Five on Five: 2018 Playoff Edition

1. Now that we’ve put a bizarre regular season behind us, what was your favorite moment? Least favorite?

Cory Hughey: My favorite moments of the season were the personal stories of Kevin Love and Nick Gilbert. Love was finally fully embraced after his essay on his experience of having a panic attack and learning to deal with his anxiety. We can be a very divided fanbase, but I can’t imagine that anyone wasn’t rooting for Nick Gilbert during his recovery from his brain surgery. Dan Gilbert take WAY more heat than he should from us, but the first line in his Twitter bio isn’t about Quicken Loans, or being “the Fathead dude,” it simply says “family man.”

The Isaiah experience was the pits. I feel for the guy for playing hurt for the Celtics after shockingly losing his little sister, but he had to go.

Justin May: Easily my favorite moment, or moments really, was when we got the news about the trades at the deadline. The excitement was palpable. Least favorite moment? Any time Tristan Thompson steps on the court. He hasn’t looked good from day one.

Nate Smith: J.R. Smith threw soup at Damon Jones. Seriously J.R. Smith. Threw. Soup. At Damon. Jones. Poor Damon was probably sitting there running his yap, kicking his leg up to keep J.R. from stealing his hoagie, and eventually, J.R.’d had enough and winged a bowl of chicken tortilla at poor Damon. Was soup dripping from his grill? Was he scalded? Did J.R. ruin a perfectly good hoodie? Inquiring minds want to know. Least favorite? Trading Richard Jefferson to keep Derrick freaking Rose.

Evil Genius: Outside of the highlight reel of poster dunks LeBron James executed in his 15th season… my favorite moment was probably deadline day when Koby Altman started to undo the the damage that was done in the summer. It turned a fairly depressing march towards the abyss and the inevitability of LeBron leaving this disaster in his rear view into at least a positive upward direction. I liked feeling that I was wrong about the rookie GM of this team in the best possible way. I also liked that it seemed to truly energize LeBron again. The outcome (thus far) hasn’t been without it’s bumps in the road, but if this team can make it back to the Finals, it’s a hell of an accomplishment by all involved. Least favorite moment is a five way tie between: every moment the Cavs wear those awful grey uniforms; every time Jeff Green shoots a three; every time Isaiah Thomas opened his mouth; every moment Tristan Thompson is on the floor; and every time Ty Lue has to “watch the tape” to see what happened.

Tom Pestak: My favorite moment was during the honeymoon period of the new trade, specifically when Larry Nance Jr. set a few screens and rolled hard to the glass, demanding at least a glance from a help-side big man which left Jordan Clarkson wide open for a corner 3 off a LeBron pass.  Some injuries set in which shortened the honeymoon period, but the Cavs got into a groove once Kevin Love came back.  Zach Lowe chronicled the state of the Cavs nicely.

The Cavs with Love at center are unstoppable. The only way to beat them is to outscore them. Only one team — last season’s Warriors — has managed that in the playoffs.

Watching that totally unstoppable offense with the best offensive version of LeBron James anyone has ever seen was a joy.  Watching the Cavs get embarrassed on a nightly basis only to continue doing the same things (namely, playing Isaiah Thomas) was not a joy.  Watching a lifeless LeBron staring into the abyss was supremely unpleasant.  I also got irritated with the media (and eventually Cavs fans) piling on the organization when thing started going south.  The Cavs are not a bad organization.  They take gigantic swings and sometimes they twist themselves into the ground when they miss.  They do this because when LeBron is wearing the Wine and Gold, it’s always championship or bust time and he doesn’t do anything to help alleviate that pressure.

2. On a scale of one to 2017 Golden State, how concerned are you about the Pacers (and why)?

Cory: In the season previews, I thought the Pacers would surprise the league and just miss the playoffs. They drastically exceeded that. Oladipo finally played up to his pre-draft hype, and maybe it was the dysfunction of Orlando, and being a spectator during the Westbrook stat hog campaign that held him back. Myles Turner is going to be an All-Star some day, and they WON the Paul George deal. I just don’t think this is the year they can really challenge LeBron and company. I’d give them a threat level of 2.

Nate: I’m at a four. I put this series right below the 2015 Bulls series. The Pacers have a lot of Cavs killers including the Ear Whisperer, but ultimately, the Cavs offense should prove too much for them to handle.

Tom: 2015 Bulls concerned.  The Cavs could find themselves down 3-1 if they’re careless and are forced to play at a slow pace because they can’t actually ever stop the Pacers.  I just don’t want the Pacers believing they can win.  The Cavs have done well to break the spirit of a lot of Eastern Conference teams early on.  You don’t want to mess around with Indiana and Victor YOLOdipo.

Justin: I would rate them at about 2015 Bulls. Yes, they took two games from the Cavs, but it never should have been that close. The team was still jelling and LeBron had to get heroic at one point. Hopefully this time around they have less trouble.

E.G: Logic (and the rusty sieve that is the Cavs defense) tells me I should be at least a little concerned about the Pacers… like Bulls in the second round of 2015 concerned. However, the last few times these two teams squared off, the Cavs were starting or giving heavy minutes to guys like Isaiah Thomas, Tristan Thompson, Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose. None of those guys will be around for the playoffs (okay TT might see some garbage time), so that in itself is a victory. Oladipo is legit scary, but even though the games might be close, I’m not overly concerned about the Cavs’ chances of advancing.

