Podcap: Orlando 105, Cleveland 94 (or, the Wilting Wounded)
2021-01-07The Cavs wilted against Orlando for the second game in a row, Wednesday. A consistent theme of this game was injuries, as the Cavs were down six guys going into the night, and could be down seven after an ankle injury to Dameyan Dotson limited him to just 15 minutes. But the worst injury of the game came on a fairly innocuous play in the first quarter when Markelle Fultz blew his ACL driving on Isaac Okoro. It was a heartbreaking moment for the kid, and the Magic took it out on Cleveland for the rest of the night.
This game wasn’t as close as the final score. Cleveland was down 19 by the end of the third quarter, and as much as 23 before garbage time started. As on Monday, Cleveland just didn’t have enough scoring and competent NBA bodies to compete with Orlando’s depth. Cleveland was running two center lineups and giving major rotation minutes to G-League rookies.
Ryan Yankee and Nate Smith broke it all down in the podcast booth: Andre Drummond’s foul trouble, Cedi’s bad shooting (0-7 from three), Collin Sexton’s superior scoring (21 points), the Cavs’ defense, Javale wondering where he was on the court, icing out Ice Okoro, and mainly the Cavs’ wilting ability to score. Finally we went through the list of current NBA free agents and debated whether the Cavs should dump any of their end of the roster guys to pick up some old Cavalier friends. It was a fun one.
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LT is up…
just saw latest PIPM with rookies ranked, Lamar Stevens makes the cut ahead of tyrese maxey.
KJG’S –SAYING CAVS MIGHT BE GRANTED HARDSHIP CASE —MIGHT / SHOULD PURSUE SHABAZZ NAPIER —-ANY OPINIONS ON THIS
I’m ok with him. Think we definitely need a pg to get us thru this.
yeah it’s whatever, they need need a warm body at PG
Second on my list for point guards. More likely to be able to Contribute immediately than Mudiay. They should move quickly with Fultz out.
SO WITH SEXTON / DOTSON QUESTIONABLE TONIGHT WHO GETS TH PT GD NOD …….WOW THIS IS GETTING BEYOND FRUSTRATING ——–” MORE BEER PLEASE “
i hope okoro gets a shot… might as well, and i want to see if his passing’s real.
heck yeah enjoyed the responses below, my take is that JB has to adjust the offense on the fly in dealing with these injuries…. everybody eats doesn’t work when you’re down to you 5th or 6th string point guard. It’s clear they need Sexton to take more shots.. they need to Garland to take more 3s and pass the ball, they need to make sure Nance gets the ball in places where he can attack with the pass. This is basic stuff and I’m seeing no adjustments to adapt to the personnel that they have and the strengths and weaknesses… Read more »
I agree about Garland, but he’s still out for a bit…
TOTALLY AGREE ON THE TWEET —( LINDOR TRADE )—–IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO OPERATE IT / BE COMPETITIVE TO AQUIRE / KEEP GOOD PLAYERS —THEN SELL THE TEAM —— ( FILL IN THE BLANK FOR THEIR NAME )—THEY HAVE AN ALL STAR PITCHING ROTATION THAT SHOULD COMPETE TO BE IN THE WORLD SERIES BUT OUR “TIGHT ‘ OWNERS HAVE NOT SURROUNDED THEM WITH ANY KIND OF OFFENSE
Off topic, but this a such a bummer for cleveland sports. Just so deflating for a team that was so close to a world series win a few years ago and was a consistent playoff threat for a few years after that. So depressing we can’t ever keep the homegrown stars going all the way back to Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Thome. Can’t say I didn’t see this coming, but deflating nonetheless.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30668781/sources-new-york-mets-finalizing-deal-acquire-ss-francisco-lindor-cleveland-indians
The offense sucks because both of our centers are shooting sub 50% from the floor and taking 23 shots a game.
the best offensive options right now is getting Sexton in space, Garland passing or launching 3s, and Nance with the ball around the basket or passing out of the high post.
