King James Gospel Roundtable Discussion: Week 5
Did Memphis give a blueprint of how to stop GSW’s offensive attack? They put a big on Kevin Durant and a guard on Draymond Green. Then it was all grit ‘n grind.
Quenton Albertie: I get that the Cleveland Cavaliers won it all last year but we can’t act like the Cavs swept the Golden State Warriors. While guarding Green was something James did well it also meant that Love was often off the floor. This season, with the offensive firepower Love provides, the Cavs would love if he could stay on the floor.
Add in that Durant is a hyper-advanced Harrison Barnes replacement and McGee is taking Andrew Bogut‘s place as a rim-protector but is far more athletic and the challenge is truly harder. I do believe the Cleveland Cavaliers are uniquely designed to take advantage of the Golden State Warriors new Death Lineup though because Tristan Thompson could reasonably stick with Durant, who is far more lanky than explosive.
As far as guards that we can stick on Dray? If Thompson is on Durant, a swingman is on Klay and Curry is being guarded by a guard, James will have to be on Andre Iguodala or Green. While Love will have to prove that he can hang with Green (if not he won’t do better guarding any other player in the Death Lineup), the Cavs will dominate the boards if Green can’t consistently beat him off the dribble. Green will only beat Love off the dribble if allowed to bring the ball up past half court, however, so the secret for the Cavs keeping their starting lineup on the floor is preventing Green from being a point-forward. Can Love pick up Green full-court and chase him around? Yes.
When Love tires, James and Thompson will also be there to help while the Cavs use one of Liggins, Richard Jefferson or Frye to guard Durant. It will be interesting but there is the potential that the Grizzlies blueprint will work for the Cavs defensively.
Jackson Flickinger: The Grizzlies exposed some of the flaws with the Warriors, however I don’t necessarily believe that they gave the Cavs the blueprint. The Cavs figured out how to play against Golden State last year in the Finals. Adding Durant doesn’t necessarily change everything that the Cavaliers do.
The Cavs were successful because they had the personnel to switch on all the screens. They were especially successful when they had LeBron on Green. The pick and roll with Green and Curry was useless when they switched LeBron onto Curry.
Cleveland was also able to win last year because they controlled the paint. Acquiring Durant doesn’t make the Warriors any better at locking down the paint. If they played in a seven game series that started today I would certainly pick the Cavaliers to win.
Daniel Opacich: If Memphis did give us a blueprint, we would be using Thompson or Frye on Durant and Liggins on Green.