Cavs @ Pistons 7:30 p.m.

• wildcats20

  

  I mean yeah it's the Pistons, but they do have some players who could still be All Stars(Prince, Rip and BG).
  
  The few minutes I did see, they did look good
• ytownfootball

  

  Charlie V always plays well against the Cavs too. Rip was on fire. Just glad to get the W.
• golf4life2008

  Great win for the Cavs. The best record in the league still at 53-15. 23 straight wins against teams with below .500 records. That is remarkable because those are the teams that play loose and always sneak wins against the elite teams!
• SQ_Crazies

  

  Also helps that you have a guy scoring 20 plus in the 2nd half as often as LeBron does. The team feeds off their leader, and he can turn it on whenever he wants because he effects the game in so many ways. He can always change the game somehow, so when his intensity goes up in the 2nd, the whole team's does.
• KnightXC1

  

  Pistons did play well for the most part. Just let Lebron get too much in the second half but that's a challenge for any team in the league nowadays. Pistons are better than their record shows, just decimated by injuries this year. Really need a solid post player and they can be a playoff team next year.
• devil1197

  A week away from one of the biggest eruptions in the Q ever.
• ytownfootball

  

  devil1197 wrote: A week away from one of the biggest eruptions in the Q ever.

  I'm really looking forward to it, probably more than I should. But I miss that guy.
• devil1197

  Once we get Z/Shaq/West all healthy and in the lineup consistently Cleveland will have no match up problems at all.
  
  Kudos to Ferry for putting this roster together.
• Cleveland Buck

  

  Jamison has missed like 8 layups over the past 2 games. He needs to go stronger to the rim. Otherwise, I'm just going through the motions like they are. They really need to step up the defense for a stifling 12 or so game stretch going into the playoffs just to try and kick the bad habits they have picked up.
• dave

  Cleveland Buck wrote: Jamison has missed like 8 layups over the past 2 games. He needs to go stronger to the rim. Otherwise, I'm just going through the motions like they are. They really need to step up the defense for a stifling 12 or so game stretch going into the playoffs just to try and kick the bad habits they have picked up.

  He's always been pretty soft so I wouldn't expect him to go to the rim stronger now that he's getting old. It was nice to see him playing well in the first half. I thought it was strange he didn't even touch the ball for like the last 5mins after he missed that open 3. If they aren't going to use him offensively I'm not sure why he was out there. I think Powe should get some more minutes so Antawn is rested for the playoffs.
• Lovejoy1984

  

  KnightXC1 wrote: Pistons did play well for the most part. Just let Lebron get too much in the second half but that's a challenge for any team in the league nowadays. Pistons are better than their record shows, just decimated by injuries this year. Really need a solid post player and they can be a playoff team next year.

  I'm surprised they blew there load in FA this past season instead of waiting till next year to see if they could land a couple better players then Ben Gordon and Charlie V. But in the east you're right they are a playoff team without the injuries, just not a serious contender.
• Footwedge

  I started a thread at the beginning of the month. I predicted a 15-1 record, which I thought would clinch home court over everyone including the Lakers. Well, since they are playing only 15 games, obviously I meant a 14-1 record. Only Milwaukee at home and the Spurs on the road could ruin my prediction.
  
  LA ends the month with consecutive road games against the Spurs. Okie City, Houston, New Orleans and Atlanta. I'm hoping for 3 losses here for the Lakers on that trip. With the Cavs running the march table, and the Lakers losing 3 of these road games, then the Cavs magic number would be just 1 with 7 to play.
  
  That's a wonderful position to be in...given the rest of the league will be beating each other up in jockying for seeding position.
• hoops23

  

  Cavs will torch Milwaukee at home. I think what Jennings was doing during their last game when LeBron sat out kind of pissed off the Cavs.
• hoops23

  

  By the way, I hope everybody saw Mike Brown lay into LeBron during the game.. He let him have it and LeBron responded.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  LTrain23 wrote: By the way, I hope everybody saw Mike Brown lay into LeBron during the game.. He let him have it and LeBron responded.

  You already know that no one saw that whether they saw it or not..
  
  The Cavs won't lose to the Bucks at home. The Bucks only shot is if LeBron isn't playing--when he is, the go from a good team to a decent team. Mainly because if you want to be a contender in this league now (and it will be this way for at least the next 5-6 years) you have to have a "LeBron stopper". Just like the Kobe stopper, they don't actually shut the guy down but they make him work a lot harder. The Bucks don't have anything close to that.
• 3reppom

  

  The biggest LeBron stopper is LeBron. No one can stop him from getting to the rim and he can get his own shot from deep at any moment. If you want to stop LeBron you want him playing between 10 and 15 feet. But he resides on another plane of existence in terms of athletic ability. So if you set up a scheme to give him that area of the court between 10 and 15 feet you are really giving him the rim. There really isn't a person on the planet who can make LeBron work really hard on every offensive position, the best way to do it is with team defense aimed at making LeBron take the lions share of his shots from that 10 to 15 foot range. The Magic are the best case study in that because they have Dwight Howard who is probably the only big man in the NBA who can challenge Lebron at the rim. Perhaps Josh Smith but that is the list. If a team doesn't have an ultra athletic big who is willing to challenge LeBron at the tin then their team should not even attempt to defend him because it just isn't going to happen.
• se-alum

  

  I'm surprised the Pistons record is as bad as it is, even w/ the injuries. They have alot of solid players.
  
