POST GAME CLEVELAND - HOME

Is the difference between being an elite defensive team and a shitty defensive team really just the availability of Marcus Smart and Shane Larkin?  I doubt it.  Would Smart make us a better defensive team?  Sure, but Smart isn't responsible for Brown not losing his man on the baseline or leaving him wide open at the 3.  He can't cover JR Smith and Clarkson and Hood.  The rest of our back court has to do their jobs too.

LeBron sat for, I think, 7 minutes after banging knees with Baynes.  We only picked up 2 points on the Cavs during that time.  Pathetic.

I am really now starting to wonder a bit about Brad.  For a guy who is famous for his in-game coaching he is not doing a very good job of preparing for the games in the first place.  Cleveland's front court, without Kevin Love, is weaker than shit.  Does Brad put Moose in to pound them them inside and force their defense to collapse to help out?  12 minutes for Monroe.  13 minutes for Baynes.  11 minutes for Theis.  Only Horford got significant minutes, 25.  So, when Cleveland went small, because they had to and because they have one of the best small ball players to ever play the game and just got restocked with smallball players at the trade deadline, Brad played their game with them.  I understand, somewhat.  Brad wants us to be like GSW and Houston.  Why not?  They're the best.  Why would you want to emulate anybody but the best?  The problem is that they are both VERY good outside shooting teams and VERY good motion offense teams.  GSW is also the #1 fast break team in the league and Houston is in the middle of the pack.  Brad talks a lot about being "the best version of ourselves".  Well, this version of us are not good shooters from outside.  We are 10th in fg% from 3, better than I thought, but 6th in 3pt fgas.  That means we take a lot of 3s even though we're so-so at them.  Even so, that might be acceptable except we have NO movement without the ball.  We stand around and watch the ball when what we should be doing is watching the eyes of our defenders and moving when they take them off of us.  We are one of the youngest teams in the league and we are, and have been all year, playing like we're one of the oldest.   We are 25th in fast break points/game.

Jaylen had the worst game I've seen from him in a very long time, maybe ever.  He was completely off on both ends of the court.  His man was back cutting him.  He was collapsing so far off the arc he couldn't recover to challenge the 3 nor run them off the arc.  Offensively he was 0-5 from 3.

Tatum was lost out there.  I don't really buy the "damaged pinkie" story.  If it was that bad the training staff would tell Brad.  Even if Brad said "tough shit, the kid's gotta play" he's still shooting 47.8% on the season.  His 3s have suffered but the difference between 3s and his preferred mid-range jumper is what?  Not a pinkie, because the pinkie is used in an 18 or 19'er just as it is in a 21'er.  Legs, the difference is legs.  He was 6-14 vs Portland and 3-5 from 3.  No pinkie problems there.  He was 2-9 vs Toronto and was 0-1 from 3.  Only 1 3pt fgas in that game, meaning he was 1-8 from 2.  3-9 vs Washington, 0-3 from 3.  6-11 vs Indiana and 0-0 from 3.  No 3pt fgas and he scored 15.  Yesterday he was 4-11 and was 1-2 from 3.  He's inconsistent.  He's a rookie who has played more games without a spring or summer break in his life.  He isn't flying around the court anymore.  If his finger is the problem, he needs to take some games off to heal and if Brad won't let him do that that's on Brad.  If he's feeling fatigued from the longer season than he's ever played, then he needs to take a game of two off to let his accumulated muscle fatigue and assorted dings to rejuvenate.  Either way, his play needs to come up or he needs to play less minutes, come off the bench or take the game off.  He's not helping us much now and we are going to need him fresh and healthy, absolutely.

Semi played 25 minutes.  Ok, so let's say Brad thinks Semi is the only one with the body to handle LeBron.  He was 1-5, 0-4 from 3 BUT I only saw one really good, sharp cut without the ball to the rim in this game by us and that cut was by Semi.  He got fouled and sank his 2.  My point here is that I remember only one player making a sharp cut without the ball all game and it paid off.  Everybody else stood at the arc and waited for a pass.  Give the ball to someone, let him go one-on-one to try and touch the paint and then kick the ball out to the arc (even if you get in the paint and the defense hasn't collapsed on you) so they can shoot.  Brad-ball.  

Rozier was the sole star in our almost starless night.  He was our high scorer with 21 points, had 9 rebounds, 4 offensive and 5 assists and only 1 TO.  Kyrie started off hot and then went cold, like everybody else except Morris and Rozier.  1-7 from 3 for Kyrie.  Like most shooters he has no inner voice other than the one that repeats like a mantra "oooh, that's a good shot, take it".  He has to take more than 14 fgas, especially if he's hitting half of them like yesterday.  You're our scorer.  I understand you having off nights but you can't take the night off, especially not if you're hitting almost everything inside the arc.  

Speaking of, Morris might be a black hole but at least he's a black hole that scores.  He was 6-12 and 3-6 from 3.  

They shot 53.6%.  What's worse they shot 53.3% from 3.  We didn't stop them anywhere.  Wide open 3s, which they knocked down because Hood and Clarkson can shoot lights out.

We shot 26% from 3.  We also took 38 3pt fgas, out of a total of 89 fgas.  That's almost 43%.  I am SO frustrated with Brad right now.  We're cold as ice from 3 and he's not running plays inside?  He's not putting one of the best inside players in the league, Greg Monroe, in to wreak some havoc?  No, he's still in love with the 3.  You get the extra point ONLY if you hit it, Brad.  We have been beaten the last few games because our 3pt shooting has been poor AND because we still took a large % of our fgas from 3, while our opponents took fewer 3pt fgas and scored more points from 2.  A 17' shot that you hit is better than a 3pt shot you miss.

We got 13 offensive rebounds vs only 5 for them.  Despite that, we still only shot 40%.  

We are terrified of shooting in the paint.  I do not know why.  We get in the paint and look to kick, not shoot.  They got in the paint and looked to shoot.  If they missed the man who was left to pick up the driver went to the boards.  Fundamental basketball.  We've seen the same thing the last few games.  Toronto, Washington, Indy they all got in the paint and looked to shoot.  

I was thinking, one of the great things about yesterday is that our young'uns, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, got to see a Celtic great get honored.  They got to see what it looks and feels like to have the Celtic Faithful shower love down on you as you raise your number to the rafters with the Legends Forever.  After that game, they didn't deserve to watch it.  None of them did.  A disgraceful performance and one that was, unfortunately, not a rarity anymore.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975581


bob


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