Series Thread: ECF: Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavs

[WiggyRuss]

Theres that low self confidence again.
Keep telling yourself you’re correct if it makes you feel better.

At least we’ll be spared the ‘how great Love is’ posts!!

you really gotta wake up to reality man. lol

Interesting game last night. IMO the rook has looked lost the last two games.

Its good to see the Cavs stepping up their D.

Each team has held serve. Boston needs to hold serve now.

i think the Cavs have played a little better defensively- esp. since TT is playing the minutes Lue gave to Clarkson and Hood early on-- but the Celts missed some shots i doubt they miss at home.

Game 5 is going to be a rumble.

 

[WiggyRuss]

anyone know the vegas odds for game 5?

 

[Wamu]

That what happens when your "go to guys" are fucking Horford, Rozier. Tatum, or Brown. You can't score worth a shit.


Of course, the retard Letots on here will try and hype them up about what a "great team" these Celtics are (missing their two best players mind you). Anything to make their hero look better than he really is

The rest are pretty much role players. Get your heads out of your rears. These guys aren't stars. ROFLMAO

I said it before, the Celtics probably wouldn't even make the playoffs in the West. this is an indictment on how PATHETIC the East is whether than how good Lebron and the Cavs are. I hope they have a ton of finals appearance.


Basically, Lebron will continue to be hyped up against these D-League GARBAGE East Squads, UNTIL be finally has to play a legit quality team then the LeTots disappear once again

Are you ever not a dumbass? Find 1 comment where any Cavs/LeBron fans said the Celtics are a "great team". I'd bet money nobody other than you has made that bullshit claim. The Celtics are a damn good defensive team, but not a great team.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

dont be mad tt owns you. lol

can you please finally admit that if you wanted to win 1 game youd definitely rather have Thompson than your big 7 foot whiner/stiff that cant get off the bench in thep layoffs?

If Whiteside were playing with James he would have an absolute field day of dunks.

Maybe someday you'll understand opposing teams game plan to take away the other teams best players.

When you play the Cavs you have to pay attention to James and the 3 point shooters.
Tristan is there mostly unaccounted for collecting junk.

Can you imagine what a monster sized man like Whiteside could do in the same role?


ANYWAY, instead of polluting this thread, why not take it over to the Whiteside vs Tristan thread?

It's easy to find.
Just look for the poll where 90% of the people disagree with you and the other 10% are Cavs fans.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

anyone know the vegas odds for game 5?

pk -110

Pretty much like games 1,2.

 

[WiggyRuss]

If Whiteside were playing with James he would have an absolute field day of dunks.

Maybe someday you'll understand opposing teams game plan to take away the other teams best players.

When you play the Cavs you have to pay attention to James and the 3 point shooters.
Tristan is there mostly unaccounted for collecting junk.

Can you imagine what a monster sized man like Whiteside could do in the same role?


ANYWAY, instead of polluting this thread, why not take it over to the Whiteside vs Tristan thread?

It's easy to find.
Just look for the poll where 90% of the people disagree with you and the other 10% are Cavs fans.

dude if whiteside were playing with lebron he would prob be in the same palce as now- the bench.....TT is only playing because of his versatility. Whiteside couldnt even come close to keeping up with Horford running around picks and out on the perimeter etc.

playing a big with lebron tht clogs the middle, that cant shoot, that cant pass, and cant guard the perimeter is basically ruining half of lebrons advantages. Its the same reasons spoelstra doesnt play him now.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I said he had a nice game, but it was far from special.

All of the sudden Horford is Hakeem?
Its smart for the Cavs to pay extra attention to Horford when they can see that the others on the court are mostly launching bricks.

Its been the exact same pattern for Boston these entire playoffs.

Why is anyone surprised?

I have always thought Horford is overrated but it still doesn’t make up for the fact he was owning Love, maybe bc they were at home? Prob not, TT is an elite pick n roll defender and pretty good inside. He brings energy and discipline to the team, only Lebron can do the same on this current team.

 

[Montalban]

This is spot on, and yet, we have @tlance arguing that the Celtics don't miss Kyrie and Gordon...LOL.

I'm not sure how any team would not miss those two guys. Two of the best players in the game.

 

[Montalban]

The game was lost in the 1st qtr.
The difference between games 1 and 2 was that Boston continued to fight which allowed the score to be respectable.
They were never even close to being in a position to actually win it.

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I'm not sure how any team would not miss those two guys. Two of the best players in the game.

i think where it especially hurts them is the bench....their rotation is shorter and not using as great of bench guys...

moving guys like Morris and Rozier to the bench make them so much deeper and more dangeorus

Kyrie's scoring is hugely needed by Boston in the 4th qtr as well. Hayward would really help on LeBron too- making him work defensively and defending him.

The Cavs, assuming/hoping LeBron stays will have to make some moves this offseason to catch up......but, a full year of integrating Nance and Clarkson and Hill will also do wonders.

 

[trojanfan12]

The road is where the Celtics being without Kyrie and Hayward truly hurts them. Especially Kyrie.

They don't have anyone who can get his own shot and take over the scoring load when the offense starts to struggle. Tatum and maybe Brown look like they can eventually be those type of players, but they aren't there yet.

With Kyrie and Hayward, the Celtics may have been able to do a better job of having answers when the Cavs were hitting shots and extending their lead.

 

[flyerhawk]

I'm not sure how any team would not miss those two guys. Two of the best players in the game.

