Cavaliers VS Pistons (Game 4)

Cavs Win Series 4-0

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.

Cavaliers VS Pistons (Game 3)

Cavaliers Lead Series 3-0

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.

Cavaliers VS Pistons (Game 2)

Cavaliers Lead Series 2-0

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.

Cavaliers VS Pistons (Game 1)

Cavs Lead Series 1-0

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.

Washington Wizards VS Detroit Pistons (March 14)

I was watching the Wizards and Clippers game last night, so I decided to do something I haven't done in a while, a game breakdown. However, there will be tons of these once the playoffs start.

Now the first thing I want to get out of the way, is that the crowd in D.C., are horrible. So, if anybody goes to Wizards games, you need to step it up, that simple, because the atmosphere is horrible in that arena. Gortat threw down an alley-oop dunk and I heard barely anything from the crowd. The bench was cheering more than the crowd was. So step it up D.C., or else Washington could end up moving to the other Washington.

Now that I have that off my chest, let's get to the game, because the Wizards haven't played like this in a while. One thing I want to point out is that Markieff Morris is playing really well with this Wizards team. He had 3 assists and let me tell you something, they all were really great assists. He took great shots and looked really good in the offense. Morris looked so good last night and I'm very happy for his play.

I also want to point out just how great the Wizards defense was last night. The Wizards defensive rating was at a great number of 82.1. They also caused the Pistons to turn it over 20 times. But what really sent the Pistons home was them controlling the rebounding battle against the Pistons know that the Pistons are 4th in rebounding percentage.

The Wizards really contained everyone, but offensively, they were amazing as they had 34 assists, something that not many teams besides the Warriors have done this season. They moved the ball so well and it started with John Wall getting 12 of the assists. For some reason, the Pistons weren't able to defend Wall in the pick and roll and when they did, Wall would kick it out to a shooter and they would get a wide open shot. The Wizards limited their turnovers to only 10 in that game which is really good. 62 of the their points came from inside the paint. The Wizards just seemed unstoppable last night. Also, Nene provided great minutes off the bench, not letting the Pistons get any momentum as he ended with 20 points on the night. He will be a key player for the Wizards for the rest of this season.

A big reason why this Pistons' team lost was because they didn't get up enough shots. They got only 79 shots up compared to the Wizards' 90. That could have been 22 points alone if they had gotten as much shots up as the Wizards. The Pistons also didn't shoot well from the 3-point line or inside the paint. However, they shot really well from mid-range, but didn't put up enough mid-range shots. Take a look at the chart below provided by www.nba.com/stats .

Credit: www.nba.com/stats

So as you can see, their shooting was pretty bad and they kept settling for outside 3-pointer, which wasn't working. You can't take 23 three pointer if only 3 of them fall and expect to win the game.

Anyways, the Wizards are a big threat if they move into the playoffs as we have seen in this game. They can surely move up into a seed and nobody is going to want to play this team knowing their past 2 years of success in the playoffs, even thought they had lower than the 4th seed both of those last two years. The Wizards could cause a lot of damage if they play like they did last night.

NBA Inside The Player Of The Week (Nov. 3-9)

Well, this week I am proud to announce that NBA Inside The Play has teamed up with AP Highlights to present the NBA Inside The Player Of The Week award. AP Highlights will give you the highlights and we will give you the breakdown. Now, on to the player of the week!

Andre Drummond gets the NBA Inside The Player Of The Week award not because of his amazing offensive performance. If that were true, James Harden would have won it this week. If you haven't heard, Andre Drummond has been amazing on the boards, averaging 19.4 PPG and 19.6 RPG this season.

Drummond, this week, hasn't had a game with less than 15 rebounds. He had 27 rebounds one night and 29 another. He had 29 rebounds to the whole Pacers team having 42. He had 27 rebounds to the whole Trailblazers team having 40. His rebounding has been impressive. The fact that he has averaged 22 rebounds per game this week is amazing.

Drummond hasn't only been great on the boards, he has been great on the defensive end as well. This week he has averaged 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks. Not only that, but he has a defensive rating of 93.6 this season. He has played so great on the defensive end and it has been really impressive.

So as you can see, his offensive highlights didn't give him this award, it was the other things. He has been great as this team is 5-2, losing only to the defending champs and the Pacers. So, congratulations to Andre Drummond as he is your NBA Inside The Player Of The Week.

Throwback Thurday (Sept.10)

Happy Birthday

 

Bob "The Dobber" Lanier

Bob Lanier was a Detroit Pistons legend. Averaging 20.1 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.1 steals, and 1.5 blocks over his career, Bob was inducted into the hall of fame. He was an offensive machine as he averaged over 22 PPG with the Pistons. His best offensive game was Nov. 28, 1972 against the Portland Trailblazers where he scored 48 points.

While Bob was a great offensive player, he was also very talented on the defensive end. He was very versitile and had very quick hands. In the 1973-74 season, he averaged 3.0 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. You might have thought that he would have won a defensive player of the year award, however, there was no award for playing defense back then. 

While Bob was never a part of the Bad Boys, and he had never won a championship, he found himself playing a more team role for the Milwaukee Bucks as his points dropped. Bob was more team oriented as he lead the Bucks to the playoffs every year he played for them.

Bob was a great player. A balanced player on both offense and defense. A player that will always be known as a great. He played 14 seasons and almost played 1,000 game but only made it to 959. I really hope that people don't forget a player as talented as Bob Lanier because he will go down as one of the best combined offensive and defensive players in history.