A great article praising the Cavs!!

[Bruiser]

Hey yo!

Check this link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime ... ime-081203

A heady, articulate, insightful piece that points out Cavs strengths and Celts weakness, the players mismatches and the definitive explanation of the fall of the Celts. This time the writer goes beyond the stats and provides us with a very sharp view.

Frankly, it´s very hard to argue against his conclusions...

Any thoughts? Kind regards.

[Harison]

Here are answers you can take to the bank:

Boston and Cleveland will meet in the conference finals. I know, what a revelation. But it says here that Cleveland will win.

Thats all of his insights? There is a chance of Cavs beating Celtics, but its lower than Cs beating Cavs, so if anyone is sure that a bit weaker team will beat stronger and says "you can take to the bank", I'm sure he is bogus

[MyInsatiableOne]

I still don't see the Cavs beating us in the playoffs. LeBron is playing 45+ min a night...he's going to be worn out by the playoffs. And I'm still not sold on Mo Williams as the savior PG everyone makes him out to be or that offense. When it really matters, can they put up 100+ pts in a game? I don't think so...

Of course I'm a little biased, too!

[Tricky Ricky]

I dont see them beating us but with Bron theres always a chance, especially if they add someone at the deadline

[ParticleMan]

I'm most worried about the Cavs than any other team in the NBA, even the Lakers.
We just don't match up well.
For starters, we don't have any matchup with Lebron. Pierce is our best bet. Even Posey got owned. But Lebron can only stop himself against us. We can stop Kobe, AI, any of those guys, but Lebron is unguardable given the guys we have.
Next, our big men don't match up well. Z has too much range for Perk, and Wallace can push KG around. Varejao is too quick on the offensive glass. Of course, we have some advantages too. But if I look at the Lakers I'm just not as worried. Perk matches up well with Bynum, and KG with Gasol. No holes there.
The backcourt is a place where we should have an advantage. MoWill is a tough matchup for Ray because of his quickness. Delonte always seems to play well against us. We thought Ray would be a huge plus for us last year but he wasn't.
And overall, the Cavs defense is about the toughest we will face, especially given Detroit's decline on D. In the 'offs, defense wins, and outside of the Spurs I think the Cavs are the best defense in the L (besides us of course;)

I'm not saying I think the Cavs would win, but just like last season I still think they are our toughest matchup. They're better this year, and we're better this year. It would be a great series.

[Da_James_Gang]

I still don't see the Cavs beating us in the playoffs. LeBron is playing 45+ min a night...he's going to be worn out by the playoffs. And I'm still not sold on Mo Williams as the savior PG everyone makes him out to be or that offense. When it really matters, can they put up 100+ pts in a game? I don't think so...

Of course I'm a little biased, too!

Well i'm not gonna come on here and argue about who is better or anything like that. But when did Lebron ever play 45+ a night in his career? This year he is only playing like 35mpg, the coach is trying to keep him at 38 and below this season......

And one more thing, i really don't think the Cavs need to put up a 100 ppg. They are a strong defensive team as our the Celtics. So 100 points in a game is far from my mind, come the playoffs its all about defense. A Celtics and Cavs game will probably be in the 80's when playign each other lol.

Hopefully we both meet up again in the playoffs, it would be one hell of a series all over again imo.

[greenbeans]

The Cavs scare me the most out of any team. The thought of them unloading all the pieces they have for Vince is scary too.

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^I agree, what scares me the most are the Cavs, especially them moving Wally for some quality player before the trading deadline. LeBron, that very very good defense (which is almost as good as ours), and the inevitable favors LeBron will get from the refs (plus Stern wanting to see LeBron win a title) should make it a great series!

[EJay33]

I still don't see the Cavs beating us in the playoffs. LeBron is playing 45+ min a night...he's going to be worn out by the playoffs. And I'm still not sold on Mo Williams as the savior PG everyone makes him out to be or that offense. When it really matters, can they put up 100+ pts in a game? I don't think so...

Of course I'm a little biased, too!

Forget about the Cavs of last year who had the 24th ranked offense in the league and scored 96ppg. Bron and Z both missed some games, they made a midseason trade, and the team didn't really gel until the playoffs. The 08-09 Cavs are 4th in the league in scoring at 104ppg.

