Hey, this is A.C. - What is happening?
What a good feeling this is...
I think the Pistons know we can beat them now. I saw the cockiness and swagger in them before the series, but I think the games in Detroit and now with what’s happened here, the Pistons know we can beat them...
For the Cavs to win 50 games back-to-back and each year progress in the playoffs, really is a testament to the system they’ve put in place. Coach Brown’s focus on the one-day, one-game-at-a-time concept has really prepared this team for the playoffs...
Larry was a hero last night, regardless of his production. What he did is something you don’t see in this day with professional athletes in sports. He sacrificed for the team. What he did made them become a team last night...And then you had Z hitting a big shot, getting some big rebounds...Drew’s starting to shoot the ball and play well on the offensive end. The bench has come to life. Donyell had a good game and had a definite effect on the game. Boobie is starting to attack the rim - and he explodes to the basket! Fouling him is the only thing they can do and he’s deadly because he knocks his free throws down. Again, if Z is hitting that 15 footer, Drew's hitting 15 footers, and Donyell and Boobie are doing their thing, it really opens up the floor...
Then that steal Eric had at the end of the game was the key to the win. Rip and Chauncey were right on it and Eric exploded through both of them and got it...
Getting solid minutes from everybody - I think they can smell it now...
The only negative again is the third quarter. I don’t know what it is, but the third quarter malaise is something that needs to be addressed. But it’s the only thing I can see that needs to be focused on as we go forward. But again, our defense has kept us from falling prey to that third quarter malaise. They’ll eventually figure it out...
It’s amazing how all these games have come down to the final quarter. The only difference is, we didn’t execute well in Detroit in the last five minutes. But we’re learning on the job real quick. And now we're starting to be the aggressor and the executor at the end of the games. And you see where LeBron is not only scoring baskets, but his teammates are starting to deliver, too. That’s when the Cavaliers operate at their best, when the other guys are able to knock down the shots off of LeBron’s passes...Boy, you could tell LeBron wanted to win that game...
The Pistons have to come hard Thursday because they have a little fear now. They didn’t have fear until now. They're frustrated and you're also starting to see them squabbling among themselves. Which means, as a team, we should feel very comfortable being up there...
Last night’s win was a big, big win and I’m looking to have a Game 6 here Saturday for an Eastern Conference Championship. With the Tigers in town for the weekend against the Indians and summertime in Cleveland and a chance to clinch...
Man, you couldn’t ask for a better scenario...
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Time for Some Home Cookin'
Hey, what’s up – This is A.C.
I kind of have mixed emotions about this series. I feel on one hand that we can beat this team and beat them handily because of the way we’ve played them on their home floor. On the other hand, I’m concerned because we played the same type of game twice in a row and we lost. Which tells me that they are better at a close game than we are, because they execute down the stretch. But we still stay with them...
But that third quarter, man. We seem to feel we can coast to the finish line. It’s frustrating to play such a great first half – our guys played a great first half – and to come out and give it all back in the first seven minutes is frustrating.
It’s true that we’re not getting any breaks, any calls, and maybe that’s a rite of passage; maybe we’re paying the price for being an inexperienced team in the playoffs. It’s tough. You expect to be treated fairly, but then when the tables are turned on you like that, it makes it tough. I remember when we played in Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals and we were down 3-2. I was driving to the basket and the referee, Earl Strom, was looking at me right in my face and Jo-Jo White grabs my arm and Earl Strom had a look that said, You better make it because I’m not gonna call it. And sure enough, I was able to get the ball up into the basket, but we didn't get the call; it would’ve made a difference…
The Cavaliers maturation period is in full-bloom now. Not just playoff basketball, but championship basketball. You keep your focus. You pay attention to the details. And you make shots. You have to have guys who’ll put the ball in the basket. The Pistons have enough talented guys, one through eight, who can carry it.
I’ll say it again, the Pistons have patience. Playoff patience. They take their time. Boom-boom-boom. They don’t rush anything. Not just running the shot clock down, but getting the shot they want. We end up taking a shot we don’t want. But they run the shot clock down and get the shot they want. Experience and execution. That’s what it’s all about. We brush a pick. They set a pick. If they’re gonna slip a pick, they at least make contact when they set it. We’ll anticipate slipping a pick and we’re gone before the defender gets there.
