Recap: Cavs 94, Wizards 84 (or, Kyrie Irving is a sicko)
2012-10-30
That was awesome. Sure, without John Wall and Nene, at home, the Cavs should beat the Wizards nine out of ten times, but I am glad NBA basketball is back…and that was awesome.
Cleveland lead most of the way and was up 13 with one minute remaining in the third quarter. A Sloan, Gibson, Miles, Walton, Zeller line-up allowed that to quickly erode, until Cleveland actually trailed by two midway through the final quarter. The starters checked back in, and the good-guys embarked on a 20 to 8 run to cruise to victory.
Mallory was supposed to cover this game, but a hurricane sabotaged his civilized existence, so I will cover this with some quick bullets.
Kyrie Irving!!! That was fun!! His 29 points paced the Cavs on the way to a +23 for himself. He canned threes, reached the lane at will, found open cutters for six assists…Kyrie Irving!!! I’m glad he’s around.
Anderson Varejao!!! Almost completing a triple-double, posting 9 points, 23 rebounds and 9 assists. And no typo; that is 23 rebounds. Twelve of those were on the offensive glass, as Andy repeatedly solved complex in-air ball-flight geometry equations to outwit and out-hustle the outclassed Wizard bigs. He repeatedly found cutters with a flair only found in soccer-bred players. The idea of trading Andy should be reserved for people that don’t like watching basketball.
Tristan notches a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The last two minutes featured a dunk parade, as Kyrie and Andy set TT up with three gimme slams. Tristan also tallied 5 assists. I won’t even check; that has to be a career high.
Dion Waiters scored 17 on 14 shots. He picked Bradley Beal’s pocket twice and headed the other direction for dunks. Those were obviously nice highlights, considering their respective draft positions. Also, check out his shot chart. Basically every shot at the rim or from three. He penetrated with relative ease, and despite the zero assists, several Cavalier free throws are attributable to Dion drive-and-dishes. Nice game from the rookie.
Gibson hit two of four from deep; exactly what is asked of him.
CJ Miles and Gee were disasters, as they combined for 6 points and 6 turnovers. Neither was able to create a decent look at the basket and both ventured into ill-advised drives. Gee missed a couple of open threes, and occasionally looked out of place on defense. Ultimately, inconsistent is the type of player these guys are. Especially Miles. Next game will probably be better.
Then the game after that will be worse.
A few thoughts on the rotation; Donald Sloan looked fine in the first half, getting into the lane and hitting a floater, and also having an and-one negated due to a phantom offensive foul. The second half was worse than that. He finished with 4 points on 5 shots with 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 13 minutes. I am going to repeat this until it happens. Dion Waiters needs to play “point guard” with the second string, next to Boobie. Sloan should function primarily as the twelfth man, break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option. Next, no Omri Casspi tonight. Not sure what the story is there, but in my mind, the thirteen minutes that went to Sloan, belong to Omri. I would even like to see an opportunity for Omri to play with Kyrie, with a Dion, Gibson, Gee back-court facing off against the opposition second-unit. Finally, no Leuer or Samardo, but instead a healthy dose of Luke Walton. Walton was not wearing his huge knee braces and actually looked solid in the first half, knocking down a deep J and threading a backdoor-bullet, but everything looked sloppy in the second frame. His minus-11, along with Sloan’s minus-13, rounded out the on-court bottom for the evening. Combinations of Zeller, Leuer, Walton, Samardo need minimized, with whichever of those two is in the rotation, always paired with Varejao or Thompson.
Well, that’s it for tonight. Nice start to the season, but not every game will feature a lottery team missing their two best players.
