| Sasha Pavlovic is potential key to playoff run |
The Miami Heat have had a scout at nearly every game the Cavaliers have played during the past two and a half weeks. The Cavs' advance scout has been deployed to watch the Heat for about the same time frame. Each team has advisors and pro personnel executives already breaking each other down.
Nothing is settled yet, but the stars are aligning -- see the Chicago Bulls' 30-point win over the Washington Wizards Sunday, reducing their magic number to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference to one -- and the preparation is ramping up.
Which means, despite his fervent denials about looking a day into the future, Cavs coach Mike Brown is already considering how he's going to deal with the Heat. It's likely that many of those thoughts center on a challenging issue, if not a high-profile one: How to use Sasha Pavlovic.
Certainly the buildup to a Heat-Cavs series would include plenty of Dwyane Wade-LeBron James profiles, the many tried and failed ways to handle Shaquille O'Neal, and other more trendy issues, but Pavlovic could be a central figure in the series.
Pavlovic's dynamic offensive play and improving defense has been perhaps the greatest positive in the second half of the Cavs' season. But two things must be weighed when it comes to facing the Heat. One, he's got virtually no playoff experience. And second, his opposite number on the defensive end would be Wade himself.
It is a piece of a greater issue, actually. Thinking long term, Brown would perhaps serve the organization best if he were to give playoff novices Pavlovic and Daniel Gibson heavy minutes to see just what they have and let them cut their teeth for future postseasons when the Cavs are better positioned for a legitimate run at a title.
But to give the Cavs the best chance of winning now, which is always the coach's prerogative, the most prudent way for Brown to proceed is to use veterans Eric Snow or Ira Newble more often because they are perhaps the team's best perimeter defenders. Especially Snow, considering Wade might have to get minutes at point guard because there's a chance Heat backup Gary Payton will miss some of the series due to a leg injury.
Larry Hughes, of course, is an option, but he will have his hands full with Heat point guard Jason Williams much of the time. In addition, Hughes has struggled guarding Wade this season. See Wade's 41-point performance back in February in Miami, when Hughes couldn't keep him out of the lane in a fourth-quarter meltdown.
What it might come down to is whether Pavlovic will be able to make Wade work and stay out of foul trouble in the process. Pavlovic's lateral movement is not great, but he makes up for it somewhat with his size. The challenge with Wade is to keep him in front and make him take jumpers instead of getting to the basket to draw double teams and fouls. The entire Heat roster is set up to punish other teams when O'Neal and Wade get double teams.
Even if the Bulls do lose their season finale and the Cavs draw another playoff opponent, the New Jersey Nets perhaps, the challenge is still there because then Pavlovic would have to deal with Vince Carter. In the game against the Nets last week, Carter got Pavlovic in foul trouble and Brown had to go to Newble in the first quarter.
It is an issue that will no doubt bear watching in the coming weeks
Used courtesy of: Beacon Journal |
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