Live Thread: Hornets @ Cavs
2022-03-02Tonight, on the shores of Lake Erie the Cavs have another important Eastern Conference tilt, this time against the ninth place Charlotte Hornets. Both teams are reeling from losses in four out of their last five games, so the pressure is on both teams to eek out a win to keep up in the playoff race. That is, unless there’s a “stealth tank agenda” afoot…?
There are rumors that Darius Garland will make his post-ASB debut, but Coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s non-committal response regarding DG’s status leaves the door open for another DNP, score one for the “stealth tank agenda”:
#Cavs J.B. Bickerstaff on whether Darius Garland will be available tonight: "He's questionable."
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) March 2, 2022
As for the game on the court one stat that pops out is how poor Charlotte is rebounding the basketball on defense, ranked 29th in the NBA. The Cavs are a top 10 offensive rebounding team, an obvious key for the Cavs will be attacking the offensive glass to punish Charlotte’s smaller front court. Keep an eye for their rookie JT Thor, early results have been promising and he provides some length and athleticism Charlotte needs.
Both of these teams are some of the best passing teams in the NBA. The Cavs will need to take care of the ball on offense to prevent Charlotte from pushing the pace off of live ball turnovers. On defense, there will be opportunities for the Cavs to play the passing lanes and create some transition offense. It should be a good game, a classic “contrast of styles” between Charlotte’s offense vs. Cleveland’s defense.
Tip off is scheduled for 7:00PM ET and will be broadcasted live on Bally Sports Ohio/Great Lakes, Go Cavs!
Seems like the defense, the reason this team turned it around, has more or less fallen off a cliff. Not good enough offensively to compensate for that. Last 6 games our d rating is 116.5 per 100, good for 27th in the league.
So being 1 and 5 in those games totally jives.
LMFAOOOO great stuff John B, hit the nail on the head.
1 MORE THING ——CLF POINTED OUT YESTERDAY– CAVS HAVE GOT TO DO A MUCH BETTER JOB ON THE BOARDS // AT BOTH ENDS// TOO MUCH BALL WATCHING–NOT ENOUGH “HEAD HUNTING “–50// 50 BALLS–WE SHOULD PRIORITIZE TO WIN THIS BATTLE EVERY FRIGGIN GAME // OUR MAN DEFENSE ROTATIONS RIGHT NOW —SUCK !!—FOR EVRY DEFESIVE MOVEMENT THERE NEEDS TO BE 1-2-3 COUNTER MOVES BY OTHER PLAYERS ‘ PLAYING ON THE ROPE// CHAIN “—WE DID ‘SHELL DRILL DEFENSIVE MOVEMENTS EVRY DAY IN PRACTICE—20–30 M IN’S // DAY —EXCITING WHEN EVERY PLAYER UNDERSTANDS AND CARRIES OUT THEIR ASSIGNMENTS –ALSO THEY NEED TO BE TALKING… Read more »
JUST READ A MEDIA SOURCE—MOBES IS STILL THE FRONTRUNNER FOR ROY—CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY CADE AND BARNES ——–SEE HIM HAVING A REAL GOOD GAME HERE SOON—–WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF THAT OUTSIDE SHOOTING THAT HE PUT ON DISPLAY AT THE ALL STAR GAME
Mobes has had an off week or so. most national talkers still have him leading for ROY. this might be due to a lag in perception, but if he finishes strong he is in good shape.
the league has adjusted to him. physicality and barely boxing out neutralizes him on offense. And on D he is a known entity so guys are going into his body more and not bothering to test him very often on drives. He needs to make adjustments on offense. Not for the ROY crap. For the team to succeed.
I think you are pretty much on the money on this. maybe “rookie wall” too. he needs to be a lot stronger and have more offense to take a big step next year.
I WOULD SAY WE MISS LEVERT–(WITH AN E )– BADLY BUT HEY WE REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE TABLE ——BUT YES WE MISS RUBIO ALOT !!!
NO APOLOGIES NEEDED CLF—-YOU MUST HAVE PICKED THE SHORT STRAW AGAIN ‘ TO BE CRUCIFIED DOING THIS RECAP // MUCH APPRECIATED —–WILL READ AFTER I EAT TO PREVENT INDIGESTION
Two things happen when a previously doentrodden team starts winning games (and getting all-star nods):
1) The team starts thinking they are hit sh!t and dies not play as hard.
2) Other teams start taking them more seriously.
I think we are getting a bit of both, plus some injuries. We miss Rubio badly.
