Recap: Cavs 87, Wizards 84
2012-12-26
As one might expect between these two teams, the game got pretty sloppy toward the end, but the Cavs pulled out a rare victory over what might be the worst team in the league. Let us recap:
–The Cavs got pounded inside tonight by Nene and Emeka Okafor, who combined for 33 points and 17 rebounds, which is to be expected when Tyler Zeller is forced to play 36 minutes in Andy Varejao’s stead, but Tristan Thompson was the Cavaliers’ port in the storm with 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting and 12 rebounds, including an and-one quasi-dunk with under a minute to play that ostensibly iced the game. (That is, before a missed Kyrie Irving free throws and a strange foul by Alonzo Gee put the game in doubt for a few moments.) He also hit all of five of his free throws, so I’m sure Byron Scott will reward him with a sugar cube or something. For the month of December, TT’s averaging nearly 50% from the field, which is way up from his dreadful 44% mark in November. He now has a four-game run of double-doubles. Thompson’s still an ugly player to watch—though he did convert a nice running hook in the first quarter—but perhaps he’s turning a corner.
–Kyrie Irving didn’t have quite as spectacular a game as his statline—26 points, eight assists, and six rebounds—might suggest. He was pretty inefficient tonight, shooting just 8-for-23, but then he’s the primary offensive option and everyone has a bad shooting night from time-to-time. What Irving did do was keep the Cavs in the game during a first half in which the Wizards were as dominant as the Wizards get (which is to say: sorta), putting up 20 points in the first 24 minutes. Irving struggled down the stretch; took a lot of contested jumpers; and, as noted, his touch at the free throw line was curiously absent. But he did most of the work on Thompson’s crucial and-one lay-in, and only turned the ball over twice so all is forgiven.
–Dion Waiters stays Dion Wiatersing. He went 3-for-11 from the field (2-for-5 from three-point land) and put up nine points and one assist. I didn’t think Saint Weirdo’s shot selection was particularly egregious in this game, but he took a lot of shots with a wobbly sort of balance. He gets lazy with his footwork sometimes and that leads to complete bricks. When he has his shoulders square and jumps straight up, his rainbow jumper is quite beautiful, but too often he shoots moving to his right or left, which I think is why he puts up so many shots that don’t even come close, including his customary once-per-game airball three-pointer. Waiters also didn’t attack the rim much in this one. I know he’s struggling to finish there, and he feels he’s not getting calls, but the coaches need to stay in his ear about getting into the paint because he’s not a pure jump shooter. I have confidence he’ll figure out how to score around NBA big men if he sticks with it.
–The lowlights: C.J. Miles and Jeremy Pargo were ineffective off the bench, combining for 5 points on 1-for-6 shooting. And I think we all know this but Tyler Zeller is overmatched starting at center. Against a pretty good PF/C combo, he got pushed around and only finished with six points on 3-for-10 shooting and seven rebounds.
–For any interested parties, Brad Beal is still struggling to adapt to the NBA. He went 0-for-5 tonight and was generally a non-factor. I was pretty enamored with Beal when he was coming out college—mostly because of his jumper—but he seems stuck in the same shooting funk he experienced during the first half of his freshman year at Florida. He’s shooting just 36% on the year. For comparison’s sake, Waiters is shooting 37%. (And both are prone to having nightmarish 2-for-11 nights.) Here’s to Beal relocating his shooting stroke and Waiters assuming his identity as Wade-lite. It would be really fun if Irving-Waiters vs. Wall-Beal was a marquee matchup in a couple of years.
The Cavs host the Hawks on Friday. Until tomorrow, friends.
In defense of Terry Pluto, he’s too busy writing faith articles about how to deal with the loss of a pet to actually follow sports.
Since the Cavs seemed to be targeting a shooting guard in the 2012 draft who else was a better option at 4?
Mallory –
Waiters ranks 19th in Thorpes scale which seems biased. Amongst rookies in Hollingers PER he’s 15th. And honestly I’m not sure that’s a complete depiction since a handful of those ranked higher have played close to 10 minutes a game. I’m not saying I’m uber impressed and his shot selection leaves less to be desired. But he’s played 22 games. What’s your sample size? What’s your expectation?