Our defense is just as good as theirs, but their offense is better than ours. It’s silly to think we can win grind-out games with them. We’ve got to score 90 or more points consistently to beat them convincingly. We have to open up the floor, force them to have to score. We can’t just eek out a game. We need the game up around 90 to force them to open up the floor on both ends.
When you look at the series as a whole, though, all they’ve done is hold serve. When you look at it that way, we just need to win our two games here, hold our serve now, and with our crowd behind us, we need to play it tough. We play them tough on their floor and it’ll be like last year. We have to win four straight. We can do it.
I kind of have mixed emotions about this series. I feel on one hand that we can beat this team and beat them handily because of the way we’ve played them on their home floor. On the other hand, I’m concerned because we played the same type of game twice in a row and we lost. Which tells me that they are better at a close game than we are, because they execute down the stretch. But we still stay with them...
But that third quarter, man. We seem to feel we can coast to the finish line. It’s frustrating to play such a great first half – our guys played a great first half – and to come out and give it all back in the first seven minutes is frustrating.
It’s true that we’re not getting any breaks, any calls, and maybe that’s a rite of passage; maybe we’re paying the price for being an inexperienced team in the playoffs. It’s tough. You expect to be treated fairly, but then when the tables are turned on you like that, it makes it tough. I remember when we played in Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals and we were down 3-2. I was driving to the basket and the referee, Earl Strom, was looking at me right in my face and Jo-Jo White grabs my arm and Earl Strom had a look that said, You better make it because I’m not gonna call it. And sure enough, I was able to get the ball up into the basket, but we didn't get the call; it would’ve made a difference…
The Cavaliers maturation period is in full-bloom now. Not just playoff basketball, but championship basketball. You keep your focus. You pay attention to the details. And you make shots. You have to have guys who’ll put the ball in the basket. The Pistons have enough talented guys, one through eight, who can carry it.
I’ll say it again, the Pistons have patience. Playoff patience. They take their time. Boom-boom-boom. They don’t rush anything. Not just running the shot clock down, but getting the shot they want. We end up taking a shot we don’t want. But they run the shot clock down and get the shot they want. Experience and execution. That’s what it’s all about. We brush a pick. They set a pick. If they’re gonna slip a pick, they at least make contact when they set it. We’ll anticipate slipping a pick and we’re gone before the defender gets there.
Our defense is just as good as theirs, but their offense is better than ours. It’s silly to think we can win grind-out games with them. We’ve got to score 90 or more points consistently to beat them convincingly. We have to open up the floor, force them to have to score. We can’t just eek out a game. We need the game up around 90 to force them to open up the floor on both ends.
When you look at the series as a whole, though, all they’ve done is hold serve. When you look at it that way, we just need to win our two games here, hold our serve now, and with our crowd behind us, we need to play it tough. We play them tough on their floor and it’ll be like last year. We have to win four straight. We can do it.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Motor City Mayhem
Hey, this is A.C. – What’s happening.
