Playoff Podcap: Celtics 96, Cavs 83 (or, Rough Road)
2018-05-24https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-173-rough-road
The Cavs proved once again to be no match on the road as they fell behind early at the TD Garden by 13 in the first quarter, and wound up losing by precisely that margin in the end. Though they made runs in the final three quarters, they never really got the deficit under 10 that often, and trailed by as much as 20 early in the fourth quarter. The Celtics didn’t even really shoot that well, averaging just 36.5% from the field on the night… but they wound up taking 11 more shots than the Cavs given Cleveland’s 15 turnovers, and a lot of those were threes. Ty Lue once again went the inexplicable route in his wonky rotations… and had an even weirder response for why he didn’t play Kyle Korver at all in the first quarter…
#Cavaliers coach Ty Lue said Brad Stevens not going to Semi Ojeleye in first quarter "threw them for a loop" & led him to keep Kyle Korver on the bench (yeesh)
— Scott Souza (@Scott_Souza) May 24, 2018
To recap and try to make sense of this nonsense… Nate, EG and RightDownEuclid gathered their courage and hopped into the podcast booth. We dissect what went wrong (mostly Ty Lue), what went right (Larry Nance stood up for himself), and whether or not we expect the Cavs to regroup and respond in Game 6. EG went off his meds to throw shade at Terry Rozier and his non-masculine fighting style, then contemplated the complexities of LeBron’s future. RDE chimed in with some observations on fan rapport. Meanwhile, Nate kept us all grounded with his boundless optimism. Let’s hope he’s right, and that the Cavs can take care of business at the Q on Friday… then navigate the potholes and construction cones in a Game 7 on the road Sunday.
As always, you can catch us above, on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or Google Play.
Draymond with two mistakes on the key possession: passing after the rebound, so the Warriors couldn’t advance the ball on the timeout; and then fumbling the ball away.
Tim Reynolds tweeted about CP3…. said Dantoni said “he’s worried” about the hammy.
Cavs gotta come back. Come on, you guys can do this!
Steve Kerr knows the Warriors are winning the next 2
No way CP3 can come back this series…I doubt he could even play the finals. That looked bad.
Think the Dubs need to give Swaggy P a LOT more PT in game 6…
They’re blaming Green for that inbounds pass that he sailed over Durant’s head. But Durant had 5 seconds to get open and he is literally incapable of doing that in tight situations
Warriors are missing Iggy, having to work harder on D is taking their legs. Unfortunately, seems like Iggy will return and with Paul hurt it’s hard to see the Rockets getting it done.
i don’t care, Chris Paul is amazing for that shimmy
that was hilarious
+2
Yeah. Loved that.
I thought last night’s game was poorly played. If the Warriors and Rockets continue to play like they did tonight, both the Cavs and Celtics can beat them.
What’s with Harden in the playoffs? (19 pts on 23% shooting – 9 were free throws. 0-11 from three.)
Chris Paul is a shell of his former self, but trying hard to show he still has it. (-13 for the game.)
Yet they won. What has happened to the Warriors offense?
Curry is at 30%…until he scores 50 in game 6, then no one says a thing…
Curry still has respectable numbers in the playoffs (outside that shooting %) . . . but, like Harden, he doesn’t seem to be as impactful deep in the playoffs. Kyrie clearly outplayed him.
That’s why it will be difficult to trade Kryie in light of Rozier’s performance. Celtics will need his clutch offense late in big games to win it all. He’s one of the best in the NBA in big moments. And just maybe he’ll learn something by watching these playoffs.
Sloppiness with the ball and getting too much into iso is what some warriors blog point to. Credit the rockets though. They have defended better than I expected.
so warriors in same situation cavs are in now. interesting. will media need to issue formal apology if neither warriors nor cavs make finals?
Best case for us is Houston manages to win this while CP3 messes up his hammy.
Not optimistic we beat the Cs. However, I think there MAY be a title window here. Hope Bron sees it the same way.
Nice win by the Rockets. Too bad Paul is done and GS will easily win the next 2.
