Recap: Golden State 132, Cleveland 98 (or, as bad as Dick and Shore)
2016-01-19https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2kGOCs3Z80
As I sit here, it’s the beginning of the fourth quarter, and the Cavs are down by close to forty. There’s no chance the Cavs are coming back, and really, there was no chance the Cavs were coming back after the first quarter. Tonight, the Warriors proved that the Cavs are not on their level. I’m not sure anyone is. If you’re a Cavs fan and you have this DVRed, don’t watch it. You’re better off spending two hours watching Pauly Shore and Andy Dick in the 1994 classic, “In the Army Now.” I linked it here for your viewing pleasure. This Cavs game has been worse than that movie.
First Quarter: Cleveland came out like liquid nitrogen, and the Warriors came out like hot magma. The Cavs started Mozgov over Thompson to counter Bogut, so Curry found Bogut inside, then hit a three from 28-feet, while Klay Thompson canned five points worth of long jumpers. It was 10-2 before the first two minutes were up. Timo hit some nice buckets around the basket, combined with a 17-footer, and JR ran in off the line to make it 15-11 before a Dubs timeout. That was the closest it would be for the rest of the game.
Steph got a pass coming off a screen on the right wing curl and swished the first of a few dozen triples from that spot. A couple plays later, the Cavs tried to trap the Curry/Green pick and roll, and Green rolled HARD straight at Mozgov who was hapless as Draymond found Ezeli for layups on two straight gorgeous passes. I noted, “Wow, LeBron is not crashing down to help with that at all.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RhEFye7fio
The Cavs tried to stay close, with JR getting inside and scoring on isolations, but though the jumpers were falling, you’re never going to beat the Warriors relying on long twos. Steph Curry drained two more triples to close the quarter and prove my point. He put the Warriors up 34-21.
The Second Quarter was a reenactment of Andy Dick’s career. It was brutal. LeBron continued to fail to make defensive rotations, Kevin Love was a ghost defending the pick-and-roll, and Kyrie spent the bulk of many possessions dribbling around like a tweaker roaming through a trailer park. LeBron and Kyrie routinely refused to move the ball around the perimeter and tried to go one on three, etc., settling for long twos. I saw very few attempts to post up Love or to put LeBron in the post with a well-spaced offense. It’s hard to point to specifics because it was all so awful. Trying to pick the worst moment of the Cavs’ “play selection” was like trying to choose between Andy Dick classics like Dr. Doolittle 2, Employee of the Month, and Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride.
Andy played in the second and was the lone bright spot, bringing some energy and passion in the early going. Unfortunately, he couldn’t counter Kyrie’s long twos and bad passes, Draymond Green hitting triples in Love’s eye, and Cleveland’s old nemesis, Shaun Livingston. The deficit was at 12 before three straight buckets at the basket by Shaun, Iggy, and Draymond sparked a 14-1 run. LeBron kept refusing to rotate off his man on defense, and the Cavs kept running baffling possessions that resulted in turnovers and bad shots. Cleveland was completely unprepared for the Warriors’ defensive intensity, even when James slid to the power forward spot.
The Cavs refused to make smart fouls to prevent layups or to send a message, and instead gave Golden State And-1s. It didn’t help that the levels of contact allowed by the officials seems to be completely tilted in the Warriors’ favor. LeBron kept getting throttled when he went inside, while Mozgov and Thompson weren’t able to move without getting fouls. Tristan picked up his fourth with just over three minutes to go. The number of times the Warriors fouled the Cavs on jump shots this game without getting a whistle was more baffling than the fact that Dick has 136 acting credits.
The hits kept coming with moments like a wide open Ian Clark three to push the lead to 30. Cleveland cut into it when Love hit a three (immediately answered by another Draymond three in Kevin’s grill), and JR and Bron canned inside buckets to make it 70-44 deficit. UGH.
The Third Quarter was more like Pauly Shore’s film career than Andy Dick’s. LeBron threw away the first possession, then Kevin Love threw up an airball (in which Draymond fouled him but was not called). And finally, JR got ejected for the most BS flagrant foul you will ever see in the NBA for running through a screen and knocking over Harrison Barnes. (It will be rescinded but the refs wanted to kick him out before things escalated). In the words of EvilGenius, “The NBA refs hate JR more than the Manitowoc Sheriff’s Department hates Steven Avery.” Barnes hit the freebies, and Curry hit a triple after throwing LeBron to the floor to give Golden State a five point possession.
https://youtu.be/wbasBD2uYxE
And, this is how good the Warriors are. After Irving hit a nice triple behind a Love ball screen to cut the Dubs lead to 32, Luke Walton called a timeout to cool him off. Coming back from commercial, Kevin Love gave us one of the the most incompetent defensive possessions of the season. Here’s Kevin’s tribute to Pauly Shore’s moving soliloquy in Jury Duty.
https://vine.co/v/iOLFbZHA60V
The ridiculous officiating continued when LeBron got a tech for pushing Festus Ezili off him after the King got walloped, Steph Curry baited the ref into an offensive foul on LeBron when he was holding Bron’s Jersey, and Festus Ezeli ran fullback lead plays with bulldozer screens on the off-tackle dive play.
https://vine.co/v/iOLKl6vtTtH/embed/simple
Mozgov’s butter fingers returned, as he dropped multiple passes, missed multiple dunks and layups (some on uncalled fouls) picked up his fourth foul, and got out-rebounded by Draymond Green. At a certain point we all wondered why the starters were still playing. Pop would have benched these scrubs who were losing 104-67 at quarter’s end.
As I wrote this, a Fourth Quarter of garbage time happened, and the Cavs scrubs eked out a 31-28 period, mainly behind Delly’s three dimes and six points in the period, a James Jones sighting, and solid contributions from Shumpert, Cunningham, and Varejao.
There’s lots of thoughts on this one, and lots of frustration for Cavs fans who could rightly argue that Cleveland didn’t match the Warriors’ intensity or execution. I quote Tom Pestak here who replied when I asked if this game could get David Blatt fired.
Yes it could. There’s a problem right now. The Cavs at their absolute best can not play basketball like this. They never have. Assuming this is the Warriors’ ceiling – the Cavs cannot beat this. Blatt could get fired. Big changes may be coming..
I remember Bill Simmons saying “Did we just kill basketball in Cleveland?” After LeBron tore the jersey off. Are the Warriors going to kill the LeBron 2.0 era? They’re younger, hungrier, smarter, tougher, and more skilled. This sucks.
Ben Werth chimed in.
As far as Blatt goes. I am an apologist, but yeah. Love and Kyrie have been abjectly horrible on the defensive end. Hilariously so. Pop would’ve killed’em. Tristan hasn’t been much better. TT doesn’t come up to the level of the pick on D, so Curry shoots over the top. Love blindly blitzes the pick with a sh***y angle leaving Green with that same damn 4 on 3 that he always gets. Which of our writers is a bigman? I’m pretty sure I could run a successful PnR with one of you against Kyrie and Love. I’m only half joking.
