Regional Sports

Do the Warriors really have that much more talent than the Cavs?

After beating the Cavs by an average of 20.5 ppg in the first two games of the NBA Finals, the Warriors are in an ideal situation heading into Game 3 in Cleveland.

After last nights game, tweets starting circulating around Twitter, saying that the Warriors should win the game and that they need all the talent the can get to beat the Cavs. One tweet, from Bleacher Report, said this:

“When you think about it, the Golden State Warriors need 4 Olympic Medalists, 3 players averaging 20+ points per game, 1 DPOY Candidate, 2 MVP Winners one of which went back-to-back and two all-time 3 point shooters… simply to beat a 32-year old LeBron James.”

This statement could not be more ridiculous. Let’s compare the two rosters based on the criteria above.

In terms of Olympic Medalists, the Warriors have 4 (Curry, Thompson, Green, Durant), and so do the Cavaliers (James, Williams, Irving, and Love). That argument is invalid.

Let’s now look at the players averaging 20+ points per game. The Warriors have 3 players scoring 20+ points per game (Durant, Thompson, and Curry), and the Cavs have 2 (James and Irving). LeBron is averaging the most out of all the qualifying players on the two rosters, and the James and Irving are averaging more points (25.8) between the two of them, than Curry, Durant, and Thompson (24.2 ppg). Therefore, that argument is invalid also.

The Warriors win the next category, DPOY candidates, with Draymond Green being the only one on the two rosters who is up for that award.

The Warriors do have 2 MVP Winners (Curry and Durant), but the Cavs have LeBron James, who is the true MVP every single year (the NBA just doesn’t want to tell us that).

In terms of three point shooters, Stephen Curry is the best shooter in the world, but yet the Cavs have the most three pointers this postseason. The addition of Kyle Korver may not boost the Cavs past the Warriors in terms of shooting, but it sure puts them close enough.

Overall, based on the criteria in the tweet above, the two teams are pretty dead even. Now let’s take a look at position by position for the starting lineups.

Point Guard: Stephen Curry vs. Kyrie Irving.

Who really is the better player here? That question is tough to answer. Curry has proven that he is the best three-point shooter to ever touch the hardwood (sorry Ray Allen), yet Kyrie Irving is the best finisher we have seen in the last decade, and he has the best handles in the league. While Curry may have the ability to shoot the lights out and score with easem Kyrie Irving is a former #1 overall draft pick, and has his fair share of dominate games as well. Picking between these two to have on my team would be the hardest decision I have made in a long time. This position is a draw.

Shooting Guard: Klay Thompson vs. JR Smith.

Despite his struggles so far in the postseason, all fingers point to Klay Thompson to win this battle. JR Smith is a great role player for the Cavs, but he simply doesn’t produce enough for him to be better than Klay Thompson. Thompson can shoot the lights out if he gets hot, and has been one of the Warriors best defenders this postseason. The Warriors win this position battle.

Small Forward: LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant.

Wow. These two guys can ball. Kevin Durant has been balling out this series, averaging nearly 36 ppg and having his way from nearly every spot on the court. He has simply destroyed the Cavs, as he should, he is the best scorer in the league. If there was no such thing as LeBron James, there is little debate that Durant would be the best player in the league. But, LeBron James exists, so Kevin Durant is not the best player in the league. Despite LeBron being held to zero points in Game 2 with Durant guarding him, there is no question who the better player is here. Like I said, if you take LeBron James out of this league, Kevin Durant would be the best player on this earth. By the end of his career, LeBron James will be the best player to ever play basketball (yes, I said it), therefore the Cavs win this position battle

Power Forward: Draymond Green vs. Kevin Love.

Well, well, well, look what we have here. Another nearly impossible to pick matchup. Kevin Love is clearly the better scorer and on most days will be the better rebounder (I mean he did have 21 rebounds in Game 1), but the Warriors system makes Draymond Green one of the most underrated players in the league. His ability to defend anybody on the court makes him so valuable to the Warriors. Without Draymond Green, there would be no 73 win season for the Warriors. These players are both so valuable for their roles on their teams, but I would give Draymond the upper edge in this one.

Center: Tristan Thompson vs. Zaza Pachulia.

Let’s be honest here, Tristan Thompson wins this battle every day of the week. Don’t get me wrong, Zaza plays a vital role in his teams success and has stepped up big time this postseason. Thompson’s ability to rebound and score put him well past Pachulia, so the Cavs win at center.

After all that explaining, it’s clear that these rosters aren’t as spread apart as people think. I think everyone should take a step back and realize that we are watching some of the best basketball that the league has seen in years. The Cavs do have LeBron James, so he definitely makes up for the slight talent gap that there is between the two teams.

Nice try, Cavs fans, but the talent excuse is invalid.

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