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Cleveland Cavs (2016 NBA Champions)

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Ok, they need to tell the GS bench to have a fucking seat (both benches, really). Whoever is closest to the shooter in the corner on those 3s is jumping up at exactly the right time turned toward the player while standing right on the OOB line. That shit should be an automatic T.
 
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No surprised the Warriors won, but didn't expect them to need to play rugby in the 3rd to get it. I can only hope to see Green, Durant, Curry, and Thompson get the shit kicked out of them like that on the court with no calls. The amount of tears would be unending. Unfortunately that's not gonna be the case in the Finals. Honestly it's a 5 game series at best. Wish it was different, but LeBron would need to average 60/20/10 to win 4.

Also, love curry bending over at the end of the game acting like he'd just carried the team to another series victory. Half expected him to pull a cell phone out and start recruiting a 5th all star for next season so he wouldn't have to play so hard. Never hated a franchise so much when it should be so easy to root for them.
 
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Every human on planet Earth outside of the Bay Area should be pulling for the Cavs. This is the team that won a record number of games, lost a series they should've won in five, and decided they needed the second best player in the world because it was still too hard. I'm honestly didn't know it was possible for me to hate a professional sports team as much as I hate the Warriors. Curry is cocky, Durant sabotaged his own legacy, and Green is one of the dirtiest players in the NBA. There's very little to like.

The worst part is if Chris Paul hadn't gotten hurt, or the Rockets made even 25% of their threes in game seven, Golden State's probably going home. If LeBron leaves next year, I hope it's for the Rockets. If they can keep their core (dumping Ryan Anderson should free up enough space), adding LeBron would be enough to knock the shit out of the Warriors. I'm not sure any of his other options could beat Golden State. Not even the Lakers/Clippers with George and Kawhi. Boston's probably winning the East if they stay healthy, so Philly wouldn't be enough. LeBron replacing Jaylen Brown as the fifth starter in Boston could be interesting, but I think he has too much bad blood with that city/team to go there. Not sure Ainge would want to piss Kyrie off, either.

As far as the series in front of us, yikes. I like Golden State in five. I think the Cavs have to play as physically as possible (bumping, swatting, bodying) from the opening tip to set the tone. We know the Warriors are going to get away with hacking LeBron anytime he gets within 12 feet of the basket, so the Cavs have to return the favor. I'm not sure what the strategy is outside of that. Ty Lue will probably try to race to 120 points again, but we know that won't work without Irving. Caveman ball is probably your best bet for close games, but you're still losing that way. GS is too good in the half-court to lose, but I'd probably try it anyway. Get out in transition when possible and try to win 87-85 every night.

This is going to be about as much fun as OSU's natty loss to UF.
 
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If Curry gets the Duke calls he usually gets, GS in 4.

If Klay is shooting like he did in Game 7, GS in 4.

If Green goes nut-kick and no Ts, GS in 4.

If the refs call games like last night, GS in 4 with an average margin of 40 points

If the refs call games like they aren’t actually rooting for one team to win...GS in 5.
 
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Let's be honest--this Cavs team is the greatest player on the planet + a bunch of guys who are mediocre NBA talent (at best). Until LBJ gets worn out, I see the games playing out like Game 2 of the Celtics series--LBJ plays out of his mind, but gets no help, and the Cavs slowly lose whatever lead they have, ultimately losing the game. If the Celtics could do it, then the Warriors sure as [censored] will be able to. It wouldn't surprise me if this is a 2007 NBA Finals sweep--where the Cavs lose the first two games on the road and then follow that up with two close losses at home to close it out. Honestly, that might be best-case scenario.
 
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The Cavs need to have 2 guys other than Lebron have a great game every game and play as good of defense as they can for 48 minutes if they want to have a shot. Fly around and make the Warriors earn every point. The only way the Cavs might be better than they were last year is in length and athleticism on defense, but they would need guys like Hood, Clarkson, and Nance to contribute. I don't know how much they can play Korver since it seemed like he couldn't keep up on defense last year. He will have to come out hot to earn big minutes. They need Love to play well to either pull Green away from the lane or for him to bully a smaller defender from the elbow if they put a smaller man on him. They need to do everything they can to get Curry on Lebron and go after him as much as possible. The Warriors are a bunch of weak minded entitled pussies. They will go in the tank if the refs let the Cavs dirty up the game.

You would hope the Cavs coaching staff knows they can't beat the Warriors in a head to head matchup so they need to throw something at the Warriors that they haven't seen before. Nance should make it his goal to get inside Green's peanut sized brain in whatever minutes he gets. Go after all those nagging injuries that the Warriors have and see if they can make them miss some time. The Warriors don't seem to have the depth that they've had in the past. The Cavs might be Lebron and a bunch of average NBA talent, but the bonus of that is that there isn't a huge difference between 3 and 10 so they should have plenty of energy to burn if they use it. That being said I wouldn't be shocked to see Warriors in 4 because I don't think Lue will do anything that I said.
 
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What @exhawg said about getting into Green's head is 1000000% right. Get in his head, get Curry pissed off, and at least one of them will draw a T, and Green is likely to do something to get ejected. Just make sure JR is well away from the action or he'll probably end up tossed as well. Make them uncomfortable, even if it means fouling out your bench early. Force the refs to call it tight both ways to keep it under wraps, because they will have to call it tight on both ends if it starts getting out of control.
 
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