call me crazy, but i think that game 7 is the most important in a 7 game seriesThey say games 2 and 5 are the most important in a 7 game series.
pretty good prediction.I won't predict 50 pts for Lebron but I'll say 40 pts and flirts with a triple double.
https://vine.co/v/eer0jx09dFbsteph curry is just sick to watch sometimes.
Iguodala and Harrison Barnes are pretty much going to be focused 100% on playing defense on LeBron im telling you LeBron isnt going to win this series for the cavs and if he doesnt then nobody will
Thompson got a concussion but he has a lot of time to recover and its still basketball we're talking about here, I can't see him missing his first trip to the finals
Bogut is an underrated center. former #1 overall pick iirc.
LeBron is still the best player in the league, but if you go player-by-player it is hard to make an argument for the Cavs to win outside of "well LeBron will carry them to victory"
except that doesnt always happen. Chris Bosh was a huge part of why Miami won those two rings. Kevin Love = Chris Bosh
and he's not playing, that's the only thing we know for sure
remember, the Heat made the finals and lost to Dallas in Lebron's first year. I think he'll win in Cleveland eventually, just not this year
idk, I'd say there's 4 legit contenders on each side, with one out of each conference that would need a lot to go right either matchup or injury-wise in order to win it all
id put it like this (in a particular order) MIA, OKC, GS, IND, SA, CHI, BKY, HOU
basically the most favored odds at this point, although I think Golden State are underrated since they got exactly what they needed in Iguodala but only if he lets Curry and Thompson take the jump shots and actually drives to the basket to get to the foul line and get the other team's probably superior big men into possible foul trouble. Other than that, just finish a fast break every once and a while and play good defense against the other teams best player (probably going to be a SF if they make it to either the Conf finals or championship). When he sticks to what he does best, he's one of the best SF in the game to be honest, but what he does best just isn't enough to carry a team to greatness as the main focal point. I'd trust the Warriors at 18/1 over the Rockets at 10/1 any day of the week to be honest.
Houston really is such a wild card though. While I think Dwight Howard will be able to play well enough with James Harden to be championship material, it is solely reliant upon him actually reaching his full potential and showing some kind of proof that his maturity and work ethic finally grew alongside his naturally freakish physical stature and ability to churn out double-doubles that would probably average about 6-8 points more per game if he had anything remotely close to an acceptable free-throw percentage. I like Lin as a point guard, but I just don't know if he's going to be a huge factor in such a top-heavy league at PG. The rest of their team is pretty uninspiring as well, although I think Asik is an underrated asset just for his ability to play defense and rebound when Dwight comes out and be almost as effective. It all comes down to Dwight though, and his ability to learn things from the collection of former professional big men trying to teach them to him. And while that could be a match made in heaven, when has Dwight Howard learned to do anything that would require being professional? Picking and choosing when you do and don't want to try is the ultimate unprofessional move you can make. He might still be one of the best big men in the league, but only because his bone structure is not going to shrink any time soon and the baskets aren't being raised either. If he had even half of the winning desire that Shaq, or Tim Duncan, or even KG has, he would be considered one of the best players in the league period, at all positions. When your dissatisfaction with losing has less of an affect on you than your elation at winning, you will never be a great player.
so TLDR, it's still too early to tell who is the favorites because injuries and trades affect the NBA moreso than any other major sport IMO, but only because it is the most individualistic one
he is still one of the most athletic players in terms of size/explosiveness ratio in the league by far (even at his age), and one of the best defenders as well. I don't see Steph Curry or Klay Thompson ever being nearly as good at either of those two things as Iguodala, but they are already better shooters than he ever would be. Not to mention, he is both one of the best fast break distributors as well as finishers in the league. When he gets to be running full steam and catch people backpedaling, you want the ball in his hands so they have to get to the paint (or get out of the paint to avoid incoming poster). This lets either Curry or Thompson run behind and either get a wide open 3 or at the very least someone like David Lee will have a chance at a mid range jumper after a quick pass or two due to the trailing defenders looking to defend a wide open three. Iguodala is a great passer when he gets to dictate who is going to be open alongside him by drawing defenders towards him. It's when the defenders know he isnt driving the net they give him space and he falls in love with his mediocre mid-range or three point shot. The fact that he can grab a defensive rebound and make all that happen in less than 5-7 seconds is how you score easy baskets in games, and easy baskets are the most taken for granted thing in basketball. Like when CJ Watson (your boy mike) missed that wide open layup against the Bulls in the first round last year, that was a huge turning point in the game, which the bulls probably should not have won. You don't realize how much a guy like Iguodala does until he's not in the game, trust me, it happened to every person who has more than a casual interest in the 76ers. But they needed to rebuild anyway, and it's a shame he wasn't around for the 2001 team, because he would have been a perfect fit for them too. That's the thing, there's no place he isn't a perfect fit for because there's nothing he can't do reasonably well, if not downright amazingly for his position. Except be that guy. But when you don't ask him to be, he's a very desirable asset
I don't want to compare him to Scottie Pippen because I think Pippen has a much better body of work, but if Iguodala had a Jordan to play alongside of he would have been Scottie 2.0 basically