The Cavaliers were decimated by the Nets Wednesday night.
The Cavaliers are not a very good basketball team. The Cavs lack in star talent and depth at nearly every position other than point guard, and the remarkable Herculoids have faded down the stretch. However, no NBA team should lose games as badly as the Cavs did last night. The final deficit was only 18, but anyone who watched the game would tell you that the game was much worse than that number would indicate. The Nets led by around 30 for much of the “contest,” and the action consisted mostly of wide-open jumpers, the monotony occasionally broken by free throw attempts for Brooklyn. I’ll keep the game action recap brief.
First Half:
The Nets outscore the Cavaliers by eight in the first quarter. Marshon Brooks makes it clear that he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for Andre Toney’s jumper. Deron Williams also plays well. As the second quarter starts, the slaughter begins. Seven minutes into the quarter the deficit is 17, soulless Marshon continues to dominate, and Jerry Stackhouse dunks all over the Cavaliers. By the way, he’s 38. Deron Williams scores 11 in the last three minutes of the second, and the Cavs trail by 30 at the half. BKN 66, CLE 36.
Second Half:
The third quarter starts out a little bit better, thank God(s?). Kyrie dishes a few assists, devilish Brooks finally misses a few shots, and with 7:50 left in the quarter the Cavaliers have battled back to within 27. Brooklyn hurriedly calls a timeout, as the panicked Nets snipe at each other about defensive rotations and missed shots. The young Cavs snarl, smelling blood. The chase is on. Unfortunately, at the end of the third the lead remains 27. The fourth quarter is the definition of bad basketball. Tornike Shengelia (That’s a real person, I promise), Mirza Teletovic (Didn’t the Cavs look into signing this guy?), Chris “Funny Ears” Quinn, and Omri “Am I Even On This Team Anymore?” Casspi all make appearances. Final Score: BKN 113, CLE 95.
The pervading storyline from this game will be Byron Scott’s future, or lack thereof, with the Cavaliers. Losses are expected, accepted and perhaps beneficial this late in the season. However, no one wants to see the Cavs get run out of their own gym, and home losses this bad usually come back to the coach. After the game, Scott said “The energy, the effort wasn’t there — for whatever reason.” I agree with him– Cleveland looked flat and uninspired all night. But whose fault is that, if not the coach’s? Byron Scott may be on the way out of Cleveland. As he said regarding his job, “Whatever happens, happens.” If that’s how Scott feels, than he should by all means allow the Cavs to keep losing like they did tonight. But if he has any interest in coaching Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson in the playoffs next year, he’d better make some adjustments.
Tags: byron scott, Kyrie Irving, Marshon Brooks, Tristan Thompson
I don’t know nor do I care. 42 games is not enough time to make any rash judgments about whether or not the two can play together and whether or not the coach can fix any issues that might exist between them.
what do you mean?
So then not only can I not trust what guys like Kyrie and Tristan say about Scott, but I also can’t trust what my eyes tell me about Dion and Thompson?
See, Mallory, what you want everyone else to do is get into panic mode with you. Fire the coach, hate the draft picks, sign Danny Granger in the off-season! Just not going to happen. I think you are categorically wrong on this and I believe it will be proven next season.
“It’s awful how the authors of this blog continue with the theme “all is lost, the team is on the wrong track”
Totally, agree with you, $. You too, Rich. You too, cols. I agree with anyone that agrees with any combination of them. If you agree with $ and Rich, I agree with you. Wholeheartedly. If you agree with Rich and cols, I most certainly agree with what you are saying. If you agree with cols and Rich (the reverse order) you might be surprised to find……that I agree with you!
This blog is so negative all the time – again, agreed, $. You guys should all write for this blog. I agree that you guys should all write for this blog. I also agree that there are so many positive blog outlets for our beloved Cleveland Cavaliers. Why does this blog’s theme have to be negative? I don’t agree with that.
