to win that series.

And if they don't play the season to get a 73-9 record, Draymond doesn't get suspended and miss game 5, Iggy doesn't get hurt, Bogut doesn't get hurt etc. They most likely beat the Cavs 4-1 to be back to back champs. Again with the what ifs...

 

[superjohn]

And barely made the Finals. And lost in the Finals.

And barely beat an injured LeBron team in the Finals the prior year.

They barely made the finals last year and looked on the brink of elimination before Chris Paul went down.

This year the Warriors had just given up a 20 point lead in game 5 against the Rockets, KD went down and they then went on a run and won game 5 and took game 6 on the road against the Rockets. Something they weren't previously able to do.

 

[the Q]

Without KD they had the best record in the history of the NBA, with KD there is a good chance they don't even make the finals last year had CP3 not gotten hurt. Do the Warriors beat the Rockets in 6 this year had KD not gotten hurt? Would they be up 3-0 on the Blazers with KD? The what if game can be spun a million different ways.

What is not disputable, without KD the Warriors are still a juggernaut and without Steph the Warriors become ordinary.

Chris Paul wasn’t a rocket before kd was a warrior. So it’s not even a comparison

 

[tzznandrew]

They barely made the finals last year and looked on the brink of elimination before Chris Paul went down.

This year the Warriors had just given up a 20 point lead in game 5 against the Rockets, KD went down and they then went on a run and won game 5 and took game 6 on the road against the Rockets. Something they weren't previously able to do.

They won in Houston before this year and would have likely done so again.

Durant is perhaps the best player in the league. The team is better with him, just different. It's being masked because the Rockets team was designed to beat them (and still couldn't) and the Blazers' team had no hope either way.

 

[superjohn]

They won in Houston before this year and would have likely done so again.

Durant is perhaps the best player in the league. The team is better with him, just different. It's being masked because the Rockets team was designed to beat them (and still couldn't) and the Blazers' team had no hope either way.

You are the one bringing what ifs into past series when talking about the Warriors team before Kevin Durant. In response I've been providing the what ifs since Durant is on the team. I think there is a good chance the Warriors don't make it to the finals last year if Paul doesn't go down. I think there is a better chance the Warriors make the finals this year regardless but I'm not sure if they do had Durant not gone down. All of this stuff is hypothetical.

What I do know is the Warriors play great with Durant and they play great without Durant. The Warriors don't play great without Steph. Warriors don't play great without Klay or Draymond as well.

Durant is the best player on the team and may even be the best player in the league but the Warriors are still a juggernaut without him. Both things can be true.

 

[superjohn]

Chris Paul wasn’t a rocket before kd was a warrior. So it’s not even a comparison

What???