Recap: Cavs 111, Pacers 106 OT (or, A Tale of Two Halves)
2016-02-02
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
With sincere apologies to Charles Dickens, the immortalized beginning of his epic work A Tale of Two Cities, seemed to summarize my impressions of the Cavaliers as I watched their schizophrenic overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers last night. What began as a marvelous continuation of the ball-movement mastery the wine & gold had achieved and sustained over the past few games, devolved into a stagnant quagmire of lost possessions, defensive shortcomings and seemingly endless meanderings of the worst kind of isolationist basketball. In other words, when the going got tough for the Cavs… they had a tough time getting going again, and reverted to some of the old habits that they still must overcome to improve. The good news, however, is that in the end… they managed to avoid the guillotine of fate that awaited the selfless hero Sydney Carton at the close of Dickens’ novel, and instead pulled victory from the jaws of defeat in the extra period. It was a far, far better outcome than these Cavs had ever seen before at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana… but they’re going to need a far, far better rest for their weary legs after this one.
Half As Hard
Okay, I know some of you are already rolling your eyes at this overt literary metaphor, and lest you think I’ve gone way overboard on the melodrama, I still recognize that this team did indeed put one in the win column… and a tough one at that (in fact the first one in Indy since 2009). However, it didn’t need to be anywhere near as tough as the Cavs seemed to make it on themselves… especially given the measure of success they had from the outset, and the difficulty the Pacers had putting the ball in the hoop. So, instead of taking full advantage and turning this game into a blowout early, the Cavs were self-sabotaging enough to keep Indiana within range before collapsing in the second half, and almost allowing a win to slip away.
Half Full
The first quarter featured a near offensive clinic by the ball-moving Cavs (they had eight assists on 15 made baskets, and shot 68% for the period). Both Kyrie and LeBron assisted on Kevin Love buckets, as KLove picked up where he left off against the Spurs and drained both shots for a quick five points. LeBron and Kyrie also attacked the basket, both making driving layups before LBJ found KLove again for another sweet J. Kev then drew a foul inside and split a pair of free throws, before Kyrie got Tristan involved with an assisted dunk. And, even though the Cavs interior and transition defense got abused early on with back-to-back dunks (by Jordan Hill and rookie Myles Turner) and a run-out layup by George Hill off a steal… a terrific block by LeBron on Paul George led to the Kyrie-TT connection. Shortly after, KLove snagged a board and rocketed it ahead to LeBron who set up Uncle Drew for just his 12th official career throwdown…
The offensive assault continued with a J.R. Smith deep trey, a Shumpert pull up, and a couple of Canadian Dynamite alley-oop explosions… the second of which gave the Cavs their biggest lead of the game (14 points), with about a minute remaining. What followed was a portent of the future unravelling to come… A Matthew Dellavedova steal led to a fast break opportunity that Delly unfortunately couldn’t convert. He chased that with back-to-back turnovers, the second of which turned into a clear path foul on Richard Jefferson. In the last 60 seconds of the quarter, the Pacers scored seven straight points to close the gap. Cavs still led 33-26 after one… but it could have easily been a much larger cushion.
The second quarter began with a return to getting Kevin Love the ball down low, as Kev drew consecutive fouls on Pacer big men during one possession, and sunk his free throws. But, instead of giving KLove some extended time with the bench bunch, Tyronn Lue sent both Kyrie and LeBron back into the game within the first two minutes of the period. It may have been a reaction to the lackluster ending of the first, but it provided a distant early warning that the starters were going to play heavy minutes in this one. Still, early on, there was still some terrific ball movement… including a nifty Shump dime to a flying Mozgov, and a Kyrie drop pass to a cutting LBJ. Although, defensively, they still had some trouble protecting the rim… or closing out on anyone with the words “George” or “Hill” in their names. George Hill (10), Paul George (5) and Jordan Hill (4) combined to score 19 of the Pacers’ 23 points in the quarter, as they took advantage of five more Cavalier turnovers to cut the lead down to three. From there, the Cavs turned things up a notch, using a 13-5 run to end the half, including this strip steal and breakaway dunk by LeBron to close the scoring…
King James had 13 points in the frame, and a game-high 17 in the half, to lead four of the Cavs’ five starters into double digits at the break. The Cavs led 60-49, and looked to be in control.
Half Time
A critical juncture where Pacers Coach, Frank Vogel, apparently game-planned ways to junk up the game, pack the paint to combat Cleveland’s small ball lineup and crash the offensive boards, and generally turn up the defensive pressure on the hot-shooting Cavs. As a counterpoint, Coach Lue seemed content to ride or die with his starting unit, holding back on using timeouts or substitutions to interrupt the coming Pacers’ run. He would explain his methodology after the game…
“They was looking to me to bail them out,” Lue said. “And I know I’m not in a position this early in my career, but I wouldn’t call a timeout. And I wouldn’t even look at them. I was like, ‘Y’all dug this hole, then get out of it.'”
