Game 2-Boston @ Cleveland, Mon. 5/3 8 PM TNT...Cle. up 1-0

• SQ_Crazies

  

  I Wear Pants wrote: Which makes him either a liar or he's just choking in this series.

  Choking? I agree that he didn't have his best stuff tonight, but look at the numbers and we're 2 games in--it's 1-1. You're overreacting.
• hoops23

  

  Footwedge wrote: For some unknown reason, Brownie put Mo on Rondo again in the first half. That didn't make sense to me. Secondly, you can't front KG...doesn't matter who's guarding him. thirdly...it's time to smell the roses on Shaq. The guy is washed up. He absolutely kills the offensive motion. Defensively, he adds very little.
  
  It's also easy to blame LeBron tonight. But let's face it....Mo had one of his worst games ever.
  
  Tonight's game simply reinforces how hard it is to win a championship. But before people jump into the Cuyahoga River, remember the Lakers got blown the hell out several tines last year in the playoffs.

  I agree with everything. Shaq isn't the answer for this series. JJ needs to play 25+ minutes.
  
  However, if we should make it that far, Shaq is key to Orlando, just because he can guard Dwight 1-on-1.. He should be match up with Dwight for the most part, but JJ should still get some solid minutes, because he's actually played Dwight pretty well as well, but couldn't keep it up for a full game.
• hoops23

  

  I Wear Pants wrote:

  LTrain23 wrote: Has anybody seen the post game presser with Mike Brown? WOW!
  
  He was PISSED.. Called out Mo, made no excuses for LeBron, and basically called out the entire team for their LACK of intensity...
  
  This was all BEFORE any questions were asked.. I'm actually impressed with him, though he needs to blame himself a bit too, because that 3rd quarter got ugly.

  Link? Please.

  I saw it during the Channel 3 news..
  
  I'm sure a link will be up soon on NBA.com or Cavs.com
• hoops23

  

  Link to his post game presser:
  
  http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/video/originals/
• I Wear Pants

  Yeah I found it. Thanks guys.
• KR1245

  

  Footwedge wrote: For some unknown reason, Brownie put Mo on Rondo again in the first half. That didn't make sense to me. Secondly, you can't front KG...doesn't matter who's guarding him. thirdly...it's time to smell the roses on Shaq. The guy is washed up. He absolutely kills the offensive motion. Defensively, he adds very little.
  
  It's also easy to blame LeBron tonight. But let's face it....Mo had one of his worst games ever.
  
  Tonight's game simply reinforces how hard it is to win a championship. But before people jump into the Cuyahoga River, remember the Lakers got blown the hell out several tines last year in the playoffs.

  Agreed. Shaq is a black hole on offense, the ball goes in and it doesnt come out. I dont understand why we continue to run plays for this guy.
  
  Backcourt needs to step up. 14 points between Mo, AP and Delonte will not cut it. I'm glad Mo had a solid game 1 but the only thing thats been consistent about Mo in the playoffs is his inconsistency.
  
  Jamison played a decent game but KG has gotten the best of him in the first two games. This isnt going to be easy at all. Cavs are capable of getting a split in Boston but if they play game 3 and 4 with the same energy that they did tonight this thing is done. No excuse for that effort, the game was too important to be sleepwalking through it like that.
• se-alum

  

  1) I hope Mike Brown took note of Doc's use of timeouts when the Cavs were making a run.
  
  2) I'm fine with Shaq starting the game, I'm not ok with Shaq taking critical shots in the 3rd quarter when he hasn't made anything all night.
  
  3) RUN. Boston can't keep up w/ the Cavs if they are running.
  
  4) What good is the Cavs depth if it's not utilized? Brown made zero moves during the Celtics big run in the 3rd, until the lead got to twenty.
  
  5) How do you show up in Game 2, on your homecourt, against a hated team and put forth that kind of effort. It was embarassing.
• lhslep134

  

  We played some of our best basketball last night for the 2 or 3 minutes when Mo attacked the rim. If Lebron can't be effective for extended periods of time, then I still think we can win without him by playing aggressively. We have guys who can attack the rim in Mo, Moon, Delonte, Jamison, and Hickson, there's no reason not to just go at the Celtics, draw a double and kick out, basically have everyone else do what Lebron does, but with a good rotation we'll be able to keep sending fresh bodies out there because of how deep our bench is. Our bench was used yesterday but not effectively at all. I'm not blaming Brownie, but at some point we've got to reconsider how we're going to play against the Celtics.
  
  IMO I thought Hickson was our most effective player out there last night relative to his playing time.
• pmoney25

  

  I Wear Pants wrote:

  SQ_Crazies wrote:

  I Wear Pants wrote: Either they aren't telling us something about his elbow or he's sort of a baby.
  
  If something is wrong with the elbow just say that. Don't say "we're a no excuse team" or "it's just a sprain" and then come out and play like your elbow was beat with a hammer before the game. Not saying "yeah, it hurts a lot and is limiting me" is stupid to me.

  Has he made an excuse?
  
  Get the media cock out of your butthole, sir.

  He hasn't. He's said that it doesn't have an effect.
  
  Which makes him either a liar or he's just choking in this series.

  Choking in the series, He had 35,7, and 7 in the first game! How is that choking? It's one game. Get over it. Without looking it up I am pretty sure no team has ever swept their way into winning a championship. Hell the Lakers got smoked by the Thunder in the last series and Kobe had a 12 point game. It happens. That's why they do a 7 game series in basketball, the better team usually wins.
  
