Was Cleveland closer to beating Boston than Miami is?

[BULLZ1LLA]

The Cavs did well against Celtics on regular season, and then led them 2-1 in the Eastern Semis. Will be interesting to see what the Heat can do in playoffs. Celtics defense has always forced LeBron into poor shooting games, and now its obvious they do the same to Wade. A team led by LeBron and Wade doesn't look like the recipe for success.

I would have liked Cleveland's chances more (with LeBron) because they'd have had plenty of experience vs Boston (and they lost a close game 7 in 2008) and seemingly would have been able to improve their strategy just enough to get by them. They weren't far off last year and 2008.

The Heat don't have a Varejao.

[Dr Aki]

the cavs were the anti-celtics.

if only they didn't play shaq and jamison so much and stuck with AV/big Z instead.

[Wade2k6]

I'd rather have the problem of finding "a Varejao" then finding a legitimate 2nd and 3rd option. 1 player isn't going to beat a great defense like the Celtics, I'd much rather take my chances with Wade/LeBron/Bosh.

[now and 4 life]

Look the Cavs can't beat anyone. They do not deserve the benefit of the doubt on anything.

[Die93]

No, in cleaveland if lebron had a bad game there was NO chance for them to beat the celtics, now theres wade and bosh

[now and 4 life]

Remember that Boston also acquired Shaq and Delonte, who are solely responsible for the Cavs demise. You need to match up this years Heat team against Boston last year.

[BULLZ1LLA]

I'd rather have the problem of finding "a Varejao" then finding a legitimate 2nd and 3rd option. 1 player isn't going to beat a great defense like the Celtics, I'd much rather take my chances with Wade/LeBron/Bosh.

Maybe. It's really hard to see where the Heat could go wrong. Not only do they have 2 superstars, they have more top 3-point shooters than Cleveland had, and Cleveland were very good with treys. Either Varejaoism is the missing ingredient or perhaps the superstars are not the right fit. Bosh for example isn't a physical bigman (playing the Celtics would require a physical bigman). LeBron and Wade are similar players, not the perfect combo.

[Flash3]

Can't write too much about reg season match-ups, and the regular season overall because unlike the post-season, the reg season doesn't allow for game-to-game adjustments and match-ups and everything that is allotted in a post-season series.

[Pass the ball]

The cavs shoudl have won that series. i don't know what happened. they were in cruise control and dominated the c's in game 3. something went wrong. maybe lebron's elbow was really hurt. or delonte was really banging his mom. lebron should have dominated the c's in games 5 and 6 like he did in games 1 and 3.

[BULLZ1LLA]

Remember that Boston also acquired Shaq and Delonte, who are solely responsible for the Cavs demise. You need to match up this years Heat team against Boston last year.

Yep that's ok I just said "Boston" so you can have some lee-way with that.

[bl2k]

Something changed after Game 3, because the Celts couldn't stop Bron in Game 3 at all, he stopped playing for whatever reason

[Darain]

Cleveland beat Boston already, and Miami is 0-3

[FinNasty]

The Cavs did well against Celtics on regular season, and then led them 2-1 in the Eastern Semis. Will be interesting to see what the Heat can do in playoffs. Celtics defense has always forced LeBron into poor shooting games, and now its obvious they do the same to Wade. A team led by LeBron and Wade doesn't look like the recipe for success.

I would have liked Cleveland's chances more (with LeBron) because they'd have had plenty of experience vs Boston (and they lost a close game 7 in 2008) and seemingly would have been able to improve their strategy just enough to get by them. They weren't far off last year and 2008.

The Heat don't have a Varejao.

We have a Varejao... his name is Udonis Haslem.

Patience...

[BULLZ1LLA]

The Cavs did well against Celtics on regular season, and then led them 2-1 in the Eastern Semis. Will be interesting to see what the Heat can do in playoffs. Celtics defense has always forced LeBron into poor shooting games, and now its obvious they do the same to Wade. A team led by LeBron and Wade doesn't look like the recipe for success.

I would have liked Cleveland's chances more (with LeBron) because they'd have had plenty of experience vs Boston (and they lost a close game 7 in 2008) and seemingly would have been able to improve their strategy just enough to get by them. They weren't far off last year and 2008.

