ECF: Cavs 4 - Hawks 0

[godfather]

Who is disrespecting the Hawks? Because we're not kissing their ass, and crowning them as champs? Crazy. Yeah, god forbid if anyone is confident, we can beat anyone in a seven game series. Especially a team that although really good, much like us, haven't proven shit yet.

I just find it comical the knee-jerk reactions that come out of ONE game. You seriously can't take much out of one game period. I said going into the game, win or lose, you can't take anything out of this really.

Sure, the Hawks did expose some weaknesses we still have, I guess. When we become too relied upon going isolation, we do tend to get into trouble against a team like them.

Look, they are not the Toronto Raptors, I get it. We definitely saw a big difference between a pretender, and contender.

No one is disrespecting the Hawks. But if you don't lose perspective, we played like absolute shit. We are capable of playing better, and that said, they still barely beat us.

That should make fans feel good. LeBron isn't going to shit the bed every game like this in the playoffs.

I think it's good the Cavs lost this game. It's better to learn from it now, than later.

 

[mhi]

Make no mistake, these Hawks are a much better team than the Bulls. During last night's game, they simply out executed us on both ends of the floor.

And like Noonan said, Dennis S. is having a stellar year and has the talent to be a starting level PG in this league.

 

[DawgOnKing]

I won't go as far as to say I'm glad we got beat but we can certainly take some very key items away from last night with regards to playing ATL.

We were most effective in the half-court by moving the ball and finding open looks. Pick and roll/isolation sets won't get it done against the Hawks in the way it did against both Golden State and Houston. That won't bail you out against Atlanta. It takes all 5 guys sharing the ball and consistent opportunities to run in transition.

Kyrie shouldn't leave the floor. Smith shouldn't leave the floor. Love should be featured in the post when forced into a half-court set and the ball moves from there.

You've got to defend every possession and prepared for them to look for transition opportunities. Teague killed us last night.

It'd be one hell of a series.

 

[David.]

Shroder driving freely with no rim protector in place gave me fits. Really, really question the lineups

 

[Kizzle]

Shroder driving freely with no rim protector in place gave me fits. Really, really question the lineups

But Mozgov cannot play against the Hawks. He just can't. ALL their bigs will run right right by him. Only other option is playing some sort of zone but that's just asking to get shot out of the gym by halftime


I mean I think some things that must happen to beat the Hawks that didn't happen yesterday is Delly has to defend Schroeder, Lebron has to play better, and Kevin Love must be a spacing presence by hitting threes and occasionally driving on Milsap.


If I had to guess I'd say right now the Hawks are the only East team that I feel we NEED big games from 2/3 of the big 3 to win

 

[Green Lantern]

The Cavs came out like crap last night, knowing the Hawks were going to send a message..
Once the got the lead the Cavs didn't do what it took to take the wind out of their sails..
They didn't get physical with them like they should have.

 

[godfather]

I won't go as far as to say I'm glad we got beat but we can certainly take some very key items away from last night with regards to playing ATL.

We were most effective in the half-court by moving the ball and finding open looks. Pick and roll/isolation sets won't get it done against the Hawks in the way it did against both Golden State and Houston. That won't bail you out against Atlanta. It takes all 5 guys sharing the ball and consistent opportunities to run in transition.

Kyrie shouldn't leave the floor. Smith shouldn't leave the floor. Love should be featured in the post when forced into a half-court set and the ball moves from there.

You've got to defend every possession and prepared for them to look for transition opportunities. Teague killed us last night.

It'd be one hell of a series.

Well, no, I mean obviously you want to win every game, but that's not going to happen.

This team is going to face adversity like this in the playoffs, it's good they're experiencing it now, so they can be prepared for it going forward. I'd be a little nervous if we just rolled along the regular season, in cruise mode. This is a team that's not experienced playoff basketball, and they don't know what they're up against yet.

We went into the game, not prepared at all, and we got beat by a really good team.

There's no running from anyone, if we want to win it all. People last night talking about wanting to avoid this team. I am not scared of the Hawks. I think they are a really good team, but it was never going to be easy, no matter what anyone thought. If we feel we're the best, we don't fear anyone.

We are going to have to go through the best teams. There are going to be nights where we do lose, and it looks very bad. You just got to play on, and not get too high or low right now.

Nothing last night changed my mind about the Cavs. And it shouldn't have changed anyone else's mind either.

We are still capable of winning it all. It was a bad night, against a really good team.

 

[CardiacCavs]

I look at this Hawks team and I get nervous at the match up problems they could cause us. I understand it is a completely different situation in terms of match ups, but it really reminds me of when we met the Magic in 08-09. I really thought we were the better team, but they just had better match ups that we could not counter. Their shooting, and speed could really pose a challenge for us.

