Why We Can Beat Cleveland.

[Greenbean]

If we beat Miami I have seen very encouraging signs that point to a very competitve and winnable series for the Celtics against Cleveland.

What we have seen against Miami so far:
- Defense
- The Big 3 stepping up offensively
- Rondo being steady
- Perkins playing above average 1 on 1 post defense and rebounding
- Solid bench play (TA, BBD and Fin specifically)

All of these things we have seen flashes of at various points this season so none of this suuprises me. If this is all I saw from this team so far I would feel worse about our chances against Cleveland. However there is one aspect of basketball where we have picked up the pace considerably...

defensive rebounding.

Guys are crashing the glass from everywhere. We are sacrificing some of the running game and our big guards and our nifty point guard are supporting the glass quite nicely.

I have yet to see this all season and it gives me much comfort that we can beat Cleveland.

I understand Miami is a different matchup, but if we play the same way, it will go a long way in mitigating the impact of their energy rebounders. From what I saw all season against Cleveland, their offensive rebounding was the biggest advantage they had over us. Let's just hope the work we have done thus far carries over (if we beat the Heat).

[Mr October]

Absolutely, for the above reasons the C's have a chance. No matter how it ends, I expect a grueling 6 or 7 game series.

If I'm putting major money on the line, I'd have to pick the Cavs to win it. But the C's definitely have a shot at it, and I'll be cheering like crazy with each basket and each stop.

[Roy Hobbs]

I like our chances, but one thing I worry a bit about is that Cleveland does an excellent job of defending Ray.  Miami, inexplicably, gives Ray a lot of good looks; I don't think Cleveland will.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Perk could definetly step it up some more. His rebounding.....is good on defense, his defense overall is good against miami, but his offense is totally missing. No dunks at all, and no excuse for that...it looks like he always wants to look at his shoes when he gets the ball in the paint.....Rondo and TA are the best rebounders, BBD is doing well also....Sheed needs to get stronger, get familiar with the paint, Sheldon could play big for us against  Cleve, his inside game will be needed..BBD is too short..he'd better bring all he has vs Cleve..I think sheldon made doc look stupid vs San Antonio, sheldon scored 12 points in 12 minutes...then doc benched him A serious rebounder like sheldon could offset Varajo, take his rebounds away..BBD gets some, but sheldon looks for ALL of them...Rondo can outdo mo williams, but mo can be a problem..perk can handle shaq, but won't cover Z's shooting, which is pretty good TA again can be a game changer...he is the X man here...they cannot cover him.....can he cover lebron...maybe...probably our best option..with some MD in there too, again try to deny him the ball, have md be physical on him early, don't worry about fouls......KG, PP and Ray..they will be on Ray hard..just like before.....we can beat them..but our shots need to be working, rebounding hard, and going to the hole hard..block out varajo...which no one ever seems to do..!!!

[Greenbean]

I like our chances, but one thing I worry a bit about is that Cleveland does an excellent job of defending Ray.  Miami, inexplicably, gives Ray a lot of good looks; I don't think Cleveland will.

Hmmm...good point. One thing that has made this team successful over the past 3 years is the multitude of looks on offense they can give opposing teams. Ray has dissappeared for entire series and we have weathered it. If Ray is neutralized again, I like what I have seen so far from the rest of the team offensively to pull through. Pierce can give Cleveland fits if he is in rythym and healthy which he ppears to be now.

Edit: Just to add to this. KG and Rondo will get alot of open looks (if we beat Miami) against Cleveland. Rondo has destroyed Cleveland at times this year on offense. I would like to see right awway what Doc has planned to attack the Cle defense.

[Greenbean]

Perk could definetly step it up some more. His rebounding.....is good on defense, his defense overall is good against miami, but his offense is totally missing. No dunks at all, and no excuse for that...it looks like he always wants to look at his shoes when he gets the ball in the paint.....Rondo and TA are the best rebounders, BBD is doing well also....Sheed needs to get stronger, get familiar with the paint, Sheldon could play big for us against  Cleve, his inside game will be needed..BBD is too short..he'd better bring all he has vs Cleve..I think sheldon made doc look stupid vs San Antonio, sheldon scored 12 points in 12 minutes...then doc benched him A serious rebounder like sheldon could offset Varajo, take his rebounds away..BBD gets some, but sheldon looks for ALL of them...Rondo can outdo mo williams, but mo can be a problem..perk can handle shaq, but won't cover Z's shooting, which is pretty good TA again can be a game changer...he is the X man here...they cannot cover him.....can he cover lebron...maybe...probably our best option..with some MD in there too, again try to deny him the ball, have md be physical on him early, don't worry about fouls......KG, PP and Ray..they will be on Ray hard..just like before.....we can beat them..but our shots need to be working, rebounding hard, and going to the hole hard..block out varajo...which no one ever seems to do..!!!

Alot to respond to here but Ill pick a couple of points.

- Perk has played his role perfectly. I do not want him involved offensively unless he is open for dunks. Perk has passed well this series which is something I have NEVER seen form him. No worries form me about Perk so far.

