Live Thread: Cavs vs Timberwolves
2016-01-25G’Day! These fit as a Mallee bull Cavs fans traveled over 10,000 miles to be in Cleveland for Australia day at the Q, and ended up getting to meet their countryman, Matthew Dellavedova. You may think they’re as mad as a meat-axe, but let’s hope that kind of good karma pervades the arena tonight as the Cavaliers celebrate the holiday that started on January 26th, 1788. A couple of CtB commenters and even a staffer are in the arena bringing the #CavsGoodKarma, too. Hope the lads stone the crows for you, mates.
In other news, the Cavs are saying all the right things about their commitment to pushing the pace. As Joe Vardon reported for Cleveland.com, ‘Bron is fully committed to coach Lue’s vision of moving the Cavs out of 27th place in speed of play in the NBA. Hopefully, no one chunders.
This is what coach wants to do and this is what we’re going to do. This isn’t a LeBron thing. I’m talking out of IQ of the game, but this is what coach wants to do, so this is what we’re going to do.
So here’s to these these new look Cavs going off like a frog in a sock for the Aussies watching down under. I’m going to click “post” now so I can listen to the Wombat address the crowd. May your chooks turn into emus and kick your dunny door down, Andrew Wiggins. In other words, Go Cavs.
Wish the Cavs had Diaw…
We don’t need any more fat guys.
This is a freaking TRACK MEET!
Ugh. Just can’t stand this version of basketball. Give me the Cavs offense any day over this mush.
You should check out the Sixers, Cols…you’d love their offense…
You live with that Barnes shot? I mean when picking the least of many evils…
Parker is a liability on defense. Can’t put him anywhere against the Warriors.
Sounds strangely familiar…
Yeah, but at least he’s been bringing it on offense this year.
Warriors are really freaking good!
“If Kevin was worried about his brand I don’t think Kevin would have come back.” – Kyrie Irving on Kevin Love hahaha
I mean, his brand is chocolate milk, right?
This is why the Cavs can’t play up tempo against the Warriors… they’ll lose by 70…
Yep, absolutely right. Other reason I am fascinatd by this game is scouting if spurs can unlock the key to beating them.
I disagree….the Cavs would lose by at least 75…
LOL… good point… I stand corrected!
Cavs best strategy is to slow it down vs Dubs.
Spurs a bit sloppy with the ball. Gotta say, hard to look away from that game because stuff happens so fast.
That was absolutely a walk on that behind the back move by Steph… but still pretty impressive…
This is the NBA
I hope you said that like Gerard Butler in 300…
Wow curry, damn.
Danny Green fortunate to acquit himself on missing that dunk…
I love Kawai Leonard…. He’s a great player.
Jeez… how do you stop a 40 foot three?
I mean that was only a few feet past half court and he shot it like a layup…
That’s why he’s ridiculous…impossible to defend
“You no can defend”
Charge on Draymond, and no call.
Seemed like an offensive foul on Braymond…
Danny Green is really good at closing out…
Golden State is in good shape.
Ugh. I hate the way the Spurs and Warriors play basketball
You might be the only one.
LOL yea I hate that they play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.
Pass the duchie on the left hand side…
I guess you prefer…. She’s a Brick….. House….
Oh I thought you were Cols…
Please tell me for the love of all that is sane in this absurd world, that you forgot to add the sarcasm sign, please.
LOL….because they don’t play in Cavs unis…
HAHA – all that passing and running around. What the hell are those guys doing out there!? Don’t you know this is supposed to be a standing around and dribble it until you kick it league?
Is it crazy to admit that other than cavs versus spurs, warriors, bulls opener, this is the most excited I have been for an nba game all season. I cannot help it, I am utterly fascinated with what is going to occur.
The Timberwolves are 1st team in NBA history to have 3 players under age of 21 score 20+ points in the same game. — Sportscenter
That wouldn’t have happened on Blatts watch.
Wow… NBATV just upgraded this Dubs/Spurs game from the “Game of the Century” to the “Game of the Millenium”…
I’ll be watching……..
I’ll be watching… AND posting as many evil memes of Warriors as I can troll off the internet… ;)
That’s a bit of a downer. Nothing better to look forward to for 985 years?
