What Do You Think Of The Cavs?

[butterbeanlove]

I like this match-up for one big reason: KG vs. Ben Wallace/Joe Smith as opposed to KG vs. Antawn Jamison.

If we played Washington KG needs to worry about chasing Jamison out to the 3-point line, taking him out of the team defense.

Not that the Cavs run a lot of pick-and-rolls, but KG can help out in the team defensive scheme against LBJ and friends.

Also, our D scheme of running out and contesting 3's is well-suited for going up against Wally, Boobie and to a lesser extent, Delonte.

Perk has consistently struggled on both ends of the floor against the larger (and craftier) Z with his sneaky little pushes on rebounds, which is why I would like to see Baby get some minutes since he seemed to be the only one on the team who could move Z out of the paint.

And Posey needs to get some serious minutes guarding LeBron. Take notes on all this, Glenn.

[Actionjakson]

Tony Allen and James Posey should get more time to D-up Lebron. Obviously i'd rather have Paul and Ray in for offensive puposes, but they will probably pick up quite a few fouls trying to guard James. Posey has been playing very well in my eyes, and hopefully he can continue that in the next series. I'd rather have him in than tony just becuase Posey has shown that he can knock down the three and he is a pest on defense.

[justice]

I like the Cavs much better than their record would make them appear.

As long as Cleveland can keep the games close through 3 quarters, Lebron can be a very scary 4th quarter player. The team is big, play decent defense, have nice role players, and have arguably the best player in the NBA so they definitely are not any kind of push over for any team.

They present a totally different style than the Hawks did and I think thats good for us...

I think we should win, however the Hawks series was a wake-up call. I don't have the same confidence I once had with this team. We also split the season series so I think this one is going to be very competitive.

I wish I hated the Cavs more because I really don't. However, I had no idea I could hate Pachulia, Bibby, and the Hawks as much as I did this past series. Either way, I think this will be a very exciting match-up to watch

[celticjames24]

Ok after the first round everyone needs to stop hating on the Cavaliers and stop thinking that we just cruised in the first round. The Atlanta Hawks are not as good of a team as the Cavs, mainly because the Cavs have LeBron, but none the less the Cavs beat the Wizards in 6 games. And the Wizards are a much better team then the Hawks (and they were the only team to win a regular season series against the Celtics).
Second look at Cleveland. They have arguable the best player on the court (personally he is a close second to Kobe). They have a good, not great, center in Big Z. They have two young point guards who both can shoot but are not the greatest defenders. They have some veteran experience that can shoot/play D in the Wallace/Smith combo. They have bench energy in Varejao. And Wally can still knock down shots.
I am not a fan of the Cavs nor will I ever be (unless Paul Pierce gets traded there, and even then I will still be a die hard Celtics fan). I'm just saying do not brush aside the Cavs so easily, they have playoff experience, veteran experience, and they have been to the Finals. All of which are things the Hawks could not claim. Plus they do have LeBron who is the best player on the court. The x-factor is the non-stars for both teams. Because if the Big 3 and LeBron play even, then it comes down to the support players. Ultimately Ive got my money on Rondo, Perk, Powe, Posey, Cassell and the rest stepping up and the Celtics ultimately win... but this could go another 6-7 games and I wouldn't be surprised.
Final prediction Celtics in 6.

[Sweet17]

The Wizard loss surprised me - but I think part of that was the half an Arenas return and the chaos that caused. I am still not a Cavs believer despite that series. Maybe I will be left shaking my head at wow how did the Cavs beat us.. But I doubt it.

Lebron isn't overrated. He is like MJ without Pippen, Kukoc, Rodman, and Harper...

Pete

[Eeyore III]

My three-pointers for the series:

Because LBJ is a hot-and-cold foul shooter, as soon as it becomes apparent that he's having a "cold" night, I'd make sure to use TA's 6 fouls, which also would tend to keep PP out of foul trouble.

