Recap: Oklahoma City 148, Cleveland 124 (or, the Wreck of the Day)
2018-01-21
This game was over from the minute it started. Cleveland could not compete. It is time to face the uncomfortable truth. The Cavaliers are flawed in so many ways that without major changes, they may not even be able to make the playoffs, let alone compete for a championship. The harsh truth is this: the Cavaliers got absolutely taken to the cleaners in the Kyrie Irving trade. As they are currently constructed, playing with Isaiah Thomas is basically playing four-on-five on defense. The four guys the Cavs have on the court with him aren’t that good and are heartily demoralized by Thomas’ defensive worthlessness.
Cleveland got waxed from the tip. LeBron got caught switching onto Steven Adams, James made a half-hearted attempt at a steal, and Adams dunked. Adams scored six of the Thunder’s first eight (with no Cavalier answers), mostly on idiotic switches and terrible backside rotations that ended with Stevens getting a point blank shot. At one point I laughed as Isaiah Thomas got switched on Adams, and OKC didn’t even bother to get it to him because they knew they’d get a great shot somewhere else.
Kevin Love left the game for Tristan Thompson just after three minutes in and never returned, apparently he was ill. Lucky him. Cleveland’s only recourse to stay in the game was to try to match Oklahoma City’s offense, but despite some balanced scoring by the Cavs, the Thunder’s big three ripped off 17 before a Roberson layup and two Patterson triples put the Thunder up a laughable 43-24 to end the first
The Cleveland bench tried to cut into the lead in the second, as Wade, Green, Rose, and Thompson started chipping away before LeBron and Isaiah returned to cut it to 42-50 on a Rose layup. Raymond Felton helped the Cavs in that regard with some terrible point guard play. Frankly, Derrick Rose is currently an order of magnitude better than Thomas. He’s aggressive, looks in good health, and actually plays with some hustle. But after Derrick’s exit, the Cavs couldn’t stop the parade to the layup line and open three pointers caused by Thomas’ general uselessness and OKC closed out the half up 76-60.
The second half was mostly trash. A passive LeBron James didn’t take a shot till the 6:20 mark. But we saw lots of the Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder two man game early. A J.R. Smith three briefly cut the deficit to 14, before Westbrook and Melo went on a tear and bounced it back out to 20. James and Isaiah Thomas got rolling and dropped the def to 12 with LeBron driving and Thomas swishing threes, and we even saw a little Channing Frye action. Inevitably, the Thunder closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to push the lead back up to 114-94, OKC.
Wade threw the ball away a couple of times early, and a Cavalier brickfest ensued. Roberson and Steven Adams got free on a ton of cuts and short drives to the rim in the mean time, and suddenly the Thunder were up 137-111 before the final feckless time out with 4:16 to get the mainliners out. The Cavs zoo crew couldn’t stop anyone either, but at least Channing Frye threw up a couple F-Lue buckets before the buzzer sounded 148-124, Thunder.
I’ll admit I only watched the first 20 minutes at a bar and glanced at the score the rest of the night. It was an awful display and more than one person asked if the Cavs were trying to get Lue fired. LeBron’s general affability and his chumming around with the Thunder and his banana boat buddies rubbed some people the wrong way too, especailly after the Cavs tied their franchise worst regular season points allowed.
It doesn’t matter though. As Sam Amico wrote, “Only Change can Save the Cavs now.” The Cavs have no backline defense when LeBron’s not blocking shots, and their perimeter defense is probably the worst in the league. Isaiah Thomas is less than a defensive zero, and J.R. Smith isn’t much better. The Cavs are lazy on offense and don’t make defenses work. James was pretty circumspect after the game, noting that the Cavs would “easily get bounced early” if the playoffs started today.
It all starts with Isaiah Thomas. The dude is unplayable on this team. You can hide him on a team with a four other good defenders, but the Cavs don’t have four other good defenders and they have no rim protectors. In a scheme that relies heavily on interchangeable defensive players and switching any screen action, teams can just attack with whomever Thomas is matched up with, and that’s what the Thunder and what every team the Cavs have played are doing.
James also noted that he didn’t want to see Ty Lue fired. Isaiah Thomas noted that the Cavs don’t trust each other on defense.
