Hey, everyone! This is Deion from In the Mix with Deion A. Sainvil here. Okay, Dude, I’m sorry for getting on your blog and I know you’re busy working on Sentimental 2, but I need to vent. This year’s NBA Finals might be historic and we need to talk about it. I need to get something clear: LeBron, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t say I didn’t believe in you...I just didn’t believe in your team.
America, I thought the Cavs were gonna lose again to the Golden State Warriors. It pains me to say it, but I didn’t see anything from the Cavs that made me confident in them having a chance. I watched them terrorize the East and occasional west coast teams unamused. It’s hard for me to believe in them when they lost twice to the Warriors in the regular season and the second loss--or should I say blowout-- lead to David Blatt getting fired.
I approached the Finals like someone who’s been hurt from a previous relationship and is reluctant to fall in love again. I didn’t want to get emotionally invested because I didn’t want to be disappointed. I couldn’t take another cruel summer. Game 3 told me that LeBron wasn’t going to get swept. I entered Game 4 with hopes that the Cavs could tie it up. It looked hopeful in the beginning but once the Cavs crapped their pants in the last minutes of the fourth quarter the writing re-appeared on the walls.
In comes the reports of Draymond Green’s suspension for Game 5. That was a good thing to hear and it was even better knowing that he couldn’t sit on the bench or be in the Oracle. HA! I watched Game 5 with my fingers crossed the whole time. Seeing LeBron and Kyrie dominate like that was special.Once again, my main LeBron James showed the world why he’s the GOAT. Not only did he drop 41, he nearly messed around and got a triple double!
Now here we are, hours away from Game 6. Cleveland has absolutely no room for error and they are two games away from ending the city’s championship drought. Call me crazy, but I think they can do it. Let me make myself clear, I think they CAN, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they WILL.
You’re right Deion, they’re only two games away from doing what most people didn’t think was probable. They’re two games away from people’s jokes going from LeBron is 2-4 in the finals to LeBron is 3-4 in the finals. They’re only two games away...but these two games are going to be a battle. Like you said, no room for error. The Cavs need to do something that no team has done and make the reigning champs do something they haven’t done at all...lose 3 games in a row. If there’s any team that can do it, the Cavaliers LeBron can do it. I’m rooting for the Cavaliers here, but my heart says that it won’t happen. But if it will happen, this is how it’s going to get done.
In order for the Cavs to win these next two games everyone who’s name isn’t LeBron, Kyrie, or Tristan needs to step up big time. Tristan gets a pass because he’s nearly averaging a double double, but he needs to show up more at the free throw line. If $82 million isn’t enough to get you to shoot at least 50% from the strike, I don’t know what is.
Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith need to get at least 10 points a piece. Iman, $10 million a year should get us more than a few defensive stops on Curry and missed three pointers.
J.R. got 20 in Game 3, showing that he can be an asset if he wanted to be. But instead J.R. wants to be J.R. which includes streaky shooting and consistent foul trouble. Seriously, in any given game this guy will get more fouls than collective assists and rebounds.
You’re asking a lot out of Shumpert to put up a 10 spot and too little out of J.R. We know what J.R. is capable of. He can put up 10 in a quarter if he get’s it going. I would say Shumpert needs to harass Curry, piss him off, and get him out of his zone, and maybe put up 6-7 points. That would be a good day in the office for him. Smith on the other hand, needs at least 15, especially if Kevin decides to leave his talents in Minnesota still.
Mozgov, where ya at?
My biggest disappointment has been in Matthew Dellavedova. This guy Dellave-disappeared and hasn’t been back since his dehydration episode last summer. This was a guy who we once thought could stop Curry. Now he gets scrub minutes and airballs threes. This isn’t the Dellavedova I once had trust in. This isn’t the Dellavedova who scored 19 on the Bulls last season to end the series. He did the opposite of improve. He literally regressed. He got a taste of the spotlight and said “No thanks, mate. I’m good with coming off the bench and doing nothing. But if you need me to take someone out for ya, give me a buzz!”
