Recap: Cavs 118 – Pelicans 111 (Or, Raining Down Talent Bombs)
2014-11-11After a lackluster two and a half quarters, the Cavs really poured it on the New Orleans Pelicans in the final 16 and a half minutes, outscoring them 49-33 and earning a quality win against an upstart young team. LeBron James had a monster game, tallying his first triple double of the season and 38th of his career: 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Kyrie Irving was his full blown offensive-wunderkind self, scoring 32 points despite playing the role of distributor for most of the 1st half. At times he was completely unstoppable. Kevin Love came alive in the 4th quarter, draining four 3-pointers, and finishing with 22 points on 13 shots. The Cavs survived a 32-point scare from Ryan Anderson (cloaked in NBA JAM Flames), who drained eight 3s.
1st Quarter:
The Cavs got off to a great start, scoring the first seven points. The Pelicans looked for Anthony Davis early and often and he flashed his mid-range jumper. He scored or assisted on the first 10 points for the Pelicans. Midway through the 1st quarter, Ryan Anderson happened. And it. was. violent! He drained two quick 3s forcing the Cavs to take a timeout. Anderson finished with 10 points in the quarter and his spirit seemed to embody the rest of the Pelicans. Austin Rivers drained two 3s and the Cavs hung around with a couple bombs from Kyrie and Mike Miller (Mike Miller sighting!). One highlight that stood out, Tristan Thompson grabbed a tough guy rebound in traffic, sprinted by everyone down the floor, received a slicing bounce pass from Kyrie Irving which wasn’t easy to handle. He collected, spun, and popped on in from above the rim. After one quarter the Cavs trailed 28-24.
2nd Quarter:
Ryan Anderson wasted no time in the second quarter, raining down fire from every side of the court. He scored eight points in the first three minutes and finished the half with 23. The Cavs, obnoxiously, made no adjustments. It’s one thing to refuse to acknowledge his past reputation, but after his fourth triple they continued to sag off him. Kevin Love in particular showed him no respect, and the Cavs paid a hefty price. They trailed by as much as nine, but each time they looked like they were losing their life force, LeBron kept them within striking distance. He really cranked up the energy level when he checked back in. He dished out four assists, including a sweet crosscourt pass to Joe Harris for three. LeBron still looked old but crafty in the first half, and more in control than we’ve seen so far in this young season. Jrue Holliday and Eric Gordon used dribble penetartion to abuse the Cavs backcourt, as the Pelicans managed 28 second quarter points without any from Anthony Davis. Will Cherry got a taste of action and scored on a strong drive to the hoop near the end of the quarter. Joe Harris pump-faked and put the ball on the deck, soaring in for a layup to end the half and pull the Cavs within five: 56-51.
3rd Quarter:
Things got worse before they got better in the third. Much like the first quarter, Anthony Davis asserted himself in the opening possessions. LeBron matched him, scoring the Cavs first nine points of the quarter. Anderson Varejao made a no-hesitation 16-footer in transition (a PUJIT! sort of – it was assisted) to cut the lead to two at 66-64. It looked the Cavs were going to get over the hump, but the Pelicans fought back 3s from Eric Gordon and Jrue Holliday. Seriously the Cavs defended the 3-point line like crap in the first three quarters. They just keep packing the paint Mike Brown style and refused to keep a defender in the vicinity of the 3-point shooters. Particularly maddening was the fact that the Pelicans weren’t getting wide open 3s because a ball-handler broke down the defense or a screen freed up space. Often, a Cavalier big would be switched onto a wing player on the perimeter. But the Cavs never sent a double team. They left a big on an island, and surprisingly, guys like Marion, Love, and TT held their ground. They slid their feet well and stayed in front of the ball handler. And the rest of the guys just camped out in the paint, allowing the other Pelicans to flare out to the corners and spot up with no extended hands in sight. I can’t stress enough how open some of these 3s were. At any rate, with the Cavs down nine with 4:37 to play, Kyrie Irving decided to put on a show. First he drove past his defender and snuck an outstretched one-handed layup past the hungry hands of Omer Asik. Then he splashed a 17-footer forcing the Pelicans to take timeout. But he refused to be iced. He scored twice more on the next two possessions, including a filthy transition 3 to tie the game at 78 after Tristan Thompson viciously rejected an Anthony Davis dunk attempt to start the break. The crowd erupted. LeBron closed out the quarter with a crafty two-for-one where he got Austin Rivers to bite on his pumpfake, earning free throws. After a stop, LeBron split a double team and threw down a monster dunk as time expired. The crowd was in a frenzy, and the Cavs took a six point lead into the final frame.
