DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NBA Finals Discussion III

Not really. Game 6 is only on one day rest, not two. And both of the games that we get with extra rest will be on the road. It's going to be an uphill battle either way.

I guess it isn't lol. Excel explained it better.

Completely agree. It really was the turning point in the game. Especially when Mozgov jumped straight up to defend and got called for a foul. He goes to ask Crawford about it and he tells him to "shut up"

At that point they realized they were playing the officials in addition to Golden State and they sort of lost what little energy they had left. By then, I was hoping someone would shove Joey Crawford into a cameraman.

Could we please just get two more finals games that don't involve either Joey Crawford or Tony Brothers? Is that too much to ask??

I would think the schedule does favor the team with the deeper bench. When heading to the West Coast, you get 3 "free" hours or additional rest so that should be helpful heading into game 5, but that's likely cancelled out by GS having home court. Coming home with only a day inbetween we lose those 3 hours so have that much less time to recover. Even if we pull it out on Sunday it's going to be very hard to come back on Tuesday when Monday goes from 24 hours in the day to 21.

Not only did he tell him to shut up, he was screaming at him. I got really concerned at that point and it seems to have born out that he was ticked off at the Cavs for the rest of the game.

We only have 1 day rest and we have to travel back from CA for the game in CLE. I wish the game Sunday was earlier so we could travel back home that day. In all likelyhood we won't leave until Monday and then play Tuesday. Then game 7 is Friday. I really wish they would have made the game in CLE on Wednesday because of the travel.

I think the whole "jet-lagged" issue is really overblown. The biggest reason being that the games are played at basically the same time anyway. It's an 8:30 EDT tip, rather than a 9pm EDT start this Sunday. That's not going to mess up anybody's clocks. We're also not getting "an extra three hours of rest" for the same reason.

Isn't it Sunday, Tuesday, Friday? Only one day between Sunday and Tuesday.

I would agree with that.. they both spent multiple days in California, flew to Cleveland, spent multiple days there, then they are flying back to California.. Not to mention, they do this for 82 games, flying all over the place... Jet lag shouldn't be an issue.

He did that exact same thing 2 or 3 times in game 3 and it wasn't called and Green threw a fit... then in this game it's suddenly a foul every time... with the same officiating crew.

Call it tight or let them play, I don't really care... but dammit, be consistent.

It was a pretty hard foul with almost no attempt at going after the ball. I wouldn't have given it a flagrant or anything but it was a very hard foul. And we aren't doing that to GS when we have the chance... and we should be. Hell put Perkins in, like GS did with Bogut, and give him 3 minutes to burn 4 of his fouls..

the difference in that foul is this.. LeBron is so big and so strong, that he takes that kind of contact and basically bounces off. If Perkins or Thompson did that to all 190 lbs of Steph Curry it would look like 2nd degree assault he would flop to the ground so hard...

Mike & Mike this morning on ESPN radio...

I kept hearing them say "What can the Cavs do to right the ship!?"

and "What strategy and changes need made to get back on track!?"

Ummmm....

Well....

J.R. Smith, James Jones, and House Party Shumpert just need to not go a combined 3 of 23 (I think that was the number I heard) from 3-point land...

It was a 70-73 game near the end of the 3rd quarter. The Cavs were IN the game, they just stopped making shots. Make some of those shots, and keep playing good defense on CT & SC and they'll be in the game on Sunday.

Crawford's an idiot. He's another one of those guys that thinks people come to see him ref the game. He's like some of those umpires in baseball that think people come see him call balls and strikes.
Whatever... The guy needs to get over himself and realize why we ACTUALLY turn on the television.

I agree with this.

By rights, we should have been swept by GS. They were the best regular season team, played in the more talented West, and they are completely healthy, while the Cavaliers are missing Andy, Kevin, and Kyrie.

This series should be over right now, and it should not have been close.

Instead, GS has won 2 games, and one of those was in OT.

There comes a time when you do everything you can, and it just isn't going to be good enough. I think that last night was one of those games. Lebron beat half to death. Delly fresh out of the hospital. Shumpert with an injured left arm. Add in that GS was absolutely desperate for a win, and .... *Sigh* it's really no wonder that we lost, and lost bad.

However, Sunday night will be another game.

It's not true. After game 5, there is only one night off before game six. It seems nonsensical, but it is what it is.

And I don't want to blow up the coaching staff. I'm just saying I would not be shocked if they decided to part ways after this series. LeBron seems to have a better rapport with Tyron Lue than he does Blatt. And let's face it- whether or not I like Blatt's offensive principles- we're in the business of appeasing LeBron- who's also the de facto GM of the team (we don't get Kevin Love just because of working the phones so much as having the best player in the world). If it's what he wants, it'll be what he gets.

