Preseason Recap: Hawks 99, Cavs 93, (Or, Tribe Advances to ALCS, er, Go Cavs!)
2016-10-11
While most Cleveland sports fans were busy watching the lovable 2016 Tribe advance to the American League pennant series, the Cleveland Cavaliers took on Dwight Howard and the new look Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta figures to a be a drastically different team with the goofy Howard on board. By trading away Jeff Teague, Atlanta has given the reins to PG, Dennis Schröder. The young German guard won’t have the departed(from the team, not this world), Al Horford for a pick and roll partner, but Schröder’s attacking game will likely create offensive opportunities for Howard both as a dive dunker and offensive rebounder.
Paul Millsap was the only Atlanta starter inactive for this preseason contest. Meanwhile, Tyronn Lue ran out the all old/young team for the Wine and Gold. Not a single starter or primary rotation guy participated in this contest. One would assume they were watching their baseball counterparts advance to the second round.
1st Quarter:
All 218 pounds of Cory Jefferson was left to man the middle against the illegally? hulking Dwight Howard. Ex-shooting guard turned PF, James Jones joined him up front, with Dahntay Jones, Jordan McRae and Kay Felder rounding out the powerful, awe inspiring starting five. With that much of a size disadvantage, it was no surprise that Dwight Howard went 2009 on the Cavalier backups. His first bucket made the world chuckle as he kissed glass ala Tim Duncan from the left block. He proceeded to eat up offensive boards and throw down oops from the slithery Dennis Schröder. The Hawks new PnR partnership wasn’t going against stiff competition, but it does have the potential to do some serious damage this season.
It added up to a 16-2 getaway for the Hawks before Kay Felder took control of game action. OK, it helped the Hawks starters took a seat on the pine shortly after the Cavalier timeout. Felder rejected a screen for a slash to the cup, “Nashed it” and found Jonanthan Holmes for a left-wing three, shook some fools for a nifty up-and-under, and drilled a pull-up from the right elbow to bring the Cavs back into contention. He also got a little long distance help from Holmes and James Jones. After one, the Hawks led 30-26.
2nd Quarter:
The first three minutes of the second quarter made seven year old youth soccer seem like a highly organized activity. The Cavaliers took turns dribbling into multiple defenders before jacking contested nonsense while the Hawks passed and caught the ball like it had spikes embedded in the leather. Fortunately for eyeballs everywhere, Howard checked back in for the Hawks for an immediate soft-oop and Markel Brown gave the Cavs their first highlight of the night. Let’s call it more of a mediumlight, but it did give the Cavs their first lead at 33-32.
Dwight Howard seemed to genuinely have a good time dribbling the ball up the floor and dominating the miniature Cavaliers. I suppose it is more fun having the ball and playing against converted guards and small forwards than passing the rock to The Beard and playing against legit NBA bigmen. Let’s see how his season plays out, but the Hawks might get lucky.
Felder drilled another pull-up leading ‘Nique to claim that he has a legit shot to make the Cavs roster. Maybe someone should let Wilkins know that the Cavs gave the Hawks 2.4 mil for the draft pick used to select Felder. Yes, Mr. Highlight Reel, Kay does indeed have a shot to make the roster. Jeesh… The last three minutes of the quarter resembled the first three minutes. At the half, 53-45 Hawks.
3rd Quarter:
Jordan McRae gently rocked me to sleep with isolation brick after brick until Cory Jefferson awoke me from my slumber with a vicious put-back dunk midway through the period.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i56j0j064j0&t=5m23s
Jefferson continued to show some nice energy on the glass and touch in the pick and roll game with Kay Felder in his mid quarter surge. He had no chance against Dwight, but it was good to see Jefferson work hard on both ends despite his size disadvantage. Jordan still didn’t get anything to fall, but was able to do some damage at the line and in transition to help the Cavs go on a quiet 13-0 run near the end of the quarter. With one to go, 73s.
4th Quarter:
Sloppy Cavalier drives from Jordan McRae and Toney Douglas led to some easy run out opportunities for the Hawks. Holmes, Markel Brown and James Jones occasionally interrupted the offensive mess by hitting an open jumper. DeAndre Bembry and Taurean Prince brought it home for Atlanta with inspired lanky hustle.
Thoughts:
Jordan McRae was an abject disaster. One should probably chalk it up to a “bad game” or “not playing with talent,” but really I have never been sold on the young man. He is inherently a chucker and not particularly athletic. Of course, this game isn’t something to get worked up about, but he needs to learn to give the ball up at times and play with a more disciplined style. I don’t want to take away his inner Mamba, but this one was rough to watch.
Jonathan Holmes flashed his quick and high release point from many spots on the floor throughout the evening, but didn’t really contribute much else. He is slower laterally than he should be with his size. It is hard to see where he fits in.
