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Tag Archives: Kevin Love
LEBRON JAMES and KYRIE IRVING POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE – GAME #2 vs BULLS
Cleveland’s “Batman and Robin”, Lebron James and Kyrie Irving combined for 54 points in the Cavs 106-91 Game #2 win over the Bulls to even their best of 7 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series at one game apiece. Listen to what LeBron had to say about the return of his headband, Kyrie on Kevin Love being back with the team and more.
Listen Here –
KENNY’S KEY TO A CAVS SERIES WIN OVER CHICAGO
1 – TEAM WINDEX – With Kevin Love, one of the Cavs best rebounders out, the Cavaliers will have to send all 5 guys on the floor to the glass on the defensive end to clean up the Bulls misses and don’t give them many second chance opportunities. Plus, hope that Timofey Mozgov, LeBron James and Tristan Thompson get you some offensive boards for second chance baskets, because there are going to be a lot of missed shots in this series due to the defenses.
2 – VALUE THE BALL – The Bulls are known for their lockdown, aggressive, physical, half-court defense under Tom Thibodeau. Add to that the officials will probably let this be a very rough series if the Boston/Cavs match up was any indication. With that in mind, all Cavs players (especially Mozgov) must be strong with the ball at all times. Chicago will try and hip check the Cavs while playing their half-court “D”, play the passing lanes and double-team LeBron and Kyrie at times when they have the ball to force turnovers for easy run outs and fast break baskets. LeBron most of all, but other Cavs players must also be very careful of the cross-court pass. If you don’t zip it there and it’s a lazy pass with too much air under it, the Derrick Rose or Jimmy Butler will pick it off like a defensive back and take it to the house for an easy 2 points.
3 – DYNAMIC DUO AND WHO? – When the “Big 3” were healthy and scoring 60 or more points per game the Cavaliers were almost unbeatable. Without Kevin Love the rest of the way the “Big 3” is down to “Batman and Robin”! LeBron and Kyrie are going to have to average a minimum of 25 points per game each for the Cavs to have a chance to win in this series and then hope that someone else from the “Justice League” shows up to help them fight off the evil Bulls and the NBA headed up by “The Joker” Adam Silver. Who will that be? Iman Shumpert in a starting role? J.R. Smith when he comes back from suspension? “The Janitor” – Tristan Thompson as his minutes should increase in this series? Or maybe “All The King’s Men” – James Jones, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion and Kendrick Perkins! Realistically it’s going to have to be a combination of all of those guys to help make up for the loss of power forward Kevin Love’s 18 points per game and 9 rebounds per game he was averaging in the playoffs before he succumbed to an illegal arm bar by Ronda Rousey….err…..I mean Kelly Olynyk.
4 – CASH IN AT THE LINE – Points will be so hard to come by in this series with Chicago, so when you do get the chance to get some free ones, you got to make them. The Cavaliers as a team need to shoot at least 75% at the free throw line in this series.
5 – BLATTSKETBALL – David Blatt’s every move, every decision will be magnified in this series because the opponent is better and he’s coaching shorthanded with the loss of Love for the rest of the season, and Smith for the first two games. Who he decides to start, how long he plays him, how deep will his rotation will be, when does he call a time out, in-game adjustments, in-between game adjustments and offensive play calls after a time out are just some of things Blatt will have to be at the top of his coaching game for the Cavs to have a chance in this series. Hopefully he will rely on assistant coaches like Tyronn Lue, Larry Drew and others who have either played or coached in these situations before.
6 – BRING THE “D” – When offense is hard to come by in this series, and it will be at times, the Cavs must play team defense like they’ve never played before this season. Chase Mike Dunleavey off the 3-point line. Close the lanes so Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler won’t drive as much and if they do then Timofey Mozgov must be there to challenge their shots. Your shot doesn’t always travel, but defense does. Play “D” and you’ll be in every game with a chance to win it at the end and like the Cavs chances in a close game with finishers like LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
7 – KEEP YOUR HEAD – Joakim Noah, Mike Dunleavey and who knows who else will try and muck up this series with hard fouls, taunts and some pushing and shoving. They’ll do this because they know they aren’t as talented as the Cavaliers and they’ll try and take the Cavs out of their game and get in their heads like Boston did last series. As dirty as it was, and it meant losing a player to a serious injury last series, the Cavs can’t afford to lose any other players to ejections or suspensions in this series. Cleveland must keep it’s cool, (maybe with the exception of Kendrick Perkins) and don’t do anything stupid that would jeopardize losing a game or affecting the series in a negative way.
PREDICTION: Even with the loss of Kevin Love for the remainder of the playoffs and without J.R. Smith in the first two games, the Cavs still have the best player in the world in LeBron James and one of the up and coming superstars in this league in Kyrie Irving, along with home court advantage. It wouldn’t surprise me if Cleveland lost one of the first two games, but then went on the road and stole one back from Chicago and that would set things up for a great Game #7 at “The Q” in which the Cavaliers will prevail over the Bulls and advance on to the Eastern Conference Finals.
PODCAST – RODA REPORT – NBA PLAYOFFS: CAVS SWEEP CELTICS BUT LOSE KEVIN LOVE TO INJURY
Here’s my breakdown of the Cavs 101-93 win over the Celtics in Game #4 of the NBA Playoffs at the Garden in Boston. A game in which they lost starting power forward Kevin Love to serious shoulder injury on a dirty play by the Celtics Kelly Olynyk in the first quarter and also lost J.R. Smith in the 3rd quarter as he was called for a “Flagrant 2 Foul” for swinging his elbow and hand back at Boston’s Jae Crowder and making contact in the facial area. Yes the Cavaliers came away with a 4-game sweep and advanced to the 2nd round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, but now they must wait to see how long Kevin Love will be out due to that shoulder injury and if the NBA suspends Smith for a game or two because of his ejection.