4th Quarter:
Kevin Love drained two 3s from his sweet spot on the left wing in the opening minutes of the 4th quarter as Kyrie Irving and Mike Miller made the extra pass to get Love the clean look. Moments later, Tristan Thompson grabbed a clutch offensive rebound and immediately kicked it out to Love on the right wing, who splashed in his third 3 in as many minutes, putting the Cavs up nine. The Cavs got a bit sloppy, as Shawn Marion tried to throw a Kevin Love outlet pass and threw an interception. Omer Asik scored on back to back possessions and then the Cavs decided to pack the paint again, allowing Ryan Anderson a wide open three and terrified Cavs fans everywhere wondering if he was “heating up”. It was an offensive flurry from that point on. The Cavs had numerous breakdowns on D as Anthony Davis slipped screens with no resistance and found himself alone at the rim. After one such play LeBron threw his hands in the air in frustration – someone messed up. The good news is that LeBron, Love, and Kyrie were all warmed up by this point and were completely unstoppable. Kyrie buried two out of rhythm “why not” 3s and had a sick And-1. LeBron had a great play where he methodically backed down his man, spun, spun back, raised up like he was going to take a fadeaway, and fired a pass to Love in the corner, who splashed the three as the camera panned to an overzealous, overweight fan screaming with delight. LeBron stayed with this approach the rest of the way, playing the point guard while Kyrie worked off the ball. LeBron found Kyrie for a 3, and the Cavs went up 11 with just over two minutes remaining. The game seemed in hand at that point, but credit the Pelicans for not lying down. Ryan Anderson hit a 3 from Medina to cut the lead to six with 13 seconds left. But LeBron made one of two free throws to make it a three possession game and the clock expired. Great win.
Things I liked:
-LeBron has seemed more in control with each game. He even flashed a little bit of that transcendent athleticism we’ve been waiting for. In the fourth quarter he methodically worked the offense, wearing down the Pelicans by going into the post. He found Kyrie and Love for big 3s. It wasn’t the Spurs, but it was effective.
-Kyrie Irving is just an insane scorer. When his confidence starts overflowing he is unstoppable. A few of his finishes tonight were outrageous. He had some excellent passes too, especially in the first half when his shot wasn’t falling.
-Kevin Love finally got to “his spot” (the left wing). He made all three of his 3s from that spot and was huge in the fourth quarter.
-You know how we keep saying LeBron “looks” slow or below-the-rim or whatever on offense and we keep waiting for him to get into game shape? Well, Tristan Thompson “looks” like a different person. I’ve seen thousands of minutes of TT and I had resigned myself to the fact that “he is what he is”, that is, a below-the-rim power forward that can’t block shots or stretch the floor. I thought he’d be pretty limited as a plus-rebounder and someone able to sink free throws. Well, he has looked above-the-rim this season. He’s flushing put-backs with authority. That hideous gather has finally been cast into the evil chasm from whence it came. TT had a nuts block on The Brow tonight and was just, generally athletic. The Cavs desperately need this. If this continues and he can be an offensive-rebounding garbage man slash occasional rim protector it will be a Godsend.
-Joe Harris is remarkably decisive for a rookie. There’s no hesitation in his game. His shot still seems flat a times but I’ve been impressed with his passing and use of the pump fake to create a good passing opportunity or to put the ball on the floor and drive. He seems to play bigger than he’s listed too. His +/- was best on the team tonight: +18 in 20 minutes. If he can provide meaningful minutes throughout the season it will really add to the Cavs depth.
-While the Cavs weren’t swinging the ball over the court making people dizzy, they did a nice job of being unselfish. Twenty-seven assists to turnovers? Not bad at all. In fact, very good.
Things I didn’t Like:
-The defense was bad. I already touched on it, but the inability to pay respect to stretch big men killed the Cavs last year and it killed them tonight. It wasn’t until they really turned their energy up in the late 3rd, early 4th that the Cavs ran shooters off the 3-point line.
