2015-16 NBA Thread (feat. the Wives)

When Gilbert was speaking last night, the first thing I thought was "comic sans."

 

I'll buy the postseason record, but also remember that take away the finals, the Warriors went 12-5 with Curry being out for a good chunk of that and really didn't get right until they went on that run to survive against OKC. Yeah, he's going to take the blame for the collapse in the Finals, but I think more of it has to be placed on the team than him. Yes the Warriors dropped two home games to close out the Finals, but one of their all-league players was gone for one of those.

I don't think Walton was a puppet, per se, but to suggest that Kerr didn't have a part in that early run is a bit harsh. I said Walton maximized the system and pushed them to success, but it was still Kerr's system. When Kerr came back, the team went 17-1 before laying an egg against the Lakers. The only loss in that stretch was where Lillard went out of his mind in the first game after the all star break. They laid an egg against the Lakers, lost in San Antonio, lost a tight game to Boston and an OT game against Minnesota. They went 34-5 under Kerr for the regular season. And we can't judge who won regular season awards based on how they did in the Finals. Those votes are cast based on what they did in 82 games and for 82 games Curry was the best player on the floor and Kerr was the best coach, even if he was sidelined for half of the year. Walton regularly said he was consulting with Kerr during the season, so Kerr very much still had his hands in that early run. If the Warriors don't have Green suspended for Game 5 and they manage to win, Kerr's COY isn't questioned. But because weird stuff went down in the final three games, his regular season mark is now thrown out? I can't go there.

 

So when does LeBron join the Lakers?

 

re: Kerr, I was kind of with Zach Lowe that he seemingly lost confidence with Ezeli too quickly. Maybe there was something going on behind the scenes, but I'd rather give the spot center minutes to him than Varejao. (Then again, he also had knee surgery in-season, and I'm talking about a quibble with the 8th+ man on the roster here.)

 

Fair enough. Maybe it is unfair to put too much of it on Kerr. BUT the Cavs dominated Game 5 from the start and I think it's hard to argue Green changes that. The team laid an egg (again) in a closeout game at home. I just think at some point the team's performance has to reflect on the coaching, either positively or negatively, as it did during the regular season.

 

Solid analysis to think Walton wasn't a puppet by going by win percentage at the start of the season.

 

He needs to join the Knicks next. They haven't won a title since the Nixon administration.

 

Like I said, criticism of the final three games is fair. There are spots where in retrospect he'll have wished he made different moves and will admit to those coaching mistakes. There is also other factors which can't all be placed on the coach. But, you're right, if we give the coach credit for wins, we have to do the same for losses. So these losses will fall on the guys who were most lauded during the season—Kerr, Curry, Thompson and Green. All of that is fair. My point is the three bad games he had at the end of the season—which by the way came down to who could make one shot inside of two minutes—do not diminish the run he had in the regular season. There are going to be so many yeah-buts with the 73-win Warriors already and rightly so for not winning a title. But the not winning a title doesn't mean those 73 wins go away nor do the accolades extending there from.

 

The NBA folded this afternoon. It was unanimous that to play a single professional basketball game again would be an insult to King James and His Glory.

So let it be written
So let it be done

 

Ohio's first professional sports championship since the Reds in 1990. Among the 23 states (including DC) with more than one franchise, it was the longest active streak without a title. Tennessee has never had a champion, but also didn't become a multiple-franchise state until 1998.
Minnesota and Washington, D.C., whose last titles both came in 1991, are now on the clock.

 

Only if professional doesn't include minor leagues.