While We’re Waiting… Watching LeBron, Indians’ Offense, and a Second-Day Mock
April 23, 2010Indians 8, Twins 1: Mitch and The Bats “Unleash the Fury”
April 23, 2010
Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Right now the Cavaliers are absolutely insane. A lack of urgency and being ok with letting their opponent dictate the style of play caught up to the Cavaliers in this game as the Bulls won 108-106 to get themselves back into the series. What follows is my analysis in numbers and words.
– This game reminded me of the Steven Wright quote “Right now I’m having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.” At this point I’m pretty sure the Cavaliers are incapable of learning lessons and lack the desire needed to win the NBA Championship. And before you think this is a reaction to just one game, I remind you to look back at some of the things we’ve been saying about this team for the last few weeks. The habits they picked up while sleepwalking through March have ingrained themselves into the team’s DNA. The Cavaliers have forgotten who they are and how to give full effort, and they just keep playing this sloppy, lethargic style of basketball game in and game out. We thought it was just effort and a lack of interest in the regular season. I don’t know how to explain this series away. With the exception of the 1st quarter of game one, the Cavs look like an average basketball team at best.
– Remember how during the regular season the Cavs could count on at least one role player stepping up and making an impact, and we all lauded this as a sign of the team’s depth? Well, the Cavs have a problem. Playoff-itis or Playoff-phobia, whatever you want to call it, has struck this team. Once again, the big 3 all played their game for the Cavs (LeBron had 39-10-8, Antawn had 19-10, and Mo had 21-3) but absolutely nobody else stepped up whatsoever. Parker had 8 points and Shaq had 6, and the Cavs bench took a combined 8 shots, 5 of them coming from Delonte West.
– Meanwhile, the Bulls starters continue to slice apart the Cavs defense. Remember, the Bulls were 28th in offensive efficiency this season and Cleveland was the 7th best defensive team. So explain why the Cavaliers have now let the Bulls score 102+ points in each of the last 2 games. The Bulls had 5 players in double figures again, and again had 3 players with 20+ points. It’s easy to say the Bulls were “just hot”, but we could have said the same thing about the Orlando series last year. At some point, you have to look at how Derrick Rose continues to get whatever shot he wants all game long and how many wide open shots Kirk Hinrich was getting despite the fact he was 4-4 from three. When are the Cavs going to get to start putting Delonte West or LeBron James on Rose sooner in the game? When are they going to start taking it personal and putting bodies on the shooters who are killing them?
– Mike Brown needs to start adjusting his rotations. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was –8 in 5 minutes and Shaq was –5 in 20 minutes. So why is JJ Hickson still getting just 46 seconds of playing time? We all know that the Cavaliers are going to need their big lineups against Orlando and Los Angeles, but there’s no way to ignore the way the Cavaliers small lineup just destroys teams like the Bulls and Celtics. Mike Brown needs to put his stubborn pride aside and let this team do its thing and demoralize teams like the Bulls. The versatility of this team is supposed to be a strength, so stop treating it like its the plague.
– In 3 regular season games, the Cavaliers held Derrick Rose to 17 points per game. In 3 playoff games, they are letting him get 27.33 points per game. That’s quite a defensive letdown. On the other side of the coin, the Cavs bench averaged 29.8 points/game this year, but are averaging just 19.67 points/game. It’s normal for teams to see their bench production drop in the playoffs when playing time shrinks and rotations tighten up, not to mention Playoff-itis setting in for role players, but when your bench is dropping 10 points in production and you’re letting your opponents’ star increase his output by 10 points, that’s a 20 point swing that needs to be made up in the margins. When you’re not dominating the glass and you’re letting your opponent routinely outscore you in the paint (the Bulls edge was “only” 38-32 in this game), that’s a good way to lose those said margins. So the only way for the Cavaliers to be competitive and win in this series is for LeBron to singlehandedly make up the difference. Thankfully, LeBron is doing just that.
