The Point Four-ward: Catch Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
2014-12-10
Four points I’m thinking about the NBA and the Cleveland Cavaliers…
First off, if you haven’t read Ben’s excellent recap of last night’s big come from behind win against the Raptors, what are you waiting for??
1.) Read the following quote from Cavs head coach David Blatt:
“I think it’s important that you know how to catch yourself. We didn’t have an easy time in the first half and we caught ourselves at halftime. We recognized what we were doing wrong and what we needed to improve and we did that. We had very little defensive intensity.”
Now, tell me, what game that came from.
Okay, it’s not like it was so long ago. That was Blatt speaking after the Cavs 110-88 win in Brooklyn on Monday night. But it could have easily come from last night’s win against the Raptors, as well.
Over the course of their current eight game winning streak, the Cavs have been winning games in every way imaginable. There have been blow-outs, grind-it-outs and everything in between (though, really, mostly just those two). But the Cavs have become increasingly good at “catching” themselves, as Blatt called it.Others have called it “flipping the switch,” which seems a little too presumptuous of the fact that enough players on this team (LeBron excluded) can locate that switch and know what will happen when they flip it.
it’s been encouraging that this team’s players and coaching staff can identify problems and devise strategies to fix them. What’s less encouraging is that many of these problems seem to be the result of early lack of effort and intensity which must be fixed before this Cavaliers team can be realistically be among this season’s title contenders.
2.) What hasn’t been a problem lately, though, as it was during the team’s uneven start is racing out to big leads in the first and then completely relaxing and… well, losing.
The team has still shown the ability to go on monster runs. They just come at more opportune times.
Or, to put it another way, here was Nets head coach Lionel Hollins after Monday’s game:
“Early in the third, we were scoring and kind of staying with, but we had that lull and not making shots and turning the ball over and next thing you know we are down 10, 11. Then, next thing you know, we are down 19, and we weren’t able to sustain or make a push back after that.”
that’s this Ca s team at their opportunistic best.
3.) To say that Dion Waiters needed these last two performances to ressuect his relevance off the bench could verge on understatement. In the eight games prior to Monday’s, Waiters was shooting 31.6% (19-60) from the floor and just 7.6% from three. His minutes and his confidence both took a hit as he notched a season low 8:53 minutes last week against Milwaukee and, prior to Brooklyn, hadn’t even attempted a three-point shot in two games.
In the two games since, though, Waiters is shooting 58% from the field (18-31) and a respectable 36% from deep (4-11).
When examining Waiters’s game, maybe we should ask ourselves if he needs the very shots that Cavs fans and coaches have been on him to cut out (the long twos). Those Waitersian hoists from just inside the three point line are what got him going against Brooklyn and, maybe, it’s just another weird facet of St. Weirdo’s game that doesn’t make a lick of sense to anyone but Waiters. That shot is clearly his comfort zone and hitting them can be the spark plug for the rest of his game.
For better or worse, Blatt seems resigned to let Waiters play a Waiters game off the bench and it will be up to Dion to prove us all wrong if he can carve out a nitch while firing away the least efficient shots known to man.
4.) After Monday’s game, with the visitors’ locker room over-run with media, one reporter asked James Jones to compare the level of attention this Cavs team is receiving to the 2010-11 Miami Heat.
“The first year [in Miami] was kinda over the top. Every Joe Blow off the street wanted a credential to come in and cover the team just to get a look.”
Gosh, James, I’m standing right here!
Well it looks like LeBron is not playing tonight vs. OKC and is 50/50 for tomorrow night. Go Cavs!
Going to be tough without LBJ. Kyrie and Love going to have to carry the offense. Hopefully, Dion continues his hot shooting tonight as well.
If LBJ plays I think DB will limit his minutes to the 25-30 timeframe.
