Recap: Utah 102, Cleveland 100 (or, The Ball Does Not Lie)
2014-11-06
This is me writing the recap.
Tonight was rough for anyone who has watched the Cavs the past two years. There were lots of sequences where one player just dribbled the ball for fifteen seconds while every other guy watched him thinking, “dang, he goes between the legs really smoothly.” There were lots of pick and rolls where the Wine & Gold trapped, made the second rotation to stop the roll man, and then forgot that usually there is an open shooter in the corner if his defender is in the paint. There were a few times when the Cavs said to themselves, “hey, Derrick Favors won’t rebound his team’s shot if we stand here with our arms down.”
The Cavs trailed almost the entire game. They were behind 13 at the half and down as much as 16 in the third before bringing it to within one before the fourth quarter. With 6:22 left in the fourth, the Cavs tied it. They then battled back and forth with the Jazz until LeBron James forced the refs to call a foul when he was shooting a three pointer with three seconds left in the game. The L-Train barreled into the sanctity of the game of basketball by using a pump fake before leaning into a mid-air Derrick Favors, but he still made all three shots to tie the game. The Jazz then called a timeout and Gordon Hayward screamed to the world “BALL DON’T LIE” as he sank the game winner with no time on the clock.
Let’s take a look at why I am going to have terrible flashbacks to this game.
1st Quarter: The first quarter started with LeBron catching the ball deep in the post, but then missing a little hook shot. Then the Cavs came down the court and forced a 24 second violation. Enes Kanter then nailed a three-pointer two plays later, and after that, Favors transformed into the Death Star. Derrick used his Death Ray to eliminate proper defensive rotations and Love’s ability to withstand physical contact. Love tried to counter the Death Ray by getting two people to fall for his pump fakes in one possession before scoring. It didn’t work. The Jazz spent the quarter finding their big guys open after a pick and roll because the Cavs quit moving after one rotation. Kanter had 11 points while Favors had six points. Love led the Cavs with eight points.
When Dion Waiters checked into the game, he tried to bring energy on both ends of the floor. He went hard to the basket his first touch and even fouled Dante Exum while trying to hound the ball. The Cavs made poor decisions on offense, didn’t move at all, and had several bad passes that led to easy Utah points. The quarter ended with Kyrie making a three. Utah up, 23-32.
2nd Quarter: Right from the start it was bad. Dante Exum beat the Cavs trap and found Rudy Gobert wide open under the hoop for a quick two points. Dion then came down the court and beserker-moded his way to an and-1. The tall Aussie followed that up with a dunk because he ran Kyrie off of one off ball screen. LeBron and Kyrie both went to the line seven times in the first six minutes, but Utah still led by just continuing to make open shots, 36-47.
The man who embarrassed Kyrie with just one off ball screen.
At the 5:37 mark, LeBron stole a pass and got fouled. Then the Cavs stopped Favors, but Marion stepped out of bounds the next possession. LBJ then sucked up another pass to put the Cavs down by just seven. Darth Favors promptly pointed his Death Ray at the Cavs again to grab an offensive board that he slammed down to put the Jazz back up by nine. Tristan tried to stop the bleeding with a dunk off of a Love to keep the Utah lead at just 12. It almost swung the momentum, but Rodney Hood later nailed his second three of the quarter with 43 seconds to put the Jazz up by 13 going into the half.
The Jazz had four blocks in the quarter including Hayward chasing down LeBron. That block was actually a goal tend, but wasn’t called as such. Gordon also had 11 points and two assists in the quarter. The Cavs made 17 free throws in the quarter.
3rd Quater: The Cavs must have received a stern talking to in the locker room. Guys started moving around the floor more, but it didn’t make much of a difference. Favors opened the quarter by pushing Kevin Love around. Alec Burks got a steal early on, but Shawn Marion followed him down the floor and stole it back. A few plays later on a fast break Trix turned the ball over to Alec who made a pull up three to put the Jazz up by 16 points. At the 7:45 mark, Kanter got the ball in the low post with Love on him. He unlovingly bumped Love to the ground and then scored. It was such a sad site that #Cavsgoodkarma was called upon. The Jazz failed to score for the next three minutes and the Cavs scored five points to trail by just eight.