– What does Anthony Parker bring to this team that warrants playing 28 minutes? It’s pointless to bring up because it’s never going to change, but when what you have is so clearly not working properly, why not at least try giving Daniel Gibson some meaningful minutes? Maybe he’s still hurt, I don’t know, but even if he is, I don’t think it’s the injury that’s keeping him from playing. But in 28 minutes Parker was 2-7 from the field for 8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, and a lot of mediocre defense that led to a –4 rating. During the season Anthony Parker was a Net –0.3 defensively while Daniel Gibson was a Net –1.9 defensively. You can say Parker is bigger as the excuse for him getting so much time, but when Gibson has so clearly outplayed Parker when given a chance this year, there’s no reason they shouldn’t at least be splitting those 28 minutes.
– For all of this negativity, though, once again the Cavaliers came storming back from 20 down and had a shot at the buzzer that would have won the game. One major culprit was an old nemesis, the free throw line. The Cavs were 20-31 from the FT line (64.5%) and that’s the reason the comeback bid fell short. If the Cavaliers would just play their A Game (or even their B Game) defensively, they wouldn’t need to worry about FTs. But when you play down to your opponents and consistently let lesser teams battle with you down the stretch, those FTs suddenly become enormous. And it’s not Shaq (100%) or Jamison’s (100%) fault this time. Mo Williams was 2-5 from the line and LeBron was 7-13 from the line. Both missed crucial FTs in the 4th quarter.
– There are some major positives from this game (Mo’s overall play on offense, LeBron’s loaded output, and Delonte’s intangible timing on big momentum plays), but I’m not going to focus on them because I hope the team isn’t doing so either. My hope is that this game serves as a wake up call and snaps this team out of it. Having said that, I’m tired of writing like a broken record. I keep waiting for the Cavs to turn the Playoff switch on, but it’s not happening. They’re not in danger of losing to the Bulls. The Cavs can beat the Bulls on talent alone. You can’t say the same for the Celtics and/or Magic. Trouble is looming on the horizon for the Cavaliers.
What The Internet Is Saying
I am spitting mad right now. Remember how I used to say that you wanted these kind of games to happen in February? Well, now it’s the playoffs. I don’t buy the “wake-up call” thing either. This team got upset in the playoffs last season. Their best player is a free-agent this off-season. Boston had 2008. LA had last year. Orlando has the future. No team has more pressure on them than the Cavs do, and they’re acting like they don’t need to take every playoff game seriously.
Like I said, if they run through the Bulls in the next two games, I’ll buy the “wake-up call” thing. Right now, all I see is a team that hasn’t won a playoff game on the road this season giving up a playoff game against a 41-41 team to put them three losses away from an unthinkable collapse. With LeBron scoring 38 points. If the Cavs don’t pull it off this season, this is the kind of game that will make LeBron look at his options. If that doesn’t make you terrified, I don’t know what will. [Cavs: The Blog – John Krolik]
Instead of realizing that this was the Bulls’ last shot to make this a series and that they’d come out fighting for their season with the injection of energy playing at home, the Cavs eased into Game 3 like it was a game in February. They played at something less than full speed for three quarters and hoped it worked and then turn it up in the fourth quarter. Questionable as it is, it works in the regular season but it is a bad habit. Seeing the way the Bulls’ attacked and the Cavs literally fell over themselves — Anthony Parker back pedaled once and actually went to the deck playing passive defense on Derrick Rose — highlighted this perfectly.
Perhaps this will serve as one of those “wake up” games that higher seeds sometimes need in the playoffs. It didn’t help that the Cavs played this same way in Game 2 and got away with playing a great quarter to win. That doesn’t work on the road, even against .500 teams. It must be assumed that Bulls’ non-stars will step up and have better games, that is what happens at home. Just look at what Jamario Moon did in Game 2.
