The Cavaliers are down 3-1 to the Warriors. A lot of people are saying, "Hey, the Warriors came back from a 3-1 deficit this post-season, why can't the Cavs. Now I'm not saying that the Cavs can't do it, but I am going to say that what the Warriors did was totally different. The Warriors only had to play 1 game on the road while they had 2 home games left. The Cavs only have 1 home game left and have to win 2 games on the Warriors home floor. Now, this isn't impossible because 2 of the 10 teams to comeback from a 3-1 deficit only had 1 home game left after being down 3-1. One was the Celtics from the Bill Russell days, and the other team was the Houston Rockets and their clutch city team. These are two historic teams. And no one has comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals, so if the Cavs were to accomplish this feat, it would be a very historic moment in NBA history.
Now, if you haven't heard, Draymond Green has been suspended for game 5 of the NBA finals due to his encounter with LeBron. He will be out of the lineup. I don't know what Steve Kerr is going to do, but I have to assume he'll start Iggy at the 3 and slide Barnes to the 4. What I do if I'm the Cavs, is start Love at the 5. Now you might think I'm crazy, but I can explain. Love at the 5 would most likely match him up with Andrew Bogut and Kevin Love is a guy that can really stretch the floor. Through the whole time Andrew Bogut is on the floor, I'd suggest the Cavs go into pick and roll/pop with Love. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving should just go into pick and roll/pop with Love until Steve Kerr decides to take Bogut out of the game. With shooters like Jefferson and J.R., if the Warriors help off of the pick and roll, these guys will have wide open shots and lanes to the basket. We've seen how the Warriors do against the small line-up in pick and roll when they have Bogut or Ezeli out there; it isn't pretty. With them down 3-1, they have to try something, and Love at the 5 might actually work for at least the first quarter.
With Draymond Green out, this really takes away the Warriors' versatility and option to go small. This is going to force them to have a big throughout most of the game and what the Warriors are going to have to hope to do is out-score the Cavs. I expect Anderson Varejao to play a big role for the team because of his versatility and hustle he brings. He can also somewhat stretch the floor. Same with Speights and I think he will also get some key minutes.
Game 5 is going to be Cleveland's best chance to steal a game in Golden State and you have to think if they can win the next 2 games, they will have a good shot at winning game 7 in Golden State.
I hate to say it, but sorry Cavs fans, the Warriors are just superior to your team. Now, I'm not saying the series is over at all. I'm just saying that the Warriors are the better team and the Cavs are going to have a really tough time trying to win against them. Game 2 was a prime example of it. The Warriors wore down the Cavs and the Cavs really just gave up.
The biggest thing I took from game 2 was the Warriors heart and will to win. And what I saw was the Warriors team rebounding. They out-rebounded the Cavs 46 to 34. The Warriors hit the offensive glass hard. The Cavs just didn't seem to want to board and the Warriors did. You could tell what team wanted to win that game.
Something I want to really point out is how underrated of a defender Andrew Bogut is. The guy had 5 blocks last night. Cool, right? But there is a lot more to defense than blocking shots. Bogut's positioning and timing defensively is amazing. He reads the defense so well. You can't forget that this guy also had 2 steals in the game. I also want to point out that Bogut is a great passer. While his own offensive game is lacking. Bogut plays the high post position exceptionally well and sees the floor better than most big men.
Richard Jefferson is honestly probably the best player on the Cavs right now. Now before I get a bunch of hate mail from you Cavs fans, let me explain this. Let this soak into your brains... This guy on defense was really good. Just like Bogut, Jefferson's defense was amazing as far as positioning. He was stopping his guy. He also did an amazing job on help defense and double-teaming. Offensively, Jefferson was just as good. The veteran made great cuts to the basket as he drew the defense towards him in the game. In fact, Rich might have to start from now on. And you might say LeBron James is the best player on the Cavs; well, he's been pretty brutal when he's been on the floor. LBJ had 7 turnovers and gave up a lot of points defensively. I was very impressed by Jefferson's play and I think he should start instead of J.R. Smith. This is for a few reasons. I think J.R. will be much more productive off the bench and he will provide a ton of bench offense. Also, I think that when he comes in to guard Thompson, the Warriors will have more limited options offensively. Richard Jefferson will be a big spark for the starting lineup too. His veteran presence would hopefully start the Cavs off the right way next game.
And let's not overlook just what the Warriors did defensively. They held the Cavs to under 80 points and under 36% shooting. This defensive effort was held out by almost every player on the floor. Draymond, Bogut, Curry, Thompson, and especially Iguodala were just amazing defensively. If they keep this level of defensive play, they are going to be really tough to beat since the Cavs aren't going to be able to rely on their offense to get them to the finish line.
