Playoff Podcap: Cavs 106, Pacers 102 (or, How Sweep It Is!)
2017-04-24https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-134-how-sweep-it-is
It wasn’t always easy… but at least it was quick. The Cavs put the finishing touches on their first round sweep of the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, becoming the first team to punch their ticket to the second round. For their efforts, they get to kick back and relax for a week or so as they wait for the winner of the slugfest between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors. Well, hopefully they’ll spend at least a little time practicing some defense and free throw shooting as well.
As he was all series, LeBron was the primary catalyst in this win, logging a game high 33 points on 13-25 shooting with 10 rebounds in 45 minutes. Kyrie was his scoring sidekick with 28, but neither one of them distributed the ball particularly well, as the Cavs wound up with a paltry 11 assists as a team (zero in the first quarter, something that hadn’t happened in any quarter all season). Kevin Love had a brutal night shooting the ball, but redeemed himself a bit with his effort on the glass. And, the bench bunch once again stepped up to provide some big contributions on both sides of the ball.
Nate, Sam and EG spent some time in the booth breaking down the particulars of this game, the entirety of the first round against the Pacers, and discussed some trends we saw with the team and Ty Lue’s approach to how they handled Indiana. We touch on LeBron’s greatness, the madness of Kyrie, whether or not it was the last showing of PG-13 in Indy, and if we feel sorry for Jeff Teague and his 0-12 record against the Cavs. We also checked in on the other series, many of which are far from over, including the currently deadlocked matchup of potential second round opponents for the Cavs. Do we prefer to face the length and inexperience of the Bucks… or the veteran savvy and shooting of the Raps? Take a listen to hear that and much more on this sweep, sweep podcap.
You can listen above, on Soundcloud, iTunes, or Google Play.
Every time Olynyk makes a shot, a baby seal craps on the beach.
It’s funny. Harden sucked, yet Rockets won. Westy was awesome yet Thunder lost. And the takeaway seems to be that Harden should then be MVP.
That’s so dumb. The takeaway should be that OKC needs to surround Westy with shooters. Oh and LeBron is MVP.
Cols, it’s almost like, people react to events. Crazy.
I don’t think Westbrook can share the ball with anyone. For example, Kevin Durant. He will never win anything.
If Durant didn’t suck in game 7 last year, it would’ve been OKC getting swept by the Cavs in the Finals. Durant deserves as much if not more blame for that catastrophe.
surround Westy with shooting like they did with Harden.
That memphis game was good till Patty Mills blitzed them.
Man. I feel bad for Westy. His team sucks without him.
Westbrook starting to go to super quick bad threes…a losing equation.
Patrick Beverley: “[Russ] looked up and said, ‘No one can guard me, I got 40 points.’ I’m like, that’s nice, you took 34 shots to get it.”
He’s not wrong. Westbrook was actually good till the 4th, then he was freaking awful. Yeah, the other Thunder players were mostly lousy shooting, but I also think they are mentally barely even in the game, due to Westbrook’s ball hogging. Westbrook is like someone with Kyrie Irving’s mentality who is actually good enough to carry a team to the playoffs. But you’re not going to go far with some guard ball hogging to that extent – even Jordan couldn’t do it in his early years. Also, god almighty Westbrook takes way, way too many threes. He always has. That… Read more »
He has been horrible in 4th. When the defensive intensity increases in 4th, many flounder. Explains why players like Blake does so good quarters 1-3 but not the same players in 4th.
I know of another (fraud) MVP who shrunk in the 4th quarter…
Is this play by play guy calling Harden ‘James’ constantly a thing? Really?? Just stop it.
Westy is so good. Too bad his team stinks.
God, Harden is such an irredeemable turd.
The Spurs being tied 2-2 with the #7 seed shows how overrated that organization is.
No organization that wins 5 ships in 20 years and has not won less than 50 games in the last 20 years, including the lockout seasons is overrated and you know it cols.
If Kawhi was as good as some people think and Popovich was as great as some people think it wouldn’t be 2-2. Could you imagine the bashing of Lue and LeBron if they were 2-2 with the 7 seed?