- Sheldon does not offset Verajao other than in ugliness. We have not needed Sheldon in this series and we will not need him against Cleveland other than for his 6 fouls if Shaq decides to have a throwback game. He has NO inside game. Perhaps even worse than BBD. The way we have been crashing the boards, AV will be nuetralized IMO. If we take a step back, a Sheldon sighting may be in order so I am not totally ruling out your point.

- Agree with you about TA. He is always the X man. Let's see if he can build some consistency.

TP for the great playoffs banter!

[hpantazo]

I like our chances, but one thing I worry a bit about is that Cleveland does an excellent job of defending Ray.  Miami, inexplicably, gives Ray a lot of good looks; I don't think Cleveland will.

yes, but, Ray lit them up during the last game against them in boston. The 2008 cavs team shut Ray down, the 2010 team, not so much.

[TitleMaster]

The 2008 cavs team shut Ray down

In '08, Ray was tossing bricks for every series up until the middle of the ECF, where he suddenly got his shot back. From then on, he was Ray Ray till the end.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Well, it is probably well known that i like sheldon....i see leon powe in him, he can dunk in an instant, and has done it often, he has a very dependable 10 footer, and has shown (to me) a "full of heart" player, as soon as the shot is up, he is on the way into the paint...a very solid player that i wish would get more minutes AND actual passes in the post...didn't you see his 12 points in 12 minutes vs SA...no small feat for a man who gets no passes..! And not much playing time....There is great potential there, more desire than Sheed, a much better finisher than BBD ( i have seen bbds last few games) for a guy who gets as many chances as he, it is about time....too bad he welched on his promise to lose the weight.......it would help him on his way to the rim..I can jump as high as he can...HE IS 6'8".....i am happy for what he is doing...but this isn't a part time job for him either. PErk, he has done well....but no excuse for not dunking...that is all i ask more of him...BE 7 FEET..dern it..that close to the rim and no dunk???

[Brendan]

Cle's wings (four deep) are good wing defenders. Cle's PG's (West is good D at SG, not so much at PG) cannot get in front of Rondo.

They need to game plan to take advantage of this. They also need to utilize some of what they are doing with Wade against Lebron. Have Pierce make him work on D, and make him beat them with jump shots on offense. I think Pierce can more or less D up Lebron with just normal help - Lebron will get lots of points anyways - so just try and force him to low percentage shots and live with it. Celts can D up every other player on the roster.

(Don't think Sheldon will see any different minutes than this series btw.)

[Meadowlark_Scal]

I like our chances, but one thing I worry a bit about is that Cleveland does an excellent job of defending Ray.  Miami, inexplicably, gives Ray a lot of good looks; I don't think Cleveland will.

yes, but, Ray lit them up during the last game against them in boston. The 2008 cavs team shut Ray down, the 2010 team, not so much.

that was the thing...coach brown put guys on RAY on purpose, he saw how our offense went thru ray...then anyway,,,and it worked..that is a prob i had with doc, no counter adjustment...they were laying hard on ray, we never set pics for ray...nothing that worked anyway.....doc needs to watch those trends, think how to fix it...!

[Greenbean]

Cle's wings (four deep) are good wing defenders. Cle's PG's (West is good D at SG, not so much at PG) cannot get in front of Rondo.

They need to game plan to take advantage of this. They also need to utilize some of what they are doing with Wade against Lebron. Have Pierce make him work on D, and make him beat them with jump shots on offense. I think Pierce can more or less D up Lebron with just normal help - Lebron will get lots of points anyways - so just try and force him to low percentage shots and live with it. Celts can D up every other player on the roster.

(Don't think Sheldon will see any different minutes than this series btw.)

I agree with all of your points and it leads me to a succint reason why the Celts can be competive and beat the Cavs.

The Cavs are the Super-Heat. If we beat Miami in 4 or 5 games, we should be able to beat the Cavs.

[RebusRankin]

Parker for Cleveland is not a good defender. Moon is overrated too.

[Jon]

Ray is going to have to be huge for them to win.  With Pierce contending with LeBron, he's going to have limited energy for the offensive end.  If people are following him all over court through screens, I think Doc should consider running some isolations for him.  There's no reason why all of his offense has to be generated by screens.  Let the likes of West, Parker, and Moon try to defend him one on one.  He should eat them alive, and Cleveland doubles, Ray is an excellent passer and will find the open man. 

I also think Rondo needs to turn Mo Williams into a weakness.  He's really just a glorified three-point bomber.  He needs use his quickness to make Mo a liability on the defensive end and make sure he stays with him on defense. 

[kenmaine]

The reason we can beat Cleveland is that, as long as KG and PP are at least as healthy as they seem to be now, the C's are simply a better team.
I may be nuts, but I'd give the C's about a 65% chance against the Cavs. 
Then again, it won't be easy to derail the Lebron express- whether you think he's worthy of the extra star treatment he gets, or it's simply a conspiracy.
Anyway, it should be an interesting series. I'm just glad things seem to be working out after a frustrating season.