Half Empty
As good as the Cavaliers looked offensively in the first half, racking up 60 points on 62% shooting, they looked almost equally putrid throughout the third and much of the fourth periods. In fact, they barely eclipsed the 33 they scored in the first quarter with the 36 they totaled in the entire second half. The Cavs made only five baskets in the third quarter, scratching out a paltry 15 points to offset Indiana’s 30 point eruption. Ironically, all five of them were assisted (funny how that works), with two on the inside by TT and two much-needed long range bombs from J.R., including this one to give the Cavs the lead back briefly…
But the efficient, ball-movement offense seemed to largely disappear as the Pacers’ D intensified to shut off passing lanes, and the Indiana big men defended the rim with vigor. The Cavs looked as though they lost some confidence or trust in the passing game with the mounting turnovers and Pacer steals, and they reverted to old habits of isolation, holding the ball and excessive dribbling. This led to a rash of less than optimal shots (they hit only 26% in the quarter). Meanwhile, the Pacers were translating turnovers and long rebounds into buckets in transition, and crashing the offensive boards for second chance opportunities (they had eight o-boards in the quarter and 17 for the game). This time, anyone with “Hill” (George, Jordan and Solomon) or “Myles/Miles” (Turner and C.J.) in their name got the green light… and also guys named Monta Ellis, who went off for eight points in the frame. After three, Pacers led 79-75.
Moz checked in to start the fourth and give Tristan a blow (he played the entire third quarter), and he hit a couple of quick shots to help the Cavs pull even. J.R. and Kyrie also chipped in a bucket each to keep pace with Indiana. Then, the ball started to stick again as the Cavs’ pace slowed, and the Pacers pulled out to a four point lead behind Paul George and a three point play by Jordan Hill over Moz. TT and LeBron checked back in, and for a minute, the ball moved again as LBJ found KLove for a driving layup, and Kev swung the ball to Kyrie for a wide open three to knot it up at 89. Unfortunately, a steady diet of isolation from both Kyrie and LeBron emerged during the subsequent four minutes, and the Cavs’ offensive well dried up (they had a total of nine passes on their final 10 possessions). When they weren’t missing pull up three pointers outside, they were getting their shots stuffed inside by the long arm of Myles Turner. One particular block of an LBJ dunk will most likely make the Top 10 plays of the night (although out of respect, I won’t display it here). Things started to look dire after Bron bricked a pair of free throws and Kyrie got blocked by Lavoy Allen, but Monta Ellis did the Cavs a huge solid by dribbling the ball off his foot out of bounds (with nobody guarding him), and then some rare ball movement allowed J.R. to do this…
After a George Hill triple, Kyrie was able to finally hit a pull-up mid-ranger to tie the game. The Pacers got the last crack at winning it, on a second chance following a foul underneath on KLove, but an Ellis heave fell short. At the end of regulation, all square at 96.
When Two Halves Don’t Make A Whole Game
Myles Turner kicked off the extra period with a silky jumpshot (this kid is already pretty good, and could very easily become scary good), but the Cavs were able to swing the ball and get an open look for KLove beyond the arc… and he drained it! After another bucket from Turner, Uncle Drew continued to find his rhythm off the dribble and hit back to back jumpers to give the Cavs a three point lead. Out of a timeout, though, Jordan Hill hit a floater, and then a driving layup off of a LBJ three point miss. Bron returned the favor with a mid-range J, and then Monta Ellis once again threw the ball away. Despite the gift, LBJ couldn’t convert on the next ISO runner, and the Pacers pushed it to the other end. Then, what was most likely the play/sequence of the game happened…
Kevin Love (he of the not-entirely-justifiably-maligned defense) BLOCKED Paul George’s point blank layup… grabbed the rebound… and fired it ahead to a streaking Kyrie who drew the contact and a trip to the line! Kyrie calmly sank both, but then Ellis got fouled on the other end and nailed his as well. With 20 seconds left, Kyrie pulled up for a three that drew iron, but fortunately LeBron snagged the rebound and got it back to Irving for the inevitable intentional foul. Then, inexplicably… LBJ called a timeout, forcing the Cavs to inbound the ball one more time to Kyrie for the foul shots. Once again, Ky drained both, putting the Cavs up three with 13 seconds remaining. George Hill chucked up a desperation shot (that was actually inside the arc), and LBJ got fouled for two free throws to ice it and close out the scoring. Cavs escape in OT, 111-106.
The Evil Half:
Half An Effort. Despite shooting the lights out in the first half when they were moving bodies and the ball with regularity, the Cavs either got tired or disinterested in choking the life out of the Pacers. Maybe they got overconfident that their shots were falling, or maybe they lost trust in sharing and moving the ball due to all of the turnovers, but whatever it was… it sent them scrambling back to their old habits of isolation. Some ISO isn’t a bad thing, especially when you have two of the best in the NBA at it on your team, but ISO that ends in contested pull up threes, or going one-on-three in the paint when guys are spotted up on the perimeter is just not smart basketball strategy.
