Cavs needed Shane Battier. Nobody on that team was taking a charge. Guys like Shump needed to step up. Stop swiping and fouling!spree#8 wrote:What the Cavs and the rest of the league and many fans should ask themselves instead of saying "muahh, they have so much firepower" is why are the Warriors this good? I said it last year - when it was more true without KD - that the Warriors have no business being so much better than anyone else from a raw talent standpoint. Is KD better than LeBron? Nope. Is Curry much better than Irving? I guess most would also say nope. Is Thompson better than Love? Are the Cavs big three way worse than the Warriors big three? Should a supporting cast that had to replace six rotation players to get KD be better than the Cavs one with seven players in addition to the top three returning from the championship year?
I might write a longer piece about the Warriors if I find the time, but the short answer to the first question is that the Warriors are the best team in the league for the last three years, because they are playing the game of basketball way better than anyone else. They share the ball better than anyone else. They believe in each other better than anyone else. They focus on the right balance between high-energy offense and defense. That's why they are good for the game and the league because every team not named the Spurs can learn so much from them about team play and selflessness. Just one stat that stands out from the finals: 29.4 assists per game for the Warriors vs. 21.6 for the Cavs.
No one should feel sorry for the rest of the league. They have to become better. The Cavs could have enough to beat the Warriors, but may have to think about their style of play, their coaching, their supporting cast etc.
Also one thought to KD joining the Warriors: I think he has every right to come to the conclusion he came to and it has something to do with how we all view the game of basketball. Sure, he could've stayed in Oklahoma his whole career to win his one championship for the team that drafted him, like Dirk did with the Mavs. Would I rate that championship as a higher accomplishment than this one with the Warriors? Sure.
But if he wins three or four with the Warriors instead? We always take into account how many championships a player won when discussing the all-time greats and we are all witnessing right now before our eyes that that can be misleading. BTW: that's probably another great thing for the game. LeBron isn't any worse just because he is now 3-5 in the Finals, yet everyone will bring that up when arguing between him and the former greats. So if Durant can win three or four championships with the Warriors he will individually be the same player that he would be if he would win one or none with the Thunder, but history will look totally different at him. You just saw that he is not that much worse than LeBron, so how can you fault him at this point in his career - when he lost his belief in the Thunder organization - that he would rather lead a team to glory if he can? He isn't just one player hopping on the train, he is one driving the train together with Curry.
Edit: in the longer piece I would also go into some detail what other teams could learn from how the Warriors were build.
And yeah look if the Cavs won game 3 things may have gone differently. They threw that one away in my opinion.
Not interested in hearing the super team talk and criticizing Durant. All silly to me.
