Play mean you heartless bastards!

(This might be the longest post ever. If you like paragraphs, read these first frustrated paragraphs. If you like bullets, scroll down for my notes. And if you read all the way through, you’re the man.)

Are there any Cavs fan left after that game? Are the Cavs the worst team headed to the playoffs? Is Joe Smith the only Cav with a basketball IQ higher than Slingblade?

Two yeses and a no. You match em up. Lebron reckons he’ll have him some of the bigguns.

So tonight’s embarrassment in Chicago started spectacularly. By the end of the first quarter, every Cavs fan was on the edge of their seat and inching closer to euphoria. It’s those highest of highs, knowing you are becoming a part of history, that make the lows so low.

At one point I jotted down, “24 in the first. Are you watching Wilt?” Wow, what an ass I am. See, the thing is, Lebron could’ve have kept that up. I mean, he wasn’t going 40-40 for 96 points, but he, and in turn the whole offense, was playing spectacularly well. His unusually good shooting percentage was offset by the rest of the team’s bricklaying. 48 minutes of that probably means Lebron going something like 18-26 for 50 points and watching all of the 4th from his courtside bed, rather than just the first 6 minutes.

Instead, the Cavs seemed content with their 12 minutes of work and phoned it in the rest of the night.

Here’s the thing. The first quarter wasn’t beautiful because Lebron was on, it was beautiful to watch Lebron get the ball anywhere he wanted with a soft defense that could never be quick enough to recover around him. He used screens, he got the ball deep in the post, he ran curls, and with the whole team looking to push, he wasn’t the only one getting to the rim.

Then it stopped. Lebron went to the bench after one miss and nobody stepped in to fill the void. Without Delonte or Lebron, nobody looked up court. Without Z or Joe Smith, there were no options in the half court. Without a hot hand, there were no points. We’ve seen that before. We know to expect it. It’s why Lebron will play 48 minutes most nights in the playoffs.

But tonight, even once he came back, nothing was the same. Maybe his back tightened up – 6 rebounds and very few layups don’t seem too explosive. Maybe Mike Brown saw a couple turnovers in transition and tried to reign the team back in. But whatever combination caused it, the offense completely ceased to do the things that lead to easy baskets.

The game slipper further and further away. As the momentum shifted, the Cavs’ defense softened, making it ever tougher to regain. By the time we finally realized that we’re allowed to exploit advantages – namely Joe Smith checked by Tyrus Thomas – it was too late. Lebron rode back in with 6:30 left for his usual hero role and killed the bit of offense we had mustered.

On the other end, the Bulls shots were a tidal wave pushing them closer and closer to the hoop. Initially, it was just some jumpers from Gordon. Then it turned into a few mid-rangers from Thomas and putbacks by Noah. Soon it was dunks all around. Until Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah absolutely embarrassed our bigs. Noah makes Anderson Varejao look like a D-leaguer. Both Thomas and Noah were quick and energetic enough to beat the box outs of the slow and ground bound Wallace and Z. Not a single Bull hit the ground hard and not a single Cav looked to infuse some emotion as the game slipped away.

I’ve been using the word “embarrassed” a lot lately. Tonight that’s probably not even strong enough. I hope the Cavs are ashamed. Without even being too physical, the Bulls questioned our collective manhood and we were too frail and uninspired to even answer.

But hey, at least Larry Hughes sucked.

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I typed up a storm of notes during the game. Here are a few, in chronological order:

