Not gonna lie. A little sad you didn’t let me start the new series threadDisclaimer before the next week or two of vitriol: WE ALL KNOW LEBRON IS AWESOME.
That said, fuck him. I wanna see the Lebron face over and over.
You have to say he's the GOAT or it doesn't count (helps if you knock down MJ a peg or two as well).Disclaimer before the next week or two of vitriol: WE ALL KNOW LEBRON IS AWESOME.
That said, fuck him. I wanna see the Lebron face over and over.
three days off? what the heck.Sunday, Tuesday, and then off until Saturday.
They started the series early because both semis were so fast. Eventually they have to slow down, because the finals dates are pre-set.three days off? what the heck.
Well that’s annoying!Sunday, Tuesday, and then off until Saturday.
The big difference between this year and last year is Al doesn’t have to hedge to protect against Kyrie toasting everyone, and can play 4 instead of 5. Plus on offense they have the personnel to exploit the mismatch with whoever Korver is guarding. I’m with you, my gut says most likely scenario is lose in 6, much more competitive than last year. Not bad missing two all-stars.We all know LeBron is going to get 30-10-8 at least. I'd say try to make him a jump shooter but his jumper is as good as it's ever been. The key to this series is to not let Love/Korver/Smith/even Hood go off from the 3 point line.
Al Horford HAS to show up on defense moreso than he did last year. Kevin Love completely roasted him. 32 points with 6 3's in Game 1, 21 points with 4 3's in the Game 2 massacre, 28 points with 7 3's in the Game 3 win, 17 points on 3 3's in Game 4, and 15 points with 3 3's in Game 5. That's 23 3's in 5 games. Can't happen again.
Offensively, try to get Korver switched onto Tatum as much as possible to get him in foul trouble. However, I think LeBron will end up guarding Tatum a lot. Let Smart back down Hill in the post. Try to run offense through Al as much as possible to get Love out on the perimeter.
Defensively, don't leave the shooters. Cleveland gets rolling when LeBron gets others involved and their shooting confidence gets high. Toronto let Love/Korver/Smith get rolling and that was it.
It's going to be an uphill battle every night. As Brad says, they need to hit singles. Play each possession hard and they can't get down when LBJ gets going. Last year they compounded runs into blowouts real easy.
Watching the games from the same position as you and I.What is Hayward’s status?
Don't see an official schedule anywhere but ESPN scoreboard has Game 1 as Sunday 3:30pm.
Game 2 Tues, Game 3 Sat 8:30pm, Game 4 Monday.
I still have nightmares about Thompson destroying us on the boards. I feel like he and Love are a bad matchup for Horford/Baynes. Love always seems to trouble Al more than the less agile bangers that can't shoot.Cs are better than last year; Cavs not as good. Cs will give Cavs everything they want. Series will be decided by Cavs defense or lack thereof. Cs are going to have to score like 110+ to win games. They have the firepower - can they execute consistently enough?
There are mismatches all over the floor for BOS if they are patient enough to find. One good thing about the way the series are progressing: Cs opponents are getting less long and less athletic with each passing series.
I love this team.Gotta have a loose, house money mentality. They made the ECF without Hayward and Irving. That’s still hard to believe. This will be a very tight series, minimum 6 games.
TT destroyed us on the boards last year because when the bigs switched out, the Cs had IT, AB, and Jae trying to defend bigger people. This year, we have TRoz, JB, and JT.I still have nightmares about Thompson destroying us on the boards. I feel like he and Love are a bad matchup for Horford/Baynes. Love always seems to trouble Al more than the less agile bangers that can't shoot.
Korver would be my first target.Good post WBCD. Any thoughts on how Cleveland matches up with the Celts? Would have to think they will have at lteast one defender to pick on - the Cavs are really poor defensively. That would be huge as it will hopefully limit the transition attempts for Cleveland.
Thinking back to Opening Night......after the game, Tatum admitted that Lebron was more everything than he realized--bigger, stronger, faster, better. It's just great sports theatre that they're at it again.Lebron’s on a mission and is one of the few guys in the league that you can’t say “let him get his, we’ll shut down everyone else” because he’ll just pay 48 and get everybody’s. I look forward to seeing what Brad can scheme up to attack the Cavs.
It’s going to be great for Tatum/Brown/Rozier to go up against the best in the world and see they belong on the same stage.
Interesting that the two matchups the league decided to start the season off with on opening night - Boston/Cleveland and Houston/Golden State - are the conference final matchups at the end.Thinking back to Opening Night......after the game, Tatum admitted that Lebron was more everything than he realized--bigger, stronger, faster, better. It's just great sports theatre that they're at it again.
WHAT DID THEY KNOW?!?!Interesting that the two matchups the league decided to start the season off with on opening night - Boston/Cleveland and Houston/Golden State - are the conference final matchups at the end.
IT barely played last year against the Cavs, so I don't think we can pin their defensive struggles then on him. I think most of us would have been pretty happy if he had been healthy for that series.This team is built so much better to go against the Cavs this year even without Hayward and Kyrie. JT, JB and MaMo in particular make a huge difference. Having Rozier instead of the pint sized IT is huge too.
Just like the Philly series I think you guard Lebron straight up, no help. Lebron will get his, the key is don’t give Love, Korver, Smith, etc get rolling from 3. Shut them down and make Lebron score 50. Lebron will quite often get to the rim and forego a layup for the pass to an open 3. Don’t allow those open 3’s.
The other key is to keep Thompson and Love off the offensive glass. They have killed us in the past.
The possibility that they wear Down Lebron in a long series exists as well, which will hopefully help to neutralize his 3 point shot. They can run MaMo, Smart, JB, JT and even Horford occasionally at him.
I think this is a 6 or 7 game series. The Lebrontos probably end up winning but I think the Celts have a decent shot.
Kyrie eat Bradley alive in game 4. Love also did really well against Horford.IT barely played last year against the Cavs, so I don't think we can pin their defensive struggles then on him. I think most of us would have been pretty happy if he had been healthy for that series.