Offensively, the Cavs were fine, though J.R. Smith went 3-11, everyone else shot average or better. James scored 18, six short of the 24 he needed to reach 30,000. His three point woes continued too, with an 0-4 night. As I noted he was remarkably passive at times and his defense was as complicit as everyone else’s as he posted a game low -33.
Thomas dropped 24 in perhaps his best offensive game since his return, and most importantly went 4-8 from three and 8-14 from the field. But it was Pyrrhic given his defense and the -24 he posted. Jae Crowder seemed to benefit from Thomas’ presence, having one of his best offensive games in a while: a 17 point effort with a pair of triples. The Cavs couldn’t find their mojo from deep though, as they went 10-37 from downtown, while the Thunder went 14-30.
A silver lining to this game: the bench wasn’t bad at all. Dwyane Wade has his normal share of terrible turnovers (five), but he was 4-5 from the field for 11. Only Tristan Thompson’s -11 was especially bad, though he did share the floor quite a bit with James and Thomas.
I don’t know how to say this, but Derrick Rose looks like the Cavs’ best point guard right now. Rose scored 12, and was aggressive attacking the basket. He played 21 minutes and posted a plus/minus of -1. He even played a goofy lineup in the second, sharing the backcourt with Thomas, and it wasn’t a disaster. I know. I’m as shocked as you are.
Channing Frye, Jose Calderon, Cedi Osman, all had solid moments in garbage time. It was the starters that stunk on ice this game. For the Thunder, it was all about the big four: George had 36, Carmelo Anthony 29, Steven Adams 25, and Westbrook 23. Patrick Patterson chipped in some nice moments with six and a bench high +8.
We’ll see what the next few days hold for the Cavs. LeBron should get to 30K and the Cavs would seem to have a reckoning on the horizon, but with this team, you never know.
Jason kidd isn’t that great of a coach IMO, and is a wife beating drunk driving a-hole.
I would take Fizdale over Kidd any day…but I don’t think Lue is going anywhere…unless the Cavs really look terrible for a good stretch…
Agree with Nate and MikeO, although I am not so sure Lue will last.
don’t think there is no comparison between KIDD / TY —-plus LeBron always admired Jason a lot —just saying —plus the greek freak is devasted –had a close relationship with Jason —RECRUITING TIME
https://twitter.com/Steve_R_Walker/status/955550282544549889
Wow that one hurt.
FWIW, we are 4 games ahead of the Bucks. Has Parker played yet?
bucks fire Jason kidd—fire ty right now—hire kidd imediately !!
Beat me to it!
I don’t think much of Kidd as a head coach.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/955545357466947584
What, you mean acquiring the all powerful ERIC BLEDSOE didn’t turn things around?
I’d take Eric Bledsoe on this roster over the midget.
I would too.
I will say it. I don’t think we make the Finals. Of course, a lot of time is left.
According to the KJG, the players want Channing and Cedi on the floor:
https://kingjamesgospel.com/2018/01/22/cleveland-cavaliers-want-channing-frye-cedi-osman/
In hopes of a silver lining, maybe Lue is just letting the team see what happens when IT and TT play. Recall that he did that with starting DW.
If true,
It prvoves
The problem
is Lue.
Lebron doing a lot of talking about taking responsibility but there also some self responsibility too….if he wants to really set the tone he needs to defend the other teams best player from the start and be aggressive early and his teammates will follow the tone and energy. Sucks thats what has to happen, but for every superstar out there thats what has to happen
At least until we get back on track. If he took the lead and showed the effort level for a long enough period maybe he could get JR, Crowder, Shump, and Green to a point where they could cover his man. But he has to lead by example before he can delegate.
MJ45– I would like to be so optimistic as you ( and hoping you prove all of us wrong )–just can’t see us as HEAVY favorites–especially if we give us home ct advantages s to both raptors and the celts—they are both improved teams this year–we ARE NOT
Very good pts JRL—-OUR EVALUATION / BUILDING OF TALENT AS YOU INDICATED IS HORRIBLE —–CAN YOU SAY “BROWNS ” —MUST BE A CLEVELAND THING———NO LEAVE THE INDIANS OUT OF THIS —THEY ARE VERY GOOD AT AQUIRING / GROOMING TALENT ( FORGET ABOUT SWISHER/ BOURNE)
You guys need to get off Twitter and ESPN. LeBron is such a drama king, and sports sites desparately need to get as much mileage as possible out of him/the Cavs.
