ECF: Cavs 4 - Hawks 0

[The Red Viper]

This reminds me of when people criticized LeBron last year in the finals for cramping up and not being able to pay.

People really need to just stop it. Carroll's injury is going to cause him a ton of pain.

This is something which bothers me a lot. Not everybody has the same pain threshold!

 

[czvo]

Demarre must be the biggest puss. I don't think Shaun Livingston or Paul George acted as bad as he did when their legs fell off.

That's because those two immediately went into shock, whereas Carroll probably felt all of it.

 

[The Red Viper]

View: https://vine.co/v/eAVmTOBvlgX


I think this is being underplayed honestly. For how much of 'team' basketball Atlanta plays that was one of the most gutless and selfish plays I have ever seen. I believe it was a 4 point game at that point, and Korver was in position to take a charge. But the "all-star" chose the good of himself over the good of his team. I think this could definitely hurt the chemistry for Atlanta when you see a guy who is an "all-star" that isn't willing to sell out for the team, and to so blatantly run from the play. If I'm a Hawks player I would have a hard time being in the same room as Korver right now.

Something Kyrie and LeBron always say is go to battle. I would go to battle with these guys. You think Delly would pull that bitch move? Love? ANYONE? I highly doubt it. I don't think anyone would want to go to battle with Korver after that. Just a complete gutless play, hope it affects them in game 2 somehow.

I will probably be the only one but I fully understood why Korver didn't take the charge. Korver was moving in and not in the right place to take the charge. It would have most probably ended up with a foul on Korver or and-1. Not to mention, LeBron had already gained full speed and was about to rise and a collision there could have possibly injured not just Korver but LeBron as well. Its one thing taking a charge when LeBron is about to take off like Derrick Rose did last series and totally another to do it when he has gained his full speed!

 

[czvo]

Come on, guys. There was no way Korver would have made it in front of LeBron to take a charge. The only hope he would have had to stop him would have been to tackle him, and LeBron likely would have run right through it.

I really can't fault Korver on that play.

 

[gigabyte056]

10 out of 10 players would have gotten out of the way, the way he was coming in you would have just been steam rolled.

 

[David.]

This series will lose its civility fast. Teague's already throwing elbows into Delly's throat. I can't imagine it mellowing out as the stakes rise.

Rewatch the game..

The entire team is headhunting delly with dirty plays from whistle to whistle

 

[Urban]

He could have swiped at the ball or done something, ANYTHING, to stop LeBron from putting it in the hoop. You'll see some players slide or scoot out of the way, you rarely see someone actually run away.

From Korver's perspective, you obviously don't want an And 1 and he isn't stopping the freight train that is LeBron...but you need to do something to stop what is otherwise an uncontested dunk.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

10 out of 10 players would have gotten out of the way, the way he was coming in you would have just been steam rolled.

Bullshit

Nothing more to really say about that. Absurd comment if you really think the Delly would ever olay someone to the basket.

Come on, guys. There was no way Korver would have made it in front of LeBron to take a charge. The only hope he would have had to stop him would have been to tackle him, and LeBron likely would have run right through it.

I really can't fault Korver on that play.

He was in his line of path when he backed off. Not completely in front of him, but if he would have just stood there his right shoulder would have caught LeBron's right shoulder. At the very least you leave it up to the refs and the way LeBron was getting no calls that quarter it was just a bitch move by Korver. He bitched out, plain and simple.

 

[SteelSmack]

LeBron did travel, he gathered just before he put his left foot down, then took a second step with his right and a third step with his left. But right after that play, Teague did his patented stop-on-a-dime in the lane, he planted his pivot foot about a foot inside the dotted circle and dragged it about one and a half feet outside of it.

So, people can complain that LeBron gathered one tenth of a second early (not even sure it was that much early), but Teague's travel was far more obvious. And Teague does that in the lane every drive.

EDIT: Made an imgur gallery to show off the two travels.

http://imgur.com/a/yyA2b

 

[Danny DiVito]

Reading this thread, I am glad I wasn't the only one that caught that cheap shot from Teague on Delly on a late timeout. Sad the refs missed it.


Anyways, I am not rooting for injury, but why does it have to be no structural damage for Demarre? He might go in game 2. It just seems like no one has more "serious" injuries than this squad. At least think he will be hobbled and slower and if that is the case, LBJ will be a lion seeing a newborn antelope not as close to it's mother as it would like.

I hate that I feel the same way. I don't want to see anyone hurt either (at least I thought so). Seems like we're never the team to catch the breaks.

 

[jimtraffickant]

So is everyone just ignoring LeBron's pass fake to Shump, drawing Korver back out? It's easy to tell in slow motion that he had no real intention to pass, but in real-time its pretty much indiscernible. You have to respect it. What's worse at that juncture in the game for Atlanta, two points or three?

At least Korver has the excuse of actually guarding his man, as opposed to guys like Harden, who will literally stand still and watch his own man drive to the basket.

 

[jimtraffickant]

So is everyone just ignoring LeBron's pass fake to Shump, drawing Korver back out? It's easy to tell in slow motion that he had no real intention to pass, but in real-time its pretty much indiscernible. You have to respect it. What's worse at that juncture in the game for Atlanta, two points or three?

At least Korver has the excuse of actually guarding his man, as opposed to guys like Harden, who will literally stand still and watch his own man drive to the basket.

 

[natedagg]

LeBron James: Bringing back the Post Up. What a fun thing for us to watch. It mentally puts him into attack mode bumping people, backing them down, and yesterday, it was just an old-school, throwback type of domination in the post. Lots of moves, some tough shots but some great shots and some great shots set up by LBJ in the post. Love it.