Whether or not they can maintain this is debatable, but the fact that they did add a bigtime scorer in Mo Williams and didn't lose anyone would suggest that they might. They also had a playoff run and a training camp to familiarize everyone with each other, unlike last year.

Also, as Da_James_Gang pointed out, Bron Bron isn't logging 45mpg and won't be worn out for the playoffs. I know that you were being sarcastic, but still, the reality is that he's palying 5 less minutes per game than last year and has never once in his career shown a single sign of wearing down.

Cleveland looks like a potential 60-win team, which is much more reflective of their ability than last year's 47 wins and is a serious threat to Boston's supremacy. Much like Boston they are built for the playoffs and just like last year it should be a great battle. Not to mention they could be adding a guy like Redd or Carter at the deadline. This matchup is just another reason why we should've kept James Posey - he is another player that we can conceivably put on LeBron. What are we going to do if Pierce gets in foul trouble this year?

[DelMonte West]

I still don't see the Cavs beating us in the playoffs. LeBron is playing 45+ min a night...he's going to be worn out by the playoffs. And I'm still not sold on Mo Williams as the savior PG everyone makes him out to be or that offense. When it really matters, can they put up 100+ pts in a game? I don't think so...

Of course I'm a little biased, too!

Forget about the Cavs of last year who had the 24th ranked offense in the league and scored 96ppg. Bron and Z both missed some games, they made a midseason trade, and the team didn't really gel until the playoffs. The 08-09 Cavs are 4th in the league in scoring at 104ppg.

Whether or not they can maintain this is debatable, but the fact that they did add a bigtime scorer in Mo Williams and didn't lose anyone would suggest that they might. They also had a playoff run and a training camp to familiarize everyone with each other, unlike last year.

Also, as Da_James_Gang pointed out, Bron Bron isn't logging 45mpg and won't be worn out for the playoffs. I know that you were being sarcastic, but still, the reality is that he's palying 5 less minutes per game than last year and has never once in his career shown a single sign of wearing down.

Cleveland looks like a potential 60-win team, which is much more reflective of their ability than last year's 47 wins and is a serious threat to Boston's supremacy. Much like Boston they are built for the playoffs and just like last year it should be a great battle. Not to mention they could be adding a guy like Redd or Carter at the deadline. This matchup is just another reason why we should've kept James Posey - he is another player that we can conceivably put on LeBron. What are we going to do if Pierce gets in foul trouble this year?

I understand this train of thought, but signing Posey to a 4-year deal wouldn't have improved us enough to justify 1 or 2 years of his (maybe 15 mpg tops?) help-defense against LeBron. You have to figure that in the 3rd and 4th year, he likely won't have the mobility to stay with him anymore, and this isn't going into 1) the hit on our cap space over the long term and 2) the fact that he really didn't contain him very well to begin with (Pierce was far and away the best matchup against him). Now that Ray's improved his play with our team (to say nothing of other personnel improvement) we might not have to worry about Pierce over-exerting himself on both ends of the floor in a potential series match-up.

By the same token, what is Cleveland going to do to contain Pierce if LeBron gets into foul trouble?

[humblebum]

Godmoney, Tony Allen is as good of a defensive matchup off the bench for Lebron as you're going to find in the NBA. First off the guy is completely unguardable anyways so all you're really looking for is someone who can make him work to catch the ball and then you want someone who'll make him work for his scores. Tony can definitely do that. It also helps that Pierce has a pretty good knack for keeping LBJ in between his knees defensively... not to mention Perk and KG helping out. The Celtics have the best possible schemes/personnel to slow down Lebron, but...

The Cavs know what they need to do to defeat the Celtics zone type defense: swing the ball to the weakside. Not only do they know what to do but they have the shooters to make the Celtics defense pay for cheating... Wally, West, Mo, Boobie, Z are all excellent shooters and Varejao is improving.