The fact is that the Cavs will be heavy favorites to win the East, unless LeBron isn’t the same guy he was last year/beginning of this year. If he’s slowing down or injured (and he’s loooong overdue…), then the Cavs are screwed. If he’s healthy, no one in the East has anything for him. Maybe series will go 6 instead of 4 this year, but the team will start trying more on defense and they’ll be fine
But all of this stuff is ultimately irrelevant. Durant completely screwed up the league by going to Golden State. That team is hardly even trying and is still dominant. They may go 16-0 in the playoffs
Lebron can play really well but role players are bigger deal than usual, those guys have to step up too. Just see few guys who haven contributed much of anything like TT and JR and at times Crowder. Sure Warriors ‘cheated’ to be super team but Cavs have potential to knock off anyone as long as role players step up when it matters
Are the Cavs purposely trying to nab the 8th spot so Bron can knock out Kyrie in the 1st round ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
https://twitter.com/oldseaminer/status/955500883558662144
LeBron doesn’t believe in plus/minus.
The Celtics did lose to Orlando the other night.
1) Calderon should start.
2) We should play the guys who have PROVEN can play winning ball: Calderon, Smith, Crowder, Bron, Love; Wade, Korver, Green, Frye, and Cedi.
IT, Rose, & TT should get spot/matchup minutes to see what works & what does not.
Young players with potential and might be available for trade, from espn insider:
Malik Beasley ,Richaun Holmes,Juancho Hernangomez ,Stanley Johnson,Justise Winslow ,Julius Randle
Pass.
Lue should have starting unit of Calderon Cedi lebron Love Frye…first four off bench are IT wade korver green….both units could run and spread floor for kick outs and drives
I’d be okay with it…a lot of lineups would be better than the horrid starting lineup the last few games…
let’s face it as soon as LeBron returned we “mortgaged ‘ the future to win RIGHT NOW —we did win an nba championship—–we are now paying the consequences —-deep down I think both kyrie and griff could see this “train wreck ” coming and jumped off before it derailed ——–ty “watching film with the doctor “
Well with LeBron being 29-30yo when he came back, you only had a small of window of opportunity to squeeze the most out of him.
We brought in Love in his prime and had Kyrie becoming the offensive phenom he currently is. You had enough to beat any team, until Durant went to GS. That changed everything.
The decision by Dan to keep and pay TT/JR/Shump as much as he did, plus the horrible execution of the Kyrie trade is what made us get to the point we are at.
That, plus the horrible talent recognition in this front office have gotten us here. We don’t have ANY players drafted by the organization, other than LeBron, who have gotten better while still under contract. Going back 15+ years. TT has regressed. Dion went to Miami and became a better player. Kyrie went to Boston and became a better player. Don’t even get me started on Bennet, Felder, Eyenga, Hickson and bunch of other bums. This organization does not recognize talent.
With that same train of thought, I’m still baffled by Cedi and Zz not getting meaningful minutes. I would bet a paycheck that if they were under a capable coach they would both be getting minutes and polishing their craft.
Yep – if Love/Kyrie aren’t injured in 2015, and Durant doesn’t [ull the lamest move in the history of professional sports, we’re gunning for a 4th consecutive championship this year.
I don’t know about a 4th championship but a 50/50 chance at GS as opposed to 30/70 we have now.
+10000
Listened to Windhourst’s take on the Cavs today. As CtB tweeted from that Windy report, Brian said the obvious: IT is killing the Cavs now, and totally disrupted any chance at even respectable defense. More alarming, the Cavs starting five is fourth worst among ANY group of five players – not just staters – in the league. And Lue plans no changes to the starting five.
https://twitter.com/mcten/status/955487988225597440
A psychiatrist?
????
Optomitrist?
