ECF: Cavs 4 - Hawks 0

Cashius X said:

Spurs, Mavericks, shit even the Grizzlies. All examples of teams that have had a lot of playoff success against much more talented squads.

And if you don't think the Hawks have a player equivalent to or better than Rasheed Wallace then idk what to tell you. You're probably not watching them.

The Hawks have beaten some good ass teams. They shouldn't be discounted. They're definitely legit.

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Like I said I could be wrong and I know many people who share your view as I have debated this with friends.

I think Rasheed Wallace is better than he gets credit for. IMO he was one of the best defensive bigs in NBA history, particularly when it comes to post D. I would take him over Milsap and Horford easily. His offensive post game was strong at his peak also. Wallace had his issues and never quite lived up to his potential but I think he is underrated in terms of his ability historically.

The other examples you cite:

*Spurs - to me they also have way better top end talent; Parker/Ginobli/Duncan/Leonard is alot of elite talent - and the first three have been to so many Finals for a reason, they aren't role players. ATL may run the same system but they don't have the same level of personnel IMO. Even at his advanced age Duncan is a better player than Milsap or Horford (IMO) especially in terms of rim protection and Parker is one of the best PG's in the league. Leonard is likely going to get a max contract and while somewhat of a system player is still elite talent wise defensively.

*Mavs - they had Dirk at his peak, again way better than anyone ATL has currently and a proven closer. Dirk also played out of his mind in those Finals, one of the best performances of all time. Who is the HOF'er on ATL squad even close to Dirk's talent level?

*Grizz - they went out in the 1st round last year and in 2011/2012, made the conf finals once and 2nd round I think once, but they always have fallen to the team with top end talent (OKC, Spurs). Not disrespecting them, they have been a very solid playoff team but when you reach the conf finals and finals historically teams with star talent win out.

Think back to our season when we won 66 games, we were arguably just as impressive if not more than ATL, but in the NBA more often than not top end star-talent wins games. The Heat are the perfect example of this to me. They had major roster flaws and often got beat in the regular season but when playoff time comes, they often put 2 or 3 of the best players on the court.

Rich said:

Guys, Yao Ming was hurt during the playoffs........like, that team absolutely was a title contender with him healthy. That's not a good example.

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Yao was injured during the winning streak and the Rockets proceeded to win 10 more games consecutively without him and were 19-7 overall without Yao in the lineup.

They certainly were not the same team without Yao, but they were still a very strong team that had no business losing in the first round of the playoffs.

They weren't defeating the Lakers in the playoffs either, even with Yao. So, you can say they were a title contender but I just couldn't see them beating Boston or LA that year.

Benedict_Boozer said:

*Grizz - they went out in the 1st round last year and in 2011/2012, made the conf finals once and 2nd round I think once, but they always have fallen to the team with top end talent (OKC, Spurs). Not disrespecting them, they have been a very solid playoff team but when you reach the conf finals and finals historically teams with star talent win out.

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And even Memphis has top-end talent. Marc Gasol is the best center in the NBA, and Randolph is probably a top ten power forward.

Cashius X said:

Spurs, Mavericks, shit even the Grizzlies. All examples of teams that have had a lot of playoff success against much more talented squads.

And if you don't think the Hawks have a player equivalent to or better than Rasheed Wallace then idk what to tell you. You're probably not watching them.

The Hawks have beaten some good ass teams. They shouldn't be discounted. They're definitely legit.

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Did you not watch a prime Rasheed? I'd trade any big on the Atlanta or Cle lineup for a prime Rasheed: Moz, TT, Love, Milsap, or Horford. Sheed has better length then these guys except Moz and he's was just as good an athlete as any of the 5. He was by far the best post defender of the bunch and even though he wasn't as efficient on offense as his talent suggested he could be, he still forced double teams when he went into the post and he can stretch the floor. Hell, a decrepit old Rasheed guarded a prime Howard as good an anybody else in the league

So I just watched most of the Hawks-Wiz first quarter. Wiz were letting me test my theory from watching the Hawks this season. I.E., I think if you can make the Hawks play inside rather than shooting 3s their offensive potency decreases. I haven't dug into the stats but does anyone think this is valid? If not I'd love to hear why.

So, I feel as though we as a Cavs fan base are being awfully dismissive of the Hawks.. they looked amazing tonight against the Warriors. They stood up to the test and then some. If we are fortunate enough to get these guys in the conference finals it will be a war. This team can SHOOT the ball from all five positions it seems like.

Guess the Hawks are our main threat in the East now, though in truth I thought they were since a few months ago.

They are our only threat. An excellent team but we've got LeBron James.

Horrible game by LeBron. That was the worst I have seen him play in quite some time. Was extremely careless with the ball and the ball movement by him was quite bad. Love and Kyrie were underwhelming by their standards as well. The line-up during the start of the fourth quarter was poor by Blatt also. All in all, a bad night by almost everyone. However, inspite of playing so poorly, it wasn't a blowout. The Hawks are defeatable. As good as they move the ball and defend as a team, there are certain weaknesses in their game which can be exposed and I have full confidence in Blatt and co to do that when they have enough time to prepare for them and can solely focus on one team. Because tonight looked like the Cavs expected just any other game while the Hawks were tuned in and had a game-plan which they clearly executed.

Personally, I would like to see LeBron on the post more against them instead and start orchestrating plays from the post. They don't have any rim-protection. So, they would have to double team LeBron down the post to restrict him and if they do that, have one of Kyrie, Love and JR/Shump around LeBron to dish it in.

Our defense was on their heels the entire game. ATL is a well-oiled machine on offense and defense. I thought they were supposed to be fakers...

Kypus said:

Our defense was on their heels the entire game. ATL is a well-oiled machine on offense and defense. I thought they were supposed to be fakers...

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They are good. They played really well. They should be respected. They are a legit threat.

Cavs in 6.

All4One1ForAll said:

One thing that sticks out to me is that the Hawks struggle a little against size in the paint, especially considering how small their lineups are. Mozgov should help us gain an advantage there.

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We should try establishing him down there- which we did not do tonight.

They are the new Orlando Magic


You wanna say they win....then they beat you, and your asking yourself how a team can shoot 60% for a whole series

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.

The Cavs will be in danger of losing in the 1st round if they play like they did today throughout the series.

I don't think it would happen.....but I'm not too thrilled with our body language, lackadaisical matador defense, too much isolation and (still) the rotations from Blatt.

Step it up LeBron.