Indians Sweeps Rays, Pull Within Seven Games
May 29, 2009“A Building Problem” – Blue Jackets Work to Stave Off Relocation Talk
May 29, 2009You know the drill. These are somewhat random observations from watching the Cavs keep it going…
Despite what the TNT crew had to say after last night’s game, I think there are a few things to build on going to Orlando. Sure, they aren’t “aha we’ve figured the Magic out” things, but how much of an edge do we really need? These games are being decided by a basket either way for the most part.
The first positive is the ‘new’ isolation play. Yes. I went there. I’m a little surprised to hear people say “same old offense”. If you really break it down, this is a much better option than the old LeBron dribbles near half-court and ends up chucking an off balanced three pointer. First off, LeBron catches the ball at the free throw line (or at least he did most of the time, a couple times he was pushed out a little further.) LeBron with the ball at the free throw line with nobody else in the lane is essentially a post up, but he has more room to work with than catching the ball near the baseline.
Second, everyone else is in a position to score immediately. If they choose to double team, the pass snaps to a wide open shooter (Williams and Gibson deep or Zydrunas from 15 feet) or a cutter (Varejao.) If the Magic waits until he has made his move (which is really just two dribbles and he’s at the rim) then it is too late. You know that Dwight was absolutely itching to get in there and mix it up with James, but he had 5 fouls already. He had to stay out of the lane, and when he did jump in there LeBron went right at him and smartly got him out of the game.
But perhaps the best part is that LeBron’s fade-away 30 footer at the end of the shot clock is already eliminated. He still pulled up for a couple jumpers, but they were much closer and less off-balanced. Giving him the ball at the free throw line is the equivalent of giving Dwight or Tim Duncan the ball on the low block.
Another positive I saw is that when the Cavs push the tempo Orlando really wants no part of it. They had the Magic on their heels at times last night, and they need to do it again. Orlando would much rather the Cavs play half-court basketball where they can funnel everything into Dwight Howard and complain about foul calls. (Seriously, is that part of the pre-game strategy meetings? Does Van Gundy walk around and remind everyone to complain about the officials every chance they get? Oh, wait. He must not because we certainly would have seen that on TNT’s coverage. It really is ridiculous at this point. It’s kind of like this series is a Van Gundy based reality show.)
I’m sure the Magic will try and make some adjustments to this before tomorrow. At least we’re finally forcing them to make an adjustment.
18 Comments
totally agree re: the ‘new’ isolation play, and with pushing the tempo.
re: van gundy, though, i have to admit that i find him a compelling character. it’s like everybody’s down on his luck uncle got a job coaching an nba team. even my girlfriend and sister, don’t like him, but they always want to hear what he says when we’re watching the games. think he probably has six times more charisma than coach brown, for whatever that’s worth. not suprised that tnt has the cameras on him, that’s all.
“You know that Dwight was absolutely itching to get in there and mix it up with James, but he had 5 fouls already. He had to stay out of the lane…”
You mean he can’t stay in the lane for the entire possession?
Do we really need Mike Brown to be on camera to know what hes saying?
I propose that the live chat forums stay opened past the end of the game and into the tnt postgame coverage so we can chat about what EJ, Kenny, Charles, and Reggie are saying.
One game at a time!
@ #4 – what rhymes with ‘Open thread’?
Ya what the hell is with the “Van Gundy Cam” in the huddle 24/7??? and we cannot lose to the magic, just simply cannot. I will not lose to a bunch of cry baby smartasses – wipe that grin of ur face Dwight (and when did rafer alston get the right to complain about every call on the road might I add?!?)
great article, summin it up perfectly.
dwight’s smile and clap act is really mind crushingly annoying
and I am with whoever is through having to sit and listen to Ron Jeremy everytime they come back from commercial.
they are trying really hard to make him look like a great coach
“Keep playing hard!”
“Get it to 6 points”
“my mustache smells of fine perfumes and cats”
I am sick of Van Gundy but I’m more sick of Hedo and Rashard’s square heads. When they’re at the foul line it’s all I can see. Stop having square heads!
they always have the camera on svg so that they can capture the moment that he physically chokes on tape. shaq requested this
SVG is even haunting today’s banner.
i too am completely sick of the officiating. i mean, howard should be allowed to swing his elbows at whoever he wants, right?
Howard complains about the officials calling the 3rd and 6th foul on him on his BLOG. I said it last night during the live chat. LeBron isolated at or near the foul line is fine with me. The difference last night was the guys getting the feeds in the corners were hitting their shots. Do that again and play a little bit better in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and we come back to the Q for game 7. Also, forget doubling Ho. Stick with the shooters.
Delonte has a hip pointer. Hopefully it doesn’t limit him too much.
If you haven’t seen this, yet, it’s good stuff.
(Edit: Video was posted in today’s WWW)
It would be nice to see Delonte in Lebron’s spot on some possessions maybe not in the fourth but early on. The Cavs had some success with he and Lebron in the post in Game 4 but got away from it without really being stopped. Hopefully Alston and Pietrus remain just bodies on Saturday Night.