Live Thread: Cavs vs. Nuggets (#DuckSoup)
2018-03-03
Yeah… I know the kind of soup that JR Smith threw at Damon Jones has been revealed to be of the chicken tortilla variety, yet the absurdity of the action itself has me thinking back to the classic antics of the Brothers Marx. Who knows what led to the hurling of the potage… but I can imagine JR issuing the epic warning “Of course you realize, this means war!” just before letting it fly.
Once upon a time (not that long ago… even though it seems like ages), former Cavs coach David Blatt took his struggling team bowling for morale. Now, Swish’s bowling for soup has left a salty aftertaste for a young and reconstructed team that is still struggling to find their footing. While Jones had to do the literal ducking on Thursday after shoot around, the Cavs are left having to do some of the figurative kind from another embarrassing chapter of this Season of Why?
Rather than blow this too far out of proportion (as Twitter did most of yesterday), maybe this soup opera will get JR re-focused on doing the right things on the court. After all, the Cavs need both him and the other survivor of the stew of midseason trades, Tristan Thompson, to return to peak form if the team hopes to get back to the Finals. Meanwhile, JR’s spirit brother, Jordan Clarkson, threw a little pepper of his own at the end of the loss to the Sixers… angrily firing the ball at Dario Saric after a garbage time dunk… and getting himself ejected in the process. More reason for concern? Or, is it good to see some fire from both of the team’s resident “irrational confidence” guys?
Well, we’ll soon find out as the Cavs take on the visiting Denver Nuggets tonight at the Q, a game that marks the return of JR’s inverse, RJ. Maybe just having Richard Jefferson’s presence back in the building will help lift the comedic spirits of the team. Cleveland could use some cheering up, having gone 2-3 since the All Star Break, with all three losses coming at home. Not exactly a recipe for success. Yet, the Nuggets are no slouch, arriving with a 34-28 record and a newly restored Paul Milsap in the lineup… so, the Cavs will have to stir things up defensively to prevail.
Prediction: The Cavs get their offense simmering on high heat from the perimeter to duck another home loss and ladle out some soup to the Nugs in a spicy 127-118 victory.
Catch all the action starting at 7:30 EST on FSO… and of course dish to your heart’s content below…
Bon Appetit… and GO CAVS!
Magic beat Grizz (sans Evans) to get to 20 wins & extend Memphis’ losing streak to 13.
Wins:
18 = Grizz
19 = Suns, Hawks, Mavs, Kings
20 = Magic, Nets
21 = Bulls
Sunday:
Suns at Hawks (someone wins)
Pels at Mavs
Nets at Clippers
Knicks at Kings (b2b)
Imagine the Cavs find themselves 3rd in this draft. Does that make anyone feel better than if they are 7th?
I am just so unsure of whether the talent in college right now will somehow be valuable before 5 years away. I have watched a lot of games where the projected top picks have been so bla bla bla…and against college talent. I kind of feel like we could trade the pick this off-season for something better.
If it’s third (I think more likely 7th), the Cavs could definitely ship the pick and TT and whatever for a great player, if any are actually available. Teams would take TT’s contract for a pick that high. I’m with you in general – rookies usually suck, and anyone, almost no matter how hyped, can bust. Just look at Fultz, who knows what’s going to come out of that.
When’s the next pod? I need it.
It’s troubling that IT, Wade and Crowder are all playing much better with other teams. Who knows Shumpert and Fire might have played well if they were healthy. Maybe Rose hooks up with another team and vindicate himself. Not looking good on the coaching staff.
Lue is terrible. LeBron doesn’t help his ciach out much. He breaks plays. Goes chill mode. Hard to hold accountable.
Celtics lose after leading the Rockets most of the game. So at least I can enjoy that…
Man. Just finished. Nance goes out and Cavs fall apart. Can the Cavs just start him alr day so they’re not in a ten point hole every game?
It’s amazing that he might be the best piece of the entire kyrie saga. I didn’t see it coming.
I hope Lue plays Nance in crunch time in the playoffs. Thompson just don’t have the mobility to switch effectively on perimeter guys anymore.
Rockets- Celtics game is a good one…
Gotta think that huge miss from Rodney Hood down the stretch has him in the gym jacking them up. If we are going to the finals, it’ll be because he forces the defense to respect him
The Cavs pathetic defense is ten times more troublesome than Hood’s inability to hit from deep IMO. Yes he has missed big shots in two winnable home games, but the Cavs don’t sniff the Finals with this defense.
I don’t think this is the real Cavs defense, fwiw. They don’t get peak LeBron in the regular season and they don’t scheme for the other team. We were atrocious, like worse than now, heading into the playoffs last year. It’s different. Hood missing shots like that will be more problematic in games that aren’t in the 130s
The Cavs have youth, length and athleticism, there is no reason why they can’t play decent defense. This is all on the coaching staff. Heck, even Thomas isn’t looking as atrocious on defense with the young Lakers as he did while wearing Cavs colors.
I wholeheartedly agree that Lue is currently sucking. He still is the only coach in Cavs history with a title. Ever. Not sure why on earth we think him getting fired would improve things.
It’s kind of pointless for people to call for Lue to be fired, because it’s not happening mid season…
yeah this isnt on the players – for the second straight game now they fought back and had a shot so they showed heart. they’re not perfect but coaching isnt putting them in position to succeed
I agree man to man defense is the first thing they gotta learn it’s atrocious. Every time they penetrate and easily either lay it up or kick it out
Ty Lue is lost, overmatched and has terrible assistant coaching… they need to stop trying to switch everything and just focus on playing solid man defense first…
Think next game lue has to start nance and see what happens
I would love this. It’ll be interesting to see if he does. Nance is certainly bulldozing his way into max minutes
New guys outside nance have cooled off a lot and no one else outside lebron stepping up…not sure if green would’ve helped tonite or not
If I’m being honest, we have zero chance to win with Lue as the coach. Maybe they flip the switch to get to the finals, but I’m not sure.
We can’t keep pointing fingers at J.R. ,hood no love etc. there is one foundational flaw and that is that there is no game plan because we don’t have a coach. Everything is decided on the fly. There is absolutely no discipline to any aspect of the game the cavs play.period. We need a coaching change
https://twitter.com/AmicoHoops/status/970128246783315969
Lost and missing in action. The CLueless tag is absolutely applicable.
Starting a grammatical error with “what I’m trying to say” is almost too on the nose
fire longbardi?
Should have fired that guy a year ago!