Series Thread: 4 Atlanta Hawks (48-34) vs. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers (57-25)

[Heatles84]

Yes, the Cavs had great looks.

Some portion of that should be attributed to the Cavs ability to execute on offense and some portion of that should be attributed to the Hawks inability to execute on defense.

The fact that the Hawks were one of the best teams all year long at defending the 3 might be an important factor in deciding how to divy up the credit/blame.

I'm not saying none of the blame belongs on the Hawks defense, of course it does. Maybe not as much as many seem to be thinking, though.

The Cavs ball movement has improved under Lue, I won't deny that. The Hawks were beyond terrible in the pick and roll on the perimeter. After game 4, you could hear the TNT analysts criticizing how open they were leaving the Cavs shooters. The Hawks defense I saw was very lackadaisical and not something you regularly see in the playoffs. This isn't surprising as the Hawks for as long as I can remember have always been a disappointment once the playoffs start.

 

[gordontrue]

But as we've all said, your goal wasn't to make the ECF. Everyone here knows the Cavs are going to the Finals. The real test comes in June.

Yes... thanks. We get these reminders literally every time the Cavs do anything remotely well.

Maybe I should edit my signature with a disclaimer that my opinions and statements on the Cavs current games in no way represent my feelings on the Cavs season longs goals or their ultimate success/failure.

All I was saying is that the Cavs 3 point performance in this series was insane. And it absolutely was that insane, imo.

 

[gordontrue]

He was 8-15 from 3 which is nice

A bit of an understatement.

3 Days ago no Forward had ever made that many 3's in a playoff game.

Now, Draymond and Love both have.

 

[Heatles84]

Yes... thanks. We get these reminders literally every time the Cavs do anything remotely well.

Maybe I should edit my signature with a disclaimer that my opinions and statements on the Cavs current games in no way represent my feelings on the Cavs season longs goals or their ultimate success/failure.

All I was saying is that the Cavs 3 point performance in this series was insane. And it absolutely was that insane, imo.

Well....once again, this isn't really aimed at you. You know who it's really aimed at.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yes, the Cavs had great looks.

Some portion of that should be attributed to the Cavs ability to execute on offense and some portion of that should be attributed to the Hawks inability to execute on defense.

The fact that the Hawks were one of the best teams all year long at defending the 3 might be an important factor in deciding how to divy up the credit/blame.

I'm not saying none of the blame belongs on the Hawks defense, of course it does. Maybe not as much as many seem to be thinking, though.

when you have Kyrie and LeBron breaking down the defense, and Tristan dominating the glass- its hard to cover the perimeter- especially when you have shooting big men like Frye and Love out there.

 

[bksballer89]

A bit of an understatement.

3 Days ago no Forward had ever made that many 3's in a playoff game.

Now, Draymond and Love both have.

Agree. I just don't think any player should be allowed to attempt 15 3's. That is insane.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Agree. I just don't think any player should be allowed to attempt 15 3's. That is insane.

Well when you are hitting over 50% i think id give him the green light as much as he wants, LOL

 

[gordontrue]

Agree. I just don't think any player should be allowed to attempt 15 3's. That is insane.

Yeah, there was definitely a little run there where he was inexcusably open despite being on fire. I think it was the first part of the 3rd quarter. One of those "you might want to guard that guy" moments.

 

[bksballer89]

Well when you are hitting over 50% i think id give him the green light as much as he wants, LOL

I was talking about from the Hawks perspective....Not from Love side

I would be sick to my stomach as a head coach if my team allowed a good 3 point shooter to get 15 attempts

 

[WiggyRuss]

Paul Milsap had over 40 in a game in the previous series.

Tristan Thompson did an EXCELLENT job on him- just as he did last year. Dont underestimate how important that was--- to have a great defensive matchup on probably their best scorer.

As i have said all along- what Tristan does is not gonna show up in the box scores every night...if you like bright shiny box scores that are hollow- hes probably not your guy.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

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gordontrue said: ↑
Or you'll have to eat crow for saying that. Both are very possible outcomes at this point

No problem.
Love is a big stat, small game guy.
When I see him as a major contributor to wins in big games, in crunch time, I'll say I was wrong.
Until then, I have to be right, because he never has.




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SportsHoopla Bookie:
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bksballer89 said: ↑
It was the Suns.....The worse team in basketball
Typical Wiggy.
Not understanding that Love puts up big stats in meaningless times.

@WiggyRuss
You like posting marathons.
Give us all of Love stats in games that were decided by 6 or less points.
His 4th qtr stats in all Cavs losses this year and his stats vs any top tier team this year.
His stats in games when James didn't play that made a difference in a win.



do you prefer your crow warm or cold? any beverage that is your favorite with burnt crow @TurnUpTheHeat ?

As i know all too well--- at times- you gotta suck it up and just admit when you were wrong...lol.

Honestly, I didn't see a minute of yesterday's game.
Wife wanted to go to the movies.
I will say that Love has looked more confident lately, but I still am not sure if they'd be better long term with my original thought process.
Everything looks great when your rolling through the East, and as a team making every shot.
Let's see how we're looking after the
Finals, because that's all that really matters.

When we had James, I always said the
1st meaningful game we would play would be in the ECF.
I think the first meaningful
game you play this year is game 1 of the Finals.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Honestly, I didn't see a minute of yesterday's game.
Wife wanted to go to the movies.
I will say that Love has looked more confident lately, but I still am not sure if they'd be better long term with my original thought process.
Everything looks great when your rolling through the East, and as a team masking every shot.
Let's see how we're looking after the
Finals, because that's all that really matters.