-Make no mistake, the Cavs won tonight because of sheer talent. Even when things were really firing on all cylinders it was mostly simple 2-man game stuff. There were a healthy amount of “bad” shots, particularly 3s, that the Cavs drained. They can go long periods where the weak side players just stand in one place while the defense can focus on winning a 3-on-5 battle. I expect the offense to be a WiP until the New Year at least. The good news is they have enough talent right now to beat above average teams at home and bad teams on the road.
-The Cavs are not getting enough transition opportunities (only eight fast break points tonight), and when LeBron is leading the break he has curiously been very bad making passes. At one point tonight he pushed the ball in transition, jumped in the air, and threw the ball to…nobody. The Pelicans picked it up and Anthony Davis got an uncontested dunk. They really need to start having someone, preferably LeBron or Marion flash to the middle of the court to receive an intial pass from the rebounder and look ahead to a streaking Kyrie or Dion.
-LeBron still doesn’t look explosive, the two thunderous dunks aside. He’s not really driving around people so much as driving through them. He did a nice job today of shielding the ball while not extending his arm and drawing any offensive fouls. Defenders were still bouncing off him like Uruk Hai against Aragorn and King Theoden, but he doesn’t seem to be able to accelerate past anyone, even players not exactly known for foot speed.
Cols, totally agree with repressing the negativity most CtB’ers are exuding. I think the Cavs are fine right now. We’ve moved from the “Cavs suck “to “oh no Lebron is 30”. Guess what Jordan and Kobe turned 30 once and had many more years of productivity. Lebron is on that level.
Totally disagree with the opinions on Spo. Dude was a first round exit his first 2 years with a prime Wade. Then 9-8 with the Big 3 in their first year. No reason to think Blatt won’t “get it” in 3 years.
If LeBron has to play 40+ minutes every night for the Cavs to beat mediocre teams I am not seeing too much to get excited about.
And the Heat keep winning and passing the ball like crazy. I’m beginning to think that Spoelstra’s space and pace offense is the stuff of geniuses.
I wish he was our coach.
And now Cols is just talking crazy. Coach Spo looked just as bad as some people think Blatt looks now in his first year with the Heat. Take your own advice and give it time.
Good point. But man Miami’s offense is so much fun to watch. I think they again lead the league is passing like last year. Which is amazing since they lost the best player on earth.
But yeah, I’ll give it time. The Cavs can score so many ways tha it doesn’t matte really.
While they lost LBJ, they gained a pretty good passing SF in Deng. Add to that the fact that DWade now has the ball in his hands to start the offense most of the time and he’s been looking to facilitate and set up a lot more this year. Their win in Dallas was pretty impressive, but that was the first signature win for them in the post-LBJ era. Blatt’s got a great philosophy for an offensive-minded coach. Love the fact that instead of throwing around platitudes about the offense last night that he dug right in on the need… Read more »
Wow. That’s setting a high standard. Spo is probably a HOF type of coach. I don’t think Blatt can be that good, but he doesn’t have to be. Just has to be good enough.
Why on earth do you think Spo is a HOF coach? Cause he won two championships with 2 sure fire HOFers and a possible 4th with all three in their primes? Or cause he could start the season with extra motivation off well? Spo is a fine coach, but that is about it. Blatt hasn’t proven anything yet and those comps are nuts to be throwing around at this point, but bring Spo here and he’d struggle just as much as blatt. It takes time for these players to learn and implement any system, and then ever more time for… Read more »
I think Spo is a good coach, but not a HOF coach. The only guy he truly outcoached in his run of Finals was Scott Brooks. Carlisle and Pop both had better game plans (the Ray Allen miracle shot in 2013 notwithstanding). Granted, Blatt is starting in the same fortuitous place that Spo did (i.e. with two top 10 and three top 20 players on his roster) to begin his NBA career. But Blatt is widely credited as one of the best Euroleague coaches, and probably the best American Euroleague coach ever. Obviously, those things mean nothing as far as… Read more »
And let’s not deny that Miami made some great offseason additions. They rescued Shawne Williams from the failure pile and found him an effective role, they added Luol Deng, they continued to develop Justin Hamilton, who is an effective bench big for them, and they drafted a rotation player in the second round, in Napier. Plus they added James Ennis. Not that any of these guys are fantastic, aside from Deng, but the fact that they’ve been able to plug them in and win with them is a testament to their front office and coaching staff.
yep. They have some great FO guys and great coaching. Hopefully Blatt can be 70% of what Spo is. That gets us a title with this team.
