The Cavs 4-0 record against the Lakers and Magic doesn't mean anything, because regular season victories aren't always indicative of postseason success.
Also, the Bobcats 3-1 record against the Cavs shows that Cleveland would lose to Charlotte should they meet in the first round.
Not making excuses for the Cavaliers, but this was a rough way to start post-All Star break. They didn't play for a week, they're reintegrating both Mo Williams and Delonte West, they added a major piece and they started out with a back-to-back against two good teams.
To say Antawn Jamison had a rough night is an understatement. Dude was 0-12 in his Cleveland debut and two of those were airballs and another four were blocked. Wasn't his best night, to say the least.
While I'm not worried about a Cavs-Bobcats playoff series, I am officially concerned. Charlotte has guys who can play defense (the newly acquired Ty Thomas had 6 blocks in is debut) and they're long and athletic. Offensively, they're OK but it's a lot of one-on-one stuff, the Cavs defense has be sub-par these past two games; lot's of open looks and missed rotations leading to layups plus, they aren't rebounding well (Bobcats won the battle of the boards 47-37, Denver beat 'em 48-44).
If the Cavs miss Z at all, it isn't the rebounds but the floor spacing. Z's shooting ability cleared up the lane and opened up space for LeBron to work. When Shaq and Varejao are paired up (as it's been these last two games), opposing teams will just pack the lanes and force the ball out of LeBron's hands. The opposition would absolutely LOVE to see Varejao hoisting 15 footers.
Charlotte (with their defense and slow tempo) is a rough opponent to play when you're still figuring things out. Once Jamison gets up to speed, the Cavs will be fine (I think should he should start over JJ) but, near term, things aren't getting any easier, as they're in Orlando on Sunday, face New Orleans this Tuesday and travel to Boston to play on Thursday night.
Break is over, guys.
3 comments:
Not to mention that the Cavs are on a road back-to-back. Its a different game when you have had a day or two to rest slash prepare for the next game. I think one of the other losses was a second night of a back to back. Denver just lost to the Wizards last night too, and the Cavs have beaten the Magic when they were on a back to back (one of our wins was when it was their 4th in 5 nights). Records against teams in the regular season are only circumstantial.
I don't think its just the Cavs who will not be happy seeing them in the first round.
It's almost like a brand new team playing together with the addition of Jamison, the loss of Z and both Mo and Delonte being worked back in after injuries. No one is expecting them to hit the court and keep playing the way they did on their 13 game win streak before the All-Star break. However, I think we did expect Jamison to make SOME shots. As for facing the Bobcats Round 1 in the playoffs, I think when it will come down to a 7 game series, and we have only one team to focus on, we should take them.
let's see now, everyone is ledging because the cavs lost the season season series 3-1 to charlotte and if they were to meet in the first round as the 1-v-8 matchup, you're afraid that it might go 7 games, is that correct??? puh-lease!!! the cavs are a tried and tested playoff team, meanwhile, this will be charlotte's first time in the playoffs. if it goes 5 games, i would be surprised. have a little faith here people.
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