Marty, my favourite memory of Judd is him breaking tackles at stoppages and exploding inside 50 to kick running goals. But my second favourite memory is him using his 2010 Brownlow medal speech to label football a ‘self-indulgent pastime’. Brilliant.

Magnificent. I miss 2012 Western Conference Finals Durant, the guy who ripped the heart out of the Spurs. These playoffs haven’t felt the same without Durant, Westbrook, Kobe and to a lesser extent Melo.

Agree that Blatt is winning the coaching battle. Really smart the way they’re stringing out Curry on the pick and roll, forcing the ball out of his hands. No idea why Houston refused to do that and kept on happily switching a big man onto him. It seemed clear that Cleveland was going to trap Curry and string him out like that, but I assumed GSW would kill them because Curry can just feed Draymond or Bogut (the pick setter) and have them operate from the top of the key in a 4 on 3 situation. But Bogut’s impact has been negligible and Draymond has been terrible on offence. Expect that to change.

Have to disagree Michael. That 2010-11 team fell apart largely independent of Buckley or any dismantling. Didak and Jolly, two of Collingwood’s 5-7 best players in the premiership year, got old in a hurry. Dale Thomas, the third best player in those 2010-11 teams, fell off a cliff with injuries. Luke Ball did his knee and was never the same. Leigh Brown, Chris Tarrant and Ben Johnson retired (and later, so did Maxwell). Beams forced his way out. The only players Buckley really got rid of were O’Brien, Shaw and Wellingham.

I guess it’s debatable. I know that commentators loved to rave about his football smarts last season, how he read the play with an intelligence above his years. It is a thin line between being ‘composed’ and just being ‘slow to react’.

Thanks for reading Josh. You make some strong points. I think the most important outcome of the comeback against North is that it sets a benchmark – proof of the team’s capabilities, and something that will be invaluable for their belief going forward, knowing that they can reach that explosive level against decent opposition.

The Langdon situation is strange. His composure and nous seemed to be his best asset last year, but it’s largely deserted him in 2015. He’s making a terrible habit of handballing to 1 on 1s (in the second quarter against North he had an awful uncontested handball streaming out of defence to Brodie Grundy where Grundy was getting tackled basically before the ball reached him) as well as poor percentage kicks where the risk far outweighs the reward. There is upside with him, but for me he’s fallen well behind Frost, Williams, Seedsman and Oxley in the ‘young guns in the backline’ pecking order.

Cloke has probably been the most overrated player in the AFL over the past 5 years, mainly because he plays for the competition’s biggest club. 2011 is the exception. He was a superstar that year, lived up to the hype, kicked 69 goals and was a dominant force.

People forget, but Cloke was nowhere close to a star in 2010. He only kicked 39 goals and finished 14th in the best and fairest. He almost cost Collingwood a flag with two point blank misses just before half-time in the drawn Grand Final too.

Cloke is very good, an elite contested mark player, and when he’s on (see: vs. Richmond 2013 and first half of the 2011 GF) he’s as influential as any player in the competition. But he’s only kicked 60 goals in a season twice, never kicked 70, despite having an elite midfield feeding him for close to a decade. And then of course there’s his kicking…

To me, Cloke is closer to Drew Petrie than Lance Franklin. Upper echelon key forward but not a superstar.

All good points Tom. Sidebottom’s disposal is definitely overrated – he’ll shank 1-2 kicks a game, and occasionally has bizarre turnovers (one shocker in defensive 50, second quarter against the Gold Coast, another in the dying minutes of the North game) – but it’s still above average, and his composure in traffic is remarkable.

Hey Marty! I think 2014 was the real (painful) transition year between Malthouse’s Collingwood and Buckley’s. Maxwell, Ball and Beams were all still there, and the team had to adjust to the loss of Shaw, Didak, Jolly and co from the year prior. The seeds were definitely planted in the 2013 off-season, but I think 2015 is the first year where we’re seeing Collingwood bloom as Buckley’s team.

