I only saw the first half of G1, but it appeared that the Celts decided to have whoever was being covered by LBJ go hide in the corner while the other Celts played 4v4 against the rest of the Cavs.
Seems like this would mitigate any attempts to wear out LBJ my making him play D, but it also took away CLE’s best defensive player.
Thoughts?
Seems like a wise move. The day the Cavs go to a zone defense, which would be the normal response, I'll eat my hat. Normally, you'd expect them to switch to get James off that player and into the flow of defending the main offensive action, but the Celtics can respond by just taking that new player and swapping them out with whoever James had been previously covering. So it comes down to:
1) Can the Cavs pick moments and switch fluidly without giving up buckets in the course of switching?
2) Can the Celtics' players run the offensive action despite wings suddenly needing to take part in plays they weren't anticipating? i.e., are their players sufficiently interchangeable?
3) Can the Celtics abuse the new switches, such that the "hiding" player who now has a non-James defender on him can either get into the offensive action easily or immediately cut or otherwise take advantage of the momentary confusion? (sort of the flip of #1)
It's a strategy with obvious benefits (no James help defense) but also plenty of risks (most plays are for 5v5, plus the above questions). As usual, depends on if/how Cleveland responds.