And he’s so right. Curry went off for 34 points, and 7-12 from three, because the Cavs’ guards got absolutely zero help from the bigs on Curry on things as simple as off-ball curl screens. I heard a lot of complaining about Delly being ineffective on defense and offense, but defensively, save Andy, the bigs were a complete liability. Offensively, he rarely touched the ball early as Bron and Kyrie dribbled the air out of it, or Love just threw it away.
To go along with that, the Warriors have gotten to the point where they get an unbelievable advantage from the officials. The amount of contact they’re allowed to get away with versus their opponent is patently unfair. I tried to argue against this with Ben Werth, who said, “I am so tired of seeing the Warriors get away with twice as much contact as their opponent. It’s getting silly now.”
I replied.
The Cavs don’t fight back, Ben! They just take it. Throw hard fouls on Curry, give it right back to Draymond. Tell the refs what’s what. If you lose, you lose, but at least you can say you played hard. Take a foul, get a fine. But give a ****.
Ben countered.
I agree to a degree, Nate. But a lot of it is just totally lopsided calls. In EVERY Warrior game. They do a great job of establishing a physical culture, but there is limit to my patience. If we are going to let them hack the **** out of LeBron every play, hold on every screen and box-out, fine. Just don’t call ticky-tac crap against Tristan or any other poor opponent of the Warriors. I would have been ejected already if I were on the team. I dunno. Maybe that is what it takes.
So yeah, Ben convinced me that teams are playing 5-on-8 when they’re playing the Warriors. But the Cavs don’t do themselves any favors. Something just seems “off” with this team, and they’re not going to win playing like they’re playing. The Warriors have extra gears and the Cavs haven’t matched it yet this season. Kyrie needs to study the playbook. LeBron needs to get off the ball and actually run the playbook. Kevin Love needs to bulk up, start finishing, and they need to get him the ball at the elbow. Someone needs to slather Mozgov’s hands with stickum. J.R. Smith has to stop taking stupid fouls. Everyone needs to stop letting people have layups, and put some opponents on the floor. And, for God’s sake, figure out the pick-and-roll defense.
Yes, there are plenty of bones to pick with Blatt, but he can’t make jump shots, he can’t make the bigs play defense at the level of the pick. All he can do is sub guys in and out and give them information. The players have to buy in. And, if they won’t, Cleveland should find a coach they will listen to.
I know. This is just one game, and lord knows the announcers last week mentioned how hard it is during that first game after a road trip, but I hate this feeling like the Cavs are figuring out excuses before they play the games. And yeah, Andre Iguodala just kills the Cavs. Iggy had 13 points total in his last four games and tonight he bagged 20 after going 7-8 from the field. Cleveland’s snakebit against this team. They’d better obliterate the Nets. If they don’t, maybe they can trade Love for Thad Young. I don’t want this season to turn into the as yet unreleased Andy Dick/Pauly Shore sequel, In the Army Again.
Super post Tom! Jim, I don’t think Cavs tried to play the Dubs game….just the opposite, Cavs seemed to deliberately slow things down most of the time. Probably thinking that low scoring, defense oriented game worked for them before, and that would work again. There were open threes it seemed that players did not take early on and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of the game plan….to use up the shot clock and not get into a track meet.
Sorry this should have been posted in response to the Tom Pestak/Jim post
At this point the Warriors have a counter to everything the Cavs try and do defensively, and they go to the counter move with astonishing speed. This is a consequence of having a system and playing together in it for several years (and having great players in their prime.) The dubs have young players who all got better this year. (Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green). Of the Cavs players, only Delly is better this year. Injuries to Kyrie, Shump, and KLove stalled any chance of off-season improvement. TT’s hold-out and maybe his talent ceiling have stopped his progress. LeBron, JJ, and… Read more »
Have to disagree on only Delly has improved. Shump has to. JR is defending and has added a floater& drives to the basket. Actually Love has too but even his improvement just isn’t enough to go against a NBA Finalist Championship team. Mosgov has declined and it’s hurting us. Kyrie has declined (due to injury) Lebron looks healthier but he seriously needs to be committed on running plays especially going against GS and Spurs. Team needs to abandon the switch defense. All of the above combined is the WALL they must climb. But a huge part of that is simply… Read more »
The switch defense on Spurs and Golden State
The Cavs have had success against the Warriors. They have the blueprint. The finals last year: an OT loss, an OT win, a dominate home win, and then exhaustion finally took them down. Christmas this year they ground the Warriors offense to a halt. But the Warriors went back to their team play, their system, and doubled down on their effort. The Cavs, meanwhile, regressed to ISO play and talked about being disrespected and sending messages rather than recommitting what got them the farthest in the first place: team defense and 48 minute effort. This isn’t to say that they… Read more »
Here’s the strange thing. Success without Kyrie and Love? Also, Golden State is in a completely different stratosphere than a year ago. I would think Cavs have to chuck last years blueprint. Idk
coaching is not the issue. The players not trying is the issue. I think we need to move Love to the bench and have him be our 6th man. That is the only way I see him being the player we want him to be. Face it in the starting rotation he is lost and doesn’t get any touches and the ones he does get he shoots with no confidence. He was a stud to start the season but he lost his edge and now the team has to come up with a way to boost his confidence again. I… Read more »
I don’t think last night was an outlier of how this season has gone so far. Hence, I don’t think it’s accurate to assume last night’s game will serve as a wake up call. The Cavs have been playing poorly for some time now. The portland game, Suns game, Philly game, Washington game, Dallas game, last two quarters of Spurs game, the Houston game, were all really poorly played stretches. Just because the Cavs won on some herculean effort of Lebron or ridiculous shot by Kyrie or horrid play by their opponent, doesn’t mean they played well as a team.… Read more »
Great post! I think with other teams (not named the Spurs of Golden State), then can get by based on their talent, which creates these ugly looking wins. I’m not sure if the Cavs think the regular season is a waste, or if they are just listening to media tell them they will be in the finals, so let’s concern effort???? Either way, as you noted they were exposed.
Meant to write ‘conserve effort, not concern effort’
If Blatt were fired, what coach would demand LeBron’s respect right away? Right now I can only say Coach K
Well, I’m sure Ty Lue would take the reins for this season.
I think Mark Jackson, the skinny Van Gundy and of course coach K. I don’t think he respects Lue, if he did, coaching wouldn’t be a problem cause Lue is second in command. But honestly, I think it’s got more to do with the players and not the coaching staff. LeBron doesn’t have a Wade to call him out on his issues, and the rest of the team may be turning a deaf ear to all of LeBron’s putdowns. So unless they get their shit together as a unit, I don’t see how coaching will change that. And one last… Read more »
If LBJ doesn’t respect Blatt, then it doesn’t matter. If he came back here because he wanted more control over his coaches, then he learned nothing of value in Miami. Sockless Curmudgeon refused to give in to LBJ and that was the only reason Miami was able to come together. If Griff or Gilbert give in to him now, then they’re making the same mistake they made in LBJ 1.0 and the result will be the same: 0 titles. Blatt is the coach, and I think Griff will stand behind him to the end. I hope so. Otherwise, they will… Read more »
Give LeBron the reigns.
