I wish the rockets could look as good as the magic offensively. I also like how the magic have 4 players on the floor at all times that can shoot the 3 ball and if thats not working they can go to howard.
I'll take the bait also. Scola and Lowry are outright floppers. Period. End of story. Any Rockets fan who says otherwise needs to shed their homer glasses. They aren't the worst floppers in the NBA, but it isn't like the Rockets are the most righteous team either. Unfortunately, flopping is a big part of the NBA and the Rockets fit right in. If many here were consistent in their criticism about flopping, they would stop being Rockets fans.
FG%, dude... FG%. It matters. Plus, Gasol contributes in other ways beyond scoring. He rebounds, passes the ball and is a major piece of how they run their offense every time down the court. Williams has done almost nothing other than shoot a lot of shots, miss a lot of shots and turn the ball over. He isn't setting up teammates or doing a lot of other things he could be doing to help the team, including shooting less when his shot isn't falling.
You are hopeless! Will you trade Gasol for Mo Williams in this case? I know Cavs will do this in a heartbeat and even Isiah Thomas won't do this trade. Why? The reason is obvious, Gasol >>>>> Mo! I bet you won't even trade Odom for Mo Williams!
Mo doesn't have the ball, he's forced to be the spot up shooter, how can he setup teammates? We are officially back to the make teammates better argument. Mo shooting 46% is pretty good for a perimeter player. Gasol is soft and not very good at defense, don't forget that.
I'll take Odom for Mo any day of the week. Hell, I'll give Gasol for Varejao if 3 refs are on my side.
Call it what you want... blame Lebron for Mo's poor play. In my opinion, the Mo Williams is independently folding under pressure on the biggest stage of his career. Granted, he's never been there before but he has arguably the best player in the world as his sidekick and he has thrown up a series of clunkers to the detriment of his team's season.
#1, watch the next game. For the majority of the first few quarters, it's Mo bringing the ball up the court. He may not handle the ball as much as he did in Milwaukee but he's had every opportunity to do more than he has as a playmaker. Lebron is more than willing to defer to him at times as he did throughout the season. The problem is Mo is sucking and has lost his confidence. He doesn't want to make things happen. He's content shooting jumpers and limiting his role in the offense. Also, he's shooting about 30% in this series. He hasn't had 1 good game out of 4. Your second best player should never be that bad. The Magic have had multiple players contribute in multiple ways since Game 1. It wasn't necessarily the same guy every night but multiple players have impacted the game. Even when Hedo's shot has been off, he's gotten to the line or set up his teammates or hit clutch shots down the stretch. The same goes for Rashard. Even Rafer has had a couple of nice scoring games, which is two more than all-star Mo. Throw in Pietrus' solid two-way play off the bench and it should be obvious why Orlando is winning. Lebron has proven his MVP worthiness in this series as far as I see it. He's done everything he can at both ends to help his team win. Not one single other player has consistently delivered alongside him. If they did, this series looks totally different right now.
The only reason that strategy works with the Magic is because of Howard's rebounding. If a guy is going to grab down 20 boards a game, you can let those 3 pointers fly because you know chances are he'll probably grab a rebound and give ya an extra possession. If the Magic didn't have Howard they would give up a lot of long rebounds that generally equate to high % fast break points.
That's his job to bring up the ball, then throw it to LBJ. We saw Alston did the same thing for TM. Did LBJ try to cut or run through screens to attract attention? No, he's just standing outside of 3pts line waiting for the ball.
I think what this series really shows you is how good Lebron actually is to have carried this group as far as he did. People started to believe that Lebron finally had the supporting cast he needed this year. Yes, the Cavs' role players have marginally improved since last year but Lebron still doesn't have his #2 guy. He has a bunch of #3s or worse that he has made look better than they actually are. It's kind of like an ace on a pitching staff that has nothing better than a #3 or #4 arm behind him in the rotation. For much of the season, he makes his team look better than they are but when it comes down to crunch time, those #3s and #4s show their true colors and the team falls short. I honestly believe that if the Cavs come back and win this series, it will because one or two role players step up. Lebron is maxing out his abilities. He will show up every night, win or lose. The same can't be said about any of his teammates so far.