I think, however, that the biggest difference in this potential matchup is how the Cavs were able to defend the Celtics last year. During that series Delonte West (a solid defender as we all know) was "guarding" Rondo most of the game. Now we'll have Mo Williams (a pretty poor defender) guarding Rondo. In the last series Delonte was basically playing defense as a roamer, sagging off Rondo, stacking the strong side against Pierce and KG ISO's or helping to take away passing angles to Ray as he was coming off screens. This year, with the way the team is finding Rondo early, allowing him to push in transition and they're actually running with him... this helps to alleviate some of the pressure that the Cavs half court defense puts on the Celtics (it also helps Ray Allen get going as we've seen the past 6-7 games or so). The other thing the Celtics are doing differently is that they're actually allowing Rondo to be the primary playmaker this year. When Rondo has the ball in his hands he can force the Cavs to pay attention to HIM, thus lessening the pressure on KG, Pierce, and Ray.

This is not to say that the Celtics are the clear favorite but moreso that Rondo can effectively be labeled as the X factor in this series. All other things being equal I think that the Cavs actually DO take the Celtics out in a 7 game series but with Rondo playing at the level he's played at recently I can see the Celtics actually being able to pull out a series in 6, but most likely 7 games.

[TheOGJabroni]

The thing is there biggest addition this offseason was obviously Mo. But I don't think the addition of Mo Williams (although very good) is good enough to put them on that next level when facing the C's. Our defense is just too good to let Mo be enough. What I am more worried about is what player Wally might bring to them in a trade later this season.

[ParticleMan]

Posey got so badly owned by Lebron that we had to put Pierce on him. Posey just can't stay in front of Lebron. At least TA can prevent him from getting into the paint at will. If Lebron makes jumpers over him, you gotta tip your cap.

It also helps that Pierce has a pretty good knack for keeping LBJ in between his knees

lol nice!

i do agree that Rondo is our secret weapon. if he can continue to play at his recent level, that's a big improvement for us over what we had last year. it might offset cleve's improvements.

[aboubata]

Like the guy pointed out in the article, the cavs will matchup with orlando in the second round and I am hoping they give them a good run. I think Orlando should be able to throw couple different people at lebron, non of them are really good defenders, but changing defenders could help.

Plus they have quick big guys, so the could switch on pick and rolls and still hold their ground.

I am just dreaming, but I hope orlando wins this one (the league owe them and the spurs playoff games/rounds from last year)

[MyInsatiableOne]

The thing is there biggest addition this offseason was obviously Mo. But I don't think the addition of Mo Williams (although very good) is good enough to put them on that next level when facing the C's. Our defense is just too good to let Mo be enough. What I am more worried about is what player Wally might bring to them in a trade later this season.

I agree, the whole Mo Williams thing is vastly overblown and overrated. The player they get for Wally will be the thing that either pushes them up a level or doesn't...

Posey got so badly owned by Lebron that we had to put Pierce on him. Posey just can't stay in front of Lebron. At least TA can prevent him from getting into the paint at will. If Lebron makes jumpers over him, you gotta tip your cap.

It also helps that Pierce has a pretty good knack for keeping LBJ in between his knees

Thank you for reminding us all this, PP locked down LeBron. And the game-plan is the same, still...keep LeBron out of the paint and force him to shoot jumpers=win.

lol nice!

i do agree that Rondo is our secret weapon. if he can continue to play at his recent level, that's a big improvement for us over what we had last year. it might offset cleve's improvements.

[EJay33]

These are all good points that people are bringing up. Firstly, the cap situation. Yes, it would be preferable to sign Posey for 2 years over 4, no doubt about it, he is an aging swingman. My reasoning for throwing caution into the wind in this situation is because Paul Pierce is 31, Kevin Garnett is 32, and Ray Allen is 33. In other words, the window of opportunity is closing and we should be trying to stockpile championships with this roster. Posey is 31 and fits right in with this plan and this timeline.

Second, Posey didn't get owned by LeBron in that series last year. In fact, LeBron's first four games in that series were terrible, highlighted by the James Posey clothesline in game 3 that left 'Bron whimpering on the ground for 10 minutes. I don't really know where to gets stats on who defended him for what period of time, but Posey certainly had him for his share of time.

