Recap: Cavs 120, Lakers 111 (or, An Early All-Star Game)
2016-02-11https://vine.co/v/inWEdqnMq6x
Tonight, the Cavs and Lakers exerted the least amount of effort required in a pro basketball game to not anger fans. Through four quarters, the Cavs had complete control of the game going up by as many as 22 points. They ultimately won because they had more talent on the floor.
Kyrie Irving led the Cavs with a season high 35 points on 62.5% shooting to go with seven assists. LeBron James had 29 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds. The Cavs shot 51% from the floor, while holding the Lakers to 44.2%.
However, the Cavs’ defense could only stop the Lakers’ big guys, and the game was closer than it should have been. Lou Williams was 9-15 for 28 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. Kobe Bryant had 17 points (nine in the fourth) to help the Lakers pull within eight before their eventual loss. He also had the above displayed spin move on LeBron for a layup. He joked with LeBron, “I can’t believe you fell for that.” Kobe even gave Jordan Clarkson a pat on the head after he had a turnover. He was was in a great mood all evening.
The Cavs started the first quarter off in unusual fashion. Kobe hugged them all, smiled, and seemed to hope they actually had good games. Kyrie opened the night up hitting two straight mid-range jumpers with no one covering him. Both teams seemed to play hands down defense, letting each other get whatever shots they wanted, All-Star game style.
Love even passed the entire length of the floor to LeBron for a layup. The King had ten points in the quarter, eight of which were at the rim.
https://t.co/F5Bm0b2zLP
Fortunately for the Cavs, talent usually wins out in a zero defense type setting. After just six minutes of play, Cleveland was up 18-6, forcing a Lakers’ timeout. The Cavs continued their stellar offensive play the rest of the quarter, finding whoever was cutting to the basket for eights assists on 15 buckets.
Lou Williams made sure the Lakers weren’t completely out of the game after the first period. In the final six minutes of the quarter, he hit a three, got fouled behind the 3-line, and got an And-1 one on a jump shot for nine points. Julius Randle also had a nice coast-to-coast layup where nothing stopped him until he dunked.
The Laker guards abused Kyrie by getting deep into the paint, and forcing the Cavs to rotate haphazardly. Kyrie gave it back to them though. After Kyrie missed a three, Tristan got an offensive board and gave Kyrie the ball again. Kyrie drove in for an easy layup. A play later the Lakers tried to force him to go baseline on the right side. They even trapped him. He found TT rolling to the hoop for two free throws. After one the Cavs led, 35-25.
Jordan Clarkson scored first in the second quarter driving to the rim around Mo Williams. The Lakers would actually have little trouble scoring early on in the quarter. D’Angelo Russell hit three 3-pointers. All of them were open and in semi-transition. However, the closest his 3s brought the Lakers was within five points.
The Cavs had little trouble putting up numbers. They hit 52.4% of their shots. Irving had 11 points, dropping five of his seven shots. He was draining his mid-rangers with ease.
https://vine.co/v/inWbWTxvd31
The Cavs extended their lead ending the quarter on a 14-7 run. Love found the King with another touchdown pass, and hit a 3-pointer of his own. However, after posting up and missing his shot against Kobe with 46 seconds left until halftime, he ran to the locker room holding his shoulder. LeBron nailed a shot from downtown at the end of the action to put the Cavs ahead, 47-62.
The Lakers didn’t want to give up completely in the third quarter, so they smartly went at Kyrie whenever they could. Kyrie was incapable of stopping Clarkson from getting to the rim. Early on, Clarkson scored a layup, got an and-1 dunk, and dished the ball to Hibbert for a hook shot over Varejao. His seven point barrage brought the Lakers within 11 points. Clarkson would go on to have nine points in the quarter.
Kyrie’s 3rd quarter shot chart.
The Cavs responded to the Lakers’ run by letting Kyrie rip off ten points, including two 3s. Kyrie also a had a great steal right in front of Clarkson when he anticipated a pass to him. He ran it down for a layup. And, he finished another layup straight down the lane when TT found him cutting without guys near him.
https://vine.co/v/inWw7XmmXM9
The Cavs were getting decent shots out of pick and roll play in the quarter, but the ball just wasn’t falling. TT and Andy both had tip-ins to help LeBron out with shots he normally makes.
