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Game 28 | Cleveland Cavaliers (17-10) @ Miami Heat (13-16) | December 25, 2014 | 5:00 pm EST

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inliner311 said:
Throwing in Zeller and a 1st round pick to move jack was too much, you think Grant would of given both those up?
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Well, considering Grant signed him to the albatross contract that made him tough to move in the first place, who really cares?
 
Rich said:
I'm not reading through this thread, but the offense isn't the problem. It hasn't been the problem all season. It's the defense. Even with our so-called "great" defensive second half, the Heat still shot over 47% (which is way, way over their season average), still scored over 100 points (again, way, way over their season average), and beat our asses on the boards. The problem is the other end and has been this whole season.

Like I see people talking about how we played well enough on defense that game, but we didn't. The Heat are a bad offensive team and they played well above their season averages tonight. We can't defend.
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The heat had 62 points at halftime shooting 50+ percent. Try ended the game with 101 points. The defense in the second half(which was just more energy given and contesting shots) held them to 2/3 the points of the first half. The offense isn't working because it's LeISO all over again. Not any system. LeISO has clearly been beaten in the finals(ALA 2014).
 
Rich said:
Nah, that's bullshit. He was never going to be the focus of the offense coming here. He needs to play better than this, regardless if he gets more shots. He was bad tonight. About as bad as I've seen him. He's playing with no energy at all and lack of shots is a poor excuse if winning is the primary goal. Play hard all the time and not only when you feel involved.
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This isn't just about tonight, it is symptomatic of a bigger issue. Who knows, perhaps being frozen out of the offense has the guy pissed off and frustrated. Saw it tonight, early, yelling at teammates when he had good position in the block or when wide open. But, by all means, overlook the real problem, which is that they have no offensive system. The Cavs need him to do well on offense to win in the long-term. That is simple. They can continue to ride out the "Love doesn't need shots to contribute, he must sacrifice, he'll understand" train night after night right into offseason, having not won shit, and with him packing his bags.

It's also bullshit to say because he was never going to be the primary weapon on offense that we should expect them to not use him effectively. They sure as fuck didn't trade Wiggins for Love's defense. That said, what sort of sense does it make not to integrate him into the offense?

Love is the canary in the coal-mine. Because he isn't a ball handler that can shoot whenever he pleases, he is a barometer for ball movement, spacing, match-up recognition, the effectiveness of sets and P&Rs. The past couple weeks the offense has been inconsistent. Right now, this team needs the coach to impose his will and his system or they aren't going anywhere and they will have traded away the farm for nothing.
 
this game has me infuriated and wanting to drink xmas ale until I puke....things are spiraling out of control
 
priceFTW said:
Look, Lebron has to play up to Lebron standards for us to win Big this year and about that there is no doubt at all and LeBron has not done so this year.

With that said, saying "Anyone claiming that Lebron and the offense aren't major issues right now are clearly delusional or are more likely to be Lebron fans than cavs fans(nothing wrong with that, just pointing out a bias)" is a little over the top.

We had the 4th best offense coming into this game and I agree that we can and should be better on offense, but our primary issues lie elsewhere. In this game, for example, James played a miserable first quarter offensively and defensively, but he did do something we haven't seen as much which is take to the rim continuously. The small ball lineup and better spacing along with Miami's lack of defense allowed him to do so. He missed FTs though which killed us. If he makes 5 more FTs, we get a couple of DRebs and Love hits one of those wide open threes, the game looks completely different.

The first quarter defensive effort and overall effort and what looks like rebounding issues with Andy out look to be even bigger issues going forward along with getting the most out of Love's skills.

James needs to play better but these posts about (not you) "Fuck off, Lebron," "sellout," "Lebron's the problem" are blown out of proportion.
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I agree with the premise, but LeISO isn't gonna work anymore. There needs to be a set offense(which the cavs have its just not being run) in which it focuses on ball movement, attacking the defense during shifting, and forcing mismatches(ALA love on Norris cole). That should help everyone play and fit better, while allowing for more focus on the defensive end energy wise.
 
Bdawgs12 said:
He won two championships doing the same thing. our offense is not the problem so stop complaining about that it's our D and no interior D
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The Heat's defense during those years was much, much better than ours. We don't have the right personnel to be as good as they were defensively, so the one thing we CAN change right now is how we run the offense.
 
