Preseason Recap: Cleveland 120, Buenos Aires San Lorenzo 89 (or Rookie Magic)

This was a fun tune up for Cleveland as the Cavs took on a Buenos Aires team that featured two guys that might be able to man the end of a bench in the NBA. Still, the Cuervos brought some grit to start the contest and won the first quarter 24-21. It was fun to just see the Cavs take the floor again and see the schemes and mindset employed by coach Beilein. After the lackluster first, in which the offense struggled to get their bearings, Tristan Thompson and the Cavs exploded for a 43 point second period and never looked back. All in all, it was a great debut for two rookie players and a rookie coach. Let’s break down some individual performances.

John Beilein looked engaged and more than once expressed his frustration with missed defensive assignments, especially at the three point line. He showed more animation in one preseason game than Cavs coaches have shown in the last several regular seasons combined. Coach showed a willingness to engage players and bark at guys when they screwed up. Offensively, the Cavs run a lot of dribble handoffs and cuts from the elbow to wing and the wing to the post. This led to a lot of back door cuts. Larry Nance Jr. had four dunks alone this game, and anytime the Cuervos overplayed the passing lane, Cleveland tried to burn them.

Tristan Thompson scored 8 and grabbed three boards while going +14 from the floor in less than seven minutes in the second. He relished his mano-a-mano battle with Cuervos big man, Esteban Bautista, whose name roughly translates to, “Brick wall with frosted tips.” TT was wheeling as the roll man on the p/r, taking it Bautista when he cleared out the post, and thumping dunks when the defense sagged off him. Thompson’s touch looked decent, his hook even more refined than last year, and his footwork solid. TT was ready to compete. He should be. It’s a contract year. After 14 and 10 and + 28 on the night, it will be interesting to see what he does against real competition. Let’s hope he doesn’t continue his penchant for early top of the key three-balls. The two he took were clankers.

If anyone looks to be the beneficiary of his new role in the offense, it’s Larry Nance Jr. No 22 played almost exclusively at the four, and consistently outplayed the less athletic Cuervo bigs. Nance canned 15 on several dunks on lobs, putbacks, and backdoor cuts while also draining a triple and going 4-4 at the line. He did a nice job putting the ball on the floor against poorly balanced closeouts and got a couple dimes for his trouble. Nance was his normal effusive self in the postgame comments.

https://youtu.be/v7TJQPesQ7U

One of Junior’s dunks came on a sweet back door feed from Jordan Clarkson who relished his role as the “Wolf” in Beilein’s offense. Clarkson led the Cavs with 17 points on (3-7 downtown) 11 shots in 20 minutes, but also looked decent defensively with three steals, a couple dimes, and no turnovers. To be fair, the Cavs’ offense was absolutely bogging down at times early, and JC rescued more than one possession with his premium brand of shot-taking which, tonight, featured a decent amount of shot-making.

Not making shots? Kevin Love who was mainly an afterthought offensively and never got into a rhythm, going 1-5  (0-3 from deep) for two points. He never checked in after the first half, and I’m not going to worry about it, but against the next real competition, the Cavs need to get him some looks. Some of the miscues were timing, as Garland missed him on a wide open cut, and some were just Kevin looking out of rhythm with his three ball and his offense. He also looked like he needed to hit the weight room. Still, Kev grabbed some boards, dished some dimes, and had a couple nice defensive plays on the way to +13 in 14 minutes.

Another guy with a solid floor game, Cedi Osman, led the team in dimes and steals with five a piece while scoring 12. He just missed on a couple drives, but played competently throughout. Cedi had some nice chemistry with the Cavs’ Starting guards and did a good job slashing on secondary cuts. If he can go better than 1-4 from deep, he’s a weapon. He also had a hustle chasedown block at the beginning of the fourth, which was nice to see.

Surprise starter, Brandon Knight is supposedly one of the stories of training camp now that he’s “finally healthy.” Once again, this newfound health seems to coincide with a contract year. Still, Knight offered a competent, if ho-hum presence from one starting guard spot as he scored a triple and added a couple of assists in 15 minutes.

