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LeBron James

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Chris Parker said:
maybe I'm mistaken but it appears the Cavs "backup plan" is playing LeBron at the 5. (We can say Love is at the 5, but typically we've seen LeBron take the big such as Brook Lopez a cpl wks ago).

I don't doubt LBJ's ability to guard centers. Indeed I'm kinda psyched by it. It seems to me that DG & Cavs have decided that Warriors are best beat at their own game, with no real big. LBJ can certainly rebound like a center. So maybe no big deal.

But it is honestly super curious nobody is talking about this, and Griff essentially saying, No LeBron we're not getting a big, you're playing the 4, and the 5 in a pinch.

Given that LeBron is the greatest trump card in basketball I think it's a canny play, but still feel you need one more big because you really can't afford to wear LBJ down. His driving at the end of the game keys the offense (unless Kyrie can get better at finding others, like he did for that spurt in December.)
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Dude?! ...mustache man is droppin knowledge up in this joint.
 
Jstock12 said:
I'm actually warming up to the idea of him being considered the GOAT over MJ.
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After LBJ beats the most "talented" team ever assembled this year, following the 3-1 finals comeback from last year...so will everyone else.

Do you know what future Cleveland fans will refer to the 2016-2017 repeat as?

The Ascension.
 
TitleTown said:
After LBJ beats the most "talented" team ever assembled this year, following the 3-1 finals comeback from last year...so will everyone else.

Do you know what future Cleveland fans will refer to the 2016-2017 repeat as?

The Ascension.
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I hope that's what happens. LeBron himself is a huge advantage (duh!) but all the injuries make me wonder about depth and their ability to being it together at the big moment.

On the positive, Toronto is fading (again) the Celtics don't have enough talent and the Hornets don't have enough scoring to keep up. The EC really doesn't have talent to challenge without a big trade. But I just don't know how well this Cavs team matches up with Warriors. Indeed, not fully convinced this team will be better than last year's team come June. If eveyone's healthy, natch, but is that a reasonable expectation?

This team isn't deep enough imo to be the slam dunk LBJ deserves. Much as I squint, can't see this team as constructed as better than GSW. But there is still time for injuries or trades to change that. Love/Frye D worries particularly worry me.
 
Chris Parker said:
I hope that's what happens. LeBron himself is a huge advantage (duh!) but all the injuries make me wonder about depth and their ability to being it together at the big moment.

On the positive, Toronto is fading (again) the Celtics don't have enough talent and the Hornets don't have enough scoring to keep up. The EC really doesn't have talent to challenge without a big trade. But I just don't know how well this Cavs team matches up with Warriors. Indeed, not fully convinced this team will be better than last year's team come June. If eveyone's healthy, natch, but is that a reasonable expectation?

This team isn't deep enough imo to be the slam dunk LBJ deserves. Much as I squint, can't see this team as constructed as better than GSW. But there is still time for injuries or trades to change that. Love/Frye D worries particularly worry me.
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We have the exact same team that we had last year (considering that Delly and Moz didn't play much at all in the finals). Plus we added Korver, who will be another shooter in the arsenal. And I think Griff has one more ace up his sleeve.

But, I respect your opinion a lot. I'm the eternal optimist. Everyone but LBJ and Irving could be injured, and I would still believe the Cavs could win it all.
 
Chris Parker said:
This team isn't deep enough imo to be the slam dunk LBJ deserves. Much as I squint, can't see this team as constructed as better than GSW. But there is still time for injuries or trades to change that. Love/Frye D worries particularly worry me.
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Agree.. This team does not have enough bodies to go toe to toe in a 7 game series against gsw.. And it looks like jr wouldnt be available come playoffs.. That is another 2 way player gone from the rotation. Our bigs, aside from tt, can be exploited defensively.. Korver is a live body but remembering him 2 years ago where jr abused him, i dont think he'll be able to guard any of klay, durant or green.. I think stopping gsw would be a gargantuan task and a lost cause.. If the cavs want to compete they have to match them point per point.. Throw away any defensive stance rather play faster and make them work defensively.. Would love to see more offense from the cavs and easier baskets... This iso-laden approach was great last year but it would be difficult to pull off against a superior team.. They have enough bodies to limit kyrie and lbj.. Run, and score.. Move the ball and hit 3ptrs.
 
