Alright, game two. Game one was fun, but if the Celtics leave Cleveland with a split they’re going to be more than satisfied. This is a very, very important game. Here are some keys:
-Rondo Rondo Rondo Rondo. I’m not sure what the adjustments will be, but I’m sure we’re going to see them. Give him more room on the perimeter and challenge him in the paint. Give him a wall of bodies. Do something. Rondo cannot be allowed to control the pace of the game.
-If LeBron came out looking to be aggressive and took it to the paint early because his elbow was bothering him, I hope it still feels that way. Can’t settle for jump shots against this defense.
-Cavs defense needs to swarm like they did in the second half of game one. The Celtics will turn the ball over if enough pressure is placed on them.
-Frontcourt needs to play better. Shaq needs to know when the post-up opportunities are there and when to toss the ball back out. Jamison needs to work off the ball and look for easy layups and jumpers before he starts trying to twist in those floaters. I’d say he should try posting up, but KG can hold his own on an island against Antawn.
-Please, please, please let there be plenty of Rasheed/Big Baby minutes and Pierce ISOs. I love those.
-Alright, gotta go. Get excited, folks.
+1 for what David said.
Hey, I’m fine with the whole don’t panic thing, it’s only one game. I’m just saying I remember saying those exact words last year. One game means a ton, and when the entire team plays like it doesn’t matter at all, there is more than enough reason to be upset.
Seriously though, if they don’t care, why should we?
I have yet to see this team play hard for 48 minutes other than Game 4 against the Bulls…every other game they have come out sluggish…slow….and unmotivated or unsure…theyve even admitted they treated a playoff game like the regular season…if they really wanted to win a title wouldnt they go balls out for 48 minutes and put it all on the line to win it all? I mean really!
This team gave up tonite and decided they werent going to be aggressive…they lost their will tonite…and hopefully…maybe…a blowout at home will wake this team up and make them realize they dont have this many chances like they do this year to win it all…its Cleveland…how many chances do they get?
All this team does is watch Lebron and like cult members follow whatever he does…he is aggressive..so are they….he doesnt care…they dont either
Itd be great if someone else…anyone else on the team would just step up and make things happen right away…I wish the Cavs would play hard from the get go and just lay it down hard….NO MERCY! shit ive been saying this forever hahaha…and yet theyve only done it once in 7 playoff games…
The most important thing a basketball coach does is select the five guys who belong on the court. Mike Brown can’t afford to screw that up again this year. He really, really needs to play the right guys in each series. He can’t worry about hurt feelings or big names or any of that crap from this point forward.
Looks like the Cavs partied and celebrated Lebron’s MVP too hard. That’s about the worst i’ve ever seen a #1 seed play in a playoff game in a long long time.
Here are the 7 best players (from the combined rosters) in this series, in order:
1) LeBron
2) Rondo
3) Pierce
4) Ray Allen
5) Garnett
6) Jamison
7) Perkins
These are facts Cavs fans (and believe me, I HATE the Celtics); you can try to argue otherwise but look at the numbers. Want to argue Mo Williams deserves to be in the top 7? What a joke; the guy has shot 38% from the field over this postseason and last, has been DESTROYED by Rose and Rondo. Jamison better than Garnett or Pierce? Did you watch the last two games? Again, look at the numbers. Don’t think Perkins is good? Well he efficiently scored, rebounded, and defended better than ANYONE on the Cavs frontline.
So those are the personnel facts. The other team has 5 of the 7 best players in the series. Similar situation will occur if the Cavs somehow make it to Orlando or LA. It is extremely hard to win when the other team’s starters are better than you at all but one position, even if that one is LeBron James.
Yes LeBron played very poorly (he deserves plenty of blame tonight) and we all know Mike Brown is terrible. But the most powerful underlying reason the Cavs WILL NOT win a championship is because they do not have enough talent. Period. Take LeBron off this team and the Cavs are garbage (oh wait that did happen the last 4 games of the year; what happened? 0 – 4 happened)
The origins of this problem go back 6+ years and are squarely on that idiot Danny Ferry’s shoulders. He has drafted worse than practically every team in the League. Go back to LeBron’s first 3 years when they had high picks; who did they get? No one. Then he blows stupid money on B or C-level players like Larry Hughes, Mo Williams, and Z (who hasn’t been good in 5+ years). Even last year, he could have drafted DeJuan Blair – myself and a LOT of other people knew the guy could help big time – NOPE. Instead he drafts a guy that will play in Africa for the next 3 years; that’ll help win now. NOT.
