[quote name='Feeding the Abscess']Here's Cleveland's problem:
Up until the midway point of this season, their calling card was defense. Ben Wallace/Varejao, LeBron, and Delonte West were all varying degrees of above average to insanely good defensively; Z was a competent rim protector, while Mo Williams has always sucked. Now, four of their five starters are, at best, below average defensively (seriously, why is Anthony Parker starting over West); also, they have ZERO offensive rebounding with Shaq and Jamison, something they grabbed in bunches with Wallace/Varejao/Z in the starting lineup.
Still, LeBron has completely mailed in two playoff games in a row. Unacceptable.[/QUOTE]
I agree in theory but Ben Wallace wasn't on the Cavs this year, neither Z nor Andy started more than maybe 5 games this year and Parker and Delonte share minutes pretty equally.
But other than those gross oversights I agree they are a defensive minded club that can build from that. They are a vastly more athletic club than the Celtics but need to play small to exploit it. Williams, Parker/West, LBJ, Jamison and Andy is a fast lineup that could match up the big three well and while Williams on Rondo is a liability, its better than letting the other three get into the game. Anyway, I think the coaching staff needs to reevaluate their goals from game 5: all defensive focus on Rondo, giving the ball to Shaq when things were falling apart to get that 3rd foul on Perkins - was it that important to have Kendrick

ing Perkins out of the game when we are clogging the lane with Shaq for 30 mins a game? Then find a lineup with some momentum in the first half and play 4 solid quarters.