LeBron ran a beautiful play with Tristan with 3:01 left. He hit TT cutting to the hoop, then TT dribbled under the basket and found him running in for a layup. LeBron finished the quarter throwing TT a lob pass to the put the Cavs ahead 74-93.
The Cavs rested LeBron to start the fourth quarter and let Kyrie and the bench play. Mozgov went off. He hit two jumpers, missed a pair of free throws, and threw down a dunk so hard it made Austin Carr squeal. The Lakers made the Cavs sweat a little though. With about six minutes to go, Jordan Clarkson hit two free throws, and nailed a 3-pointer.
The Cavs then missed on the other end and Kobe drained a 3-pointer while Iman Shumpert ran into him. After completing the four point play, Kobe brought the Lakers within nine points with 5:36 left. Kobe then got fouled a few minutes later on another 3-point play and hit all three to bring the Lakers within eight. He tried to play full court defense on LeBron while LeBron brought the ball up, but Irving screened the Mamba, and LeBron found J.R. Smith for a 3-ball to quell the comeback attempt. Cavs won easily, 120-111.
Gripes
-Kyrie may have had 35 points, but he played some of the worst defense I have ever seen in my entire life. Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, and Lou Williams had their way with him. He was constantly behind on plays or just taking too long to recover after being screened. The above mentioned Lakers had 65 combined points. Clarkson even had seven assists. It makes sense Kyrie was just +7 tonight and the other starters were all above +14.
-The Cavs’ defense as a whole was pretty below average. They are trying to trap ball handlers again, and it’s happening randomly. They’re doing it in the middle of the floor, at the corners, and whenever someone doesn’t want to return to their original defensive assignment right away. They don’t move in unison to prevent some super wide open shot.
-Kevin Love went down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter. If Twitter and the rest of the internet are to be trusted, it is just a shoulder contusion and he will be fine.
-The Cavs got killed in transition by the Lakers’ 3-pointers. The Lakers were 13-28 from deep, and many of them came very early in the shot clock as Cavs rushed to find who they were supposed to match up with.
-I’m playing basketball tomorrow, so I have no jokes to make about this Vine where LeBron nails D’Angelo Russell in the groin. If I make fun of it, I’m sure I’ll face the same fate.
https://vine.co/v/inWpd1hFPtZ
-Andy couldn’t finish anything in the pick and roll tonight and was 3-8 from the floor. He also had two turnovers.
-It was another poor free throw shooting night. The Cavs were 11-18. At one point, LeBron and Kyrie both missed two free throws in a row on back-to-back trips down the floor.
Hypes
-The Cavs are actually cutting off the ball. The ball wasn’t zooming around the perimeter tonight, but guys made sure to move and there were lots of easy baskets. Cleveland had 26 assists on 48 made baskets.
-The Wine & Gold had 13 offensive boards and 25 second chance points. Holy efficiency Hollinger. TT had 13 boards (7 offensive), four assists, and 15 points. He was 6-6 from the floor, and his play making made him look like there might be another facet to his game no one knew about.
-Happy All-Star break. Don’t ask to watch the All-Star game on Valentine’s day if you’re spending it with someone. It’s a bad idea.
All Star Saturday Live Thread is up for anyone interested…
The big loser this trade season is whoever grabs Asik’s contract. The Cavs need to avoid that turd sandwich at all costs.
If you see this entry, the new hosting setup works better than the old, because I used to have to fire up MS Internet Explorer to make an entry. That did have one good side, it keeps you from entering something before your brain is up and running!
I THINK AS LONG AS LOVE IS A CAVS —THERE WILL ALWAYS BE TRADE RUMORS HANGONG OVER HIS HEAD ( NOT SURE HOW THIS MIGHT AFFECT HIS PLAY / DEMEANOR )
EVIL —NOT SURE IF YOU WERE IN ANYWAYS PART OF ” DEADPOOL ” —SAW IT YESTERDAY—THUMBS UP —LOT OF GREAT COMEDIC 1 LINERS ( MISSED ALOT IF YOU WEREN’T PAYING ATTENTION )
Not involved… just have worked with the director in the past… Agree, it was a lot of fun!
