Game #72: Toronto Raptors 129 - Cleveland Cavaliers 132

[Demographic Shift]

He's only 31 ffsakes. He's in his prime

33 years young last December...not that thirty three is old..
but .....
in pro sports you may not be at the end of the road.. but you can see it...

[golden]

Agree... Norm still has the speed and accleration that you come with....

This summer... He is going to spend a lot of time learning when to go.. when to pass.. and when to shoot in the new offense....

I have no idea why he has not picked up on it but he hasn't. Right now he is a highlight film of what not to do.... This season just needs to get over for him so he can reset and reload over the summer and come back as the player he can be. There is a lot of room to the ceiling for him on translating his considerable physical skills to consistent production.

It's not just the offense. Norm lacks the ball-handling skills other than straight ahead drives to be effective at the NBA level. He has ZERO craftiness in his game. Zero, zilch, nada. It's a red flag when you see a guy like Pascal, who in one off-season developed some basic ball skills and timing to actually beat guys off the bounce with a slight hesitation dribble, plus a cross-over. Norm has no such rudimentary trickery in his arsenal. He needs at least one full off-season training at the Manu Ginobili Institute of Old Man Game.

[The Great One]

This

Serge and OG can't do shit on LeBron. Jonas is a problem overall but he can score easily. Siakam is the only one who can reasonably check LeBron 1 on 1 without allowing easy peneration that leads to scrambles and open threes.

— William Lou (@william_lou) March 22, 2018

LeBron might try to bully siakam in the post but you take your chances there and stay at home on the shooters.

Cavs defense can't stop anyone it's really funny to watch sometimes.

— William Lou (@william_lou) March 22, 2018

[Demographic Shift]

I also want to point out that this is the best i've seen LeBron play. And this is his 15th year. He can still jump like he's 18. He is still an above average athlete. 31 year old T-Mac couldn't jump anymore.

I've never seen an athlete like this since......Barry Bonds. I'm not saying LeBron is on steroids but this is not normal.

I think he definitely is. His body is truly incredible, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone with a body even as close as good as his when it comes to a combination of strength, size and athleticism. Combine that with his age and his injury history or lack thereof and it gets pretty suspect.

I'm saying he's in steroids. He's a friggin near billionaire. Not only that but his empire depends on stretching this thing out a few more years. Why in the fuck wouldn't he cheat?

I'm willing to give LeBron the benefit of the doubt. It's entirely possible that he hit the genetic lottery, both in terms of his physical prowess, AND exceptional durability. And let's not forget how meticulous he is with his season-long training.

Felt the same way with Bonds back in the early 2000's.

Having said that, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if it's one day revealed that LeBron is/was a cheat.

The science of genetics would certainly welcome a case study such as this where the known outcomes of the aging process are somehow stalled. Or we check to see if he is a Terminator 2 class Cyborg.

[KeonClark]

Agree... Norm still has the speed and accleration that you come with....

This summer... He is going to spend a lot of time learning when to go.. when to pass.. and when to shoot in the new offense....

I have no idea why he has not picked up on it but he hasn't. Right now he is a highlight film of what not to do.... This season just needs to get over for him so he can reset and reload over the summer and come back as the player he can be. There is a lot of room to the ceiling for him on translating his considerable physical skills to consistent production.

Norm is at his best when you don't notice norm. Play d and hit open shots. Dish to an open man on those drives. Don't turn it over.

It's like he's trying to live up to his contract or his pre season hype. Because of this he's been passed by every other young guy on the team

[Demographic Shift]

If you're looking for reasons why this game proved that the Raptors can't win in the playoffs, you'll find them. If you're not, it's one game of 82, and a tough loss, but also an understandable one against LeBron trying to make a point.

The reality is, Cleveland is 8-2 against the Raptors in the playoffs the last two years, but only 3-2 at the ACC in the playoffs, and this is a better version of the Raptors than those teams, with a better home court advantage, and the Raptors have homecourt advantage in the playoffs.

That should matter in a month or two.

Yepper ...unless the Cavs of last year are suiting up against the Raps of last year... comparisons are irrelevant.
These are two different teams from last years iterations....

[Demographic Shift]

I was watching Powell closely last night. He's the only guy that's not been able to adjust at all to the new playbook. In the past he was not afraid to charge to the rim and make a play for himself. He's pretty good in isolation.

It's like he's second guessing his natural instinct to attack the rim.. so he makes an errant pass that ends up as a turn over. He's still not a great outside shooter so he won't be able to provide much their consistently.

