🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Warriors or Cavaliers?

Is anyone in here for Sir LeBron and his cavalier Cavaliers?

I hope the names of the teams is an indication of how they play together.

Are there any players left who haven't suffered concussions just trying to get to the Finals?

Is firing a handgun at your opponent considered a Flagrant 1 or 2? What if you miss?

Will Dellavedova be able to roll up on any of the Warriors?

How about that Tristan Thompson! Where have I heard that name before? :-)

Didn't we beat that Steph Curry kid once? :-)

Two rookie coaches going at it.

Bring it, "Splash Brothers!"

Am I the only one in here who is going to watch the Finals?

I will definitely be watching the Finals. Best basketball of the year (hopefully).

I hope we can get through the rest of the playoffs with no more injuries. All of the injuries really robbed us of some top notch battles in the playoffs this year as most teams were not at full strength, which is disappointing. Sad that Kevin Love won't be able to go for Cleveland - that injury was really a tough loss for them.

Hate to see both Curry and Klay get banged up the last couple games. They make Golden State fun to watch. Thankfully, they have about a week for everyone to get healthy before the Finals start, so both teams will hopefully be able to run at their best.

I'm not really rooting for anyone, but I am hoping for at least six very competitive games. Both fan bases would be ecstatic to win the title, so I really don't have much of a preference.

@justanotherfan I'm rooting against lebron!

Like @Crimsonorblue22 , partly just rooting against Lebron, but I do get a kick out of the Splash Bros...all the more since I model my playground game after Steph Curry. :)

I have watched all the playoffs and I have enjoyed some of the games and teams a great deal; a lot of good defense being played for a change and Golden State is the best defensive team by far. I still don't like LeBron but I have to admit that the is the best player in the NBA. The player that I really dislike is Dwight Howard, I think he is overrated and a dirty player that got away with number of flagrant fouls that the refs refused to call in order to give the Rockets a chance; had there been another game, he would not have been eligible to play due to the accumulation of technical fouls actually called.

It should be an interesting series and it will depend on how well can Golden State contain LeBron who is still the heart and soul of the Cavaliers. I would love to see Golden State, a team that plays basketball the way many of us like, win it all.

@JayHawkFanToo

I totally agree with your post.

Dwight Howard does play dirty and he was given plenty of slack (even though it was catching up to him). How did you like that high elbow on the screen? Gheez... anyone else would have been tossed for that and it wasn't even considered a Flagrant 1.

The officiating has been very inconsistent. It is hard to look at all this and not see injustice and lack of parity because the refs are protecting the league's interest. Here is a case for the DOJ. :-)

My thoughts are for GS not to over-emphasize stopping LeBron. Just don't let him have his stats easily. If they focus more on stopping the rest of the team, like Irving and even Tristan and others. I think GS has the quickness to stop all the other guys on Cleveland. LeBron is in his own league and no one can stop his power drives.

I really like watching Klay Thompson when he heats up. Really enjoy both him and Curry's footwork. They still have about everyone in the league fooled. Defenders need to watch their feet more. Both of these guys seem to camouflage their feet getting set for their shots while the rest of their body is in motion, pretending to penetrate further or something else. While their upper bodies are doing one thing, they are setting their feet for the jumper. Watch their feet because they square off to the basket and maybe have a shot at a tough contest of the shot and dropping their accuracy.

@drgnslayr heard klay was puking from blow to head?(puke)

@drgnslayr Warriors!! #DubNation

Im huge on board the Warriors band wagon this season. They have been nothing short of impressive! Even after getting beat up on by the dirty playing Rockets team. Man, I hate those guys. Ive lost respect for Coach McHale too.
I do like Lebron now though. It seems he has matured from his early days and become a better person and player and teammate. I have respect for the best player on the planet right now.

@drgnslayr Steph Curry is the best shooter in the league right now. He destroyed his own record for 3pt attempts during the regular season and looks to push the record for 3's in the play offs too. No one will catch him anytime soon. It'll be a very long time before we see another shooter like Steph. He makes Ray Allen look like...well, not as good, thats for sure!

