Live Thread: Bulls at Cavs
2016-01-23
Game 1 of the LueBron era starts tonight. Â Also, Game 1 of the Saturday night NBA on ABC era.
Well, the Bulls have dropped six of eight and Joakim “Pebbles” Noah is out for the season. Â Mike Dunleavy is still recovering from surgery and Kirk Hinrich is out. Â Derrick Rose is a shell of his former self. Â The Bulls are hurting, basically.
Jimmy Butler has asserted himself as one of the best young players in the NBA and Pau Gasol remains surprisingly effective at age 35.  The Bulls have some pieces in Tony Snell, Taj Gibson, and Nikola Mirotic but they seem to be stuck in “6th-man” or “x-factor” type production/consistency.
Ty Lue has already stated that he will play a 10-man rotation. Â Good. Â I’d rather he just do it than signal that he’s going to do it but, whatever. Â I’m getting prepared for some awkward press conferences – Lue turned off a lot of Cavs fans today when he said he wasn’t going to be make the Cavs different from Blatt, just “better”. Â Sounds like he didn’t mean any slight by it, but…that’s a rough transcript to spin. Â He also said that he’s going to get the ball to Kevin Love at the elbow. Â If it’s not painfully obvious that this is happening in the near future, and the Cavs struggle, prepare for all the heat of this collective hot seat to cook Kevin Love alive.
I’m actually optimistic about tonight’s game. Â Let’s talk about it here. Â As a fun aside, let’s have a Lue pun contest. Â If you see a good one, just reply to the comment and award points or Schrute bucks. Â Here’s the conversion:
Enough of this spirit talk. They are NBA players not cheerleaders!!
Kyrie for CP3, who says no?
Who doesn’t say no.
CP3 will not improve the spirit of this team, he’s an a hole.
Doc Rivers, & entire Clip Nation
Um..me and everyone on clevekand’s staff.
I’d like to see Lue get a friggin tech. That is one thing I did not appreciate about Blatt. He certainly didn’t live up to his fire breather rep with the refs. And Cavs are getting homered…but they are at home.
Yes I agree with that. Based on his rep, I had expected him to be a lot more fiery with the refs and especially his own players. Also the cavs disfavor with the refs seems to be a troubling pattern as of late.
Where is Kyrie Irving? He pushes the tempo against the Celtics and really gets us rolling, only to come in and be nonexistent tonight? I just don’t get this team. Not all that fun to watch right now.
Slow passing. Slow offense. Can’t get to the line. Can’t hit free throws. Just ugly basketball.
Maybe it was Blatt’s idea after all and he let them take credit for it.
Delly has always pushed the pace. Something tells me Delly always does exactly what the coaches ask.
Time will tell, I think. The reports in the past 24 hours seem to indicate that Lue, Lebron–everyone but Blatt–were calling the good plays and making the good decisions (while at the same time David Griffin indicated that Blatt empowered his staff and players?). I think that Kevin Love is the canary in the coal mine. If he disliked Blatt, then with Lue, I think things will improve. If he resents Lebron being “the Man” then I think the thing goes caput, Love gets traded, etc., etc.
Refs have been stingy with foul calls. We’ll hit our shots in the second half but even if we don’t…we’ll win: Kyrie will show up in the fourth quarter
JVG pointed out that beat reporters often slam outgoing coach and praise incoming coach to curry favor. Not something that I had considered (but pointed out by TV63 and Simmo in previous blog). Will try to factor that in as I read articles over the coming days.
LeBrons sucky jumper is back. Not going straight up. I don’t love how LeBron refuses to realize that, and just continues shooting stupid threes!!
Maybe he’s trying to shoot through it and get his touch back. Bulls are a tough defensive team and don’t give up many open looks around the rim.
He’s been trying to shoot through it for two years now. Give it a rest LBJ, you were never great at threes to begin with.
Contrary to the announcers belief that the story of the first half is the Bulls defense, the real story was the cavs inability to hit open shots and the refs allowing all kinds of contact…if they don’t clean it up the second half could get real chippy….
I agree with you completely. I didn’t think our offense was all that bad. We moved the ball around, but we’d either get hammered / no-called on a layup, or just miss a wide open jump shot .
T.T. WITH ONLY 6 MINUTES ?? —-SURE HE CAN’T BE HAPPY WITH THAT
But more important he’s more connect to his spirit.
LOL Yes this will win NBA Championship for sure!!
The collective spirit on this team is out of control. My aura is burning bright just watching it.
He’s also -11 in those six minutes.
Are we watching the same game? Cavs are competing on defense and working through new rotations on offense. Christ almighty, I think the panic button is stuck down!
