Cognitive Dissonance: Bazemore and 'Best'

Should I really be supporting this dude, given the ridiculousness he just expressed after his Atlanta Hawks had just dug themselves into a two-game hole against the Cleveland Cavaliers?

We both graduated from Old Dominion University, but the answer is unequivocally, no.

Kent Bazemore is a buffoon. The open mouth, insert foot type. For example:

We played them in the regular season this year and got the best of them. I still think we're the better team. We just haven't shown it yet.

No. No they haven't. And what Bazemore's shown leaves something to be desired:

Now, it's not like I don't understand his reasoning here. As a competitor, he's trying to revitalize a team that has shown zero interest in this series, let alone making it a competitive one. The Atlanta Hawks have been outplayed, outcoached, and outworked. It's been more humiliating than fun thus far.

Keep in mind people, the Cavs beat them twice at their house!

So, let me get this straight:

• The Cavaliers and their Big 3 have been chiseled down to maybe a 1½, and that's stretching it, given that Kyrie Irving seems to keep reaggravating every body part attached to him.
• You beat them three times out of four during the regular season when they were clearly healthier.
• Kevin Love is no longer available during this postseason and this is the Eastern Conference finals, the first ever for the city of Atlanta.

If you were the better team, then why wouldn't you want to display it? That's sorta the name of the game, isn't it? Especially in the playoffs.

Were you waiting until you lost Game 3 before you make a miraculous turnaround and, all of a sudden, start playing perfect basketball?

Bazemore's statements obviously don't show any depth of thought, and besides that, he's referencing the regular season. The post-season is a whole different entity. Anyone knows that. I don't even play professional basketball and I know there's not only a different aura attached to every post-season game, it gets progressively more intense the farther your team goes.

As Cris Carter would say, C'mon man. Don't say foolish things and expect to yield major returns.

The Hawks are dead in the water. Nothing will revive them. Kyle Korver is now out for the duration. DeMarre Carrol, their defensive specialist and the 'Shane Battier' of the team, is hobbled. LeBron James is taking over.

Unless a miracle occurs, the Cavs are already looking westward, which is a fairly decent indication that  Kent Bazemore is neither Nostradamus nor Edgar Cayce.

The Atlanta Hawks are not the better team.