Wow. I was completely wrong. GS's defense was amazingly good . . . if they can keep that defense working, series over. Curry and Thompson were non-factors this evening. Curry partly ran the offense but after a while, Green seemed to be in charge.
Will Cleveland make significant changes? Will we see more Moz in game 3? More Mo Williams? A motivated Lebron?
maybe it just me but I have been quite unimpressed with Harison Barnes.
mreinman wrote:maybe it just me but I have been quite unimpressed with Harison Barnes.
Its you. Basically you like the obvious served up for you.
Barnes is going to be Phil's alpha ball handler and triangle enabler next year.
You'll think Phil lost his mind. About 40 games in to season, you'll start to to get it.
Nalod wrote:mreinman wrote:maybe it just me but I have been quite unimpressed with Harison Barnes.
Its you. Basically you like the obvious served up for you.
Barnes is going to be Phil's alpha ball handler and triangle enabler next year.
You'll think Phil lost his mind. About 40 games in to season, you'll start to to get it.
I do have this fear that Phil will do something stupid like this and 40 games in we will realize that were fukked while you start zen talk.
Not good for the Cavs when you can't beat GS on a night where Curry and Thompson need a late basket by Curry to go over 20 pts combined.
I like Barnes but . . . I don't like Barnes as max player . . . or a guy you run your offense through. He's generally dependable and predictable, he practices hard and is apparently a good teammate, but he's a 12/6/3 (which is slightly better than his stats this year) guy and NOT a Harden waiting to happen. He's a smart enough player, a solid contributor, but I can't see GS keeping him on a max contract and, doh, someone is going to offer him a max, or a near-max, and so I suspect he's gone. Maybe a sign-n-trade but likely gone. Maybe he just hasn't shown his skills but as far as I can tell, Barnes doesn't have have the handles to be a great Triangle guy, much less The Guy on a Triangle team. Would he make the Knicks better next year, sure. Would he be worth the cap hit for five years, no.
H Barnes is certainly not a sexy choice but he's one of those guys who helps you win games. Dependable and consistent. He'd be a super edition to team but (a) I think he's staying put if GS offers anything reasonable and (b) not a max money guy
The key question is how does he play on an inferior team. Does he expand his game in the vacuum or is his current success depend on being the 4th or 5th option behind other extremely good players, i.e. Making you pay if you ignore him but how does he play when he's more of a focal point. This is where talent evaluators earn their money
My take on barnes is not what he is, which is a glue slasher, 3rd or 4th option but what is his upside.
To get him, its gonna take money and its a gamble cuz he has not shown what he can do as "the man".
Max players should be all that.
Physically he has the tools. He admits to not be a good pick and roll player from a quote I read from him.
Again, not who is has been, but what he can become. Is he Harden or Shandon Anderson?
Im guessing LeBron is going to have to punch GS in the mouth, take them down a peg, for the bench to respond. Follow his lead.
Clean wrote:GustavBahler wrote:The longer the series goes on the more Cleveland has to worry about JR unraveling. A shorter series benefits Cleveland, a longer one works in GS's favor IMO.
Just like clockwork, when you need JR the most he lays an egg.
Yup
my keys to a cleveland win for game 2:
1)protect the ball and keep your turnovers to around 10
2)share the ball and raise your assists to around 20
mistakes are amplified and usually mean 4-, 5-, or 6-point swings. while i appreciated irving's drives they were at the expense of team cohesion.
what a phenomenal national anthem!!!
GAME-2 .. I got to go with Bron Bron Cavs winning in Oracle ..
The Cavs defense did shut down the GS starters in GAME-1 to only get badly beaten by the GS bench players Livingston, Barbosa, Iggy, Ezeli and crew to show how a deep depth team could win important games too.
Will Barnes repeat his performance ???
lebron with the 4 steps between dribbles on that crossover dribble. unfuckingbelieveable
Jefferson is giving the Cavs great minutes.
jr smith sucks so bad. what a loser.
ball movement by the warriors on the last possession of the 3rd quarter was absolutely phenomenal!!
Looking at the body language of both teams, GS looks like a team that knows its in the finals, Cavs look like they think they are still in the first round. LeBron took some "F it" shots where there was no one under the rim, but instead of beating his man off the dribble, he just heaved up a shot.
If the Cavs don't win the Finals Lue will have been a failure. If they get swept it will be an unmitigated disaster. The Cavs blamed Blatt for all their problems and then did worse against GS without the injures Blatt had to deal with.
dk7th wrote:jr smith sucks so bad. what a loser.
Finals are more tense and when JR is not "feeling it", which is under pressure he is less effective. He has to play a sort of "Free" type game and he gets going. Fear or mistakes seems to inhibit him.
At least he is not in "self sabotage" mode.
Clean wrote:If the Cavs don't win the Finals Lue will have been a failure. If they get swept it will be an unmitigated disaster. The Cavs blamed Blatt for all their problems and then did worse against GS without the injures Blatt had to deal with.
I agree to some extent, but one has to also consider GSW is even better than last year.
But, GSW is killing them!!!
Cavs defense is not existent and Lebron is losing trust in his mates. Rightly so, they are not hitting their shots.
