Is Shaq a problem in Cleveland?

[crownsy]

Just because you don't like all the ball handling he does, doesn't make it ineffective. Nor does LeBron have a great surrounding cast in my opinion, he has a bunch of role players.

Can you imagine Ray Allen or Pierce on the Cavs? *shudder*

Pierce with Shaq? I kinda think that would be awesome. I don't think anyone would want to drive on that and the Cavs would win every rebound.

I don't think Ray would be incompatible with Shaq. I think Shaq would enjoy someone stretching the floor for him.

I don't think Duncan had a great surrounding cast at any point.

I don't think Hakeem had one either. He had an old Drexler for his 2nd ring.

Tim Duncan did not have a great surrounding cast at any point? Manu, Parker, Bowen, Robinson, Stephen Jackson (before he was crazy), Horry (same for Hakeem) disagree

I agree Hakeem had a worse supporting cast, but they were servicable. Kenny and Steve made their shots. Horry helped too.

TP, i was going to post on that. To say tim duncan has never had a great supporting cast is absolute lunacy.

[GKC]

But did KG do stupid things like go out and get 11 assists while having an all-star point guard and getting outrebounded by the other forward?

What exactly is stupid about going out and getting 11 assists?  The fact that his PG was an all-star should be irrelevant.  If a strength in Lebron's game is passing, then he should make the most of it when he can.  Were people knocking Larry Bird for double digit assist games when he had Tiny or DJ playing with him?  Of course not.  Passing was a strength in Larry's game and he made the most of it.

Just because you have a guy who has been an all-star PG playing with you doesn't mean you should neglect that aspect of the game.  After watching how Mo Williams was playing for most of the game last night, I have no fault with Lebron trying to step it up as a playmaker.

Exactly. Lebron is known for a passer..so he shouldn't pass? Bird and Jordan were great scorers who've averaged many assists, were they being stupid?

And Lebrons all-star PG has never been known for having a good passing game.

Look, you get an assist when the person you pass to MAKES A SHOT. If he gets 11, it means he directly contributed to 22+ points. THere is NOTHING bad about that.

[Mr October]

Just because you don't like all the ball handling he does, doesn't make it ineffective. Nor does LeBron have a great surrounding cast in my opinion, he has a bunch of role players.

Can you imagine Ray Allen or Pierce on the Cavs? *shudder*

Pierce with Shaq? I kinda think that would be awesome. I don't think anyone would want to drive on that and the Cavs would win every rebound.

I don't think Ray would be incompatible with Shaq. I think Shaq would enjoy someone stretching the floor for him.

I don't think Duncan had a great surrounding cast at any point.

I don't think Hakeem had one either. He had an old Drexler for his 2nd ring.

Duncan has played with Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Robert Horry, David Robinson, Stephen Jackson, Sean Elliott, etc

Olajuwon did have lesser teammates for sure. But Horry, Drexler, Cassell, Kenny Smith, Thorpe, Mario Eli, etc could ball.

Lebron James is ridiculously good. Trade him for Kobe or Pierce, and BOS or LA would become so dominant, It wouldn't be fair.

The Cavs without James, would stink it up.

[GKC]

Just because you don't like all the ball handling he does, doesn't make it ineffective. Nor does LeBron have a great surrounding cast in my opinion, he has a bunch of role players.

Can you imagine Ray Allen or Pierce on the Cavs? *shudder*

Pierce with Shaq? I kinda think that would be awesome. I don't think anyone would want to drive on that and the Cavs would win every rebound.

I don't think Ray would be incompatible with Shaq. I think Shaq would enjoy someone stretching the floor for him.

I don't think Duncan had a great surrounding cast at any point.

I don't think Hakeem had one either. He had an old Drexler for his 2nd ring.

Duncan has played with Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Robert Horry, David Robinson, Stephen Jackson, Sean Elliott, etc

Olajuwon did have lesser teammates for sure. But Horry, Drexler, Cassell, Kenny Smith, Thorpe, Mario Eli, etc could ball.

Lebron James is ridiculously good. Trade him for Kobe or Pierce, and BOS or LA would become so dominant, It wouldn't be fair.

The Cavs without James, would stink it up.

[dang]. TP for Cassell. I knew I was missing someone on my list.

[RebusRankin]

KG was winning 50 games in a tough western conference with Wally as his #2 and Terrell Brandon. Had he traded places with Duncan, he would have won championships too. The one year he had a decent team around him, he was MVP and had Cassell not gotten injured would have won the tittle.

[MBunge]

Duncan has played with Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Robert Horry, David Robinson, Stephen Jackson, Sean Elliott, etc

Olajuwon did have lesser teammates for sure. But Horry, Drexler, Cassell, Kenny Smith, Thorpe, Mario Eli, etc could ball.

Lebron James is ridiculously good. Trade him for Kobe or Pierce, and BOS or LA would become so dominant, It wouldn't be fair.

The Cavs without James, would stink it up.