GOING TO PLAY ” WHAT IF “—–SINCE BLAKE HAS BEEN INJURED THE CLIPPERS ARE REALLY PLAYING GREAT BALL/ QUITE A FEW COMMENTATORS ( FOR WHAT ITS WORTH ) HAVE MENTIONED WHEN BLAKE COMES BACK THEY THINK THE CLIPPERS WILL BECOME A STAGNANT OFFENSE—-MY “WHAT IF ” QUESTION IS —IF THE CLIPPERS OFFERED BLAKE STRAIGHT UP FOR LOVE WOULD YOU MAKE THAT DEAL ?—JUST CURIOUS OF WHAT YOU GUYS THINK ——HEY EVIL I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE MENTIONING MARKIEFF’S NAME –HA-HA
Hell yeah!!!! But the Clippers would never do this….
I think an interesting question is: What does OUR offense start to look like if we replace Love with Griffin?
That would be a no brainer trade. I dislike Griffin a lot, but he’s one of the best players in the NBA. He’d probably be just a rebounding bot if he had to share the floor with Lebron and Kyrie, though.
Great recap, by the way, Nate. It was the appropriate amount of disgust and intelligent analysis.
I’m glad I missed this entire game. I will likely never watch it. I remain basically not concerned with the Warriors, or really even the Spurs. There is no one to trade that will change anything, and there is no coaching change to make that will change anything. The talent is there, the coaching is there, the smarts are there. What was missing last night, what is missing when any NBA team is losing by 40 in the third quarter, is simply heart. I remember last year when this team was being built thinking that their championship window would start… Read more »
^^^Comment of the day, JoeyB… extremely well put…
That’s a really good point about Kyrie and Love. They experienced heartache last year, but you’re right, it’s not the kind that forged LeBron into a champion. They can write off last year as flukey due to injuries, not because they weren’t good enough. It’s a dangerous game for these inexperienced, young stars to assume they will walk to the Finals each year in a weak conference with no true rivals. This team is full of versatile stars and vets who’ve carved out roles for themselves. Kyrie and Love HAVE to figure it out. Is it telling that those two… Read more »
I think you are oversimplifying. No amount of heart or hustle was going to overcome last night’s onslaught. If you didn’t watch the game I’ll tell you what I noticed. It wasn’t a lack of heart. They didn’t stop defending. They were overwhelmed. I’ll spare you the Nazi/WWII analogies that I really want to make…. When the Cavs tried to defend the Curry PnR it was absolutely futile. Not because Delly or Kyrie didn’t try like made to fight through the screen, but because in most instances one of two things happened: Curry hit a 29 foot step back because… Read more »
Great post. “Heart,” however you want to define it, was not the issue last night. Neither was “hustle,” or “battling” or whatever other immeasurable, Hoosiers-like concept one wants to create. The Cavs tried to play the Warriors game and got worked. If they are lucky enough to get to the finals and play them again and try the same thing, the end result will be the game. The Cavs need to find an identity, any identity, and they have four months to do so. While last night was only one game, it was perfectly clear that the status quo cannot… Read more »
Wow, great post, Tom. Totally agree with your main point – the Warriors got anything they wanted. It was like they were running a scrimmage. Everything they were doing was eminently repeatable, too. The Cavs were unable to take anything, anything at all, away from them. The Warriors aren’t going to play at that level every game – but they CAN play at that level. The Cavs can’t right now, and likely will never be able to.
The way I took JoeyB’s comment isn’t that Kyrie and Love (I’m going to keep singling out those two because they are the main culprits IMO) don’t play with heart and hustle in games like these… It’s more, are we sure those guys are displaying the heart OFF the court that wins you championships? Are Kyrie and Love taking the strides necessary to become better defenders? Studying with the coaches the different ways to defend the Warriors’ PnR’s? We hear stories about LeBron and Kyrie staying hours late after practice to put up shots. Cool. Kyrie is already a great… Read more »
This is more what I was saying, yes. Thanks Tom, for your post. Now I guess I’ll have to watch it. I was listening on the radio in my car and halfway through the first quarter, had I had access to a computer, I would’ve posted “game over.” It was obvious. I’ll again compare it to LBJ’s first year in Miami. There is no question Lebron game his all that year, and during the Finals. He had plenty of “heart” and effort on the Court. But he didn’t have the mental fortitude to extend that heart beyond the game, the… Read more »
“They aren’t a smart team, they aren’t a disciplined team, they aren’t a fundamental team, they have no identity to speak of other than letting their talented players run around and see how many vines they can make viral.” Don’t these fundamental things point to the way these players are being utilized or deployed? If we don’t believe that somehow, over the next three months of season and two months of playoffs, that a) the coaching staff can prepare this team and b) this team can buy into a system that the coaches are selling… then we should just concede… Read more »
Chris Haynes: I think the Cavs are a key piece away from contending with GS/Spurs. Not necessarily an All-Star, but a key piece.
— Haynes also believe the players feel this way too.
He mentioned Markieff Morris as a potentially filler for this key piece.
Haynes notes that he agrees with the organization, in that they shouldn’t bring in Morris, as it’s a risky move. But he’s provided an insight to how the players think/feel.
If the players feel this way, that’s a problem. If Love can’t do what Markieff Morris can do, Gilbert just wasted 200 million.
Haynes also said that if players can’t get up for a game against the Warriors, that is not a coaching problem, that’s a player’s problem. But Ty Lue may have the players ear more than Blatt.
That’s a player problem. Blatt is the coach. Put in the work and run his system. If it fails, the management will change it. If you are only willing to play for a coach you like, you are not a professional basketball player. You are an entitled athlete, and playoff basketball will expose you for the fraud you are.
Blatt doesn’t seem to know how to draw up a play. I don’t know if he’s the problem on offense, but the evidence is starting to mount.
He can draw up all the plays he wants, but if the players don’t run them, then that’s on the players. Also, effort shouldn’t be a coaching problem, which was the biggest issue from last night.
Yeah, last night was weird. It looked like only LeBron, JR, and Andy wanted to be there. Irving and Love checked out immediately.
I wouldn’t say LeBron wanted to be there. He looked pretty lackadaisical defensively.
But ultimately, if the players are tuning out their coach, then they probably need to get rid of him. It’s unfair, but why have him around if they don’t respect him?
Yep. It’s the Mark Jackson thing. Jackson was able to get the GSW to play great defense but couldn’t get an offense going. Same with Thibs
I hope Blatt can figure something out.
Why does Kyrie not try to get easy buckets until the 4th quarter? I don’t think there’s been a single first quarter so far when he’s actively attacked the basket.
because he’s at like 75% right now
Was just re-reading the recap (and awesome job on that, Nate), and really have to agree with the contact disparity regarding the Warriors. It’s pretty disgusting, and as Nate noted, at this point it’s become an unfair advantage. (Please note, this isn’t why the Warriors won, and when they are hitting shots like they were last night, they’re not losing to anyone…even if the Cavs D made it easy for them) I don’t suppose there is anything to be done about this, but it’s absurd, and it’s not been discussed in the media, to my knowledge.