Evil, since we’re talking Hollywood, do you know Craig Mazin, Ted Cruz’s old roommate? His Twitter campaign against Cruz has been quite a body of work in itself. Not sure when he finds time to work on scripts.
I’ve met Craig, though don’t know him that well…
So there’s a a Love to Boston rumor? LeBron says it’s false, per Chris Haynes.
New website just like the old one?
New hosting services… website design changes still forthcoming…
Ha…can’t believe bosh goes down and JR still doesn’t get a nod. The NBA really hates the cavs this year.
It’s baaaaaaack! Yeah I was refreshing a few times a day…
I will probably post this on the next thread whenever that is. But your take on the cavs trading Shump for Thabo Sefolasha and Korver. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=z4c8ddh Plus’s. It makes us better right now. Adding Korver to this team gives us an insane amount of shooting. Irving, JR, Korver, LBJ and Love would force defenses to play 5 out and would be dunk city for Lebron, Sub TT and Delly in for Irving and Love and we still have too much shooting to stop the loaded wombat. Sefalosha is a lot better than RJ. Not the shooter RJ is but can… Read more »
As much as I’m a Shump guy… this trade intrigues me… Ultimately, I think the negatives might slightly outweigh the positives, but that’s primarily based on potential and not actual play…
Totally agree EG… having Korver spot up at the 3pt line with LBJ, Love, and Kyrie’s abilities to operate in the paint…. very exciting!!!
But it’s such a short-term move… having Shump on a reasonable contract thru his athletic prime. But as you’ve said, it’s based on Shump’s potential rather than actual play. And I’ve accepted that SHump will never be a good shooter… that hitch in his shot as well as off-hand positioning on his jump shot it too ugly to work.
There are plenty of ugly jump shooters who make it work. No way I get rid of our best wing defender for two guys coming back from major injury.
Per Terry Pluto’s article today…
“The 31-year-old Sefolosha is averaging 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 24 minutes a game, shooting 52 percent from the field. In terms of Real Plus/Minus Defensive stats, he is ranked as the No. 4 small forward. The best is Kawhi Leonard, followed by James and Robert Covington. Sefolosha is paid $4 million this season, $3.85 million in 2016-17.”
Sounds like he’s come back pretty good from surgery, no?
Yeah, I’m with you…don’t know if I do that trade, but I do think it makes the Cavs better this year, probably.
Korver is done. Sorry. Cavs need an elite defender and Thabo is 31 and Korver is Toast.
I’m with HoopsDogg. Rather have the elite defender Shump for the next 7 years, locking in on the top opposing guards . . . and being a big part of the success of the small ball lineup.
Sorry, guys some technical issues switching hosting sites. Had us down a day longer than expected.
I know it was killing you with no place to post your Love for Melo or Love for Dwight trade machine stuff. /s/s/s
LOL… you guys are the best!
I AM ON ” SUICIDAL WATCH ” MRS NOMAD THANKS ALL OF YOU FOR THE RETURN OF CTB——MAN ALL THE TRADE RUMORS ( WE KNEW THIS OF COURSE ) LIKE THE IDEA OF ARIZA IF WE CAN DO THAT OR AT THE RIGHT PRICE MCCLEMORE —-STAY TUNED MORE RUMORS TO SURFACE —- IS ANYONE PICKING UP ” MARKIEFF THE GRIEF “—SURE HE WIL GET TAKEN FOR A BARGAIN PRICE / NOT SURE IF HE IS EVEN WORTH THAT —-GOOD HAVING EVERYONE BACK !!!!
Can’t sleep. Can’t stop shakin’. I need my CtB, man!
Windhorst doesn’t think that Ben McLemore would crack the rotation.
Agree with Windy here. We may well get Mclemore, but that would be just to have more depth on roster, and to have a bit more youth. Don’t see him playing much this year.
This is true (won’t crack the rotation).
We’d be taking him for his future potential with the thought that the Cavs won’t have many opportunities to pick up elite athletes (on the cheap) over the next few years.
