Wow, just wow

[MMacOH]

Here is what irritates me as a Cleveland fan today:

Mike Brown deciding to not play JJ Hickson, Jamario Moon or Delonte West for any meaningful minutes.  Brown putting Z in, which plays right into Boston's defense.  There is an article on cleveland.com talking about how Brown is losing the team.  He is gone after this year, period.

Lebron playing the worst playoff game of his career and not seeming to care.  There is a growing part of me that believes that Lebron is done with Mike Brown and it is affecting his play on the court. 

Mo Williams. 


The Celtics played great last night while the Cavs trotted out ridiculous lineups and played with no passion.  Brown refused to make any adjustments until the game was well out of hand.  Brown still refuses to put his best lineup out on the court.  The Cavs don't have much of an answer for Boston unless Lebron dominates a game. 

[slamtheking]

Here is what irritates me as a Cleveland fan today:

Mike Brown deciding to not play JJ Hickson, Jamario Moon or Delonte West for any meaningful minutes.  Brown putting Z in, which plays right into Boston's defense.  There is an article on cleveland.com talking about how Brown is losing the team.  He is gone after this year, period.

Lebron playing the worst playoff game of his career and not seeming to care.  There is a growing part of me that believes that Lebron is done with Mike Brown and it is affecting his play on the court. 

Mo Williams. 


The Celtics played great last night while the Cavs trotted out ridiculous lineups and played with no passion.  Brown refused to make any adjustments until the game was well out of hand.  Brown still refuses to put his best lineup out on the court.  The Cavs don't have much of an answer for Boston unless Lebron dominates a game. 

I actually said in the game thread last night that it was a classy move for Brown to give Z some time in what will be his last game in Cle this year.     Perhaps a bit too cocky at the time and not to jinx the C's now but I may have been on target with that one.

[MMacOH]

Giving Z some time is okay, but not the amount of time he played.  Just too much.


I think people in Cleveland are forgetting how good Boston really is and their fake sense of entitlement is finally catching up with them.  There are tons of Cavs fans right now ready to get rid of Lebron.  Ready to fire Mike Brown (although I tend to agree on this one).  All of this because they are losing to Boston who is just a better team when the Big 3 and Rondo are playing well.

I think it was 'openairmovie' who compared the teams at a one on one level a while ago and Boston has better players at every position (outside of small forward) when they are playing at their peak level. 

The Cavs need Lebron to be superhuman to beat Boston.  Maybe it will happen, I hope it does.  But, I think major changes are coming in the offseason

[Rondo2287]

For once i actually agreed with the TNT announcers.  I think in the third quarter of that game the Cav's believed the celts were a better team.

[Kuberski33]

Did anyone catch the glowing words Fratello had for the Cleveland owner late in the game?  Think he could be lobbying for another shot with the Cavs?

[the_Bird]

I gotta believe that all of the hype about LeBron's time in Cleveland being short is impacting his teammates, as well.  I mean, are you going to go balls-out for a guy that you *know* is going to bail on you in a couple of weeks?

[crownsy]

Here is what irritates me as a Cleveland fan today:

Mike Brown deciding to not play JJ Hickson, Jamario Moon or Delonte West for any meaningful minutes.  Brown putting Z in, which plays right into Boston's defense.  There is an article on cleveland.com talking about how Brown is losing the team.  He is gone after this year, period.

Lebron playing the worst playoff game of his career and not seeming to care.  There is a growing part of me that believes that Lebron is done with Mike Brown and it is affecting his play on the court. 

Mo Williams. 


The Celtics played great last night while the Cavs trotted out ridiculous lineups and played with no passion.  Brown refused to make any adjustments until the game was well out of hand.  Brown still refuses to put his best lineup out on the court.  The Cavs don't have much of an answer for Boston unless Lebron dominates a game. 

TP MAC, even though i know it's probably the last thing you want.

I feel for ya man, it sucks when your team comes out and lays an egg, even though i want to finish it off and rip the Cavaliers hearts out Thursday, I always enjoy when you take the time to post your thoughtful insights and participate in the discussions here.

I think you've hit it right on the head, as usual. What would really scare me Thursday night is if Brown runs out a fast athletic lineup without Shaq in it. Shaq and Z absolutely play not only to our defense, but to our offense as well.

When Brown has Z or Shaq out there, he almost guarantee's us a chance in transition off every rebound, as neither big can run the floor like ours can. That leads to options for rajon in transition, and that is one of our core strengths.

I'd honestly be alot more concerned if brown ran out something like:

Pf:Jamision
C: sideshow bob

or

PF: hickson
C: sideshow bob

as despite varajo's lack of size, i feel like they give you more of what is a recurring problem for us, fast athletic bigs.

I've never understood why the cavs built in essence a half court team around lebron and limit themselves. I understand the conventional thinking is that you have to be a solid half court team in the playoffs, but if I was ferry, I'd surround lebron with good athletic defenders who can run the break.

