Cavs: the Blog - Cleveland Cavaliers TrueHoop Blog

Kyrie Irving’s shoulder injury against Toronto is expected to put him on the bench for 3-4 weeks with a left acromioclavicular sprain.  ESPN’s coverage is here.

Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plaindealer / Cleveland.com covers the press conference where Byron Scott is not concerned about Kyrie’s durability.

Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated notes the silver lining to this moment of Déjà Vu.

If the season ended today, the Cavaliers would select fourth, but there are eight teams clustered between 20 and 23 wins. Something as simple as a three-game winning streak could drop them as far as ninth in the draft order. If Cleveland continues to win at its .286 pace without Irving, the team will go 5-14 down the stretch to finish with 26 wins. That would seem to be enough to help them hold on to the No. 4 position, if not even improve to the No. 3. Within the context of the team’s youth movement, ensuring a top-five lottery pick in June’s draft isn’t the worst consolation prize for a month of ugly basketball without their franchise guy.

Basically?  I’d be shocked if we saw Kyrie Irving in a Cavaliers uniform again this season.  Now I’m not one to question someone’s injuries.  Lord knows I’ve been accused of falling down in a heap during a winter football game and screaming “my meniscus!!!” and then getting up and sprinting to the end zone three plays later.  But the Cavs brass has to have been looking for an excuse to shut down their winning ways before they cost themselves a prime draft spot, and this is just the opportunity.  Don’t be surprised if Dion Waiters develops a ruptured scowling muscle, Marreese Speights has to be put on season ending Demoxinil treatment, and the Cavs surreptitiously import the entire Canton Charge roster to finish out the season.

So while you’re firing up Photoshop to make me a nice picture of a one armed Kyrie Irving driving a Sherman tank, you can think of this summer.  Nbadraft.net has a 2013 mock draft update cataloging the risers and sinkers in college basketball.  Who might be there for the Cavs at 4-11 in June?  At this point, it’s anyone’s guess.

And speaking of Waiters, James Herbert of SB Nation has a nice interview with him, here.  Highlights include the Philly style, being a Momma’s boy, and advice from the Cavs veterans.  Keep ballin’, Saint Weirdo, but don’t ball too well.  You’ve got to steer this Abrams into the top bottom five.

Kyrie Irving is out doubtful tonight with the flu “flu like symptoms” that have been sweeping through the team.  In the mean time, enjoy the GIF.  Get well, soon, Kyrie.

If Waiters reaches his potential, he is someone who will be dynamic off the dribble, attacking relentlessly and earning six-plus free throws a game, at minimum. His explosion step is impressive and his body can play through contact on his way to the rim, like Wade.

Kirk, from WFNY breaks down the Cavs’ improving crunch time defense that led to a win the other night over the Jazz.  Link, here.

Tom Sunnergren of TrueHoop explores how NBA teams are using a new software called, Krossover to train players’ brains for pattern recognition…

How do you imbue a young player with years of experience, and the consequent judgment, without ruining his legs in the process? How do you fine-tune the head while sparing the body? How do you train a brain to be like Mike’s?

Kyrie Irving is the Guinea pig in this article, as the Cavs certainly seem to be believers…

Yesterday, we neglected to comment on the ongoing worries over Kyrie Irving’s knee.  The Plain Dealer’s Jodie Valade has the article that hints at the apparent lack of communication on the issue between coach Scott and trainer, Max Benton.  Someone find me an image database for tanks, please.

Yeah..."whoops".

“Six weeks ago, Cleveland was 9-31, staring at a half-season without Anderson Varejao, their second-best player, and facing questions about whether they’d fatally blown two straight top-five picks on Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters. They looked like a lock to make a serious run at “earning” the most Ping-Pong balls in the draft lottery.

Whoops.” [Zach Lowe - Grantland]

“Assuming the first pick will fall somewhere in the top five and the second around Nos. 16-20, we can start to take a look at the most likely draft prospects for the Cavs at each selection.” [Greg Swartz - B/R Slideshow]

“On Monday, he made it out of bed. “That’s a victory for me,” he said. “It was a rough day.” He said teammate Dion Waiters has the same ailment he had. Waiters also missed Monday’s game and wasn’t at practice on Tuesday. He’s listed as questionable for the Utah Jazz at 7 Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.” [Bob Finnan - The Morning Journal]

[Update] Waiters and Gibson out with flu tonight.

“The Cavs development path often gets compared to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Whether this makes sense is another question entirely, but for the record, I don’t think it does. Kevin Durant’s and Russell Westbrook’s and James Harden’s don’t grow on trees. But because this is Kyrie Irving’s second year, let’s take a look a look at the jump OKC made from year two of Durant, to year three.” [David Zavac - FeartheSword]

“When the Cavs execute Scott’s strategy, they’re an exciting team with a big upside. Perhaps even more important than that is the fact individual players have made strides under Scott. Just compare Thompson and Waiters now to what they were at the beginning of the year.  Cavs fans who have issues with Scott need to ask themselves a question. Namely, will Kyrie get along with another coach as well as he does with his current one? Irving really likes being a Cavalier, and Scott is a big reason why.” [Sam Amico - FoxSportsOhio]

This news headlined very briefly on Friday during the Clippers game.  It’s Sunday, there was no game last night…may as well give Dion’s February a day in the spotlight.

His per-36 minute numbers were 20 points, 4 assists and 1.4 steals, on 57% true shooting.

So, with three-fourths of his rookie season behind him, if I set the over / under on All-Star appearances at 1.5…which direction are you going?

Also, today’s practice will determine whether Kyrie suits-up against the Knicks tomorrow.

I’m going to choose “over 1.5 All-Star games” for Kyrie; I feel like being daring.

Way to go, Dion!  Keep attacking!!  Remember who you are!!!

Anyways, just a quick in-game link, celebrating the Eastern Conference’s Rookie of the Month.