Powell is still talented. He's got nice handles. He has energy. He's got length so can be a tough defender. He's just not suited for our new system. Maybe he can adapt, but he's been given a lot of time to figure it out already.. we're going into game 73 on Friday already.

Agree... Norm still has the speed and accleration that you come with....

This summer... He is going to spend a lot of time learning when to go.. when to pass.. and when to shoot in the new offense....

I have no idea why he has not picked up on it but he hasn't. Right now he is a highlight film of what not to do.... This season just needs to get over for him so he can reset and reload over the summer and come back as the player he can be. There is a lot of room to the ceiling for him on translating his considerable physical skills to consistent production.

[KeonClark]

Lol, DeRozan hit that shot, and then started running up court as if it was the 2nd quarter....instead of fouling immediately. Wasted a good 3 seconds.

Yep Kyle had to come sprinting from Halfcourt. Led to a hail Mary no chance desperation of the game tying 3 attempt

[KeonClark]

He's only 31 ffsakes. He's in his prime

[Nilanka]

Another thing that annoyed me last night was the Derozan long 2 with 10 secs left. wtf was that all about? you're down by 3 dude not 2. It reminds me a lot of the OT loss against Milwaukee where he took a layup instead of giving it to a 3pt shooter with 1 sec left on the clock.

Lol, DeRozan hit that shot, and then started running up court as if it was the 2nd quarter....instead of fouling immediately. Wasted a good 3 seconds.

[suspenders]

While LBJ is definitely on another level, it is naive to not think that most (all?) professional athletes have dabbled in... some sort of "recovery aides".

This does not downplay his (or any athletes) ability to play sports at a professional level. "Recovery aides" do not directly make you a better shooter, better dribbler, or increase your IQ.

They do just that - help you "recover better"...

[DanH]

He's only 31 ffsakes. He's in his prime

33, but sure.

[DanH]

I've been beating the fatigue drum about this game, but I forgot this was one of the March games ESPN highlighted as essentially schedule losses.

March 21: Toronto at Cleveland | MahScore 8

This game is televised on ESPN ... and it might get ugly. Sorry, Raptors. You faced three teams that were on schedule alert this season, and now it's time that you face those same obstacles. Oh, and you'll do so while playing LeBron James ... in what will be your fifth game in seven days, your third game in four days and the second of a back-to-back set. You'll play in Orlando on March 20, then head out immediately after for Cleveland -- a fairly long flight, mind you -- to face the Cavaliers the next night. The Cavaliers enter this game with a one-day rest advantage.

[Superjudge]

I also want to point out that this is the best i've seen LeBron play. And this is his 15th year. He can still jump like he's 18. He is still an above average athlete. 31 year old T-Mac couldn't jump anymore.

I've never seen an athlete like this since......Barry Bonds. I'm not saying LeBron is on steroids but this is not normal.

He's only 31 ffsakes. He's in his prime

[tDotted]

Why is that encouraging? Cavs can't defend for sh*t, so a big offensive night was expected.

Cavs were 21st in the league in defense last season.

Raptors posted a measly 101.4 ORTG on the Cavs' home floor in the playoffs. That would rank 2nd last in the league right now.

What is discouraging is: (1) the defense fell off the cliff last night, (2) Casey couldn't make in-game adjustments or get the substitutions right, (3) one of our all-stars didn't show up, (4) and key role players missed open shots.

Hate to be Skip Bayless, but it does sound like the same old problems we've had against the Cavs the last 2 playoffs.

1) Gave up 130 to OKC and haven't been consistently sharp defensively for a while. Probably a fatigue issue more than anything

2) The biggest adjustment he had to make last night was playing JV more down the stretch.. Which is amazing because in year's past he was a huge negative against them every time

3) The games where we beat the Cavs in the postseason, DeRozan and Lowry were combining for 65-70+ points a night. The fact that they only had 45 between them, LeBron had a historic night, the Cavs shot 60% from 3 and this WASN'T a blowout probably means...

4) the role players DID show up. This was the Cavs best offensive display all year and this game was still ours for the taking. LeBron 2nd stint Cavs have only shot 60% from 3 two other times in the past 4 years (vs Detroit and vs Atlanta) and they won both games by 35 points a piece. There's no way in hell we're in a position to win this game in past years with no-shows like Carroll and Patterson stinking it up. The bench scoring is going to keep us in every game this postseason and from there, anything can happen.