2016-2017 NBA Season Thread [ARCHIVED] Basketball • Page 261

The Cavs defense - or lack thereof - is getting very hard to stomach. No one can keep anyone in front of them and no opponents fear Thompson at the rim. Not a good combination.

 

Cant wait for the playoffs with this Rockets squad

 

The Bucks are so good at blowing double digit leads haha

 

Robin Lopez is an underrated center.

 

Losing to the Bulls at home is not a good look

 

Apparently Butler has been playing with torn tendons in his left hand.

 

The Lakers will be good again. Jeanie knows what she is doing and executed a nice power move. They finally have stability with her, Magic, and Pelinka in place. Only remaining question will be who has final roster say when there are disagreements between Magic and Pelinka.

 

I am very concerned about Kyle Korver's foot. Listed out tonight and Coach Lue says he doesn't know when he'll be back. It's been an issue all month.

 

Nate Silver giving the Cetics a 66% chance of holding the 1 seed. Seems high to me.

 

Pretty sure they have the easier schedule between them and the Cavs.

 

I think it's clear by now that Cavs fans (myself included) are more concerned with the defense than the team. They aren't interested in locking up right now. I don't think they care about seeding. They look like a team that will care when the playoffs start. And that's just the reality we need to live. Maybe they will turn it up in the last few weeks, but there is no reason to expect a drastic switch. Losing Delly and not having JR have hurt their defense as well, but it's mostly not being engaged. This is clearly a veteran team that is not concerned right now. I don't know if I like that approach but it's the reality.

 

Not necessarily knocking it per se, but god that would A) Drive me insane and B) not fly at all here. But in the most realistic sense, they don't need to care about seeding.

 

Im not a Cav's fan (I'm Bulls fan). I would love to see the Cav's repeat, but I've noticed their defense has been TERRIBLE the last few games I've watched. Like WTH, man?! haha. Out of anyone in the east...I would be most afraid of the Wizards. That Wall/Beal combo is dangerous.

 

To be quite frank, it's not even a lack of effort, it literally looks like the Cavs aren't trying on defense. That's what gets me. It's one thing to 'save it for the playoffs', but I mean, have some integrity on the defensive end. There's no way a defending championship team should be 22nd in defensive efficiency. I agree losing Delly and even to an extent Mozgov as hurt them a lot. Delly was a guy who could keep his guy in front of him and players may have thought twice about going at Mozgov at the rim. No one is afraid of Thompson and Kyrie couldn't dream of keeping a guy in front of him. Aside from that, there are hardly any defensive rotations whatsoever, they're a step or two slow on everything. The pick n roll continues to kill them as well. It's not just an effort thing, It's a defensive philosophy that needs to be changed or rethought.

Seeding doesn't matter to me and I'm certain if the Cavs could win 2 games on the road vs the winningest team in NBA history, they damn sure won't be scared to go into Boston to win a game or two. I'm also not convinced Boston can even make it to the ECF.

 

Feel free to knock it haha. Like I said, this would not be my approach, but I'm past the point of getting worked up over it. LeBron has been playing long seasons for a while. He basically doesn't help on defense haha. I think that's partly to save himself a little.

You're right, it wouldn't fly in Boston. Most notably, it's just simple team construction. Cavs are a veteran, star-driven team. Boston is a younger bunch, who's biggest asset (until IT's explosion) has been its coach. Boston has to give more energy on that end, partly out of necessity and partly because they have one of the few coaches that can demand it.

Cavs defense hasn't looked good since early in the year, under a really small sample size. We know they can play defense at a high level from last year, but the interest just isn't there right now. If Wall is going to shoot like he did against Cleveland the other night, they will be a really tough out. The Wall/Beal combo has a lot of potential when they are on.

 

I more so meant with the fan base when I said it wouldn't fly here. If IT decided to dog it for a few weeks he'd get crushed. Hell, dude's gonna wind up getting an MVP vote or two and people are still calling in like "Yah dude, i don't think this IT Kehd is worth a max cawntrack"

 

Haha the Cavs are getting called out and have been for it all year. Joe Vardon for Cleveland.com/Plain Dealer has written about it a ton. Dave McMenamin at ESPN has been on it. Jason Lloyd and Sam Amico have been harping on it. The difference is that there is a larger media presence in Boston than Cleveland. I know some of the different podcasts are making notes on it. It's not like it's not being talked about or brought up in player/coach interviews. I don't listen to the radio shows, but I'd imagine they have been turning in their graves all year about it since that platform tends to be the most reactionary.

 

The Celtics also are built such that defense is supposed to be a strength. A lot of guys on the team's value is dependent on it (Crowder, Smart, Bradley).

Also it can be hard to tell the difference between IT dogging it and hustling defensively sometimes. Lol

 

If I'm the celtics I'm trading IT while his value is high, he's gonna be a liability in the playoffs against any decent team

 

For those interested, Tim Duncan is the latest guest on the Road Trippin' podcast. Pretty cool to hear a little more of Tim's personality.

 

No team on the planet is trading the third highest scorer in the league. Especially when he's their top scorer every single night. And on an insanely team-friendly contract. And the face of a the team to a revitalized fanbase.

 

Celtics fans and ainge aren't too different

 

It kills me to this day the Hornets could've drafted Devin Booker instead of Frank Kaminsky.

 

Pretty sure there was a 3-team trade for that draft where the Hornets and Knicks would move out of their spots. I gotta see if I can find it, but basically Charlotte stood firm and wanted to take Frank.

Edit: Boston wanted to trade Charlotte a rumored 6 picks for the Hornets spot and they said no. I gotta find the Knicks one now.

 

He's a guy that will never lead a team to a Championship, if they don't trade him now they'll regret it later.