Cols, you are fixating on a goofy idea again. There is no reason to think Spo is any better than Blatt RIGHT NOW! There is a very reasonable chance that by midseason the Cavs will be running a lot smoother than the Heat ever did.
Miami is doing the same thing the cavs did when Lebron left, playing their asses off to prove the haters wrong. They are just doing it with more talent, but it won’t last. Wade will wear down and Bosh won’t be able to keep up on offense and defense all year long.
Sure. But Spo invented the current fad in NBA offenses of lots and lots of passing and 3 pointers. That, 4 straight Finals, and the 3 titles gets him into the HOF.
Do you live in an alternate universe where Ettori Messina, Don Nelson, and Mike D’Antoni were never born?
Nope. Gotta give Spoelstra credit. He saw what was going on and implemented this crarzy pass and motion offense. Other teams have since copied it and the Spurs ran it to perfection in last year’s Finals.
But without Spoelstra popularizing it with the Heat it probably doesn’t become the current NBA fad offense.
So because spoelstra copied it (more poorly than the spurs) with the best talent in the NBA he gets all the credit? No, sorry, no. He’s a fine coach. That is all. He won’t likely ever be coaching to another ring, I’ll tell you that.
That Dallas series was a nice peice of coaching, huh? And the Spurs last year? I mean, the guy did what you’d expect of anyone with competence and that much team talent.
If Rudy Tomjanovich isn’t in the Hall, there’s no way Spo should be in the hall.
He will be in the HOF. It’s a no brainer. The modern architect of the offesnes that are prevalent today, 3 titles. 4 straight Finals appearances? He’s already in.
The comment monster eat my comment, so I am going to try to split it into two comments:
Proof of LBJ’s injury
Last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QBuAJPbnsA
Last night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQHiio1u2gg
Difference in explosion on a very similar play is oustanding. His head was barely at the bottom of the net last night.
Let’s hope he gets healthy.
No I slayed the monster. This comment became “Pending” because you had two links. The Monster is dead.
If you want to know, the Monster was devouring any comment that had the word “free” in it. So, yeah.
“Free Agent”, “Free Agency”, “Unrestricted Free Agent”, “Free Casspi!”, “please Dan Gilbert, free us from Mike Brown”. Now you can see why the Monster was such a glutton.
Mike Brown was the worst coach last year. It really makes me wonder if the Cavs could’ve won a title in Lebs first stint here with a real coach.
I don’t think any coach would have won us the series against the Spurs but I reckon we would certainly have had another finals appearance or two
I’m shockingly going to agree with Cols here. A better coach than Mike Brown gets us past Orlando and I think we beat that Lakers team (Orlando’s outside shooting finally cooled off in the Finals). And also probably gets us past the Celtics and Lakers the following year. One could argue (and I know this argument has been made repeatedly) that with a better coach than Mike Brown, there is no first and second stint with the Cavs for LBJ, just one continuous stint.
As fun as that win was, I’m starting to see some serious flaws on this team. The lack of athleticism (outside of LeBron) on the wing and the need to pack the paint to get stops is going to hurt them. I could see a team like the Raptors really giving them problems: decent players throughout the roster, athletic wings, and bigs that can hit open shots(outside of big V). The Bulls with a healthy Butler and Rose fit that bill too. Heck, the Knicks fit that description.
I really think the Cavs need to rethink their defensive scheme and let the big guys drop back. Our guards love to try and get steals, so why not let them try to come from behind on ball handlers and jump passing lanes when the middle/wing shooters aren’t super wide open like in the trapping scheme.
I don’t like to see guards sag. I like to see them sticking like glue to their man on the perimeter – making it difficult for them to receive a pass on the court where they want, to freely move the ball, or get into a stance they can explode out of. I admire teams that do that to us. We’ve never played that way. We always sag and the other team has its way with ball movement . . . and it usually results in open shots for them.
Thought Harris played really solid scheme defense. He’s already a more valuable player than Miller.
Amen to that. Cols must be related to Mike Miller or something.
