From Distance: Exactly Half Good!

four point play….

1. The Cavs surged into seventh place in the Eastern Conference Playoff picture with a hard-nosed victory against the Chicago Bulls. With teams jockeying for position for the Spring extravaganza, Cleveland got an early leg up on the suddenly three games under .500 Chicago Bulls.

Ok, we are still washing off Halloween makeup and perhaps talking about Playoffs seeding isn’t exactly the most prudent and responsible thing to do. But… C’mon!!! I have to admit that it is been incredibly entertaining to watch semi-competent Cavaliers basketball.

Rookie head coach, and Naismith contemporary, John Beilein has heavily leaned on his talented and experienced front-court throughout the first four games of the season. I have been impressed with Beilein’s rotations thus far. He has done a good job of of pairing youth with veteran leadership at almost every point of the game. There have been multiple occasions that Beilein has gone with Garland, Sexton, and Porter Jr. at the same time. He has done well to pair those young guns with Kevin and Tristan or Larry.

Sexton still makes far more rookie mistakes than I would like for him to make in year two, but he has focused more as games have entered crunch-time. As I said before the season, Kevin Porter Jr. likely has the best two-way potential of any of the young Cavaliers. He is wont to jack a few too many off-the-dribble jumpers for my taste, but I have been impressed with his overall floor-game and help rotation feel.

KPJ is certainly a rookie and gets out of place at times, but in general, he displays an eagerness to get back into a play as a help defender after he has been fooled. His energy and length have been very encouraging. Porter’s willingness to make quick and simple ball swings has been a HUGE surprise.

Clearly, the young man needs to be reminded to do this frequently. He made the simple correct pass more often than not against Chicago. In other games, not so much. That he can take coaching like that and immediately improve his impact on the game is a delight.

I said last week that Garland has a wonderful start stop feel to his offensive game and that part of this natural basketball IQ gives me hope for him on the defensive end. Let me be clear (I have learned that line from lying politicians). Garland’s defensive competency is still quite a ways away. He just loves him some lazy “go under” PnR D.

The vets have had his back.

2. The All-Star level play out of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson has kept the Cavaliers’ collective head above water, and even overwhelmed opponents. There’s been talk about Tristan Thompson’s All-Defensive Team desires, and his five blocks against the Bulls were certainly impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zXawvue3_o

But in a “flip the script” kind of fashion, the real defensive stud thus far has been one Kevin Love while Tristan has been an offensive world destroyer. It’s not what most people expect from the two big men, but the eye test and the statistics back it up.

Love’s defensive rebounding and positional awareness has greatly improved the overall team defense whenever he has been on the floor. Tristan has been good on the defensive end, but he has really shined offensively. TT’s Pick and Roll timing and offensive rebounding combined with his effective ambidextrous jump hook game has as made him an offensive fireball.

It is obviously far too early to truly consider any playoff possibilities. Whatever. It is promising to see Tristan and Kevin produce at a high level. And, ya know, FUN!

We should also note that both Tristan and Larry Nance Jr. fared relatively well against Giannis Antekokounmpo the other night. If Koby Altman goes asset hunting when the trade deadline approaches, it might behoove a team to to secure Tristan or Larry for a postseason run against The Freak.

3. Much of the direction of the Cavalier’s season depends on how well Cedi Osman plays. As the only legitimate wing on the roster, Osman is tasked with more defensive responsibility than ever. So far, Cedi has done a mostly good job on that end of the floor.

What must become more consistent for the Cavs to succeed is Cedi’s offensive contributions. While I am thrilled that Cedi made his threes against the Bulls, I still find it a bit disappointing that a guy with his skill-set is spending so much time parked in the corner. We all know that Osman is a confidence guy. He can get a bit carried away with the ball in his hands.

Even so, I trust Osman with the rock more than I trust most other players on the squad. I sincerely hope Cedi can find that sweet spot between a spot-up artist and a Nicolas Batum redux. That is a tall task, but not totally out of the question.

4. I was happy to see Mike Conley Jr finally get his footing for Utah. After starting the season in an atrocious shooting slump, our old Buckeye friend, Mike erupted for 29 points in the win against the Clippers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1aLw2CTrcQ

It doesn’t really matter that best player in the league, Kawhi Leonard was resting that night. Mike’s strong play gave the Utah fans a sigh of relief. It was early, but when an All-Star caliber player starts off that slowly,  some bells start to ring fairly or not. Go Mike. Still love those floaters after all these years.

Plus: The Rockets and the Wizards scored about 1000 points the other night. What an absurdity. Nope, don’t care. I don’t think it’s in the least bit interesting to watch two teams play Rucker Park level defense. In football, at least if the game is 51-45 it usually means that there are some big plays that are entertaining on an individual level.

When two teams combined for 7828 points, it just indicates that Isaiah Thomas is on the floor waving at cats on their way to the cup.

The state of Texas is 9-3. Here’s rather hot take. I think the Rockets are actually the worst of the three Texas teams. Sure, they might still have the highest 2020 playoff ceiling of the three, but I like overall level of play of the Mavs and Spurs more.

Obviously you know I can’t get enough of the Luka/Zinger combo. Combine that with a sneakily deep roster and great coaching from Rick Carlisle and the Mavs are a likely playoff team to me.

San Antonio’s roster has also evolved into talented group with the return of Dejounte Murray. The Spurs now employ an absurdly deep regular-season team. Their second-unit features Derrick White, Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli, Rudy Gay, and Jakob Poeltl. That unit is arguably as good as their first unit, especially when Derrick White is hitting shots.

Again, I am not saying that the Spurs are more likely to win a championship than the Rockets. I am saying that those who questioned whether the Spurs would make a legit playoff push this season are going to look up in a few months, sigh in in disbelief, curse Coach Pop as a warlock, and then realize that the Spurs actually just have a lot of talent.