I won't speak for @tlance but, IMO, the Celtics are a better team with Kyrie and Hayward BUT that doesn't mean that they would be playing BETTER than they have over the past 2-3 weeks. Maybe a little but they were getting max effort/output from guys like Rozier and Smart and Brown and Tatum. Irving is definitely a better player than Rozier or Smart but he is no where near the defensive player that Smart is. And would Irving be demonstrably better at shooting than Rozier has been?

I've seen this sort of thing before. Lose your star player and still play and fans then expect the team to elevate once they return only to be disappointed that the team regressed. Bill Simmons has had a theory about this for a long time..

Sports Guy: Ewing Theory 101 - ESPN Page 2

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

I have always thought Horford is overrated but it still doesn’t make up for the fact he was owning Love, maybe bc they were at home? Prob not, TT is an elite pick n roll defender and pretty good inside. He brings energy and discipline to the team, only Lebron can do the same on this current team.

If your point is that Tristan defends better then Love, no need to explain.
Love is pretty bad most of the time.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

The road is where the Celtics being without Kyrie and Hayward truly hurts them. Especially Kyrie.

They don't have anyone who can get his own shot and take over the scoring load when the offense starts to struggle. Tatum and maybe Brown look like they can eventually be those type of players, but they aren't there yet.

With Kyrie and Hayward, the Celtics may have been able to do a better job of having answers when the Cavs were hitting shots and extending their lead.

Correct, which leads it to snowball, and within a couple minutes its a 10-15 point swing.

 

[flyerhawk]

The road is where the Celtics being without Kyrie and Hayward truly hurts them. Especially Kyrie.

They don't have anyone who can get his own shot and take over the scoring load when the offense starts to struggle. Tatum and maybe Brown look like they can eventually be those type of players, but they aren't there yet.

With Kyrie and Hayward, the Celtics may have been able to do a better job of having answers when the Cavs were hitting shots and extending their lead.

I think there is no question that the Celtics would be better offensively with Irving and Hayward. But this didn't get to game 5 of the ECF on the back of their offense.

Irving was better defensively this year but still not a great defender.

Marcus Smart might be the best defensive guard in the league. And so far, the Celtics wins and losses are mirrored by Smart's performances in the game.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

dude if whiteside were playing with lebron he would prob be in the same palce as now- the bench.....TT is only playing because of his versatility. Whiteside couldnt even come close to keeping up with Horford running around picks and out on the perimeter etc.

playing a big with lebron tht clogs the middle, that cant shoot, that cant pass, and cant guard the perimeter is basically ruining half of lebrons advantages. Its the same reasons spoelstra doesnt play him now.

Pretty much nonsense.
Kind of like when the Rockets yanked Capela.
Did them going small slow the Warriors down last game or did the lead double?

As far as clogging the middle, there is a 3 second rule.
Whiteside could easily be positioned to receive lob after lob if he was on the court with James and 3 shooters.

#learnthegame

 

[WiggyRuss]

Pretty much nonsense.
Kind of like when the Rockets yanked Capela.
Did them going small slow the Warriors down last game or did the lead double?

As far as clogging the middle, there is a 3 second rule.
Whiteside could easily be positioned to receive lob after lob if he was on the court with James and 3 shooters.

#learnthegame

comparing capela to whiteside? are you crazy? capela is another extremely versatile big that can cover the inside or the perimeter and keep up with the new type of big men in the league

whiteside is a dinosaur that just does not fit in todays pace and space league. 20 years ago he could very well have been a monster--- now hes just a monster contract with very little tangible use.

 

[Wamu]

I think there is no question that the Celtics would be better offensively with Irving and Hayward. But this didn't get to game 5 of the ECF on the back of their offense.

Irving was better defensively this year but still not a great defender.

Marcus Smart might be the best defensive guard in the league. And so far, the Celtics wins and losses are mirrored by Smart's performances in the game.

What Mr. Flat Earth lacks on the defensive end he makes up for on the offensive end. Hope he'll be 100% for next year. I don't like the guy, but if he can help the Celtics get the ultimate prize I'll tolerate him.

 

[trojanfan12]

I think there is no question that the Celtics would be better offensively with Irving and Hayward. But this didn't get to game 5 of the ECF on the back of their offense.

Irving was better defensively this year but still not a great defender.

Marcus Smart might be the best defensive guard in the league. And so far, the Celtics wins and losses are mirrored by Smart's performances in the game.

No doubt that it's defense that has gotten the Celtics this far.

As you know, in basketball, sometimes you can play great defense, but the offense scores anyway. Especially when you have a guy like Lebron going into ridiculous mode.

There were a lot of Lebrons shots over the last couple of games (especially last night) where the defender was in exactly the right position, but Lebron hit the shot anyway.

When that's happening, a team needs to have a guy who can answer on the other end. The Celtics don't have that guy right now.

 

[WiggyRuss]

The road is where the Celtics being without Kyrie and Hayward truly hurts them. Especially Kyrie.

They don't have anyone who can get his own shot and take over the scoring load when the offense starts to struggle. Tatum and maybe Brown look like they can eventually be those type of players, but they aren't there yet.

With Kyrie and Hayward, the Celtics may have been able to do a better job of having answers when the Cavs were hitting shots and extending their lead.

very true

though -after watching Kyrie's defense the last few years it would be nice to be on the other side of that for once..lol......those 3s and those insane layups though - i mean- if you need a bucket not too many guys id rather have with the ball than Cryrie.