It is amazing what three point shooting can do when incorporated into an overall offensive scheme. Three point shooting is just fool's gold. You can't rely upon it, right?

And no, I'm not suggesting we have a Curry on our team.

But we do have some excellent three point shooters who, if the coach would work to get them shots and embrace some offensive diversity, might actually improve our overall offensive numbers.

That's old news. It's an argument that's already been won.

It's a new season.

High/Low or Die!

Inside/Out basketball is the only path -- let's do it to perfection and three pointers will follow.

Warriors for sure, especially after the way the Cavs traded Wiggins. Who woulda thunk it that the Hawks and Rockets (who had the best records in the league at one point) would go 0 and 1 in the playoffs. Would be nice to have some new faces in the final. PLUS we get to root for BRush, right? :100:
:+1:

!brush.png ↗

@RockChalkinTexas yes!

@RockChalkinTexas

Heck yeah!

@Lulufulu

The Warriors have sure grown on me. Great energy team. Team focused on x-axis, intelligent basketball.

LeBron is a stud, and he is on a mission... just don't know if it is fate for his Cavs to beat the very-gifted Warriors.

I'm Warriors all the way! Should be a great series. For all those not typically interested in pro ball, give it a look. We've got two fresh teams in the Finals!

@HighEliteMajor

I have to disagree with you. With the players KU has the 3 point is truly fool's gold. Have you seen the GS shooters? They can all create their own shots and make them while essentially all of KU 3-point shooters are spot up shooters and none can really create his own shot; put a defender with 3 feet of Greene and his shot is gone; Curry, Thompson, Barbosa, Barnes and even Green can create their own shot and make it a decent percentage of the time even with defenders on their grills. Huge difference between GS and KU 3-point options...not even close.

@RockChalkinTexas Love B Rush. Maybe one of my top 3 all time favorite Hawks. I know that his career has been full of injuries but I am shocked that he essentially doesn't play. He was a simply awesome college player.

Oh, well. I assume Brandon is ok getting paid $1.1 million to play basketball no matter how many minutes he sees.

@drgnslayr

The officiating in the NBA playoffs has been consistently inconsistent. Games can and have been called completely different and the way fouls, particularly the Ts and flagrant fouls are called boggles the mind. There is talk about having the replays being handled by a central control center that would have the final saying and bring some consistency to the reviews.

@Crimsonorblue22

He took a knee to the right side of the head and his ear was bleeding but apparently it was not deemed to be a potential concussion since he was allowed back in the game without the battery of test required when a concussion is suspected.

@JayHawkFanToo

"With the players KU has the 3 point is truly fool’s gold. Have you seen the GS shooters? They can all create their own shots and make them while essentially all of KU 3-point shooters are spot up shooters and none can really create his own shot; put a defender with 3 feet of Greene and his shot is gone; Curry, Thompson, Barbosa, Barnes and even Green can create their own shot and make it a decent percentage of the time even with defenders on their grills. Huge difference between GS and KU 3-point options…not even close."

Spot on. I like BG, but I don't consider him a real shooter. Not until he can do it well-guarded or off the dribble, let alone add the intricacies necessary to create shooting space while defended aggressively.

When you are talking about guys like Curry and Thompson, our BG isn't even in the room with these two. Or let's talk about Ray Allen.

I hope BG has enough basketball wisdom to realize that his skill level is only at the beginning of where it needs to go. Essentially, he is a very good competitor in a game of "horse" and not anything close to being a player that can take his shooting to the pros... or even to start for a blue blood D1 program.

Maybe his surgery will help him gain more mobility by playing with less pain and we'll see a different BG. I hope that is the case.

As you said, none of our perimeter guys can create their own shot, especially a perimeter shot being well-guarded. The closest being Graham. I'm hopeful Vick might have some of that ability. We'll have to wait and see.