I’m stoked to see Harris get some time. He got switched onto a bigger guy a few times and did his best to deny the entry pass. He took open shots when he got them and I’m sure he’ll get better at sinking them once he is used to the size and speed of NBA defenders. LeBron played awful defense at times. He’s a gambler on pick and roll defense and shows no intent to recover back to his man if he’s covering the screener. That’s a little bit concerning because he really needs to lead by example. I’m liking… Read more »
Yeah he stills goes over almost every screen. Sometimes you can got under. Not everyone in the league is comfortable bombing away off the dribble.
I didn’t see the game. Two comments: 1) From reading multiple interviews and analysis, I’ve become convinced that Lebron is playing hurt. I don’t know if it’s his back or something else, but it’s very clear. We can see it on the court….and when asked about it, his answers have become much less cryptic. While not admitting injury, he throws out answers like, “hey, I’m in the lineup”, and “I know I’m not above the rim now, but I will be later”. So, given that, I have to ask….why is he playing 40 minutes a night? Why jepordize the season?… Read more »
Oh geez. Blatt is playing guys a lot because it’s early and there’s a lot of time off between games and he needs to play these guys so they get comfortable playing with each other. Also it gets these guys into shape. I would guess a lot of NBA guys work themselves into shape at the beginning of the season. I’m sure he’ll dial it back a bit when it gets closer to playoff time. And no, they didn’t dominate because Dion wasn’t there. They dominated Denver with Dion. They dominated because they are a Big 3 with huge ephing… Read more »
Just seems like he was very out of shape and is playing himself back in. It looks like he lost too much weight/muscle, to be honest.
Yeah I agree. He looked way better than the first two games.
Of all our rotation guys Dion is definitely the worst at stopping the ball movement and jacking up pre-meditated contested jumpers. I think without him we got to see more clearly what Blatt is wanting us to do. I think without him there was no one else doing that so ball movement won and, like Blatt said, there was a good mix of iso and team play. It will be interesting to see how well he runs the bench unit. He’s good enough to take most bench defenders one-on-one and keep the points flowing. When he has the ball in… Read more »
Dion is a creator and does well when he gets lots of touches. He showed that when Kyrie went down last year. He sucks when he has to stand on the perimeter.
He sucks when he has to stand on the perimeter because that is all he does. Stand there and call for the ball. he needs to cut when his defender gets caught looking, and gravitate to open spaces along the 3 line to give his teammates passing angles on the weak side. He needs to only look for his own shot when he’s open, the defense has been shifted away from him, or the shot clock is about to expire. That is it. Just like everyone else on this team should be doing.
Obviously, it is not all he does, or we’d be talking about him like we have been talking about Miller. Dion averaged, what, 17 ppg last year when Kyrie was out – scoring more than 20 in a good number of contests? He excelled when he was involved and got touches. It’s been proven historically.
If that’s all he does, then that’s on the coach.
No, that’s not all he does, cause he does a lot when the ball in is his hands, unlike Miller. But when he doesn’t have the ball, watching him on offense is an exercise in frustration and lethargy. Yes, he excels (for him) when he gets lots of touches, but not to the point where we should be feeding him lots of touches over Lebron, Kyrie, and Love. He’s not that good. That means the dude better figure out a way to get better off the ball. That’s on Dion if you watch him lazily walk around or stand there… Read more »
Yep agree with you kyrie. I love Dion. I love his passion and competitiveness but he does need to change to stay with this team (or at least to play with the starters
Proof of LBJ’s injury
Last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QBuAJPbnsA
Last night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQHiio1u2gg
Difference in explosion on a very similar play is oustanding. His head was barely at the bottom of the net last night.
Let’s hope he gets healthy.
ummm… in the one he was trying to jump over a defender, in the other he had a wide open lane. I’m not saying he’s not limited, but this proves nothing.
Talent reigns supreme. This is the teaM I thought we’d see right away. It only took 4 games to start dominating.
Agree. Most teams, at least from what I have watched, seem to be hitting down an abnormal amount of mid-range and long jumpers on us. True, most of it is because of poor defense allowing the opportunity. But, I would rather have teams beating us from the outside than the inside. What was our biggest need 2 months ago? Interior defense. I can’t remember Sweet Lou, the Heywoodinator and Alex “the rook” Kirk getting almost any minutes this season, simply because they haven’t had to – no foul trouble, and TT/Andy/Love haven’t been abysmal yet inside.
