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.
I don’t know much about basketball strategy, so what do you guys think we should do to stop Rondo? He’s not a good shooter, but giving him room on the outside gives him more passing lanes. Or is that okay if it denies his ability to penetrate and kick it out?
Lol at the Cavs missing a ton of easy shots again to start the game. Even bigger wtf at Delonte West going under the screen to close the quarter, with 1 second left on the shot clock. You chase over when the clock is that low, doesn’t matter who it is you’re guarding.
Ah… crap. 9-0 to start the second quarter. CMON CAVS.
I knew mocking sheed would bite me in the ass one day. 4-4, 2-2 from deep. FML.
Well apparently LeBron is taking the 1st half off. Hopefully Jamison carries this over to the 2nd half when I’m sure LeBron is going to turn it up a notch.
Not understanding why Delonte is getting so much run out there, but maybe it will pay off later.
@Rich: Because his D on Ray Allen was great. He is the best on the team at getting around screens, and Allen just can’t get open. Same can’t be said about Parker and Mo.
only differences from game 1 is our D is a little better and Celtics are committing a ton of turnovers…if we starting so sluggish at home i cant imagine what we’ll do at Boston in Game 3..that could be ugly…
though i think like usual we’ll come back and start trying in the second half…just start racking up fouls and we’ll be good…when sheed is your leading scorer you cant be that good…
Not much you can do with Rondo… I thought the Cavs did a decent job keeping guys in front of him in the first half and you look up and see that he has double digit assists. They shelled him a ton and were generally more aware of him, he’s just so good at finding open guys.
Should we just count on 3-5 wasted possessions trying to get Shaq in a rhythm every first quarter?
The only thing keeping my anger from boiling over with the Cavs’ lack of energy and their generally poor attitude is the belief I have that they purposefully stay relaxed until the game either gets out of reach or gets toward the end.
Is LeBron giving less than no effort on D, or is that just me? Mo invisible, Shaq can’t hit a thing and needs to stop trying, LeBron just kind of on the court not really playing….this looks terrible yet again.
Guys, Rondo is not the best PG in the league. He is not Chris Paul or Deron Williams. He isn’t even Steve Nash. We are making him look 2-3x better than he really is. A guy who can’t shoot a jump shot should not be dominating like this two straight games.
Well, call me an alarmist or w/e, but idc what happens the rest of this game…this team cannot win a title. Down 20 at home. Nothing more you can say at this point. LeBron STILL not playing hard.
HOnstely, would’t mind hearing the fans just boo this mess.
The Celtics D is making LeBron look like effing Tony Allen right now.
Maybe it’s the Cleveland fan in me, but I agree with Rich. I’m getting that feeling.
I’d actually prefer Tony Allen right now. The Cavs look like total crap in every aspect of the game.
Doesn’t matter if you’re a Cleveland fan or a Laker fan, this team really can’t win a title playing like this.
This team needs to do some soul searching. I’m really interested to hear what this post game commentary is going to be. “Well, for awhile there the refs were giving us a lot of help, keeping us in the game longer than we deserved. Then my elbow flared up and the rest of the team took a dump on the court.”
If the Cavs dominate the Celtics just as thoroughly in the 4th quarter, they still lose. Why am I still watching?
And I’m sorry if I hear any pundits tonight talk about how LeBron still has a lack of help, I’ll blow my mind. LeBron James isn’t helping his team at all on either end, and deserves to be totally criticized after this performance tonight. They might as well just sit him and the rest of the starters for 4th.
The Cavs are playing a 1/2 court game down by 21 with 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter? Mike Brown is overrated as is his defense. If the Cavs continue to play like this Boston wins in 6. Brown is soft and he under utilizes his talent. Save the nonsense about 127 games the last two seasons. He’s been given the most talent in the NBA and can’t get it done. He’s the Cavs version of Mike Hargrove.
I’m honestly just looking for answers… this is outright embarrassing
They should be running that bunch of geriatrics out of the gym. Instead Brown plays their game and loses. Teams take on the personality of their coach. In this case they are soft and heartless, but they sure are ‘good character’ guys. If I hear that one more time I’ll puke.
You can blame Mike Brown, and he certainly is going to get his fair share of it, but LeBron James is totally lost out there. It isn’t even a lack of heart, it’s a lack of everything. I’m still stunned the Cavs fans at the arena haven’t just booed the team one good time during a timeout.
As long as the Cavs send a help defender on every play, they will not win this series, and certainly not a series with Orlando. I shudder to think what that COULD be like…if they make it that far.
Btw, I know the series isn’t technically over, but the Cavs hopes of winning a title is. It’s rough to admit that this early in the playoffs, but it’s true. This is the last year Mike Brown will be coaching in Cleveland.