As the Cavs break down film and go over lineup situations and fine-tune the game plan, attitude is going to be just as important. They will have to arrive Sunday ready to play a playoff game. They did that in Game 1 and then talked about how their focus was sharpened and how Shaquille O’Neal was leading by example. All of us in the media lapped it up and it was easy because you could see that the Cavs had that edge. It was vanishing in Game 2 and it was gone in Game 3. [Plain Dealer – Brian Windhorst]
Derrick Rose made 13-of-26 shots for 31 points and Kirk Hinrich hit 9-of-12 for 27 points Thursday night, resurrecting the Bulls’ hopes in this first-round series.
Rose arrived averaging more than 25 points in the first two games. But Hinrich had scored a total of 13 points before Monday, making just six of 18 shots.
But Parker knew Hinrich would be trouble when he made two of his first three shots in the first quarter. [Plain Dealer – Mary Schmitt Boyer]
The Bulls for some reason took something away from Game 2 that they felt they could build on. I wrote, and said during the Wine and Gold Podcast earlier today, that I didn’t know what those takeaways could be. There wasn’t anything from an x and o standpoint that I could see the Bulls were particularly doing that the Cavaliers couldn’t adjust to. The only thing that happened in Game 2 was, for a stretch, the Bulls just played harder than the Cavaliers. If the Cavs just came out and played hard tonight for 48 minutes, that would’ve pretty much wrapped it up. Only they didn’t. Not once but twice they left their sense of urgency laying next to their ipods and twitter accounts in the locker room. They allowed the Bulls to close the first quarter up 11, and got down by as many as 21 during the opening minutes of the third, and you can’t dig holes like that in the playoffs…no matter how many whistles go your way, or inbounds passes you execute properly. [Stepien Rules – Brendan Bowers]
The Cavs weren’t at their best — 43.9 percent shooting and 20-of-31 from the line — but they got the requisite solid games from their top three players in LeBron James (39 points on 14-of-26 FG, 10 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks, two steals), Mo Williams (21 points on 5-of-11 from deep), and Antawn Jamison (19 points and 11 rebounds). The problem, as it usually is on the road in the playoffs, is that their secondary players were far worse. [The Baseline – Eric Freeman]
Cleveland didn’t do themselves any favors with the way they started the game, as poor perimeter defense (Derrick Rose and Luol Deng were getting into the paint at will) and iffy shot selection gave Chicago a comfy lead. It was enough for the Bulls to ride their momentum through the second and third quarters before sealing the win at the line in the fourth. Not that the Bulls were spotless from the stripe when it counted; out of their eight free throw attempts in the final minute, Chicago made just four of them, leaving the door open for a potential tie on several occasions. [ProBasketballTalk – Rob Mahoney]
And though James made shots, and his team shot 40% from 3, so the real issue for Cleveland wasn’t King James or his court, it was that they couldn’t stop the Bulls from scoring. The Bulls, of all teams! It was especially rough for the Cavs in the frontcourt, and it was highlighted in one sequence: old-ass Shaq blowing a dunk, and Noah beating him down the court on the other end for a layup. Varejao battled foul trouble all night, and the Cavs actually had their best success when they went without any bigs (Jamison and James as the frontcourt) and forced the Bulls with Noah on the bench (foul trouble of his own) to go without him or Brad Miller. The Cavs were able to scrape back into the game by owning the offensive glass and exploiting mismatches (the Cavs ‘small’ is better than the Bulls ‘small’), but then Noah returned, and Rose took over. Both instances of a fine (if only in a get-out-of-the-way) coaching job by Vinny Del Negro. With no game until Sunday, he essentially went 7 deep (James Johnson got 5 and half minutes), and Rose had the ball in his hands to end the quarters and end the game. [Blog-A-Bull]
What The Players and Coaches Are Saying
Right now, we’re not playing good defense. We played just good enough to win the last game and almost stole one tonight. Chicago earned the win tonight. We need to be more physical on the defensive end. We made mental errors out there tonight leaving guys and letting them get dunks. Our defense just has to get better. [Mike Brown]
They do a good job of exploiting what we do defensively. We are a spread the floor team. But they did a good job getting into the paint and they’re hitting jump shots right now. Derrick Rose is hitting a lot of jump shots, Kirk is hitting a lot of jump shots. 104 points is not our M.O. Shooting over 50% against us is not our M.O. Coming into game 2 and coming into this game we said we couldn’t give up a lot of offensive rebounds. We only gave up 7 offensive rebounds which is really good. We said we couldn’t give up a lot of fast break points and we only gave up 11 so we cleaned that area up. They just shot the ball really well from outside. They shot the ball particularly well. We made some adjustments from game 2 to game 3 but they just hit some open shots. Not all of them were open. Some were certainly contested. [LeBron James]