Half A Chance. It’s easy to blame the bench for minuscule production, especially when they only combined for 10 points and had five turnovers (including several costly ones at the end of the first quarter), but they never really had much of a chance to impact the game. Outside of Shump (22 mins.), Delly, Moz and R.J. all played 12 minutes or less, as Coach Lue rode the starters hard this game. Sometimes, there are going to be nights when guys aren’t contributing like they should, and the starters have to carry the load, but this genuinely seemed like overkill… and has been cited as one of the main faults with Blatt’s rotations. Lue has paid a lot of lip service to the idea that he’s going to expand the rotations, but he was effectively running a six man fire squad last night. This also certainly seemed like a game where Anderson Varejao could have been useful against the Pacer front line.
Little More Than Half. The Cavs wound up with just over half of the fast break points that the Pacers had (16-9) and just over half of the offensive boards (17-10). Both of these areas provided a significant difference in the game, and nearly affected the outcome. The advantage in the Pacers’ favor certainly turned what should have been an easy Cavs’ victory into an overtime nail-biter.
Half the Weapons. Though the Cavs shot 50% for the game (including 68% for the first quarter, and 62% for the first half), they still found themselves in a dogfight in the second half, even though the Pacers shot just 42.6% for the game. Both of Indy’s top guns misfired like crazy, as PG-13 was a woeful 3-15 for 11 points, and Monta Ellis wasn’t much better at a 5-18 clip for 14 points. Outside of George Hill, the Pacers missed a ton of shots from the perimeter, but still stayed in the game with second chance opportunities and steals.
The Genius Half:
Half The Battle. Kevin Love had another good game, as he got the ball in locations on the floor that he prefers (at least in the first half). His shot was still falling (7-15, 2-5 from three), although he did seem to have a bit of trouble backing down Jordan Hill in the post. Once the Cavs’ offense devolved into ISO mode in the second half, it seemed as though Kev might disappear… however, he had a couple of huge passes down the stretch, hit a huge three in overtime and had maybe the play of the game with his block on PG-13. His 19 and eight line was workmanlike, but he had two assists, two steals and two blocks to go with them.
Half Machine. Tristan Thompson also had a terrific game, hitting all seven shots he took (mostly dunks, but a couple of hook shots as well) for 14 points, while battling Turner and Hill to snag 12 boards (seven offensive). Canadian Dynamite had to play big minutes due to Coach Lue’s rotations, but TT was up to the task. He had some trouble protecting the lane in the beginning, but locked it down for the most part later on.
Half The Man. Even on an inefficient night, LeBron James still finds ways to help his team. He may not have hit half of his shots, and only slightly more than half of his free throws, but he still pulled down 12 boards and dished out half a dozen dimes. The reliance on ISO dragged his percentages down, especially when he decided to jack up step-back threes (he was 0-5 from downtown). Here’s hoping his comments after the game about breaking bad habits bear out in the coming weeks.
Halfway Back. Kyrie Irving might have his handles back for the most part, but he still doesn’t quite have his shot all the way back. Until he started knocking down mid-rangers in the overtime period, his jumper was inconsistent at best. Like LBJ, he really struggled from downtown, hitting only 1-4 (with the one make a wide open, uncontested splash). He did knock them down when it mattered most, shooting 10-20 for a team-leading 25 points, with eight of those scored in the overtime period. But his game featured a lot of meandering dribbling, and he had difficulty driving inside when things tightened up in the second half.
Half The Reason. If not for some timely threes from J.R. in this game, things might have gotten even further out of hand for the Cavs… maybe too far gone to salvage. J.R. just continues to bring his effort, his shooting and his swag to the court on a regular basis, and is a big part of what makes this team dangerous. This was for sure a TGIJR kind of night…
Halfway There?
Technically, even though the All-Star Break is still ahead, the season is a week past halfway finished. In fact, Tyronn Lue took over on the 42 game of the season, so he’s got exactly half a year to prove that he can get more out of the talent that exists on this team. The Chicago game aside, the previous four games (and the first half of this one) definitely seemed like strides in the right direction. However, the second half of this game was troublesome. The easy explanation is that the combination of fatigue and defensive pressure from the Pacers caused the premature abandonment of the newly imposed schemes, but some habits are also hard to easily break. ISO ball in itself is not inherently a bad thing… but it’s what you do with it that determines its effectiveness. Obviously, there are going to be some games like this where the team is still very much a work in progress. And, while it’s still important to try and win those games, should winning necessarily come at the expense of massive starter minutes and short rotations? If that’s the philosophy, other than a somewhat happier locker room, what has really changed?
Let’s hope the Cavs can get some well-deserved rest so they aren’t half dead for Charlotte on Wednesday. Until then, GO CAVS!
Okay I got video of why players felt Lebron just got away with too much. No wonder Blatt got fired. I hope Evil Genius can put up the video for us. Here is the link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnIC4gMjNuk
That link is un-embeddable unfortunately…
Oh I didn’t realize that. I totally forgot Lebron did this. He is a terrible singer
No worries! And agree on LBJ… although he did an okay job singing at the Halloween party…
LeBron did make a good Prince, but he needed the hook in the vid above. Maybe the ESPYs were too big of a stage for his less the genius singing IQ. But he did try hard to sell his persona. Stick to Purple Rain or 1999.