I’m not saying they’re a bad organization, but they are the freaking luckiest organization I’ve ever seen.
We’ll see on the hammy. He could limp through a game & Harden/Gordon could go nuts one game.
I’d like to see more of Gordon next game, after watching Paul dribble more than LBJ on each possession.
I think he has been the most important player for the Rockets in this series.
By far…his leadership and toughness kept them in game 5. Without CP3, this is over in 5 max.
You are a broken man, Tom…/s
17 turnovers gets you beat, whether you’re the ‘greatest team of all time’, or the Cavs.
Whelp. So much for my prognostications. Props to the turd and their insufferable style of play.
Kind of modeled on the Kyrie/Bron style of play, isn’t it?
To be honest I have never made it a secret on this blog that I don’t love how we play on offense. Houston takes it to the absurd extreme though.
Draymond fumbles it. TO.
Wow. What a great decision by Kevin Durant to join a 73-win team. Only way this dude was ever winning a ring. Soft as whipped butter
“The bedwetter.”
Fitting conclusion.
Warriors choking hard.
Paul with the bad hammy.
Dubs down 2 with the ball under 10 sec.
Draymond taps it out and Durant can’t get to the ball.
Yeesh. Ariza misses critical ft.
And Chris Paul gets hurt at a critical juncture – another star PG goes down in the playoffs against the Warriors. Deja Vu
Pretty predictable for CP3.
How can the rockets win shooting this horribly while getting outrebounded and shooting less than 30 percent threes. Turnovers I guess.
Durant wetting the bed. Curry and Thompson can’t get open. Draymond to the rescue!
The bearded turd has been terrible tonight. This is also evidently one of Curry’s ‘crippled with injury’ games. Funny how the media doesn’t speculate about injuries when the beard sucks in a game.
the hero ball is outrageous
Yep. Klay & Gordon with good games.
Steph (8/16, 2/8 3s), KD 8/22, Harden 5/21, 0/11 3s, Paul 6/19, 4\9 3s.
Dubs are in trouble. Down 6 with 4 min left.
Harden has missed 19 triples in a row.
I am sick of three pointers. I am beginning to hate this style of play.
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/999712744969506816
Oladipo over Lillard for me.
Lillard had an epic regular season.
May be warriors have too much talent is just a myth, just 2 dubs players in this list of 15(this and series tied 2-2). OKC, Minnesota has two players there too.
And no Celtics player, yet they are favorites to win east. May be they should have selected Brad Stevens. Only 5 out of 15 from east.
Stop that nonsense…
Which part is nonsense ? I was trying to be sarcastic but do you think Draymond deserves to be there if the voting was done by some knowledgeable guys. Lillard was selected #1 ?? I think players were selected because of the stats they have piled on more than how they helped their teams.
Lillard should not be there. Dray I would probably put in there at 3rd team.
Depends on how you want/have to divvy up positions. Klay should definitely be there over butler since butler missed time. If positions don’t matter you could put Green for butler instead of Klay on the third team. Lillard shouldn’t be on first but he was the guy on the third team in the west so he probably gets on their somewhere. Dipo for lillard based off d and offense or Giannis if position doesn’t matter.
+1.
Whoa! Jimmy was a 2 way monster dragging a bunch of whiny teenagers who basically refuse to play defense to the playoffs while being driven into the ground by Thibs (missing only a month when Thibs is your coach is like playing a whole season and change). Give the man his due. I’m a big fan of Klay’s game, but he is a notch below 2012-2015 Kyle Korver that doesn’t have to create for himself on offense because the Warriors are loaded or worry about his man getting by him on defense because KD and Draymond clean everything up.
Klay has been best player in some playoff series that warriors won without Curry or Durant like when warriors came back from 1-3 or even in this playoffs first two rounds. He has also one of the best defenders as SG. I like Korver, but not same level. Klay can average 30 ppg for an average playoff team.
