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(05-06-2015 01:21 PM)Hopeful Wrote:  

(05-06-2015 11:56 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  What a performance by Mike Conley last night!!!. Recovering from a plantar fracias injury to the foot, multiple facial fractures 8 days earlier, wearing a mask for the first time that was causing vision problems, he comes back and leads the Grizzlies to a win at Golden State, where they had only lost two games all year.

Amazing game.

Yeah, and don't forget the hit he took when he was going after the ball, either. He was aggressive early on, and showed up big. Most gutty performance in the playoffs thus far.

I don't think Kerr is going to allow him to go off like that again, but you have to pick your poison if Conley shows up like that. Out of all the players that are injured, the lack of Love still hurts the Cavs the most but I think the Grizzlies missing Conley was right behind it. The Clippers surprised me by putting down the Rockets without Paul, though. I wouldn't at all be surprised if they let Paul rest some more and tried to steal the second game, too.

The Splash Brothers just couldn't make their shots last night, particularly Clay Thompson. As a Warriors' fan, I'm worried.

I'm not worried. You're going to have an off night when you're a jump shooting team, and there is usually a post MVP lull for a while. The ease with which Conley was dictating the offense and Allen getting his top tier defense going are much more of a concern to me. A lot of those threes that didn't go down probably will next game or two, but they won't even get the chance to be attempted if they're having turnovers like that.

Edit: I'm going for the Warriors this year, too, but it'd be a good story no matter who wins this year.

(05-06-2015 03:27 PM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  

(05-06-2015 01:21 PM)Hopeful Wrote:  

(05-06-2015 11:56 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  What a performance by Mike Conley last night!!!. Recovering from a plantar fracias injury to the foot, multiple facial fractures 8 days earlier, wearing a mask for the first time that was causing vision problems, he comes back and leads the Grizzlies to a win at Golden State, where they had only lost two games all year.

Amazing game.

Yeah, and don't forget the hit he took when he was going after the ball, either. He was aggressive early on, and showed up big. Most gutty performance in the playoffs thus far.

I don't think Kerr is going to allow him to go off like that again, but you have to pick your poison if Conley shows up like that. Out of all the players that are injured, the lack of Love still hurts the Cavs the most but I think the Grizzlies missing Conley was right behind it. The Clippers surprised me by putting down the Rockets without Paul, though. I wouldn't at all be surprised if they let Paul rest some more and tried to steal the second game, too.

The Splash Brothers just couldn't make their shots last night, particularly Clay Thompson. As a Warriors' fan, I'm worried.

Thompson couldn't hit his shots because Tony ("First Team All Defense") Allen had him handcuffed.

As A Grizzlies fan, I'm stoked for the reawakening of this series.

Mike Conley and Tony Allen, combined with a rough night for Thompson and a not so good one for Curry, made all the difference in this game. If I was Steve Kerr, I would think a lot about trying out some of my larger line ups (David Lee played very well in his limited minutes, as did Bogut) because Gasol and ZBO were eating it up the times the Warriors tried to play small ball.

Steve Kerr made some adjustments in game 4 to get the Warriors back on track, and the momentum and confidence carried over into games 5 and 6. Golden State has looked good in the last three games, and their defense has improved as well.

Down 2 games to 1, the Warriors had Bogut guard Tony Allen in game 4. Allen couldn't hit his shots and only played sparingly after that. He also had an injury.

http://espn.go.com/blog/golden-state-war...nning-edge

The Rockets or Clippers are next.

Goooo rockets

Man, I still feel kind of bad for the Clippers. It was such a choke. It was like seeing a plane doing all these fancy tricks before stalling out and just going into a nosedive. I still want them to take the series, but I don't think many teams could recover after throwing away a win like that.

I felt pretty confident that the Warriors would make it. I knew they'd drop some games. A team that relies on jump shooting so much is due to have off nights, especially against talented teams. Conley really played above my expectations. I thought the fractures in his face would sideline him longer than that, but he came back in and performed well in those pressure situations. I can't really see Gasol leaving, either. Memphis is a strong team, and they're edging closer and closer.

I picked the Cavs, but I was beginning to think they'd lose without Love. Then Lebron decided that he wanted to go to the conference finals and I felt silly. I don't think Thibodeau will be fired, but I'm feeling that the Bulls are more of Bulter's team than Rose's team now. More than that, they all really seem to buy into the coach's style of play. Fire him, and that defensive identity that is their calling card is gone.

Interestingly enough, the Hawks - Wizards series was my favorite this round. A lot of players from both teams showed up big, especially Pierce and Teague. I think the Wizards have a good team, but they need someone else to put them over the hump. The Hawks on the other hand did it with one of their key players being pretty ordinary. Korver did have the occasional play where he helped, but his presence was very much missed. They need all hands on deck to handle the Cavs.

Still don't understand why people think K. Love makes a difference lol. He's not even the best PF in the game anymore. Also the east is doesn't have a great superstar that could rival LeBron (Anthony and P.G. is hurt ) Rose isn't MVP Rose so he has a easy road to the finals. Would find it interesting if the league actually had Memphis and N. O. in the East. Speaking of Rose it's over for him and Thibs.

That said looking for the Rockets to advance to the Western conference finals so they can prove that point guard play doesn't mean much.

Love isn't the best, but his game draws interior defenders to the perimeter and creates space for his teammates. I was under the impression that the Cavs would really miss his presence and that Gasol would establish himself big time.