The only thing I didn’t like about Monday night is that we once again lost a game at the beginning of the third quarter. It’s happened all season. It happened in the Jersey series. We come out flat and that problem needs to be addressed. It doesn’t make sense for this team to play as well as they did in that first half and then come out and let the Pistons go on a 17-6 run, and basically that was the game right there…
What I learned when I got into the playoffs at this level, it’s not good enough to say that you had a ‘chance to win.’ Because a chance is nothing but a loss. You’ve gotta win. You have to get the job done if you’re gonna win. If you don’t get it done, a pat on the back means nothing because you lose. And that’s a hurt feeling, man. I hated that feeling. Getting that close, playing six, seven months of basketball and missing one shot to lose, that’s a bad feeling…Moral victories do not get it at this round of the playoffs. In the playoffs, moral victories get you nothing but a loss. It may sound hard, but that’s reality. It’s painful…
I also hated to waste a great game by Z like that. When Z plays like that, we have to win those games. And like I told everybody from the beginning of the season, if Z can hit that 15-foot shot, that’s gonna give us a huge advantage in the playoffs. Especially against the Pistons because they’ll give him that shot. Now he’s knocking ‘em down and it’s changing the whole complexion of the series because they have to game-plan for him now. Which will take another guy out of the middle. C-Web can’t move anymore, especially laterally - he can’t move at all laterally - so they don’t want to run him out there. Plus, Z can shoot over the top of him anyway. So, to me, that should be a focal point of everything. We should start with Z right away. Make their defense react to that, then we play off of their reaction…
The Pistons are forcing us to be a better half-court executing team on offense. If you watch the Pistons run their offense, they wait. They wait for plays to develop. They wait before they set picks. They wait for the pick to get set before you move off of it. They wait for the guy to get open before they make the pass…
If you look at our offense, we’re running too quick. We go too fast. We don’t give the defense a chance to make a mistake. We make the mistake because we go too fast and – boom! When you get to this level, the little things count. Little things like timing on offense. Letting things develop. Having patience. All of that counts now and that’s the difference in the two teams right now…
It has to be a five-on-five game. They have five guys who can make plays. We need five guys who can likewise step-up and make plays. You look at their balanced scoring; they don’t have any 30-point guys. But they all can do what they have to do when it’s needed, when it’s necessary…
We have to win tonight in order to change the complexion of this series. If we don’t win, then we’re going to have to pull off a miracle like we did last year…The Pistons know we can compete with them. We match-up well with them, so every game’s gonna be like the last one. I don’t see anybody getting blown out. Unless they just shoot the ball horribly. But how much worse can we shoot? We shot 38% from the field; 10% from 3-point land; and 65% from the foul line. It doesn’t get much worse than that. We should shoot the ball better, which I think will give us a win Thursday…
The only thing I didn’t like about Monday night is that we once again lost a game at the beginning of the third quarter. It’s happened all season. It happened in the Jersey series. We come out flat and that problem needs to be addressed. It doesn’t make sense for this team to play as well as they did in that first half and then come out and let the Pistons go on a 17-6 run, and basically that was the game right there…
What I learned when I got into the playoffs at this level, it’s not good enough to say that you had a ‘chance to win.’ Because a chance is nothing but a loss. You’ve gotta win. You have to get the job done if you’re gonna win. If you don’t get it done, a pat on the back means nothing because you lose. And that’s a hurt feeling, man. I hated that feeling. Getting that close, playing six, seven months of basketball and missing one shot to lose, that’s a bad feeling…Moral victories do not get it at this round of the playoffs. In the playoffs, moral victories get you nothing but a loss. It may sound hard, but that’s reality. It’s painful…
I also hated to waste a great game by Z like that. When Z plays like that, we have to win those games. And like I told everybody from the beginning of the season, if Z can hit that 15-foot shot, that’s gonna give us a huge advantage in the playoffs. Especially against the Pistons because they’ll give him that shot. Now he’s knocking ‘em down and it’s changing the whole complexion of the series because they have to game-plan for him now. Which will take another guy out of the middle. C-Web can’t move anymore, especially laterally - he can’t move at all laterally - so they don’t want to run him out there. Plus, Z can shoot over the top of him anyway. So, to me, that should be a focal point of everything. We should start with Z right away. Make their defense react to that, then we play off of their reaction…
The Pistons are forcing us to be a better half-court executing team on offense. If you watch the Pistons run their offense, they wait. They wait for plays to develop. They wait before they set picks. They wait for the pick to get set before you move off of it. They wait for the guy to get open before they make the pass…
If you look at our offense, we’re running too quick. We go too fast. We don’t give the defense a chance to make a mistake. We make the mistake because we go too fast and – boom! When you get to this level, the little things count. Little things like timing on offense. Letting things develop. Having patience. All of that counts now and that’s the difference in the two teams right now…
It has to be a five-on-five game. They have five guys who can make plays. We need five guys who can likewise step-up and make plays. You look at their balanced scoring; they don’t have any 30-point guys. But they all can do what they have to do when it’s needed, when it’s necessary…
We have to win tonight in order to change the complexion of this series. If we don’t win, then we’re going to have to pull off a miracle like we did last year…The Pistons know we can compete with them. We match-up well with them, so every game’s gonna be like the last one. I don’t see anybody getting blown out. Unless they just shoot the ball horribly. But how much worse can we shoot? We shot 38% from the field; 10% from 3-point land; and 65% from the foul line. It doesn’t get much worse than that. We should shoot the ball better, which I think will give us a win Thursday…
Monday, May 21, 2007
Hey Everyone – What’s up? This is A.C.
