Down But Not Out

When the Browns hired Rob Chudzinski from Carolina, I didn't know what to make of it. It was okay I guess. I didn't know much about him. The Browns got to the game late and all of the guys who would've been home runs, or even solid doubles or triples, were taken. With Chud, though, came Ray Horton as defensive coordinator and Norv Turner as offensive coordinator. Turn out these were the better hires.

I remember when I got off the Chud train. There was an interview, and in the interview Chud was asked about halftime adjustments. His teams performed much worse in the second half than in the first. He said that he didn't believe in adjustments. You stick to the plan with your guys and go.

I was done. Sorry, but the great coaches are all great because of halftime adjustments. Urban Meyer is a great example, probably the best college football adjustment-maker alive right now. Ohio State has a leadership program that I wear on my arm: "E + R = O." This stands for "event plus response equals outcome." With this way of thinking, it's not so much what happens to you that determines your success but your response to that event. I really love that philosophy. Oh, and guys like Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich also make adjustments. Good company to be in.

For all my non-Browns fan who read this, sorry about the little detour. My point is that adjustments need to be made. In the NBA playoffs, and in basketball in general, adjustments are made all the time. Halftime, end of quarters, middle of games, to stop the other team's momentum, and then from game to game. I don't know what kind of adjustments Blatt is going to make. He had a good game plan but it seemed to be halted towards the end of the game. This is a chance for him to prove his "offensive genius" actually exists.

There are a lot of thing to pull out of this game, Blatt's need to make adjustments are just one of them. Here are some other things to think about as the Cavaliers/Warriors series goes on:


How the Cavs will adjust, especially due to the loss of Kyrie Irving

 The biggest and most talked about adjustment will be how the Cavs handle replacing Kyrie Irving. Obviously Dellevedova will get the start and the majority of his minutes, but replacing an All-Star is about more than just minutes. His offensive production and underrated defense will need to be accounted for as well. Delly isn't as quick, and he had trouble staying with Curry in game 1. He also didn't get to play much because of Blatt's mishandling of Irving's minutes. I get it; he was available and you want to play your best players, especially in overtime. No way Irving should've played 43 minutes (he would've played more had he not gotten injured) and Delly only 9. Expect Delly to get more minutes.

If Delly can figure out how to guard Curry better, because Delly is a great defender but struggles against quicker guys, then that will really make a difference. He will give it his all, that's for sure. He can be more physical with Curry than Irving (and maybe inadvertently take him out maybe?) which may not only frustrate Curry but wear him down and affect his shot, maybe. Delly did well against Teague but not so well against Rose.

Offensive production and ball-handling will need to be addressed. Delly, LeBron, and Shumpert will all probably run point throughout the game. It's better if LeBron doesn't have to expend energy bringing the ball up, though. If he does, it will really affect their transition offense as LeBron is their best guy to get out and finish at the rim. Irving will be sorely missed, and the Cavaliers aren't better without him.

Role Players Need to Step Up

With Varejao, Love, and now Irving out, they'll need to get more production out of their other players. The media doesn't think this can happen. I think it can but it's going to be tough. I never bought into the whole 'the Cavs have finals experience and the Warriors don't have any.' No, LeBron, James Jones, and Mike Miller (who rarely plays now) has finals experience, not the Cavs. Irving, Thompson, and Love never made the playoffs. Mozgov is learning how to be a starter. Smith and Shumpert have playoff experience but not finals experience, and that playoff experience was with the Knicks. Delly is not only new to the playoffs, he's new to the league. The Cavaliers don't have much experience, just LeBron.

This was evident in watching game 1. Iman Shumpert had his talent stolen from the aliens in space jam. James Jones only got off 1 shot which he missed. JR Smith had 9 points but went 3-13 to do it. Those were the only guys off the bench for Cleveland along with Delly (Shumpert started). I don't know why. Their bench got outscored 34-9. Granted, Speights for Golden State had 8 points and played abnormally well. For Cleveland to win this series, they can't get outplayed by that much by Golden State's bench.

It's time for Marion and Miller to make their appearances. Perkins may get some time, too, if nothing else to push some people around. Jones, Miller, and Smith need to be able to hit some 3's. Jones will get some more playing time also.

The four guys I think this team will really depend on to step up are JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson, and Timofey Mozgov. Thompson will need to work the boards and grab some lobs. He did a good job of this in the first half but they collapsed the lane a bit in the second which prevented him from grabbing boards like he usually does. Mozgov will need to play big around the rim and continue to cut to the basket for easy dunks and layups. He also needs to make those and not go out of his comfort zone. That layup attempt in the fourth attempt trying to channel his inner Jordan needs to stop. Both will need to control the boards and the rim defensively.

This is a strategy the Cavaliers should employ, at least for stretches in the game. Golden State had a problem with Memphis because Memphis has a big frontcourt in Gasol and Randolph. They used that advantage to take a 2-1 series lead. Thompson isn't as polished offensively as either of those guys, but they can still get involved offensively, especially through rebounds. Thompson did such a good job against Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, and Joakim Noah in the Chicago series. These are three of the better frontcourt players in the NBA. He needs to play big against a smaller Warrior team.