(05-16-2015 11:29 AM)Hopeful Wrote:  Love isn't the best, but his game draws interior defenders to the perimeter and creates space for his teammates. I was under the impression that the Cavs would really miss his presence and that Gasol would establish himself big time.

I know it's his role with the cavs as was the case with Bosh ,(as he played better than Love this season ) but Love has back to the basket game too. The only reason they both played like this is LeBron poor shooting. I thought Gibson was the option in the post for Chicago and should've been the go to guy but teams like to stretch the floor and shoot threes to much now. That's the reason I think GS won't win, gotta go thru the post still looking forward to Houston versus Cleveland in the finals.


Another sidebar this GS/Memphis series only proved to me that Jackson and Hollins should still be the HC's.

No one has really messed with this thread since the choke, but the picture of the NBA Finals is starting to get pretty clear.

The Warriors are making the Rockets look pedestrian. If Harden isn't on top of his game, it's like no else even shows up. The Cavs didn't even really have to dispose of the Hawks since the injuries have started to stack up on them. Korver hasn't really been able to get it going like I expected him to thus far in the playoffs, but I was expecting him to show up in a game or two. With him going down, they're going to, at the very least, miss the respect he demanded on the perimeter and the hustle plays he made.

Grizzlies is the only team to give the Warriors a fight, but that ended when Tony Allen got hurt. Had he and Conley been healthy, it would have been much closer. Grizzlies were second best team for most of the season, not the Rockets.

(05-23-2015 10:43 PM)Hopeful Wrote:  No one has really messed with this thread since the choke, but the picture of the NBA Finals is starting to get pretty clear.

I was 18 years old the last time the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship.

http://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/C...331751.php

I was worried when the Warriors were down 2-1 to Memphis and then down 2-1 to Cleveland.

Based on the regular season, the Atlanta Hawks scared me the most.

The Warriors stayed healthy through the playoffs, while their opponents had critical injuries. Luck was definitely on their side.

(06-17-2015 08:31 AM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  I was 18 years old the last time the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship.

http://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/C...331751.php

I was worried when the Warriors were down 2-1 to Memphis and then down 2-1 to Cleveland.

Based on the regular season, the Atlanta Hawks scared me the most.

The Warriors stayed healthy through the playoffs, while their opponents had critical injuries. Luck was definitely on their side.

Meh. I don't like to call it luck. The cavs got a depleted Hawks team, nobody wants to remember that. Love Kyrie and LeBron were never clicking on all cylinders this year. It would have been a different series with all three, but I'm not sure the outcome would have changed. I was never worried about golden state in this series. They had to make a few adjustments, and once they did, they showed why they won so many games this year. Injuries are a part of the game, in not going to downplay what golden state did because of them. They just won the 3rd most games in NBA history, and people are still wanting to put ifs and buts in front of their title.

"3rd most games in NBA history"

In the Western Conference at that.

(06-17-2015 08:38 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(06-17-2015 08:31 AM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  I was 18 years old the last time the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship.

http://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/C...331751.php

I was worried when the Warriors were down 2-1 to Memphis and then down 2-1 to Cleveland.

Based on the regular season, the Atlanta Hawks scared me the most.

The Warriors stayed healthy through the playoffs, while their opponents had critical injuries. Luck was definitely on their side.

Meh. I don't like to call it luck. The cavs got a depleted Hawks team, nobody wants to remember that. Love Kyrie and LeBron were never clicking on all cylinders this year. It would have been a different series with all three, but I'm not sure the outcome would have changed. I was never worried about golden state in this series. They had to make a few adjustments, and once they did, they showed why they won so many games this year. Injuries are a part of the game, in not going to downplay what golden state did because of them. They just won the 3rd most games in NBA history, and people are still wanting to put ifs and buts in front of their title.

And still talked about giving LeBron the MVP award. I never understood why Kerr didn't play D. Lee more unless he was saving him for the finals, and the same with Cleveland and Perk and matrix.

(06-17-2015 02:52 PM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(06-17-2015 08:38 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(06-17-2015 08:31 AM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  I was 18 years old the last time the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship.

http://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/C...331751.php

I was worried when the Warriors were down 2-1 to Memphis and then down 2-1 to Cleveland.

Based on the regular season, the Atlanta Hawks scared me the most.

The Warriors stayed healthy through the playoffs, while their opponents had critical injuries. Luck was definitely on their side.

Meh. I don't like to call it luck. The cavs got a depleted Hawks team, nobody wants to remember that. Love Kyrie and LeBron were never clicking on all cylinders this year. It would have been a different series with all three, but I'm not sure the outcome would have changed. I was never worried about golden state in this series. They had to make a few adjustments, and once they did, they showed why they won so many games this year. Injuries are a part of the game, in not going to downplay what golden state did because of them. They just won the 3rd most games in NBA history, and people are still wanting to put ifs and buts in front of their title.

And still talked about giving LeBron the MVP award. I never understood why Kerr didn't play D. Lee more unless he was saving him for the finals, and the same with Cleveland and Perk and matrix.

I thought the exact same thing! I understand the Cavs roster was depleted, but it is damn near suicidal to play something like 7 players in an NBA finals game. Perkins is a legit NBA starter and could have had a role, same with Marion, even though he's old.

I think a lot of us were wondering those things. Why were those guys even on the roster if you weren't going to use them?

Then there is this from Skip Bayless.

“@RealSkipBayless: I love Steph but GSt had a fortuitous run to title. Avoided OKC, Clips, Spurs and 4 straight injured starting PGs. Needs to validate next yr”