The Cavaliers are on the brink of elimination, trailing the Orlando Magic 3-1 in the Best of 7 Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavs have been somewhat shaky in this series, including reverting to the 'Lebron-ball' (aka 'Lebron and Four Guys') offense. Yet, they have managed to take each game down to the wire. On the other hand, the Magic seem to be playing the best basketball they have played all season. If the Cavaliers continue to make adjustments as they had done for Game 4, they can put the pressure back on Orlando. While the Cavaliers have looked tentative, nervous, and scared throughout this series (as could be seen through their body language and facial expressions), they finally seemed to overcome this at the end of Game 4. Meanwhile, for the first time in the series, Dwight Howard (among others) had a look of fear in his eyes during the overtime period last night.
On this off day in between games, the Cavaliers need to adjust their strategy against the Magic. Here are some suggestions.
On this off day in between games, the Cavaliers need to adjust their strategy against the Magic. Here are some suggestions.
- Continue to run a more fluent offense as they did in Game 4 (as well as all season and in the Detroit series). This means lots of player movement, less isolation, better shot selection (including fewer playcalls for Z for 3 in the corner), fewer forced dribbles/passes, and more creativity. The team needs to run their offense with confidence. The Cavaliers need to take the game to the Orlando defense. While the Magic defense has improved this year, it ultimately hinges on Dwight Howard's shot-blocking ability and intimidating double-teaming. Both of these aspects of Orlando's defense can be countered by active cutting to the basket. In fact, during Game 2, the Cavaliers ran a play where LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas were on one side of the court (drawing Howard's attention) and had Delonte West cut on the other side towards the basket (behind Howard) for the pass and ensuing layup. Overall, the Cavaliers offense should aim to demoralize the Magic defense, destroying the Magic's confidence.
- Continue to use the bench as they did in Game 4 (and all season) and play to those players' strengths. Yes, historically, the NBA Playoffs have seen teams cutting back their rotations and giving their starters more minutes. However, this year's Orlando Magic are not a traditional team in the way they run their offense. Actually, their offense of a post man and 3-point shooters resembles more of a contemporary college offense. In college, the better teams battle fatigue with more frequent substitutions. Analysts such as Charles Barkley have said that the Cavs bench is weak, which seems pretty inaccurate. On the Cavs bench are some experienced and proven playoff performers. The problem for the Cavs is that they have not been playing to the bench's strengths. While Ben Wallace feeds off his defense and Joe Smith can do the same, Daniel Gibson, Wally Szczerbiak, and Sasha Pavlovic feed off their offense for energy and confidence. Thus, the team should take pressure off Mo Williams and Delonte West to score when the bench is in, instead finding numerous opportunities for Boobie, Wally, and Sasha to score. This means more than just spot-up 3-pointers--rather, they need to get Boobie and Sasha cutting and slashing and Wally posting up.
- Put out at least one Orlando Magic offensive fire, including Mickael Pietrus. In Games 3 and 4, the Cavaliers made a calculated gamble in easing off Rafer Alston. While this was a reasonable strategy that worked on backup point guard Anthony Johnson, Alston took full advantage of the situation and the Magic won both games. In fact, Alston and the Magic have already recognized that other teams have tried that strategy in the past (as Alston noted in a pregame interview before Game 4), finetuning their gameplans such that "Skip to My Lou" has scored as much as possible without letting his teammates get too cold. In addition to closing in on Alston, the Cavs need to limit the production of Rashard Lewis and/or Mickael Pietrus. Here, the Cavaliers have an inexperienced yet talented, energetic, and eager Tarence Kinsey who can match the energy level and movement of Lewis and Pietrus. While Lewis has established himself as a constant threat in the Orlando offense, Pietrus seems to have only caught fire since the 2nd round series against the Boston Celtics. Out of the two, Pietrus should be easier to contain. In this series, Pietrus has been the impact player off the bench that has put the series in favor of the Magic. Aside from Pietrus, only Johnson and Marcin Gortat have played meaningful minutes, and neither one of them is a dominant player who takes over games. With that said, Kinsey is the player off Mike Brown's bench who can neutralize the productivity of Mickael Pietrus. In neutralizing Pietrus, the Cavaliers can take over the bench game and feed off the offensive potency of Gibson, Szczerbiak, and Pavlovic.
By turning up the heat on offense, utilizing the bench more, and limiting the offensive production of Mickael Pietrus and Rafer Alston, the Cavaliers can tire the Magic, take away the Magic's confidence, and give themselves another chance to achieve their "One Goal".