Subscribe Feed (RSS)My wrapup of Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland and the consensus of the comment thread so far is that, well, the Cavaliers are simply better than the Trail Blazers. It certainly looked that way.
So I want to ask your opinion… given that Ilgauskas and West — two very good players — were missing from Cleveland’s lineup in that game, WHY were the Cavs better? What made them better? Is it merely Lebron James? I mean, outside of him they started Ben Wallace, Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic and Mo Williams. How good, honestly are those guys?
Is it Cleveland’s experience? Is it the way they play together? Is it coaching? What is it that made the Cavs so much better than Portland Wednesday night? With Ilguaskas and West out, I expected these teams to look a lot more equal than they did. This whole thing about the Blazers being in awe of Cleveland is making the rounds today and seems like an easy excuse, but I honestly didn’t think it looked that way.
I thought it just looked like the Cavaliers were going to win all game, right from the start, and there wasn’t much Portland could do about it. I think that feeling may have had a lot to do with the way the teams play defense, but Cleveland seemed just to be the better team, awe or not.
Why?
Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers
I think it obviously starts with having the best player on planet earth on your team. What makes LBJ that good is that he leads on defense and sets the tone for his team. Their role players are committed to defense and know what they are supposed to do. Reminded me of the defined roles that the Spurs players always seem to embrace. Brown is a product of the Spurs coaching tree correct?
Lebron has been in the league 6 years and has fought thru some tough playoffs with his team. I think their playoff experience is a big plus for them as well. Williams and West are nice pieces that complement James game.
I agree – every guy in the league – to some degree – can play the game. The confidence LBJ brings to your team is so valuable. Brandon does that for our team from time to time, and I only suspect it to grow. But with LeBron, it’s a different level. I mean, when you see him trekking down court and blocking guys who were 10 strides ahead of him a second before, you sort of feel safe. You sort of feel comfortable, don’t you?
When guys play with confidence and composure, it’s hard to rattle them.
This is sort of what I’m talking about, and it sounds like the guys are well aware of it. This is courtesy of Ben’s Media Row Report over at Blazer’s Edge:
“Brandon talked for a little tonight about how KG and LeBron get their teammates to play defense. I don’t have the exact quote but he phrased his response by saying that both he and LaMarcus needed to have the same effect upon their teammates. It felt like a small concession from Brandon that he alone wasn’t quite in the same category as KG and LBJ. “
They have one amazing player, and they finally have the right side-kick in Williams, after Miles, Hughes, Jones, Ricky Davis, and Ridnour had auditions. The other players need only play within their roles. This is why as long as they have a couple healthy bigs and other filler who know the system, they can lose West and Ilgauskas and be fine. West and Ilgauskas don’t need to be good, they only need to complement Lebron and Williams.
Roy is great, but he’s not as dominate or as consistent in terms of scoring. Aldridge is good, but he’s not dominate. Rudy is good. Travis is good. Greg is good. Blake is good, etc. However, the Blazers wins come from most of those guys being good on any given night, whereas the Cavs rely on LeBron and Williams being good, and the other guys just doing well.
The Blazers need Blake more than the Cavs need Ilgauskas and West. If all three were healthy, the Blazers would have had a better chance.
Ricky Bobby hit it on the head. What makes the Cavs better is the NBA wars they’ve been through. Lebron James is not only the best player in the league but the best athlete I have ever seen (my opinion of course). He seems to have aquired the same drive to win that Michael Jordan possessed when he played. Lebron looks like he’s on a mission. That’s hard for a young blazer team to deal with. You can see that Portland is slowly finding it’s way. Greg Oden is getting better, B. Roy is stepping into the superstar stratosphere and LaMarcus is becoming a reliable number two option. I think Lamarcus may end up being the best player on the team in the end. He seems committed to expanding his game. He’s not just a jump shooter anymore. WHile he still shoots too many jumpers for my taste, he drives to the hoop more and is starting to get to the line a bit more. The blazers need to learn to defend like the Cavs. When they do that, I think they’ll be better than Cleveland.