Get out your brooms because it's a.... sorry Hawks fans. Anyways, this game was entertaining and while I wish the Hawks got a clean look at a shot, that just wasn't how the game played out.
The Hawks seemed to think that the Cavs would just stop making 3-pointers. They just didn't understand that if you get an open shot from 3, it's almost like a 3-pointer. Somehow, Kevin Love shot just 36% from the field while he shot 53.3% from 3-point on 8-15 shooting from deep. Kevin Love was literally wide open from 3-point range, and the defense never adjusted. If a guy is making 3s, you get out on him!
I thought that the defense at the end of the game from the Hawks was the worst defense from any team this playoffs. This was from a great defensive team. They allowed LeBron to get a wide open pass right underneath the hoop and they watched him put up 3 or 4 shots in 1 possession. Then, towards the very end of the game when they needed a stop, Paul Millsap, instead of cutting off LeBron, he let's LeBron catch a pass towards the hoop. Millsap trails him thinking he could just get up there and block it. Of course, this ends up being called a goaltend! All of this could have been prevented if the players made the right defensive play.
You could say the Hawks lost because of their poor 3-point shooting and shots just weren't falling. You could say that the Cavs hit lucky shots. But the fact of the matter is, the Hawks defense was brutal at the end of the game. The will to win wasn't there. There was no want from the players. They didn't want to play defense and this lost them the series.
This was a must-win game for the Hawks, and they lost. This series doesn't look good for them. Game 4 could be a closer for the Cavs.
The Hawks had the lead in the 4th quarter but ended up playing really careless. They had 4 turnovers in the 4th. They also played very poor defense. Kyrie got tons of open looks. He had 12 points in the 4th. Channing Frye had 11 in the 4th as he made all of his shots in the quarter. The Hawks offense was scrambling and they could not get any shots to fall.
The Hawks need more production, they just can't match the Cavs. The Hawks need much more production from their bench but they can't seem to get enough. The Cavs are shooting the lights out from deep which is really hurting them. They have such a deep roster, it's hard to compete with.
This was the Hawks chance to win, they just were sloppy towards the end of the game. They need to take care of the ball and play better defense. They need to be the Hawks.
There was no stopping the Cavs last night. They couldn't seem to miss a shot. Let's just take a look at just how well they played.
The Cavs shot 25-45 from 3-point range. This is truly amazing simply because it's never been done before. Even LeBron James, who has struggled from 3, made 4 of them. All but 3 players on the Cavs team made a 3. It was clear that the Cavs couldn't be stopped.
However, the defense from the Hawks didn't help. Cleveland had 29 point off turnovers and most of those points were 3 pointers. The Hawks also did a very poor job contesting shots. They did a horrible job as there were more uncontested shots that the Cavs took that contested. It usually is the other way around. Their defense was just out of whack. They just didn't get back in transition and left guys open. The fact that Cleveland only had 24 points in the paint tells you that the Hawks didn't even try to force the Cavs to drive. They let them take the 3.
While this was an amazing site to see before my eyes, I was very discouraged in the Hawks effort. They really need to catch a break from the Cavs and they better hope they've cooled down by then. The Hawks need to get their big men involved and really play good defense. They must start out strong.
The Cavs played good overall, but this was not what the Hawks can do. They had a very poor performance. I really was surprised on just how poorly the Hawks played.
The Hawks shot just 37.9% from the field. Not something that they are known for at all. Some people might argue that the Cavs defense was great, but I have to disagree. The Hawks shot more uncontested shots than contested shots. The problem was, they weren't hitting their open shots. In fact, they hit just 37.5 of their uncontested shots. They shot 48 of them! It seemed like Horford and Millsap just couldn't hit a post shot. They did a great job; they just couldn't get the shots to fall.
Dennis Schroder kept the Hawks in the game. He finished with 27 points in the game, leading points for both teams. They could really use another good performance from him in game 2. The Hawks need their starters to produce more though. Teague finished with just 8 points. Korver had 3 points in 37 minutes. Horford had 10. The Hawks just need to hit more shots.
The Cavs were very tough to defend in the game. Everyone was hitting 3's with really spaced the floor. J.R. Smith, Kyrie, Richard Jefferson, and Kevin Love were all hitting 3's. This really opened up the paint for LeBron. It really helped that LeBron was hitting outside shots as well. This forced the defense to guard him at the 3-point line which enabled him to get into the paint easily.
The Hawks really just need to hit shots. They didn't in this game. I expect them to heat up and the Cavs to cool down. If this happens, we will have some close games that might make this the series we've been waiting for.
The Cavaliers won the series, but before I get started, I would like to point out that Kyrie Irving traveled in the video above. And It wasn't a half-court, his foot was over the line. I mean, geez guys, it's not a big deal!... I'm kidding!
