NBA Season 2013-2014

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601

[quote]Aggv wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
this is a fringe second round team at best.[/quote]

^ i dont think you understand how much they underachieved and were let down by poor coaching last year. This team is a LOCK to go to the ECF as is.

If they dint have a few horrible stretches last year with internal drama (due to lack of strong character and coaching inside the locker room) they would have easily made the 7-8 seed.

Indiana is worse off losing lance.

Chicago will be better, and tough to stop inside but who knows about Rose. His game will not work without him being the athletic freak that he is, who knows how that will be with 2 bum knees

The only team i could see giving the Cavs trouble is the wizards. wall/beal is a really good backcourt, gortat/nene are beasts at the 4/5, and paul pierce is lebrons playoff nemesis it seems.

Cavs losing in the second round is a joke. [/quote]

Dude, you’re talking about a 33-49 team. James is good, he’s not that good. Miami was grandfathered into the Finals 3 out of his 4 years there. Last year the ref’s let 'em play all but one game and James basically gave up. Didn’t try to take over once. You think that guy is taking a team with a one dimensional pg, an out of shape, asshole 2, 3 overrated Canadians and Sideshow Bob as their 5 to the ECF?

Indy is worse off without Stephenson, but they’re still miles ahead of this Cavs roster.

I think Rose is done (at least the Rose of 2 years ago) but Chi has made some solid moves.

Washington was better when the league fucked 'em in the mid 00’s and let James walk his way to game winners and they’re better now.

This is a second round team.

602

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
a 33-49 team. [/quote]

It’s pretty ignorant to only look at the record, and guessing you dont have league pass to have seen those games.

as i mentioned, they severely underachieved last year due to off-court chemistry and bad coaching. I doubt chemistry will be a problem in the locker room this year(remember they had bynum for the first 1/2 of the season), and i think the coaching staff will do a much better job, it’d be hard to do worse.

Your presumed lack of talent on the roster is not the reason for their poor record last year.

ECF AS IS.

603

[quote]Aggv wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
a 33-49 team. [/quote]

It’s pretty ignorant to only look at the record, and guessing you dont have league pass to have seen those games.

as i mentioned, they severely underachieved last year due to off-court chemistry and bad coaching. I doubt chemistry will be a problem in the locker room this year(remember they had bynum for the first 1/2 of the season), and i think the coaching staff will do a much better job, it’d be hard to do worse.

Your presumed lack of talent on the roster is not the reason for their poor record last year.

ECF AS IS.[/quote]

It’s pretty ignorant to assume that I’m only looking at the record (which is still a huge indicator). And for all the talk of “winnable games”, they still lost 'em. Guess what? They’ve still got essentially the same roster. Blaming Bynum for their chemistry problems is laughable at best. Waiters was the biggest culprit and he’s your starting 2. And how’s he gonna handle being demoted to the 3rd or 4th option? Hell, how’s Irving gonna handle not being top dog and the ball taken out of his hands? Wiggins is gonna have a hard time cracking their top 7-8 rotation. This is a team with a ton of holes and even more questions. You’re looking at this through wine and gold colored glasses. This is a second round team.

604

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Washington was better when the league fucked 'em in the mid 00’s and let James walk his way to game winners and they’re better now.[/quote]

Heh, I remember that being a legit entertaining rivalry. (if first-round matchups can even be rivalries)

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Been thinking about this and have come to the conclusion that this is more NBA drama. If the Cavs wanted Wiggins, they’d have signed him already. I imagine this was basically the Wolves pick and they’re playing it out to keep the league in the headlines during the off-season. There is literally a zero percent chance James goes back to Cleveland to lose in the second round, and that’s exactly what happens with this current roster. [/quote]

Heh

605

Aggv, not trying to be a dick. I like this Cavs team and in a backwards way would rather see them succeed than my hometown Rockets 'cause Dwight Howard is THAT douchey. I just dont think their roster - as is - is built for Playoff success. It’s probably a moot point though as I think a big trade will go down soon.

Back to Howard, I think he’s one of the big reasons the Rockets had trouble bringing anyone else in this off-season. For all of his physical gifts he hasn’t really improved as a basketball player since his third season, and in many ways he’s regressed. Houston can’t win with he and Harden as the top two options but neither of those dudes is willing to take a backseat. Also, did y’all hear Howard’s latest comments? Know he’s trying to save face, but damn he sounds like a delusional jackass.

606

Myself, and a whole bunch of professional odds makers disagree, but you’re entitled to your opinion.

http://sports.bovada.lv/sports-betting/basketball-futures.jsp

607

[quote]Aggv wrote:
Myself, and a whole bunch of professional odds makers disagree, but you’re entitled to your opinion.

http://sports.bovada.lv/sports-betting/basketball-futures.jsp[/quote]

Saw that when James officially signed with the Cavs they passed the Spurs as next years title favorites in Vegas. Unless they know something we don’t (which is possible), that is fucking retarded.

608

you believe they’ll get knocked in the second round
Vegas says 3/1 they win the title

I’m somewhere in the middle of those ludicrous predictions and still saying ECF AS IS.

