OKC vs Cavs finals

[juju151111]

On Paper, they seem to be the favorite. They are stacked and I think the Spurs run will be done after two seasons going deep in the playoffs. Remember Ibaka missed two games. If they got knocked out before the finals KD/LJ need heavy criticism.

[Beastmode88]

Ive said this before... Holy shit I'll feel bad for the media covering the finals. Cleveland and OKC? Mind as well just flip a coin for the finals. :roll:

[navy]

You only "need" heavy criticism if you underperform yourself. If you drop 30/10/5 (made up) on high efficiency then you probably did your job and lost to a better team. It's stupid how people blame stars just because they dont win. Shit happens.

That said these teams need to win at least one title if they stay healthy.

[russwest0]

Bulls/OKC would be the best matchup IMO (The Bulls actually play defense), but I don't think the NBA is going to allow any matchup other than the Cavs vs OKC.

[juju151111]

Bulls/OKC would be the best matchup IMO (The Bulls actually play defense), but I don't think the NBA is going to allow any matchup other than the Cavs vs OKC.
How do you know the Cavs won't play defense?

[Purch]

What people don't seem to understand about the spurs... Is that as their core continues to get older.. Their young players continue to make improvements as they gain more experience.

Like last year.. Anything they lost by having Manu, Parker and Duncan a year older, they gained with an improved Kawhi, Green, Patty and Splitter.

So it's not like every year they get older, suddenly they're getting worse

[russwest0]

How do you know the Cavs won't play defense?

Look at their roster.

[DukeDelonte13]

Look at their roster.


Lebron, Marion, Andy, and TT are all good defenders.

But help defense systems really minimize individual players' defensive weaknesses.

Waiters is a good defender when he's dialed in and wants to play D.

[russwest0]

Lebron, Marion, Andy, and TT are all good defenders.

But help defense systems really minimize individual players' defensive weaknesses.

Waiters is a good defender when he's dialed in and wants to play D.

You've named like 4 guys who are "good" defenders. If I was to name every "good" defender on OKC, It'd be

Westbrook
Roberson
Durant
Ibaka
Perkins
Jackson
PJ3
Adams

All of those guys have some sort of elite athleticism and/or elite length that they are working with and also have stats showing that they are "good" individual defenders.

Marion is old as hell, he's not going to be reliable on that end.
LeBron last year played some of the laziest criticism free defense that I've ever seen.
And Varejao is always an injury risk.

Cleveland won't be a great defensive team no matter how much Cavs fans try to act like it isn't a problem. You guys will do fine in the East vs shit offenses every night, but the other contenders (Bulls, Spurs, OKC), are all miles better defensively than your team is.

[Meticode]

Ive said this before... Holy shit I'll feel bad for the media covering the finals.
No you don't.

[DukeDelonte13]

You've named like 4 guys who are "good" defenders. If I was to name every "good" defender on OKC, It'd be

Westbrook
Roberson
Durant
Ibaka
Perkins
Jackson
PJ3
Adams

All of those guys have some sort of elite athleticism and/or elite length that they are working with and also have stats showing that they are "good" individual defenders.

Marion is old as hell, he's not going to be reliable on that end.
LeBron last year played some of the laziest criticism free defense that I've ever seen.
And Varejao is always an injury risk.

Cleveland won't be a great defensive team no matter how much Cavs fans try to act like it isn't a problem. You guys will do fine in the East vs shit offenses every night, but the other contenders (Bulls, Spurs, OKC), are all miles better defensively than your team is.


i agree in the sense that those teams all play in well established defensive systems that have been around for a while.

Blatt is a wildcard. Americans hear he's an offensive guy. Europeans say he's really a defensive coach. Regardless, i agree with you that it's going to take TIME for the cavs to really gel and start playing good team ball.

[russwest0]

i agree in the sense that those teams all play in well established defensive systems that have been around for a while.

Blatt is a wildcard. Americans hear he's an offensive guy. Europeans say he's really a defensive coach. Regardless, i agree with you that it's going to take TIME for the cavs to really gel and start playing good team ball.