Look Cavs fans, it’s over. This year is the last, best shot and it’s not looking good. I’m saying it now, and it will happen: if the Cavs don’t at least make it to the Finals (and win or at least lose in 6 or 7), LEBRON IS GONE. And if he’s smart, he goes to a team that is building the right way, with YOUNG talent from the draft – either the Bulls or, yes, even the Nets.
Argue if you want, it’s going to happen.
Well I can easily disagree with you on Jamison.Jamison should be 5th if not 4th. Look at tonights game, the guy gets 16 on 11 shots compared to Garnett getting 18 on 21 shots. Garnett isn’t better, he is just being better utilized. Doesn’t in anyway mean Garnett is a better player right now than Jamison is.
After that I’d probably agree though. But, then when you go to the bench, the cavs have the best 2 if not 3 players coming off the bench. Talent or lack thereof is not an excuse this year.
Pierce has definitely not been the 3rd best player in this series. Hell, he’s been worse than Rondo, KG, and Ray Allen.
I have a lot of thoughts about “big picture” stuff that tonight’s game revealed to me. I might post a conversation I am having with a friend on the recap. But for now, let me know what you guys think of this.
I think the Cavs game plan holds them back. These ‘phrases’ describe how the Cavs play much of the 1st and 3rd quarters. “Get everyone involved.” “Get Shaq going.” “Take what the defense gives.” “Don’t panic.” “Limit transition baskets.”
John wrote a piece a while back saying he hopes when the playoff start every possession either begins or ends with LeBron. None of these wasted possessions. That’s what is happening right now: WASTED POSSESSIONS.
During the Bulls series, I understood the logic behind force feeding Shaq, getting everyone going. But the Cavs CANNOT be thinking about Orlando right now – because Boston played a HELL of a game tonight. Even if the Cavs had played well, they might not have won – that’s how well Boston played.
Rajon Rondo played almost the entire game tonight – even in a BLOWOUT. That says, to me, that Doc Rivers and the Celtics are leaving it all on the court. This is their season. They played like crap in the reg season, there is question as to whether their window is closing, and they aren’t going down without a hell of a fight. The Cavs are still playing like it’s the regular season – that they can start slow and finish fast and the defense will bend but not break until that happens. It worked against Chicago, it worked in game 1. But tonight showed that it will NOT work if A.) LeBron is off his game B.) The Celtics are hitting shots or C.) Both are happening concurrently.
Everytime I ask myself what the Cavs gameplan is: it seems to almost play into the hands of the Celtics. What could the Celtics want more than Shaq trying to score on Perkins? I mean at best it is like a 40% chance of a two point basket – with a higher probability of fouls shots, offensive fouls, or turnovers. Yet the Cavs feel it necessary to start off the first and 3rd quarters with that. While we’re on the subject – Shaq would eat anyone not named Perkins alive yet only twice did I see him go at Big Baby the whole game – mostly because he wasn’t on the court against Boston’s 2nd unit.
What is Mo Williams role on this team? To me, there are 3 ways to utilize Mo Williams. 1.) Run the offense through him. When successful, he drives, forces the issue, takes some bad albeit aggressive shots, drops some floaters, and trys to find people cutting weakside off baseline drives. 2.) Play Mo as a 2 guard. Have him spotting up in the corners/wings and have LeBron find him on the weakside for catch-and-shoot 3s. 3.) Start possessions with him at PG, but with the intent of getting Shaq and Jamison ‘going’ on offense. Having Mo bring the ball up court before giving it up to LeBron, who gives it up to Shaq or Jamsion, who are not going to pass it out or swing it from one side of the court to the other. Mo is a bystander, his best strengths are completely nullified, and since he is a streaky player to boot, his shot is generally off when the Cavs need a basket.
This is why I was calling for Boobie Gibson after Mo came back from injury. Many people criticized me for that, but it wasn’t because I think Boobie is better than Mo, it’s just that there Mo was always playing in the 3rd way described above. There are two versions of Boobie – 1.) The PG, who is terrible and shot be fined for trying to run the offense, and 2.) The spot up 2 guard who is the most clutch 3 point shooter in the NBA. The Cavs DID win like 9 straight games mostly because they had Boobie doing the 2nd thing, with LeBron running the point.
Anyways, I’m not calling for Mo to be replaced, but why is it necessary to play Shaq, Jamison, LeBron, and Mo together at the same time? Shaq is useless in this series to begin with and offensively he is a black hole for possessions. Jamison clearly can’t guard Garnett so he is only valuable if he is scoring at the same clip, and Mo is pretty much just a traffic cone for Rondo to humiliate on defense and he is not even being used on offense other than when he randomly forces a shot in transition to try to “get himself going”. While all this is going on, LeBron James, maybe the best scorer in the NBA, and the only player the Celtics cannot guard is “letting the game come to him”
WASTED POSSESSIONS, BAD GAME PLANNING, THINKING AHEAD TO ORLANDO, AND POOR COMPLIMENTARY PLAYERS.
