Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?

[Chris]

The Cavs peaked in 2008, people should realize.  They were sooo good that season, 2007 - 2008 and were our hardest  opponent on our way to our title.  Since then they have been overated.  

Their second best player is Ilgauskis, and unfortunately for them, he is aging.  

Cleveland lost to Orlando last year.  Orlando.  We almost beat Orlando with out our best player.

The reason they were good was because of the Lebron Ilgauskis duo.  With Ilgauskis in his last season, Cleveland just isn't that great.  

However, if Powe comes back healthy, and Shaq and Ilgauskis are playing well and healthy for the playoffs, then this team becomes DANGEROUS.   Lebron is lebron(awesome), but he can not do it alone.  

Really now?  Powe? I'm sorry, but Powe doesn't scare me one bit.  I know everyone here loves Powe, but he's really not that good, is undersized and will probably be even less effective due to his injury.

If Powe is effective at all this season, I would be shocked.  He is coming off an injury that often takes players years to return to full strength from, and he is a guy who really uses his explosiveness to be an effective NBA player.  Until he gets that explosiveness back, I don't think he is going to be helping much at all.

[Brickowski]

The Cavs are like the Celtics: they live or die with their defense. Last it wasn't there, particularly with their second unit. For starters, Jamario Moon is terrible defensively--Daniels abused him repeatedly-- and the Cavs consistently lost track of Eddie House.   

Delonte West is a very underrated defender and they need him back.

The C's really dodged a bullet when they got Daniels instead of Moon.

Is this a play on words or are you stating that Boston wanted Moon over Daniels?  Specifically Ainge? 

I don't know if they wanted Moon more, but the rumors were (and take the rumors with a grain of salt) that the C's were after Moon, in a sign and trade, and did not move on to Daniels until they realized the Moon deal would not happen. 

It could be completely innaccurate, but thats how the timeline was reported.

I heard no such rumors.  If there were any, it must have been some idiot like Rick Kamla shooting off his mouth.  When is NBA TV going to get rid of that guy anyway?

I said months ago that the two best FAs were Sheed and Daniels and Ainge got them both.  A+.

[Birdbrain]

The Cavs peaked in 2008, people should realize.  They were sooo good that season, 2007 - 2008 and were our hardest  opponent on our way to our title.  Since then they have been overated.  

Their second best player is Ilgauskis, and unfortunately for them, he is aging.  

Cleveland lost to Orlando last year.  Orlando.  We almost beat Orlando with out our best player.

The reason they were good was because of the Lebron Ilgauskis duo.  With Ilgauskis in his last season, Cleveland just isn't that great.  

However, if Powe comes back healthy, and Shaq and Ilgauskis are playing well and healthy for the playoffs, then this team becomes DANGEROUS.   Lebron is lebron(awesome), but he can not do it alone.  

Really now?  Powe? I'm sorry, but Powe doesn't scare me one bit.  I know everyone here loves Powe, but he's really not that good, is undersized and will probably be even less effective due to his injury.

Yeah Powe wasn't that good prior to the injury.  Nice piece off of any bench when healthy.  I actually had someone try and tell me that Powe was better than Rasheed Wallace.  And he wasn't a homer boston fan.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

I'm the exact opposite from impressed.

Don't give me that "it was just preseason" garbage either, both teams WANTED THAT WIN last night.

The fact that Lebron and Shaq started spoke volumes given that it was rumoured Lebron would get the "night off". Shaq looked interested but rather slow. He says he's still getting used to the offense so I'll give him a free pass. Lebron shot so many jumpers it was such a pleasure to watch. The guy can literally get to the rim/FT line any time he wants yet settles for the outside jumper so often - a true sign of elite defense.

Speaking of defense, the Cavs displayed none of it last night - other than Lebron swatting Rondo into the 12th row. Seriously, they had no defense at all and had no answers for the crisp ball-movement and unselfish play the Celtics AS A UNIT displayed.

