ECF: Cavs 4 - Hawks 0

[Birdy89]

Coach Bud scares me.

That Hawks team will be incredibly well prepared and not scared of the big moments when the playoffs come.

You watch the Hawks and you can just see the influence of having been Pop's assistant for 16 years.

 

[CavsHomer]

Welp, Hawks are definitely the team to beat in the East. Without a doubt.
They will be very tough to handle in a potential series...

 

[redscoon]

It's tough to beat a top tier team when LeBron comes out and isn't engaged. He had countless brutal turnovers tonight. He choked the offense out almost the entire first half. There were at least four or five times where I watched him make zero effort to get to an attainable lose ball or rebound.

There isn't much to analyze tonight. The Hawks are good. Probably the second best team in the East now that it appears Chicago will never be healthy. I'll still be shocked if they eliminate us. They remind me a lot of our LeBron 60 win teams that outworked teams in the regular season, but you knew had too many holes to survive the playoffs.

This game was all on a D- effort from LeBron and Blatt deploying a hilariously poor lineup to start the 4th.

 

[godfather]

Yeah this team should be feared. Anyone saying otherwise is in denial. They've beaten us 3 out of 4 games against us this year and they have the best record in the league, so why is everybody so confident against them? Makes no sense.

Respected? Sure, but feared? Come on.

Have you guys been watching basketball for just 5 months of your life?

We have LEBRON JAMES and KYRIE IRVING! That's why we are confident. And ask any team a non-bias question, and ask them if they'd be confident having those two, they'd say hell yes.

There's not a team we should fear. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. That doesn't mean we won't get tested, or have to face serious adversity. Or yes, risk the chance of losing. There's no gimmes in this game.

If you guys can't take one game in the regular season, you shouldn't even bother watching the playoffs this year. Because this is nothing compared to what we'll have to go through if we want to win it all.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

Respected? Sure, but feared? Come on.

Have you guys been watching basketball for just 5 months of your life?

We have LEBRON JAMES and KYRIE IRVING! That's why we are confident. And ask any team a non-bias question, and ask them if they'd be confident having those two, they'd say hell yes.

There's not a team we should fear. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. That doesn't mean we won't get tested, or have to face serious adversity. Or yes, risk the chance of losing. There's no gimmes in this game.

If you guys can't take one game in the regular season, you shouldn't even bother watching the playoffs this year. Because this is nothing compared to what we'll have to go through if we want to win it all.

Star power isn't everything, my friend. People keep discounting the Hawks because of it. Yet last time around, we were always beaten in the playoffs by good "team" players. Not saying we can't win, but acting all high and mighty as if we'll destroy this group of "star-less Hawk scrubs" (not your words, just saying) is foolish.

And seriously one game?? We've been beaten by them 3 out of 4 games, and they've won 49…no one is basing anything off of one game.

 

[Otsego Mar]

Did LeBron forget how to close out on defense or does he need to rest up a few games?

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Tonight was a good learning opportunity for our players and coaches. They came out with lackluster effort, got smacked in the mouth and came all the way back. The bottom line is Kyrie and LeBron need to be much better with the ball, but ultimately the game was won with that one run early in the 4th when we had Jones/Tristan in as the bigs. Mozgov was part of the lineup that cut the lead in the 3rd, then he never got in the game again. I know Blatt likes to go small to finish games, but we might want to try something else against the Hawks, who are built to play that way.

 

[Birdy89]

but you knew had too many holes to survive the playoffs.

Other than not having a so-called "superstar" player, what holes exactly do they have?

They are nothing like teh Lebron Cavs teams in that they aren't wildly dependent on any 1 guy to have a chance.

To me they look like a Spurs team minus the HOF PF in Tim Duncan. Instead they just have an All-star at the position.

 

[Otsego Mar]

Tonight was a good learning opportunity for our players and coaches. They came out with lackluster effort, got smacked in the mouth and came all the way back. The bottom line is Kyrie and LeBron need to be much better with the ball, but ultimately the game was won with that one run early in the 4th when we had Jones/Tristan in as the bigs. Mozgov was part of the lineup that cut the lead in the 3rd, then he never got in the game again. I know Blatt likes to go small to finish games, but we might want to try something else against the Hawks, who are built to play that way.

A line-up that also included Irving & Delly as the 1 & 2.....that cannot happen. If you have TT in as the 5 you have to go with Love at the 4.

 

[godfather]

Star power isn't everything, my friend. People keep discounting the Hawks because of it. Yet last time around, we were always beaten in the playoffs by good "team" players. Not saying we can't win, but acting all high and mighty as if we'll destroy this group of "star-less Hawk scrubs" (not your words, just saying) is foolish.