What a feeling – playing basketball this late in the spring!
You knew New Jersey was going to make a run, but I didn’t think it was going to be that strong of a run. Then our bench, which had been sputtering for a while - really since Sasha was put in the starting line-up - came alive. Coach Brown went with his shooting unit, and it helped spread the floor with Donyell, Daniel and Damon - the Nets couldn’t sag in the middle - and it paid off..
Daniel really matured and Donyell gave himself a great birthday present. And Damon did a good job with Jason Kidd, fighting through the picks, and he kept Kidd’s penetration down in the paint. He only took one shot, but the Nets still had to run across the floor to cover him. It really showed me who the Cavaliers are. We need shooters around LeBron so we can see what he really is – a 20-10-10 guy. He’s a facilitator and to be a facilitator, you have to have someone to pass to. We need those guys to be offensive-minded but defensive-oriented, able to hit the shots and get back on D...
We made the Nets change their character. We outrebounded so they had to stay home, stay around the basket. We made them play out of character and in that fourth quarter of Game 6, it caught up with them...
Can you imagine? Four games away from the finals…
We basically play the same style as Detroit, so it’s going to be a battle of wills now. We know what they do, they know what we do. You might see a different type of defense, a zone press or a trapping zone; you may tweak your plays a little differently, let someone different initiate the offense…But mostly, you can’t do what Dallas did, and that’s change what you’ve done all season...
I think the Pistons are close to their peak, if not a little beyond it. With Chris Webber in the middle, they are older. But he wants a ring and wanting a ring is a way to motivate themselves...I would attack Billups and Rasheed, attack those guys, put them in pick-and-rolls where they’ll have to guard our guys, make them play defense...
The Pistons are confident, but they have doubt. We are the underdogs so we can go in and have fun and thus we should be a dangerous team. If our shooters are shooting, we should have no problem with opening the floor for LeBron. We are the one team who has a reason to beat them. We should’ve beat them in four straight games last year. They know that we have the incentive...No one has respected us all year, so now is the time to prove them all wrong…But in the end, you have to do it. You have to win the games...
What a feeling – playing basketball this late in the spring!
You knew New Jersey was going to make a run, but I didn’t think it was going to be that strong of a run. Then our bench, which had been sputtering for a while - really since Sasha was put in the starting line-up - came alive. Coach Brown went with his shooting unit, and it helped spread the floor with Donyell, Daniel and Damon - the Nets couldn’t sag in the middle - and it paid off..
Daniel really matured and Donyell gave himself a great birthday present. And Damon did a good job with Jason Kidd, fighting through the picks, and he kept Kidd’s penetration down in the paint. He only took one shot, but the Nets still had to run across the floor to cover him. It really showed me who the Cavaliers are. We need shooters around LeBron so we can see what he really is – a 20-10-10 guy. He’s a facilitator and to be a facilitator, you have to have someone to pass to. We need those guys to be offensive-minded but defensive-oriented, able to hit the shots and get back on D...
We made the Nets change their character. We outrebounded so they had to stay home, stay around the basket. We made them play out of character and in that fourth quarter of Game 6, it caught up with them...
Can you imagine? Four games away from the finals…
We basically play the same style as Detroit, so it’s going to be a battle of wills now. We know what they do, they know what we do. You might see a different type of defense, a zone press or a trapping zone; you may tweak your plays a little differently, let someone different initiate the offense…But mostly, you can’t do what Dallas did, and that’s change what you’ve done all season...
I think the Pistons are close to their peak, if not a little beyond it. With Chris Webber in the middle, they are older. But he wants a ring and wanting a ring is a way to motivate themselves...I would attack Billups and Rasheed, attack those guys, put them in pick-and-rolls where they’ll have to guard our guys, make them play defense...