Okay, so to start off, the Pistons need to find a better backup center for Andre Drummond, because Aron Baynes just gets destroyed out there. He isn't a good rebounder and not the best defensive player. They could really use a backup like Bismack Biyombo.
The next thing I'm going to mention is that both teams had a combined total of 14 turnovers. Only 14. The Cavs only had 5 turnovers in the game. If they keep that up going into the next rounds of the playoffs, they are going to be hard to beat. So great job to the Cavs for taking great care of the ball.
While the Pistons guarded LeBron pretty well, LeBron completely destroyed Marcus Morris in the paint. I wasn't too thrilled about Morris''s defense. While Morris shot 75% from the field, he was a -13 when he was on the floor, this was because he did a horrible job guarding LeBron. Stanly Johnson on the other hand did a great job on letting LeBron put up longer range shots and forcing him out of the paint.
I also think that the Cavs kind of strayed away from ball movement in this game. They only had 16 assists and I think that they should move the ball around more. This was mainly the reason why this was such a close game, the Cavs played a lot of iso ball, a little too much.
Anyways, while Reggie Jackson didn't really get a good look at a game winner, this was still a fun series to watch. But the Cavs need to get ready to move on. They need to be ready for whoever is next, because if they play like this, they could easily be beaten.
The Pistons home court was lit. All of the fans in the arena were just happy to see their team back in the playoffs again, and the Pistons put on a show. So far in this series they have been a challenge for the Cavs, but the Cavs have had no problem conquering them.
The Pistons starters were great. They played really well on the court as all of them had double-figure scoring. Their bench was brutal though. They only had 14 bench points total. The Cavs completely destroyed them when the bench was in the game. They can't have a great performance from their starters and them have the bench come in and ruin it. However, I was impressed with Stanly Johnson, he did a much better job defensively this game and he had 9 points off the bench. He was very efficient on the floor.
Defensively, I thought the Pistons did a great job. They let LeBron shoot jump shots and really get into him in the paint. This worked well as LeBron shot just 33.3% from the field. He also shot 1-6 from 3-point range. I thought that they really contained LeBron which put them in a much better position to win.
The Cavaliers killed the Pistons on the boards. The Cavaliers had 46 rebounds while the Pistons only had 32. If you looked at what the Cavs were doing, they were sandwiching Andre Drummond so he couldn't get the rebounds. Stan Van Gundy needs to bring this up to his players. If a guy is being sandwiched, then someone isn't being boxed out. This is the player that needs to crash the offensive and defensive boards. I also thought that it was very strange that Stan Van only played Drummond 27 minutes in the game. Aron Baynes was horrible on the floor and Drummond was a lot better to have on the floor. 3 of 5 starters for the Cavs had at least 10 boards. J.R. Smith had 9. They need Drummond in there longer. The Cavs had 17 2nd chance points. That is just too many, especially when the Pistons have the best rebounder in the league. The fact that Drummond only got 7 rebounds in the game and J.R. Smith had 9 just tells you that the Pistons just need to crash the glass harder.
The Pistons could really just use a playoff win for some confidence. They are having a tough time against the Cavs but they have to keep their eyes on the target of winning the game, throughout the game.
The Detroit Pistons fought through the game, but there were some big reasons why they lost. The Cavs on the other hand have some concerns too. Let's dive into this game.
The Cavaliers decided to intentionally foul Drummond... a lot. This was a great idea. Andre Drummond shot just 4-16 from the free-throw line. He was ice cold from the free throw line and didn't even shoot close to what he usually averages from the stripe. This somewhat contained Drummond and Jackson from getting into their classic pick and poll action. It also seemed to keep Drummond frustrated. The great rebounder only had 2 defensive rebounds. Drummond didn't even get a double-double but he did finish the game with 20 points.
The bench for the Pistons was brutal. Their starters had done so well, and when the bench went in, everything the Pistons starters had worked for was gone. Stanley Johnson and Steve Blake had the opposite effect they had in game one as both of them were a -20 for their plus/minus advantage. And the Cavs bench played great. They passed the ball well as they also rebounded and played great defense. You could tell everyone was working to get good looks at the basket.
For the Cavs defense, if they an defend the pick and roll a little better and keep players out of the paint, I think they would be in an even better position to win. I think that what they are doing is great. They are getting great looks and shots are falling. The Pistons on the other hand need to step up their defense. J.R. Smith was left open which lead to J.R. feeling confident. He shot 7-11 from 3. You can't just let him go off. You need to contest his shots and then if he is missing you can lay off him a little bit. Most of the blame had to go on Caldwell-Pope for this.
I am excited to see how Detroit respondes in this series and I can't wait to see this game in Detroit. I think it will be very exciting to watch.