Memphis is way better than Indy.
Memphis won 1 more game than Indy. I think they have more talent than Indy but it didn’t show
They play in the west though. Tougher schedule.
So did the thunder. Yet they managed to scrape out a full 4 more wins.
Russ Westbrook. Thunder are better than people give them credit for.
Memphis is much better playoff team than reg season. They would have been 2nd best team in east behind Cavs and could have taken Cavs to seven games.
This is my take too. Grizzlies built for the postseason. Great half-court execution, tough, no bench, lots of injuries. Smells like a playoff team to me. If they could just get everyone healthy at the same time I think they could really do some damage. They were up 2-1 on the Warriors in 2015 and Conley even missed game 1 with a broken face. Then Trick or Treat tony went down and that was all she wrote. The 2015 Title for the Warriors was such an insane run of opponent’s starting backcourt being injured. Limited or Missing: Holiday, Conley/Allen, Beverly,… Read more »
And they might not be second best west team this year, but as a franchise hard to make a case against their track record of success.
If the Cavs were 2-2 against the Pacers right now, no doubt in the world that you’d be here spreading Cavs propaganda like peanut butter, and talking all kinds of nonsense about how ‘2-2 doesn’t matter’, and ‘all that matters is getting to the Finals, and the Cavs are guaranteed to do that’, and assorted other gibberish.
Whereas if the Spurs swept the Grizz, you’d be giving them absolutely zero credit, and calling the Grizz old and terrible. P.S. – the Grizz are far better than the Pacers.
It’s a double standard. You guys spend all year bagging on Lue and LeBron and exalting on Kawhi and Popovich.
Lebron sandbags it during the regular season which is fine, but can be frustrating to watch, but I have no problem with Lebron’s regular season. Wish his younger teammates would pick up the slack so he could have rested more.
Lue doesn’t have the credibility, YET, that Pop has built up over all these years.
Like to see you build a team with exactly zero picks outside of lottery.
So you are grading them on a curve?
Ladies and gentlemen, Exhibit A in why to never take Cols seriously.
I have just arrived at a hotel in a remote southern region of Western Australia. My family has been camping & hiking for the last 5 days or so in areas that do not provide access to the outside world (without a sat phone). It’s been enjoyable, but my wife did ask me why I was distracted and pensive a couple of times. These moments may have correlated with the time the Cavs were playing. This torture was set to continue for the next week, but miracle of miracles – nature & random events intervened. A southern ocean storm (sent… Read more »
Great story and dedication !!
This is so awesome
Your daughter is getting an early exposure to the great outdoors. Did she have to carry her own stuff as well?
Absolutely she did. Of course, she is only 3, so when she taps out she gets to ride on daddy’s shoulders. :)
So incredibly awesome ;)
Alright, I’m a Cavs fan. I’m a lifelong Cavs fan. But good lord can people recognize that Michael Jordan took two years off to play baseball?! That is REST folks! It’s not rest because MJ was sitting on the couch, it’s REST because he wasn’t competing in more than three straight finals in a row. All this new “science” about the strain on mental and physical energy that Lebron has put himself through is based on the difficulty of the minutes played. Michael Jordan took a freaking 2 year long Miami vacation. He tried to play baseball and I’m sure… Read more »
Facing Mike Brown would be very weird. Also have we ever felt Kerr is a game planner and series planner? He has built a great system but other than putting in David Lee a couple of years ago I haven’t gotten the sense he is playing a major role against us.
Also Lue versus Brown would be the ultimate test of who can spend more time staring blank faced with an open mouth
War of the MouthBreathers
Except Lue has proven himself to be a great coach. Mike Brown? Not so much.
lol. Two moves I gives you by Kerr, Iguodala replacing Bogut in 2015 finals and Iguodala winning Finals MVP. Before that, Bogut playing free safety and leaving Tony Allen open. Both moves , down 2-1 in series and winning next 3 to close 4-2. Kerr is genius, he knows how best to use team’s strengths and developed players like McCaw and McGee this year.
