Game #61 | Cavaliers (36-24) vs. Sixers (32-27) | March 1st, 2018 @ 8:00 PM EST

[TitleTown]

He’s not gonna be the shut down defender he was every game like he was at this age now.. it just ain’t happening.

There's a BIG FUCKING difference between being a "shut down defender" and NOT HELPING AT ALL.

There are countless plays where he LITERALLY DOESN'T EVEN TRY.

There's NO EXCUSE for it.

There is NO ONE in this thread complaining because he's old and can't defend like a 27 year old anymore. You're making too many bullshit excuses for his piss poor defense.

 

[TitleTown]

We only gave up 108 points tonight. Philly shot 44% from the field and 33% from 3. That's not bad. Our problem tonight, like it has been the past few games, is that we shot like shit. That's not going to continue forever. We have too many good shooters for it to. Once all the new pieces gel things will improve. We're only 7 games in right now.

It's BOTH shooting AND defense. Quit making it an either/or. Of course shooting was ALSO a problem, and SO WAS defense.

 

[MediumBaller]

I actually agree with this 100%. It's not even his effort that I was mad at tonight. He's just developed this awful habit of ball watching and it hurts my soul every time and he did it on a key play right after we cut it to 1 with the Korver 3 and Saric loves the right corner and of course he just left him there. I actually thought LeBron tried most of the night defensively but he's built so many bad habits especially this season it kills me specifically with the turnovers that are unforced and the ball watching.

I think he's developed so many of those bad habits because he's being asked to carry such a heavy workload in year 15. He uses defense as a chance to rest because he knows he's going to have to be great on the offensive end for us to have a chance to win most nights. He's just not capable of playing at an elite level on both ends for an entire season anymore, so some aspect of his game is going to suffer. Most nights that's his defense.

I admit that I get upset a lot of the time when people criticize LeBron, but that's because I think some of it is unfair to him. He's seemed so superhuman for so long that I think sometimes people forget about all the mileage he has on his body. At this point in his career has to be careful to leave some juice in the tank for the playoffs. To me there's a difference between him actively sabotaging things like he did in January, and him being lazy on defense like he's been lately. There's no excuse for the former, but I cut him some slack for the latter.

 

[wajdi]

I don’t understand you. I’m not worried at all .... guys just calm down. We won’t beat the Warriors and no one will do so for me it’s much better if we don’t make it to the finals. I don’t want to lose again to that soft looser of KD!

 

[MediumBaller]

Just to be clear, he can call my posts whatever he wants. He didn't break and rules and is in no danger of being banned.

Medium, don't worry about being banned for disagreeing with me or not liking my posts. It's not gonna happen. You're entitled to your opinion as long as you aren't attacking anyone personally.

But I'm not gonna stop posting what I see when I watch the games no matter how much some guys love LeBron and refuse to accept any criticism of him.

Honestly it's really only your game thread LeBron posts that I disagree with, and that was what I was referring to. I'm sorry for calling them a cancer though, that was harsh. You provide great information on a bunch of other Cavs and NBA related topics. Hopefully the Cavs start playing well again soon so there's not as much to criticize.

 

[SteelSmack]

Lebron is 33, has played more minutes for his age than anyone in league history, is currently leading the league in minutes per game, fourth in the league in points per game, third in the league in assists per game, and people are throwing temper tantrums because his defense has fallen off. Jesus f'in Christ.

Great. That doesn't make anything I or Boobie said less true.

And no one is throwing temper tantrums, lol. If you're interpreting posts that way, you might want to step away from the internet for a while.

 

[Andrew]

Barely beat the Nets, lose to the Sixers...not doing much for my confidence in this team as of right now.

With that being said, I am not rooting this team out against anybody when it matters but the offensive regression is real. It's not like they got poor offensive guys in the trades, they all can get buckets...it's just like Lue said, they are in their own heads too much. This team just needs to play free and calm and it will get better.

 

[Ozcavs89]

Anyone else thing lebron wore blue shoes tonight to troll everyone on the "move to philly" ?

 

[tocov]

I fell asleep before the game and had a dream in which we signed Derrick Williams just before this game and he had a triple double.

 

[Green Lantern]

It's BOTH shooting AND defense. Quit making it an either/or. Of course shooting was ALSO a problem, and SO WAS defense.

Well one thing I have noticed, Cavs will struggle against a good center because they have no one to really matchup/box out or attack him in the paint.
That plus cold shooting and not running a good defense is hurting.
Lue keeps saying he's working on the defense ..but he's been saying that for several years.
The standng around and watching Lebron handle the ball has to stop also..
We have two PG's yet they aren't doing much deferring to Lebron all the time.

 

[NorthCoastBias]

Great. That doesn't make anything I or Boobie said less true.

And no one is throwing temper tantrums, lol. If you're interpreting posts that way, you might want to step away from the internet for a while.

We need a separate RealLeBronSycophants.com.

 

[Green Lantern]

We nearly swept the eastern conference playoffs last season. Defense wasn't the problem, Golden State adding Kevin Durant was

Defense last year was a major problem..especially in the finals..the Cavs reacted like they did not know assignments on the fast break or leaving their man to try to double someone who just made a pass.
They looked like they had never played together at all on defense.

 

[Lyst]

Team would be so much more fun to watch if there wasn’t championship or bust expectations...

Watching the Blazers and how their fans react and it’s just such a different vibe

Indeed, I miss the days of no expectations, when there was no championship in sight, barely coming close to making playoffs, watching waiters hoist fadeway out of bounds 3point shots, Alonzo gee run the baseline and then brick a layup, Ramon Sessions run so fast he trips over his own feet....

*takes gun to head and blows brains out*

 

[PIP]

Indeed, I miss the days of no expectations, when there was no championship in sight, barely coming close to making playoffs, watching waiters hoist fadeway out of bounds 3point shots, Alonzo gee run the baseline and then brick a layup, Ramon Sessions run so fast he trips over his own feet....

*takes gun to head and blows brains out*

Yes please do... Hopefully your aim is better with that cause you missed the mark here..

I’m enjoying this team..People are getting so frustrated with the team which stems from championship expectations when guys like Hill, Green, Hood, Nance, Clarkson have no experience with that yet...I think people really believe the Cavs are supposed to be dominating teams out there and pulling away from teams early and often in games ?? It’s simply not the same team...

Really wasn’t talking about the other personnel from years ago like you just seemed to mention for no reason ?

 

[Lyst]

Yes please do... Hopefully your aim is better with that cause you missed the mark here..

I’m enjoying this team..People are getting so frustrated with the team which stems from championship expectations when guys like Hill, Green, Hood, Nance, Clarkson have no experience with that yet...I think people really believe the Cavs are supposed to be dominating teams out there and pulling away from teams early and often in games ?? It’s simply not the same team...

Really wasn’t talking about the other personnel from years ago like you just seemed to mention for no reason ?

I'd rather have unrealistic expectations for a team like this than have none at all, because the team is that fucking bad. That's my point.

So yes it can be frustrating, but I'll take that frustration over what I used to have any day of the week.