Durant’s first year the Thunder had two top 5 picks. Grant wants to improve his odds of hitting on a core like Presti did. The Cavs have been careful not to become a mish mosh like the Kings and have maintained their flexibility by not committing to future salary yet and by not bring in a selfish player (Saint Weirdo…). The Cavs have leadership on the team in Irving and Andy. The Kings are the Kings because they have no leadership and have a terrible ownership and city situation. The Cavs won’t become the Kings. Presti hit home runs on… Read more »
D, I agree. The post was to put into not the timeline. the draft selections that we have that closely mirror OKC. Timing for a team to gel will vary from team to team. But we have our picks and we could start winning once the gel. But i agree that we should not need to take the same length to get into the playoffs and get better each year without having to get a lottery pick. the issue i have is with anyone beyond 6 possible starters we have. I am not saying tank the season or that we… Read more »
Treyspin, I agree that it’s up to them. They have to stay healthy and they have to continue to gel well together, but the point is that they have a realistic shot at the playoffs and they should take it to the best of their abilities. I think CG shortened our rebuilding process by a year by getting 2 top 4 picks in the same year, when Kyrie and Tristan was drafted. We HAVE our 4 top 20 picks, now go out and win!
Game was great to watch. Very impressed wioth Waiters. He wants that starting position. I disagree with the author to take him out to second team. Who takes his place for starter?? We have serious issues with the second team. Agh!! I was afraid most of the summer and fall that Gee would look flat and unconditioned and he did last night. He ‘s got to get his intensity back!! Baffled on Walton over Casspi???
J Hill, If Byron is really going to do his damnedest to win games, and I hope he does, he will not put sloan, walton, gibson, zeller, and miles on the floor together again against a real team. (unless zeller starts tearing it up. No, even then, no) Hell, he’d never put Walton in again, and only Sloan if injuries/fatigue deamed it necassary or it was garbage time. Last night I think Byron figured we were playing the wizards without their two best players, he’d see what he could get out of some guys and he’s still tinkering with lineups.… Read more »
Thank you D. And again Brian, Chris Grant can’t do anything but trade both Verajoa and Kyrie Irving to ensure us a top 5 selection, and after 6, there isn’t such a thing as a sure-fire franchise type player that would be worth jettisoning a proven, underpaid, mentoring player like Verajoa out while instilling a losing culture (which is what happens when you trade your best on court player for 50 cents to the Dollar on future draft picks, and repeatedly say the playoffs and wins don’t matter) Trading sessions – who had no future here, and even if he… Read more »
I can’t help but agree J Hill. If they want to win, the need something more on the second team than what we have seen so far. I know Coach Scott always says he sees things in practice. But through preseason and the first game, I do not see a lot from the bench. And for a playoff run i do not see a bench that is going to hold or keep you in games while the starters rest.
Byron Scott is going to do his damnest to win games. But can’t you see Chris Grants reasoning for not signing a competent back up pg? It’s the most fullproof way of tanking to get back to into the lottery. If Anderson varejao has like 6 fewer rebounds we lose this game. Imagine how quickly we would have lost the lead if we were playing even a team like philly or the pacers.
Seattle/OKC 2006-2007 season 31-51 no playoff kevin Durant Drafted 2nd. Won ROY 2007-2008 season 20-62 no playoffs Russell Westbrook drafted 4th Serge Ibaka drafted 24th 2008-2009 Season 23-59 no playoffs James Harden drafted 3rd 2009-2010 Season 50-32 8th seed playoffs- out in first round. 2010-2011 Season 55-27 4th seed in playoffs – out in Conference Finals 2011-2012 Season 47-19 *strike shortened 2nd seed in playoffs – lost to Heat in Finals CAVS: 2010-2011 season 19-63 Kyrie Irving 1st. won ROY Tristan Thmpson drafted 4th 2011-2012 21-45 Drafted Dion Waiters 4th Tyler Zeller drafted 17th by Dallas Mavericks(*trade) 2012-2013 Season ??-??… Read more »
Nothing is “sign Delonte West” bad. Well, unless you want to get Gloria James a birthday present…. I KID!
