While an initial glance of Cleveland’s 89-73 victory over Detroit may signify that the new guys played well, Detroit’s lethargy masked the quartet’s actual effectiveness.
Ben Wallace:
Wallace started the game stale and stagnant as ever. Twice he failed to show on screen/rolls resulting in a Tayshaun Prince jumper and a drive and dish to Antonio McDyess for a layup.
Wallace failed to fight through Rasheed Wallace’s uninspired box outs, set sluggish screens, and was a complete non-factor.
But since Detroit was sleepwalking themselves, Big Ben’s shadow gradually became more effective against the Detroit Piston ghosts.
Seven times Rasheed Wallace half-heartedly ventured into the paint and attacked Big Ben. His pet move was to hold the ball for a few seconds on the left box before softly backing down Ben and then reverse pivoting off his right foot for a fallaway jumper.
The results were:
- A missed mid-post turnaround from the right of the lane
- A slow reverse pivot turnaround leading to a questionable foul call on Ben. (‘Sheed hit both free throws)
- A slow reverse pivot fadeaway split the nets
- The same move was bricked
- The same move was blocked
- The same move was botched
- A subtle Big Ben bump on a Rasheed sweeping hook caused an airball
Totaling up the numbers, Rasheed ended up shooting 1-6 from the field with two free throws and four points in seven possessions. Certainly an acceptable defensive performance.
And since Ben’s juices were oozing slightly less slowly than Detroit’s, he was able to make several more timely defensive plays, such as:
- Blocking an Antonio McDyess dunk attempt
- Helping off his man to block Chauncey Billups coming off a screen
- Closing Rasheed off the three-point line with the shot clock winding down, forcing a hurried miss
- It should be noted that the only time a Piston challenged Ben with any energy, Wallace was too slow rotating on a Prince drive and ended up on a poster.
On offense, Wallace was lethargic and useless, setting poor screens, lounging on the weak-side, getting rid of the ball after catching it, as if it were a hot potato.
Of Wallace’s four attempts, one was a missed tip-in, two were “avert your eyes” fadeaways, and the one that went through the hoop was a nifty (lucky) two-handed jumping heave off an offensive rebound to beat the first half buzzer.
While Wallace showed that he can still have his moments on defense, how much of his performance was the result of his courage, and how much was a result of Detroit’s comatose play?
I’d venture the latter over the former.
Delonte West:
Delonte West (3-13 FG, 1-3 3FG, 6 AST, 4 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 7 PTS had trouble penetrating on Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton, and when he did turn the corner, he was unable to finish over Detroit’s length.
West hit two of four jumpers when he was left all alone after Cleveland penetration. He also made a nice baseline cut and received a brilliant pass from Zydrunas Ilgauskas for a layup. His other attempts, whether in early offense or whether attempting to create, were all well off.
West’s passing was on target and he usually put the ball in good position for his teammates to shoot. None of his two turnovers were directly related to bad passing, as one came when he couldn’t penetrate on Rodney Stuckey and he pushed him in attempt to get separation for a shot, and a second came when he expected Sasha Pavlovic to zig while Sasha chose to zag.
West is fearless, gritty, and would make a nice backup, but he’s limited athletically, a factor that will come into play later in the playoffs.
Wally Szczerbiak:
Wally’s World showed that he can still hit jumpers when an offense runs set designed to get him open. Three times, Wally was able to run around low curls and hit jumpers, and he was fouled on two more occasions. Wally also hit a catch-and-shoot three after a LeBron penetration left him open.
Later in the game when Detroit’s bigs showed on the curls and allowed the defender to catch up, Wally was forced to fire up fadeaways from the high post with no prayer of going in.
Can the Pistons run the kind of offense Wally needs to maximize his effectiveness? Probably not.
But it was nice to see Cleveland’s offense employ some weak-side movement designed to get a player in an advantageous scoring position, rather than the rudimentary driving and kicking they rely on.
Wally was physical enough to grind with any player who tried to out-tough him, but he was left in Rip Hamilton‘s, Tayshaun Prince’s, and Jarvis Hayes’ dust when he had to defend them in space.
This is another limitation that will be exploited in the playoffs.
Joe Smith:
Mr. Smith (1-1 FG, 1-2 FT, 1 REB, 1 AST, 3PTS) wasn’t asked to do much, but he reversed the ball leading to a Devin Brown jumper, he hit an 18-footer, and he competed hard for every loose ball. He’s a valuable fourth big man in a rotation.
While each of the new Cavaliers performed his role admirably against Detroit, Cleveland still has considerable flaws.
Since neither West, Szczerbiak, or Pavlovic can create their own shots, the Cavs offense is even more LeBron-centric with Larry Hughes out. The Cavs don’t have the length or quickness to defend the perimeter well, and of their four bigs, the only reliable offensive player is Zydrunas Ilgauskas. In fact, the Cavs may now be one of the least athletic teams in the NBA.
The main problem with the new Cavaliers is the same problem the old Cavaliers had: The philosophy that everything on offense has to revolve around LeBron James.
Maybe if Detroit sleepwalks through another Cavs-Pistons series, Cleveland can pull another upset; but these Cavs are too one-dimensional on offense and too slow on defense to challenge Boston in the East.
No comments:
Post a Comment