If I was the coach, and LeBron was not 100%, I would sit him no matter what the (regular season) game is. Besides LeBron needing some rest after playing too many minutes, at some point the other guys have to go out there and take on a top team without LeBron to save the day. Can KI and KL come up with a MD type over-achieving game? Remember the great game against the OKC Thunder two years ago, with a KI buzzer beater? That gets my vote for the best game of the “LeBron wandering in the desert” years. Make… Read more »
It’s interesting to note that Pop sat his ENTIRE starting lineup (except Danny Green) last night against the Knicks and the Spurs won by 15. If LBJ’s knee is truly hurting, then he shouldn’t play, but sitting him for multiple games seems foolish unless it’s a more serious issue.
Best term for the last four years would be the Dark Ages.
Dopey will always have the record for quickest firing in NBA history after 5 games into the season, but I predict that Grumpy will lose a LOT more games given the dumpster fire that the Lakers are right now.
Even if it’s not an injury and just general soreness I’d still sit him for these next two games. Rest is important for players who’ve logged a lot of minutes.
Dr. Stanton in the house. Next stop Cleveland Clinic ;)
Pop sits his players because they are old. Like really freaking old.
You don’t sit players in their primes like the Cavs have after a day off. Unless LBJ can’t go. He’ll go. It would be incredible stupid to sit players in their primes.
I’m not sure if he’s in his prime any longer. I think he’s more on the decline. It doesn’t mean that he’s not a great player any more, nor does it mean that he won’t continue to be great for several more years. It just means that he has to pace himself and change his game (which he has). As a fan, of course I want him to play every game, but I also want him to be on the best possible shape when the playoffs arrive.
Right. With LeBron, it’s not just about age, it’s about the number of minutes he’s played.
You don’t exit your prime because of minutes played. That’s not how aging works.
Cols, anyone who has played a sport that is high-impact knows that the more you play, the more your joints wear down over time. Multiple injuries can absolutely drive someone out of there prime. Nate is absolutely right about this. Lebron has already played more minutes than Larry Bird did in his entire career. It might behoove us to start putting Lebron on a minutes cap for the regular season now that the bench isn’t a tire fire anymore.
This is deja-vu all over again. We already debated the whole minutes vs. age thing two weeks ago.
@DustinFox37: RT @AnthonyLimaFAN: .@EthanJSkolnick just told us on @BullandFox that in Miami they believe they got LeBron’s peak four years.
Of course Miami believes that. That’s just how spurned exes sound when they’re mad about a breakup.
Still one of the funniest things ever was Pop changing it from DNP-CD to DNP-Old
Overheard in the Cavs lockerroom after shootaround this morning:
LBJ quoting Danny Glover… “I’m too old for this sh*t”
Cols, do you think he meant shit or shot?
Interesting piece by Brian Windhorst about the question if “LeBron is slowing down”.IMO his minutes have to go down a little bit for him to perform better as he has a good 5-7 years of good productive basketball as he turns 30 later this month.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12014407/nba-lebron-james-really-slowing-down
LBJ a game time decision tonight. He has soreness in left knee… Per Lloyd
Here is more about this.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12015619/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-treated-general-soreness-knee
He won’t miss this game. Would have been a potential Finals preview if OKC hadn’t been so banged up this year. They may yet dig themselves out of their early season hole, but it’s a steep climb in the WC.
I’m actually okay with him missing this game and think they should sit him for the next 2-3 games. Let’s see how this team can play without him. I’d rather sacrifice a few losses in December for appropriate rest for LBJ. He’s logged a lot of minutes.
If he can play, he should play.
Sure. While we’re at it, why not just sit him until the Heat game or his birthday.
I’d rather have LBJ healthy for the playoffs vs risking further knee issues for a couple of potential wins in December. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
I think LBJ knows his body well enough that he won’t play if the knee is really bothering him. And I’m sure the coaching staff feels the same way. There’s no reason to blow “general knee soreness” out of proportion.
I’m not blowing it out of proportion. The idea of resting LBJ was discussed early in the season, and LBJ has already been quoted about playing too many minutes. So I think this would be a good time to rest him. Ultimately, I agree in that if he wants to play then he’ll play. However, if I were the coaching staff I’d try and sway him to take a couple nights off.
