Live Thread: Cavs @ Kings (#TheString)
2019-04-04With the Cavs playing out the string on an odd, late season road trip out West… it almost seems like the season has already ended. There’s just not a whole lot else we can learn about this current iteration of the wine & gold. Kevin Love is out once again with injury, and might be better served by sitting out the remaining few games. Collin Sexton has demonstrably improved from struggling rookie to a legitimate scoring threat. In fact, Young Bull is just nine points away from becoming only the 10th rookie this decade to reach the 1300 point mark in his first season.
The Cavs can’t even really alter their Lottery position at this point. It would take an unlikely win or two by the Suns to jump into the second slot, or an even less likely four game winning streak for the Cavs to flip spots with the Bulls. One thing that definitely won’t change is just how awful the Cavs have been defensively this season. Cleveland ranks dead last in defensive efficiency, giving up 114.8 points per 100 possessions, more than three points worse than the next closest team, the Phoenix Suns. If that’s not a ringing indictment of Mike Longabardi… I don’t know what would be.
Prediction: The Kings still have something to play for… no, not the playoffs, but a chance to finish the season at .500 for the first time since 2005-06, so they should handle the Love-less Cavs fairly easily… 127-110.
Anyway, if you feel like staying up late on a Thursday night, you can see a bit of string theory in action against the Kings starting at 10pm EST on FSO. And, as always… string some thoughts together below if you’re awake…
https://twitter.com/FOXSportsOH/status/1113998632817176576
Cedi needed to give Hield a hard foul there…
Nice ball movement… Need more of that
Ante still got a lot of work to do on the defensive end…
LD got that Maitre’d look going tonight…
I like the deep red jacket lol
ZZ!
Every girl’s crazy about a sharp peaked man.
Sexton now just the 10th rookie to score at least 1300 points this decade…
Kind of amazing given how his season went before the all star break.
Buddy “poor man’s Steph” Hield.
His form reminds me of early Ray Allen… but maybe that’s just me…
That’s a better comp, but the millenials won’t get it.
There’s no millenials on this site… are there?
Millennial checking in…. And I saw Jordan play lol
I was mostly joking… lol
Man. You are destroying ALL my illusions tonight.
Just wait til the podcap…
Except nowhere near athletic. But Hield has a quick release…. seemingly
Ray was a pretty skinny dude early on…
And could jump out the gym for a 6’5″ guy.
Idk… Hield is pretty bouncy himself… anyway, not comparing athleticism as much as shooting release…
I see a quick release. That is there.
Wow great pass knight to Zizic for the finish
Bielica had a really good season. One of the better signings of last year.
That’s a lot of stats…
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1113996128519892992
I don’t know how the Cavs are in this game…
By my untrained eye out looks like Sexton, Clarkson, Nwaba carrying the scoring load
Another YB triple…
No one tell CavsDan how small Yogi Ferrell is.
Or Barrea…
Think Barea’s done. Tore the muscle between his calf and his achilles.
Perfect CavsDan signing then…
I forgot Sauce played here initially…
Chriss’s three didn’t even hit the top of the rim.
Tank lineup+Nwaba out there.
That’s like Nwaba’s whole season…
Alphabet with 45 and G Hill off the bench with 20 big ones…
NWABA doing NWABA things.
Harrison Barnes seems like a good Laker Max deal candidate…
He’s ideal as a fourth/fifth man.
Bucks pull away with a 46! point fourth quarter….
Looks like the Bucks got this.
Big win on the road and losing Bledsoe
No Butler… but still great win…
Nice drive and finish Nwaba!
Tremendous pump fake on an eager rookie by Nwaba. Perfect move for that situation. They should sign that dude.
They definitely would if he was an undersized point guard…
Undersized points are fine, as long as they are true points and good pg defenders. CP3 is the definition of an undersized pg. So was TP.
Those guys got nothin’ on IT or Kay Felder…
Ha. Couple inches. Stevie Franchise, Starbury, etc were more who I was thinking of as undersized PG who were score first and bad defenders.
In his retirement… AC will be tormented by birds and busted pipes…
Nwaba so solid.
Steve Rogers for three.
Lol…
Nwaba forces a turnover with simple hustle.
He’ll be great on the Pacers next year…
You’re so not funny.
I wish I was being funny…
So do I.
https://twitter.com/cavscentral216/status/1113992412878311431
Even AC’s ads are unintelligible…
Bucks up two 121-119 with a minute to go…
To be followed by Lakers/Dubs. LOL.
George hill with the two crucial buckets… Kiss off the glass
He’s been great for them since Brogdon went down…
Cavs pretty lucky to just be down 7…
Don’t think Nwaba actually touched him.
Yeah. He didn’t.
Young Bull!
Chriss is never looking the right direction on defense…
Quiche fail.