Great recap guy. I fee good about the team overall and my anger at the Blatt firing has disappeared. Really intrigued by the Ben McLemore trade rumors. I get that her PER is dirt, but he’s young, athletic, hitting 37% from downtown and cheap through next season. There’s a bunch of guys on the Kings I’d love to see in more stable situations, and the Cavs are kind of handcuffed for adding high upside young players to the core.
Wouldn’t mind Lou Williams in a Cavs Uni. He’d be a nice bench scoring guard who plays more defense than Mo (it’d be impossible not to).
That game was hot garbage last night. I swear it was like playing a 45 RPM record at 33.33. Everyone seemed slowed down. I’m not putting any stock in that game one way or the other: offensively or defensively. It meant nothing.
Well other than nostalgia.The only thing I hate more than Kobe in his prime is everyone kissing his butt and forgetting what an insufferable *** he was.
PREACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
amen, brother HDogg!!!
Y’all can think that, but you’re not supposed to say it!
Yeah, as mentioned above, it felt like an All Star game, where no one was taking it seriously, and it was all about laffs. I can’t stand to watch this Lakers team, either…they just completely suck.
The Cavaliers, among with a handful of other Eastern Conference teams, have strong interest in trading for Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore, league sources told cleveland.com. For Cleveland, McLemore would be additional backcourt depth at a relative cheap rate. He’s earning $3.1 million this season and $4 million in 2016-17 before hitting restricted free agency. McLemore could also serve as a security blanket should J.R. Smith decide to bolt in free agency this summer. Houston’s Trevor Ariza, Atlanta’s Kyle Korver and Washington’s Jared Dudley are all on the Cavaliers’ radar, but landing one of those three is highly unlikely. If… Read more »
Loved McLemore since Kansas…. he’s only 23 as well (Happy birthday Ben!). Exactly the athletic, young perimeter guy we need. A lights out shooter too at Kansas too.
I’d also take Joe Johnson on a minimum.
That’s great for college. I don’t think it translated to the NBA. He’s not a light’s out shooter and he adds no value in rebounding or assists. But I guess we need more guys that shoot 70% FTs, If they make this trade, I hope it is for very little in return.
He’s shooting 37% this year and he just turned 23 today. I think it’s assumed that CLE wouldn’t trade anything substantial for him. He’d be a substantial upgrade in athleticism over James Jones and RJ… I’d dump Mo right now straight up for him.
Also… a better RPM than Wiggins, Waiters, or RJ right now.
I am on board with dumping Mo if you bring back another PG. This guy doesn’t pass and if Kyrie goes down the Cavs would be in a bind.
Kyrie goes down, Cavs are in a bind anyway… it’s not like Mo runs offense or passes. But the opportunity to pick up cheap 1st round talent on a cheap contract who’s only 23 years old will pay off in the long run rather than 35 year old James Jones, RJ, 32 year old Mo.
Further, LBJ is the de facto 2nd/3rd PG anyway… I also think JC can dribble the ball up the court and pass it to to the elbow, wing, or post.
Yeah we don’t need Mo. He probably won’t play at all in the playoffs anyways.
Not really true. People forget what Mo did in the first 11-12 games when he was play 30ish minutes. He averaged good assist numbers. I don’t think it’s a given a guy can pass the ball.
Anyways I don’t disagree on him being an upgrade over JFJ or MDN. But it shouldn’t cost the Cavs anything and if they replace Mo they need a vet PG on the cheap. Mo costs $2M, he’s an affordable insurance policy.
it was fantastic what Mo did earlier in the year… he was legitimately the 3rd best player at the time. But it’s been months since he’s done that, and he’s had ample opportunity to prove otherwise and hasn’t. If a perimeter player can’t dribble up the court and pass it, they shouldn’t be in the NBA… I think JC has shown he can at least do that. I would agree with you that I’d rather get rid of JFJ or MDN to get him, but I’m not sure that would be enough, I would take the chance and use Mo… Read more »
If Kyrie goes down then a vet PG isn’t going to make much of a difference, unless he’s Chris Paul. So I disagree on Mo or replacing Mo with another PG. He provided some okay games in November at the beginning of the season. The playoffs are completely different.
