ECF: Cavs 4 - Hawks 0

[Kizzle]

If you play Timo VS the Hawks you gotta post him up so they feel the need to put in Antic. I know he can shoot too but he's not as good a shooter as the other guys who can catch and shoot in your face really quickly. That'll take a guy off the floor for them pretty much and make it better to guard.

 

[LeGOAT]

They are my only worry in the East, they are just a good, good team and will have home court. But LeBron has shown he can win on the road when needed allbeit with a different team. We'll get it done.

 

[mAo_mAo]

Atlanta worries me. Really. Some say we will have better games than what we played last time. However, we fail to recognize that we played poorly because Atlanta made us play that way.

They play great defense. We can not consistently drive by them. We really need our outside shooting to click when and if we face them in the playoffs.

Defending them is a nightmare too. Unlike us, all their rotation players can hit outside shots. That causes close out problems. They also run their sets infinitely. Rarely do you see them go on an iso set or even a pick and roll without a modicum of weakside action.

There is no other defense than just be physical with them especially Korver whom I think is the main cog of that offense.

 

[Pioneer10]

Atlanta is a matchup that is begging for Lebron at 4 for the 4th quarter. Fight fire with fire: they like having 5 shooters or running high pock and roll? Fine give them a taste of their own medicine with love, bron, smith, shump, and kyrie.

Millsap can post up but he doesn't have a size advantage over James and do they really want him trying to guard James? With that lineup even if they cross switch well have a layup line to the basket. Horford will be tough but it's not like Mo or TT slowed him down: force.him on D to be on the perimeter at least

 

[All4One1ForAll]

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.

Sorry, I had to

 

[Mdog1]

I don't think this current team will win it all, but it isn't the Hawks I believe will beat us.

They got lucky from a scheduling standpoint, LeBron played one of the worst games of his career, and they shot 71% in the first quarter. None of those things will happen in the playoffs.

Besides, if the matchups play out like I assume, Atlanta is going to get Chicago in round 2, while we cruise through Toronto.

 

[godfather]

So three guys didn't play for Atlanta. Millsap, Korver, and Carroll sit, and they get beat by a disease ridden roster in the Sixers.

Millsap is a pretty big miss, I'll give you that. As good as Korver and Carroll are, this team has nice depth, and I wouldn't call them can't miss guys against a shitty team. There is no excuse for them to lose to a team that's trying to lose.

So, that game against us seemed to be like a playoff game for them. They threw it all at us. I think the Hawks took that game way more seriously than we did. We come back, and cruised to victory, while Teague and Horford after having their way against us, had bad games, against bad players.

I get this is just one game. And it was on a back-to-back, and obviously you can't sit here and say that the Hawks came into Philly taking them all that seriously. Shit happens in 82 games, and sometimes a blind squirrel finds a nut.

But they rest 3 guys, and Teague and Horford have back-to-earth kind of games. Point is these two are good players, but not superstar caliber guys that capable of carrying a team though.

If someone on Atlanta goes down, or has a bad series. Like Kyle Korver goes into a slump or something, they just seem like a team that can become vulnerable quite fast.

If they're on their A game, everyone is clicking, they're deadly, but if there's a little tinker here, or there, then I begin to wonder more about them.

 

[JSS2306]

So three guys didn't play for Atlanta. Millsap, Korver, and Carroll sit, and they get beat by a disease ridden roster in the Sixers.

Millsap is a pretty big miss, I'll give you that. As good as Korver and Carroll are, this team has nice depth, and I wouldn't call them can't miss guys against a shitty team. There is no excuse for them to lose to a team that's trying to lose.

So, that game against us seemed to be like a playoff game for them. They threw it all at us. I think the Hawks took that game way more seriously than we did. We come back, and cruised to victory, while Teague and Horford after having their way against us, had bad games, against bad players.

I get this is just one game. And it was on a back-to-back, and obviously you can't sit here and say that the Hawks came into Philly taking them all that seriously. Shit happens in 82 games, and sometimes a blind squirrel finds a nut.

But they rest 3 guys, and Teague and Horford have back-to-earth kind of games. Point is these two are good players, but not superstar caliber guys that capable of carrying a team though.

If someone on Atlanta goes down, or has a bad series. Like Kyle Korver goes into a slump or something, they just seem like a team that can become vulnerable quite fast.

If they're on their A game, everyone is clicking, they're deadly, but if there's a little tinker here, or there, then I begin to wonder more about them.

This entire post is ridiculous.

 

[secund2nun]

Atlanta has no shot at beating this team in a 7 game series. They are pretenders.

 

[Ohio]

If someone on Atlanta goes down, or has a bad series. Like Kyle Korver goes into a slump or something, they just seem like a team that can become vulnerable quite fast.

If they're on their A game, everyone is clicking, they're deadly, but if there's a little tinker here, or there, then I begin to wonder more about them.

I think we all know by now that some players won't quite live up to expectation in the playoffs. The question is, how will the team react? This is a concern for any unproven team (every team in the East is unproven). But even moreso a team like Atlanta that has no superstar to bail them out in times of need.

