RealGM

After the Boston Massacre... The Cavs look to continue their domination in game 4.







.................................| May 9th, 2010 | 3:30 PM - ET | TD Banknorth Garden | Boston, MA |
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................| ABC | WTAM 1100 |



...................................................................................................PF: C: SF:
.......................................................................................................................................... PG: SG:




..........................................................................................................................................PG: SG:
...................................................................................................PF: C: SF:

BTW, I found this picture to be quite amusing.

Tommy Heinson: "Ahhhhh c'monnnnnnnn"

I'm sure Celtic fans don't see a foul there on that circus midget...

Cavaliers win next two games
and finally show their championship faces

Game 4 at a glance:

The biggest factor in game 4 will be the Cavaliers' ability to maintain the focus and intensity that they had in game 3, while also withstanding Boston's aggressiveness, which is sure to be there Sunday. One of the hardest things to do in the NBA playoffs, is to win back-2-back road games. According to basketball reference, it is only done 15% of the time. In the second round, that number drops to 2.3% of the time.

The Cavaliers offensively:

The Cavaliers, and particularly LeBron James, will need to maintain their aggressiveness in game #4, and I expect the Celtics to throw them a couple different looks to try and confuse them, and allow the Celtics to get a steal or fast break opportunity. The Celtics don't need to throw a bunch of changes at the Cavs, just a few different looks, a couple of times. A team only needs to get a couple straight baskets to go on a run; so it is important for the Cavaliers to maintain their discipline and keep the ball moving from side to side, as it will not allow Boston's defensive schemes to accomplish their desired effect.
Hopefully Mo Williams is using this off-day to shoot the ball a couple thousand times. He did a decent job a couple of times driving the ball in game #3, but overall, his shooting hasn't changed much. Mo is most dangerous when he can spot up and knock down 3's from the corner, or swing a side P&R with Jamison, LeBron or one of the other bigs. If Mo has a big game (18+ points), then I think the Cavaliers will likely win the game.
Antawn Jamison has to continue driving the ball like he did in game 3, as his jumpers have been very inconsistent, and when he drives the ball, there is a 77% more likelihood of him being fouled, and if he is drawing fouls along with Shaq and LeBron, then that means that the Celtics will get into trouble earlier, and that almost always turns them into a less aggressive team - which is good for the Cavs, as the more aggressive team usually wins in the playoffs.

Defensively:

As I said in previous posts; Length bothers Rondo. He doesn't deal with it very well, as he cannot post-up a player that is bigger than him...or if he can, he never does. If Anthony Parker guards Rondo again (likely), then it is important that he continue to go under the screens, and not try to go over them. By going under the screen, it makes Rondo either shoot the ball or back the ball out to reset, or kick the ball to another wing player. Another thing that I said we needed to do, and that we did do in game 3, was put more pressure on the ball when the Celtics take it out. Parker did this successfully a few times in game 3, by pressing full-court. He got beat a couple times... but that was the exception, not the rule. As long as the Cavs have time to set-up defensively, they should continue with the full & 3/4 court pressure. Delonte may have to get a little more PT in game 4, as I expect Ray allen to jack up at-least 6-8 3pt-attempts... and although Mo is quicker, he is not a great defender (although he did well in game 3). I would think that 28-33 minutes would be about right for West. Varejao will need to stay on KG like he did in game 3...as he clearly irritated Garnett on several occasions. When Antawn & Andy are in at the same time, then Andy needs to play KG, while Antawn plays center. LeBron will need to be more aware of Pierce, who will try to get out of his slump by being the more aggressive of the two. I expect PP to come out full-throttle, and it will be James' job to make him become a non-factor, by doing whatever is needed to keep PP from getting into a rhythm.