HaHa. Psychiatrist was good, Optometrist was better!
what do you think IT ‘S trade value is at present—-don’t think (after all this drama–and cavs won’t pay him for what he wants ) might as well see what he (his value ) brings right now—at least get SOMETHING out of that kyrie disaster trade
I think IT could be usable in Orlando and NO. They have complimentary players that could hide him on defense. Although in my opinion IT’s defense isn’t really the problem at the moment, but rather his desire to shoot 15+ times a game even though he’s shooting like crap.
Take that, add JR’s slump, Crowder’s desire to shoot 3’s as opposed to attacking the basket and TT’s lack of any offense, and you have the problem we currently have with our starting lineup (when TT starts). It’s putrid.
I’m almost certain he’s being told to shoot. I mean, all the Cavs ever say is “keep doing you and it will work itself out.” As if there is nothing else that can be done.
True but as a normal rationale basketball player, one must take into consideration the situation at hand and determine if the coaches’ advice makes sense.
For Lue to tell IT to “Keep shooting” and for him to think, “Sure, why not?” when he’s shooting like crap and the team is getting blown out makes no sense. I’m not sure who more at fault, the coach for being an idiot or the player for not recognizing it.
*is
He shot well last game.
I agree with JRL, I don’t IT is the only one to blame for the Cavs struggles. The Cavs are just not defending the way they should. Most of the time they let their offense dictate their defense.
Listened to Jason Lloyd of the Athletic on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. Basically its the following
– Lue is not at fault he’s ‘holding everything together’
– Cavs have no assets for trades or any moves
-Cavs won’t move BKN pick at all
– Trading Kyrie was worst mistake ever and ruined season
Rather pessimistic point of view. Do think Cavs will make surprising moves as not all NBA GMs are smart and most are desperate.
While IT wouldn’t like it for contract purposes, feel him coming off bench and starting Calderon would help Cavs a lot. Have IT, Wade, Korver, Green, Frye next five off bench. Starters would be Calderon, JR, Jae, Lebron, Love.
Rose and Cedi and TT would get spot minutes depending on match ups.
The Cavs do have assets, they just aren’t really worth a game changer on their own. But to say the Cavs don’t have ANY pieces that would be valuable to other teams, especially rebuilding teams, seems a bit hyperbolic. We’ll just likely have to unload a lot of pieces to get it done. Saturday Nate covered our resources in an exhaustive piece on how to fix the team.
To say Lue is not at fault is also absurd. Since when do coaches hold zero liability for how a team performs? Maybe if he were a better coach he wouldn’t have to “hold everything together.
Agree with JMay on the Lue thing. He’s accountable, if not, then he’s nothing more than a pawn and I would imagine he would be lashing out at the media when questioned on the rotations considering he doesn’t have any sh!ts to give.
Pretty much agree. Might consider starting Cedi and giving JR and Imam spot minutes.
That’s nuts. If “Lue is holding it together” then it means he’s carrying the water for LeBron and/or Gilbert. One or both of those guys is calling the shots and Lue is taking the blame.
If Lue’s the one making these decisions, Lloyd is protecting him or is just as incompetent. It’s plain to any trained talent evaluator or results analyst that the lineups and personnel are antithetical to winning basketball in today’s nba.
Totally agree with you on Lue I thought it was absurd from Lloyd who I respect as b-ball writer
I just hope they don’t wait long to make these changes. Something needs changed and now. Stop waiting. As far as I’m concerned, Lue should be fired for saying there should be no changes. That’s ridiculous and Blatt was fired for a fraction of the mistakes. Go ahead Lue, change nothing, maybe we don’t even make playoffs if we continue losing 10-14 games…
Making a dumb change is much worse than making no change.
At this point, I’m not sure you’re right. If the Cavs continue at the current pace, they won’t make the playoffs. They won’t even end the season .500… that’s a complete and utter failure in which nobody attempted to change the course simply because “this is the same team that went 18-1” and for a fear of making the wrong move.
Don’t worry about the Cavs making the playoffs. If they give up on working IT and TT into the lineup, they will have a good shot at making the ECF.
Can’t play much worse than they have been though….
Things are going so bad that even Terry Pluto can figure what Lue needs to do:
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2018/01/cleveland_cavaliers_must_do_so.html#incart_2box
It’s hard to get better when you don’t practice.
