Before I go into the brief analysis of last night’s game from a basketball standpoint, I have a tangent to address. Due to the fact that we watched the game via NBA League Pass, Mike and I (and thousands of other Cavs fans in other areas of the country) were subjected to a night of color commentary by one of the worst sports broadcasters I have ever heard: Quinn Buckner.
I can’t do his performance justice in text. The best I can do is to say that it was as if he’d won a contest where they pull one random ticket-holder out of the stands in pregame to do the broadcast.
Some of Buckner’s commentary highlights included exclaiming, “Oh no!” several times when the Pacers committed turnovers or blew defensive assignments, exhorting “That’s a foul!” practically any time an Indiana player took any kind of shot in the paint, urging Pacers’ players to “Keep going!” when making an initial move toward the basket, and several other similar phrases. It was like the guy was watching the game at home while unwittingly mic’d up.
The only more openly biased color commentator I have ever heard is Tommy Heinsohn of the Boston Celtics’ broadcast team. And that’s saying something, because unlike Tommy, Quinn Buckner appeared to at least be sober during the telecast.
Also, my over/under on the number of years until another Quinn is broadcasting a different sport in Indiana — specifically, the great Brady Quinn doing Notre Dame football — is 4.
OK, all that out of the way, the point is just about the Cavs’ fourth quarter defense. After looking pathetic for about three quarters, the Cavs clamped down on the Pacers like a wild dog in the 4th, holding Indiana to a total of 13 points on 24 possessions, or .542 points per possession. This is disgustingly good. (Though it’s not a scientific reference point, Doug Collins always talks about how if you can hold a great player like LeBron or Carmelo to 1 point per shot attempt, you’re doing an excellent job on them defensively.)
It was one of the few times this season where the Cavs defense looked like the suffocating curtain we’ve come to know and love in the Coldstone era — especially encouraging when you consider that Delonte was a DNP Coach’s Decision last night. Windhorst even claimed in his post-game blog that JJ played some truly impressive pick-and-roll defense in this period, pointing to one play in particular where he and Mo sabotaged a Troy Murphy / TJ Ford isolated P&R three times in one possession.
We’ll see what comes out of tonight’s game against the Sixers, but I thought it was a truly encouraging win for the future.
-T
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