Rich…I actually agree with your last statement…this team doesnt have any heart or will power in them…they didnt want to win tonight and it clearly showed…if they dont wake up from this game for Game 3…they wont win the series plain and simple…and if that happens…Brown is as good as gone…
Well, Brown was gone unless he gets to the championship, and probably had to win it too. I’m saying he’s gone now not because they will lose this series, but because it seems obvious they won’t win a title. Imo, he was getting canned w/o a title.
Does anyone remember right after the all-star break LeBron had that two week period where he seemed “out of sorts”? Windy reported on it; LeBron seemed like something was bothering him? This is what happened: Warren Buffet gave LeBron a call and said, “We need you to take a dive in the playoffs this year. Fake an injury.” LeBron was a little mad at first but now it seems like he’s accepting his role in the Western power scheme.
Sounds like a theory I’m willing to accept Illuminati.
I’m glad the fans emptied out before the end of the game. Those POS better look around that stadium real hard as this game ends.
How about a little perspective? Whether they lose by one and play amazing, or lose by 30 and play terrible, it only counts as one loss. It was a terrible performance, but it’s not like the Celtics are clearly better or anything. Step back from the ledge people. Lebron gave a piss-poor effort. The team gave a piss-poor effort. They’ve been sleep-walking through the playoffs so far, and it’s starting to bite them in the ass.
Do we really need to go through the list of teams that made it to the NBA finals in the past 5 years that played worse games or had worse series than this?
I dunno even know where to go from this. I feel like Atlanta fans after losing at home tothe Bucks. You know you can still win the series, but you also know that your odds of winning a title are done. It’s a hopeless feeling, one which I’m not sure what to do with. I’ll continue to watch the games, but I dunno why. I guess cause I’m a fan and lvoe my team, but my goodness is this a bad feeling.
actually would be interested to know how many teams dropped game 1 or 2 home games in competitive series and went on to win. too depressed to check myself.
Rich, just STFU and go right in your diary or something. Good lord. If the Cavs are so done why are you still posting?
Shooting 40% from the field and 19% from 3. And I can’t even say it’s because the Celtis defense, the Cavs got into the paint a ton in the first half, and didn’t finish anything. It’s a lack of focus and belief. So hard to swallow that this team can play like that against Boston on our own homecourt.
I wonder if Krolik’s stomach looks like a curly straw after this game?
You wanted Sheed minutes, you got them.
TR:
Last year Orlando went 7 with Boston (each taking a game on the opposing court over the first 4 games), actually going down 3-2 at one point. They also lost a home game against Philly in the first round. The Lakers also lost at home to the Rockets (winning in 7). The Lakers also lost game 2 against Denver, at home. And of course, in 2008, Boston went 7 against Atlanta and the Cavs.
People DEFINITELY left the Lakers for dead when they had to struggle to beats a completely decimated Houston Rockets team last year, that was far worse than the Celtics are now.
Varejao had the only positive +/- (+2, Lebron was -16). Varejao, Lebron, JJ and Jamison were the only people who produced anything at all for the cavs, and you could really only say JJ and Varejao had good games, and neither of them were that good.
Lebrons shot is off because of that elbow. Time to take it to the hole. Hopefully it’s not so hurt that he can’t drive to the basket.
First of all, Cavs are not done but with this type of heartless play at both ends the championship is unreachable. I just want to say, it all starts with Mike Brown. Under his soft leadership the team looks like a crew right from a highschool.
Well, at least, let’s hope they learned a lesson today which is you cannot expect to make runs everytime you’re down 15+ points. If you really hate Boston, you have to make sure it looks that way.
what I’m dying to know is how hurt lebron is…he’s clearly not himself right now, even if he was able to perform a mini-takeover towards the end
Well Mike Brown’s press conference was the most entertaining thing of the night. By far and away the most upset I’ve ever seen him and probably the most upset he has ever been as a coach for the Cavs. Loved it.
Amazingly, after Brown’s conference I somehow seem a little more cheerful, as if I truly believe they will come out in game 3 and look like a real team or something. I know it isn’t in him, so it’s hard for hi mto do, but the way he looked tonight at the podium I would guess he absolutely lit them up i nthe locker room for maybe the first time in his career.
Rich,
That should be a new way of articulating how bad the Cavs play when they play really, REALLY bad.
“The Cavs were awful. So awful, in fact, that Mike Brown yelled at them–he may have even hurt a few feelings.”
Rofl, love it Kevin. I hope someone was in the locker room for the speech or something. To see Mike Brown actually rip into a team would be astonishing.
I mean, he actually called out a player in the press conference. When does he EVER do that? Never. But he was so pissed he actually said Mo Williams has to play better. Love it. Although tonight would have been a good time to use the standard “Everyone needs to play better” routine, cause it would have actually been true for a change.
On one hand, you don’t want to shake up the rotation, because that’s kind of an admission of, “You got us. Even though we’re the top seed, we’re adjusting to you, because you’ve dictated the terms.”