Regardless, there is blame to assign for this team. Yes, they're underdogs, but to get such monster performances from our bigs- while holding the Splash Bros. under their averages- and lose like that is really demoralizing. I know LeBron is going to rest up and put on a world-beating performance on Sunday. I can't say the same for JR or Iman right now. James Jones has always been a defensive liability. I just see no reason not to extend the bench. Our seven man rotation is really closer to six since Jones can't quite be trusted defensively to get a full twenty minutes.

The depth we have if Love and Irving are healthy is a real kick in the balls. We could dust the floor with these guys.

Any evidence to back up these extraordinary claims? This is as bad as what the media does.

It's weird, I don't know what to think of something like this. If Love and Irving were playing the Cavs wouldn't be able to play the defense they've been playing. Very strange.

I don't see why Irving couldn't run around and be a pest like a healthy Delly is. But, I do understand why Love may be a liability on defense.

I see what you're saying, I was thinking of it like the start time in CA would have been the same hour as back East but that would make a 11:00 PM start in CLE and there's no way that works. Makes sense.

Irving is not the pest that Delly is. The thing that Dellevedova has done best is deny Curry the ball, I don't know if Irving could have done that. Either way, having both those guys would be helpful just so the Cavs could have more useful bodies.

Not to mention yesterday when nobody had the confidence to hit a shot they could have sparked the offense for the role players.

I have a question for you guys that say it is not an issue. Have you ever flown across the country? I remember not pooping for a week after one flight to California. No crap.

I am not just talking about how tired you are. It does things to your body. Sports teams have been talking about that for years.

I think you are underestimating it. But, I could be wrong.

Good post.

Did it seem to you that LeBron looked whupped the entire game, even before cutting his head?

He was trying his best, but he looked completely worn out in that last game.

And I am not knocking him. He is playing more courageously than he ever did before. He just looked physically and maybe emotionally drained.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. However, in my opinion, your post and thought process is counter productive to the greater good.

Blatt could have played guys like Miller, Marion, and Perkins and if we would have gotten beat, people would be complaining about him playing guys that don't have anything left in the tank and their best days are behind them and what an idiot Blatt is for thinking they could help.

Look, we need guys to make outside shots. JR, Shump, and JJ give us the best chance to do that. I can maybe see giving Miller a chance, but man, that isn't the freaking key to the series.

Think about it.........Mike Miller deciding the series. I think not!

Nah man, coaching isn't the problem. We are undermanned. We're tired. We are fighting as hard as we can.

We get Love, Kyrie, and Andy back next year and watch out.

People wanna give the Browns FO and coaching staff all the time they need to turn it around, but yet, we go from a lottery team to the NBA Finals in one year w/a rookie HC and some of you are talking about firing him.......even BEFORE we lose.

Goodness!

Can someone explain to me the difference between a "good" screen and an illegal screen?

And since when are you allowed to take both arms and shove the defender guarding you to get open off of those screens?

I will, but I don't even want to watch the series anymore. I have heard analysts say that the refs are letting them play, and that that is beneficial to the Cavs. But, I've only see the refs let the Warriors play physical, bashing Lebron every play, and calling ticky-tack fouls on the Cavs. Yes, the Cavs have gotten away with some contact, but not like the Warriors where they're fouling a guy in the act of shooting and getting away with it.

Illegal screens in the NBA are the same as holding in the NFL. It happens on every play, it's just a matter if a ref wants to call it or not.

I did it just last week. Flew to Chicago/drove to Ohio at the beginning of the month and few back a few days ago. The only thing that was off with me was my sleep schedule. I woke up a few hours earlier when i got back to California, so I just went into work a bit early (and put up a triple double on my project).

These guys are flying direct flights, first class. They aren't crammed into economy and taking 3 connecting flights, while stuffing themselves with junk food. (which is more likely to be the cause of any digestive problems).

The biggest issue I've heard of with cross-country flights in sports is the interruption of schedules. These guys are creatures of habit and usually have a strict wake-up/eat/workout plan for their days. On gameday, they're usually doing specific things at specific times before the game. That's why I said, this probably won't bug them that much ... the tipoff time really isn't changing by much, so they should fit into their daily routine fairly easily.

It's more of an issue in Football where a 1:00pm start time becomes a 4pm start time when you travel to the West Coast.

At any rate, Golden State has been in the same place the Cavs have been for a week now. They're going to have the same "jet-lag" problems we will, if any.

Roll back to DC's post about consistency in calls.

Why can't we have consistency? Is it too much to ask for? I know it's not just in basketball, it's every sport. PI in football, balls and strikes in baseball. It literally drives me nuts.

Refs are terrible in every sport. Get used to it. Everything will be much better when we have robot umpires.