I hear what you’re saying, but unless it’s a bigger issue than “general knee soreness” this is actually not a game you’d normally want him to sit. It’s OKC and they’ve got a winning streak on the line. Certainly don’t want LBJ to injure himself, but as far as the rest/minutes argument goes, I’d much rather see him take the night off against an inferior opponent that the Cavs should handle without issue.
True but you could also say that this is a game that the Cavs could lose even with LeBron. If it’s going to be a loss (not saying it is) I’d rather lose with LBJ on the bench vs logging 35-40 minutes with knee soreness.
You don’t think they can beat OKC right now?
I don’t think he misses either. And I don’t want him to. I want the full force of the Cavs.
Funny/inappropriate comment from someone on the ESPN story about LBJ’s knee soreness…
Edmund Purcell · Top Commenter · UCLA
Will he wear an “I Can’t Play” shirt?
In Defense of Cols Frustration with Delly Love
I hit submit to early on that last one…. I love Delly like the next guy, but I agree with Cols that Delly is way overhyped relative to his actual production/talent. Delly is great. He is developing a critical role on this team. But relative to numerous other players on the team with critical roles, Delly gets a lot more praise from the fanbase. He is the “hustling white guy,” so everything he does kind of jumps out and then he gets too much praise. For those of you familiar with Fire Joe Morgan, the Delly love is a lot… Read more »
Ha. Yeah. This is pretty much it. Especially last game recap. James goes nuts, Dion scores 18 and the entire comment section was about Delly’s 6 points and hustle. Ugh.
Anyways, I think the Eckstien comparison is perfect. I miss FJM.
BTW, I’m a fast white guy so maybe I just don’t get it….
Delly did have a key defensive series at the end of the game which could be more concretely tied to the outcome of the game than the more abstract impact scoring 18 points earlier in the game can have, which is why Delly got so much praise. Same for Mike Miller’s block a week ago.
If Delly can find a consistent 3 point shot, he will be an ideal backup PG for this team. His shot looks a little broken at times.
“BTW, I’m a fast white guy so maybe I just don’t get it….”
And you catch the same amount of love/hate around here that Delly does.
Cols, the Jordy Nelson of commenters…
I think this is an over-reaction to the Delly over-reaction. The guy had been gone for a month. He comes back and in his second game back, he makes a definite and quantifiable impact on the victory over the current second best team in the EC. It wasn’t JUST a rebound or JUST a taken charge or JUST a timely three or JUST terrific defense on a guy who had been torching them all night in Lowry. It was ALL of those things done in a supercharged fourth quarter crunch time performance. And it’s not just the commenters on this… Read more »
I wishcast a non-Delly thread please.
Hot Sauce started it….
Chickety-check yo self before you wreck yo self
Delly and the ghost of Tyler Zeller will haunt CtB for eternity
It’s like the Cavs own version of A Christmas Carol…
Zeller is the ghost of Cavs past. Delly is the ghost of Cavs present. Wiggins is the ghost of Cavs future.
I guess that would make Cols Scrooge and Nate Bob Cratchitt. I’m okay with being Tiny Tim
God bless us, C:tB!
I hear you Genius. You makes good points. You definitely do a good job of spreading the love to everyone, and, as a result, you don’t over pimp Delly. But I think there are some commenters here that just get insane with Delly. I am trying to push back a bit there
And for what its worth, Kyrie has grabbed rebounds late in games and played great D on key possessions. But when he does so the reaction is much less stark.
Anyhoo, no more Delly.