-“Tristan Thompson is a finalist for the J. Walter Kennedy Award “given annually by the Pro Basketball Writers Association to the player, coach or trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.” Go on, Tristan.” [April 2]
-“The Cavs fought pretty hard considering how decimated they were with injuries and that TT (cut above eye) and TZ (foul trouble) weren’t available for much of the night.” [April 1, 2013]
-“The Cavs are severely undermanned and are giving a commendable effort in this month of March Sadness.” [March 29]
-“He [Waiters] has been resilient this year, and quieted concerns about his character and coachability.” [March 29]
-“Tyler Zeller Looked really sharp in this one.” [March 27]
-“But the success of this group served as one of the more unique stories of the Cavalier season. And while the story received frequent recap coverage, we at Cavs: the Blog felt a more thorough memorialization was due.” [March 25]
-“Tristan finished with 8 and 8 in 25 minutes. That was pretty cool.” [March 22]
-“I definitely want to see the 2013 – 2014 season start with TZ getting solid rotation minutes and a chance to prove himself. He hit a wall this season, and hopefully returns next season stronger and refreshed.” [March 22]
-“The Cavs played some pretty high level basketball for most of this game: lots of tight cuts, backdoor passes, enjoyable unselfish basketball, and active, if-not-quite-effective, defense. I really enjoyed watching this game.” [March 16]
-“There’s no sense getting overly down on the Cavs’ starters.” [March 16]
-“Recap: Dallas 96, Cleveland 86 (or it’s hard to get too upset about this one)” [March 15]
-“But given all the jockeying for position at the bottom of the league standings, I doubt the brain trust at the Q is calling for Byron’s head.” [March 15]
-“Much respect to Byron Scott. He got his young team to respond tonight. He yanked Thompson and Waiters way before their normal exit routine and they responded with a vengeance. Dion got to the line 14 times, and assumed the role of primary scorer in the 4th quarter. Tristan was in full beast mode during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. He finished with 13 and 14 on only 8 shots and grabbed 6 offensive boards. At least 3 of those he had no business getting – they were essentially steals. Gotta give Byron credit for that ballsy move. His starters could have sulked – and they did the opposite.” [March 12 – the last time the Cavs won]
-“Nice balanced attack on offensive for the Cavs. The ball didn’t stick tonight. There weren’t any dribbling fests either. Six Cavaliers dished out at least 3 assists. That’s really awesome.” [March 12]
-“In the post-game interview, Dion seemed kinda pissed that the Cavs started off so poorly. He said he respected what Coach Scott did (the benching) and that he knew how he had to respond. I really loved when he said this with a scowl on his face: “We can’t come out and play nonchalant. We’re not good enough to get away with that.” Good attitude, Dion. And good win.” [March 12]
I can’t remember what Cavs blogs these came from, but they provided a nice perspective on the 9 game losing streak. You won’t find that here. I agree, though, that we should all keep agreeing with each other about how disagreeably negative this blog is.
Rich –
I want NO approach that puts all the eggs into a single basket. From the start I think building a team entirely around the draft was a horrible idea. Unless the Cavaliers win a championship with only the guys they drafted, I’ll continue to believe that. I’m not advocating irresponsible spending, I’m advocating a diverse team of youth, vets, and depth. Currently, and for the last three years, that’s been missing.
It’s clear that Grant and Gilbert want to take this approach and will live (and die) by it, but that doesn’t mean it’s the smartest way to do it. Jason Lloyd from the ABJ was just on ESPN radio and commented that there’s a VERY high likelihood (his phrasing, not mine) this does not work out. But regardless, this organization is determined to ride it out because they think it’s the best way to go.
I strongly disagree with the assessment that this is the best way to go, largely because there’s never been indication that a ton of losing works. Just because you saw TT have a good game, and Dion played well for a stretch does not a championship contender make.
I understand the patience approach, I really do, but how in the world can you not look at this season and feel disappointed? Who cares what the reasons are – the Cavs are terrible. Yesterday was virtually unwatchable – do you really think Dion Waiters would’ve changed that?
I’ve said this a ton already today, but I’m going to say it one more time – as a fan of this team, don’t you want to see tangible improvements?
Ctown –
My point was I’d expect Kyrie to say Scott is the greatest – he’s a good kid who’s done a good job of dilly dallying around had answers. But even his responses are no longer glowing.
Look, I’ll end it with this.
This roster was designed to lose at the start of the year. You go into a season with Donald Sloan as your back-up PG and your back-up PF is a mix of Luke Walton and Samardo Samuels, you’re trying to lose games.