We’re a team that has a lot of different weapons. How I approach it, is the same every game. I come out and let the game come to me. I’m the point guard on this team and I feed off my teammates. I feel like if it’s a situation where I need to be aggressive, I’ll be aggressive. But if it’s a situation which we’re going to play through Shaq or play through (LeBron) then I’m always there and stretch the defense and do things in some different ways and parts of the game where I’m not taking shots. A lot of times on offense when a defender doesn’t leave me, I’ve done my job. If that man can’t help on (LeBron) or can’t help on Shaq, I’ll go through stretches where I don’t shoot and don’t get shot attempts but that’s fine because I’m doing my job. I’ll just try to find a way to be effective. This team, we have so many weapons. It just depends on how we play at that particular moment. [Mo Williams]
Cleveland is the No. 1 seed for a reason. We’re going to have to play our best basketball on Sunday to even the series up. We put a little pressure on them but just because we’re at home doesn’t automatically mean we’re going to play that much better. We have to have the right mindset, the right focus, and come in here hungry with a sense of urgency. We know we’re going to have to play our best basketball of the year. [Vinny Del Negro]
Derrick Rose was huge for us. I’m glad he’s on our team. Those floaters were huge for us. They need to get the ball out of his hands. [Joakim Noah]
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Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
55 Comments
Bothersome that the team is trying to skate through the first three quarters.
Solid comeback that was hampered late by the refs a bit (but I’m not going to go full-blown conspiracy whining, because the Cavs certainly have benefited from their fair share of calls), but it’s not the way to win games or a series, and especially not the way to win a chip.
So what happened to all the talk the Cavs were doing about knowing this was crunch time and they needed to get up for every game? They’re saying the right things, but on the court they aren’t doing it. I saw them get out-hustled for rebounds all night last night. I’m kind of disgusted with the Cavs right now. The fans all know you have to take this playoff series as seriously as if you were playing the Magic. Don’t tell us that, DO IT!
What Roosevelt is saying: I was surprised by Mike Brown’s postgame comments, which I heard last night. I thought he was trying to blow off the press, and that he’d tear into the team behind closed doors. But Lebron seems to think the same thing: Yeah, it’s alright, we have to hand it to the Bulls, they played great. We need to make a few defensive adjustments and play hard.
WHAT?! For five minutes in the fourth quarter, the Cavs looked interested, and they stormed back into the game in a flash. If they played the whole game like they cared, they’d win by forty, no matter what Rose does. But they play lackadaisically, and they try to get cute with the kickouts for three; the players give 75% and the coaches are slow in squeezing them, this is not a recipe for long term success.
Even though Mr. Krolik needs to catch himself. The Bulls are not three games away from advancing. They’re three games away from losing a tough series, no matter how distracted the Cavs are.
“The fans all know you have to take this playoff series as seriously as if you were playing the Magic. Don’t tell us that, DO IT!”
That’s so spot on. The lip service this team is giving us is becoming tiresome. I wish I could explain why this team doesn’t seem to care right now.
It is Mike Brown’s job to kick the lethargy out of the team, and he isn’t getting it done. Time to man up, Coach.
That bothers me as well Denny. And the 4th quarter comeback had me wishing it wouldn’t have happened. Especially if the Cavs would have won. It makes them feel they can turn it on when they need to. They need to turn it on at the opening tip and show why they’re the best team in the league. I’m beyond disgust the JJ Hickson isn’t playing meaningful minutes. Any confidence the kid built over the second half of the season has got to be shot to heck by now. And God only knows what Boobie did to Mike Brown, but he’s not going to see the floor until the 2010-2011 season. Not happy at all about the way this team has been coached and how they played the last 2 games. This Bulls team took Boston to 7 last year. Unless the Cavs can pull it together, they may very well do it to Cleveland this year.
