What You Missed From Game 7

By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - LeBron James, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36918817

Game 7 was quite the game. At half-time, there were Warriors fans were saying that the Warriors were going to win it all. Then came the final minutes of game 7. It was neck and neck and the Cavs pulled ahead to win it. That's when everyone went nuts and surprisingly everyone missed a lot of stats and things that happened in this game. People jumped to things saying, "Curry lost the game, LeBron James won it, Kevin Love was still horrible in the series and he'll be traded." Well, here I am, and here is what you probably missed from game 7.

Curry Lost The Game?
While Curry really did blow away any chances to win the game towards the end, did he really lose the game? Towards the end, Kevin Love was guarding Curry, and of course, Curry thought he could take advantage of it. But Kevin was on Curry tight. This left room for Curry to get to the rim, but instead of trying to drive, he was set on shooting a 3; a 3 that was well off. This was a big possession and was really the turning point in this game. Curry even said after the game he "settled". He settled for shots. While it didn't lose them the game, it really hurt their chances to get back in it. Instead of closing it out, Curry settled, and that led to the loss.

But What About Klay?
While Curry got a beating from the media, Klay left without a scratch, besides the fact that he left the game without congratulating the other team. Tell me, do you remember Klay making shots in this game? Because he didn't make many. Klay had only 14 points and shot 2-10 from 3-point range. He shot worse than Curry from 3 and didn't show up to the game, yet no one really mentioned Klay at all.

LeBron Carried The Team?
LeBron did a great job in this series, but right after the game, Kyrie's performances were forgotten. This guy was on fire throughout the whole series. While I think LeBron was no doubt the MVP, everyone seemed to forget about guys Kyrie, Richard Jefferson, and Tristan Thompson. Sure, LeBron was great, but recognition for the whole team wasn't there. After all, without these guys, would've they even come close to winning the championship?

Kevin Love Hurt The Team?
People wouldn't stop talking about Kevin Love's performance throughout the series and after it was over. What people missed was Kevin Love's amazing defense and rebounding in game 7. But if they didn't miss that, they sure didn't see his +/- advantage. Kevin Love was a +19 on the floor while Kyrie was only a +10. And LeBron James, he was a +4. When Kevin Love was in the lineup, it was extremely beneficial to the team. The fact that the guy had 14 rebounds in only 30 minutes of play alone was amazing. 

Draymond...
Everyone seemed to forget about Draymond's play after game 7. The guy had 32 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals. He also shot 6-8 from 3. However, no one said a word about it after the game.


And Last... Is Tristan Thompson Defensive Player Of The Year?
The media went crazy after LeBron's block on Iggy. Yet here is the thing, If Iggy didn't change his shot in mid-air, it never would've been blocked. It was a blocked shot. Now, LeBron was good defensively, but guess who was on Curry and Klay chasing out to the 3 point line through the whole game. It was Tristan Thompson. Let me make this clear... Tristan Thompson had 3 rebounds in game 7. Only 3. The reason why? He was chasing guys out on the 3 point line. Tristan Thompson contested 7 three point shots during game 7. That was more than anyone else on the team. He contested more 3 point shots than J.R., more than Irving, more than Shumpert, and more than LeBron. And guess who was doing it, that's right, the starting center for the Cavs. And even while he was out of the paint, he still managed to fit in 2 blocks. When your starting center can guard Stephen Curry, that does a lot. We see a block from LeBron and think he's the best defender, when people don't realize, there is a lot more to defense than that. LeBron might have saved a couple plays, Tristan Thompson might have saved the whole game.


 

NBA Finals Game 5 Preview

By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Kevin Love, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36918954

The Cavaliers are down 3-1 to the Warriors. A lot of people are saying, "Hey, the Warriors came back from a 3-1 deficit this post-season, why can't the Cavs. Now I'm not saying that the Cavs can't do it, but I am going to say that what the Warriors did was totally different. The Warriors only had to play 1 game on the road while they had 2 home games left. The Cavs only have 1 home game left and have to win 2 games on the Warriors home floor. Now, this isn't impossible because 2 of the 10 teams to comeback from a 3-1 deficit only had 1 home game left after being down 3-1. One was the Celtics from the Bill Russell days, and the other team was the Houston Rockets and their clutch city team. These are two historic teams. And no one has comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals, so if the Cavs were to accomplish this feat, it would be a very historic moment in NBA history.