Sexton about to go full Dion. Hands up. Pass me the Ball. Let me shoot. I am always open.
Hate that from a pg.
Give the kid a break… season is basically over…
Means more as a indicator of mentality.
Respectfully disagree… he’s shown me enough with his work ethic… this doesn’t bother me
Unsure vision/being a pg is a work ethic thing.
He’s not a pg… he’s a scoring g…
What worries me at 6’2 in shoes. AI?
He was wide open for a 3 while Nwaba was driving to nowhere. Ball should’ve found him.
Surprised Cedi goes at Bagley. Great d. Unlikely make.
My wife and I ran into Kosta two days in a row last summer at the Belden Village starbucks in Stark County.
He and Alex Caruso from the Lakers should meet up for a head shaving party…
Like that Cedi improv…
So where does quiche end up? I’m betting China.
Lakers…
Same thing.
LOL
Bagley getting hurt is a big reason Kings missed a shot at the playoffs…
Gah. I am not looking forward to two months of Claws commercials in the playoffs.
You’re watching the playoffs?
Why not? :)
No Cavs… no LeBron… another Dubs chip…
I like the Bucks, the Clips, the Pacers. I’ll watch. Maybe not the finals.
JC got the floater going… and the headband yo!
Fox doesn’t play very good D
Kings missing a ton of wide open shots…
Sexton lost the ball on that drive…
Yeah watching bucks Sixers too… Just tuned into Cavs
I really hope AC retires a the end of this season…
I hate to say it, but me too.
He is our Tommy Heinsohn. Immortal. Would rather them hire a third commentator.
Even Tommy Heinsohn is intelligible some of the time… just recruit Fratello or Channing or RJ…
Tommy Heinsohn has sounded a few cards short of a full deck since 2005.
ZZ fell asleep…
One point game in Philly with six minutes left…
https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1113979317325901824
That is the definition of rejection.
Cedi taking night classes at the Jordan Clarkson school of shot selection?
ZZ Block!
Blocked by ZZ!
Hield gonna get $$$PAID this summer.
Probably by Sacto… they really like him reportedly…
He’s probably the second best shooter in the league right now.
I still can’t believe the Lakers picked Lonzo over Fox.
Lakers FO is equal parts hubris and stupidity…
Fox v. Sexton…
Better shot from Cedi that time…
I guess. Don’t like the long twos.
Just shot with more confidence…
Thought Collin should;ve shot that.
WTF was that shot from Cedi?
Wonder where Harrison Barnes ends up this offseason.
Cedi shortarm… leads to a run out for the Kings…
That is a RED jacket LD is wearing…
Ante gets the start…
How weird must it be for the Warriors to play the Lakers tonight sans LeBron… and then play the Cavs in a back-to-back tomorrow… also sans LeBron…
KLove interview of Channing pregame is fun…
Yeah. Wow. An hour.
There was a lot of dead air in that snippet they played though… hope the rest is edited better…
Pretty good Sixers/Bucks game going on rn… 86-82 Philly at the end of 3…
Wow… Sexton’s rookie numbers really exceed Fox’s in everything but apg…
I hope to see a duel between a Fox and a Bull tonight…
Man. Finally got to catch up on the last recap and comment board. Really annoyed at the shameless tanking. The NBA needs to start awarding random lottery chances to random late season wins to end this garbage.
As for Zion, the comp is Draymond, not Blake. Draymond with a massive vertical, and much better finishing skills, and hopefully a much better attitude.
Dray is 6’7, 230… Blake is 6’10, 260… plus Blake had that same crazy explosiveness on his jumps coming out of college and that same physicality… it’s why he was the clear number one pick that year. Dray is a skinny dude next to Zion…
Yeah don’t see the Draymond comparison. 50+ pounds bigger. I’m not sure Williamson really has a comp. 40 per and 70% TS. Draymond was nowhere near that in college. And Draymond’s never been able to score. He topped out at 20pts/40 his senior year. Zion is at 30.
Agree. Unicorn. Player comparisons are worthless. Almost never turn out similar. People look and see superficial similarities mostly based on physical attributes and that is simply way to simplistic for a scouting report.
Basically boils down prospects into easy definable categories. Unfortunately it usually ignores the differences which is what matters.
I only mention Blake because he was the last top pick that had anything close to the raw physicality Zion possesses…
Get that. Different type of player though. Blake a true big coming out of college. Zion more of a non-shooting wing/combo pf (at this point) and guy that can play true pf/forward at spots. Blake had zero shot or ball handling. Zion has a bad shot but a shot and could bring it up the floor, pass, and probably should be both a ball handler and roller in the p and r right off the bat.
Dude! Thanks for getting the LT, EG. Was just logging on to get it.
Anytime!