Is it really that unusual to have players who can understand a defined role and who can stick to playing it?He's making a good case. When he is off his game the Warriors look pretty mundane, so he is obviously valuable.
I think there is plenty to be said for Cleveland's defense though. Committing to "you have one job; guard him, if help comes, keep guarding him anyway, and don't bother with offense" and sticking to it is pretty strong. I was actively watching for it last night, and I didn't see Dellavedova run the court once when the Cavs had the ball. For a guy who is clearly as intense as they come to do that takes a whole level of discipline that is hard to come by.
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Timsup2nothin
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I'd have to say yes. The urge to "hustle" and "get in the play" when his team has the ball has got to be pretty powerful or he would not be competitive enough to have reached that level. Offense is the 'glamor' part of the game. To tell a guy "we need you to just walk down court on offense, because we will need you to ride this guy for four quarters on the defensive side" is easy enough, but to have it stick through the heat of the moment play after play is, I suspect, pretty unusual. There is a lot of playing sports that requires "being in the moment," which doesn't lend itself well to following full game strategies.
Admittedly, I never played or coached anything at the professional level.
Ah, I see. I think that while offence is glamour there's a personality type which just loves taking someone else down.
Delly certainly seems to take pride in getting inside an opponent's head. It's not that he can't do offence - he did in college at St Marys and for the Aussie junior teams and was a big scorer - but he doesn't seem to need to. Hunting his opponent seems to be enough for him. He wants to play in the NBA, worked out this was how to do it, and that's enough for him.
I suspect it might also be a training thing to an extent, not just a niggling defender personality. As I understand it, the Australian Institute of Sport, the government institute at which guys like Dellavedova and Mills were developed from their mid teens, would not be a particularly glamour focused place to learn the sport. It has a pretty big emphasis on basketball smarts and playing one's role, and isn't the sort of place where a bloke will develop an ego. After all it's a government institute whose goal is to produce effective sportspeople - the ultimate goal in the basketball program is medals for Australia. Delly seems pretty big on the national thing - his twitter profile is him in his Boomers uniform. Maybe that focus influences priorities in a way coming through high school and college does not.
Delly certainly seems to take pride in getting inside an opponent's head. It's not that he can't do offence - he did in college at St Marys and for the Aussie junior teams and was a big scorer - but he doesn't seem to need to. Hunting his opponent seems to be enough for him. He wants to play in the NBA, worked out this was how to do it, and that's enough for him.
I suspect it might also be a training thing to an extent, not just a niggling defender personality. As I understand it, the Australian Institute of Sport, the government institute at which guys like Dellavedova and Mills were developed from their mid teens, would not be a particularly glamour focused place to learn the sport. It has a pretty big emphasis on basketball smarts and playing one's role, and isn't the sort of place where a bloke will develop an ego. After all it's a government institute whose goal is to produce effective sportspeople - the ultimate goal in the basketball program is medals for Australia. Delly seems pretty big on the national thing - his twitter profile is him in his Boomers uniform. Maybe that focus influences priorities in a way coming through high school and college does not.
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Probably so. Thanks for the insight.
Did hear his college coach on radio last night. 
He said he was a scorer and had the ball 90% of their possesions his senior year.
He also said he was awful at defense when he arrived... but by his junior year was their best defender. He said Delly was a no nonsense player... and very smart.
He could not believe that he went to the hospital... saying that most times Delly would not want to show any weakness.
Was interesting. The coach seemed very laid-back.
He said he was a scorer and had the ball 90% of their possesions his senior year.
He also said he was awful at defense when he arrived... but by his junior year was their best defender. He said Delly was a no nonsense player... and very smart.
He could not believe that he went to the hospital... saying that most times Delly would not want to show any weakness.
Was interesting. The coach seemed very laid-back.
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I thought the cameraman taking out Lebron and the cops fighting off the cameras afterwards was pretty funny.
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Cavs looked really gassed.
I think the game was lost at the start of the 4th when Blatt took the starters out for a while. Cavs short rotation is really gonna hurt.