HEY EVIL ( MARKIEFF WITH 30 / 12 ) IF WE HAVE A CHANCE AT RIGHT PRICE YOU STILL DON’T WANT TO PURSUE—–IF NOT US TORONTO IS LOOKING AT HIM ALSO —-WITH THE RIGHT TEAM AND HIS HEAD ON STRAIGHT ( AND HIS GENEROUS CONTRACT ) COULD BE A HUGE ASSET
as always enjoyed the creativity. somewhere in the comments archives (years ago) are debates about can you find late lottery talent? myles turner will be a huge gift at 11. the pacers also had kawhi leonard at 15 in 2011 and flipped him. glad to see the pacers getting talent to accelerate their playoff push
Thanks chemist! Yeah, Turner could be a beast!
Some JR love for Blatt: http://espn.go.com/blog/cleveland-cavaliers/post/_/id/2038/j-r-smith-on-david-blatts-nba-future-somebody-will-give-him-a-shot
I guess Chris Haynes was wrong in that the players didn’t give a bleep about Blatt!
My armchair observations say that J.R., Kyrie, Delly, Mozgov, Love, TT, and Shumpert respected him quite a bit.
that was the group that ran his schemes on offense and defense. some of course to better degrees than others. love and kyrie on d could have tried harder though
JR might have been a bit of a special case, if he felt like he was running out of chances to make good when he got to the Cavs. But still, it’s interesting that the “unrelateable” Blatt was able to build a relationship with a guy most coaches would have considered more trouble than he was worth.
Or the real key may have been that JR wasn’t around for the Blatt’s-first-win game-ball incident, which apparently has become the Rosebud at the root of the players’ discontent with Blatt.
Blatt was the JR whisperer. It was last October that he said he would go through a wall for him,
I hear people say all the time that Lebron is one of the best iso players in the league, but it’s not really true anymore. He is in the top four in the NBA in number of iso opportunities this year, and scoring .88 ppp on those isos. He needs to stop doing it, it’s not good basketball, and he’s not very effective at it.
Yep looked up his iso stats courtesy NBA.com awhile back. Will have to look at highest iso ppp compared to other plays on nba.com but I believe in general it is across the board, no matter the player one of the least ppp of any play type.
Had no idea that we had lost 10 straight in Indy prior to this so any win is a good win. Vogel always gets his teams competing so hopefully we don’t have to play them in April. On the Kyrie iso stuff I agree with what someone posted earlier that the problem isn’t so much his dribbling but that his team mates just stand around watching. A couple of times he dribbled inside bending the defence and was clearly looking for a pass, but nothing was on as the other 4 players hadn’t moved an inch. Lue needs to get… Read more »
Nah. Everyone was tired in the 2nd half. It was just easier to watch Kyrie than move around. It’s no big deal. If it was the playoffs it’d be different, but we already know this Cavs team goes to an extra level in he playoffs.
Why were they tired? It wasn’t a back to back, they’ve been playing uptempo for a couple weeks now. It was the START of the second half, i.e., they’d been resting for 20 minutes. They weren’t tired, they were being lazy.
Nope. They had lots of energy in the first half and then you could see it drain away at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Not every game is going to be played at 100%. And it shouldn’t be. This team is good enough to win even in chillmode. And some nights you are going to have to be in chillmode.
So which is it, they were in chillmode or they were tired?
Pacers came out smoking in the third quarter, Cavs didn’t match their effort. Then they went into panic iso mode as the lead shrunk.
Woj says Warriors are a serious threat to sign Kevin Durant this summer:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources–warriors-serious-threat-to-sign-kevin-durant-182559375.html
The salary-cap scenario includes trading Iggy and letting Harrison Barnes walk.
We’ll take Iggy and Barnes then.
Nah. Do not want those guys
Well we aren’t getting Barnes, unless we trade TT, Kyrie, Love, or LeBron. But I’d take them both on this roster. Especially over the end of our bench. Barnes would probably start.
Over Lebron, nah, prolly not. He’s a SF. and he ain’t starting over Love either.
No over JR/Shump. Or put LeBron at the 4, Love at the 5.
Sorry, JR is excellent and a much better player than Barnes.
Well Barnes is getting close to a max deal. JR is not. So I guess most NBA teams disagree with you. And I like JR.
And Cols you know we’re arguing over hypotheticals that won’t happen.
Actually, you’re arguing and Col’s is trolling…
That is insane if accurate. Basically taking an all time great team, maybe by the end of the season the second best or best and adding the second best player in the NBA. WTF
But giving up some key pieces to do it, including the Finals MVP. Unless they find a different way to make the math work.
How deep are the pockets over there?
Well, Curry is only making $11 million this year, $12 million next year. That helps. (He signed a rookie extension in 2012 rather than wait a year and go for the big score in free agency because at the time it was looking like his ankles might be a chronic problem.)