The Cavs later forced a five second inbound violation before Dion rocket launched a pass to the King on the right wing for a three. This put the Cavs down by just three with three minutes to go. The Jazz finished the quarter making two close range shots, but the Chosen Ones matched those with free throws and a layup of their own. Cavs down, 75-76.
4th Quarter: The Jazz scored four straight and blocked Tristan to start the fourth. Kyrie then decided that he was sick of playing subpar iso ball. He turned into Allen Iverson, but the fun kind of AI that I could appreciate. He dribbled his way to the first ten points of the quarter and even drew a foul on a three point shot to keep the Cavs within two while Utah passed and made correct basketball moves to earn their points.
Around the 3:20 mark, the King’s men played insane defense that resulted in Trevor Booker having to take a semi contested three off of an inbounds pass with less than two seconds on the shot clock. Booker made the shot and decided he was invincible, as he wacked Love on the head the next trip down the floor and earned himself a flagrant foul. Love made one of the free throws, but didn’t recicve the ball back because the refs issued a double techinal on the play for yelling. Cavs down three with three minutes left.
With thirty seconds left in the game and down by two, the Great Guys managed to force a 24-second violation. LeBron then missed an easy layup at the other end with 17 seconds left. Mike Miller was forced to foul Burks, and the Cavs called their last timeout as Burks made both of the freebies. Utah up, 94-98
Out of the timeout, LeBron scored an impossible corner three from behind the backboard as his momentum was carrying him out of bounds to bring the Cavs within one. The Wine & Gold then fouled Burks, who again made the shots to put the Jazz up by three. James proceeded to carry the rock down the court with Derrick Favors on him. He pump faked Favors and the Fav machine caught a bird. The L-Train morphed into the Eiffel tower as Derrick came down to draw three freebies. The Chosen One sank them to have six points in 13 seconds to tie the Jazz at 100. I screamed a bunch of profanties as this point, proclaming LeBron a dirty basketball professor.
The Jazz used their timeout and ran a screen play for Hayward to get LeBron off of him. LeBron fell to the floor and Hayward rose up to get the buzzer beater over Big T. I screamed profanities again; however, karma was my main subject after that play happened.
Thoughts:
1. Wow, that was terrible to watch and it should have been much worse. The Cavs didn’t deserve to win and a lot of the reason they managed to stay in the game was because of free throws. They shot 32/40 from the charity stripe. The Jazz only had 17 points off of freethrows. The Cavs got bailed out.
2. The Cavs had just six assists this game and move the ball like it was last season. It was actually worse because guys have seen Irving dribble so much it doesn’t even amaze them enough to do a happy dance any more. I wanted to scream. There were so many isolations, and they weren’t really working. The Cavs turned it over 12 times. The Jazz also turned it over 12 times, but they had 26 assists.
3. Mike Miller had one shot in 21 minutes of play and looked awful. He doesn’t want to fight over picks at all. You can see this in the other players on the Wine & Gold. Whenever Miller has to defend a pick and roll, the back line just rotates over because they know the man covering the screener is staying on the ball handler. Miller won’t and probably can’t fight over picks any more.
James was just bad in the paint tonight.
4. Speaking of bad pick and roll defense, LeBron was way worse than his 31 points indicate. He has lost his spark defensively. On pick and rolls tonight, he’d fight over the pick before stopping at the side of his man instead of in front him. He was extremely lazy staying on shooters and sagged off to help in the the paint, which ultimately resulted in six points being given up in the second half on open threes shown here and here. The L-Train has changed. At the 10:48 point in the 3rd quarter LeBron knocked the ball away from the Jazz ball handler and it bounced on the floor once before the Jazz recovered it. The Old James would have ripped that ball as soon as it touched the ground like he was a shark going after blood. What’s going on LeBron? He also looked pedestrian around the rim and didn’t give me any highlights. That’s not like him.
