Cavs, was "C's-Griz"

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Cecil Wright wrote:

> Had an opportunity to see the game yesterday and though I am unhappy that we
> lost, I liked something that I saw.
>
> With the score 86-74 for the Griz with 6:40 remaining, we went into the
> headless chicken defense as some call it.  It led to:
>
> 2 free throws,  Overton: 86-76
> Bad pass turnover = layup Pierce: 86-78
> Loose ball foul, Othella = 2 free throws, Williams: 86-80
> Steal, Williams = Dunk, Battie, nice assist Toine: 86-82
> Steal, Pierce = layup, Pierce: 86-84 with 4:27 remaining

It seems like the Celtics have made a lot of nice runs this year like this one,
and it is something any fan can appreciate. The sequence above probably came
about as a result of the (fullcourt) press, which obviously you can only employ
after a made basket or free throw. I have nothing against the fullcourt press.
But on a missed shot, you either run the heck back on defense or you get burned
by a fastbreak layup. If you try making a defensive stop 80 feet from your
basket following a missed shot or turnover, you're just gonna get your teammates
killed on the fastbreak and look even more like a headless chicken. This isn't
part of the Pitino system at all. In fact, I don't think any full-court pressing
team in history has ever employed the press except after a made basket.
Therefore you only get to benefit from it on half of your possessions at most,
unless you start hitting shots from everywhere.

BTW, the Cavs are looking really good right now. With their 9-4 record and 6-0
record at home, they are the deepest team in the East, sharpshooting their way
to a scary .478FG% while holding opponents to a just as impressive .409.
Amazingly, they have 9 guys averaging around 8ppg or better, 7 different guys
(Murray, Gatling, Coles, Miller, Ilgauskus, Weatherspoon, Langdon) who have led
the team in scoring so far in 13 games and five different guys have led the team
in rebounding. Even after their 9 leading scorers averaging over 7.8 ppg are
accounted for, you still have to worry about "scrubs" like of Wes Person
(7.4ppg), Chris Mihm and Cedric Henderson. Yikes!

Those numbers suggest an unselfish team that doesn't care who scores on a given
night.

But now if you also want to point out "weaknesses", they are also there
thankfully. We exploited these weaknesses in the last game. The Cavs shoot a
pathetic .711 from the line and have been outscored by 5.5ppg from the line.
Unlike past seasons, the Cavs aren't this year a bombs-away three-point shooting
team (opponents have attempted 168 treys to just 104 for the Cavs).  They also
turn the ball over a lot at 18.3 and don't cause many turnovers 15.8.

Second-year point guard Andre Miller is averaging 4.4 turnovers to 7.8 assists,
which is not at all a typical ratio for a starting pointguard (of course that is
our weakest position right now too, and Miller is a good player who is leading
his team in minutes and scoring).

The last time Boston played Cleveland, we forced 25 turnovers and scored 34
points off of them.  We came up just short of another comeback, overcoming 2-11
shooting by Pierce and 3-10 shooting by Kenny. So the Celtics don't need to feel
too intimidated playing the Cavs on the road. They have nothing to lose for one
thing.

Go Celts!

Joe

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