Cavs: The Podcast 0042 – What Now?
2013-12-01 
17 games in, I have no idea what to make of the Cavaliers. One good win, one moral victory, and two abysmal losses. Seriously, what is going on with this team?
John, Nate and I podcasted out our thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with the season thus far, discussing Andrew Bynum’s breakout game against the Bulls, the struggles against the Spurs and Boston (and the loss against Miami), how to improve the team, and some trade talk (centered around Kyrie, Dion, and TT).
As always, we can be found on SoundCloud at: https://soundcloud.com/cavstheblog/0024-what-now
And on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cavs-the-podcast/id528149843?mt=2
Part of Victor’s turnover problem in Orlando is that he’s probably a better finisher than creator. In that respect, playing him off the ball with Irving and Waiters would have been fine.
Hot Sauce coming correct as always…
There is absolutely no way Waiters should be coming off the bench. Our starting crew severely lacks the talent to allow Waiters to come off the bench, we need his intensity and ball handling skills from the onset. That might have worked at OKC with Harden, but this is certainly not anywhere close to OKC, we cannot dig a hole with our starting crew and then spend all game trying to claw out. Also, guys that put the time and effort in don’t want to come off the bench. Most probably won’t admit it, but to me it seems disrespectful,… Read more »
I think the greatest appeal Oladipo had was that he was a top notch defensive player. He was explosive offensively, but could only go right and his shooting ability was questioned (despite having a decent shooting percentage – maybe because defenses gave space respecting his drive). Also, I never saw him create anything for his teammates in college. But between June and October of this year he really improved his game . . . as did MCW. One concern with Dion being the 6th man is that we start the game with only one player that can handle the ball,… Read more »
In defense of Bennett – he clearly has talent. You can’t do what he did at UNLV at his age without talent. We need to see more games from him. I understand the frustration, but we need to wait at least until the end of the year.
Oladipo is the same age as Waiters and is not demonstrably a better prospect. Not sure why we would want to add another young, ball dominant guard to Waiters and Kyrie. I really don’t understand people who want him.
@Nate – Totally agree. On the podcast, though, it sounded like you guys thought that because he was now a 6th man, the pick was somehow already a failure. To me, all that matters is his productivity.
One thing no one’s brought up- AC talked about how he’s familiar with the 6th man role (at Syracuse). And how being a 6th man gives you an opportunity to scope out the other team and think for a bit. When he comes in, he can bring energy and scoring off the bench. I like Dion better there. If Anthony Bennett gets 2nd team SF and finds his game again (maybe when we fly out in the southwest he will make a sidetrip to UNLV and pick it up), that would be great.
Don’t know why this “Dion off the bench” thing is so controversial. It doesn’t matter who starts; it matters who finishes. If bringing Dion off the bench sustains the Cavs in the 3rd and beginning of the fourth quarters (which appears to), then how can this be a bad thing?
i knew mike brown was not the answer while we are pointing blame at kyrie and dion first off, as a coach u have to convince teamates to play together and bond but hollering at probably our next ron harper {dion} everytime he misses a jumper or defensive assignment then lets jared jack anthony bennet shoot till they arms are worn out is double standard and a key component to team chemistry failure i knew mike brown was not gonna get along with dion cause he hate hood guys ad nine times outta ten those are your best players so… Read more »
I thought the podcast was generally well reasoned. Good discussion. But I agree with others that the pejorative use of “sixth man” as it relates to Dion makes no sense. Waiters has a higher PER and higher shooting % than media darling Bradley Beal. He clearly has holes in his game, but relatively to other comparable prospects he has performed as well as anyone in his class (except Drummond, who everyone here was afraid of). I don’t get the continued sentiment that he was a bad pick.
Ya know the thing that bothers me most about this whole Dion trade rumor thing? Broussard’s report said he was the one that brought it up. I can imagine it was probably not even serious, just said out of frustration. I don’t actually take the rumors seriously at all. There’s no way CG deals him for fifty cents on a dollar, which is what it’d take right now.
I think the trade rumors are way overblown, is what I’m trying to say.
Also a grape job sticker to John for comparing the Jack signing to the Warriors with Derek Fisher. If I was to deal one player on the team on the team it would be him. I give the kids a little more leeway. They are still learning how to be adults, let alone consistent NBA players. Jack was anticipated to provide consistency and leadership and he’s provided neither at this point.
Three to get ready…I get that Dion and Kyrie might not be ideal backcourt mates under the current conditions, but it’s ridiculous that people act like Dion was a wasted pick. If he can be a 6th man off the bench who gives them 15-20 points a night off the bench that’s a solid pick. As much as I’ve hated the Cavs having a back to back and then three days off, the off time should give them some more practice time to work on the numerous flaws with the team. As far as Bennett playing the 3…Fuck it. Why… Read more »
Agree Ryan. If we had a coach who was smart about his rotations (which we don’t), it would be this: Dion & Kyrie each run the court separately for 18 minutes, and share the court together for 12 minutes. It’s not rocket science. Well, maybe for Mike Brown it is.
I can’t say I like the trade talk about Dion. He’s played one year and seventeen games; let’s give him some time before making any monumental decision. I also disagree with the idea that we should be “sad” that we used our fourth pick to draft a sixth man. Harden was a sixth man for OKC when they went to the finals proving that your sixth man can be highly productive on the second team. If Kyrie and Dion can’t play well together, let them play in differing rotations and all is still well – you still have a scorer… Read more »