Recap: Heat 101, Cavs 95 (Or, that could have gone much worse)
2010-12-15
Overview: The Cavs put up a good fight against the Miami Heat, but had no answer for Dwayne Wade in the second half. Daniel Gibson had one of his best games of the year, finishing with 26 points on 10-16 shooting from the field. The Heat have won their last 10 games. The Cavaliers have lost their last nine.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
– If moral victories can exist in a nine-game losing streak, this was one. The Cavs were competitive throughout the game. They moved the ball on offense and spread the floor with shooters, keeping the Heat defense off balance and committing only eight turnovers. The latter was a big deal — the Heat weren’t really able to get out in transition, which forced them to rely on their inconsistent halfcourt offense. On defense, the team moved its feet, didn’t concede easy drives, and made the Heat shoot mid-range jumpers.
– In the second half, the Heat took the game over with an abundance of three-pointers and Dwayne Wade. The Heat relied on the three against the Cavs, going 10-23 from beyond the arc. Three of those 10 threes were corner threes from James Jones, and the product of good ball movement by the Heat. Four of those threes came from Mario Chalmers, whom the Cavs dared to beat them. And three of those threes were from Wade, who was absolutely on fire in that second half. Boobie was playing good defense on Wade, but he was having one of those nights. His crossover was evil, he was making incredible drives to the basket, and he made a lot of jump shots that you have to let him take.
The Heat still haven’t found offensive symmetry, and it can be rough to watch them play offense. Wade and James can nail threes off the dribble, but can’t make open catch-and-shoot threes. James hates moving when Wade drives. Bosh doesn’t attack the rim much. However, they’ve found a pretty good formula: tighten up the defense, attack in transition whenever the opportunity presents itself, and give LeBron and Wade chances to take the game over. It works.
Individual notes:
Can’t say enough good things about Boobie Gibson, who played like a man possessed. When he got an inch of space on a three, he hit it. He hit some beautiful pull-up jumpers from midrange. His floater, which never really worked for him last year, was money. Throughout his career, Boobie has stepped up when the pressure’s on, and it’s clear he put a lot of pressure on himself to win this game. I used to have a rule that prohibited giving Boobie a shirt in losses, but it’s time to revise that rule. Great game, Boobie.
Mo had some nice floaters and did a good job running the offense, but it would be really nice if he could make threes when the team needs them. Not the best night for him to go 1-10 from beyond the arc.
Jamison kept the floor spread and hit some threes, but couldn’t do anything inside the arc — Bosh is a bad matchup for him. Jamison did do a good job of containing Bosh on the other end, though.
Great game for Andy, who was everywhere on both ends of the floor and was a menace on the boards. Does anyone doubt that Andy and Boobie are the team’s two best players?
Bullets of Randomness:
Just one tonight — Joel Anthony had a really good game, and his shot-blocking in the fourth quarter was huge. Maybe he wasn’t a terrible signing after all.
@ JCashtro: The idea isn’t “trading just to trade.” Rather, it’s recognizing that the most common path to success for NBA teams is to land their “alpha dog” in the draft and then surround him with the complementary pieces. And unless you’re a brilliant drafter (like the Spurs with Parker & Ginobili) or extremely lucky, usually that player gets taken in the lottery. So the Cavs could use lottery picks, and preferably more than just their own. Trades can help, but other than the ’04 Pistons, it’s hard to think of an elite team that acquired all its “stars” via… Read more »
@ The Nupe – I definitely Gibson or Varejao could bring a 1st rd pick from someone. But of course, a pick likely to be near the bottom of the 1st rd has a lot less value than a potential lottery pick. To me, that should be the goal – to acquire additional lottery chances (beyond the Cavs’ own picks over the next couple years, which are looking more likely every day to be lottery picks). That may require bundling assets.
And as far as this idea of filling a hole…the entire damn roster is a hole. None of these guys should be starting for a serious contending team. Not a single guy. The idea that Gibson fills a need only works when you compare Gibson to the rest of the roster. On a much better team, Gibson is on the bench. Hopefully, we plan on being a much better team in the future and not just a team that wins 40 games.
Nuipe, I have to say I don’t understand what you’re saying. You hope Gibson becomes an all-star player, yet he isn’t worht a 1st round pick?
1st round picks are not what they are in the NFL. Was Jamison worth a first round pick? No. But the Wiz got one anyway. Hell, the Wiz got a 1st round pick for nothing at all when the Bulls gave away Heinrich. Looking at these scenarios, I can almost guarantee that Anderson Varejao warrants far, far more than simply a first round pick.