In the middle of the year, the FO made a trade, not to win, but to acquire another draft pick. It resulted in a more competent bench. We were a .500 team. Then two of our three best players got hurt, with our second best player already hurt, and we started to lose again. But that should not override what we saw in February, when we had a competent bench and a fairly healthy starting 5.
Now, if you are of the mind of Mallory, and you wanted to win, then ok. But your anger had better reach out further than just Scott. It should reach to Gilbert and Grant, who collectively told you at the start of the season that losing WAS the goal. You knew that going in. You should have been upset with them then.
But who exactly was there to add that would have made this team a contender, or a contender by next season? Who exactly are you thinking of?
Because here’s the cold, hard truth of the matter. As long as LeBron James is in his prime and in the East, whatever team he’s on is the favorite and beating that team is unlikely. Ok? That’s bleak, but its true. So going out and spending like crazy isn’t going to fix that problem.
And I have seen tangible improvements. I’ve laid them over the course of this thread. They are there. They are real. You just avoid them at all costs.
And I’m sorry, but disappointed I am not. I knew what was coming this way when I saw the first few games and the bench that had been assembled. I knew full well that it was designed to be bad and there was a reason for it.
And Mallory, maybe some of us are being too optimistic, but you’ve always been to negative. Remember the start of the season, when you wanted us to be the damn Bobcats? How you were praising them and killing the Cavs? You’ve always been quick to take a dump on the Cavs and look at other, similarly situated teams as being in a better position. Fact is, there are ZERO other, non-playoff teams I’d rather be right now than us. The only one I’d consider is New Orleans, and that’s it.
“I’ve said this a ton already today, but I’m going to say it one more time – as a fan of this team, don’t you want to see tangible improvements?”
our young players are improving. patience is needed for a rebuild. players don’t improve in a linear fashion, it comes in fits and starts and it occurs over the first 5 -7 years of their career. last year and into the first part of this year you gave up on tristan. you’ve given up on zeller and coach scott too. I and many others think you are wrong. it can’t be very much fun to always be so negative. why be a fan if you can’t surrender to hope and optimism now and then?
C-Town has it right. You give up on players so very easily, Mallory. Imagine if you were running the show. There would be almost no stability ever. You’ve got to actually give this franchise a chance. It’s year 2. Next year, unleash your wrath if things don’t turn around. I’ll be right there with you.
Now, since this season is over and we’re talking about trying to actually win, as an organization, next season, who’s up for raiding the Warriors bench? Jack and Landry are both FAs this year (Landry can opt out) and so is Rush (who has been hurt). I’d be alright with any combination of those guys (although if we keep Ellington, no need to bring in Rush) personally. Jack and Landry have been a big reason Golden State has improved so much this season.
Rich and Ctown –
I never once “gave up” on Tristan. I argued, correctly, that Tristan was incredibly raw and under performing. Even now I think there’s a tendency to overrated his value. Which is fine, you’re a fan of his team. I’m not going to sugarcoat serious deficiencies if they exist. But all that being said, I certainly never saw a reason to “give up” on him. That’ll come next year (ha).
Guys, I don’t see myself as negative. I’m HAPPY to celebrate when there’s a reason to, and I have done so more often than not. But there is no reason to celebrate now, at this moment. You can be passive, that’s completely your prerogative, but I think you guys are wrong in discouraging others for displaying displeasure with the last 16 games.
Rich, I hope I’m wrong. I really do. But so far I haven’t been given an explicit reason to believe I am. When Kyrie, Dion, Tristan, Tyler, and whomever is drafted next year start putting together 45 win seasons, I’ll gladly say “Thank goodness Grant put this team together like this.” But right now that’s not the case.
No (s?) necessary. There is only 1.
Also, it’d be nice if the effin Suns would win a game.
@Cols714 Lol “Trolling his own blog” was pretty funny but I certainly can relate to his disappointmentin some of these games and failure to improve at defense. Agh! What can we do? Nothing really. Cavs organization needs to do some probing if Scott has lost the locker room. I hope not. Time will tell.
