Cavaliers Fail to Execute Again
2012-12-18
Let's go Cavs, right?
Toronto 113
Cleveland 99
Well, tonight was more of the same: Cavs play well for much of game, then give it away in the 4th. The Cavs started out like gangbusters, and played well for a while. But the Raptors matched them most of the way, and Alan Anderson (who?) came up with enough big plays for Toronto to pull it out. The Cavs featured some truly horrendous defense in this one, especially down the stretch.
Highlights:
– Even though they weren’t really matched up for most of the game, Tristan Thompson actually kind of outplayed Jonas Valanciunas. This made me very happy. Tristan was active as usual on the boards, grabbing seven offensive big ones. Even better, he shot 5-8 from the field for an efficient 10 points. It was nice to see TT playing so well against Valanciunas (looked like he was playing JV!), although the Lithuanian still showed great off-the-ball movement and a real ability to run on the break.
– Kyrie Irving is an otherworldly offensive talent, in case you forgot. 9-16 from the field for 23 points and 7 assists. He carved up the Toronto defense, and was the only reason we didn’t end the game down by 25.
– C.J. Miles continues to shoot well and play well. He has a ton of confidence right now and is looking great. Pretty much all the bench guys played well tonight, actually. Miles, Boobie, Zeller…hell, even Luke Walton threw a sick assist.
– Anderson Varejao took a big spill tonight, but got back up and had another all-star performance. 22 and 10. #VoteAndy.
– Dion Waiters had a solid first game back. He didn’t shoot particularly well from the field, but distributed the ball well and played in control. I know some people think C.J. Miles should’ve gotten the nod, but I’m glad Byron Scott started Dion. It’s always good to keep your rooks confident, and he had one hell of a dunk on a feed from Gee.
Lowlights:
– Team defense, or lack thereof. The defensive effort here was pathetic, in short. In long, the Cavs didn’t close out on shooters, didn’t box anyone out, and consistently got confused on switches and traps, leading to several wide-open layups. There were two especially egregious plays in the fourth, back to back. Both times, Andy doubled a ball handler with Kyrie on the perimeter, leading to an easy pass to Amir Johnson in the high post, and then an easier past to a Raptor under the hoop for a layup. It was disappointing, to say the least, to see Andy mess up two plays in a row.
– A lot of people will be castigating Kyrie Irving for his defensive performance against Toronto, especially against Jose Calderon, who dropped a wildly efficient 23. But while I’ve never been one to try to defend Kyrie’s defensive effort, I didn’t think he was all that bad tonight. Calderon has been scorching recently, and playing well against everyone. Kyrie tried the whole game, at least, and I loved his tight man coverage in the last minute and a half, when the game was well out of reach. It was a little too late, but I appreciate that kind of stuff.
– Alan Anderson straight lit us up, and I’m still not sure how. It’s tempting to go ahead and blame it on the guys defending him (Gee and Waiters, mostly), but he simply played out of his mind. 5-7 on three pointers? Come on. Also, I cannot stand how John Lucas plays basketball. He’s a less fun Nate Robinson: a more dirty player who can’t jump as high. Also, 6-7 shooting for Amir Johnson, for 17 points with 6 boards and 5 assists? You know you’re in trouble when Amir Johnson is putting up Aaron Afflalo stat lines.
– Byron Scott’s rotations continue to amaze and befuddle me. Mostly, his insistence on keeping Kyrie out of the first five or so minutes of the 4th quarter, no matter the game situation. I’m not going to advocate for playing our point guard 45 minutes a game, but there are ways to stagger the minutes of our best player so that he’s in when we need him. Recently a recurring phenomenon has cropped up. It’s a close game into the 4th, Kyrie isn’t out there, the Cavs go down by 12, and we rely on Kyrie heroics. It just simply is not a winning formula.
Final:
The Cavs shot 51% from the field, 44% from three, and lost. That’s called awful defense, folks. It’s another loss, but hey- tonight was a good time. I think Kyrie’s better with a mask.
@TV63
Swearing really isn’t that common on FTS. What’s your specific complaint?
There is actually alot of good insight here from everyone. All they do is swear at everyone on “Fear the sword” blog . Alot of talk here about TT. I thought he held his own against Boston taking Andy’s spot on defense. Agree with Nate Smith on wishing Scott would adjust his rotation to the here and now of the game. But i would like to see Scott give Pargo another chance. Her had several games he had 16 plus points (high 28) and Sloan has never come close to that. It would make a huge difference in close games.
Guys I thought that CJ played an awful game except shooting. Turnovers, terrible rotations, failed to boxout numerous times costing us 2 rebounds in the final minutes, his man defense was poor as well. In the final period him and Zeller I thought were the two worst.