In 2016, Kerr started Festus Ezeli in Game 7 and rode him for twelve miserable (or wonderful, depending on your perspective) minutes. Thank you, Steve Kerr. The Cavs still owe Ezeli a commemorative t-shirt for that.
Also, in Game 5 (?), with Green suspended, he chose to have Iguodala guard Kevin Love outside the three point line instead of sticking with Lebron, who ended up scoring 40+ points. Poor choice, but no regrets on my end.
Don’t forget Andy in the early fourth
No Cavs fan could forget those conflicting emotions.
I actually brought up those ezeli possessions in my segment with Mark yesterday
I think Kerr is one of the top coaches in the game. Specifically at building an environment with a winning culture. Also he really gets spacing to a PhD level and defensively he knows how to make do with the tools he has. It’s easy to think that with Walton winning 30 something straight and the Warriors annihilation of the Blazers under Brown last night, that perhaps a coach isn’t that important. I think in Kerr’s case that would be an unfair assessment. His acumen helped build the Warriors to what they are now. His system is beautiful and runs… Read more »
Where is that Paul George Smooth Finish commercial parody you mentioned? Would love to see that
It’s going to be funny when Milwaukee loses to this crappy Toronto team after so many long winded columns have been written about how they are the next big thing.
Toronto isn’t crappy they’re just inconsistent. You can get any of 4 combinations of Lowry and Derozan where Lowry is either Isaiah Thomas or Jeff McGinnis. Derozan either Kobe or Larry Hughes. It’s basically what would happen to the Cavs with Love and Irving if you replaced LeBron with some middling 3 and D guy.
Raps look pretty good tonight…
If the Bucks know ‘Horns Rub,’ it’s time to use it.
They don’t have LeBron to make it work.
Philadelphia and Milwaukee could rule the East in a few years.
I’ll believe Philly being great when I see it… Those guys need to show they can stay healthy before they can do anything…
When LeBron retires, sure. But by then those teams will have changed, so probably not.
If Giannis can work on his outside shot, he’s the closest thing to an heir apparent to LBJ in the EC…
Much rather play bucks than raps. Bucks are still missing a piece at least and are young. Raps in theory have all the pieces and will be desperate and even confident since they forced 6 games last year with an inferior team
Nate, repeat after me. The Bucks are not in the least bit scary to this Cavs team in 2017. Maybe in 2019. It absolutely will not go 7. Six is a stretch.
Come on man, haven’t you watched the Cavs in the playoffs for three straight years now?
We have. And we have seen multiple “can’t hardly believe it, 1 in a million” finishes. Some wonder how many times you can roll a 7 in a row.
No one in the East has a chance against the Cavs. The only team that can beat them is GS. GS has three of its rotation players injured, including Durant, and now Kerr might be out for the playoffs. Unless they get healthy, they don’t have a chance against the Cavs. As a rabid NBA fan for 40 years, I know one thing for sure. If the Cavs win this year, I will stop watching the meaningless and pointless regular season. A win would mean they have more championships the past three years than a team that won 46 (astonishing… Read more »
I like your confidence Jon!
Cols will have to tell jon to clam down!
My 2 cents. Kerr’s absence is a huge blow for warriors. Durant and Barnes are on track to return. McGee, West and McCaw are other new additions to team that are contributing. The players that left or recovering from injuries have not contributed much to warriors 7-6 record against Cavs in finals over last two years. Last 15 games without Durant, warriors are 15-0. So, I think, call it warriors bias, but warriors still start series as favorites with or without Durant. Of course, we have also seen what happened to favorites in 2016. Regular season does matter if used… Read more »
I agree with you that if Kerr does not return, it will be a big blow to the Warriors. As far as tactics, adjustments, in-game, post-game, knowledge of system, Mike Brown does not hold a candle to Kerr. It could very well end up costing them.
Mike Brown admitted that he learned a lot and he is coaching Kerr-like. We are hoping.
