Recap: Golden State 110, Cleveland 77 (or, did Ty Lue just get himself fired?)
2016-06-06
Marcio Jose Sanchez Associated Press
Cleveland hung in for a half, clinging to an eight point deficit, and then a Kevin Love concussion and a 30-18 third quarter eviscerated the Cavs and any game plan they may have had coming into the series. In the fourth quarter, the Warriors held the Cavs down and rubbed their nose in it, 28 points to 15. Cleveland scored only 77 in the game despite the Warriors giving up 20 turnovers. Every time the Warriors gave it up, they hustled back on defense, and often prevented the Cavs from capitalizing (the fact that the Cavs ran their fast breaks poorly didn’t help either). The Dubs also seemed to win every 50/50 ball, outrebounding the Cavs 46-34. More significantly, they played an amorphous defense that anticipated most of the Cavs’ primary and secondary action and frustrated the Cavs all night long.
The Bad
There was a lot to hate tonight. LeBron James filled the stat sheet with 19 points, eight boards, and nine assists. But the King turned the ball over seven times and played very inconsistently on the defensive end. Early on he pilfered several passes, coming off his man from 20 feet away to grab the ball and ignite the break. But as the game went on, his laziness in boxing out and closing out shooters led to many Warrior points. Take this irritating play from the first quarter where LeBron and JR stare at Kevin Love as he tries to rebound against Bogut and Draymond, and then LeBron appears to snipe at his teammates. Draymond Green got loose from LeBron quite a few times, and was able to go 5-8 from behind the line and total 28 points. This lazy closeout was particularly galling. LeBron checked mentally out towards the end of the quarter, when the Cavs couldn’t get anything going. He settled for give up threes (for which he was 1-5) and conceded the game.
Tyronn Lue coached an abysmal game offensively, as the Warriors were content to switch everything and bait the Cavs into trying to post up LeBron and Love on smaller Warriors while the Dubs sent hard double teams at the post with absolutely no weakside reaction from the Cavs (Andrew Bogut got five blocks and two steals in 15 minutes simply through help D. In fact, for much of the game, Cleveland just abandoned the pick and roll game and ran the ’97 Knicks playbook with LeBron playing the part of Latrell Sprewell. So we saw the offense typically develop into iso ball, with little off ball movement (has anyone heard of a back screen)? In fact the Cavs didn’t start setting up plays for LeBron to get a running start towards the basket (outside of transition) till the third quarter. Even more baffling, when Kevin Love left the game at the beginning of the second half (due to dizziness from an earlier Harrison Barnes elbow), Lue responded with Richard Jefferson. Now Jefferson did have a very good game, but this stat tells you all you need to know about how poorly Lue is coaching. Channing Frye has eFG% of over 80% in playoffs, while shooting 57% from three. He played four minutes and got one shot. Frye has nine points in two games. I have no idea what Lue is doing. I’m not sure he does either (more on Lue later).
https://twitter.com/Shecky14/status/738483307646746624
As frustrating as LeBron was, Kyrie Irving might have been worse. Irving made almost zero impact on this game, and it seems when teams take away his dribble game he has a hard time taking what they give him. Defensively, he was meh, often failing to close out on Klay and Steph. The Warriors consistently looked to exploit he and Love in the pick and roll. Here was the worst play of the game. Kyrie decides not to pick up Klay in transition and go box out someone when there are already three Cavs under the basket… But we all know that Kyrie’s a mediocre defender at best. When his offense is this bad (5-14, one assist, three turnovers, and a mind numbing -26 +/-) he’s unplayable. He seemed to have absolutely no positive effect on the offense and seemed completely unable to figure out where to contribute. And as Tom noted in the instacap, Cleveland seems to hate playing through contact, and Kyrie seems to hate contact more than any Cavalier.
As much as the team runs better offense (and defense) when Matthew Dellavedova is on the floor for Kyrie, Delly’s shooting is woeful again. He was 2-9 for the game, though he did can a three and a J late which is hopefully a sign of good things to come. J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert didn’t bring much to the table either, as J.R. went 2-6 and routinely lost Klay in Cleveland’s intricate dance of switching defenders. Iman lost Klay also. Check out this bulldozer screen that frees Klay for a transition three. Iman disappears from the picture. Iman also killed a third quarter rally by trying to go coast to coast as we screamed “GIVE IT TO KYRIE!” before www.pleasestopdribblingshump.com dribbled it off his foot.
The Ugly
As bad as the Cavs’ play was, the officiating in this game was some of the worst I’ve ever seen. Our old friend Tony Brothers, James Capers, and Scott Foster were around to studiously swallow their whistles while Kevin Love got elbowed in the back of the head, knocked to the floor, concussed, and then the Cavs failed to take a foul to protect him as he lay under the basket, and Draymond Green waltzed in for an and-1. Love returned in the first half, but had to leave in the third quarter with dizziness and has now been entered into the NBA’s concussion protocol. So who knows when he’ll be back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPKec45Lj1Q
LeBron repeatedly got fouled early going up for layups, the crew missed a blatant travel on Bogut and then on LeBron before they started calling phantom travels on LeBron… But as is clear above, the amount of contact the Warriors get away with versus the Cavs is ridiculously uneven. The fact that the play wasn’t even reviewed for a flagrant is a failure of officiating that cannot be ignored. The play should be a flagrant 1 play control foul.
Tristan Thompson tried to hold down the fort, but foul trouble limited him to 19 minutes, and he only finished with five rebounds. On one foul, he was being arm barred by Bogut, tried to jump through that armbar and got a foul called on him. Timofey Mozgov played an uninspired 12 minutes, but at least he brought some size.
The Good
Tom and I spent a lot of time arguing about whether the Warriors were this good, or the Cavs were this bad in the Instacap. It’s definitely both, but make no mistake, the Warriors are ridiculously good. Dray, Klay, and Steph went 13-24 from three, and finished with 28, 18, and 17 plus 16 assists between the three of them. This play…
They’re in the Cavs’ heads like Professor X. Heck, the Cavs can’t even deal with Leandro Barbosa (10 points in 17 minutes), let alone Curry. The Warriors shot 54% to the Cavs’ 35% in the game, and yes, were very very good. They’re a dirty, cheating, physically imposing, smart, bunch of totally cocky a-holes, and unless the Cavs want to stop playing like a bunch of soft pretty boys, they’ll never beat them.