Stan Van Gundy and his team fought. They fought hard. For a good amount of the 4th quarter, it looked like they had the game, then the pressure got to them. They just couldn't close it out. Reggie Jackson lost his composure, they just couldn't finish it. But they sure put up a fight and made this series interesting for sure.
The Pistons really fought hard. The Cavs were very focused on stopping the Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond pick and roll. However, they left Detroit's shooters wide open. The Pistons took advantage of these kick-outs as they made 15 threes and shot 51.7% from deep. Their efficiency from the 3-point line really kept them in the game.
I was very impressed with Cleveland. They finished the night with only 4 turnovers. All of those turnovers were off of steals too. You could tell just how disciplined this Cavs team was on offense. I was also shocked with their ability to move the ball. They rarely went into isolation and LeBron seemed to always make the extra pass. This ball movement and so little turnovers is really what kept them in this game. However, the Cavs really need to step up their defense on getting out on the shooters if they are to really pull away in this series.
The Cavs did a great job on the boards. They limited Drummond to 11 boards which is well below his average and they actually won the rebounding battle against a team that is well known for its rebounding.
The Pistons had a big lift from their bench. Stanly Johnson and Steve Blake played a big part in this game. They did a great job defending and Steve Blake always found the open guy. Those guys were great defensively. However, all of the Cavs big 3 had over 20 points. They dominated on the floor together.
I am concerned for the Cavs on how LeBron is going to hold up through this. He was the only player in this game to have at least 40 minutes and he was getting tired. You could tell too. He had the worst speed average, worse than Aron Baynes speed. He isn't keeping up with the other players and it's from fatigue. As the playoffs go on, can he keep this up? 40 minutes on the court is a long time. I don't if he can keep logging that many minutes a night.
By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - LeBron James, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36918817
Lately in the news I've been hearing that the Cavs are struggling since the all-star break. However, compared to the rest of the league, this is simply not true. I tried to look for reasons why the Cavs are losing, adn I could not find many.
If you look at the Cavs record since the all-star break,it is 7th. You may look at that, and think that it is very bad. The Cavs lost to the Pistons where they just didn't play their best, Kyrie was the only one really playing great. The loss to the Toronto was just the Cavs playing a really good Raptors team. The game they lost to the Wizards, the team didn't have LeBron James. And the loss to the Grizzlies wasn't that bad as you would think it is. While the Grizzlies have had a lot of injuries of late, they still have managed to get the 8th best record since the all-star break. Not to mention, the only blowout loss, was the one where they didn't have LeBron.
Their offense and defense doesn't seem to be the problem as they have the 4th best net rating since the all-star break in the league and they have the 3rd best rebounding percentage. Their effective and true shooting percentages are both top 5 since the break, so it isn't them missing shots either. So if it wasn't anything the Cavs were doing wrong, it must be the opponent.
There was nothing special with the Cavs' opponents shooting percentages at all since the break, in fact, they aren't that high. I looked at 2nd chance, fastbreak points, points off turnovers, and points in the paint for the Cavs opponents since the break and I saw nothing, in fact the Cavs actually did very good in limiting these categories. So really, couldn't find anything wrong with the Cavaliers.
I then decided to check their clutch stats and how the team did when the game had a differential of 5 points or less in the last 5 minutes of the 4th. The Cavs game up quite a bit of possessions and lost 2 games in the clutch because their opponents FG% was so high. 48%. 9th worst in the league. The only other teams above .500 that were worse were the Detroit Pistons who only lost 1 game in the clutch and the Thunder who are actually struggling. It should be noted that the Thunder lost all 5 of their games in the clutch since the all-star break.
So is there really anything wrong with the Cavs? They lost a couple of close games and 1 without LeBron James. They just need to play a little better defense down the stretch. I wouldn't say that this team is struggling like the Thunder are though. The Cavs are fine. They are playing good defense and are playing good offense as well and they are still a title contender.
Both Russell Westbrook and LeBron James are athletic all-star players at their positions. Both of these players are given a lot of hype due to the teams that they play for and their fan base. However, if someone was to ask who was the better player, chances are that most people would say LeBron James as most people call him "the best player in the world". Lot's of people would say it's unfair to argue which one is the better player since they both play 2 different positions but both of these player have the same style of play. Not to mention that James is handed the Point Guard role most of the time. So which one is better, Let's dive into the stats to find out.
Lets' start out by looking at their scoring abilities. They are about the same, James averages 25.8 ppg while Westbrook averages 25.5. Can you really say that LeBron is the better scorer though? No. Westbrook is a second option on his team to start with, LeBron is the first option. We saw last year what Westbrook can do as the first option; it's scary. It is impressive that Westbrook can average those numbers with a guy who averages 26.5 PPG.