Kay Felder needs more zip on his passes. He consistently does a great job of drawing extra defenders with his jitterbug routine, but his release passes are painfully slow. It allows the defense to recover and prevents his teammates from having good balance with which to start their moves. This is not always as easy a trait to fix as one would think. Here’s hoping it is a simple fix for Kay.
There was almost zero weakside defense played in this game. Minus the occasional highlight block from the Hawks, both teams seemed content to let their man backdoor the living daylights out of them. Ah well. Preseason.
Go Tribe! I know that not all Cavalier fans are Indians fans, but man is this a fun bunch. What a game from Coco Crisp. A guy lays down a perfect sac bunt that leads to two runs, and then launches a bomb for a couple more. Great late season pickup. And admittedly fun for me as I haven’t been able to follow the squad as closely since I moved to Europe. It’s nice to have a link to the past like Coco. Until next time.
McRae is not a lead scorer type against legit association vets at this point. Now, as a 3rd or 4th option, that’s different. Or if there are other threats on the floor. Inconsistent is the middle name for he and Felder. At least at the start of the season. They are young. You’ll see flashes of potential and efficient production. And then tunnel vision and construction zones, hard hat stuff. We’ll see how it shakes out. Liggins looked pretty chill as a facilitator at times. Huge hands doing the Dr. J thing with the rock at times.
Tom Haberstroh pwns Cols. http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=17733418
It will be interesting to see if others can fill the Delly void. Delly’s absence may hurt us a good deal in regular season if Shump, Douglass, or someone else can’t step up. But the fact that we beat GSW with Delly really struggling makes me less worried about him in the long-run.
Nate again trying to mislead his readers. The LeBron-Delly combo was good because LeBron makes players awesome. See also, Mario Chalmers.
Griffin is smart enough to know that someone will step up and things will be fine. Better probably. He also realizes that Delly was awful for two years then had a good December-March last year.
I don’t know why… but I LOVE this story!!! This kind of leadership is unquantifiable! And for goodness’ sake, pick up your damn laundry, LBJ shouldn’t have to do it for you!!!
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/10/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-laundry-locker-room-mad
This was one of the few preseason games that was not televised in my neck of the woods… not that I probably would have watched much of it anyway with the Tribe playing for the sweep… so thanks for the recap, Ben! Though I know you’re not a fan of McRae’s game, I do think it sounded like a case of him just trying to do too much in this game and it snowballed from there. There’s a reason beyond hitting shots that McRae is called Mamba… he’s also a ball hog. Not necessarily because he’s selfish, but probably because… Read more »
Yep. As usual, EG is rock solid in his analysis. No panic here. To answer your question, delly was miserable at pretty much everything his first two years. People just forget this because he had one good playoff game.
Yeah, you’re completely wrong here. He led all rookies I’m rapm his rookie year. And that was with no lebron/love on the team. He was also the best second year player in the playoffs in 2015. Keep trolling.
RAPM is not a ranking. But you know this and choose to misrepresent it and mislead your readers.
Yes that’s my goal. To mislead my readers. You’ve found me out. S
“I don’t believe they make the playoffs”
I think, they are average team and still have a good coach and Milsap, so they will atleast make playoffs. It doesn’t take much to make playoffs in east, IMO.
Um, the east, like last year, is heads and shoulders above the west. It’s not really close.
Only you can top one stupid statement followed by another.
Strength in numbers.
It will take more than it used to… The EC definitely caught up to the WC last year, and that trend should continue this year…
I totally agree that Kay is more like Thomas than Robinson, but the point is what the size requirements for NBA players are. Thomas was an absolute beast on offense last year in a Coach Stevens system and only then, he was a plus player. I think Felder will be quite good in many respects, but do not expect him to be in the league the moment his athleticism fades even one tiny bit. That is what I meant about Robinson. Damon Stoudamire or even Iverson fell off cliffs defensively in their late 20s. Size lets your basketball IQ catch… Read more »
True, they are different players… yet they play the same position. I’m optimistic that what Felder can bring on the offensive/passing end will make him valuable to the team. Time will tell how equivalent that value is to the defensive/passing they will miss with Delly gone…
They only play the same position part of the time which also highlights Delly’s value. Kay is useless as an off ball player. Delly can play onball or off. If you want to use traditional positions, Delly can guard the one, two, and occasionally the three because of his size and strength. Felder is a one position player and that is inherently a problem in “today’s NBA. Again, I’m not ripping Felder. I think he will be a useful player and the team is better with him on it than not. But Delly is not a comp, both because of… Read more »
The value you’re referring to though exists in a vacuum… I’m not disagreeing about your points that they are different players in size, skill and ability, yet one possesses perceived value to some through measurables like RAPM and the other possesses perceived value to others through potential. Bottom line, and I know many of us have had this conversation ad nauseam, but one player was not being utilized within the construct of the current coaches’ philosophy and was allowed to walk for fairly easily matchable money, while the other was sought after with the purchase of a second round pick.… Read more »
I love how CtB has now decided that McRae sucks based on one game. I see panic is still the default setting.
