Trouble ahead!
Sotis, even fans can tell when things are going south, which ans the situation must be dire.
The ga had just restarted when the Bulls put together a 10-3 "surge."
That’s when Cavaliers fans realized that, compared to the offensive woes caused by Marion’s absence, the exposed defensive problems without him were even greater.
Without him, the Cavaliers only had JJ Hickson on the wing.
Originally, he contributed an average of 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per ga this season.
But that was initially...
At the start of the season, he played as a starter.
Now, with Marion on the Cavaliers, he had been sitting on the bench the entire ti.
His growth was not as expected.
Although a rookie from ’08, his performance on the court still resembled a green novice.
The Cavaliers had already struggled to stop Derrick Rose’s breakthroughs.
He scored 25 points in the last ga.
It’s worth ntioning...
Derrick Rose was sowhat like Reggie Miller. Originally, in his rookie season, he averaged 16.8 points and 6.3 assists. Co playoff ti, those numbers rose to 19.7 points and 6.4 rebounds; in his second regular season, he averaged 20.8 points and 6 assists, which further increased to 26.8 points and 7.2 assists during the playoffs; in his third season, he averaged 25 points in the regular season and managed to score an average of 27.1 points across 16 playoff gas, including what happened in the "Lu Bu fighting three heroes" in the Eastern Conference Finals!
Another point...
Su Wan believed he would beco the NBA’s "second-youngest regular-season MVP," which had heaped pressure on him. Yet, this pressure also drove him, as it boosted his stats in his career’s second season to 22.4 points and 7 assists per ga.
The average stats of a rookie can often represent their progress.
Thus, the saying "judge a rookie after three years."
LeBron doesn’t count.
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Even his fans called the ’09 version of LeBron "Young Jas."
Entering the league in ’03, and still "Young Jas" in ’09, the "Chosen One" was truly exceptional.
Others took three years to evaluate, but the "Chosen One" required six!
In this ga, Derrick Rose made more accurate judgnts about the Cavaliers’ periter defense. He played very well in the first half, already racking up 15 points. After Marion got injured and left the ga in the third quarter, half of the Bulls’ "Scoring Wave" ca from his breakthroughs.
After the tiout, the Cavaliers made so adjustnts, although not significant enough.
Mainly because they had no one to use...
Back in 2010, the Cavaliers’ front line was made up of "Big Z," "Shark," and Vallejo, three "at shields" used in rotation.
Now with "Big Z" on the Heat Team and "Shark" on the Pacers, only Vallejo remains, and without anyone to help him on the side, Derrick Rose wasn’t too daunted by him.
How should I put it?
Of the three "at shields," the least effective one was left!
Bill Walton, watching Rose creating havoc under the Cavaliers’ basket, comnted, "If Derrick really becos the regular-season MVP in the next two seasons, I wouldn’t be surprised!"
He had to admit that he could sll the scent of an MVP on Rose.
But not being able to guard Derrick Rose wasn’t the crux of the issue, there was also the absence of a primary offensive player for the Cavaliers.
After Shawn Marion left the court, the Bulls shifted more attention to LeBron.
Everyone knows that once there’s no one to divert the defense from LeBron, his lack of shooting ability becos a glaring weakness, leading to one awkward layup after another.
Placing all hopes on the referees.
But where was LeBron’s "Chosen One" treatnt now?
His whistleblowing treatnt was at the standard "superstar" level.
Throughout the entire series, he might average about six calls per ga.
And this was still considering that aside from breaking through, he had no other tactics...
Seeing such effective defense from the Bulls, they doubled down on this strategy.
Kenny Smith said, "Honestly, Su Wan and his years with the Pacers really taught other teams how to restrain LeBron!"
However, during the regular season, other teams would not defend like this; it’s only during the playoffs that they’d target him with such extre asures.
This is essentially a gamble.
The bet is on LeBron’s teammates failing to show up.
In the regular season, with less defensive intensity, ordinary players can perform well, thus such a defensive strategy wouldn’t significantly limit LeBron.
But co the playoffs, when the defensive intensity ramps up and everyone is eager to advance to the next round, the pressure on role players increases.
So who perford well in the regular season suddenly slump in the playoffs.
This happens every year.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t have terms like "regular season superstar."
And among the kinds of players likely to slump...
Shooters are the most common!
Because when their shots aren’t falling, shooters have limited ans to adjust their touch. Just keep them cold, and every missed shot is t with resounding clangs off the rim.
And the Cavaliers lot...
Were all shooters!
Including point guard Mo Williams.
He had so handling and breakthrough ability while playing for the Bucks.
But over ti with the Cavaliers, he slowly beca just a spot shooter...
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