Game 6 | Cavaliers vs Bulls | November 5, 2009 | 8:00 PM EST

[camakazee]

Yea dude, losing at home against the Bulls is meaningless.

I understand your sarcasm, but in the grand scheme of things, yeah it pretty much is.

A few weeks into last season the Los Angeles Lakers lost at home by 11 to the Detroit Pistons, a team that barely salvaged an eight seed. They would go on to lose three more home games to the Bobcats, Magic, and Hornets.

I'm not trying to compare the two teams, but if the Lakers were panicking over a November home loss to a so-so Central division team in terms of what it meant for their playoff and championship aspirations then shame on them (I mean the team; I'm sure their fans, like ours, were somewhat panicky). The thing is, until Mike Brown finds something that works and sticks with it, it's going to be a rough ride. Anyone who saw this three game win streak where we won by double digits all three games and thought "oh, just like last year's start!" and expected a 9 game winning streak was foolish. That's like comparing a rally in today's stock market to one in the 1990's and predicting an economic boom.

The truth is, this is a different team. No, I don't just mean Shaq, we have guys playing different roles besides him. Parker went from a starter on one team to another. Z is coming off of the bench for the first time since 2002. Varejao is entering his first full season as the starting power forward. Delonte West is adjusting to coming off the bench, looking to be that energy guy in Varejao's absence. Jamario Moon, who has started for two different teams in the past two years not only knows he won't get the chance to start, but now knows he might not even play some nights! The point is, this team needs to gel, mesh, click, hell whatever cliche you want to use before we get back to being a top 3 NBA team. The pieces are there, the puzzle simply needs assembled.

And the burden of this puzzle rests on Mike Brown's shoulders. He needs to utilize all of our pieces instead of just sticking to what is presently working or what he thinks will work (e.g. the Twin Towers lineup). Until then, expect ugly losses. But don't buckle and lose faith because of them.

My biggest concern tonight was the effort of the ballclub. No intensity and no real attempt to attack the hoop outside of Shaq and first-quarter LeBron. Also, as sharp as LeBron looked being the one to defend their big that was setting the pick and pop, why was this not defended by him the entire fourth quarter? Or at least the last five minutes? One possession? We need to bring that defensive intensity the entire game and entire fourth quarter--not just when we're down 6 with 2:30 to go.

Like I said, it's going to be a bumpy ride for another month or two. But this team will start to work together. Just expect growing pains along the way (remember, last year's team really had only one new addition--Mo). Oh, and speaking of Mo, if I was him I wouldn't be able to look my teammates in the eyes after tonight's performance. That is all.

 

[Zog]

Some final thoughts about the game:

Why didn't Boobie get more minutes? He was a huge spark off the bench.

MB is a terrible coach.

Why does AV always cut to the lane when Shaq is in the post. AV needs to wait until his defender commits to double teaming Shaq before he moves into the paint. It allows his defender to basically stand in the lane and double team Shaq and guard AV at the same time. It also prevents anyone else from ever cutting into the lane. This is exactly why we still need a PF that can shoot to pair with Shaq. Shaq needs room to operate, LeBron needs room to operate. Shaq and LeBron alone clog the paint plenty, we can't have AV clogging it up even more.

 

[kosis]

In my opinion, the Q needs to stage a walkout for the next time Mike Brown brings the putrid Twin Towers onto the court. I can't eat my dinner properly when those two are out there together. The entire basketball world laughs at us when they take the floor. Not only are they slow as hell, but they also keep getting outrebounded. Straight up vomit-inducing.

 

[Photon]

I think MB could get fired if we struggle too much. Importance of this season is ridiculous and FO can crack and fire Mike. I think he is great coach in the making, but I'm afraid if we don't click soon enough, we will cut him... That would be bad for me. I like his defensive, nice guy approach, so I hope he gets 'em to play like champs by new year.

 

[Da_James_Gang]

It was probably mentioned here already but the feeling i got sitting through this game is that the Cavs thought they could turn it on whenever they felt like it. The way the game was going i was thinking that there was no way we are gonna lose this, they just letting Chicago stay in it and will pull away at some point in the 4th. They didn't have that same intensity like they did against Washington though, and ended up losing the game.

 

[Seize]

I don't know if this has been asked or covered before, but why is MB putting in Shaq and Z together? Have they asked him this? I thought it would work well because Z could spread the floor on offense, but it's not working out at all. It seems that every person watching the game knows this but MB. Has he given an answer?

 

[Zog]

I don't know if this has been asked or covered before, but why is MB putting in Shaq and Z together? Have they asked him this? I thought it would work well because Z could spread the floor on offense, but it's not working out at all. It seems that every person watching the game knows this but MB. Has he given an answer?

"It worked vs. Boston."

Which apparently means it will work when one of them is guarding a quick PF.

 

[Karma]

This "twin towers" whining is so exaggerated. Tonight the entire squad outside of Varejao was flat. LeBron lacked aggression, Mo took some poor option and his shot was off, Shaq lacked any urgency, Parker was forgotten after a solid start, Delonte was invisible, Gibson was decent but also forgotten, Z had his poorest shooting night ever, Hickson was well Hickson so not good.

So you can point out twin towers all you like but this was a bunch of individuals not mentally in the game on top of some key players performing poorly. I'm sorry Varejao's efforts were wasted.

I certainly would have liked Brown to switch it up some, but the twin tower thing wasn't anywhere near the main drama in this one.

 

[Seize]

"It worked vs. Boston."

Which apparently means it will work when one of them is guarding a quick PF.

Ahh, ok. He must really have faith in his guys or might be taking the Phil Jackson approach of "letting them play through it". Maybe it'll work out for the better and it will make a lot of people eat their words.