Good stuff Ryan. I think this one might be sneakily competitive, Richmond have had some strong road performances over the past couple of years (from vague memory they pushed Freo close at Subiaco in I think 2013?). Admittedly there’s a difference though between playing on the road and entering the gates of hell as they will tonight.

As an aside, over the past three weeks I think Deledio has been playing as well as anyone in the comp whose name doesn’t rhyme with ‘Pyfe’. Will be interesting to see how he stacks up against the biggest test.

Houston were 5th in the league during the regular season for isolations, but that was likely due to Howard’s absence and the extra responsibility thrust on Harden. During the playoffs Houston were only 7th out of 16 teams for possessions finishing in isolations. I don’t mind Houston’s iso-ball because, somewhat paradoxically, it is a mechanism for selflessness considering how good and willing a passer Harden is.

Side note: Cleveland led the league in isolations this season, while Golden State were 23rd… could be a decisive point of difference between the two.

Agreed KG, Korver’s poor form was decisive. Not entirely sure why Bud had him on Beal, I would have thought that’d be a job for Carroll. Definitely seemed to tire him out, and we saw the same thing with Redick getting gassed playing on Harden – JJ fell off a cliff in the last three Clipper losses.

Agreed I.F. that Cleveland’s injury toll makes the Hawks collapse look even worse. But of the five Hawks starters, Teague was the only player noticeably healthy. Korver went down, Carroll was just as hobbled as Irving, Millsap was clearly bothered by his shoulder and Horford wasn’t himself. Whereas LeBron could compensate for Cleveland’s health problems, Atlanta without a superstar didn’t have that ability/luxury, which ultimately proved their undoing. Injuries aren’t an excuse for the Hawks considering their equally banged up opponents, but they are part of an explanation.

The problem is that Atlanta probably just missed their best ever shot at making the Finals. Washington and Milwaukee are on the rise, the Bulls should be better with health, Indiana will be back with Paul George next year, and most importantly, the Hawks likely won’t get another crack at a Cleveland side effectively missing two thirds of its big three.

It’s a shame, because as Daryl Morey said, it would have been great for the league if the Hawks made the finals. I hope that their regular season success prompts other teams to try and replicate their style of play though – it’s a lot more fun watching Atlanta’s rapid ball movement and selfless passing than isolation superstar ‘guys, I got this’ ball.

Wolf of Wall Street for me boys, as Leo’s best performance, followed by Blood Diamond and The Departed. Would be remiss not to bring up The Aviator and Catch Me If You Can too, a pair of great performances that often get lost in a resume of deliciousness.

No question Ryan. It goes to show how far back they were that just ‘not losing every week by 10 goals’ is a significant step forward. Demons fans I know were genuinely pleased last season when the Dees ‘only’ lost by 6 goals.

Two years ago Melbourne had absolutely nothing. They were left obsessing over why guys like Tapscott, Blease and Watts weren’t better and why someone like Jack Trengove had dropped off so much. Now Watts and Trengove are largely ancillary to the conversation, whatever they can get from them is just a bonus. Dees fans can point to Hogan, McDonald, Viney, Brayshaw, Vandenberg, Tyson, Salem and, eventually, Petracca, as a legitimate source of hope. It’s not a whole lot, but it’s something, and that’s a start.

Ha, talk about thinly veiled. I think it’s a good move for the Bulls to move on though. Thibs has been so antiquated with his rotations and offensive sets. He became far too attached to Noah and Hinrich. Noah killed the Bulls all season, they were better in the regular season and playoffs on both offence AND defence with Noah on the bench – Mirotic had to get a lot more of his minutes and didn’t. Still, credit to Thibs for building the Bulls up and revolutionising NBA defence. To take the next step in the league as presently constructed though, I think you need a more creative offensive mind.

Fair points Ryan, the inside 50 stat is definitely alarming, especially considering they were far and away last in the league in 2014 too.

