I’m surprised how many notes I jotted down considering how many notes I was too lazy to jot down. Here goes:
First half!
- Why do we move so well off the ball against Miami? Are they just that slow defensively? (Later I realized it was only about half the first quarter and a piece of the 4th. The rest of the time we were our normal low intensity selves.)
- Z was especially light on his feet early. Those days off definitely help him.
- Shaq was discouraged early against Z. His “injury” didn’t surprise me.
- I forgot Pavlovic was out there until he bricked a jumper 7 minutes in. I guess that means he wasn’t bad, so he’s got that going for him. Which is nice.
- Boobie still can’t finish at the rim, but kudos for putting it on the floor and going past Chris Quinn.
- Wade wasn’t in the paint until Andy came in. Just an observation.
- Lebron always seems to put up a lousy, difficult shot to finish quarters. (This note came at the end of the first…)
- And early Q2 brought us Lebron on the block for the first of a handful touches. I wonder if there is something about the Heat’s subs that prompted it. This time it was against 6′7″ Ricky Davis. So… he’d probably do it again with smaller defenders on him, right? To be continued.
- Andy isn’t exactly good offensively. We all got excited when he hit a few jumpers and he’s not a walking turnover with the ball in his hands, but Gooden is still a better offensive player. Andy isn’t a good decision maker and doesn’t really have any viable moves. Let’s just let him develop the pick and pop and and pick and roll double threats and be happy with what we’ve got.
- And to my point, once we sub Z back in, the Heat stay small with Ricky Davis manning Andy on the block. They think less of his offense than me, and don’t pay for it.
- Lebron, why do you like the all-star game? “Because I get to play with players better than me.” Wait, what?! Who’s better than you?! “Kobe. There’s no doubt about it. Kobe’s better than I am.”
- Let’s see how Lebron finishes off the 2nd quarter… offensive foul.
That’s not going in…
Second half!
- Pavs is coming to life with a few drives. We’ve seen brief flashes from him over the past few weeks. If he can finally build that into something consistent, we’re that much better. We have the slashers, we have the bigs, we just need someone athletic to play off Lebron.
- This bonus coverage kills me. Can TNT just hit pause on their Cavs coverage and fast forward at the next commercial like I do, so as to not miss any action?
- No matter who wins, Pistons or Magic, the Cavs gain in the standings.
- Rashard Lewis gets a better shot for the win than Lebron could manage to finish the first or second quarter. Rashard Lewis, against the Pistons. Lebron James, against the Heat. I’m just pointing it out because it’s a little frustrating.
- How impressive was the sequence where Sasha has his jumper blocked by a gimpy Wade, grabs it back, kicks it to Hughes, Hughes air balls a 3, leading a Wade run out the other direction? Yikes.
- I noticed that when Lebron is on a man moving with the ball, he never keeps his arms extended out, just as he rarely contests with his arms up. Is he protecting against cheap fouls when he doesn’t anticipate getting a block? Seems like it’s bad technique as it opens passing lanes and allows cleaner shots. What other reason could justify it?
- Not that we’ll see them in the playoffs, but I feel like a shotblocker would be a lot more effective than a bodyblocker like Andy against Wade. Those floaters seem awfully blockable, while Wade never seems to cause any collisions unintentionally. Then again, maybe those floaters are like a shortstop who just smooth and efficient enough to beat the runner by half a step every time.
- Another terrible, off balance shot to finish the 3rd for Lebron. He literally fell down and had to gather himself by putting a hand on the floor to get the shot up. Needless to say, it didn’t go in.
- The 2nd unit, in the early 4th, had a couple possessions where the ball just moved back and forth amongst DJ, Boobie and Devin on the perimeter. None of them would move more than 10 feet laterally, and only once in 3 or 4 possessions did any of them step inside the 3 point line. But then when it turned into a tip drill for Andy and Z, it all made sense.
- Sometimes coming around picks, Lebron takes a very wide route, making it easy for the defender to follow him over. Then he breaks into the lane with a half step. Does he do it on purpose, to bait that follow?
- At this point, I have utter and complete faith in every open look DJ and Boobie get late. Lack of shooters is absolutely not an excuse this year.
- I wish I had one of those computer/tv set ups so I could post a video of Mike Brown cracking jokes to a ref with 4:15 left in a close road game. Chalk up a few more points for Coach Mike: he can work the refs.
- This superstar on superstar stuff is great. I feel like Lebron can hang with Wade. But on the other end, why is Lebron taking Wade outside the 3 point line? Why did he post up Ricky Davis but then go soft on Wade? Wade, especially this tired and gimpy, couldn’t body Lebron any better than I could! (By the way, the possession that prompted that led to a turnover.)
- You know what’s awesome? Andy and Z running the break on their own.
- You know what else is awesome? Our offensive rebounding coming back to life. I felt like this was the first tip drill game in a while and it came against respectable bigs.
- You know what’s not quite awesome, but still pretty good? Lebron at the line in the 4th. I’m sorry, I still get nervous.
- You know what’s best of all? A win.
Go Cavs!