I can't wait till next Tuesday when the game will count and the result will be STRIKINGLY similar to last nights. Oh, and we'll start KG and Ray Ray just for fun too. I hope the big 3 are on the bench for the entire 4th quarter laughing it up while we're up 20. At least that's what I dreamed last night.

Breaking down their players who actually get in on the rotation:

Mo Williams - I feel like he can't even get his shot off anymore and he certainly could never play defense

Delonte - we all know how good Delonte is and hope he gets back in on the rotation in Cleveland

Varejao - useless on the offensive end other than his ability to get offensive rebounds, which we don't let him get many of with stellar box-out position. He's just another guy ahead of Big Z whom Big Z probably doesn't like anymore - aka a chemistry ruiner.

Big Z - old, slow, but can still hit that baseline 18-foot jumper. He's probably going to get more and more unhappy with each passing game and is almost a certainty to retire after this season. Big Baby/Sheldon will beat him down the floor every time.

Powe - not the answer come February when the team has hopefully already imploded

Anthony Parker - an overrated disinterested defender and an even more overrated offensive player. He only shoots 3's and rarely attacks the basket. Oh, he also seems to split every pair of free throws he takes.

Shaq - is larger than life. He has virtually ZERO lift anymore and that shows on his little flip-shots around the bucket. I say he's off the Cavs by Valentine's day.

Jamario Moon - a former globetrotter who earned a starting spot on a very hurting Toronto Raptors unit. He was a fan favorite in Toronto with his aggressiveness and dunking, but once he won the hearts of the fans he turned into strictly a jump-shooter and he's got a relatively terrible shot and handle.

Daniel Gibson - in a 7-game series he might go on a mini-shooting streak ONE TIME where he hits 3 shots in a row. That's how scared I am of Gibson. He's a non-factor in my opinion and every second he's on the floor he's a liability on the defensive end.

Can you tell the Cavs as a unit do not impress me?

[Birdbrain]

I'm the exact opposite from impressed.

Don't give me that "it was just preseason" garbage either, both teams WANTED THAT WIN last night.

The fact that Lebron and Shaq started spoke volumes given that it was rumoured Lebron would get the "night off". Shaq looked interested but rather slow. He says he's still getting used to the offense so I'll give him a free pass. Lebron shot so many jumpers it was such a pleasure to watch. The guy can literally get to the rim/FT line any time he wants yet settles for the outside jumper so often - a true sign of elite defense.

Speaking of defense, the Cavs displayed none of it last night - other than Lebron swatting Rondo into the 12th row. Seriously, they had no defense at all and had no answers for the crisp ball-movement and unselfish play the Celtics AS A UNIT displayed.

I can't wait till next Tuesday when the game will count and the result will be STRIKINGLY similar to last nights. Oh, and we'll start KG and Ray Ray just for fun too. I hope the big 3 are on the bench for the entire 4th quarter laughing it up while we're up 20. At least that's what I dreamed last night.

Breaking down their players who actually get in on the rotation:

Mo Williams - I feel like he can't even get his shot off anymore and he certainly could never play defense

Delonte - we all know how good Delonte is and hope he gets back in on the rotation in Cleveland

Varejao - useless on the offensive end other than his ability to get offensive rebounds, which we don't let him get many of with stellar box-out position. He's just another guy ahead of Big Z whom Big Z probably doesn't like anymore - aka a chemistry ruiner.

Big Z - old, slow, but can still hit that baseline 18-foot jumper. He's probably going to get more and more unhappy with each passing game and is almost a certainty to retire after this season. Big Baby/Sheldon will beat him down the floor every time.

Powe - not the answer come February when the team has hopefully already imploded

Anthony Parker - an overrated disinterested defender and an even more overrated offensive player. He only shoots 3's and rarely attacks the basket. Oh, he also seems to split every pair of free throws he takes.

Shaq - is larger than life. He has virtually ZERO lift anymore and that shows on his little flip-shots around the bucket. I say he's off the Cavs by Valentine's day.

Jamario Moon - a former globetrotter who earned a starting spot on a very hurting Toronto Raptors unit. He was a fan favorite in Toronto with his aggressiveness and dunking, but once he won the hearts of the fans he turned into strictly a jump-shooter and he's got a relatively terrible shot and handle.

