Recap: Cavs 105, Nets 100
2012-03-19
Before I get to the game, quick aside:
I’m an idiot – I Could have and should have gone to this game. Â Tickets to the Nets are absurdly cheap right now – we’re talking $5 for first row in the lower bowl cheap. Â That’s currently the state of NJ Nets basketball.
What started as a sloppy blowout turned into a pretty fun game in the last couple of minutes. Â The Cavs lead by as much as 12 (or was it more? Â I can’t remember) points to begin with but, due to some crappy D and lots of turnovers in the second quarter, allowed the Nets to get back into the game. Â Thanks to some nice interior offense (and Mr. Fourth Quarter) the Cavs were able to hang on and beat a clearly inferior team.
Onto the good, the bad, and the rest —
The Good:
Tristan Thompson’s Career Day – TT had his way inside, especially in the first half, where he had already set his career points high with 17 (he ended with 27!) Â When you’re going up against Sheldon Williams and Mr. Kardashian things will probably work out for the best. Â Tristan also had 8 O boards. Â Once the Nets adjusted and put Gerald Wallace on TT, he slowed down considerably. Â Still, nice game on offense TT!
Kyrie’s Fourth Quarter – I mean…wow…he was just BLOWING past the competition at the end of the game. Â The Nets literally threw everything at him – Deron, Wallace…yeah…that’s everything…Still it didn’t matter – he was hitting everything, inside and out. Â As usual, Mr. Fourth Quarter was the primary reason we won in the end.
Donald Sloan – True story, I kept forgetting who number 15 was. Â I wont anymore. Â The former D leaguer and newly jerseyed Cav had a great second game when Kyrie’s fouls took him out. Â Sloan ran the O really well and hit a couple of good shots (he had 5 in the fourth quarter). Â Even more surprisingly, he did a great job defending Deron Williams, which is quite the feat. Â Sloan finished with a +7.
Samardo – If he keeps playing like this, I think we’ve finally found that rotation PF/C. Â Lots of energy on both ends, took some smart shots. Â Really pleased with the way he’s played the past few games.
The Bad:
The Cavs D – There was almost none of it at the end of this game (or in the middle of it, for that matter.)  In particular Kyrie and Jamison were just getting manhandled – Kyrie got BLOWN away by Deron on a crazy dunk, Jamison was getting killed by Mr. Kardashian and Wallace.  (About Jamison – he literally lagged off Wallace by about two feet, daring Wallace to shoot a three, which he promptly drained.  Jamison must be injured or something, because he doesn’t seem to be able to lift his arms up when people shoot the ball…) Even Gee got burned a few times.  Playing such poor D will work alright against the Nets, but that’s not going to fly against pretty much any other team.
TT’s D Rebounding – This is seriously starting to worry me. Â He had FOUR (seriously…FOUR) rebounds and he played for almost 38 minutes. Â Thompson spends so much time up in the air while guys are shooting that he always seems to end up facing away from the basket when the ball bounces off. Â Mr. K and Sheldon Williams combined for 6 O rebounds – I’m attributing at least a couple of those to TT. Â Keep your eye on this, because if his D rebounding doesn’t improve, it’ll quickly become a major sticking point.
The Rest:
Boobie Gibson left in the 3rd with an ankle (?) injury. Â Since Sloan looks more than competent, maybe this means we’ll see some more Manny?
Speaking of Manny, he was inactive tonight.
Finally, a weird fact I did not know – turns out Kidd-Gilchrist and Kyrie played on the same high school team. Â Maybe that wasn’t the last time they’ll play together…?
Keep your eyes peeled for our next podcast, which I will post tomorrow (we recorded today).
All in all, an ugly game that turned into a decent game. Â Cavs get the Hawks on Wednesday (and then Magic on Friday). Â Until then, friends…
Jamison being injured has nothing to do with his defensive positioning. He routinely plays off his man by a few feet. The reason is quite simple: he lacks anything resembling lateral quickness and if he plays up on his man it’s almost assuredly a layup/dunk.
@mallory–Union Square Browns Backers are an official club–there are now two official clubs in NYC. We would love for you to join us. Bro Jim’s is a great place to watch as we have a private room and great specials.