Now, if you haven't heard, Draymond Green has been suspended for game 5 of the NBA finals due to his encounter with LeBron. He will be out of the lineup. I don't know what Steve Kerr is going to do, but I have to assume he'll start Iggy at the 3 and slide Barnes to the 4. What I do if I'm the Cavs, is start Love at the 5. Now you might think I'm crazy, but I can explain. Love at the 5 would most likely match him up with Andrew Bogut and Kevin Love is a guy that can really stretch the floor. Through the whole time Andrew Bogut is on the floor, I'd suggest the Cavs go into pick and roll/pop with Love. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving should just go into pick and roll/pop with Love until Steve Kerr decides to take Bogut out of the game. With shooters like Jefferson and J.R., if the Warriors help off of the pick and roll, these guys will have wide open shots and lanes to the basket. We've seen how the Warriors do against the small line-up in pick and roll when they have Bogut or Ezeli out there; it isn't pretty. With them down 3-1, they have to try something, and Love at the 5 might actually work for at least the first quarter.

With Draymond Green out, this really takes away the Warriors' versatility and option to go small. This is going to force them to have a big throughout most of the game and what the Warriors are going to have to hope to do is out-score the Cavs. I expect Anderson Varejao to play a big role for the team because of his versatility and hustle he brings. He can also somewhat stretch the floor. Same with Speights and I think he will also get some key minutes.









Game 5 is going to be Cleveland's best chance to steal a game in Golden State and you have to think if they can win the next 2 games, they will have a good shot at winning game 7 in Golden State.

Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 3)

Warriors Lead Series 2-1

I want to start out this post by saying that Damian Lillard did what Damian Lillard needed to do to win this game. The kid had 40 points and 10 assists in the game. He took over for this Traiblazers team. He took advantage of this team not having the defensive presence of Steph Curry. No matter the shot Lillard was given, he made sure he made it.

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were amazing. Klay had 35 points! But Draymond had 37 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and he shot 8-12 from 3-point range. A lot of his shots were wide open too. He played great but the Warriors couldn't come out with the W.

There were two reasons why the Trailblazers won. First, they didn't turn the ball over. They took great care of the ball. They only had 10 turnovers on the night. Portland made sure that they always got back in transition and the best team in transition only had 2 fastbreak points. When you limit the Warriors to 2 fastbreak points, you are doing a pretty good job at defending them.

The other reason was that the Trailblazers hit tough shots. The Warriors did a good job defensively but the Trailblazers just hit tough shots as they were lead by Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

As you can see, the Trailblazers deserved to get this win because they worked hard. If they keep this up, they could look and making this series a lot more interesting.

Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 2)

Warriors Lead Series 2-0

Portland was winning. They were doing great. That was until the 4th quarter came. The Warriors executed just as Steve Kerr wanted them to.

The first point I'm going to make is that Portland was kept off the boards. Mason Plumlee was limited to 11 rebounds. The team had only 39 boards on the game while the Warriors had 48. It was sheer hustle from Draymond Green who ended the game with 14 rebounds himself.

What really had the Trailblazers going was the defense from Al-Farouq Aminu. He contested a total of 15 shots. His defense was amazing and his offense wasn't bad either as he hit a few threes and ended with 14 points. He was the second best player to have on the floor according the plus/minus advantage.

The Warriors took the lead and pulled away from the Blazers in the 4th quarter. If we take a look at just what happened in that quarter, there is a big difference between the teams. That difference is the free throws. The Blazers shot and made just 2 free throws in that quarter while the Warriors shot 11 and made 10 free throws in that quarter. In the other 3 quarters, Golden State shot just 9 free throws while Portland shot 19. The Blazers were in great position defending and they were aggressive themselves until that 4th quarter. This was what really stood out to me. The Blazers just lost their aggression and they bailed out the Warriors with fouls.

As you can see, the Warriors and Blazers flip-flopped in that 4th quarter and that seemed to decide the game. For game 3, the Blazers just need to get to the line and play great defense like they did in the first 3 quarters. 

Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 1)

Warriors Lead Series 1-0

I enjoyed watching this game. However, I had a weird dream last night, it was that Shaun Livingston went for 50 points in this game. I seriously thought this actually happened for a little while. However, I do like watching Shaun Livingston on the court. I loved watching him on the Nets and I'm glad he has this opportunity with the Warriors.

I thought that the Trailblazers did a great job with a lot of things. When Damian Lillard wasn't producing, they moved the ball really well. They had 26 assists on the night. However, 3 key guys played very insufficiently. Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Mason Plumlee shot just 13-50 from the field combined! These are the guys that need to be leading the team. That is why they lost.

The Warriors played great. Klay Thompson had 37 points on the night. Draymond Green also added 23 points to that total. They were not lacking on offense. They rebounded very well. Draymond, Bogut, and Harrison Barnes had a total of 37 rebounds on the night. The Warriors got out and ran the court as well. They had 19 fastbreak points. Shaun Livingston seemed to always be pushing the tempo, leaving Portland in the dust. He was a great floor general.

All I can really say is that the Warriors played great while the Trailblazers had a lack of offense from their star players. They need more production. The Warriors are doing great and they are looking great without Curry. They are putting doubts to rest it seems like. And when Curry comes back.... you could only imagine.

Aaron's Awards For The 2015-16 Season

As you might not have known, last year I made a post giving who I thought the award winners were for last year. This year, I am doing the same thing. So here we go...

Coach Of The Year: Before I jump into this, I do want to give a shout out to Dave Joerger; a guy that I think should be in the running for coach of the year. The guy had to deal with 28 different players this season. A regular team only has to deal with about 15-18 different players. The best thing about this, is that Joerger still managed to help this team get the 7th seed in the west even without most of their starters that they started the year with. But enough of me ranting on about the Grizzlies, I'll make sure I'll have a different post to do that in. Right now, we need to bring back the meaning of the Coach of the Year award because right now it seems like the team with either the best or the second best record gets the award. I think that doesn't really mean much. In fact, I don't think Steve Kerr even deserves this award. While they did great, I don't think it was their coaching staff that went above and beyond, I think it was their players. I also think it shouldn't be the "Coach" of the year, I think it should be the "Coaching staff" of the year where the whole coaching staff gets this award. While the head coach does so much, assistant coaches, coordinators, all of the film guys, and especially the medical staff do so much. Now, who is the Coach of the year? It could really go to Terry Stotts, who has done such a great job coaching Portland, or even Dave Joerger. But my coach of the year has to go to Gregg Popovich. He has lead to a great Spurs record of 67-15. Not only that, but they were able to do that while resting guys. With their best player, Kawhi Leonard out of the lineup, they were 7-3! That is why Pop is my pick.
Winner: Gregg Popovich

Sixth Man Of The Year: Jamal Crawford has the points but he has done nothing other than throw up shots. Enes Kanter, on the other hand, has been grabbing rebounds and has stepped up his defense. Kanter is shooting a career high in FG percentage and 3-point percentage as he has been a big help off the bench. Crawford, meanwhile, has been shooting poorly and has tied his career low in assists per game. Kanter has affected the team to be able to win while Crawford hasn't put up good shooting percentages or assisting numbers. While Crawford hit some big shots for the team, Kanter has been the better bench player.
Winner: Enes Kanter


Rookie Of The Year: While Porzingis and Okafor played pretty good, Karl-Anthony Towns was amazing. Here is what he lead the rookies in; points, rebounds, double-doubles, and minutes. He was second in blocks, shot 54% from the field, and averaged a double-double. Not to mention, he is the only rookie this year to get a player of the week award. He has played the best out of the rookies by far.
Winner: Karl-Anthony Towns

Most Improved Player: You could make a case for Isaiah Thomas or Kemba Walker, but C.J. McCollum has gone from a 6 PPG player to a 20 PPG player. I really can't give the award to anyone else, because no one has done that this season. Nothing even close to such change. Not to mention, he has been a big part in Portland making the playoffs.
Winner: C.J. McCollum

Defensive Player Of The Year: Draymond Green and Kawhi Leonard, how do you pick between the 2. Well, Draymond has been the better defensive player. While Kawhi has been putting tons of effort on offense, Draymond has been focusing his game on defense. Even though both guy negatively affect the team when they are taken off the court, Draymond has a bigger impact. When Draymond is taken off, the Warriors allow about 12 more points per 100 possessions, while the Spurs allow about 5.5 more when Leonard is off the court. Draymond averages 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks while Leonard averages 1.8 steals and 1 block. As you can see, both are great defensive players, but Kawhi is more of a focused offensive player.
Winner: Draymond Green
 