Evil agree with all 3 observations and also the concern with Miller ( which is why harris becomes so vital–hopefully one thing miller can do is mentor the young harris )—–blatt touched upon the LETHARGIC DEFENSE the cavs had and mentioned this needs to be cleaned up—-also mentioned in the post game interview by a reporter ( blatt was overjoyed the reporter mentioned it ) is that Kyrie has only had 1 turnover in the last 4 games —-that is incredible and what you are looking for in your pt gd.——-I truly expect the Pelicans to be in the playoffs—that… Read more »
I’ve always been a fan of Tristan Thompson, so maybe I’m just a little more sensitive to his plight, but holy burgers, it has BLOWN my mind how down every cavs/cleveland blogger has been on Tristan since we drafted him. And not in the hyperbolic way. I’m not saying any of you guys called him garbage or said you hated his face or anything like that. It was always more that you guys didn’t really have expectations for him. Every year I feel like I’d read over and over that he’s destined for the bench, and he’s already hit his… Read more »
Some scouting reports originally suggested it might take TT up to 4-5 years to refine some of his offensive skills, so combined with the fact he’s added so much to his game every offseason his leaps come as no real surprise to some of us. Most NBA players are still working out kinks all the way into their late 20’s so a little patience is all that’s required with certain prospects.
I think that most Cavs fans like Tristan, but didn’t think he had much upside was hoping for someone with a higher ceiling than him with a #4 pick. He’s proving us all wrong and I’m sure that delights the fans that were pulling for him. His unorthodox style will always draw some criticism . . . but, along with Andy, he’s becoming a great example of a player who worked hard and taken his game to the next level. A tireless, offensive rebounding, garbage man is essential for a team of stars like this . . . as Rodman… Read more »
Sean- While I admit I was in the Jonas-not-Tristan camp, I’ve come to be a big TT fan. I think the issue posters here have had with him is not dissimilar to the issues we’ve had with the rest of the young Cavs (Kyrie & Dion)- we weren’t seeing an evolution of his game from year to year. While we were pleasantly surprised with his early flashes of skill, “the leap” has never really come. In all honesty….I don’t think it’s happening now either. I think what we’re seeing is for the first time in his career, he has a… Read more »
One of the most underrated qualities of a good coach is his ability to coach his players up and get the most out of their ability. To not allow his players’ potential to go to waste. We always think of great coaches as those who have the best systems and schemes, are great motivators, who acquire the most talent, who can make in-game adjustments . . . I think the best coaches are the ones that can look at a player and get the most out of his ability every time – all within the framework of the team goals.… Read more »
The three most exciting things to me about tonight were: 1) Kyrie’s fireworks 2) Tristan’s energy 3) Joe Harris looking like a real contributor Also, this was the first game where all of the big three got it going at some point. If they can score 117 against a decent Pelicans team on a night where they’re just relying on talent, I shudder to think what they’ll be able to do once they really get the offense going. I keep waiting for Mike Miller to break out (scotch even got me thinking tonight had to be the night). Sadly, it… Read more »
I don’t feel good about the bench in general or the team’s depth. 16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists for the Cavs bench. They were outscored 44-16 by the Pelicans bench (Ryan Anderson going NBA Jam helped of course). Regardless, the benches lack of production is why I think Dion is the sixth man for the long haul. The team desperately needs scoring and athleticism off the bench and his biggest asset, scoring, is simply not needed in the starting lineup.
Missing both Dion & Delly would make the bench thin. Joe Harris’ decent play was a revelation last night. He’s somewhat composed for a rookie. And believe it or rot, I expect Cherry to add a spark. He doesn’t know the offense, so it goes out the window when he’s in. Give him a couple of weeks. Not that he will be a lock down NBA defender – but he was the Big Sky defensive player of the year for two years – so he should not be a liability there. I think we’ll see he’s a quick, hard playing… Read more »
Even with Dion and Delly the bench isn’t great and it still goea four deep (if you count Mike Miller). Joe Harris played well last night. But he is also a rookie. Expecting a second round pick to contribute right away on a team with title aspirations may be too much to ask.
