FanPost

Can The Raptors Beat Cleveland?


Assuming for the moment that a month from now, when the deal is finalised, that the Cavaliers roster will look much as it does at the moment (Waiters and Thompson may yet be dealt), do we have an answer for them?

I don't have an opinion to argue, here, so... jump ball!

I'm suspicious of advance talk of dynasties, but it's hard to argue that the Cavs frontcourt plus Irving aren't going to be tough to beat. I'll break this down into smaller chunks for discussion purposes.

1. PG. Irving's a good player; I love the way he changes speeds out there, but I don't see him causing as many problems for Kyle as Kyle does for him. Still, not somebody to ignore. How Cleveland integrate him into a frontcourt-heavy offence will be interesting to watch.

2. SG. Right now that would be DD vs Waiters. Nolo contendre. While DD's D [sic] is nothing to write home about, there's nothing about Waiters' game that makes me think he was just another Cleveland screwed up draft pick.

3. Bench. I'm as high on our bench as I've ever been, and while I like Tristan as a player, I really don't think Cleveland's is that great. Plus, against the Cavs, my guess is that TRoss will be on the 2nd unit, adding some extra pop, there.

So, backcourt and bench are ours, I suspect. But what about the front court?

4. Jonas has been pumping hard and looks like a beast, as well as working with Hakeem over the summer. Cleveland have a glaring gap at the 5, and I can't see any of their options, there, beating an improved Jonas consistently. Against Love and LeBron, though, that's a lot of rim protection. Is he up to it? Did Love give him any special problems last year?

5. SF. My guess is that LeBron duty is going to fall to JJ. Thoughts? Can he? Kawhi showed us last spring just how mortal King James is; can JJ play him the same way?

6. Aaand Mr. Love. I have no clue how any of our bigs fared against him last season. Anybody?

Of course, it's not just player/player contrasts that matter. It's how their style of play matches ours. Our ball movement, at its best, will beat them I'm thinking, if we stay on that game. How will JJ fit into that? Waiters, Verajao and Irving didn't impede it much last year, to my uncertain recollection, but James could make a difference, there.

On the other hand, if JJ starts against them, pulling LeBron duty, that would leave Kyle as the only 3 point threat at the perimeter, making it easy to defend against DD. Would we see PPat start to add more of an outside threat and get some lanes open? TRoss shift to the 2 for D & 3's? Successful outside shooting would negate any inside advantage that Cleveland's musculature might have.

And what sort of offence will they run, as a rule, with the horses they've got? All of this assumes, of course, that they can get their offence to gel with a lot of role players.

Actually, the more I think about it, Chicago (if they stay healthy) scare me more than Cleveland. But that's another post.