Great performance by Kyrie last night BUT......

[JETSET]

that game made me feel even more confident about our ability to beat the Cavs in a series.  Irving and Lebron keep hedging more and more towards ISO and they are abandoning the team game.  The Spurs have one of the worst defensive PG tandems in the league with Parker and Mills.  We probably have the best defensive group in the league when it comes to defending PGs.  Teague and Schröder are two of the better defending PGs in the league and then we can mix it up and put Bazemore or Thabo on a PG if need be.  I'm foreseeing a lineup of Teague/Thabo/Carroll with Thabo swarming Kyrie while Teague sticks J.R. and DMC has Lebron.  Kyrie was 7/7 from 3 and the Cavs shot 54% from 3 as a team and they end up needing a Kawhi choke at the FT line to get the win.

 

Let them continue to build these bad habits during the regular season.  ISO Kyrie and Lebron will be the downfall of the Cavs if they force it against us. They better start learning how to get their teammates involved in more ways than chucking 3 pointers if they are going to beat the Hawks in a series.

[Guest]

I was thinking the exact same thing as I was watching that game.  I guess great minds think alike like me?

 

Kyme and LeaBron just took turns hero-ballin'.  Once they realized James couldn't bully Kawhi they turned to Irving.

 

As an aside, that game looked to me that SA held back what they could do defensively.  I can't imagine Popovich would let that continue in a playoff game without making some adjustment, but back to your point.

 

All the eggsperts are raving about the performance and saying, "See, that's why CLE is so great" or w/e.  However, are we forgetting that it took a near 60-pt performance to just barely beat a Spurs team that's just now figuring things out?  If Leonard had hit those free throws the narrative would've been, "Kyme resorts to hero ball, James/Love not involved.  Are the Cavs reverting back to selfish play?" or STTE.

 

As they all keep saying, the playoffs are a different animal where the game slows down and teams study how to make you win with your B game.  Well, what's the Cavs' B game?  I contend they don't have one.  If neither James nor Irving are "on" they'll struggle to score.  Are we to believe that last night's performance was the norm and not the exception?  Most of those shots were terrible shots that just happened to go in.  

 

Like you said, that made me more confident that the Hawgs have a legit shot.  Cavs'll be 1-on-5-ing it on offense at the first sign of trouble.

[MaceCase]

Building bad habits?  The Cavs have always been built on the "my player is better than your player" mentality.  I mean, they've reduced fricking Kevin Love into a prop, he could substitute a cardboard cutout of himself in the Marvin Corner while he's in the locker room shooting Funny or Die skits and no one would notice.  I think Pop tried to bait them into a one on one challenge early between Parker and Kawhi only to realize that he didn't really have to, Kyrie and LeBron were already more than willing to show off their "sick moves, dude".  This Hawks team is the antithesis of Hero-Ball not just in it's makeup but in its strategy, I feel way more confident on nights where they go in to face a team where they know Player X, Y & Z will get most of the touches than any team where it's less definitive.  They have their coverages and rotations down pact when it comes to star teams,  they know which way the stars are going and what options are available to them.   It's the starless teams that stress their rotations as guys literally have to think or guess where and who to cover at times.

[Carmine]

Cavs are a team that we can definitely take this year. As you noted they rely on players rather than team and needed an outrageous game from Kyrie to beat the Spurs. Kyrie and Love still haven't had their playoff cherries popped. I'm not sleeping on them but i'm definitely not ruling us out in a seven game series. The danger with the Cavs imo comes after they've had a full offseason together and move on to year two. Kyrie and Love will have tasted the playoffs, they'll more likely have built more team chemistry. But will they 1) finally learn how to integrate Love into their team successfully? 2) Player coach LeBron take a backseat to Blatt? Blatt turning out to be a good coach and the team become coachable? So far this season neither has happened but if they can pull it off that team will be a problem.

[Guest]

Cavs are a team that we can definitely take this year. As you noted they rely on players rather than team and needed an outrageous game from Kyrie to beat the Spurs. Kyrie and Love still haven't had their playoff cherries popped. I'm not sleeping on them but i'm definitely not ruling us out in a seven game series. The danger with the Cavs imo comes after they've had a full offseason together and move on to year two. Kyrie and Love will have tasted the playoffs, they'll more likely have built more team chemistry. But will they 1) finally learn how to integrate Love into their team successfully? 2) Player coach LeBron take a backseat to Blatt? Blatt turning out to be a good coach and the team become coachable? So far this season neither has happened but if they can pull it off that team will be a problem

Wonder if Love sticks around.  He seems so out of place.  

James Jones got more playing time last night as Love didn't see the court in the 4th quarter.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

No way Kevin Love stays with that team past this year. He can go to the Lakers and be the man there after Kobe retires. The Hawks are the Cavs kryptonite and I also feel confident in a 7-game series... we'd take them out in 6.

[Guest]

Wonder if Love sticks around.  He seems so out of place.  

James Jones got more playing time last night as Love didn't see the court in the 4th quarter.

 

Agreed.  emo-Love seems so sad.  All the stories about LeBraughn wanting them to all hang out all the time and emo-Love being the only one that doesn't kinda makes me think emo is just biding his time.  

[Carmine]

Wonder if Love sticks around.  He seems so out of place.  

James Jones got more playing time last night as Love didn't see the court in the 4th quarter.

Yea that was crazy to bench an All Nba & Team USA player in the 4th. The Cavs have his bird rights which might be the only reason he stays. I think he signs a one year this offseason like LeBron so he can get paid in the Summer of 2016. Long term though it's looking like a toss up. I hope he leaves though, one less threat in the East.

 

A picture says a thousand words (last night)

[Guest]

Yea that was crazy to bench an All Nba & Team USA player in the 4th. The Cavs have his bird rights which might be the only reason he stays. I think he signs a one year this offseason like LeBron so he can get paid in the Summer of 2016. Long term though it's looking like a toss up. I hope he leaves though, one less threat in the East.

A picture says a thousand words (last night)

Love has 1 year left on contract, he has to decide if he will take the option or opt out.

[MaceCase]

Love has 1 year left on contract, he has to decide if he will take the option or opt out.

But he pwomised he'd stay, rightz?

Would be nice to see just how much personal pub he's willing to sacrifice to be on a contender. He already took offense to being called a stretch 4 so Kebert Lorry might not be the role he wants to be remembered for.

[Dnice]

  I heard Love was somewhere in the hall at one point.

[AHF]

Wonder how much better the Cavs might be long-term if they had just kept their #1 pick instead of dealing it for Love.  They seem to be using the same playbook on him that the Lakers used on Dwight.