Podcap: Spurs 103, Cavs 74 (or, Low Flying Panic Attack)
2017-03-28https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-130-pushed-kicked-loved
Stay in the shadows/Cheer at the gallows/This is a round up/This is a low flying panic attack
Forgive the dark allegory, but I just happened to be listening to the first track (Burn the Witch) off the most recent Radiohead album while typing up this brief description of the devastation that occurred in San Antonio tonight. If you had any doubts that the Cavs’ defense could fall further than it had already since the All Star Break (or even the previous hemorrhage on Saturday against the Washington Wizards in Cleveland)… this performance likely disabused you of that notion. Just like in the above image (from the video of that same song)… we’re all waiting for Ty Lue to unveil this secret, switch-flipping incarnation of defense for the post-season. The question will be whether or not it will ultimately make a difference.
The defense was only half the problem in this one though. The dogged Spurs defense was locked in and ready. They grounded the high flying Cavalier offense, holding them to just 37% from the field (and a miserable 4-26 from deep). Nobody in blue, wine & gold had a particularly memorable evening. Kyrie had one of his worst shooting games of the year with just eight points on 4-13 from the field (he even missed his only free throw… a technical toss). LeBron managed 17 points, with eight rebounds and eight assists, but was an inefficient 7-17 shooting (0-3 from three). The King was also grounded after taking a David Lee elbow to the spine late in the third. LeBron spent longer than usual on the floor, and didn’t return (he did say after the game that he’d be fine to play on Thursday however).
Nate and I got in the podcast booth to cover the rest of it. We discuss the best player on the floor tonight (Kawhi Leonard), why the Cavs don’t seem to run plays, if it’s too late for the Cavs to improve their interior defense, and speculate on whether or not the Cavs can still capture the top seed in the East (they lost that distinction tonight for the first time since November… of 2015!). In all, it was a pretty cathartic ventilation of the current state of basketball in the Land. Only time will tell if this trend is an indication of the limitations of this once Championship level team… or just a low flying panic attack…
Listen above, on SoundCloud, on iTunes, and on Google Play.
Cavs were peaking too early, Lebron didn’t want them feeling too confident too early. He used his passive aggressive wizardry to manufacture drama and the appearance of adversity. Just when they become the underdogs Lebron will flip the switch and they will be unstoppable. One possible explanation/sarcasm.
I’m sure you’ve got plenty of rooms in your house that are dark at night. Until you walk in and FLIP a SWITCH, that is. It’s all gonna be good. Once the playoffs get here, the Cavs are just gonna FLIP the SWITCH, and it’s up, up and away. The Eastern Conference won’t know what hit them. Dazed and dumbfounded they’ll all be. Ty Lue is going to unveil his new phantom defense that nobody has ever seen or heard of before. Not only will Cavs opponents not get 70 points in a half anymore, they won’t get 70 points… Read more »
http://image.cleveland.com/home/cleve-media/width620/img/sports_impact/photo/22375195-mmmain.jpg
Ty Lue says of the Spurs, “they’re just so fast.” Is that lack of athleticism on Cavs or fatigue ? Lue says, “Probably both”
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Seriously, you call these guys fast: Aldridge, Lee, Ginobili, Anderson ??
Sorry,I take it back, Lue was right:
Avg speed ranks according to SportVU
On Off: Spurs 5th, Cavs last
On Def: Spurs 3rd, Cavs 26th
Troll lol lol troll. Nice try.
eh, corrected myself, that is not trolling. In this case you are the troll.
Yo! The Google Play and iTunes links are working now. A little delayed because we changed our Podcast Hosting (back) to SoundCloud, but they should work going forward. Working on getting older pods back there.
The links at the article are current.
What a disappointing game from basketball fan perspective. Kawahi Vs Lebron match up was one sided. But, may be this is the only loss of the season that Cavs tried to win.
Trolll loloo troll troll. Come on guys, passive aggressive bs from our number one troll. Dude tries to disguise his trollery in basic stats. Everyone knows warriors fan game and yet…we accept as though it is an sbnation blog. Notice he only comments when the cavs are down and the warriors bouncing back. Different emails or what? Good for you warriors fan, you bought a ship from a guy who could have won on his own, if the officiating was reasonable. Doesn’t and never will mean anything to San Fran.
Thanks for this. I have been barred from responding to this troll so thanks for picking up the slack.
Good news everyone! The all-knowing basketball guru Screamin’ A is completely unfazed by the Cavs current situation. I think we can all rest easy now… /s
That takes a load off. I’m sure his opinion is backed by the most thorough analysis in the biz, as usual.
Undoubtedly.
lol, is it the same guru who predicted Lebron will leave Cavs after winning one championship ??
Also, he insisted Leb was going to the Knicks rather than the Heat. Screaming A might have inspired Trump to go into office; you just make stuff up, insist it is right, and a lot of people buy it.
There once was a city in Ohio
Who won zero titles in a while-O
Lue got them one
The Cavs had some fun
Don’t tread him like some piece crapayo
treat.
I suck
This one isn’t your best work haha, though very creative.