And seriously one game?? We've been beaten by them 3 out of 4 games, and they've won 49…no one is basing anything off of one game.

The Nets swept the Heat last year, so what?

And never did I say we'll roll by them. I said it won't be easy, and it never is. But using the regular season to determine a team will beat us in the playoffs is silly.

The playoffs are a different animal completely. You have more time to adjust, and counter. You get to throw everything at a team, correct mistakes, and go out there the next day and try again. Dude, there are lopsided wins in the playoffs all the time in games, that doesn't mean that team that won big on that particular day goes on to win the series necessarily.

The Spurs got beat by the Pistons by 40 some points in Detroit in the finals, completely dominated, and still won the title against them. Shit happens, it will be ugly at times.

You don't get that chance in the regular season to make all the needed corrections against a specific team like you will in the playoffs. Bottom line is, in a series against them, we will have the best two players on our side. I feel good about our chances with that.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

The Nets swept the Heat last year, so what?

And never did I say we'll roll by them. I said it won't be easy, and it never is. But using the regular season to determine a team will beat us in the playoffs is silly.

The playoffs are a different animal completely. You have more time to adjust, and counter. You get to throw everything at a team, correct mistakes, and go out there the next day and try again. Dude, there are lopsided wins in the playoffs all the time in games, that doesn't mean that team that won big on that particular day goes on to win the series necessarily.

The Spurs got beat by the Pistons by 40 some points in Detroit in the finals, completely dominated, and still won the title against them. Shit happens, it will be ugly at times.

You don't get that chance in the regular season to make all the needed corrections against a specific team like you will in the playoffs. Bottom line is, in a series against them, we will have the best two players on our side. I feel good about our chances with that.

This isn't the sixth seed, 44 win Nets…this is the LEAGUE LEADING Atlanta Hawks. It's not even a comparison.

And you implied that we'd roll by them by saying things like "Are you serious? The Atlanta fucking Hawks?" and other comments like that.

 

[Pioneer10]

Team looked like it was tired. Lebron this year definitely seems to wear down if he doesn't have enough rest.

That being said I was actually impressed with the comeback. That bench lineup to start the 4th really cost us the game. Extremely difficult to ask the starters to come back from double digits twice in the same game

 

[*L-Train*]

a few thoughts:
-remember when the Cavs rolled to 66 wins in 08/09 but there were a few teams that gave them trouble in the regular season? Orlando was one of them. i'm seeing an awful lot of fans on twitter who say regular season games don't mean anything after this loss. i disagree, you can see there will be matchups the Cavs are really gonna struggle with in a series (Horford for example)
-while Lebron was really bad tonight i don't think i've seen a team defend him this well all year (the Hawks are really underrated in that department imo)
-Schroeder scares the hell out of me. i'm not a fan of cutting Joe Harris but Delly has no chance trying to stay in front of this guy and i would hate to lose a game or two in a close series because this guy goes off (they have to put Shump on him but he's probably gonna struggle as well. that guy is just super quick)
-one area where they could really hurt the Hawks is rebounding (they have a pretty small frontcourt) but watching Mozgov trying to defend Horford pick&rolls tonight....ugh.
-TT is a key player in a potential series, him somewhat slowing down Millsap/Horford would be huge
-normally i'm totally buying into the "you need a superstar to win in the playoffs" narrative but after watching the Spurs last year, we shouldn't underestimate teams that have 2-3 allstars and move the ball this well

 

[redscoon]

Other than not having a so-called "superstar" player, what holes exactly do they have?

They are nothing like teh Lebron Cavs teams in that they aren't wildly dependent on any 1 guy to have a chance.

To me they look like a Spurs team minus the HOF PF in Tim Duncan. Instead they just have an All-star at the position.

Size. Rebounding. Reliance on the jumper. Lack of a defensive stopper on the perimeter. Inability to consistently get to the line. No take over the game player for crunch time moments. Playoff experience.

They are a very good team, I just don't think it's going to translate to the playoffs nearly as well as it has to the regular season.

These guys don't have a championship level Tony Parker or a Kawhi style two way threat. Not to mention a player with the creativity of Manu.

 

[fujikuro]

Team's just got to get better and bring the determination to play team ball once they reach the playoffs. Hopefully the fact that there will be no back to back games will help.

I hear a lot of pretty wishful thinking in here. Hawks have no experience, no real big men, etc. We'll see, but the Hawks sure are awfully consistent. This is no struggle for them to play this way. They could just as easily have another gear they can shift into as well.