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Assassssin!![[image loading]](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PUQ0-trwd0ktQ5_NRfrFJtPWPOo=/0x0:3000x2000/800x600/filters:focal(1239x676:1719x1156)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59983577/KDGame3_Getty_Ringer.0.jpg) Picture from TheRinger
"I try not to think about just scoring, but, you know, we struggled to shoot the ball early on and I felt like I had some good looks," Durant said. "I started asking for more of them, and I was able to knock down some shots for us." "I mean, I just love that support from my teammates," Durant said, "and I think we all just support each other in a real -- with a real childlike approach to the game. That's rare in the NBA because we're all professionals. "I mean, you guys ask me what is the difference between the Warriors -- you guys asked me this last year, what was the difference between the Warriors the previous year and this year, and what was my answer? All right. There it is. Kevin Durant was my answer," James said. "He's one of the best players that I've ever played against that this league has ever seen. His ability to handle the ball, shoot the ball, make plays at his length, his size, his speed. So there it is."
ESPN
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On June 07 2018 23:36 ZenithM wrote:Show nested quote +On June 07 2018 23:23 Twinkle Toes wrote:On June 07 2018 23:16 ZenithM wrote:
But I disagree that he will come close to Lebron, unless he goes to win somewhere else in a team that was not previously the best regular season team of all time... That's the condition I mentioned in him getting a shot at Lebron legacy-wise. I know, I just don't think he will do it ;D.
Yeah I get you. I think that even if he does, he will never get the recognition in his career. It may happen only 10-20 after his retirement. This is the real "hardest road" for KD.
On a slightly related note, I asked an IT guy at work to help me find from r/nba and other forums anything pertaining to "Curry sucks", "fuck Curry", or "Curry lol". Guess what, crickets. (Let me be clear, I'm not bagging on the Stepster, I'm at best cold neutral on him, and I realize that despite his terrible stats, his 3 and fouled layup, along with his plays for Green and Iggy down the stretch were key moments in securing the win.) The harshest we found were something like "goodbye FMVP dreams", "curry played bad", and "curry needs to play better". Fortunately, no one was claiming he was injured, but no one is also criticizing him. This is a historically bad performance and no one mentions it. This is really to me a truly fascinating phenomenon.
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I think Durant is currently a close number 2 to Lebron, skill-wise, and imo he looks better than Lebron at times only because the talent surrounding them is vastly different. Switch their teams, Lebron to GSW, Durant to Cavs, GSW still very obviously wins the series, Lebron looks untouchable and KD is the one looking exhausted.
It's honestly hard to tell, they're still quite different players, despite both being elite at many things.
I wish we'd seen more of Kawhi this season, that was my number 3 guy, and he still had room to grow :D.
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lebron picked his team, picked his teammates, so if anyone says oh he has a terrible team, that's on him. the players he has right now has performed in the past, they're just not performing while playing WITH him.
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On June 08 2018 00:02 zev318 wrote:
lebron picked his team, picked his teammates, so if anyone says oh he has a terrible team, that's on him. the players he has right now has performed in the past, they're just not performing while playing WITH him.
As RJ and Kyle Korver said, there are players who will improve with Lebron and others who will perish. If you are a patient and focused 3 and D guy who is content on standing outside the arc waiting for Lebron to hit you, then you will have a great time. But if your playstyle demands the ball and a little more freedom in movement, unless you are a superduperstar like Wade and Kyrie, then you will deteriorate.
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On June 08 2018 00:02 zev318 wrote:
lebron picked his team, picked his teammates, so if anyone says oh he has a terrible team, that's on him. the players he has right now has performed in the past, they're just not performing while playing WITH him.
Eh, this version of the Cavs? He didn't 100% choose that, let's not get carried away... All he did was getting a contract for JR and Thompson. He lost Kyrie for initially nothing back, then got a pretty important roster change in the middle of the season. All of this is out of his hands.
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@JC, what would you do if Lebron joined the Warriors? lol
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To have some hope to win a championship in the coming years, I think Lebron has to be paired up with a good coaching staff with a vision, and to willingly buy into that plan and execute. Lebron has become too independent for his own good. He has really high BBIQ, but there must be things you can't see when you are playing yourself, and decisions you can't easily take when you're not the coach in name. Also he looks completely not accountable for anything bad that happens within the team. He seems only judged by the media and fans. I really doubt anybody among the Cavs organization is stepping up to him like "Bron, would you play some D please?". I would be really curious to see how this old-ish Lebron can be wielded by a good coach.
Will he be willing to give up his independence on the court and some of his impressive stats, in exchange for a higher winning chance?
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On June 08 2018 00:15 ZenithM wrote:Show nested quote +On June 08 2018 00:02 zev318 wrote:
lebron picked his team, picked his teammates, so if anyone says oh he has a terrible team, that's on him. the players he has right now has performed in the past, they're just not performing while playing WITH him. Eh, this version of the Cavs? He didn't 100% choose that, let's not get carried away... All he did was getting a contract for JR and Thompson. He lost Kyrie for initially nothing back, then got a pretty important roster change in the middle of the season. All of this is out of his hands.
and why did kyrie want to get traded? oh that's right, cause he didnt want to play with lebron anymore. who got wade to play in cleveland, oh right lebron. how did kevin love get there? yup, lebron wanted him to so he can win now. why is kendrick perkins there? oh right lebron got him there to sit on the bench in street clothes. i mean if u want to be technical, ok sure maybe not 100%, but its at least 60% of the team.
i mean, there is no way that he didnt sign off/get notified with those trades at the deadline. and im sure everyone would've called it a BIG upgrade on paper after the trades. but like JR smith said, playing with lebron is a gift and a curse.
i would love to see lebron play on the warriors, only to see how he would fit into something like that. like if he goes to philly or houston, i dont think he would play any differently. it'll still be run shit through lebron iso, have him bully whoever is on him.