Secondarily, Nance and Cedi’s 3ball are gone right now… need to get them back in rhythm.
Absolutely. That perfectly describes every catastrophic offensive drought recently.
yup, the real question is how much of this is injury based vs. bad strategy/coaching.
I think a lot of it is injury based. They have gotten good shots for Cedi and Nance. They just haven’t hit consistently. Missing all three pgs is a huge blow. Sexton isn’t great at running the offense. What’s more since he is primarily a slasher, nance and cedi slumping, missing love and Garland limits his direct lanes to the bucket. As far as Drummond, the have to find ways to get him in space as a roller. However, obviously with no pg to consistently get him the ball on a roll, that likely isn’t going to be very effective.… Read more »
You can manufacture playmaking with motion offenses. However, a fairly disciplined and complex motion offense with multiple actions going on a once or 1st, second, and third actions that flow into one another is probably beyond the reach of this team with its current personnel without a full training camp and preaseason, and health throughout that.
Sure when u have time to implement it with guys who know basic actions. Hard with dudes who should literally be in the g league.
Yep pretty much.
John B. I agree with your assessment 100%
You perfectly outlined exactly what I also believe is (are) the problem (problems) the Cavs are dealing with right now.
AGREE WITH YOU JUDE—-UNFORTUNATELY THE LACK OF COMPOTENT / CONFIDENT PLAYERS THE CAVS HAVE –( ON OFFENSE ) —DOES STAGNATE THE BALL / PLAYERS MOVING TO CREATE A MORE EFFICIENT OFFENSE —-WE ARE WAY TOO EASY TO DEFEND
WASN’T ABLE TO LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE PODCAST SO DON’T KNOW OF ALL THE FREE AGENTS– ( FORMER CAVS )– THAT YOU MENTIONED BUT YES TO HENSON / AM DONE WITH THE “LE ” THON EXPERIMENT —–NOT SURE IF LNJ IS A CONSISTENT 20 PT SCORER BUT SHOULD BE IN THE 15 PT RANGE / HAS LOST ALL CONFIDENCE IN HIS OUTSIDE SHOOTING ——– NEED TO TRY TO CREATE BETTER SHOTS BY GOING BACK TO OUR EARLIER BALL MOVEMENT / PLAYERS MOVING WITH A PURPOSE —OUR LACK OF OFFENSE IS PUTTING TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON OUR DEFENSE IS WHY WE… Read more »
I mostly agree, but ball movement is a lot easier when they have people to move the ball to…
Outside of Sexton, too many of the remaining players are hit or miss on offense.
Henson. YES.
Yes! Now!
The one place I’m hesitant: have zero idea what kind of shape he is in.
Ryan – FYI, I used to rule when I played pool after many beers. This technique did not translate to my amateur competitive running career.
Same! I suck at pool unless I’ve had a few beers! Then I suddenly muscle memory my way into making tough shots. I totally forgot about that until you mentioned it!
No excuse for Nance not to drop 20/8/5 on regular basis….Sexton is only one who can consistently score…yes injuries are hurting them but also there are guys who are very underwhelming and it’s biting the team in the ass….they’ve lost 3 out of 4….other guys need to step up…magic looked like they could do whatever they want whenever they wanted no matter who was guarding them….that’s a problem
20/8/5 is a huge ask. That would make him an all star and one of the best forwards in the east. I don’t think he is on that level. He is just limited as far as scoring. Is he an ok finisher? Sure, but not in every situation. He also doesn’t really have a post game, and his handle is shaky enough that he probably isn’t ever going to be beating guys off the dribble in drives. He is best as a roller and facilitator. 20 ppg would probably be a stretch unless he was taking like 6 threes a… Read more »
Missed this game completely, was watching another “contest”….
Sounds like a frustrating experience watching the team right now, which is understandable. This may not be one I hunt down the replay for. The pod is enough – massive props to you two fellows for putting it together.
Watch the first half, then save yourself the misery of the second half. You can at least see the potential of the team if the Cavs had a full roster.