Unfortunately, when we traded for Kevin Love, we got the skinny armed Kevin Love.
Kevin Love for Kelly Olynyk? Who says no? At least Kelly can tear out Draymond Green’s shoulder in the finals….
It’s starting to sound like you should give yourself a break from Cavs talk today.
So I take it, you don’t like that strategy then?
I’m just saying it doesn’t seem to be bringing you a lot of joy today.
But it’s bringing me joy!
Don’t panic
There’s so much fear!
Keep Ya Head Up
Olynyk ripping out Draymond’s shoulder brings me LOTS of joy!
We should bring back all the knuckleheads/crappy players and have the all-knucklehead team. What are Ricky Davis, Samardo Samuuels, Luke Harrangody, Ryan Hollins, and Manny Harris up to these days?
Ricky Davis, triple double machine…
Don’t forget about Lester Hudson, Semih Erden and Joey Graham!
I mean, when was the last time you thought about Joey Graham??
It was the last time I thought about Steven Graham.
The Cavs need to get back to their bruising culture in the playoffs last year. I know they were forced into it because of injuries, but I think that’s what they’ve got to do to get under the Warriors’ skin. It seems to me that they’re trying to play finesse-ball, but except for Kyrie and Kevin, they’re not built for that type of ball.
So Arch, you seem to be one of the more pessimistic here. Are you just going to watch the rest of the season with the forlorn sense that no matter how we play, what we do from here on out, it won’t be enough to win a championship? I mean, you told Cols to not be a homer above but isn’t it our job, as fans, to hold out hope that no matter what (especially with a roster like this) that we can win it all?
I think he’s a little too busy plugging every Cavs starter into the Trade Machine to see what the Cavs can get back. /s
My solutions are posted below!!!!!
I’m waiting for the league to reduce the Smith call. I don’t think anyone but the reffing crew from last night saw a flagrant 2.
Yeah, I do give props to the crew because the game was out of hand already and they were trying to keep it from getting like Crowder and the Boston whiny teenager brigade from last year.
But there’s no way that was a flagrant 2.
JR really came to play last night. Love that guy.
Hey, but wait a minute. Delly is suppose to be the dirtiest player./s
Delly was so bad on defense last night. Actually all the Cavs were outside of JR Smith.
Lol. The bigs hung him out to dry. Read Ben’s notes above.
I’m not sure how you interpreted my joke on Delly being a “dirty player” as an invite to do your “right on cue” attack on Delly. But no one played well. No one
I wonder how good of an offensive coach Blatt is. He seems to be awesome at making defensive adjustments and playoff matchups based on last year. But he doesn’t seem to have any kind of system he can get his guys to buy into.
He’s widely ignored by the starters.
I don’t see it. LeBron and Love are very smart players and have played in all kinds of different systems. If Blatt actually had something worth buying into, they’d buy in. And Blatt’s out of bounds plays are all terrible.
Blaming successful players for their coaches failure doesn’t seem right. Blatt has to get something going on that side of the ball because defensively he usually has an answer (outside of last night).
Blatt’s offense simply does work, and it’s downright stupid that we go away from it. Remember the Grizzlies game way back? The second game of the season in Memphis. There was so much fluid ball movement it was beautiful. When you have talent like the Cavs you can blow teams out. At that time I was just thinking wow, maybe LeBron and the rest are going to stick with Blatt’s motion offense, and we’ll actually see what the Cavs can do. The juggernaut that we’re supposed to be. Blatt has a proven system, and it’s the starters’ faults for not… Read more »
Yeah because LeBrron has been so notorious for buying into his coaches in the past. /s
So what about love/Mozgov for markieff, Tyson Chandler, pj Tucker, and a first rounder?
That’d be an everreation to one game.
Love is certainly in a funk but they will need his scoring. Without him they have no big scoring and a trade for Morris, Tucker, and Chandler isn’t fixing that. Give Love some time to regain his groove and get on the same page as Kyrie.
I wish we played tonight. MORE BACK TO BACKS PLEASE!
Yeah I really want to see them compete against Brooklyn tomorrows. That’s more like their level of competition. They can go ISO ball all game.
On a side note, and I may get flack on this comment. Lowry should be over Kyrie in All Stars He’s just not there on that level.
Kyrie has only played 14 games. On merit this year, Lowry should go
I choose to look at this game like this – in 5-10 years time when Disney is releasing a sappy film chronicling this Cavs team unlikely run to eventual 2016 NBA Champs, this game will serve as the rally point from which our meteoric rise will emerge. You guys weren’t there last night, but i’m pretty sure that Kyrie drove over to Lebron’s house at 3am and the two shared a heart-2-heart moment that will galvanize them as leaders going forward. Also, the team discovered this morning that Kevin Love’s poor shooting is caused by his previously undiagnosed need for… Read more »
Maybe the worst part of this whole loss is that Ethan Sherwood Forest got indulge himself writing that recap for ESPN.
I refuse to read his stuff. He comes across as such a smarmy homer.
If we get blown out by SAS, I hope to see a loss comparison to Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
I think the harrowing thing about the line of thought that goes “we still have time to learn how to defend the Warriors,” is that adding Kyrie and KLove to our Finals team might actually have HURT our defense. We can’t beat the Dubs without them cause we just don’t have the horses, but can we overcome our defensive deficiencies with them in the lineup?
Not without a system and a solid rim protector.
Which solid rim protectors are available that are within our limited trade-asset budget>
There is some truth to that and the sooner they address the ineffective switch defensive schemes the better.
Encino man was good.
I was extremely upset last night about the lackadaisical way the Cavs went about this game and the lack of coaching by Blatt. Now, after a good amount of thinking, I’m not as worried as I was yesterday. I do think the players will take this game as a big slap in the face and will either crumble or get better, we have to wait and see. Good thing is we will know who does what by their actions on and off the court , so depending on how they react, we can decide on who/when/how to play them. I… Read more »
No. The Cavs can’t get Brook Lopez.
They could trade Kevin Love straight-up for him,
Windhorst: Cavs have nothing in their offense that puts Kevin Love in a position to hurt the other teams.
He talked about this at length in his Hey Windy podcast last friday.
Windhorst: The Love thing should have been addressed a year ago.
Windhorst: Kevin Love cannot handle Draymond Green. You have to figure out a way to maximize him on the offensive side of the floor, because he will hurt you defensively. He will never be a good defensive player.
Green is the key and the glue to this team. Disrupt him & good things will happen.
Windhorst: If Cavs do anything with their roster, they do something about Draymond Green.
Meant to write “they need to do”
Windhorst: This Cavs team is starting to remind me of the 08-09 Cavs team. Even though it was an awesome team, they had some flaws that they couldn’t address.
The announcers said that Golden State has had 30 or more assists in 20 of their games. The second best team has had 9. Unless something changes, we’re not going to beat Golden State. Recently, I’ve seen posters write, “I’m optimistic because we’re only at 65% of our potential and SAS & GS has no room for improvement in a “feel good” type of way. To me, it’s disturbing that we’re only playing at 65% of our potential. It’s very disturbing that these veteran ballplayers that have played basketball for hours a day all their lives and have been together… Read more »
The way they defended the GS pick and roll last night was very disturbing. I mean – GS ping ponged between Curry and Thompson 3s or role player uncontested dunks. It was a slaughter. It was like they were playing 5 on 3 or something.