Considering all that... yes... our perimeter game is "fools gold." But this is just college ball. You can't compare even the best D1 defense with the worst NBA defense. It isn't too tough to beat college defense. And, as HEM stated, if we built some offense to open up perimeter shooting, we could get a certain amount of consistency from 3, even with just spot up shooters.

@JayHawkFanToo First, you spend a lot of time arguing something I have already conceded. I know we don't have the shooters GS has. That is obvious. Did you read what I wrote? I said, "And no, I’m not suggesting we have a Curry on our team."

Again, it just puzzles me. That is clear recognition of your point. It's almost comical how you argue your point, as if anyone on this board would even think to compare GS three point shooters and KU's. Comical.

But more importantly, you miss what you always miss. Scheme. That is where I carefully worded my statement -- "But we do have some excellent three point shooters who, if the coach would work to get them shots and embrace some offensive diversity, might actually improve our overall offensive numbers."

As I said, "if the coach would work to get them shots." That is a recognition of the point I agree with ... that we don't have guys who can create their own three point look with regularity (and really, that's most of the NCAA). Scheme my friend, is important. It's just a concept that you regularly ignore. You avoid it like the plague. You act (meaning, in the totality of your posts) as if a coach can't design a scheme to get open three point looks. That it just can't be done.

Reviewing our offense, it is quite clear that coach Self does not regularly work to get three point looks. That is undeniable. No one has denied that, right? Self has always said, as have the players, that threes come in the normal flow of the offense. We chronicled here instances where Self does scheme for a three .. it's just few and far between.

And, again ... once again ... ad nauseam ... other coaches do scheme for threes. And they approach offense differently.

But please, tell me again, is there really huge difference between Golden State's three point options and KU's? How could we have known?

@HighEliteMajor

Again, no one, not even other teams in the NBA have a shooter like Curry, so mentioning him is silly and disingenuous. GS has other players that can create their own shot and make them, KU has none (maybe Davonte) and no scheme is going to change that. KU scored well from the 3 when the other team gave room and allowed KU shooter uncontested shots. Look at teams like ISU and OU that shoot well from 3, their scheme is not to get them wide open for the shot every time, they simply scheme to give players a chance to create their own shot; essentially all ISU players can do this, a marked difference with KU.

Again. the coaching staff can work to get them shots all day long, and obviously it has, but if the players cannot create their shots or shot when guarded it will not work. The best thing KU could do is get the players to learn to create their own shot but I will guess they already do that but apparently the current crop has not caught up with that part of the game yet. Your comments, although directed at me, are still a veiled and obvious attempt to indicate...one more time... that Coach Self does not know what he is doing, cannot design an effective offensive scheme and that you oblivious know more than he does. It must really chap your arse to watch Coach Self make the big bucks coaching at an elite program while you, who knows more than he does, continue doing whatever it is that you do without the accolades Coach Self gets and venting your frustration on a sports forum with a tinny, tinny audience.

A part of me is wishing that Cleveland will win. As I think Lebron could very well leave after one year if he's wins a championship for Cleveland. With both Lebron and Love both leaving after one year. I would love to be a fly on the wall, when the powers to be that sold the future for a OAD.

Yet a part of me wants to see Cleveland lose and lose bad.

I guess I'm still pissed and miffed as who could and did trade a future talent like Wiggins without even seen what the kid has.

I guess the word is out? Wiggins can play. LOL

I think both of you guys have some valid points. But when you take your arguments and personalize them to challenge another poster, both arguments become weaker.

Can't we all agree on a few things?

1. We don't have perimeter players that can create their own shots.

2. Self can structure some offense that will help open up more spot up shots.

3. Unless we can coach up some players, or recruit players with the talent to create for themselves, we just have to remain limited on offense.

Almost all of us in here challenge some of Self's game. If we don't then we will quickly run out of topics in here. However... is there anyone in here that wants to replace Self, and with who?

I know I'm the first to admit that all my challenges on Self's game are just my opinion based really on nothing. I have no idea what it takes to coach a D1 team, especially a powerhouse like Kansas.