Again, I love Klay’s game on the Warriors, but he cannot create off the dribble for himself. And Jimmy literally carried that team on both sides of the ball on his back to the playoffs, even if it was only in 60 games. As far as Korver v Klay, put 2012-2015 Korver on the Warriors and he more than replicates what Klay brings on offense. He’s never been as good an individual defender as Klay, but put him in a system with a bunch of great defenders and he’d come out above average. Korver 2012-2015 was epic: 45-50% from 3;… Read more »
Only reason Butler is not on there in my book is injuries. You have to leave off one of the wolves. Maybe both since I think gobert was more important. Just my opinion.
Is that you, Kevin Durant?
This is dumb selection, but I get it. It is a regular season award and most writers treat it as though teams with the best records always get one if healthy. Sometimes two, but there definitely shouldn’t be two wolves. Butler definitely should not be on their because he missed time. I get LA was the guy, but not sure if he deserves all second. Still they probably thought they had to put someone on that team. Lillard is a dumb selection for first team selection. Would put Dipo over him. If you require a guard or Giannis if you… Read more »
The all NBA selection could be a curse too. KAT because he is selected to all NBA team, he is eligible for 188 mils extension. I don’t think KAT deserves all NBA considerations over Draymond and if you considering by position not over, Gobert or even Capella but Minny is screwed because they are already giving Wiggins 150 mils.
On other hand, Embiid would have gotten 30+ mils if he got selected to 1st team.
From ESPN:
“Had Embiid earned All-NBA first-team status, the Sixers center would have been in line for a rookie extension worth $175.7 million due to a clause in his contract. Instead, his extension will now be $146.5 million according to Marks.
Golden State’s Steph Curry, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo, Oklahoma City’s Paul George and Minnesota’s Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns were named to the third team. By reaching third-team All-NBA, Towns is eligible for an $188 million rookie extension this summer.”
When are Wiggins and Butler’s contracts up? Anyone know. That could be problematic for them if it is this year or next.
Wiggines extension starts next year, so it should be four more years. Butler two more years.
Actually, yeah Gobert should be on there over KAT when you look at his importance to that team.
Horford or Kyrie should have made it. And Draymond.
Off: Towns, George, Lillard.
I guess it would have to be Horford. But yuck, he shouldn’t make it over Gobert. Feel like the Celtics didn’t have that guy this year. Kyrie was out too much and the rest of the team was just not standout enough. They were just a great collection of players that had good, not great seasons.
Just started listening, and was reminded of how useless JR was. Yet he gets around 30 minutes. 30 minutes of absolutely nothing from your starting SG. Even the Warriors would struggle at times with that non production.
Just a garbage game all around. Not like the Celtics played particularly well.
warriors have their own version of JR in Swaggy P. Warriors mistake of signing Swaggy P is hurting them. But warriors play him for 10mpg, not 30 mpg.
Good point. Swaggy P has been worse than I expected him to be. Pretty good comp with JR, since they both have a history of knucklehead plays on the court.
‘ANOTHER VOTE “—cast in favor of HAMMOND —- 1st and foremost she is light years better than our present coach —and yes let the cavs organization– ( always in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons )– be PIONEERS IN BREAKING THE GENDER BARRIER AND YES SHE AND LEBRON CAN DO GREAT THINGS BOTH ON AND OFF THE COURT —-THINK LEBRON BEING THE LEADER / SPOKESPERSON / INFLUENTIAL ICON COULD HELP BOTH HER AND FUTURE FEMALES GROW IN THIS POSITION ——AND ONE THAT I THINK LEBRON WOULD WELCOME AND FLOURISH IN ——–KOLBY / DAN HERE IS YOUR CHANCE !!!
Hammond, I would assume, is a better coach than Lue, Byron and Brown 2.0
Combined.
How great would it be if we fire Lue and hire Becky Hammond?
That might add another reason for LBJ to stay. “Play with the next possible Pop for the rest of your career”
I would be all for that.
As someone here said before, can’t remember who, it will force LeBron onto the “Is he leaving cause a female coach?” situation where it may push him towards staying.
That would be me. “pc guilt” I called it.
Sorry for not remembering the source. I think it will be a great move by Dan.
This is genius.