• Early on, it looks like the refs are “letting them play”. Not to say it’s a wrestling match, but too often the refs blow the whistle because a play looks like the type that would be a foul. Not tonight. If the refs can’t see or hear it, they’re not calling it. (When Wallace reject Noah, body to body, forearm to forearm.)
• Cavs looking to run – especially Lebron
• And now Lebron on the block
• Another possession another move – Lebron curls for the leaner. He’s putting himself in a position for baskets. Rare.
• Hubie: “Devin Brown gives you another guy on the break who can finish.” I love that he’s on the break, but it’s mostly wrong to think he can finish.
• Up 17-8, Chicago hasn’t hit a jumper yet. Keep them shooting!
• CLEARLY the focus in practice was on pushing. 2 quick outlets on rebounds by Wallace and Z within the first 7 minutes. We haven’t seen 2 like that in the course of a game.
• Even when Delonte gets the ball in space in the backcourt, he gets it a bit upcourt to Lebron. And it leads to Sefalosha on Lebron instead of Deng and another easy shot for Lebron.
• After his first 3 baskets I was going to say something along the lines of “Tyrus Thomas has no offensive game – we keep giving him dunks instead of letting him try and fail to operate” but then he schooled Andy for a dunk from the top of the key. I have to give Ty credit. He’s making you pay attention to him defensively. That’s more than you can say about Wallace, or Andy most times. (Yikes! Lots of typos when I typed that one. Hooray for editing.)
• WHY DOES BOOBIE FLOP ON EVERY 3 attempt? Jesus!
• Lebron is getting the rim at will because he knows the Bulls defense. He knows when to stop and start and know sees when lanes are opening up. Film study only does so much – playing the Bulls every couple days the past few weeks has been like jacking Lebron into the Matrix and teaching him all their sets. This is why he dominates in the playoffs.
• After 19 in the first 11 minutes, I want Lebron to play all 48 and go for 80, just to see if he can. It’s not that he’s hot. He’s hit a few contested jumpers, but mostly he’s just getting what he wants.
• 24 in the first. Are you watching Wilt?
• Gibson should be able to stay in front of Gordon, but he gets off balance way too close to Gordon, leading to a couple quick fouls. Gordon seems especially focused on beating Gibson, starting with that slap on the butt. (More right than I knew. Worse, this is when Gordon found his rhythm.)
• Lebron was fouled on the floor going towards the hoop, and rather than throw one up (and potentially miss) he swallowed it. No superstition there. But then he misses a 3 on the next possession. It’s fitting that his first miss is a 3. And I don’t think MB was going to pull him until he missed. If things went according to plan, I think he would’ve pulled Lebron much earlier to give him a shorter rest.
• And the Bulls take the lead 5 minutes into the 2nd. The Cavs haven’t hit anything from the field since Lebron left.
• As I typed that, Andy made an incredibly pass to Joe Smith for the and-1 as he dove through the paint. Can he get some props from the booth? That was an amazing pass.
• There ya go – Hubie delivers moments later. He was just being polite, waiting for Dave Pasch to finish rambling.
• Andy delivered a great pass over the top to get Smith another layup. Wow.
• Ok, MB was right to pull Lebron. He’s going to need to play 48 minutes every night after next week, so let him rest now.
• Lebron comes back in and the Bulls do a lot more to deny him in the post by flasing a double when the ball rotates to his side. Great job by Lebron to start the game, now he needs to adjust to beat the Bulls adjustments. (Did I jinx it saying that??)
• Next time down he can only get it atop the key, run into the teeth of the defense in a straight line (meaning he can’t use his RB-style cut through the hole) and kick it out for the brick. (Remind me to explain how Lebron is effective going to hoop when he runs like a running back picking a hole sometime.)
• Devin Brown has no lateral movement. If he’s defending the post, we need to cheat to his side to make the space around him smaller.
• Lebron is in the post – which is good – but that’s all. With nobody else hitting, he needs to focus on moving. It’s awfully tough to double a moving target. The drive and kick and post moves are just leading to open shots for people that can’t hit open shots. (If it’s this obvious to me…)
• Ah yes, we’re pushing the ball. I’d forgotten. It took until the 45 second mark in the 2nd for anything close to a break since the 1st quarter. I guess the 2nd unit doesn’t run.
• To be down 6 after a 3-18 second quarter on the road, I don’t feel so bad. The shots need to start falling, but the game is very winnable.
• Windy: “After LeBron missed a jumper in the second quarter to go 10-of-12 in the game, a guy in the first row got on him about taking a bad shot. LeBron said: “Have you been watching what is going on?”” (I always recommend Windhorst’s recaps, but especially tonight. He thought the whole game was laughable and it comes roaring through in his writing.