The lone bright spot in terms of giving a crap for the Cavs was Richard Jefferson who competed hard for his 26 minutes, and went 4-6 from the floor with 12 points and five rebounds. There were stretches where it seemed like he was everywhere on the court. He looked like a young man again. I hope he can impart some of the urgency with which he played onto his teammates.
Subtitles
The subtitle of this recap begs the question, “could David Blatt have done any better?” or do the Warriors have the Cavs’ number so badly, it doesn’t matter who’s coaching? Lue looks exposed so far this series. His offensive sets are simplistic, his defense is a mess, and his players play with the same passion he displays on the sidelines, which is none at all. Not playing and setting up shots for Channing Frye is inexcusably bad coaching. I’ve never heard of a red hot player in the finals being cooled off by his own coach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJiSIbIJPBs
Additionally, he’s running his main guys into the ground. The Cavs look absolutely gassed by the end of the third quarter, and you knew they had no shot when, down double digits, LeBron was pooped, and Lue had still yet to make a major adjustment. He just seems like a slightly more pleasant Byron Scott in this series. If the regular season was any indicator, the Cavs don’t have a lot of lot of patience. Lue will get the ax if his team doesn’t show better. So far they look unprepared and poorly coached. But the lack of passion and desire to compete that led to the Cavs essentially phoning it in from the late third quarter on is what might go down as the biggest black mark on Lue’s short resumé. Maybe sleeping in their own beds will turn things around for the wine and gold. Caring would also be an option.
Update:
Ben Werth’s comments below were so spot on that I’m appending them to the recap.
Homecourt. Blah, blah, blah… What a ridiculous sentiment. I don’t doubt that the best chance for a victory is in Game 3 at home when down 0-2. It is standard NBA fare. But, to harp on homecourt after playing/coaching totally unintelligent basketball is just plain juvenile.
The execution has been horrible, so it is difficult to solely blame Lue for miserable defensive possessions. Of course, maybe if he were to playe players who actually play with heart and a brain, the execution would be better.
I’ve been in the trade Kyrie camp for years. The Cavs need to make the difficult decision to sit him down. He is a one man transition defense wrecking ball…for the OTHER team. His inability to scan the floor and apply appropriate floor geometry makes it impossible for the Cavs to stop early offense.
Seriously, by the end of this series, Kyrie’s trade value will have taken a huge hit. Griffin would be smart to find a way to bench Kyrie, so the Cavs can spin it in trade discussions. “Oh, Lue just couldn’t find a good way to use him. Kyrie is obviously a top-10 player, but we need a different kind of PG with LeBron,..etc, etc”
At this point, any number based GM wants no part of Irving. You could sucker a team that needs publicity and flash into giving up too much for him. Let us hope so. He may be the most unstoppable one-on-one offensive player on the planet. Doesn’t matter. He is absolutely killing the Cavs on both ends.
If Lue can’t see who is best lineups are then he should be toast. Good coaches earn enough equity with the players that they can tweak around starting lineups and big names without too much fear. Lue clearly can’t. I truly believe the Cavs’ best chance to win is to match Bogut’s minutes with Frye’s. You simply can’t allow Bogut to guard a normal big or he will kill you around the rim defensively.
Suck it up, and start Delly, J.R. RJ, Bron, Frye. Does that ensure victory? Of course not. But it eliminates at least one huge G.S. advantage. You can’t get behind before they even go to their death lineup.
Mozzy and TT should then come off the bench for R.J. and Frye to hammer the Dubs small second unit with 2015 style size. The Warriors are SO comfortable with their rotations. The Cavs have no shot to win with Kyrie and Love getting big minutes. They only this may turn is if the Cavs completely zag.
If Delly doesn’t get 30 mpg going forward, it is clear that the front office is more about looks than winning.
Terrible officiating may be the NBAs response to LeBron’s collusion efforts. The Warriors are the Golden child it would seem. Remember Green and Adams debacle. But the Warriors don’t need any help to dispose of the Cavs. Is there a stat for contested/uncontested shots made? This stat would match the lopsided score. The smoothness and efficiency of the GS offense, ball movement and player movement, is the biggest edge in this series. The Cavs ‘O’ looks like just so many ‘isos’ with LeBron, Kyrie or Love. There is no patterned movement without the ball. JR and Love go to the… Read more »
Have to wonder if the crank up of the starters minutes the last few weeks of the season and in the playoffs is a directive from ownership to Ty Lue. Why do I think that? If you’re Dan Gilbert, and you’re paying KLove and Kyrie that kind of money, you want to find out, right here, right now, if they can be part of a championship lineup for these Cavs. Delly is a known quantity and he is cheap, as are the role players that back up Love. You really want to know, however, if you high priced, underperforming starters… Read more »
For about the 10th time: Why in the world are they putting in Mo Williams instead of Jordan McRae?
When you are getting your butt kicked in the playoffs, you have to hope to pull a rabbet out of a hat. McRae has a chance of making something happen. Williams has a chance of tripping on his AARP card.
Jason Lloyd @JasonLloydABJ 3h3 hours ago
43 of GSW’s 81 shots in Game 2 came without a defender within 4 feet, according to the league’s stats. I’m no expert, but that’s bad defense
This stat for anyone who thinks the Cavs were trying.
From Windhorst today: “When Kyrie is passed the ball and he shoots, he’s 8-9 in two games. When Kyrie dribbles and shoots himself, he’s 4-27”
Sounds right.
These stats reinforce that perhaps Irving will never change. Couple this with Irving’s stellar one assist total in game two, and that is why it really isn’t preposterous to trade him if we get the right parts.
It’s funny how two people can see the same thing and have two separate takeaways. I see that stat and think “Wow. The Cavs need to do a better job of getting Kyrie the ball in good spots instead of relying on him to work so hard to score. Because when they do, he produces.”