I think that’s a reflection of a midfield that as currently constructed is one of the two or three worst in the comp. But I think there is upside in that group. Dom Tyson has been injured, Jack Viney has been out for six weeks and Angus Brayshaw and Aaron Vandenberg have played a combined 16 games of AFL footy. Some better health and experience for those guys and the return of Petracca next year, and you’ve got something. Are they going to be the second coming of Voss-Black-Lappin-Akermanis? Probably not, but with another top ten draft pick this year they can create a decent core.

I think the difference between Korver and Curry as shooters is that Curry is so versatile and his movement is so deceptive and intuitive that he can basically get a semi-decent three whenever he wants. Curry has taken at least 8 threes in all 13 playoff games whereas Korver only took that many in 6 of 14 games. Curry can always get himself going, whereas Korver needs a little help from his friends.

The real point of distinction in this series might be that Cleveland just doesn’t have any answer for Curry in the pick and roll (no team does, really). The Warriors spacing is so daunting and Curry is so dynamic with his movement that the only real option to defend him seems to be switching the pick and roll like Houston have done all series. But Curry has been destroying Jones, Smith and Howard off the switch and he’ll do the same to Mozgov and Thompson. The Golden State offence is so multi-faceted that I’m not sure James will be able to do much guarding of Curry one-on-one. Whenever Houston have tried to put Ariza on Curry, Steph just manipulates the pick and roll and screen game to alter the matchup.

Even if I don’t think it’s going to be overly competitive, it’s a fun match-up. Feels fitting that this upstart Golden State team has to go through LeBron to get their maiden title.

That Cleveland win is definitely the blueprint; LeBron has to play out of his mind and Steph and Klay have to miss a disproportionate amount of shots (10 from 30 that night). But that win came with Love playing 37 really solid minutes, putting up an efficient 16-8 with three triples.

If the Cavs had Love and a healthy Kyrie then this series is obviously totally different. But without Love to space the floor, I think Cleveland’s only real shot in this series is playing LeBron at the 4 and sacrificing some rim protection, which is death against the ball movement of the Warriors.

I agree that Curry doesn’t have the same ability to affect a game that LeBron does when his shot isn’t falling, but aren’t we at the stage now where we just have to accept that Curry’s shot is always going to fall? He’s the best shooter of all time, and he’s made 4 or more threes in 10 of the 13 playoff games.

I appreciate the danger of writing off LeBron, but as we saw last year against the Spurs, he can only do so much. Based on what we’ve seen so far, there’s nothing to suggest that Cleveland can beat Golden State. The Warriors net efficiency rating was 1st during the season at 11.4, and Cleveland’s, with a healthy Irving and Love, was 6th at 3.7. The Warriors have the best defence in the league and the second best offence, Cleveland rank 20th and 4th in those stats.

The main thing is just the eye test though. The Warriors get buckets so easily, their ball movement and spacing make it seem like a swish is just the logical ending to their offensive system. The Cavs have to labour so hard to get buckets with antiquated iso-ball, post-ups and a ridiculous amount of offensive rebounding. The Warriors are a better defensive rebounding team than Chicago or Atlanta, and Cleveland won’t have those same second chance opportunities in the Finals.

The defining stat for me in this Cleveland playoff run is that the Cavs have been better this postseason with LeBron OFF the court. It’s only a slight improvement, but that points to just how bad their opposition has been, unable to exploit LeBron’s absence. Golden State are going to wipe the floor with the Cavs with LeBron on the bench, they have too much depth.

Now, LeBron is a god, so maybe the force of his talent will be enough to make this series competitive. But this year Steph Curry has been just as good as LeBron, and Steph’s supporting cast is infinitely superior. I don’t think the Finals will be close, but hopefully I’m wrong, this playoffs needs some more compelling series.

Steve Nash is my favourite basketball player of all-time but I agree with everything you’ve said express34texas. As his coaches pointed out time and time again, Nash didn’t shoot nearly enough given his ability. He was selfless to a fault. Nash never averaged more than 13.6 FGA per game in a season, which in retrospect is crazy. Curry takes literally more than twice as many threes as Nash and makes them at a better percentage – he’s more efficient at twice the volume. He’s the greatest shooter ever and it’s not especially close.