No one has decided anything based one game. I have consistently been critical of McRae’s ceiling in the NBA. I just think he is a scorer destined to tear up the Euro league. He could make so much more money there destroying guys who are a bit less athletic. In the NBA, unless he becomes a knockdown three point shooter somehow, he will never be more than a 9th or 10th guy on a playoff caliber team. I think that may even be generous. The world is full of lanky, somewhat nonathletic scorers. If he stays with the Cavs, I… Read more »
LIKE LIGGINS —-HE IS NOT FLASHY / NOT GOING TO BE A DOMINANT SCORER —-BUT CAN PLAY THE “D ” AND REALLY DOESN’T HURT YOU WHEN HE IS IN —–MAYBE WITH MAMBA’S “REALITY ” CHECK / GAME LAST NIGHT —THAT MIGHT EXPEDIATE THE SIGNING OF SWISH
https://twitter.com/MacNaismith/status/785661426857709568
GOT TO REMEMBER ” KSHRIMP ” IS A ROOKIE– HAS PLAYED 3 PRO GAMES —THE POTENTIAL IS THERE / EVEN ON IMPROVING HIS OUTSIDE SHOT / HIS ATHLETICISM WILL COVER UP FOR SOME OF HIS LACK OF SKILLS
I definitely like Kay’s ability to get into the teeth of the defense. But his complete lack of a shot past 22 feet is going to hurt him. He isn’t even trying for it anymore. When teams realize they can back off him, it’ll be tough. I’m curious what “more zip” entails. I wonder if there isn’t as much zip because he has to loop it more to get over defenders. Possible fixes, Ben? Also, Felder’s defense is an issue against disciplined teams that can get him into switches, as Atlanta did a couple times. But, the dude is quick… Read more »
Yep, Lue is great. He’s awesome from an x and o standpoint and also because players respect and listen to him. Great hire by Griffin. Felder at this point in his career>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Delly in his first and second years.
Cols! Quick, remember to take your meds!
Haha. This made me laugh.
Keep trolling.
Yeah, the loop passes will always be difficult for a player Felder’s size, but some of them are simple dishes that lack the requisite speed. I have had that tendency myself until an old teammate yelled at me to get him the darn ball on time. Some of it can be solved just by “playing with force” and also realizing that the dudes is he throwing the ball to in the NBA can actually catch and the dudes defending are much faster. I think he will be ok, but they need to get on him for it now. As far… Read more »
I didn’t watch the game, Ben… but “bullish on the Hawks” sounds like straight hyperbole to me… I think there’s a better chance they wind up in the lottery than anything close to 50 wins…
As the resident Schröder optimist, I really think the Hawks are better with him running the point this season than they would have been had they retained Teague. Moreover, while Horford is certainly a better overall player than Howard at this point, I trust Coach Bud and “first year home” Howard to have a nice season. They have a great coach and more upside than they used to. Schröder Bazemore Korver Millsap Howard That is a nice regular season lineup. I do not expect them to make serious noise in the playoffs, but barring injury, Coach Bud absolutely leads that… Read more »
Maybe my view of the Hawks is skewed by how thoroughly the Cavs have thrashed them during each of the past few playoffs, but I do not share your optimism re: the Umlaut. Korver was pretty terrible last year (comparatively), Bazemore was in a contract year and was overvalued, and Howard is the NBA equivalent of benign cancer… They’ve got Millsap who isn’t getting any younger and deserves to get a chance to compete for a chip on a better team, and a decent regular season (but woeful playoff) coach in Bud. Their bench is also pretty sub-standard… oh and… Read more »
Jordan McRae: D-League Hero
Thanks for the recap — missed this one. How did Liggins do? His box numbers look pretty good for 25 minutes.
Liggins was fine, but nothing particularly noticeable. His three was in late garbage time and he moved the ball properly a few times for the assists. Nothing flashy, but then the Cavs don’t need any more flash. He wasn’t outstanding, but solidly quiet.
COCO— WHAT A LATE SEASON PICKUP BY THE TRIBE ALSO THE TRADE FOR MILLER ISN’T LOOKING TO SHABBY EITHER —–HOPING MAMBA WATCHES THE TAPE / VETERANS SIT DOWN AND DISCUSS THIS GAME WITH HIM —THINK HE MIGHT HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH HIS 2 PREVIOS GAMES– 20 PTS AND PLENTY OF HOOPLA AFTERWARDS — TRIED TO ” 3 PEAT “