I have heard lots of Zydrunas when he was in his younger years, and a lot about Mo Williams. not a lot about the others though.
Mo Williams was a streaky scorer who played zero defense and was called a ballhog by many. Z was fairly good, but in the 18 and 7 range, not 20 and 10. That team is a tribute to (1) the greatness of Lebron, (2) the benefits of great defense, and (3) the fact that a team can get on a year-long roll and still not be the best. I've watched many, many Cavs games this year, and it's one of those three things, sort of like the Bulls in 1991 when Pippen was almost at or just barely at the All-Star level.
Ughh...yet another typical road performance from the Hawks. Despite whatever the score says they actually were in this one for a while. They were trailing by only five points at the half after failing to capitalize on an number of Cavs TO's and mistakes. As typical with the Hawks though, they came out completely flat in the 2nd half of a road game which explains the lopsided score. It just stinks because the Hawks can hang with this team when healthy. Maybe not so much on the road but Al Horford and Marvin Williams clearly aren't 100% and consequently are dragging out there. Horford has no explosiveness due to his ankle and Marvin can barely even catch the ball let alone shoot it given the wrist sprain on his shooting hand. Those guys are two of their best athletes. Did anybody else notice the EMBARRASSING rebounding edge Cleveland had? 41-33 and a +8 doesn't quite do it justice. Instead, focus on the 15 offensive rebounds and countless second chance points Cleveland benefited from. Plus, what did I tell all you guys? LeBron may have been spectacular but who REALLY kills the Hawks against teams like this is great PG play, or in other words Mo Williams capitalizing off all the open looks he gets. Check out Mo's splits against Atlanta this year: 23+ PPG, 54% from the field and 50% from 3-pt range. Tonight: 21 pts, 7-12 overall and 4-8 from downtown. Is anybody else noticing a trend here? Bibby may tempt scholars to develop new words for "bad" when it comes describing his defense, but his shooting is far too important to overlook. It just stinks the Hawks have to waste a night where Bibby was hot in such a poor effort.
I think you are giving the Hawks way too much credit. The Cavs took a little while to sharpen up after the layoff, and when they did, it was beat-down time. In spurts, the Hawks can hang with the Cavs. For the entire 48 minutes? Ain't gonna happen. Who knows, maybe the Hawks rise up and steal a game at home and stretch this thing to 5 games if they are lucky. The biggest ally the Hawks might have is after a ho hum series against the Pistons where the Cavs slept most of the time, they will fall asleep during one of the games in Atlanta. Bibby's game wasn't wasted. It's gonna take a complete game by the schizo Hawks and a letdown by LeBron & Co. to prevent the sweep and it won't happen in Cleveland. I suggest looking forward to game 3, which is the Hawks best chance.
LOL! Since it's likely the Magic and Cavs will match up, we'll see. You abuse the word mismatch. We'll see how much Shard abuses LeBron at PF.
Also, given Marvin's crippled status and assignment as the primary defender on LeBron, the Hawks might want to consider giving some minutes to Mario West. For those unfamiliar with West, he's a VERY pesky and smart defender. Sort of like the Chuck Hayes of wing players: the guy most casual NBA fans think "sucks" yet in reality plays very underrated and admirable lockdown, one-on-one defense. Hell, ask Wade about Mario West. West definitely held his own and did a great job of not letting Wade touch the ball in spurts. Definitely an idea to consider if Marvin is really this hobbled and unable to do much of anything out there. Which sucks, considering Marvin actually is a decent player that unfortunately gets scoffed at over the whole 2005 Draft debacle that he had no control over. Should the Hawks have taken Paul or Deron? Clearly, but they didn't so let's move on. They have Marvin instead and he's a fine player in his own right. It just sucks to see him suffering during a time like this where his contributions could be so valuable. In a contract year, to boot.
Nah, just trying to be levelheaded about this. People act like the Hawks have no business being out there on the same court with the Cavs. This is the same team that the Hawks beat once and lost two close games by a total of seven points. Yeah, there was one blowout too but the Hawks are pretty good on their home court. I'm hoping that trend continues. Mind you, this is placing aside how pitiful the Hawks are in crunch time. Their decision making, execution, FT making and shot selection is some of the worst you will ever see. And....seven points? Just saying....
The game planning and intensity level of playoff basketball is different than two ships passing in the night (the regular season). This ain't the same Cavs team. The Hawks belong out there, but only as fodder. The Cavs stumbled and bumbled the last 1/3 of the regular season even though they won most of the games. I watched a good chunk of them. They had focus and concentration problems because the regular season bored them. People here said they "just don't see it" about the Cavs. You said LeBron wasn't that dominant against the Hawks. Now that the real season has started, the Cavs have raised it to another level. The Hawks? They don't have the other level for more than a 20-25 minutes (at the most) at a time. Game 3. That's the one the Hawks need to win for pride. The Cavs better not let me down in this series the way I'm talking them up.
Haha....Don't worry, you should be safe on this one. I think we're at the point where everybody knows the Cavs have gotten better as the season progressed. I'm not questioning that or their ability to kick it up a notch for 48-minutes in a playoff game. And most of what you said about the Hawks is true. They aren't a mentally strong or cerebral basketball team. They're at their best when they're running, playing confident and feeding off the crowd's energy which helps explain why they're so good at home. I don't know what it is about playing on the road that flusters them so badly. I mean, the difference is night and day. That was the case last year against the Celtics, this year against the Heat and judging by Game 1 against the Cavs -- likely the same pattern. Oh well, we'll we see what they're made of in Game 2. There's a chance the Cavs could become complacent and go on "coast" mode which might allow the Hawks to make a run or two. Unlikely, though. So yeah, Game 3 is looking like their best shot. For whatever that's worth.
Did you guys notice that LJ had ZERO fouls in game 1? Throughout the entire playoffs so far (5 games) he's averaging only ONE foul per game. Considering he's averaging nearly 40 minutes a game, that is an amazing stat. Not only that, he's averaging 2 steals a game and a few blocks. Usually, players that go for steals and blocks foul a little bit more since they gamble on the plays. Not Lebron apparently. The NBA might as well change the logo to LJ. The way they cater to his every move makes me sick. He's a great player no doubt, but the preferential treatment makes me dislike him and the NBA.
man, every time i watch an nba game that involves the cavs these days, as long as it doesn't have the rockets in it, i'd fall into sleep - LITERALLY. and i'm not kidding. it's just so boring.
They're saying Al Horford is out tonight which likely means Solomon Jones starts another game at center. Folks, that's the equivalent of us starting Joey Dorsey. Yeah, I think it's safe to say the Cavs are going to win big tonight.
As a follower of the Hawks, I know it's tough for you not seeing them able to compete with a full compliment of healthy players. I know how frustrated I felt watching the Rockets the last 2 playoffs.
Is Violet Palmer the worst official in the history of sports? Even the other refs must be embarrassed of her, they always correct her calls.
..and I thought the Heat-Hawks series was terrible...... wow, this is beyond boring just give the Cavs the series and let's just forget that these two teams ever matched up, it will save everyone a lit of time
cavs have it to easy..i think the rockets, lakers and nuggets could all beat the cavs in a 7 game series, cavs are overrated