While these two are similar in their numbers for scoring, they both score in the same ways as well. By getting to the rim. However, Westbrook does spread out his scoring more. 53.6% of LeBron's points come from the paint while only 42.6% of Westbrook's comes from the paint. While you think both of these guys just take layups all game, you are actually wrong on that. While LeBron shoots layups more than any other shot, you may be surprised that Westbrook shoots more jump-shots than he does layups. Now you are probably saying that I'm crazy, but Westbrook has made 163 jumpshots and only 130 layups. Now, you could include dunks in this but if you included bank shots also, then Westbrook still has more jumpshots. The reason why is because Westbrook takes tons of pull-up jumpers, and he hits them at a pretty good percentage (comparing them to his other percentages). He shoots 50% on pull-up jumpers and 34.7% on 3-pointer pull-up jumpers. He has made 78 pull-up jumpers this season, so I'd say he should keep shooting pull-up jumpers.
Both of these guys have about the same shooting numbers as well, Westbrook shoots 45.8% from the field while LeBron shoots 50.1% from the field. Both of those players also shoot very poorly outside the paint and beyond the 3-point line. Westbrook is only shooting 30.4 from three point land while LeBron is shooting an even lower percentage of 28.8% (he has seemed to be shooting a lot better of late though). Russell Westbrook is clearly the better Free Throw shooter though, which has never really been LeBron's best thing. Westbrook shoots a pretty good 83.1% while LeBron shoots 71.7%.
Now, what do these guys do besides scoring. LeBron doesn't have the reputation of being one of the best players in the league just because of his scoring, because in that case, James Harden would be the best in the league right now. LeBron is well known for his rebounding and passing along with his overrated defense. Let's compare LeBron's numbers to Westbrook's.
Russell Westbrook is a 6-3 guard. LeBron James is a 6-8 forward. Westbrook somehow is averaging 7 rebounds while LeBron is still averaging a great 7.4 rebounds. Both of these numbers are great, but Westbrook is 6-3. That is shorter than Troy Daniels, Matthew Dellavedova, and Ricky Rubio, and he is averaging 7 rebounds. LeBron is still averaging great rebounding numbers, but Westbrook's are astounding. In fact, Russell Westbrook leads all guards in rebounding this season, and that includes guys like Nicolas Batum (who should be listed as a forward, but plays the guard position this season).
Not only that, but while Westbrook is averaging over 25 points, he is averaging 9.5 assists as well. LeBron averages 6. That is still a good number, but 9.5 is a great number, especially when you are averaging over 25 points.
Defensively, who is the better player? Russell Westbrook averages 2.5 steals to LeBron's 1.5. LeBron has Westbrook in blocks, but not by a lot as it is only a difference of 0.5 and neither of them average over a block. Both of these guys aren't great defensive players, mainly because most of their effort is contributed to offense, however, Westbrook seems to put in more effort on defense. However, defense is more than just getting steals and blocks. In PnR, LeBron is the better defensive player by far. Same with Isolation. The better on-ball defender is probably LeBron, while the better off-ball defender is most likely Westbrook.
As you can see, both player are very talented and are very similar in there style of play. To me, Russell Westbrook is the better player, but it is really close. They're really close in numbers which does make it hard to see which one is better, but considering that Westbrook is the number 2 option while LeBron is the number 1 option, Westbrook seems to average great numbers still.
So next time you are comparing LeBron to Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant as the best player in the league, add Westbrook in there. Most people say he is overrated (which is somewhat true) but he IS underrated compared to LeBron. Which one is the better player is a close call and you can make a case for either one.
LeBron James had a great week. He came through for his Cavs team as he won all 3 games this week including games against the Thunder and the Celtics. LeBron's performance this week was great which earned him the NBA Inside The Player Of The Week award.
This week, LeBron averaged 26.7 PPG. He lead his team with a Kevin Love that hasn't been producing this past couple of weeks and a Kyrie Irving that just came back from injury. Not only did he lead the team in the scoring department, but he also made big contributions from other areas. He averaged 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2.3 steals.
While LeBron only played in 2 fourth quarters this week considering he did play a game against the 76ers, but he still managed to do well in the 2 games he played in the fourth. He averaged 7.5 points, and a whopping 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals. LeBron clearly stepped it up in the fourth this week.
While LeBron's play was great, he did have areas of concern. This week he averaged 5 turnovers to his 6 assists. Not really what you want from your starting SF. He also struggled shooting from 3 this week, but you expect that from LeBron. He shot just 18.2% from 3-point range this week. Of course, LeBron's play in the other categories did make up for this. And James did keep it under control in the 4th quarters shooting just attempting 2 threes in the 4th quarters this week. He really shot inside the paint during crunch time.