It’s not unreasonable with a guy with Kyrie’s history
I think that CtBers are too quick to turn on our guys. Mo still has talent and he can contribute at playoff time like he did in the beginning of the season. Some guys don’t play so well with limited minutes, much like many NFL running backs have to get into a rhythm. His defense is bad, but everybody on the team is bad at something. It would help if everybody learned the defensive rotations. As a veteran, he can contribute more than McLemore in the 2016 playoffs. BUT, McLemore is so young, can shoot, and has tremendous athletic talent… Read more »
wdtn.com/2016/02/11/baby-born-on-i-75-exit-ramp/
My Brother In law pulled a Shumpert!
For real? Congratulations, Uncle Tom!
Thanks!
15 minutes from my mom & dads. Crazy! Congratulations.
Kyrie’s three point stroke can be the difference btw easy wins and tough wins, and the difference btw us being devastating and relatively easy to guard.
I endorse this comment.
CELTS RUMORED TO POSSIBLY GOING AFTER HORFORD—–ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS——–EVIL I HAVE A FREEZER FULL OF LAKE ERIE PERCH —– IF THERE WAS A WAY TO SEND THEM TO YOU FOR YOUR LENTEN FRIDAY OBLIGATION I WOULD –YES I TOO ENDURED THE ” BOOOTCAMP RUN BY NUNS ” —–
They have a lot of assets, so it makes sense. But I don’t think this helps Boston beat Cleveland in a 7 game series.
Agreed… I actually think it would be a stupid move on the Celtics part…. hope they do it!
TT really did have a nice game… Really wish Mo could have made better use of the opportunity with Delly out…
Ladies love Moondog…
Whose arm is furrier – the girl or moondog?
Hard to believe there’s only 30 games left in the regular season… man this year is flying by…
Bad night for shoulder injuries… At least KLove’s sounds like a “stinger” but poor MKG had his dislocated again… And just when he was starting to really look pretty good too… Hate to see guys go down like that…
Really good Haberstroh article on the NBA 82 game season and how it leads to injured players:
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14757066/nba-schedule-breaking-players
I dont mind the number of games. It’s how the league staggers the games thats what i think.is the problem.
Very good article. But as is pointed out, less games means less money. Which means probably never. As a fan, I love being able to watch the Cavs so often. But I feel like 20 less games would go a REALLY long way. If, as RJ says above, 82 games is held firm and they extend the length of the season, that just gives guys less of an offseason for their bodies to recoup. The argument we run into there is, will they need as much time if they have a longer season? I don’t know, do you?
I’d much rather watch 62 games played with effort and intensity and lose the 20 games like last night’s game where no one cares. Shorter season means each game counts more to standings and getting in to playoffs.
Ugh. No no shortening the season. Basketball games are fun and I don’t want less of them. Nope nope nope.
Just go to the meeting where they will be discussing this and tell them 82 games are awesome and 62 games suck. I think they’ll be convinced immediately. If not, keep repeating it while others are trying to make their points.
Although being on the opposite side from your hero because he is for a shorter season so if you keep telling him how awesome he is, who knows.
Maybe we should up it to 100 games, then. More is always better, right? I have a feeling you didn’t read the article, though…
Fun Fact: Kyrie Irving (DFG% when shot attempted <5ft from rim) 51.2% same as Steph Curry. That's better than Delly. Better than Klay. Wiggins, CJ, RJ, Dion, Wade, Conley, Westbrook, Teague, DeMarre, Paul, Iggy and Parker. To be fair, only 1.7 are attempted against him but that is in line with Steph, Paul, and Dion. Something else that's fun. I know DRtg reflects more on the team than individual but Kyrie's DRtg with 0 days rest? 100. 1 day? 105. 2 days?? 115! The Cavs hate that 2nd day off. And it is a bit skewed by that GSW butchering… Read more »
We get OKC on 2 days rest! Oh no!