Dont trade boobie. Trade Mo, Jamison, And Anderson Verajeo (if we can get a 1st for him). Than we should either draft Kyrie Irving or Enes Kanter (and i know for a fact we are not getting harrison barnes or perry jones) , Depending on wether we trade AV or not.
starting lineup:
pg:Irving
sg:Boobie
sf:(player we get with TPE)
pf:Hickson
c:Verajeo
This article should’ve been titled: “Cavs play best game of the season, lose”
The last player I’d trade is Andy, like Brian mentions, it’s difficult to replace a solid PF/C. Boobie is having a solid year, I hope he can keep it up for the entire season and blossom into a serious all-star consideration player. I don’t see a reason to trade Boobie unless we can get a proven SF by including him in the deal. IMO, no Cav is worth a 1st round pick, and we won’t get anything but role players/second team guys for our guys. That’s not the secret to rebuilding unless it’s to fill a hole. So, we’ll have… Read more »
I guess my thinking is players like Gibson and Andy will come to play, no question. I can’t hang my hat on a bunch of 1st round picks that may or may not gel in Cleveland. Trading just to trade never makes sense. AJ and Mo’s contracts are horrible, So it’s the quandry Grant finds himself in.
You trade GIbson because he’s the one of two guys you can actually get something out of?? Really tough to rebuild when the only thing you move is garbage. Teams aren’t giving us 1st round picks for Leon Powe and Anthony Parker. Frankly, I think we can swindle a team by trading Boobie at this point.
I still think I’d rate Varejao higher than Gibson in terms of “guys I’d only reluctantly trade,” just because of the difficulty of replacing even a solid-average PF or C these days – and I would rate Andy “above-average” when looking at his overall contributions, despite his limitations as a scorer). And Andy’s young enough to still be a key part of a playoff team 3 years from now. Gibson would be a close second. But if the Cavs could wrangle 2012-or-beyond lottery picks for Gibson & Andy without taking on bad long-term contracts, they’d have to pull the trigger.… Read more »
Why the talk of getting rid of Gibson? If you’re gonna blow up the current team, he’s one guy I’d want to salvage. Not the tallest or most talented, but he’s pretty good, a lot of guts, coachable, works on his weak areas, and is an emotional leader, as previously stated. More importantly, he’s young. Brown didn’t give him a lot of opportunities. But he’s thriving with the chance he’s been given by Scott. Of course we want wins in the end, but if he’s focused and the team gets their stuff together, they can start getting some w’s
I’m glad they played hard. Our starters are really a competive group. With two days off, I can see them playing 35+ minutes each, but on the second day of back-to-backs I don’t think Jamison can make it. At least they each seem to be showing some trade value and at the end of the day, maybe that’s the best we can hope for. If Boobie can stay consistent, he’ll draw a ton of attention.
@ Jon: Scott could probably get away with playing Mo, Boobie and Andy 35 mins a night long-term, but that workload will break Jamison down sooner or later. And we sure don’t want him getting hurt before the trade deadline. JJ still got 20 minutes; Scott has to be hoping JJ will come around eventually and work his way back to a major role.
I really don’t want Boobie gone. He’s easily the emotional leader of the team, can’t lose that.
Joel Anthony was a terrible signing.
Just saw the highlights on ESPN. I know the Cavs lost, but they could at least show at least one Cavs player scoring.
Last year my feeling was that Antawn Jamison should have been a 6th man because Hickson’s cutting provided more of a consistent offensive spark in conjunction with Verajao with Lebron on the floor and that Boobie was an effective off the bench player as well. Both of these guys got sidelined or put in non-active spots at the most crucial part of the season for a guy who hadn’t really acclimated to the system yet. Mike Brown error in my opinion. I know Boobie had just had the kid but he would be at the games so he might as… Read more »
Didn’t see see the game, but looking at the box score I see that all the starters played nearly 40 minutes. I wonder if Scott is going to keep up that rotation, or if it was just because we were playing the Heat.
Jamison used to be awesome. Now he’s a vet that does what his body allows. It’s not rocket science.
Man I am sick of hearing (insert any NBA player) was a bad match up for Jamison. Let’s get real. Offensive contributor in only the most perfect storm. Otherwise, he’s stranded at sea with shots that are just bad decisions.
You know, I wasn’t too much of a Mike Brown basher during his tenure, but it’s seeming more and more that game 6 of the Piston’s series was not a fluke and Mike Brown losing faith in him, while it may also have bettered Boobie’s defense to an extent, may have lost us a number of playoff series.
Does Boobie Gibson KNOW about this blog? Just imagining his bemused reaction to the ‘shirt’, LOL
The Heat are so ugly to watch.
The Cavs played hard tonight, I’m glad they didn’t give up after getting down 14 late in the fourth. They are a bad team, but at least they have a pulse.
After that game, Gibson deserves a shirt filled out by some porn staresque Double D’s… not some dude with man boobs.
Tits gibson is HERE TO STAY