Powe isn't going to be able to bother Z's elbow jumper or little half-hook in the slightest.  This is when it'd be good to have Pollard; Baby is a possible choice, since he might have the beef to push Z out a little.  I sense trouble in this area, unless Perk can stay on the floor much more than usual.

The Cs have got to defend the perimeter.  The Cavs are loaded with spot-up shooters.  The Cavs tend to lull you to sleep, barely stay in the game with 3-pointers, and then LBJ does his heroics in the 4th quarter.  Given the lulling effect, the Cs are going to have to "get the lead out" and get out there on the perimeter assiduously.

Celtics in 7.

[Slugger]

Despite the mid-season trade, the Cavs are still a very good rebounding team.  THats the one thing that scares me.

Rebounding in todays NBA is, IMO, very much under-valued.  The Cavs do extemely well on both the offensive and defensive end.

They have excellent balance on the offensive end when a shot goes up.  They do have the big guys to crash the boards, however, their transition D is top notch.  I believe their offensive rebounding in this series will determine the winner.

If i'm Doc Rivers, i completely focus on getting the defensive rebound before we even begin to think about pushing the ball.  Oh, and i'd completely expect to see Leon Powe's minutes dwindle in this series, as (1) I dont think he is a good defensive rebounder, and (2) I dont think he is a good team defender.  We really will need both of these things in this series.  Look for extended minutes from PJ and Big Baby. 

LBJ will almost average a triple double for the entire series - given he handles the ball so much.  I dont think this is of particular concern, seeing as though i think Joe Smith will be there no.2 scorer.

They do run alot of curls off down screens - especially for Lebron (very Pistonesque).  So i think we have to be at our best team defensive wise.

I think they are being under-rated in general by those here on CBlog.  I cant believe there are those who think the Hawks posed more problems than the Cavs.  Think about it - this cant be true.

I think the way we play team defense leaves us succeptible to good 3-point shooting teams.  Whilst the Cavs havent set the NBA on fire with their 3-point shooting, they do have guys who can shoot the rock.

I can see Joe Smith doing a Marvin Williams on us.  He will be a guy who will get open 18ft jumpers, and if we are not careful, he will hit a high pct of them.

At the other end, the Cavs are fairly close to the C's in terms of an excellent defensive structure.  Whilst they have so-called weak defenders (eg Wally), they play good team D.  Our ball movement, and potential mismatches on this end must be exploited.  GO at LBJ!

All in all though, the Cavs are the team we had our eye on from the moment the playoffs started.  Look for the C's to win in 6.

[Yakmanev]

Despite the Hawks fiasco I still wouldnt be totally surprised if we swept this series.

Then again it also could go seven games, who knows anymore.

[clover]

Yep, it's a good thing we got PJ and BBD warmed up in game 7.

[D Dub]

KG should feast in this series.  There is no one who can even pretend to guard him now that Gooden is gone. 

[Edgar]

I think Cavs are a LOT better than The hawks
I dont buy the matchups stuff
I will say cs in 7

[nickagneta]

If the Hawks series has taught me anything it is that I shouldn't be expecting the Celtics to do anything than to win a series. I think I'm going to go into a moratorium on expecting the Celtics to win in 4 or 5 or 6 games. I'm just going to assume that every series is going 7 and we'll win that seventh at home. That way if they win in less games I'll be exceptionally happy.

Back to the Cavs.

I do think the Celtics chances of advancing past Cleveland are pretty good, especially because of the midseason trade that got rid of Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden. Hughes and Gooden were good to very good defenders who could also put the ball in the basket. The additions of Szczerbiak, West, Smith, and Wallace made them a worse team both offensively and defensively.

Sorry, but Smith and Wallace are just shadows of their former selves and Gooden was better than either and could score much easily. I think he was a better rounder also than the Wallace/Smith combo are at this point in their careers. And more importantly, he was a Celtic killer. The man never seemed to ever have a bad game against the C's.