Except for the injury to KLove and fine All-Star game setup. No need to embarrass Kobe and the Laker Kiddies when an easy win will do just as well. As always, the offense looks fine when there is no defensive pressure to handle. All Star MVP Kyrie is of course at his best in these kind of games, but this one should be good for his confidence. Again hit on his move where he looks like he’s going under the hoop but instead pulls up short and hits from the near side. Amazing. Nice way to go into the break.… Read more »
I was actually so glad to see the Lakers making that late run on Kobe shots… I mean, what more could you ask for in the Black Mamba’s last game in Cle? The W was never really in doubt but Kobe made sure he made us all sweat for just a second. Great theatre. The Kobe vs. LeBron 1-on-1 moments were a blast and in retrospect we really missed out on the rivalry that never was. Shame they never met in the Finals. I’m really gonna miss Kobe, one of my favorite stars. BTW, when did Byron Scott lose the… Read more »
Questions that no one answered.
What is dead pool?
Is Zoolander 2 any good?
Deadpool is the second R rated wide release comic book movie (after Watchmen) and the first by Marvel. I’ve seen an early cut (because I know the director) and it’s a lot of fun…
Zoolander 2 looks terrible…
Tim Miller eh? Aren’t you just so Hollywood haha.
Yeah, I developed a project with him a couple of years ago… I wish I was Hollywood enough to have gotten that one made… ;)
They often put the best jokes for a movie in the trailer, and the jokes in the Zoolander 2 trailer are pretty awful.
Zoolander 2 looks terrific….. awesome…. and fantastic in a radical taco shell.
Google deadpool… No actually bring down the pipe and go watch the film.
I’m not watching Zoolander 2.
Cols was on a high (!!!) on the live thread.
I missed the game due to Ash Wednesday services…
Cols gave a new meaning to the term Ash Wednesday though on the Live Thread… I imagine his keyboard was littered with them…
I see so you guys observe Ash Wednesday too. Is the Holy Week observed there as a non-working day too?
I don’t know about others, but for me it had more to do with Ash Wednesday services conflicting with the time of the game last night… it wasn’t a strict religious observance if that’s what you’re asking…
What are you giving up for lent Eg?
Reading Cols’ comments… /s
Same thing as last year – Brussels Sprouts
Cols’ recap I wrote a recap for the game (or, You’re the Best Around) 1st quarter – James and Irving were awesome. Thompson was sweet. Cavs grab an early lead 2nd quarter – Irving was sweet, Thompson and James were awesome. Andy did some stuff that didn’t suck. Love looked great. Cavs up at the half 3rd quarter – James and Thompson and Irving got going and were totally great. Cavs still up big 4th quarter – I missed a good chunk of this quarter cooking some doritos, but Cavs were sweet. Kobe finally got going, that was nice to… Read more »
Is this a direct quote? If not, spot on haha
Cols recap on the Celtics and Hornets game:
……………..
………………
……………….
Yes. I can write these for another game if you’d like.
This is genius, Tom!
You mean me. Why does Tom get the credit for my recap?
I didn’t realize you actually wrote it…
Brilliant parody but still guilty of plagiarism. Or since Cols is often science fiction, maybe not guilty is the proper verdict.
Cols actually emailed this to me last night.
I guess my recap didn’t make the cut.
I really liked the crowd cheering for Kobe. That was a nice touch. It helped that the Cavs so thoroughly dominated that the game was never close.
Just gonna leave this right here, and reiterate how excited I am about this team, and how much upside they have:
David Zavac @DavidZavac 1h1 hour ago
Cavs have 353 minutes with Kyrie, LeBron, and Kevin Love on the court without Mozgov. They are scoring an insane 123.5 pts/100 possessions.
David Zavac @DavidZavac 1h1 hour ago
Kyrie’s usage rate, and assist rates are up over last season, and his turnover rate is still lower. That’s kind of hard to do.
