So the Magic are using Pietrus/Lee on LeBron? I guess that puts Rafer on Mo Williams, Howard on Varejao/Wallace, Lewis on Ilgauskas, and Turkeyglue on Delonte West? Yeah, I can see how the matchups are better for Orlando. I've been busy, but from what I've caught in the series, Orlando just keeps running high screen roll with Turkey and Howard. I saw Jon Barry chastise the Cavs for "not changing the way they play pick and roll defense" this morning on ESPN. I wonder what he wants changed? Should Delonte West go under the screen? I guess that could work at times, but I don't think having a 6'4" PG/SG go under a pick leaving 6'10" Turkey open all day is such a great idea. Then again, Turkey was shooting horribly in game 3, and they were hard showing on the high PnR....wait a second. Okay, I've just concluded that Jon Barry made an idiotic statement, because the PnR defense in game 3 was different from game 4. And I don't really think Barry has any defensive scheme understanding anyways...dude was a slow-footed defensive liability, but great shooter and flashy passer. If Ilgauskas had a legit post game, then he could punish Lewis down low, but that doesn't exist. Cleveland is just a little too short. I heard some Cleveland reporter comment on ESPN2 or something a few days ago that Orlando's length on close-outs is effecting Cleveland's shooting. That could be the case. Whatever the reason, Mo Williams is totally under-performing relative to the regular season. He's still scoring about 18 points per game, but his regular season 3pt shooting was 43.6%, and in this series he's 6/27 behind the arc, which is 22.2%. On 2pters, he's 48.6% in the regular season and 38.6% in this series. The same could be said for Delonte West. He's also scoring about the same at 13ppg, but his shooting is down too. 39.9% from behind the arc during the regular season and 29.4% in this series. On 2pters, he was 49.0% during the season and 51.7% in this series. Oh wait, that's just as good. I do recall seeing West do pretty well on drives and post ups and 2 pt pull up jumpers. I guess shooting pretty much sums it up. I think the Cavs have actually been moving the ball decently. It's not like they've been blowouts. Ilgauskas was a 47.2% shooter in the season and only 41.9% in this series. He also made 38.5% of his 3pt attempts during the season, but is 0-6 in the series. Cleveland's offense is LeBron creating for others as well as himself, and if your shooters aren't shooting, they it's hard to overcome. I mean, Orlando did shoot bad in game 3, but Cleveland shot worse.
I called it here first Cavs by atleast 30 points tonight. Lebron will be wearing a kevlar jacket courtesy of NBA referees. Touch him with your fingernails and he'll shoot free throws the rest of the night. Varejao will get a minimum of 2 flops called in his favor against Dwight Howard.
This is a very good point. I think Mo Williams and Delonte West and Z have all had career years from behind the arc, but have fallen in this series so far. Maybe Gibson needs more playing time. That dude was money the last time the Cavs made a deep run. Boobie is from Htown too so it's good to root for his success. And Wally needs more run. Dude played 20 minutes per game during the season and shot 41.1% from behind the arc and didn't even get off the bench in games 2 and 3.
This game should be interesting. I really want Orlando to win. It will change a lot of things in the NBA.
The Cavs are a desperate basketball team and it shows tonight. If they go on to win tonight, it will be interesting to see if they can get up again for Game 6.
I sort of feel the same way. The only thing I would add is that the Magic could possibly hand the Cavs Game 6 if they fall victim to the pressure of closing out. It will effectively be a Game 7 for them. They won't want to go back to Cleveland.
lol, magic just jacking up jumpshots and 3s every time down while the cavs attack the rim. force the refs to call something that they can talk.
I'm not sure how much it's them being uninspired versus the Cavs being at home playing in survival mode. Howard is working hard and I see Hedo pushing the ball aggressively. Pietrus is working hard on defense. Rashard looks like Rashard usually does early in games. I think it's probably what the Cavs are doing more than what the Magic aren't doing.
The Magic are playing like they know their going to win game 6. Which to me is pretty dumb, they should be playing like this is a game 7.
Very true. Lebron's teammates have let him down big time in this series. If they do it one more time, their season is over.