Roy is playing at less than 100% and he sets the tone. That’s it, game over….
If you really hone in on the differences between the elite teams such as the Cavs and young teams like the Blazers it comes down to this: strength, physicality.
The strongest player on the planet is Lebron James. The Blazers best players are not soft but they haven’t fully developed their bodies.
Brandon is strong but he’s no were near as strong as Lebron and Kobe, hence why he spent a lot of the time on the floor last night and why Lamarcus, Outlaw and Rudy settled for jumpers.
The Blazers are really missing Martell, he is built like a rock and can shoot the 3.
I’m in shock they Blazers abandoned what worked on Monday night, what I have been calling for all-season long, the high-low with Aldridge and Oden. I mean you had Varejao on Oden for stretches of games.
Dwight, I honestly don’t think Cleveland played “so much better than Portland.” I mean we only lost by 6, and being up with less than seven minutes to go, the game really could have gone either way.
In the end, the only real difference was that Cleveland’s top 2 players had great games, where our top 2 did not come through.
Brandon is not Brandon.
Without Brandon being Brandon,no playoffs.
Period.
Also to those who value Steve less than I do,he is a real large part of Portland losing these close games. He is steely,heady,and calm.
So all in all,I am very pleased with just how close this game was
considering Brandon being less than 100%,and still no Steve.
Mo Williams just shot the lights out – I mean, I was amazed at how many of his shots hit only net, and started to expect it – and Roy had an off night.
Roy won’t always have off nights, and nobody can consistently shoot as well as Williams did (he torched Portland here last year as a Buck, too). People like to come off as sophisticates with complex explanations, but look at how well he shot, and consider how close this game was.
A third factor was Monty McCutchen, who shouldn’t be allowed to ref in Blazer games anymore. Maybe Allen can get a restraining order against him? McCutchen hurt Portland over and over, the unforgivable magnum opus being the fifth foul call on Oden. This took place when LeBron ran into the back of Oden’s shoulder while both were chasing a loose ball. There is no excuse for that call. None.
I’d take Portland in a re-match here. I venture no prediction on how it’ll go in Cleveland.
On a side note, I personally saw every Blazer except Roy and Martell (and Raef, of course) at Greg’s 21st birthday party. I liked seeing that almost all came out, and they seemed actually to enjoy each other’s company. That bodes well for the future, I think, even if Roy didn’t make it. As far as I saw, the players were collegial, or at least polite, if spoken to….
It’s simple: Lebron James.
defense, defense, defense. While LeBron is a lot better than Roy, Roy has a better offensive supporting cast. Its really on the defensive end where Cleveland is so superior– every time Roy would get by his man, 2 Cavs where there to challenge. This was a game where Aldridge and Oden needed to get inside and do some damage, but Aldridge was his typical soft self, and Oden never got the ball.
Missed Shots:
It is so easy to explain why Clevland won.
Too many missed Layups by Broy.
Too many Free Throws Missed.
I agree that there was something wrong with Broy, he didn’t have that “energy” he had earlier in the year, quite a few times I noticed him standing in the corner beyond the three point line.
A couple of more made shots and we win.
-not communicating on defense, eff the pick n roll debate, it’s about calling people out on and off the court. b-roy needs to be a better vocal leader.
-lamarcus needs to learn how to rebound as a 7 footer and not disappear in crunch time.
-greg and jerryd need to stay out of foul trouble
-play defense, in general, guard the man, be active, be vocal, get back, etc.
-work and scrap
-outlaw needs to rebound, be aggressive, use his athleticism and drive the lane
Consistency.
I was able to swallow this loss much better than others.
While the officiating was terrible, we still could of had the game.
My issue with this game was pretty much the game plan. Nate stated his plan was to attempt to contain Lebron. Let’s be honest here, nobody contained Jordan, Kobe and nor will they contain Lebron.
This goes back to the age old debate, do you let him get 40 and stop everyone else? (Mo Williams)
Thats my opinion..