Fair comment. But the times Irving takes the ball from whoever inbounds, dribbles up court, and then shoots without passing make up the vast majority of that 4-27 stat line. Plus you may remember that when Lue first took over, he put on the chalkboard in the locker room how much higher the Cavs’ shooting percentage went with each additional pass. The highest shooting percentage peaked as I recall with 5 passes. Kyrie was asked by the media (I believe Chris Haynes) what he thought of those stats, and he didn’t seem impressed. “That is interesting” was his comment. That… Read more »
Sure, that’s called a shooting guard. A guy you get he ball out to who shoots. The problem is he’s supposedly a point guard, and he’s terrible at that, evidenced by these numbers.
Enjoyed the comments today about the very unenjoyable game yesterday. To steal a title from George Carlin, here are a few brain droppings: 1. The Cavs appear to be playing tight, dropping passes, etc. I wonder if part of this has something to do with the King. Lebron is a demonstrably good and generous passer, is genuinely happy to see his teammates succeed, and is a great team leader (to me, he is the anti-Carmelo). I have no idea how he is perceived inside the locker room. But in pressure situations like these Finals, I wonder whether Lebron’s expectations (or… Read more »
Well having no kevin love at least forces Lue to play Frye. There is no real reason for hope except that there is more basketball to be played and anything can happen in terms of injuries or Lue epiphanies, etc. we hold home court for two games it becomes a different series. If we don’t, we don’t. It’s depressing if you want it to be, but we can only cheer for the team we have.
If we win Game 3, it’s a series. But Lue has made no adjustments so far through 2 games to give me a legitimate hope that we will win Game 3. We’ll know in the opening quarter whether we have a shot to make this a series or not. If we repeat the same stuff, I expect a sweep. If we make adjustments to the game plan and do something to open up shooters (like maybe LeBron settings screens and rolling to the hoop to bring a couple defenders with him), then I think we take Game 3 and then… Read more »
Do you really think Lue hasn’t drawn up or called a play to get Lebron moving to the basket to try to free up shooters?
I know. The team has played badly, but it’s not for lack of trying or Lue no drawing up the correct plays.
Tough to free up your best shooter when he’s sitting on the bench.
Luckily for the Cavs, they have a few more guys who can hit open 3s. Lue isn’t telling Lebron “Ok, we’re going to get you isolated on Barbosa so you can take a fadeaway jumper”
As bad as we’ve looked, the most frustrating part is that we haven’t played our brand of basketball for even 30 seconds in this series. From the opening tip in Game 1, we’v gone to isolation sets. We aren’t passing out of the block. We aren’t passing it around the perimeter. We’ve pretty much just given the ball to LeBron, set a screen, and hope he can score. It’s absolutely inexcusable. I don’t know who to blame. Lue? The players? I mean, how do you just completely abandon the game plan that got you to the NBA Finals? Very disheartening.… Read more »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z0Eblu1Aaw
The Cavs are undoubtedly outmatched in every aspect of the game. Not just physical, but intelligence and preparedness as well.
But the lack of competition, fight falls on the shoulders of Lebron and Lue.
I wrote this right before Blatt was fired. I don’t think anything’s changed. I remain basically not concerned with the Warriors, or really even the Spurs. There is no one to trade that will change anything, and there is no coaching change to make that will change anything. The talent is there, the coaching is there, the smarts are there. What was missing last night, what is missing when any NBA team is losing by 40 in the third quarter, is simply heart. I remember last year when this team was being built thinking that their championship window would start… Read more »
I’m sorry, but the Cavs are not lacking heart.
I find myself agreeing with many of Cols statements today . . . for the very first time.
This team has no freaking clue what to do when the going gets tough. They get absolutely lost when trying to rotate on defense or who to pick up in transition, and guys resort to hero-ball iso’s on offense. That is coaching, smarts, practice, seasoning, and yes, talent – Irving and Love aren’t going to suddenly turn into capable defenders.
Love has absolutely not been a problem on defense this series.
Not being awful isn’t the same as being good. He’s a lousy rim protector even at his best.
Yes, he’s not a good rim protector, but his overall defensive numbers were fine for a guy with his offense. Especially in the playoffs he’s been good enough on defense.
Really, I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s the offense that has let us down. I’m hoping they go back to what made them 12-2 in the ECP.
“his overall defensive numbers were fine for a guy with his offense”
Unfortunately, that isn’t good enough this series.
“I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s the offense that has let us down”
Who doesn’t want to hear this or is denying it? The offense hasn’t been good, either has the defense.
I’m re-posting what I wrote after the Warriors killed us in the second regular season meeting that led to Blatt’s Firing. I don’t think anything has changed: I remain basically not concerned with the Warriors, or really even the Spurs. There is no one to trade that will change anything, and there is no coaching change to make that will change anything. The talent is there, the coaching is there, the smarts are there. What was missing last night, what is missing when any NBA team is losing by 40 in the third quarter, is simply heart. I remember last… Read more »
A small measure of good news. Love wouldn’t have been cleared to fly if doctors thought it would aggravate his symptoms.
https://twitter.com/mcten/status/739918421198962688
Good. We have almost no chance if he’s out for the series.
yes. he should just play it safe and rest.. along w/ Kyrie.. need a buddy next to Love’s bedside. no guarantee but I take Delly, TT, Frye, Bron, JR… at least they play their heart out and play decent D… Warriors themselves have said repeatedly that they ‘want’ Love and Kyrie out there b/c they can’t defend.. and Kyrie just dribbles..
Nope. That team lost last year’s finals. We can win if we find out offense in game three. But going to slow ball way of last year resulted in 3 losses in a row.
Got to get the offense going. The defense has been fine, not great, but good enough if we had an offense.
The Warriors have a TS% of .605 this series, barely breaking a sweat. The defense has been a serious problem.
That team won 1/2 at GS last year and looked a lot better on defense, didn’t get blown away by 15 and 30 pts.
Jesus Deadspin has been unreadable for the last couple weeks.
Only two weeks?
They’ve devolved into shade casting content farmers.
It feels we are all getting a reality check. It’s a dreaded sick feeling in the gut. We “All” know what’s up but have looked the other way for quite some time when it came to the Warriors. . I’m shocked or am I in denial that this team isn’t better prepared to go against their style of basketball. I’m not going to rant just yet.. Still cheer on our Cavs until the end.
The one thing I saw in regards to the officiating last night is that GSW is able to be super physical when defending the post up. Unless the act is particularly egregious, the refs just were not calling any of the physicality against Lebron when he or Love would post up. I mean Curry was practically bear hugging Lebron for a full 3 seconds before they called the foul. That is a huge advantage for GSW and can take teams like the Cavs out of their game.
