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...and it's absolutely sickening. All I keep hearing is that if LeBron just gets this team to the Finals then he's done a hell of a job and that his team will be overmatched no matter what.
BULLSHIT!
There's this assumption that the Warriors-Cavs matchup is inevitable. Okay, let's run with that...
Center - Bogut and Mozgov is a slight advantage to GSW. But not enough to really make a big difference. Both players are slugs. Bogut is a better passer and defender but he'll have his hands full on the glass.
PF - The Cavs are obviously short handed here without Love (assuming he's out for good). This is advantage GSW for sure with Green being able to stretch the floor and score. But his defense essentially gets wasted here on Thompson and if you look at the matchup closely, Thompson should once again own on the offensive glass with his height advantage just as he has all postseason. So although we can agree this goes to GSW, it's really not that great of an advantage.
SF - LeBron in a landslide here. I like Barnes but he will be overmatched here. GSW can go and switch Green onto LeBron which I expect they will but it won't make much difference. James would blow by Draymond.
SG - Klay Thompson wins this matchup over either Smith or Shumpert. I'd imagine Cleveland starts Shumpert based on recent games. But again, this is another matchup that is closer than you'd expect. Shumpert is a very good defender and can contest Thompson and make things tough on him.
PG - This is pretty close to a wash. Both players are capable of going off. Curry is the MVP this year but we all know Irving is a great player in his own right. We can give the nod to GSW but in reality this is about as close as it gets. The two most talented point guards in the game.
Bench - JR Smith is the best scorer BY FAR of anyone coming off the bench. Sure Iguodala can still defend pretty well but he's a bad shooter. Dellavedova and Barbosa cancel out which leaves David Lee - a guy who is no longer much of a factor in this league but can still score a few buckets in limited time.
So at the end of the day, is Cleveland shorthanded without Love? Of course. But let's not act like James was handed another team of drekk. There's a reason he went back to Cleveland. It gave him his best chance to win. And he's surrounded himself with a solid group of shooters like Irving, Smith, Shumpert and role players like Dellavedova who can knock down a shot and Thompson who can add possessions to a game which is crucial in postseason basketball.
If the Cavs make the Finals, there's no reason to expect they can't win. I don't want to hear about LeBron not having a good enough roster. It's complete and utter bullshit.
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Originally Posted by R.P. McMurphy
lakerboy gave t-wizzle 1 SBR Point(s) for this post.