I have so many thoughts racing through my head about this game…
First and foremost, Rose was unbelievable tonight and the Bulls absolutely earned and deserved this game. That said, I am not worried about the Cavs in the least (and that is shocking considering how much of a panic-er I normally am). Do I like their “we don’t care about this game, so we’re gonna coast through 3 quarters and then try to pull it off in the 4th” strategy? I hate it in the regular season, and I hate it 100x more in the playoffs. But we have seen this all season long from the Cavs – they pick and choose which games they want to play in full, and they always seem to pick the right games against the right teams. I really don’t see them doing this against the Magic or Lakers. We know we can beat Chicago, and even Boston (this game was complete deja vu from the last Boston game) if we want. Why they don’t want to beat them every game, I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe they will try to pull this crap in the ECF and blow another shot. But until that happens, I’m not letting this get me down. The Cavs will win the next 2 games and hopefully turn up the intensity for the next series, ’cause playing the Celtics in the playoffs should be more enticing to the Cavs than playing them in the regular season.
Finally, has to be said, the officiating was absolutely atrocious. I almost wanted us to lose by 10 so that I could say this without sounding like I am blaming the game on the refs, because I am certainly not. We lost this game ourselves, period, end of story. But some of those calls were just mind-blowing. If Lebron doesn’t get called for that charge, it’s a different game, but like Krolik said, it’s our own fault for letting the game be close enough to be decided by a questionable call.
I think Mo’s statement says a lot, I go into it every game the same, let the game come to me. And we have heard Lebron say before he waits to see what the style defense oppenents play and then adapt. Why do we always wait around for 3 quarters seeing what the other team is doing, and wait around deciding how to play. We need to just come out of the gates swinging, play the style we want to play, and make teams adjust to us. Make them play up to our level instead of playing down to theirs…let’s go..wake up time
Definitely a frustrating game to watch. I said before the game that if they Cavs just brought intensity, they’d blow the Bulls away. They didn’t do it and the Bulls played well. While I’m a little worried about this team’s tendency to let off the gas pedal when way ahead or play down to the level of their opponent, I’m not going to freak out and claim this team still isn’t championship caliber. The unspoken truth is that the Cavaliers don’t respect the Bulls and I think the Cavs have the attitude that they can win this series however they want to. I think that’s the wrong attitude, but it’s clearly there. Hopefully the Bulls actually getting a win will force the Cavs to respect them and want to take a game in the Bulls’ house.
@ Denny – About the refs…
I am not one to complain about the refs the day after the game (i do yell mercilessly at them during the game).
However, that “charge” they called on Lebron when the Cavs were down six (he made the shot so it would have been down to 4 maybe 3 if he hit his free throw) was the worst call I have seen in a very very long time. A defender can’t be moving his feet and leaning into the shooter and draw a charge.
I am still amazed that aplayer of Lebron’s caliber gets so few calls. If it was Kobe shooting on that play it would have been an and one.
Oh, and congratulations to Mike Brown – it’s only the first round, but you have already locked up “Worst Coaching Decision of the Playoffs” by running an inbound play where Anderson Varejao receives the ball so that the Bulls can foul him and put him on the line. Way to make it hard to defend you from all of the flak you catch…
@ Lloyd – Like, for serious, with that last bit? LeBron gets more calls than just about anyone. Kobe maybe, Wade, maybe. Anyone else? Not even close.
You were fine until that last two sentences.
Mike Brown needs to get his head out of his behind and then do the same with his team.
This is really getting old now. Questions I have:
1. Why not give JJ some minutes on Noah…or at the very least just in the game. JJ and LeBron have worked well together all year on the pick and rolls. Don’t think JJ in the game would hurt Mike!