Lots of Kyrie love: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=8763683
Argh. Have to disagree, Dani. K.I. spent the first half of the game not trying on defense. No-D Kyrie was back, trailing pick and roll plays by ten feet, guarding no one. He has to be the worst pick and roll defender in the NBA at the guard spot. Also, he plays lazy passing lane defense, instead of staying on his man and denying him the ball. He cheats WAY too much. Gee was horrifically bad on DeRozan: absolutely getting smoked on simple drives where he wasn’t guarding DeMar on his strong side. I knew the game was over when… Read more »
The Cavs’ Offensive Rating was 116 pts/100 possessions in this game, which is pretty great.
Their Defensive Rating was 132 pts/100 possessions. I’m not sure who to blame. Kyrie seems ok man-man but he gets totally demolished by most screens.
Thank you for pointing out how comically bad the Toronto announce team was, especially the nimrod color guy who couldn’t pronounce anyone’s name right. He also pointed out that “Gee is not a very effective one-on-one defender” a couple of times and I wanted to snap (although Gee wasn’t very Gee-like on D last night). If you’re blessed enough to get paid to watch/analyze basketball for a living, take the job seriously and do some homework before you make asinine statements.
B-Ry,
You mean it’s not Vare-jay-ow?
TV63 –
The problem with Pargo is he’s incredibly streak – some games he drives effectively and it opens up his jumper, sometimes he just steps back and lets the shot fly – my guess is Scott is trying to go with the more consistent guy.
Whether or not that’s the right choice is the question
Games like this are why you need a skilled vet or two off the bench – someone who can be consistent when youngsters lose their head. Someone who can refocus a team. I don’t even mean this for winning’s sake, more to instill habitual effort.
Agree with Fighting Dreamer. I too was rooting for TT to come back in. Varejao was clearly hurt and needed help with the big men on defense and getting more rebounds. If you see TT close up in the games; he’s a hell of a fighter on defense. He doesn’t back down and our defense was lacking. But who do you take out? MIle, Gee or Waiters? Agree on Casspi and Pargo. we desperately needed a bench last night. I seriously do not understand Scott’s attitude against Pargo now benched for 4 games. You got to get over disappointments and… Read more »
This might have been the most disappointing loss of the year. The Cavs were fairly rested, at home, and against a team they could beat. I would love to see a time out called once in a while when the other team goes on a run.
Mike, I agree with you, except I don’t know that the team is fairly rested. That won’t happen until after Saturday. THis was still a 5th game in eight nights for a team whom only two NBA squads have played more games. Dani, I think your post is too POSITIVE. You were at the game, right? The at-game experience was probably more fun than the on-couch experience. Like Mike said, I thought this was a depressing loss. All the Cavs starters were healthy. It was at home. Toronto was missing Bargnani and Kyle Lowry, arguably their two best players. And… Read more »
DRIBBLING…dribbling….firing fadeaways from 26 feet… = bad basketball. In fact, it was terrible basketball. S87tiwst is exactly right when he notes that. Dreamer is right when he asks for Pargo & Casspi, but Samardo should have also played. The Rappers are a dirty, unskilled team who beat us up in this game, and we did not fight back. Pargo, Ommri, & Samuels might have put up a fight like Tristan & Andy did. You got to make the defense move! Lebron James dribbling, dribbling, dribbling & nobody moving…Deja Vu! You cannot consistently win unless you move the ball and the… Read more »
I also had a good time with toronto guys…although i couldn’t believe how one of them pronounced andy’s last name.
Ugh. The rotations are messy. But I actually didn’t mind Kyrie sitting that much at the beginning of the fourth. The Cavs defense is really what bothered me. Especially the hero line-up at the end of the game featuring Varejao, Miles, Gee, Waiters, and Irving. I’ve never seen such a unit be so incompetent at both interior and perimeter defense. I’ve never rooted so much for Tristan Thompson to be put in the game. I also want to see more of Casspi and maybe some Pargo at times for crying out loud. I think Casspi’s floor stretching would’ve helped our… Read more »
Way to note the Luke Walton assist. If we’re going to play someone terrible at least twice a game (a la pargo/sloan/walton), I’d rather it be Walton only because he moves the ball without dribbling…something our offense needs a jolt of. The Kyrie sitting until we’re way down in the 4th is a disturbing trend. Gunning for a lottery pick is nice, but phoning it in to build losing into the brains of all these young guys is borderline sinful. Kyrie can play 45 minutes every once in a while. Doesn’t it seem as though his stat line would look… Read more »