Willard513 said:
The heat had 62 points at halftime shooting 50+ percent. Try ended the game with 101 points. The defense in the second half(which was just more energy given and contesting shots) held them to 2/3 the points of the first half. The offense isn't working because it's LeISO all over again. Not any system. LeISO has clearly been beaten in the finals(ALA 2014).
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Except the offense is working. I mean I'm soooo tired of these one game sample sizes to prove points when we've got 28 now. Our offense is a top 5 offense and our defense is bottom 7. Now which of those two seem like the bigger problem here? LeISO on offense or the total disaster on defense?
 
shoes22 said:
The Heat's defense during those years was much, much better than ours. We don't have the right personnel to be as good as they were defensively, so the one thing we CAN change right now is how we run the offense.
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It doesn't matter what we do with the offense. If we were the number one offense we aren't winning a title playing defense this way. The defense has to improve to even give us a shot.
 
Rich said:
Except the offense is working. I mean I'm soooo tired of these one game sample sizes to prove points when we've got 28 now. Our offense is a top 5 offense and our defense is bottom 7. Now which of those two seem like the bigger problem here? LeISO on offense or the total disaster on defense?
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Is it not possible that one fixes the other? The offense would allow for others to get involved, and to not have Lebron expend a ton of energy every possession, hence he can focus a bit more on defense, which is sorely needed. I don't know if you noticed but the body language out there is horrible. I never thought I'd see the day that waiters would yell at Lebron.....and I actually agreed with him.....that says something.
 
Rich said:
It doesn't matter what we do with the offense. If we were the number one offense we aren't winning a title playing defense this way. The defense has to improve to even give us a shot.
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Willard said roughly what I was going to say. The way you run the offense has a significant impact on the effectiveness of the defense.
 
Rich said:
Except the offense is working. I mean I'm soooo tired of these one game sample sizes to prove points when we've got 28 now. Our offense is a top 5 offense and our defense is bottom 7. Now which of those two seem like the bigger problem here? LeISO on offense or the total disaster on defense?
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Willard513 said:
Is it not possible that one fixes the other? The offense would allow for others to get involved, and to not have Lebron expend a ton of energy every possession, hence he can focus a bit more on defense, which is sorely needed. I don't know if you noticed but the body language out there is horrible. I never thought I'd see the day that waiters would yell at Lebron.....and I actually agreed with him.....that says something.
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This offense won't carry them to the Finals. Come the playoffs, their ad-hoc antics will only serve to get their nuts stomped. Because the defense hemorrhages points, they can't afford their patented dry spells. Raw talent will only take them so far. Blatt needs to start coaching a system.
 
King Stannis said:
This offense won't carry them to the Finals. Come the playoffs, their ad-hoc antics will only serve to get their nuts stomped. Raw talent will only take them so far. Blatt needs to start coaching a system.
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But if your star player wont let you coach. Houston we have a problem
 
Willard513 said:
The heat had 62 points at halftime shooting 50+ percent. Try ended the game with 101 points. The defense in the second half(which was just more energy given and contesting shots) held them to 2/3 the points of the first half. The offense isn't working because it's LeISO all over again. Not any system. LeISO has clearly been beaten in the finals(ALA 2014).
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Well, to be exact, the LeIso offense was better than the Spurs's offense the past two years and was better in the playoffs last year until the finals. LeIso offense wasn't beaten in the finals--the Heat's ineffective jump trap defense was beaten to a bloody pulp by ball movement but I do see what you're saying.

The Heat had the most efficient offense in the NBA last year until the final two weeks when the Clippers's offense overtook them and had the most efficient offense in the playoffs until game 3 of the finals. But that didn't win it for them because their number 11 defense wasn't good enough. We have the 23rd ranked defense. This is where the real challenge lies.

If we're talking specifically about this game, then yes, better offense down the stretch after being tied 80-80 would have won it as would have James simply making some damn FTs. We took some poor shots down the stretch but we also missed great opportunities at the rim.

The only avenue or window we may have to the title is through a hyper efficient offense which we are not running right now, but even then, it will take a miracle if our defense doesn't get better overall.
 
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