It’s not panic, its anger. This team will win the East with me coaching. But we’re pissed that they, and LBJ in particular, thought they were the smartest guy in the room and caused a good coach to get fired for a coach we know NOTHING about. They thought Blatt was a rookie? In hindsight, Blatt’s biggest mistake was not calling LBJ on his BS and make an example of him early on. Do you all remember the first few preseason games when we saw Blatt’s motion offense in full swing? Or last season for a few games? Remember that… Read more »
I agree. Funny how Griffin wanted someone that can hang out with Lebron and co instead of an actual coach.
Classic Catch-22 for Blatt. If he calls out Lebron, he gets fired. To Blatt’s credit, he bit his tongue for 1.5 years. Still didn’t make a difference.
I feel like we might have to add a hotline number to the Live Thread tonight… I don’t want anyone harming themselves!
I wish I could kick Lebron in the face
Lol people are going nuts.
I’m just hoping it works out so I can get season tickets and start the “LUEnatics” section at the Q. We’ll all wear suits and co-head coach to make Tyron very very nervous about his job status.
Yeah I certainly wasn’t for the move, certainly not in mid-season, but they are stuck with James/Lue now so well I hope Lue can figure out something other than Doc Rivers sets to run. Tough to institute a new offense in the middle of a season, but it is their first game, so I wouldn’t really expect much to be different other than energy tonight.
BREAKING: Tyronn Lue has been fired. Moondog has been promoted to head coach with a guaranteed 5 year contract. Woj reports new contract in excess of 50 million.
Sir CC will be his assistant, and the highest paid assistant according to sources.
LOLOLOLOLOL…. Nciely done y’all
BREAKING: Moondog has been fired. Damon Jones has been promoted to head coach, shooting coach, president of basketball oprations and Mayor of Cleveland. Woj reports contract in excess of 90 billion dollars and a small Caribbean island.
BREAKING: Lebron is taking his talents to China. Every body now, ehhhh oohhh ehhhh oohhhhhh, wayyy yoooooo wohhhhhh
Why can’t Blatt just have taken a two week sabbatical like LBJ did. Maybe they would’ve realized they don’t know everything.
That is crazy and I am assuming sarcasm, but actually, fake a Kerr like back injury and let them prove they are better. Kind of brilliant.
LeBron has turned into Dion Waiters!
James Jones played more minutes than Tristan Thompson
That is just stupid.
Would rather see Andy get run than than jones. We have no reason to use James jones unless he’s shooting. He adds nothing else to the offense right now
Cavs are a hot mess right now!
lebrons first step is so freaking slow now… even his and ones were pushoffs…and he seriously needs to shut up and work on his shot
Definitely noticeably less effective than a couple of years ago. It’s a huge thing for him, too, since his shot is apparently broken for good.
Well, looks like Mo Williams and James Jones are getting some time. Nothing from the good players RJ and Andy, though.
More isolation, less running plays.
Love Elbow touches? How about his big turnaround the last two games?
I want to vomit.
I have no problems with Mo and Champ getting time… AV should probably get some time.
Definitely.. there’s been more isolation, less running plays.
Why should we have played Mo and James Jones in the first half and *not* RJ and Andy? I would be fine with playing all four of them, but we’re playing the two veterans who are worse.
Mo and Champ are better shooters… I didn’t say to not play Andy.
Doesn’t really matter… bench as a whole has no scoring regardless of whom among them play.
So much for going 10 deep… bench hasn’t scored yet…
If Ty Lue can hold LeBron accountable, now’s the time to prove it. Don’t let him take another three-pointer this game. If he does, just bench him.
Bench has zero points… Cavs bench can’t score.
Apparently Ty Lue is in the hot seat.
If he doesen’t win the title this year I don’t see how you can justify keeping him.
But why give him a three year deal in that case? Are we really going to wind up paying *four* coaches at the same time?
Well, the halftime lockerroom will be jolly, anyway…
Haha yep, i am sure they really want this game, as i do but chitown is no pushover even though they got blitzed by golden state as bad as we did. Oh but chi town also beat the spurs this season, so they got that going for them. Have a feeling the cavs thought, wanted to come out and blitz chitown, you know to prove they were right.
How’s it feel Lebron? How’s it feel? As you spike the ball into the court, how’s it feel?
freaking damn it
Holy crap, you’re acting like they just lost in the first round of the playoffs. What gives? They’re working out new rotations.
Yea, that’s great. Lets start all over on january 23rd. Let’s start all over again.
Id like to see Jefferson get some regular minutes. Why did he fall out of the rotation? Guy was balling earlier in the year.
How many players exactly do people expect to be part of the rotation? Like honestly. On this Cavs team, for them to be competitive, how many players do people actually expect to be part of the rotation.
Mo sucks, RJ is old, JJ is useless, Andy can not defend. How many players should be part of the rotation. Preposterous.