Someone free me from the monster please.
The ‘official’ Browns Backers bar in NYC is Manny’s, on like 92nd and 2nd. Never been for a game, but I’d imagine it’s fun.
@mallory,
Stubhub got me two front row tickets that were like $38 with all the fees. I bought them before the varejao injury so I imagine the prices might have fallen even closer to the game.
And the Brother Jimmy’s idea sounds great. I can’t remember the last time I got to watch a browns game, let alone with fans.
TT was an absolute animal. Really happy to see him shine in the new role, although I do think he will end up being an Ibaka like player. Kyrie was sensational. I think it says a lot about his maturity that when he starts cold he can still get it going in the fourth time and time again. I really liked what I saw from Donald Sloan tonight. He looks capable on D and had some good offensive contribution. He’s no razor Ramon, but I think he will be a decent back up to Irving who will continue to grow… Read more »
Irving was great, but his defensive lapses continue to madden. The dunk that Williams had in crunch time was caused by some Kyrie “El Toro Defense.” But… Did you see Kyrie fake the ref out with the fake pullup crossover move, which he got called for a double dribble on? I watched that move three times, and the problem with it was that it was TOO good. He didn’t touch the ball with his second hand, and it was still going up and moving when he crossed over. Just a ridiculous move. I’d never seen it before. Kyrie has the… Read more »
It was a nice ray of sunshine out of TT, and I’ve been very impressed with the work he’s put in on free throw shooting. The work ethic is obvious. I wax and wane over that guy so much, but if he’s willing to work as hard as it’s been claimed, then he could be a gem. That being said, this was against the New Jersey Nets and Sheldon Williams, so let’s not get carried away. TT still has a lot of holes in his game, but he’s very young, very athletic and seems very willing to work. I’m curious… Read more »
Just moved up here a few weeks ago and got tix off StubHub for insanely cheap. Did the same thing the other night for Nets/Bucks. Too bad they’re moving to Brooklyn in a couple of months because the Prudential Center is an easy ticket to be had. In seeing Kyrie in person for the first time, I came away blown away by his speed and his willingness to attack the rim. He seems to have that mentality of taking it to the hoop that we all wished LeBron had over the years when he was here but would instead settle… Read more »
Off topic as it relates to the game, but as far as the MKG discussion goes; If Kentucky wins the NCAA championship and Davis, Jones, Teague, Lamb & Miller all leave for the draft, I cannot imagine MKG not also entering the draft.
I think you have to sacrifice Tristan’s defensive rebounding to get his shot-blocking. He alters way more shots than he blocks, and that’s terribly valuable… something the Cavs haven’t had in a long time actually. Players need to know where he is when they’re in the paint, and Tigger can get in their heads that way. I also think it helps that the Cavs have Gee and Casspi who are both excellent defensive rebounders… they help cover for TT as does Samardo. The only problem comes when you have TT and Hollins in at the same time. Hollins is like… Read more »
Hey fellow clevelander in NYC/NJ: You should check out my browns backers club next season at Brother Jimmy’s Union Square. AWESOME setup and great specials. Way better than the uptown location. http://www.facebook.com/UsqBrowns
And James, your right. I’ve never heard of a player changing there mind right before they enter the draft. He said he’s staying, its clearly written in stone.
If Tristan wants to alter shots and let Jameson and Andy do the defensive rebounding, and he wants to gobble up 8 O boards a game, I’m perfectly happy with it. Most of the offensive rebounds I saw the nets make were off of close range high percentage shots that would have likely gone in if Tristan was only worried about boxing out. As long as he’s altering shots, not fouling, and still getting 10+ boards a game, and we out-rebound the opposing team by 18, I don’t see a reason to nitpick which end the rebounds are coming from.… Read more »
i think working a trade to acquire MKG draft rights is more realistic than drafting him (outside of gilbert’s son luck). the opportunity cost will be high as you suggest james. while it is fun to speculate as a fan, i think the probable outcome is for an excellent shooting percentage 2-guard who defends well is what will arrive in any draft moving forward.
Can we please stop with MKG stuff?
