Raptors don’t need to worry about playing in SF until next season, shoot.

Iguodala in crunch time has been cash money, but all these injuries suck.

6/3/2019 12:22:45 PM

Oh really?

6/3/2019 1:10:35 PM

Oracle Arena is in Oakland and the new Chase Center is in SF...

6/3/2019 1:54:43 PM

Highly entertaining: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2019-nba-finals-warriors-kevin-durant-klay-thompson-troll-drake-after-game-2-win-over-raptors/

6/3/2019 8:38:04 PM

The rest of the series all start from 9 PM. Gonna be sleepless nights.

6/5/2019 9:22:42 AM

No wonder muh Dub Klay is mad he didn't make an All-NBA team. Muh Dubs look lost without him. Dubs.

6/5/2019 10:55:44 PM

There is four scrubs on the floor and Curry for the Dubs

6/5/2019 11:14:36 PM

I mean Green is a good player. Cousins is out of shape but he would start for most teams.

6/5/2019 11:23:48 PM

Green and Igoudala are such scrubs.

6/5/2019 11:29:50 PM

looks like muh Dubs and muh Raptors will be facing a new threat next year

6/6/2019 2:24:07 AM

Lenard had another sexy dunk last night. And Jeremy Lin showed up on the court for the first time. Wow. Sensational.

6/6/2019 9:14:58 AM

Don't you mean Linsational

6/6/2019 11:23:59 AM

I mean Chantastic, lol

6/6/2019 11:27:00 AM

Oh cool a minority owner of muh dubs shoved Kyle Lowry.

Dude should be banned from attending NBA games for life and have his shares of the team bought out immediately.

6/6/2019 2:21:35 PM

He was fined 50k and banned from the Finals...

Anywhoo, glad Klay is back to stop the bleeding, but no KD

6/6/2019 6:16:15 PM

$500K

And I guess I’m in the minority it sounds much worse than it looked

6/6/2019 7:02:49 PM

Yeah 500k, my bad

I didn’t think it looked that bad either, but muh dubz

Turns out he’s a big USC donor, so fuck him anyway

[Edited on June 6, 2019 at 7:22 PM. Reason : .]

6/6/2019 7:21:36 PM

The NBA banned him from games for a year.

Still think they should force him out of his ownership share.

Quote :

"And I guess I’m in the minority it sounds much worse than it looked"

Lowry didn't land on him, he had to reach over people to shove him. Also he apparently told Lowry to "go fuck yourself". Not really the way an NBA owner should act at an NBA game.

6/6/2019 7:48:31 PM

Oh I get it, and I don’t necessarily disagree with his punishment. I just thought from the outrage it would’ve been a two handed shove to the ground or something.

6/6/2019 9:52:20 PM

If Raptors can take the win tonight, it's over.

6/7/2019 11:38:41 AM

Muh dubs have no way to stop Leonard defensively.

6/7/2019 11:02:19 PM

In the first quarter when Cousins bear hugged Siakam, I was hoping he would try to act like it wasn't a foul

6/7/2019 11:30:08 PM

man the refs have been very pro-golden state here in the last few minutes. they must have money on the game.

6/7/2019 11:32:59 PM

not even getting one 3peat is gonna hurt the lore of this muh Dubs team

6/7/2019 11:39:26 PM

I feel sorry for whatever team signs Klay Thompson to a max contract. That will immediately become a John Wall level of bad contract.

6/7/2019 11:49:03 PM

wat

6/7/2019 11:56:10 PM

You can't build a title contending team by giving a max contract to a role player.