2. Why does Mo not at least foul Rose every once in awhle…and I mean some hard fouls. Mo often gets beat and just turns his body out of the way. What?
3. LeBron: You are the leader of this team on the floor. Set the tone from the beginning and bury this team in game 4.
So frustrated this morning!
1) Rose is just killing whoever the Cavs put on him, especially on pick and rolls. The big is not showing well and either leads to an easy lay-up for Rose or an uncontested dunk inside.
2) Way too much reliance on the 3 ball yet again. Two games in a row this team had to rely on making double digit 3’s to just stay competitive. At some point Cavs will have a woeful shooting night.
3) Shaq was simply awful. You shouldn’t be playing in the NBA, let alone the playoffs, if you miss an uncontested dunk like he did. He looks slow again, especially on defense, and the Bulls exploited it.
4) No urgency whatsoever. This team thinks its good enough to flip the switch and it will win. I think they are forgetting they are wearing the word “Cleveland” on their front. We don’t get teams that are allowed to coast and win.
5) The Defense in general is just horrible. I can live with the Bulls making 20 foot jumpers; that is the shot you want teams to take. But time and time again the Bulls were able to get into the lane and score.
6) Hickson and Gibson should get some run. I have hated Anthony Parker’s game from the moment he put on a Cavs uni. He’s an ok 3 point shooter but that’s legitimately all he does. Ostensibly we have him in for defense, but his “D” is overrated. Gibson does exactly what Parker does (shoot 3’s) only much better. Hickson only started 73 games for the best team in the NBA. Apparently that’s not sufficient to warrant more than one minute on the court.
7) This goes to #6. I don’t hate Brown like many Cavs fans do. I think he’s a great defensive coach and solid overall. That being said, his shortcomings kill this team come playoff time. He has no idea how to match-up with opposing teams. This game screamed to go small and he didn’t do it until the 3rd quarter and that was by accident.
8) I keep hearing people worried about the “next” series. Unless the Cavs start taking this one a little more seriously, there may be no “next” series.
Kirk Hinrich scored nearly 30 points yesterday on COMPLETELY OPEN LOOKS. THAT. CANNOT. HAPPEN.
I always said the Cavs succeed during the reg season in spite of Mike Brown. When it comes down to the playoffs, Brown just gets outcoached. He can’t recognize matchups. JJ hickson would be killing in these games right now, this isn’t a team that requires slow centers like Shaq and Z to log heavy mins. Brown has always been a terrible coach, LeBron just makes him look like he’s doing ok.
@ Denny
For a player of his caliber is the point I was trying to make. He is the best in the game and gets less calls than Kobe or D Wade (the only players who are close to him).
Andrew, if the athletes on the Cavaliers are changed by one month of “sleep-walking” then they weren’t very good to begin with. These guys have been playing basketball since childhood. Their ethic doesn’t change because of one month of taking it easy.
Feel free to get in the lifeboats, fans. I FOR ONE AM GOING DOWN WITH THE SHIP.
@#18: True. However, athletes can pick up bad habits and tendencies. Think this is what Andrew is getting at.
The sky is falling the sky is falling.
Cavs in 5.
@ Lloyd – Just because you’re good doesn’t mean you should get calls. LeBron gets TONS of calls that nobody else would get.
The game was in Chicago. Look at sports across the board. The home team gets more calls. The Cavs surely do at home, and really they get a lot on the road as well simply because of LeBron. For once the Cavs actually were hurt by the refs. So what? It happens. There are far more worrisome things about the Cavs than the refs. I think that we can all agree on.
@oribiasi: It’s not about the players themselves being “changed”, it’s about the team dynamic…the way the players relate to each other on the court and feed off each other. These are things that ebb and flow for every single team in the NBA. Teams absolutely can and do pick up bad habits over the course of time in this league. It happens all the time and it is 100% a legit concern for this team right now in future rounds.