On the other hand, I kind of think they have to.
I’ve been watching pretty closely, and I don’t think Shaq is providing anything uniquely positive right now. Since he doesn’t require a double-team, he doesn’t create offense when the ball is dumped in to him. He’s also a terrible help defender, which is a huge issue because the Cavs apparently don’t have anyone who can guard Rondo one-on-one.
This team needs to immediately adopt an attitude of five guys committed to stopping Rondo first. Essentially, everyone is in help defense on Rondo. That sucks, but it’s a necessary evil since no one can guard him individually. But in order to do that, they need five defenders on the floor who are quick enough to hedge and recover. Translation: no Shaq. Period.
Shaq was acquired solely to slow down Dwight Howard. Maybe that’s all he should be used for.
I’d like to see Jamario given the opportunity to slow down Rondo for a consistent stretch. This goes along with them playing small. Mo, Delonte, Moon, Jamison, Varajao, Bron – to me, these six guys should be getting the vast majority of the minutes. The vast, vast majority.
Honest question: am I missing something that Parker provides? I realize he stretches the floor a bit. But is he a plus defender on anyone in this series? I don’t think he’s athletic enough to be considered a plus defender. He can’t guard Rondo, he can’t guard Pierce, and he can’t guard Allen (well, not as well as Delonte). So…does he have a place in this series?
I think the Cavs are going to need to hold the Celtics under 95 points per game from here on out to win this series. To do that, I think they need to have Moon on the floor for 30 minutes, which is a radical rotation change. And play Hickson more.
To me, the 7-man rotation looks like this in this series:
Mo, Moon, Bron, Jamison, Varajao (West, Hickson).
I’m talking about inserting Moon into the starting lineup and seeing if he can slow down Rondo without requiring help side sagging from everyone else. Can Mo slow down Allen?
Yes, that’s a very small seven guys. And yes, it’s a very thin rotation, with each guy playing 30+ minutes. I also think it’s their best chance to win.
(It’s a conversation for another time, but this series is why I think this team needs to consolidate some talent into a better “2″ guard such as Iguodala or Mike Miller. Think about the last five guys on the bench in this series – they are better than any other teams last five guys, but they aren’t helping the Cavs win any of these games. They need to do a good 3-for-1 or 4-for-1 trade this summer).
Jacob, I agree with most of what you said, but the problem is this. Why can’t the Cavs expose the Celtics on the offensive end with their mis-matches. Jamison should not be able to be stopped by Garnett, yet they don’t run ANY offense through him. For one little stretch in the first quarter they did, and worked wonders. Didn’t do it the rest of the game.
Mo Williams HAS to take advantage of rondo on the offensive end. Yes, he can’t guard Rondo, but Rondo shouldn’t be able to guard him.
And sorry, but LeBron can’t be the second best player on the court and expect this team to win. There is no reason he shouldn’t obliterate Paul Pierce every single night.
The mis-matches are on both ends of the court and yet we are only seeing them on one end. I don’t get it.
I agree with Jacob Jackson on the Shaq thing. If we played the celtics small we would run them out of the gym. Celtics are too old to play that way.
Seriously, Barkeley is right. The cavs are playing so slow it’s the only thing keeping the Celtics in the series.
Everyone else needs to chill out a little bit. This crap about “this proves we can’t win a championship” is really over the top, and I think people are starting to come back to earth. I was as pissed as anyone else about this, but comparing Cavaliers fans to an Atlanta Hawks fan…
damn, man, the Hawks fan who thought his team DID have a chance is delusional. Look, the Cavs may win and they may get bounced in this series, but this game doesn’t prove they can’t win the ‘ship. Jesus.
And Lebron James is hurt. I have watched him play a lot of basketball, and that wasn’t the same guy out there. He is going to benefit a lot from the rest this week. The rest of the team needs to pick him up, but he brings so much to the team that when he is a hurt it’s going to be tough to win.
Look the Celtics had a 25 point lead in this game and got a scare in the fourth quarter, with Lebron clearly unable to shoot from the outside. There’s your silver lining. If you love the team so much, learn that basket-ball is a game with SERIES in the playoffs, and one bad loss can sometimes mean a turning point. The Cavs will not lose this series unless they have three more just catastrophic games, because mediocre games from them will win the series – see game one.
I come to this site for basketball insight and RATIONAL comments. This “team doesn’t have the heart to win” stuff is bizarre voodoo. Clearly the Cavs have vets who have the will to win, and Lebron James goes hard every game. If you can’t see that tonight he was hurt you were watching a different game.
Suck it up, cavs the blog commenters. It’s playoff basketball. Time to put your man pants on and not flip out when your team is tied 1-1 to a team that won the championship 2 years ago and plays hella hard in the playoffs. Call me when we actually get behind in the series.