The game that I think Particleman is referring to is game 5 where LeBron had 23 of his 35 in the first half, then at halftime Pierce asked to be the guy to defend LeBron in the second half and he did a great job in a Celtics win. Remember, Pierce wasn't exactly tearing up the scoring column in this series either and the fact that he and Posey were very committed to doing a nice job containing LeBron (and obviously were also winning games) is what saved him from getting called out on it.

The point is that LeBron is unguardable and can win a playoff series on his own, and the Celtics with Posey playing a significant role held him to extremely sub-par performances in 4 of 7 games. Pierce did a lot, the help D was amazing (and even allowed Wally to look like a bonafide NBA player at times), but it's unfair to say that Posey got destroyed. He also did a wonderful job on Joe Johnson, Prince, and Kobe so this argument can even be extended beyond just LeBron.

LeBron is 6'8". 250. Pierce is 6'7" 235. Posey is 6'8" 217. Tony Allen is 6'4" 213.

I'm not sure why it should be expected that TA can guard LeBron. Posey was tougher than he looks and routinely played PF in the NBA and was use to handling physically imposing players. Tony rarely even gets in at SF these days. Hows he going to stick with LeBron?

Humblebum does bring up the good point that the Cavs have improved their personnel to exploit the Celtics' help defense and I fully expect them to improve by adding another shooter/bigtime scorer at the deadline.

Additional good points raised in this thread is that Cleveland has added some offense (Mo Williams) at the expense of having a good defender (DWest) on the court. Will this also be the case at the deadline, and will the Cavs be a worse defensive team in the playoffs this year than they were last year because of it? As we know, defense wins championships and improving offensively at the expensive of defense could actually end up being the Cavs' undoing.

[Celtsfan1980]

I'm sorry, but the Cavs don't have enough young players to get a Vince Carter. Carter is playing some of the best basketball he has played in years, so why would they get rid of him? My guess is they will keep Wally and just have a smaller salary for next season. Teams understand the position Cleveland is in, so they'll have a high asking price or no trade will be made. Anyways, I'm worried about Cleveland if they keep the same team. I could see a 7-game series, but it's hard to predict a winner. It's good that the East is more competitive, but I'd be concerned if there's a race at the end of the year and Boston's starters don't get the rest they deserve.

[GuyClinch]

I agree, the whole Mo Williams thing is vastly overblown and overrated. The player they get for Wally will be the thing that either pushes them up a level or doesn't...

On paper SOME fans thought it was. IN reality Mo Willams and the Cavs are ripping teams up. Mo WIlliams is GREAT shooter - with some PG skills. People think D. West played well with Lebron - wait till they get a load of Mo Williams.

The Cavs went from the 24th best offense - to the 4th best. They went from a middling .500 team to the third best record in the NBA. If that's "overblown" what kind of impact should Mo Williams have had? What do they have to win 80 games for you to give him credit?

Let's face it the Mo Williams move has been the largest impact move in the entire NBA by a long shot..

[MyInsatiableOne]

My beef is that people are saying it's THE only thing that has made CLE great. He is a good player, no doubt, but LeBron is playing out of his **** mind right now, too! Hell, the rest of the team is playing well..it has all come together and is not just down to one guy. That being said, they are VERY good this year and scare me more than any other team in the East...

[tombattor]

Lebron isn't playing 45 min. per game. They are limiting his minutes big time (35 mpg which is less than Paul or Ray) and they are still killing everyone. Also, Lebron is not playing out of his mind right now. He's that good and he'll only get better as the season goes on. And when the playoffs comes around, he's going to be in a kill-mode. Which means, we're gonna need all the help we can get to beat the Cavs this year. HCA, paying off the refs, whatever help we can get. We're gonna need it.

Not only that, but the Cavs took a giant step forward and are clearly one of the 2 best teams in the league. Mo Williams was a great move for the Cavs, as they finally get a PG who can knock down shots and handle the ball. 15-6 or whatever Mo is averaging is exactly what Lebron and the Cavs needed. I don't know how many of you guys have consistently watched the Cavs in the last few seasons, but you have no idea how many wide-open 15-footers Eric Snow & Co. bricked in that time. Having Mo and D-West able to make those wide-open shots makes a huge difference in their offense.

We can't take the Cavs lightly. They are a great team and have Lebron, who is by far the best player in the league.