Lebron moves off the ball plenty. Watch the next game, especially in the first 3 quarters. You are describing McGrady and McGrady only when you talk about superstars that stand on the perimeter watching the action. Yes, Mo defers to Lebron more than he did in Milwaukee but he still handles the ball a lot, especially early in the game. Once he saw his 3s not falling, he had to find other ways to contribute and he didn't. He needs to lean on his playmaking skills more as well as attack the basket more. Lebron will still be the primary ballhandler but Mo can do more and he should do more. Delonte did so tonight. He posted up down low, attacked the basket, etc... but it was too late. You are insinuating that Lebron is a ballhog and it's the furthest thing from the truth when it comes to superstar players. He loves seeing his teammates making things happen or setting them up with good looks but he's still the closer and he'll try to put everything on his shoulders if nobody else is able to step up. If you ask all the Cavs players, I bet not one of them will call Lebron a ballhog. They all are having the time of their lives playing with him. You may not get the same kind of candid responses from Kobe or McGrady's teammates... maybe not even Wade's despite his high assist numbers. Lebron loves creating for his teammates and is more than willing to share the ball until he has no other choice but to try and take over on his own. His teammates are practically begging for him to take over since they can't. Delonte seems the least rattled out of the role players. Maybe he should be the one to step up from the opening tip next game.
Brooksball, i had orlando in 6 at the beginning. I think they do need to move lbj off the ball some and let williams and big z play pnr. The problem is they cant don't have a answer for lewis,hedo and howard. They can solve 1, but not all 3 and then here comes pietrus. I have been fighting this battle all year and for years and i've said the rockets need that kind of guy at the 4. Howard gets doubled, but teams don't double as much because you have not only 3 pt guys, but lewis,hedo,lee,and pietrus can all put the ball on the floor and get to the rim. I'm not trying to derail this, nut that why i've alays thought scola or landry makes sense, but both doesn't.what kills me is the rox shoot alot of 3's also, but they have some guys that shouldn't shoot them nearly as often plus orlando have guys that don't have to be butt naked to make that shot. Tim Thomas would do wonders on this squad or someone like him.
i know you don't like battier, but no he doesn't. i remember one time all season that he flopped and tried to snap his head back like a varejao or ginobili or something. and that was the first time i'd seen him do it in his 3 years here. the battier flops group just don't know what they're watching. falling down because you get knocked back or down isn't flopping. might as well argue that yao flops a lot just b/c he trips all the time. now scola, we all know he flops.
I totally agree about the defensive mismatches as well as what you proposed as far as strategy. You can't have two slow bigs on the court, with one of them trying to match up with Lewis or Hedo. As far as at the other end, maybe you're right. Maybe they should try running more plays for Mo or Delonte to get them into the games sooner. Their only chance of coming back in this series as I see it is to get somebody other than Lebron going consistently. I don't blame Lebron for the lack of production out of the role players though. These are the same guys that were delivering during the regular season running the same stuff they run now. Even with the defensive mismatches and Brown's refusal to make the necessary adjustments, Cleveland could still be winning this series if just Mo alone played anywhere near his normal self. I don't think Orlando is the reason he's sucking just like I don't think Lebron is the reason as another poster suggested. I guess defense and the lack of adjutments may be the biggest difference for Cleveland in this series. I mean they had two massive leads that they blew in games 1 and 2. I guess you could argue that those defensive mismatches are just as much of a problem as the lack of offense from players not named Lebron. I just find it hard to believe that West and Williams haven't been punishing Orlando more, especially when Pietrus isn't on the court. None of Orlando's starting perimeter players are lockdown defenders. In fact none of their players are especially great defensively beyond Howard, not even Alston. We've all seen Alston get torched by plenty of guards in this league. He's no Kyle Lowry by any stretch of the imagination. He just has good hands and tries his best to play smart to make up for his declining athleticism. By settling for outside shots and missing those outside shots, Cleveland is playing right into Orlando's hands. Mo and West need to be attacking the basket more often when they get their looks. They should be able to beat Alston and the young, inexperienced Lee off the dribble easily.