Predictions:

After the Cavaliers played poorly in game 1 & 2, and lost game 2 - nearly every Boston fan was talking as if they had a 3-1 edge, as opposed to the series being 1-1. This is one of those "fool's gold" moments. It is different for the Cavaliers, but not much different. Just because the Cavaliers won game 3 handily... that doesn't mean anything as far as game 4 goes...or the series for that matter. It is important for the Cavalier players to maintain focus and play offensively AND defensively "good" basketball for 48 minutes, if they want to buck the odds and win back-2-back road games in the playoffs. Yes, they did it last year (twice), but when they had to come together and fight (Orlando) they fell short. It's important for fans to keep this in-mind if you are expecting another 20+ point blow-out or even a win. We as fans should not begin (watching) games with the expectation of anything more than our team playing good ball. If BOTH teams play good on both sides of the ball, then it will be a good game... and it'll likely be close. However, the team that will win is the team that does the most work on both sides of the ball for as close to 48 minutes as possible. I think that team will be the Cavaliers, but I will go into the game expecting nothing more than for the Cavs to execute on both sides of the ball. Final prediction: Cavaliers by 9 (Vegas Odds will probably have Celtics favored by 1 or 2, because the Cavs won big in game 3, and that is the way the bookies usually do it... so the Cavs -technically- will likely be the underdogs for game 4).

We're going to need to withstand the Celtics initial push once again and hopefully we come out with good energy ourselves. Loved the fact that LeBron came out looking to score in game 3 and that that didn't end up causing the other guys to be stagnant. We need to play like that more often. LeBron looking to score from the outset puts a ton of pressure on the other team to guard everyone and to keep up with the teams ability to put point up.

Anyone else wonder if LBJ had a cortisone shot prior to the game yesterday ?

L&H_05 wrote:Anyone else wonder if LBJ had a cortisone shot prior to the game yesterday ?

If he did sign me up to inject him for game 4.

Truthfully though, I kind of understand what he is feeling. They began discussing his ulnar nerve and I know how that can work. Unfortunately, mine was not due to sports, but passing out at the end of the night after boozing. Basically, I fell asleep on my arm, woke up and it was about 40% numb. I thought this was normal cause, hey, it would wake up right? Well after a week that was not the case and I had to see neurologist. Lets just say I had trouble for about two months with it. Even typing on the computer was tough. There is no supposed treatment for this type of injury. The nerve is supposed to heal itself.

Just thought Id share that random story

^ Interesting.. 2 Months is a month for a NBA player though, so hopefully he's 1000% by finals.

Another thing I was thinking, you know Mo could still be having trouble with his shoulder, that's one of slowest injuries to recover from.

Wait, you have a drinking injury?

TheOUTLAW wrote:Wait, you have a drinking injury?

Man it's real, that can get serious, I heard dudes get arms amputated cause they would pass out in a weird position that would just destroy the arm. It happened to me once, well I wasn't drinking I just was very tired, add that to some very uncomfortable bedding, I woke up with a dead arm, regained it within minutes but it's scariest thing ever.

I hope Lebron comes out scoring just like he did in game 1. It is time for Lebron and the Cavaliers to put put the celtics out of their misery. No more thinking that they could just walk into a arena and win a game...The Cavs have to take game 4 and 5.

Normally I wouldn't mind a couple close games...so the team would be tested,etc. However, with the way Orlando and everyone else is playing, I think the Cavaliers almost "have" to win the rest of these games by double digits, just to restore some of their lost confidence...and ours.

kenneth9265 wrote:I hope Lebron comes out scoring just like he did in game 1. It is time for Lebron and the Cavaliers to put put the celtics out of their misery. No more thinking that they could just walk into a arena and win a game...The Cavs have to take game 4 and 5.

I agree, them just thinking they can win is annoying.

When I feel completely pessimistic our team goes out there, plays great and proves me wrong. For tonight I want to feel so but I just can't. I guess that means we'll lose.

TheOUTLAW wrote:Wait, you have a drinking injury?

Yes not one of my better days lol. The doc said that your body moves about every 30 minutes when you sleep. But when your sauced up, your body moves every two or 3 hours.

The scary thing is that as I mentioned, there is no treatment. I literally asked the doc, what if this does not clear up? He said he was "fairly certain" it would, but there was nothing they could do immediately.

I played golf with it and it was very uncomfortable. I had to cut weights out of routine as well.

Let's get this show on the road.

Defense is looking good so far. It seems like Pierce is trying his shot.

Nice throwdown Shaq.

Love it. 7-0 run. The Cavs are defending the C's very well.