6/8/2019 12:08:09 AM

role players don’t play as well on both sides of the court as he does, or average nearly 20 points a game for their career

he also doesn’t have a history of getting injured like Wall did

if you wanna fixate on dudes on the Wizards, he’s a better Bradley Beal

[Edited on June 8, 2019 at 12:12 AM. Reason : he’s also more than likely staying with the Warriors ]

6/8/2019 12:11:56 AM

Unless he's paired up with another superstar, a team where he is the #1 guy isn't going to win anything like muh loaded Dubs

But I won't blame him for taking the money

6/8/2019 12:40:56 AM

And the warriors aren't going to win paying him max money. Their strength has been their depth, and paying a streaky catch and shoot 3 point shooter max money is a poor decision.

And don't start with the BUT HE'S A GREAT DEFENDER shit. He's a good on ball defender, but he's not even close to elite when you add in off ball/help defense. He is a poor rebounder as well. Thompson is a great role player and third option/3 point assassin but paying him as a superstar will not work out.

And I was only comparing him to John Wall in that a max contract would be as colossal a mistake as the supermax extension Wall signed. Not comparing the actual players to each other.

6/8/2019 1:05:22 AM

he’s a different dude

not positive he’d be asking for one from them. he’s still worth it, though.

6/8/2019 1:09:05 AM

^^ it’s still very dumb to call him a role player

he’s an elite shooter/scorer who is a very good defender. there aren’t that many dudes in the league who are comparable to him. he’s absolutely worth a second max slot.

streaky shooters don’t have a career average of nearly 20 ppg

Quote :

"Their strength has been their depth"

their strength has been their top 5 and getting a steal on their bench contributors

[Edited on June 8, 2019 at 3:01 AM. Reason : .]

6/8/2019 2:59:10 AM

Thompson is the prototypical 3-and-D player. And yes I'm going to call a guy who is completely one dimensional on offense a role player. He catches passes from teammates and shoots. He doesn't create offense for himself or anyone else. If that's not a role player I don't know what is.

Is he really worth that much more than say Danny Green (who is not quite as good a 3 point shooter - career 40.4% compared to 41.9% - and is a better defender)? I think the opportunity cost of signing Thompson to a max contract is too great.

Also, yes depth has been Golden States greatest strength. The fact that Igoudala hasn't been a starter the last five years is a testament to that depth.

6/8/2019 1:45:47 PM

One problem, as I understand it, is that even if KD leaves, GS doesn't have the cap space to get anyone. Technically a sign and trade is possible but it's pretty unlikely.

So, the warriors team you're seeing is likely the warriors team you will see next year. It is pretty clear that the league, or at least some teams, have caught up to the warriors. Last night's game...you can't even blame it on injuries, really. Toronto just looks like a better basketball team. This aligns with GS-TOR encounters earlier in the season.

Also dubs fans are (largely) the Walmart UNC fans of the NBA.

6/8/2019 11:02:56 PM

Quote :

"Last night's game...you can't even blame it on injuries, really."

wut.

KD (top 3 player in the league) is out. Klay is playing on one leg. Curry is exhausted from being the only offensive weapon. Boogie is coming back early from a major injury. Looney is out. WTF Are you even on about? I'm as big of a Golden state hater as anyone and I'm glad to see them lose, but I hate to see it go down this way.

6/8/2019 11:43:10 PM

So, yeah, of course KD is out and that hurts. It didn't stop them from sweeping Portland, which by all accounts, was a very capable team.

Klay had a great night if he had a bum leg. He was making shots and playing decent defense.

Steph was horrible, but I don't think being exhausted is the really the best explanation for why. Steph was an absolute liability on D and this was obvious at several critical stages of the game. I don't think this is because he "didn't want it enough" or some BS like that - I think Toronto's offense really does force hard decisions and at some points left Steph looking dumb.

I'm not going to say that injuries don't stack up and have an impact, but I'm saying that last night's game can't (or at least, shouldn't) be primarily blamed on injuries. And Toronto deserves credit here for being a focused and mature team. Kawhi is obviously incredible, but the entire Raptors team has been so impressive.