If I was Mike Brown, I would recognize that Shaq can still score against 2nd teams and I would play him when LeBron is NOT IN and run the offense through him if he must “get his touches” or whatever. I would play LeBron and Mo together and put LeBron at PG and Mo at the 2 guard and have him play PnR and spotting up in the corner. If LeBron is off the ball, then it is because Mo is going to drive and LeBron is going to cut: Not because LeBron is going to be passive and “let the game come to him”.
Also, I would put some crazy athletic lineups in to challenge the Celtics. Run Delonte, LeBron, Moon, Hickson, Varejao and just try to force turnovers and get out and run. Let LeBron run the offense and have all those other guys just cutting to the hoop with Delonte spotted up outside. Right now they are content to sub in 1 guy at a time to see if they get a “boost” from him. At least for a few stretches.
Also, Hickson should never play without LeBron because defensively he is a liability and offensively he has great chemistry with leBron.
The Cavs need to abandon “letting the game come to them” and “getting everyone involved” and come out attacking. Wear down the Celtics. The old style was a decent idea when the Cavs have very solid defensive players that couldn’t shoot. Junk the game up, play slow, let the defense control the game, let LeBron get his. But the Cavs have to face the reality that as much as everyone makes crazy comparisons to the 2007 squad and how bad they were I can tell you they played better defense that THIS Cavs team. Shaq isn’t a good defender, Mo is a terrible defender, Hickson is a terrible defender, Delonte is feast or famine, Varejao is hurt or something cus he looks like a ZOMBIE, and LeBron can’t be depended on to be the glue that holds the offense AND defense together.
If the Cavs are searching for an identity and they want it to be defense then Mo Williams must sit, Shaq must sit, Hickson can only play in spurts, and the offense must slow down and poor 1 dimensional players must be “involved”. If they are going to play all these offensive weapons then they need a plan other than “let’s get shaq going and have Mo play to his weaknesses while LeBron plays passive.”
Right now they are less than the sum of their parts – they are actually hurting each other’s strengths for half the game with the hope that in the fourth they can get some stops and get out and run and win with LeBron going ballistic. They need to play every possession like it matters and stop treating this like the reg season or the “precurser” to orlando.
@Facts – Hickson might turn out to be a steal in the draft where they got him. His ceiling is high, he’s very young, and he already has a great chemistry with LeBron. In 2 years, he could be Paul Milsap with Shawn Kemp-like hops.
Also, I don’t believe Ferry has had a high draft pick in his tenure. You make the case that guys like Mo Williams and Jamison are garbage, but you believe that a 2nd round energy PF (which the Cavs already have) is the stud that would make the Cavs unbeatable. You bring that shit to the table and then taunt people to “argue if you want”?
There’s plenty to criticize about the Cavs strategy right now (see my last comment) but Danny Ferry has continually improved the talent level around LeBron. Honestly, in any other year, I think the Cavs would roll to a championship. This year, there are some STACKED teams. Howard, Nelson, and Lewis are all all-star caliber players RIGHT NOW, and that doesn’t even include Vince Carter, and a slew of 3 point assassins. The Lakers have one of the best SGs in the game, the best offensive post player in the game, one of the best defensive wing stoppers in the game, one of the best 6th men in the game, and the best coach in the game. Boston has 3 hall of famers and none of them are the best player on their team. To say that anything less than a championship means the Cavs are DONE is a weak argument at best.
@Tom Pestak
“Honestly, in any other year, I think the Cavs would roll to a championship. This year, there are some STACKED teams.”
WOW, this is the weakest argument I have ever heard. ANY OTHER YEAR? Hmmm, let’s see. Last year the Lakers had the SAME stacked team as this year and were playing better (ie had a better record); the year before, the Celtics had the SAME stacked team as this year and were overall BETTER because the Big 3 were younger and they also had Posey, Powe, and House; this year Orlando is loaded, but they were pretty much the same last year and the Cavs couldn’t handle them then either.
So if the Cavs can’t win it this year, they couldn’t have won it the last 2 either, even if they had the same roster. So I guess the Cavs COULDN’T have won “any other year” huh?
