Open Discussion (Cavs + related issues)

[BigErieCavsFan]

If the cavs cant improve bench scoring, why not develop felder and liggins. It's early in the season and the cavs have the time to experiment on lineups..

fixed...

 

[godfather]

We lost for one reason and one reason only.. Giannis went 13 for 17 for 34 points and 12 rebounds; oh and add in 5 assists and 5 steals to go along with it. Oh and his team was +20 while he was on the floor over a 34 minute span.

We had no answer for him, and that's why we lost the game. If this were a playoff game, we'd have won; but it wasn't and the Cavs weren't interested in playing as though it were.

If LeBron isn't going to take this defensive assignment then who does?

While I could care less about this game; the way we got outplayed by an athletic wing makes me worry about Golden State even more.

Exactly. We'd have beaten the Bucks if it were the playoffs, because we are better. Mismatch, or not.

The Cavs came in thinking this was a coaster game. It was a trap game.

But I'm glad this game exposed an obvious flaw. WE HAVE NO ONE to guard guys like Greek Freak.

Am I worried about Greek Freak himself? NO, the Bucks are irrelevant. But hey, we are going to have to tangle with some pretty good wing players on that GS team.....

 

[gourimoko]

Exactly. We'd have beaten the Bucks if it were the playoffs, because we are better. Mismatch, or not.

The Cavs came in thinking this was a coaster game. It was a trap game.

But I'm glad this game exposed an obvious flaw. WE HAVE NO ONE to guard guys like Greek Freak.

Am I worried about Greek Freak himself? NO, the Bucks are irrelevant. But hey, we are going to have to tangle with some pretty good wing players on that GS team.....

Kevin Durant... has length and athleticism; he's playing some of the best basketball of his career this year; and you've gotta think he can step it up in a Finals situation. I think LeBron will be forced to guard Durant 24/7; which means we need someone to cover Draymond Green.

 

[godfather]

Kevin Durant... has length and athleticism; he's playing some of the best basketball of his career this year; and you've gotta think he can step it up in a Finals situation. I think LeBron will be forced to guard Durant 24/7; which means we need someone to cover Draymond Green.

I don't like LeBron on Durant either. Really don't... Sure, he can defend him. But at age 32 (which he will be soon), is asking a lot of him at that age. I rather have LB as fresh as possible to quarterback the offense, and defend Durant during crunch time.

Durant is good at getting fouls. So obviously that's a concern too. Given if LB picks up a few quick ones, then you're obviously forced to switch someone else on him, but we have no one else...

We saw Durant get in foul trouble quite easily in the finals against LB. This is why coaches don't like having their best player defending the other team's best scorer. That concerns me too.

I don't think Lue wants to have LB on him either. But with the roster we have, I don't see another alternative unfortunately.

 

[gourimoko]

I don't like LeBron on Durant either. Really don't... Sure, he can defend him. But at age 32 (which he will be soon), is asking a lot of him at that age. I rather have LB as fresh as possible to quarterback the offense, and defend Durant during crunch time.

Durant is good at getting fouls. So obviously that's a concern too. Given if LB picks up a few quick ones, then you're obviously forced to switch someone else on him, but we have no one else...

We saw Durant get in foul trouble quite easily in the finals against LB. This is why coaches don't like having their best player defending the other team's best scorer. That concerns me too.

I don't think Lue wants to have LB on him either. But with the roster we have, I don't see another alternative unfortunately.

This why I'm so pumped Iman Shumpert is having a great year; makes him all the more valuable a trade asset.

Hate to see him go, but .. we really need a bigger wing to fix our matchup problems; particularly one that could handle the ball and even make a clean post entry pass to Love and James on the elbows and in the low-post. GSW has no interior defense any longer, and that means Love and James should have an easier time in the post with Irving as the constant threat of abuse from the perimeter 3 or on dribble penetration... There's no Bogut behind you once your ankles get broken Klay..

 

[godfather]

If the Cavs don't make any moves. Here's what I'd do against GS.

I'd start Love at the 5, have him on Pachulia (doesn't have to guard Green), LeBron at the 4 (he can guard Green, which worked out great for us), start Shumpert and put him on Durant, JR on Klay, and Kyrie on Curry.

I like this for a few reasons. We create mismatches against them. Pachulia would be forced to guard Love. You can't put Green on him, that's the match up we want to avoid.

Green would guard LeBron... Durant would guard Shumpert probably. Klay on Kyrie, and Steph hiding like a bitch on JR. Hell, the could decide to put Steph on Shumpert. Hard to say..

Shumpert would be a mismatch against Durant. But it might force Kerr to go to the well too much on Durant, and minimizing Klay and Steph on offense. They would try to exploit that mismatch.

Which IMO, as great as Durant is, wouldn't be a bad idea. I still think the key to beating GS is not letting Klay and Steph go off.

You can live with a great series by Durant if you minimize the damage by the splash brothers.