I'm watching the replay of the game right now on TNT. The first 3 possessions of the game, Mo brought the ball up and tried to penetrate or kicked to Vareajo at the top of the key. Lebron was constantly cutting off the ball and wasn't getting a touch until after 2 or 3 passes. The last play, Mo ended up driving the paint and finishing inside. On both accounts you are wrong... 1. Mo is running the offense. It's clear and obvious. There is another example as I write this. Mo brings it up, passes to Vareajo when he gets met on the perimeter, who then kicks it to West. The possession ended with Mo using Vareajo as a screen and shooting a mid-range shot. All the while, Lebron is moving off the ball. Now, Mo just took a guy off the dribble, pump faked and forced a foul on a mid-range shot. 2. Lebron is not standing around by any stretch of the imagination. He's constantly moving and cutting. Mo has every opportunity to do more than just shoot and miss outside shots. It's almost 4 minutes into the 1st quarter and Lebron is barely a factor on offense. What you see is Mo and Delonte and Vareajo missing shots. Mo just drove all the way to the basket, kicked back out to Big Z who kicked it back to Mo in the corner. Mo missed the shot. Now, Big Z posted up and got a feed from the perimeter. Lebron is still running all over the place off the ball. Now, 5 min in the game, Lebron gets his first real touch out on the perimeter after the ball was already passed to Z. Sorry for the running play by play but you are just wrong about Mo just handing the ball off to Lebron a la Alston/McGrady and you are wrong about Lebron just standing around a la McGrady. As I write this, Mo attacks the basket and gets swatted by Howard. Lebron didn't even touch the ball on the possession. It's almost halfway through the 1st quarter...
i had to fall asleep and miss most of this game but it's weird how teams just own teams. orlando was terrible in their 1st 2 rounds and looked so fragile it was amazing, and now dwight howard can't miss a ft, rafer alston is shooting and scoring like he's larry bird, and rashard lewis is hitting clutch 3's like he's reggie miller (or also larry bird). meanwhile mo williams has yet to crack 33.3% from the field in any game this series. that's trule astonishing. shooting 33% would be one thing, to never do better than that is horrible. and 22% from 3 is just great. lebron with 42/7/7 and not a damn other person can step up and help him. i don't know how they did against denver this year, but nothing can stop orlando at this point. the lakers can't. you're not beating them when they hit all their 3's and you really aren't if dwight is an 80% free throw shooter. things just are working for them and i don't see what's going to stop it at this point. i don't dislike them but something just seems wrong about orlando winning a title. you've got a superstar who was throwing up backboard shattering hooks while being single-teamed in his last series and who hardly scores (before today) down the stretch, two softies like rashard and hedo as your 2 perimeter go to guys, rafer alston at point guard, and a coach who was replaced just a few seasons ago (although i'd like to see him win). somehow all of these guys will have a title now. plus, teams like cleveland just don't not make the finals. best record and best player, how often does that fail? but apparently the regular season does mean something because it's about to fail. lebron is good enough to make them dominate 85% of the league, and i mean really dominate, but against the really good teams he still needs more help and that showed in their record against the good teams this year. mo williams as an all-star, ha!
You dont hate orlando, bt you aren't giving howard his due. His offense is raw at times, but his activity is what keeps him producing, plus he's a hell of a rebounder and has to be accounted for. Orlando have a really good team and to perkins credit, he is a very good defender. Brooksball, styles make fights. Its something about a team that no matter who you have, they can beat you. Seattle in the 90's and Utah today against the rox. Houston did the same in the repeat year because teams had to play horry at the 3pt line. Thats why horry killed horace grant because of the same reasons. dream and shaq basically cancelled each other out, clyde and penny did the same, but horry was special that series.
