I have a hard time watching the Cavaliers vs Celtics series, so some of my points may be off, as I have not been able to sit through an entire game yet, as it is one of the most boring and poorly played series I remember. I watched UFC fights I had already seen the other night because they were more exciting than the Cavs game.
This morning, my friend Oscar said that the Cavs play every offensive possession like they are holding for the last shot of the game. And, they do. It's awful to watch.
I like like Mike Brown. I think he does a good job and has handled the pressure of being LeBron James' coach very well. That being said, their offense is atrocious.
There are two common excuses and I don't buy either: (1) the supporting cast isn't very good and (2) Boston's defense is too good.
When the Cavs play Delonte West, Wally Sczerbiak, Joe Smith and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, they have 4 capable shooters on the floor. These aren't great players and I agree that the Lakers and Hornets have better weapons surrounding Kobe and Paul, but these guys can make open shots.
The defense is good because the Cavs put LeBron in positions to fail. He gets the ball 30 feet from the basket, nobody moves and the entire defense plays him. They run down the shot clock so he is forced to take terrible shots.
Now, LeBron is not perfect. He can only shoot jump shots going to his left. If he dribbles right and has to shoot a jumper, he puts it behind his back to his left hand and steps back for the shot.
Why are the Cavs afraid to shoot in the first 14 seconds of the shot clock? Why doesn't James post-up? When he does get the ball near the post, however, he always reverse pivots to the baseline side, rather than to the middle, which takes away space and makes for a tougher shot or move. Now, he did make a great move off this in Game 6, but he makes it so he has to make near spectacular plays to score.
I played a little pick-up today. I had two players who just stood in the same spot the whole time. It made it very difficult to penetrate. We usually ended up with flat-footed jumpers or forced penetration through traffic. However, when someone cut, we got open shots. Just forcing the defense to honor someone other than the player with the ball created open shots.
People still wonder how Team USA lost to Greece and others in 2006. For the answer, watch the Cavs. The Cavs play offense like Team USA with four guys standing and watching one guy go. The Celtics play defense like the Greeks, playing 5-on-1. I counted a couple times in the 4th quarter; on one possession James dribbled the ball 17 times and on the next possession 14. Meanwhile, his teammates stood and watched and the defense played the ball. That is horrible offense and incredibly boring to watch.
I love watching the Jazz because they have constant motion. They run basic options off the Flex, which I hated when we ran it when I was in 7th and 8th grade. But, I find them very enjoyable to watch. When Kobe plays unselfishly, I like watching the Lakers because they move the ball and all five players can pass. I love watching Chris Paul run the pick and roll and the Spurs set the standard for ball movement.
The Cavaliers, however, are boring. I would love to see James start off the ball and the Cavs run their offense through him, like the Kings used to do with Webber. Use some Triangle principles and some Flex options and make the defense guard all five players, not just James. Get James the ball in positions where he can be effective and where the help has more difficulty.
Watching James continually receive the ball 30 feet from the basket and asking him to create 1v5 with less than 8 seconds on the shot clock makes him work too hard and it makes watching the games too painful. No team in my lifetime has relied so heavily on one player. The Cavs simply ask him to do too much, which is why the Celts' D looks great (although, it is very good regardless) and why his shooting percentage is so low. Make the game easier for him and he'll look more like Kobe, who manages to make everything look pretty easy right now.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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4 comments:
You are right.The Cavs are boring to watch.Lebron gets the ball holds it , no one moves, and he drives to the basket trying to get a shot or a foul.They need a good point guard to step up and control the offense.They need a good ball handling point guard.
I don't even know that they need a good point guard. I mean, Derek Fisher isn't a true PG, but the Lakers manage to do more than stand around and watch Kobe take 20 dribbles before jacking a shot.
I watched a couple minutes of Game 7 while I ate lunch. I sat down and James on two consecutive possessions attacked quickly. One was a lay-up and one he passed to Vareajo for a dunk. No wasted dribbles, everything straight line to the rim until he drew two defenders. The next possession, the clock runs down, he dribbles until there are four seconds left and hands to Szcerbiak who gets stripped by Garnett (should have been a kick ball).
I don't understand why they wait so long to initiate the offense. I don't think they have the best personnel, but I don't think they are horrible either. They just wait too long and do not do anything to make it easy for James. Why not set screens to get him the ball at the elbow or low block? I don't understand running the shot lock for 16 seconds and then running a high on-ball screen every time down the court for a below-average shooter. Let him be a playmaker, but let him work off the ball first to catch in more dangerous positions. I don't think that requires a better PG, just a different philosophy.
Lebron and the Cavs are the reason I no longer can sit through an NBA game. I would rather go out for a walk and come back with 2 minutes left in the game. I used to enjoy watching the Kings because of the movement with guys like Peja and dare I say Doug Christie. I think there needs to be a healthy balance of movement and the ability to take someone off the dribble. The reason the kings could not close out games then was because they had no go to person when they needed someone to break down the defense. The reason the Lakers can have Fischer as their point guard is because Kobe can be that player. I can't put the blame on the teammates because it is not like LeBron tries an L cut or a screen to get the ball any closer to the basket.
Yeah, the Cavs have some work do to. The main problem I see is that Lebron always wants his passes to register as assists. I've played basketball with guys like him - they don't like passing when they feel their pass isn't going to register as an assist. And so they dribble, dribble and dribble, looking for an opportunity to make an assist - and if they don't see the opportunity, then they force a shot. That's why Lebron has such a high number of assists AND points - it's because every possession he's looking to either score or get an assist (as opposed to running smart plays) If the Cavs become a better team, I think you'll find that Lebrons assists will go down, but his teammates assists will go up. He needs to get everyone involved. Move the ball around!
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