Of course, Kerr could go super small and just start Iggy instead of Pachulia. Putting Green on Love, and Iggy on LeBron.

But even if he does, they are still a really small team that would be easy to score on.

 

[K1rieIrving>AllOtherPG's]

If the Cavs don't make any moves. Here's what I'd do against GS.

I'd start Love at the 5, have him on Pachulia (doesn't have to guard Green), LeBron at the 4 (he can guard Green, which worked out great for us), start Shumpert and put him on Durant, JR on Klay, and Kyrie on Curry.

I like this for a few reasons. We create mismatches against them. Pachulia would be forced to guard Love. You can't put Green on him, that's the match up we want to avoid.

Green would guard LeBron... Durant would guard Shumpert probably. Klay on Kyrie, and Steph hiding like a bitch on JR. Hell, the could decide to put Steph on Shumpert. Hard to say..

Shumpert would be a mismatch against Durant. But it might force Kerr them to go to the well too much on Durant, and minimizing Klay and Steph. Which IMO, as great as Durant is, wouldn't be a bad idea. I still think the key to beating GS is not letting Klay and Steph go off.

You can live with a great series by Durant if you minimize the damage by the splash brothers.

Zaza won't play, they will use this lineup if they get to the advanced stages

Steph/Klay/Igiuana/Durant/Green

But I like your lineup, maybe switch T.T with Love for more defense

 

[Jon]

Agreed. When engaged, this is a defensive assignment that LeBron can handle. Same thing with KD, when the time comes.

Personally, I don't give a shit that he's preserving himself at the moment--I'm glad he is, actually. Regular season basketball is not when we need LeBron busting his ass. I just wish we had a better defensive team built up around him.

For better and worse, the other guys do follow their leader. I guess that's why Lue emptied the bench - he was just looking for a group that would give everything they had even if it wasn't particularly effective.

I worry less about this kind of stuff because we have a championship, but I don't take it for granted that we can turn it up whenever we want.

 

[gourimoko]

start Shumpert and put him on Durant......

 

[fan0283]

How do you think the defensive matchups will play out? How should we deploy Lebron on defence and who ends up guarding Draymond IYO

 

[BigJ]

I really wouldnt say anything if we could pry away Casspi from SAC
His value is at an all time low. His shot is off, he is falling out of the Rotation and he is on a small expiring deal.

He would be perfect for us. He would be the longterm solution and backup SF and PF he is only 28.

He has shown he can be a good shooter and a solid defender and at 6'9 he is long Enough to guard KD.


Having said that i wouldnt want to lose Shump for getting Caspi not if Shump stays relativly healthy and keeps playing great.
I dont like the idea of trading a guy ONLY because we need a match up for KD.
We did that back in 2010 when we got Shaq to match up with Dwight.. worked out great...

After all you cant only build a Team because of Matchups. One Injury could derial GSW and we face SA or LAC. Especially against LAC i wouldnt want to have traded Iman away. He can guard Paul and Redick. Then again a guy like Casspi would be usefull against Kahwi if its SA..
You cant plan for matchups.. you have to build a Team that plays well together and live with the results.
If its a guy like Casspi for the TPE and a Pick then i am all for it but not if a healthy,good Shooting Shump is involved.
.

 

[gourimoko]

How do you think the defensive matchups will play out? How should we deploy Lebron on defence and who ends up guarding Draymond IYO

@godfather is absolutely correct.. Shump will get ample time on Durant... if nothing changes. And if that's true, then I think we lose the Finals in 6 games.

Keep in mind, I had Cavs in 6 last year, and it would've been 6 if we hadn't dropped one of those early losses where we had late leads that we let slip away.

The matchup last year was bad.. really bad. But this year, I can't help but feel that while Golden State has given up tremendously on their interior defense, they've solved their biggest offensive problem -- and that is the fact that Curry cannot simply carry his superstar play into isolation basketball. He falls off from being the best PG in the game to being somewhere in the Top 5, and that somewhere is below Kyrie Irving.

Given that the Warriors (and most playoff teams) generally need isolation scoring as a series progresses and teams make adjustments, they chose rightly to grab Kevin Durant - one of the absolute best scorers in the history of basketball.

So.. what do I think the Cavs need to do? I think we really would be wise to make a trade. Sadly, I don't think we will. And come the Finals, I'm literally hoping for someone to get a mild (non-life threatening/altering) injury on the Warriors (i.e., Curry's knee/ankle, Durant's anything, Draymond's spine..)

I'm quite concerned about the Finals this year... to put it mildly. I think Kevin Love 3.11 "for Workgroups" adds a lot to our team.. Offensively, I have NO DOUBT we can hang with the Warriors. But defensively, I think we're in pretty bad shape.

The only positive is that, perhaps, our team might be more durable than the Warriors over 82 games plus a contentious playoff --- and I expect the Cavs to go 12-0 through the East.

