Phosita - It's fairly obvious that you are 1000% against Cleveland.  We understand.  It's the same arguments in every post.  But how on earth do you think that the Warriors would feel more pressure at home than on the road?  Let alone now being tied 1-1 and knowing they HAVE to steal a game against the Cavs?  They are the OVERWHELMING favorite in this series...there is no pressure on Cleveland.  They were written off about a week before the Finals even started.

In this series, I actually wonder if the Warriors playing at home felt the huge weight of expectations and their status as the overwhelming favorite.

I wouldn't be surprised if they look better on the road because they won't feel that same kind of pressure to perform for the home crowd.  That matters for a young team. 

I was actually thinking the same thing.  But it is also just adjusting to a Finals series pressure as well.  Lebron has been there before.  I think mentally it does make a difference.

But how on earth do you think that the Warriors would feel more pressure at home than on the road?  Let alone now being tied 1-1 and knowing they HAVE to steal a game against the Cavs? 

They're a young team that has been vaulted to the status of all-time great much sooner than anybody anticipated.  Curry went from a top 10 player a year ago to a contender for best player in the league. 

That Oracle crowd is renowned for being absolutely crazy.  But especially with a young team that has not been here before, I think it can cut both ways.  It's like when guys go home and play in front of their family -- sometimes that's a motivator, sometimes it makes you play tight.  The Warriors have looked tight so far.

They are the OVERWHELMING favorite in this series...there is no pressure on Cleveland.  They were written off about a week before the Finals even started.

There isn't that kind of outside pressure on Cleveland.  I agree.  However, Cleveland has had to leverage every last bit of ingenuity and effort they have on what remains of their roster to reach this point.  They've played their hearts out, and only barely managed to win Game 2.

The pressure on Cleveland here is not an external one; rather, it's the pressure of having to expel so much energy just to keep pace even though their team is generally older, more banged up, and only has about 5 or 6 quality rotation players left.



If I argue vociferously in favor of Golden State, it is because Cleveland winning this series would basically be like dropping a nuclear warhead on all of the collective basketball knowledge and analysis that has ever been expended on the NBA playoffs.  Everybody who made any attempt at making some sense out of these two teams and how things would go when they meet up would be cut down below the level of the laziest casual fan in the bar who decided to pick the Cavs, "Because they've got LeBron."

I spend way too much of my life thinking about, talking about, and watching basketball to accept that.    (and I'm just vain enough to nurture some irrational part of me that believes if I just argue effectively in favor of the overwhelmingly favored team that I actually enjoy watching, it'll somehow make a difference)


Or maybe I just don't want my dad, who spends all year ignoring NBA basketball and then texts me constantly during the Finals saying things like, "THE WARRIORS ARE SOFT!"  "CAVS IN 5!"  "CURRY SUCKS!" "THIS IS A DOWN YEAR FOR THE NBA!", to be right.

Nothing, but I think that the Warriors will clean their clocks from here out.   I do not see it going seven but ending in six.  LeBron is going to falter as he always does, the good shooting will stop and the calls will be more balanced as the fans protest that he can grab guys and the other guys cannot.

Quote from: The_Price_Is_Right on June 08, 2015, 02:06:08 PM

But how on earth do you think that the Warriors would feel more pressure at home than on the road?  Let alone now being tied 1-1 and knowing they HAVE to steal a game against the Cavs? 

They're a young team that has been vaulted to the status of all-time great much sooner than anybody anticipated.  Curry went from a top 10 player a year ago to a contender for best player in the league. 

That Oracle crowd is renowned for being absolutely crazy.  But especially with a young team that has not been here before, I think it can cut both ways.  It's like when guys go home and play in front of their family -- sometimes that's a motivator, sometimes it makes you play tight.  The Warriors have looked tight so far.

Quote

They are the OVERWHELMING favorite in this series...there is no pressure on Cleveland.  They were written off about a week before the Finals even started.

There isn't that kind of outside pressure on Cleveland.  I agree.  However, Cleveland has had to leverage every last bit of ingenuity and effort they have on what remains of their roster to reach this point.  They've played their hearts out, and only barely managed to win Game 2.

The pressure on Cleveland here is not an external one; rather, it's the pressure of having to expel so much energy just to keep pace even though their team is generally older, more banged up, and only has about 5 or 6 quality rotation players left.



If I argue vociferously in favor of Golden State, it is because Cleveland winning this series would basically be like dropping a nuclear warhead on all of the collective basketball knowledge and analysis that has ever been expended on the NBA playoffs.  Everybody who made any attempt at making some sense out of these two teams and how things would go when they meet up would be cut down below the level of the laziest casual fan in the bar who decided to pick the Cavs, "Because they've got LeBron."

I spend way too much of my life thinking about, talking about, and watching basketball to accept that.    (and I'm just vain enough to nurture some irrational part of me that believes if I just argue effectively in favor of the overwhelmingly favored team that I actually enjoy watching, it'll somehow make a difference)


Or maybe I just don't want my dad, who spends all year ignoring NBA basketball and then texts me constantly during the Finals saying things like, "THE WARRIORS ARE SOFT!"  "CAVS IN 5!"  "CURRY SUCKS!" "THIS IS A DOWN YEAR FOR THE NBA!", to be right.

TP, thank you so much for your post

It's worth about tree fiddy