I should have kept it a secret that I was picking them for third!
Also, they start to get scouted/ gameplanned. (Part of your 2nd point)
Mobley took teams by surprise early on, they’re more prepared now, and are being physical with him. And most teams are overplaying for the lob now.
Sorry for the delay in the recap, should be up this evening.
Lol. Don’t apologize.
the cavs haven’t shown up until the 4th quarter the last 3 games so it’s only right…
LMFAOOO love it!
(chuckle)
I HAVE TO MAKE THE SAME REPLY AS RAOUL TO –THE OTHER JASON POST —-???—GRANTED HE HAS BEEN STRUGGLING HERE AS OF RECENT GAMES BUT TO SAY THAT HE IS DEFINITELY NOT A ROY CANDIDATE —-I AM CONFUSED OR MAYBE MY PASSION FOR ” MORE BEER PLEASE ” HAS IMPAIRED MY JUDGEMENT ONCE AGAIN
At least we can all agree Mobley is definitely not a Rookie of the Year candidate.
?
Well…he is top 5. He could certainly finish strong and win it. But he is probably 3-5 depending on who you ask so it is less and less likely
hard to believe anyone would pick him lower than 3
Cade, Giddey, Barnes all have arguments. by the end of the year Duarte may as well.
If we finish below toronto it’s very likely Barnes or Cade. nobody cares about defense
Mobley is already an elite defender. Granted defense isn’t top billing in peoples minds when evaluating performance, but it’s half the game and Mobley is accomplishing something very rare for a big man.
No, we certainly cannot.
Bad vibes in the postgame pressers, yikes. “Guys are tired of hearing about it” (Darius), Jarrett going half Tristan with a “it isn’t about the coaches”, J.B. having to deal with Chris Fedor. Incidentally, I recommend J.B. just nod or mock salute at the preliminary Fedorian ‘what’s up’ stab at familiarity (see Cold War interrogation manuals) and respond only to the actual question, dude needs vocal rest.
Kudos to Chris Fedor however for noting that the Cavs are .003 ahead of Boston in the standings. I wonder to what extent there’s room for a ‘what the hell, how bad are things, really?’ attitude — the Cavs are still *ten games* over .500 and 6.5 games away from the 10th seed. Are fans so used to tanking that it becomes incredibly easy to imagine a complete collapse? I still would like to know what the estimated time is on the return of LeVert (or Ben Simmons, sheesh).
lol Adam first of all…yes of course cavs fans can imagine complete collapse. 2nd of all, we got lucky against washington or we’d have lost 6 in a row heading into 4 of 5 more losses. We’ll very likely be 2 and 9 or 1 and 10 in our last 11 by the time we face the Clippers on March 14th just based on health and scheduling. If that isn’t complete collapse I don’t know what you call it. And yes i’m making assumptions…but we just got shredded by a team that was 2-11 in their last 13 after getting… Read more »
The injuries are part of any teams issues to navigate…its apparent the Cavs (like the Browns) aren’t handling injury management well or creating contingencies…its also apparent guys just aren’t stepping up like they used to, at least on consistent basis and of course the coaching staff just not having answers…throughout previous blog posts I have written about we will see who the Cavs truly are during March and the last month of season…that’s when teams really start buckling down and taking things seriously…the Cavs so far are struggling and not adapting very well…stay tuned and GO CAVS!
UPROXX WTF? LNJ and group trying to buy Chelsea FC?
Heat just absolutely fell apart and let the Bucks steal the game. We need the three teams to beat everyone, Cavs don’t need parity, we need the EC to turn top heavy so we can sneak in the top six
So no we going to talk about Ice in the starting lineup ? Yeesh he has been giving us absolutely nada on offense for what seems like forever now
the lattitude Ice has been given compared to Wade or Windler is pretty ridiculous IMO
No one is really immune to first impressions and self justification. JB has an idea of those three guys’ potential and is rarely swayed by the actual numbers.
for sure, and i’d argue his justification is bullshit, skinny, finesse players like Windler still can play defense in the NBA, and Wade justified himself defensively already.
Mason Freaking Plumlee was plus 26 in only 28 mins. Mobley and Allen were both -24 in 30 or more mins.
You lose to plumlee by 50 points in differential…you have to watch the next game. That’s unbelievable.
Plumlee always owns this Cavs team…
https://twitter.com/MrCavalier34/status/1499208889815994368?s=20&t=JXCuMMiiYYP8Ku1cVdeYmw
AC admonishing Cavs that they need to understand who they are is like me telling my kids to eat with their cutlery.