I’m also a Spurs fan, so I hope they take it to them at Oracle. If they won by 80, I’d be delighted. But At Oracle, I’d slightly favor the Dubs…
And Timmy’s not playing…
Duncan is not active tonight though. Maybe one of the three other meetings later this season can be the “Game of the Millennium”.
I wonder what the TV ratings were for this game in Australia, with everyone off on holiday there and able to watch Delly.
And now they get to watch Andrew Bogut! /s
Maybe since the Spurs and Dubs are the best ever, it will take some pressure off the Cavs.
And the Raptors too… you know, since they jumped the Cavs in the power rankings and that seems to be newsworthy enough to put in the NBATV scroll…
Lue’s press conferences are really just an extension of Festivus, airing of greavances. I anticipate some shots at Austin Carr, whoever the minority owner is, Kaun, and Cols…
He should call out Danny Ferry and Chris Grant while he’s at it…
Well we’ve got him covered at C:tb on those shout outs!!!
I won’t rest until he states emphatically that Ferry was worse than Stepien.
Rockets just don’t play defense…
What happened to that team? How long has Howard been out?
Howard’s back… and they’ve been playing like their old selves with Josh Smith back… and I’m not even going to hit that with a /s…
It’s basically Harden…he’s put up counting stats, but he’s nowhere near where he was last year.
They are now 2-0 with Josh Smifffff back…
The Beard is COLD BLOODED tonight….
Watching the end of the Rockets/Pellies… Exciting stuff!
Glad Lue spoke about running plays for RJ in the press conference.
Should that have had a /s?
/s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s
I promise I’ll try not to call Draymond the other name for stubborn ass…
Anyone hanging around to comment on the “Game of the Century?”
Intend to as I will be fascinated to see what happens.
Cols is a big Spurs/Dubs fan, so I expect to see him live blog.
I hope he’s drinking… or at least got his clock set to 4:20…
Bummer that Duncan apparently isn’t playing. I was hoping we’d see them both full strength, and we’d really learn something.
Finally got home… man, I hate LA traffic!
Your city sucks. Denver does not.
LOL… the city doesn’t suck (75 and sunny today btw)… but the traffic absolutely does!
NEXT 10 GAMES WILL BE A SOLID TEST —-COULD SEE US GOING 8-2—–COULD ALSO SEE US GOING 3-7 DEPENDS ON HOW FAST WE CONQUER THE ” BABY STEPS “
This press conference is killing me. So much of what he says contradicts what we saw.
We’re through the looking glass here…
HUH? Kevin’s not gonna catch up?
Wait what? I missed that portion of the press conference.
Catch up to what?
He basically called him fat and slow.
Well… that’s not entirely false…
https://twitter.com/joningriffin/status/691816427687428096
I think that deserves a campaign… bring back #FatKevinLove!
Dean Smith had a bit of success with a system where players pulled themselves when they needed a blow. Maybe Lue can try to adapt.
He’s in better shape than Lebron, anyway…
There was a reporter that asked Love if he should lose weight?? WTH? He responded that he has already lost too much so he said No to losing weight. Yes Agree he should not lose anymore. You wonder what in the heck are they thinking with questions like that.
POP PLAYING THE “MENTAL ” GAME ON G.S. —-WON’T SHOW THEM THEIR FULL TEAM UNTIL NEEDED ( PLAY OFFS ) – MY MAIN CONCERN WITH SO CALLED OUT OF SHAPE PLAYERS —IS WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIND TIME TO PUSH YOURSELF INTO BETTER SHAPE ( BEING A HIGH SCHOOL TRACK / CROSS COUNTRY / BASKETBALL COACH ) THERE IS A NEED FOR RECOVERY ( OR ELSE YOU ARE DEFEATING THE PURPOSE ) SO ARE WE GOING TO PUSH OURSELVES ON OUR RECOVERY DAYS AND NOT BE ABLE TO COMPETE IN GAMES / ALSO YOU TRAIN TO HARD WITHOUT PROPER… Read more »
Sounds like Ty Lue properly accepted the game ball after his first win.
That’s good. That other guy came across as pretty arrogant when he didn’t.
Pretty much don’t care how a coach comes across as long as they win. Bottom line.