Please, keep coming up with excuses. The fact is this will be the 5th year in a row that the Cavs have run into a more balanced, and OVERALL talented team in the playoff and will lose (last 4: Magic, Celtics, Spurs, Pistons). This year it will be either Boston, Orlando, or LA.
And please lay off the “but the Cavs bench is better!” weak argument; bench is irrelevant if your starters are outclassed at 4 out of 5 positions.
@ Facts – The fact that the Cavs might have to go THROUGH Boston, Orlando, and LA to win a title this year is enough proof that the NBA is stacked right now.
You can get riled up about semantics, but no team has had to go through that much talent to win a title in recent years.
And it’s not an excuse for losing – I’m merely pointing out that to say the FRANCHISE IS FINISHED if they don’t win a title this year is an extreme position. Fortunes can turn quickly in the NBA, just ask Kobe Bryant, who wanted out of LA and then bam – Pau Gasol landed in his lap.
i would argue that yes, you can make a case that THIS Cavalier team would have cruised to the finals in 2008. Remember, Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, and Co actually OUTSCORED the Celtics for the series before losing in game 7 on some bounces (go back and watch Rondo air ball two floaters after some great half-court D only to have an out of position PJ Brown suddenly FIND himself in perfect position to catch an airball.
Of course, that is all conjecture and not really worth arguging. The What-if game.
But the fact remains that there is a lot of talent between Orlando, LA, and Boston. I still think the Cavs will beat the Celtics this series. But getting through the C’s, the Magic, and the Lakers is a no cakewalk, nor is losing to any of those teams indicative that it’s time to “blow things up” imagine if the lakers had done that after suffering the worst finals loss in NBA history? They never would have come back and won it the next year.
Facts: LOL Paul Pierce is the third best player in this series?
If your credibility wasn’t completely shot when you named yourself “Facts” and started off with your opinions, then it was when your opinions proved to be completely insane. Go back to the Celtics board and try again.
Listening to the 1st quarters of the 1st two games was awful. I lost count of how many times I heard ‘(Shaq, LeBron, Jamison) put it up on the rim – NO!’ followed up by Rondo ‘put’s it on the floor, down the lane, to the rim-GOOD!’ I just hope that the butt whoopin’ and the embarrassment wakes them up because their coach can’t. Doc Rivers called out Sheed publicly and got what the team needed out of him. Let’s hope Brown does the same with Shaq and Mo and it works. If not we’re done in 6.
Love the huge post Tom, good stuff. In a single post you have me convinced Shaq should be coming off the bench in this series. I’m not easily convinced over the internet either.
Also gj on pointing out something I forgot to last night. To cite teams like the Bulls and Nets as teams who are building correctly through the draft and contrasting that with the Cavs who supposedly are not is more than misleading. It’s MUCH easier to build through the draft WHEN YOU ARE IN THE LOTTERY MULTIPLE YEARS IN A ROW. The only reason the Nets (btw, how in the world can you back this tatement up? How is one of the worst teams ever being construed as a team that is building correctly?) and Bulls are getting good young talent in the draft is because they went through horrible seasons. Would you like this Cavs team to just tank it for a few years so we can get those same high draft picks?
This is the problem we face. We don’t like some of our talent, but we have talent. We wish we had better young players, but getting those players is more than difficult when you win. We wish we had better FA aquisitions, and blame that on Ferry, but the FACT of the matter is that NBA players do not want to come to Cleveland. They just don’t. Don’t care how great of a GM you are, if the player you want doesn’t want to play in your city, then you can’t suddenly force him to come. I wish Trevor Ariza had come to Cleveland isntead of Anthony Parker. HOwever, Trevor decided he’d rather live in Houston and play on an average basketball team instead of win. A lot of players are making that same decision more and more and there is no way for Ferry to stop it. (BTW I love the city of Cleveland, but clearly a lot of people, including NBA players, do not).
Point well taken regarding the draft, Rich. The Cavs haven’t had a chance to acquire elite talent that way.
They also don’t have the competitive edge when trying to sign the Artests or Arizas for the mid-level exception that Houston, LA, or Miami would, because they are considered more desirable locales.
But look at the salaries that Channing Frye and Matt Barnes signed for. The Cavs could’ve doubled those guys’ salaries if they had not signed Parker, and still had room for Moon, using only the mid-level exception. I think both guys would’ve passed up warm weather for $3.5M instead of the ~$1.8Mish they earned this year.
I would much rather have Frye or Barnes than Parker right now. Parker’s lack of athleticism is frustrating to me. I don’t think he can guard any of the Celtics’ top 3 perimeter players.
Play Hickson more… the cavs need some big guy that can move… shaq can not keep up with garnet and perkens..