Nash’s defensive flaws are a little overrated but he’s definitely nowhere close to Curry. Steph has become a legitimately good defender – see: the end of Game 2 against Houston.

Cheers boys, great to be on board, appreciate it.

You’re not wrong Swampy. LeBron’s mid-range efficiency has actually basically been the same (down from 37% to 35% in the playoffs) but he can’t buy a three to save his life (shooting a ridiculous 14% on threes this postseason, on 49 attempts) and his finishing at the rim is down too from 70% to 64%. I guess the biggest difference is that during the regular season 34.5% of LeBron’s field goal makes were assisted and only 25.2% are being assisted in the playoffs. Doesn’t seem to matter though with J.R. as scorching as he is right now.

I think we’re essentially on the same page Ryan, and your last paragraph echoes my feelings to a tee. I guess the question is, how much did it really work? Kobe and Shaq should have dominated the league for a decade. I sympathise with Kobe’s frustration at Shaq’s lack of work ethic, but the public manifestation of that frustration effectively curtailed the possibility of another half-decade of trips to the finals.

The difference between Jordan’s motivational techniques and Kobe’s is that Jordan’s teammates actually liked him. ‘Liking’ someone is such an airy, subjective area of discussion, but it’s hard to make the case that it’s not important. Jordan literally punched Steve Kerr in the face during a practice once but all Kerr goes on about is how much he loves and respects the guy, and it was Kerr who later went on to hit some of the biggest shots of that second Bulls three-peat. Contrast that with the way Shaq, Dwight and to a lesser extent guys like Ramon Sessions and Smush Parker have spoken about their time with Kobe.

Whereas Jordan lighting fires under his teammates seemed to inspire them to do better, Kobe’s efforts to do the same just led to Shaq and Dwight hopping on planes out of Los Angeles. Like Jackson talks about, Jordan always loved his teammates and was ‘one of the guys’, whereas Kobe was reclusive and ‘lacking social skills’.

(By the way, the Nash non-call is from Lakers sources in the Abbott article, an article I agree is oddly vindictive but definitely illuminating.)

Ryan, I think the best quote about Kobe was one in Henry Abbott’s famous article about him, when a Laker insider said that Kobe ‘wants to win, but only as long as he’s the reason we’re winning’.

I agree that Jordan was similarly driven by personal goals but they weren’t at the expense of the team. As Phil Jackson wrote in his book, when his shot wasn’t falling Jordan ‘would shift his attention to defense or passing or setting screens to help the team win the game’ whereas Kobe ‘will pound away relentlessly until his luck turns’ with his shooting.

If Phoenix was an isolated incident I’d cut him slack too, but it’s just one in a litany. There’s driving Shaq out of LA by calling him ‘fat and out of shape’ in public, there’s the video trashing Andrew Bynum, there’s the fact that he refused to acquiesce to Howard and spent the ‘recruiting’ meeting lecturing Dwight on winning. He refused to call Steve Nash when the Lakers were courting him in free agency and nearly derailed the signing by insisting that it should be Nash calling him. Agents in the NBA have said time and time again that their players don’t want to play for the Lakers purely because of Kobe. Jackson called him ‘uncoachable’ in his book.

There’s such a history of pettiness and undermining teammates that it’s difficult to craft an argument that Kobe cares nearly as much about team as he does about his own situation. There’s the quintessential basketball quote from Bill Russell that ‘the most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I made my teammates play’. Kobe Bryant is the antithesis of this statement.

Again though, as I write in the article, none of this is necessarily a qualitative criticism of Bryant. I find his selfishness human, and in a twisted way, sympathetic. He’s a character out of ‘Paradise Lost’. He’s the most captivating NBA personality of his generation, and we’re lucky to have had him.