KJ you realize Waiters currently ranks 19 among rookies in FG % right? One spot higher than Beal, 5th among guards, and when you add Sfs in he jumps to 11th. I’m sorry, but in what world should we celebrate that? Most NBA rookies show flashes here and there – if they didn’t that would be worrisome. You’re welcomed to do what you want, but I refuse to act like he’s a star in the making. He has a LOT of work to do until he gets there. Getting hot and hitting some threes for one game is fun, but… Read more »
Kj, I have to agree with you- Waiters looks much, much better than Beal to me. David Thorpe insists on despising Waiters’ game, and ranking Beal higher- but based on what? Beal is largely inactive on both sides of the floor, and isn’t hitting his jump shots…
Nate, ill begin with pointing out that childish jibes about my age both undermine your points and belie your octogenarian fear of young people. Daddy, please don’t take my rock n roll records! But seriously….my point is that Kyrie isn’t a veteran, but he produces and plays like one, and leads like one. Having a few more players over 30 doesn’t make a team more likely to reign in a young talent like Cousins. He’s so freaking talented! He’s so good! I honestly think the addition of Demarcus Cousins would add three assists to Kyrie’s stats, easy, and make us… Read more »
Mallory, at NO POINT was Waiters game at Milwaukee like his game against the Clippers. Jesus, do you watch the games? I am being absolutely serious here! Dion drained a shitload of 3’s against the Clips while against the Bucks he had a full array of buckets from all ranges. Dion is the second leading rooke scorer and his shooting percentage is not great but neither is the leading rookie scorer’s. Rookie guards nit named Kyrie struggle to shoot. this is somethig you and Terry Pluto seem to have a hard time grasping. Dion is CLEARLY ahead of Beal right… Read more »
“I’m not much of a believer in veteran leadership- I think veterans win championships due to production, not their ‘experience.'” They’re the same things, Dani. Experience is production… One does not learn how to shoot the basketball, run an offense, work refs, execute in crunch time, etc. without repetition. The summation of repetition is experience. Experience allows people to process situations faster because those situations match patterns already established in the brain. This leads to higher “productivity.” Of course you get carded for PG-13 movies still, so I can’t expect you to understand this. Polemics be praised.
You got me on Fredette- He’s playing only 13 minutes a game, so let’s not exaggerate, but he’s definitely playing much better. I watch a lot of Kings games (mostly to watch Cousins), and I don’t see that so much- he’s surly, to be sure, but the jerkish tendencies really only seem prevalent in his relationship with Keith Smart, who you admit is terrible. I think we definitely can pull it off. I’m not much of a believer in veteran leadership- I think veterans win championships due to production, not their “experience.” I think Kyrie can provide as much in… Read more »
@Jason: Corey Brewer’s been steadily improving the past few seasons on offense. Much of this is because of the pace at which Denver plays, but that’s a pace we want to play at too… He dropped 28 points last night.
Dani, you’re killing me. Jimmer Fredette is one of the best bench guards in basketball right now and posts an over 20 PER. Your other contentions are more accurate, though some of the regressions are more mild than you make them out to be. Anyway, yeah, I watch the way Cousins treats teammates, coaches, opponents, and officials, and I don’t like it. I think he doesn’t get it, and everyting is all about him. I don’t think the guy will ever win a thing because he’s too much of an a-hole. KG is an A-Hole, but KG is an A-Hole… Read more »
@Dani Fun book to read, “Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA’s Culture of Rape, Violence and Crime.” It’s a little dated and was from the 2001-02 season. That was a pretty bad era for the league as far as thuggery goes. Some could say that the league cleaned itself up with the dress code, but I think the transformation of hip hop was the largest factor. In the 90’s guys wanted to be from the streets. Today’s rap stars (Chief Keef excluded-He’ll be dead in two years) are more about being mogul’s and bidnessmen. I see Boogie as a knucklehead…He’s… Read more »
Good point, but here’s two responses to that:
a. J.J. Hickson never even APPROACHED Cousins’ statistics, advanced or otherwise.
b. J.J. sucks at defense, Cousins does not.
