Thabo should start against Cavs

[TheBigETrain]

Thabo has to start and match up against LeBron.

Bazemore is too short, move him to 2 and bring Korver off the bench.

[ngc7]

i agree

[LamarHampton]

I think this is a good idea but problem is Bud will stick with the same group and maybe just tweak the substitutions a little, my guess.

[swolehawk2]

Thabo should not start on any team. Face it, no matter who you put on Lebron he is going to get his, the key is to limit Kyrie, Smith, Love and the rest from 3 and to rebound.  

[NBASupes]

No. Offensively, he is wack

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

No. Offensively, he is wack

Yeah, all starting him does is ensures we start slow offensively.  Plus, we cannot go into this thing thinking "STOP LEIGHBORN!"  We won't be able to stop him.

Just make sure freaking Earl Smith doesn't go off from 3 and make sure emoLove gets 'in his feelings' by getting torched by Sap on the other end.  Make sure Jeff/DMike are aggressive (yeah, I know.  tall task at times) and hope Kyme focuses on getting hiz.

.... go from there?

Oh and furthermore, on starting Thabo, what's the backup plan once Thabo gets 2 quick fouls trying to "stop" LeeBorn?

[Diesel]

 I would  have to go with sticking with our rotation.  I am not afraid to play small ball with Cleveland.  Let's face it, we're not going to stop Lebron.  So it will be a team effort on him anyway.. However, I think we can take advantage of the fact that Irving and Love don't play defense.  We should make this game offensive and Sapp and Teague/Schröder should go off!!

 

[Guest]

Keep the same lineup but give Lebron all kinds of different looks...id throw Baze, Thabo, Korver, Teague and Sap at him. This way we are constantly just switching things up and he won't get used to one defender. Hell if he starts trying to play the point and bring the ball up, throw Dennis at him. Keeping Lebron confused is the best way to go at it because as you may or may not know, he barely graduated high school so he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

[turnermx]

I agree Spud but don't so Lebron and the Cavs a favor by wasting an extra defender double teaming on him. i want him to avg 40 if it limits offensive output of JR/Love/Irving.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, turnermx said:

I agree Spud but don't so Lebron and the Cavs a favor by wasting an extra defender double teaming on him. i want him to avg 40 if it limits offensive output of JR/Love/Irving.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed. I would have just "liked" your post but I'm freakin out of likes again which is bs. Lol

[capstone21]

Lebron is going to get his ... it is really about shutting the rest of the team down.  

[Peoriabird]

Lebron is a very good offensive player not a great on so he won't average 30 points per game on the Hawks.  Just keep him out of the paint with your best defender and be smart with your rotations and we should be fine.  And no we aren't going to rotate point guards on him.  Stick with Thabo, Baze, and some Milsap and Horford when Cleveland goes small.

[RedDawg#8]

The problem isn't about Thabo trying to shut Lebron down by himself, it's about freeing up the rest of the team to not help as much and leave shooters open. Our starting 5 is at a severe disadvantage against theirs. Baze on Lebron means Teague on Kyrie and Kyle on JR Smith. The Cavs do an excellent job setting (illegal) screens, Teague all season and against the Celts showed he cannot defend well around strong ball screens, Kyrie can get his no matter if you go under or over the screen. For every point Jeff will score on Kyrie he will give up two more on defense. Kyle will over play to help like he always does and JR will be wide open plus he moves very well to get open shots and won't allow Kyle to cheat and not make him pay.

With Thabo in it changes the dynamic. Thabo cant shut Lebron down but he won't require as much hell defense as the way smaller Bazemore. That frees up Baze to guard Kyrie and really take advantage of his legnth on defense and now Teague can stay off the ball handler and away from the strong side screens and guard JR who can't drive past Teague like he could Kyle. Now JR is only effective buried in the corner hoping to get hot like game 1 last year. That's the predicament. Thabo is your best defender, do you keep him on the bench and not use him when you need him the most or actually allow him to do what he is paid to do and guard the opponent's best player. Last series was a pass, IT still went off on us but Boston didn't have anybody else. The Cavs put 5 guys on the floor who are all a threat just like we do, but bigger and better

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, Peoriabird said:

Lebron is a very good offensive player not a great on so he won't average 30 points per game on the Hawks.  Just keep him out of the paint with your best defender and be smart with your rotations and we should be fine.  And no we aren't going to rotate point guards on him.  Stick with Thabo, Baze, and some Milsap and Horford when Cleveland goes small.

Huh?

[AHF]

Best defense against LeBron is bait him into shooting jumpers.  Don't double him - don't let him receive in the paint- encourage him to initiate from the perimeter and give him several feet (going under screens) to make it hard for him to blow by his defender but easy for him to jack jumpers. 

LeBron the jump shooter is an average player.  If he gets hot from outside you live with it but he can't sustain anything great there.  Driving and posting up?  He'll destroy you.

 

[Jody23]

In 8 playoff games vs Lebron, the Hawks are 0-8.  Love him or hate him, the guy is an all time great player at 31 years old.  Won't be surprised if that 0-8 goes to 0-12.

[Lurker]

Maybe if Thabo had a good jumper, you start him with Bazemore. He doesn't, so it's either or with them or roll the dice and remove two starters from the starting lineup (Korver and Bazemore for Hardaway Jr and Sefolosha).

Honestly with how bad last year went, I'd be tempted to roll that dice.

[capstone21]

Korver is very important with his spacing and he shot 45% from three in the Boston series (that is with a 0-7 from 3 in Game 1).   No way do we not start him

[Guest]

No need to get in panic mode by switching the lineup.  Keep the starters, adjust the rotations and minutes as required.

[ATLien_]

13 hours ago, capstone21 said:

Korver is very important with his spacing and he shot 45% from three in the Boston series (that is with a 0-7 from 3 in Game 1).   No way do we not start him

I understand where the OP's heart is, but, this exactly right. Cleveland is too good of a defensive team for  Thabo to be killing the spacing. Lebron will be free to roam  on D and that's not a good thing for us. It would mean lots of blocks, steals and rebounds. 

Edited April 30, 2016 by ATLien_