Most Valuable Player: Tied for 1st in steals, 11th in assists, 45.4% from 3 while shooting 11.2 3-pointers per game, made over 400 3's as he broke his own record of most 3s in a season, lead his team to the best record ever of 73-9, lead the league in points with 30.1 per game, and was only 10th in turnovers, Stephen Curry. Any arguments?
Winner: Stephen Curry

Do you agree? Disagree? Comment your thoughts down below!

NBA Inside The Player Of The Week (Dec. 29 - Jan. 4)

Stephen Curry was seen sitting on the bench quite a bit this past week. That is because he was having shin pains. The Warriors have seem to have most of their success come from Stephen Curry who may just be the best player in the world. With him out of the lineup, it seemed like it might have been pretty tough for the Warriors to win games. However, Draymond Green completely took over the games while Curry was out. Let's take a look at how Draymond Green helped his team win 3 out of 4 games this past week.

In 3 of those 4 games, Draymond Green had a triple-double. He rebounded and passed the ball really well. And while his scoring numbers weren't that flashy, Draymond Green shot well from the floor, especially from 3. He shot 53% from deep this past week. But it wasn't like he was taking tough shots. If you watched the video above, you can see that Draymond Green wasn't taking tough shots, they were actually open shots. Why was he this open though? The reason why is because Draymond Green was passing so well, that the opponents were so much worried about the other players that Draymond was passing to as they were about him. Forwards and Centers aren't used to a guy passing like that from that position. With that being said, Draymond Green was getting open jumpers all night.

Draymond was outstanding in transition. If you watched the video above, you could see him running the floor beating all of the bigs in transition. He did really well sharing the ball in transition as well as scoring in transition. That is big though. If you have a big guy who can run the floor and pass in transition, you are going to get a lot of easy points. That is why Draymond is so valuable.

Draymond also really helped his team on the defensive end. He averaged 1.25 blocks and 2.25 steals this past week. And to top that off Draymond's assist ratio this week is top 11 in the league in the last 5 games. He is the only PF/C to be on there.

Draymond Green is obviously this week's NBA Inside The Player Of The Week. He has earned it this week by showing us that he was the main reason's for this Warriors team's success and that he clearly deserved this award. Him and his team battled without Stephen Curry for most of this week. So congratulations to Draymond Green on winning his first ever, NBA Inside The Player Of The Week award.

Fantasy Friday: New Year's Resolutions

It's a new year! And there are some players that have had a great year, and there are some that are ready to put 2015 behind them. Those players are ready to start off fresh and come out with some new numbers. That is their New Year's Resolution. Let's take a look at them.

Kevin Love- This last year didn't go to well for him. He struggled as he was averaging under 20 PPG, something he hadn't done in a while. He wasn't shooting as well and not getting as much boards. To top that off, he was injured in the playoffs and the Cavs ended up losing in the Finals. Recently it has been real bad though. In December alone, Kevin Love has been averaging 12.7 points, and has been shooting 37.3% from the field and 27.1% from 3-point land. Coming into this next year, Kevin Love wants to bring that up. His New Year's resolution is to get out of this shooting slump and average 20 PPG. Can he do it? It's a New Year's resolution people!

Draymond Green- You heard this guy, he thinks the Warriors can get better. He isn't satisfied at all. As you can see, he already brought his 3-point percentage from 33% to 40%, which is insane. So this guy is always going to be getting better. For Green's New Year's resolution, he is looking to clean it up and cut it down to 1 turnover per game instead of 3. Good luck Green!

LeBron James- LeBron wants to be as good as he can right? Well he can start by shooting better. I think that is what LeBron wants to do. Increase his range. By the end of the year, LeBron wants to be a 38% three point shooter. Do I think that's possible, eh. But he can certainly bring that up.

Chandler Parsons- Yeah, Parson is having troubles. He is averaging a career low in points, rebounds, and steals. This should be the part of his career where he is at his best. And Chandler Parsons could be all-star material right? Yeah. That is why he wants to average at least 19 PPG for the year of 2016. Parsons wants to average the best numbers in his career yet. He doesn't want his career to end at the age of 27, he wants his best years to be now!