Daniel Gibson - in a 7-game series he might go on a mini-shooting streak ONE TIME where he hits 3 shots in a row. That's how scared I am of Gibson. He's a non-factor in my opinion and every second he's on the floor he's a liability on the defensive end.

Can you tell the Cavs as a unit do not impress me?

I can't argue with 1 thing you mentioned.  They are a 1 man team who better hope they get all the calls if they meet the C's in the ECF.

TP for detail.

[j804]

Dont yall love how Lebron is scared to drive or intimdated when Sheeds in there wettin the paint? I noticed more than a few times he'd normally drive saw Sheed and passed outside. Imagine this is even without KG. Looking forward to Tuesday!!!!

[guava_wrench]

I'm the exact opposite from impressed.

Don't give me that "it was just preseason" garbage either, both teams WANTED THAT WIN last night.

The fact that Lebron and Shaq started spoke volumes given that it was rumoured Lebron would get the "night off". Shaq looked interested but rather slow. He says he's still getting used to the offense so I'll give him a free pass. Lebron shot so many jumpers it was such a pleasure to watch. The guy can literally get to the rim/FT line any time he wants yet settles for the outside jumper so often - a true sign of elite defense.

Speaking of defense, the Cavs displayed none of it last night - other than Lebron swatting Rondo into the 12th row. Seriously, they had no defense at all and had no answers for the crisp ball-movement and unselfish play the Celtics AS A UNIT displayed.

I can't wait till next Tuesday when the game will count and the result will be STRIKINGLY similar to last nights. Oh, and we'll start KG and Ray Ray just for fun too. I hope the big 3 are on the bench for the entire 4th quarter laughing it up while we're up 20. At least that's what I dreamed last night.

Breaking down their players who actually get in on the rotation:

Mo Williams - I feel like he can't even get his shot off anymore and he certainly could never play defense

Delonte - we all know how good Delonte is and hope he gets back in on the rotation in Cleveland

Varejao - useless on the offensive end other than his ability to get offensive rebounds, which we don't let him get many of with stellar box-out position. He's just another guy ahead of Big Z whom Big Z probably doesn't like anymore - aka a chemistry ruiner.

Big Z - old, slow, but can still hit that baseline 18-foot jumper. He's probably going to get more and more unhappy with each passing game and is almost a certainty to retire after this season. Big Baby/Sheldon will beat him down the floor every time.

Powe - not the answer come February when the team has hopefully already imploded

Anthony Parker - an overrated disinterested defender and an even more overrated offensive player. He only shoots 3's and rarely attacks the basket. Oh, he also seems to split every pair of free throws he takes.

Shaq - is larger than life. He has virtually ZERO lift anymore and that shows on his little flip-shots around the bucket. I say he's off the Cavs by Valentine's day.

Jamario Moon - a former globetrotter who earned a starting spot on a very hurting Toronto Raptors unit. He was a fan favorite in Toronto with his aggressiveness and dunking, but once he won the hearts of the fans he turned into strictly a jump-shooter and he's got a relatively terrible shot and handle.

Daniel Gibson - in a 7-game series he might go on a mini-shooting streak ONE TIME where he hits 3 shots in a row. That's how scared I am of Gibson. He's a non-factor in my opinion and every second he's on the floor he's a liability on the defensive end.

Can you tell the Cavs as a unit do not impress me?

I would give a little credit to Verajao - he can hit short open jumpers.

[Bankshot]

Dont yall love how Lebron is scared to drive or intimdated when Sheeds in there wettin the paint? I noticed more than a few times he'd normally drive saw Sheed and passed outside. Imagine this is even without KG. Looking forward to Tuesday!!!!

To be fair, I thought it was Shaq clogging the middle as the reason Lebron didn't do much driving.

[Chris]

The Cavs are like the Celtics: they live or die with their defense. Last it wasn't there, particularly with their second unit. For starters, Jamario Moon is terrible defensively--Daniels abused him repeatedly-- and the Cavs consistently lost track of Eddie House.   

