The Cavs will fall victim to Blatts loose ship that he's been captaining all season.
So when I say he's being outcoached, it has far more to due with lack of team dicipline than it is making excuses about injuries.
Having a couple of decent P&R looks during the game doesnt mean anything to me. The fact this organization (before Love injury) thought they were going to pick and roll their way to a championship was just baffling to me.
Its unfair to criticize LeBron for not playing in the post or even Kyrie for not playing D when their coach hasn't demanded that from them during the season.
But getting back to you point... Kyrie should be expected to adequately guard his position. He's not doing anything other than scoring. That doesn't really help the team right now. He needs to be in triple double mode, not LeBron. That would free LeBron from having to play baseline to baseline while getting LeBron easy looks in the open court.
And the team overall would be better if Kyrie was putting up 16-18 point, 7-9 assists and 6-8 rebounds while holding Rose in check. Think Mike Conley. I know Kyrie ain't Mike Conley, but that's an example of the type of impact you need from the PG position in a series like this.
I agree with Kyrie's defense. That can definitely be criticized and if you want to blame the coach for that than it is what it is. He looked like he had picked it up during this season for the most part, but then it fell off again. To me, he just looks gassed (or injured).
As far as Lebron playing in the post...I think its unfair to criticize Blatt for that. One of the main reasons the organization traded Wiggins for Love was so Lebron didn't have to play in the post all the time. It was one of the reasons he returned. Playing in the post takes too much of a toll on his body (according to him) and he clearly wanted to play mostly on the perimeter this season. In the Boston series, Love was getting plenty of looks in the post and it was creating great offense for us. The versatility of Love's offensive game created so many opportunities for Bron and Ky that they probably could have PnR'd their way to a title. Love allows Bron to play his drive n kick game with ease and when the team needs to go in the post, Love was the go to guy for that.
When Bron went into the post it was just a bonus. The only game I remember where Bron played a lot in the post was against the GSW, and it's because Blatt told him to. There was literally no one on that team who could guard him and he dropped 40 something. Butler is a way better Bron defender than Green, Igudaula or Harrison Barnes. His defense is Kawhi-esque and he really makes Bron work in that post up position.
Back to Kyrie... I understand you want him to be a more Connelly/Wall type player, but he hasn't had to be with Love. Love allows Kyrie and Bron to play their games to the best of their abilities. Now that he's out, Kyrie somehow must be a rebounding machine and create 9 assists, but for who, exactly? It may be a bit too late now. We don't have the personnel. I definitely think Kyrie can become that type of player, but its something he has to develop and im not sure he can do that on the spot before game 2. I know i'm makin the injury excuse, but Love's injury has been detrimental to this team and the dominating fashion they've been playing from Jan. through the Boston series. It forces Bron and Kyrie to play a different style of ball then they've been playing all season and I guess we will see if Blatt can force them to adjust. And even if they do adjust to Ky being a facilitator and Bron in the post, there is no guarantee it would work.
we need love and jr..