As you can see, LeBron was the main reason why the Cavs won all of there games this week. That is why he is your NBA Inside The Player Of The Week.
Of course, the Utah Jazz wouldn't go down without a fight, but they would end up losing the game due to amazing performances from Mo Williams and LeBron James. Let's take a look at the game and how this team had this amazing win over the Cavaliers.
Mo Williams Shot The Lights Out!
If you didn't notice it, Mo Williams missed only 1 free-throw and a shot. He shot 8-9 from the field, 4-4 from 3-point range, and 9-10 from the FT line. Not only that, but Mo was moving the ball. He had 6 assists and passed the ball a total of 71 times, more than anybody else on either team. Now, while Mo's shooting was phenomenal, it wasn't like he was taking tough shots. In fact, 7 of Mo's 9 shots were uncontested, meaning that he only took 2 contested shot and he missed one of them. Why didn't the defense get on him then? 2 reasons, the Jazz didn't play that great of defense and Mo is a very smart player. He constantly used pump-fakes, and moved really well with and without the ball. You can't forget the Mo used to be an all-star.
LeBron James
Now, LeBron is a player who can score, and he did that in the 4th quarter. While he scored a total of 33 points, he had 17 in the 4th. Some of that came from Mo finding LeBron, some of it came from poor defense from the Jazz, and some of it was just LeBron making smart plays. As you may know, LeBron isn't a great shooter at all, but he stayed within his range in this game, shooting 6 of his 8 shot attempts within the paint, and you know that those are very high percentage shots for him.
Credit: NBA.com/stats
Burke and Burks Bench Boys
What really kept this Jazz team in the game, were Alec Burks and Trey Burke who came off the bench. Alec had 24 points and shot 4-5 from the 3-point line and Trey Burke had 16 points on 2-3 shooting from deep. Without these guys, the Jazz wouldn't have been able to make the run that they made. The Jazz Defense
The Cavs great offense was really a result of the Jazz's bad defense. They had 0 blocks as a team. The team had a defensive rating of 119.3 and Rudy Gobert wasn't doing much on the defensive side. He seemed really soft and the whole team wasn't playing that great. Instead, most of the players were fouling and not playing great defense. Even though he only played a little over 13 minutes, Joe Ingles somehow managed to have 5 fouls on the game. Both Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks were in foul trouble as they also had 5 and Rodney Hood fouled out of the game. The whole team had a total of 35 fouls. This isn't something you would want to see from a defensive team. Other Points
Kevin Love had 22 points and he shot just 37.5% from the field. He had a scare when he came down on his knee wrong on a fast break, but he appeared to be fine as he continued to play in the game.
The Jazz had very equal scoring all around. 6 players scored in double figures.
Gordon Hayward has really struggled this season, as he hasn't shot well and has only had one 20 point game. You could see his struggles again as he 6-16 in the game. Hopefully he starts to play a little better as the season continues.
Both Mo Williams and LeBron James had 5 turnovers and the Jazz had 11 steals. The Cavs do need to limit their turnovers as it could cost them dearly in some games later in the season.
Well, this was a great game to watch and a great game to breakdown. Hope you guys liked it. I got to give a big thanks to www.nba.com/stats for providing such great stats and charts to help not just NBA Inside The Play but many other websites and blogs with their articles. Also, checkout AP Highlights and their youtube page. They make really great highlights over their, and you will especially like them if you are a Lakers fan so check it out and here is the link: AP Highlights. Again thanks for reading and hope you people loved it.
Chicago looked great in last nights game. Their offense hasn't looked that great in a long time. On the other hand, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not look like the championship team from last year and they look very concerning. However, this could just have been from LeBron sitting out most of the game and Kyrie Irving being out from injury. There were bright spots and some bad spot that we saw from both teams, so let's check them out
Nikola Mirotic Looks Great! Listen, this guy is on my fantasy team, and he just gave me a big boost for opening night. So thank you Mirotic for that 19 points. One thing I noticed is that Mirotic looks better on his shot and he was showing off his handles. He was definitely not afraid to show Kevin Love that he can shoot the 3 ball. He did great attacking the rim, something that Mirotic wasn't known for last year. He gave us stuff we weren't expecting from him and it makes me a proud fantasy owner with this man on my team. Kevin Love Looked Really Confident Love really had a lot of confidence in this game and maybe it was a little too much. Anyways, it is good to see Kevin Love getting off a lot of shots, because he really wasn't shooting shots like this last year. I really think Love should have gotten the last shot of the game but didn't as LeBron got stuffed and then with a second chance Jimmy Butler stole the ball. However, Love shot 17 shots last night but only made 6 of them. I'm okay with him shooting like that because you know that he will be getting them to fall soon. Mo Williams! This man had 17 points and 7 assists. He was very good. I think many people forget that he scored 52 points with the Timberwolves and won an eastern conference and western conference player of the week awards last year. I think most people forget that he was an all-star back in 2009. Anyways, Mo looks like he will be great for this team and should be having games like this til Kyrie comes back.
Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler Struggled Jimmy Butler couldn't seem to get a shot to fall and Derrick Rose couldn't finish at the rim. Rose shot just 36% on 8-22 shooting. Butler just really didn't look that well on his jumper. Hopefully, both of these guys pick up on the shooting and do much better in games to come. Another guy that didn't look the best was Pau Gasol. While he shot 1-7 from the field, he did have 6 blocks though and 1 of them saved the Bulls the game.
Other Points
Tony Snell started in the game and he was anything but disappointing. He showed us his range as he had 11 points on 4-9 shooting and 2-5 from the 3 point line. He will be an interesting player to keep on eye on this season.
Richard Jefferson looked great as he constantly drove and kicked to open players. He also had a great offensive game last night. He gave us 10 points in just 17 minutes.
E'Twaun Moore had a great game. I forgot this man was even on the team. He scored 11 points in just 14 minutes. He looked very impressive and the Bulls look like they have great bench depth.
I'm concerned for the Cavs, they looked like they thought it was a preseason game and they could just not be ready yet. I just hope that they turn things around. However, the Bulls look really good, and they have a great roster. If they keep this up, they could be looking at the Finals down the road. I know it's just one game, but Fred Hoiberg and the Bulls look very promising.
Drew Gooden is a great role player. He knows his role and plays some great basketball. One of the great things that Drew Gooden does, can not be shown on the stat sheet. Drew Gooden sets great screens and takes a good amount of charges. That is what he will always be know as to me. Drew Gooden seems to always know where to be on defense. You may say that Drew Gooden averaged 0.2 Blocks, and 0.4 steals over his career, but his defense is solid. Drew Gooden is a player that does the little things.
Drew Gooden started his rookie season in Memphis, but after 51 games he was traded to Orlando, where he started 18 out of 19 games played there. His rookie season, he averaged 12.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG. After his rookie season, he would stay with the Magic for one more season before going to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers was one of the best teams that Drew Gooden has ever played with. His first season there, he averaged a career high of 14.4 PPG and a career high of 9.2 RPG. He also played in all 82 games that season, starting in 80 of them. His second season was also good and was a big role player for his team. But his third season was the big one as Gooden played 80 games and started in all of them, as the leader of the Cavs, LeBron James lead them to the finals. A lot of their sucess had to do with Drew Gooden. In the playoffs, he started in all 20 games and played over 30 minutes per game. He averaged 11.4 PPG, 8 RPG, and 1 APG. The Cavaliers, however, lost to the Spurs in the Finals. After they lost in the Finals, the Cavs kept Gooden for 51 more games before shipping him off to the Chicago Bulls. After that it was just chaos. Drew Gooden in the 2008-09 season went from the Bulls to the Kings to the Spurs. In the 2009-10 season he signed with the Dallas Mavericks, where he was then traded to the Washington Wizards. He was there for 4 days before being traded to the Clippers. However, he would average 14.8 PPG with the Clippers. The Milwaukee Bucks would end up signing him that free agency. He would be there for 3 seasons and would not get another offer from anyone. During the 2013-14 season, he was signed to two 10-day contract with the Wizards and was signed for the rest of the season. He currently plays with the Washington Wizards and was a big reason for their success this last post-season. He plays an important role coming off the bench.
While Drew Gooden continues to play in the NBA, retirement is coming closer as the NBA veteran is going into his 14th season in the league. He has had important roles on multiple teams and Drew Gooden has been one of the best role players in the league. From the Kings to the Cavs to the Wizards, Drew Gooden has found himself on a team just trying to help, not do too much. Just help. And I hope he continues to do that for many more seasons to come. Happy Birthday, Drew Gooden.
As you might have heard, J.R. Smith has just signed a new deal with the Cavaliers. What does this mean for the team? What does this mean for J.R.? All questions will be revealed.
What Impact will J.R. Smith Have on the Team? J.R. Smith really isn't your best 3 point shooter on the team. He shot 426 three pointers while only shooting 38% from 3 point range but that isn't bad knowing that Lou Williams shot 447 three pointers while only shooting just 34% from long range. J.R. Smith will be a help with just taking some ease off LeBron James and others. J.R. to me will have to some off the bench next season as Kyrie and Shumpert start at the Guard position. I think he will be at the SG position next to Mo Williams and you will see Smith's numbers go down to him being more of a team player next to Mo Williams.