Yeah, it sucked the Nets won at the buzzer last night.
I still can’t wrap my head around the whole thing. For Lue to not consider making any changes is mind boggling. If he’s not questioned by Dan, his coaching staff or LeBron, then they are all just as idiotic as him.
Pretty shocking to read some articles and/or tweets about Lue making zero changes and possibilities of Cavs not making ANY moves for trades and hoping the ship rights itself. There’s only so many chances and occurrences where a team can turn it around and the problems existing currently are deeper. So what that the team won 18 of 20, Lue isn’t even playing half the guys who were part of it (Cedi, Frye, Calderon). If he wants to get back to that, play those guys regular minutes. Limit Crowder, TT, and JR, and play Green more. Maybe have IT come off bench and he can still play starter like minutes. Just spit balling, but Lue talks ‘experimenting’ but doesn’t do anything different.
Right now, the Brooklyn pick only has a 2.8% chance of being #1, and only a 9.9% chance of being Top 3. Way things are going, the Cavs original pick might end being a better asset (Cavs have only won 9 more games than the Nets). Time to stop over valuing that Brooklyn pick…if we can use it to make the team better, and make the on court product more enjoyable NOW, just do it already.
I’m with you.
It’s not going to happen and this draft is loaded. It’s possible to get better and keep the pick.
Whatever the pick is worth, the other 29 teams have figured it out as well as you, and probably better. If it is not worth much next year, it is not worth much now. Making a dumb trade will not help anything.
Also, those odds seem silly. Where do they come from
another astute answer from “cluesanity ” when asked about LeBron’s 3 pt struggle —-” we need to play with more pace—play faster “—-wow haven’t heard that one before —–I need a beer ( or 2 )
Faster pace means the Cavs need to get back in transition defense faster if they intend to defend at all. I am beginning to suspect Lue himself wants to get fired.
It is hard to figure out what the heck is going on. Last year I assumed Lue would bring out Plan A for the playoffs, or at least the finals. But that was Plan F.
TY CLUELESSANCY
damn nets win in last second
I just caught a bit of the JJ-NEP game, but it looked like Ty Lue was coaching Jacksonville. Their coach was put on a choke fest in a class with Hue when the Browns have a chance to win a game.
I think I am off the Lue train. However, I still am unsure how much of their effort and disjointed play is due to Lue or just the general character of this team’s personnel. The fact that Blatt lost them and now Lue seems to have lost them indicates to me that a coaching change might not fix that. I also am unsure what coach out there could command their respect for more than a season before they tune them out.
A Carlisle or Pop might be the only ones that could do that, but there just aren’t guys like them available. Clearly an unknown or rookie coach with no NBA experience wouldn’t work, unless it was Krzyzewski, and he isn’t available. So it would have to be an assistant or a guy like Fizdale. Even then, they won’t be in total command.
Fizdale might be the obvious choice.
I think he is the only realistic choice at this point. I am unsure if he can get this team’s attention. Still, LBJ supposedly has an ok relationship with him right?
there is a saying -“-don’t be so smart( and or stubborn ) that you are stupid”— ty please read —oh yeah I forgot you are busy “watching film “——and we are expected to support this LUNACY !!!—— I CAN SPEAK FOR MYSELF —-CAN’T DO IT !!
cLueless Luenacy…
Hardest job in the NBA /s
https://twitter.com/joevardon/status/955150160992055299?s=17
So I guess I won’t be watching the Cavs in ththe near future. Lue is delusional and so is the front office/owner:
https://twitter.com/JasonLloydNBA/status/955183984744501249?s=17
After reading the article, I would agree with the FO in not including the Brooklyn pick for Jordan. That doesn’t mean they cannot make a move without it, like Hill.
Ty Lue needs to be examined for dimentia:
https://twitter.com/ChrisFedor/status/955139244959436800?s=17
Is that like “being of two minds”?
does LeBron approach cavs front office and give the ok to start trade talks with “certain ‘ teams ??