Dani,
In your last couple lines I feel like you just described a 2010-11 JJ Hickson. We all know what happened there.
I think it’s very unfair to call Cousins a “knucklehead,” or anything of that sort, and is precisely indicative of the close-minded way people view players in the NBA, and sports players in general. This a young guy. Demarcus Cousins is 22 years old. Some of the stigma attached to Cousins started back in the recruitment process, when he changed his mind twice about which college he wanted to go to. But that was because the college he initially committed to, UAB, lost its coach. Cousins then committed to Memphis, where John Calipari was. Then Calipari left to Kentucky. Cousins… Read more »
Having said a ton above, though, I highly doubt this happens. Still hoping we somehow can nab Josh Smith.
Jag –
I agree that the trade is incomplete – the Thunder would need to get a good PG in return (I believe I said that above?) that being said, I definitely think they’d give up a bunch of secondary role players for someone of Andy’s ability, especially given his contract. In this trade they give up the smallest amount of talent for the largest return. They’d probably end up dumping Perk in a trade as well.
Whether or not you think Cousins is worth it is an entirely different argument (with a ton of validity)
Nate
re: Brewer, hasn’t the knock on him been on offense throughout his career?
Mallory, Your proposed three way trade is a perfect example of the flaws in the ESPN NBA trade machine. It’s win predictor is all about advanced stats but disregards the reality of how pieces fit on the court. That trade would take a title competitor and reduce it to a group of mismatched pieces. Your trade leaves OKC with eleven players and only two guards. It keeps them right up against the tax threshold so that they pay a $1.50/dollar tax this year on anyone they add. It also puts them back at the tax threshold next year, with $66M… Read more »
PleezeBelieve is right on with his assessment of Kyrie. The main difference between KI and CP3 (other than defense) is that Kyrie doesn’t seem interested enough in involving his teammates. Just because you CAN break everyone down and score doesn’t mean you should look for your shot every single time you touch the ball. At the very least, Kyrie needs to get Dion and Tristan involved in the offense more.
That sounds like less than what he’ll make, to be honest. I think he’ll get at least 4 years 28 million. I mean if you’re Denver, you can’t pay him less than Wilson Chandler, can you? But yeah. Wright’s probably a better value, but I think he has a lower ceiling and a lower floor, but plays more consistent defense under Collins than Brewer does under Karl. Also, another free agent small forward I highlighted, Martell Webster, had a pretty good night last night against the Cavs. I think he’s underrated. Interestingly 82games simple rating rates Webster, Wright, and Brewer… Read more »
1 – Nice to see TT show actual development. I am one of those who have been firmly against trading Andy…but it does appear that they are duplicating talents…and Andy (as the veteran) is better (today) and thus, holding TT back some (in the boxscore.) 2 – Waiters shows one heck of a spark. His shot mechanics clearly need a lot of work, but he reminds me of a weird combination of Dwyane Wade and Manu Ginboli. I can see his game settling somewhere between those two (though not saying that he’ll be as good as either. He’s got a… Read more »
Nate –
RE:Brewer – I have this feeling he’s going to go for above market value – he seems to be a popular name being thrown around on the net right now. How much would you pay him? 20 mil over 4 years?
Also, as a side note, Dorrell Wright, who looked awesome in preseason against us, but a combination of bad play and injuries had rendered him so ineffective that I’d completely kept him out of my free agents article, is absolutely tearing it up right now. 17.6/2.8/4.6 & .474/.486/.800 in 30 minutes a night over his last 5 games. He is a very intriguing free agent prospect for the Cavs next summer. Similarly, Corey Brewer has been good as well: 13.6/2.0/4.6 & .471/.421/.750 in 25 minutes a night. These are the kind of long small forwards who are going to be… Read more »
Dear God. I can’t believe you guys are wasting brain power on a trade for Boogie Cousins that A) is a horrifically bad idea in the first place, and B) will never happen because Chris Grant is aware of A. I guess the feeling is that Cousins is Z-Bo and will figure things out. The odds of this happening are very very low. He’s Derrick Coleman. There are a dozen better trade targets out there.