What's Cavaliers Next Move? If the Cavaliers do sign Tristan Thompson, they will trade off someone. It could be Varejao or Mozgov, but one of those bigs will go and will be traded for a much better role player like Corey Brewer or Mike Dunleavey. Matthew Dellavadova (I'm sorry Cleveland fans but he) should not be in the lineup and should not play bench as he should be inserted in if someone gets injured. Other than that, I think he shouldn't really get much playing time due to the fact that there are plenty of much better guards than him on that team. I think that the team this year is going to have a much stronger bench and that they will be ready for another Finals run.
What about a J.R. trade? It is unlikely and I think that J.R. is going to be their support guy. I mean, c'mon, you never know if you will get a 2-22 night or an 8-8 night from 3 point range. But that is alright if he is a bench player. He will be their some nights, and the nights he isn't, the other guys will do great. I think J.R. is one the perfect team this year because the Cavs are not going to need him to score all the time if he does come off the bench. If he were to get traded just because something went wrong, I would assume him to be traded in a deal for a guy like Jamal Crawford or Gerald Henderson and he and Mozgov or Varejao would be sent away. That would be my assumption.
Does J.R. get more flagrant fouls? Yes, this guy has a very big temper, of course he does. That is something that J.R. will always have and it's not really a good thing. The last thing you would want is DeMarcus Cousins and J.R. Smith on the same team. Bad things would happen. You think George Carl and DeMarc are bad, think about them.
Did the Cavs make a good move? Yes, I think they made a wonderful more. J.R. Smith would be great off the bench and he will be an important piece for the Cavaliers to make the Finals. I think the Cavs made a great decision that they won't regret. Good luck to the Cavs and J.R.
"LeBron James 3408968580" by Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA - LeBron James. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LeBron_James_3408968580.jpg#/media/File:LeBron_James_3408968580.jpg
LeBron James is said to be the best player
in the world. At least, that's what the commentators and announcers
tell you. But what don't they tell you about LeBron. Well, I'm about to
tell you 5 things that you probably don't know about LeBron James.
5. LeBron James is 4th in Playoff Turnovers for all-time.
LeBron
has given up the ball a lot and he is not even done with his career. He
has 625 total turnovers and is only 72 Turnovers away from passing up
Magic Johnson. He has been very careless with the ball averaging 3.5
Turnovers per game in the playoffs. 4. When LeBron is wide open, he only makes about 38% of his shots.
Wide
open means that there is no defender within 6ft. Those shots should be
automatic. Instead, he only makes 38% of those shots!
3. LeBron does not do that well in Isolation.
LeBron
usually goes into isolation, and the longer he stays in it, the more
his field goal percentage goes down. And his 3 point% actually drops
below 30%. Great isolation players like James Harden actually have their
percentages rise.
2. When the team is healthy, LeBron only passes to Kevin Love and Kyrie.
This one to me isn't a shocker. LeBron claims that he plays point and works the offense,
but he really doesn't run an offense. The fact is LeBron almost
immediately goes into isolation then passes to one of the stars that he
plays with (Kevin Love or Kyrie Irving). In fact, Kevin Love rarley even
passes to the other players. Does that sound like an offense. J.R.
Smith get passed to by LeBron about 4.2 times per game. In fact, John
Wall gives out more passes to Bradley Beal then LeBron does to Kyrie but
Wall also gives more to all the starters and dishes about 4-5 per game
to bench players Rasul Butler, Otto Porter, and Kris Humphris. That is a
player running an offense. Getting not just the stars involved, but
everyone.
1. LeBron is a below league average shooter.
I
hear all the time that LeBron is a great shooter. All the time I hear
that. I say, "he isn't the shooter you think he is". LeBron is indeed
below league average on his shooting. You just have to look at the
stats. Take a look at this chart that www.bballbreakdown.com provides.
As
you can see, from 5 to 22 feet, he is below league average, and from 23
to 30 feet he is also below league average. And yet, LeBron takes more 3
pointers than most players, take a look at the shot Frequency chart
provided by www.bballbreakdown.com below.
As
you can see, LeBron take a lot of shots, and misses a lot of shots.
Take a look at the Zones for his shooting also provided by
www.bballbreakdown.com.
These
are the areas where LeBron shoots under 35% from. That's a lot of blue.
As you can see, outside of the paint, he doesn't shoot that well. And
it's unfortunate for players that are idolized like LeBron for them to
have these stats that go unnoticed. Many people don't even realize how
this guy plays and how he shoots. I'd like to thank
www.bballbreakdown.com and www.nba.com/stats for providing all of these
stats. I hope that this article provides a better outlook on LeBron
James for you. Comment below if you have any questions or disagreements.
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