That was ugly. There were a number of play where Green got the ball out top, and nobody was anywhere near him…he could shoot the wide open 3, he had plenty of time and space to make a pass, he could have freaking almost drove to the hoop for a layup. Not exactly the recipe for success.
Steve Kyler had a good point about Blatt, noting that Blatt is not a very good regular season coach. He’s a post-season coach.
GOOD ONE ARCH —–KY’S POST GAMES COMMENTS SEEM MORE HONEST / DIRECT / REASSURING —-
If the Cavs hadn’t traded Joe Harris, we wouldn’t have gotten stomped like this!!!!!
The Cavs are a piddly 2-2 since the trade … you may be onto something.
That HAS to be it!!
INTERESTING POST GAME COMMENTS BY LOVE ( WONDER HOW RECEPTIVE LEBRON WAS TO THESE COMMENTS ) NOT IN PANIC MODE —I WILL DELAY THAT MODE —WANT TO SEE HOW THE CAVS RESPOND IN THESE NEXT 5 GAMES AND THEN MAYBE ( EMPHASIZE MAYBE ) DEPENDING IF THEY ” LAY AN EGG ” OR CONTINUE TO FAIL TO ” REALLY COMPETE ” WILL START TO ” INITIATE EVIL PANIC BUTTON ” ——–I KNOW IT IS ON A TOTALLY DIFFERENT LEVEL –I AM A HIGH SCHOOL COACH–RECENTLY WE GOT OUR BUTTS KICKED BY OVER 30 PTS TO A TEAM WE SHOULD HAVE… Read more »
What’s up with JR showing up 45 minutes before the game, and Mo showing up 20 minutes before the game? Is Mo a team cancer? Should they cut him? Trade him?
Dude, JR was one of three guys that came out prepared. Him, LeBron, and Andy were ready to play.
Mo just had a death in the family, dude. Believe it or not, that gets to athletes too.
So why is he showing up then?
Because he’s doing the best he can.
Well I think this is a greater issue with Mo.
Someone on the radio is screaming about TT, but he’s calling him Tristan Thomas. Lol!!!
Gosh. It’s those people that just now care about the team that bother me the most. Those people who ignored the Cavs from 2010 to 2014 have no room to talk
Someone posited in the live thread last night that maybe the game was all a plan conceived by LeBron and Blatt so that we don’t show them ANY of our offensive sets. The players couldn’t have been too worried about the outcome since they were all laughing on the bench by the end — possibly smoke to the fire??? /s
The thing that is so difficult to digest is the way & how much Cavs lost. If they would have lost by a few points, you still feel upbeat about it though disappointed. This is a whole different level. Warriors decimated them.
The only thing I will say is that the 96-97 Bulls lost to the Knicks by 37 points. But we don’t have Michael Jordan.
In 1985, the Celtics beat the Lakers 148-1114 (another 34 pt route) in Game 1 of the NBA finals. The game many may remember was called “The Memorial Day Massacre”. The Lakers of course went on to win the title. That game was on the parquet floor at Boston Gardens, however, and not The Forum.
Last night’s game was so bad, it needs its own moniker, so how about “The Martin Luther King Day Massacre.” Hopefully, the Cavs can right their ship like the Lakers.
Those teams have also won championships before collapsing. The Cavs haven’t won squat!
Geez man, they’ve been together for one year. Give it a rest. Keep Ya Head Up.
Actually it’s one and a half years.
Nope. The trade for JR, Shump, and Moz was about a year ago.
I am referring to the big 3.
HaHa: I used that very example in a couple of debates at JackieO’s last night! In that game, Kareem looked 100 years old and the Boston fans were razzing him. He looked about 30 the rest of the way!
Let’s pretend like the Cavs didn’t play last night. The Warriors defeated Team X.
In other words, we can choose to not panic from the Cavs terrible play – everyone lays and egg once in a while.
But ask yourself: is the Cavs ceiling remotely close to what the Warriors did last night?
Hell No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Legit question. I think so. I mean it’s not like the Cavs haven’t gotten insanely hot and blown teams away. The only thing is that the Cavs intensity will wane once up by 30 points. Which I’m completely fine with, but it means win by 15-20, not 40 or whatever last night ended up being.
I find it interesting that the Cavs website chose not to publish Love’s interview with the media post-game. I saw the clip on a Jason Lloyd tweet, wherein Love says to paraphrase, “We all have to look at each other in the mirror, and that includes our leader…” as he nodded toward LeBron’s locker. The Cavs PR dept seems a bit lame not posting this as they typically do on KLove’s post game comments. What he said was true. And of course, it starts with Love looking at his own reflection on his deplorable defense against the Spurs and GS.
Yeah, it would be good to be completely open about everything. Then again, sometime KLove can be a complete downer. Body language – looking at the floor, camera showing the top of his head. Mumbling. Diffuse responses and cliches, waiting for the media to go away. Maybe there was too much of this, throw in the supposed-dig at LBJ and they thought yeaaaahhh trash that file.
I think we really need a bowling trip
You mean the CtB gang, or the Cavs?
I wanted to “panic” watching this game cuz I was hurtin’ last night. One of the toughest games to watch in recent memory. You hope the Cavs would get up for the challenge and bring it at home against THAT team. Now the media is gonna bill Curry as the best player alive. Ugh. Still, instead of trying to decide who we blame most, let’s think optimistically: If it seems like there is some kind of “trust” issue, maybe it’s not necessarily between the players and/or coach(es). Maybe the Cavs keep reverting to stagnant ISO-ball because they just don’t trust… Read more »
Ugh.
Sorry about your Bengals man.
As a Steelers fan (my whole life since the 1980s so spare me the front runner crap, the Browns made my life miserable as a kid, I grew up in Youngstown), I’m pretty glad the Bengals fumbled that ball and then lost their collective b rains.
Ohh jeez we can’t be friends.
This is a Cavs blog so I won’t get too into football but man, eff those officials, eff the NFL, eff Ryan Shazier, eff all the Steelers coaches and ESPECIALLY a big mutha freakin eff to Joey Porter. Tell Ben to say hi to Burfict next year :)
Shazier never even got fined for that hit. The number of times in the past two years that they’ve called the crowno f the helmet call Bengals fans wanted? Zero
Also, the refs screwed the Steelers out of a TD on that play, and they penalized the Steelers 10 times for 142 yards which is more than the Bengals.
Hill fumbled, that was the entire game.
Just like Touissant fumbled on Sunday and that was the entire game.