Brandon Jennings- He has started in all but 3 of his game up until now. Jennings has been bench after coming back from injury. Obviously, Jennings wants to start. But how is he going to. He has to prove himself, and the only way to start is to average starting numbers. He is going to average 18 PPG and become 6th man of the year. Then Jennings will prove that he is starter material. So he will either become a starter or he will be traded.

Michael Carter-Williams- He is sick of missing shots. He is going to develop a jumper. Not only that, but MCW is going to shoot at least 75% from FT and 33% from 3-point land. And just when you think he is satisfied, he will average at least 9 assists. MCW is going to be a valuable fantasy player to have. At least, that's the plan.

So, how did you like the resolutions. Do you have any that I didn't mention? Share them below in the comments section if you do. As always, I will see you next week. Happy New Year From NBA Inside The Play Nation! 

The Golden Run

"Stephen Curry (16640524995)" by Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

It is over now. Ended by the Milwaukee Bucks. And while you may not have liked it, you have to admit that it was fun to think that they could have gone 34 games in a row to beat the Lakers record. However, the Warriors feat is still amazing considering that they blew out the past best start to the season which was the 15-0 as the Warriors made it to 24-0. Now, in this post, I'm going to look at how the Warriors made this run, and how to beat the Warriors.

How The Warriors Went 24-0
What did it take to win 24 games in a row? It took a combination of multiple factors. The fact is, Stephen Curry can't win 24 games in a row on his own. As great of a shooter he is, he just can't win by himself, and we saw that in the game against the Bucks. The first factor that I want to look at is offense. Let's take a look.

The Warriors lead in a lot of categories offensively, take a look at all of them

• 1st in PPG:                           115.3
• 1st in 3-point %:                   42.5%
• 1st in 3 pointers made:         13.1
• 1st in FG%                           48.7%
• 1st in FGs made:                  42.3
• 1st in Offensive Rating:       112.9
• 1st in APG:                           28.6
• 1st in Transition Points         577
• 1st in Off-ball screen points  312

So as you can see; they are very efficient offensively. They do this as you can see by shooting the ball really well from 3. They also just outscore you. There offense is really spread and is great in PnR. 176 of Stephen Curry's points have come from pick and roll.That is 7 points for Stephen Curry on PnR. In fact, Curry's 2 man game with Draymond is one of the best in the league. 30 of the passes that Curry receives are from Draymond. The next person is Bogut with 8.

What else you really need to look at is moving without the ball. Stephen Curry isn't a player that just plays isolation. He can also play off ball. Stephen Curry actually leads the league in points off of off-ball screens with 120. Guess who is second. That's right, Klay Thompson. He has 109 on the season. The Warriors offense is so great that everybody is coming off off-ball screens getting wide open shots. That is what you want in an offense; guys coming off screens getting the high percentage shot. That is another reason reason why Stephen Curry is so hard to guard. Not only is he deadly when he gets past half-court, not only can he take you off the dribble as well, but he also can score on you without the ball. 

The other big thing offensively, is the Warriors transition game. The Warriors lead the league in transition points. That is lead by Stephen Curry as he leads the league with Transition points. He also is second in the league in Effective FG% for player that takes more than 1 transition shots per game. Patty Mills is first. When your team runs the floor that well, you are going to get easy points.>
Defensively, the Warriors are great. They have the 5th best defensive rating in the league. They make every team earn every shot. They give up no easy shots. In fact, they give up the 3rd least amount of spot up jumpers with just 16.3 PPG against them off of spot-ups. That is why teams have to find other ways to score against this team because the Warriors won't give you that open jumper.
 
So how do you stop a team that plays offense near perfection, a defense that gives you nothing easy, an MVP player who can shoot from literally anywhere from the floor, and a lineup that somehow can't be beat? That is a great question. Let's take a look at the best way to take down the Warriors.



