And then there were two, the Cavs and Warriors | Page 3 | Syracusefan.com

And then there were two, the Cavs and Warriors

The coaching matchups are interesting, too, both first-year NBA head coaches from vastly different backgrounds who both very well could have been working together this season. Kerr's long been a fair-haired boy through all his NBA phases and, rightfully so, has gotten a lotta love for the Warriors' success. Blatt's had a much rougher ride this year and, I think, far more challenges to deal with and deserves more credit than he's gotten and is getting. Think what you want, but, c'mon, Blatt at the very least deserved to finish ahead of, not behind, Quin Snyder for Coach of the Year. http://www.ohio.com/sports/cavs/coa...ise-while-leading-cavs-to-nba-finals-1.596875
At best Blatt met expectations. Snyder exceeded them.
 
At best Blatt met expectations. Snyder exceeded them.
Having LeBron helps you win games, no doubt, but when Blatt signed to coach the Cavs, he took over a 33-49 team with Kyrie, Dion, Varajeo, Dellavedova, Joe Harris, Wiggins, Anthony Bennett. Of course, then LBJ came home, brought his boys Mike Miller and James Jones with him, Love comes in, Wiggins and Bennett leave, Varajeo goes down, Dion incapable of fitting in, three months into season team overhauled with Cavs picking up castoffs JR, Iman and Mozgov coming and jettisoning Dion, Love starts to mesh, injures shoulder in first playoff series, Kyrie's hobbled since Boston series, Cavs in finals. I'd dare say Blatt, with LeBron's help, did somewhat better than meet expectations. And coaching a great like LeBron is a mixed blessing, ain't as easy as you may think.
 
Having LeBron helps you win games, no doubt, but when Blatt signed to coach the Cavs, he took over a 33-49 team with Kyrie, Dion, Varajeo, Dellavedova, Joe Harris, Wiggins, Anthony Bennett. Of course, then LBJ came home, brought his boys Mike Miller and James Jones with him, Love comes in, Wiggins and Bennett leave, Varajeo goes down, Dion incapable of fitting in, three months into season team overhauled with Cavs picking up castoffs JR, Iman and Mozgov coming and jettisoning Dion, Love starts to mesh, injures shoulder in first playoff series, Kyrie's hobbled since Boston series, Cavs in finals. I'd dare say Blatt, with LeBron's help, did somewhat better than meet expectations. And coaching a great like LeBron is a mixed blessing, ain't as easy as you may think.

I give the GM more credit than the coach.
 
Having LeBron helps you win games, no doubt, but when Blatt signed to coach the Cavs, he took over a 33-49 team with Kyrie, Dion, Varajeo, Dellavedova, Joe Harris, Wiggins, Anthony Bennett. Of course, then LBJ came home, brought his boys Mike Miller and James Jones with him, Love comes in, Wiggins and Bennett leave, Varajeo goes down, Dion incapable of fitting in, three months into season team overhauled with Cavs picking up castoffs JR, Iman and Mozgov coming and jettisoning Dion, Love starts to mesh, injures shoulder in first playoff series, Kyrie's hobbled since Boston series, Cavs in finals. I'd dare say Blatt, with LeBron's help, did somewhat better than meet expectations. And coaching a great like LeBron is a mixed blessing, ain't as easy as you may think.
That isn't in a vacuum though. You said he deserves it more than Snyder, and didn't say anything about Snyder.

Here's his case: Snyder took one of the worst teams in the NBA, that has no all-stars, that had as a major free agent acquisition Trevor Booker and the youngest player in the draft with their lotto pick and losy one of their best players to injury early on, and improved their record by 13 games, in the West, playing the second half of the season with a back end of the rotation made up entirely of D league players, while having one of the best records in the NBA after the all star break. He took a team of young players and developed them, retooled an offensive identity on the fly, developed a defensive identity that will serve them for years to come, and developed them into a cohesive team.

Also, I'd add, at no point did any of his players throw him under the bus.

Snyder's accomplishments relative to expectations > Blatt's accomplishments relative to expectations
 
That isn't in a vacuum though. You said he deserves it more than Snyder, and didn't say anything about Snyder.

Here's his case: Snyder took one of the worst teams in the NBA, that has no all-stars, that had as a major free agent acquisition Trevor Booker and the youngest player in the draft with their lotto pick and losy one of their best players to injury early on, and improved their record by 13 games, in the West, playing the second half of the season with a back end of the rotation made up entirely of D league players, while having one of the best records in the NBA after the all star break. He took a team of young players and developed them, retooled an offensive identity on the fly, developed a defensive identity that will serve them for years to come, and developed them into a cohesive team.

Also, I'd add, at no point did any of his players throw him under the bus.