I am still looking for that Arena Link on JR from NBATV. It still is not up. It’s really good. For the life of me. I cannot understand Kyrie’s mind set where he just doesn’t trust anyone else with the ball. We have some really good players that can shoot. When Lue told them to go dig themselves out of the hole ( A common comment from Bryon Scott) it was like he reverted back to old Kyrie in his 1st 2 years. Yes they won but it was a setback from who they need to be to win a… Read more »
GOING INTO THIS 10 GAME STRETCH LEADING TO ALLSTAR BREAK — PROJECTED CAVS COULD GO 8-2—VERY EASILY GO 3-7 ( WITH NEW COACH / SYSTEM ETC . REASON FOR THE ” PROJECTION SWING ) SO AS OF PRESENT STATUS — AM QUITE CONTENT WITH THEIR RECORD —DO I WISH ANDY / BENCH WOULD PLAY MORE —HELL YES —LET’S SEE WHAT TRANSPIRES THE NEXT 5 GAMES LEADING TO ALL STAR BREAK ( 8 DAYS REST FOR ALL PLAYERS EXCEPT “1” ) TRADE DEADLINE/ ETC . AND REVISIT THE PROJECTED REMAINDER OF THE SEASON —GO CAVS !! MKG IS BACK AND PLAYING… Read more »
I think 3-7 would be an extreme longshot, especially playing the Lakers, Kings, Suns, T-Wolves and Pelicans at home. That’s 5 wins right there. But yes, I get your point, if you were to give me 5-1 since Lue took over I’d have grabbed it quick. Anything less than 4-1 till the AS break would be a disappointment though. The Hornets game will be tough, and the home game vs Boston will be too, but they should at least split, and win vs NO, Lakers, and Sac at home. But I’ve been disappointed before, so who knows.
Nice recap, EG.
The Cavs seemed flustered by the Pacers increased aggression/physical play in the 2nd half. I was surprised they pulled that one out.
I thought LeBron’s D on Paul George was pretty good at times, but I also saw what Nate referred to where he was caught ball watching.
Not sure why Lue left Mozgov out there after a series of poor plays, including the air-balled 20 footer that had AC ready to call a timeout for Lue.
Thanks TP!
MKG is back for the Hornets.
I almost forgot about him.
Apparently this is the first time the Cavs have scored 110 points or more in 5 straight games since 1992. The LBJ Heat never accomplished this.
As usual, people need to calm down. They gutted out this win. It’s good that they can gut wins out when their offense isn’t clicking at super power mode.
Yeah and it only took them overtime to accomplish this.
Yep. It was needed. Doesn’t make it much less impressive
Still a nice accomplishment. Unfortunately the defense has not been up to par lately, although we did a nice job on PG last night. I’d add Monta Ellis to that too, but Monta does a better job of defending Monta than the Cav’s.
I want them all to get participation awards. /s
Given how great Love is playing, it’s nice to remember how little we gave up for him. What a great trade by Griffin!
http://www.canishoopus.com/2016/2/1/10880850/the-timberwolves-need-to-start-getting-a-lot-more-from-andrew-wiggins
/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s
Does a sarcasm of a sarcasm qualifies as truth? :D
Excellent find. The most disturbing thing is the Usage to Assist %s that are just awful.
Yep. He’s Tyreke Evans 2.0
Nate’s not gonna like this take….
Nate mostly likes young not good players. This fits right in.
Dwayne Wade’s son looks pretty good.
He’s on year two, with a crappy team. He’s got the physical tools. Give it some time. Btw this doesn’t mean I hated the trade. I liked it from the beginning.
That is some bad regression from Wiggins. KLove’s needle is pointing way up. And if plays defense at least as good as against the Pacers, those bad defense Vines will be gone.
Yeah but I’m not going to write off a player whose only played 18 months in the league. I also think Love cast as a bad defender is inaccurate. Like I said, I was and still am for the trade. My only concern was whether or not Love would resign, which he did.
Let’s hope EG doesn’t have to break out Orwell’s 1984 come playoff time- ‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.’ I think the starters ended up playing too many minutes, but overtime helped with that; Every coach uses their best 5 for the whole OT, save for maybe off/def subs in last minute. As far as benching KI in 2nd half like it seemed everyone was wanting in the game thread, he’s too good to be benching. When he gets stuck putting on a dribbling exhibition, yea it can look bad, but he… Read more »
And Kyrie dug himself out by continuing to fight in o.t. That’s being accountable. He’s buying in.
Amen to all of this. Agree completely.
I’m saving 1984 for a special occasion… ;)
“they managed to avoid the guillotine of fate that awaited the selfless hero Sydney Carton at the close of Dickens’ novel”
UG WAY TO GO MR RUIN THE BOOK! =)
I really should have put [SPOILER ALERT]… although to be fair, the book has been around for centuries… ;)
I love Lue’s comment about not looking at the players and not calling a timeout. I think that’s awesome.
Windhorst: This #Cavs team is young. The window for them to win championships is wide open. Its bull that its “boom or bust” this year.
Not true for the fans though
or true for Lebron.
Windhorst: Do you think players love coach Popovich? Popovich is a jerk. But they have a system of accountability and even if they don’t like each other at end of the year, a lot of times they end up holding a trophy.