It’s every freakin night.
Aussie kids sound like real savages…:)
lol that’s why you’re not a coach for preseason only. It’s laughable that they don’t know who they are at this point in the year.
Just got home, WTF? DG playing and seemingly playing well or at least scoring. What happened?
everyone was terrible on D except Dean Wade.
2nd what scotch said LMFAOOO
Pretty porous defense by the Cavs, honestly…
Might be time to move Mobley to the bench. Been really struggling of late I feel like.
He’s been a no show on the boards for a while. But they aren’t not tanking, right?
Yeah. That’s the rub.
well I asked for a slaughter so the last 3-4 mins would be garbage time.
not what i meant…
Clear the bench. don’t get anybody else hurt to lose by 10
Clear the bench
Cavs wasting way too many possessions,
I am all for exciting comebacks, except when it becomes a team’s schtick.
Cavs need a 3 who is a real hound on the boards…badly…
Love the effort but goodness we suck at rebounding
WOW, no rebounding LMFAO
Cavs are scoring but keep on giving up points, need stops.
NOOOOOOOO DG pickpocketed.
DG RAINING THREES!!!!!! 33 POINTS!
WHAT A MOVE DG!
I’m glad they are making this run but its so frustrating being down 20+ over these past few weeks and having to always try to come back in the late third/4th..and not always getting over the hump.
No lobs? Nn Cavs.
DG TO JA RAGE TIMEOUT!!!!
LOVE TO LAURI LETS GOOOOO GET TO 10
DG SHOOTERS ROLL!
I repeat we are currently the worst team in the Eastern Conference.
Not a threat. Noone is worried about playing the Cavs right now.
still only one offensive rebound for the Cavs…. that’s pathetic.
sub 70 free throw shooting, still getting out rebounded, outassisted.
Rough game for the Cavs, but the fact that IT somehow sees the court in the NBA gives hope to YMCA scrubs everywhere…
MINNY LOVE!
Mobley after bank hours!
Oh god is that IT??? 🤮
wow, Cavs sloppy passing
total flop by Rozier what’s that bullshit LMFAO
Actually it was Coach Buck who finally put in Dean Wade, shoutout to Buck!!!!
At least this team doesn’t quit
Playing hard for 1/4 / half doesn’t qualify as not quitting in my book. Just cuz you play hard in the 4th
Cedi/Love/Wade/Lauri FINALLY A LINEUP OF SHOOTERS
WHAT A PASS GOODWIN!!! CEDI FOR THREE! RAGE TIMEOUT!
We are the worst team in the east. How the heck did that happen
GREAT PASS GOODWIN! nice attack and finish Cedi!
LAURI FROM DEEP maybe they finally make a run
Dean Wade great defense
Imagine sitting him the entire game until just now in a game against the best offense in the damn League LOL
ok down 24 we got them right where we want them
100%
I wanna see a hockey style line shift – let’s get some Goodwin, Love, Wade, Stevens in there
3 man DG TO MOBLEY TO JA!
Lol. Not sensing a comeback tonight
JB gets tossed, losing 5 of 6, starting to unravel just a bit
100%
I hate this performative bullshit
WOW JB thrown out
most fire ive seen from any Cav all night!
Really not sure why he was so fired up on that play. Cedi guessed right but he was still moving. I thought it looked like a blocking foul
he was just frustrated and trying to fire up his team
Their speed on the wings is really giving out bigs fits
perimeter defense stinks without Rubio! LMFAOOO sorry to beat a dead horse
YEP THE INJURIES // AND LOSSES ARE STARTING TO MOUNT AND THE WE START TO TAKE OUR CUSTOMARY ROLE OF PREVIEWING THE DRAFT
STEALTH TANKING FULLY ENGAGED ——” CAVS HAVE NOT LEARNED HOW TO GO FROM THE HUNTERS TO BEING THE HUNTED “
what the hell Lauri twisted his ankle F****
Cavs suck news at 11
what the hell was John Michael talking about???? there was fighting in the locker room? JB pissed the players off?
😩
WOW, DG sloppy pass, JA weak hands, 5 point swing
LMFAO what is going on out here?????? this looks awful!
how does Dean Wade not get minutes in a game like this??? LMFAOOOO what the hell is going on?
Yeah need more Jimmy Dean
2-13 from 3, not good enough from three, not taking enough 3s either… great gameplan JB!