They've seemed to figure Smith out. His last shot got blocked because everyone in the arena knew what he was going to do. Drive, pull back his dribble, step back with a little jump and throw it up. He needs to be a little more aggressive in driving to the basket for teams to respect his shot. Same thing with Shumpert, who is a more natural slasher. If Shumpert and Smith can take not only some of the scoring load but also the ball-handling and half-court-directing from LeBron, it'll free him up to cut as well. The Cavs looked too stagnant at times. They need to not only set pick and rolls, but move around when they don't have the ball. Mozgov should be the only guy timing his baseline rolls and slashes to the middle. Ideally, LeBron has the ball, Thompson sets the screen, Smith and Shumpert circle around the three-point line, Mozgov cut at the last second. LeBron will either take it in the paint or find the right guy who's open. Next play, same thing but for Shumpert, then Smith. The Cavs can play pick-n-roll basketball, just not so much iso-ball from James.

LeBron's Final Shot

A lot of criticism has been heaped on LeBron's final shot. Question to those who question: did you also question this shot? It was the same exact shot over the same exact player in a very similar moment. It's not so much that it was a bad shot, it just didn't have the same result. Because he could've gotten a better shot, and for the record he could have, but then took the one he did and missed the way he did, people say it was a bad shot. Not only that, because it's LeBron, there are people out there (a lot of Cavs fans even) who blame him for losing the game.

You've got to be kidding me. James has 44 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists and he lost the game? Just because Jordan missed a game-winning shot doesn't mean he lost them the game. Derrick Rose missing his last 11 shots in a close game is a reason someone loses a game. If it wasn't for James, the Cavaliers wouldn't have been in the game to even have a potential game-winning shot. I had that feeling in the last game against Boston. Yes, he made a couple mistakes at the end of the game, but he was the reason we were in the position that we were. If you win with LeBron, you also lose with him. He gives you the best chance to win at any time in any game, period. For four years, Cavs fans (including myself) didn't want to admit that but it was true. 

Again, I think he could've taken a better shot. I would set up a pick-n-roll play against a bigger guy like Bogut or Green and have LeBron take it to the basket. Mike Greenburg had a great point this morning: when you let LeBron iso and not drive, you take away his best attribute: his ability to make the perfect play. Whether that is him shooting it or a kick-out to an open player, it's what LeBron does better than anybody. Blatt needs to remind him of that.

Get Big

As stated before, the Cavaliers are down a guard in which they were lacking depth in already. Delly, Shumpert, Smith, and Joe Harris (good luck seeing him in this series) are your guards. Shumpert is more of a small forward, but they have a few of those in LeBron, Jones, Marion, and Miller. Since they don't have a ton of guards, I say the Cavs just play to their strength: strength. They have Thompson and Mozgov on the front line but LeBron, Jones, Perkins (not an offensive threat but a big bruiser), and Haywood to play big. That will create some mismatches but as long as Shumpert, LeBron, Delly, Smith, or Marion are out there, they can cover positions 1-3 on Golden State. Shumpert, Delly, and LeBron will spend a lot of time on Curry while Smith, LeBron, and Jones will take shots at Thompson (Klay). If Thompson (Tristan) can play Green well, that takes care of their three most dangerous players. With Cleveland's star PG out, let's play big and get some easy buckets in the paint. Wearing Golden State out physically, especially their shooters, will also be really helpful.

LeBron Needs More Assists Than Points

The Warriors game plan was laid out quite simply: LeBron doesn't get more than 10 assists and they win the game. If he does, that means other players are hitting shots, getting into rhythms, and picking up the load for him. If LeBron scores that many points on that many shots every game after this, the Cavs will lose every game. If he gets people involved and distributes, that unity will become infectious and players will start to play up to their potential. If the Cavs are to win this series, it's going to take everyone contributing at a high level, not just LeBron showing how much he can score.

Win the 3-Point Game

This is easier said than done against Golden State, but they held them to 37% for the game including 33% by the splash brothers. The problem is that they only shot 29% themselves. LeBron went 25% shooting 2-8 as did Kyrie. Smith was 3-10 and Jones went 0-1. Maybe we should let Shumpert shoot more, who went 2-4. Delly didn't take a shot. Miller can help with that as well if he plays.

Let's not let Steph Curry shoot it from the corner. He's shooting better from the corner 3 than most NBA players are from the free throw line. With Mozgov and Thompson at the rim, let's take a chance with him shooting a jumper in the lane than one of his corner 3's. The game really has changed.

Take Away the Positives

There were some positives to take away from this game amongst all the negatives. I don't think they outweigh the negatives, but they're things to build on. First of all, on the road, Cleveland had two chances to win the game. We came up just short, but having ourselves in that situation, especially considering how poorly we played in the 4th quarter, is a good thing.

Another thing has already been mentioned: the splash brothers were held to lower production than their averages. So was Draymond Green. I was worried about the match-up with Green and Thompson, but Tristan played him well.

I like to look at the bad things we my team did as an opportunity to improve. So while they were negatives during the game, they're positives going forward. For example, if you lose by 8 points but shoot 20% from the field. That's a great thing because if you can manage to shoot a decent percentage like 30%, that means if you shoot 90 shots like both teams did, you'll make about 9 more shots or 18 more points. Free throws were about even, but the Cavs shot 68% compared to Golden State's 91%. If the Cavs had made just a couple more free throws or if Golden State misses a couple, Cleveland probably gets out of there with a win.


There are a lot of things that need to bounce Cleveland's way, so I don't think they're necessarily out of it. The whole world will jump back on board if the Cavs win game 2 and show they can compete. If they don't win on Sunday, I think Golden State will take it in 5 or 6. Don't lose hope, Cavs fans! You always have a chance when you have the best player in the world.