5. Shawn Marion might not be able to make layups any more; however, he had three blocks.
6. The Cavs need to talk to each other and warn their teammates if they get stuck behind a screen so stuff like this doesn’t happen.
7. David Blatt needs to give up on the Cavs trapping scheme. The Good Guys trapped nearly the entire game on pick and rolls, and their second and third rotations were either slow and resulted in easy shots or just non-existent. There isn’t enough athleticism/will power on the Cavs to do what Miami Heat did to create turnovers. Our bigs aren’t mobile enough or precise enough to run out on the open man at the three line. This defensive lack is scary and Blatt needs to play a conservative Chicago style defense. Tristan can sort of block and Andy will take charges to be a quasi-rim protector.
8. Gobert cannot play any offense at all, but if you toss the ball up to him for a dunk, he’s golden. He also blocks really well. Just ask Tristan Thompson. Rudy had four blocks for the night, and the one in the video didn’t even count!
9. Kyrie did his best to take over and made tons and tons of circus shots in the fourth quarter, but he failed to be a point guard. He had zero assists in his time on the floor.
10. The Cavs starters once again played huge minutes. LeBron played 42 minutes and Irving played 44 minutes.
11. Every time the Cavs went on a run they messed it up. When the Jazz went cold in the third, Andy got called on a charge and Love missed an easy hook shot. The Cavs 5-0 run could have easily been 9-0.
12. Derrick Favors is way better than Tristan. He can finish at the rim, especially on K. Love, and he’s more aware defensively when it comes to knowing how to time his movements to interrupt shots. He’s also a monster offensive rebounder when he isn’t boxed out.
13. Hayward’s chase down block on LeBron was a goaltend, but he may have actually stolen LeBron’s powers with that block. James did score six points in 13 seconds at the end of the game, but Gordon got the winning shot. Interesting plot to follow in the coming games.
14. I miss Delly already. Dion didn’t bring much off the bench consistently. He played defense in spurts and drove to the rim occasionally.
15. Kevin Love had a bad night. Mr. Favors gave him a truck load of school supplies because he took Love from the ninth grade through to college in one game. Love just got abused by anyone that he had to cover in the low post. He couldn’t even give it back to the Jazz on offense; he had 14 points but nine of them were from free throws. He shot 2-10 and only had eight rebounds.
Final Thought:
The Jazz did what worked this game to beat the Cavs. The Wine & Gold routinely left the second big man open when they collapsed on the pick and roll, and the Jazz found that man. On offense, the Cavs weren’t moving at all, and they weren’t having success playing this way. This game was lost because the Cavs failed to change the execution of their defense and offense when things weren’t working. Blatt needs to make in-game decisions to let the Cavs succeed. The Cavs take on the Nuggets Friday. Blatt would be wise to give the bench lots of work this game, force the team to pass, bench for over dribbling, and let the Cavs bigs drop back on pick and roll coverage.
What are your thoughts? If you’re depressed, watch this steal and score by Varejao. It cheered me up this morning.
Once again, I need to reiterate that panicking now is going to look stupid in a month or so. The Cavs aren’t playing well right now, but it will not continue. Just too much talent for it to continue.
So please please please, stop it with the sky is falling nonsense.
First time poster, but I couldn’t resist.
In honor of Michael Scott we may need to RAISE this to “DEFCON 20”
I don’t think the sky is falling. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to be concerned either. Your “too much talent” argument led you to predict 60+ wins, so excuse us if we’re not paying much heed to your numerous posts.
I still think the Cavs need to fire Mike Brown to turn this thing around. There’s a lot of dribbling and uninspired offensive sets, combined with generally poor team defense. On top of that, there’s consistent reports of intra-team turmoil. These are hallmarks of a Mike Brown-led team. Griff and CavsDan need to hold a press conference to re-fire Mike Brown. Since the original firing came during the offseason, most of the players probably missed it. Let’s just be safe and fire Mike again to remove any lingering effect he might be having on this team.