• Want to guess the player with the most assignments on offense? Ben Wallace. Now there’s no decision making – heavens no – but he runs station to station setting picks as though there is a pre-determined order. Kinda makes you think we’re running a play. (In hindsight, I must have been wrong.)
• Tyrus Thomas shoots the Bulls T’s? With the starters on the floor? Wow, I definitely would not have guess that. Then again, with Z as one of our best, I guess I’m not in a position to be surprised.
• I like the concern from the announcers about his bad back when he lands on his back. Have these guys ever had a bad back? You can beat the shit out of that thing; it won’t matter. Taking a big, slow step would damage the bad back more than a big spill. That spill Lebron took just hurt his tailbone. He’ll shake it off.
• It looks like we’re trying to rush it up court early in the 3rd (so it’s definitely an initiative from the coach), but the Bulls are getting a lot of baskets. It’s tough to run on makes.
• Remember 12-15 years ago when somebody like Latrell Sprewell would make a crazy circus shot and it would be all over Sportscenter? How far we’ve come that somebody like Devin Brown can make a shot like that and it barely warrants mention.
• There was a set at about 7:45 in the 3rd where 4 Bulls were defending on the nearside, with the ball moving between Delonte up top to Devin in the corner. Lebron was alone with Deng on the far wing. All we need in that situation is somebody who can throw their body into traffic and get it over the top to Lebron. The defense would be so horribly out of position, there is no dunk that’s a thunderous dunk. But alas, Sasha is the intermission entertainment. On this play in particular the ball swung through Wallace over to Lebron and the defense had plenty of time to rotate. Lebron missed a three badly and we were back the other way. Just one play, but a microcosm of what to consider when building an offense.
• Our offense has ground to a halt midway through the 3rd. In come Andy and Boobie. Let’s see what type of sets we try to run.
• Play 1: post for Z – Noah can’t handle him.
• Won’t matter if we can’t stop Noah…
• Play 2: Boobie brings it up out of a dead ball with Delonte on the floor, gives it to Lebron to do figure 8s out past the 3 point line and dribble out the clock before a drive and brick
• We have no interior defense to speak of. Aren’t our bigs supposed to be our strength?
• Play 3 is a Lebron dribble fest/turnover. We’re just not running an offense.
• Play 4 is also a dribble fest/turnover.
• Meanwhile, the Bulls are dunking it every time down. I might just turn it off if we close out the quarter like this.
• Play 5: dribble fest step back brick. Is Lebron in take over mode or has he just given up on passing? At what point does he realize this isn’t working either and try something new? What happened to the first quarters curls, screens and posts?
• Joe Smith is the only play deserved of being on the floor, between stopping Noah (why he was brought in) and killing the offensive boards. As if on cue, MB takes out Lebron.
• End of 3rd: Boy, we suck. I no longer think of the game as winnable. I’d bet we make it look closer than it is by the end, but it’s definitely too little too late when they have this many players playing well.
• I really liked Varejao’s passes. I really didn’t like Andy trying his game on the block.
• If Joe Smith wasn’t such a “good guy” I bet he’d hate playing on this team. He’s the only guy you can count on to play productive basketball. Including Lebron.
• This game would’ve made a great live blog. Joe Smith is making my dreams (and predictions) come true.(Ha!)
• Twice in the last minute Dave Pasch has said “That’s a big basket by…” as the Cavs cut it to 11. Will the same by true with 2 minutes left?(It was, but he changes his wording a bit. I decided against bothering to type it out.)
• It really is the death knell of his Cavs career that DJ couldn’t get in when NOBODY could hit a shot. He’s not even an option at this point. Down 3 with 5 seconds left, he doesn’t end up on the floor.
• With Lebron coming back in with 6:30 left, does Smith get to continue to dominate? Will James “make his teammates better” and help exploit an advantage? I doubt it.(I wish I could bet on things like this. I’d be homeless, from losing so much on other things, but this I knew.)
• Lebron is standing around. And Hubie is commenting on our going away from Smith. Maybe I should be a retired coach, too.
• OMG! Lebron got Smith a basket.
• 10-10 to start, 1-6 since. Defense? No, all Lebron’s fault. More Hubie: “We know that if they run the staggered screens or if they run up/diagonal type of screens, you cannot double him coming off at that angle.”(Who is we? Apparently not anybody on the Cavs payroll.)

At least the Wizards lost. With the Heat coming up for us and the Wizards playing again tomorrow and traveling to Orlando next week, we’re still in good shape for home court. Lot of good it’ll do us.

Go Cavs!