It mattered to the players.
Good for them? Not super concerned with the players feelings. Go out do your job, get paid, have pride, be a professional.
ugh. It’s like you are 68 years old or something this isn’t the California penal league.
29 actually. I don’t know, maybe I am crazy, but I expect grown ass men to conduct themselves professionally if they are extremely well compensated for their employment. I certainly try to when I am at my job.
They managed to overcome their hurt feelings last year to go 34-3 or whatever it was during their hot stretch and get within two games of the championship.
But now, more than a year later, it resurfaces as a grievance? How convenient.
I don’t understand this “Kyrie and Bron get tired early” thing. LeBron still played 38 minutes.
Fat guys get tired quicker than in shape guys like Delly and TT..
Yeah, but he has a commercial where he works out and you can watch him. He must be in great shape!
Stephen Curry is shooting 45% on long 3’s (27 to 34 feet). League average: 24%. 34 feet is about halfway from the arc to the center circle.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-stephen-curry-theres-no-such-thing-as-a-terrible-shot-1453674275?mod=e2tw
Couple clotheslines would fix that.
/S
I think a clothesline would be good with no /s. Knock that mouthpiece on the floor.
I think Nate meant to attach a /s to his /s. Like a double negative.
Glad that all the panic is over. Clearly the offense moved better without Blatt holding them back.
Mmhmm, yep we are right there with the warriors and spurs now. Yep, bet you we would beat the warriors by 40 if we played them tomorrow.
Yep, a convincing 7-point thrashing at home over the fourth-worst team in the league, and all is well.
LOL…sure. A lot of teams’ offenses move better against the Twolves…
Too many mins for our key players. Lue essentially played 8 against a poor team to win. We thrashed them by 26 on their court with 11 playing, and lots of starter rest. That was just a few weeks ago under that terrible coach Blatt.
In fairness, they looked more connected tonight than in that 26 point win…
Yes, I did notice that connectivity was better tonight for sure.
Connectivity is important!
Did you see LeBron’s tweet this morning about enjoying his workout for the first time in a while? It’s great to know that he was in such a negative place that he got out of shape. It’s an interesting contrast to his commercials, where he’s always working out and in great shape!
Forever the optimist, hope you are right cols, really do. The ultimate test will be whether they can beat either SA or GS in the finals. The regular season, hell even the eastern conference playoffs don’t matter. This team was coming out of the east no matter what. Only thing that will make this a success is beating those teams.
I am sure we will get better, but the first two games don’t make the east seem like a 100 % lock.
I certainly don’t think the East is a lock anymore. They likely win it, but no lock.
Meant with Blatt guys.
It’s a lock. Did I not teach you guys anything last year??!!
I’m pretty sure everything you’ve ever argued in favor of – you’ve been demonstrated to be totally wrong. Hence, if I ever agree with you, Cols, I’m really worried I might be losing my mind.
LOL at Cols getting destroyed on this post. Applaud the replies.
Interesting to see how Lue will use Love moving forward. So far, not very impressive.
Who is ready for the reckoning in Oakland? Should be very interesting, though not having Duncan is a bit of an issue.
Well at least we pulled out a win.
LBJ super efficient until a couple of bad ISO sets at the end of the game.
KLove 4 of 4 from inside the three point line, 1-7 from outside. I don’t think he touched the ball with purpose the 4th quarter. He gets very out of rhythm if he’s not in the flow of the offense, and other teams know he’s not a part of the ISO plan.
Disagree, had some great passes in the fourth, some for assists, some for hockey assists.
Alright alright, I was a little dramatic, he does a good job moving the ball. I still don’t like JR and Kyrie shooting more than him on such inefficient nights.
Yeah it may be an issue going forward. Liked how they looked for him in the first half. But that has been the case all year. Same pattern. Look for Love early in spots he can be effective, then relegate him to a safety valve 3 pt shooter for the rest of the game. Though they did go to him a couple times near the end of the game.
That was nice. Cavs looked good. Guess we don’t need Blatt.
Was a bit of a struggle, their defense stunk, but they actually looked like they gave a crap on offense for awhile in the 1st half. James will get burnt out playing that many minutes consistently at that pace, but hopefully those minutes come down with time.