When we had James, I always said the
1st meaningful game we would play would be in the ECF.
I think the first meaningful
game you play this year is game 1 of the Finals.

you were criticizing love for not being clutch in regular season games in january- yet you cant even give him credit for dominating a game on the road in the 2nd round of a hotly contested playoff game....typical....

the hate is strong with you! 19 and 13 in that series...certainly dominates (wait that is just too weak of an adjective- how about OBLITERATES!?) anything your boy Blancote has done this postseason.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

you were criticizing love for not being clutch in regular season games in january- yet you cant even give him credit for dominating a game on the road in the 2nd round of a hotly contested playoff game....typical....

the hate is strong with you! 19 and 13 in that series...certainly dominates anything your boy Blancote has done this postseason.

Umm
I just said that he's looked more confident ( meaning he's made shots).
I also said I didn't see yesterday's game.
I have no idea when he made what.

 

[WiggyRuss]

So....8-0 thus far....

As a Cavs fan I am glad that:

A. No one has gotten hurt...gotta have some luck on your side

B. Kyrie has established himself as a legit #2 and has taken some of that burden off LeBron

C. Love is playing his best ball as a Cav- hes showing just why he is an elite player

D. Lue has proved to be an improvement over Blatt

E. And- most importantly- LeBron James looks as healthy, motivated, and dominant as he has in YEARS


on to the next one. Now the Cavs get a week to rest, refocus, and be ready for whoever wins this Toronto/Miami series. CANT WAIT for either next Sunday or Tuesday...

 

[trojanfan12]

Kind of sucks that a quality poster like @gordontrue is put in a position where he feels like he has to defend himself because of one asshat from the same fanbase.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

So....8-0 thus far....

As a Cavs fan I am glad that:

A. No one has gotten hurt...gotta have some luck on your side

B. Kyrie has established himself as a legit #2 and has taken some of that burden off LeBron

C. Love is playing his best ball as a Cav- hes showing just why he is an elite player

D. Lue has proved to be an improvement over Blatt

E. And- most importantly- LeBron James looks as healthy, motivated, and dominant as he has in YEARS


on to the next one. Now the Cavs get a week to rest, refocus, and be ready for whoever wins this Toronto/Miami series. CANT WAIT for either next Sunday or Tuesday...

F. Only way Lue can be considered an improvement would be is if the Cavs at least make it to game 7 of the Finals.

G. If Cavs don't win it all, A-F mean nothing good.

 

[WiggyRuss]

F. Only way Lue can be considered an improvement would be is if the Cavs at least make it to game 7 of the Finals.

G. If Cavs don't win it all, A-F mean nothing good.

its sure means something to me....im having a hell of a time let me tell ya.....nothing good? lol.....ill tell ya...ive been having a HELLUVA GOOD TIME. Shit- i havent even had to endure a playoff LOSS yet- which has been nice because as soon as it happens im sure the narrative will be the sky is falling. lol.

oh well...comes with the territory when you have LeBron James.


how inconsequential and ridiculous does all the blabbering about losses to the Heat and Nets in March feel now? totally LAUGHABLE.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

thats the thing that really surprised me too.. Atlanta did a good job this year of going from a team that was offensive focused- to actually instituting a pretty damn stingy defense.

just look at what Love and Frye did though...how the heck do you defend when in Games 3 and 4 you have each guy hitting like 8 3's--? BIG MEN...how do you answer that? That gives the Cavs a nice little matchup advantage vs. anyone.

im praying the Heat win and Whiteside gets healthy...i would LOVE to watch Whiteside and the rest of the Heat big men chase Frye and Love around the 3 pt line...nothing would give me more joy (except winning the title of course!!!) than dominating the HEat and watching Whiteside get frustrated while the Cavs rain 3's like Maximus rained fire in Gladiator! MWAHAHAHAHAAH!!!

The Cavs bigs were lights out from 3 vs ATL...not having seen much of the reg season to know if they can sustain that, but if they can...they will certainly get out of the east....drive and kick, seems to be the brunt of the OFC...and no one seems to be able to stay in front of Irving and LJ on the drives.

 

[WiggyRuss]

The Cavs bigs were lights out from 3 vs ATL...not having seen much of the reg season to know if they can sustain that, but if they can...they will certainly get out of the east....drive and kick, seems to be the brunt of the OFC...and no one seems to be able to stay in front of Irving and LJ on the drives.

thats the thing-- you double Kryrie or LeBron driving--- a couple things happen A. Thompson is loose for offensive rebounds and B. the perimeter shooters are open- and if you have TWO big men that cna make 3's thats deadly....

LeBron and Irving collapse the D....TT terrifies them with his offensive rebounding- and then those bigs with the 3 point skills rain from 3....not a bad way to run an offense huh?


and a question...TT's offensive rebounding was insane again...but seriously- HOW DOES HE GET ALL THOSE OFFENSIVE BOARDS WHEN THE CAVS ARE SHOOTING LIGHTS OUT? LOL...shouldnt that not be possible?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Yes, the Cavs had great looks.

Some portion of that should be attributed to the Cavs ability to execute on offense and some portion of that should be attributed to the Hawks inability to execute on defense.

The fact that the Hawks were one of the best teams all year long at defending the 3 might be an important factor in deciding how to divy up the credit/blame.

I'm not saying none of the blame belongs on the Hawks defense, of course it does. Maybe not as much as many seem to be thinking, though.

The Hawks DEF rotation seemed to be a half tick late, but the bigger issue was they couldn't contain the dribble drive game of LJ or Irving. When you get beat 10-12 games in a row by one team...they owned that match up and both teams knew it.