Typo, I meant to say Nate as Jacob Marley
Guilty as charged. Delly is just a great story. A kid from the other side of the world who is making it on smarts and hustle in a league that gives almost every spot to guys with hops and height. He is a cult classic. The explosion after the last game was because of 3 things combined: 1) Delly is back from injury. It was by no means guaranteed that he could come back quickly and be effective. 2) The main-stream media and commentators noticed (Player of the Game from FoxSports coverage) 3) LeBron noticed and gave the kid a… Read more »
Actually, it just so happens that there are more guys in the league with Dion’s skill set and production levels off the bench than there are lock down defender guards coming off the bench. Dion’s points could conceivably be spread around the team as they are produced out of the normal flow of the game and/or ill advised long twos. that’s why his point production isn’t thought of as incredible or amazing. However, we cannot spread out delly’s hustle and defensive shut downs to other team members as they can ONLY currently be produced by him off the bench. He… Read more »
SH-T HAPPENS !!
I think we as fans need to let dion be dion too. Blatt and Leb are fine with him shooting his shots so maybe we can stop complaining about every mid range shit he takes. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
Also. Yeah TT has been good this year because he’s no longer being asked to shoot outside of 5 feet. Which is perfect. And another reminder that Mike brown was probably the worst coach in the nba last year.
Greatest typo ever. Those shots are exactly as you named them. They’re give up twos with no forethought. Waiters getting to.the basket was a bigger deal for me than his chucks. When he does that, finds teammates, defends, and hits catch-and shoots he’s great despite the dumb shots, not because of them.
Man, I love the typo. I can only hope he didnt mean it as a typo. if auto correct did this my day is starting off well. Only a victory tonight can make it better than this from my friend cols.
The type(?) gives a different slant on the next line: “Different strokes for different folks and all that”.
I am going to adapt that for classifying statements by the clueless: “He is talking sh*t”, “He is talking mid range sh*t”, “That is some long range sh*t!”, and of course “Bull mid range sh*t”.
You forgot the most Dion appropriate… He’s about to pull up and step in sh*t
Eh. Let Dion be Dion. There are different players who score different ways. This idea that there is only one way to play basketball and that’s the Heat space and pace way needs to go by the wayside.
Excellent typo. Agree about Dion — the thing is, many players who are less-than-stellar 3-point shooters sometimes feel 100x more confident about taking a shot that is a mere step or two in front of the 3-point line. Dion is one of these players. Michael Jordan was also one of these players. When the NBA moved the 3-point line inward for a few seasons in the 90’s, MJ benefited and his 3-point attempts and percentage both went way up. Otherwise, he was a less-than-stellar career 3-shooter. Dion is who he is, and he knows how to get his mojo going… Read more »
Except not. Dion’s not any better when he steps in. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/waitedi01/shooting/2015/ taking shots “he knows work for him” when they don’t actually work is just called “being dumb,” and “bad habits.” Dion is 20-60 from 16-23 feet this year, and while he’s shooting .273 from three, it’s still a more efficient shot than his .333 from two. The only place Waiters is shooting well from this year is the left wing three, the left corner, and a very effective .633 at the rim. He has a hot spot over on the right side about 18 feet out, too. Everywhere else,… Read more »
Dion’s shooting has been terrible thus far regardless. His career averages for long twos will remain in the upper .400’s, not a bad rate at all. For a SG, he’s not very good at catch-and-shoot threes, and may never be. Defenders leave him wide open beyond the arc often. He is good at driving, and the occasional long step-back two helps keep the defender honest and cause them to play Dion closer once the ball hits the floor, enhancing the effectiveness of Dion’s drives. Shots aren’t always about the points; they can be used to manipulate the defense. Also can’t… Read more »
Chickity-check yo post before you wreck yo post, Cols
Meanwhile… A Wiggins sighting! Big night tonight helping the Wolves take down the Blazers. 23/10/4 with a couple of steals and some nice dunks.
I listened to a lot of the game on the radio during my commute home. Wig’s passing was really good and his athleticism was exactly as advertised. Nobody on that team can hit the three-ball consistently so their spacing is poor. That’s the problem with Wiggins and why Love is better for us right now.
BTW, Cory Brewer was doing some nice stuff, too. That was a good win for the young team.
Enjoyed the article Robert. It is scary (in an awesome way) to think that these guys are already finding that switch or extra gear to go on runs and close out games. I’ve really noticed that they’re really able to crank up the defensive pressure in fourth quarters the last few games as well.
