NBA Finals 2016-2017 - Golden State wins NBA title 4-1 vs Cleveland Cavaliers...great series!!!
Fuck the haters and fools pretending. To be blind.
That first have was disgusting
time for a commercial break
Take the L and stop bitching. Got dam yall niggas some sluts.
Suck a dick you geriatric ok fart
Are you typing with one hand while you hold that L?
Every year is a anniversary nigga
Stay classy Cleveland
131-page thread and counting. Game 5 tonight.
Hope i can get more GSW fan tears tonite. Pussies.
Why they gotta be pussies bruh? Why take it there?
Nigga stfu.
Tonight is the last Finals game of LeBrons career. We are in the Steph and KD era now. I expect tallblacknyc, day_carver, SHE IS, and the other Warrior bandwagoners to make more posts in here tonite then they have the past 3 days. 
Good morning to you too Bruh
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That's cool, but
How u lose 4 straight after winning 2?
Nobody lost 4 straight after winning 2
Give it up nigga
Dtownsaltiest already accepted it
20 years and 97 free throws later
We did this without be a sticky....don't know why it never was but that boston vs cavs thread was...like really what hell131-page thread and counting. Game 5 tonight.
Great job with the thread, Mask. That's in just over 2 weeks too (131 pages) - thread started May 26th!
How longtime veteran Channing Frye bonded LeBron, Kevin Love and the Cavs
THE CAVALIERS' GROUP TEXT chain is aptly named BORED. Channing Frye's nimble mind requires constant stimulation, so he instituted BORED shortly after he joined Cleveland in February 2016, contacting the entire roster and encouraging all of his new teammates to share random thoughts.
Last week's BORED text chain, on the eve of the NBA Finals, tackled the burning question of which muscle man is the most iconic.
"The Rock or Arnold Schwarzenegger?" Frye texted. "I'll take The Rock."
The rebukes were fast and furious. LeBron James and Kevin Love, fervent Schwarzenegger backers, immediately fired back with a slew of insults directed at Frye.
"They were killing me," Frye said, grinning. "So let them have a little fun at my expense. It gives them common ground.
"And that's good."
There was a time when neither James nor Love could have envisioned joining forces as a tag-team texting tandem. Their relationship was stilted, uneven, awkward. It wasn't a matter of dislike, but more a disconnect between two talented players who were struggling to establish a healthy communication on and off the court.
Cavs players say Frye is the one who changed that.
"We were a good group before Channing got here, but he came in and connected some important dots," said Cavs forward Richard Jefferson, who signed with Cleveland in August 2015. "He found a way to have LeBron and Kevin see each other in a different manner."
Just days before the NBA trade deadline in February 2016, James got word that the Cavaliers planned to swap one of his favorite teammates, Anderson Varejao, to acquire Frye. Though Varejao had played sparingly that season, James had concerns about losing such a positive locker room presence.
"Hey, RJ," James asked Jefferson. "What about Channing Frye? How's he going to fit with us?"
"Man, you are gonna love him," Jefferson said. "He will bring us all closer. You'll see."
"That," James says now, "was all I needed to hear."
Frye, a stretch big man, proved to be a valuable role player in the rotation, but his influence extended far beyond that. He quickly emerged as the "glue guy" in the Cavs' locker room, a man who bonded the team and helped lead the Cavs to their first championship in franchise history last June.
"Channing is the middle man," LeBron says. "He bridges the gap. He's perfect for our culture.
"We needed him."
GLUE GUYS TAKE ON many forms. Sometimes they are the best players, redoubtable both in performance and preparation (see: Tim Duncan). Sometimes, more than one player cements team chemistry. The 2015 Warriors, for instance, relied on the whimsical lightness of Leandro Barbosa to infuse the team with energy and play the role of the Draymond Green whisperer. Golden State also leaned on the experience of Andre Iguodala, who, when situations called for a little more gravity, exhibited an invaluable edge.
More often, though, glue guys are the veterans who have been there and done that, imparting their wisdom, toughness or positivity to a team.
James says Udonis Haslem kept the Miami Heat on course during their 2012 and 2013 title runs. Haslem endeared himself to teammates, James says, with an unparalleled work ethic and a willingness to challenge everyone, including the elite stars. "Guys like him are so important," James says now. "When UD spoke, we listened, because it always came from the heart."