If Mike Brown were still coach there would have been at least 5 timeouts+hockey substitutions by now.
I think LeBron could sit down at halfcourt and start playing a game on his iphone and the Cavs would say “collectively, we just have to have more energy”
I read during the finals that LeBron has an incredible memory. Maybe he’s replaying an iphone game in his head while he’s out on the court? Or, it could be that he’s remembering his final moments playing for the Cavs and attempting to recreate his magical postseason of 2010. In that case, he might also be under the impression that Mike Brown is still coach. Look, after tomorrow night, we’ll be five games into the season. History tells us it’s not too early. I’m not rushing to judgment here. The Cavs will never get any better until we fire Mike… Read more »
Also, that LeBron three at the end? Favors was not “in the air” he’d fully returned to the ground and was standing there when LeBron barreled into him. It was one of the worst calls of that type I’ve ever seen. LeBron, to his credit, made the shots.
see wind (bag ) horst is at again trying to make a BIG STORY ouf of lebron and kyrie exchanging words —–probably not a whole lot to it —sure every team in the nba has players ” exchanging words / opinions ” to each other —-wind (bag ) horst likes to be the center of attention and wants everyone to think that him and LeBron are ” close buds “
totally agree with jim—I am not in panic mode —think we should all allow for the 1st 15-20 games before we really start thinking about major trades ( dion / tristain / etc . )—but at the same time ( had these concerns in pre season ) don’t think marion / miler are going to contribute as much as we thought they were—which makes are bench weak and our regulars playing too many minutes —- and forget about ray allen coming here ( don’t need another geriatric player wwith limited defensive skills )—need to get some of our younger bench… Read more »
Marion is fine. Miller is meh. James Jones gets $2.2 million for being LeBron’s buddy. David Griffin should have been bringing in more young wings and defensive bigs instead of doling out buddy contracts for 33+ year olds.
The Cavs have two leaders: Delly & Varejao.
The Cavs have two players that make those around them better: Delly & Varejao.
Thompson’s turning into a leader, too.
Kind of a chicken/egg situation going on right now: is the bench terrible because Blatt is not playing them, or is Blatt not playing them because they are terrible? People talked about depth before the season starts but I just don’t see it. Marion is 36 and is playing like it. Mike Miller looks like the guy who had crippling back issues that caused him to almost retire before last year. Tristian has played well off the bench, and the jury is still out on whether Dion will re-adapt to his bench role. Regardless, one player a bench does not… Read more »
I agree with you. I simply do not understand the current rotations and lack of use by players on the bench. You can’t go the whole season like this. Not likely but maybe one reason Lebron looks and acts disengaged is because the buddies he brought to this team aren’t getting any play. Maybe he thought Dion and TT were better than what he sees on a daily basis. Maybe he thought his mere presence woould turn everyone into defenders and passers. I don’t know the reason but watching him just loiter and meander around on defense and stand in… Read more »
I expected a slow start. Half of my limited posting has been about giving the offense two months to come together. But that’s the least of their problems right now. What’s the matter with LeBron? Why is he a shadow of his former self? And is it temporary or permanent? And when he’s not playing well–dominating no one, playing below the rim, getting stopped by Hayward one on one in the final minute–and barely trying on defense, his teammates are probably not thrilled to hear him publicly blaming them. “I don’t suck, you guys suck!” is a funny way to… Read more »
LeBron is playing at about 50% of last season’s level, for reasons unknown. And then after the game he calls out his teammates?
I didn’t miss the drama when he was gone. I can’t believe it has started so soon again.
I missed the drama. I missed the Cavs mattering. Whatever happens going forward, I’m super happy and glad that he’s back. There was no drama when he was gone because no one cares about the Cavs when they completely suck.
They will be fine. Yeesh. What’s gotten into the beer around here? We were told to expect a slow start (I disagree and was wrong) and that’s exactly what we have.
Can someone at CtB write a post about how teams with LeBron don’t suck? It would help calm people down I think.