Or what Du said.
heres the thing – its VERY difficult to sweep in the playoffs. i didnt expect a sweep in this series at all and anyone that did was drinking too much kool-aid. frankly, the cavs also got the toughest first round matchup in the East. Chicago is alot better than 41-41 (dont forget, Rose was hurt half the season and is finally healthy). Chicago would have beat Miami/Mil in a 7 game series and probably would beat Charlotte too. on top of that, the most difficult road games to win in the playoffs are Games 7 and 3. the Lakers lost last night too – game 3 on the road. i had game 3 penciled in as a probable loss from the start. its probably not bad to get knocked down a bit. lets see how the cavs get up and regroup. im much more interested in game 4.
Give Delonte some credit. I’d like to see him shoot and score some more but he’s hustling and making plays. You can also tell he’s cognizant of everything going on out there as evidenced by his nice give up to Shaq.
Can someone teach Mike Brown how to call a time out!!!!
This series and championship is for Mike Brown to lose!!!
Andrew, I was all ready to call your piece “alarmist,” but I did find your arguments convincing. There’s no reason to freeze out much of our proven talent on the bench and, yes, that includes J.J., despite his shortcomings. We don’t need only platinum-gold players in order to win. Varying rotations has its own advantages, and someone apparently needs some cold water thrown over their head once in a while for the team to remain fresh (I would include in that “someone” Mike Brown).
Despite its fine play and the media bluster created by comments from its most opinionated player, Chicago should still serve as a warm-up to the Cavs’ more serious challenges; but if the Cavs think that cake-walking through Chicago is the order of the day, the world may well be shocked at the end of a bitter seven-game series. It’s embarrassing to lose to this team once. Twice would be humiliating. Three times, a scandal. Four times, something foul and demoralizing in a way that the franchise may never overcome.
1. Defense is our calling card and we need to bring the intentsity from the opening tip. LeBron is the leader and he needs to demand this effort from the team.
2. If Shaq and Z do not match up well, agree we need to go small and also get JJ involved playing Noah. He has 6 fouls to give and should use every one of them.
3. More Moon for his defense. Have either him or LeBron – preferably him – defend Rose for portions of the game.
4. Game 4 will tell us what this team is made of – no excuses.
@ Denny –
You SHOULDN’T get more calls because you are good, but in the NBA you do. Jordan got more calls, Kobe gets more calls, so does D-Wade. My point was that Lebron doesn’t get the same consideration that they do. Yes, he gets more calls than average players would, but he also handles the ball a ton and goes to the basket a ton. He creates so many more opportunities to get fouled.
I agree that there are more worrisome things about the Cavs than the refs. I didn’t say the refs cost the Cavs the game or that it was even the biggest problem. My beef was really only on that one call because it was so unbelievably bad.
Anyone who doesn’t think that Anthony Parker should be on the floor for 28 minutes is a clown who knows nothing – nothing – about basketball. The Cavs would not be where they are without his contributions. No doubt about it.
Man up, I hate this sissy-@ss defence. Make hard fouls, body up, get in their heads. Mike Brown may know defensive strategy, but he knows nothing about the psychological strategy, i.e. lack of time outs.
He should have argued till he got a technical on that bogus charge call. Let the players known your coach in in the game too.
@25 /Mike, I think the Bulls got the most difficult matchup.
LeBron, being the business man he is, let this game slide by so they can bring the series back to Cleveland, bringing millions in revenue to the Cavs, local bars and restaurants, and valet parking.
So at what point do we talk about our lack of an offense? We’re obviously not the same defensive team we were last year; that’s on the coach….and on that late game inbounds play that put AV on the line-what other coach in the league would let him anywhere near the ball? Even Del Negro recognized the situation and played it perfectly. Mike Brown will be our downfall.
Brown lost last night’s game in the first quarter when he failed to recognize that going big w/Shaq & Z wouldn’t work against the Bulls. Mike Brown is too slow to recognize what’s not working for the Cavs. Call it stubbornness, call it slowness, call it stupidity – whatever it is he is not helping the cause.
All season long, especially at the trading deadline, I heard about how bad JJ Hickson was on the defensive end and now he’s going to be the savior? Please.