Also, NBA players nap like crazy. Teams sleep, diet, and physical conditioning experts so that players are in peak physical condition for game time. Furthermore, these guys are not traveling in the middle seat of coach.

I don't think it is a non-issue, but I think that it is pretty close to zero.

I think they are flat out exhausted. With the injuries there is a lack of roster depth to rotate players out. The starters have been playing too many minutes for many weeks now.

Bingo.

And they have nowhere else to turn. The Cavs just have to hope that their guys recuperate and then don't get tired again. I fear that the next few games will be similar to Thursday's game. The Warriors just ran them into the ground.

It's crazy that Marion can't even give them like 10 minutes. He was a useful player just last year. They didn't even put him in for garbage time.

yea, we are banged up, too many minutes, playing with more heart than talent right now.

Can't really ask lebron for anything else. Delly, the only thing i ask is be smart when the ball is in his hands.

our Bigs, Mosgov and TT....they are monstrous.

Shumpert is still battling his groin and now shoulder injury. can't ask much more.

But man...JR needs to show up. i mean we need at least a 16 point game from him on sunday. JJ needs to do better getting open.

but look at those players i listed. they are the only ones playing. we might have to really consider getting big Perk and Miller more minutes. Even marion cause he can still defend.

GS has the ability to stay fresh, that's their biggest advantage, and right now it's working.

But man am i proud of this squad. make no mistake, if we lose this series, next season I don't want to be the team playing against us in the playoffs. as long as our starters aren't injured, it's gonna be a slaughter.

Hopefully the NBA changes the rules to seed 1-16 soon. It would just be a better overall product if they did.

So, I'm a pretty casual NBA fan so haven't been watching all year, but were Perkins, Marion, Miller and Harris contributing at all? I'm just wondering what the purpose was signing guys (in 3 of the 4 mentioned) in what appears to be the last season of the careers?

Is it just because we signed them before we made the major mid season trades and thought they could help what promised to be a mid-level team in the short term?

I'm not second guessing because I really don't know what the reasoning was, but it sure seems with hindsight that it would have been better to have some young guys, who even if not very talented, at least they'd have fresh legs and maybe you find a diamond in the rough?

Wouldn't that have made sense even in the regular season? Instead of James sitting for 2 weeks, perhaps he could have played a more normal 20-25 minutes a game...

Anyway, just some thoughts, thanks for any responses.

this made me giggle.

Yep.

I remember where a teammate had a really good play, a timeout was called, and Lebron didn't even turn to his teammates, but just walked to the bench .... like he just had to sit down immediately. I think that he has given his all in this series, and it all caught up to him yesterday. If there is any upside to yesterday's game, it is that Lebron only played 41 minutes. With the head injury, though, I am not sure how big an advantage that is.

I do think that it is all weighing on him, because he so desperately wants to win a title here, and he had such a great chance, and then all of these injuries hit. I think that he is definitely feeling the pressure from that aspect as well.

I think the biggest issue with Lebron's energy is the beating he's taking. Just because he's built like a tank doesn't mean the blows he plays through don't effect him over the long term. I've never seen a "star" player get hacked like he has and not get the call over and over.

I want Blatt to put Perkins in the game and have him set a bunch of these wicked hip check and shoulder throwing screens that Golden State is using and see how it effects the "warriors". I'd like to see Lebron use the two handed push that the Golden State guards use to get open and see how fast the whistle gets blown.

I actually wouldn't mind if our entire team played like the Warriors with illegal screens and shoving defenders out of the way to get open the entire game, and all fouled out just to point out how ridiculously much the refs are letting the Warriors get away with.

They were pretty much brought in for their veteran experience. Marion, Jones, Perkins and Miller all have Playoff and Finals experience. They probably figured they could get some decent minutes out of them, while having some great role models for Waiters, Irving, Love, Thompson and others to learn from. Considering they were getting a player/coach for the vet minimum or close to it, it seemed like a good deal. Joe Harris was our 2nd round draft pick. Perk was pretty much brought in to be the "goon" if needed.

We DID play them earlier in the season and most of them looked passed it. Around January when all those trades were made, Blatt cut back minutes closer to an 8-9 man rotation to get the main rotation players acquainted with each other, and we went on our tear. He's stuck with that since.

Most of these guys though weren't supposed to be major contributors. They wanted decent lockerroom guys. If we had Andy, Love and Irving healthy, we'd have a solid 10-man rotation.

I'm not sure that bringing in "young" guys is going to help either. You're talking about scouring the D-League for leftovers. 95% of the time, you're just going to get another Joe Harris-type contributor.

Players in the post don't get calls. Watch Dwight Howard or Brooke Lopez. Those dudes get killed, but never get calls. Shaq back in the day got tackled every play.