You don’t have to be a jerk to be a good coach. Kerr is not a jerk. Spo is not a jerk. I really
Hope Lue is not a jerk. I want a good non jerk coach.
Media Popovich might be a jerk. But I don’t believe coach Popovich is..
I disagree. I know he’s gotten pretty hard on some of his players, like Danny Green for instance.
On young Tony Parker too. Ok he might be, but he’s approachable. Definitely a guy you can open up to.
He’s kinda like really a father figure as a coach off the game. He’s a great communicator in-game. And players can definitely relate to him even Stephen Jackson at some point.
When you win championships things change and players/coaches accept each other’s faults.
Yeah. But they couldve left after winning a couple. Parker, Ginobili and some others could have been gone if they had a chance if Pop being a jerk was even an issue to them. Most of them took paycuts and stayed long. Then will work with a jerk coach for 10 months a year. It’s either it’s not an issue to them or Pop isn’t really that of what Windy describes.
Hold on – are you suggesting Windy is making something up? =)
Pop isn’t a jerk – listen to his Plugged In comments when he’s talking to the team during timeouts – he’s positive when they’re doing what they’re supposed to do and angry when they’re not – just like a coach should be.
Search on YouTube “the best of coach Pop” that’s a good laugh everytime. The best part of that video is his conversation with Parker during a game.
Well regardless what you believe to be true or not true. Jerks and egos often co-exist on championship teams. Not everyone is best buds.
Oh of course. I just think Windy is making it bigger than what it is.
Since so many former players gush about pop and end up joining the Spurs franchise in some capacity – I have a hard time believing they don’t love Pop.
Then again, the Spurs target a certain type of player – they say, one that has “gotten over himself” but what it really means is someone that sacrifices and yields to authority.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/really-big-show/id302370014?mt=2#episodeGuid=http%3A%2F%2Fsports.espn.go.com%2Fespnradio%2Fpodcast%3Fid%3D14698455
At around the 18 minute mark.
Good point Tom. They are very loyal and Pops is a big reason why.
Seems to be a lot of angst over a tough road win.
I like coach Lue’s dig yourself out approach last game. Shows his consistency on making guys accountable most notably our stars. But I agree that he could’ve put in a player or two to be a spark plug for that “tired” team. Andy as an example..
The only thing I can think is that Lue is trying to continue to get the starters in “Pace” shape, and give them more playing time together. Otherwise it was stupid game planning.
If the starters were able to maintain the lead at the start of the third and much of the 2nd half, the bench wil play more. And we won’t have a discussion about the game plan or the rotation etc.
If the starters are struggling, why not alter the line up? It doesn’t mean taking out all the starters.
That’s why I said a couple of players could be put in (like Andy) which could’ve made a difference. The main thing is that Lue stick to his idea of making guys accountable. And part of it is doing what he did.
If the starters are struggling then altered them then nothing happened still…. Would you blame coach & said that he should’ve brought back the starters earlier.
He has a plan. He did go along with it. And even if we lost, I think he still would stand by his script.
And look it’s not like they go ISO first. Indiana climed back, Cavs then (mentally weak) go ISO and resulted poorly which made Lue punish them by not calling timeouts made them play to bail themselves out. He did made them own up to their doings. That’s his plan. Is it completely stupid? On a bigger perspective I don’t think so.
I still don’t get the logic. But it’s only one game so I’m not going to make a big thing out of it.
That was a nice grind it out win. They were tired but gutted it out.
Cols, you would have been all over Blatt for not calling timeouts, and playing the starters so many minutes. Unless again you revert to amnesia.
Love in particular has seen a boost in production. He has always been a dangerous offensive threat at the elbow, but was only receiving 3.8 elbow touches per game under David Blatt. That number has climbed to 5.8 since Lue took over, and the team seems to have a more general commitment to getting him the ball. Love received about 10 passes per game from LeBron James before Blatt was fired, but has been getting 14 passes per game from LeBron since the big players-only meeting. Kyrie Irving has chipped in, too, dishing it to Love 12.7 times per game… Read more »
I don’t buy this being tired crap. Granted the previous 2 games were back2back, but they had an night off prior to this game and hasn’t shown any signs of fatigued the first half, then all of a sudden fatigued coming out of another rest by the half? B.S. IMO the bigger factor of this is poor team communication. It’s like the other guys question themselves on what to do when Kyrie or Lebron go ISO. I mean when they start pounding the ball, especially Lebron, they just become stagnant instead of creating screens or weakside plays. So what they… Read more »
They are adjusting to a new pace. They played big minutes in back to back games and then had one day off. They played compressed minutes in the first half of this game. I don’t think tiredness is “crap”.
Exactly! When they get tired they fall on bad habits to bail themselves out. When they are tired guys stop moving around and Lebron/Kyrie play hero.
Tiredness isn’t the only thing that played a part but it certainly was a factor.
