No, that's not an obvious loss. One player scoring 50 pts isn't really going to win the game. We have to be good on offense, and if we can let him get his and not let him penetrate and get everyone else involved, we have a real legit shot of winning. The problem starts when everyone on their team starts rolling. They have A LOT of shooters: Mo Williams Daniel Gibson (Bench) Delonte West Sasha Pavlovic (Bench) Wally Szcerbiak (Bench) Z (I might as well add him in there, they like to run a pick and pop with LeBron and Z where he Z sets the pick and then pops out for like an 18 foot jumper) That will be a problem for Yao to defend unless he really goes out and guards Z, hopefully he will. We have been good this year in defending the 3 pointer, but we really need to do a good job and close out shooters in this game, the 3 point shot is a major part of their offensive game. Another thing people forget about is that they are a good defensive team. Yao will have a tough matchup against Z, and height always bothers Yao. Scola won't score easily inside with Ben Wallace guarding him. T-Mac and Delonte West is the match up we really need to exploit. That will break down their defense if T-Mac can do what he did against Hassell early on against New Jersey. I believe Ron Artest can give a spark off the bench also, but we really need our 3 point shooting and Yao to have a good night as well as T-Mac. They have played some mediocre teams, but we cannot underestimate them because they are a different team this year. If Rafer does well for us, defensively and offensively, I believe we have a good shot at winning.
True. We have two best defenders in the league, Adelman can let Battier and Ron guard James in turn, also Ron had said he can defender Lebron James before. Believe Rox can limit James
double team lebron with battier and artest or a combination with other teammates would be the best bet since we kno ben wallace isnt gonna have a huge night
is regular season. you throw battier and artest at him the whole game and play the passing lane and see if you can contain him and make the other cavs beat you. If it doesn't work, then you make adusments later on in the season when you face the Cavs again.
I want the Rockets to limit his drives to the bucket as much as possible. That will limit the foul situation on Yao and will force the rest of the Cavs to shoot contested shots. So I believe Lebron should be primarily defended by Battier. Shane will hopefully direct his ball movement out of the paint with his conservative/wise defensive stance. Ron Artest is great for getting steals and putting pressure on a guy, but that trying to poke the ball out stuff is gonna give lebron real easy drives to the rim. Also i want Landry in the game more than scola to help with some double team. Carl is probably the only guy who could get enough air with lebron to prevent some dunks and help alleviate Yao's fouls.
yeah remember,it was last year.but that doesn't mean he can block lebron ever time he drives to the basket.
Typical Cavs fans. They are so spoiled even when their team lose they say stuff like "Its only one game Cavs is flat out better than xxx".
so that's 2 wins against us in lebron's career? cavs' fans need to slow down. we're a better team then the cavs' are, or atleast we will be by the end of the season, i'm certain of that. i'm uncertain about tomorrow not because of the schedule but because battier still isn't moving around that well and artest's defense is crap right now. it should be good though.
We cannot focus on Lebron James. This is a different Lebron James. If we worry too much about him, his teamates will be effective. We need to trust Battier and Artest to guard him one-on-one. We also need to play well as a team. We have to look after the ball, becasue one sloppy pass for touch shot and Lebron will intercept the ball and or be up the floor in the flash for the fast break. Offensivly we also need to attack. We need to get to the paint for alot of our points. It starts with Yao, T-Mac, Brooks and Artest. Yao needs to attack the double team, we should post Artest on Lebron and try and get him in foul trouble. We also need T-mac to be...T-Mac.
looooool!! they scared of what t-mac wil do to them in the game. i'm sure that t-mac will bring his A game against the cavs, thats what he always do against lebron.