I’d be down for the Cavs giving Hammond a shot. It’s only a matter of time and who is going to be willing to be the first to break the mold.
Oh. This would be fantastic. I don’t have faith that the Cavs could make a decision that good…
I wish they’d do it before game 6
That would be a bad situation for Becky. Hope she gets her chance for young team that has scope to improve. Cavs have no room to improve the roster because they are struck with bad contracts and really have 3 players that would be in playoff rotation for a contending team and no young prospects. I would not wish for Becky to fall into David Blatt situation. May be a year later when Cavs get rid of some bad contracts and have some young team to develop.
Nice to see you’re legit terrified of the Cavs with a real coach.
If (fine, when) Lebron leaves, it’s best to have a new coach already in place for that year, so s/he can have a say in the draft pick, and you already know what your style of play is when you have cap space.
It is really amazing that lebron can carry a team with an organization and coach this incompetent. This is a lottery team if you replace lebron with Durant or any other player.
AGREE—with other posts/ comments—-‘IF ‘ THIS LEBRON’S LAST HOME GAME __-(and I believe it is )—-make it a MEMORABLE ONE —-come out blazing THE ENTIRE GAME !!!—–although the home team has won all the previous games just have that feeling celts are going to finish it / win Friday night —-60 / 40 on that ———do believe it will depend all on LeBron’s mental state- ( more than physical )—-does he want the season to continue or not or is he ready for ALL THIS ( SEASON / CAVS CAREER / DRAMA / LUDICROUS COACHING ) TO COME TO AN… Read more »
evil thanks for ‘keeping it real “——LUEP–RHYMES WITH SCREWUP —-SO THERE YOU HAVE IT !!!——-WGTA IS THE OLD SAYING——” GIVE THEM ENOUGH ROPE AND THEY WILL HANG THEMSELVES ‘—-THINK TY-LUEP JUST HUNG HIMSELF !!
The moment I knew we were losing the game last night was when Kevin Love threw the ball into the back court leading to Jayson Tatum sprinting down the court with LeBron on his hip. When Tatum went for the layup and LeBron didn’t block the snot out of the ball, I knew it was over. Such a disappointment.
This is all I could think of when Ty started talking about Ojeleye…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VztV__2nGoQ
Y’know… because Ojeleye sounds just like Odelay… but also the lyrics seem to fit Luep like a T “Lord Only Knows” You only got one finger left And it’s pointing at the door And you’re taking for granted What the Lord’s laid on the floor So I’m picking up the pieces And I’m putting them up for sale Throw your meal ticket out the window Put your skeletons in jail ‘Cause Lord only knows it’s getting late Your senses are gone so don’t you hesitate To give yourself a call, Let your bottom dollars fall Throwing your two bit cares… Read more »
Lol.
Redacted…
I cannot wait to not watch Lue on that sideline. He needs to be fired as soon as possible. How is he even allowed to conduct interviews anymore? Not playing Semi Ojeleye was Stevens’s trump card? C’mon. That’s utter absurdity. So infuriating to watch and listen to.
Ty Luep…
http://i.imgur.com/XLDOdxp.jpg
Ty Lue on Game 5…
http://www.brainlesstales.com/images/2012/Jul/threw-me-for-a-loop.jpg
Win or lose, I wonder how can we work our team with the very limited flexibility we have. The 8th pick should net us at least one player of the two guys that we need. I really can’t see a scenario where winning a championship for other cities will weigh more than winning it here. Does winning in LA makes him more global than he already is? No matter how tailored his would be team to his, they will take time to gel. Believe it or not, time is more forgiving to him if he spend it here. We just… Read more »
Where Kawi ends up should be factored in as well to his decision. Him and Kawi would be tough.
What if Portland/Washington decided to stop mediocrity, blow it all up?
8th pick + TT for CJ or Beal. Stretch pay JR and trade Clarkson for some unknown defensive center???? Could we lock in LeBron with that? Can’t help but dream.
That won’t make it past a healthy Boston nor a smarter Philly
It will with a better coach.