Yeah I had to stretch some words!
There once was a number one seed
Who faltered and lost their lead
LeBron said I don’t care
I can always get us there
Once the playoffs start I will feed
There once was a team in the mode of chill
They knew they had it but still
It made Cavs the blog mad
And commenters were sad
They’ll still easily get to the Finals they will.
I am glad you think the problem is only “chill – mode”. Hope you are right.
Don’t let our current play take away from our title last year. Even if it’s the only one we get, still better than every other title every other team has won, ever.
Interesting change in tone/rhetoric detected. But – I agree – we got one for the ages last year!
Nah, I think they still get to the Finals. I mean who is better than them in the East. I just don’t want everyone tearing their hair out and forgetting the awesome power of coming back from a 3-1 deficit to a team that was “light years ahead”.
I mean, Strength in Numbers still makes me giggle.
Right now, there are about eight teams better in the East. And three of them are real contenders.
Historically, how often does a team play this bad in March, and still make the Finals? I doubt if it is common.
Several teams better than them in the East *right now*. This ain’t last year. You’d have a much smaller list of teams worse than the Cavs *right now*.
Agree with EG 100%, it’s about how they are used. We ARE athletic! We have LeBron, JR, Shump, Kyrie, TT, DWill1, Liggins, we have a TON of athleticism. They are either not being used correctly or not putting in the effort in the right places.
On what NBA team do you see Kyrie being a top athlete? I didn’t say shooter, I said athlete.
If you think Kyrie isn’t athletic you are on the crazy train. Just look at the way he finishes around the rim. He has all the physical tools.
The problem is, who do we replace Lue with? Who is out there to replace him? I mean do we bring Blatt back? Because I don’t know of any coaches who are jumping at the shot to coach this team who are any good.
Bringing Blatt back would be about as smart as bringing Brown back. A lot of NBA teams have bright young coaches right now. You have to include the goofy looking guy in Boston. They have been hoarding their picks– not using them — and are still a threat to go to the finals.
What I would give to have this roster with Pop as the coach. Ugh, what do we have to do?
Pop probably would trade one or two of Korver, Frye and JR Smith. And Pop would also limit Kyrie’s minutes to the minutes he can hide him on defense, give him Tony Parker’s treatment.
Nate pointed out something that I despise about this team. We don’t run plays! We don’t have an offense! Our offense is to hope LeBron or Kyrie can get to the hoop and then either finish or kick it out. It drives me absolutely nuts.
That is something that I and others have harped on for years, but hey, they won last year, so it worked. If they had a system would their bench be better, almost certainly, but they don’t and won’t anytime soon, so it is what it is. The defense is the white knuckle concern I have. I just don’t see any possible way they can make a large enough leap in the time they have until the second round, when they start facing really good teams, to really be considered true contenders. I mean they are 29th since the all star… Read more »
Oh, I completely agree with you. It’s like they threw out every basketball tenant out the window. The only hope I have is that they fix their offense completely and then they only have to bring up the defense to a marginal level rather than an elite one. Not that I have faith in any of that happening at this point…
What’s the point in having this old, veteran laden roster if they can’t manage to impart enough wisdom on this team to produce throughout the season?
I concur with EG’s comments that a key reason for our struggles is how our players are being used by Lue. He has done a poor job joggling minutes with the roster. And as Nate said, Lue’s comments as the coach/leader have been appalling i.e. not having confidence the team will recover from its struggles. How do you say that as the head coach? I do think LeBron’s lengthy tweet thread was partially directed at Lue. As stated in the podcast, the team is exemplifying the lax attitude of its coach.
Didn’t LeBron wanted Lue as a HC though? Karma is a bitch.
Compared to Blatt, Lue is a genius.
I though the Cavs would have won the championships last year with Blatt still the HC.
It’s unbelievable after what transpired last year that there are still Blatt dead enders around. I wonder if we are also going to see a return of the Wiggins dead enders?
Practice practice practice!!
It’s the Cavs master plan to rest LeBron the rest of the season.
F Lue
People need to realize, Cavs were actually trying to play well last night. It wasn’t happening. That’s the most difficult pill for us to swallow. There will be no switch. It’s not coming.
Absolutely. That is why last night is “realization time” that the Cavs are a long shot right now, which had been becoming obvious for a week or two. AND, being too old and slow and having no draft picks is not good to think about for next year.
I’ve noticed a trend where if the Cavs don’t hit their wide open threes in the first quarter, they stop competing. It’s like the energy gets sucked out of the team.
True, and partly because they are down by 20.
Good, if painful, listen. Thanks guys.
Cavs are taking the whole “save everything for the playoffs” a bit too seriously ;)
The team takes on personalty of team leaders in Lebron, Kyrie and Lue who all openly questioned importance of reg season and #1 seed.
Haven’t had a chance to listen yet, but:
Sam Amick ✔ @sam_amick
Spurs guru @JMcDonald_SAEN on tonight’s Cavs game: “That was the worst team I’ve seen in a long time, and the Spurs just played the Knicks.”
Now that’s saying a lot regarding the Cavs’ ineptitude