The Pistons are confident, but they have doubt. We are the underdogs so we can go in and have fun and thus we should be a dangerous team. If our shooters are shooting, we should have no problem with opening the floor for LeBron. We are the one team who has a reason to beat them. We should’ve beat them in four straight games last year. They know that we have the incentive...No one has respected us all year, so now is the time to prove them all wrong…But in the end, you have to do it. You have to win the games...
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Hey, this is A.C. - What's happening?
I feel confident about Wednesday night. With a big win Monday, with coming home, with this team playing with confidence, we should be able to take care of business. We play better at home, we have more players who get involved in scoring at home than on the road, and that’s gonna cause a problem for New Jersey. Our home court’s been our sanctuary. And you know the crowd’s gonna be into it...
You have to have confidence in the playoffs, but you temper that with the fear of defeat and that keeps you sharp and makes it so you don’t get complacent. Because that’s the worst enemy you can have in the playoffs is complacency. As a player, I always wanted to feel the butterflies, feel the nerves, and fear defeat. That way I knew I was going to be on top of my game. I used to almost panic before a game if I didn’t feel the butterflies nor feel the fear...
But Coach Brown's been grooming these guys for this moment all season. He coaches one game at a time, one day at a time, building toward the playoffs. He sets his team up for this time of year. It’s the lineage he’s come from, from Popovich on down, that you’re offense comes from your defense, and the only thing that the Cavaliers need now is to get their half-court execution a little better. Otherwise, they’re a well-rounded team and everything else is falling into place...
New Jersey still has life, but they realize that they have to beat us three straight times, twice here, once there. Plus, there’s only one day rest; Carter’s banged-up, Kidd’s banged-up, Jefferson’s still coming off an ankle situation. They may see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a blurry light. Still, you have to beat them; they’re not gonna give it to you...
I definitely look for New Jersey to come out swinging. They're gonna come out strong. Sasha and LeBron both are taking the challenge of a physical game. Driving to the basket, anticipating the contact, inviting the contact, then adjusting to the contact and getting the and-one opportunity. But that’s what you want. I always wanted to be in a physical game because then you focus better. I always focused better when it’s a grind-out-type game. And to me, the playoffs are all about grinding it out...
We don’t want to get over energized and get too speeded up. It comes back to letting our defense do the talking and dominating the boards. When we beat them on the boards, we win. It also helps us loosen up the game. We want to have two or three minutes each quarter where we’re foot-loose and fancy-free and get some separation from them. When we run off of turnovers and good rebounding that’s when we’re at our best...
If we win tomorrow, the playoffs actually will begin for us with the next series. We’ll have done what we’re expected to do. Now it’ll be time to take it to the next level in the next series...
I feel confident about Wednesday night. With a big win Monday, with coming home, with this team playing with confidence, we should be able to take care of business. We play better at home, we have more players who get involved in scoring at home than on the road, and that’s gonna cause a problem for New Jersey. Our home court’s been our sanctuary. And you know the crowd’s gonna be into it...
You have to have confidence in the playoffs, but you temper that with the fear of defeat and that keeps you sharp and makes it so you don’t get complacent. Because that’s the worst enemy you can have in the playoffs is complacency. As a player, I always wanted to feel the butterflies, feel the nerves, and fear defeat. That way I knew I was going to be on top of my game. I used to almost panic before a game if I didn’t feel the butterflies nor feel the fear...
But Coach Brown's been grooming these guys for this moment all season. He coaches one game at a time, one day at a time, building toward the playoffs. He sets his team up for this time of year. It’s the lineage he’s come from, from Popovich on down, that you’re offense comes from your defense, and the only thing that the Cavaliers need now is to get their half-court execution a little better. Otherwise, they’re a well-rounded team and everything else is falling into place...
New Jersey still has life, but they realize that they have to beat us three straight times, twice here, once there. Plus, there’s only one day rest; Carter’s banged-up, Kidd’s banged-up, Jefferson’s still coming off an ankle situation. They may see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a blurry light. Still, you have to beat them; they’re not gonna give it to you...