I don’t think LeBron was fatigued as much as realizing how things were going and not being willing to push through the mental wall of tired on a game where things obviously weren’t going their way. When he drives 5+ times and doesn’t get the call and doesn’t have his jumper and nobody else is hitting anything it’s a tough road to climb. Plus, the dude likes his elimination games, loves story lines. Pretty confident they win big at home and then it’s game 7 on the road, he’ll come up like a force of nature in game 7.
+1
Then we weren’t watching the same game. He was reacting late to player movements and throwing the ball away and laying the ball up off the glass instead of dunking from the outset. He was definitely tired coming in. I suspect that it was as much a lack of sleep problem as it was actual physical fatigue.
I’m not saying he wasn’t tired, just that he has another gear to push past it and wasn’t willing to do so that game.
That was for sure the case in Game 1, but I really think he just didn’t have it in him the other day, like last year in Game 3 against Celtics when he had that virus and didn’t get going until late in Game 4. Even when you’re Lebron, if you’re flying, not getting enough sleep and playing every other day, it’s tough to hit the gas. I remember after one game in this run, I think Windhorst made a point of writing about Lebron getting 9 hours of sleep after they got back from Game 2 in Toronto (or… Read more »
It’s a bit conspiratorial but I actually thought the same thing. I think he thinks game 7 where there’s a ton of pressure is a better chance to win in Boston than game 5. I think basically he was trying to save energy for 6 and 7 after exhausting themselves to even the series.
I just don’t know what to make of Lebron’s energy level. Just very puzzling. Could be as simple as he’s getting run down. Many of his shots hit the front of the rim, and even several of his layups were off the mark. In the press conference after the game, however, he denied being tired (even though he clearly appeared to be so on the court). Don’t know what to think. I mean, I guess you deny being fatigued even if you were in that situation. Right?
Yup… LBJ doesn’t want to show any weakness or give the media any ammunition to criticize.
Baynes played 29 minutes in this game as opposed to 16 in Game 4. I think that adjustment made an impact.
The only upshot here is that if the Cavs play defense and compete like this in the next 2 games, they’re probably going to the finals. The turnovers, foul shooting and missed shots were all problems and the reason they lost the game, but they didn’t give up and Boston wasn’t just missing shots. It’s the NBA guys the Cavs were rotating well, manning up, springing smart traps on time and contesting shots with a purpose at the rim. But man, Lue turned in a Dwayne Casey special in G5. First of all, you had to have a contingency plan… Read more »
Comments on the crowd are true I think. I think it has to do with the football town thing. I don’t think it is a bad crowd, but it isn’t one of the most raucous and rabid arenas. The reason are probably due to a lot of what Nate said. But the cavs/Indians fandom has never had the same passion as the absurd and nonsensical love for the Browns. I think you see that.
The Cleveland crowd isn’t Miami bad though. I think it it somewhere middle of the road.
Bias or not we are the best sports fan base in the world!
Certainly some of the most loyal. The Indians attendance disappoints me. I still just get annoyed about the football thing.
In Baker we believe! I want the Browns to end their own misery.
With the Cavs, I hope that I can live my life where me, my children and grandchildren can all root for a dozen of Cavalier championship teams spreaded throughout their own generations.
I guess I am fine with Mayfield after seeing how statistically dominant in advanced stats he is. He is no johnny Manziel. He is in a different universe of talent. However, I still think Josh Rosen has a great chance to be the best out of these guys if he can stay healthy and likely will be better sooner. Unfortunately, I don’t think he would have have stayed healthy in Cleveland. Would have rather had Chubb than Ward as I think the elite pass rush (automatic with Garrett, Chubb, Ogbah, etc) is more valuable than secondary in today’s NFL, but… Read more »
So Ty Lue got thrown for a loop bc Brad Stevens didn’t play Eddie Murphy’s sidekick from Coming To America. Seriously, f**k me!!!!
Jordan Clankson got crickets. Seriously?
That was great.
