Game 5 Prediction / Offical Game Thread

I was a little surprised about Mozgov getting so few minutes ... yes going small allowed the Cavs to match the small ball lineup better. But there's no way in the world over the course of 48 minutes the Cavs going small is going to put them in a position where they win the game going that way. They just don't have the pieces going small to be able to score enough and defensively, the lack of bigs in the middle makes it so much easier for Golden State to get to the basket.

I applaud Blatt for trying something different knowing that the 2 bigs on the court at the same time was going to be a problem going forward. But the biggest advantage that they have for the series is their presence in the paint and they went way too far away from that advantage in Game 5.

The bottom line is that Cleveland can't get much past the 90 point level. Outside of LBJ and Thompson/Mozgov getting rebounds, putbacks, and dunks, or JR Smith getting hot for a few minutes, they don't have a single player on their roster capable of scoring points for them. Regardless of the pace of the game, the Cavs are what they are. Playing faster isn't going to get them more points. What it will do is allow Golden State to get more points.

Cleveland needs to forget about the offensive end of the court. There's not a single thing that they are going to be able to do to get more efficient, etc. there. What they need to focus on is getting better defensively and finding a way to keep the Warriors in the 90 point range themselves. I'm not sure if that is possible with the Warriors going small because of their ball movement that has been unlocked by always having 5 reasonable ball handlers and more importantly passers on the court.

Personally, I don't think that there's a single thing that Cleveland can do to win the series at this point. They've played as well as they can play. The Warriors need to choke it up for them to win the next 2 games.

RoadDawg55 said:

Tequilla said:

I find it funny to say that DJ was a cancer ... I wasn't old enough to know everything at that point but the stories I had heard was that Lenny had a huge ass ego and that as much as anything broke up the team. Not only did DJ get traded, but Gus Williams sat out a year in a contract dispute.

And yes, Magic happened. But the 1980 Western Finals that the Lakers won in 5 games were all close games that could have gone in any direction. One theme in the series was that the Lakers routinely had huge 3rd quarters propelling them to victory. Makes me think that Lenny wasn't good at making halftime adjustments ... particularly not compared to the great Paul Westhead.

But back to DJ, maybe it was having to go to Phoenix and realize what losing was like to be a better teammate, but when Larry Bird says that you are the best player/teammate he ever played with, that's good enough for me.

Tequilla: Coaching Adjustments : Jerry Sandusky : Little Boys

Agree. There's strategy involved in the game, but it's not fucking chess against Deep Blue. The motherfuckers still have to go and hit the shots.

Only analysis needed is: Golden State is the better, deeper team; but Lebron is going full-Lebron right now.

RaceBannon said:

It's funny how all the great championship NBA coaches have all time great players.

Then you have the tier of guys who stayed employed a long time, won around 50 games a year, made the playoffs but never won it all. George Karl, Don Nelson types. Is Karl a better coach than Spoelstra? I would think he is.

Spoelstra is the one that got Lebron to play in the post. That single coaching move is better than everything George Karl ever did.