I like the idea of Perk and Boogie, helps Boogie/TT/Zeller.
In any event, this is the guts of a trade that can work.
Jason –
Definitely hear you on the picks, I was thinking more along the lines of a future 1st – maybe 2014.
Btw the reason I didn’t include perk is I don’t think SAC wants 3 yrs/8 mil a year, and I doubt the Cavs take on Perk AND boogie.
Mallory,
I like the guts of the proposal.
I’m just skeptical on two fronts: SAC probably wants to unload salary as well, and do the cavs have to give up their own 1st? That gets dicey for me, if we are giving up Andy/Gee/2 #1s for boogie/sefolosha/jackson. That’s a large price to pay for Boogie to then turn around and have to decide to offer him an extension in the very near future.
Jason –
Really good point about not needing Andy – so I think the trade goes something like:
Cavs get Sefalosha, Cousins, Reggie Jackson, Kings get PJ3, Maynor, and Lamb, plus Toronto pick and a Cavs pick, Thunder get Andy and Gee (and maybe some cheap PG or something because they’ll need a backup, plus the Miami/LA pick.
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cedazez
I think this works for everyone, and makes OKC the instant favorite. They could realistically play Perk/Andy together and it’d probably work.
Totally on board with this trade talk for Boogie, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for SAC to take back Varejao? They aren’t contending with him, and it doesn’t get them younger. I could see this working if we made it a 3 team deal with OKC in which SAC gets the TOR pick/PJ3/Lamb/Perk, OKC gets Andy, we get Boogie/Salmons. I’m sure some other salaries might need to be included to make the cap work, but it makes much more sense for SAC to add 2-3 more young assets than keep Varejao. This also assumes SAC acting… Read more »
I know he gets a pass around here but I want to see Kyrie move the ball more. Way too much iso. He seems to think he has to do it all at times. He’s not consistently keeping Dion in the game. Offense looks more fluid when Dion runs the same P&R action as Kyrie. For example, the one P&R Dion ran down the stretch, it resulted in a wide open opportunity for Kyrie on the weakside. Dion really does have a high basketball IQ, maybe higher than Kyrie. As the team leader and point guard, you gotta put your… Read more »
Also Also, I’d totally be down for Salmons.
The trade would have to be something along the lines of Andy/Gee/a few picks for Salmons/Cousins. Cousins, despite his headaches, is supremely talented – I doubt we’re getting him for anything less, sadly.
Also lets be clear about something – “bitching” about a player is very different than pointing out legit concerns. I’m not going to pretend he’s something he’s not, KJ. I said I’d be the first to admit when TT looked seriously improved, and lo and behold I’ve kept that promise. Similarly, when I see actual, long-term improvement from Waiters I’ll be happy to get on board. Like Colin mentioned, if you’re not on board with Beal, you kind of have to feel the same about Waiters. The potential is there, but to pretend he’s some how lighting up the NBA… Read more »
KJ If you watched that Waiters game the other night it was identical in shot selection to the Clips game, where he caught fire and started draining everything despite his terrible decisions. I’d rather have a guy consistently shooting 40% then someone who catches fire every once and a while. Until I see serious improvement (ya know, not having an 11 PER, which despite the hard argument against PER, is still indicative of poor offense) I’ll remain skeptical. That being said, TT is really putting it together. I don’t know how he continues to make that turn around backwards shuffle… Read more »
Salmons would easy be the best scorer off our bench too if we did such deals. Let him come in a just chuck for the 2nd unit. Sounds good to me.
@David Andy/Kings or Lakers first for Boogie and Salmons seems about fair considering it would save the broke ass Maloof’s from having to pay John Salmons 16 mill over the next two years.