Thanks for taking the hit on this one Nate… Near the end, I was rooting for OKC to hit 150 and set the record… Only embarrassment will foster change at this point…
eah when I read later after that “thrashing “—ty’s comments were ” no lineup changes—have to watch the film first “—well that pretty well sums up the entire season —-we are in deep trouble —love Blatt’s line …think that might have been a little dig
https://twitter.com/MZavagno11/status/955130758615719937?s=17
Just wait until Shump gets healthy. There will be changes immediately then.
Well we at least got one championship out of it. Time to start looking into the post LeBron era. I’m hoping he’s not an ass and signs with the team to then be traded. Him walking away will be a waste of leverage. That “no trade” clause is poop.
Almost unbelievably, the Blatt coached Euro team gave up 151 pts in the all star game in Turkey. Nice write-up by Nate too. With Lue saying today no changes will be made, this season could be a lost cause.
I have a hard time even looking at Lue’s face on the tv screen anymore. As others have said, I need a Cavs break perhaps until after the trade deadline. Thankfully I sold my ticket to the OKC game on flash seats
When the season started I thought we had 9 guys who were starter quality players: Bron, Love, IT, Wade, Rose, Crowder, JR, TT, & Korver.
I knew some guys couldn’t/shouldn’t play starter’s minutes due to age (Wade or Korver) or injury (Rose or IT).
I would put 4 of those guys at starter level now. Bron & Love and, when used properly, Korver & Wade. But they cannot play starter minutes. Rose & IT it is too soon to tell.
How many guys are plusses on both sides of the ball? Bron is not. Love is close to at least even on D. If pressed, I would say zero.
The fact is simple, this team is not very good. Bron has almost stopped trying. The coach is awful. We have a lot of new pieces that do not fit well together or have experience with each other. We have a lot of prior pieces playing poorly (JR, TT, Shump). And the FO is limited because LeBron holds the franchise hostage (again).
The effort is historically bad right now. Putrid. Odious. Something is rotten in Denmark- level bad. Greek tragedy-level bad.
I’m not opposed to the firing of Lue but if the D coordinator for this team is not replaced by tomorrow you just can’t take the FO seriously anymore…I think replacing Lue with Fizdale and any changes he wants to make to the staff right now would be a good start at creating a situation where player’s could be held accountable…Lue apparently is unable to inspire them to try more than one quarter a night…TBH if Lue had any cajones he would have started the bench in the second half of yesterday’s game as at that point they had a +/- rating of +6 – +7 while the starter’s were -23…
https://twitter.com/joevardon/status/955090972148404224?s=17
Lloyd’s pettiness is rather foolish. Blatt is 10x the coach Lue could ever be
It made me laugh.
i thought it was funny too
but yeah – everyone hated Blatt and showed their pettiness
The beat writers always hated Blatt:
https://twitter.com/JasonLloydNBA/status/955087295358660609?s=17
Yeah, I get that Blatt could be annoying, but these guys sound so catty with this crap…
https://twitter.com/ChrisFedor/status/955094654030176256?s=17
We got sold a lemon….
“Thomas isn’t the only problem and he wasn’t against Oklahoma City either. Crowder had an even worse defensive rating (154.9) Saturday — if that’s even possible to grasp.“
Tradin’ Danny only deals in lemons. That’s why you tell Tradin’ Danny to get bent…
Nice recap Nate! I’ll pretty much be following these recaps, instead of actually watching the games going forward. Sorry to the C:tb writers for having to document this crud. I’d rather eat paint chips while lighting my farts on fire then to witness the collapse of the Cavs, as they go back into basketball purgatory. If the Cavs make th necessary trades, as noted in your previous article, I’ll start watching again. But right now they are as unwatchable as the Browns.
don’t do that!
Step 1: Go to the team & say: if you guys want this FO to make an all-in move, you have to play like a contender. If not, the youngsters (Osman, Zizic) stay AND play and we keep both picks.
That would take guts from Altman/Lue and they don’t have it.
I don’t think they have the ability to play like a contender.
It’s too bad that these Klutch contracts have become such an albatross to the organization. And I was on board with the signings at the time.
They really didn’t have a choice. They needed TT at the time, and not signing him would have been a pretty blatant slap in the face to Lebron. JR, it was an overpay, even at the time, but again, I don’t see they had much choice. Either keep him, or sign some min contract guy.