How To Beat The Warriors
The Warriors play fantastic offense. To really get it out of rhythm, you are going to have to take some chances with Stephen Curry. If can double him on cuts, deny the ball as hard as you can, and just double him as much as you can. The best thing to do is to let the ball get to the post. If you are playing the Warriors, you have to let the post get touches. The Warriors are not a post orientated team. They only shoot 39.2% from the post. That is 24th in the league. Never double in the post because Bogut and Draymond are great passers at the post. You really need to lets them get down there and play straight up defense.

If Stephen Curry starts to get going with 3 threes in a row, you have to foul Iguodala if he is on the floor. You need to take Curry out of his rhythm.

Offensively, your team needs to have guys that can post up. The Warriors allow a lot of post-up points. It is a big lapse in their defense. They allow the 4th most points from the post in the league. You need to have players who are willing to take it in the post because they don't defend the post that well.

Another big thing is just forcing turnovers. If you really press up on the Warriors, you will force lots of turnovers because of their up-beat tempo. You really have to take it to them in transition though. Warriors have one of the worst transition defense's in the league as they have given up 433 points in transition this season. The Warriors are 7th in the league in turnovers, so you just need to use lots of pressure.

Another thing to do is to get your guards in to isolation and pick and roll to start the game. Warriors have given up tons of points in isolation and aren't really that great in isolation on the defensive end. If you have a dynamic point or shooting guard, you need to take it at the Warriors. Also make sure that when Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are out of the game that you make a basket on almost every possession. The Warriors are know to have their offense and defense fall apart a little while these 2 players are out of the game, and with Harrison Barnes out right now, it's even worse.

So how did the Bucks and the Celtics almost beat them? Well, if you watched the video above, you would have seen that it had to do with Steph being out of the game. That isn't all though. What did they do when Curry was in the game?

Well, Greg Monroe really pounded down low in the post, a key to beating the Warriors as he had 28 points. The other thing was that they contested tons of shots. Also, a thing worst noting is they pressured Klay so much. They didn't give him an inch and really took him out of the game. Same thing with Draymond. They limited him to 5 assists and forced 6 turnovers out of him. 


They really took it to them in transition as well as they outscored the Warriors in the transition department. They also let the Warriors have there points in the paint. The Warriors had 56. What the Warriors did was let them get inside and finish, but the Milwaukee Buck outscored them from the inside, which if what you want to do if you are the Bucks and you don't shoot many 3-pointers.


They let Iguodala get the ball. They didn't let Steph get as many touches as he has been but they sure let Iggy get a lot of touches. Iggy of course just can't convert like Curry especially with a great defender like Giannis guarding him. Curry still had a great night, but the Buck did a great job letting the posts get their points and playing the wings where they couldn't score. Curry is going to score, there is nothing you can do about that. But you have to let the posts put up shots and you have to take away the wings, and that is what the Bucks did.

The Warriors are a great team and are going to be hard to stop. Doing all of this won't stop them from winning, but it will give you a much better chance in winning against them. The Warriors are going to win a lot of games this season, but they aren't going to have a cake walk if teams play them right.

Fantasy Fridays: Defensive Players

A good fantasy team needs offense. No doubt, but a great fantasy team needs great offensive players that can provide great defense at the same time. That is why we are going to count down the top ten offensive player that play great defense, so you can have a great balance of offense and defense this fantasy season.

10. Stephen Curry: While you are probably like, "this man is a defensive play", take a look at the stats. Stephen Curry lead the league in steals total last year, so if you had him, you were most likely winning the steals column. Stephen Curry won't give you much blocks, but he certainly will give you multiple steals and a lot of offense to back that up.

9. John Wall: This man is a high flying point guard who can block your shot better than any other point guard. Not to mention his intense speed will track down every bad pass. This man averaged 1.7 steals and 0.6 blocks and that will certainly improve going into next season. Expect John Wall to be playing lock down defense and producing a lot on the offensive end.

8. Rudy Gobert: He is a wonderful defensive player. Last season he averaged 2.3 blocks and 0.8 steals. The main problem with Gobert is he doesn't have much offense to back him up. If you pick him up, note that he won't be too productive on the offensive end.

7. Nerlens Noel: 1.9 blocks and 1.8 steals his rookie season. The only problem is, can he still produce those numbers with Jahill Okafor there. I honestly think his offensive numbers will be little and his defensive numbers will be hard for him to top. But I could be wrong.

