OK, so I've been pretty vocal on my disdain for the NBA, for the style of play, lack of defense, inconsequential games and possessions (too many games and too many possessions take value away from each). That said, probably the greatest team of all time was playing LeBron and Kyrie 2.75 hours from my house so I went up to Game 3, paid close to $300 each for a few uppers which I thought was a heck of a deal. 4 of the Top 10 players of all-time. 5-7 future HOF'ers, as a basketball fans, not necessarily an NBA fan, I couldn't pass it up and it was worth every penny.
Maybe my biggest surprise was, ok, yea I know its the Finals, but I had low expectations for the atmosphere compared to college sports, student sections, etc. I can say that the crowd and the atmosphere was probably the best I've ever been to, surpassing Pitt/PSU, surpassing Pitt/UConn at the Pete, and BE Tourney. Some might say, "duh," but I wasn't really expecting that. It was very difficult to talk to the person next to you. You couldn't really do it during the game because it was too loud, at all times. I mean Cleveland would go on a 4-0 run and the place would be rocking. And during timeouts, the entertainment they had was so loud and....entertaining, you couldn't really talk then. My buddy asked me, "are we at a basketball game or a carnival." It was like that. It had the feel of an "event."
The Cavs had a Fan Fest outside the arena where people gather and watch on a big screen like the Pens but they had a bunch of other stuff, a stage with a rock band performing, a near full-size outdoor basketball court for kids to play on, all kinds of networks and TV shows airing live, it was pretty cool. The security around the arena was the most I've ever seen. There were bicycle cops, horseback cops, motorcycle cops, National Guardsmen. The Cavs also use this technology called flash tickets where they don't issue paper tickets. Its all on your phone. They print you a ticket to keep after they scan your phone. This eliminates all scalpers, not sure if that's a good thing though.
As far as the series overall though, I watched every single game, the first time I watched an NBA game since Game 7 last year and it was very entertaining, honestly better to me than watching a random college basketball game. Again, some may say "duh," but I think a lot of would rather watch Virginia vs NC State than Cavs/Warriors, we just don't like the NBA, but besides a Pitt game or maybe an NCAA Tournament game, it would be very difficult for a college game to match the excitement level. We know the level of play is better but that is sometimes to a detriment as the players are so good that scoring almost comes too easy but when you can score like LeBron, Kyrie, Steph, and KD, its almost like watching a great artist, great singer, etc. They are superhuman (and I don't think Kyrie gets the credit he deserves, his handle, penetration, and finishes are ridiculous.
In the end, Golden State is just too good. Durant is very close to LeBron. Steph is better than Kyrie but then when you have Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and guys like Iguodola are stepping up, the Cavs had little chance. Love, Smith, and Thompson needed to step up and they mostly didn't. Golden State is just too loaded and too good offensively. Say what you want about defense but in basketball, elite offense beats elite defense and Cleveland's defense was certainly not elite. That's the one thing I can say, I do believe that if Tony Bennett only coached Cleveland's defense and UVa's players only played D, they could have done a slightly better job on GS but not well enough. NBA players are bigger, longer, and more athletic, but there's no "help" and the rotations are lackluster in the NBA. College coaches do such a great job teaching team defense that they don't worry about in the NBA. But again, a lot of people don't like this which is why you see college rules changes and players looking to go to play for coaches who allow their players to focus on offense.
All in all, even though it was 4-1, it was a very entertaining series and I highly advise you to attend next year's GS/Cle series. Its definitely worth it.
Maybe my biggest surprise was, ok, yea I know its the Finals, but I had low expectations for the atmosphere compared to college sports, student sections, etc. I can say that the crowd and the atmosphere was probably the best I've ever been to, surpassing Pitt/PSU, surpassing Pitt/UConn at the Pete, and BE Tourney. Some might say, "duh," but I wasn't really expecting that. It was very difficult to talk to the person next to you. You couldn't really do it during the game because it was too loud, at all times. I mean Cleveland would go on a 4-0 run and the place would be rocking. And during timeouts, the entertainment they had was so loud and....entertaining, you couldn't really talk then. My buddy asked me, "are we at a basketball game or a carnival." It was like that. It had the feel of an "event."
The Cavs had a Fan Fest outside the arena where people gather and watch on a big screen like the Pens but they had a bunch of other stuff, a stage with a rock band performing, a near full-size outdoor basketball court for kids to play on, all kinds of networks and TV shows airing live, it was pretty cool. The security around the arena was the most I've ever seen. There were bicycle cops, horseback cops, motorcycle cops, National Guardsmen. The Cavs also use this technology called flash tickets where they don't issue paper tickets. Its all on your phone. They print you a ticket to keep after they scan your phone. This eliminates all scalpers, not sure if that's a good thing though.
As far as the series overall though, I watched every single game, the first time I watched an NBA game since Game 7 last year and it was very entertaining, honestly better to me than watching a random college basketball game. Again, some may say "duh," but I think a lot of would rather watch Virginia vs NC State than Cavs/Warriors, we just don't like the NBA, but besides a Pitt game or maybe an NCAA Tournament game, it would be very difficult for a college game to match the excitement level. We know the level of play is better but that is sometimes to a detriment as the players are so good that scoring almost comes too easy but when you can score like LeBron, Kyrie, Steph, and KD, its almost like watching a great artist, great singer, etc. They are superhuman (and I don't think Kyrie gets the credit he deserves, his handle, penetration, and finishes are ridiculous.
In the end, Golden State is just too good. Durant is very close to LeBron. Steph is better than Kyrie but then when you have Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and guys like Iguodola are stepping up, the Cavs had little chance. Love, Smith, and Thompson needed to step up and they mostly didn't. Golden State is just too loaded and too good offensively. Say what you want about defense but in basketball, elite offense beats elite defense and Cleveland's defense was certainly not elite. That's the one thing I can say, I do believe that if Tony Bennett only coached Cleveland's defense and UVa's players only played D, they could have done a slightly better job on GS but not well enough. NBA players are bigger, longer, and more athletic, but there's no "help" and the rotations are lackluster in the NBA. College coaches do such a great job teaching team defense that they don't worry about in the NBA. But again, a lot of people don't like this which is why you see college rules changes and players looking to go to play for coaches who allow their players to focus on offense.
All in all, even though it was 4-1, it was a very entertaining series and I highly advise you to attend next year's GS/Cle series. Its definitely worth it.