For those interested, recap from warriors blogger:
http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2016/6/6/11865322/warriors-vs-cavaliers-video-analysis-2016-highlights-out-switch-cavs-on-defense
Unbelievably balanced commentary by that guy, very nice write up by an opposing fan. Thanks for the link.
Can we send this link to Ty Lue?
no. Lue will just say “everything is fine. we just gotta make some shots. we got this” 2 games later, Lue gets fired
Excellent breakdown.
Fantastic work. Yep. When the opposing side only fears LeBron turning into a roll man , then maybe LeBron and Lue shoud try that a bit more? It seems that LeBron doesn’t know it is possible to roll against a switchIng PnR defense. It is. It still bends the defense if well timed and at least gives the defense an opportunity to mess up the switch. Instead, Lebron is content to flare on the few occasions that he has been the screener in this series. The Dubs are thrilled that the Cavs haven’t used their best actions or lineups. Sigh.… Read more »
Cavs fans don’t seem to be as devoted as Raptors fans. That’s for sure.
Please with this. We are still posting and still discussing the Cavs. There has not been a mass exodus from this site or any other Cavs-centric site that I can tell. We are allowed to be honest and say they didn’t play well. If that is not being a devoted fan, I don’t know what it.
Four weeks ago, Curry had a tweaked knee and ankle and everything was up for grabs. Two weeks ago, Warriors were getting blown out of the building by the Thunder. The Cavs would be able to take down any other opponent in the FInals. The Warriors simply out-match them in every single aspect and now have taken a psychological advantage. It is check-mate. It is over. Reality is, our only hopes of winning a championship in the next three years is someone else beating the Warriors or a Curry or Draymond injury. Anything can happen in sports, as this postseason… Read more »
So long as you have Lebron, you have a chance to win. Cavs not too far behind from dubs, they just need some changes. For example, a DeMarre Carroll in starting lineup would do wonders for this team or a 2 way SG with size like Affalo in place of JR Smith as starter. But, from a dubs fan I think the series is far from over.
Appreciate the not troll perspective… Sorry if you took any abuse for the small “f” impostor from yesterday… We don’t get many trolls, and we like to keep the discourse civil in this community…
+1
Yeah, welcome. Feel free to make this your second home if you need an eastern conference team to kinda root for. At this point, you should want the Cavs to make the finals every year…
lol, I think Lebron deserves better teammates, teammates who care more. With some small changes, Cavs can be really good. For example, without a small addition like Andre Roberson, OKC would have probably lost the series in 6 games. Also, Donovan resisted playing offense only players like Kanter. Kanter probably is an all star in eastern conference as he can easily give 20/10 for any team if he gets 30+ mpg but like David Lee, Monroe and Kevin Love, numbers doesn’t mean anything if they don’t make it difficult for their man at other end. Lue can learn a lot… Read more »
Cavs fans need to have LeBron finally understand that caring doesn’t matter if you care about the wrong things. He is an amazing player, but he is responsible for so much of the Cavaliers’ failure to run smart schemes on both ends. James relies on athleticism and a natural court awareness that he and many have confused with high basketball iq. Or maybe he does know all his flaws but it is hard for him to fix them in the heat of battle. Whatever it is, he limits many of teammates as much as he helps others. Basically, if you… Read more »
I’m late to party but I can’t let this one go without agreeing on it. Great post Ben. +100
What a difference a year makes! My vivid memory from Game Two last year was LeBron violently spiking the ball into the court after the OT win, and it went about 30 ft into the air. Then the gutteral yell. This year in Game Two we had a 33 pt blowout/worse loss of the year, and James leaving the court with his head down. Game Three at the Q last year was one of the most electric sporting events I have ever attended. Loved it when the huge banner, “Why Not This Year,” was unfolded before the game. And then… Read more »
Yes the warriors are great. I respect the hell out of what they have done. And yet crazy enough, talent wise, I don’t think this team is that far away. They just do not maximize their individual talent. They literally minimize it. They played with effort the first game and got beat because they play terrible team defense resulting in a lot of breakdowns and uncontested shots. They also cannot beat great defenses like the warriors and likely the Thunder’s playoff d by playing the simplistic offense that was good enough to win the east. The second game was much… Read more »
Our offense was really spectacular since we hired Lue. It’s been terrible in the Finals, but I don’t think this two game sample is representative of what we’ve been doing since the end of January.
To some extent I agree, but only that the warriors defense makes it difficult to succeed in how we used to play. But regardless we have never had a ton of off ball movement. It was rare even against the east that we would have multiple guys setting back screens or cutting on single possessions. Our offense has always seemed to me to have maybe one initial action and if that initial action got blown up, it didn’t flow into any other actions. The warriors almost always blow up the first action. However, the cavs first action often is very… Read more »
I had to get up early today so went to bed at halftime. I also can’t stand watching Green and Curry preen around the entire game. Didn’t see what happened in the second half. The refs were something awful, and you could tell it affected how the Cavs played.
I don’t think they are not playing with heart. I think they are just playing tight, like every decision and move has to be exactly perfect. They need to get out of their own heads and just start gunning. They have nothing to lose at this point.
Agreed.
I’ve seen lots of discussion of how Lue should start Frye if Love it out. If he does, Kerr will pull Bogut at 10 minute mark for Iggy. Then what do we do? This is the challenge Lue faces, and it is why RJ getting more run. He can shoot 3 but can also guard Iggy, Green, Thompson.
Losing Love really sucks.
Mozgov had success pulling out Bogut before and even start of 4th quarter, Bogut looked over matched in his match up with Mozgov.
Maybe a little more Mozgov and a little less Tristan. Mozgov is bigger physically, and can hit the 10 footer.
You put in Mozgov to remove Bogut from lineup, you will hurt Warriors depth since Kerr will slide Green to C, Barnes to PF which would make Green play lot of minutes and impact warriors depth. Green is Love’s kryptonite, if Love is healthy play him mostly against warriors bench.
The funny thing is ourbiggest concern, Love on defense, hasn’t been a concern at all. We need better offense out of LeBron, Irving, and JR. WE get that and we are right back in it.