Even though there was no fine I don’t think leading with the crown of the helmet should ever be legal and I’m willing to bet those hits get banned this offseason. The real angst, though, is that Shawn Williams got flagged for a similar hit earlier while leading with the shoulder, and for Shazier not to get flagged and then celebrate while Bernard lay injured on the ground is what got folks going berserk. The refs may have taken away the fumble TD but don’t forget they also incorrectly ruled the Bryant TD a catch. Hill still lost the game,… Read more »
Sure, change the rule. No problems there. As for the Bryant TD, that was pretty close and could’ve gone either way. The Williams hit you are correct, but that didn’t change much, still ended up with only a FG that they would’ve got anyways.
I’m still mad they called a celebration penalty on a non-TD, and that Green clearly false starts before the go-ahead TD and they let Burfict be an A-hole all game.
I think the refs screwed this one up pretty evenly.
Yeah the refs and NFL should be embarrassed for what went on in that game. It’s a joke they used the same crew of refs that horrendously officiated the game in December. Conspiracy theorists would tell you the NFL wanted it to turn out that way for the ratings. Ha.
One of the major issues I see with a lot of fans is that, because they watch every moment of every Cavs game, they see EVERY mistake that the Cavs make. Then, when they analyze SAS or GSW, they focus on their aggregate statistics (which are quite beautiful) and the strengths of their style of play (which are also quite beautiful). As such, they get this paranoid, skewed sense that the Cavs are way worse than those two teams. The problem is that such a skewed, extreme view is NOT SUPPORTED by actual outcomes over the past 2 years. The… Read more »
Also, I’m really sick of hearing about ISO plays. The Warrirors shoot a ton of step back shots and ISO one on one stuff. It’s not ISO vs team like this blog wants to make it out to be. It’s they destroyed us and we have to figure out how to defend them.
Well there’s ISO where a great scorer/playmaker matches up one-on-one and his team is spread across the floor, moving around to ensure a good possession. Then there’s ISO where a player dribbles around and drives into three defenders while the rest of the team stands around looking clueless. Yeah, ISO isn’t inherently bad but what the Cavs did last night was definitely inherently bad.
This. The Warriors don’t do much of the terrible iso crap that the Cavs routinely do.
Uh. Yes they do. They shoot plenty of step back threes. and no pass drives to the hoop. They just make theirs.
They do some of that, they do way, WAY more moving of the ball, though. Go back and watch the game (or pretty much any of their games, for that matter), and see how many open freaking looks (or layups and dunks) they get with movement. When you watch the Cavs, it’s usually just stagnant offense, and eventually someone takes a shot.
If you want to argue that the Warriors just play iso ball, but they make more shots, you’re not going to convince anyone.
The Dubs are fifth in the league in passes per game, while the Cavs are 17th. (The Spurs are third.)
The Dubs are first in the league in assists per game, while the Cavs are 12th. (The Spurs are third again.)
http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/team/passing/?sort=PASSES_MADE&dir=1
Also, I think its worth noting that over the past 2 years, the “panic” after poor Cavs performances has almost always turned out to be overstated. Cavs swept ATL in ECF last year, and then played well beyond anyone’s expectations in Finals. This happened after endless PANIC by Cavs fans all year, especially as it related to ATL and GSW.
Thus, my balaned optimism is not based on some form of homerism (if the Cavs actually sucked, I would be the first to say it). Its based on empirical evidence and actual performance.
Atlanta is not an all time great team. The Cavs don’t suck. They just are not on the level of GS/SAS. I also think Atlanta would not have gotten swept if they had Thabo. Atlanta is a team that overacheived last season. GS is a team that continues to get better and better.
I agree. But last year, if you read CTB you might have thought ATL was an all-time team. The point is people to overstate the Cavs weaknesses relative to rivals. And by a very large margin.
Yeah I never thought Atlanta was a great team last year. I thought they were a system team that excelled in the playoffs. I was not concerned about them in the playoffs.
Meant to say excelled in the regular season….
At the end of the day, the Cavs are certainly making the Finals, barring an apocalyptic scenario (which any good Clevelander can never rule out). And everyone here will take that, even if we are major underdogs. Thing is, we’re so used to rooting for underdogs and watching them fail that it can be tough accepting that a team we all thought would be a shoo-in to win at least one title may have run into the 90’s Bulls.
Yes. Althought these Warriors are still a step below the 1990s Bulls, even I am worried about it now. However we still LeBron and betting against him seems really dumb.
No one touches the 90s Bulls but these Warriors have many many years of bball to play out with that core. Last playoffs I decided that I’d never bet against LeBron but same time, with him coasting in the regular season he needs to keep proving he can still get to that level in the playoffs.
Lol, last year I told myself to not watch until after the All Star break. Such a long season and nobody knows that more than Lebron and in fact he says it all the time. Last night was a disaster and embarrassing. And we will improve, much like last year. The stat that still hits home for me is the Big 3 have only a little more than a half of a season playing together on the court. No excuses they sucked last night and as hard as it is to agree with it is just one game, and sometimes… Read more »
BTW this team appears to be imploding with Kevin Love taking shots at LeBron on the post game presser. Love cannot exist with a ball hog like Kyrie.
“Kyrie spent the bulk of many possessions dribbling around like a tweaker roaming through a trailer park.” — This was hilarious Nate!
Yep, the line of the recap. Had hot coffee coming out my nose after reading that, walked around a bit, sat down to keep reading and suddenly realised I didn’t feel so bummed. Great writing.
As much as I would like to criticize the officiating, there’s a greater issue when you lose by 34.
That stood out to me too. I had to laugh at the end at the refs. Cavs losing by +30pts and refs were still sticking it to them on fouls which only prolonged our agony . I just wanted them to let go of those ticky tack fouls because it just didn’t matter. I was like saying to myself. “Who is this Nerd Ref”? “Isn’t there like some bench refs we could put in there to just get this game over”?
Haha, I was thinking the same thing.
The all time biggest loss at home EVER for the Cavs is 35 (done twice). Good thing Andy and the Ninja finished strong or that record would have been blasted into the ozone.
It’s actually 39 points.
Cavs are not on the level of GS, or SAS. They are a tier or 2 below. Unless they make some changes, I don’t see this team beating either the Spurs or the Warriors. You can make all the excuses you want, but GS is an all time great team. The Cavs are experiencing similar issues to last year: they don’t know how to use Love, they go ISO ball with LeBron and Kyrie, they can’t play defense with two of their best players on the floor,l and they don’t seem to listen to their coach… oh well. It was… Read more »
How do you square this opinion with the fact that we just lost to SAS by 4 on the road (after leading for 3 quarters) while playing a very mediocre game? Or the fact that we almost beat GSW on the road a month ago while shooting less than 40%? Or the fact that we went 6 games in the Finals last year with a 7 man rotations and without KI or Love? Or the fact that Cavs are now somethinge like 44-6 in their last 50 games with KI, KL, and LBJ (a fact that undermines the claims that… Read more »
The Big 3 works together for all teams other than SAS and GS. Last year Kyrie had to go bananas and score 57 to actually take down the Spurs. The Spurs have a great coach, top 3 ever, and the Cavs don’t listen to their coach. GS has the best player and they players and system compliment each other. Sorry, these are the test for the Cavs, and they failed. You can be as optimistic as you want but I see serious problems with this team and I’m not going to be a blind homer.