 

[DougHeil]

I could not access the forums last night at all. "Forum Memory" error messages is what I got.

Anyway; NO desire. NO fire. NOT ready to play. Going through the motions. Were we looking ahead to playing in New York tonight? hm. Damn ugly stuff. Moves made by Brown had me scratching my head more times than I can ever remember. Chicago is NOT a good team. They may be the fourth or fifth best inside our own division. The Cavs were pathetic last night.

 

[nime]

The problem is LBJ. The guy hasn't shown anything new in his game.
When the lanes shutdown, he has no mid-range jumper to fall back on like Kobe or Wade
or a post game like Jordan had.

If the Cavs are serious about becoming a complete team for the playoffs. Force LBJ into situations to make him a stronger and better player. Get him away from his comfort zones of dribbling up top.

Force the guy in the post, c'mon tonight he had Deng on him. He could have got to FT line or got some buckets in the post. Teams want to block the lane and force him to jack stupid 3's.

Also the guy has to develop that Pierce, Wade, and Kobe mid-range game that they all are money on. The guy can get any mid-range jumper he wants but he refuses to develop it during games.

Both of those things are holding the team back and him back from the being the best player ever to play the game.

When it comes down to getting big buckets in the final minutes. Good teams will clog the lane and force him either to post or take that elbow jumper. Pierce, Kobe, and Wade kill teams with that jumper. Which then sets up a drive eventually.

The Twin Tower lineup is playing because JJ Hickson blows. Powe can't get healthy soon enough.

 

[CzBoobie]

The problem is LBJ. The guy hasn't shown anything new in his game.
When the lanes are shutdown, he has no mid-range jumper like Kobe or Wade
to fall back on or a post game like Jordan had.

Then trade that bum...yeah, Lebron is problem, but last year's three best players (after LeBron obviously) shooting whopping 5/27 is not.

 

[Green Lantern]

This "twin towers" whining is so exaggerated. Tonight the entire squad outside of Varejao was flat. LeBron lacked aggression, Mo took some poor option and his shot was off, Shaq lacked any urgency, Parker was forgotten after a solid start, Delonte was invisible, Gibson was decent but also forgotten, Z had his poorest shooting night ever, Hickson was well Hickson so not good.

So you can point out twin towers all you like but this was a bunch of individuals not mentally in the game on top of some key players performing poorly. I'm sorry Varejao's efforts were wasted.

I certainly would have liked Brown to switch it up some, but the twin tower thing wasn't anywhere near the main drama in this one.

The Cavs did look flat..looked to me like they were waiting to hit a spark and blow them out, instead of taking it to them..
I just got the feeling they were playing to the Bulls level..too much is being put on the 2 loss home record last year..no team dulicates that kind of record two years in a row...thats why I haven't listened to Sports Center or that stupid TNT crew of neck-ties..

 

[lawguy21]

The problem is LBJ. The guy hasn't shown anything new in his game.
When the lanes are shutdown, he has no mid-range jumper like Kobe or Wade
to fall back on or a post game like Jordan had.

I would not go that far at all. I do think that LeBron's love of the 3 ball can sometimes get us into trouble.

He took 4 three point shots last night, creating 3 points. Now if he drives 2 of those 4 times instead of launching it up, we might end up with 2-4 points and perhaps someone else, possibly a brad miller, gets another foul. Since he ended the game with 5 fouls, that could change things. But LBJ was NOT A IS NOT THE PROBLEM. When the bench is woeful, and people aren't hitting their shots, there's not a lot LBJ can do.

Now, Boobie should have been out there more, and IMHO Andy should have had the ball more in the 4th quarter since he was doing a great job cutting and scoring in the first half.

Also, someone should tell Anthony Parker that although he is a pretty good player when shooting off screens, he's much more efficient when he sets his feet. Stop moving and shoot.

I thought Shaq did fine, but man, when the Bulls picked and rolled through most of the second half, it created a mismatch the likes of which I hadn't seen since the magic series. Namely, Delonte on Miller. Now West is an amazing defender, no question. But that just can't happen.

We have work to do. We can beat lots of people this year if we play like we did against the Wiz.

And someone send this memo to the Cavs Front Office -
When playing a team with fast big guys, play a small line up and don't use the twin towers
When someone is shooting well, let them continue to shoot it until they are stopped
Tell LBJ to stop settling for 3s when he can slash.

 

[SteelSmack]

This "twin towers" whining is so exaggerated. Tonight the entire squad outside of Varejao was flat. LeBron lacked aggression, Mo took some poor option and his shot was off, Shaq lacked any urgency, Parker was forgotten after a solid start, Delonte was invisible, Gibson was decent but also forgotten, Z had his poorest shooting night ever, Hickson was well Hickson so not good.

The problem with the twin towers isn't on offense, although it obviously wasn't productive last night, the problem is on defense. Against it, you pick and roll with one of the league's worst pick and roll defenders. If you run a double pick and roll with the C and PF, you have 2 of the top 5 worst pick and roll defending big men out there at the same time. It was a disaster and it will be downright embarrassing if we run it against Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson. They'll eat us alive with it. We need to be experimenting with lineups like LeBron (C), Moon (PF), Parker (SF), West (SG), and Mo (PG). Especially against teams with NO post presence. So LeBron has to defend Brad Miller in the post? I think it's worth it to keep an atrocious pick and roll defender trying to slow down a seriously quick PG like Rose.

One of our biggest problems last night, we didn't even try to fight through picks, especially at the end of the game where we just switched everything. The rest of the game they were getting too much space because Mo, LeBron, Delonte, Gibson, whoever, just didn't fight through picks.