 

[billmac91]

If the Cavs don't make any moves. Here's what I'd do against GS.

I'd start Love at the 5, have him on Pachulia (doesn't have to guard Green), LeBron at the 4 (he can guard Green, which worked out great for us), start Shumpert and put him on Durant, JR on Klay, and Kyrie on Curry.

I like this for a few reasons. We create mismatches against them. Pachulia would be forced to guard Love. You can't put Green on him, that's the match up we want to avoid.

Green would guard LeBron... Durant would guard Shumpert probably. Klay on Kyrie, and Steph hiding like a bitch on JR. Hell, the could decide to put Steph on Shumpert. Hard to say..

Shumpert would be a mismatch against Durant. But it might force Kerr to go to the well too much on Durant, and minimizing Klay and Steph on offense. They would try to exploit that mismatch.

Which IMO, as great as Durant is, wouldn't be a bad idea. I still think the key to beating GS is not letting Klay and Steph go off.

You can live with a great series by Durant if you minimize the damage by the splash brothers.

Of course, Kerr could go super small and just start Iggy instead of Pachulia. Putting Green on Love, and Iggy on LeBron.

But if even if he does, they are still a really small team that would be easy to score on.

Maybe it's me, but I hate adjusting to what other teams do from the tip. I'd rather have them adjust to us. IMO, you are acknowledging a weakness, and I'd hate giving them that edge.

I'd start our normal line-up and put the onus on Draymond to prove he can make a jump-shot. Outside of late series heroics, his 3 pt shooting against us has been pretty bad. And it seems for some reason when we don't even acknowledge him out there, it becomes even worse. I'd go ahead and let TT take a crack at guarding Draymond. He has the foot-speed to do it. I guess my biggest concern, is having TT so far from hoop and what kind of negative impact does it have on the energy he brings to the boards.

I'd let Love guard Zaza.....that's a no-brainer. Not that Zaza is a rim protector, but the fact Zaza will have to play well outside the paint.....there is going to be a lot of attacking the hoop from Cleveland which is a good thing.

Unfortunately, LBJ is going to have to defend Durant a lot. We've loved that advantage in the past where you can guard Harrison Barnes with TT or Love. We just don't have that ability anymore but I still think we can make it work.

GSW are going to be an offensive monster. The good news is, we should be able to dribble drive them to death and have great looks on our end. We will go small in spurts, but I think one of our main advantages is the ability to crash the glass and generate extra possessions. I think Love and TT will both get minutes in the mid to high 30's to maximize our strengths on offense understanding we are going to give up a lot of points no matter what.

 

[BigJ]

It was a trap game.

Agreed, it totally was. They where crusing along the last few games and i think coming back against PHI from such a big deficit has two sides.. it can make you confident that no game is really lost until you are down 30+ but that can also lead you to think it's "easy" .. and i am glad our Guys got a good smack as a wake up call.
While our offense looks good almost all season so far our defense and intensity need to get better. I am sure they will but why get accustomed to bad habbits? Start to play defense before the Playoffs start..

 

[fan0283]

@godfather is absolutely correct.. Shump will get ample time on Durant... if nothing changes. And if that's true, then I think we lose the Finals in 6 games.

Keep in mind, I had Cavs in 6 last year, and it would've been 6 if we hadn't dropped one of those early losses where we had late leads that we let slip away.

The matchup last year was bad.. really bad. But this year, I can't help but feel that while Golden State has given up tremendously on their interior defense, they've solved their biggest offensive problem -- and that is the fact that Curry cannot simply carry his superstar play into isolation basketball. He falls off from being the best PG in the game to being somewhere in the Top 5, and that somewhere is below Kyrie Irving.

Given that the Warriors (and most playoff teams) generally need isolation scoring as a series progresses and teams make adjustments, they chose rightly to grab Kevin Durant - one of the absolute best scorers in the history of basketball.

So.. what do I think the Cavs need to do? I think we really would be wise to make a trade. Sadly, I don't think we will. And come the Finals, I'm literally hoping for someone to get a mild (non-life threatening/altering) injury on the Warriors (i.e., Curry's knee/ankle, Durant's anything, Draymond's spine..)

I'm quite concerned about the Finals this year... to put it mildly. I think Kevin Love 3.11 "for Workgroups" adds a lot to our team.. Offensively, I have NO DOUBT we can hang with the Warriors. But defensively, I think we're in pretty bad shape.

The only positive is that, perhaps, our team might be more durable than the Warriors over 82 games plus a contentious playoff --- and I expect the Cavs to go 12-0 through the East.

I've been watching the Warriors the past few weeks and they've really come into their own. I can't help but feel anyone not named Lebron would get torched by Durant. Especially shumpert. We are short on defensive stoppers and the hope is that one of RJ, Shump or Dunleavy turns out to be a decent Durant defender when the time comes. If not then we would be looking at having to outgun them which isn't impossible