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I'm actually positive on Blatt, and think it'll be an interesting experiment - particularly in contrast to Spoelstra. I want to see how Spo fares with this new Miami team (which is certainly a competent enough team to get into the playoffs and perhaps advance into the 2nd/3rd round).
>they've got an inexperienced coach. david blatt has never >coached in the nba, and never coached a postseason series (the >cup competitions in european basketball are single elimination >knockout tournaments, like march madness, so blatt's never had >to beat the same team 4 times, or make adjustments on the fly >after a loss w/ little turnaround time)
All facts, but I have a good feeling about Blatt - but it's all speculation at this point. That said, after watching nearly every Miami game over the past 4 years, I was low on Spoelstra and very much welcome a fresh mind/voice to coach this Bron-led team.
>none of their young rotation guys (love, irving, thompson, >waiters) have played a single postseason minute.
I'd still take them over the war-torn (very old) and weathered Miami team.
>all of their supporting guys are on the declining side of >their careers, and could fall off a cliff at any minute. at >the start of the 2015 playoffs, anderson varejao will be 32, >james jones will be 34, mike miller and brendan haywood will >be 35, shawn marion will be 37, and ray allen (assuming he's >signed) will be 39.
I'm also fine w/ this. Marion, Miller, Haywood, Jones, and Allen will all play such minimal roles that they will just need to be effective in very short bursts - and all of them (with the exception of Haywood IMO) are capable of doing that.
>their defense is probably going to be awful. last season, >there were 77 players who defended at least 5 shots per game >at the rim. ranked in order of fg% allowed on those shots >(http://tinyurl.com/nexl9fo) varejao was 64th, love was 74th >and thompson was 76th. they have no rim protection >whatsoever.
This is my biggest concern. After cringing through a lack of rim protection in Miami, that won't change in Cleveland. My hope is that younger, active bodies means a more spirited defensive effort, but there's no denying the facts that you just laid out. They will need to pick up a rim protector and paint-presence defender at some point.
>they aren't the healthiest bunch. over his 3 season career, >kyrie irving has averaged ~60 games played per year. kevin >love has averaged about the same over 6 seasons. and over the >last 4 seasons, anderson varejao has played ~36 games per >year. that's 3 starters. there's a very real possibility that >their top 2 centers, varejao and haywood, are both watching >the playoffs in suits.
I'm actually optimistic about the health of this team - particularly Love and Kyrie, who will not have to endure the type of minutes and or heavy absorption on their bodies that they've been accustomed to doing carrying teams w/ little talent. There will be enough talent on this team to ensure nobody has to carry a disproportionate load. That said, I don't see Lebron continuing to play the minutes he's been playing, as that was one of his biggest issues w/ last year's Miami team - so Kyrie and Love will have to play big, but not nearly as big as they've been accustomed to playing, which should yield a much lower injury rate.
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