Sorry I haven't contributed here much

[ATENEARS]

I think I am still reeling that we didn't bring in Shaq last year at the trade deadline, make a run through the playoffs with him and begin to find a gel, such as we appear to be trying to do with this first half of season.

 

I'm just pissed and almost feel like we already missed the boat. I just wanted us to get him in while he was healthy last year and take that shot. Not saying we would have won it all, or advanced any further than we did, but we would have gotten quality intense playoff calibre basketball to play with him in the lineup, instead of this bullshit of going through the motions between every ten days. I just don't see this working as well.

 

#2.) WTF is JJ Hickson doing starting? Ok, I said it ... I've been holding my breath, taking in all the bullshit PR crap about how it makes us better and I just want to puke. C'mon man ... don't give great teams we will face that out to guard four guys instead of five. Crap!

 

I haven't given up, I'm not all that sour, I just don't feel like watching rebuliding and gelling in a season that we HAVE TO WIN IT ALL.

 

Last season, I'd have accepted these trials ... not this season. We appear to have regressed.

 

Someone knock some sense into me, because I just don't see it and I might have been the biggest Shaq fan on this forum last season. I love the guy, I just don't like the whole Hickson mix, and the ups and downs of the effort being displayed.

 

 

[CIMO.]

Disagree about Hickson, he seems like a perfect fit to play next to LeBron. He still needs a lot of work on rebounding and he gets killed by jump shooting 4's (Dirk, Jamison etc), but I thought he's been really good for the most part and I'm fine with him getting plenty of regular season reps.

 

I don't think anyone can judge the Shaq trade until he starts going up against Howard and Pau in the playoffs. I thought he's been pretty decent so far, but it definitely doesn't help when he's missing so many games and they have to keep adjusting styles.

[CIMO.]

And for what it's worth, John from Cavs the Blog gets really analytical about how Shaq affects our defense, giving some good research in what basically comes down to, with Shaq in, we're really good at defending the paint (surprise), bad at defending mid range shots, and still good at defending the 3....

 

What that means is that the Cavaliers are a very good defensive team against teams that practice the “extreme skew” offensively, and a mediocre one against more “conventional” offensive teams. Since the Cavaliers are built for the playoffs, and the Shaq trade was made in large part to fix the Cavs’ matchup problems in the playoffs, let’s see which potential Cavalier playoff opponents practice the “extreme skew” and which ones don’t. Contenders are in no particular order.

 

1. The Boston Celtics

 

Boston is very good at the rim offensively, making a slightly above-average 16.4 shots at the rim per game on a league-best 67% mark from inside. That’s a good thing with how well the Cavs have shut down the paint.

 

Boston is also excellent from the <10 foot range, making a basket more per game than the league average from that zone on a top-three field goal percentage. That’s less good. From the other midrange zones, they make about the average number of baskets on a far better FG%. They are an average team from three-point range. Overall, the Celtics would be a slightly favorable matchup for the Cavs’ new defense. This is because they rely on converting at the rim above all else, but have shown the ability to be very effective from midrange in limited attempts. If the Cavs can shut down their interior game, it will be interesting to see if they get flustered offensively or have trust in their midrange game.

 

2. The Orlando Magic

 

The Magic were one of the biggest “extreme skew” teams in the league last season, and that was a big reason they were able to punish the Cavalier D in the conference finals. This season, they haven’t attempted that many shots at the rim, but still favor shooting a lot of threes over midrange baskets. They attempt a below-average amount of shots at the rim and from every midrange zone, but only the Knicks attempt more threes per game. The Magic are still trying to get healthy and get some offensive chemistry, but this matchup would ultimately come down to how well the Cavs defend the three.

 

3. The Atlanta Hawks

 

The Hawks are average in both attempts and FG% from every area except the paint, where they make the 5th-most shots with the 2nd-best FG% at the rim. This is a team who the Cavs should be able to defend better this season than they would have been last season.

 

4. The Miami Heat

 

The Heat don’t attempt all that many shots. They’re only the 17th-most efficient offense in the league, and play at a very slow pace. Only the Pacers make less shots at the rim per game than the heat, and they aren’t all that gret in any other area from the field either. Where the Heat live is at the line, especially Wade. The defensive key in this series will be making sure the Heat have to get all their baskets from the field.

 

http://www.cavstheblog.com/?p=775

[JohnG71097]

And for what it's worth, John from Cavs the Blog gets really analytical about how Shaq affects our defense, giving some good research in what basically comes down to, with Shaq in, we're really good at defending the paint (surprise), bad at defending mid range shots, and still good at defending the 3....

 

 

I was at the game last night and had seats in the 100 level behind the basket.

 

Shaq still defends the middle against dribble drive penetration as well as he ever has.

 

During the Cavs beginning run in the 3rd qtr, defensively Shaq shut off penetration

just by being there.

 

Granted Z plays a different 5 than Shaq

but with Shaq, Z, and Andy we have great depth there.

 

Plus the fact Shaq is also there to play one on one against Howard

which is something the Cavs couldn't do last playoff series V the Magic.