It wasn't Haslem's first Heat rodeo. Shaquille O'Neal also singles Haslem out as the player who kept the Heat's 2006 champions in line. Shaq recalls a 24-point, late-season loss to Chicago that led to a "mini-tussle" in the locker room. Haslem and Alonzo Mourning, Shaq says, quickly called a meeting. "We had some guys -- Antoine Walker, GP [Gary Payton] -- who were partying a little too much in the streets," O'Neal says. "Udonis told us, 'Hey, knock it off. You guys better get serious or we're not going to win anything.'"
The glue that held the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks together? Veteran point guard Jason Kidd, says Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. During a nine-game stretch when Dirk Nowitzki was sidelined with an injury and the team went 2-7, Kidd called a players-only meeting, scolded his teammates for feeling sorry for themselves, and then galvanized them going forward. "He was already acting like a coach, both on and off the floor," Carlisle says.
James Posey cemented his status as the glue guy of the 2008 Celtics when, during the team's preseason trip to Rome, the players were scrimmaging in a tiny gym and the second unit scored a string of baskets. Kevin Garnett, Posey says, cheated the second-teamers out of a point and declared the starting five the winners. Posey called him out and wound up chest to chest with Garnett. "I don't care how good you are," Posey growled, "you have to be accountable like the rest of us."
"It was the moment," says former Celtics coach Doc Rivers, "that set the tone for the entire season."
Posey, now an assistant coach with Cleveland, says he was impressed with how deftly Frye was able to engage James and Love in dialogues ranging from the pick-and-roll to the latest blockbuster film -- or the science of the human spirit.
"Channing didn't hesitate to tell LeBron and Kevin, 'We need you guys on the same page. We need that trust,'" Posey says. "Their relationship improved so much after that. They stopped taking everything so personally. It became: How can we win together?"
WHEN CLEVELAND ASSEMBLED its championship core in August 2014, it centered on three alpha males. James, the undisputed leader, was the extrovert. Kyrie Irving, the young upstart, was the introvert. Love, who came from Minnesota, where he was the focal point of the offense, was the newcomer who initially kept to himself.
"There was a lot of pressure on all three of them," Jefferson says. "You have this situation where LeBron and Kyrie have the ball in their hands. Kevin is dependent on others to get him the ball. It was difficult in the beginning for him to navigate that."
On Feb. 7, 2015, after Love scored just five points on 2-of-8 shooting, James famously tweeted, "Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be a part of something special! Just my thoughts." James later confirmed the comments were directed toward Love.
After a sweep of the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals that May, LeBron celebrated by frolicking in a hot tub with a bottle of champagne, mimicking Chedda Da Connect's lyrics in "Flicka Da Wrist." JR Smith and Iman Shumpert joined him, with Irving flexing his biceps behind them and veteran Kendrick Perkins, wrapped in a towel, holding fast to a pair of ice packs on his knees. The video went viral, with the chatter revolving around Love being noticeably absent from the scene.
"Kevin [Love] used to say, 'Man, all I do is shoot 3s.' Then Channing comes in and says, 'This is awesome! All we do is shoot 3s!' So now Kevin stops and realizes, 'Yeah, I guess we do get a lot of open 3s.'"
Richard Jefferson
Nearly nine months later, when Frye joined the Cavs, he walked into team film sessions and plopped down in the middle of LeBron and his trusted friends Smith and Tristan Thompson. "Who's sitting here?" he'd ask, then motion to Love, "Hey, Kev, there's a seat next to me." Frye rotated his position daily, elbowing up to Irving one day, Shumpert the next.
Frye was puzzled, he says, by the tenor of the group as a whole. He asked Jefferson, his friend of two decades, why the Cavs were so serious all the time.
"Channing says to RJ, 'We're the No. 1 team in the East. We have an opportunity to fight to compete for a title every year. Why aren't these guys having fun playing together?'" Love says. "RJ stepped back and said, 'You know what? He's got a point.'"
Frye was incredulous to learn the team had never gone out together for a pre-playoff meal. So, shortly before the 2016 postseason started, he booked a restaurant in the Flats on the Cleveland waterfront called Alley Cat and instructed everyone via BORED to be there at 8.
The Cavs boasted perfect attendance that night, noshing together on steaks, fish and salads, trading basketball stories and drowning out the NBA game on the flat-screen television behind them with laughter. When dinner ended at 10, Jefferson turned to the team.
"What do you guys want to do?"
Hanging in downtown Cleveland is a major hassle for LeBron, who is swarmed wherever he goes, but on this night he joined his teammates at the Punch Bowl Social a block away for a nightcap. One drink led to another, and soon the team, in unison, dropped in on another local bar.