Well I lost an hour of productivity attempting to read all of these comments…
Mallory – What have you gained from freaking out like this? Think the cavs are gonna call you up and be like, I read your 100 comments on the ESPN blog about an random awful game we played in March when our team was eliminated from having any reason to give effort on the court and decimated by injuries. Heres a job offer to be assistant GM…
You guys have made the same points back and forth over and over again…
Mallory thinks the team needs to sign expensive veteren (highly efficient and defensive minded) FA’s this offseason and fire Byron Scott, and is extremely disappointed with the amount of wins this season and especially the last 16 games
Everybody else thinks the team was supposed to lose this season and is unhappy with this game but overall happy with the progress individual players have made this season, and excited about our future with a much different looking, albiet astoundingly young roster going forward
Ok, there u go, can everybody chill… go have a beer, think of something more interesting to type about?
this is a great blog with great writers. they have wonderful narrative skills, carefully thought out arguments and diverse perspectives.
and on occasion the comments are maddening: paranoia, conspiracy, personal attack. i commend the authors for taking the high road.
Askel is a sock puppet! LOL!
http://www.fearthesword.com/2013/4/4/4183780/byron-scott-hot-seat-cleveland-cavaliers-rumors
Losing in the big picture is expected given the early search for the next Alonzo Gee off the D-league/waiver wire slag heap and obviously the injuries. But if you watch the games, its hard not to see Scotts coaching deficiencies in the X’s-O’s and rotation departments, even for the laymen. Time to stop giving Scott a pass just because he was lucky enouh to find himself a part of the showtime Lakers. His supporters can make all the excuses they want, but the hard fact is that two good teams have quit on him beacause they didn’t believe he was competent stategist.
Forget the W’s and L’s for a moment….When was the last time you saw the Cavs execute an inbounds play that actually created an open shot? How many times have you seen the weakside defenders know where to fill in when help is needed, instead of drifting to the elbow while a wide open shot is created on the opposite side of the floor? How many third quarters start off with the exact same 3 plays we open the game with..except now that the defense has seen them for 24 minutes, they know exactly where to clog them up? How can teams so aggressively throw traps at Kyrie, with no plays in place to take advantage of the 4 on 3 situation it creates? Why does our version of the Princeton move like kindergartners jumping rope, while George Karls Princeton looks like a pre-teen double-dutch tourney?
This is a young team, so maybe its just a matter of time that they can all move and groove with the same efficiency Luke and Livingston do. But BS’s scheme seems like a one trick pony, with no adjustments on the fly. Two good teams got tired of being held back by that.
T –
I completely agree. The other worrisome development is just how much more natural Kyrie and Dion look when the other isn’t on the court. Some of that has to be blamed on Scott.
Ctown-
you said it right
Adam-
Very good post and gave me a good laugh
mallory vs. everybody else
I don’t think any of us are pleased with the turnout of the season. I expected more. Maybe 30 victories if they would have stayed healthy. This is a season that we can only measure by developmental silver linings. There are plenty of reasons they won’t win more than 25 games this year. Every team deals with injuries, but I it effects younger teams much worse than more established teams. The Spurs can win without Tony Parker. The Bulls can win without Rose. The Celtics can win without Rondo. They can because they have a core of veterans to rely on. The Cavs without their starting backcourt have a pair of young bigs and a group of NBA pass around girls. The Cavs lost Andy months ago and had time to figure out how to play without him. Losing Kyrie and Dion was the death blow along with the Miami loss. The Herculoids are showing that they might have peaked as a unit. I’ve said for weeks I’m glad that they probably won’t all be back. Ellington is the only one I really want back. Miles is under team control for another year and he’s a bargain. Speights is what he is. A decent player for the right price. Walton will be boogie boarding in Redondo Beach next year high on edibles with his dyslexic dad.
Overreacting is what broke up a lot of teams with potential over the past twenty years. Bill Simmons wrote a killer article on why the Warriors are the most tortured franchise in the league. A lot of that was from overreacting. This is year two of the rebuild.
We seem to be breaking into glass half-full and glass half-empty factions. I’m just glad we still have a glass. It’s not as full as it was years ago, but it’s certainly not as empty as it recently was. The future should be pretty full.
