Starting Five Decided
2012-10-29
Byron Scott decided the starting five today. Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters in the backcourt, Alonzo Gee at small forward, and Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao in the frontcourt. Not really a big surprise- Byron clearly decided to play it safe. I think if Gee struggles in a starting role, we could see C.J. Miles or Omri Casspi grabbing a game here and there as the starting small forward. Here’s the link.
On pace for 82 wins, baby. Let’s GO
UNDEFEATED! Let’s just end the season now.
Am i the only one who thinks that Byron waits too long to put back his starters in the 4th?
End of 3rd quarter. Wild Thing has how many rebounds???? 21!!!! Put that with his 7 assists and 2 blocks…. Now tell me again why everyone wants to get rid of him????
So I only caught the last 5min of the 1st half so far. Dion and Irving on court with Dion playing point…. Don’t like the idea of Dion running the floor, especially with Kyrie out there at the same time….
Preach it, KyrieSwIrving!!!
Cols714, because Andy is a great veteran player, who at 30 years old, will still be good in 3 or 4 years when we should be competing. Because Andy is an underpaid veteran in CLEVELAND! If you are going to compete for championships in a small market, OKC just showed us you need to have guys willing to take less, and Andy is the only guy I can think of in recent history to show that love for Cleveland. And because name me one good deal out there that gets anything close to face value for Andy? If we trade… Read more »
I’m guessing about 35 wins for the team as a high mark. They can easily come in under 30.
I hoping they manage to get something good when/if they trade Andy. I just don’t see why they would keep him.
Having Leuer or Zeller in the starting 5 would make sense. Either one can space the floor.
Gee, TT and Andy on the frontline is just dumb. Not even spacing for either Dion or Kyrie to work a good P&R with Andy. Miles and Zeller for Dion and TT would be ideal.
Here’s to a 35-win season!
Byron has said that it will take the first dozen or so games until he feels comfortable with any particular starting line-up and rotation. Dion starting actually surprises me a bit, I though that Miles would start at the 2 and Gee (or Casspi) start at the 3. It will be intersting to see who comes of the bench for whom and how early. For example I wonder if Zeller will come at C and have TT sit while Andy moves over to PF. Or, if Dion gets to a slow start, who comes in for him (Miles or Boobie)?… Read more »
Still hoping that Casspi doesn’t get buried on the bench. He played really well in pre-season, and I hope it carries over. I also thought Gee was better off the bench, so who knows. I would consider the rotation very much in flux outside of Andy, TT, and Kyrie.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure Kyrie was a starter.
@Dan:
Kyrie started on opening night. Not sure what game you were watching.
I wouldn’t get too caught up in the first matchup of Dion vs Any Other Guy They Could Have Picked. Remember Melo-Lebron #1(Lebron had under 10), or Kyrie-Knight #1 (Knight had 23, Irving had 7).
Cleveland didn’t revolt when Kyrie Irving, their #1 pick, didn’t start, why would they care if their #4 pick didn’t start?
Well, I think it’s safe because Cleveland would revolt if waiters didn’t get the start.
It’s just opening nights lineup. I’m looking forward to the Waiters/Beal matchup in a meaningful game. Cavs win, but they might only win three of their first 10 games.
My god, I hope Dion goes off for 30 in a game in the first week so we can stop people from saying “he struggled in the preseason!” I would also say I saw steady improvement in the pre-season from him and Scott said the same thing in the paper today…
Why do you consider starting Dion Waiters to be “safe?” He struggled in that role in the preseason. Having come off the bench may have lit a fire under him.
I think if you put Miles in the starting lineup, there’s no one who can create his own shot in the second unit. Miles is at least something of a playmaker, who should be able to make defenses react to him, opening up space for Leuer, Zeller, and Boobie to hit their shots.
Slightly surprised Gee got the nod over Miles but other than that, looks like a decent line-up!