Round 2 - Game 3: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Toronto Raptors Friday, May 5th, 2017 7:00 PM [EST]

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I was in the minority for a long time because I liked Hubie Brown. His basketball IQ is on point but tonight I actually listened to what he was saying and he clearly had bias towards Toronto. Maybe he wants a more competitive balanced league? But it was kind of odd to hear him say on that foul that Ibaka committed on James basically they called it on the wrong guy. I was waiting for him to praise the Cavs like he was when the Raps would make a good play and he didn't. He would have a reaction but not as enthusiastic as if it was Toronto.

I don't know what makes you like Hubie Brown in general, but he made me very very annoyed watching that game. This is not commentatory, he was rooting for the Raptors more than their own fans and was constantly harping on the Calls that were in favour of the Cavs that were legit and was throwing tantrums over "missed" calls for the Raptors.
This shit was just a disgrace to be honest with you.

 

[BigJ]

Wait, you think that if the Cavs play like they are playing now they beat GSW in 5 or 6? you are out of your mind and you are either overrating the Cavs or underrating the Warriors, which one is it?

Neither at least from my point of view.

The Warriors have no Bench.. health issues and are chokers(until proven otherwise)
Oh and i would argue TOR and Utah are comparable Teams.. And GSW is having more trouble with Utah then we are having with TOR..

Havent the Cavs not done enough the last 4.5 Games to even slightly convince you that we can be a great Team? No? if so.. thats sad..

We are scorching hot again just like last Playoffs.. and our defense right now is pretty much on the same Level as last year.

The difference between me and you is.. GSW simply does not impress me.. they havent impressed me the last 2 years.. they dont now..

They can be great in the RS all they want.. they look worse in the Playoffs.. year after year..

We dont.. we look much better in the Playoffs.. year after year..
I know wich Team i am banking in.. especially with Lebron playing the best ball of his life.

C'mon show some faith in our Team!

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Neither at least from my point of view.

The Warriors have no Bench.. health issues and are chokers(until proven otherwise)
Oh and i would argue TOR and Utah are comparable Teams.. And GSW is having more trouble with Utah then we are having with TOR..

Havent the Cavs not done enough the last 4.5 Games to even slightly convince you that we can be a great Team? No? if so.. thats sad..

We are scorching hot again just like last Playoffs.. and our defense right now is pretty much on the same Level as last year.

The difference between me and you is.. GSW simply does not impress me.. they havent impressed me the last 2 years.. they dont now..

They can be great in the RS all they want.. they look worse in the Playoffs.. year after year..

We dont.. we look much better in the Playoffs.. year after year..
I know wich Team i am banking in.. especially with Lebron playing the best ball of his life.

C'mon show some faith in our Team!

Cavs are playing at the level they are right now because of Lebron James. GSW are going to throw multiple defenders at him, they extremely good in doubling in the post and their defense is on a different level than the defense the Cavs have faced so far.

Cavs had a system in which they defended GSW with Barnes on the court. I'm not sure they exactly know how to defend this GSW team.. yes they won that game in christmas but it's a small sample size and this GSW team is better than it was back then.

Cavs are in trouble against GSW for several reasons. Best players in the playoffs so far other than Lebron are Deron, Frye, Korver, Tristan and Love is playing ok, not great but decent enough to be a plus. We know Frye will have trouble sniffing the court against GSW, Korver is an unknown against GSW on defense and Love has had troubles with GSW in the past. We have too many players that are currently playing at an high level that routinely become non factors against GSW.

We used to rely on Tristan, Kyrie, JR for consistent production, JR is rounding into form slowly, Tristan is Tristan but if we want to have any chance, we need Kyrie to significantly step up his game. If he can't find his shot, find other ways to help the team.

If the Cavs want to hang with GSW, they are going to need to ramp their 3pt defense, we are allowing open looks that Toronto can not convert(maybe by design), Lebron is going to need to attack and frequently visit the FT line and convert his FTs as much as he does in this series and the most important thing is to try to make Kevin a big factor against GSW.

Now, you keep saying that McGee is a non factor and is good for a couple blocks and alley oops, but if Frye is a non factor and isn't going to play much if any at all, who is going to check McGee? we have no one to backup TT in his place and we have seen how terribly Frye defends the PnR and against GSW it's going to be a massacre.

Lebron will not be able to be this efficient against GSW and is undubitably is going to need Kyrie to take off of his scoring load.d Also, Lebron is going to need to exert much more energy on the defensive end.

You keep saying that the Warriors have no bench, that's just a false narrative, along with the health issues?? like the Cavs are not even more injury ridden. All around you are underselling GSW completely.

I'm not saying that the Cavs can't beat the Warriors, I have no idea how Lebron and the Cavs are going to perform, Lebron isn't in his final form yet. But it's pretty clear that it's not going to be 5 or 6 games, it's going to go to 7 if the Cavs win it. There is a higher chance the Cavs lose it in an embarrasing fashion than this series going 5 games in favour of the Cavs.