“The Spurs have a great coach, top 3 ever, and the Cavs don’t listen to their coach” The Cavs lost by 4 on the road to the Spurs last week playing very mediocre. Not sure I understand the basis for your claim that these Cavs can’t compete with the Spurs. I think we match up really well with them. Also, to be clear, I think GSW/Spurs will be favorites over Cavs in Finals – I don’t have any illusions they aren’t great teams. But I think that, by the end of the year, the Cavs will get back to where… Read more »
Cavs lost by six to the Spurs. Spurs also didn’t play partially well either. That are one of the best franchises in sports and I would not bet against them. Only way Cavs win is if they get incredibly lucky. But we are a Cleveland team so, you can throw that out the window.
Haha. The part about the luck is true!
Spurs didn’t play well because the Cavs are a tough match up for them. Just as GSW didn’t play well 8 of the last 9 times we played them (the 8 times being: last year’s regular season game post-Shump/JR trade when we blew them out, the 6 finals games, and the X-mas game)
I would say that this years GS is better than last years GS, with Greens emergence. Like I said, we are a tier or two below SAS/GS and I stand by that comment. Hopefully they can figure it out but I have many doubts.
This is nuts. A regular season loss doesn’t mean you can’t beat the team in the playoffs. The greater sample size of the Cavs vs the Warriors show we absolutely can play with them. Quit being a downer. Also to your point about the officiating below, yes, there are other things to worry about when you get blow away like we did. But it’s worth noting the change in officiating from calling hacking on drives to touch fouls on the perimeter. No one is saying this is any reason why we got killed though. It’s not. Cavs sucked. Warrirors were… Read more »
Cols, just admit it. The Warriors are a much better team. If we were healthy in the finals, they still would’ve beat us. Don’t be a homer!
Sigh. I really don’t think they would have beat us if we were healthy and I don’t think it’s a given that they will beat us this year either. It’s one game. We’ve always played them tough but for whatever reason last night sucked. Keep Ya Head Up.
I do. They have the best player and the Cavs don’t know how to use both Kyrie and Love.
I don’t subscribe to the theory that they would have beat a healthy Cavs team in the finals last year. That Cavs was peaking all the way thru May and June until Love and then Kyrie got hurt and then they just didn’t have the personnel to make up for the injuries. Don’t confuse the Warriors of this year as the inexperienced team from last years finals. Yes they were good then too but they were kinda bright eyed and bushy tailed in the finals last year as Lebron dictated the pace and flow of the first few games. Cavs… Read more »
Do you see what happens when LeBron goes to the hoop vs the GSW? Especially in the last seconds of games? He gets hacked and no calls. I do not blame him for shooting jumpers at the end because nobody gives him those calls.
Arch, you must be stealing Cols’ weed — The Cavs would likely have won the playoffs last year. Also, at this moment, the dubs look really good, and he Cavs not so much. But the history of sports is full of stories of “can’t lose” teams falling apart in the playoffs, and “so-so” teams getting it together. Don’t forget the 1954 Indians had the best regular season percentage ever (111 of 154), and lost 4-0 in the World series. That was fluky (Umpire spaced out when Bob Feller picked off a guy 10 feet from second that would have won… Read more »
Preach it!!
Keep Ya Head UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Cavs cannot play Kevin Love against a Warriors small ball lineup. It may have gone 7 games, but I think the Warriors still win.
I mean, we lost to Atlanta by 30 last year. No need to panic.
This is a ridiculous comparison in that Golden State is a historical juggernaut and Atlanta last year was nothing more than a feel good story. Not to mention the Cavs team that got beat by Atlanta was vastly inferior to this version.
Infrequent poster I must admit, but after watching last night’s game I had bad memories of Cavs vs Orlando Magic way back when. It’s as if the Cavs have assembled a Justice League while the Warriors have assembled the Avengers simultaneously. I’m worried about the finals but maybe Griffin has one more trick up his sleeve with the $10m exemption
It’s just stunning how bad the Cavs played and how unprepared they seemed against GS. The most appalling was the horrible defensive effort on the pick and roll. How can professional basketball players be so woeful on a basic play? Sometimes the other team’s great execution will just beat you, but our rotations were deplorable. Blatt needs to do some major butt chewing in practice. All of our bigs were awful.
WHy are our players declining?
Hey, uhh, why is my last comment awaiting moderation?
Did you have more than 1 link? It’ll do that if you have links sometimes.
Nah, seems to have been approved tho.
Have the flu pretty bad, ended up feeling bad enough that I couldn’t bring myself to watch the game. I did turn it on for a brief five minutes and was convinced of my initial decision to just go to sleep. I agree the Cavs need to make some adjustments but I’m not ready to just say we have no chance. I probably won’t be ready until another team holds up the Larry O’brien trophy. Maybe I, and those of you above who have mimicked these sentiments, are being nieve but here’s to hoping we destroy the league for the… Read more »
I watched this game stunned .#1Stunned at how skilled each Warrior player is 1-15 (We are not) #2 They ran plays (I have yet to see anything that remotely looks like a play at least consistently) #3 Cavs defensive schemes FAILED. Just Stop. Warriors took delight exposing how easy it was to get a guy open time and time again. This is where Blatt needs to get ballsy If you fail your assignments, you can ride the bench #4 Our offensive power has declined compared to a year ago. #5 Lebron has pissed off the refs indefinitely . He doesn’t… Read more »
The laughing and smiling on the bench was absolutely disgraceful. This is your profession to compete! You fail that badly at doing your job and there are smiles!? Wow. I didnt know that the Cavs gave so few sh*ts about pride! doing their freaking jobs! and actually respnding after Stephs comments! And most depressingly they dont seem to care about the people of Cleveland who waste their time money and commitment to the team, when you smile when you’re down by 43. Not 20, not 30, by 43 points on your home court. All they had to do was just… Read more »
We need a coach/gm/vet player to call out LeBron!! He sets the tone offensively and defensively. Someone has to be able to yell at him for not rotating on D and/or not moving the ball. Like Gilbert Arenas said, LBJ needs to play pissed off because that’s the only time he’s ultra-focused.
BTW, I can’t stand Love. Can we get a Morris twin already?!
JR Smith deserves major props for playing like it mattered last night. The dude has been great for the last month and he deserves some recognition.
100 percent agree here. JR has been so much more than I (or most of us) expected. We need to keep him.
WOW. People are overreacting. It’s ONE game. We have 3-4 months to get better, and there is plenty of evidence that we will: * We just got KI back, and he is clearly not himself yet. * KI’s reintegration in the short-run hurts Love, as he has to re-adapt. Love didn’t really find his sweet spot until the end of last year. (even Windy was writing about how beautiful the Cavs were by the end of the season). He hasn’t really had a chance to get back there due to injuries this year. He’ll get there. * If you look… Read more »
Yes. This is the correct take. Cavs need to get better but we are not doomed. We still make the Finals and can easily come up with a better game plan. Does this game suck? Yep. But no need to panic. Cavs will be better next time. As far as the refs go. It’s really weird anymore with the Warriors. LeBron drives inside a ton. Gets hammered but no calls. But then they call all of these weird touch fouls on tohe Cavs on the perimeter. I’m not sure how to combat that. But they will have to adjust. Anyways.… Read more »
Agree. But the game was enough of a bummer to make Cols get calm!