The Thunder were also a 50 win 8th seed…in Durant’s third year. OKC had 8 first round picks from the 2007-10 drafts. They didn’t hit on all of them, but it improved their chances of finding a young core to build around KD. In 2010 they grabbed the 11th pick (Adrich) in a Morris Peterson cash dump from New Orleans by maintaining their cap flexibility. Like it or not this is the script and it’s the right course. They could turn into the Kings, but if Grant would have just added mediocre players to heavy contracts to fill out the… Read more »
OK, question – Our backup PG situation is bad. Is it “sign Delonte West” bad? I honestly can’t come to a decision.
And being in the lottery does not guarantee that you get a good player. You could draft wrong. Or you could draft right and the player gets hurt or never lives up to their potential. Like Jeff Phelps, three starters last night were top 4 draft picks in the last 2 drafts. If you trust CG’s drafting, then we don’t NEED another lottery pick. If you don’t trust his drafting, then why would you want to give him another crack at it again by blowing another season for the lottery?
We’ve had 4 picks in the top 20, I meant.
OKC started at the 8th seed. The approach you’re talking about turns you into the Sacramento Kings. Jeff Phelps just said the same thing on 92.3. They’ve HAD 4 picks in the top 20. At some point you have to start winning games. I’d rather not see the Cleveland Kings, a team that gets high draft picks year in and year out and never moves out of the basement. No thank you. They’ve played the lottery game. Enough is enough. You’ve got to start somewhere. And OKC started off as the 8th seed so if the OKC model is what… Read more »
D, I respectfully disagree. I would love for the Cavs to play well, be competitive, and for the young core to develop. And of course Byron Scott doesn’t game-plan for the lottery. He game-plans to win games. That’s the attitude every coach and player does and should take. But if I’m Chris Grant, if I’m trying to build a championship contender, if I’m taking the long view, I want the chance to add one more integral young player. And adding that one potentially integral young player is of far more value long term than making the playoffs and getting their… Read more »
Brian – there are problems with your (popular) theory that lottery pick > 8th seed. First of all, We aren’t bad enough to get a top 8 pick and a big difference maker, and there is not much difference in talent between the 9th pick and the 16th pick in most drafts. Second, we have to spend some serious money (like $15 million/yr at least) on somebody by this time next year, and if we have a playoff proven promising young core with only room for deeper playoff runs, that money will have a much better chance on being well… Read more »
Can’t believe nobody has commented on the coolest thing about this game that was reported. That Kyrie turned to Byron before going in to stop the bleeding after the Cavs squandered a 14 point lead and said, “Don’t worry about it coach. I got it.” I don’t know if we can fully appreciate the phenomenon this kid is already. His 29 were effortless and made it seem like he could have scored 40 easy if he’d wanted to. He’s a natural leader at age 20, without the “look at me” attitude that many NBA stars have today. LBJ may have… Read more »
“Miles seems to be ready to take the baton from Jameson, looking to shooting every time he touches the ball no matter how bad the shot.”
lol…maybe. But on the second unit, you do need someone who’ll take/make shots. Last night, things weren’t falling, but it was one game. Also, I’d like to see them let Zeller try to post up a few times.
@D:
Anyone who watched our bench play has to know this team is heading for the lottery. They won’t be able to maintain or build on leads, and that will really hurt us against better teams. Personally, I think a high lottery finish is in this team’s best interests because we need at least one more great prospect, and we probably won’t find it in free agency.
Regardless, I’m just happy that the starting line-up looks like it’ll be wildly entertaining this year.