The Heat don't have a Varejao.

We have a Varejao... his name is Udonis Haslem.

Patience...

I considered that, but didn't quite agree. Something rare about Varejao.

[Wade2k6]

Maybe. It's really hard to see where the Heat could go wrong. Not only do they have 2 superstars, they have more top 3-point shooters than Cleveland had, and Cleveland were very good with treys. Either Varejaoism is the missing ingredient or perhaps the superstars are not the right fit. Bosh for example isn't a physical bigman (playing the Celtics would require a physical bigman). LeBron and Wade are similar players, not the perfect combo.

Haslem is Miami's Varejao type player, and he's been missing for most of the season. I don't think a player like Varejao (or Haslem) is the difference between Miami winning and losing these games, although he would certainly help. Not to mention, LeBron and Wade consistently raise their level of play during the playoffs, while Mo williams doesn't. Jamison was Clevelands starting PF last year for Cleveland, lets not act like he's some physical specimen.

[FinNasty]

The Cavs did well against Celtics on regular season, and then led them 2-1 in the Eastern Semis. Will be interesting to see what the Heat can do in playoffs. Celtics defense has always forced LeBron into poor shooting games, and now its obvious they do the same to Wade. A team led by LeBron and Wade doesn't look like the recipe for success.

I would have liked Cleveland's chances more (with LeBron) because they'd have had plenty of experience vs Boston (and they lost a close game 7 in 2008) and seemingly would have been able to improve their strategy just enough to get by them. They weren't far off last year and 2008.

The Heat don't have a Varejao.

We have a Varejao... his name is Udonis Haslem.

Patience...

I considered that, but didn't quite agree. Something rare about Varejao.

The hair?

Haslem is the same kind of player... with a better jump shot.

[Shaheen]

I think so.

Let's remember that Cleveland pushed the Celtics all the way to 7 games that one year. And then last year they handed the Celtics their worst post season loss ever.

The Heat don't even look like their on the same universe as Boston.

[L&H_05]

meh, I don't like this interior defense from the Heat... The Cavs didn't have a great interior defense, but they were much better at rotating and much better at showing up at top on screen plays and recovering, which is essential against Boston... This Heat team not only doesn't do that nearly as well with their schemes, but their personnel doesn't match it's needs.... LeBron knows exactly what type of defense requirements it takes to compete with Boston..

With that said, the player that needs to step it up is Wade.... His defense leaves a lot to be desired and even worse is that the defensive "effort" is simply not there--- hopefully for them come playoff time it will be there--but the fact that he doesn't exert and give a full defensive effort during the season is pretty unfortunate....

And BTW, this C's team is nowhere near as good as '08--and LeBron almost took them on his own...

[Tim_Hardawayy]

I mean if we're basing it off the regular season, sure. I think the whole point of that Cleveland team though was that it doesn't matter what you do in the regular season, they were the epitome of that (in a bad way). They split the series with Boston the last 2 years (and the last game last season didn't affect playoff seeding) and won 2 of 3 in 07-08.

That's not to say the games so far don't matter, but I guess we'll see what happens.

[BULLZ1LLA]

I mean if we're basing it off the regular season, sure. I think the whole point of that Cleveland team though was that it doesn't matter what you do in the regular season, they were the epitome of that (in a bad way). They split the series with Boston the last 2 years (and the last game last season didn't affect playoff seeding) and won 2 of 3 in 07-08.

That's not to say the games so far don't matter, but I guess we'll see what happens.

To be honest, before the season began I was already thinking Miami would lose badly to Boston in the playoffs (maybe 4-0 or 4-1), and I still think that. The regular season isn't a great indicator, but just logically I expected Miami to lose in the playoffs, but not because of Wade, more because LeBron will likely end up being the 1st option and will make some errors at important times vs the Celtic defense. Overall I think LeBron is a clutch player, but I don't think he's clutch when he plays Boston. If Wade was to take charge of the Heat I'd change my mind about their chances. As for Bosh, nothing can be done about this, its a problem for Miami (especially if all the Celtic centers are healthy). The Cavs came as close as possible to beating Boston in 2008. And last season they lost in 6 but led 2-1 and really lost due to unforced errors more than any great matchup problem.