[Edited on June 8, 2019 at 11:59 PM. Reason : ]

6/8/2019 11:57:47 PM

Quote :

"Last night's game...you can't even blame it on injuries, really"

lolol ok try and be serious now plz. NBA Finals MVP for 2017 and 2018 is injured/off the court for 2019 and that doesn't play a role? that's the hottest take I've seen here in many months.

[Edited on June 8, 2019 at 11:59 PM. Reason : Your sports takes are as hot as your political takes ]

6/8/2019 11:58:15 PM

Again...we're talking about last night's game. I'm not going to seriously sit here and say that not having KD on the court is a good thing.

But to rail on this point, Toronto is making this happen. Let's also not forget that Toronto and GS played two regular season games. Toronto won both. One of those games had the full warriors lineup and it was a 20 point blowout.

Sorry GS bandwagon fans, if Toronto closes this out, there will be no asterisk and there will be no doubt that Toronto was the better team.

[Edited on June 9, 2019 at 12:05 AM. Reason : ]

6/9/2019 12:03:49 AM

Muh Dubs won't be able to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals, nobody could do that, if someone could do that they'd be the GOAT

6/9/2019 12:14:51 AM

^^ Ok I can't argue with that logic, but finals are different than regular season.

[Edited on June 9, 2019 at 12:18 AM. Reason : And I don't think there much of an "if" at this point ]

6/9/2019 12:17:18 AM

Ok, let's not rewrite the narrative on Toronto now. EVERY champion needs some luck to get there and even with the luck, it's a damn hard achievement. That said, this is the same Toronto team that needed an absolute Kawhi beast mode performance and a miracle shot to even beat a mediocre and deeply flawed Philly team. They handily beat a good, but not yet ready Bucks team. And they are lucky enough to go against the best team of the last 5 years (and maybe ever) without their first, third and fifth best players for half or more of the 4 games (not to mention their sixth and seventh men have been hobbled). Noone is saying Toronto hasn't played well or doesn't deserve it, but to act like a healthy Golden State wouldn't have played this series (and yes, even the game on Friday night) far differently is simply an absurd statement. I'm actually ashamed that I have written so many words stating this very obvious point.

6/9/2019 9:34:27 PM

still can’t believe dude pointed to the 2 regular season games as evidence as to why the Raptors are up 3-1

Quote :

"One of those games had the full warriors lineup and it was a 20 point blowout."

guess who didn’t play that game for the Raptors?

Toronto is playing better/winning because they are much healthier than the Warriors. it would be a completely different series if the Warriors were playing at full strength.

Hot Take culture is the worst

[Edited on June 9, 2019 at 9:54 PM. Reason : Raptors are better of sitting Kawhi against the Warriors because regular season]

6/9/2019 9:49:25 PM

Quote :

"guess who didn’t play that game for the Raptors?"

What in the world is your point here? Toronto's best player (Kawhi) sat out that game, and they still dominated the GS the entire game (on December 12th). That would seem to support the idea that Toronto is actually a better team this year.

Or is your point that Kawhi is healthier *because* they sat him? Well, that's pretty uncontroversial - Kawhi himself has said as much. That's part of the game; if you burn out your starters during regular season, that hurts you in the playoffs, and there's very little doubt that injuries have played a role and hurt GS. From that angle, you could make the argument that the Raptors organization did a better job of managing the resources they had, including but not limited to their load management regiment for Kawhi.

Quote :

"That said, this is the same Toronto team that needed an absolute Kawhi beast mode performance and a miracle shot to even beat a mediocre and deeply flawed Philly team."

I don't see how Philly is a mediocre team. After the trades, they are stacked talent wise. Yeah, Toronto got lucky to close it out, but that Philly team may have been competitive against this Warriors team as well.

[Edited on June 9, 2019 at 10:11 PM. Reason : ]

6/9/2019 10:08:15 PM

I'm the biggest Dubs fan around, but we wouldn't have won shit pre-Durant if Kyrie and Love weren't injured in 2015.