I agree. In retrospect, I wish they hadn’t though.
At the beginning of the season, I predicted that the OKC experiment would fail. With both George and Westbrook in contract years, and with George wanting to be in LA. With Carmelo, the gifted loser who always needs the ball. With all three of these guys being used to being “the guy,” things didn’t look promising to me. But now, those three are all playing well together and when you add Adams and some role players, they are looking pretty tough.
The most formidable starting unit in the nba.
I thought they would be the Dubs biggest challenge. Not Houston.
They are good enough defensively to give anyone issues…nice to have Adams, and an elite perimeter defender like PG… but I think Houston has a legit shot at GS in a series. I wish the Cavs could D up like Houston…
Yeah I don’t trust the Golden Turd in the playoffs. He doesn’t get away with his constant flopping. Plus Chris Paul is kind of a headcase.
I’d still favor GS for sure, but I think Houston is the only team that has a legit shot at them. Paul being there means the Turd won’t get as worn down.
https://twitter.com/Sportando/status/955082608383229952
Burn!!!!
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/954922991783174144?s=17
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R0I4KKSgeBI
thank you Dr P –agree !!
Rebuild time. Besides that the Cavs wouldn’t trade him–get out the magic wand–what could they get right now for LeBron?
Lue is a terrible coach. Who could steward the Cavs becoming hugely more youthful and astonishingly more athletic and miraculously more disciplined and breathtakingly more committed?
hope you are right dzk—but also don’t forget that schedule was the easiest in the league during that stretch—also think both games vs the dubs ( even though close / somewhat competitive contests )–proved to them that they CANNOT beat the dubs —allowed for a lot of self doubt / disgruntlement / should I say for lack of better term “giving up “—-just think there are too many holes to fill no matter what trades you make –unless you “roll the dice—mortgage the future –trade that nets pick ” for a HOPE that you can make a trade and win a championship —if that fails and it BLOWS UP —the future would look very bleak and we would start all over with our “WHAT IFS “
The thing is this team still has the guys on our who went 18-1 a while ago, and they looked like they could beat anyone then. I don’t think we need a trade, they just need to recapture their mojo. If that means not playing TT our even IT, so be it. Consider them sunk costs and move on. (Though personally I’m still optimistic about IT.)
Rose stans are out in FORCE! (not here, other forums)
I didn’t know they existed?! They must be part of the Sam Amico fan club.
should be “undo–change “
we can “what if “all we want going all the way back to when LeBron returned and we made the trade with wiggins / love and all the other “WHAT IF’S ” since then / during that time —-some of those “WHAT IF’S ” have proved beneficial–some NOT SO —but either way WE CANNOT DO WHAT IS ALREADY BEEN DONE —all we can do is try to correct the future / put this franchise in best stable position WITH OR WITHOUT LEBRON —-and I think we all need a reality check on who the cavs presently are / the expectations for the remainder of the season / and going forward –next season and plus ——what is the most intelligent /mature / responsible decisions to make for this franchise / city / fans
leo good pt on IT—he will never be all nba defensive team but seems he is the main target for the blame ( due to I am sure he is the INTREGAL piece of the ky trade )—I just don’t think ( and again maybe I am being too pessimistic / negative ) any trades that are going to allow us to compete for a championship ( let alone get out of the east )—we have for the LeBron 2.0 era given into his “requests “— it HAS brought us 1 championship ( forever grateful )–but believe now is the time ( especially since we have no gaurantees that LeBron is coming back –doubtful ) to say “no ‘ to LeBron’s requests —keep that nets pick/ and our pick / BE SELLERS at trade deadline —see if we can unload some “dead weight ” and ‘QUIT ” ransoming the future for something (championship ) that is not attainable
I don’t think Cavs are in THAT dire of situation. The team doesn’t try and there are guys that need to go. Possibly even a coach. If this team tries hard most nights, especially against good competition they can beat anyone. If they had tried against Magic they would have won by 20+. If they tried against thunder its possible they would’ve won as the offense wasn’t the issue. Its all about trying and effort and energy and the team lacked all of it yesterday.