pinoycavsfan said:
Agree.. This team does not have enough bodies to go toe to toe in a 7 game series against gsw.. And it looks like jr wouldnt be available come playoffs.. That is another 2 way player gone from the rotation. Our bigs, aside from tt, can be exploited defensively.. Korver is a live body but remembering him 2 years ago where jr abused him, i dont think he'll be able to guard any of klay, durant or green.. I think stopping gsw would be a gargantuan task and a lost cause.. If the cavs want to compete they have to match them point per point.. Throw away any defensive stance rather play faster and make them work defensively.. Would love to see more offense from the cavs and easier baskets... This iso-laden approach was great last year but it would be difficult to pull off against a superior team.. They have enough bodies to limit kyrie and lbj.. Run, and score.. Move the ball and hit 3ptrs.
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We have one bad road trip, lose one game to GSW, and everyone is ready to declare we can't win.

Not only can we win, but we are the proven favorites. JR will have approx 25+ games to get into game form, if not more, by the finals. We are the same team that dominated GSW on Xmas, and GSW is the same team that lost. One bad road trip doesn't change that.
 
As long as we can get healthy (big IF, because we can get every nagging bullshit injury under the sun while Golden State literally has such perfect health it sickens me), we will be fine. We will run out our Bron at the 4 line-ups for like 30 minutes a night and it will continue to beat the shit out of everyone and everything. We will probably win one of the first two in oracle, then blow one of the first 2 in Cleveland, and the series will be turned into a best of 3 and we will have LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and we'll see how the Warriors handle US, when the time comes.

JR was a bigger loss than people realize. As crazy as it is to say, and while RJ also has a claim here, JR is our teams glue-guy! Because of his combination of size, athleticism, defense, shooting, and cojones with just a pinch of ball-handling and driving to the basket when the time is right....he's just a really big piece and a really good player and if he can get back and get his shot right by the finals, we will be in a good spot.
 
TitleTown said:
We have one bad road trip, lose one game to GSW, and everyone is ready to declare we can't win.

Not only can we win, but we are the proven favorites. JR will have approx 25+ games to get into game form, if not more, by the finals. We are the same team that dominated GSW on Xmas, and GSW is the same team that lost. One bad road trip doesn't change that.
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To be fair - we did not dominate GSW on Christmas. We were down 14 with just over 9 minutes to go...
 
TitleTown said:
We have the exact same team that we had last year (considering that Delly and Moz didn't play much at all in the finals). Plus we added Korver, who will be another shooter in the arsenal. And I think Griff has one more ace up his sleeve.

But, I respect your opinion a lot. I'm the eternal optimist. Everyone but LBJ and Irving could be injured, and I would still believe the Cavs could win it all.
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Age though is a big factor for guys like RJ who was critical, Korver, and maybe even LBJ (will have the stamina to go Super Sayon on both Green and Durant that a lot to ask of him). You give me RJ from last year and Korver from 2 years ago and we have a different picture
 
I dont get the optimism.. The cavs beat the warriors by 4 last finals.. They added durant.. And now we are asking lbj to both cover durant and green while being the primary playmaker, rim protector, and scorer.. I know how great lbj is but that is asking him too much.. We have no depth whatsoever.. We are marching to the playoffs with an 8 man rotation hoping nobody else gets injured.. Our bench consists of players on the wrong side of 30.. 2/3 of the big 3 are injury prone and defensive liabilities..

Can the cavs beat the warriors? I hope.. Lbj needs to go super saiyan 4 on them and hope kyrie plays better defense and efficient offense..
 
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