Cavs Hold Serve & More

Cavs Hold Serve
We criticized LJ for his poor performances in Boston but noted the series was far from over with the Cavaliers returning home for a pair. Well, they held serve in their own building – as they should – and tied the series at two apiece. Congratulations.

Why did this happen? Simple. They (Cleveland) played better at both ends of the floor – like most teams do in their building. Secondly, James was much more comfortable on the floor in games 3 & 4 even though his shooting touch remains poor.

Even though 23 his still having trouble making jumpers, he re-established himself as the best player on the floor in this series – especially in last night’s game #4 win. Doug Collins, the TNT analyst, noted wisely as such. That’s crucial to the Cavaliers, who need James active defensively, setting tempo offensively and getting teammates open looks, even when his shot isn’t falling.

You saw what usually happens with James out of the game last night when he picked up his third foul with nearly four minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Cavaliers struggled offensively without James on the floor. Remember – they have no one else that can create, so when James sits, the offense gets real ugly real quick. That's the residue effect of having 11 role players and one mega-star.

A key to game #4’s win involved James not picking up a quick fourth foul in the third quarter. He played smart basketball in that quarter – not forcing too much offensively, and not reaching defensively, thus avoiding a potential critical fourth foul and having to sit a spell.

The game itself was arguably the best contest I have seen this season in terms of pure basketball. Both teams executed their defensive strategies effectively and competed hard at both ends for the full 48 minutes. The officials also let them play, with the exception of a touch foul called on James on a blow by move. The refs allowed the game to be decided on the floor, not at the line.

In the end, Wally Z and B. Gibson punished the Celtics just enough for their constant titling of the defense toward 23, Andy V played outstanding defense on Kevin Garnett late and James was enough of a force to get it done and win a crucial game #4.

Other observations from phase II (Cavs at home in games #3 & #4)

Shoot Rondo Shoot
We like how Mike Brown has decided to roam from R. Rondo and make the young point guard shoot perimeter jumpers…this corner is a big proponent of identifying the opponent’s weakest scorers, doubling off those individuals and making them make decisions with the basketball…if Rondo and Kendrick Perkins make buckets, so be it…for the Cavs however, it’s extremely wise for them to attempt to minimize the shots Garnett, Allen and Pierce take.

Activity On The Offensive Glass
One disappointing note still remains in terms of a lack of offensive rebounding from Big Ben and Andy…they just don’t seem as active as they should be on the offensive glass keeping possessions alive…obviously some credit must go to the Celtic defenders for keeping them off the glass...nevertheless, with as much attention as James is getting, there are avenues for them to make their presence felt off missed shots.

TNT Observations
The best analyst observation from the two games in Cleveland came once again from Charles Barkley, who noted last night the Celtics do not have many outstanding individual defenders on their team even though they are considered by most experts as the league’s best defensive unit…yes, Kevin Garnett was the Defensive Player of the Year, but no one else on that roster is a lock down defender…secondly, Barkley noted the Celtics do not get many easy looks at the hoop…basically, they are a team that walks it up the floor and must make jump shots to win…obviously, that formula has worked this season with a league-best 66 wins…however, when a team defends them well, as the Cavaliers did in their building, the Celtics are vulnerable.

Reminder
For those so-called ‘experts” who are now jumping off the Celtic bandwagon, we remind you that Boston is the only team in the playoffs that does not have to win on the road to win a title…is that likely to happen?... of course not…however, until someone steals one in Boston, they (Celtics) are still in the driver’s seat.

Gambler’s Delight
I assume smart gamblers made a lot of money this past week with teams like San Antonio, Cleveland, and Utah all going home and taking a pair after being down 2-0…all three of these teams have two things in common…first, they are veteran clubs that are difficult to beat at home, and secondly, and more important, they defend…we had an inkling all three of these teams would even up their individual series…of course, we don't advise gambling, unless you happen to reside in Vegas, but common sense won out this past week in the NBA playoff...as we have said over and over again, good defensive teams give themselves a chance…combine that with playing in familiar surroundings, and you have a formula for success…now, taking it on the road is another matter…it’s our guess, San Antonio is the most likely of the three candidates to come back from 0-2 to win their series…besides, we picked the Spurs prior to the season starting to win the title both in ’07 and again in ’08…so we’ll continue to ride that horse…I would not mind seeing the Spurs lose however…that would make it very interesting and would guarantee a “new sheriff in town.”

Bottle It
If the Cavaliers could bottle their defensive effort from last night (game #4) and take it with them on the road, they would have a legitimate chance to win the 2007-08NBA Championship…overall, the stats indicate they have played much better defense in the 10 playoff games than in the regular season, when they were still searching for an identity following the trade…they have allowed more than 90 points in only two of the 10 playoff games played so far…that’s good, but expected to a degree, because the games slow down in post-season due to familiarity between teams playing each other so much.…however, last night’s effort was especially outstanding…they kept guard penetration to a minimum, played excellent team defense in terms of rotating and closing out on shooters and they had very few communication breakdowns that led to easy baskets.

