NBA Season 2015/16

[Jay]

So what do the Cavs need to do in order to make this a series again?

Start Shump over JR. And with Love out they should start Frye. Irving/Shump/LBJ/Frye/TT.

Put LeBron at the elbow, let him go to work, drive to the rim and try to find an open shooter. Thompson's man will help on LeBron but you need to keep him in there for his offensive rebounding. Warriors will probably try to make Shumpert beat them with his jumpshot, which I doubt he can do, but I think its the best chance they've got. One way to compete against the Warriors is crash the boards vs their small lineup. Which is why the Cavs going small wont really work too well. Thompson has to dominate the glass, and most importantly they need to hit their shots. Two or three of Frye, Irving, Shump and JR need to get hot from three. Shooting more threes makes the game more random, which the Cavs have to do now.

Shump is their best Curry defender imo, I'd just give him a shot guarding him 1v1 and not switching everything on D. Everything is a long shot at this stage, but I do expect them to play a lot better at home.

[plumdog millionaire]

Warriors aren't allowing many open shots, their switching on D is preventing the need for weak side help, which means guys like Frye, JR, Love aren't getting wide open opportunities.

I think the Cavs just need to get their defensive strategy straight, and communicate well so the Warriors don't get bunnies at the basket. No Love will help that. And put LeBron in more situations where 3 guys can't sag off onto him and cramp the spacing, which they desperately need

[Jay]

Warriors aren't allowing many open shots, their switching on D is preventing the need for weak side help, which means guys like Frye, JR, Love aren't getting wide open opportunities.

I think the Cavs just need to get their defensive strategy straight, and communicate well so the Warriors don't get bunnies at the basket. No Love will help that. And put LeBron in more situations where 3 guys can't sag off onto him and cramp the spacing, which they desperately need

They've just got to shoot even if they aren't open tbh.

The huge problem that the Cavs have is that LeBron cannot shoot. They're just going under every PnR, and then having 3 bodies near him when he's going to the basket. I'd be keen to see them using LeBron as the roll man in a PnR a few times. Like what Golden State does with Draymond.

[Holz]

So what do the Cavs need to do in order to make this a series again?

just hit their shots.

this is their 3 points made


Toronto 7/20, 9/33,14/41, 13/41,10/21, 17/31   43/105 = 41% in wins 27/82 = 33% in losses
Warriors 7/21, 5/23  12/44 = 27%

They are a great 3 point team and the warriors dont have great D, i actually think the Cavs are abit too inexperienced. Love Irving this is basically their first finals.

Warriors looked very nervous last year but the injuries handed them the championship and broke the nervousness, thats what has made them soo great. Young teams rarely catch a break like that, look how hard Jordan had to play to win his first.

You should check if that's true before saying it

their adjusted defensive rating is 7th in the league. Below the hawks at 2 who the Cavs torched and just above the cavs. They are in a 3 way tie for 4th in defensive efficiency and again well below the hawks and not too far ahead of Toronto.

so no they dont have great defense they have good defense. They have great offense.

the cavs shooting 27% is more about them being nervous being in the finals then the warriors doing great D.

[Holz]

also can we please just get rid of kevin love. the guy doesnt show up when its crunch time.

all he does is put up big points when the game is over.

even his game 1 where he was ok he shot 41% got 13 boards which is good but then 2 assists and 4 turnovers.

which we had wiggins back.

something needs to be done, cant have a big man who cant defend or shoot.

[My Chumps]

Either Lebron isn't the same player he once was and he knows it, or he needs to shoot the ball 30+ times in game 3. He's forcing so many passes and turning to over far too much. If they sag off you, shoot! You're not a terrible jump shooter and you need to remind people that.

In the 2013 series vs the Spurs, Kawhi sagged off all series and did a terrific job defending at the hoop, kept LBJ to less than 20 in the first three games. Then finally, he flowering realised then when he's wide open on the three point line he's gonna hit it more often than not, and that in turn opened up more opportunities to be aggressive and get to the rim. Watch game 7 highlights, he hits everything cause they leave him open.