I definitely look for New Jersey to come out swinging. They're gonna come out strong. Sasha and LeBron both are taking the challenge of a physical game. Driving to the basket, anticipating the contact, inviting the contact, then adjusting to the contact and getting the and-one opportunity. But that’s what you want. I always wanted to be in a physical game because then you focus better. I always focused better when it’s a grind-out-type game. And to me, the playoffs are all about grinding it out...
We don’t want to get over energized and get too speeded up. It comes back to letting our defense do the talking and dominating the boards. When we beat them on the boards, we win. It also helps us loosen up the game. We want to have two or three minutes each quarter where we’re foot-loose and fancy-free and get some separation from them. When we run off of turnovers and good rebounding that’s when we’re at our best...
If we win tomorrow, the playoffs actually will begin for us with the next series. We’ll have done what we’re expected to do. Now it’ll be time to take it to the next level in the next series...
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Hey, this is A.C. - What's happening.
All three of their guys had good games last night, and the Nets still lost. So they must be scratching their heads now. What do we have to do? Do all three guys have to get 30 for us to win?
I was really encouraged to see how we executed when we had to down the stretch. I mean, we just kind of slowly got stops and just kind of took over the game once we figured out how they were defending us. You could see in the second half when we made the run…
We’re more suited to a playoff half-court possession game, run when we get the opportunity, whereas the Nets kind of look at it as, they’re always a running team. But I think we’re controlling the pace of the game so well basically because if you give up as many offensive rebounds as the Nets gave up – I think 20 in the first game, 19 last night – it’s hard to be a running team. You can’t run…
If you noticed last night, Jason Kidd was trying to run off of made baskets. He was trying to push the ball up the floor, but his teammates were behind him so there’s not much he can do up there by himself…
I was really surprised by Jason Kidd’s 8 turnovers. He was anticipating where his teammates should be and they weren’t there. That’s basically what it was. Also, that steal that LeBron made shows you how well LeBron is on what’s going on out there.
Jason Kidd had been making that pass the last two games where he would be on one side of the floor and he’d flip it all the way back to the other side of the floor and catch the guy coming down in transition. And LeBron had noticed that and all of a sudden he waited on it – I saw him out of the corner of my eye. He saw that guy coming and you could see LeBron was retreating, then all of a sudden when he saw Kidd, he stopped. And then he started coming back to the passing lane and – boom – he got the steal and was gone. That tells me how aware he is of what’s going on out there…
Our crowd has really become a basketball crowd now. They’re learning how to incorporate themselves into the game. It’s becoming close to the Miracle year as far as the volume of noise and how long the noise lasts...
In our Miracle year and the year after, it would start an hour before the game and you can almost see now, once that game starts, once that introduction starts – and our introduction is one of the best in the league – it just seems like it never stops now. And that’s when the crowd is starting to understand how to interject themselves. The crowd is starting to understand that together they’re becoming like a sixth man out there. When you can’t hear anything, when you make the other team communicate by signals, man, that’s when you really have an advantage out there on that floor…
They knew we needed defense in that fourth quarter, and they started defensive chants and it never stopped – it just kept going, kept going. And when you don’t have to be prodded to do something and you do it automatic, that’s when you’re starting to become a real fan base…
This weekend, New Jersey’s gonna shoot better. They're at home. Now the key is, if we continue to rebound the ball the way we are, especially on the offensive boards, I don’t see how they can run the basketball against us. You can’t run without the ball. And if we keep getting it and putting it back in the basket or getting extra possessions, now the Nets are focused on something they’re not used to doing.
Our front court has been dominating most of the NBA all year as far as rebounding’s concerned. And the Nets front court is not a good rebounding front court, so they have to get their rebounds from Kidd, Carter and Jefferson. That, to me, takes a lot of energy out of the offensive end of the floor. So now they’re fighting themselves.
The Cavaliers have to continue to make them fight themselves, because the Nets are gonna shoot better. They will shoot better and have a little bit more energy at home. That first half – if we don’t get ourselves in trouble in that first half of game three, I think we have a good chance of winning game three.
And that’s the game I want. Then we got them where we want them.
All three of their guys had good games last night, and the Nets still lost. So they must be scratching their heads now. What do we have to do? Do all three guys have to get 30 for us to win?
