Prediction: Does Jonathan Isaac Start?

[Skybox]

Mosely has been harping on our slow starts. I think starting Isaac was an adjustment to overcome that.

Yes- letting an explosive CLE team get off to a fast start and they won’t look back. A JI/Suggs starting lineup sets the tone early and gets them questioning themselves…”this is not going to be fun”

Cleveland isn't really explosive, they are the 18th ranked offense and 6th ranked defense and 22nd in pace.

We are the 2nd ranked defense, 22nd in offense and 25th in pace.

Mitchell, on his own, can take over a game in the 1st qtr and never look back…that’s what I meant. He can go for 40 or 50 every game potentially. That’s the kind of guy that can defy all team metrics and stats. A true playoff star.

There’s so many players we analyze fit and pairings, etc and dissect defensive weaknesses, height, etc…and then there are the playoffs, where the really fierce unstoppable guys emerge. Hopefully, Paolo gets there…maybe even towards the end of THIS series. Mitchell’s duels with Jamal Murray didn’t result in wins- but definitely made it clear that he can carry a team in huge games. You always have a chance to win a game with that kind of guy on your roster. Better teams generally win 7-game series…but stars beat systems in the playoffs.

[The-Stallion70]

Yes- letting an explosive CLE team get off to a fast start and they won’t look back. A JI/Suggs starting lineup sets the tone early and gets them questioning themselves…”this is not going to be fun”

Cleveland isn't really explosive, they are the 18th ranked offense and 6th ranked defense and 22nd in pace.

We are the 2nd ranked defense, 22nd in offense and 25th in pace.

Mitchell, on his own, can take over a game in the 1st qtr and never look back…that’s what I meant. He can go for 40 or 50 every game potentially. That’s the kind of guy that can defy all team metrics and stats. A true playoff star.

There’s so many players we analyze fit and pairings, etc and dissect defensive weaknesses, height, etc…and then there are the playoffs, where the really fierce unstoppable guys emerge. Hopefully, Paolo gets there…maybe even towards the end of THIS series. Mitchell’s duels with Jamal Murray didn’t result in wins- but definitely made it clear that he can carry a team in huge games. You always have a chance to win a game with that kind of guy on your roster. Better teams generally win 7-game series…but stars beat systems in the playoffs.

You can attempt to apply these generalizations all day to the entire team, only Mitchell or what have you but the fact remains that Cleveland won 48 games while missing a combined 84 games from Mitchell, Mobley and Garland.

This is probably the second best team in the East now that they are fully healthy and our team doesn't match up well with them in the first place because Mobley and Allen are two of the best defenders in the league against Paolo.

and with that said, Nieng isnt a bad defender either against power players because of his lower base of gravity.

[Skybox]

Cleveland isn't really explosive, they are the 18th ranked offense and 6th ranked defense and 22nd in pace.

We are the 2nd ranked defense, 22nd in offense and 25th in pace.

Mitchell, on his own, can take over a game in the 1st qtr and never look back…that’s what I meant. He can go for 40 or 50 every game potentially. That’s the kind of guy that can defy all team metrics and stats. A true playoff star.

There’s so many players we analyze fit and pairings, etc and dissect defensive weaknesses, height, etc…and then there are the playoffs, where the really fierce unstoppable guys emerge. Hopefully, Paolo gets there…maybe even towards the end of THIS series. Mitchell’s duels with Jamal Murray didn’t result in wins- but definitely made it clear that he can carry a team in huge games. You always have a chance to win a game with that kind of guy on your roster. Better teams generally win 7-game series…but stars beat systems in the playoffs.

You can attempt to apply these generalizations all day to the entire team, only Mitchell or what have you but the fact remains that Cleveland won 48 games while missing a combined 84 games from Mitchell, Mobley and Garland.

This is probably the second best team in the East now that they are fully healthy and our team doesn't match up well with them in the first place because Mobley and Allen are two of the best defenders in the league against Paolo.

and with that said, Nieng isnt a bad defender either against power players because of his lower base of gravity.

So…given those injuries to their most “explosive” guys, you’d agree their season-long offensive ranking is basically useless.