Monday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their biggest loss of the season, a 105-88 beat down at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the way the Cavs were beaten that was disturbing. LA big men Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol dominated them in the paint.
Gasol hit 11 of 13 shots from the floor, mostly from in close as Ben Wallace struggled against him. Bynum hit a variety of short shots as he gave Anderson Varajao fits. Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson admitted during the telecast that without Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the lineup, he wanted his team to pound it inside. They did and they were highly successful.
Before anyone panics about the Lakers, keep in mind a couple of things. One, remember that Ilgauskas is out and his outside shooting would draw Bynum away from the hoop, thus opening things up for James and others to penetrate. LeBron drove to the basket several times and ran into a brick wall. Also, his height would make it more difficult for Bynum to get easy buckets from in close.
Second, remember what Mike Brown made his bones at in the coaching profession…DEFENSE. If the Cavs and Lakers would meet in The Finals, I feel quite confident that Brown would devise a defense which would prove a deterrent to Los Angeles’ length inside.
Another thing that will need to be done if the Lakers are the opponent is put LeBron James on the blocks. There is no question that Kobe Bryant is an excellent defender, and he gave #23 some trouble when he was guarding him on the perimeter.
However, James has a two-inch and about 40 pound advantage on Bryant. If James went down there on a consistent basis, Bryant would not be able to handle him. Likely, Jackson would change his defensive match up and put someone else on James, but if he switched to a guy like Gasol, LeBron would own the quickness advantage. To put it simply, James’ versatility and size can give the Lakers fits, and in a long series, Mike Brown would use that to his advantage.
There is no question that the team’s chemistry is off because of the injuries to Z and Delonte West. It took the Cavs five or six games at the beginning of the season before they started rolling, and West has only been out three games, so Mike Brown has some time before restoring normality. Then again, the play of the Magic and Celtics don’t give him that much time.
The best situation for the Cavs is to finish with the best record in the Eastern Conference. Obviously, getting that spot means they will have home court advantage until The Finals, at the very least. But, it also would mean Boston and Orlando would have to match up in the second round of the playoffs, while the wine and gold takes on the #4 vs. #5 series winner. Letting the Celts and Magic beat up on each other just might pay dividends in the conference finals.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 