Everything ECF 2016

[A.I]

Heh well he's shooting 64% in this series right now and we're all tied up. It's more reasonable for that number to drop instead of increase. Sure he could shoot more shots but LeBron the Distributer has fared better through his career than LeBron the Scorer.

He doesn't need to score the whole game. Just the last few minutes in the 4th quarter, he's done that many times. He is a superstar among superstars, we don't have a superstar.

[Barolt]

Heh well he's shooting 64% in this series right now and we're all tied up. It's more reasonable for that number to drop instead of increase. Sure he could shoot more shots but LeBron the Distributer has fared better through his career than LeBron the Scorer.

I was thinking about performances like the game against Detroit in '07 when he scored 25 straight. LeBron can just put his team on his back at times and dominate everyone.

[rightsideup]

Lowry 30
Demar 26
Carroll 29
Patterson 27
Jonas 24
Bismack 23
Joseph 24
Powell (turned 23 today)


From the list above the only people I can see that might go on a little bit of a decline are Lowry and Carroll considering their ages.

We still have a pretty young roster, Im sure everyone from Demar and Jonas to Powell and Joseph will be even better next year.

Moral of this; I see this Raptors team being even better next year and we're already in the ECF this year.

That even said about Lowry at 30. Cuban wrote Nash off and he was mvp twice and made the west finals with a written off grant hill at an even more advanced age.

[A.I]

I was thinking about performances like the game against Detroit in '07 when he scored 25 straight. LeBron can just put his team on his back at times and dominate everyone.

That was almost a decade ago, don't think he'll pull that off again. Its more likely he does what he did in Game 6 (I believe) against the Spurs in the 2013 Finals.

[Bendit]

From Cavaliers Blog on SBnation:

Keys to the game

Today at ESPN, Zach Lowe wrote about how the Cavs' defense has been awful and how the Kyrie Irving/Kevin Love duo is getting ripped apart in the pick and roll. Per Lowe, teams running a pick and roll against Irving and Love and scoring 1.207 points per possession. That would have the worst mark in the league during the regular season. This matters now because of Kyle Lowry, but it'll matter more in the Finals. Pay attention to this now and watch more later assuming the Cavs advance.

What this - and the Cavs' overall really bad playoff defense - hints at is a challenge for Cavs coach Tyronn Lue. Because of the Cavs' roster makeup - Love, Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye all need minutes up front, plus LeBron James needs to play the four - rotation juggling is going to happen. So far, with Love struggling and Frye playing great, it's resulted in some cut minutes. That's not going to change. Love, by the way, hasn't played in the last two fourth quarters.

One defensive tweak the Cavs could try, even if it means taxing LeBron even more, is to have LeBron defend Lowry at times, try to hide Irving on DeMarre Carroll and let J.R. Smith defend DeMar DeRozan. It's not perfect - and Smith has struggled on defense the last two games - but it might be better than sticking with the status quo entirely. More trapping at the top of the key when Lowry or Cory Joseph is the ball handler in the pick and roll is also a card Lue can turn to again. Toronto doesn't really enough off ball shooting to make the Cavs pay for such aggressive traps.

There has been some critiquing of LeBron for not doing enough and some have called on him to do more than he has. There are those that say he needs to score more and just do it all in order for the Cavs to advance here. Last night, by the way, he played 46 minutes and didn't rest in the second half while playing a pretty good all around game.

That, though, sort of defeats the point of having Irving and Love. Both were really good before the last two games and are too talented to be that bad again, probably. Maybe LeBron can do more on defense - he is the best one-on-one defender when the effort is there - but asking him to be everything on offense isn't the best option. This LeBron, with this team, is at his best when he's scoring and facilitating everything. Irving and Love (or at least one them) getting back to making shots fixes so many of the problems the Cavs have had. It's not a end all solution, but it's a pretty strong start.

Fear the Sword's Fearless Prediction

I just can't see the Cavs losing this game and they still should win this series. It might be close and stressful, but I'll take the Cavs 101, Raptors 97.

http://www.fearthesword.com/2016/5/2...game-5-preview



This reviewer isn't so sure.... is he?

[tDotted]

I was thinking about performances like the game against Detroit in '07 when he scored 25 straight. LeBron can just put his team on his back at times and dominate everyone.

Sure he can, but it's often not enough. In the playoffs when he's scored more than 40, he's 6-5. When he's gotten more than 10 assists, he's 10-2. If JR, Love and/or Irving don't show up tonight, (barring a terrible game by the Raps) the Cavs won't win this game.

[Gambino]

Given when Lowry started to actually get starters minutes and his late bloomer status, he might still maintain his effectiveness until his mid-late 30s similar to other late bloomers like Billups and Nash.

[Mess]

Cavs Playoffs	home	away
FG%	48.4	44.3
3P%	45.3	39.9
FT%	74.2	70.5

Cavs Reg. Season	home	away
FG%	46.9	45.2
3P%	36.7	35.8
FT%	75.6	73.9

Player 3P%	HOME	AWAY
JR Smith	45.3	40.8
Kyrie	51.5	40
Love	42.5	39.1
Frye - damn	57.5	64

[Raptorsnz]

One positive is that surely Carroll can't shoot any worse on 3s than he did in Toronto so hopefully the away rims and more friendly to him.

[rightsideup]

love or Andrew?

Was watching nba tv recap after game 4 and Isiah Thomas brought up out of the blue that Andrew versus Love trade was a mistake. Any thoughts?

[92TillInfinity]

My only thought is that referring to Wiggins as "Andrew" is weird.

[Hotshot]

TNT game 5 preview: http://www.nba.com/video/channels/tn...5-preview.nba/

Highlights:

• Shaq blames everything on Kevin Love
• Chuck makes Shaq look foolish.
• Shaq pouts the rest of the segment
• Kenny gives props to Casey
• No one predicts anything

woo woo my turn:

Highlights:
Steven A Smith sounding foolish as usual.
The other guy sounds a bit more reasonable.

[KeonClark]

Was watching nba tv recap after game 4 and Isiah Thomas brought up out of the blue that Andrew versus Love trade was a mistake. Any thoughts?

100% it was a mistake. Love is already redundant in the front court: Tristan can rebound better and Frye can shoot better. Cavs like to play small ball and kyrie, wiggins, Jr smith, lebron and Tristan sounds like a death lineup. Plus he's not close to his peak and love is past his.

I'm sure if lebron could take it back now he would. Proper scouting on love would have shown he never even got Minnesota to an 8th seed. Fake star.

[Barolt]

100% it was a mistake. Love is already redundant in the front court: Tristan can rebound better and Frye can shoot better. Cavs like to play small ball and kyrie, wiggins, Jr smith, lebron and Tristan sounds like a death lineup. Plus he's not close to his peak and love is past his.

I'm sure if lebron could take it back now he would. Proper scouting on love would have shown he never even got Minnesota to an 8th seed. Fake star.

I'm not as convinced. LeBron isn't a shooter, neither is Wiggins. Kyrie isn't a great one. So JR Smith is the only shooter in your proposed small ball lineup.

Any small ball lineup that doesn't have shooters is a bad idea.

[KeonClark]

I'm not as convinced. LeBron isn't a shooter, neither is Wiggins. Kyrie isn't a great one. So JR Smith is the only shooter in your proposed small ball lineup.

Any small ball lineup that doesn't have shooters is a bad idea.

Fair enougu, but: in what world is kyrie not a really good shooter?