by Dee4Three on Thu May 17, 2018 1:03 am
The way the Cavs offense is, nobody can get in a rhythm. If you watch, LeBron dribbles on a lot of possessions until less than 10 seconds remain on the shot clock, and will either shoot or pass... the player who catches that pass either has to fire right away, or make a quick move to the hoop. That's not winning basketball, and it takes his teammates out of the game completely. Korver is designed for that type of offense, as he is a catch and shoot player, and Jr Smith CAN do that, but he is more comfortable it seems making a move with his dribble (Face up). Jr Smith went 0-7 in this game based off of being forced to take shots at the end of the shot clock, where he had no other option but the chuck.
Jeff Green played 28 minutes and took 5 shots, you can't turn Jeff Green into a spot up shooter... but when the ball is being dribbled by one person deep into the shot clock so many times, players like Jeff Green can't get into a rhythm. Why does Jordan Clarkson not fit in? Why is he not playing? Because he's not a guy who can just stand on the perimeter and wait until the end of the shot clock before receiving a pass. He needs to be allowed to handle the ball a little more, maybe create for himself once in awhile. Rodney Hood was averaging 17 PPG with the Jazz as the starting SG, and they were in the middle of an 8 game win streak when that trade happened. You are telling me Hood is trash? Absolutely not... but again... You can't have Hood just standing on the perimeter with his hands at his sides, watching one person dribble on the perimeter until under 10 seconds to go on the shot clock. Kevin Love was a beast offensively before CLE, but turning Love into a corner three specialist and not using him for all he is worth, takes him out of the game. Not only is Love taken away from the basket with that style, which takes away his ability to get offensive rebounds (Kevin Love is flat out a gifted rebounder), but it takes away his ability to score down low, which he absolutely has.
This whole "LeBron can't do it himself, his teammates are trash", is really laughable. George Hill is a solid player.... until you turn George Hill into Kyle Korver. When you watch the Cavs play, that's what most every player on that team looks like. A bunch of dudes standing on the perimeter, waiting for LeBron to decide if he will shoot or pass, and when that pass comes, it's usually an "assist pass", where the receiver just doesn't have the time to do much at all in regards to creativity. It's the same reason why IT didn't work out, and Wade, and Rose... turning those 3 guys into a bunch of Korver's is a losing formula. If you know basketball, and watch the games, it's so easy to see that LeBron is taking his teammates out of the game, and that the players are not being used to strengths. Jae Crowder called it when he said that the Cavs were looking for the assist pass, as opposed to the right pass. That's clearly taking a shot at LeBron, and he is 100% right. This comment was obviously made before he got traded.
Last night, the second leader in assists on the Cavs was 2. The Celtics as a team had 6 turnovers (Actually 5, because the last dribble out was the 6th), LeBron himself had 6 turnovers. LeBron had more turnovers than the entire Celtics team.. why? Because he is literally dribbling/handling the ball 90% of the time. He is not making the players around him better.... All I have seen today are ESPN articles saying "LeBron did everything but get the win" and "The King dominated, but not enough to get the Win" and "The hard truth, this Cavs team is not built for a title run". This is so ridiculous, because if you watch them play, you can see that they have the players to do it, but it is MADE into a one man show. I can't even describe to you how much I hate empty stats, and the lauding over a player getting a 40 point triple double without seeing the bigger picture (bigger problem) is really ignorant and silly. It's not as black and white as a 40 point triple double, in fact the 40 point triple double is part of the problem. Close minded people, or people who just look at the box score will say "You are just a hater", or "You are F'in retarded for saying that" or "Appreciate greatness...", But there is a reason why the Cavs offense looks like crap most of the time. Another one I love is "You will find a way to hate this man no matter what", that's a cop out and a blanket statement. The reasons for the critiques are black and white if you actually know the game of basketball.
While all 5 Celtics are getting back on defense, and getting at the 50-50 balls, LeBron (The leader of the team) is in the backcourt complaining to the refs. This happened a good 4-5 times last night, maybe more. My buddy who I work with was actually at the game because he has season tickets, and he told me he couldn't believe how many times LeBron didn't get back on defense. Again, empty stats... what kind of example does that set for the rest of your team? You think the guys on the bench/floor are not getting a little peeved that LeBron James, the leader of the team is not getting back on defense? and at the same time commanding the ball close to 90% of the time? I would be absolutely pissed. They are in a place though where they can't say anything, and that's unfortunate. All 5 starters on the Celtics attempted over 12 shots, LeBron and Kevin Love were the only two players to take over 8 shots on the entire Cavs team. Nobody is being made better, nobody else is able to get into a rhythm and get involved... it's really obvious.
Lue is strapped as well, because he can't really make any decisions without a huge backlash. I also don't think Lue is the most competent coach anyway, and he would be outcoached by Stevens regardless. The Cavs needed a passive coach like Lue in order to ensure that LeBron can do whatever he wants on the court. I made a stink about LeBrons stat padding in other threads, and just the empty stats in general, last night was absolutely a perfect example of that. Yes, he had a good shooting first quarter, but the rest of the game he didn't do as much. OF COURSE LeBron will have high assist numbers if he is dribbling to the end of the shot clock and passing a lot, OF COURSE LeBron will get numerous rebounds when hes laying off his man letting him shoot, and just standing under the hoop, OF COURSE LeBron will score a lot when he is handling the ball as much as he does on every possession. When being guarded by Marcus Morris straight up in this series, LeBron is 4-14 from the floor with 3 turnovers. Last game, he was 2-8 when being guarded by Morris. Marcus Morris is not an elite defender.... they can talk all they want about his stats, but he is being shut down in single coverage by an average defender. I was actually surprised that ESPN did a post on Morris's defense (Stating he is backing up his trash on James), I was shocked.
Long post, but I am so sick of hearing about empty stats, or how LeBron's teammates are trash. If anybody is watching these games, they see that his teammates have no chance of getting into rhythm. That's the biggest problem with the Cavs. You can't turn every Cavs player into Kyle Korver, the players have different skill sets and need to be used according to said skill sets.