NBA Finals

[twocoach]

Kerr's last play call was a dud.

Right player, wrong shot. Wrong situation to run that play.

He got the the only real shooter left on the team an open, in rhythm three.

Was not open, nor in rhythm and there were 7 seconds still left on the clock.

That play is for a desperation shot when down 3 points with 3 seconds left on the clock.

He runs into threes like that all the time. He was not deep. There was no hand up directly contesting his shot. I'd guess he shoots well over 40% on shots in that range with that level on defense. For Curry, that was open. He took easily a dozen shots yesterday that were more contested. The pass worried me but that's about as good a shot as you could hope for without praying that the defense totally blows an assignment.

And getting a shot up with 7 seconds left gives a chance at a rebound, put back or kick out for another three against a scrambling defense. That seems like the smarter choice than dribbling the clock down, allowing a good Toronto defense to converge on him and ensuring you only get one shot.

[NewtonHawk11]

But for real how often does a team just literally fall apart physically like the dubs did?

Maybe a bit different but the 2015 Cavs were without Love and Irving in the playoffs. LeBron carried that team to 6 games with the Warriors.

Irving fractured his kneecap and Love dislocated a shoulder in the first round.

That freaking team had Lebron, Tristan Thompson, Mozgov, Shumpert, Dellavedova and JR Smith as the 6 guys who got major minutes. And damn James Jones who just tagged along with LeBron was getting 10 minutes a game.

A healthy Cavs team beats those Warriors. And a healthy Warriors team beats this Raptors team. Sucks, but part of the game.

[twocoach]

Funny to hear all the Warriors fans breaking out the injury excuse.


"Injuries aren't an excuse" after Love and Irving were injured for Cleveland. Same after Leonard was I hired in the WCF. Same after Paul was injured in the WCF.

Now? "We would have won if not for all those injuries".

[NewtonHawk11]

Kerr's last play call was a dud.

Right player, wrong shot. Wrong situation to run that play.

He got the the only real shooter left on the team an open, in rhythm three.

Was not open, nor in rhythm and there were 7 seconds still left on the clock.

That play is for a desperation shot when down 3 points with 3 seconds left on the clock.

For Curry, he was absolutely open. He was in rhythm because he'd done those multiple times. And I think with it being a win or go home, you have to shoot early in the clock to get a chance at an offensive rebound and putback.

The best player got an open (for him) shot and it just didn't go in and they didn't get the rebound. But I think it was absolutely the right idea.

I'm not the biggest fan of Kerr. I think he struggles with the game management aspect of coaching. He is great in the locker room and getting guys confidence up, but he struggles with TO and end of game situations, but I think he did as well as he could there. Everyone knew where the ball was going, and he still got it to him with a good look.

[CrimsonNBlue]

The 3 ball has turned you all nutty. That’s a 30% shot for Steph. You only need 1 point.

A good shot is so much better than a bad shot and a chance at a rebound.

[pdub]

"The only thing is, if Steph (you know, GOAT shooter) hits that shot, then game 7 is forced, and we could just as easily be here right now calling Kerr a genius"

Sure.
But % wise I think there were better plays than that one.
Also, the Warriors woulda lost in Toronto anyways without Durant and Klay.

[holidaysmore]

I will say in that scenario I want my best player with the ball in his hands and the ability to take the shot. If Curry gets the ball the Raptors were going to immediately double team. At that stage who else was going to take that shot if Curry was forced to pass. Only person I would remotely trust would be Iggy.

Agreed. The Warriors would have had a less than .1% chance to win the 6 without KD and Klay.

[twocoach]

The 3 ball has turned you all nutty. That’s a 30% shot for Steph. You only need 1 point.

A good shot is so much better than a bad shot and a chance at a rebound.

In an article posted on ESPN in January, it was reported that since the 2014-2015 season, Steph Curry was 45-94 (47.9%) on shots between 30-35 feet. The NBA 3pt line is only at 23'9". Let that sink in.

To call that a 30% shot is flat out dishonest.

[pdub]

He also was 0-8 in go-ahead shots in the last 20 seconds.
And was 1-5 in his last six.
It wasn't the worst of calls - and I get why you have the ball in Curry's hands there, he can absolutely make that shot and on paper he's by far your best option - but I think a 3 when you need 1 isn't the best of plans.

[ousdahl]

Funny to hear all the Warriors fans breaking out the injury excuse.


"Injuries aren't an excuse" after Love and Irving were injured for Cleveland. Same after Leonard was I hired in the WCF. Same after Paul was injured in the WCF.

Now? "We would have won if not for all those injuries".

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a warriors fan, and not trying to offer excuses, just observations.

Yeah (two notoriously injury prone players in) Love and Irving went down through the course of the playoffs.

But have injuries of the Durant-Thompson magnitude ever happened quite like this? When does a contender loose two of their best players in back-to-back deciding games of the finals?