Btw, I take some solace in the fact that we won a road game despite Kyrie being anything but clutch in the last 3 minutes of the game. That can be seen as a positive. I think…
Hmm, I recall me constantly asking people on this blog why I should accept that Beal was a great shooter when his shooting numbers weren’t very good. Seems that “slump” has lasted for about 75% of his college and pro career. Zeller was ungodly bad tonight. Gee played with his typically bad basketball I.Q. Again. Terrible TO’s, that inexplicable foul near the end. I allowed myself to fantasize what a SF we would have if you could transplant Walton’s brain into Gee’s body. Wow… Mallory, are you serious? One game after Dion plays one of the finest games of his… Read more »
Kyrie came through for us with 26 pts. He did have some bizarre lapses tonight. I think Dion got benched for not playing smart as he should. Zellar was horrible to watch with many turnovers. 3 traveling calls is just stupid at this stage of the game. I was disappointed with Pargo not taking the ball to the hole when the opportunity was clearly there. I hope he doesn’t get lazy now Sloan is out of the picture. Everyone is getting way ahead of themselves thinking TT can replace Andy.
that touch, right now, is purely theoretical. Varejao and the Lakers pick for Cousins and Salmons sounds good to me. They get a young player in the draft, a hard worker in AV, and relief from Salmons’ contract. We roll the dice on Cousins
If Grant made a trade for Cousins I’d assume that Andy, TT or Zeller would be part of the package. It’s all just speculation thus far. Boogie did switch agents to Dan Fegan so anything is possible. He was behind much of the Dwightmare last season.
Totally agree that Zeller isn’t ready for a starting role. He’s a nice third big at this point. I do like how he pairs with TT and Andy with his mid range shooting touch.
The thing holding up an Andy trade isn’t whether TT can fill in for the production, but whether Zeller can handle 35 minutes. Judging by tonite, he can’t. He isn’t supposed to be able to, btw. AV being out does seem to help TT though.
I’d be interested to see some of the trade proposals for Cousins.. He’s talented of course but hes not a guy I would give up Varejao in a package deal for. Even if the Cavs kept Andy, how would the Cavs work out a TT, Andy, Cousins, Zeller lineup?
I don’t know how cheap Boogie would be. It’s funny reading reports that the Heat are interested in Cousins when they have little if any trade value outside of the big three. Norris Cole is garbage and that’s with no one paying attention to him. That 76ers pick won’t be much better than the Lakers pick the Cavs will get.
The Cavs could definitely make an interesting package for Cousins. Cavs could eat that Salmons contract, send draft picks or a vet. I’d make that call.
Yep, Corey, that’s my thinking- Tristan isn’t going to be Anderson Varejao this year, but he can provide a reasonable enough facsimile of Andy’s play to make a trade possible. He’s also improved mightily in passing out of the post and acting as Kyrie’s roll man.
Not really that worried about Waiters. His mistakes are easily correctable with coaching. When/once his jumper evens out he should be a dangerous 2nd option in the offense. I’d like to see some pick and roll with him and Kyrie. Wouldn’t mind for him to be on the strong side corner when Kyrie runs the P&R with Andy of Zeller either. It seems that he’s always alone on the weak side arc. Thompson has played great in the absence of Andy. Not saying that his play makes Andy more moveable but their skill sets aren’t that different. Tristan reminds me… Read more »
Demarcus Cousins was a DNP again today….I hope Chris Grant is salivating at the scent of cheap young talent.
How the heck did they win that game? Outshot 46% to 38%, outrebounded 51 to 38… the reason they won was 10 turnovers to 20. What a bizarre game. Thought Tristan won the game for them. Yeah he has some ugly shots, but I see the progress. Part of it is he just plays slightly too fast, especially on the drive, but he has an unorthodox move for a big man, and playing with Andy and learning how to drive from the free throw line will be great for him. I’ve been talking about that hitch in Waiters’ jumper since… Read more »
Really happy with what I’ve seen from TT recently. He may be able to win me over.
Still not happy with Dion though.