Series Thread: 2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs 7) Indiana Pacers

[Shanemansj13]

that is one of the good things about the Cavs in the playoffs.

They do a really nice job of getting a plan, and executing it, using the extra time and the fact you are playing a team multiple times to prepare.

lets be honest - what can you do to prepare for bron and KI? lol....

but the Cavs did a nice of job of limiting PG and making sure he iddnt go crazy. Esp. after game 1.

George- during that last regular season game where it went double OT looked really good- the Cavs werent showing their hand though. They executed pretty nicely against him overall i nthe series.

I mean PG is so freaking good he still went off but they would rather have Teague or Stephenson go off than PG bc he will find someway to get his offense going while getting others involved. It seemed like their defense on PG got consistently better throughout the series, definitely a plus. I still think they need to work on team defense, rebounding (offensive) and just moving the ball a little better (the first unit).

 

[WiggyRuss]

I mean PG is so freaking good he still went off but they would rather have Teague or Stephenson go off than PG bc he will find someway to get his offense going while getting others involved. It seemed like their defense on PG got consistently better throughout the series, definitely a plus. I still think they need to work on team defense, rebounding (offensive) and just moving the ball a little better (the first unit).

exactly. make those other guys beat you. Esp. give them their weakness--- if Stephenson is gonna hit a bunch of 3's- take your hat off to him. If Teague is gonna shoot the lights out- hey you can live with that.

Waht you cant live with is PG going for 40 on a nightly basis. The Cavs did a good job of keeping him from blowing up and making the other guys beat them.

 

[Wamu]

lol....well- sarcasm aside- the Lakers "great" season will be determined on lotto day- itll either be amazing or a disaster depending on ping pong balls.

You really shouldn't be talking shit about where the Lakers are right now. The Cavs were the Lakers just a couple of years ago. And speaking of the lottery I got 1 name for you...Anthony Bennett.

 

[gordontrue]

Interesting that the Cavs bench did their best work on the road. Usually its the opposite. Bench is mostly veterans, so makes sense.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Its a loaded time to ask a guy a question like that anyway. You are never going to be more emotional than right after you get put out of the playoffs.

If he makes an ALL-NBA team the question may be irrelevant anyway unless he wants to leave 70M dollars on the table.

Is there anything dumber in the CBA then that rule?
Writers determine All NBA.

My question is, why would EVERY team in EVERY situation offer some of those players the full 70M just because they can?

It's not like any other team can, so IMO there is great leverage to be had.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

exactly

LeBron makes a lot of guys look bad and get frustrated , lol.

Pacers prob win at least a couple games against anyone in the East except the Cavs.

If you are building a team- with PG at 26 years old (right 26 or 27?) he HAS to be in the top 15 guys youd want as y our #1 right now.

I mean- there are TONS of teams in the league that PG would go to and instantly be their best player and make the team tons better.

If you put PG on the Cavs and James on the Pacers with the exact same players on both rosters as is, you don't think the Pacers win the series?
Probably a sweep.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

lol. I clearly stated there were a few who thought the series would be difficult. I even admitted that I was one of those but as I said before, most predicted a sweep or 5 game series.

And your Klaw post is stupid. He was clearly talking about a possible Pacers/Raptors series

It was difficult.
Difficult didn't equate to Pacers wins, but James had to play tons of minutes becasue the games were decided in the end.

 

[Black Adam]

It was difficult.
Difficult didn't equate to Pacers wins, but James had to play tons of minutes becasue the games were decided in the end.

exactly. the Cavs had to scrap for every ONE of those 4 wins...

nothing "easy" about that sweep...

 

[WiggyRuss]

As I said:

Pacers came in red-hot on a 5 game winning streak. PG had just won EC Player of the Month. McMillan had won coach of the month.

Cavs came in on a 4 game losing streak- due to rest and complacency.


We all saw what happened.

Kyrie played great except for game 3. Love I thought- while he rebounded decently- him and Smith need to get going.

LeBron was of course LeBron. The King. The best player in the game.

and the bench stepped up nicely. A lot of smart, tough veterans with skill sets that blend well with The King.

 

[bksballer89]

As I said:

Pacers came in red-hot on a 5 game winning streak. PG had just won EC Player of the Month. McMillan had won coach of the month.

Cavs came in on a 4 game losing streak- due to rest and complacency.


We all saw what happened.

Kyrie played great except for game 3. Love I thought- while he rebounded decently- him and Smith need to get going.

LeBron was of course LeBron. The King. The best player in the game.

and the bench stepped up nicely. A lot of smart, tough veterans with skill sets that blend well with The King.