Yeah and now Kyrie’s 3 ball is coming back. I see a 50 point game in the near future. Overall, the Cavs haven’t missed a beat offensively since Lue took over. Dominating in first halves, mixed bag in second halves. Its been the defense and rebounding that has fallen off. They be been an elite rebounding team so I think that could be a bit flukey, but the defense needs to improve. A win over the Lakers is fun but it’s not really indicative of where the Cavs chemistry is as a whole. But it’s a good sign that Kyrie… Read more »
AM SURE ” MARKIEFF THE GRIEFF ” WON’T BE GETTING ANY VALENTINES FROM HIS TEAMMATES ( WAS THIS A PLOY OF HIS / AGENT TO PUSH A TRADE EVEN HARDER ? )—–NO CAVS DON’T NEED HIM / BUT SOMEONE WILL TAKE A GAMBLE ON HIM ( AND IT MIGHT PAY OFF —SEE JR SWISH )—- ALL STAR BREAK NEEDED BY CAVS ( LOVE ) REST / RECOVERY –REVIEW THE NEW PROCESS—- GET IN THE NECESSARY REPS WITH NO GAMES FOR OVER A WEEK —AM SURE THIS BLOG WILL TAKE ITS ATTENTION TO POTENTIAL TRADES —” MARKIEFF THE GRIEFF ” NOT… Read more »
JR Smith may have done stupid things in the past, but there’s a more disturbing undercurrent to the Markieff shenanigans if you ask me… I’d want no part of this dude. Let some other team take on this cancer…
JR’s problems always seemed to stem from just being a bonehead sometimes. Poor decision making skills, but his heart was always there. With Markieff, its way more destructive. Even if he’s trying to push a trade, what does it say about him that he’s willing to sabotage his team and teammates, risking jobs and indeed being, at least a small factor in the Suns coach getting fired.
I’d like to see him on the Warriors…
“Of course it looks bad. Everything I do looks bad.”
Good write up David. Lebron didn’t rest the whole 4th. He came in around halfway through and played til the end.
Goodness guys, they were up 19 at the end of the 3rd. Lebron sat 5 minutes and Love was out of the 4th. You had Andy, RJ, and Moz playing big minutes. The Cavs won handily. It was Kobe’s Cleveland send off game. Let’s not psychoanalyze every Lue move on this one.
Yep. But this is a Cavs blog that doesn’t like the Cavs.
Cols do you listen to Austin Carr aka Mr. cavalier during games? He’s a pair advocate for the tram, he’s been harder on them over the last month and a half than any of us have. Likewise David Griffin. We critique poor chemistry and defensive roations and Iso ball. He fired the winningest coach (% wise) in Cavs history who was loved by the owner for those reasons Does he not like the Cavs? It’s ok for some people to be realists in their fandom. It’s also ok for some people to be eternal optimists. We like having you around.… Read more »
Oh, I thought we were supposed to blindly follow our team and assume that, as Cols does, LeBron and crew can do no wrong. /s
Nope. It’s a Cavs blog that endeavors to give the proper analysis of what’s actually happening in the games, and not just rely on box scores and platitudes to honestly represent the team that we all love to follow…
I laughed toward the end of the game when AC or Fred said how impressed they were with Kyrie’s conditioning because he was not laboring in his breath. Helps when you only play one side of the floor.
Cavs dominated. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. The game was never in doubt. But of course for CtB this isn’t enough. Enjoy your complain fest today.
Dude, if it’s such a downer for you, then why hang around this place? What an awful world this must be for you since not everyone is a positivity bot like you…
I mean seriously, we’re going to have to instruct the comment monster to limit you to no more than three posts with the word “awesome” in them…
Meaningless game Im ok with the lack of effort on D. They won easily and hopefully practiced some offensive sets
Probably the best take.
Agree with this assessment too… Last game before the ASB, guys always seem to play with one foot on vacation. At least the Cavs won this one (unlike their poor showing in their last game before the ASB last season, a 113-98 stinker of a loss to the Bulls). Also, neither team was playing much D, as it really did seem like more of an exhibition game to showcase the last Kobe/LeBron meeting in Cleveland. Watching the replay this morning, it sure seemed like the Cavs played it fast and loose, but any time the Lakers got it close, they… Read more »
That is some bad basketball. Entertaining for sure but bad. 37 points to the Lakers in the 4th? WOW. No defense, little ball movement. Good thing they were playing the Lakers last night and Sactown the game before. Any decent to good team would have wiped the floor with the Cavs.
Lue needs to step up his game and get the kids to buy in better and quit playing their own game for 4 quarters.
Pathetic but they’re saying the right things and still happy in the locker room, which is all that matters.