So many times in this series they've gone under the pick and role and left him effectively wide open at the elbow, but he refuses to pull up and shoot. Just do it. Do it often. Stop throwing bad passes when you attack the rim and turning it over.

[plumdog millionaire]

Warriors aren't allowing many open shots, their switching on D is preventing the need for weak side help, which means guys like Frye, JR, Love aren't getting wide open opportunities.

I think the Cavs just need to get their defensive strategy straight, and communicate well so the Warriors don't get bunnies at the basket. No Love will help that. And put LeBron in more situations where 3 guys can't sag off onto him and cramp the spacing, which they desperately need

They've just got to shoot even if they aren't open tbh.

The huge problem that the Cavs have is that LeBron cannot shoot. They're just going under every PnR, and then having 3 bodies near him when he's going to the basket. I'd be keen to see them using LeBron as the roll man in a PnR a few times. Like what Golden State does with Draymond.

That could get more LeBron on Curry mismatches if they screened for Curry's man, advantage LeBron there.
But the biggest problem is the Cavs' defence imo. It was their problem going into the series and their half court as well as transition D has been terrible. Though at home I could see it improving a bit, but it has to be more than a bit if they want to win the series.

[plumdog millionaire]

So what do the Cavs need to do in order to make this a series again?

just hit their shots.

this is their 3 points made


Toronto 7/20, 9/33,14/41, 13/41,10/21, 17/31   43/105 = 41% in wins 27/82 = 33% in losses
Warriors 7/21, 5/23  12/44 = 27%

They are a great 3 point team and the warriors dont have great D, i actually think the Cavs are abit too inexperienced. Love Irving this is basically their first finals.

Warriors looked very nervous last year but the injuries handed them the championship and broke the nervousness, thats what has made them soo great. Young teams rarely catch a break like that, look how hard Jordan had to play to win his first.

You should check if that's true before saying it

their adjusted defensive rating is 7th in the league. Below the hawks at 2 who the Cavs torched and just above the cavs. They are in a 3 way tie for 4th in defensive efficiency and again well below the hawks and not too far ahead of Toronto.

so no they dont have great defense they have good defense. They have great offense.

the cavs shooting 27% is more about them being nervous being in the finals then the warriors doing great D.

You're talking regular season though and apparently it doesn't matter

[Jay]

Also, was just having a look through some playoff lineup data. Of all lineups that have played 75 minutes together, Delly/Shump/LBJ/Jefferson/Frye is first with a net rating of 41. The next best has an 18 net rating. Obviously strength of opponent is not accounted for there, but I really like that lineup for Cleveland. You have your 3 best defensive players out there, and would actually allow for the switching strategy to work okay. And obviously need Frye out there as a lethal catch and shoot guy.

I said last year that the Cavs would not have been much better off, if at all in the finals, should Irving and Love had been healthy. They are just so bad defensively, that against the Warriors you just can't survive. Having guys like Delly, Shumpert and Thompson out there are just as valuable as Irving and Love in this series.

[plumdog millionaire]

Also, was just having a look through some playoff lineup data. Of all lineups that have played 75 minutes together, Delly/Shump/LBJ/Jefferson/Frye is first with a net rating of 41. The next best has an 18 net rating. Obviously strength of opponent is not accounted for there, but I really like that lineup for Cleveland. You have your 3 best defensive players out there, and would actually allow for the switching strategy to work okay. And obviously need Frye out there as a lethal catch and shoot guy.

I said last year that the Cavs would not have been much better off, if at all in the finals, should Irving and Love had been healthy. They are just so bad defensively, that against the Warriors you just can't survive. Having guys like Delly, Shumpert and Thompson out there are just as valuable as Irving and Love in this series.

You were saying before they should play Thompson for his rebounding, so would you prefer him in or not?