Not many expected a long series. Not sure what you're getting at. Cavs struggled in this series but they found ways to win. Good for them but you keep bringing up this Pacers 5 game win streak like it meant anything. Just because they had a 5 game win streak does not mean they were magically going to win 4 of 7 vs Cleveland.

They obviously dropped the ball in game 3 and were right in the game in games 1 & 4. Just couldn't finish games

 

[DorianRo]

As I said:

Pacers came in red-hot on a 5 game winning streak. PG had just won EC Player of the Month. McMillan had won coach of the month.

Cavs came in on a 4 game losing streak- due to rest and complacency.


We all saw what happened.

Kyrie played great except for game 3. Love I thought- while he rebounded decently- him and Smith need to get going.

LeBron was of course LeBron. The King. The best player in the game.

and the bench stepped up nicely. A lot of smart, tough veterans with skill sets that blend well with The King.

Pacers should have at least taken it 6. Maybe even 7 if they stole Game 1. No reason they should have been swept. Just goes to show How WEAK the East is though.

Cleveland was hardly unbeatable. Their defense is still lazy trash. Inexcusable to be swept against a team that doesn't even play D or blow the biggest lead even when the opposing team sits 2 of their big 3 in the 4th quarter.

Pacers had no business being in the playoffs

 

[Hambombs]

That is the regular season.

Their best two players both appear in the top 5 of the lowest playoff FG% of all time. I call that offensively challenged.

Well bucks are a reason for that

 

[bksballer89]

It is interesting to see pace of play rankings this post season.

SAS/MEM pace of play is 89.6.....that is extremely low. 89.6 possessions per game is so low. Must really value possessions in that series.

On the other hand the Warriors/Blazers pace of play is at 105.9 possessions per game.

BTW the Cavs finished this series with a DEF EFF of 111.0. To show you how bad that is, if they did that over 82 games they would have finished in dead last so yeah they have some work to do on that side of the ball

 

[WiggyRuss]

Pacers should have at least taken it 6. Maybe even 7 if they stole Game 1. No reason they should have been swept. Just goes to show How WEAK the East is though.

Cleveland was hardly unbeatable. Their defense is still lazy trash. Inexcusable to be swept against a team that doesn't even play D or blow the biggest lead even when the opposing team sits 2 of their big 3 in the 4th quarter.

Pacers had no business being in the playoffs

its just tough to beat LeBron James in the playoffs.....if its a close game near the end he is gonna pull it out more times than not.

And Pacers def. played well enough to make the playoffs- its not like any of the other trash in the East would have fared better....Pacers were hot down the stretch in April.

 

[trojanfan12]

Here are a few, without caring to spend more than 30 seconds looking. Anyway, its not just about this series. Its the pattern that happened every east series last year and will continue every series this year.

DJ: "Cavs beat the Pacers, 4-2. Wouldn't shock me it went 7 either."

bk: "Good luck to the Cavs vs the Pacers. They will be a tough out. PG-13 is playing his best ball of the year."

Klaw: "The Pacers have been lookin good lately and if they draw a Raps team who are known to choke in the playoffs, it could be an interesting series. You don't even have to go back far as the Pacers had them on the ropes last year until they blew that lead in GM 5."

lol @saying @bksballer89 cherry picked his quotes and then coming up with fewer quotes than he did (and getting one of them completely wrong) to back your point. That seems to be the very definition of cherry picking.

 

[trojanfan12]

You're free to cherry pick as well. It's a two-way street.

Yeah, he kind of already did in his response.

 

[gordontrue]

lol @saying @bksballer89 cherry picked his quotes and then coming up with fewer quotes than he did (and getting one of them completely wrong) to back your point. That seems to be the very definition of cherry picking.

I had the much easier side to prove. It only takes 1 quote to rebuff the "no one ever said that" argument.

 

[trojanfan12]

SportsHoopla's guide to commenting on a Cavs eastern conf playoff series, before and after...

Before the Series Starts
Talk about how dangerous the Cavs opponent is.

After the Series Ends
Talk about how completely garbage the Cavs opponent is.

Cavs fans guide to eastern conf playoff series before and after:

Just make shit up that no one said and respond to it.

 

[trojanfan12]

I actually think George is the best player the Cavs can face in the East.

You could talk me into Giannis, but PG13 has the experience in big-time games.

I think Giannis is the most talented athlete that the Cavs will see in the East, but I agree that PG-13 is the best player they will see due to his experience, with the possible exception of Butler if they somehow end up seeing the Bulls.

 

[bksballer89]

I had the much easier side to prove. It only takes 1 quote to rebuff the "no one ever said that" argument.

Except I never said that