Ouch, That Hurt!

That was a rough game to watch. The Cavs fell to the Los Angeles Lakers tonight by a score of 105-88. The Cavs really missed Z's size downlow as Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Trevor Ariza combined to score 54 of the 108 points. Bynum and Gasol seemed unchallenged downlow, and they seemed to score at ease. Its not that they played more physical that the Cavs, its that their used their length to their advantage and they were able to get shots over us really easily. This is also relates to my point that the Cavs need another bigman/swingman to be able to add length to this squad. We need someone who can pick up points downlow, but at the same time match up with taller post players.

-Sasha for some crazy reason decided to play good this game as he chimed in with 12 points and 3 assists. I don't know how he did this, but he was hitting his shots, and he played solid defense on Kobe (Kobe only scored 20 points but he did have a dislocated finger).

-Mo Williams did ok with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, but he had 5 turnovers. The Cavs need to keep the ball in his hands to initiate the offense, and not hand the ball off to Lebron every time. We need to run our offense through him, this allows LeBron to run off screens, and post up.

-While JJ Hickson couldn't stop Gasol or Bynum, he did add 11 points (5-5 FT) , 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He will continue to have a lot of bumps in the road, but he will slowly grow into a solid player.

-LeBron just struggled to find rhythm in this game, and this is because Gasol and Bynum were waiting for him downlow every time he drove. There were a couple non-calls, but that is no excuse for his performance. He needs to constantly drive to the hoop and not settle for jumpers. He has an awkward shooting form in my opinion, and his shot selection can be very questionable at times. He isn't 6-8 270 lbs. for no reason....

Well the Cavs really could've used Delonte's solid shooting, and defense on Sasha Vujacic (he scored 14 points on 4-5 3pt shooting). I still think even when this team is completely healthy, they still cannot beat this Lakers team in a 7 game series. They have shooting in Derek Fischer, Vladamir Radmonovic, Vujacic, and Kobe. They have low post players with Bynum, Mihm, and Gasol. They have good swingmen with size in Ariza, Radmonovic, and Odom. They have a great slasher and scorer in Kobe, and they have a good backup PG in Jordan Farmar. This team is is 9 players deep, and they will be hard to beat. This game shouldn't be a barometer for the Cavs due to the injuries of 2 of their starters, but they should know that they need length and presence in the post if they want any chance to win the NBA title (You cannot depend on JJ Hickson in the post come playoff time). Even if its not the Lakers, the Magic have length in Hedo Turkgolu, Rashard Lewis, and Dwight Howard, Boston has Garnett, and Perkins, San Antonio has Tim Duncan, New Orleans has David West and Tyson Chandler, Houston has Yao, Carl Landry, and Luis Scola, Phoenix has Shaq and Amare. The Lakers have everything needed to win a title, and they do boast the tallest starting lineup in the NBA. Remember when the Cavs made the NBA Finals in 2007? They had the tallest starting lineup in the NBA at that time......

-Raz