Being a Cavalier fan over the last few years has been not unlike being trapped in the back of a garbage truck as the steel compacting mechanism repeatedly crushes your body until it’s a flesh bag for bone dust. It’s like Hell, but with wind chill. So you’ll excuse me while I celebrate this November Cavalier victory by filling my apartment with gleeful obscenities and fixing myself a beverage I like to call “victory juice.” (High Life with a lime wedge because I’m an aristocrat. When the Cavs lose, I call this beverage “High Life with a lime wedge.”) We fell down the Dion Waiters Insane Overconfidence K-Hole tonight, and we’re alive in its thrall. Or at least the steel compacting mechanism is momentarily stuck. Let us recap:
–Dion Waiters’s favorite rapper is the apocalypse. He was out of his mind, draining a bunch of stupid shots with aplomb. He attempted 11 three-pointers—the majority of which were contested—and sank seven of them. At one point in the third quarter, he nailed three straight threes he had no business taking. Then he transformed into a falcon, grabbed a flare gun, and skywrote “Saint Weirdo” in orange smoke. His mind went blank except for the color fuchsia with 4:10 left in the fourth, such was the intensity of his hallucinatory state, and he proceeded to knock down a pair of threes while literally having no idea who he was or what basketball is.
–Kyrie Irving wasn’t on Waiters’s level in that he wasn’t bombed out on his own fearlessness, channeling Sun Ra with his jump shot. He had trouble finishing around the rim in the second half (DeAndre Jordan blocked a lot of his layup attempts) but was otherwise spectacular. The bulk of his points came in the first quarter, when he burned through Chris Paul and the Clips’ interior defense early, then stroked three consecutive triples to close out the period. The final line on Irving: 24 points, 10 assists, three turnovers, and a three-pointer with 28 seconds to go that iced the game.
–Tyler Zeller—before getting popped in the face by an inadvertent DeAndre Jordan elbow (x-rays negative)—had a great game. The major concern I’ve had about Zeller is that he isn’t going to be able to handle the physicality of the NBA—that he’s going to prove too waifish and not quite aggressive enough to defend and rebound adequately. He acquitted himself well against the most athletic front line in the league (and, admittedly, scrubs like Ronny Turiaf and Ryan Hollins), grabbing seven boards and playing adequate defense. He even bothered a few driving layups with his length when he came over to help from the weak side. On offense, he accumulated 15 points by running the floor and knocking down the odd open jumper. His best game as a pro.
–Byron Scott put Alonzo Gee on Chris Paul nearly every time they were on the floor against one another. Trill AG did a fine job; he isn’t quick enough to get right up in CP’s face, but he moved his feet and funneled Paul toward help when necessary. He even caused a few bad passes and deflections with his length. I don’t know if Scott was blowing smoke or if he’s a bit deluded by his affection for Gee when he recently said that Gee is “one of the best defensive players in the league,” but it appears—regardless of the gap in defensive prowess between Gee and, say, a truly elite stopper like Tony Allen—Scott will assign him to the other team’s best perimeter player because he believes Gee is up to the challenge. I like this, by the way. Even though he’s not Andre Iguodala, Gee is a good athlete and understands angles well enough to curb the effectiveness of most players he’s assigned. I can see Gee buying into this role as the Cavalier who checks all-star guards and wings. Now, if only we could tweak that jumper…
-Speaking of coaching decisions, I wonder exactly what Scott is doing when he has Boobie Gibson run the offense, even for the odd play here or there. I know he wants to give Irving some opportunities to play off the ball and that Donald Sloan is less than competent in his role as backup point guard, but Boobie should never touch the ball unless he’s immediately swinging it to a teammate or stepping into a jumper. One of the flaws in his offensive game was exposed in the first quarter when he caught the ball on the left wing, took a couple dribbles, and was promptly blocked by a lunging Clipper defender. Boobie lacks the quickness and ballhandling skills to create his own shot with any consistency. He’s a terrific spot-up shooter, but giving him the ball at the top of the key or on the wing and asking him to create something is almost always going to end in tears.
–Let’s not talk about Tristan Thompson. Today is not a day for two negative bullet points. Let’s not bring discontent into what is a mostly jubilant home.
–Ryan Hollins had two points, five rebounds, two turnovers, and no flagrant fouls in which he threw his big stupid body into another player in a way that ostensibly defied the laws of physics. Also his best game as a pro.
The Cavs travel to Golden State on Wednesday to take on the Warriors. Until tomorrow, friends.
Nice mention of Sun Ra though I’m not sure the reference was apt. But to point that out would be churlish, so I won’t. And TT was fine. 8 boards and pretty good defense.
And vindication is sweet vis-a-vis Dion. He showed no fear even when Paul tried to pressure him late in the game. Onions…
One of the funniest games for Cavs fans for some time. Love seeing Waiters and Kyrie laugh it up on the court together. Zeller and TT did well for stretches. Good complements for one another.