  On another note, you have to love Gibson! He just comes in when he's asked and plays well. I feel bad for the guy that Brown obviously isn't his biggest fan.
• Sonofanump

  Footwedge wrote: I started a thread at the beginning of the month. I predicted a 15-1 record, which I thought would clinch home court over everyone including the Lakers. Well, since they are playing only 15 games, obviously I meant a 14-1 record. Only Milwaukee at home and the Spurs on the road could ruin my prediction.

  Being up 6 games with 3 to play will ruin your prediction. I see them resting the starters the last few games as they have historically.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  3reppom wrote: The biggest LeBron stopper is LeBron. No one can stop him from getting to the rim and he can get his own shot from deep at any moment. If you want to stop LeBron you want him playing between 10 and 15 feet. But he resides on another plane of existence in terms of athletic ability. So if you set up a scheme to give him that area of the court between 10 and 15 feet you are really giving him the rim. There really isn't a person on the planet who can make LeBron work really hard on every offensive position, the best way to do it is with team defense aimed at making LeBron take the lions share of his shots from that 10 to 15 foot range. The Magic are the best case study in that because they have Dwight Howard who is probably the only big man in the NBA who can challenge Lebron at the rim. Perhaps Josh Smith but that is the list. If a team doesn't have an ultra athletic big who is willing to challenge LeBron at the tin then their team should not even attempt to defend him because it just isn't going to happen.

  There are definitely guys in this league who can make LeBron work. You have to have someone who can cancel him out--so he can go for 30, you just have to make sure that he isn't able to do it any easier than your 30 point guy. There is no one in the league that can shut him down. But you still have to have that "LeBron stopper" to be a contender right now. If you don't, you have no chance against the Cavs. If LeBron isn't tested at all, it's nearly impossible for anyone to beat the Cavs.
  
  Look at what other contending teams have, they all have ways to be able to try and slow LeBron down and to at least cancel out his points. You aren't a contender if you don't. Look at the other playoff teams that aren't considered contenders--that's a big glaring weakness in all of them. Like the Bucks, they have NO answer for LeBron--there isn't one answer for him, you can do it in different ways (the Lakers try to take more of a one on one approach, the Magic use Dwight Howard's presence in the lane to allow their guys to play up and physical on him because they've always got help) but you have to have some sort of an answer to contend in the NBA right now. And like I said, it'll be like that as long as the team around LeBron is good enough to contend.
• Hb31187

  

  Lol we have no answer for him. Kmart is too slow, Afflalo is too small. Melo isnt a good on ball defender
• KnightXC1

  

  HighRoller74 wrote:
  I'm surprised they blew there load in FA this past season instead of waiting till next year to see if they could land a couple better players then Ben Gordon and Charlie V. But in the east you're right they are a playoff team without the injuries, just not a serious contender.

  I think a few people were surprised by that since there had been a lot of talk that Dumars really liked Bosh and wanted him to be a Piston. Granted Gordon and Charlie are still young but if they don't pan out for them next year, Joe will look really bad for not saving the money to make a run at some one big this offseason.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  Hb31187 wrote: Lol we have no answer for him. Kmart is too slow, Afflalo is too small. Melo isnt a good on ball defender

  Well, like I said, there are multiple ways. It's a bit different when you have a player like Melo. He can score with LeBron, so he at least cancels him out and it comes down to their teammates. That's why a game with a team like the Heat is never a sure thing--regardless of their record it's our supporting cast against theirs so they have to play well. Harder to win those games because LeBron isn't going to bail them out as easily. But players like D-Wade and Melo are few and far between, they're on a very short list of guys who are able to score with Bron.
• hoops23

  

  There is no way to slow LeBron down.
  
  Only time LeBron is slowed down is when he's bored of himself.
• ytownfootball

  

  And it doesn't happen often. When he's bored so to speak you see it in sloppy passing, I haven't noticed a drop in going to the hoop ever.
• Footwedge

  Sonofanump wrote:

  Footwedge wrote: I started a thread at the beginning of the month. I predicted a 15-1 record, which I thought would clinch home court over everyone including the Lakers. Well, since they are playing only 15 games, obviously I meant a 14-1 record. Only Milwaukee at home and the Spurs on the road could ruin my prediction.

  Being up 6 games with 3 to play will ruin your prediction. I see them resting the starters the last few games as they have historically.

  They won't be up 6 with 3 to play in March...they still have 7 or 8 games to play in April. I don't see then resting anyone until the best overall record is clinched.
  
  So, unless the Lakers go into a horrible funk, the Cavs will keep the petal to the metal untll the deal is sealed.