Recap: Cavs 98, Wizards 101 – And we’re FREEEEEEEE….
2012-03-03
….FREEEEEE FAAALLLING! Things aren’t looking great right now, my friends. We’ve now dropped five straight, and this one was to the second worst team in the NBA. And it wasn’t pretty.
Washington’s back court absolutely obliterated ours. John Wall was able to drive any which way he wanted, and Jordan Crawford was draining three like he was possessed.
Here we are with the good, the bad, and the rest:
The Good:
Uh….Ryan Hollins? He looked pretty darned comfortable and actually did a nice job finishing inside. His D wasn’t half bad either. I feel like we’ve gotten half decent performances once in a blue moon from Erden and Hollins, and then the flip it around and play like crap the next game, so many we should start Erden on Monday and just accept what we’ve got.
Ummmm….Jamison had a good first few quarters. But yeah, he doesn’t seem to be able to finish games anymore. Tired much?
What else…Gee kind of played decent.
And Kyrie Irving had a nice fourth quarter…on offense at least.
The Bad:
Anthony Parker – First off, he should never ever take a game tying three. Ever. Particularly not if he’s being closely guarded. He shouldn’t have even been in the game. Parker’s D on Jordan Crawford was embarrassingly bad, and his poor shooting meant the Wizards had one less guy on offense to worry about. Talk about Byron having to make a change in the starting lineup…but who would he even go to????
Kyrie’s D, and his ability to shoot in any quarter other than the fourth – I’m glad Kyrie is clutch and all, but when you spend the rest of the game coasting, it’s not exactly a good sign. His effort was just too little too late. I realize he was sick, but if he can turn it on in the fourth, he should’ve been doing that three quarters earlier. Also, words cannot describe how badly he defended Wall, who basically spent the game speeding from coast to coast.
Our second team versus theirs – Roger Mason, Maurice Evans, and Jan Vesley all had decent games. Enough said.
The Rest:
It’s pretty clear we need some scorers, and fast. We need everything, but our scoring is just a mess. One either Kyrie or Jamison goes cold, things tend to fall apart quickly.
I had a bad feeling this result was coming. Monday marks our last opportunity for the next few games to even stand a chance against our opponent. After that it’s against Denver, OKC, and Houston (who has been pretty decent). Watch out, ’cause it could get very, very ugly.
I really have not liked what I’ve seen out of Kyrie, and even to a lesser extent Tristan, the last weeks. I’ll dip more into that on Monday, but lets just say it’s not going to be a rave review.
In other news, keep on the look out for something very, VERY big coming from this blog within the next few days. I don’t want to divulge too much information, but it’s going to be super awesome and super different, at least for us.
Until next time…
I second Matt’s sentiment that Mallory’s recaps are a bit too harsh given the Cavs current limitations (injuries) and organizational goals (develop talent, acquire assets, picks, etc.)
For instance, You seem to lack this perspective when you say things like John Wall Torched Kyrie and kyrie’s offense in no way made up for it. John wall scored 24 on 17 attempts, kyrie 20 on 14, so they shot about as efficiently, kyrie had 1 more assists and the same turnovers, it was pretty much a wash. Oh, except for Kyrie was +9 and wall -8. The only reason we lost was our bench, which did have a horrific game (seriously, Jan vesely didn’t look like a total bust… not good). Obviously I think Kyrie is better than… Read more »
Mallory, you are so dramatic. Just last week, not even 7 days ago, we were contending with the Celtics on the court and beating a fully healthy knicks at halftime. If you are talking about record wise, well Verajoa going down and giving his minutes to Erden and Hollins was always going to have drastic consequences. Seriously stop being such a downer when our team’s future is so bright. Are we contending this year? No, it was never gonna happen. Are we going to make the playoffs? No, and no one expected us too before the season started. It was… Read more »
Oh and Casspi is worthless
and play Manny more so we can find out if he is worth keeping
Must get rid of :
Erden, Hollins, Harangody, Parker
Must trade:
Sessions, Jamison
also stop being so hard on Irving and Tristan. THEY ARE 19 YEARS OLD! combine them and they are almost the same age as Jamison. They both show great promise. Gee shows promise. I like what Samardo gives. Andy is a must keep. and Boobie still can contribute.
