Hack-a-Howard?

Also see: Musings: LeBron D hurts Cavs, Where was Bynum?, Van Gundy on pressing, Quick Shaq check

Playoff basketball is about making adjustments on the fly. The Cavs took a mighty, surprising bodyblow in Game 1 vs. Orlando after ripping thru the first month of the playoffs.

Granted, they easily could have won the game if Delonte & Mo Williams could have hit their shots at their normal clips. You can still expect some adjustments from Coach Brown, particularly since the Cavs underachieved on the defensive end in Game 1.

Let me suggest a possible adjustment for the Cavs: Hack-a-Howard.

The stat line from Game 1 that jumped out to me the most was this part from Dwight Howard's: 20 field goal attempts to only 2 free throw attempts. Need to get those field goal attempts down in the stat column, while getting his free throw attempts up won't hurt.

Not sure they need to employ the classic Hack-a-Shaq method of fouling Dwight Howard off the ball. But Coach Brown does need to consider the strategy of liberally using fouls on Dwight when he's going at the rim. His mentor, Popovich, was not averse to employing this tactic, and had some success with it.

Make Dwight Howard work for his points at the free throw line. He's not quite as woeful as Shaq, but poor enough. When Dwight has good position and looks like he's got a sure basket, drill him. Send him to the line, where he will most likely shoot 1/2. This could also have the added benefit of getting Dwight mentally off his game, and possibly forcing Van Gundy's hand.

The Cavs don't have a big who matches up with Dwight quite as good as Kendrick Perkins. So, rotate big bodies on Dwight, try to single-team as much as possible, and send the edict to take fouls on Dwight often.

Mike Brown should just view Ben Wallace as six fouls. Tell Ben to be as physical as possible, realizing he's somewhat expendable with Varejao & Joe Smith available. Big Z needs to be a little bit more careful guarding Dwight, but Ben should be aggressive as possible when he's on floor.

I wouldn't fear too much about putting Orlando in the bonus early because their personnel is not naturally inclined to attack the rim. Stay glued to their shooters getting them off the 3-pt. line, try to force mid-range 2-pointers, kinda like playing recent vintage Suns.

Wouldn't you rather the Magic getting the 1 point per possession Howard will likely produce from the line as opposed to letting the deadliest long-range shooting team in league trying to get 3 points per possession?

Not saying this has to be Cleveland's main strategy, just a viable option Coach Brown can consider in his Game 2 game plan.

Also see: Musings: LeBron D hurts Cavs, Where was Bynum?, Van Gundy on pressing, Quick Shaq check