The 2015 NBA Finals

[Niners Fan in CT]

LeBron's performance was amazing to me and his overall stats points/rebounds/assists were absurd BUT I do agree that it's a tad bit overblown because his field goal percentage outside of 5 feet was not good. Something like 29%.  Plus, Iggy played him very well. I chalk some of it up to him being so damn exhausted from having to do so many things for his team but the other part of it was great defense from Iggy and also that LeBron has never been a consistent jump shooter.

[_MJ_]

I really can't see too many current elite wings/players averaging a near triple double in that spot with over 30 points.  Yeah, they might average more points especially with Lebron's high number of shot attempts (Melo, Durant come to mind).  Yeah, they might get more assists (Harden) or rebounds.  But all three?  Doubtful.   They definitely double him more after game 3. 

 

He didn't shoot well(his shot was off this whole playoffs), but their best offense was him ISO in the paint and trying to create.  He scored or assisted on over half of the points for the Cavs in the series.  It's also obvious he was tired by the end of these games.  Lebron isn't a 20 something year old anymore and he had play the majority of the last two games.  For reference sake, Delly had to be taken to hospital after going 40 plus minutes one game and he's 24. 

 

Anthony Davis, who might already be the second best player in the league(some already say the best, statistically speaking) didn't do it against this same Warriors team in the first round.   That New Orleans team wasn't very deep team either.

Edited June 18, 2015 by _MJ_

[Cole Miner]

 Congratulations LeBron James. You have reached John Elway status.

[JRGoldman]

He's the only player in history to be the high scorer, rebounder, and lead both teams in assists for the finals. Saying his performance is overrated is why the internet is terrible. No one else in the NBA could do what he did. No one in history has done what he did.

[Niners Fan in CT]

It's difficult to say his performance was overrated but is it the greatest finals performance I've ever seen. No. It's up there but I'd definitely put a couple Jordan years, Hakeem and Shaq above it.

[Brian Fowler]

It's the best I've seen by a guy who didn't get a ring, at minimum.

[Burgundy LaRue]

If LBJ didn't play the way he did, the Cavs would have been swept and lost by 30 points in each game.

 

LeBron could cough up a lung while playing and it still wouldn't be enough for the naysayers.  I'm only half-joking.

[Fallacy!]

I really can't see too many current elite wings/players averaging a near triple double in that spot with over 30 points.  Yeah, they might average more points especially with Lebron's high number of shot attempts (Melo, Durant come to mind).  Yeah, they might get more assists (Harden) or rebounds.  But all three?  Doubtful.   They definitely double him more after game 3. 

 

He didn't shoot well(his shot was off this whole playoffs), but their best offense was him ISO in the paint and trying to create.  He scored or assisted on over half of the points for the Cavs in the series.  It's also obvious he was tired by the end of these games.  Lebron isn't a 20 something year old anymore and he had play the majority of the last two games.  For reference sake, Delly had to be taken to hospital after going 40 plus minutes one game and he's 24. 

 

Anthony Davis, who might already be the second best player in the league(some already say the best, statistically speaking) didn't do it against this same Warriors team in the first round.   That New Orleans team wasn't very deep team either.

 

A large portion of LeBron's rebounds in this series were him cleaning up long misses from the Warriors because he was drifting into the paint a lot rather than bothering to play much perimeter D (hence all the wide open 3's Iggy took). I don't know that they had any big impact on the series. The assists are nice, but give another elite guard/wing that usage rate and I think similar numbers could be replicated.

 

Certainly, nobody in the league has his complete package of skills, but I think if you're looking at the Cavs in this series, you could trade some of those rebounds  for a leading scorer giving you 30+ PPG on more efficient shooting. A healthy Kevin Durant hitting many of the jumpers that LeBron missed would have made this a closer series, IMO.

 

I don't know that LeBron was any better against GS than Davis, who gave you 31/11/3 blocks on .613% TS. They got swept, but New Orleans clearly should have at least won Game 3, which they blew in horrific fashion. LeBron had two of his worst offensive games of the series in Cleveland's two wins. Those wins had little to do with what LeBron did offensively and more to do with Cleveland being a great defensive team, which he is certainly part of. But there was a lot that went into those two wins that the Pelicans weren't able to do - including neutralizing Curry and Thompson.

[The Comedian]

He was basically Allen Iverson vs. the 01 Lakers in this series, but nobody was sitting around hailing Iverson for playing an all-time great finals.