@JayHawkFanToo You are just flat wrong. Kansas does not have a bunch stagnant guys that incompetently can't get their own shot. It's a nice narrative for a tunnel-vision Self defender, but it isn't true. It just isn't their strong suit. There's a big difference. Graham is one that is fine at it (as you noted), and really Selden finds his shot many times with pump fakes and step backs. They are just not stellar at it. Mason is ok at it too. Greene, pretty bad. Oubre marginal. Svi seemed to have the ability to get open, but his trouble was getting them in the hole. But the point is it's not black and white. They aren't devoid of that attribute.

Further, I think our guys do shoot ok when guarded. Mason and Selden both hit many guarded shots. It's just, again, a tunnel-vision narrative that you have created at the extreme. Partially true? Sure. Not a strong suit? Correct. But certainly not a shut down issue.

Scheme is crucial to success on the court. It's just a part of the game that you don't seem to fully understand. I think you have a misperception of scheme. No one that has been involved with the game as a player or coach discounts scheme. Ironically, Self is one of the most disciplined scheme-oriented coaches on the planet. His scheme (or system) is what he relies on. He just doesn't deviate much from his scheme/system. He limits creativity. He relies upon his scheme/system to create offense.

No one says that scheme gets a player "wide open for a shot every time." And no, you are wrong .. scheme is not to give players a "chance to create their own shot" as you said. I'm sorry, but that is wrong. That is a consequence, not the purpose.

Scheme is designed to get open shots. It is the purpose of offense. Have you seen some of the plays we've run? Open dunks, open threes, etc. That's what scheme is designed to do. The baseline lob. That's not designed for Ellis to create. It's designed for Ellis to be completely open and score. Sure, it doesn't always work right. And sure, guys will be called upon quite regularly to create out of the scheme. But the intent is to get open shots. You run your system to create open looks. To get that angle on the post feed.

You mention the guys working on creating their own shot. Absolutely. No argument there. I'm sure they do that all the time as you mentioned.

Let's assume you have a bunch of guys who can't create their own shots and can't score when guarded. You're the coach. What do you do? You can hope that they will get better. You can practice all the time. But they'll generally be the same guys. What do you do?

You adjust your scheme to fit your players, and to try to accentuate their strengths while playing away from their weaknesses.

That's what coaches do.

I want Cleveland for the sake of very long suffering Cleveland fans who haven't experienced a championship of any sort since before many of us were born. I could look it up, but I'm pretty sure it's before I was born in 1964.

It was a horrible blow for that city, no not when the Cuyahoga caught fire, but when the Browns left town and became the Ravens who then won a championship just a few years later. The Indians were close in '97, and I think Lebron got them to the finals once also early in his career.

On the same token, the Bay area has been awash in championships with baseball winners in recent years and even the Niners success of the 80's and 90's. Enough already, let another city win!

I do like this Golden State team however. Pretty amazing.

And although I don't personally have strong feelings one way or the other about Lebron, my goodness. What an amazing talent! No Kevin Love, no Irving for part of the Bulls series, and yet here they are, knocking on the door. I know people for whatever reason like to pick Kobe over Lebron, I for the life of me can't figure out why. Lebron is the greatest since MJ who was the greatest since Wilt who remains the greatest of all.

I still don't respect lebron for leaving his hometown for a couple of rings. It's as if he sold his soul for the devil. ONE ring in Cleveland would have meant more to that city and his legacy than four in Miami with that loaded roster. I gained a shred of respect for him going back home but am limited in actually rooting for him when remembering how idiotically he left Cleveland in the first place. So yeah, I want Lebron to lose. And I want Cleveland to lose so that when I think it's a struggle to be a Kansas City fan I can always think of Cleveland. At least I'm not a Cleveland fan. Thank you Lord.

@wissoxfan83

Any city that elects Dennis Kucinich as its Mayor deserves to have its river catch on fire. Even Ohioans make fun of Cleveland and refer to it as the armpit of the state.