I think he said something similar the second time the Cavs hired him. Likewise with the Lakers.
His adjustments in game 3 against blazers were impressive.
Lue coached circles around Kerr in last year’s Finals. He will absolutely destroy Mike Brown.
lol, sure.
1. Well, maybe. 2. Well, likely.
Cavs were down 1-3, won in 7 games, won clinching game with one possession. No body owned anyone in that series, that is as evenly matched as one can imagine.
BTW, Myles Turner led the East in blocks this year. Yet Cavs still dominated at the rim. It was only the three point shooting that kept the games close.
Milwaukee scares me. Their length is suffocating on defense.
They have no answer for LeBron. They have no answer for Kyrie (Brogdon??!! really?), they have no answer for Frye or Love.
They just don’t have the offense to keep up with the best offense in the playoffs.
their defensive scheme gives up a lot of threes though. It succeeds against the Raps with Derozan and Valuncunias in the mid range and the post and only Lowry able to hit threes.
Cavs are now 28-4 in the ECF the last three years.
Very impressive! Particularly because there is a max of 21 games in the ECF in three years.
Ha. P not F. I suck.
AGREE WITH THE ACTIVATION OF “BIG EDY” —HAS BEEN WITH THE CAVS FOR WHAT 3 WEEKS / WILL BE 4 BEFORE NEXT SERIES—THINK FOR A FEW MINUTES HE CAN HELP / JUST IN ” EATING UP SOME MINUTES ” —-AS I MENTIONED EARLIER ABOUT “ENCHILADA ” WAS DEAD WRONG WITH MY EVALUATION / HOPE THAT HE WOULD PLAY A SERVICIABLE ROLE IN THE PLAYOFFS SO MIGHT AS WELL ACTIVATE HIM OR “FINALLY ” MAKE JONES A BENCH COACH ( NOT A PLAYER TAKING UP A ROSTER SPOT ” )
Your eval was right. Why Lue won’t play thee Enchilada and Liggins is a major mystery.
Nice discussion on the podcast, guys. I really don’t know who I favor the Cavs playing in the second round. Toronto as discussed is more experienced, and perhaps more desperate given their roster, but I still think the Bucks scare me more. Lowry seems to disappear in at least two games during a big series, so I guess bring on the Raptors. And sentimentally, it’s still hard to root against Delly. LeBron proved who the best player in the league is again. And as also discussed, Lue had a solid coaching series too. I don’t think I yelled once at… Read more »
We’d sweep the Bucks I think.
I don’t know if any team in the east can win more than 1 game in a series against Cavs but Bucks may be able to keep the games close. Love to watch the match ups of Kyrie Vs Delly, Lebron Vs Greek Freak.
Bucks probably a year away from being able to beat the Cavs. But they take one or two games off the Cavs this year. Toronto too.
The Bucks are tied with Toronto even though they are shooting an unsustainable (for them) 41% from three. I just don’t think they have the offensive firepower to keep up with a Cavs team that is by 4 points per possession the best offense in the playoffs so far.
Agree on Bucks. I feel like they are being held back by their coach too but next year, add a shooter, Parker comes back healthy or not, I can see them jump to next level.
One more thing on the Kyrie shouldn’t shoot threes thing. Last year Nate was upset everytime LeBron shot a three. But LeBron kept shooting them because he knew he needed to get that going to finish off the frauds. Same with Irving. He needs that shot. He needs to shoot himself out of the slump.
He should shoot threes… he shouldn’t shoot so many jab step threes… and he should pass the ball more…
Well if Kyrie is needlessly jacking out of rhythm 3s against the Pacers because he’s going to need it against the Warriors, I’d advise him working on PnR defense against the Pacers and not worrying about 3s – since he’s a good 3 point shooter.
Irving had zero problems with the fraud mvp last year.