I think the game was lost at the start of the 4th when Blatt took the starters out for a while. Cavs short rotation is really gonna hurt.
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Only question is whether two days rest makes a difference. Else it is just a numbers game, and GS has the numbers.
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The best part is there's at least one report that the bench players are unhappy that they aren't being used.
Maybe if they weren't a bunch of scrubs or washed-up players they'd get used. Like Shawn Marion was amazing in his day, if he could give them anything he'd be getting used but the dude's 37 years old. The rest of the bench is ass(Kendrick Perkins lol).
Maybe if they weren't a bunch of scrubs or washed-up players they'd get used. Like Shawn Marion was amazing in his day, if he could give them anything he'd be getting used but the dude's 37 years old. The rest of the bench is ass(Kendrick Perkins lol).
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Best demonstration of the mindset of sports media:
"In game four Mosgov had the best game of his life and it's the only game of the series where your team got blown out. Why did you not play the same lineup and the same game plan for game five?"
Blatt is getting skewered for every move he makes, because, well...Blatt. If I were him I'd have socked a reporter by now. At least one.
"In game four Mosgov had the best game of his life and it's the only game of the series where your team got blown out. Why did you not play the same lineup and the same game plan for game five?"
Blatt is getting skewered for every move he makes, because, well...Blatt. If I were him I'd have socked a reporter by now. At least one.
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They should rename it the LeBron James Show. Will the other team come up with a viable strategy to beat him, or not? Stay tuned to find out.
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I do think it's valid to ask why Mosgov isn't subbing for Thompson when Thompson is getting clearly gassed at the end of games, just to take a few minutes off him. But yeah, overall, Blatt is getting a lot more flak than he deserves.
Also, I'm still not a big fan of people comparing this Lebron supporting cast to the '06 one though. I looked at that roster the other day and holy lol was it awful. Like this team is by no means great but imo it's a hell of a lot better that dumpster fire was.
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So, the good news is that with Golden State finishing it off tonight we don't have to sit through a seventh game of Mark Jackson embarrassing himself. Biggest question of the off season: will Stephan Curry allow Jackson to carry his love child?
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Iggy getting the finals MVP, I love it. There's so few guys I've seen play defense on Lebron(Jimmy Butler, Kawhi, younger Shawn Marion) like he did this series and he broke out offensively. Can't help but feel good for him too, was on so many mediocre/bad teams and he was willing to be a bench player this year.
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He did play defense, and he did break out on offense...but seriously, five years from now when someone asks him "what did you do to win that finals MVP award?" will he be honest enough to say that he got smoked for 36 pts a game?
Can't really bring myself to be that upset here. Cleveland's second and third best players were out, their bench players were beat up, and they ran out of gas after really testing a historically great team. If Love comes back (which he's expected to), even though the back half of this roster is going to be totally different, you have to think the Cavs are probably the favorites to win next season. I'm okay with that.
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He wasn't on Lebron 100% of the time, though, that's the thing. At least in the first few games the breakdown of his shooting percentage with and without Iguodala on him was pretty big, and Lebron was just hitting ridiculous shots like that one-footed 12 foot fadeaway jumper with Igoudala defending him about as well as any human being possibly can. Lebron absolutely destroyed anyone else they put on him.
I don't like giving it to a guy you have to take out if free-throws are a factor at end-game.
Faked a few fouls and complained every time one was called against him too
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Had to go to Curry IMO.
I had forgot they even had Iggy until the playoffs started
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Hey Downtown... what about Kyrie? Would you prefer Wade?
Faked a few fouls and complained every time one was called against him too
.Had to go to Curry IMO.
I had forgot they even had Iggy until the playoffs started
.Hey Downtown... what about Kyrie? Would you prefer Wade?
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Faked a few fouls and complained every time one was called against him too
Every player did this with every call in these Finals, even on calls that were obvious fouls. I've never seen so much whining before. I think it was Game 5 where the refs finally told the players to shut up or they were going to start getting technicals.
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