Cavs beat Minn by 28 pts on the road in early January. Almost blew a 15 pt lead at home. Check the box score. More guys played in Minnesota and less mins for starters. A little premature with the pom poms
Cavs did not look good – other than a short stint in the 3rd quarter. Defensive rotations weren’t crisp. Offense was stagnant at times, and they played pickup in the 4th. And they ran an 8 person rotation, which is exactly what Blatt had been criticized for!
If the entire point is to run more to get to use the depth on the roster and make sure everyone gets more touches, then minutes need to come down to 30 or less for the starters.
Rotations actually looked like a real nba team tonight, but James still played a ton of minutes again. Think whoever said the minutes are going to have to come down if they play this fast is right. At this tempo, I would like to see james around 33-34 minutes per game for the rest of the season if that is the way they intend to play. Don’t think they can play beat the warriors at this pace tho, probably will have to slow it down if they wanna have a chance against that team in a 7 game series. Maybe… Read more »
The rotations were tighter tonight than with Blatt though. I think Mo played 3 minutes. No RJ, Andy either.
I expect this over the next several weeks while they try to figure this out. Again if progress comes at all, it will definitely not be a quick process.
IF WE CAN FIRE A COACH AT MID SEASON —CAN WE OFFER DELLY A NEW CONTRACT RIGHT NOW TOO —IF SO –DO IT !!!
The Dellava-contract!!!!!!!
Well there was some good purposeful offensive movement in the 1st half, a lot of not great d, and once again falling back on a lot of iso for a stretch in the 4th. Think this game was a bit harder than it had to be with the turnovers and d. But at least they won.
Saying they won this game isn’t saying anything. Almost blow a 15 or 4th quarter lead to the worst team in the West?
My motto from now on is going to be baby steps. If this team actually ends up making progress, It will not come all at once with a rookie coach as a midseason replacement.
Delly’s not even sweating. What a game
You see the interview? How can you not love that guy?
I did. And I do.
That’s cuz he’s in shape.
Congrats LueBron, I mean coach Lue with your first win.
Delly with 18 points on 12 shots, and a game-high +15.
Check da Delly fans, love it!
Delly with a couple bonus points here.
Games like these are ridiculous. I just refuse watch these kind of games closely cause we just play so freaking stupid! I find myself rooting against the Cavs just so they can’t just say they won and move on. They need to realize how terrible their habits are.
LeBron needs a vacation and a lobotomy.
Habits don’t change overnight. I thought he played a very controlled game till a couple bad possessions at the end.
Vacations and labotomys bring smiles though.
Oh yeah. I love to see this team with Kyrie and Love running the show.
I remember how well that went last year.
Aren’t they all-stars?
nice free throws, King!
TIMBERWOLVES IN 2-3 YRS WILL BE VERY TOUGH !!
Hack-a-Lebron, lets hope it fails
I’m sure the Suns game will be close too. Teams smell blood when they face the Cavs.
All 5 starters and Delly in double digits, iman with 9. Great distribution. 30 AST/ 45 FG
T-wolves radio play-by-play guy is going nuts over that foul call on Wiggins – slammed table wanting a foul. Gotta say: Love that passion. — Joe Gabriele
Well this game has been much more of a struggle than i anticipated.
Delly’s behind the back pass only for Love to suck on the defensive end.
Lue looks in over his head. This wasn’t a very good game.
He doesn’t want to do what Blatt was forced to do on Love. Sit him
Ridiculous pass by Delly, then an idiotic foul by Love.
Another great pass by Delly !!
Great find delly
There are some untouchables on the Cavs roster. LeBron James, J.R. Smith, Matthew Dellavedova and James Jones have no-trade clauses because of the structure of their contracts. — Windhorst
Lue making some bad decisions here. Should be going offense defense and sitting Kyrie when Minnesota has the ball.
Kyrie with the magical -10
Delly is +13 on the night, closest to him is TT with +7
Well KLOVE with +9
If Griff just let Blatt take them bowling again, the spirit issue is resolved. Just need to fill the spirit tank.
Why do they keep giving Love to shoot 3’s.? He’s horrible tonight at the 3. Take my chances on Delly tonight for the 3