They won’t get any more production from those guys playing the style they are now. They have to play different on offense.
Completely agree. We need to play our offense and let it fly when we have a decent shot. The Cavs are hunting around for the perfect mismatch and shot and it’s really screwing us up.
I’d have to agree with what Tom posted below, that the Warriors have the best TEAM ever. 1-12, every guy seems to be capable of making the right play every damn time. They’re so smart and skilled, their backups can come in at any point with no dropoff. Doesn’t matter what Curry/Klay are up to, that team runs their offense/defense and does whatever they want. Curry sits the whole third in foul trouble and we have the worst quarter of the series. That’s why the gameplan on defense to focus on Steph/Klay was a fool’s errand to begin with. Those… Read more »
The band Whitney has an album out called “Light upon the Lake”
It’s pretty great,. Go listen. Calm down. And come back ready to post.
The really big show had it best this morning. This game was an embarrassment to Cavs fans. When you can see from nosebleeders that the Cavs aren’t running through screens or rebounding, it’s obvious there’s a lack of effort. It’s an embarrassment and an insult to the people of Cleveland to watch their team quit and fail to compete.
Disagree completely.
Yeah, Nate, I think that takes it a little too far. These dudes are trying their asses off. We need to support them. I don’t think this tone of being embarassed by our team. These guys care a lot, they are just getting beat badly. But they can turn it around.
#CavsInEleven
It’s not me. I’m echoing the sentiments of many many Cavs fans. I don’t see how you can watch LeBron, Shump, JR, and Kyrie stare at rebounds and shooters and give up on 50/50 balls and say the Cavs are competing. You’re just giving excuses to protect your egos (as are they).
Fans that are saying the Cavs haven’t play hard are mislabelling playing hard with playing well. They haven’t played well, but until about midway through the third quarter of theblowout last night they’ve been playing extremely hard. Especially on defense.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-73HHKUgzNXY/UJtBoOEqzeI/AAAAAAAAAJI/NKqVE14mZzs/s1600/june6_2005mmm.jpg
Yep.
In the 2014 Finals, Popovich told his team after the first two games, to shoot the good shot because they were trying too hard to work for the great shot. So if they got a decent shot, just shoot instead of worrying about getting a great shot. This is the adjusment that won them that series (and playing out of their minds). I think the Cavs need to make a similar adjustment. It’s too hard to work the ball for a great shot agains this Warriors defense, so we have to shoot the good or decent shot the first chance… Read more »
Thanks Nate, Tom and Ben for spending your time recapping this disaster. I missed the game visually (listened to it on a long drive through weekend traffic from San Diego to LA), and my eyes are probably better for it. The only positive here is that things can’t really get much worse than this. The Cavs still have a chance (albeit a minuscule one) to even things up at home and make it a three game series. I’d love to at least see them fight hard, show some dignity and pride, and not get swept. I don’t know if that… Read more »
I completely disagree. There is nothing wrong with this team that facing not the Warriors wouldn’t cure.
Let them play together another year under the same coach and see how much better we can get. Remember this warriors team has been together a long time and they weren’t this good last year, they got better by playing together under the same coach.
I mean we were just 12-2 in the playoffs and blowing people away. That is still this team. Give us any team other than this dumb Warriors team.
You can disagree all you want to… doesn’t change the fact that the Warriors aren’t going anywhere and the Cavs clearly haven’t been able to compete with them thus far other than for the third quarter of Game 1 and the first quarter of Game 2… And why call them a “dumb Warriors team?” I can’t stand them, but even I can appreciate how good they are… And, like I said, they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon… The only core piece they might move/lose is Barnes, and even their old vets aren’t that old… On top of that, they’d have… Read more »
I mean, if the Warriors decided to blow up their team a few years ago they wouldn’t be where they are? So the Cavs should try to get better, but firing a universally loved coach, or getting rid any superstars is a huge mistake, IMO.
Especially for how close we are to winning it all.
They also didn’t have the pressure of having a LeBron level talent on the back end of his prime window. They had no reason to blow things up because the future still looked bright. They did make a coaching change away from Mark Jackson, and resisted the urge to swap a young star (Klay) for Kevin Love. IMO, it’s way too early to dub Lue a “universally loved coach” and that’s simply not a true statement anyway… What moves would you make to try and get better? I mean, it would be hard to see how @CavsDan could possibly spend… Read more »
Anything can happen though. OKC was one choke job away from finishing off the Warriors. Or if the refs had given Bray a flagrant foul.
So many things can happen that blowing up a really good team is not the way to go. If we are in the Finals the next four years we will win one of them.
And actually, the Warriors played under a different coach for the first half of the season… and were even better…
IMO, it’s time for 7 seconds or less offense. Might get us blown away, but I’d rather they go out shooting threes than what they are doing now.
I’m stunned at the people who think Lue is the reaon we are losing. We are losing because the Warriors are great. That’s the cure. Not mozgov. Not having weird lineups. Not trading for Boston bench trash.
The Warriors are great. It clearly means the Cavs shouldn’t even bother or care if they’re getting embarrassed. That’s your argument.
Nope. My argument is that this Cavs team is really good. They can win the series. MY argument is all the people who are panicking and firing Lue and trading Blatt and all this stuff are just panicking. CaVS ARE REALLY GOOD. They can play better.
The flip side is that the Warriors are great and it takes a near perfect performance to beat them once let alont 4 times. IT’s tough. I see no need to panic when losing to a great team.
We can win, but it’s not easy.
I don’t post regularly but I read the threads and often find myself disagreeing with Cols. On this piece’s thread I think he’s largely spot on. This Cavs team is very good but we don’t have a shot against the Dubs. This isn’t nescessarily a reason to blow it all up (especially since we really couldn’t if we wanted to given our cap situation and in all likelihood GM Lebron). We only have to look to the 2011 Mavs to see what can happen when you keep a team together and hoping the playoffs break our way. This Warriors team… Read more »
Well, Blatt with a shell of a team won two games last year. Lue has gotten smoked twice so far this year with mostly a full team. In a vacuum, who looks like they did a better job?
I’m so mad at the Thunder for choking away game 6
Me2. Klay Thompson catching NBA jam fire had a lot to do with it though
Yep. Kept them close enough to steal it at the end.
