Situational Awareness Series: Stopping LeBron

[coffee425]

Preface: Since one of the most common topics on this forum is centered around the compilation of the best Celtics lineup given the current constructed roster, I thought it'd be fun to discuss this topic in the context of situations that CBS will have to face during every game. So begins the Situational Awareness Series.. There will be an in-game situation for every post. Please post your best 5 players to put on the floor, and of course, the logic behind it.

Situation 6: Let's face it, last year's playoffs ended as an absolute joke. Of course it was nice to see the team get playoff experience, but 4-0 skunk showed that that last year's personnel just wasn't ready for a team of that caliber. Frankly, there's no sense in talking about championships as long as the road goes through Cleveland. Even scarier is that their key players (soon to include Tristan Thompson) will be locked up for the next few years. Do we have any lineup that can simultaneously slow down LBJ on both ends of the floor, make Kyrie work hard on defense, and keep their bigs off of the boards? My only solution is to stuff the paint, and dare the Cavs to shoot. On offense, just have spread 4s playing pick'n'pop with IT4. Will it work? No idea. Since this LBJ puzzle has yet to be deciphered, your scheme can be however you wish.


My 5 :
Isaiah Thomas - The only true PnR guard at this moment, forces their giants into tough decisions especially with the Pick'n'Pop with a spread 4. On defense, don't you dare get beat by Iman Shumpert
Jae Crowder - Just keep LBJ and Kyrie in front of you and make any open 3 you get.
Jonas Jerebko - Just keep LBJ in front of you and keep Tristan Thompson/KLove off the boards. Make your 3s please.
Jared Sullinger - played great against the Cavs last year by clearing space for the boards, while exploiting their bigs lack of 1on1 post defense.
Amir Johnson - Grab boards and challenge the Cavs at the rim. On offense, roll hard and finish strong.



Your thoughts?

Previous threads
SAS 5 - Clutch - http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80207.0
SAS 4 - Tall Ball: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80191.0
SAS 3 - Small Ball: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80180.0
SAS 2 - Shooters: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80160.0
SAS 1 - Athleticism: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80139.0

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I don't think you can stop LeBron, but you can limit his effectiveness by not double teaming and give him the jump shot.

Now he's still a good enough shooter to kill you, but at least he doesn't kill you in foul trouble or assisting. Play him straight, switch on lick and rolls and give him the jumper, but make sure he has no open teammate to pass too. If he makes the shot, try harder, but at least his teammates are not in rhythm.

Easier said than done, but to me it makes sense.

[Csfan1984]

KO arm-bar

[crimson_stallion]

My approach against Cleveland would be to attack them with lots of:

a) Speed
b) Ball movement
c) Shooting

They have a roster full of crappy defensive players (Thompson, Love, Irving, Mo Williams, etc) combined with a Lebron James who plays defense more or less when he feels like it. Mozgov and Shumpert are basically the only consistent defensive presence the team has...and with all the huge contracts they're throwing out, that roster will be staying the same for a long time.

I say if you want to beat the Cavs you do it by forcing their poor perimeter defenders to run around chasing the ball - lots of speed, lots of ball movement,  constantly swinging the ball around the court.

On the front court, keep at least 4 outside threats on the court at all times - force their bigs (Love and Mozgov) to leave the paint and to go after shooters, which then opens up opportunities for offensive rebounds.

A relatively quick lineup like this also helps us make things hard for them on defense, because  we'll have the speed/mobility/versatility to stick with the ball and switch on the P&R.

I'm thinking...

PG - Terry Rozier
SG - Marcus Smart
SF - Jonas Jerebko
PF - Amir Johnson
C - Tyler Zeller

Defense
The key part here is the three headed monster of Smart/Jerebko/Johnson - all three  of those guys can defend their own position, one position above, or one position below.  Smart can cover PG/SG/SF, Jerebko can cover SG/SF/PF and Johnson can cover SF/PF/C.  Those three guys form a versatile defensive trio who can cover the P&R as well as any probably trio in the league.

Zeller has the mobility / size combination to defend both frontcourt positions, while Rozier has the speed and length to defend both guard positions without much trouble.   


Offense
Rozier, Smart, Jerebko and Johnson can all step out and hit the three, while Zeller has developed into a dangerous midrange shooter.  Everybody on this roster can hit jumpers, so it forces everybody on the Cleveland team (bigs and perimeters players alike) to respect the shot.

At the same time Rozier, Jerebko, Johnson and Zeller can all get to (and score at) the basket, so it makes it Cavs can't afford to defend the perimeter too closely. 

Everybody (bar Jerebko) here is a capable passer too, so you should end up with plenty of ball movement. 