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The Kyrie thing is on Kyrie, not Lebron. Kyrie obviously wanted a change of scenery, but the team Lebron wanted had Kyrie in it. Like I said, out of his control, what is he going to say? "Fine Kyrie, I won't be the man anymore..."?
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I would rather watch the Warriors than 30 mediocre teams playing iso-ball with their one superstar. There's a reason the NBA struggles with viewership when parity is higher.
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The Warriors weren't less fun to watch pre-Durant. You can argue the opposite. And it's the Durant move that truly hurt parity.
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On June 07 2018 16:44 Starlightsun wrote:Show nested quote +On June 07 2018 16:25 ZenithM wrote:
Also maybe I'm imagining things but I don't think Lebron is at 100% anymore in this series. Maybe it's mental: he was clearly crushed after Game 1's regulation. Maybe it's physical: as much as I like the idea of LeCyborg, that red eye can't be helping him.
Well I don't know, he's still filling up the stat sheet, but he doesn't seem to play with the same intensity as in Game 1. I think he has to be physically exhausted. He's 33 and is playing more minutes than anyone in the league: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/8mjm6c/if_lebron_plays_just_38_minutes_tonight_hell_have/But yeah mentally it must be hard to push yourself beyond your physical limits and still lose due to being on a far worse team.
if Lebron played less minutes and was then capable of playing more actively on defense the Cavs could probably allow Love to remain in the interior where his defensive weaknesses are not as exploitable.
as it is, every other Cav must be super active on defense due to LBJ resting on defense.
against the GSW offense.. that just don't work
the problem with resting LBJ on the bench is the Cavs offense stalls without him. so it doesn't matter what Lue does... he just doesn't have the horses to win this race.
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On June 08 2018 01:54 andrewlt wrote:
I would rather watch the Warriors than 30 mediocre teams playing iso-ball with their one superstar. There's a reason the NBA struggles with viewership when parity is higher.
yup, and its already been proven that people LOVE super teams even though everyone keeps arguing that they are bad for the league. cept the spurs, they're boring to watch :p, every year the spurs are in the finals, viewership is lower. they just dont have the superstar power or play the type of basketball to attract the casual fans
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baseball's TV ratings always go down when there was no Red Sox//Yankees war.
those damn Rays and Jays kept screwing up the ratings!
super teams are money.
+ Show Spoiler +
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On June 08 2018 02:00 ZenithM wrote:
The Warriors weren't less fun to watch pre-Durant. You can argue the opposite. And it's the Durant move that truly hurt parity.
Durant was pretty unwatchable in games 3-6 against Houston and game 1 against Cleveland when he forgot he was playing for the Warriors. It was ugly, inefficient, iso basketball.
People see games like this and fantasize about Durant playing beautiful Warriors ball on another team. Chances are, he's going to play clogged toilet OKC basketball if he has to carry another team. We only got to see this Durant because he's on this team. There's no other place this could happen.
He's good but he's not Lebron level good. He was efficient in game 2 because he only took 14 shots. He was efficient again in game 3 because Iggy was back to play some defense on Lebron. Switch them around and Durant will be the one conserving his energy on defense and playing iso ball on offense while people wonder what's wrong with him.
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On June 08 2018 02:08 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On June 07 2018 16:44 Starlightsun wrote:On June 07 2018 16:25 ZenithM wrote:
Also maybe I'm imagining things but I don't think Lebron is at 100% anymore in this series. Maybe it's mental: he was clearly crushed after Game 1's regulation. Maybe it's physical: as much as I like the idea of LeCyborg, that red eye can't be helping him.
Well I don't know, he's still filling up the stat sheet, but he doesn't seem to play with the same intensity as in Game 1. I think he has to be physically exhausted. He's 33 and is playing more minutes than anyone in the league: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/8mjm6c/if_lebron_plays_just_38_minutes_tonight_hell_have/But yeah mentally it must be hard to push yourself beyond your physical limits and still lose due to being on a far worse team. if Lebron played less minutes and was then capable of playing more actively on defense the Cavs could probably allow Love to remain in the interior where his defensive weaknesses are not as exploitable. as it is, every other Cav must be super active on defense due to LBJ resting on defense. against the GSW offense.. that just don't work the problem with resting LBJ on the bench is the Cavs offense stalls without him. so it doesn't matter what Lue does... he just doesn't have the horses to win this race.
Pace is part of the problem. GSW plays a fast paced game. Teams that take their sweet time on offense are letting Lebron rest on defense before he actually has to play defense. Low scoring games are a huge benefit to old man Lebron's stamina.
Players that actively move off the ball are also a drain on his stamina. There's a reason he doesn't guard Klay.
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On June 08 2018 02:29 andrewlt wrote:Show nested quote +On June 08 2018 02:00 ZenithM wrote:
The Warriors weren't less fun to watch pre-Durant. You can argue the opposite. And it's the Durant move that truly hurt parity. He's good but he's not Lebron level good. He was efficient in game 2 because he only took 14 shots. He was efficient again in game 3 because Iggy was back to play some defense on Lebron. Switch them around and Durant will be the one conserving his energy on defense and playing iso ball on offense while people wonder what's wrong with him.
Seriously?
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EPT