I don’t believe they go ISO that often when tired. If Lebron/Kyrie goes ” ok we’re all tired and me too, so why not I do things all by myself to be more exhausted rather than share the ball to make it easier for everybody” then we need to examine their heads. Thing is, the Pacers came out of the half chipping away our lead and the team got caught in their heads not knowing what to do. It’s more of they don’t know how to continue ball movement when things get ugly. That’s why they go ISO trying to… Read more »
An ugly win. Diverting back to old habits when we all thought they’re starting to figure it out on offense. Sounds familiar? Yeah David Blatt era Cavs. Although.. 1. We should bookmark this game and compare how will they play offensively in general after maybe 5-8 more games. Then we could judge if they already made the jump or the previous 4 wins are just a product of emotions. 2. Said this on the Detroit win, I thought that should be a staple on the book. The team called that “13 action”. They aren’t doing this 1-3 pick as often… Read more »
As much as I have been a “Mo hater”, I still don’t get why he isn’t playing at all. He’s gotten 3 minutes in the Lue era. Also, I don’t think AV has played a lick since Lue took over. AV makes good decisions on the court and should be getting at least 10 minutes a night. I almost think that Lue should stagger the line ups so LeBron and Love get more run in the first quarter. Sub Kyrie out first of those three, then bring him back in the 2nd quarter with AV. I like his two man… Read more »
Is it possible that Andy and Mo are part of a trade discussion? Not sure who would want Andy’s contract and Mo but it does continue to seem odd and unexplainable why they don’t play.
With Shump I always liked him starting because the roles are more defined and let JR do his thing off bench. But JR is playing great and hard to make that move.
Yeah, I suppose I would understand if that were the case. But wouldn’t they want to try and showcase them a bit?
Andy played great vs Suns.
Good call!!!!!!!!
I do think Andy should get more run as well. Shumpert has a bad rep from fans though, he’s only gone ISO 16 times this year, and he’s scored 15 points making him the most efficient Cav with that many ISO’s. He just looks awkward sometimes.
Well I should include dribble opportunities in that ISO grouping. He needs to limit dribble opportunities, especially when driving to the hoop.
Yea, he’s not too nifty with the handles. I think his offensive deficiencies stick out more because he plays more with the bench players; He should be out there with players who can help him get better shots.
No doubt! I like him in the starting line up with Kyrie.
Another good analyis of Legler showing how ineffectual the Pacers were in ISO ball too. The amazing stat Legler quoted is that ISO plays at the end of quarter or game have LESS than a 20% success rate over the last five years. Not sure where he got that stat from, but it should be on the Cavs blackboard too.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:14695461
You have to balance that with turnover rate. 20% with a very low turnover rate versus a higher percentage with a higher turnover rate. You have to balance that against the odds of winning in overtime.
I thought this was an impressive win. Here’s why: On a night when the team was clearly tired after half time, they did not let the young legs run them off the court. Indy was extremely physical under that basket and played playoff intensity defense in the second half. Somehow the Cavs pulled through.
I love M. Turner. I had him as most impactful rookie going into the season. Not the Rookie of the year, but the one that most affects a good team. His injury and the Knicks team success altered that, but that kid can flat ball. LeBron totally stopped shooting threes for awhile when he was on the Heat. Wade doesn’t take them any more and he is better for it. Any dribble dribble pull up three from James is flat out insulting to the game and his teammates. Until he can completely internalize that, the team will continue to play… Read more »
That timeout got me confused too. It’s Lebron who called that one not the coaching staff. Almost turned it over too on that off balance pass.
I think LBJ called the time out because from his angle it looked like Kyrie might get tied up.
I’ll agree with you about Lebron shooting 3’s, but only if it’s at a less than optimal percentage. Absolutely it’s a terrible shot if he’s hitting only 30% of them, but if it were 35 or higher? Fire away in most situations.
As far as the timeout, yea could’ve done without it as it turns out, but no harm in calling it. If KI’s in trouble it bails him out, and if he’s not, you have a chance to sub in your best FT shooters and come up with a game plan.
LeBron has never been good at catch-and-shoot threes. His best shooting nights have always been when he’s feeling it and makes guys pay for sagging off him or going under screens. I don’t really mind the threes that he takes because they were shots he historically has hit.
Now, if his jumper really has become broken beyond repair in his older age, then that’s a different story and he would need to take a page from Wade’s book.
You’re dead wrong on LBJ’s catch and shoot 3’s. This year he’s 31% on C&S 3’s 26% on all others. Last year, C&S 40% others 34%, and 2013-14 in Miami, C&S 47% others 32%. So over the last 3 years, Lebron is hitting 41% of his catch and shoot 3’s (this is over 275 attempts btw, so not that small a sample), and all other 3 point shots he’s hitting 32%. Seems to me like the ONLY 3 point shot he should take is one of the catch and shoot variety.
I wasn’t referring to LeBron’s shooting %’s; all players are going to shoot a higher % on C&S 3’s because those shots tend to be the result of the player getting open. Here’s an example of what I’m trying to say: I’m sure Curry shoots a higher % from 3 in a C&S situation but that doesn’t account for the psychological damage he causes by canning a couple well-defended, step-back 30-footers in the middle of a late fourth quarter run. Or this: Curry has never led the league in 3% but I doubt anyone here would argue who the best… Read more »
I don’t know, I think his heat check 3’s and ‘kill shot’ 3’s were always a dumb shot. 2 minutes left and up by 2 say, why shoot a lower % 3 than a higher % 2 to try to take the lead to 4. Other than situations like that though, as long as his percentages are fine, I don’t care how many he shoots, so long as it’s not disrupting the other players. Makes little difference to me whether he shoots a 3 when he’s at 36% or JR or Love shoot one at 37%.
