Brian Windhorst on The Big Show
April 18, 2017 (after Game 2 against the Pacers)
http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play/_/id/19188886
* (Windy in the middle of a book tour for "Return Of The King," which he wrote with Dave McMenamin).
* The question I am asked most on this book tour is "Does LeBron really run the Cavs?" (hosts laugh).
* Many people want to know what happened with Pat Riely and LeBron.
* Many people want to know what happened with Dan Gilbert and LeBron.
* People ask me "LeBron is the general manager, right?"
* I tell people then, "No, or he would have fired David Blatt after about 15 minutes."
* That answer usually gets the questioner to move on from the "LeBron runs the Cavs?" stuff.
* HOST: What did you think of Game 2?
* Amazing game from Kevin Love. 27 points on 7 shots.
* 89 points for the Big Three is highest they have scored, together, in a playoff game.
* A scout told me last night that Kyrie has been the best Cavs' player in the series so far.
* LeBron has played well. Last night he was the back line player for the defense.
* I like LeBron playing the back line of the defense for the Cavs.
* Because, Cavs often are beaten on the perimeter and none of the bigs steps up to help out on defense then.
* Overall, I still don't think the Cavs' defense is performing much better than it was late in the year.
* Cavs are getting beaten on the perimeter (on defense) way too much.
* Lue is throwing some traps at Paul George, which are slowing him down.
* I love that the Cavs found the mismatch when Stephenson guarded Love, and they just wore it out.
* What I'm a little bit nervous about is that the Cavs are tensing up offensively in the fourth quarters of these games.
* HOST: Yeah, it's like they are clock-watching then.
* HOST: How concerned should we be about this?
* #1 thing I'm concerned about is the defense.
* I think this offensive "tense-ness" in the fourth quarter is a scar from the big Hawks comeback game.
* Cavs must break this habit ASAP, no more getting tense when teams make runs at them in the 4th quarter.
* In playoff games, the offense will naturally stall at times (so can't freak out about it).
* I like that Lue is throwing some schemes out there and making adjustments on defense. That is good to see.
* Myles Turner is doing nothing for the Pacers. Maybe he is freezing up. But credit should also be given to Tristan for this.
* Myles Turner is the current scapegoat in Indiana.
* Cavs are so poor on defense that, when their offense stalls, they will give up runs to opponents.
* HOST: It looks like the Cavs just want to outscore people now.
* Cavs do have more offensive talent than anyone in the East. But they don't have more offensive talent than the Warriors do.
* Lue benching Shumpert helped to inspire Shumpert in Game 2.
* There has been 'marginal progress' on the defense so far in this series, so not going to harp on Cavs' defense right now.
* HOST 2: Why did LeBron say Cavs are "close to turning the switch?"
* Probably a combination of how he really feels, and wanting to give teammates confidence.
* I thought that in the first two games, Cavs played really well for about 40 minutes in each game.
* I think LeBron is happy with the effort of the team.
* (talk about Windy's book)
* HOST: What do you know about JR? He hasn't gotten on track.
* No he hasn't.
* Shumpert's and JR's missing defense has been a huge problem for the Cavs.
* Scouts have told me that Cavs' on-ball defense is not really worse than average.
* But, scouts say, Cavs' help defense and weakside defense is awful. These are the big problem areas.
* So, Cavs are not rotating well on defense. The second- and third-line of defense for the Cavs has been very bad.
* And JR and Shumpert are not doing well with this defensive rotation.
* JR was so good at this aspect of defense last year.
* JR "is just in space" right now.
* I did not like JR's body language last night, when they told him he was not going to play.
* The Cavs trainer knows what he's doing, he has no vendetta against JR (just want to keep him healthy).
* Hamstrings are delicate.
* Cavs will need JR as they continue their run this season. Need him on both ends.
* JR is not having "big burst" three-point makes games right now. He had those in the past.
* JR's offensive, defensive struggles are hurting the Cavs.