I should be happy after a 4-game sweep of the Celtics, instead I’m pissed off and you can hear how pissed I am by – Listening Here –
Photo courtesy of Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer
KENNY’S KEYS TO A CAVS VICTORY IN GAME #2 OVER BOSTON
- START FAST – In Game #1 the Cavs looked rusty and Kevin Love looked nervous playing in his first ever playoff game. That allowed the Celtics to get off early, make shots, take a 31-27 lead into the 2nd quarter and it gave them confidence. In Game #2 with the rust and nervous gone, the Cavs need to come out aggressive at both ends of the floor, move the ball and jump on Boston from the get go to take away that confidence and impose their will on a far less talented team.
- KEEP THE PEDAL TO THE METAL – Once the Cavaliers did take control in Game #1, leading Boston by 20 points they started settling for shots instead of continuing to run their offense and play solid defense. This allowed the Celtics to crawl back to within 6 points in the 2nd half. In Game #2 once the Cavs get up by double-digits they need to keep their foot on the gas and play the game and not the scoreboard. Do what got you the big lead instead of taking for granted you have the big lead and think you can take any shot you want to. Finish them!
- THE BIG 3 NEED TO BE BIG AGAIN – When LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love score 65 or more points in a game the Cavaliers are (21-4) this year. They had 69 points in Game #1. For the Cavs to win the championship this season, those three players have to carry this team to the title. Yes, they have other players on this team who need to contribute, but Cleveland will only go as far as the “BIG 3” takes them. But the “BIG 3” need to take good shots, as opposed to just shooting because of who they are. As Kyrie Irving said in his post-game interview after Game #1, “We have to hold each other accountable. It’s as simple as it can be. We got together, we are the BIG 3. We have other great players on this team, but we set the tone.”
- CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS – The Cavs have a huge advantage under the basket with Love, LeBron, Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson. Those 4 players had 32 rebounds in Game #1, the Celtics as a team had 34. The Cavaliers not only outrebounded Boston in the first game of the series (46-34) but Cleveland dominated the offensive boards as well (15-7) which led to 18 second chance points. David Blatt’s team needs to continue to control the boards and in doing so it can limit Boston to one shot and it could lead to more fast break opportunities for the Cavs who only tallied 4 fast break points in Game #1.
- BALL MOVEMENT – For the most part in Game #1 we didn’t see a lot of the “Stankey Leg” offense by the Cavs. However, to get other players involved more in the offense better ball movement, consistent ball movement is a must. Work inside out. Move the ball side to side and make Boston’s defense work for the full 24 seconds of the shot clock. This will allow the “BIG 3” to still score their points, but it should also get Mozgov. J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert more involved in the offense, getting them open looks.
CAVS NEWS, NOTES AND NUMBERS FROM GAME #1 vs CELTICS 2015 NBA PLAYOFFS
Kyrie Irving continues to thrive on the big stage. With an All-Star Game MVP and a World Basketball Championship MVP to his credit, Irving racked up 30 points in his first NBA Playoff game. According to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, Kyrie is the 11th player in the last 20 years to score at least 30 points in his postseason debut, joining a list that includes four past MVP winners (LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan) and Anthony Davis, who scored 35 points in his playoff debut Saturday night. (Thanks Lloyd)
Kevin Love struggled early making just 2 of his first 11 shots, but made his final 3 field goal attempts and in his first NBA Playoff game finished with a double/double 19 points and 12 rebounds.
LeBron James in his 1st NBA Playoff game recorded a triple/double against the Washington Wizards in 2006 with 32pts-11rebs-11ast in a Cavs 97-86 win. The last player prior to LeBron to go for a triple/double in his Playoff debut was Magic Johnson in 1980. (Fun Fact – Other players on that Cavs team were Donyell Marshall, Eric Snow, Flip Murray, an injured Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Damon Jones, Anderson Varejao, Ira Newble, Sasha Pavlovic, Alan Henderson and Z.)
Also in that Washington series LeBron made his 1st and 2nd game winning shots of his NBA career with game winners in Game #3 and in Game #5.
The “BIG 3” combined for 69pts-21reb-13ast in the 113-100 win. When the “BIG 3” have scored 65 points or more in a game this season, the Cavaliers are now (21-4).
Even with J.R. Smith in foul trouble the Cavaliers starting backcourt dominated the Celtics outscoring them 39-17. Kyrie Irving finished with a game high 30 points while Smith netted 9. Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart shot just 7 of 16 from the floor for Boston.
The Cavs dominated the boards and should do so this entire series. Cleveland outrebounded Boston 46-34. Kevin Love had a game high 12 rebounds and Timofey Mozgov added 8. The Cavs had a 15-7 edge in offensive rebounds which led to 18 second chance points. Tristan Thompson led the way with 4 offensive boards coming off the bench.
Long distance continues to pay off for the Cavs as they made 13 of 31 shots from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers outscored Boston from 3-point country in Game #1 39 to 24. Like rebounding, 3-point shooting should be an area that the Cavs dominate in this series.
The “Bench Bunch” comes up big in Game #1. While most of the focus is always on the “BIG 3”, role players are crucial in playoff series and a number of those role players stepped up in the 113-100 win. The Cavs bench totaled 29pts-13reb-5ast led by Tristan Thompson’s 12 points and 7 rebounds. James jones hit 3 HUGE shots, including two 3-pointers and finished with 8 points. Iman Shumpert played 32 minutes because J.R. Smith was in foul trouble and scored 7 points and grabbed 6 boards. Matthew Dellavedova hit a beautiful spinning, twisting lay up for 2 points and Shawn Marion contributed with 2 big steals.