The Bad News
A warning…I find it very difficult to believe Paul Pierce and Ray Allen will continue to struggle offensively for the rest of the series…one or both should be expected to go off in game #5 in Boston…they are at home, their team needs them badly, they should be personally embarrassed with their play and they are way overdue to play well.

The Good News
The series has reaches its final phase/stage, pick your term…now it’s a short three-game series…the Cavaliers have only one advantage – they have the best player and he is capable of putting his team on his back and carrying them to victory (see Cavs-Pistons, game #5, ’07 playoffs)…it will take a huge effort from James on the road for the Cavaliers to advance…though he will likely have two shots at it…unfortunately, we still like the Celtics in seven.

Tony Romo
This guy would make me nervous if he were my teammate… he takes a mini vacation with his woman during the playoffs last winter…he then tries to qualify for a golf tournament, and when he failed to make the cut, blames the fact that he couldn’t get enough practice rounds in because football was taking up much of his time...then he shows up at Wrigley and makes his singing debut during the seventh inning stretch…mind you, all this is harmless fun and Romo-backers will say he’s just living his life...I get it…but still, he would be well-advised to attract less attention to himself…otherwise, if/when he fails on the field, critics will go to his off the field exploits as an easy out to criticize...by the way, he’s not that good…he is one of the better second tier quarterbacks in a league of very mediocre signal-callers…the first tier has the HOF’s of course – Manning, Brady and Favre…the second tier includes Romo and whoever you want to plug in this week (i.e. Palmer, Hasselbeck, etc…)

OJ Mayo
Let me get this right…OJ Mayo sends USC a fax TELLING them he is going to play collegiate basketball for Southern CAL for just one year even though they did NOT recruit him…he does this because his wants to maximize his exposure - or so we are told to believe...Tim Floyd, the head coach, doesn’t see anything wrong with this picture and accepts Mayo’s kind gesture…the season come and goes, Mayo jumps ship like he said he would and now we hear he allegedly took money – breaking NCAA rules…WHAT A SHOCKER…of course, Floyd and company will say all the right things, like the kid was a good student, fine teammate, etc…and that the coaching staff was unaware of any wrongdoing...besides, you can’t be expected to watch these kids 24-7, etc…etc…BULL…Mayo got what he wanted, which was exposure for himself in the nation’s second biggest media market (LA) before turning pro and Floyd and SC got what they wanted – a talented player to help them compete for attention with UCLA in their backyard, if only for one year…if serious violations did occur, I hope the NCAA throws the book at Floyd and SC…a blind man could have seen this one coming.

Tribe Shortstops
Astrubal Cabrera has been playing more SS lately for the Indians and playing it well. we mentioned late last summer that Cabrera should be the team’s SS and Peralta’s mediocre glove but solid bat (20 HR/75+ RBI seasons) would be better off at 2B…they did not take our advice – yet…but again, we re-iterate the obvious to anyone who has ever played in the middle of the diamond – you want you best defensive middle infielder at SS if possible…with the Indians, it’s possible…Cabrera would upgrade the SS position and the team would be better off for it…better yet, ask the Indian pitchers in private who they would rather have playing SS...this is not a knock at Peralta, it just makes sense.

Mike Diantonio
All the media pundits are saying former Suns’ Head Coach Mike Diantonio going to New York to coach the Knicks is a "bad fit" because that franchise does not have similar personnel the Suns have to run his up tempo style offense…question – What team with a coaching vacancy has Steve Nash and company on their roster? Answer – NONE…yes, Chicago would have made more sense for him – they have much younger and better overall athletic talent than the Knicks – but who doesn’t?…but that gig didn’t happen for reasons unknown and Diantonio is headed to NY…Donnie Walsh got himself a good NBA coach…Diantonio’s system in terms of winning games works (note I did not say winning championships) …the problem is not with the new coach, it’s with the players in NY and will remain so no matter who takes that head coaching position…of course he’s (Diantonio) likely to be a better fit than say, Mark Jackson, a current analyst, who the pundits were pushing...Jackson, a solid former NBA point guard, has as much NBA coaching experience as you or I do…the talking heads don’t see it that way…Jackson played in New York, he played for Walsh in Indiana and he can “relate” to the players because he was recently one of them…yea, right, S. Marbury, a noted “coach killer” would listen to Jackson but not Diantonio...look, we have nothing against Jackson, but if we were in Walsh’s shoes, we would have likely done the same thing – hire a coach who has had a great deal of success in this league and follow up that hire by blowing up the roster and get the new coach his type of players.

Robbie Gould
Relax Bear fans, all is well in George Halas land…the Chicago Bears have signed their place-kicker Robbie Gould through the 2013 season…he’s the most accurate kicker in team history (84.8%) according to the team’s press release…too bad they can’t say the same thing about their quarterback (Rex Grossman) – who the team has resigned in a clear attempt at water-boarding Bear fans for yet another season…the signing of RG does make sense…the Bears’ offensive mission statement reads as follows – “Don’t turn it over, punt well if we must, and if we are somehow fortunate enough to get in field goal range, make sure Robbie gets us 3"...no mention of scoring touchdowns anywhere.