Finally this is an extremely agile/athletic lineup, so plenty of movement.

I think this would prove to be a tough lineup to defend.

Rebounding
Zeller, Johnson and Jerebko are all solid rebounding bigs (9, 8 and 8 rebounds Per 36 respectively) while Rozier and Smart are both very good rebounders at the guard positions.  None of these guys are dominant rebounders on their own, but I think as a team this team will grab it's share of rebounds.

[max215]

Rozier
Smart
Jerebko
Crowder
Amir

So much defensive ability and versatility.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

I go

Thomas (on Shumpert)
Smart (on Irving)
Crowder (on James)
Sully (on K-Love)
Amir (on Mozgov)

[viulo]

Rozier
Smart
Jerebko
Crowder
Amir

So much defensive ability and versatility.

Perfect frontcourt - TP for you.
I'm unsure about the guards, though.
I think you have to have Bradley there to keep up with Irving, but maybe Rozier can do it. If he can, then Smart would be a great help; if it has to be Bradley, then probably Thomas would be needed for his ball handling skills, as long as he can defend a bit.

[jpotter33]

Smart
Turner
Crowder
JJ
Amir

All are competent enough shooters to space the floor, all can switch into Lebron, and all are average to above average defenders.

[littleteapot]

I agree with a lot of people here that you beat Lebron by outgunning him on the other end.

I would definitely put Crowder at the 3 in anticipation that Lebron will play there. You're going to have to switch, but you don't want to have cross-matches from the start. I would go with Smart-Turner as my starting guards and having whoever Lebron doesn't guard be the primary ball-handler. I'd have Lee and Amir as my bigs because they're the best we have to offer, and Lee could do some damage against the Cavs power forwards.

[Moranis]

Boston will not beat Cleveland in a 7 game series.  Be lucky to win 1 game.  Sad but true reality of the current state of the two teams.

[coffee425]

Really interesting to see all of the love for Rozier.
Personally, I don't trust rookies yet but any backcourt of Rozier and Smart would be great defensively. Albeit, provide no 3pt shooting and potentially turnover-prone

[Celtics4ever]

We'd have a better chance in a street fight than a basketball game.   I see no SF that we have that can match up with him. 

I would definitely put Crowder at the 3 in anticipation that Lebron will play there.

Crowder did not even remotely contain him.  For all the talk of his great D, LeBron averaged  27 PPG that series and shot 47% from the field.   Watching him this series I got a sense he was coasting and toying with us.

http://www.nba.com/games/20150421/BOSCLE/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:serieshubs:mid:seriesschedule#nbaGIboxscore 

PP could contain him a little and had offensive pop to cancel out some of James's scoring but we don't have a guy who can do that folks.

[littleteapot]

We'd have a better chance in a street fight than a basketball game.   I see no SF that we have that can match up with him. 

I would definitely put Crowder at the 3 in anticipation that Lebron will play there.

Crowder did not even remotely contain him.  For all the talk of his great D, LeBron averaged  27 PPG that series and shot 47% from the field.   Watching him this series I got a sense he was coasting and toying with us.

http://www.nba.com/games/20150421/BOSCLE/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:serieshubs:mid:seriesschedule#nbaGIboxscore 

PP could contain him a little and had offensive pop to cancel out some of James's scoring but we don't have a guy who can do that folks.

I'm guessing no one here thinks we have any good options to beat a premier team like the Cavs that happens to have the best player in the NBA. I think having Crowder be the primary defender on Lebron, trying to avoid doubles and cross-matches and putting enough offense on the other side is the best of many bad options. Do you have any better ideas?

[coffee425]

We'd have a better chance in a street fight than a basketball game.   I see no SF that we have that can match up with him. 

I would definitely put Crowder at the 3 in anticipation that Lebron will play there.

Crowder did not even remotely contain him.  For all the talk of his great D, LeBron averaged  27 PPG that series and shot 47% from the field.   Watching him this series I got a sense he was coasting and toying with us.

http://www.nba.com/games/20150421/BOSCLE/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:serieshubs:mid:seriesschedule#nbaGIboxscore 

PP could contain him a little and had offensive pop to cancel out some of James's scoring but we don't have a guy who can do that folks.

I'm guessing no one here thinks we have any good options to beat a premier team like the Cavs that happens to have the best player in the NBA. I think having Crowder be the primary defender on Lebron, trying to avoid doubles and cross-matches and putting enough offense on the other side is the best of many bad options. Do you have any better ideas?

not literally, but we got a deep bench and 5 fouls a person..

[Chris22]

KO arm-bar

Or submarine him the way he did against Indiana in the playoffs.