 

The Philly media does all the time. There was just another video recently commemorating his game one performance floating around online. Former Philly mayor/PA governor Ed Rendell did a piece in the paper recently remembering it.

 

Of course the difference is that Lebron is built like a taller Rock and Iverson is built like a taller Rey Mysterio, so of course what Iverson did seems more impressive.

[Burgundy LaRue]

I always thought Iverson was praised by reasonable people for getting that 76ers team to the Finals.  Anyone speaking against him had other issues with the guy that I won't get into.

[_MJ_]

If you ask me, if I think Golden State will be the favorites to repeat next year, I won't instincely say yes.  To me that already eliminates them from being a top team of all time. 

 

Every championship team catches some breaks and Warriors certainly did this year.  Their young enough to get more titles in the future, but if they don't get the same breaks next year, I'm not sure they're good enough to run through the gauntlet.

 

We'll see.

[RandomAct]

Like my man Derek Harper always says, it's a "no sympathy" league.  Yeah, they caught breaks, but that's just how the game is.  Let's not forget that they were at the top of most people's choice to win it all when the playoffs started, injuries or not.

[Jrag]

Catching a few breaks is and understatement.  Taking nothing away from what they accomplished, but they were somehow the only healthy team in the whole damn tournament.  Curry got to play against back ups or injured guards in all 4 rounds.  They avoided Clips, Spurs and Thunder etc etc..

 

They have a decent chance of getting back to the finals next year, but my money would be on KD and Russ.

[Greggulator]

GSW has had the bad luck of the injury coin a few times. Bogut went down right before last year's playoffs. They still took the Clips to Game 7 without their best interior defender. They survived it this year, but a large part of why they ended up not having anyone miss major time was because they blew so many teams out of the water and just sat dudes in the fourth quarter. The one guy who got hurt for any real length of time was David Lee, and that turned into the biggest accidental blessing in recent years since Draymond Green stepped up, to say the least.

 

They face the natural progression of Bogut and Iggy slipping. And their doing Lee a huge favor by trading him, but losing that security blanket. Of course, Barnes and Green are still improving and Klay is entering his prime years and Steph is ungodly. And maybe Steph has an advantage since he doesn't have the miles on him someone of his stature in the league normally should have because of his ankle injuries when he was younger. 

 

They're built for a big run. But repeating in the NBA is so friggin' hard. The Spurs have never won back-to-back. That, to me, is just as remarkable as how good they have been for ages. They define "continuity" -- anchored by Duncan, who is one of the handful of best players to ever live -- and have the best coach and an amazing front office and is constantly ahead of the curve.

The Heat had LeBron/Wade/Bosh and found a bunch of good spare parts and have a really good administration in place and only won two in a row. When they were boasting when they all signed together, the whole "not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4..." thing LBJ said didn't seem far-fetched at all.

It's just an insanely hard league. Cleveland making it back is the best bet since the East has such a lack of relative talent. Are there any real franchise guys out there this year in free agency? Kawhi is the best player out there but there's no way the Spurs are letting him bolt. Draymond is good but GSW will have room once they get rid of Lee. Maybe Love jumps ship but I doubt that happens. Butler's going to stay with Chicago.

[Greggulator]

Thinking more on Cleveland, LeBron is the best player in the Eastern conference and it's not anywhere close. I mean, he's the best player in the entire league but the difference in the West is narrowed a bit since Curry/KD/Russ/Harden/Blake/CP3/etc. are all out there. Wade's on the downswing. Who knows what Rose will do.

Hell, is Kyrie the second best player in the conference? Is Love, despite his struggles, the third? That team is friggin' loaded.

Who else in the East is an All-NBA type guy? Wall/Horford/Bradley/Lowry/DeRozen are all really good. Am I missing anyone?

The NBA should seriously trade Memphis to the East for like the Bucks or the Pistons.

[Charlie M.]

John Wall is better than Kyrie Irving.

[Brian Fowler]

Six of the last nine, and the last five straight, Eastern Conference Champions have featured Lebron. Of course Cleveland is the favorite in the East next year.

[Greggulator]

John Wall is better than Kyrie Irving.

 

If he is, it's not by much. I love Wall. The Wizards were one of the teams I enjoyed watching most last season. DC and the Hawks were great for the nights I actually wanted to get to bed at a normal hour.

I didn't enjoy watching Cleveland nearly as much as I thought I would. I appreciated them but other teams were aesthetically better. But, post-trade, they were a lot more watchable.

[The Comedian]

They're built for a big run. But repeating in the NBA is so friggin' hard.

