Recap: Warriors 116, Cavs 98 (Or, seeing the forest through the threes)
2011-01-08Overview: In a matchup of the league’s worst three-point defense and the league’s most accurate three-point shooting team, the Warriors rained 14 threes on the Cavs over the course of a 116-98 win. Monta Ellis led all scorers with 32 points and 10 assists,
Predictability can be painful bullets:
So, the Cavs can’t defend the three-point line. They gave up 14 threes. They can’t defend penetration. The Warriors got into the paint at will and either laid the ball in or drove and kicked. They can’t defend elite scoring wings. Monta went off for 32 and 10. Their only good interior defender is Varejao. Andy was hurt, and David Lee shot 10-16 from the field.
There’s really no point in talking about the offense after a defensive performance like that. If the Warriors get those looks, there is no way the Cavs are going to win the game. Trying to figure out an “offensive scheme” after getting manhandled is absolutely the basketball equivalent of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. This team needs to be torn to its foundations and built back up with a clear defensive scheme in mind and players who can make that scheme work. That is the only way to make a team with this little talent work, because anything can happen in a close game, and sometimes a random player or two will get hot on offense.
There is no way to win games without a superstar if teams are continuously getting whatever they want on offense. And that is what is happening here. The Cavs are functioning as a showcase for other teams. I’ve realized I can’t really evaluate players that I’m not all that familiar with, such as Julian Wright, when they play the Cavs, because the team’s defense essentially functions as the cones in a combine workout. On a team level, the Cavs play defense like the “Os” the opposing coach draws when he maps plays out on the greaseboard.
It’s kind of impossible to write about this team right now, because this is not a team with discernible ups and downs, or a series of things it needs to do in order to win games. The team literally has no identity. Its only purpose at the current moment is to showcase the talents of its opponent to whoever may be watching the game. It’s time to stop working on the Paper-Mache Winchester Mystery house the Cavs have made this team into and rebuild everything from the ground up, starting with a solid defensive foundation. Right now, this is not basketball.
Offensively, all I’ll say is this: you know the expression “you take what the other team gives you?” On Saturday, the only good looks the Cavs got were the ones the Warriors literally gave to them. In the third quarter, the Warriors pretty much either made a basket or just gave it to the Cavs with a completely unforced and embarrassing turnover, because they were up by 15-20 points and didn’t care enough. They looked like somebody playing 2K on medium difficulty while not really paying attention. Honestly, part of me wished that the Cavs had lost by 40 instead of losing by 18 because the Warriors couldn’t be bothered to take the Cavs seriously for the full 48 minutes of play.
That’s all I have for tonight. Until later, everyone.
Anderson Varejao out for the season.
@Kevin
I don’t mind watching the Thunder with Westbrook and Durant, or watching a Blake Griffin dunkfest (obviously since it’s the Clippers, this doesn’t qualify as coherent basketball).
I know it’s sort of blasphemous to even consider this, but does anyone have a “second” team they have been following this year? You know, a team that actually plays coherent basketball, so you have at least some kind of a rooting interest that has a chance to win games?
Its kind of surreal looking back and seeing games that the Cavs actually won at the beginning of this season by 5 points, 10 points…OK, so they never actually won a game by ten points.
The only one I ever see talking much out there is Mo, but the problem is that while he might be a good teacher to our younger players, he is not good enough to will this team to victory on most nights (he did against Bucks, Grizzlies, and Knicks, which are our last 3 wins). The reason why Mo’s shooting is down, and why Jamison is less efficient, is simply because they are the only 2 true NBA offensive threats out there, and they are getting mobbed. Also, Hickson has the worst hands I have ever seen, while Hollins is… Read more »
At this point it’s a waiting game for the fans as the only thing left to do for this team is to hit the self-destruct button, get what value they can for their higher priced players. From now ’til the trade deadline will be a pretty sour time if these games are any indication. The trouble is right now we’re seeing barely any effort from the team and there’s been no real noticeable growth with the younger players (outside of Boobie who’s injured right now). This team doesn’t simply lack identity, they lack anything that makes them stand out at… Read more »
You’re right about this team lacking identity. I’ve been saying it for a while now too – there’s probably never been a team that was so dependent on one player for success, then watches that player leave, doesn’t change anything significant and then wonders why the team is no longer successful. And, yes, while I agree that it doesn’t look like the players are ever going to dig in an truly attempt to play good defense, I don’t know how different it would be if we still had Mike Brown. Not only does this team no longer have LeBron’s defense… Read more »
I have always been a big Mike Brown supporter and am positive that our defense would be better if he were still coach. I don’t think that Byron Scott is nearly as bad as he seems right now, but if I had the choice, I would take Brown every time. But as we all know, firing Brown was only a last ditch effort by ownership to keep LeBron. It had very little to do with Brown’s coaching. That is the reason why Ferry left. All that being said, the moment we brought Jamison in was the moment our Defense started… Read more »
Cavs are 1-19 in their last 20. Yikes. That includes a ten game losing streak, and an active 9 game losing streak. Not. Good.
just gotta wonder if canning mike brown was really the right move….yes he had questionable decision making skills but you also have to wonder how much that was influenced by lebron for good or bad…this team needs someone like brown to play his defensive style…i dont know what scott is doing to help this team but it appears nothing at all is working….i think this team would be more competitive….not necessarliy win but compete with brown’s defensive schemes…usually teams with subpar players that play a tough lockdown D are tough to beat….
Except that the “Titanic” that is our defense has been underwater for a pretty long time.
I looked some Shiney, but only through seasons in which I’ve lived through. CLosest thing I came up with was the 97-98 Bulls having the best record. Jordan retires, and they have poor record next year only it’s the lock-out year, so if you discount that and go on to the next season (99-00) the Bulls finished with 17 wins which was next to last.
Just wondering: has an NBA team ever gone from best regular season to worst regular season record before?