THIS + 100
NBA is all matchups. Ws are tough matchup with Cavs, but Thunder are perfect. When Thunder lost G6, I knew Cavs road would be much tougher. That G6 loss by Thunder for me, emotionally, was as close as I had ever felt to a championship. It was almost like the Byner fumble or the Drive.
Me too. I felt something slipping away. But I expected better offense than this.
Yeah. I thought Cavs were ‘dogs against Ws, but would make it close. This has not been good, and we are better than this.
Excellent play by the Warriors stifling Cavs’ offense. Cavs also being outplayed on the other end of the court with defensive breakdowns, or, more precisely, being broken down by Warriors offense. The Warriors have been refining their team play since first game of the season. Cavs offense just came together in the past couple of months. Cavs defense still needs work.
That really was like NBA Jam. Most of those shots were so defended that I can’t even understand how he got them off. It was absurd. But he’s done that for two seasons now…he can look terrible for stretches, or even games, then he gets red hot and absolutely cannot miss. NBA Jam.
Hey let’s all stop sniping at each other.
No one’s take is WRONG right now.
The Cavs had 60 point at the start of the 3rd and Ty Lue rolled out Mozgov AND Tristan together. THROW STUFF AT A WALL SEE WHAT STICKS. That’s where the team is.
We have each other on this blog. Let’s try to be comforting of each other and respectful.
Yep.
Lue had won me over these last few weeks, until the Finals that is. Man, he totally sh*t the bed in games 1 and 2.
Why do people act like this team sucks or has major issues? There is only one freaking issue. That’s that the Warriors are really freaking good. And a horrible matchup for the Cavs. OK so two issues.
But if we were playing any team besides this stupid Warriors team we’d be talking and reading about how close knit this Cavs team is and how they found that extra gear in the playoffs.
COLS IS GETTING UPSET
I’m with you there Cols. No shame in getting beat by a really frickin good team. Really sucks, but no reason to panic, fire anyone, or blow anything up.
Being upset is a sign that you’re recognizinge that reality is not meeting your conceptions of reality, which is a good thing. The Warriors are good, better this year than last. But the effort you supposedly see this year is not the same as the effort the Cavs poured into this series last year, where they won 2 games. Even if they poured the same effort, I’m not sure they would win against this team with the matchup issues, but to sit here and proclaim that the Cavs are playing with intensity and toughness is flat out insanity. There is… Read more »
Too bad you can’t pick your opponent that would be ideal I guess, but you’d be getting trounced by the Thunder also, but maybe not by 33.
I agree with Cols.
Problem is, everyone has known basically all year that this is the team the Cavs were going to have to play, and it’s been obvious all year that they matched up terribly against them. This isn’t some surprise out of the blue.
One positive thing is that the Cavs are playing hard and with intensity, but the stupid Warriors take so much freaking energy to defend that it’s really sapping their energy on the other end.
I failed to spot the “hard play” or “intensity” outside of the first 3 quarters of this series. I absolutely did not see any of it last night. And that’s the most frustrating aspect of this whole thing. Last year that’s all they had to give, and they gave all of it, I have failed to see a match in that intensity this series.
And that was only in spurts during the first 3 quarters, because the lapses were so bad defensively in game 1.
Then you are clearly not watching the games. They are playing hard and with intensity. They are playing badly. But it’s not for a lack of trying.
The intensity and physicality was sky high for both teams in the first quarter of Game 2. There were absolute battles for the ball under the hoop, and the refs were letting them play. The Cavs were holding their own in a real scrum. The Cavs starters remained in the game, while Kerr began substituting early (presumably to rest his starters for later on). To stick with the Warriors, the Cavs needed to keep their first team in there. That is what the Cavs coaches were thinking, I’m guessing, and if so I tend to agree with them.
No. They didn’t. Look at the video highlights of laziness I pointed out.
It’s easy to find instances of laziness, but overall they have been hustling like crazy on defense. It just takes way too much energy when you have to guard peopl 30 feet out.
I thought they played hard in game 1 and in the first half of game 2.
What are Cavs saving energy for, they only played 14 games before finals against warriors 17 and a grueling 7 game series. If OKC could hustle, why can’t Cavs. I don’t think warriors are getting Cavs best effort.
To some extent I agree with both of you. There are times the cavs have played with intensity, usually during the first quarters. Then there defensive intensity slips occasionally. Moreover, they definitely gave up last game. Transition d has been bad. Closeouts have been a mixture of good effort with some egregious lazy closeouts thrown in. However, I think just as big of a problem on defense is just mental mistakes and sloppiness. Switching without needing to switch, losing people in transition, matching up with the wrong player in transition, losing people on all the cuts the warriors do, having… Read more »
Not seeing it outside of short spurts. As evidence, look at how many loose balls the Warriors end up getting.
Cavs are getting dominated and I’m not sure there’s anything they can do except play better.
Their basic team defensive principles are awful. They individually make a ton of mistakes. And the way they play on offense, the style will not win a championship against this team. They minimize their talent on offense with iso. They don’t just have to play better. They have to play different.
The biggest thing that Lue can do right now to help the Cavs, he isn’t doing: he needs to work the refs. Both in the game, and in press conferences. Cavs are getting absolutely molested in the paint, and the refs are allowing it to happen. Pops wouldn’t stand for it. Phil Jackson wouldn’t stand for it. Even Alan Gentry wouldn’t stand for it (called out the refs after game two, then got two wins with the help of beneficial calls).
It’s a mandatory skill to be an NBA coach. Lue doesn’t appear to have that skill.
Oh goodness. This is not even the top 27 reasons we are losing. The reason we are losing are
1. Warriors are really freaking good
2. Cavs are playing like crap
That’s pretty much the analysis.
So here is a dilemma I am facing: I bought Game Four tickets for a little over $1,000 total on Flash Seats ($420 each plus ridiculous buyer connection fee). Prices have plummeted down to $200-300 a ticket on flash seats. If I sell now, I can recoup some of my money but take a loss. If I don’t sell and Cavs win on Wednesday, I get to go to a meaningful Game Four. If I don’t sell and Cavs lose Game Three, there is no way I go to watch a potential sweep in Game Four and am out $1,000.… Read more »
Ask Nate.
