How do we fix our defense?

[lewro]

Raptors were 40-20 with JV playing. So unless you think they would go 2-20 or worse with a worse centre than Biyombo to step in, no, they did not need Biyombo to get into the playoffs.

They did indeed need him to get the final 2 wins against the Heat to get into the conference finals, though he wasn't much use in the playoffs before then.

PS - no such game has occurred this year where both Poeltl and Nogueira had 5 fouls. We never went to Siakam out of necessity at C - we have however used him as a small C in some lineups regardless of foul trouble depending on matchups. Making stuff up to help your argument won't get you too far.

First, you think biyombo is better than noel?

Second, if we don't have biyombo last yr who plays centre when jv got hurt? Bebe? Who backs him up? How good is that team? Jv could get hurt for more than 20 games and the east is tougher this yr. We could end up the 8th seed or worse. You forget that we got swept the previous two years? Nothing is assured.

You're right 5 was off the top of my head, I should have said foul trouble. Vs sac jp fouled out, siakam had 4, pat had 5, bebe had 3 (second game back from injury - which is a problem for him). That's not solid at all. We have 3 rookies, one is injury prone, how many times do we hear Devlin say "rookie foul", and Pat is a career backup. I'm not putting any faith into Sully until I see him play. This doesn't look like a contending front court. It looks like a rebuilding one.

[lewro]

Yes they are the Champs but neither Love or Irving have been big game players in their career. Only LeBron is a given in any series and they won last year because Irving and Love played better than normal in the playoffs.

Love was hurt when they lost the yr prior.

[lewro]

Channing Frye just fried us for 21 pts in like 2 mins

[Barolt]

Love was hurt when they lost the yr prior.

And Bogut was hurt when they won last year, and Curry wasn't 100%. Injuries happen.

[Axel]

Love was hurt when they lost the yr prior.

It's not about one year it's about the entire career to date. This isn't the like the Heat where you had Wade and LeBron. Irving and Love were both perennial losers with good stats until LeBron. Cavs aren't unbeatable. If you think they are, trade Lowry now and build around JV cause Lowry's Prime years are not going to outlast LeBrons. Trading for Noel won't change that. He's a decent player and might be worth the gamble, but he isn't the cure to our defensive problems and he isn't going to make us beat the Cavs. Trade for him to add an asset but fix the problems if you want to win.

[lewro]

Didn't Kyrie look amazing vs gsw in the finals!? He's not a big game player? What game is bigger!? Demar and Kyle haven't looked big game in many of our series. They got swept twice. I still think they can be big game players. You don't Kyrie is that?
The cavs look even better this yr.

[Lupe]

Yes they are the Champs but neither Love or Irving have been big game players in their career. Only LeBron is a given in any series and they won last year because Irving and Love played better than normal in the playoffs.

No.

Those are about the 2 biggest games you can play in, game 5 and game 7 of the NBA finals against the best regular season team in the history of the game on the brink of elimination (he had 23 points in game 6, so not like he didn't show up there either). 41 points and a 26 point performance including the game winner. Somehow not a big game player? He's hardly gotten to play any big games in his career because he's only been in the playoffs twice and the east was a cakewalk for Cleveland, but when he got his chance he stepped up and punished Golden State while also playing very good defense on Steph Curry I might add.

Love also looked great in the playoffs up until the finals, and he, like Kyrie hasn't gotten a chance to play many big playoff games because he spent most of his career with Minnesota.

That assessment is just way off.

[Axel]

Didn't Kyrie look amazing vs gsw in the finals!? He's not a big game player? What game is bigger!? Demar and Kyle haven't looked big game in many of our series. They got swept twice. I still think they can be big game players. You don't Kyrie is that?
The cavs look even better this yr.

Kyrie was good against the Warriors. But I still don't think he's proven enough to say with certainty that he's going to play really well in April again.

Same as Lowry, DD and JV still need to prove it.

Point is, beating Cleveland now isn't like beating Miami when they had LeBron-Wade-Bosh. If you think they are, then trade Lowry and rebuild around a younger core.

[lewro]

Ageism? Are you even being serious?

Are you suggesting that older players do not lose a step or become slower? Or that Pau is somehow immune to it? Cause that's pretty ridiculous. All players get slower eventually and Pau is 36 years old. Maybe you should watch him and then try to say that he hasn't lost a step.

Statistically pau had the highest dbpm of his career last yr (almost double his career avg.). This yr he is still well above his career avg. I'm suggesting that he is a good defender in reference to the data. Seems like you are suggesting he is a poor defender, based on age, without any evidence. Yes, that is ageism.

[lewro]

Kyrie was good against the Warriors. But I still don't think he's proven enough to say with certainty that he's going to play really well in April again.

Same as Lowry, DD and JV still need to prove it.

Point is, beating Cleveland now isn't like beating Miami when they had LeBron-Wade-Bosh. If you think they are, then trade Lowry and rebuild around a younger core.

I think their bench is deeper than Miami and their roster is more balanced.

I have suggested trading Lowry, several times. People didn't like it here and I'm confident Masai and Casey feel the same. I think I mentioned trading Lowry as recent as yesterday.

Once you are the champ you don't have to prove anything to anyone. You're just building on your legacy.

[Lupe]

Statistically pau had the highest dbpm of his career last yr (almost double his career avg.). This yr he is still well above his career avg. I'm suggesting that he is a good defender in reference to the data. Seems like you are suggesting he is a poor defender, based on age, without any evidence. Yes, that is ageism.

You're losing me with the Pau thing. He makes JV look like Speedy Claxton, he'd make our defense even worse.

[Axel]

Statistically pau had the highest dbpm of his career last yr (almost double his career avg.). This yr he is still well above his career avg. I'm suggesting that he is a good defender in reference to the data. Seems like you are suggesting he is a poor defender, based on age, without any evidence. Yes, that is ageism.

No. Saying that a 36 year old 7' C is slower than he used to be isn't ageism, it's reality.

My point was that Pau is in a different system and is not asked to defend the same way JV is. Pau, at 36 years old, isn't going to be any better at stopping guys on the perimeter than JV is. Pau, at 36 years old, isn't going to be able to move any faster on help rotations. So while Pau has had good success in his system, the idea that he could take over JVs role and play it better, at this stage of his career is rather foolish. It doesn't make me discriminating against players based on age, it's accepting the reality and the context.

[Axel]

Once you are the champ you don't have to prove anything to anyone. You're just building on your legacy.

Bullshit. Last year is done and over with, Cavs won't win any titles based on last year's legacy.

[McRealistic]

Pau is not the answer to our defence. I watched almost every single game he played for the Lakers and defence is not the strongest part of Pau's game.

[Mess]

Maybe putting blind faith in DBPM is a bad idea.