Few things I’d like to see from the Cavs. Zeller needs more time (Walton got 3 less minutes?!?! REALLY?), he wasn’t too impressive yesterday, but his stats were ok and he knocked down the open jumpers. He needs to learn to bang for rebounds, watching Andy should help there. Gee should only ever dribble if given a clear lane to the hoop. He can finish, and you don’t want to take that away from him, but when his defender has position on him, he needs to pass the ball and not force things. Gibson should never dribble. Sloan and Walton… Read more »
Re: Waiters as backup PG. I think Scott wants to keep his minutes under 30 for awhile, and bring him along slowly with minimal pressure. If a decent chunk of his minutes start coming with Kyrie on the bench, he may struggle a bit. 50 games into the season, I think we will see Scott shift in that direction, but I can see why he is not doing it right now. They brought in CJ miles to be a third creator and to score off the bench. Scott wants to see if he can take that role. Seems reasonable for… Read more »
Thank you D, wholeheartedly agree. After the first game, the reminder of how good Varejoa is, Dion looking like a (and vastly outperforming a fellow) top 5 pick, and Kyrie starting his all star campsign off strong, to talk about lottery picks is nothing but defeatist, pessimistic, depressing, and just plain bad fandom. And I was stoked last night the most by Dions all around performance, Kyrie again showing the preseason means nothing, Andy proving to all you trade pushers that your not gonna get anything better than him, and THOMPSON CATCHING AND DUNKING WITHOUT HOLDING THE BALL AT HIS… Read more »
Brian – “Winning enough games this season to gain the No. 7 or No. 8 seed and lose in the playoffs’ first round does this franchise much less good than a season in which the young players develop but a lottery pick is gained with which they may gain another young, talented core player.” I see this mentality a lot, and it makes some sense. But you are forgetting a few things. This team is not bad enough to get a top 8 lottery odds without a terrible injury. Really, what is the difference between the 9th pick and the… Read more »
Brian – “Winning enough games this season to gain the No. 7 or No. 8 seed and lose in the playoffs’ first round does this franchise much less good than a season in which the young players develop but a lottery pick is gained with which they may gain another young, talented core player.” I see this mentality a lot, and it makes some sense. But you are forgetting a few things. This team is not bad enough to get a top 8 lottery odds without a terrible injury. Really, what is the difference between the 9th pick and the… Read more »
Dion impressed with his D. He played Beal close and made things difficult for him. He also was the one that broke the Wizards 14-0 run with a clutch 3. He had a little trouble finishing at the rim, but other than that, I don’t think you could ask for a better start. Gee had a rough night, but he looked unsure of himself. Like he doesn’t know his role in the offense. Seeing Walton surprised me a little. I wouldn’t have minded Casspi playing when things started to stall in the 4th. Just to see if he could hit… Read more »
Ben, I agree. I personally think they can get the 8th seed, but if they come close and just miss it, I can live with that. I just hate this loser lottery talk already
ALREADY talking about the lottery after the first freaking game is a losers mentality, no matter how you try to spin it. That’s not “realism”. That’s “defeatism”. Everything else being said to try and defend the idea of looking for the lottery after opening night is just b.s. You dont game plan for the freaking lottery. Not when you have a player the caliber of Kyrie and Andy (if he’s healthy) and now possibly Dion. You game plan for the playoffs. If you’re out of contention by the all star break THEN you start talking about the lottery. And don’t… Read more »
Agree with basically everything Kevin said. A few things: Dion played 28 minutes tonight. He needs to be around 35 minutes so he can be our backup PG. Kevin and I have said this basically everyday since Dion has been drafted. The guy is an absolute creator. Not only did his penetration lead to a few foul shots, he had a bunch of hockey assists. Sloan, is NOT an NBA rotation player, or in my opinion, an NBA player at all. How we could possible trot out a lineup that featured Sloan, Boobie, Miles, Luke, and Zeller, is beyond me.… Read more »
Don’t want Waiters running a second unit anytime soon. It would take away from his first unit play and, with one only game down, no one else looked capable of stepping up. Maybe if Miles starts to show something…
I don’t think hoping for a season of growth from our core young players but ends with enough losses to once again make the lottery is a loser’s mentality. It’s a smart, realist’s mentality. Winning enough games this season to gain the No. 7 or No. 8 seed and lose in the playoffs’ first round does this franchise much less good than a season in which the young players develop but a lottery pick is gained with which they may gain another young, talented core player. An early appearance in the playoffs would have robbed the Thunder of one of… Read more »
Losers mentality…I am a Cleveland sports fan. I’m used to being patient for the future. Following the Cavs growth this season will be much more enjoyable than the Browns or the Indians. They are going to struggle…REALLY. Durant lost 59 games his second year. I don’t expect that Cavs to lose that many. It’s part of the plan.