6/9/2019 10:24:21 PM

2 regular season matchups mean nothing when it comes to the Finals

Quote :

"What in the world is your point here? Toronto's best player (Kawhi) sat out that game, and they still dominated the GS the entire game (on December 12th). That would seem to support the idea that Toronto is actually a better team this year."

a Kawhi-less Raptors wouldn’t even make the Finals, and if he got injured early in Game 1 of the Finals, they would absolutely be swept against a healthy Warriors

[Edited on June 9, 2019 at 10:31 PM. Reason : .]

6/9/2019 10:25:30 PM

The NBA regular season is damn near a different sport from the playoffs. Other than seeding, it has no bearing on any playoff discussion.

6/9/2019 10:41:28 PM

It's definitely a different energy and intensity, but let's also not act like certain match ups aren't a thing. Look at the Grizzlies versus the Spurs in 2011 as an example.

6/9/2019 11:22:33 PM

Quote :

"a Kawhi-less Raptors wouldn’t even make the Finals, and if he got injured early in Game 1 of the Finals, they would absolutely be swept against a healthy Warriors"

Sure, with no Kawhi, Raptors get destroyed. He is the the most important part of their team.

But is KD the centerpiece of the Warriors team? Two weeks ago, some Warriors fans were saying that KD off the court might actually be a good thing because it would encourage more ball movement and Splash Bro style plays. Maybe that was just wishful thinking. Clearly it hasn't panned out, even at times when Klay and Steph seemed to be totally healthy and getting a lot of minutes.

Quote :

"The NBA regular season is damn near a different sport from the playoffs. Other than seeding, it has no bearing on any playoff discussion."

Are you saying the Phoenix Suns would have a shot at beating the Warriors, if only they could somehow make it that far? They'd get crushed, right?. There are actually a lot of teams that would get swept by the current KD-less Warriors team. With KD they are still a championship caliber team.

We should look at the adjustments that are happening mid game and ask if maybe, just maybe, Nick Nurse is actually a really good coach. I have all the respect in the world for Steve Kerr, but Nick Nurse is a new head coach, with a new team, and they've gotten to this point. It's too early to say, it could be fortune, but to me, what Nurse is doing actually seems to be working really well.

A big pattern I've noticed is that the Raptors get up 10-15 points, and then the Warriors get a big bucket and the crowd goes crazy...and Nurse calls a timeout. This deflates any momentum and forces the Warriors to think about the fact that they are way behind, and then the Raptors come up with an adjusted rotation and force the Warriors to make decisions. These sorts of defensive or offensive adjustments really do make a big difference, not just in terms of stats, but in terms of player psychology.

6/9/2019 11:37:24 PM

Quote :

"Toronto is playing better/winning because they are much healthier than the Warriors. it would be a completely different series if the Warriors were playing at full strength. "

Essentially, this.

There's not really any other logical way to look at it, unless you just haven't been paying attention the last few seasons.

Quote :

"Two weeks ago, some Warriors fans were saying that KD off the court might actually be a good thing because it would encourage more ball movement and Splash Bro style plays"

Uh, can you direct me or any of muh dubs fans to these posts? ITT? Cause they don't exist. Teenagers and people on reddit aren't exactly representative of GSW fans. At least not ones who aren't total morons.



[Edited on June 10, 2019 at 10:52 AM. Reason : .]

6/10/2019 10:50:24 AM

This series is sort of a revenge for Jeremy Lin. Dubs is his first-ever NBA team and his hometown team. But he was sent to D-league for three times and got cut just after one season. He then became a journey man and travels around the country.

Letting him go is probably the first move for Dubs to build a dynasty. They wanted Jordan badly so had to let Lin go. I watched some clips of Linsanity again during the weekend.

Lin has some issues with Bay area. He's a die-hard fan of Stanford and applied the basketball scholarship but finally got denied. So he ate like 40 chicken wings in one night...

6/10/2019 11:07:23 AM