6. Serge Ibaka: 3rd in the league in steals. This man can put up points and guard multiple positions. Not to mention he only averages 2.1 fouls per game. Serge Ibaka is an underrated defender and has some offense to back him up.

5. DeAndre Jordan: Yeah, grab this man. While he doesn't have a lot of offense, he has a whole lot of other things (free throws not one of them). This man can rebound, but his defense is stupendous. He averaged 2.2 blocks per game and 1 steal per game last season. If this doesn't impress, I honestly don't know what will.

4. Hassan Whiteside: Wait! I know what will impress if DeAndre failed to. Hassan Whiteside. 2 years ago you said, "who the heck is Hakeem Wildseem?" No, Hassan Whiteside. Yeah, nobody knew him really until the Heat played the Bulls and he showed us his Hassan Wildside as he had a triple-double with 12 blocks, on a nationally televised game that night. Geez, talk about a major attention disorder. Okay, yeah, he was 2nd in blocks last year, but when you switch the table from per game to per 36 minutes, who is first? (well actually Sim Bhullar, who averages 13.4 blocks per 36 minutes and 13.4 rebounds and 13.4 points per 36 minutes) But the point is, Whiteside is 4th with 3.9 blocks. And Whiteside will probably get a minutes increase, so expect numbers like that.

3. Draymond Green: This is a Hassan Whiteside like player. Nobody knew him, and then, BAM! He is a superstar playing for a championship team. What is so great about Green? Well, he averaged 1.3 blocks and 1.6 steals per game last season. No big deal.Well, guess what Green, that is one big deal. And now fantasy players are going to be all over you for your offense and defense as well as your 8.2 RPG even though you are a 6'7" PF.

2. Kawhi Leonard: It's time to become an all-star for Kawhi Leonard. His offense is great, but we all know that his best strength is defense. What else can I say. This man lead the league in steals and also did a great job in the blocks department. Kawhi is a defensive guy.

1. Anthony Davis: Of course it's Davis. He lead the league in blocks averaging 2.9 per game and also averaged 1.5 steals. Not to mention the man averaged 24.4 PPG and 10.2 RPG (seems a little low in the rebounds for Anthony Davis though) to back up his defensive numbers. What else do you need!

3-0 One More to Go!

Well, this Conference Finals hasn't been that great so far. We have seen 2 teams dominate while the other 2 are left in the dust. The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers have a 3-0 lead against their opposing teams. Notice what the teams have done so well this series.

The Warriors have been great. They have done a great job of using guys like Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green. They make sure that James Harden is the only one scoring by keeping him out of the paint. When you keep him out, he is forced to take jumpers and he isn't able to kick the ball to a wide open player spacing out. The Rockets could really use a guy like Montiejunas or Beverley but they are both out with injury which is very unfortunate for a team like the Rockets. Stephen Curry has done a great job spacing the floor and they are doing a great job of getting it in the paint. When they get it in the paint, they either score or kick it out for a 3 pointer. The Rockets haven't played bad, they just haven't finished out in 4th quarters, leaving the Warriors up 3-0, with One more to go.

The Cavaliers are up because of one reason. The Hawks have played horribly. Maybe they are playing bad because the Cavs are playing great defense. Maybe it's cause the Hawks are playing horrible defense. Maybe it's cause the Hawks don't have a star player to carry them. Or maybe it's because of injuries like the Thabo Sefolosha incident. All of these things contribute to it. The Hawks are just not like the Hawks. If this was the Warriors against this injured Cavs team without Love or Irving, the Warriors would be up 3-0. Honestly, If your the Hawks, you have to realize that this roster won't win you a championship. They desperately need a star player. They have no one to rely on to make big shots at the end of game. Who shot those last shots in the game, was it Mack or someone like that. I don't even really know who it was. They are depending on some random bench player to make shots. Sure, I like getting everyone involved, but there is a point where you need someone to take over. But instead, the Cavs are up 3-0 with One more to go.

Warriors VS Rockets (game 1)

Final Score: Warriors win 110-106



Warriors lead 1-0

The Warriors had an 11 point lead with about 2 minutes remaining. The Rockets didn't care. Trevor Ariza didn't care. He just couldn't win the game. Stephen Curry said no. You will not win the game Trevor Ariza. He nailed the dagger 3. Let's take a look at how the Warriors won this game.