Tough crowd 😉
I have to say based off the two games at Cleveland, their is no excuse for the cavs to lose this team. They have the capability to win. I was unsure before this series but I am positive they can at least beat the Celtics in game 6. The role players have to step up and Lue has to do a much much better job, but LBJ needs to carry this team. The role players are wildly inconsistent, but this is the type of series/game Lebron has to win for his legacy. Losing to GS or Houston is expected, but… Read more »
‘clueless” DID NOT out coach kerr —-it is called draymond getting suspended // LeBron / ky ‘doing their thing ‘—-think LEBRON is more fatigued with this so called “coach ” making stupid decisions –post game remarks–excuses ‘ETC.—-if you noticed in LeBron’s post game interview how many times he PRAISED STEVENS FOR BEING A GOOD COACH —–round about way of throwing ty ‘under the bus ‘–deservedly so!! —–yeah I am still rooting for the cavs —but if they don’t advance to the finals –it will be no big deal —can almost see them losing at home Friday night —-just think LeBron… Read more »
If it is, it better not be a repeat of 2010. Win or lose, I want him to go out gunning. Have the mentality of the best. Attempt to carry the team and try to force the issue. I won’t have any complaints about it being the end if he does that. I want 30+ shots minimum plus free throws. I don’t even care about efficiency. Just attack.
I think if Cavs lose to Boston LeBron is gone.
Almost certainly. Considering they have Hayward and Kyrie coming back, he might be anyway. That team could compete with the warriors. Not win, but compete. They have enough defense around Kyrie and Hayward to be competitive and those two guys will change them from a mediocre offense to a decent one. I just want LBJ to lay it all out there. Don’t give me 2010 Boston. I don’t think that has much chance of happening, but I would seriously be disappointed if it did.
Lue’s master plan for game 6: he’s not going to play Semi Ojeleye.
How in God’s name did Lue outcoach Kerr in 2016?
Ahhhh what?
He didn’t.
You know the answer… we had two of the greatest iso players in the league have a mad final three games of the series… that, and the Warriors shrank a bit in Game 7…
The Larry Nance monicker ‘The High-Ayatollah of Slamola’ is an allusion to Ayatollah Khomeini, the world renowned Supreme Leader of Iran in the 80’s.
Thanks, Peter…
Lue should have been fired mud-season.
James outscoring the other starters 26-24 is just preposterous, as was Lue’s comment on why he didn’t insert Korver. Is there really any proof necessary what an absolute dope Lue is as a coach? Agree Cavs win game six, and back in Boston the other four starters need to set their alarm clocks to wake up for game time. JR should set a second wake up call as backup given how pathetic he played last night.
Coach Lue is like a person who knows that 2 + 3 is 5, but certainly have no idea to the answer of 3 + 2.
Lol
Hahaha thanks for the laughs.
Wow. Great comment.
It’s out. The way how Lue’s coaching mind goes. He can only take advantage of his players and the situation only if the other team dumbs down.
I don’t know ifI am going to cry, laugh, be extremely angry, sad or what. I’m… I’m speechless.
I get that Lue sucks.. always has.. but how are our assistants – collectively – let this kind of rotations and lineups happen? is this N. Korea whereas ONE man makes the call and others cheer, in fear of being shot? I mean what are their jobs? just let Lue continue to act like an idiot?
for that comment Lue made, he should be fired…. even before game 6… he absolutely hurts this team…. Drew is more than capable of carrying this team forward…
damn pathetic coach
If the Cavs want to win this series they will need Lebron to ensure a good start in the next two games.
I believe that one of LeBron’s great accolades is his poise but sometimes he needs to read the situation better and understand that there is no KI now and KLove is not the best second option so he needs to be way more aggressive and not allow the Celtics to build early leads. As we have seen in this series the Celtics are not that good playing catch up.
Dude, Lebron was exhausted. You could tell by the turnovers. He wasn’t mentally processing stuff as quickly as usual, and that’s a tell tale sign of fatigue and probably lack of sleep. Lebron’s gotta make a concerted effort to go home, hop in the cryo chamber, take an ambien, drink a glass of wine, get 9 hours of sleep and download his turnover software patch.