I was really encouraged to see how we executed when we had to down the stretch. I mean, we just kind of slowly got stops and just kind of took over the game once we figured out how they were defending us. You could see in the second half when we made the run…
We’re more suited to a playoff half-court possession game, run when we get the opportunity, whereas the Nets kind of look at it as, they’re always a running team. But I think we’re controlling the pace of the game so well basically because if you give up as many offensive rebounds as the Nets gave up – I think 20 in the first game, 19 last night – it’s hard to be a running team. You can’t run…
If you noticed last night, Jason Kidd was trying to run off of made baskets. He was trying to push the ball up the floor, but his teammates were behind him so there’s not much he can do up there by himself…
I was really surprised by Jason Kidd’s 8 turnovers. He was anticipating where his teammates should be and they weren’t there. That’s basically what it was. Also, that steal that LeBron made shows you how well LeBron is on what’s going on out there.
Jason Kidd had been making that pass the last two games where he would be on one side of the floor and he’d flip it all the way back to the other side of the floor and catch the guy coming down in transition. And LeBron had noticed that and all of a sudden he waited on it – I saw him out of the corner of my eye. He saw that guy coming and you could see LeBron was retreating, then all of a sudden when he saw Kidd, he stopped. And then he started coming back to the passing lane and – boom – he got the steal and was gone. That tells me how aware he is of what’s going on out there…
Our crowd has really become a basketball crowd now. They’re learning how to incorporate themselves into the game. It’s becoming close to the Miracle year as far as the volume of noise and how long the noise lasts...
In our Miracle year and the year after, it would start an hour before the game and you can almost see now, once that game starts, once that introduction starts – and our introduction is one of the best in the league – it just seems like it never stops now. And that’s when the crowd is starting to understand how to interject themselves. The crowd is starting to understand that together they’re becoming like a sixth man out there. When you can’t hear anything, when you make the other team communicate by signals, man, that’s when you really have an advantage out there on that floor…
They knew we needed defense in that fourth quarter, and they started defensive chants and it never stopped – it just kept going, kept going. And when you don’t have to be prodded to do something and you do it automatic, that’s when you’re starting to become a real fan base…
This weekend, New Jersey’s gonna shoot better. They're at home. Now the key is, if we continue to rebound the ball the way we are, especially on the offensive boards, I don’t see how they can run the basketball against us. You can’t run without the ball. And if we keep getting it and putting it back in the basket or getting extra possessions, now the Nets are focused on something they’re not used to doing.
Our front court has been dominating most of the NBA all year as far as rebounding’s concerned. And the Nets front court is not a good rebounding front court, so they have to get their rebounds from Kidd, Carter and Jefferson. That, to me, takes a lot of energy out of the offensive end of the floor. So now they’re fighting themselves.
The Cavaliers have to continue to make them fight themselves, because the Nets are gonna shoot better. They will shoot better and have a little bit more energy at home. That first half – if we don’t get ourselves in trouble in that first half of game three, I think we have a good chance of winning game three.
And that’s the game I want. Then we got them where we want them.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Hey, what's happening? This is A.C.
…The team seems to me, since those last four games they had to win at the end of the season, that they’ve been all-business, almost as if they were waiting for this. I didn’t think they could turn it on the way they’ve been turning it on…You just can see it in all of them, from the one man down to 15, they all have a different swagger about them now and a different mindset. Their game faces are different…The experience factor has really been a big help to these guys because they have a different demeanor now; they just seem to be more calm about what’s going on and what they have to do and in understanding the playoffs. That each game has its own identity...
…The team seems to me, since those last four games they had to win at the end of the season, that they’ve been all-business, almost as if they were waiting for this. I didn’t think they could turn it on the way they’ve been turning it on…You just can see it in all of them, from the one man down to 15, they all have a different swagger about them now and a different mindset. Their game faces are different…The experience factor has really been a big help to these guys because they have a different demeanor now; they just seem to be more calm about what’s going on and what they have to do and in understanding the playoffs. That each game has its own identity...