Maybe Nate should put his money where his Insta-cap defiant mouth is and buy your tickets from you if they lose game 3, BAAAAAhahahahaha!
I kid, I kid.
Oops, reply was to Jim. my bad.
The answer lies in this question: Did you buy tickets because you wanted to go to a finals game, or because you wanted to be part of a champion?
If the former, then hold on to your tickets and go watch the game. If it’s the latter, sell now.
I flew in for Game 6 last year, bought tickets on Flash Seats, and committed to being part of the NBA Finals experience, win or lose. It was painful, but I don’t regret it. They’re still my team.
The latter. I went to Games Three last year for the Finals Experience. It was awesome and one of the greatest sports-related moments of my life. You make a good point however on the reason for buying the tickets in the first place.
You could find a Warriors fan in Cleveland area with some kind of illness or something and donate it to him/her. At least you’d feel good about how your money was spent. I dunno man. That sucks though. $1000 is a lot of money. That’s a weekend family vacation.
Yep. Buyer connection fee was $198. Absurd. Flash Seats is convenient and I never have issues with it, but Dan Gilbert certainty gets his money’s worth on each transaction. There is also a seller’s connection fee, 5% of the purchase price. So not only do I get hit for buying tickets, but if I turn around and sell them I get hit again.
As an update; listed them at $320 each and someone actually paid the full amount. After Flash Seats got their 5%, I walked away with roughly $600. So a $500 loss total. Guess it could have been worse…
I wish you no ill will, Jim, but I’m hoping that you bought high and sold low. :)
Let’s go Cavs!
Wait, the buyer connection fee was over $160!!!! Ok, how do we start a ticket exchange business?
Come on people. Losing to this Warriors team is not embarrassing. Last night sucked, and the Warriors may be unbeatable. But let’s not turn into a bunch of Blatt or Wiggins deadenders.
I love this team, they are very good and against any other team they probably win it all. The problem is that the Warriors were 73-9!! This year, losing 3 times at home all year. That’s crazy and it’s very hard to beat. The Cavs can do it, but so far they have been playing like crap while the Warriors once again look great.
Losing to this team itself isn’t embarrassing, but losing they way we have is very, very embarrassing.
Who the hell is even talking about Wiggins?
There is a 100% chance Cavs: the Blog is the best Cavs coverage around
That sucked. They gotta get it together.
You should’ve written the recap. That about sums it up.
Couldn’t help wondering what the Cavs would look like if they hadn’t given up Wiggins for Love. Out here there was talk (fear? ) that the Dubs might give up K. Thompson for Love but that West was VERY strongly opposed. And if the Cav’s “brain trust’ had chosen better than Bennett the previous year? Seems somehow unfair to blame Lue for the Gilbert/Griffin mistakes. Still like the preacher says, “It’s a make or miss league” whatever that’s supposed to mean. Hope you don’t get stuck with him as a replacement coach, or his sidekick, the coach of the aforementioned… Read more »
In theory, Kevin Love is the PERFECT complimentary player to LeBron James. The Cavs are just not as good as the Warriors. Honestly, I’d rather have Steph Curry than LeBron this season. I’d rather have Draymond than Kevin Love, and I’d much rather have Klay Thompson than Kyrie Irving. Oh, and I’d rather have the Warriors bench. And coach. INDIVIDUALLY, the Warriors have been better this series than the Cavs. Shawn Livingston Iso? Advantage Shawn Livingston. Andre Iguodala Iso? Advantage Iguodala. Leandro FREAKING Barbosa Iso? Advantage SOMEHOW Barbosa. Draymond Green contested 1-legged pull-up 17 footers? Advantage Draymond? BOLD 72-POINT FONT… Read more »
Best analysis on the board right here.
But the cavs literally are trying to play the way the did against the east with one action while 3-4 guys wait on the perimeter. Compare the warriors off ball movement and screens compared to us. They are in a different league as far as moving around on offense without the ball. I do still the cavs have the talent to compete but not unless they start moving off ball like the warriors and setting decent screens, and utilizing those screens. I mean the thunder took them to 7 games and had a chance to win. I think if we… Read more »
I agree with Ben. Last year the Cavs drew 2 games in the series without Ky or Love playing, and were forced to go big during stretches with Moz. It was done with desparation. This time around, there is no desparation, there’s no urgency, and quite plainly, the Cavs have let this Warriors team so deep into their psyche that they have eliminated themselves from this series so far. If that is to change, as Ben said, they need to zag, and zag hard. If the definition of insanity is to repeatedly do the same thing receiving the same result,… Read more »
Perhaps the KLove concussion gave them no other choice but to zag hard, it’s unfortunate, but probably true.
What infuriates me more is that the Cavs want to play GS style of ball, and GS comes out and blatantly says “Yeah, good by us. It’ll probably help us.” I don’t think this was gamesmanship.
Echo on “physical”. There was only one positive moment in the entire game: late in the 4th quarter, when Curry lost Delly on a screen to go cross court, and James Jones stepped in his way and put him on the floor.
So there’s at least one guy on the roster that knows what championship basketball calls for. If the refs are going to allow felonious assault under the basket on Lebron, you have to return the favor.
I felt this way last year, and feel this way again — the strength of the Ws is their D, not their O. Both this year and last year we have shown that we can contain their O when we exectute the gameplan. What we can’t do is score at our normal rate (or anywhere close to it). I see lots of people blaming Lue for this — which I think is not unfounded. But a lot of it is the Ws D. They are the only team we play that can take away the three point line AND still… Read more »
A lot more off ball movement and screens is the only solution I see to the problem. Too easy for them to load up and recover when the have to defend a single on ball action or iso/postup.
https://twitter.com/oldseaminer/status/739816917310033920
Updated to include Ben’s comment. Unfortunately, it seems unclear as to whether the Lue coaching staff even pays attention to any kind of metrics that clearly indicate how bad KI is, that the team plays better with Delly, and that Channing Frye should actually, you know, play.
Come off it. The Cavs are one of the foremost teams at using analytics. Trust me, Lue and staff are working at getting the team better. It’s not easy and you do not have the answers.
We’ll not come off it. Don’t take your anger out at me. And we do have potential answers. If all we’re supposed to do is stare in awe, what is the point of this blog?