3. Who are the biggest x-factors for both teams? 

E.G.: I’ll go with the shooters here… it’s going to come down to how well and frequently either Bojan Bogdanovic or Kevin Love can hit their three balls. Each has the capacity to change the game on their team’s side of things if they get hot at the right times. Both are shooting above 40% from downtown for the season (with Kev slightly better at 41.5 vs. 40.2 for Bojan), and will be key if Bron and Dipo cancel each other out scoring wise.

Tom: If X-Factor still means “Lamar Odom-type” – a non star that can become a star for a four minute stretch and just ruin you, I’ll go with Darren Collison, the NBA’s leader in 3-point Field Goal Percentage.  The Cavs have had success over the years slowing down a single guard: Rose, Lowry, IT, Teague, even Curry.  They will probably come up with some schemes to try to keep Yolo Vic from going nova.  They just don’t have enough perimeter defense in the backcourt to also keep Collison from getting a ton of good looks.  For the Cavs, I think the X-Factor will be George Hill.  He’s seen plenty of grueling playoff series and I think we’re good for at least one “George Hill Game”.

Nate: Lance Stevenson would be the logical answer for Indy, but I’m going with Bojan Bogdonovic. I just got a feeling he’s going to be the scrub fuego who goes off for a couple games. For the Cavs, I’m guessing J.R. Here’s the thing. Swish isn’t what you’d call forensic basketball analyst, but the dude does have a nose for bullshit. He knew it was bullshit when he was playing for Phil Jackson in New York, and Swish acted like a jackass. J.R. absolutely knows that the NBA regular season has become complete bullshit. Now that he got PAID$$$, why should he remotely try to extend himself in 82 mostly meaningless games? But he’s rounding into playoff form. Ever since he’s gone to the bench, he’s been a factor, and while his defense hasn’t been great, it has been ok in stretches. He’s posting a zero plus/minus, but he’s also shooting the lights out at 47% from downtown. With Jose, Kyle, J.R., and Clarkson all rotating through the second unit with LeBron and Kevin, they’re going to be murderous from behind the line. I’m betting J.R. wins a game by himself.

Cory: It’s definitely Lance Stephenson for the Pacers. His history with LeBron goes back years, and if he’s zoned in, he’s a terror on both ends of the court. Hopefully Moondog brings some of his friends to the locker room, and J.R. matches Lance’s output.

4. What improvement are you most hoping to see from the Cavaliers now that the playoffs are here?

Cory: Defense! The March 21st matchup with the Raptors was a turning point for me. The undermanned Cavs gave up 79 points to the Raptors in the first half, then held them to 50 in the second half. They can do it. Now just do it.

Tom: Well, defense of course.  I hope to see the Cavs never surprised by what the Pacers try to run.  The Cavs advance to the Finals every year because they have LeBron James and other talented players and they out-execute basic sets much better than their opponents.  They generate “easy” baskets easier than their opponents.  The danger is when their defense is so inept and the other team is leaning forward and running downhill and the balance tilts the other way.  They don’t need to be a better defensive team than anyone else, they just need to force the other team into some challenging situations here and there.  In the regular season they waste so much time experimenting with lineups or playing Isaiah Thomas or being in chill mode that they never really lock in against a specific team – they’re always more concerned with big picture stuff.  Playoffs is all about little picture stuff.  Every game matters.

Nate: I’d go for logical rotations, and data driven lineups, but I’ll settle for actually giving a crap. I think about 35% of regular season analytics apply to this team (which makes the first part of my insistence fairly ironic). And that’s why this team team is so maddening. Ty Lue has to coach by gut because the regular season data means so little. And generally don’t trust his gut. But everyone playing hard for four quarters, running actual set plays that require some screening, making quick decisions when things aren’t working, etc. will be what most helps this team (fingers crossed).

Justin: I’m hoping to see mediocre defense. All season long they’ve basically been letting teams walk all over them defensively. It would go a long way if they could establish a sensible scheme. Long shot, I know.

5. What other first round matchup most intrigues you?

Cory: It’s gotta be Rockets/Timberwolves. It’s got an Ocean’s 8 star-studded cast with Harden, Paul, Towns, and Butler, and a pair of the biggest name directors in basketball in D’Antoni, and Thibodeau. I’m really excited for the contrasting styles. It’ll be like when I had my crumby studio apartment with free electricity in college and I would blast the air-conditioner and heater at the same time to see which would win. Ultimately the air-conditioner gave up.

Justin: Easily the most exciting first round matchup is going to be the Thunder vs the Jazz. The Jazz are clicking at the right time so it ought to be interesting

Tom: The only thing that would surprise me is the Cavs actually losing the series.  I could see it going 4, 5, or 6 with almost equal likelihood.  Seven would surprise me a little bit.  Losing would actually shock me.  It wouldn’t have last season.  And I know The Pacers might be better this year, I just think the Cavs might go nuts.

Justin: Cavs take the Pacers in five. ‘Bron won’t want to lose more than one game to them.

E.G.: I really want to say four closely contested ones… but since the Cavs historically have a hard time at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse… I’ll be safe and concede five.

Nate: Five. Average score: 120-110.

Cory: No answer…