Yeah, I'm not trying to shit on the Cavaliers either, I just feel like that side of the ball can't be ignored.

You guys should have a leg up on every other contender offensively, I'm just saying in a H2H matchup, that won't matter if you CAN'T defend them and they CAN defend you

[ballinhun8]

Cleveland and Oklahoma.




LMFAO at that city matchup. No offense to residents. Really no disrespect. But wow.



Now, Chicago and let's say.......Houston? Ratings galore and media hype out the ying yang.

[Mr. Incredible]

Cavs in 5.

[dubeta]

Considering Bran owns KD soul as long as Cavs can get to play OKC instead of the Spurs, its an automatic championship

[I<3NBA]

Considering Bran owns KD soul as long as Cavs can get to play OKC instead of the Spurs, its an automatic championship
it's not as automatic as you think.i think this time around, KD beats Lebron if OKC and Cavs meet in Finals.

Cleveland is poorly constructed. too many holes. the coach is a question mark too.

[inclinerator]

You've named like 4 guys who are "good" defenders. If I was to name every "good" defender on OKC, It'd be

Westbrook
Roberson
Durant
Ibaka
Perkins
Jackson
PJ3
Adams

All of those guys have some sort of elite athleticism and/or elite length that they are working with and also have stats showing that they are "good" individual defenders.

Marion is old as hell, he's not going to be reliable on that end.
LeBron last year played some of the laziest criticism free defense that I've ever seen.
And Varejao is always an injury risk.

Cleveland won't be a great defensive team no matter how much Cavs fans try to act like it isn't a problem. You guys will do fine in the East vs shit offenses every night, but the other contenders (Bulls, Spurs, OKC), are all miles better defensively than your team is.


u really gonna include durant in that list

[Hoopz2332]

Thunder don't scare me. They play too much isolation and had the heat played them in the Finals, Heat would have won. Only a team that shares the ball without a real offensive guy to key on besides Parker, could beat the heat.

[Twiens]

OKC management continues to be cheap, that Cavs bench would destroy theirs.

[Jef]

OKC bench will not be weak this year.

Reggie Jackson
Lamb/Morrow
PJ3
Collison/McGary
Perkins/Adams

scoring, playmaking, length, interior size - okc bench is going to be nice. obviously Perkins is going to draw some laughs, and i openly admit that he is a terrible offensive player, but his playoff defense was decent this past year. he became so bashed that he finally became slightly underrated.

mcgary looked nice in summer league. Presti :bowdown:

Cleveland is deep - no question, but OKC can go 11 deep this year easily.

[russwest0]

OKC bench will not be weak this year.

Reggie Jackson
Lamb/Morrow
PJ3
Collison/McGary
Perkins/Adams

scoring, playmaking, length, interior size - okc bench is going to be nice. obviously Perkins is going to draw some laughs, and i openly admit that he is a terrible offensive player, but his playoff defense was decent this past year. he became so bashed that he finally became slightly underrated.

mcgary looked nice in summer league. Presti :bowdown:

Cleveland is deep - no question, but OKC can go 11 deep this year easily.


we shall see... Presti actually flew out to NZ just to hang with Steven Adams.... It seems like Presti is already doing everything he can to try and get Steven on board so we can lock him longterm later on.... I think our brass thinks REALLY high of Adams... Hopefully he starts next year.

[j3lademaster]

the coach is a question mark too.i'd rather have a wildcard than a proven incompetent pos like Brooks.

[Eric Cartman]

OKC would probably sweep them if this is the finals matchup.

[SOD 21]

we shall see... Presti actually flew out to NZ just to hang with Steven Adams.... It seems like Presti is already doing everything he can to try and get Steven on board so we can lock him longterm later on.... I think our brass thinks REALLY high of Adams... Hopefully he starts next year.

I don't know if Steven Adams starts next year, although that doesn't mean that he won't play more minutes than Kendrick Perkins.

The reason why Kendrick Perkins may stay in the starting lineup is because he is such a negative on the offensive end that the bench may not be good enough to carry him while he's out there. He almost has to play with the starters to cover up his enormous offensive weaknesses.