Seemed like a logical night to get Mo or Cunningham out there. Shows how sometimes +/- is meaningless. Delly was a team-high +10.
It’s not like Delly played a ton. He got 12 minutes. And I disagree with you on +/- being meaningless.
Over a many games it’s not meaningless, but any single game it may be. Delly was awful and +10 and RJ was terrible and +6. He had 1 assists and 1 foul in 9 minutes. The answer was not Mo or MDN though. KI might have had the ball stuck to him, but he still shot 50% with 7 assists and 3 turnovers.
The word “sometimes” is not meaningless. Delly threw the ball away every time he touched it. I understand that Mo is a liability against many teams I just don’t think the Pacers are one of them.
Well I would like to see them incorporate Mo in the line up. And if Delly threw the ball away every time he had it, he wouldn’t be plus 10.
And okay I disagree that it is sometimes meaningless.
Lue agreed with me. It was meaningless last night.
Also had one of the best passes of the game, when he hit JR in transition for a go ahead three.
Rewinding the game in my head: LeBron is going to lose a playoff game or three because of not boxing out on defensive rebounds.
And yet he still grabbed 12. Tough night
I would also have accepted Half Pipe as the title of the JR blurb at the end.
Just dial 1-800-JRSMITH
That’s a great one… wish I’d have thought of it last night!
Love the Dickens analogy. I have only been involved with the blog for a year, but I didn’t know EG was a literary scholar too !! The minutes the starters played – even considering the 5 mins of OT – is a bit troubling. The rotations this game were weird ie Delly at 11 minutes? Not enough Moz at 12 minutes. As stated by others, I just don’t get the DNPs for Andy. Blatt just has to sit Kyrie down when he over isolates with his whirling dervish mode. I don’t know about “let them play through it….and learn.” Will… Read more »
Suspect Blatt may have difficulty in sitting Kyrie or anyone else for a while… :)
My subconscious still has a Blatt overload on the brain !!!! We have a better chance at least of Lue yanking one of the big three than Blatt.
Not a scholar, but like you ATOTC was one of my favorite novels as well…
I kinda expected this writeup and luckily it was EG who did it. It balanced the good and bad pretty well. Good job! I wish I could have seen the game to analyze whether the Pacers were doing a great job on D (it seemed like they protected the rim and rebounded well ) or the Cavs just fell apart on their own. RANT: NBATV should be available in some format that don’t require specific cable companies. I have Xfinity and the game wasn’t available on League Pass. Dumb move NBA. Same issue with NFLTV games. /r I think the… Read more »
Listen to Lue’s presser. I don’t think he lost trust in the bench. I think his big theme is accountability of the star players. The star players played bad last night in the 2nd half, and he was not going to bail them out. He was going to make them dig their way out.
Maybe that isn’t wise, but he made it clear that it was intentional.
Thanks DaveR! Tried to keep it fair and balanced as I could…
I am in fear of the Cavs thinking that a win over the Spurs will give them some validation that they are a championship worthy team and that they will start to backslide in to the old habits (dribbling out the clock, moving up the court slow, falling in love with the 3 pointer, not driving to the basket etc.) Last night my fears came true with the worst outcome… They still won. Worst of all in the post game interview you can hear James stating that this was a test and they somehow passed instead of saying we did… Read more »
Part of that is on Lue himself. He overplayed his starters early and then was stuck with the mess he and they made. The 3rd would have been a perfect time to pull TT and insert Andy.
In his defense, the bench was a mess.
Lue very explicitly said that he left the starters in to make them figure it out. He said he was so frustarted with the 3rd Q that “he couldn’t even look” at the guys. He said he was not going to bail them out by substituting.
So, as far as Lue is concerned, I don’t think he has any illusions that the 2nd half is a winning formula.
Right but the subs still did nothing with the time they had. Delly, who I love BTW, missed all his shots and had 4 TOs. So Blatt can say that but his first man off the bench played very little.
Agree. Subs were very bad. That plus the “make the startes grind it out” strategy explain the low bench minutes.
I said Blatt, lol
Starters were bad too. So I guess Lue should have tried some guys from the stands.
Lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More quotes captured by ESPN hoops columnist Chuck Dickens: “I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost [of LeISO]. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.” —LeBron, post-game, on the difficulty of breaking bad habits. “It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.” —David Griffin, on the spirit in the Cavs locker room this season, and why he fired David Blatt. “Please sir, I… Read more »
Perfect. Well done.
This is fantastic. Well done sir.
Spot on! Their fragile mentality makes no sense
Bravo. Great stuff. You should comment on every post with post game quotes if they were given by iconic writers/thinkers.
CtB continues to astound with its high level erudition!
Plus, another great recap EG
Well done sir!