Did Joe Harris guard Anderson that third quarter when Anderson cooled down some?
I think it was Marion… I believe they had the 5 original starters in to start the 3rd.
I remember towards the end of the 3rd quarter the announcers said that Anderson was pretty much on the bench all quarter and was not in the game despite being so hot before halftime. So I don’t think anyone had to cover him.
I do not know who was on him in the 4th when he came back into the game not having missed a beat.
Anderson played just over 34 minutes… He had to play significantly in the 3rd, unless he basically played 95% of Q1/2/4…
Dan, that may be. I’m just going by what the announcers said and maybe I misheard or misunderstood. But I do remember thinking when I heard that was how badly would David Blatt get butchered if he had left a red hot shooter on the bench for a whole quarter,
Thats the only reason I remember it being said. I was just thanking the Pelicans coach for doing that.
Ok, so I feel silly but I had to go look it up.
Anderson came in with 3:55 remaining in the 3rd quarter. So he did play in the 3rd and the announcers mustve made the comment I heard a minute or so before that. Glad to know I wasn’t hearing things.
And yes, it was Marion on him when he came in.
Yeah, you should definitely give up on Mike Miller at 5 games. The guy last year averaged 21 minutes and shot .460 from 3 point land.
He’s only 34. Quit acting like he’s a 40 year old. He’ll be fine.
Cols please point to some tangible proof that Miller has not been horrific this year other than repeatedly quoting his stats from last year. Last year is not this year. He doesn’t look like the same player.
My point is that it’s 6 games in. MIke Miller has a proven track record of not sucking. He’s not old enough to completely fall off a cliff.
If you want to believe that he’s washed upat 34 even though he was great last year. Go ahead. But you are wrong.
He almost retired before last season because of back issues. Hie performance last year was entirely unexpected. I wouldn’t use last season’s statistics as proof he is going to be just as good this year.
His entire career he’s been good. I don’t know why you want to give up on a guy 6 games in. That’s crazy and reactionary and not smart.
He’ll likely be fine.
Miller has a proven record of sucking the last few years. He’s just a guy who sucked who could hit open threes. If you take that away, he has zero value.
I think he’s more than that, because even though he’s not hitting his shots, he’s a great veteran leader on the bench (Kyrie credited him, Jones and Haywood with pep talks about staying aggressive last night). I’m not saying he sucks overall, just that he’s been disappointing so far this season. I’m rooting for him to turn it around and would be thrilled if he was anything close to last year’s version of Mike Miller (outlier or no). Having said that, if he’s NOT going to be hitting the occasional timely corner spot up three, then he shouldn’t be on… Read more »
I think Lebron is probably both injured AND out of shape. The injury you can spot at times on defense…lateral movements that require a strong back are almost non-existent. The out of shape stuff you can see by about his 35th minute of playing time. He finished strong tonight on willpower…but he was gassed. Hopefully both improve…but it’s nice to know he can coast to the finish line as a distributor and guys are actually good enough to knock down the clean looks he finds them.
This is a good point – you aren’t going to start the season at peak conditioning if you’ve been dealing with back stuff. Same sort of thing with Wade and developing his shooting – couldn’t happen as long as he was spending every summer putting his knees back together. And it’s been awhile since LeBron’s legitimately sandbagged the first half of a season. Watching him in Miami during their championship runs, I found that he didn’t seem to have the off switch that everybody else had when they’d blow a lead or drop behind by a bunch before storming back… Read more »
Weird game. They were terrible, they were great. Great recap.
PS: Agree on TT. A few times a game he makes an elite athletic play. He is getting up much higher this year.
Good win. 67 points in second half. Imagine how good we will be when LBJ is no longer injured.
Kyrie’s performance in the second half was one of the most insane things I have seen. His quickness when he gets into the paint, combined with that handle and finishing ability, is unmatched. He needs to do that every game!
I’m trying to think of another player that can finish from so many different angles around the rim. Maybe Tony Parker but the list is short
It’s like George Gervin and God Shamgod had a baby…
I had forgotten about God Shamgod. Thanks Nate! My day just got brighter
Saw him play once in Fairbanks, Alaska. Just a ridiculous handle.
Speaking of God Shammgod, doesn’t Kevin Love look a lot like Austin Croshere?
Missing the obvious one (to me, at least)–Iverson?