Round 1 Game 5 | Cavs vs. Pacers | April 25, 2018 | 7:00 EST

[Stark]

DEFEND THE Q!

2018 Eastern Conference Playoffs - Round 1, Game 5
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Indiana Pacers
Series Tied 2-2

Game V: April 25th, 2018 @ 7:00 PM EST
Live from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH

Head Coaches

Tyronn Lue vs. Nate McMillan

Projected Starters

Jose - Swish - Korver - Flight 23 - K-Love

Darren - Oladipo - Bojan - Young - Turner

Benches
Cleveland
Jordan Clarkson
Jeff Green
George Hill*OUT
Rodney Hood
Larry Nance Jr.
Cedi Osman
Kendrick Perkins
Tristan Thompson
Ante Zizic

Indiana
Ike Anigbogu
Trevor Booker
Al Jefferson
Cory Joseph
TJ Leaf
Ben Moore
Alex Poythress
Glenn Robinson III
Lance Stephenson
Joe Young

​

 

[bob2the2nd]

there is some hope for cedi tonight

 

[KilgoreTrout]

there is some hope for cedi tonight

SO fucking nervous.

 

[Certo17]

Love better score at least 18 points tonight and grab at least 10 boards too.. come on love.. for a guy who just said he will do anything he can to help us win.. this is what lebron needs.

 

[FrontPageNews]

My first prediction is that we will force feed love into the post our first possession and he will get his shot blocked.

 

[Jscc]

My first prediction is that we will force feed love into the post our first possession and he will get his shot blocked.

He will if it's an isolation post-up. But if people are cutting like they do on LeBron's post-ups, he'll make the right play.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Cool that Cedi has a chance to play. I do think however that Zizic is the flat out more impactful player and has the bigger chance to make a big difference in this series and the next. Cedi, in this "system" and at this stage of the playoffs is only going to give you consistent defense, but some shaky offense because of the ridiculous pressure, lack of system and the odds at stake. As a perimeter player that only spotty/inconsistent minutes during the season and got none so far in the playoffs, it's just an extremely nerve wrecking situation to be in because you know your only chance of contributing offensively is to knock down those catch and shoot, as he most likely ain't going to handle the ball at all.

Zizic on the other hand, can give you consistent offensive production just by rolling to the basket, catching and finishing the majority of the plays, setting screens and being stronger and taller than everyone on the floor. The fact that we don't even try him is disappointing to me.

 

[JayDD1972]

I really smell a big fight coming tonight. I think this might be the night they have enough of Mr Stephenson.

 

[FrontPageNews]

He will if it's an isolation post-up. But if people are cutting like they do on LeBron's post-ups, he'll make the right play.

Cutting on a love post up? What fantasy land are you living in?

 

[The Red Viper]

Cool that Cedi has a chance to play. I do think however that Zizic is the flat out more impactful player and has the bigger chance to make a big difference in this series and the next. Cedi, in this "system" and at this stage of the playoffs is only going to give you consistent defense, but some shaky offense because of the ridiculous pressure, lack of system and the odds at stake. As a perimeter player that only spotty/inconsistent minutes during the season and got none so far in the playoffs, it's just an extremely nerve wrecking situation to be in because you know your only chance of contributing offensively is to knock down those catch and shoot, as he most likely ain't going to handle the ball at all.

Zizic on the other hand, can give you consistent offensive production just by rolling to the basket, catching and finishing the majority of the plays, setting screens and being stronger and taller than everyone on the floor. The fact that we don't even try him is disappointing to me.

Ty Lue can't show his Joker card ie Zizic now.

Conserving him for The Finals.

 

[FrontPageNews]

I really smell a big fight coming tonight. I think this might be the night they have enough of Mr Stephenson.

Hopefully it’s with Jeff green. And he’ll get a nice 12 game suspension.

 

[Stark]

Cool that Cedi has a chance to play. I do think however that Zizic is the flat out more impactful player and has the bigger chance to make a big difference in this series and the next. Cedi, in this "system" and at this stage of the playoffs is only going to give you consistent defense, but some shaky offense because of the ridiculous pressure, lack of system and the odds at stake. As a perimeter player that only spotty/inconsistent minutes during the season and got none so far in the playoffs, it's just an extremely nerve wrecking situation to be in because you know your only chance of contributing offensively is to knock down those catch and shoot, as he most likely ain't going to handle the ball at all.

Zizic on the other hand, can give you consistent offensive production just by rolling to the basket, catching and finishing the majority of the plays, setting screens and being stronger and taller than everyone on the floor. The fact that we don't even try him is disappointing to me.

Would love to see us play Zizic the first 5-6 minutes of each half to set some monster screens and play Myles Turner hard in the post. K-Love is a lot weaker than those guys and hasn't handled them well.

 

[Jscc]

Cutting on a love post up? What fantasy land are you living in?

I know right? Or forcing a switch and having him post up a guard like Darren Collison. Lue would probably think ETs are invading his playbook.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Need at least three role players to come up big. Love, KK, JR, Clarkson, Hood, Calderon. Doesn’t matter who. Just go with the hot hand(s). And Nance better be starting.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Would love to see us play Zizic the first 5-6 minutes of each half to set some monster screens and play Myles Turner hard in the post. K-Love is a lot weaker than those guys and hasn't handled them well.

This is my mind right now. Cedi can make a difference defensively, though we are actually doing pretty okay defensively(I don't think we are elite as our DRTG shows though), but in order to make a real difference if at all, he is going to need 20+ minutes while also taking minutes away from other perimeter contributors. Zizic otoh, can make a huge difference in very limited minutes because of his ridiculous points per minute production, and it's so paramount to have that right now because so far the games have been low scoring games and been awfully close. 10 points in 14 minutes can be huge and fairly realistic for him. Not to mention that it would either allow us to have him come off the bench to bolster our bench lineup and feast against their small lineup that features Sabots at the 5, or like you said, let him start for 5 minutes and have Nance come in early with added energy against their fatigued lineups.

Either way, that solves our issue at the 5 and allows us to place Nance and Love together either off the bench or in the starting lineup.

Don't get me wrong, you know how much I want to see Cedi and would have liked to see both, but I just don't think he should get the nod over Zizic who can provide extremely efficient production in limited action in any given lineup.