Teams with Derek Jeter didn’t suck either until one day they did. Teams with Kobe Bryant didn’t suck either until one day they did. It happens to every athlete, every sport at one time or another. I said it before and I will say it again, you are easily the worst poster on this website and I wish you’d make these same comments on the other forums I see you on. This forum is too nice to you which is why I guess you keep making ridiculous, over the top remarks here and not elsewhere. Those other forums would and… Read more »
Except Leb, Love, and Irving are all still young. Leb is in his prime. This team will not suck for long and you are going to look back on these comments and wonder why you thought they would.
I was just beside myself watching him walking around with his hands at his sides. 85% of NBA players walk faster to the bench after they’ve twisted their ankle. He has no lift, no explosiveness, he’s getting blocked going to the rim, he isn’t trying on defense. Something is very wrong. He couldn’t drive past Mike Dunleavy. I do agree that we all need to take a collective deep breath. The Cavs could look wildly different in a month. I’m just terrified that LeBron is LeBron. Kyrie is Kyrie. and Dion is Dion. And they aren’t ever going to be… Read more »
Yeah, the roster needs tweaked. I’m not panicking, but pretending the roster doesn’t have holes isn’t helping anyone (we’ve already done that for three months). Fortunately, the Cavs have the Bogans exception, and can move Waiters…
It hasn’t been hurting anyone for three weeks either. We could be better with a good wing defender and a rim protector, absolutely. Every team in the league could be better than they are, we’re going to the finals without a roster tweak. But yeah, if there is a Big rim protector we can get for the right price, absolutely we should go for it.
Haven’t heard of one being available. Chill out, we fine.
It is mystifying to hear everyone say, “move, pass the ball, etc.” and then see them all standing around and watching LeBron or Kyrie dribbling.
I don’t get why Dion only played 13 minutes. With Delly out that seems crazy to me.
If Love and Andy had hit a few more shots the assist total would have been better.
Tough loss for a very winnable game.
It’s because Dion has been terrible when he’s in there. At both ends.
did anyone watch the golden state / clippers game —-the entire cavs squad should !!!—–they might learn how ball movement/ moving without the ball really works and it is exciting to watch—–6 ASSISTS FOR THIS CLUB IS A TRAVESTY !!—-is it time to start giving more minutes to harriss and take away from miller ( I thinlk you will get more from him )—–also think 8-12 minutes from haywood wouldn’t hurt —–it is not so much the losing BUT HOW THEY ARE LOSING —-so far our bench which was promoted to be a STRENGTH is a big disappointment
Here’s the thing about ball movement offenses. They take time to come together. So give it some time. Even the Heat, who generally invented or at least popularized the space and pace type of offense that the entire league is now copying took two years to get there.
Panic! at the Blog! Make it stop.
FACT: Utah passed the ball 442 times last night, the Cavs passed the ball 276 times. That’s 60% more than the Cavs.
FACT: Utah is playing under a new coach employing a motion based offense for the first time.
So much for your theory.
where’d you get those numbers? That sounds like synergy data
Came across it in an ESPN article.
I like this stat very much. Its quite startling really.
Generally what needs time is having possessions which don’t result in shot clock violations, knowing where to be as the play progresses, finding the right balance between passing and taking a good shot – occasionally early in a shot clock.
Not passing the ball
It’s all good. We still have the most talent in the east. Once they figure things out we will be unstoppable. No need to panic or even worry.
I agree with this generally. I think by the end of the season we will be very good. You can see the potential when they, you know, actually TRY on defense.
That said, I think its clear now that as little as 50 wins is a possibility. 50 wins in the East will put us in top 4, which is fine. But there is definitely reason to worry about getting the #1 or #2 seed. That is where the early season really matters. So there are consequences here. Just not huge ones.
I guess. But I think they will win over 50 games easily. And even if they aren’t the #1 seed, there’s still no one in the East that is remotely close to this team.
I don’t know why people are getting upset in the first week of the season. Everyone who writes for CtB told me that it was going to be a process and to not expect a fast start.