609

[quote]Aggv wrote:
you believe they’ll get knocked in the second round
Vegas says 3/1 they win the title

I’m somewhere in the middle of those ludicrous predictions and still saying ECF AS IS. [/quote]

Ok. Explain to me how they make the ECF. The Heat were built for playoff success and still had to Have Stern hold their hands into the Finals at least 2 out of 3 years. The Cavs are essentially the same team plus James. It’s still a team game, and as of now that team isn’t good enough to get past the 2nd round.

610

[quote]Aggv wrote:
you believe they’ll get knocked in the second round
Vegas says 3/1 they win the title

I’m somewhere in the middle of those ludicrous predictions and still saying ECF AS IS. [/quote]

While there’s always some info to be gleaned from futures pricing, in this case it’s almost entirely the bookmakers covering their azz (plus stealing from the uninformed masses)

They’ve got some long-odds tickets to sweat from anyone who took a position well before Decision 2.0 but anyone now is just handing them money.

Basically overnight CLE became what the Lakers, Yankees and Cowboys used to be: teams that are so popular that their odds can never be “correctly” listed… and yet the square public will still back em.

611

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Explain to me how they make the ECF. [/quote]

I’ve done that already on this page. Did you watch any Cavs games last year? Or are you just basing your opinion on the 1 tnt game where they laid an egg in msg?

612

[quote]chillain wrote:

[quote]Aggv wrote:
you believe they’ll get knocked in the second round
Vegas says 3/1 they win the title

I’m somewhere in the middle of those ludicrous predictions and still saying ECF AS IS. [/quote]

While there’s always some info to be gleaned from futures pricing, in this case it’s almost entirely the bookmakers covering their azz (plus stealing from the uninformed masses)

They’ve got some long-odds tickets to sweat from anyone who took a position well before Decision 2.0 but anyone now is just handing them money.

Basically overnight CLE became what the Lakers, Yankees and Cowboys used to be: teams that are so popular that their odds can never be “correctly” listed… and yet the square public will still back em.

[/quote]

Ya Vegas is in the business of making money, not being a definitive statistical prediction of seasons to come. What you see them list is a mathematical approach to getting the most play, and that goes with all of their offered bets(over/unders, +/- lines, odds on favorite for X event occurrence, etc).

I did put in a value bet on the Cavs to make the finals when they were still a longshot before the LeBron talk heated up, only 10 bucks but I could win some decent money.

613

[quote]Aggv wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Explain to me how they make the ECF. [/quote]

I’ve done that already on this page. Did you watch any Cavs games last year? Or are you just basing your opinion on the 1 tnt game where they laid an egg in msg? [/quote]

And I gave you a detailed breakdown of why they won’t. “They should have better chemistry” and “other teams got worse” isn’t an answer. Indy, Chicago, Washington, and maybe one or two other teams are better.

614

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]Aggv wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Explain to me how they make the ECF. [/quote]

I’ve done that already on this page. Did you watch any Cavs games last year? Or are you just basing your opinion on the 1 tnt game where they laid an egg in msg? [/quote]

And I gave you a detailed breakdown of why they won’t. “They should have better chemistry” and “other teams got worse” isn’t an answer. Indy, Chicago, Washington, and maybe one or two other teams are better.[/quote]

I guess coaching in the NBA means nothing, but please tell me more about the roster and talent of a team you’ve never seen play…

615

IMO, as is, the Cavs “have no shot” at winning the title this upcoming year (technically everyone has a shot but you know what I mean)

It’s all going to depend on how the team gels but right now, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Cavs lost in the second round, lost in the ECF or lost in the Finals.

The only outcomes that would surprise me are winning the title or not making the playoffs. There are WAY too many unknowns since they haven’t even played a game together.

616

[quote]Aggv wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]Aggv wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Explain to me how they make the ECF. [/quote]

I’ve done that already on this page. Did you watch any Cavs games last year? Or are you just basing your opinion on the 1 tnt game where they laid an egg in msg? [/quote]

And I gave you a detailed breakdown of why they won’t. “They should have better chemistry” and “other teams got worse” isn’t an answer. Indy, Chicago, Washington, and maybe one or two other teams are better.[/quote]

I guess coaching in the NBA means nothing, but please tell me more about the roster and talent of a team you’ve never seen play…

[/quote]

A coach with zero NBA experience and a team that NO ONE’S seen play.

617

[quote]Aggv wrote:
I guess coaching in the NBA means nothing, but please tell me more about the roster and talent of a team you’ve never seen play…
[/quote]

Not trying to pile on but coaching doesn’t mean nearly as much as it used to. Of course coaching adjustments matter, but best-of-sevens basically get decided by which team’s two or three players are more unstoppable.

Just yesterday on Cowherd’s radio show, he ranted about the overratedness about coaches and cited Spoelstra; dude has been to four straight Finals but does anyone consider him a great coach?

I also believe it was a Chuck Daly quote that was something like, “at the pro level, the players have to let you coach them.”

618

I do like the Cavs to get to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls and Wizards could very well ruin that I would not be that surprised, but I have Cavs predicted to be second best team in the East behind Indy. I have the Cavs no where near NBA Finals favorites as I like multiple teams in the West over both Cleveland and Indy.

619

I’m not suggesting that the Cavs brought in vince lombardi, but bad coaching in the nba does more to influence a team negatively than a good coach does influences his team positively.

Hopefully that makes sense, and hopefully people realize how awful mike brown was.

620

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