Yes, that game really sucked.
Good level headed response, Hot Sauce.
agree totally. Yes, right now? We’re clearly the 3rd best team… and yes this loss will sting until the Warriors are beat in the playoffs. But all is not lost. We knew that nothing will matter til April. This team has to get better and I feel like it will. It has to come from self-improvement. There’s no game shaking trade on the horizon. But it’s possible to still beat the Warriors or the Spurs or the Thunder. We may be underdogs in those series, but to count out LeBron in January is foolish. And I’d hate to be Brooklyn… Read more »
I’m going to go with this response as well. If only because its too hard to think about it the other way around. For all we know, after tonight’s wake-up call, we could go on a 20 game burn and end up looking like the Monstars on the court. I do agree with a lot of Nate’s points, however, I can’t just throw in the towel. We’ve never had more talent in Cleveland, in ANY sport. Gotta hope for the best.
You guys are overreacting. If anything this is a good wakeup call (per EG in the Live). The Cavs could do absolutely nothing and walk away with the East. The GSW warriors may or may not be in the Finals. A lot of basketball to be played still. As to Nate’s adjustment suggestions. I sincerely doubt Love is going to suddenly get defense after all these years. We can hope he improves but bulking up and changing his game (he is a bit of a fragile personality) is NOT going to work this season. He just needs to work on… Read more »
Thank you Nate. I am unapologetic about Evil Genius being my favourite writer on CtB (it’s a close contest), but this recap was the most enjoyable I’ve read. Your turn of phrase had me laughing out loud rather than crying. It’s exactly what I needed after watching every painful minute of this game.
In the ineffable wisdom of Mr. Krueger: “I’m not too worried about it.”
EAGER TO SEE HOW THE CAVS BOUNCE BACK —STARTING WITH BROOKLYN ON WED FOLLOWED BY THE CLIPPERS ON THURS ( DON’T WANT TO HEAR THE EXCUSE IF THEY ” LAY AN EGG AGAINST THE CLIPPERS OF BACK TO BACK ) AND THEN THE BULLS —BELIEVE THESE GAMES WILL GIVE US A BAROMETER OF WHO WE ARE AND POSSIBLY WHAT WE NEED TO DO ( POSSIBLY TRADES ) TO GET BETTER ————HAS ANYONE HEARD IF J.R IS GETTING A SUSPENSION OR NOT ———-MAYBE K.LOVE SHOULD GO BACK TO HIS ” TIMBERWOLVES ” LOOK SHAVE THE CURLS ( CLOSE CUT HAIRCUT )… Read more »
JUST LISTENED TO BLATT’S POST GAME INTERVIEW TO HIS CREDIT ( OR POSSIBLY DISCREDIT ) HE NEVER THROWS ANYONE ” UNDER THE BUS “—( MAYBE HE NEEDS TO ) EVEN ANSWERING QUESTION ABOUT J.R’S FLAGRANT HIS RESPONSE WAS DIRECT BUT HAD A POSITIVE SPIN TO IT ———–MAYBE THESE GUYS NEED A GOOD OLD FASHION A– CHEWING —–MAYBE IT DOES HAPPEN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS —WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK ?
There’s nothing that can erase this loss until we win a title. Nothing.
We’re flawed. Hugely flawed? I doubt it. But we certainly are on both ends.
Every single player on this team has his own weakness. But I believe that could be covered up if we move as a unit. I hope everyone is shattered especially Lebron. It starts and ends with him.
I watched the CLE/SAS game with one of my good friends who’s a SAS fan… and the biggest thing we took away from the game is that the Cavs’ big 3 have to play well in order for the Cavs to win against the elite teams. Against the Spurs, LBJ was the only one who played well, and the result was a loss. Tonight, none of the big 3 played well… and the result was predictable. Bottom line, the Cavs only work well when the big 3 are working. The biggest thing they’ve been dealing with recently is getting Kyrie… Read more »
Don’t think the TT contract was as much a mistake as an unfortunate necessity. The Cavs didn’t have much choice in that.
I don’t see it as an “unfortunate necessity” by any means. The Cavs held all the leverage after TT’s agent failed to sign the restricted offer. The Cavs’ FO should’ve played hard ball at that point, which is what TT and his agent were doing, and instead they buckled and caved into TT’s demands. A complete failure by the Cavs’ FO of understanding TT’s value relative to the market.
I think at that point, they felt they had a championship team (which they may have), and just wanted to get the deal done.
That very well may be true, but still doesn’t justify the action… very rarely are good business decisions made by how one feels.
The thing with firing Blatt is, what then? What coach is out there who’s gonna command LeBron’s respect and make this team good enough to win the championship? Last I heard, I don’t think Phil Jackson is looking for a new job.
I don’t think they are firing Blatt, but I think the assumption is that Lue would get the job if that happened. In any case, Lebron is gonna Lebron.
Yeah, that’s always been my argument. There are two coaches out their that would command that type of respect (Phil and Pop) and they both already have jobs. Nobody is going to come in and install some miracle offense or defensive system that the guys will totally buy into from Day 1.
No one wants to believe the Warriors are as good as they are. And no one wants to believe the Cavs are as flawed as they are. If this game isn’t the wake-up call, then they are doomed. They can’t defend the Curry/Big pick and roll the way they did. They played terrible off the ball. The offense was just as bad as the Portland game. Kyrie going rogue trying to score – Kevin Love a ghost, LeBron holding the ball while everyone stands around. Just putrid. The only bright spot was J.R. Smith, who, of course, gets ejected and… Read more »
Number 1 – thanks for Nate doing the game post. I wanted that badly. Number. 2 – you are dead-on, Tom. I got so tired of hearing Cavs fans here and elsewhere saying the Warriors sucked before this game. They don’t suck, and I’ve been saying that all year. The Cavs have zero chance of beating them in the finals. Better hope it’s the Spurs. Lastly, so freaking tired of Lebron and Kyrie iso ball. Sorry, guys, it’s not gonna get it done vs the Spurs and Warriors. It looked like they were actually running the offense for parts of… Read more »
Why do you think we have a better chance against the Spurs? It doesn’t make a difference. Either way, this team has to be better.
I think the Warriors have them beaten mentally.
Oh well, sometimes if you can’t be Mr. Right, you can be Mr. Right Now. In the right place at the right time, that can be good enough to get you the girl, er, the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Look at the 2003 Pistons, 2006 Heat, 2011 Mavs . . . I don’t feel like those were remotely the best teams in the league that particular season but people got hurt, people feuded, next thing you know the “wrong” team gets the ringzzz. The Cavs only have to face one of the four other teams that are better than, equal to… Read more »
What a post!!!! “Fatalities to babalities” ftw
Haha… Nice post Mac!!!!!!
Oh Man Nate…that so-bad-its-funny movie is the perfect medicine for a gloomy post-Cavs a-kicking