The other starting guard, Collin Sexton, seemed a little stymied by the competition early, and still struggles with a change of direction to keep opposing guards off their toes. He’s going to have to learn to run and trust the offense, but his J is still locked in as he added a couple treys and a pull-up 20 footer to save a possession. It was hard to tell anything on defense against this squad, but the Cuervos certainly relished punishing Sexton in the post on switches and with their bigger guards. It’s going to be a trend all year.

The real stories of this exhibition were the poise and swagger of Darius Garland and the tantalizing potential of Kevin Porter Junior. Coming off the bench, Garland looked completely in control of the ball at all times, finished the game +21 in 14 minutes, and went a perfect 4-4 from the field to go along with two assists. Check out the back door bounce pass (below) to Love for Kev’s only field goal. Yes, Garland played a little too fast a couple times which led to turnovers, and he doesn’t quite have the timing down with the starters, but you’ll live with dead ball turnovers due to being aggressive. Garland’s finishing and passing ability impressed me more than anything, as did his herky-jerky style. He also looked bigger than I thought he would, and like he’s put on some muscle in the off-season. Oh, and his shot is butter.

https://youtu.be/OFnWkVgsLBQ?t=30

Did I mention muscle? Well Kevin Porter Junior has more muscle than some NBA power forwards, and he plays like it too. Porter was way too much for any of the San Lorenzo wings to handle inside, and he has a knack for getting to the paint and finishing through contact, and contorting his body while finishing with touch. Porter does what Chuck Barkley always talks about, “he gets easy buckets.” KPJ was 7-9 to finish with 16 points. Yeah he had three turnovers, and yeah he had four fouls in 14 minutes, but you can tell why the Cavs took a chance on him, and why he makes the vets smile. He’s raw, but he’s got plenty of potential. He’s gonna be a terror in transition.

https://youtu.be/eM3xdi1mghE?t=28

Rounding it out, Matthew Dellavedova looked rough, with only a couple lobs and a seeing-eye three-ball to his credit, but a pick-up style game isn’t really Delly’s forte. Yeah, he went -5, but he also keeps defenses honest with his ability to throw the lob and not overplay the perimeter. I’m not worried about pre-season.

As for the bench bunch, Duke’s Marquis Bolden was solid. Bolden, who seems to have pushed Ante Zizic (DNP) out of any type of rotation, finished with five points, four boards, and two nice blocks, and seems to have some defensive ability and knows what he can’t do on offense. Jarrell Marten shot a comical 1-6 including blowing a wide open layup, and seems destined for a non-premium overseas league. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot got himself to the line a couple times and lived up to his reputation as a not completely incompetent 10th man as he finished with 5 and +5.

Sindarius Thornwell played a lot of crazy defense to go +10 in his 6 minutes, but he’s going to have to play a lot of it all the time to make this team. He doesn’t have the offensive upside a David Nwaba (say what you want about his shooting, but you were toast if Nwaba got you on his left hip going to the hoop). Daniel Hamilton traveled more times than Giannis does on a jump stop spin move, and Dean Wade canned a triple and punctuated the win with a monster jam with 30 seconds left. Wade should provide some fun in Canton as he plays on his 2-way deal this year.

The Cuervos were led by Esteban Bautista who I would enjoy the crap out of if I followed Argentinian ball. The dude is 90% chest with massive feet, and is as strong as an ox. Fortunately, as AC said though, “he can’t elevate.” It was fun watching him and TT go at it. Bautista scored 20 on 12 shots and grabbed 5 rebounds. Esteban also showed how the Cavs are absolutely going to struggle to guard the post against real centers this year (especially considering the Cuervos other starting center, Facundo Pinero, had 16). And yep, that’s right, I got a Bautista highlight reel.

Oh, and can we all agree that “Los Cuervos” is the greatest nickname in sports? The tie-ins are unlimited. Anyway, Wyoming’s Justin Williams added 11 boards and three blocks while DePaul’s Dar Tucker journeymanned his way to 17 points worth of slasher buckets. I respect the crap out of any player who will go anywhere to play pro ball, especially with a team whose name is that cool. Keep living the dream, guys.

Well, tomorrow we get the Wine and Gold scrimmage, but the bloom is off the rose a little since this game spoiled the debut. Ironically, it will be nice to see the Cavs play against real competition and not be going up against the Browns for eyeballs. Until then…