crimedog

You always have a chance, if there were no chance they wouldn't play the game. Don't confuse pretending that the Cavs aren't a great team with being a good fan though. The Cavs have a lot going for them a) DOMINANT 2-way player b) great shooting from role players c) dangerous scoring point guard d) large and deep bench that smothers the boards (we handled Miami on the glass, the Cavs were one of the top rebounding teams in the league) e) great team defense.

They are more likely to dictate the pace of the game than we are. Hell, we couldn't dictate the pace of the game against Miami.

I happen to think the Cavs are better than the Cs of last year, mainly because of Lebron, but that isn't the point. We took the Cs to 7 last season, sure, I had a lot of fun watching 3 of those games too. We also got our asses handed to us 4 times. The Heat took it to us 3 times... we suffered 3 blowouts in the first round. We need to learn how to impose our will on a game to win in Cleveland and Cleveland is the toughest place to play in the NBA.

Its possible, but its unlikely. At 15-1, I'm not putting big money down on the series, is anyone here?

EDIT: I think our best chance is if Josh in particular takes big offense to Mo Will's comments about us being a 1-man team and decides to prove a point and dominate the slower and less athletic Cavs frontcourt. Al is also going to have to do something he's never done on a consistent basis and take advantage of his matchup.

How is this confirming anything other than Josh being allowed to do whatever he wants? To me it sounds like Woody doesn't want Josh shooting 3's but he's afraid to ask him not to (which goes back to the quote from a couple months back) and then this incident only further illustrates that fear but also illustrates how Woody DOES NOT want Josh shooting 3's. So how are you coming to the conclusion that we ask Josh to be out there unless you're saying that by Woodson not specifically stating that he's not allowed out there is the same as them asking him to be out there.

If Bibby tells Woody to "put him somewhere else" it either means that Woody is either telling Josh to go there or he's not telling him to go anywhere at all. If Woody's telling Josh to stand out there, he's stupid. If Woody doesn't actually HAVE an offense as you're suggesting, then he's not a coach, just a dude standing on the sideline collecting a fat check.

You are interpreting the literalisms of "don't put him there" in a very strange way if you don't think that implies that Woody is putting him there.

I say man guard Lebron and Mo... Zone everybody else... double when Lebron steps in the zone.

They're a real "pick your poison" team because they have the shooters and offensive rebounders to beat the zone and Lebron is willing to hit them if they're open.

We all know Woody has gotten on to Smith about his perimeter shots for years. Hence, his 3 point shot attempts have gone down for 3 years in a row. Why are people acting like this is the first time Woody ever said something about it ?

Sure its the first time its getting national media attention b/c we are never on national TV but many squawkers see every game.

I know its funny Bibby, correctly shot back at Woody. Bibby can take in game criticsm. Josh is not mature enough to take it, in game, to but there have been plenty of locker room spats between Smith and Woody that are centered around his perimeter shooting and his argueing with the refs............you just have to pick your battles with Smith off camera due to his lack of composure and tendancy to pout.

Its getting attention on the Squawk because its the first time we've really been able to confirm that it isn't just Josh breaking procedure and floating out the perimeter (whether its the 3pt line or 18 feet... same thing) but the actual offensive philosophy where we literally ask Josh Smith, the shooter that he is, to hang out on the perimeter. Its confirmation that we don't just have a mediocre offensive system but one that actually sets the team and Smith indivudually up for failure.

Definately option 1

I actually like Smith being on Anderson because it will allow Smith to come over for weakside blocks and shot challenges on LBJ. Smith just has to come quickl as LBJ can really fly once he makes the decision to drive.

I would add option 4

Use Solo to mug LBJ. Just put Solo in for 5 minutes and let him collect his 5 hard fouls on LBJ and call it a night. A few games of this and James won't be so willing to come into the paint. This is the old Knicks strategy on Jordan and the rest of the NBA. James isn't used to it, so it might work.

Maybe I'd activate Morris for that, Lebron looks like he has about 40lbs of muscle on Solo... I just can't imagine Solo dishing a hard foul.

... but Lebron is the tough because you really want to double him all the time to keep him from driving but he's such a strong and decisive passer that once you send the double, he can thrown right over you and hit an open man across court. I like having Josh on Andy V/Wallace while they're in the game and then letting him come and contest Bron's shot every time down. Josh-intimidation was a factor against the Heat, we can make it one against the Cavs too. The biggest issue is going to be when the have both Joe Smith and Z in the game because both those guys can nail the J, then you just gotta hope someone can stay in front of the most devestating wing player in the game.