This happens with a young team. Especially when, as others pointed out, there’s little talent outside of Irving and what’s left of Jamison.
I’d keep him if he could have a strong 2nd half of the season. If I was the Cavs I would keep one of our sub centers (Hollins or Erden) depending on which one showed more promise this year.
That was just a bad game to watch… At least I got to laugh at Javale McGee a couple times. For awhile in the first quarter I thought Crawford was going to shoot the Wizards out of the game, but the D on him was just so bad he got into a really good rhythm. Also, If Hollins plays close to this level for the rest of the season, maybe a near 10 points and 5-7 rebounds a game. Would there be any consideration in resigning him? There are going to be some serious holes at the 4 and 5… Read more »
Well the silver lining is that we have a chance at Brad Beal now.
Tyler –
I actually meant back court. Simply a stupid writing error on my part. Thanks for pointing it out though! Going to make a quick edit now.
*It was Washington’s back court that obliterated us, not their front court. Front court is the big men. Back court is the guards. Not trying to be ticky tacky, it’s just something many people get confused…including Austin Carr in the broadcast last night lol.
Kevin –
It’s hard for me to look at Kyrie’s O game (passing, shooting) as worthy yesterday considering how bad the Washington D was.
While watching this game it felt more and more like I was watching a D league or summer league game. I can’t believe that a few weeks ago we were actually contending with the likes of the Celts and Knicks….this is what we’ve been reduced to.
Is it just me, or does John Wall double dribble every time he touches the ball?
agree hoopshype. my only guess is that the cost of AP relative to manny causes someone (Gilbert/GrantScott) to think there is a return on investment with his minutes. i think manny should get atleast 28 minutes per game. what is the cost? the main benefit is we figure out if he could be a role player on next years squad.
Mallory, I think you’re being too hard on Kyrie. He was +9, while Wall was -8. At least 2/3 of Hollins’ buckets and free throws were because Kyrie set him up uncontested 2 feet from the basket. Also, Wall is freaking fast…there were a few coast to coast trips by him where I thought the game feed went to fast forward. This season has taken a turn for the worse. Six weeks to go, the team and fans will have to grind through it. Things will keep getting better (next year). The Cavs are up to the 8th best lottery… Read more »
I love that a week ago everyone was worried about making the playoffs. The compressed NBA season is the greatest thing ever. Seriously though, why isn’t Manny Harris getting some of Parker’s minutes?
imagine this team when/if sessions gets traded? dont think jamison has the value cavs fans think so he will stay if only to be a person to shoot other than kyrie. i wonder if this season is just bizarre because of the circumstances behind the lockout. all of that said, i enjoy watching the cavs because it feels like the ground level of a potentially special reboot for the franchise
Parker and Gibson combined for 2-13 and allowed Jordan Crawford to score 31 points, yet BScott still refused to give Manny a shot. Why even have him on the roster? Honestly, Parker is quickly becoming my least favorite player on this team. He contributes nothing.
Our best player is a rookie. The only other person who scores more than 11 points a game is Antwain Jamison, who at 35 is ancient by NBA standards. Our second best player is injured.
It’s ugly. I’m consoling myself with (a) we’re better than last year (b) our weak spots (SG/SF starting and bench except for Gee) are SO weak that a late lottery pick will be a tremendous upgrade for the team.
Gibson isn’t even worth mentioning anymore. Something is off with him. VERY off. He’s a shell of what he used to be. His D is bad, he can’t drain the three. So disappointing….
Kyrie is sick. And a rookie. Tristan is a rookie who can’t shoot. There are going to days and games like this.
I am more shocked to see Daniel Gibson shooting such a horrible FG percentage…Casspi is so off…more ping pong balls for us.