Showing posts with label NBA Finals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBA Finals. Show all posts
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Game 2
Ugh.
WHY IS LARRY HUGHES STILL IN THE GAME!? Stupid foul this time. What a moron. My brother noted that on the Cavs' second possession, he took that terrible shot with :18 left on the clock. Why!?
I told my brother at halftime that I can see them slowly eating at the lead until it's down to (say) 13 near the end of the quarter, and suddenly the announcers will realize "Hey, this isn't over yet." In a way, they're doing that, but the Spurs are still picking up balls the Cavs knock away and hitting the shots, so it doesn't feel like it. But it is down to 21, so we'll see.
Wow. 58-33. This is... embarrassing. I think it's going to have to be Lebron time in the 3rd quarter, with him continuing the drives he's finally started making at the end of the half. If he can keep attacking and drawing fouls (especially on Horry, Duncan, and Oberto) they can start eating away at this lead.
45-26. The last couple shots by Parker were ridiculous. The biggest question I have now: Where are the rebounds?! The Cavs were the 2nd best team in the league at rebounding during the season - what happened?
28-17 after one. That was atrocious. Every time the Cavs let up or space out for even a second, the Spurs just attack. Where's the focus? Outside of Gibson, Z, and Snow, everyone looks dazed. No wonder they're so much better with the Varajeo/Lebron/Gibson/Pavlovic foursome together, it's the only time they play with any focus.
Finally, they take out Larry Hughes. I've been saying for over a year that they're simply better when he's not on the court.
Lebron sits with 2 quick fouls. I think that's smart. The last thing you need is the feeling that Lebron has 3 fouls a few minutes into the game.
Keys to the game, in my opinion:
I told my brother at halftime that I can see them slowly eating at the lead until it's down to (say) 13 near the end of the quarter, and suddenly the announcers will realize "Hey, this isn't over yet." In a way, they're doing that, but the Spurs are still picking up balls the Cavs knock away and hitting the shots, so it doesn't feel like it. But it is down to 21, so we'll see.
Wow. 58-33. This is... embarrassing. I think it's going to have to be Lebron time in the 3rd quarter, with him continuing the drives he's finally started making at the end of the half. If he can keep attacking and drawing fouls (especially on Horry, Duncan, and Oberto) they can start eating away at this lead.
45-26. The last couple shots by Parker were ridiculous. The biggest question I have now: Where are the rebounds?! The Cavs were the 2nd best team in the league at rebounding during the season - what happened?
28-17 after one. That was atrocious. Every time the Cavs let up or space out for even a second, the Spurs just attack. Where's the focus? Outside of Gibson, Z, and Snow, everyone looks dazed. No wonder they're so much better with the Varajeo/Lebron/Gibson/Pavlovic foursome together, it's the only time they play with any focus.
Finally, they take out Larry Hughes. I've been saying for over a year that they're simply better when he's not on the court.
Lebron sits with 2 quick fouls. I think that's smart. The last thing you need is the feeling that Lebron has 3 fouls a few minutes into the game.
Keys to the game, in my opinion:
- Lebron has to go sharper off the picks toward the basket.
- Gooden has to pay better attention on D.
- Gibson needs to play a lot more, Hughes a lot less, Snow when they need things to be more organized.
- Pavlovic and Gibson should attack a lot more, opening things up.
- Lebron should work away from the ball a bit more.
- Their D needs to keep Parker from those easy drives.
Ezzie's Blog Roundup, 6/10: 34 Years & Counting
On this day in 1973, a very sunny day from the pictures I've seen, my parents - much, much skinnier and with way longer hair - got married! Happy 34th Anniversary, Mom & Dad!
Elsewhere:
Elsewhere:
Something very cool: My father got 4 tickets to tonight's first ever HD-3D showing of a major sporting event. The Cavs gave away 14,000 free tickets to people to come see tonight's game - which is in San Antonio - at the "Q" in Cleveland, with an added twist: They are placing four large screens on the court which will project the game in a high-definition 3D view (everyone will get not-as-dorky-but-still-dorky glasses to be able to see it) on the court - to the fans in the stands, it will look like the game is being played right there in front of them. It's a really cool concept and will surely be interesting to see if it's good enough to sell tickets to in the future... while obviously the technology itself is amazing and will have an interesting impact in lots of fields.
- Haveil Havalim #120 is up at SoccerDad!
- Chana has an excellent post on honesty and the past...
- ...while RafiG has a great one on honesty and the future.
- Treppenwitz has a few PSA's for everyone which are important.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Thoughts from The Game
Irregularly updated
Ugh. Ugly game by the Cavs. Notes for next game: Take out Hughes, who shoots less than 40% when he's healthy - and he's not; let Pavlovic and Gibson get a lot more touches and let them create and have Lebron move more away from the ball; and concentrate more on defense and fundamentals, like boxing out on free throws. This looked a lot like a "getting their bearings" type game more than a completely overmatched team, at least... but obviously, this wasn't good.
Nice run by the Cavs, cutting it to single digits. Under 3 minutes left, though. Still some time left, but they need to keep getting stops.
..and the Cavs' third quarter woes continue. They've got to crack down on D to start, and Lebron is running off the picks a little further outside than he normally does, which makes it easier for the Spurs to come back and pick him up on the outside. Either he needs to go 1-on-1 on Bowen or he has to run those first couple steps a little faster like he normally does.
40-35 at halftime. Obviously not amazing, but not bad.
That pass by Parker to Elson for the three-point play was sick.
One of the reasons Tim Duncan is so great is his ability to shoot in two ways from the side - straight up or by banking it, which is so hard to do. It gives him two angles to choose from when going up for a shot depending on what is being defended.
That the Cavs are staying even - within five despite Lebron being 0-6 and Ginobli/Duncan/Parker all playing well is a great sign.
I think people have severely underestimated just how good the Cavs are at two aspects of the game: Defense and rebounding. One of the most important aspects of the D is something the announcers (who've been surprisingly decent so far) touched on, which is forcing teams to take long jumpers but not giving them open threes.
Ugh. Ugly game by the Cavs. Notes for next game: Take out Hughes, who shoots less than 40% when he's healthy - and he's not; let Pavlovic and Gibson get a lot more touches and let them create and have Lebron move more away from the ball; and concentrate more on defense and fundamentals, like boxing out on free throws. This looked a lot like a "getting their bearings" type game more than a completely overmatched team, at least... but obviously, this wasn't good.
Nice run by the Cavs, cutting it to single digits. Under 3 minutes left, though. Still some time left, but they need to keep getting stops.
..and the Cavs' third quarter woes continue. They've got to crack down on D to start, and Lebron is running off the picks a little further outside than he normally does, which makes it easier for the Spurs to come back and pick him up on the outside. Either he needs to go 1-on-1 on Bowen or he has to run those first couple steps a little faster like he normally does.
40-35 at halftime. Obviously not amazing, but not bad.
That pass by Parker to Elson for the three-point play was sick.
One of the reasons Tim Duncan is so great is his ability to shoot in two ways from the side - straight up or by banking it, which is so hard to do. It gives him two angles to choose from when going up for a shot depending on what is being defended.
That the Cavs are staying even - within five despite Lebron being 0-6 and Ginobli/Duncan/Parker all playing well is a great sign.
I think people have severely underestimated just how good the Cavs are at two aspects of the game: Defense and rebounding. One of the most important aspects of the D is something the announcers (who've been surprisingly decent so far) touched on, which is forcing teams to take long jumpers but not giving them open threes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)