Don't trash the Cavs too much.  Shaq, Z and Sideshow Bob would start or play major minutes for any other team in the league, DWest can ball and Mo Williams is more than serviceable.  Their main problem is that they've got too many small guards without having one quality PG among them.  That's what causes their offense to implode, especially when LeBron is on the bench, much like the way Boston struggled for years before Rajon arrived.  The old guy the Cavs really needed wasn't Shaq, it was Jason Kidd.

Mike

[greg683x]

I think LeBron James is the best answer to their power forward problems. I think it'll easier for the Cavs to find another two way wing player than a perimeter orientated power forward who can play defense.

I like the idea of having Varejao's defense off the bench behind Shaq. Gives the Cavs a different look. Rather than 48 (+?) minutes of slow footed centers who can't cover the pick and roll.

This would be probably their best answer for this, but again, regarding the Celtics, I still think this situation plays into our hands.  Lebron moving down to guard Garnett, frees Pierce from being guarded by Lebron.  While Parker and Moon are OK defenders, I think we'd all agree Pierce can win that matchup easily.  Lebron is big and athletic enough to bother KG, but we still have an advantage with 'Sheed going up against either Shaq or Z.  Cleveland could bring in Varejao to guard Sheed, but at this point Cleveland would be shooting themselves in the foot on the offensive side of the ball.  Both Shaq and Z would be on the bench, which robs them of all their offensive weapons down low, and then you're stuck with a very small lineup with us being able to help off of players like Varejao and Moon.

[RebusRankin]

I disagree that Varajeo is a starter on most NBA teams. Overrated imo.

[GKC]

KG was winning 50 games in a tough western conference with Wally as his #2 and Terrell Brandon. Had he traded places with Duncan, he would have won championships too. The one year he had a decent team around him, he was MVP and had Cassell not gotten injured would have won the tittle.

We forget that they were only one quarter away from going to the finals in game 7 of the WCF (although it's tough to say whether or not they would beat Detroit...Detroit was peaking at the right time). Kobe was in foul trouble, and the only thing that saved the lakers was Kareem fing Rush, who got minutes and someone made 6 3 pointers...


...sigh.

[Fafnir]

KG was winning 50 games in a tough western conference with Wally as his #2 and Terrell Brandon. Had he traded places with Duncan, he would have won championships too. The one year he had a decent team around him, he was MVP and had Cassell not gotten injured would have won the tittle.

We forget that they were only one quarter away from going to the finals in game 7 of the WCF (although it's tough to say whether or not they would beat Detroit...Detroit was peaking at the right time). Kobe was in foul trouble, and the only thing that saved the lakers was Kareem fing Rush, who got minutes and someone made 6 3 pointers...


...sigh.

They lost in LA in 6 games that year actually. But considering it went to 6 games when Garnett had to bring up the ball because they didn't have a healthy PG left on the roster I think its fair to say they could have won the title.

[GKC]

KG was winning 50 games in a tough western conference with Wally as his #2 and Terrell Brandon. Had he traded places with Duncan, he would have won championships too. The one year he had a decent team around him, he was MVP and had Cassell not gotten injured would have won the tittle.

We forget that they were only one quarter away from going to the finals in game 7 of the WCF (although it's tough to say whether or not they would beat Detroit...Detroit was peaking at the right time). Kobe was in foul trouble, and the only thing that saved the lakers was Kareem fing Rush, who got minutes and someone made 6 3 pointers...


...sigh.

They lost in LA in 6 games that year actually. But considering it went to 6 games when Garnett had to bring up the ball because they didn't have a healthy PG left on the roster I think its fair to say they could have won the title.

I apologize. I got that series and the Kings series mixed up (where the wolves won in 7). But the game 6 was still the game I was talking about

http://www.nba.com/games/20040531/MINLAL/recap.html

I remember after that game just thinking...Really? Kareem Rush?

[RebusRankin]

They would have beaten the Lakers with Cassell. The Lakers couldn't defend pgs that year. Sam would have killed them.

[GKC]

They would have beaten the Lakers with Cassell. The Lakers couldn't defend pgs that year. Sam would have killed them.

I agree. Payton was getting killed by Chauncey in the finals. My only question mark though is, would the wolves have beaten the pistons? More stars on the Wolves, but Pistons had the more even team (and better bench)

[Donoghus]

They would have beaten the Lakers with Cassell. The Lakers couldn't defend pgs that year. Sam would have killed them.

I agree. Payton was getting killed by Chauncey in the finals. My only question mark though is, would the wolves have beaten the pistons? More stars on the Wolves, but Pistons had the more even team (and better bench)

I think the Pistons would've won.  They were really firing on all cylinders, then. 

[Fafnir]

They would have beaten the Lakers with Cassell. The Lakers couldn't defend pgs that year. Sam would have killed them.

I agree. Payton was getting killed by Chauncey in the finals. My only question mark though is, would the wolves have beaten the pistons? More stars on the Wolves, but Pistons had the more even team (and better bench)

I think the Pistons would've won.  They were really firing on all cylinders, then. 

Yeah the two year peak of those Pistons was impressive. They really should have beaten the Spurs the next year too.