The Good: Kyrie played a spectacular offensive game. Trade him??? Tristan also played well.
The Still Missing: see Jason Lloyd’s point #18.
Hey Nate or any mod in CTB please let my comment above get in..
Please?? Anyone……………..?
So something about the thought I opened last game against Sacto about JR’s catch and shoot. Here’s a link.. http://nyloncalculus.com/2014/07/25/freelance-friday-catch-and-shoot-vs-pull-ups/ That article was almost 2 years ago. And JR has improved on his shot selection at this time. But according to those stats JR is a better catch-and-shoot player than an off the dribble player. Might have been that way all his career. And this year, based on eye test he still does takes some shot’s which isn’t very ideal to what we want to become as a team. Too many for my taste which clearly slows the flow. JR… Read more »
I think they are. He’s getting a lot of looks for 3. Early in the Celtics game? They had Moz set a pin down screen for JR in transition which is a very odd time to do that. LeBron recognized and passed it ahead and JR drained it from the corner. He is shooting the 3 ball as well as I’ve ever seen him. His release seems more compact, his ball is rotating more, and his arc is about perfect. On some of these the net is barely moving – kinda reminds me of how Curry’s ball drops through. He… Read more »
Definitely agree with your last sentence. Just need a lot more disciplined plays. Same goes with Shump and Mo. We already have two ISO players that takes more than what they necessarily have to so I hope the team keeps it that way and continue creating weakside plays for catch and shoot options. Only Kyrie, to me, has the green light all game in taking off the dribble 3’s.
There was a play (a play!) designed for JR early in the Sacramento game where he scooted along the baseline through some screens for a corner three. EG posted a vine on the live blog (couldn’t figure out how to copy it here). Maybe that is what you are thinking of?
Was it this one?
They arent running that play more often unfortunately.
Love blew the screen too.
Yes! Evidence of some thought being given to how to confuse a defense and make the other team work!
– Thank you Kobe. – Kyrie needs to be really consistently good to great on offense if his defense will remain to be subpar. But the offense is coming along the last few games so I hope that’s a good sign. – Not much to get from this game as it seemed like an all-star game from the start but we played nicely on offense so there’s that. – James seems to be finding his touches again on the perimeter the last few games too. – I hope Love is going to be really fine. – Erase any ideas of… Read more »
Yeah, that Markieff bench vine put an ice cold shower on any GMs wanting to pull the trigger on him….(and possibly NOMAD, too….heh)
When I was looking to buy my first how I sought out cosmetically compromised homes that had all the right main ingredients: good foundation, newish roof, right stats (bed/bath ratio) and location. The house we finally purchased had severe pet “damage”. The smell could almost incapacitate a person upon entering. To me it was the sweet smell of victory. Got that house for a song. Spent $100 on cleaning supplies and ripped out all the carpet. Fixed 90% of the problem. Worked on cleaning out the rest over time. Now you would never know that pets had soiled every sq… Read more »
Nate Duncan talked about Morris trade stuff on his pod last night. Apparently the word is that the Suns aren’t ready to sell low just yet. Supposedly want a pick in the top half of the draft, or a ‘good’ player back, whatever that means. Who knows, maybe his antics last night lower their demands. He’s certainly drenched in plenty of cat pee right about now…
A team can only handle as many attitudes as it can. Markieff is a cancer. Never heard JR to be labeled as such. And despite some reputation JR was loved by his teammates. Morris is more concerned on playing with his twin than anything else in the world..
Hard pass on Markieff… no use for someone mentally weak enough to throw towels in his former coach’s face and pick fights with teammates on the bench…
What do Rasheed Wallace, Dennis Rodman, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum have in common?
We don’t have Jax or Larry Brown here. But if you mean anything else..
They all had vastly more talent than Markieff Morris?
Massively imploding at random points in their careers?
Dear Lord my phone’s autocorrect is outrageous.
Great recap and very truthful. Yes it’s a win with half the effort, Lazy defense is worrisome and I not buying “Oh it’s just the Lakers excuse” Lue keeps allowing it. Is the attitude, we don’t have play until Delly comes back? Or have they bought into that they can just outshoot themselves into wins from here on out.