Part of “being a good shooter” is taking good shots. Kyrie fell in love with fool’s gold with that shot earlier this year, and he’s clearly not elevating like he was earlier this season. So either he starts elevating on that shot or he needs to just pass and cut and get open without the ball and fire up catch-and-shoot Js. Hell, take them off the dribble. It’s still better than the Melo jab step. He’s shooting 22% from three in the ‘offs so far favoring that shot. But like I said below, if the type of shot doesn’t matter… Read more »
WELCOME BACK COLS …WE MISSED YOU —- 1) I THOUGHT WHEN WE 1ST GOT HIM –HE WOULD FIT A ROLE IN THE PLAYOFFS ( ENCHILADA ) EVIDENTLY I WAS WRONG —DON’T SEE US EVEN RESIGNING HIM AS HE WANTS THE CHANCE TO PLAY SOME REGULAR MINUTES —GUESS I WAS WAY OFF ON MY EVALUATION 2)–I AM GOING TO SAY IT WILL BE THE RAPTORS WE FACE —DOES THE ADDITION OF TUCKER (ABLE TO SLOW LEBRON DOWN …..POSSIBLY ) MAKE THIS A SOMEWHAT COMPETITVE SERIES 3) WITH THE WEEK REST DOES THIS HELP ReJuvinate R.J. TO ALLOW HIM MORE MINUTES 4)… Read more »
1. He still might
2. No one can slow LeBron down.
3. Helps
4. Deron has been great. Like Delly he was out of shape, unlike Delly he did something about before playoffs.
Cols, Delly wants to know…
Good question
Not to mention, Nate, EG, and Sam all gave Deron Williams his due credit in the pod…
Cols: We are glad you are back, but you are having flashbacks to the days when you forgot your meds.
You have to suffer from some version of amnesia, since you just can’t stop saying the same things. Your time on the CtB injured reserve list could have been longer to get over these mental injuries/lapses.
Also, Deron was great all series. What a pick up by him. 8 PPG shooting 77/78/86 splits without a single turnover and playing good defense.
It’s weird that he’s not getting the same praise as Delly and Delly was a much much worse playoff performer. I’ll never forget how he sabotaged the team by shooting 20% in the Finals in 2015.
Delly obsession alert… the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem Cols…
I’ve admitted the problem. What the heck is step two?
Seeking professional help…
I can’t find the local DA chapter.
They also list “recognizing a higher power that can give strength”
Here you go…
Gah.
hahahahaha
+1. lol
Brilliant!
Be careful, you might get on a Chinese hit list! Remember the guy who got locked up for wearing a “Sgt. Bilko” tee shirt in Tibet.
Step two is not constantly being redundant.
LOL. He had a podium game in the finals!
And nearly died
Kyrie was awesome. He missed some threes. He needs to keep shooting it. The jab step three pointers is completely OK for him. I hope he keeps shooting it. Telling a guy who is a good shooter to stop shooting it is not a good way to do things.
Plus the dude was great on defense last night. And Kobe>>>Harden. Give it a break.
Nobody should take jab step threes… horribly low percentage shot…
So if the type of threes don’t matter (and clearly they do, since he was shooting 22% on the series and far worse in every game but game 2), then would it be ok for him to take hook shot threes? Maybe finger roll threes?
Jab step threes are the laziest and usually worst shots in the game.
KYRIE / CAVS HAD BETTER GET USED —ADJUST TO IT —WILL SEE MORE OF THE SAME ——BIG QUESTION WITH A WEEK OFF—-” REST OR RUST “—I AM LEANING MORE TO REST WILL HELP THE CAVS —–NOW WE CAN SIT BACK–RELAX AND WATCH THE OTHER TEAMS BEAT EACH OTHER UP –HOPEFULLY !!
There won’t be any rust NOMAD, at least not for more than a half. This team just needs time to finally practice. As long as our defense takes another step forward each round, we should be good enough to at least put up a fight in the finals.
One thing to consider about Kyrie’s shooting is that, as you guys mentioned, every single Pacer offensive play was being run against Kyrie. Even if Kyrie is bad, that is exhausting and most definitely will affect his shooting.
Lue was pretty masterful again all series. The guy just gets how to manage playoff basketball.