At Cleveland Tuesday April 21 8PM tv: TNT Pistons try to recover from Saturdays opening loss and take one in Cleveland.
As someone else pointed out the FG discrepancy in game one was only 37-36 in favor of the Cavs. The 18 point final differential was in the FT shooting (Cavs 23-12) and in the 3 pt shooting where they pick up 15 pts compared to our 6 The gaps in one of these categories needs to close and our best bet would be at the FT line if we could limit the amount time spent over dribbling and throwing up forced jumpers and just take our chances going to the hoop...you know..like LaBron does.. The odds of the Cavs winning the title have taken a blow now that Mike Brown was named coach of the year today. Only five coaches who have won coach of the year have gone on to win the title that season Red Auerbach in 1965 with the Celtics Red Holzman in 1970 with the Knicks Bill Sharman in 1972 with the Lakers Phil Jackson in 1996 with the Bulls Greg Popovich in 2003 with the Spurs Cleveland Cavaliers' Mike Brown honored as NBA coach of year - ESPN NBA Coaches of the Year - NBA - ESPN
You are right, but here is how it shook out exactly... 2-point FG's Detroit: 68 points Cleveland: 64 points Detroit = +4 3-point FG's Detroit: 6 points Clevland: 15 points Cleveland: +9 Free throw makes: Detroit: 10 points Clevland: 23 points Cleveland: + 13 So, the free throw disparity is the biggest problem. On the year, Cleveland averaged 25 FT's per game and we gave up 25 FT's per game on average. In game 1, Cleveland 2 FT's more than their average. 1 extra foul. Not too bad. The real problem is that we averaged 23 FTA's per game on the year (which isn't very good) and we only got 12 this game. Sheed, Dyess, Brown, and Maxiell played a combined 93 minutes and went 1-2 from the FT line (thanks to Kwame). Considering that Sheed only attempted 3 long-range shots, that is very disturbing. Our bigs need to mix it up more and play more physical on both sides of the ball.
well if you're looking for some signs of encouragement... John Hollinger's PER Diem: April 20, 2009 - ESPN
This means that in essence our four bigs appeared to have stood outside the paint on the offensive end never daring to confront Ben, Z or Sideshow Bod without any offensive weaponry and relied on the guards to do the dirty work inside. You are right this is disturbing...the question is has this been pointed out to them and will they do anything about it? Dice only shoots when he is passed the rock about 12-15 ft out and Sheed only wants to shoot if get receives the ball outside the arc.
Dyess and Sheed can really help out against a good defensive team like Cleveland if they keep shooting well. But when they get the ball in the post, everything is a fade away. And they don't slash at all or get out on the break at all (because they can't). Kwame and Max can't draw fouls if they don't get the ball. They both shot 100% at 2-2 each. As unpalatable as it seems, we have to trust the young guys more. At least they have the energy to get in the paint. Go zone and run on missed jump shots to get easy buckets and avoid letting Cleveland set up their half court defense. We have proven that we are one of the worst offenses in the league this year. How can the worst offense score on the best defense without making any changes?
Maybe Prince and the Pistons should consider the importance of that consecutive game streak versus getting the proper rest to heal injuries. Is it worth it? Every year it seems like there is always something with him going into the playoffs.
I read the back thing too. I think what it breaks down too is Prince is tired. We need to make him a spot-up shooter. Not only will it help our offense, but he can take breaks in the corner!
Man, too bad we don't have Iverson. That guy goes to the hoop and draws fouls like crazy. Maybe he could close that gap.
Cavs expect different defense from Pistons | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press Here is the gameplan. Hopefully Mike Brown does not have an internet connection.
I like how they mention that MC's broadcasting of his gameplan is so bizarre that it must be an attempt to throw Mike Brown off. Like MC has mastered coaching to the point where he can now play mind games with his adversaries.