Teague: I have been looking for an excuse to dislike the guy simply to give myself the competitive edge, being the 12th man and all, and I finally found it. This dude was putting on a cocky "they can't contain me" show - flailing his arms after scoring and shit, particularly with Delly on him. Overall, I think that he really wanted to bully Delly, and frankly it worked. Delly is a competitor and will bounce back (or guard someone else), but he had a pretty bad game all-in. Still had 3 dimes and only 1 TO, so that's nice. In fact, we are really tough when we keep the turnovers this low (we had 12).

Shump: When he ran down that fast break and stripped the ball cleanly, I think that really said a lot about him and I think it showed the team something. That's the kind of play (just like that Delly out-of-bounds save to JR who hit a 3) that really gets me, the 12th man, excited. He never got going offensively, but that's what's great about him: defense doesn't slump.

Kyrie: I mean this isn't the KI who dropped 55, and he was victimized on D a couple of times, but he still had 6 assists and 10 points on 10 shots, so really a gutsy game from him. I remember one 3 of his was when the game was starting to get out of hand early, I think we were down 8, and he silenced the crowd and took back some momentum with the wetness. I really appreciate what he is doing out there.

JR Smith: What can I say that hasn't been said? Hats off to JR. I just remember when we ran like 5 plays in a row where it was obvious it was "feed JR" time, and he just went on a personal run. That was dope. I feel like JR has really found a home on this team. He is an excellent piece and we know that he can get hot, but it's his "buy in" to the team that's the biggest accomplishment. Here's a guy that was starting when we were absolutely destroying teams with Love, he throws a punch and is immediately apologetic, and he comes back... to the bench. No bitching, no boat-rocking, just rocking. And everyone remembers all the defensive lapses (Dunleavy back door, for example), but overall, he has played well on that end. Denver and NY weren't exactly defensive teams, so to see him learn so quickly is really a tribute to how hard he is applying himself. It's almost like his baggage causes people to nitpick and say "See! Same JR! Here we go again!", yet if you break it down, he has made monumental changes. I am very proud of him, and really impressed with how he seems to know when to put the gun back in the holster. And I will NEVER forget when he got the ball and drove and threw the lob to TT. That was a play that showed so much, and judging by LeBron & TT's post-dunk reactions, it was THE play of the game.

The Lead Evaporation: This is getting blown out of proportion. As long as we (LeBron included) are learning things from WINS, then this isn't a big deal. LeBron wanted to close the game, and he is no dummy. He knew that we were up so much that it was clock-burning time, then he tasted success on Milsap a couple of times, but then it broke down. Yes we should have run our offense, but like someone said, if he initiates his drive with 11 seconds left instead of 6, the kickout & swing passes are still a threat... At any rate, he acknowledged that he messed up. He didn't hide from it. His ego got in the way a bit there, but hey, he is a competitor and the bottom line is that we WON. He will not be successfully baited into that same behavior for any long stretch of time. He is so cerebral, so I don't think there's anything to worry about. In short, there's no there there.

Bad Game from Several Role Players: We are a young team on the road. This happened a little during the regular season, and this was quite a stage for everyone except LeBron. We hung in there, battled back, and our defense really gave them fits in the 2nd half. I think Blatt/Lue/the coaching staff really deserve some credit here. Sure JR carried us on offense, but we made some incredible adjustments so that we weren't trading buckets for the most part. Reminded me of the Cavs with Love - we traded punches then just exploded... At any rate, these roll players will bounce back. We will need it, and they will provide it.

Hawks Players: Bazeless played really well with a fire when he saw the court. We'll see how that translates if/when he gets more time. Horford had a pretty economical game but dude, when your team is out-rebounded 49-37, it's on your bigs. Junk Yard Dog: He left in crutches. That's not good. He is getting so much love for his playoff offense, and I think it's a function of the previous match-ups more than anything: the Nets were sub .500 for a reason, and more importantly, when the Wiz went small, he often had Otto Porter on him, with Pierce on Milsap. In his last 5 playoff games, he is shooting 43% from the field with 11.8 points, yet the media is making him out as the savior. I like him as a player but he is outmatched here. Teague: he is a really nice player. That said, I think we have him where we want him: he feels that he can score at will, and we will happily put up with his 27 points on sub-500 shooting if it comes along with a 4:3 assist to turnover ratio. I think he's playing into our game plan, personally.

Post-Game: Teague talking about the injury to Carroll didn't exactly sound like he was inspired. It was "we just lost our best playoff player... somebody has to step up." It was the way he said it, it was the specifics of the body language and verbiage too. Heck, maybe it was just that I was hammered.

Next Game: I think we'll be running our play tree off of whoever is guarding LeBron. What a luxury we have! If Carroll is back, we'll test that knee out early and often from the post. If Bazeless is on him, I expect LeBron to really amp up the intensity to make sure that his momentum doesn't carry over from G1. I think that'll come through the post as well. If Milsap is on LeBron, I would like to see LBJ setting picks for KI, looking for the switch or KI penetration. Here's to a great G2 - hopefully we can come out of the gates a little bit better and have our role players, who had good looks that they normally knock down, step up a bit.

 

[Gus Zing]

I kind of hope we can find mins for Shawn Marion or even Mike Miller.

Not sure these heavy mins are good for Shump. He's always looking like he's about to hurt something. He plays so hard out there, but you've got to protect him from himself as well. Kind of like with Andy.

Wish we could find 10 mins or so for other guys.

 

[Scrote Squad]

Drew (Atl)

As someone who picked Cavs in 5 on NBA Lockdown, what were you thinking yesterday when DeMarre went down?

Amin (4:14 PM)

"shoulda said 4"