When LeBron James made his NBA debut in 2003, Jakob Pöltl was eight years old. “I played basketball for fun,” recalled the 22-year-old. But with Pöltl Austria now also has an NBA pro since last year, who will meet “King James” and the Cleveland Cavaliers again with the Toronto Raptors in the second play-off round (all information about matchups and live streams) starting on Wednesday night.
Last year, the “Cavs” swept over the “predators” with 4:0 in the “best of seven” series. “This year, however, our chances are definitely better,” stressed Pöltl in an interview with the APA on Monday after the final training in Toronto. The Viennese named for it the combination of two factors: On the one hand the successful change of the play style with more ball circulation and distance throws, which helped the Raptors to the club record of 59 victories in the basic passage, on the other hand the personnel fluctuation with the opponent.
“The Cavaliers have lost a few good players and may have become more predictable because they now have fewer star players on their team,” said Pöltl, who warned against underestimating the Cavs. “They’re still very dangerous.”
But there’s no doubt that runners-up are megastar James. The 33-year-old has won three NBA titles (2012, 2013 and 2016) and was voted the most valuable player (MVP) in the final series. In addition, there are four regular MVP titles (2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013), 14 convocations to the All-Star team (2005 to 2018), eleven nominations for the All-NBA-First team (2006 and 2008 to 2017) and an award as top scorer (2008) of the world’s best basketball league. And in his 15th NBA season, the man from Akron/Ohio is still setting standards, as he did last Sunday with 45 points in the opening match against the Indiana Pacers.
“LeBron’s playing a hell of a season, no question. You have to find the right mix to get it under control, but still not let the role players come into play,” Pöltl explained what it will be all about to stop the “king”. “LeBron is the type of player who can hit you 30 points in almost every game. But that won’t be a problem until another player has 20 and the next 15, so we can’t let a player like Tristan Thompson come into play.”
But of course it is also important to keep an eye on James. “LeBron is so difficult to defend, not only because he is a very good attacking player, but also a good passer. This enables him to perfectly integrate his team mates into the game. That’s why we need to read the game as well as we can to get a feel for how he’s playing. Whether he’s looking straight at his passports, or whether he’s trying to aggressively create a throw for himself. Our defense must respond accordingly.”
Pöltl is of course also aware that Toronto can now be the team that James can knock off the throne with his teams en suite after seven final participations. “But it’s not about ending LeBron’s dominance, it’s about being next in the final and maybe even champions.” And with a view to this great goal, one has to “logically” eliminate James and the “Cavs”.
According to Austria’s NBA pioneer, one thing above all is important for achieving this historic success: “We have to play hard. It’s about the’Hustle’ and the fight. Those who are more energetic and really believe that they can win the series will win it in the end.”