The solution is simple, i think. Look at the Spurs in the finals 2 years ago. Lebron was UNSTOPPABLE the entire playoffs (including a 48 point performance on a detroit team that was pretty damn good defensively) but then the spurs shut him down and won in 4 games. Why? Their game plan was simple: A. Double Lebron off of every single pick and roll. B. If lebron brings the ball up the court, trap as soon as he passes half court and get the ball out of his hands. C. If Lebron catches the ball on the wing, play back and force him to shoot the jump shot. If he dribbles anywhere but towards the basket, double team him. Here's the reasoning behind this: If lebron gets a head of steam, he's impossible to stop. He's too fast and too strong, and he finishes too well. Most teams try to stop him with help defense after the first guy gets beat but it's too late--he's scored, dished, or drawn a foul. The way he normally gets his speed going toward the basket is a high pick and roll or dribbling up top in a 1-4 set/initiating the offense after bringing the ball up the court. In those instances, TRAP HIM. MAKE HIM PASS. Will we leave the occasional guy open? Yes, but we play some of the best help defense in the L. I'll take my chances with scrambling to close out on Wally Sexyback if it means less chances for Lebron to hurt us. That's also why you trap AS SOON AS HE CROSSES HALF COURT--he has to give the ball up far from the basket, he won't have angles to set up scorers in position, and your D has time to steal/recover. When he catches the ball on the wing in the triple threat, normally the cavs space it well enough to make doubling a poor option. So here, you play back a little and bait the jump shot (like adelman had ron do against Wade). This way, if he drives, he's not just blowing by the first defender into the second level of defense, and it also gives guys (shane in particular) a better opportunity to jump his move and take a charge. If we turn Lebron into a jump shooter, he's average. If we let him attack, he's nigh unstoppable. WEAKNESSES OF THIS STRATEGY: A. Other people will score. That's fine. You live with that. Think about some of the games the rockets lose where yao gets fronted and doubled--yao gets doubled before he can even do anything in the offense, the other team forces us to work around it and find other players, we look terrible and awkward trying to create offense in ways we aren't used to. We should give the Cavs that sort of treatment At the very least, you force their 2nd tier players (mo williams/ big Z, pavlovich, etc) into the spotlight and dare them to beat you. More importantly, you take them out of their offensive concept and make them run sets that they aren't as comfortable with, leading to turnovers, bad shots, and more wasted possessions. (and generally, the team with the most quality possessions wins) b. Lebron will still score. If you play off him (as I'm suggesting) he'll hit a few jumpers, he'll hit turnarounds, he'll lean into your guys and drop in floaters. Again, that's fine. If he's not getting to the basket, he cant draw fouls, and he can't set up his teammates, making their offense contingent on one man playing away from his strength.. THE THING PEOPLE NORMALLY MESS UP WHEN ATTEMPTING THIS STRATEGY: Teams normally don't double HARD ENOUGH. if you just show on a screen (like we normally do), he'll wait it out and then have room to drive. If you just softly double as he crosses halfcourt, he'll use his height to throw a very direct and accurate pass, and they'll likely get a more open 3 or layup. Don't just double, double HARD. Slap at the ball. Wave your arms. Make him pick up his dribble and throw more difficult passes. If lebron is coming around a screen or advances the ball up court, we need to treat him like the rest of the NFL treated David Carr. This strategy is exactly what the Spurs employed in the finals 2 years ago. Given that Tayshaun Prince is arguably an equally skilled individual defender to Bruce Bowen, why is it that lebron scored 48 on the pistons and had trouble cracking 20 against the spurs? Why could lebron beat the pistons single handed while he was impotent in a sweep by the spurs. The answer is simple: the spurs ATTACKED LEBRON and forced others to score, THEY DICTATED what the cavs did on offense. To this point, i've only seen this strategy done well a few times. The rockets have the help and interior defensive ability to help and recover. lets go get em, boys. /rant over //was gonna be it's on thread, but the GARM doesn't need the redundancy ///3,000 cool points to anyone who actually read all of that.
Yes I agree with you I think Tracy will bring his A game. And he will be well rested becasue he only played 29 mins. last night.
I agree. I think this game will hinge on how efficient our offense is, and i think T-mac is our biggest mismatch (at least in the starting lineups...i wouldn't be surprised to see pavlovich or lebron gaurding t-mac for long stretches).