***meant funnest***
Go Cavs.. Ill be at the game on Friday night vs the Suns.. trying to locate a Waiters uni between then and now.
HAHA I hear you, it’s pretty awesome. I also think it’s important that a few more weeks like this we may be facing a world in which Anderson Varejao is averaging 15, 15, and 3, how unbelievably awesome would that be?
It broke my soul that I had to work tonight and couldn’t sit in section 101 row 1 for $52 (ebay!?!?!?!). I’m making the drive up the PCH for the Warriors game Wednesday though….
Waiters was amazing and has easily been the third best rookie out of this class. David Thorpe and all of the other hacks at the worldwide fluff machine can eat some crow. He dominated with his irrational Gary Payton shit talk confidence. He was spectacular.
Irving outplayed Paul. Irving probably will never be a better distributor than Paul, but he’s already nearing being as good of a player.
I’ve been pro trading Andy for years, but I really don’t think they could get a fair trade for him. He could win a title for championship pretender. If Andy was on the Clipps I’d like them out of the West even with the Vinny D handcuff.
Most of my NBA hoophead friends in LA are Clips fans and it was a sober reality to them tonight that their team has lost at home to two lottery teams over the past two games. Looking forward to seeing Waiters outplay Barnes Wednesday.
PS Celebrating the win with a Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold.
Nice, Cory. I’m in Cbus for the week and all I’ve been doing is enjoying Ohio craft beer (and Three Floyds last night!!!)
That game last night was beautiful. The pacing was all Cleveland – fast, smooth, fearless. My better judgement tells me to worry about Neon Dion’s shot-happiness, but we won, and it was extremely fun to watch, so I’m going to ignore that little nagging voice and just be glad we’re finally decent. I suspect we’ll become a lot of people’s league pass team really soon. That’s a first in the Kyrie era, and something I’m very, very ok with
No love for Varejão’s 15 points, 15 rebounds?
Maybe Wild Thing has spoiled us, but he’s playing like an All-Star on both ends of the floor.
Varejao hit a bunch of mid-range jumpers in the 4th too. he did everything
Varejao’s crazy drive and circus shot to end the first half had me jumping out of my chair
Nice win, but I’m still not totally sold on Dion. 21 of his 28 points came from 3′s, how often is that going to happen? If he’s so confident, then he needs to start figuring out how to drive to the hole and draw fouls.
Hard to say who had the most impressive night. Most everyone played well. Nice job by the 2nd unit for being able to maintain the lead the starters handed them.
Mallory, I wouldn’t concern yourself too much with Dion’s shot happiness yet. After all, he’s there to score and lighten the load for Kyrie.
I’m super impressed with Tyler Zeller. The guy had 15 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes. When he gets starter minutes I could easily see him averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds. You just don’t find 7 footers that skilled who can shoot the 18 footer, run the floor, and understand angles on pick and rolls like him.
@Mallory
I think the main reason Waiters kept shooting was because he kept making the shots. He hasn’t been nearly that three-happy in any other game, so it stands to reckon he realized he had the hot hand and decided to keep heat-checking. He was basically NBA Jam style “on fire” last night, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Clippers had to replace the nets after the game.
I don’t follow this whole narrative of Dion as an “irrational confidence” guy. He seems perfectly rational to me. Last night he was hot, so he took a lot of shots. On the nights when he hasn’t een hot, he hasn’t taken a lot of shots. I am impressed by how selective and patient he is. He doesn’t force things, defers to teammates, and picks his spots. Yes, when his J is hot, he will confidently shoot it, but that strikes me as perfectly rational. Lovin’ Waiters right now. Still a lot to learn, but boy does his bring it.
CJ Miles seems more like an “irrational confidence” guy. He just shoots high volume regardless of situation
@Brickman – I missed your comment. I agree. And my comment is a bit redundant after yours.
Great recap, Colin.
http://www.nba.com/video/games/clippers/2012/11/05/0021200049-cle-lac-recap.nba There’s some video highlights for your viewing pleasure. Play of the night? Andy Crosses over for the scoop layup buzzer beater at the end of the half. Also, http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/video/game-highlights-cavs-clippers-115
These highlights don’t even include one of the mist ridiculous 2nd half KI highlights: Uncle Drew takes the inbound off a Clipper make, turns on the jets at midcourt, and weaves through every single Clipper to score a basket on a possession that had to be less than 4 seconds.