There are alot of reasons to be happy with the performance so far considering the Cavs played like shit in the RS(I had no doubts the Cavs were going to feast on the east even before the playoffs started), but there are also a lot of reasons to be concerned.

 

[Adam]

Jr Smith needs more shots

Especially with Kyrie attending a masons convention

 

[BigJ]

Cavs are playing at the level they are right now because of Lebron James. GSW are going to throw multiple defenders at him, they extremely good in doubling in the post and their defense is on a different level than the defense the Cavs have faced so far.

Cavs had a system in which they defended GSW with Barnes on the court. I'm not sure they exactly know how to defend this GSW team.. yes they won that game in christmas but it's a big sample size and this GSW team is better than it was back then.

Cavs are in trouble against GSW for several reasons. Best players in the playoffs so far other than Lebron are Deron, Frye, Korver, Tristan and Love is playing ok, not great but decent enough to be a plus. We know Frye will have trouble sniffing the court against GSW, Korver is an unknown against GSW on defense and Love has had troubles with GSW in the past. We have too many players that are currently playing at an high level that routinely become non factors against GSW.

We used to rely on Tristan, Kyrie, JR for consistent production, JR is rounding into form slowly, Tristan is Tristan but if we want to have any chance, we need Kyrie to significantly step up his game. If he can't find his shot, find other ways to help the team.

If the Cavs want to hang with GSW, they are going to need to ramp their 3pt defense, we are allowing open looks that Toronto can not convert(maybe by design), Lebron is going to need to attack and frequently visit the FT line and convert his FTs as much as he does in this series and the most important thing is to try to make Kevin a big factor against GSW.

Now, you keep saying that McGee is a non factor and is good for a couple blocks and alley oops, but if Frye is a non factor and isn't going to play much if any at all, who is going to check McGee? we have no one to backup TT in his place and we have seen how terribly Frye defends the PnR and against GSW it's going to be a massacre.

Lebron will not be able to be this efficient against GSW and is undubitably is going to need Kyrie to take off of his scoring load.d Also, Lebron is going to need to exert much more energy on the defensive end.

You keep saying that the Warriors have no bench, that's just a false narrative, along with the health issues?? like the Cavs are not even more injury ridden. All around you are underselling GSW completely.

I'm not saying that the Cavs can't beat the Warriors, I have no idea how Lebron and the Cavs are going to perform, Lebron isn't in his final form yet. But it's pretty clear that it's not going to be 5 or 6 games, it's going to go to 7 if the Cavs win it. There is a higher chance the Cavs lose it in an embarrasing fashion than this series going 5 games in favour of the Cavs.

There are alot of reasons to be happy with the performance so far considering the Cavs played like shit in the RS(I had no doubts the Cavs were going to feast on the east even before the playoffs started), but there are also a lot of reasons to be concerned.



I'm not saying that the Cavs can't beat the Warriors, I have no idea how Lebron is going to play and how the team is going to perform b

You do have some legit Points.

I disagree one some though:

Kyrie will be fine come Finals time.. his competitiveness alone will do that.

The Mcgee Point.. Let him score 10 Points per Game... if that means less Shots for KD,Steph and Klay.. i am fine with it.

Why do you think Lebron cant be as effecient against GSW? He toasted them the last 2 Finals.. if he keeps shooting this well why should that Change? They lost Barnes and you cant trust KD to stop Lebron.. and Iggy is another year older..

Why is this a false narrative with their Bench? They lost bench Scorers like Barbosa and Speights.. thats 16-20 Bench Points.. West is old.. Iggy and Shaun are older.. Correct me please.. wich Team misses its Head Coach at the Moment.. and whose best Player has missed 3 Games in the First Round with Serious Questions if he can last a 7 Game Series of 40 Minutes a night? Its surely not us..

Look i know i am biased towards the Cavs but isnt this basically my Job as Cavs Fan? I am an optimist in everything in life. I focus on what is good and not whats bad.

We are at the very least as deep as they are.. propably deeper.. We have the clear by far best Player.. I dare say our offense is even more unguardable than theirs.. and our Defense is Elite right now..

I would say Team wise its a draw and in that case i blindly trust Lebron to make the difference.

Dont harp too much on my 5 Game Prediction.. 5 Games is too optimistic but i stand by 6 Games in our favor.. If we are healthy and keep playing better every game.

 

[Meny]

Just finished watching the game.

I hate Hubie Brown and I really enjoyed the fact we shut his mouth.

Now, I really want to sweep them, finish it early and get some rest and preparation for the ECF

 

[Andrew]

Hubie does love Jimmy Jones though

 

[HurricaneKid]

I cannot believe how insanely one sided Hubie's call was. I mean G3 was bad but that was way over the line. There are only 2-3 local guys that are that egregious. And that's a completely different way of covering an event.