What does this mean....

[G-MAN]

I'm a happy man. I've said this before about bringing in people to do less. It's a sign of good things.

we don't need lebron to go 27/7/7 and play 42 minutes a game.
we don't need z to score 17 a game
we don't need gooden to put up 14/10
we don't need damon or donyell to come in and do more than he did last season
and we don't need larry to to 22/6/4

everybody can do less and we can come away with wins. we are not asking anybody to do things they can't do. in the past we hoped players (with potential) could score twenty or get ten boards, whatever. we hoped on diop, wagner, miles, ricky, mcinnes, newble, etc.

i'm surprised it has come together so quickly.

it's a long season and all it takes is one injury to mess up things. let's just hope if it does happen varejo is on his way back.

 

[KI4MVP]

the scary thing is this - it hasn't come together yet - it'll take a good 20 games, maybe 30 games, for it to come together. New coach, new system, new teammates, etc. Out talent level is just so high that we are racking up the wins while we are still putting the pieces together. Not just racking up wins, we're blowing quality teams off the court while we're still trying to figure it all out.

that's the difference between last year and this year. Last year we needed everything to go right and we had to push people to their limits to get a win. This year we win games while LeBron is laying back letting the other guys develop their identity. He's laying back and still putting up 28 ppg.

Give it another 20 games and see how good this team really is. Forget the #5 seed, this team will challenge for the #1 seed.

 

[RuanuLaw]

Ya, that pissed me off at the beggining of the season when everyone was saying that the best we can do is the 5th seed.

 

[G-MAN]

can you say detroit. if we don't win the division the best we can do is four. four is not far off of five. indy, philly or nj will be in there somewhere. we haven't played any of them yet. if we beat them we help that cause, if we don't we are a 5 or 6 seed.

 

[CleveRocks]

I said in the preseason that the most important member of the team this year would be Mike Brown and I think the items mentioned are indicators that Mike Brown is doing his job well.

Look, we all know these players can score, can rebound, can run with the best teams in the NBA. The missing link was defense. The players are taking the message from Mike Brown to heart, and you can see this because defensive rebounds are up across the board, Blocks are up, Steals are up.

If you watched the Washington game you saw defensive hustle from everybody, lebron, larry, and Z along with the usual suspects Snow and Gooden. You also saw Luke playing some very hustle defense in his nine minutes (twice altering Arenas long range shots, knocking a ball out of bounds) stuff that does not show up on the stat sheet. Drew is playing like a bull dog against some of the most offensively skilled players in the league. I mean Damon Jones got a steal for cryin' out loud..

If this team can play with poise and defensive confidence, the offensive arsenal can dismantle any other squad. And that is a good thing.

Washington and Memphis have been our only real challenges ( I don't mention the Spurs because we did not play with poise and defensive confidence). The watershed will be when we line up against Indy (which I predict we will spank) Miami with Shaq (which we won't spank) Milwaukee and Detroit. After we have played these teams we can look at the results and get a view on where we really are.

 

[KI4MVP]

I said compete for hte #1 seed - and the difference between that and the #5 seed is huge. #5 seed is saying we aren't on the level of the elite teams - Indy/Miami/Detroit. I say we're solidly on their level - in fact, I don't know that Indy is on the level people think they are. They just got blown off the court by the bobcats - 32 point loss.

 

[Karma]

The difference between seed 1 and 5 could be just a game or 2. The 5th seed could have a better record then both the 2nd and 3rd seed.

 

[KI4MVP]

Right, but what I'm saying is how we look at it - going into the season people assumed we were a level below the elite teams - 10% into the season I see no reason why we aren't on the elite level. Does that mean a 1 seed, a 4 seed, or a 5 seed - it's up to us. That's a heck of a difference from assuming even the 4 seed is out of reach. Indy is 4-3, we're 6-2. We're blowing out teams while Indy could very well be 1-5 if Shaq doesn't get hurt.

 

[RuanuLaw]

I rather be 1st seed cause 4th and 5th have to go head to head. And I'd rather not face Miami/Detriot/Indy.

 

[KI4MVP]

I'd rather be #1 seed because LeBron wouldn't let us lose a game 7 at home.

 

[RuanuLaw]

I'd rather be #1 seed because LeBron wouldn't let us lose a game 7 at home.

Well, see! Thats where that "Playoff Experience" comes into play.

 

[KI4MVP]

notice while our defense has improved, Indy's has fallen apart - Mike Brown was 100% in charge of Indy's defense. Perhaps Carlisle got too much credit?

 

[CleveRocks]

I don't think #1 seed is in our future until we can expect to beat Detroit on their court. We have not played the best teams in the east yet, so lets not get crazy. Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Philly... Those are the teams that will define our season.