You’re losing it right now. You’re supposed to be believeland!
I’ve been losing it since that Portland game…..
lebron supposed to go 2 for 1 if he was gonna jack a three after missing as many free throws. great coaching
Only Delly ever goes 2 for 1. No one else is smart enough.
indeed. and delly was blatts favorite. :(
Sometimes I think Delly is the only guy not totally brain dead on the court…
Yeah the current incarnation of the cavs has never struck as having a super high basketball iq based on some of their decision making.
That offense was garbage this half.
I didn’t think the offense was that bad, we just couldn’t hit Lake Erie from the pier.
Yes please more Le-ISO!!!!!!! Nothing like watch LeBrick jack up shots!
LeBron 0-3 from 3. Cool offense.
There are at least 5 better three point shooters on this team than him. He should take that shot out of his game until he has some time to practice.
Unless the ball is leaving his hand and directly touching the rim or glass, it’s not going in.
Well he had been shooting better in January, but yeah likely simply a streak. James will never be an ultra consistent shooter. He shot threes ok in miami a couple of years because he played off ball a ton and there offense was so creative and got him a ton of wide open corner 3s.
I thought Lebron had fixed his FTs. My goodness. He’s been in the league for 13 years, one of hte best scorers ever, and doens’t have the focus or disciplin to hit free throws. So then he bricks another three. Man, I am not in the mood for him tonight.
Classic LBJ 3 ball for a brick
Really. Let’s see if Lue can do what Blatt couldn’t, and bench the guy for BS like that.
Ty Lue didn’t say anything in his speech about challenging LBJ on his free throw shooting, did he?
He just told them come on, you got this. Pretty much the anti-Blatt speech.
LBJ one-on-one…. Bulls don’t pack the paint… easy lay-up.
Missed a lot of shots, but still two point game…
Good ball movement for the JR SWISH!
Ball movement… JR 3… who would’ve thought???
Is the three point line also called “the elbow”?
My understanding is that the elbow is on either side of the free throw line.
Here is a link:
http://hooptactics.com/Basketball_Basics_Court_Areas
That’s the joke.
Lebron does not accept your charity.
Blatt must have shot those last two free throws, lol
man I miss David so much…..
What do you miss exactly?
LBJ’s free throw shooting hasn’t changed…
Random Ty Lue note: one of KG’s best friends. — Bill Simmons
Sloppy pass by Delly… LBJ muscles his way for a foul.
Is it just me or does it feel like we have no flow on offense. Looks disjointed.
Mostly one-on-one basketball… no ball movement.
Well first game nerves, missed some open threes, taken some terrible shots. I am sure Lue hasn’t had time to change much, then again he didn’t make it sound like the offense was going to change a ton anyway.
Same as it ever was…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI&feature=youtu.be&t=102
This is just a preseason game in January.
I can’t believe I forgot it was Timo’s Winter Hat giveaway night!!!
Both teams are playing as if most shots wins. Doesn’t matter if they go in.
The refs are definitely letting them play lol.
JR takes it to the rim strong…. nice! Moz got punked on the defensive end with Gibson outmuscling him for the rebound.
Over the back, per ush for Taj…
So many guys pushing off on rebounds at both ends. Refs are a complete joke.
Van Gundy and Jackson echoing my sentiments of how the media, sports news sources, and even some fans have treated Blatt the last two days.
Lebron hitting 38% on 3s would help this team more than any coach…
JR Smith with a lucky bucket… take what we can get.
hahaha hit every part of the basket
Jack up three by james, interesting choice
LBJ bullies his way into the paint.
So Mozzy just got flattened…..
Well so far things aren’t looking too great
I’ll just keep saying that when they need a run
LBJ faded about two feet left on that pull up three…
Nice drive by LBJ
McBuckets isn’t good… but he’s gonna hit open threes…
Left Doug McDermott wide open for 3…. probably should cover him.
JVG totally spot on. Sports writers trying to gain favor writing a disparaging piece attacking former coach. Ahem Haynes!!!!
Tyronn the Lue
Tyronn the Lue
Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff
He’s Tyronn the Lue
Tyronn the Lue
Willy nilly silly young bear
Lemme guess: You have a young child.
I could have sworn Moz shouted “THAT ONE’S FOR DAVID!” on that block…
YO seriously? No way. I would love to see a clip of that.
JVG with the truth about sportswriters bashing fired coaches
I love Jeff Van Gundy right now. Slicing up POS journalists hopping on Blatt (and/or Lebron, Gilbert, etc) as a way to move up.
Shump passing to Moz for the jumper instead of LBJ on the post… bad decision.
Holy Mozgov batman!!!
He just got his balls back
IF HE DIES… HE DIES….