The thought that people wouldn't watch was wrong from the start. Any major sport finals will be of interest to the general public. Also, the thought that an outcome was nearly certain is no deterrent to viewership in and of itself. Mike Tyson at his peak dominated opponents, and those were some of the highest viewed fights. See the ratings for some of the Patriots Super Bowls, even ones where they were clearly superior and showed that on the field. Don't let hatred cloud the ability to see reality.
Im not watching because im in suspense wondering who will win. Im watching because i love nba basketball and its the last time that i will be able to watch nba players play basketball until october.
while i think you are generally right that casual fans will tune into any shiny object, and are obviously still tuning into the nba with its overall increasing ratings and steady final ratings, the patriots have never really played a boring super bowl (unless i'm forgetting one). won 5 games in the last minute and been upset 3 times in the last minute. i also just don't see what would be that appealing to casual fans about the warriors at this point. '15-'16 warriors? sure. i hated them but i still was in awe of the crazy shots steph was making and he was a new thing in nba history. you couldn't not watch. now you get those shots/games every once in a while, but their team is blander now that their victories are assured and they don't need to take those chances. i can't believe casual fans are really tuning in to watch them play "the right way" because, pretty much by definition, casual fans don't know what the right way is or even care (i.e. casual). but man, imagine the ratings if this this was finals number 4 coming off a 7 game series in 2016 and a 6 or 7 game series in 2017 and this series was back and forth? now they get 4 games of "slightly declining" ratings.
Have a feeling that the worriers will not try to take it in G4. They would like to celebrate at home. For the cavs, should they oblige? Or winning one is more palatable? If the cavs wins at least 2, I apologize for my opinion.
As much as I liked the way Lebron played in the past few games, he is just as much a cheater as the GSW. He and his fans are just angry that they are doing it better than him and without bringing in bigger names like he tries to do. Which btw, should be kudos to the GM, and accusing Curry or KD of anything. Lebron actively looks for the best team to join. The fact that he didn’t want to play with Westbrook ( like Harden and KD didn’t) speaks volumes. I’m sure Lebron WANTS to join the GSW. He is just more aware of the lash back after his last “Decision”.
I really thought LeBron would take them to game 7. I'm just trying to figure out what the NBA plan for Lebron is
Foster’s up. Now only two scenarios to tonight’s game in my opinion: 1) GSW blowout (Cavs are kept close through 3 then refs let GSW run away with it) 1) Cavs win close game and extend series to a game 5 I don’t think something in between is possible with Foster as main ref.
Im not so sure. This is the 4th appearance. Players are tired and dont give a ****. And they dont want to risk further injury. I think they will close this down tonight and move on with the summer.
Foster getting Game 4 to extend the series is PEAK NBA. BTW, will the Official NBA Refs twitter account be active for this game? Probably not. Ultimately, it probably won't matter because GSW is so much better than Cleveland. Unless of course Foster Ts up Green a few times and throws him out.
People should note that if Draymond gets two techs tonight he will be at 7 technicals for the playoffs and will be automatically suspended a game. If the Cavs push this series to five and Draymond is out that game we could really see this series go to six or more. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but the scenario is now in play... https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/2018/06/06/draymond-green-tehcnical-fouls-suspension-nba-finals/ Green now has five technical fouls so far in the playoffs, and a seventh would earn him an automatic suspension from the league. If the series extends, it could come into play much like Green’s accumulated flagrant points earned him a suspension in the 2016 NBA Finals, which some believe may have swung the series.
I agree. It should be a sweep, and it probably will be a sweep. But this post-season home teams have a .756 record when Foster is officiating. https://www.basketball-reference.com/referees/fostesc99r.html Also The Cavs also won their Game 4 vs Celtics last round. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/05/21/referee-scott-foster-celtics-cavaliers-game-4/ The Cavs shouldn’t win, but at this point I don’t trust Foster as far as I can throw him.