I think Lue and the Cavs do a great job on analytics in game planning; but when things don’t go as planned, Lue can’t adjust on the fly. He forgets all the trends he studied in the first place.
One of the most galling things to me last night was that no Cav took an intentional foul with Love motionless on the court for 8-10 seconds. What the heck does that say? There is so much wrong with this team against GS on both sides of the ball. Does a team indeed take on a coach’s personna, and that is why the Cavs are passionless? I think it’s 50/50 whether Lue can survive this series if it’s a sweep, and Nate’s headline is appopriate. And I think it’s inevitable that the roster will be shuffled with either Love or… Read more »
Amen on the love play. I’m in awe of how much the Warriors are in the Cavs’ heads given how far the Cavs heads are up their own a**es.
Indeed, the Warriors are very firmly and deeply in our a**es right now.
Good point. The fact that none of the Cavs players fouled to stop the action while Love was laying UNDER the hoop is disappointing. He could have been injured much worse. (Also, can’t the refs stop the action?)
Sure the coaching wasn’t good but that isn’t why the Cavs lost. Warriors are the best team in NBA history and are a terrible match-up for the Cavs. No amount of X’s and O’s is going to overcome the match-up problems they pose. And if the Cavs fire Lue, then what? Mark Jackson? Jeff Van Gundy? The replacement pool is shallow. I think it is more likely (and makes more sense) to try and re-tool the team rather than the coaching staff. Unfortunately given that the Cavs have no real assets and are significantly over the cap, that means they… Read more »
Thanks for what I’m sure was an unfun recap to write. What a mess. I do actually think GS is incredibly good, and it’s easy to look bad against them, but Lue and Kyrie deserve plenty of blame as well, with officiating a good-old third on the blame list. I really hope we trade Kyrie. I’ve wanted that for a while, and it’s not just after-loss morning (mourning?) talking, as I’d want to trade him even if we won the series. He plays scared of injury a lot of the time, he either has a terrible basketball IQ or an… Read more »
The Warriors ability to crowd they paint but also cling to the perimeter shooters is incredible. Almost as if they have six guys out there playing defense. They have utterly disrupted any rhythm or feel for the game that the Cavs players had coming into the series. This is going to be a clean sweep. Unless somehow the Cavs grow taller, get meaner and hit shots.
That probably could have been the instacap. Spot on.
That game was like watching the Browns.
The RJ on Livingston adjustment was a good one, but in all the coaching in this gam e was terrible.
That third quarter lineup of Kyrie, Sump, JR, RJ and LeBron was disgusting. Could potentially be strong defensively but they weren’t trying. Could potentially be strong offensively but the ball and players never moved. Could potentially be strong in transition and play with pace but the transition offense was lazy and the turnovers were back breaking. Could never be a strong rebounding lineup, and they got smoked.
Kyrie wasn’t playing well, but I don’t think they ran enough plays for him… Particularly in that third quarter. He had a string first few minutes, but after that it seemed like most of his touches came when he got the back with 10 seconds left in the shot clock after the offense the were (weren’t?) trying to run broke down.
During that third quarter I kept screaming for them to try a Kyrie, LeBron pick and roll. But they never did. If you’re just going to force LeBron high post isolation, would be better off with Delly in there.
That’s one of many things that frustrated me about this game. (And the entire season, tbh.) There just doesn’t seem to be much creativity with ways to get Kyrie going. It’s seemed like most of the second and third quarter possessions involved him either bringing the ball up, making one pass, and standing in the corner, or Lebron bringing it up, with Kyrie standing in the corner. It’s just…odd that a guy who is one of the best offensive players in the league seems to be taken out of the offense by his own team.
That lineup started at 9:54 (46 to 55) to go in the third and it closed out the quarter (62 to 82). Warriors had 2 offensive rebounds (got buckets off of both) and 4 defensive rebounds They shot 10/12 and 2/4 from the line with 5 assists They converted 2 buckets off of 6 cavalier turnovers Cavaliers had 2 offensive rebounds (got buckets off of both) and had 4 defensive rebounds Lebron went 2/5 (1/4 from 3) with no FT attempts The rest of the Cavs went 5/8 (0/2 from 3) with one 1/2 trip to the line Cavaliers had… Read more »
Cols must be amidst a family emergency, else he’d be here telling us what morons we are. Hope everything is okay…
I think Cols is now in the Cavs witness protection program, and is living in disguise under a new name. Everything is awesome, we need more Kyrie iso ball since it’s so effective, and that Cavs defense is as good as OKC are among the myriad of comments that placed him in the program.
Yeah, because losing to a great team in the Finals is so shameful. Get real, I love this team. I just don’t want to be around for all the Blatt and Kyrie and Wiggins Hottakes.
No one is forcing you to log on.
Homecourt. Blah, blah, blah… What a ridiculous sentiment. I don’t doubt that the best chance for a victory is in Game 3 at home when down 0-2. It is standard NBA fare. But, to harp on homecourt after playing/coaching totally unintelligent basketball is just plain juvenile. The execution has been horrible, so it is difficult to solely blame Lue for miserable defensive possessions. Of course, maybe if he were to playe players who actually play with heart and a brain, the execution would be better. I’ve been in the trade Kyrie camp for years. The Cavs need to make the… Read more »
I love it when you go strong, Ben!
I would see if the Lakers would trade Russell for KI….I know that makes me a hater, but I would probably do it. Of course you have to include other crap, but I would essentially do that trade. I know the Cavs won’t, though.
D’Angelo Russell? No thanks. You can chalk some idiocy to being immature but what he did to Nick Young is inexcusable in a team code. Russ together with JR? Oh disaster in the works..
He’s a pretty good guy — it’s not like he intended that recording to get out. He was just stupid. It’ll never happen, though, I think Cavs management is married to KI. I do think Russell will be a better all around player than KI soon, though.
SO on point. Every single word.
Lue worries me…. A lot……
Aww…c’mon guys….you think the Lebron passive aggressive stuff is great?? Just wait until you add Jackson’s backbiting and snakiness to that delicious broth…it’s gonna be great!
The Mark Jackson era is going to be amazing. (For Klutch)
Oh man.
He’s the gd worst. So many in that organization loathe him
Well, so much for thinking I could not feel worse about things after Game 2. Thanks MikeO.