As for Boobie handling the rock, I don’t think it’s THAT bad. Bledsoe is possibly the best “on the ball” guard defender in the NBA right now. He is HARD to get into an offense against. Boobie and Sloan got schooled a couple times, but weren’t completely awful. They’re not going to be playing Bledsoe every night. I’ve had about enough talk of who is the “point guard” when it’s become obvious to me that the Cavs are running a two point guard offense. Either guard can bring up the ball and put the team into its sets. If that’s what they’re going to do, I’m ok with it. I can live with some Gibson mistakes when I see him make some decent plays and the Cavs have a coherent offense. I cannot live with Luke Walton, point forward.
Loved Zeller last night. ZPA had a couple blocks that won’t go down in the books because they were on and-1 attempts. His jumper actually looked pretty shakey, and he was bad at the line. When he starts hitting the 18 footers with regularity, and gets some bulk he could be a very solid player who can play either big man spot. He had a ridiculous catch and layin from Kyrie at full stride on a sprint to the rim that would make Ben Watson proud. He had some nice passing, especially a really nice skip pass from the left wing to the right corner that Boobie should’ve canned. He is a very competent 3rd big 4 games into his rookie season. Also, the KI, St. W, 3G, AV, ZPA lineup is our best offensive unit. They are REALLY hard to guard.
Really nice passing in general last night, though the Cavs have to cut down the turnovers.
I’m starting to think that we got a steal in Gee. Though his defense isn’t quite as great as B. Scott makes it out to be, as a fourth option, he’s perfect. He can slash, shoot corner threes, defend, rebound, and post up smaller players. Scott’s words are probably to help Gee “buy in” to an identity the team needs. It’s good motivation.
Miles had a couple absolute bailout 3s that helped the Cavs stay ahead, had some nice slashes and played decent defense. Samardo had a perfect 4 minutes that included a bailout jumper.
Anderson Varejao has a PER just over 19. If there’s ever been a player who always plays above his PER, it’s Andy.
TT is a mixed bag. He may just have to embrace his inner Ben Wallace.
I love this team. Last night’s game was the best the team has looked since LeVoldemort left.
Oh, and does anyone notice? The Cavs have a big three… Just sayin.
Almost didn’t watch the game because I witnessed the blowout the other day, and was still highly disappointed. Tuned in during the 2nd quarter and never changed the channel. This game was awesome, and it wasn’t because the Clippers played horrible, but because the Cavs played real well. Their overall shooting % left something to be desired, but hey, a win is a win. I can say I cringed more than a few times, on Dion’s 3ball selection, then quickly followed those cringes by cheers. He was shooting the lights out. That gives me a lot of hope to his abilities and how good he can be. I don’t expect his 3% to be that high on the regular or anything, but he knew he was hot, so didn’t shy away from taking the shots. He def won that game last night, by matching 3s from the Clips that could have put them in position to win.
TT may not have been getting points, but that isn’t what basketball is all about. You need to stop the other team from scoring as well, and he did that with good D.
Zeller continues to impress me. He might not be a D12 type of guy, but his consistency is shinning through to be a double double a night guy.
Wild Thing…. I feel everyone forgot how good he was before he got hurt last year. If he keeps this up and fails to make the All Star game, I may lose all hope in the intelligence of NBA fans across the nation.
The bench……. Outside of Zeller….. Man they look like DLeague rejects. I did love CJ making that long 3 bomb, but I hated that he took it.
LET GO CAVS
Oh, and Andy had a totally casual 15 & 15 on 7/10 shooting with 3 steals, a block, and just one turnover. He still has a very legitimate claim to MVP of this squad.
What a joy it was to watch!!! They just clicked!! All of them!! Man I thought I had to pinch myself when seeing Waiters drain 7 3 pointers!! INSANE!!! I hope we can see this regularly. Do we dare dream??? Of course Wild THing is our rock!! Hope Zellar is okay. Haven’t heard anything yet?
@ Hot Sauce, again, I agree with you completely. Dion’s basketball maturity is freaky. And to think many questioned that very aspect of his game…
Here is the bing with waiters. Lots of people compare him to Wade in that his best attribute is attacking the rim and he is a freakish athlete. You are correct Mallory in saying he won’t be able to rest on his three-point prowess, but in the transition from the college game to the NBA he is actually going about this perfectly. The further three point line means more room for him to attack, but defenders are much stronger, faster and more athletic here, especially wings. For him to go to work the way wade does, he has to rely on his transition game and prove he can hit his jumper consistently. Once guys have to play up on him to protect against the J, he will have more space to work with and can attack better.
No his jumper will not be his main source of points, but working on that at this time will make him more effective than trying to attack while Wong defenders lay off him from deep. That is why the heat have stacked Thor roster with perimeter guys. They have to space the floor for LeBron and Wade to invade. That’s also the reason they are terrifying this year.
@mallory I’m damn near out of my Los Angeles Great Lakes stock. Having some Christmas Ale Fed Ex’ed to me this week. Hope to have plenty of Pliny the Elder while I’m up in San Fran.