DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs Discussion Continued

we woke up finally ... Kyrie playing very well ... Love can't buy a bucket

Love Tristian on the glass and his energy

Celts are really trying to spread us out and take it to the basket, but we can't lose to them

We out talented Boston in the 1st half.

We've got Kyrie and Lebron. That's enough against Boston.

LeBron hurt a little...

Great game. They did a nice job shaking off the early bad start. I don't know if it was jitters or whatever, but they didn't panic when things were ugly for a bit.

Long way to go.

1 down ... 15 to go


In order to win the east it MOST LIKELY looks like this is our path:

Boston
Washington
Atlanta

15 more wins needed.

*fixed

Interesting game. Some observations:

--LeBron came out like a wild man. I loved it. On the bench, he said it was about getting his second wind. I think it was about setting the tone for his young teammates. I respected that.

--Unfortunately, his teammates did not match [not remotely close] his defensive intensity.

--The help defense was putrid.

--Man, we have a lot of weapons. This is the best talent LBJ ever played w/in Cleveland. It might be the best he ever played with, but they got some proving to do.

--Love came out tight, but he ended up being productive. LBJ helped get him in the game and so did Blatt. Love is the key if we are to win the championship.

--Kyrie was unreal. He was not tight. No nerves. He is special. Just gotta play w/a bit more discipline. If those tough shots don't fall, it's a different story.

--I still don't get why people criticize TT. The guy is huge for us. Keeps plays alive. Finishes at the rim. Role player, which is exactly what we need.

--We have a lot of 3-point options. That's going to be huge.

--Gotta improve the defense, especially in regards to stopping penetration to the hole.

--I love our inside--out action.

--Fun game to watch.

Kevin Love played a really nice game, but man if he could ever shoot a better percentage, this team might realistically be impossible to beat.

Yeah, I think he can. And I think he is the key to us winning it all.

LBJ is going to be LBJ.

Kyrie is not afraid of the big stage.

We need that third guy and that is KLove. He was so tight at the beginning of the game. I think he is somewhat intimidated about playing w/LeBron. He doesn't really like his role.

I think it is important for him to accept his role, for LBJ and Kyrie to recognize his importance, for Blatt to get him touches in different spots.

I liked the game plan today. They kept going to him.

One thing I would like to see the Cavs add..........release someone on the shot. Love is a great outlet passer. We really don't see that aspect of his game w/the Cavs like we did when he was w/Minnesota.

It's also important for JR to hit open 3's. With him & Love hitting shots the Cavs cannot be stopped on offense. Lebron and Kyrie are going to punish teams when they attack the rim constantly. I think when we play Chicago that LBJ & Kyrie will struggle, but Love and JR will be huge.

how about candy man good enough to go all the way?

I am really impressed with how much Love has improved defensively. He may never be a great defender, but he has improved a great deal. Today he drew ... what .... 2 charges? (or was it more than that?) He was very aggressive down low, and had what .... 8 free throws in a row at one point? I do think that he had more nerves than either Lebron or Kyrie, (who seems to have had his blood frozen this year) and he obviously struggled early on.

I liked the energy Thompson brought into the game, He always seems to do so. He seems to understand his role perfectly now, and his biggest issue is that he is not a great free throw shooter. I think that is a huge compliment to how hard he has worked in all of the other areas of his game. I think that Shumpert is in the same mold ..... man is he a pest on defense, and he is all over the court. He plays a bit out of control at times, but he never goes half speed.

Some of the old guys really showed their value ..... with James Jones making a crucial 3, and Shawn Marion coming in and playing excellent defense, and grabbing a couple of steals in just 1 minute on the floor.

I haven't seen anyone mention Mozgov, but he had 3 big blocks today as well. His presence in the middle helps us in so many ways.

It was really cool seeing Lebron and Love trade deep outlet passes to one another in the game as well.

I admit to a little concern early on, and then the Cavaliers just took control. Overall a very satisfying game to start the playoffs this year.

I expected a sweep of Boston. They are a nice young scrappy team. They just dont have enough talent, regardless of what Bill Simmons thinks..

The first half of Game 3 in Boston is their only chance to extend this to 5 games. It doesnt get further than that, and I doubt it even gets that far..

This is a good team to play to get us ready for Chicago.

I really like the Clippers this year. I usually think they're overhyped crap, but not this year.

If Paul and Griffin play like they did game one in every game, the Clippers will be nearly impossible to beat.

Blake is very frustrating to watch. He should dominate every PF he faces.


This probably won't be popular, but when I watch Kyrie play, his offensive skill set reminds me of Kobes.

I think I saw joe Haden's brother on tv, 1 down

Typical Cavs to come out with a slow start. Great way to begin though, Go Cavs! Game two tomorrow.

If he was 6'6, we'd probably be talking about him in the same breath as Kobe. He's a bit of a SG trapped in a PG body, but now with Lebron around to help run the offense, I think it's freed up Kyrie to act more the part of a Shooting Guard and it's helped him immensely.

Kyrie won't ever be able to back any one down like Kobe, but he has a killer instinct. That dude lives for draining one in your eye.

Kyrie can post up but he needs to get stronger

he posted up Thomas like a 6th grader

Thomas is like 5'7".

Cavs are sleepwalking early on.

Well they woke up a little bit, but poor JR Smith is ice cold right now. If he was hitting his wide open shots it would be a blowout already.

3 ball just isn't falling right now

Their crappy defense was going to come back to haunt them at some point. They'll still win though.

It's not just defense. It's really bad offense too.

This is a example of a scrappy midmajor team against a blue blood school in college basketball. If this was 1 and done I'd be worried.

If the Celtics somehow manage to get a star, they will be very good. They have all the role players and the coach. They need the icing on the cake.

Yeah, it seems like it's just lazy offense. They'll pass the ball around the outside a few times, then hoist up a bad shot. Or just try a high degree of difficulty dribble move and turn it over.

They kind of look like they just want this series over with, but Boston is playing some inspired ball.

JR Smith with 5 steals as of now. Beast...

Mozgov with 5 blocks too ... and 14 points.

Mozgoz five blocks = career high

JR five steals = career high

... much time to play too.

If Kyrie and JR had their shot dialed in, this game would be over. MUCH better effort in the 3rd, but we still aren't sinking open shots.

10 point lead with under 40 seconds left.

I had to laugh when Zeller went for the huge dunk ..... and no longer had the ball.

Cavs are clearly superior in talent and athleticism, but they look very sloppy. Love what Moz and TT gave us tonight.

We definitely have the better talent, but it seems like we're coasting at times. Or just trying dumb plays. Lebron had a couple of plays where he would drive halfway in, jump up, and then make an awkward pass across court that would get stolen. We need to protect the ball a LOT better than what we have been doing. And we need to play harder during each possession. It seems like we KNOW we're the better team, so we goof-around on a possession and try something high-difficulty just to make it interesting. Then we pour on the gas for a couple of possessions and go up by 10. Only to go back to trying the lazy stuff.

I feel like we might drop a game in Boston if we get too complacent. We SHOULDN'T drop a game, but we really need to take care of business for all 60 minutes.