Funny and true…
I know it is wrong to wish bad things to people but maybe the only positive that could come out of the Cavs losing this series is that finally the Cavs FO can fire Lue.
I believe the Cavs could do better if they played Cedi or even try to give some minutes to RH when you are getting absolutely nothing out of JR.
I would also try to play a 9-10 player rotation to try to match the Celtics energy. Our old and not physically prepared guys just couldn’t hang with the young Celtics.
Korver is the only player other than Lebron playing well this series and I just don’t understand how you don’t get him the ball – especially when JR isn’t shooting the ball well. Damn Lue!
JR Smith has taken 39 shots this series, and he has missed 30 of them. When I first read this stat, I kicked my dog.
Throwing out another thing here:
When love picked up his second foul (both calls were questionable), Lue took him out immediately, despite him being red hot – 10 puts, 2/3 from 3, 3/4 fg. Stevens would have left him in. (Also, amazingly, we didn’t sub in Korver at that point). Love never found his rhythm again and finished with… 2 fouls.
He was hot. He should have kept playing. And sitting a guy for 2 fouls is bad use of a player, despite it being common practice.
Ugh. Nice find, the little things that could’ve changed the tides. This one is 80% on Lue.
Actually, KLove had already played the whole 1st quarter and left after he picked up that foul with like 1 min left, and then came back 6 min into the the 2nd quarter. Other than Korver, the most mind boggling sub was resting Lebron for like 50 seconds and then bringing him back to end the half. Not sure how much it mattered because I think Lebron’s fatigue was more lack of sleep on the road than actually being worn out from playing, but still WTF is Lue doing with his substitutions?
Cavs may push it to 7 here but Lue is going down hard for his baffling decision making….as I mentioned in game thread….this was a game where Lue had to insert smarts (calderon) and energy (Cedi) along with shooter (Korver) to get things back on track. Lue had to figure Stevens was playing short rotation by mid 1st quarter. Either way extend rotation and make other coach play his ‘scrubs’. I’ve never been a coach at any level, but this is basic management of a situation in a sports setting. Either Lue is dumbest/most ignorant coach alive, or entire staff… Read more »
Thanks you guys for getting right back in the mud and doing the dirty work – very much look forward to listening to this pod tomorrow at work ;-) For now, a few thoughts on today’s game… First of all, crazy to think this might have been LeBron’s penultimate game as a Cavalier. I remember Game 5 in 2010 like it was yesterday (watched with two good friends at Happy Dog and was at least as despondent afterward). The announcers seem to think Bron was exceptionally tired, even going so far as to deride Doris Burke’s conversation with Allie Clifton… Read more »
But 5-6 from the line says a lot, actually. The Cavs shot 19 FTs to Bostons 23 and at times it seems like they just couldn’t get anything going at the rim. I have a lot of memories of George Hill, for example, charging the rim and getting fouled – but virtually no memories of him or other Cavs getting layups or dunks. Boston was very effective inside. In part their effectiveness inside I think was linked to their willingness to play Baynes, Horford, and Morris simultaneously multiple times. That is just a huge lineup and quite imposing. They basically… Read more »
I have to give them credit – the Celtics are a very, very good team. Yes the Cavs had to figure out a lot late in the season after the new acquisitions, but Boston has figured out a lot after Irving went down. They defend extremely well and play hard every possession. For example, at the beginning of the game they would set a screen for a player on top of the arc and would set a screener underneath the original screener who would intercept the guy trying to go under the screen, leading to multiple open shots. A lot… Read more »
Holy sh*t. That’s it. SEMI OJELEYE just beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. SEMI F*CKING OJELEYE.
Rebuilding time.
No. Not Semi Ojeleye, the absence of Semi Ojeleye.
I know dude lol. Figure of speech.
We struck Semi Ojeleye down… and he became more power than we could ever imagine…
How in the world is not playing Ojeleye throwing you for a loop? How does that confuse you? How is that significant for your game-plan and rotations?
Score 100 points, loop throwing or not.
“Threw them for a loop”. Seriously.