Sunday, they weren’t sharp, as far as executing was concerned. But I think Larry is doing a great job at understanding how to be the point guard even when his offensive game is not going well. In the third quarter, he could see that we needed Drew going and he purposely brought the ball to Drew, to his side of the floor, cleared everybody else out, and he tried to get Drew going because he knew we needed Drew and then all of a sudden Drew started coming around and that opened up everything for everybody else. Larry does a masterful job of understanding how to get the right people the ball to get them going. And then he always has the ability to do his own thing – and he started picking his spots to do that, too...
Sasha hadn’t played but 28 seconds in the playoffs in his whole career. Then all of a sudden you get thrown into the middle of it and everybody’s expecting big things. The two glamour positions in the NBA are the 2 and the 3 and all of a sudden you get thrown into a situation to where you have to defend a guy like Carter, when you get stuck with a guy like Carter, man, and everybody’s expecting you to stop him and you’ve watched him score 40 or 50 - it does have a tendency to tighten you up. But what Sasha understood is that offensively is where you attack Carter, make him play D. The more you score against him, the less he’s gonna score. And I thought he did a super defensive job and he did look like himself. That play he made against Kidd was great. It was incredible. Most people would have given up on the play. Also, he watches what’s going on and who’s doing what around the league. He’s played long enough now that you know guys, you know their tendencies. So he knew Jason Kidd’s tendency is to lay the ball up in those situations, not dunk it. He knew he had a chance with Kidd. That tells me he’s starting to get very aware of what’s going on around him and that definitely will make him a better basketball player. But he kept going and you can see, when Sasha’s out there just playing the game and not worrying about every step he takes, he’s a pretty good basketball player...
Lenny Wilkens and Nate Thurmond were the ones who gave me a little bit of playoff preparation, but you cannot really prepare for it, even though they tell you. You cannot prepare for it until you get out there. And what I found out was that the intensity level is much different. Guys that I would just – chooo – beat with no problem all of a sudden now that guy’s two steps closer to me and he’s right on me. He’s scratching and clawing, he’s doing everything to stop me from doing what I have to do. Whereas during the regular season, he’s up on me, but you don’t feel the intensity pressure. In the playoffs, you feel the intensity pressure. And big people, the big men, they don’t let you just make layups anymore. All of a sudden, you pay for a layup. So what you do is you have to look for the contact, you want the contact because you know it’s gonna come, and once you get the contact, you try to make the three-point play. That to me was the biggest difference, the intensity level – plus defensively, I had to be more aware of my helping responsibilities because you get so caught up as a 2 guard in trying to stop a Phil Chenier or a Jo-Jo White, you’re trying to stop these guys so much that you get blinders on and then you forget about your helping responsibilities, too. So you have to kind of focus and kind of prepare yourself for that, too.
When you think about it, being off that long – and I remember when we were off six days and the Celtics blew us out that first game and we got blown out because the difference in waiting that long is you lose game speed. You practice, practice, practice – we even had game-time scrimmages and all that, but it does not relate to the game speed. Because you also have the adrenaline rush that you don’t have during practices because of the 20,000 people in there, screaming and hollering, and so that just sucks all the energy out of you and you have a tendency to get fatigued quicker. And that’s one of the things I was worried about, playing against a team like New Jersey...
New Jersey is gonna try and shoot more, shoot better. They may try to attack inside more, but at the same time, they’re gonna isolate Carter a lot, try to get Sasha in foul trouble early. Jason Kidd’s gonna try and penetrate more. I mean, personally, the way Jason Kidd’s going, you almost want him to do it himself. Because when he starts penetrating and dishing the ball off is when they’re tough. But when he has the ball and he’s penetrating and you stay one-on-one with him, that takes Richard Jefferson out. And see, when you let Jefferson play off of kid, that’s when you really have trouble. You gotta keep Jefferson from playing off of Kidd some kind of way. Because Carter’s gonna get his and Jason’s gonna get his 10 rebounds, 10 assists – it’s the scoring level, you don’t want to him to get up around 15 points because it’s tough then. And Jefferson, keep him out of the 20s. If you keep him out of the 20s, then you’re all right...But rebounding-wise, if New Jersey doesn’t rebound well, they’re not going to run. That’s why they didn’t run; their big men got something like nine rebounds between the three of them while their guards got like 30. So when you look at that, how can you run when your big men aren’t rebounding. So hopefully we can keep that trend up...
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