Snyder's accomplishments relative to expectations > Blatt's accomplishments relative to expectations

Snyder did a good job without question, finishing 38-44, and apparently mentioning him has distracted some from my point: Blatt has done a helluva job, "masterful" Van Gundy says, for a 55-year-old who had never coached in the NBA, let alone as a head coach. He --- and LeBron ---- has a team that has had serious setbacks injury-wise over the past month playing at a high level and in the finals, a year after the franchise, albeit sans LeBron, was 33-49. My point: Blatt's better than the 9th best coach this season.
 
#whenjameshardenwakesup

This should keep everyone entertained until Game 1 tomorrow night.

Seasons over and dude is still getting hit by the Lil B curse...
 
Fireball Jr.

JR Smith almost made it through the postseason without some nonsense lol..

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...lyn-jenner-as--science-project-172000139.html
Saw that (ouch). He was trying to make a somewhat legit point about how the media trip all over each other covering some stories ad nauseum, but he could've made the point without the "science project"/Jenner shot. JR should do like LeBron and go zero dark thirty, social media-wise, during the playoffs. https://www.facebook.com/LeBron?fref=ts
 
The only time i find people care about concussions are when said person is rooting for a team the player with the concussion is playing against.
Well, you found an exception (but nice try). I cringe whenever I see boxers and soccer/basketball/hockey/particularly football players get their bells rung, regardless of my rooting interest. Not good for the brain.

Would be sad, but not shocking, if a team's "fans" care more about their team winning than one of their "beloved" player's health.
 
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Well, you found an exception (but nice try). I cringe whenever I see boxers and soccer/basketball/hockey/particularly football players get their bells rung, regardless of my rooting interest. Not good for the brain.

Would be sad, but not shocking, if a team's "fans" care more about their team winning than one of their "beloved" player's health.

It's not unreasonable to expect Klay to be back after a week rest. I similarly had a concussion in high school soccer playing as a goalie and was back the next week. I could see if he has had multiple concussions, it would be concerning, but this isn't Wes Welker and I'm not putting any stock into what Jay Mariotti says as a writer thats for sure.

I wasn't saying you were necessarily rooting for Klay to be out, but i think theres some give and take with concussions. I understand careing about the players health, but this is the players livelyhood, if they want to play and they have no history of concussions I see no reason why someone should hold him out from playing. This is a personal responsibility issue, especially in basketball. This is not the NFL, there isn't 2 concussions happening to various players each game.
 
It's not unreasonable to expect Klay to be back after a week rest. I similarly had a concussion in high school soccer playing as a goalie and was back the next week. I could see if he has had multiple concussions, it would be concerning, but this isn't Wes Welker and I'm not putting any stock into what Jay Mariotti says as a writer thats for sure.

I wasn't saying you were necessarily rooting for Klay to be out, but i think theres some give and take with concussions. I understand careing about the players health, but this is the players livelyhood, if they want to play and they have no history of concussions I see no reason why someone should hold him out from playing. This is a personal responsibility issue, especially in basketball. This is not the NFL, there isn't 2 concussions happening to various players each game.

Are you Scott Sterling?

 
It's not unreasonable to expect Klay to be back after a week rest. I similarly had a concussion in high school soccer playing as a goalie and was back the next week. I could see if he has had multiple concussions, it would be concerning, but this isn't Wes Welker and I'm not putting any stock into what Jay Mariotti says as a writer thats for sure.

I wasn't saying you were necessarily rooting for Klay to be out, but i think theres some give and take with concussions. I understand careing about the players health, but this is the players livelyhood, if they want to play and they have no history of concussions I see no reason why someone should hold him out from playing. This is a personal responsibility issue, especially in basketball. This is not the NFL, there isn't 2 concussions happening to various players each game.

I was referring to the Warriors' immediate reaction with Curry and Klay and their rush to get them back into the game.
 
Warriors in 4. It is going to be a Hellacious beating.
 
His body of work's greater than that one bad moment. That was a beaut, I admit, thank heavens for Tyronn Lue, but I imagine even Pop has made a mistake or two in his time, probably, Kerr, too.

BTW, did you read that link?

Pop had Duncan on the bench when they needed a rebound and not getting that rebound cost them the 2013 championship.

Even the best makes mistakes.
 
Way too early but so far Kyrie looks healthy. Golden State is deeper but Cleveland is just as talented with their top 5 vs Golden State's top 5.

Curry-Lebron
Klay-Kyrie
Barnes-JR
Bogut-Mozgov
Green-Thompson
 
LeBron gets away with so many off hand pushes its not fun to watch.
He's basically judo chopping and karate kicking his way to the basket and then getting bailed out by the refs. Lebron is beasting, no doubt, but the refs are letting him do whatever he wants out there.
 

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