Not to beat a dead horse, but Delly just seems good for Dion. Whether it’s being a perfect compliment for him with the bench bunch, or pushing Dion with his brand of play and making Dion go harder to not lose minutes. Either way, if sinking a long two is what he needs to get his motor running, then so be it.
I think part of it is that Delly gets him the ball quickly before the defense sets up….and part of it is Dion knowing we won’t be second guessed for taking shots that people would rather see Kyrie take when they share the floor together. Confidence is everything.
My favorite Ice Cube song ever…
You better check yo self before you wreck yo self
Cos I’m bad for your health, I come real stealth
So come on and chickity-check yo self before you wreck yo self
Cause shotgun bullets are bad for your health
Yo! Word is bond!
When I first got married, I used to sing 80’s and 90’s hip hop and rap songs in the shower. My wife would say “{Insert artists name} does a much better job on this piece. can we let him handle it?” These lyrics will forever remind me of being a late teen early 20’s kid
I still sing A Tribe Called Quest and Wu Tang songs in the shower. My wife just laughs.
Yo, Cols! You are going to have to go to war with “Bleacher Report”:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2295111-on-star-studded-cleveland-cavaliers-role-players-beginning-to-shine
BTW, what has happened to all those TT haters who were clogging up the blog last year and over the summer? They need to take endurance training with Cols. Despite the thin air in Colorado, Cols is a marathoner, and can hang in there bad rapping Delly 24/7, with the energy of a jogger at sea level.
They switched hands and now can’t type as fast.
Hard for anyone to hate on Canadian Dyamite this year. As a starting 4 or 5 being asked to play 30+ minutes alongside Kyrie, Dion and a bunch of lesser players, as well as being asked to help carry the offensive load, TT was over his head. As an energy garbage man off the bench who can just bring it on the glass and throw the hammer down on put-backs and alley-oops, he’s a revelation.
I’m waiting patiently for when Yahoo sports adds C to his positional description. That was my expectation when I targeted him in the draft (and also why I was comfortable trading Drummond away).
May patience is beginning to wear thin, especially wit Howard out. C’mon Yahoo….how many games does it take?
Sorry about Howard. Do they have any clue what’s wrong? Yeah, Drummond has been good so far, but it looks like Rose has been good lately too.
Had the knee platelet therapy that Kobe brought in vogue. He’s been out close to a month.
I dont know how many TT haters are here. I know there are plenty who think he is not worth 10-12 million a per year. Myself, I think TT at a 10-12 million really hinders our status on the apron/ over the cap. Certainly, it is not my money but gilberts so if TT gets it I can only hope he has an estate plan and trust in place. If only because I think he is an extraordinary person and I would feel sad if one day he became a bankrupt former player. Honestly, he does not strike me as… Read more »
Don’t worry about TT’s estate plan. Canadians are polite and don’t screw up. Actually, it is a good thing they are polite, because they have not figured out road signs yet, so you have to stop somewhere and ask how to get back on the highway. At this point, several bystanders will offer to draw a map.
I think this was covered quite a bit back when the Cavs and TT couldn’t come to an agreement on an extension before the season, but at this point 10-12 Mil is just wishcasting. Guaranteed, if TT continues to perform this way, with the rising cap in the next couple of years, some team will almost assuredly offer him 15 per. And I bet the Cavs will match.
If we don’t sign TT I’m betting we could find another energy big guy. It’s not like TT’s skill set is uniquely great or anything. I hope he signs because he’s a good guy with talent and works hard, but they won’t break the bank for him.
Nope. He’s one of the LBJ tribe now since he’s with Rich P. DG won’t make the same mistake as Mickey Arrogant in Miami. Guaranteed Dan will pay what it takes to keep Canadian Dynamite. Any other theory is wrong.
This is a good point. If Leb says keep TT. We should do it. Losing Leb because you didn’t keep TT would be very very stupid.