I have a number of things in my head regarding my Cleveland Cavaliers and their second round playoff series against the Boston Celtics. As of this post they are down 2-0 and James is STRUGGLING. I can't cap it enough! Boston has found a way to not only stop him but shut him down. Their defense is much like San Antonio's last year in the Finals. They double him and slide a zone in his direction taking away the easy lanes for layups or dunks and forcing him to make jumpers. He hasn't. You have to hand it to the Celtics and their coaching staff. If only "The Squint" Mike Brown could coach like that.........
Here are my thoughts:
**If LeBron isn't hitting his outside shot and the Celt's are taking away the ability to drive aggressively, why not post him up? We all know you need to drive to the hoop if your shot doesn't go. Brown and James know that too. You can see LeBron trying to drive. You can hear Brown reference it in his interviews. Unfortunately in the same breath that Brown says driving to the rim is the right thing to do, he also states LeBron should still shoot and if he misses five in a row not to hesitate the sixth time to shoot the open jumper. (The Plain Dealer) I understand not messing with the confidence of your most important player, especially in this situation where he is so way off with his shot that it is most likely in his head and you need to avoid making that worse. But after 5 misses in a row keep shooting anyway? That scares me. Hopefully LeBron knows better.
So why can't LeBron set up in the block and post up Pierce or whoever is guarding him? Try it with a smaller lineup. Maybe Boobie, Wally, West and Z with James. For the record: feel free to switch Wally out of that for another guard type player. But keep it small to give room down low. Z will gladly fade out of James' way. This way things won't be clogged for James when he posts up. Of course you don't want Z roaming too far out because if LeBron can so much as get it on the rim Ilgauskas can tip a miss back in. Z lives off that and I'm fine with it. Can James post up even if he passes out of the post once they double team him? Is that the problem? Is passing our of the block too difficult for LeBron? Could be. He is big, but not 7 feet. I'd like to see it though. At least mix it up and hopefully open some things up with some variety. I am tired of this awful, middle school offense.
***Do we really have to buy into this "LeBron and the rest of the team" mentality? Do we really have to believe LeBron doesn't have a "pippen" or anything? I think the team is now believing it. I think they are buying into the media's insistent message that this team is nothing beyond James. They very well might be. I am not going to argue that point one bit. This isn't my point. My point is: Does the team have to believe it right or wrong, true or not?
Regardless of whether this is the Cleveland LeBronaliers or not, the team can't think that way. They must believe they are legit players. And they can justify it. Gibson showed last year he can shoot, drive and make free throws as well as get hustle plays and timely steals. Z has more than proven over ten plus years than he can score. He can be a legit threat as long as he is out of foul trouble. Devin Brown gets hard work buckets. Delonte West does well when he stays aggressive. Sasha and Wally are hit and miss but one of them can get hot. Joe Smith is gritty and has a nice baseline, mid range jumper. Andy should never touch the ball unless passing to someone or rebounding misses. AND WHERE THE HECK IS DAMON JONES?!!!!
The Cavs must think in their heads they are more than LeBron. They cannot sit there and expect him to make it happen and wait for him to pass them the ball. They can't rely on him to find his shot again or wait for him to find it. Let's just assume he is never going to shoot well again and figure out how to win despite that.
****AND WHERE THE BLEEP IS DAMON JONES?! I know he has issues. I know his defense is lacking and the Cavs have actually played decent defense this first two games. That has been lost in this mess with James. They have held the Big Three to under 90 points both games. But with no offense you can't win these games. So.....get some offense! Amon Jones has found his J this year. In past years I would have been thrilled to see Amon trapped at the end of the bench, but now that he can shoot again and we need something, anything......get him out there!!!!
*****I still love my Cleveland Cavaliers.
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