Kidd-Gilchrist is never going to be a Cavalier. He is staying in school at least another year. Hopefully, the Cavs will not be in a position to select him when he finally decides to enter the draft.
@Brooklyn Cavalier – did you get the tickets on Craigslist? Ugh I SHOULD HAVE GONE.
i loved seeing the game on foxsportsohio. this team might be the best team that nobody on the national level watches (save highlights). must say though i wish i could selectively mute A.C. his commentary is a mix of substituting conjecture and cliche for content and observation. you know its bad when my 3 year old uses A.C.’s quotes at the right time.
Tristan Thompson,
Thanks for the “ray of sunshine” that I asked for yesterday.
Also Boobie pestered the helll out of Deron Williams and completely ruined his game for a significant amount of time. That defensive effort and watching the grace of Antawn Jamison in person really struck me as well.
I had a ridiculous amount of fun at this game tonight. Bought tickets a month ago, courtside seats (not quite jack nicholson style) for $40. I was stupified that the Nets couldn’t figure out something as simple as a Kyrie Irving & Trisan Thompson pick and roll, particularly in the late first half. A highlight for me was when TT wrestled, with two hands, an offensive rebound away from Kris Humprhies. Sloan had a resounding mini streak of 5 points on two straight posessions. Really left an impact in his time for Kyrie’s foul trouble. In seeing everything in person,… Read more »
Mallory=CavsGirl?
I still think with a more consistent rebounding front court: Andy + whoever the Cavs draft/sign, he’s going to be Serge Ibaka-light. He probably won’t have triple double games with blocks but he’ll be more safely able to gamble when attempting to block shots, while playing smarter with it.
And with more play time he may play smarter and just be a rebounding, shot-altering machine with some time. I think people are still too impatient with him.
Let’s hope he pulls a Paul George and grows 2-3 inches over the summer.
If only TT was 2 inches taller… Lol he’d be the next Dwight Howard.
TT has the ability to learn and the determination to work on his weaknesses. Everyone must have noticed the recent improvement in his free throw stroke. He’s on his way to becoming a 65-70% FT shooter in the near future. He’ll figure out or will be told that defensive rebounds are more important than waiving at every shot. I’m ready for next October now. I think he’ll be a player.
Which brings me back to an earlier argument: When the Cavs get Andy back and if they were to get a designated rebounder-type player in the draft/free agency Tristan can be a Serge Ibaka-type player who can gamble on blocks and altering shots while our center focuses on boxing out and ripping down boards.
He probably won’t need to once Varejao is back. Andy will gobble up every rebound – TT can patrol the paint.
I can’t wait for TT to get a full offseason with Cavs trainers and coaches because even if he can’t develop a consistant jumpshot, I am pretty confident that he will continue to improve his free-throw shooting, learn how to get defensive rebounds, and develop at least 1-2 post moves.
Action/Pete –
It’s funny, I said pretty much the exact same thing in the podcast. Hopefully he’ll learn to stay grounded, but only time will tell.
Action beat me to the punch.
Tristan’s big issue with D rebounding is that he tries to block EVERYTHING. If he has almost no shot at it, he’ll still try to block it. It leaves him out of position, facing the wrong way, too far from the hoop… I think with time he’ll realize he isn’t that much more athletic than everyone on the court and will be able to pick and choose his block attempts.
The coaching staff has to tell Thompson to lay off the block attempts if they want him to grab D boards. He knows how to get position, he’s just always out there trying to alter shots. I’d prefer that he grabbed the boards, but they must like what’s he’s doing – who else could possibly provide help D on this squad?
R – I agree that his O rebounds are amazing, but allowing teams to get D rebounds are equally destructive. My point was that if you’re giving up easy O rebounds, you’re substantially less valuable than you would be if you got the rebound yourself. TT has had a history of being a poor D rebounder. That’s a pretty big problem for a guy who should, given his areas of talent, be great at it.
The Nets only had 10 O-Boards to our 21. I think TT’s lack of defensive rebounds is fine as long as the team boxes out and pulls them down. That’s what I would look at in the future instead of his raw totals.
Offensive rebounds are more valuable and require more skill. 8 in one game is tremendous.