I think Atlanta will be okay. I expect to see them in the ECF. But I would not be totally shocked if they lost before then. I would be absolutely stunned if the Cavs lost before then.

 

[godfather]

This entire post is ridiculous.

So exactly what did I say that's ridiculous? Give me more than just a one line, smart ass response. Or are you too lazy to counter anything I said?

Rob is right, not everyone is going to play up to their expectations. I don't think some of you realize the amount of advance scouting goes into a playoff series, where everything is exposed. This is clearly different from the regular season.

One, two, and maybe even three guys you depend on stand a chance of crapping out on you.

It's going to likely happen to us too, but its very unlikely its going to be someone like Kyrie Irving or LeBron James. They are good enough to pick up the slack. I'm not so sure anyone on Atlanta is.

They're not losing in the first round, and probably not in the second either. Although I wouldn't count the Bulls out completely just yet (if they happen to play them in the second round, I sure hope they do!).

That being said, we're not a perfect team either. What does worry me the most about teams like Atlanta and Chicago, is that their depth is much better than ours. And if our bench is really struggling, then that could cause us problems against better teams.

Our bench isn't likely to outperform those two teams, and we don't need them to either, but if we end up getting nothing out of them, then that can cause problems for us.

 

[JSS2306]

So exactly what did I say that's ridiculous? Give me more than just a one line, smart ass response. Or are you too lazy to counter anything I said?

Too lazy.

They sat three of their starters, have beaten the best teams in the league multiple times over, and have handily beat us. I don't know what you're trying to say when you mention their players "crapping out." It makes no sense after LeBron literally crapped out last year against the Spurs after he suffered cramps. Kyrie Irving is completely untested and there is nothing to go by as far as performing in the playoffs. He had trouble fending off screens against this team as well as getting the shots he likes.

If anyone should be worried it's the Cavs. The reality is the Atlanta Hawks are a superior team this year so far and play unified style of ball that one would think actually helps cover any injury disasters (any team can suffer injury btw) if one were to occur. Who the hell cares about the "if"?

I'm just having a hard time understanding what your point actually is. "If player A or B gets injured then..."

I mean, what? The fact that they lost to the 6er's last night has fuck all to do with the Cavs beating them in a 7 game series.

 

[ssopata]

No one is going to know what happens and how players from both teams react until the playoffs begin. Does Atlanta feel the pressure being the #1 seed and play too tight? Do the Cavs cruise the rest of the season, raising expectations of ring or bust and Kyrie, Love and the rest w/ no playoff time feel the pressure?

Should the Hawks and Cavs meet,did ATL show all their cards Friday night with the way they played Cleveland? I understand that they've taken the season series but remember in '88-89 the Cavs swept the season series against the Bulls. We all remember what happened

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

Atlanta is a matchup that is begging for Lebron at 4 for the 4th quarter. Fight fire with fire: they like having 5 shooters or running high pock and roll? Fine give them a taste of their own medicine with love, bron, smith, shump, and kyrie.

Millsap can post up but he doesn't have a size advantage over James and do they really want him trying to guard James? With that lineup even if they cross switch well have a layup line to the basket. Horford will be tough but it's not like Mo or TT slowed him down: force.him on D to be on the perimeter at least

Agreed wholeheartedly.

You have to play inside against that line-up. We can't hoist that many threes like we did on Friday night. We need Irving and James to get to the rack and to get Love touches in the post against Horford. We have to keep their bigs from beating us down the floor. LBJ won't get beat back, and Love won't get beat either if we give him the ball against Horford.

 

[Scrote Squad]

Atlanta worries me. Really. Some say we will have better games than what we played last time. However, we fail to recognize that we played poorly because Atlanta made us play that way.

They play great defense. We can not consistently drive by them. We really need our outside shooting to click when and if we face them in the playoffs.

Defending them is a nightmare too. Unlike us, all their rotation players can hit outside shots. That causes close out problems. They also run their sets infinitely. Rarely do you see them go on an iso set or even a pick and roll without a modicum of weakside action.

There is no other defense than just be physical with them especially Korver whom I think is the main cog of that offense.

I don't want to sound like I don't think Atlanta is good, because they are. Very good. But a couple things I want to point out...

1. LeBron admitted to being surprised by the Hawks trapping hard on the P&R. That is something Atlanta has been able to practice. They had a game plan for the Cavs and executed it well. Conversely, my guess is that the Cavs watched a little video and relied on scouting reports.

2. The Cavs didn't have time to execute a full fledged game plan for Atlanta because of their recent schedule. I would suspect that once the playoffs roll around, the Cavs will be much better prepared for their schemes.

3. On the defensive end, every time the Cavs trapped, the guy who slipped the screen rolled to the middle of the paint and had an easy shot or dump off. Our rotations were slow. I think that's another aspect that having a game plan can really help mitigate.

4. I don't see Delly getting much run in the playoffs. Schroder and Teague beat him like a drum. I would suspect that we may look to put more length on those guys in the playoffs to disrupt their lanes. Our shorter guards should be able to navigate picks better and contest shots against Korver. I don't see him beating us on the block with his back to the basket.

Those are just some small adjustments that I think we can make that could change the outcome considerably.