"It was a great night," Frye says. "Guys walked out asking, 'When are we doing this again?'"
The BORED text chain continued to grow. Frye, whose corny jokes made him an easy target, managed to engage and unite the best players on his team by happily serving as their foil. No matter what subject he picked -- a favorite song, a favorite car, a favorite breakfast pastry -- his new teammates gleefully reveled in denigrating him for his choices.
Frye inundated the team with a stream of GIFs in the BORED text chain. The video clips ranged from a scene from "The Office" ("That's what she said!") to a cartoon of a skunk to footage of LeBron flopping.
The BORED chain became a place to vent after a bad game or to brag after a good one. If a Cavs player suffered an embarrassing miscue, there was a good chance it would pop up with sarcastic reassurances from teammates, such as, "Don't worry. You don't suck all the time!" Nobody was immune, but there was no doubt who wore the biggest bull's-eye on his back.
"LeBron, me, RJ, we all started feeding off the texts and turned into a 'bash Channing' session," Love says. "That was something we could all join in on."
Frye became a regular visitor to Love's house. If they made dinner plans for 7, he showed up at 3 and ate much of the food Love planned to serve. He became Love's trusted friend and convinced Love to view his role on the team in a different light.
"Kevin used to say, 'Man, all I do is shoot 3s,'" Jefferson says. "Then Channing comes in and says, 'This is awesome! All we do is shoot 3s!' So now Kevin stops and realizes, 'Yeah, I guess we do get a lot of open 3s.'"
After the opening round of the playoffs in April 2016, when the Cavs swept the Celtics, LeBron posted an image of himself, Smith and Thompson lounging on the couch in James' Akron home, smoking a celebratory cigar. The tag read, "Enjoying the fruits of our labor."
Frye, who was at Love's house that night with Jefferson, decided to counter. They squished onto Love's couch, filled their wine glasses and responded, "Enjoying the fruits of OUR labor."
Love came up with an idea: What if the whole team celebrated every series win at his house, where his chef could prepare them a private meal?
This year, after series wins over Indiana, Toronto and Boston, the team convened at Chez Love for its postgame revelry.
"It's been a real treat to have Kev open up his home to us," LeBron says. "He's a great guy."
Love insists his relationship with James was never as bad as it has been portrayed, but acknowledges the team's chemistry "is so much better now because of Channing."
Thompson, for his part, points to Cleveland's 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals last June as evidence for why this matters.
"Because Channing helped our team come together, when we got in some tough situations, like being down 3-1, we were able to band together and get through it," he says.
"Normally," Jefferson says, "guys in that situation start to splinter, they point fingers, which is 100 percent natural. But we collectively said, 'No, we're not doing that. We're getting out of this mess together.'"
AND SO IT IS that the Cavaliers find themselves in a 2-0 hole against the Warriors as they return to Quicken Loans Arena -- same as last season -- having been badly outplayed in both losses.
It has been a difficult season for Frye. Both of his parents died, within weeks of one another, leaving the man who has held up his teammates in need of uplifting himself.
Frye did not play in the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics. He didn't play a minute in the Cavs' Game 1 loss to the Warriors and logged just 11 minutes in their Game 2 loss.
The glue guy would like to play more.
But in many ways, Channing Frye's work is already done.
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Chippy play emerges as major theme of Game 4 (2:21)
Flagrant fouls are naturally controversial. They exist in shades of gray and are often born out of emotional situations. How they're handed out can alter games and even entire playoff series.
Reasonable fans, coaches, players and even referees can disagree over them. Just like last season, when Game 4 of the NBA Finals created some controversy on flagrant fouls called and not called.
So here's a simple FAQ to help understand them better. Or, at the very least, help understand how NBA referees call them:
Q: So what's the difference between a flagrant foul 1 and a flagrant foul 2?
A: By rule a flagrant 1 is "unnecessary" contact and a flagrant 2 is "unnecessary and excessive" contact and, therefore, can result in ejection and possible suspension. Lots of room for interpretation there, right? One of the things referees will say is that it's sort of like the Supreme Court's definition of obscenity: They know it when they see it. Bottom line: Referees are taught to make a judgement if it's hard (common), shady (flagrant 1) or dirty foul (flagrant 2).
Q: What do officials look for in making the call?
A: If a player gets hit in the head or neck, it will probably be a flagrant 1 at the very least, even if it isn't a hard hit. Especially if the blow comes from an elbow, a kick or a fist. The refs want to help prevent concussions and may err on the side of being overprotective. Announcers, especially former players, may lament how "soft" the league allegedly is now when this happens. But the referees have their reasons, even if it's just to help keep control of a game.
