Playoff Positioning

[Crosby_Cavs]

So Miami then. Hope Kyrie, LeBron and KLove will handle it.

 

[tsteele316]

You have to wonder how much Miami and wade have shot their was to climb up to the 7 seed.

And yeah lebron looked sort of disinterested against them in the regular season so far. But I'm willing to wager that the cavs throw them down and take a shit on their chests in about a week as a message for what awaits them in the playoffs.

 

[I'mWithDan]

Boston should move just a game back of Miami tonight (if they don't blow it).

The Celts get the Knicks while Miami travels to Atlanta.

Given the Heat's schedule, they could easily be in the 8th spot by next week. 3 of their next 4 are ATL, SAS and CLE. Just need Boston to win these next few.

 

[Danny DiVito]

Except there's no such thing as an F-4 Hurricane.

Worthwhile reading - analysis of Cavs potential first-round matchups, from Kyle Welch (link):
Threat Level: Cavs ’ Potential First Round Foes
His "threat levels" crack me up:
Nets - Mint Ice Cream
Hornets - Winter Storm Watch
Bucks - Lanky Hormonal Teenager
Celtics - A Bunch of Bananas
Pacers - One of the Klitchscko Brothers (The Good One)
Heat - F-4 Hurricane.

 

[bobbyh]

If/when we get to the finals I don't know if I want an aging/experienced Spurs team or a young/sharp Warriors team?

 

[*L-Train*]

If/when we get to the finals I don't know if I want an aging/experienced Spurs team or a young/sharp Warriors team?

how about neither? Go Grizzlies

 

[Pavlovic3Ball]

If/when we get to the finals I don't know if I want an aging/experienced Spurs team or a young/sharp Warriors team?

Warriors, easily. They don't matchup well at all with us.

 

[Goodbyehorses]

Honestly, I don't care who we face. Our squad, as is, is ready. When they play hard, no team takes them in a seven game series. Curse=dead

 

[I'mWithDan]

If/when we get to the finals I don't know if I want an aging/experienced Spurs team or a young/sharp Warriors team?

I'm going against the grain here. Give me the Spurs.

In that scenario, we get home court advantage and San Antonio is a mediocre 18-18 on the road this season. Plus, we owe them some payback from 2007.

The prospect of playing a road series against a team that is 34-2 at home isn't all that appealing to me, regardless of match ups.

 

[Cavsfan161]

Warriors, easily. They don't matchup well at all with us.

How so? They have wings to put on Lebron. They are the best defensive team in the league, they have a legit rim protector and filled with shooters.

They matchup up just fine with us

 

[Pavlovic3Ball]

How so? They have wings to put on Lebron. They are the best defensive team in the league, they have a legit rim protector and filled with shooters.

They matchup up just fine with us

Barnes and Igoudala can't guard LeBron at all. Not saying regular season = postseason. But Cleveland has dismantled Golden State and Memphis this year. Two of the best defensive teams in west. Sry, but not scared of them. Spurs have experience and someone that can actually
Make us pay in the post or guard LeBron decently. GS doesn't have either.

 

[Cavsfan161]

Barnes and Igoudala can't guard LeBron at all. Not saying regular season = postseason. But Cleveland has dismantled Golden State and Memphis this year. Two of the best defensive teams in west. Sry, but not scared of them. Spurs have experience and someone that can actually
Make us pay in the post or guard LeBron decently. GS doesn't have either.

They can't stop him but they have bodies who can at least somewhat make it tough.

Stopping lebron isn't what beats a lebron led team it's controlling everybody else. That's what spurs showed last year. Kyrie would need to outplay curry without question to beat GS..I wouldn't take much from the last meeting. GS were in the middle of a long road trip.

 

[Scar4343]

How so? They have wings to put on Lebron. They are the best defensive team in the league, they have a legit rim protector and filled with shooters.

They matchup up just fine with us

Yeah, those wings and their rim protector shut LeBron down last time.... He only had 42/11/5 in 36 mins on 15/25 shooting. Gave him fits... It's just like last year when he only had 36/13/9(14/26FG) and 26/5/5(10/16FG) in his two matchups against them. Golden State's wings have a long history of success in stopping LeBron James.

Here's his career numbers against those wings:
v. Iguodala - 29.1/7.4/7.2 with 1.8 stl and 1.2 blk on .519FG%
v. Thompson - 31.0/8.3/6.8 with 1.5 stl and .3 blk on .558FG%
v. Barnes - 32.0/7.8./6.8 with 1.4 stl and .4 blk on .564FG%

When you add those results in with the impact Bogut has had as a rim protector against LeBron, the Warriors just spell trouble for us:
v. Bogut - 29.0/7.4/7.0 with 1.5 stl and 1.0 blk on .499FG%

 

[Crosby_Cavs]

Calm down guys, first we should take care of the East, and then we will think about best machups for Cavs from the West.

 

[Pavlovic3Ball]

They can't stop him but they have bodies who can at least somewhat make it tough.

Stopping lebron isn't what beats a lebron led team it's controlling everybody else. That's what spurs showed last year. Kyrie would need to outplay curry without question to beat GS..I wouldn't take much from the last meeting. GS were in the middle of a long road trip.

You can say that about every team in the league has "bodies" to throw at LeBron. Doesn't mean they can do anything. Barnes is too skinny and weak to guard LeBron. And Iggy wasn't even good at containing him in his prime. Kyrie just needs to make Curry work on defense. He doesn't need to outplay him. Which GS player is going to take advantage of us in the post?