  I am disappointed by the lack of intensity I saw but I am not going to slit my wrists now because they had a bad game.
• j_crazy

  

  I missed the 3rd quarter (it was j_baby's dinner time). I don't think I wanna see it. went from down 4 to down 20 by the time I started watching again. Gotta take 1 of these first 2 at Boston.
• RedRider1

  

  Celts got no favorable whistles from the refs in the 1st half....that's the only thing that kept the game close in the 1st half.
  
  Once that evened out...well...the C's did what they did.
  
  When 'Sheed is playing like it was 2002, you knew it had potential to be a long night.
  
  They responded well after their 1 loss to Chicago, we'll see how this one plays out.
  
  Amazing how 1 game can make this team look awful and full of holes. Cavs lose this series and it's bye-bye to Brown. May be unfair, but that's the business. Two straight years, best record in the East, and (potentially) zero ECF appearances....you just couldn't keep him...and I think some luster comes off Lebron if they lose. Maybe starts getting a rep as a guy that can't a team over the hump.
  
  I hope all that above is an overreaction.
• Pick6

  

  They lost 1 game, big shit. They play best of 7 for a reason. If the Cavs lose the series, then yes, i will be bitching.
• thedynasty1998

  

  Pick6 wrote: They lost 1 game, big shit. They play best of 7 for a reason. If the Cavs lose the series, then yes, i will be bitching.

  They are lucky to be 1-1 and not 0-2. There is somewhat of a reason to be worried.
• RedRider1

  

  ^^Kind of like last year against Orlando...very similar feeling.
  
  Cruised to 60+ wins, then they forget how to play.
  
  I hope it's only 1 game.
• Big Red Monster

  Boston has outplayed Cleveland in both games so far.
  
  Friday Night will be the series in my opinion.
  
  Whoever wins Game 3 will go on to win the series.
• thedynasty1998

  

  Big Red Monster wrote: Boston has outplayed Cleveland in both games so far.
  
  Friday Night will be the series in my opinion.
  
  Whoever wins Game 3 will go on to win the series.

  I agree with this. I still think Cleveland wins this series, because I want to believe they are the better team. But they certainly are not real impressive right now. Watching them in this year's playoffs would make you think this is their first year, or that they are a young team with no playoff experience. That's not the case though, which is troubling. There is no reason for them to come out flat. There is not reason for Lebron not to be aggressive. There is no reason to not have a sense of urgency. There is no need for Mike Brown to be experimenting with line ups and match ups.
• I Wear Pants

  I'm glad Mike Brown was so upset. He should be and all the Cavs players should be.
  
  They played like they didn't want to be there.
• KR1245

  

  The Cavs have only played one complete game this postseason and that was game 4 in Chicago. I dont understand what happened last night. I'm ok with losing but where was the effort? Thats the thing that really bothered me, they looked like they didnt care. Mike Brown and the coaches need to figure out a better way to defend Rondo, theres no excuse for letting him dominate a game the way that he has.
  
  Can we stop going to Shaq so much? At the end of the 3rd quarter he was leading the Cavs in fg attempts. Thats a joke. Shaq should be the 4th or even the 5th option on this team.
• vdubb96

  

  Last night was disturbing but I'm in agreement w/ BigRedMonster. Whoever puts the throttle down friday night will win this series. It's obvious Hickson needs to be in there way more than he is. He's the spark that gets that team running. Other than Rondo they can't run with the Cavs for a full four quarters.
• KnightRyder

  

  disturbing to say the least. why is it the cavs just fall in love the jump shot. the celtics front court in foul trouble and the cavs arent attacking the rim? and the foul shooting is atrocious. thye cavs simply got out worked. how does a team like the celtics that doesnt rebound well out rebound the cavs.
• krazie45

  

  Mo-West-LBJ-Jamison-Hickson. This is the lineup that the Celtics can't touch. We'll see if Mike Brown ever freaking figures that out.
  
  Parker and Shaq should not see the floor in this series.
• derek bomar

  

  Celts in 5. They take the games in Boston and Cleveland has no heart left to win game 5 back at the Q. I hope I am wrong.
• Al Capone

  Sounds like the fans are getting a bit worried. You should be. What did I say about Lebrons elbow a week ago. It's a built in excuse.
• KnightRyder

  

  what i found the most troubling was that this is the playoffs . thats the time to crank it up notch or 2 . but the cavs came out and gave zero effort.
• ICEMAN59

  

  Some thoughts:
  
  1) Shaq is still wide and tall, so why isn't he hitting the boards more successfully.
  
  2) Shaq can still get a good look the majority of the time, but how many bunnies has this guy missed since coming back . . . it's ridiculous.
  
  3) LeBron is the best player in the game, but, what he isn't is the world's best dribbler in traffic . . . he gets stuck, a lot. While he has great vision and is a wonderful distributor of the ball, he is not a true penetrating point guard . . . the Cavs don't have one of those.
  
  4) LeBron's elbow had nothing to do with him getting beat on defense repeatedly last game.
  
  5) Hickson needs to play more, period. Brown needs to get that message, sooner rather than later.
  
  6) The Cavs can still win this series, but I can't say I'm exactly confident of it. Hell, the Celts have Pierce, KG, Allen, Sheed and Rondo . . . . all healthy.
  
  7) This is going to be a battle.