Delly and the Cavs bench make it hard for the starters to get any type of rest and they’ll be needing it if they want to stand a chance. I don’t even want to get on the topic of Kevin Love, I’ll leave that to you, Dude.
First off, the Cavs bench. They’re averaging 16 points a game as a unit in the finals. I’m sure Shaun Livingston could get that single handedly for the Warriors. I have one simple message for the Cav’s artillery men…”Do More.” Alright, so let’s bring up Kevin Love again because he is a main issue of discussion. It’s clear cut that buddy has not put the impact he’s capable of putting on the game. Forget the scoring real quick, but I remember a Kevin Love that could get 18 boards on the daily and now I see him getting bitched up by Varejao or Bogut on the boards. But then again, when your biggest advertisement plug is for chocolate milk, that’s pretty soft. A grown ass man should not be drinking chocolate milk after a workout. If I’m balling against you and you go to get a sip of chocolate milk, I might just hand you a sippy cup to drink from. Love has never looked softer in his life than when he’s trying to crash the boards amongst the bigger kids who drank their milk when they were young. Offensively, well, he’s been pretty trash too, straight up. Two points in game 5? TWO?! This man has less confidence right now than a pubescent teen walking up to his crush. If the Cavs are going to win, they need him to pick up the slack. I’m not saying score 25 and grab 10, but make them respect you. At this point, your job is to space the floor out for LeBron and Kyrie to do their thing. If he can stay out on the perimeter, hit a couple 3’s to make them respect his shot, I think he puts the Cavs in a good position. A 15 point and 8+ rebound effort from Love could go a long way. But if his confidence is shot early in the game, he can do one of two things: ride the bench or stay in the corner as a weak ass distraction.
Kyrie has really surprised me these Finals. I can’t lie, I doubted whether this man was for real or not. Well, after that Game 5 performance (and finals series overall), how can I say that he isn’t about that winning life? He’s averaging close to 30 a game in his first finals appearance and making the two-time MVP look like child’s play on the defensive end. It’s obvious he wants to win and has the capacity to do so, but I’m not sure whether he knows how to win. In Game 4, the Cavs were in the situation to come out with a win and tie the series. Kyrie was eating for most of the game, but during a 4 minute stretch in the final minutes of the game, his lack of experience showed. He was trying to force plays that weren’t there and was costing his team with turnovers or bad shot selections. Kyrie is going to get his in Game 6, but if it’s a close game in the final minutes and he tries to force things or speed up the game too much for himself, the Quicken Loans Arena will be smelling like Champagne once again from the Warriors.
Let’s talk defense. I wouldn’t say the Cavs defense has been terrible, but it sure could be better, particularly from 3-point land. The Cavs’ switches in the perimeter haven’t been smooth and often times, Curry gets squared up with Love and the results can be added to Curry’s highlight tape, or confusion occurs and there’s someone wide open in the post for a red carpet dunk. Communication has to improve. Also, the second chance points need to go entirely. Bogut is out for the rest of the playoffs. When you have Love and Thompson in your lineup, there’s no reason for an undersized Green to get an offensive rebound or an unathletic Varejao to grab one solely because he “ran harder than you” or the ball happens to fall in his hands which happened soooo many times Game 4! The Warriors are a potent offense, if they don’t hit you the first time, there’s a good chance they’ll pop you the second time around. They’re doing a good job at being aggressive, especially on Curry. This also depends on how generous the refs are being. When Curry is defended aggressively and he isn’t getting his calls, he’s going to have a quiet performance. The thing is, you can’t just silence Curry and win the game. The Warriors are stacked. Even their towel boys can hit a 3, it’s ridiculous. If the Cavs can limit the 3’s and keep it inside the mid-range area, they have a good shot at winning it all.