I was with a lot of you in the belief that Atlanta did not worry me because I was not sure if they could duplicate their regular season success in the playoffs. I'm not making any conclusions because who knows how we would respond to the Hawks when we have days to prepare and game plan but I am not counting them out anymore. They worry me.

 

[godfather]

Atlanta is better than I thought, I won't deny that. But, I still think we can be ANY team in a seven game series. That's my stance, it hasn't changed. But they kinda were what I still thought though. I am not bashing them, because boy, did they play a great game yesterday. I got to admit, even though I hated it was against us, they are a fun team to watch.

They play as a unit, they trust each other. They are so well coached. They definitely deserve a lot of respect, and should be taken seriously.

But I noticed they need to be a well oiled machine, it has to all go very well for them too. If things start to break down, which in the playoffs they always do, I just don't know if they have enough to beat some of the best teams in a series.

Maybe I'm wrong, and this team will win it all. I just have serious doubts, even still.

That doesn't mean they're not very good, and they won't be a tough out for anyone.

 

[CLEZenith]

But I noticed they need to be a well oiled machine, it has to all go very well for them too. If things start to break down, which in the playoffs they always do, I just don't know if they have enough to beat some of the best teams in a series.

They need to be a well oiled machine...and so does every other team in the NBA? I don't understand what you are saying. Don't the Cavs need to be a "well-oiled machine" and have things "go well" for them too? This just sounds like a vaguely phrased way to discredit them. Not that that's your intention but...

 

[Chris]

They need to be a well oiled machine...and so does every other team in the NBA? I don't understand what you are saying. Don't the Cavs need to be a "well-oiled machine" and have things "go well" for them too? This just sounds like a vaguely phrased way to discredit them. Not that that's your intention but...

I think he's referring to how we, on paper, "out talent" the Hawks. If things break down, I'm going to be more comfortable with established star players like LeBron James than I am with some dudes nobody knew about until this year.

I don't wholly agree with that take, though.

 

[godfather]

They need to be a well oiled machine...and so does every other team in the NBA? I don't understand what you are saying. Don't the Cavs need to be a "well-oiled machine" and have things "go well" for them too? This just sounds like a vaguely phrased way to discredit them. Not that that's your intention but...

I am saying they need large contributions from a lot of guys, that wasn't a knock, that just seems pretty evident from watching them play. Do they have anyone on their team capable of putting them on their backs, and taking them the distance?

I don't see it. Maybe someone like Teague really steps up in the playoffs, and becomes that guy.

Maybe they can play like this all the way to a title. Those are possibilities.

But they don't have guys like LeBron, or even Kyrie, that are capable of just taking over a game, and putting a team on their back is what I'm saying.

Of course you need to play well as a team, but it's not always going to go perfect in the playoffs. Not everyone can always be accounted to show up. This is why its hard for teams without superstars to win it all.

And people can point to the Spurs all they want when making a comparison. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili are all going to the HOF. They've all arguably been superstar caliber players at one point. They are capable, not all the time, but coming up really big in the playoffs, and having a turn-back-the-clock vintage superstar games still.

Not sure we can at this point say that definitively yet with anyone on the Hawks.

Gregg Popovich might be the best coach ever! Not every team can be blessed with these kinds of things. Budenholzer is a damn good coach, but not ready to proclaim him as Gregg Popovich just yet.

That's not a knock on the Hawks, but they themselves are going into a new territory. And a team like them, not heavily based on individual guys, I don't know, it might be a tough task to handle for them.

But hey, if they can do it, and I am not suggesting they have no chance, then much respect to them.

 

[Birdy89]

I don't wholly agree with that take, though.

Neither do I.

This team is still wildly dependent on Lebron. Last night was the kind of night you'd have thought one of our other 2 max players would step up, but neither gave us anything more than their normal production to fill the gap for Lebron's down game.

That kind of thing has happened enough this season.

It wasn't supposed to be this way with all the talent we have on paper, but when push comes to shove that is the position we now find ourselves in.

 

[ajz20]

Having listened to the game on my phone, due to driving I found Jim Chones made some key points.
1. They make you pay when you rotate late (similar to Orlando in 09) They are ready to shoot on the catch without hesitation
2. They stick to their defensive principles (you cant go one on one in a 7 game series and win. This concerns me as LBJ is very stubborn a times and I am worried he would resort to this.
3. Thier Pg's are great at pushing the ball in transition. I am worried that Deli is a horrible matchup vs Atl.
4. Love has to score as they were willing to leave him open from the corer. He has been up and down all year.
Bottom line, it will be a a very difficult series.

 

[Adam]

anyone else think cavs used pheonix to run some timo sets they might need against the hawks, seemed like they featured him on the block and moving through the key often