DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs/NBA playoffs continued

JC

Klay is overrated. He hasn't played well against us.

I read somewhere that a coach said if you really want to stop GSW, you have to get on top of the screen, which obviously is easier said than done.

I'd be pounding that into Irving's head if we got into a series with them.

I almost wonder if it would be better to have Irving come off the bench (not that ego would allow) but wouldn't be better to have a better defender, Delly, on Curry and then let Irving score his points on their second guy?

I realize that we'd be losing critical offense from the first team but with Lebron, Love, and Smith matched up with Delly and TT, it seems we can still score at a high level...

Just something I was thinking about.

Yeah you have to try to get over top ... the problem is they do it form 35 feet LOL (which is unheard of with the rate of success they have). You also risk Curry getting VERY loose and carving up the D and getting guys in foul trouble.

It's pick your poison

With the way Curry has played in the playoffs, I'd say no. He's the team's leading scorer thus far.

He's also doing a better job of moving the ball around, and when he does resort to going iso, he's making quicker decisions.

The team as a whole has really done a good job of avoiding bad possessions, and last second heaves. I saw people complaining that they went back to that on Sunday, but as this thing goes along, when the Cavs have a lead late in the game, you're going to see Lebron bleed the clock. He can still get his shot off, and he can still find an open guy, so it's absolute murder on the other team. It worked early in the Golden State series, and then obviously the Cavs really didn't have a whole lot of leads in games 4, 5. and 6.

I have no problem with that, because it kills clock, limits turnovers, and Lebron's passing ability still gets you a good look. It's the Cavs version of Tressel-ball.

I think the super high screens you probably have to live with. If we lose a series because he's bombing 3's from half court, I think that's probably the lesser of two evils.

Yeah, I am not saying we should be favored, but I think we have a shot.

The talk between you and Sperg about the defense is very relevant. I think our biggest problem is that our perimeter defense is very poor. We allow too much ball penetration, which forces one of our bigs--usually TT--to rotate. Thus far, our help-the-helper defense has been poor. Guys have been late on their rotating down to box out the guy who originally provided help.

What's worked best is when LeBron has actually been the first guy to help. TT is good at helping-the-helper and he slides down and blocks out the previously unguarded guy. Then Love cleans up on the boards. Watch for it next game.

I think you guys are all over the high screens. Good call. It's really tough to defend because of Curry's brilliance, their ball movement, and they also have a knock-down shooters. There was one game earlier this year where San Antonio beat GS. They would funnel Curry to the middle......and they did it early, where he was beyond the 3-point line. They then brought up Aldridge to double Steph. He's very long and they kinda boxed him in. He wasn't able to get off the shot obviously, but more importantly, his passes out of the double were later than normal because of LA's length. It was very effective. Of course, the next time they played, GS lit SA up. LOL...They made the first pass early and then ran Curry off of a bunch of screens while one of the other guys handled the ball up top. That's the thing.......they have a lot of guys who can handle it and are good passers.

I really hope the Cavs play GS. I think it will be extremely entertaining............as long as we don't resort back to hero/Iso ball.

Well, I'm not insinuating that Curry/Klay are going to necessarily SHOOT from that far out ... it's if they are able to turn the corner/reverse directions and get into the defense ... when the screen is that high they can cause major problems if you get caught going over the top.

Ideally we DO want them to shoot contested, deep shots in the half court; however, the very threat of them being ABLE to do it is what is problematic

BINGO. There in lies the problem and the biggest mismatch we face defensively.

If we face Toronto, the Cavs will sweep again.

Good job by the Raptors!

If we're gonna beat Golden State, Kyrie needs to take his game another level. He needs to play like Damian Lillard is against the Warriors. He CAN do it.