Well although I agree with the fact that Whistle will shoot free throws all night, I like to take a look at what Orlando did to Philly last night and use as a little false hope for myself. The falloff from Dwight Howard to Tony Battie was a huge one, and not to mention Courtney Lee was out as well and the Magic came out and took care of their business handily. It is all about a mindset going into this game. Zaza is living inside the heads of O'Neil, Magloire and Haslem and that is huge. Mario owns Wade mentally, the fact that Wade has even spoke about Mario shows the whole country that. This is a must win in my opinion just like game 4. I am more scared of Game 7 in our place, going against the NBA's love child, than I am of this one on the road. All in all I think we are done playing around with this inferior team and look forward to watching Game 1 of the 2nd rd. on sunday, not game 7.

The Polish Hammer got the start for Orlando and did a damn fine job.

Regardless, we'll have to be creative. I'd probably feel more comfortable dressing Othello than Randolph and playing Josh at C -- I think Josh might be the best matchup against JO in man D anyway just because he can contest that fadeaway better than Al or Z. For whatever reason I have more faith in Othello than Randolph. Whatever happens, its going to be key for Josh to take this game as a big challenge, on a personal level. If he can be a real force on the glass and in the paint, we might be able to get away with going small (or in Solo's case, unskilled).

Boys I am a Hawks fan through and through. So much so that I really do bleed RED.

Haha, I get it. Bleed red.

Wade wasn't so concerned for other people's feelings after dunks when he was throwing down windmills against the vastly outmanned teams from Canada or Lithuania this summer. These announcers saw that and said, "Oh my goodness, WADE IS BACK." They didn't say he was classless then, why is Josh classless for doing it against a more worth adversary?

Let me add this question. What if he learned to shoot from the outside efficiently. Like 45% from 15-20 feet, 36% from 3 and continued to be 60% plus on the inside. How much would he score? and how dominant would he be?

Don't know if I see it really happening, don't know if thats worth hoping for. I would just be happy with better shot selection. Take the open midrange J when you have it and there are no other options, but never ever ever ever look for that shot or take it when there is a chance to go to the hole. On top of that, work the baseline some and try to crash the offensive glass more.

I thought the bad news was going to be that the game was cancelled because of swine flu.

Since when is "20 points on 20 possessions" good?

The Hawks as a team played well last night. That impresses me.

I was not impressed by Smith's overall performance. It was average.

Eh, it was an average-ish offensive performance (made smart passes, no stupid turnovers) but he was again the heart of our D. Even Joe took 21 possessions to get 24 points.

Something does need to change though if we're going to become elite with this group because Josh is the only one with the ability to push us over the top with the skills he does have. If he continues to be just "good" then we won't be able to be much better than the 47 win team we are now.

The reason is because of how long everyone has been waiting for Josh to come around, and how big people's expectations of Josh are. He was getting slack his first few years but people have grown impatient... It's understandable, but definitely unfair.

There was a reason that he slipped to the 17th pick. Hell, the man who drafted him didn't even think he'd be as good as he is now or he wouldn't have picked a bench player in the lottery instead of him. There was/is no reason to think he'll be on the Lebron/KG level unless you were a little too impressed by him over the past couple of years.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content...e_wade_sou.html

Wade was then asked about the simmering battles in this series: Wade vs. Mario West; Jamaal Magloire vs. Josh Smith; Jermaine O’Neal vs. Zaza Pachulia.

“First of all, Mario, I have nothing simmering with him,” Wade said dismissively. “He has not been a factor in this series. It’s irrelevant to me. I have nothing brewing with him at all.”

In other words, "I was really embarassed when their 10th man locked me down at the end of the quarter."

I like the concept.

I would be fine with Smith with a "few" exceptions:

1. Box out. He should be a MUCH better rebounder than he is.

2. No shots outside of 5 feet unless it's a three pointer AND there's less than 5 seconds on the clock. (5 or 5, easy to remember).

3. Stop complaining about fouls.

4. Slow down with the ball in your hands.

5. Use your shotblocking only when necessary. Do NOT rely on it as your first mode of defense. (The threat of a shotblocker is just as good as the actual work).

It's certainly NOT a question of skill. He's the most talented player on the team.