People on this blog are way way way to optimistic, besides mallory who seems to have realistic expectations. Everyone else seems to think that the cavs are going to be able to all the sudden win games next year and get a 7 or 8 seed, and then sign lebron the year after. Sorry Lebron is not going anywhere as long as hes winning championships and i don’t see a team in the leauge that is going to be able to stop the heat the next 3+ years. I don’t understand how some of you fans are happy with one good game every once in a while and its enough for you to say “well the future is bright”. not so much. The cavs will be a 7 or 8 seed for years to come unless we are able by some sort of miracle get Lebron.
Mallory – your comment about not wanting the team to puts all of its proverbial “eggs” in one basket (aka building through the draft) is a bit misguided. I agree that you cannot 100% build through the draft – that would entail never signing any FA’s and having a team filled with only your own draft picks.
But, in order to build a strong team in this league, you must hit on your draft picks (or be an LA or Boston who can lure top tier FA’s year in and year out). For us, we cannot and will never be able to build a contender by throwing money at FA’s every opportunity we get.
I agree with you that we should not build strictly through the draft. We need to complement our young core with talented FA signing. However, if you use your cap space to bring in veterans too soon, you are lowering your team’s ceiling and weakening its ability to draft talent.
We absolutely needed 3 drafts with top 5 picks. Luckily for us, we landed one of the rare, sure-fire “franchise” players in Kyrie. Dion is developing, as is Tristan. This year, we need to hit on our top 3 (fingers crossed) pick.
At that time, with a nucleus of Kyrie, Dion, TT, this year’s #1, Zeller, this year’s other #1, and AV, you take a season to gel and then use your cap space in 2014 to lure a big time FA. THAT is when you start complementing your draft prowess with FA signings to put you over the top. If you miss out on a guy like LeBron who would eat the majority, if not all, of our available cap space in 2014, then you use the cap space to bring in 2-3 complementary veteran players (ala a Danny Granger, aging AI2, etc).
So while I agree all of our eggs cannot be in one draft basket, it does need to be this way for ~ 3 drafts (which will be finished after this year’s draft). Now we can look toward making team progress and then complementing our rising stars with FA signings to build us into a perennial top team in the East, and inevitably, a Championship (yes I said inevitably).
I’m glad the Cavs owners are not like the owners the Browns have had. Every year or two it’s a new coach, new quarterback, new defense. Nobody gets a chance to prove themselves.
Mallory’s argument of wanting to build a team through free agency/trades is bunk because no team is going to give up their best guys in a trade and no big free agent has ever signed with Cleveland (the closest we had was Larry Hughes, ha). Every team is trying to win and unless you’re LA, NY, Chicago, or similar big market teams, you’re just not going to be able to sign free agents at a reasonable price. Good teams resign their good players. The guys in free agency are fill-in pieces, not championship-winning players.
But why am I saying this? Everybody here recognizes this… except for the authors of the blog
Gordon
Yep. And the thing is no one is advocating for only building through the draft. Not anyone on this site, not Chris Grant, not Byron Scott, etc.
Agree with Aksel and T. I wish there was a way to “like” comments so that we could gauge the pulse of the more passive readers of this site.
Most major additions to this team will probably come via trade rather than free agency. I’m all for the three years at the top of the lottery plan. After this years draft they should have an idea of what they want to keep around for the core of the team for the long term and what still needs addressed. Some of Grant’s picks will get traded. He’s going to have to make shrewd decisions within the next two years on who to extend for the long haul. Kyrie is obviously one of them. Dion or Tristan is probably the other. It’s possible one of them gets moved in a big fish deal.
@Casey I doubt most people in this forum think Lebron returning is a lock. I certainly don’t think the Heat will be title favorites 3+ years from now. Once Wade loses his athleticism he’ll be a shell of his former self. It’s coming in the next two years. Miami is insanely limited on how much they can improve from here. No player on that team today will be better in three years. None. Lebron is at his apex. He’ll probably be there for another couple seasons. Wade and Bosh have both plateaued. Norris Cole is terrible. They also don’t have first rounders this year or 2015 and they are deep into the luxury tax. Amnestying Miller with save them on the tax, but they’ll still be in it. They are owed a first rounder from the 76ers but it’s lottery protected. They aren’t getting it anytime soon.