Recap: Raps 87, Cavs 81 (or, it’s going to be okay)

Before my wife and I had kids, I spent ten years coaching high school cross country and track and field. One of the philosophies an older coach taught me, that I used to keep perspective during the ups and downs of the season, was “It’s never as good as it seems, and it’s never as bad as it seems.” While some fans may be concerned with the Cavaliers falling to 0-6 in the preseason, the truth is that it is nowhere near as bad as it seems.

The Not So Bad…

1. Why are things better than they seem? Well first off, Kevin Love is back. Love was limited to 13 first-half minutes—he’ll likely play tomorrow night against the Dallas Mavericks—but he was effective in the minutes he did play, finishing with six points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. He had a pair of behind the back passes to Anderson Varejao and Mo Williams respectively, that were arguably the highlights of the night for the Cavaliers. The rest of the team did a nice job getting Love regular touches early, which is especially important given the limited time he has to prepare for the regular season.
2. After the game, Jason Lloyd shared some more good news with Cavs fans.

Iman Shumpert has been cleared for some court work now that cast is off, but only with left hand. No timetable yet for using right hand

— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) October 19, 2015

Obviously the more quickly Shumpert returns to the court, the better. Hopefully his recovery time ends up being on the short end of the original estimates of 12 to 14 weeks.

3.  The Cavs had arguably their best effort of the preseason tonight, Holding the Raptors to just 38.4% shooting, and 25% from deep. Toronto scored just five points in the first 10:02 of the second quarter and 32 points in the second and third quarters combined. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan were a combined 5 of 22 from the floor for a total of 13 points. They were handily outplayed by Mo Williams and Matthew Dellavedova, something one would not have seen happening before the game.

4. Jared Cunningham continues to play head and shoulders above the rest of the training camp invitees. While Cunningham’s line of three for eight for 10 points was rather pedestrian, he continued to show a solid handle and played tremendous defense while guarding Terrence Ross and Cory Joseph. At this point it would be absolutely shocking if Cunningham wasn’t on the final roster.

5. Anderson Varejao finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and five assists in 21 minutes of action. With his long injury history it’s hard to count on Andy for the season, but the preseason games have shown that he should be able to help the Cavaliers has long as he stays healthy.

The Bad…

1. The Cavaliers big man rotation is awfully thin. Obviously the return of Love is a huge boost, but the bench sans Tristan Thompson is a huge concern. Sasha Kaun looks like a solid interior defender, but he has yet to find his place on offense. Conversely, James Jones is neither strong enough to guard big men, nor quick enough to guard perimeter players. When his shot is not falling, Jones is simply unplayable. Finally, Anderson Varejao has been solid as he returns from a torn Achilles, but the Cavaliers simply cannot count on him to stay healthy.
2. On that note, while the idea that Jack Cooley was brought in to help replace Tristan Thompson is obviously absurd, the fact that he was abused on defense by Anthony Bennett of all people shows how limited he is.
3. Joe Harris shot 2-8 from the floor and was 0-4 from three. He did have six rebounds, but it’s getting hard to see how Harris helps a championship contender. He’s a poor defender, holds onto the ball too long, and takes too long to get his three-point shot off.

The preseason schedule mercifully ends tomorrow night when the Cavaliers take on the Dallas Mavericks at Quicken Loans Arena. From there the team will have one week of practice time to get themselves ready for the start of the season. With the injuries to Irving and Shumpert, as well as Thompson being unsigned, things are obviously not as good as the Cavaliers or their fans want them to be, but with the return of Kevin Love they are also not as bad as they once seemed.