I for one want to suggest a like and dislike button for the comments(like Yahoo does, or even BSPN with the like buttons). That way we can like comments rather than just posting that we either agree or not without going into further detail, if we choose not to.
Who is with me?
@ Hot Sauce Am I the only one who never fully understood why Bradley Beal was so highly regarded? And I never got the comparisons to Ray Allen either. All I hear is “Oh, his shot looks just like Ray Allen’s” Well I can make my jump shot look like Ray Allen’s too but that doesn’t mean it’s going to go in. The only thing I liked about Beal was that he was a pretty good rebounder for a little guy. Fun fact: Dion Waiters actually shot better from the 3 in college (35% to 33%). Also when people say,… Read more »
3 steals for Waiters tonight. Great to see that translate to the pro game…
Kevin, please retire or at least use very sparingly the +/- metric, eh? Cuz Gee had a +14 tonight ad anyone who watched him tonight knows he was pretty damn horrible…
I sooooooo want to tell people to kiss mine, yours and Dion azz after his performance tonight but I will -nay- MUST resist…
Kj,
Plus/minus is definitely a “noisy” stat; relatively useless is small samples. I will probably keep using it though, when it tells the story I want it to (Kyrie was great, second-unit was bad). I will leave it out when it appears “noisy” (like Gee +14).
If I had said, ‘hey guys, Gee was better than what you saw…look at the +/-!!”, then that would be stupid and you can freely roast me for it.
On comment on Defense: Waiters is not perfect, but the dude has an intensity to his man-to-man D that is promising. He is already better man-to-man than Kyrie. His D was a nice surprise.
I loved Beal pre-draft, but I don’t think I saw him attack or create once. He was just shooting J’s. Odd, given that his team needs a creator with Wall out.
Andy is flat out insane. 21 rebounds in 3 quarters. He’s the reason they won. As far as I’m concerned I wouldn’t trade him for anything other than a lottery pick PLUS assets. And I know there are 0 gms that would do that. So, keep him. Let him retire here and go up in the rafters.
I was watching this game for a few things: how is waiters going to approach (not necessarily execute) NBA competition and how are the Cavs going to initiate offense when Irving sits. The good news: wow, I LOVED what I saw from Waiters. Played like he belonged. Attacked, didn’t hesitate, made some aggressive plays, and looked for his shot but had a good shot selection. Even if that jumper is a little off-balance and he takes time to learn defense – he looks like he’s gonna be a force. He REALLY did remind me of rookie D Wade, and I… Read more »
CJ miles can’t be that bad regularly. If he plays better and you get Walton out of there, the 2nd unit is more respectable. I have never been a fan of Gee. Would rather see Casspi get minutes.
Waiters looked impressive. I actually think he is naturally a better passer than Irving. Great vision when he penetrates. He will still have off nights, but you can see the vision Scott has with he and Irving just breaking people down left and right,
TT was solid. Love the new physique. Much stronger. Evidence of his work ethic.
Already the lottery talk? That disgusts me. What a loser mentality. Let them play the damn game. Yes they beat the Wizards, but they’re supposed to beat the Wizards. In order to be a good team, u gotta beat the teams you’re supposed to beat. Let the team play the game first. Stop the freakin lottery talk. Losers do that.
Their core of Irving, Andy, Waiters and Thompson were phenomenal. The second unit is probably the worst in the league…Bobcats included. One more season of 50+ loses (and lotto magic) and this team will make the leap next season. It should be an exciting year to watch them percolate.