Ideally, Perkins may start and only play 12 or 15 minutes a game on most nights, unless a certain match up dictates more than that against say Houston or Memphis. Steven Adams should probably play double the overall minutes at about 25 minutes per night than Perkins.

Or ideally, Steven Adams and McGary develop so rapidly this year that it makes trading Kendrick Perkins at the trade deadline a likely scenario when he has some additional value. But there's always a chance that Sam Presti doesn't want to take on additional inbound contracts because he may need that money for Reggie Jackson.

[Wally450]

Bulls/OKC would be the best matchup IMO (The Bulls actually play defense), but I don't think the NBA is going to allow any matchup other than the Cavs vs OKC.

Wasn't the Finals the past couple years supposed to be Durant vs. LeBron or Kobe vs LeBron.

If the Spurs are the most boring team in the NBA, why is the NBA letting them get to the Finals?

Orlando vs LA? NBA wanted Cleveland vs LA
Dallas vs Miami? NBA wanted either LA or OKC vs Miami
OKC vs Miami? NBA finally got one.
SA vs Miami 2013? NBA wanted either LA or OKC vs Miami
SA vs Miami 2014? Another one that the NBA actually wanted. Would've accepted OKC vs Miami.

The NBA doesn't have pull on the match-ups they want. They've only got the matchup they wanted 2 or 3 times in the past couple years.

[toneloc103]

You've named like 4 guys who are "good" defenders. If I was to name every "good" defender on OKC, It'd be

Westbrook
Roberson
Durant
Ibaka
Perkins
Jackson
PJ3
Adams

All of those guys have some sort of elite athleticism and/or elite length that they are working with and also have stats showing that they are "good" individual defenders.

Marion is old as hell, he's not going to be reliable on that end.
LeBron last year played some of the laziest criticism free defense that I've ever seen.
And Varejao is always an injury risk.

Cleveland won't be a great defensive team no matter how much Cavs fans try to act like it isn't a problem. You guys will do fine in the East vs shit offenses every night, but the other contenders (Bulls, Spurs, OKC), are all miles better defensively than your team is.


Really? When did Durant become a good defender? How many minutes does Roberson play anayway? Jackson? Come on dude. just stop hating on the cavs, yes you do have Perkins .. if he is gaurding a stone pillar he is awesome...GTFOH

[toneloc103]

Cleveland and Oklahoma.




LMFAO at that city matchup. No offense to residents. Really no disrespect. But wow.



Now, Chicago and let's say.......Houston? Ratings galore and media hype out the ying yang.

Because thats what really matters... not the teams, not the players, but the citiies...

[ballinhun8]

Because thats what really matters... not the teams, not the players, but the citiies...


To the media and writers reporting on this series. Yea it matters.


Anything else?

[Paul George 24]

Cavs in 5.

spurs repeat and cavs will not makes to the finals anymore :banana:

[toneloc103]

To the media and writers reporting on this series. Yea it matters.


Anything else?
Yes... what difference does that make. Who cares about the media and the writers? They dont matter.. oh wait .. neither do you... I get it now

[Cocaine80s]

Lebron, kyrie, and Love have killed the Thunder throughout their whole careers. Now they're all on the same team....

Cleveland in 5

[Hoopz2332]

OKC would probably sweep them if this is the finals matchup.


not happening:oldlol:

[ballinhun8]

Yes... what difference does that make. Who cares about the media and the writers? They dont matter.. oh wait .. neither do you... I get it now


They're the ones writing. They're the ones reporting. They're the ones that will tear an athlete and get you on their side. They're the ones who will over hype a prospect that you will fall in love with.



And, just a side note. You quoted me twice. I must matter just a bit to you haha.

[Graviton]

Lebron will be 30 this year, he is now the old dying lion trying desperately to reclaim his kingdom, surrounding himself with younger hungrier little lions and zebras(Kevin Love). But those young lions are inexperienced and weak, Goatbrook and Durant will feast on their fragile psyche.

This is the year of the new King, it's time for the old veteran to lay down peacefully and let his carcass be trampled by the next generation. Pauk understands the complexities of the animal kingdom. Other Lestans need to accept the inevitable.