Szczerbiak, well I never liked his game. He's slow, a defensive liability and he takes it to the hole more often than he ever should be even thinking about doing. Usually with poor results. I just don't see what he adds to this team. Larry Hughes was obviously a better fit to this team than Wally will be.

Delonte, I think was clearly the only good part of the trade. This team needed a PG of any quality and West has played better than I think the Cleveland brass ever expected. He will probably be there a good while when the Cavs lock him into a decent little contract this summer. But DWest is still not anywhere near the player that Rondo is and his presence should be neutralized by a much better defensive player in Rondo.

All said, Ray should be averaging about 26PPG with Wally guarding him and KG's +/- advantage over his PF counterpart should be huge since the Cavs shouldn't be getting anything out of Wallace/Smith offensively against KG.

But LeBron is a force and I just can not wait to see the Captain against him in this series. They have had a lot of battles and Pierce because of his size and strength and ability to light it up poses LeBron his toughest matchup. Most SF's just aren't as thick and powerful as Pierce or if they are they don't normally have the offensive repetoire that the Truth does. Lebron is going to have to play defense in this series, probably his worst trait. That combined with the Celtics ability to rotate into help so well will make BronBron a more tired, beatup player and maybe help to limit him to mere human numbers.

Let's hope for the Celtics team that showed up Sunday because if that team shows up for this series, the LeBrons are dead where they stand.

[MMacOH]

Hey folks.....Cavs fan, just looking to talk some basketball.

If anyone is interested in a Cavs fan opinion on the series here it is.  First of all, don't pay one bit of attention to how the cavs played in the regular season.  The Cavs play completely different in the playoffs.  Also, don't be too quick to overlook them either.....Detroit thought they were sweeping the Cavs last year and look how that turned out. 

These games are going to be very defense oriented.  The Cavs play excellent defense when it comes time for the playoffs.  Their offense obviously revolves around Lebron, but that doesn't make it easy to stop.  Lebron is going to get his points and give his teammates open looks.  Its whether or not his teammates (West, Gibson, Wally, Z) convert those open looks that will determine the series.

To the fans who think the Cavs were better off with Hughes and Gooden, you are sorely mistaken.  Gooden may have scored some points but his was an airhead.  His defensive rotations were terrible.  As for Hughes...the guy shot 35% but still insisted on jacking 20 shots a game.  I can't say the Cavs will ever miss that

[RickyD Fan]

Sad to say, but I don't think too much of the Cavs. I really like LeBron, and believe him to be one of the top players in this league. However, I just don't see Cleveland putting together a solid contender with the roster they have that struggled to make the 4th seed in a weakened conference. I would be incredibly disapointed if we didn't win the series.

The Cavs play a slower basketball that the Celtics will dominate in. They don't have the position defenders to match up with us, and LeBron can't beat the defense of Pierce, Garnett and Posey on his own. Having said that, after Atlanta anything is possible.

It will be fun to watch!

[jaketwice]

Hey folks.....Cavs fan, just looking to talk some basketball.

To the fans who think the Cavs were better off with Hughes and Gooden, you are sorely mistaken.  Gooden may have scored some points but his was an airhead.  His defensive rotations were terrible.  As for Hughes...the guy shot 35% but still insisted on jacking 20 shots a game.  I can't say the Cavs will ever miss that

Thanks for telling us your opinion MMacOH: it's interesting to cross pollinate.

I would tend to disagree with your analysis as to the loss of Gooden: he killed us when we played them in the regular season.

The Cavs, you see, do not have a mid-range game. As such, the Celtics can run a modified 3-2 zone (keeping a man on LeBron) without any consequences.

Their only relatively good mid-range shooter is their Center, Ilgauskas; however, if he misses those shots, the Celtics will get some of the rebounds other posters have described as necessary.

This will be a tough series...

                                               


But I think the Cavs will kiss their title hopes good-bye before its over.