[pdub]

I think a healthy Love and Irving makes that series a toss up, maybe even slightly in the Cavs favor.
A healthy KD and Klay there's not much contest - it's over in 5.
A healthy Klay for the 4th quarter and the Warriors force a game 7, no doubt.

[twocoach]

Funny to hear all the Warriors fans breaking out the injury excuse.


"Injuries aren't an excuse" after Love and Irving were injured for Cleveland. Same after Leonard was I hired in the WCF. Same after Paul was injured in the WCF.

Now? "We would have won if not for all those injuries".

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a warriors fan, and not trying to offer excuses, just observations.

Yeah (two notoriously injury prone players in) Love and Irving went down through the course of the playoffs.

But have injuries of the Durant-Thompson magnitude ever happened quite like this? When does a contender loose two of their best players in back-to-back deciding games of the finals?

Well, considering that teams rarely ever even have players of that magnitude all on the same team, it will be hard to find comparable situations.

[twocoach]

I think a healthy Love and Irving makes that series a toss up, maybe even slightly in the Cavs favor.
A healthy KD and Klay there's not much contest - it's over in 5.
A healthy Klay for the 4th quarter and the Warriors force a game 7, no doubt.

No doubt, maybe.

[pdub]

No doubt, definitely.
I'm right.

[JayhawkInIowa726]

He also was 0-8 in go-ahead shots in the last 20 seconds.
And was 1-5 in his last six.
It wasn't the worst of calls - and I get why you have the ball in Curry's hands there, he can absolutely make that shot and on paper he's by far your best option - but I think a 3 when you need 1 isn't the best of plans.

Seriously though, what's with everyone settling for threes in tied or go-ahead situations in the NBA. Game 5 was another example.... they never seem to try and get downhill for a layup / foul when you only need a point. Settling for threes (often off the dribble and guarded) seems like a terrible choice. LeBron, Harden, Steph, Dame, Russ.... all of them do it far too often).

No one seems to want to win at the line or with a layup in the last few years.

[CrimsonNBlue]

The 3 ball has turned you all nutty. That’s a 30% shot for Steph. You only need 1 point.

A good shot is so much better than a bad shot and a chance at a rebound.

In an article posted on ESPN in January, it was reported that since the 2014-2015 season, Steph Curry was 45-94 (47.9%) on shots between 30-35 feet. The NBA 3pt line is only at 23'9". Let that sink in.

To call that a 30% shot is flat out dishonest.

Wait, do we think shot percentage is only about distance?

Done with this.

[Deleted User 89]

congrats to the raptors, despite it taking an achilles and ACL injury

[JayhawkInIowa726]

No one mentions the K-Love and Irving injuries when they talk about the Golden State dynasty that's won 3 of 4... Raptors are the Champs.

[CrimsonNBlue]

He also was 0-8 in go-ahead shots in the last 20 seconds.
And was 1-5 in his last six.
It wasn't the worst of calls - and I get why you have the ball in Curry's hands there, he can absolutely make that shot and on paper he's by far your best option - but I think a 3 when you need 1 isn't the best of plans.

Seriously though, what's with everyone settling for threes in tied or go-ahead situations in the NBA. Game 5 was another example.... they never seem to try and get downhill for a layup / foul when you only need a point. Settling for threes (often off the dribble and guarded) seems like a terrible choice. LeBron, Harden, Steph, Dame, Russ.... all of them do it far too often).

No one seems to want to win at the line or with a layup in the last few years.

It’s a lot to do with the demise of the big man. It’s too easy to crowd the 3 point line with tall guys. That’s why Steph is 0-8 in last 20 seconds of finals games.

We would not run those plays at KU in a different game with very different personnel.

[ousdahl]

Funny to hear all the Warriors fans breaking out the injury excuse.


"Injuries aren't an excuse" after Love and Irving were injured for Cleveland. Same after Leonard was I hired in the WCF. Same after Paul was injured in the WCF.

Now? "We would have won if not for all those injuries".

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a warriors fan, and not trying to offer excuses, just observations.

Yeah (two notoriously injury prone players in) Love and Irving went down through the course of the playoffs.

But have injuries of the Durant-Thompson magnitude ever happened quite like this? When does a contender loose two of their best players in back-to-back deciding games of the finals?

Well, considering that teams rarely ever even have players of that magnitude all on the same team, it will be hard to find comparable situations.

Seriously?

When was the last time an NBA champion didn’t have multiple all stars on the roster?

I mean we already saw what happened with no Love and Kyrie.

What if the Spurs lost Duncan and Ginobili in games 5 and 6?

Or if the Celts lost KG and Pierce?

Or the Mavs lost Dirk and...and...um...uhh...well we all know Dirk had teammates that year, but who can remember them at this point? The only one I recall is that little 5’2” Hispanic dude who successfully defended Lebron in the post lol