The Warriors played the fast pace game that they wanted to. They had 28 fast break points. They also had 50 points in the paint. Really great game for the Warriors. Now I know that Stephen Curry had a great game as he had 34 points, 5 assists, 6 rebounds, and shot 6-11 from 3 point range, but Draymond Green played really great. He had 13 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. That is a solid game. He was really the key to the Warriors ball movement. This kid had a total of 70 passes. Shawn Livingston played wonderful. He had playoff winning experience with the Nets last year and he is crucial to the Warriors bench. He had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. I do want to see David Lee match-up with Josh Smith, but the Warriors seem reluctant to play him. So far the Warriors are doing great. Though they could shoot a little better from 3 point range. Everybody besides Curry shot 4-18 from deep. Klay Thompson only shot 1-7. They could improve that.

The Rockets played great. They got Andrew Bogut in foul trouble to start off the game and he only played about 16 minutes. After that, they just got out in transition and got to the rim. They play just like the Warriors do, so it's not surprising that the Rockets had 28 fast break points and 52 points in the paint. They really need to play better defense. You could tell that there was a lot of confusion and lack of communication. The battle of the bench is going to be the deciding factor in this series. The Rockets could use a little more from their bench players. I don't think that 27 points will be enough from their bench. Corey Brewer just needs to be a little more aggressive and Terrance Jones just needs to sink some shots. This is going to be a tight series. It is probably going to be the more interesting one too. Let's see how it will play out.

Warriors VS Grizzlies (game 3)

Final Score: Grizzlies win 99-89



Grizzlies lead series 2-1

The Grizzlies won another. Both teams needed the game. Now the Warriors are finding themselves in a position where they need to win the next game. Here are the things they need to change.

The Warriors need to shoot better. They shot under 25% for the second straight game. That can't be happening with this team. Curry shouldn't be missing wide open 3s. They also need to shoot better from free throw. 67.9% isn't enough. They also can't allow 19 second chance points. They really need to get their posts involved more so that Curry and Thompson can space out more. Also, Draymond Green should not be dribbling the ball all the way up the court in a late game situation. None of these things should be happening with the Warriors. None of these things. They need to change them or they will keep loosing to the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies are doing great. They aren't allowing any momentum for the Warriors. They do an excellent job of closing out. Tony Allen again had 4 steals and also had a block. They shot about 31% from 3 which is great for the Grizzlies. Marc Gasol did great as he had a total of 21 points and 15 rebounds. They are doing great when they have someone for them to take on a scoring load and the rest of the team can focus on defense. Zach Randolph also scored 22 points in the game which allowed this team to outscore the Warriors. Without their contributions, the Grizzlies would end the game with points scoring in the 70s so they absolutely need some scorers on the floor. They passed the ball really well to find lots of openings with 327 passes while the Warriors only had 256. That is great for this team to get their offense going because they need offense and great defense against a top offensive team like the Warriors. If they keep the Warriors 3 point percentage low and they have good offense, this team is likely to win the series.

Warriors VS Pelicans (game 2)

Final Score: Warriors win 97-87



Warriors lead series 2-0

Great game with a great comeback from the Warriors. This was a game where great shots were made and great offense was executed. Let's take a look at the Warriors to start.

The Warriors were great. They struggled in the first half but eventually caught up and won the game. It all came down to the 4th where the Pelicans were outscored 26-16. A great player on the floor for this Warriors team is Draymond Green. He had 1 Block and 3 steals to go along with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The best thing about Green was his +/-. His plus minus was a total of 24. He lead the team in that stat. The Splash Brothers just need to keep doing their thing. If they can keep Draymond Green playing great, this team is pretty much assured to move on.

The Pelicans did great and then lost it. I just have to say, Monty Williams is stupid. He came out and asked for the Warriors crowd to quiet down. Of course the Warriors crowd did the opposite, they got louder. Let's take a look at Anthony Davis. He had 2 blocks and 2 steals. That's okay, but he is having trouble defending because the Warriors are a perimeter team. I honestly think that Davis needs to start at center and have Asik back him up. Start Anderson or Cunningham. They are more apt to defend against a perimeter team. It's going to be tough. Hopefully they can pull off a win. Can they? What do you guys think? Will this series be a sweep for the Warriors? Comment below.