So they are fulfilling the slow start prophecy. So everybody was correct. No need to worry.
You are living in a dream world. This team is seriously flawed. The addition of athletic wings and bigs that can defend is a must. Mike Miller is worthless, and guys like Wade and Butler will eat them alive. They should be shopping Waiters and a draft pick as we speak.
Panic! at the Blog.
I don’t think so dude. This team is fine. You told me they would start slow and they did. Let them play together and things will work out just fine.
A surprising agreement with cols. Seriously, ya’ll need to chill. If we could get Nerlens for Dion, Maybe, but I doubt Philly takes that offer right now without seeing more out of both of them, and I’m of the same opinion. Every team has flaws, this one isn’t seriously flawwed outside of their lack of executing together, which can be expected out of a team with a bunch of new faces and a new coach.
Its disappointing, this start, but panicking is a bit overboard.
totally agree nate. doubt philly would accept a package of waiter plus picks for Noel. or any productive 2 guards from other teams (i like lou williams). i cant remember if it was mallory who people crucified when he wanted Noel. nerlens would look spectacular in this lineup
Everyone wanted Noel.
I think any calls to change the roster are too soon. I agree that Miller and Marion look like fat old men who haven’t worked out all offseason, but we need more games to be assess what the true issues are.
For example, Miller is still an elite shooter, but we have yet to create a single spot-up 3 for him. I think that has a lot to do with the nascent chemistry issues on the team. As chemistry evolves, I could see Miller’s value really increasing.
LBJ was reckless on defense the whole game I think.He looked less sloppy when his gambles worked.
LeBron talking about defensive intensity in his post-game interview is going to make my head explode. There was a few minute stretch where LBJ led on defense by flying around and being aggressive, and we basically took over the game. If LBJ would lead on the Defensive end consistently, we would win these games. He is just so low energy.
I think he may just be out of shape or injured. Or he is intentionally trying to lower expectations?!?! It just doesn’t make sense. There is such a wide gap between his rhetoric and his energy on the floor.
When they showed the half-time highlights, play after play featured LeBron walking. At a pace you would use on an afternoon stroll through the park. Hands at his side, walking around. A few times he waved at a defender, missed, and then just stood – gone from the play entirely.
I SINCERELY hope his is physically injured.
I SINCERELY hope that he is NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! physically injured. Honestly, what’s the matter with you?
You’re an idiot Col’s, read between the lines..
What? Why would I hope that the best player in the NBA is physically injured? I’d much rather him be healthy. If he’s walking around because he’s not playing as hard as he can, then so be it. I’m sure that will change. If he’s injured, then who knows what the future holds.
It’s absolutely nutty to hope your best player in injured.
what I mean is – I hope there is an actual reason for his uninspired play.
Like, when you have the flu, you might not be as productive at work. You might even need to stay home.
That’s what i’m getting at. There is something wrong with him that will go away soon.
I’d rather him be uninspired because he’s not liking what he’s seeing from the Cavs or Blatt than be injured.
I actually disagree. If the way LBJ responds to adversity (from a team he has been on for 4 games) is to pout and not try, that is a much bigger issue than a nagging injury.
The whole point of LBJ on this team is to lead the less experienced guys through the fire. Not to pout when things are going less than smoothly in Game 4.
how is that more likely to correct itself?
Like Cavs-Celtics 2010? Yeah, that’d be great.
As usual Cols, you miss the big picture.
We hope he is injured, because physical ailments eventually heal.
If he’s not injuired, and he’s truly disengaged for some unknown reason….that is more likely to stay with us for a longer period. Maybe indefinitely.
How do you figure? If he’s injured he may never come back to be the player he was. See also Derrick Rose.
When was the last time a healthy LeBron led team sucked? His first year? So I’d rather he be healthy and mentally not quite fully engaged in the early going than be injured.
There’s no guarantee recovery from an injury. But LeBron is super competitive so we know he’ll get with it soon. LeBron teams just never suck.
I’d argue a Lebron led team sucks right now.