Last year we steamrolled through the first two rounds and we have nothing to show for it. Maybe they’re pacing themselves. At the very least, this year I won’t have to hear Stan Van Gundy say. “They haven’t been here before,” to rally his troops in the huddle.
At what point did Luol Deng have his feet or any part of his person set to earn that “charge” last night?
To all here that are saying this loss is no big deal:
You are tempting fate. Beware. The Cavs may be foolish enough to believe they can win any game they want but Cleveland fans should know better.
@ The Other Tim – It’s not about Hickson being a savior – it’s about Brown recognizing the right rotations to give the Cavs the best chance to win, and last night he didn’t get it done.
Biggest problem in this series has been the defense. Cavs have been playing ole’ defense any time anyone drives the lane. Mo has been bad at this, but Andy has been conspicuously bad with it. This is the playoffs. If you don’t have the position to get the charge, body up on him, accept the foul, and make him earn the points from the line. Don’t let players get into a rhythm and do make them realize you won’t let them score in the paint.
Defense is effort and most of this roster has none.
@MP34
Best play of game 3 IMO was West passing up that open shot to try and get Shaq going after that flubbed dunk.
and The next time I hear, “LeBron gets superstar calls.” I am gonna rip someones face off! LeBron called for the charge on Deng? Ri-effing-diculous! Noah giving him a headlock instead of a blockout on the missed free throw? Right in front of God and everybody?
“Anyone who doesn’t think that Anthony Parker should be on the floor for 28 minutes is a clown who knows nothing – nothing – about basketball. The Cavs would not be where they are without his contributions. No doubt about it.”
Well, other than the fact that, you know, the Cavs won 66 games and went to the ECF last year without Parker, you might be right. And if thinking Parker shouldn’t play 28 minutes makes me a clown, then I’ll gladly wear the wig and the funny red nose.
all you guys forget that they played Rose while he was injured. It doesnt matter who you put on him, he will break them down and get his shots. He is the best point guard in the league, in fact there isnt another point guard who can even dream of guarding him. Kirk Hinrich droping 28, on the other hand, is pretty pathetic if you are the cavs.
Windhorst via Twitter:
“LeBron said he’d like to see what JJ Hickson more in Game 4. But Mike Brown said that his main plan with bigs is to get Shaq going.”
Just more proof that Mike Brown is too slow/stubborn/stupid to get what everyone, including his superstar, see so clearly…
This is getting old.
yea, shaq needs to go. Once the cavs signed them i knew it was a bad decision. You dont go and get someone who slows down a team, when you have lebron james on it. Im a bulls fan, and im more than happy to see him on the floor. Sure, he is going to get his few points, but he changes the entire dynamic of the cavs. He clogs the lanes and slows them down
I think the Cavs need to read Henry Abbott’s article on the four-lettered Web site.
“The playoffs are different. The fouls are harder, the preparation is more intense, the defensive schemes are more focused, and the easy shots are memories.”
It seems most of our players haven’t gotten this memo.
@40 — Are you a commenter on “Fear the Sword” also? I saw that same comment there.
Mo getting beat off the dribble and then our general inabilty to help and recover is going to be exploited all playoffs long. When we get past CHI and then face BOS and then ORL….they are going to have a field day. Mo,AP(sorry superfan #31 above) and Shaq are killing us on defense and Mo is the only one that is somewhat making up for it on offense. That’s a killer but the overall lack of desire/focus is what is most disappointing to me.
@44 — You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about and clearly haven’t watched the Cavs play for more than two games this year.
@#21–If the goal was just to win this series, I wouldn’t be concerned. But we all know this team has the potential to go much further.
Lebron kicked shaq a bit. “We need him to pick it up” wow! Whens the last time shaq got called out. Also that decision to rest shaq the last game of the season seems pretty stupid now. I do think everyone is over reacting a tad. I’m pretty sure teams down 2-0 coming home have a winning record overall. A few years ago we got obliterated by washington same situation and we won the next game.