Excellent post. The Cavs is the only team that does not value youth. This draft looks 10-12 deep. Image LeBron and one of those studs that would be for another 5-6 years. With a coach they can still win the east but there is no player out there that can guarantee a championship. So keep the nets pick , get some youth and prepare for the future. If LeBron leaves after gettting Bamba/Ayton/Bagley/Porter then so be it.
I’ll disagree that IT is the worst of problems….nobody plays defense on the Cavs, and ones that try like Crowder are getting torched as well. Its quite possible the Cavs need to make multiple major moves that may require the BKN pick and moving guys we like on this blog, such as Cedi and Frye. I’m not sure how all trades would work and whether any teams would do it but here’s a Radical sampler
Cavs trade: TT, Shump
Jazz trade: Favors, Rodney Hood
Cavs trade: Cedi, Frye, Rose
Kings trade: George Hill, maybe another random but think just that would equal salaries
Cavs trade: BKN pick, JR, Zicic
Clippers trade: D. Jordan, Lou Williams
Starting unit: IT, Hood, Lebron, Love, Jordan
Bench unit: Hill, Lou Will, Wade, crowder, Green, Korver, Calderon
Grab an extra big man from G-league or end of bench scrap from other team to round out roster.
I know there is a lot of hate for gilbert /Kolby—-buy which g.m. let delly go / signed to t.t. / swish /shump to contracts that are ‘handcuffing this team right now / deron Williams was a bust / the moz trade was good for only at best 1 yr / fired blatt when he was 30-16 —so I don’t think we can let griff off that easy either —–yeah the kyrie trade is going to be a bust —but “flatliner ” kyrie brought it on with his demands —-we don’t know how it would have played out if we didn’t trade him—I think we would have been in this “funk” right from the start if ky was still a cav –it is what it is —can’t change it ( the trade ) unfortunately—still reality is –in my opinion –this ship CANNOT BE RIGHTED —DON’T TRADE THE FUTURE —THINKING YOU ARE GOING TO COMPETE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR —time to face the truth we are in rebuild mode -especially if ty is still the coach—-hope I am wrong and all of you can come back later and remind me / “throw it in my face ” these comments / opinions ——–again apologize for being such a pessimist but right now these cavs are not “watchable” ——-give me the “herculoids “–lacking in talent– but not in heart and hustle !!!!!!!!!
Thanks Nate – I guess the CtB staff just have to get used to writing tough recaps for a while. Minor editing note: the halftime score seems off.
Here is some great news to lighten up our disappointments..
Stipe Miocic defended his UFC Heavyweight Title for a 3rd time making him hold the most title defense win in the weight class. For starters he is a guy from Cleveland. Congrats Stipe.
I hate watching Rose, but that was one of his better Cavs games…he even kicked it out on a couple of drives, but, predictably, I believe the shooters couldn’t convert.
Really can barely tolerate watching this team – just mostly crappy basketball, and the results are earned.
Unless the Cavs get a huge asset with the Nets pick, either via trade or in the draft, the Irving trade is one of the worst in recent memory. The lesson: don’t trade with freaking Danny Ainge. He knows which of his ‘assets’ are trash, or way overvalued, and you don’t.
Per Jason Lloyd:
1. There are 84 days left until the NBA playoffs begin, 84 days to piece Humpty Dumpty back together again. Time is on their side, but let’s be clear: The Cavs are broken. It’s evident by now this isn’t a typical January funk. This isn’t a midseason malaise. This is a fractured team with veterans unsure of what happens next because they’ve never experienced anything like it before.
2. This is the worst it has ever been. That cannot be overstated or exaggerated. The mood around the locker room, the vibe among players, the general feeling throughout the organization is a stunning bewilderment of how it all fell apart so quickly.
And the bewilderment is the problem. They clearly couldn’t see the glaring flaws in front of their faces.
I have hated the Thomas trade from day one and nothing has changed. He was unplayable last year. He’s unplayable now. He’ll be unplayable tomorrow. He can give you 15 minutes a night off the bench maybe. Gilbert is an utter fool. If Crowder doesn’t get it together, this trade will go down as one of the worst all time. It takes a special idiot to make Kyrie look smart.