[R.Griffen]

So what do the Cavs need to do in order to make this a series again?

just hit their shots.

this is their 3 points made


Toronto 7/20, 9/33,14/41, 13/41,10/21, 17/31   43/105 = 41% in wins 27/82 = 33% in losses
Warriors 7/21, 5/23  12/44 = 27%

They are a great 3 point team and the warriors dont have great D, i actually think the Cavs are abit too inexperienced. Love Irving this is basically their first finals.

Warriors looked very nervous last year but the injuries handed them the championship and broke the nervousness, thats what has made them soo great. Young teams rarely catch a break like that, look how hard Jordan had to play to win his first.

If the Cavs can't win because they are too inexperienced isn't that saying if Irving and Love played last year they  would have lost anyway?

Also with only "good" defence how did they break the regular season record?

[Holz]

So what do the Cavs need to do in order to make this a series again?

just hit their shots.

this is their 3 points made


Toronto 7/20, 9/33,14/41, 13/41,10/21, 17/31   43/105 = 41% in wins 27/82 = 33% in losses
Warriors 7/21, 5/23  12/44 = 27%

They are a great 3 point team and the warriors dont have great D, i actually think the Cavs are abit too inexperienced. Love Irving this is basically their first finals.

Warriors looked very nervous last year but the injuries handed them the championship and broke the nervousness, thats what has made them soo great. Young teams rarely catch a break like that, look how hard Jordan had to play to win his first.

If the Cavs can't win because they are too inexperienced isn't that saying if Irving and Love played last year they  would have lost anyway?

Also with only "good" defence how did they break the regular season record?

1.If the Cavs can't win because they are too inexperienced isn't that saying if Irving and Love played last year they  would have lost anyway?

the warriors where also inexperienced, Lebron was the only star who had been there before. If just Irving was healthy i legit think cavs win the series and the warriors would still be trying to get their first win. Winning once does a great deal for your ocnifdence just ask lebron.

2. Also with only "good" defence how did they break the regular season record?
Because their offense was soo much better then the rest of the comp.

3. You're talking regular season though and apparently it doesn't matter

true to a point but its the biggest sample size, havent heard anything saying that warriors have suddenly lifted their defense. The thunder series they just out gunned them with both teams going big. 

[Jay]

Also, was just having a look through some playoff lineup data. Of all lineups that have played 75 minutes together, Delly/Shump/LBJ/Jefferson/Frye is first with a net rating of 41. The next best has an 18 net rating. Obviously strength of opponent is not accounted for there, but I really like that lineup for Cleveland. You have your 3 best defensive players out there, and would actually allow for the switching strategy to work okay. And obviously need Frye out there as a lethal catch and shoot guy.

I said last year that the Cavs would not have been much better off, if at all in the finals, should Irving and Love had been healthy. They are just so bad defensively, that against the Warriors you just can't survive. Having guys like Delly, Shumpert and Thompson out there are just as valuable as Irving and Love in this series.

You were saying before they should play Thompson for his rebounding, so would you prefer him in or not?

It's a tough one, but I think I prefer Thompson in there playing with Frye. The point of this post was just that if they want to go small, then it should be with defensive minded guards and wings not guys like Irving, Love and JR who the Warriors can easily take advantage of. But yeah if it was me, I think going bigger is the slightly better strategy. Overall, it's all just throwing darts and see which one hits really.

[plumdog millionaire]

Agree to disagree, so far Warriors have played very good D, Zach Lowe/Nate Duncan/Others have said as much and I trust them 100% with it. There's no 'nervous'-ness at play here, only Skip Bayless would say something like that

[Holz]

Agree to disagree, so far Warriors have played very good D, Zach Lowe/Nate Duncan/Others have said as much and I trust them 100% with it. There's no 'nervous'-ness at play here, only Skip Bayless would say something like that

i think its more to do with love isnt very good and is a massive liability on offense.

Irving just isnt ready yet and not sure he meshes with James perfectly, kinda like Durrant Westbrook.

remember im a lebron fan and a Irving fan not a cavs fan. Lebron will almost always turn up.