OK, so first off let me say that I think the C's have a great chance at taking this series. I think they match up pretty well against the Cavs, and if they execute their defense perfectly, they should be able to keep Lebron in check, and at the same not give his teammates an easy time.
With that said, I think the C's chances in this series lie with their offensive execution. If the C's score, it allows them to set up their defense, and force the Lebrons into a halfcourt game...and that plays right into the C's strengths. If the C's are turning the ball over, or giving up long rebounds off of bad shots, then it is going to lead to Lebron running free in the open court, which will end the series very quickly.
Unfortunately for the C's, the offense is not going to come as easily as it did against the Heat. I think we have seen enough of this Cavs team over the last few years to get a good idea of how they like to play the Celtics, and where there defensive strengths and weaknesses are in general.
Here are my keys to this series, and what the C's really need to be looking at when gameplanning. They already know what they need to do on defense. It is basically the same schemes as the Heat. But offensively, that's another story...
1. The #1 goal of the Cavs defense against the C's the last couple years has been pretty simple...do not let Ray Allen get his shots. They have consistently put a man on an island with Ray, who never leaves him to help on the team defense. Delonte West has done an excellent job of this in the past, and this year, they can also put Anthony Parker on him, who is bigger, and just as quick.
The other part of this is that when the ball is at the top of the key, they play the passing lanes to take away the Ray's favorite spots. They make it nearly impossible for Rondo to make the pass into the corner, and they help off the curls to make Ray basically come all the way to the ball, and never catch it ready to shoot.
This is going to be tough for the C's to break. There are only two ways to really break it. First, is pushing the ball, and not allow the defense to get set. If the defense is not set, it may allow Ray to get free. The other way is to force the Cavs to respect the big men, to the point that they no longer can afford to put Ray's man on the island (more on this in a minute).
2. None of the PGs can stay with Rondo one on one. Whether it is Mo Williams, Delonte, or Gibson, they simply cannot stay in front of him. However, they have shown that if they play off him with a longer defender, Rondo has a lot of trouble finding ways to be effective.
3. Shaq and Z cannot protect the rim. When they are in there, the C's need to attack this relentlessly.
4. Varajao is one of the best at protecting the rim in the league. This is where things get sticky. If they have Varajao in, and put a longer defender on Rondo, who plays off him, it makes things very difficult for the C's.
This is basically what happened in the huge blown lead for the C's earlier this season. Rondo destroyed Mo Williams and Shaq in the first half, but then when Baby knocked Shaq out of the game, they extended Andy's minutes, and realized that putting Lebron on Rondo was the way to go.
What this does is it almost completely takes away Rondo's drives, since Andy is protecting the hoop, and Lebron basically plays a zone. He continues to play off Rondo, even if he drives, and instead sits in the passing lanes, not allowing him to kick the ball out, knowing that Andy has the basket covered, and Rondo is going to have to put up an insane shot to get it past him. And since Andy is so quick, if Rondo is able to sneak a pass through to the C's big man, he can recover before they can get a layup up, and Lebron is already rotating up to the second big man at the foul line.
So this changes the game for the C's. The C's struggled against the Cavs at times this year, because they didn't adjust to this. And making those adjustments is going to be crucial. They need to find ways to open up the offense when this happens. The easiest way is through transition, but you can't count on that. This is where Doc is going to earn his money, and also where Rondo is going to prove that he cannot be gameplanned away.
Topic: Celtics offense versus Cavs...key to the series? (Read 4887 times)