Thats why i was so ecstatic when the Amare deal fell through, he's the perfect type of big to pair with lebron. Shaq and Z are not.

LBJ is an absolute nightmare for the other team in transition. When they settle into a half court game and run it through shaq in the post, I'm almost relieved.

As the Celtics, I'll take LBJ as a half court player over a transition nightmare every day.

[papa shuttlesworth]

TP from me too, Mac.  I always enjoy your posts.  I think people can be big fans of teams and still have normal discussions about the sport, recognizing the places where they might be a little biased.

I'm not sure how much Varejao's back is hurting, but other than LeBron, he is the Cav I am the most afraid of.  He seems like pure hustle and annoyance, and that skill works very well against the Celtics.  I hope the Cavs continue to use Shaq as much as possible.

[Greenbean]

MMac. Sorry for the rough game but I think we all know on this blog that this series is far from over.

I also agree with your assesment that Mike Brown wet the bed in this one.

However, Big Z seemed like a great move to me. Opens up the paint a little for LeBron to operate. It also really fired up the crowd. The onyl thing is he should have replaced Shaq, not supplemented him.

Big Z was actually a +9 in his 14 minutes on the floor in a 32 point blowout. Pretty telling if you ask me.

[MattG12]

TP to Mac!

I think it's safe to say you are my favorite non-celtics fan poster on this blog. Then again all of the other non-celtics fan posters are usually trolls so...

Anyway, 1 more TP gets you to number 100, congratulations!

I'd say good luck in the rest of the series but I hope to see your team get destroyed and see LeBron crying as he runs off the court in Boston.

[Greenbean]

TP to Mac!

I think it's safe to say you are my favorite non-celtics fan poster on this blog. Then again all of the other non-celtics fan posters are usually trolls so...

Anyway, 1 more TP gets you to number 100, congratulations!

I'd say good luck in the rest of the series but I hope to see your team get destroyed and see LeBron crying as he runs off the court in Boston.

Gave him the hundo.

[Eddie20]

Going with Z and Gibson over Hickson and West were mistakes. Do any of those 4 players even know with any certainty if they're going to be part of the rotation on Thursday?

[Greenbean]

Going with Z and Gibson over Hickson and West were mistakes. Do any of those 4 players even know with any certainty if they're going to be part of the rotation on Thursday?

Going small poses the biggest threat to the Celtics. Brown is extremely reluctant to go that route fearing Boston's size adavantage they are already exploiting with KG.

Since Brown refuses to go small he should be going with Z over Shaq without a doubt. Shaq isnt even commanding double teams and he is not even rebounding. He is bringing nothing. His 21 points came at the expense of proper spacing within the offense and his production did not lead to anything else. He stinks now.

[Celtic]

I guess I'll continue the TP parade for Mac for being brutally honest when he probably doesn't want to be.

I felt before the series started that the Cavs should be playing Hickson over Shaq, especially against the C's. He's athletic quick and aggressive on offense and defense. Anytime Shaq has scored in this series I have been happy because I know the Cavs aren't running their optimal offense. It means they have waited for him to get down court and usually have had to use the entire shot clock.

Frankly anytime Lebron isn't driving and a perimeter player isn't hitting a three, the Celtics are doing their job.

If Brown wants to really force the issue in game 6 he should start Hickson and split the minutes with Varejao. Both players are a thorn in the Celtics side and are probably the most effective players to pair with Lebron.

I always thought Mo was pretty overrated, but that's neither here nor there, he is a bit of a front-runner, he will pile onto a lead, but will almost never create one, especially with Rondo chasing him. When defended one on one Mo doesn't have much to offer, he has a nice pull up jumper but it's usually there because of James' driving.

The Lebron on Rondo experiment was silly, Brown got fooled by the press/fans/Lebron into thinking it was a good strategy. It tires Lebron out and it makes him focus so much on defense over his offense. When guarding Paul or Ray it's a much more natural game for him and he can really get into a rhythm. The Cavs don't really have anyone that can guard Rondo, as Rajon has figured out Parker, put Delonte on him, he's your best hope.

Finally Brown... is not a good coach, his adjustments are atrociously ill conceived and reactionary. He does not seem to think well on the fly and when Lebron isn't there to take over the game, he offers no solutions.

[Eddie20]

Going with Z and Gibson over Hickson and West were mistakes. Do any of those 4 players even know with any certainty if they're going to be part of the rotation on Thursday?

Going small poses the biggest threat to the Celtics. Brown is extremely reluctant to go that route fearing Boston's size adavantage they are already exploiting with KG.

IMO, the Cavs best lineup vs. us would be: Hickson and Varejao at the 4/5, Lebron (vs Pierce), West (vs. RA), and Parker (vs. Rondo). Not sure how often, if it all, that 5 has been on the floor together.