The same goes if a player gets hit in the groin. That will get you a flagrant in most cases, even if the penalty doesn't get handed down until review after the game. That, of course, happened several times in the playoffs with Golden State's Draymond Green last seasonas you may remember.
Q: Wait, didn't Zaza Pachulia hit Iman Shumpert in the groin in Game 4? Why didn't he get a flagrant?
A: One of those gray areas. It was unclear if Pachulia actually made contact with Shumpert. Also, Pachulia was given a technical foul for his actions (as was Shumpert), and after review the officials deemed this punishment was sufficient. It wasn't like Pachulia "got away" with it.
Q: C'mon! Pachulia intended to hit Shumpert.
A: This is an important point: Officials do not try determine intent, because it's often impossible. They only go by actions. You may be familiar with "intentional fouls" that are called in high school and, until recently, college games. Officially, there are no intentional fouls in the NBA, the idea is that referees don't want to have to guess and instead just rule what they see.
NBA Official
Q: It seems like referees are constantly going to the monitor to review flagrant fouls these days. Why?
A: Replay gets more complicated every season. There are 15 different "triggers" that require looking at replay this season, and that list will probably grow. If you talk to officials, they will tell you they'd rather go look at something on replay and slow the game down than not deal with something they didn't see but which millions watching on TV watched in slow motion. Sometimes when a player reacts to a blow, they will take a look to make sure they didn't miss something.
Q: So they will go to replay if a player looks like he got hurt on a foul? Doesn't that encourage flopping or injury exaggeration?
A: Yup. The NBA players learned it by watching soccer players campaign for yellow and red cards. But the league views this as a lesser evil of not taking action for a blow the officials' may not have seen. One of the things that triggers a replay is a "hostile act" by one player against another. An average playoff game could potentially feature a few dozen hostile acts, and this allows a wide latitude for what officials can look at on replay.
Q: Isn't this all more complicated than it needs to be?
A: At the end of the day, the referees really want player safety. That sounds like a cheesy line from a brochure, yes, but there are other motives, too. Officials are graded on their performances, and their results determine their assignments. The better the grade, the deeper in the playoffs they get to work. The more important the game, the more the ref gets paid. They are highly incentivized to get their calls right, and they feel enormous pressure to do so.
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In the end they say it's at the refs discretion, Kevin Durant went in for a layup, Kevin Love jumped block it so Durant moved his body/arms/balls to another position, when he did this this made Love graze his head. Love made a play on the ball, they looked at it in slow mo and everything and he still got a flagrant foul
I don't have a issue with that but how mouf hit shum with the peoples elbow and didn't get called for a flagrant...
The NBA gone back after the game and given out technical fouls and he still hasn't been given one for a clear as day shot to Shumperts face
You don't want my assessment breh
I will say this Kerr better get off that fuck shit with the rotations and making Curry a screener instead of keeping the ball in his hands directing the offense.. simple as that because if these niggas lose tonight they might lose this series and Kerr needs to be fired straight up..
Folk say what they want about Mike Brown but these cats was balling cause Brown kept the ball in Stephs hands
With that said in regards to the refs.. Ed Malloy ref game 3 where the refs in that game did everything to hand it to the Cavs but they weren't so blatant about it... Danny Crawford well he tends to favor the home team and so does Derrick Stafford... Dubs win tonight but it won't be a blow out
You copping mad pleasYou don't want my assessment breh
I will say this Kerr better get off that fuck shit with the rotations and making Curry a screener instead of keeping the ball in his hands directing the offense.. simple as that because if these niggas lose tonight they might lose this series and Kerr needs to be fired straight up..
Folk say what they want about Mike Brown but these cats was balling cause Brown kept the ball in Stephs hands
With that said in regards to the refs.. Ed Malloy ref game 3 where the refs in that game did everything to hand it to the Cavs but they weren't so blatant about it... Danny Crawford well he tends to favor the home team and so does Derrick Stafford... Dubs win tonight but it won't be a blow out
We bout to unleash the king in the bay
LeBron in 7 hoe
It's gonna he hella fish grease poppin tonight
Nobody go nowhere
Nobody go nowhere
Oh shit danny Crawford callin the game?
Chicago niggas don't fuck with Cleveland
This bitch ass nigga beyond a faggit
Chicago niggas don't fuck with Cleveland
This bitch ass nigga beyond a faggit
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