Delonte West is a very underrated defender and they need him back.

The C's really dodged a bullet when they got Daniels instead of Moon.

Is this a play on words or are you stating that Boston wanted Moon over Daniels?  Specifically Ainge? 

I don't know if they wanted Moon more, but the rumors were (and take the rumors with a grain of salt) that the C's were after Moon, in a sign and trade, and did not move on to Daniels until they realized the Moon deal would not happen. 

It could be completely innaccurate, but thats how the timeline was reported.

I heard no such rumors.  If there were any, it must have been some idiot like Rick Kamla shooting off his mouth.  When is NBA TV going to get rid of that guy anyway?

I said months ago that the two best FAs were Sheed and Daniels and Ainge got them both.  A+.

The Moon rumors were all over the place.  I believe they were first reported by Marc Spears.

[xmuscularghandix]

I was nervous about them before we played them, now i'm not scared at all.

Sheed, KG, Perk, and Baby are fast enough to just run the floor and beat Shaq down for easy baskets.

Marquis can kill any one of their backup wing players.

They're one of the only teams that we can survive against defensively with Rondo/House, even against their starting backcourt.

Shaq needs touches to be effective, and we have a good enough defense to control him (he's still as good as you can get) but every time they ISO down to Shaq the league MVP is just standing around without the ball.

Overall i think the Cavs got better against every team in the that doesn't play in Boston, our additions create so many matchup problems for them its not even fair.


Rondo- Mo Williams
Ray Allen- Delonte West
Paul Pierce- Lebron James
Kevin Garnett- Anderson Verajao
Rasheed Wallace- Shaq

look at all the matchup problems we throw at them defensively...

Rondo can blow by Mo
Ray has a height advantage but Delonte is still a very good defender.
Pierce-Lebron i'd call even
Verajao can handle the pick and roll and is a banger but KG is one of the best players ever.
Shaq can't cover the pick and roll at all, and Anderson can't cover both Sheed AND KG.

Not to mention that Perk looks like Usain Bolt compared to Big Aristotle and Big Z.

[Brickowski]

I wouldn't get carried away with this win.  Columbus, OH is not the Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavs are almost unbeatable.  When is the last time the Celtics won a game there?

Plus, next Tuesday the regular officials will be back, which means that LeBron can travel with impunity and will not be allowed to foul out.

As Belichick says, you don't really know what kind of team you've got until they have played 4-5 games.  In basketball, it takes about 20 games. The Cavs will get themselves straightened out and will be a very tough opponent by the time the playoffs roll around.

[mgent]

I'm not impressed, but I didn't expect to be.  I never thought Shaq would make them that much better.  Cleveland might be a good team compared to the rest of the league, but they're definitely not better than us.  Preseason has nothing to do with it.

They really need Delonte back.

[JHTruth]

Cavs looked weak that game. I think they're due for a letdown this year. I see them winning like 55 games and I mean that. That team is not that good.

That being said, they are tough at home and LeBron gets EVERY call there.

On that note, the league is going to overpromote this guy. I'm watching the highlights and in a game that the Cavs were essentially blown out of, the commentator was like "King James with the huge block! LeBron getting nasty!! Oh LeBron is god!!". It's embarassing to listen to. If we can contain LeBron like that during the regular season, or even close, the Cavs have no chance against us..

[MaxwellSmart86]

Even though the Cavs played their starters,I'm sure there was a letdown because the C's didn't----Do NOT expect the Cavs to come out weak on opening night...It will be a much different Cavs team next week.--I hope the Celtics don't have a false sense of security.

[Rondo_is_better]

Not at all. Shaq is a blackhole, and not the blackhole he once was. Now he just misses hookshots and dives ineffectively for loose balls. This Cavs team without Delonte reminds me of the team that lost to the Spurs in the finals. Good, but not a championship caliber team at all. If they get Delonte back, they'll be better, but not THAT much better. I'd say we saw the Cavs functioning at 70%, 100% being the best they can possibly be with all the players on their team playing to their full potential.