 

This is such a weird statement considering how dynasty-friendly the NBA has traditionally been. Really though, the last truly dominant "everyone knows they're winning the title before the season even begins" team was the Shaq/Kobe Lakers in their threepeat prime. Even the Miami Big Three only went 2-2 in the Finals.

[Fallacy!]

On what planet is John Wall better than Kyrie Irving? Certainly not this planet.

[_MJ_]

John Wall vs. Kyrie Irving arguments are starting to remind me of Chris Paul vs. Deron Williams ones a few years ago...be on the right side of history.

[JRGoldman]

I think even most Cavs fans, including myself, would concede that Wall is better than Irving. It is extremely close, to the point of being almost irrelevant, but Wall is a bigger, better defender, and his elite skill (generating corner 3s, which he does better than anyone ever since they started charting) is more valuable than Irving's (finishing below the rim, ball handling). Irving's game is certainly more aesthetically appealing. I think you can building winners around both, and I thought Irving deserved his all NBA nod over Wall. I wouldn't be surprised if they reversed that next year. 

 

Thinking about the Warriors, they remind me a lot of the Seahawks of the past couple years. Obviously not in terms of play style, but they were able to build and create depth because they were blessed enough to have star players on rookie contracts(Barnes, Green on a second round contract), or on contracts that were signed at way below market value (Curry, Thompson to some extent). They have a window, and it will be interesting to see if the larger cap will extend said window, but eventually their depth will be eaten away by economics more than anything. If everyone on Golden State was getting "fair market value" or thereabouts, they would have to make difficult decisions. Even if those decisions were the right ones more often than not, they would still end up with a weaker and less deep team.

 

Also, anyone picking OKC next year is ignoring one huge factor: A full year of Dion Waiters. If they don't get a full year from him, it's probably because Russell Westbrook literally kills him in practice one day. The rest of the team would claim that they had something in their eye and couldn't really see what was happening.  

[Kuetsar]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/report--lebron-james-repeatedly-defied-david-blatt-during-nba-finals-204950403.html

 

An excerpt:(which actually quotes ESPN's Mark Stein)

 

I saw it from close range in my role as sideline reporter through the Finals for ESPN Radio. LeBron essentially calling timeouts and making substitutions. LeBron openly barking at Blatt after decisions he didn't like. LeBron huddling frequently with [assistant coach Tyronn] Lue and so often looking at anyone other than Blatt.

There was LeBron, in one instance I witnessed from right behind the bench, shaking his head vociferously in protest after one play Blatt drew up in the third quarter of Game 5, amounting to the loudest nonverbal scolding you could imagine.

Which forced Blatt, in front of his whole team, to wipe the board clean and draw up something else. [...]

How is any fellow Cavalier going to treat Blatt with something resembling reverence when LeBron treats him like a bench ornament in plain view?

How can LeBron publicly laud his own leadership, as he so often does, when setting that sort of tone?

[Charlie M.]

On what planet is John Wall better than Kyrie Irving? Certainly not this planet.

 

The planet where they play basketball games.

 

Maybe Kyrie will be better one day but he's got to prove he can defend, that he can make people better and that he can stay healthy. Until he knocks those 3 down, Wall is the better player.

[Charlie M.]

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/report--lebron-james-repeatedly-defied-david-blatt-during-nba-finals-204950403.html

 

An excerpt:(which actually quotes ESPN's Mark Stein)

 

I saw it from close range in my role as sideline reporter through the Finals for ESPN Radio. LeBron essentially calling timeouts and making substitutions. LeBron openly barking at Blatt after decisions he didn't like. LeBron huddling frequently with [assistant coach Tyronn] Lue and so often looking at anyone other than Blatt.

There was LeBron, in one instance I witnessed from right behind the bench, shaking his head vociferously in protest after one play Blatt drew up in the third quarter of Game 5, amounting to the loudest nonverbal scolding you could imagine.

Which forced Blatt, in front of his whole team, to wipe the board clean and draw up something else. [...]

How is any fellow Cavalier going to treat Blatt with something resembling reverence when LeBron treats him like a bench ornament in plain view?

How can LeBron publicly laud his own leadership, as he so often does, when setting that sort of tone?

 

 

They discussed this a bunch on TrueHoop. Blatt's insecurity hurt him but LeBron tried to pull a bunch of this shit early in Miami and Riley wouldn't put up with it. He backed Spo, he wouldn't let LeBron's boys on the plane and he made him adapt to the style Miami wanted to play.