Agreed, although he seems to be better about 5 than in the past.

Yeah, he was rugged as hell there and Wade was pissed about it. Wade wanted to make his move earlier but Mario kept him back towards half court a little longer than he wanted and when Wade tried to get into the lane Mario was a step ahead and Wade had to pull back for a heavily contested fadeaway that bricked pretty hard. Rio was pumped, I was pumped, Smith was pumped, and the arena was pumped.

Rio is a better match against Wade than against Lebron because Lebron is 6'8 (might be taller now, he's been in the league for a while and came in as a teen) stronger than the vast majority of NBA PFs.

Even with all that though, recognize the fact that he already brings a lot to the table, the Heat's beat writer Ira Winderman puts it best:

All credit to Atlanta: It played the kind of game again that beats the Heat. It played through an injury to Al Horford. And it's Smith, not Wade, who has become the dominant force in the playoffs, for his if only by his inside defensive presence alone.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basketb...,1438247.column

Can Josh be a lot better than he is now? Definitely. Should he be? Yep. Is he already a game-changer for this tea? Of course.

Has nothing to do with this series.

The media raves about Wade being the MVP, and that it should only be him or LeBron. I swear the media is in love with Wade.

Kobe (06), Tmac (02-03), and even LeBron last year have all had just as dominant seasons as Wade's this season, and all led teams full of scrubs to mediocre seasons those years and into the playoffs. However, they all finished 4th in MVP voting in those years.

The MVP should be LeBron with Dwight a VERY close second. Than I'd think about Wade, Paul, and Kobe.

Wade will probably be 3rd or 4th in the voting. Kobe will get second most likley.

Plus during 06 the media pimped Kobe for the MVP quite a bit too (even though Lebron's numbers were just gross and he was on a 50 win team).

I'm not concerned with them giving him his due, he was legit this season.

Well since Horford has no ability to stop Jermaine O'neal, his loss really doesn't hurt us. But we need him to battle Varajao in the next round. Z will probably abuse him too but we can use him in mismatches to get Z into foul trouble.

I think the issue for this series is less about Horford and more about Solo. I though Jones handled himself alright the past couple of games but if you have him out there too long, you are playing with fire.

Are we going to do selective reading again? Okay let me paraphrase for you. If you do not have the credentials or the game to back it up you should't be showboating. Till you have multiple allstar selections, a championship, gold medal, humanitarian award, noble peace prize whatever, hell how bout just winning a first round playoff series you wil always just be Ricky Davis.

So showboating and disrespect are ok if you have won a title?

No this is just moronic, I dont know about others I know about my argument and it's not about new school old school. People are using examples of Jordan and Bird....to Josh Smith, you fail to realize that those were players that accomplished everything there was to accomplish in basketball. Jordan is even on record saying that he wasn't challenged by the level of competition in the NBA which led to his numerous retirements. People like him Bird, Magic, a slew of other superstars make games within games to keep themselves committed and entertained. Josh Smith can barely make a jumpshot for him to be bored enough to start inventing dunks.

So you're no longer concerned about "showboating" and "disrespecting the other team" but we're moving on to dunking when you aren't a good shooter?

I concur with everything except the political talk...can we leave politics out of this...but I do agree with everything else

Yeah, I'm a pretty liberal dude and I don't have any problem with it... making assumptions about people like that doesn't help anyone, especially when you're wrong.

Are the Nuggets legit contenders?

Do the Nuggets blow it up?

I think we don't trade Horford for Kaman because of the injury thing. Kaman is good for about 45 games in a good season.

So really is that what you inferred from my post, that there shouldn't be dunks. Wow, anyway sure there should be dunks, plenty of em actually not horrible ATTEMPTS at dunks. You ever tuned in to the dunk contest lately and watch guys clang attempt after attempt and say to yourself how lame that is, so now you have a player actually attempt said action in a playoff game no less to the same result and the only excuse half these people can come up with is "ooooo well when lebron does it no one complains" First beyond the obvious, Lebron made the dunk, second the breakaway windmill/tomahawk jam is Lebron's signature dunk. Turn up sportscenter any given day the week and you see the same dunk like clockwork, heck even 2K9 has it in there as his signature dunk. Now answer me when is the last time you saw Josh Smith attempt, I say attempt because I've yet to see him make a between the legs windmill dunk in a game situation?

Thats why I said in previous posts that he should have done a dunk he knew he could stick...