The Point Four-ward: Get Me Outta Here!
2016-03-23
Four points I’m thinking about the Cleveland Cavaliers…
1.) Kyrie Irving has been a one-man controversy machine this month. First, reports surfaced that he may be unhappy playing in Cleveland. Then, last week, writers and fans lost their collective mind after Irving scored 33 points but registered one single assist in a win against the Dallas Mavericks. For some, it confirmed their worst fears: without LeBron James to take the ball out of Irving’s hands… well, that ball wasn’t going anywhere, a fact that reportedly rubbed Irving’s teammates the wrong way, as well.
Some came to Irving’s defense, saying that he was only doing what head coach Tyronne Lue was asking him to do. He was being “aggressive” and looking to score. Others pointed out that eight of Irving’s passes led to missed shots, so Irving’s low assist total was more of a result of his teammates not hitting their looks which, in turn, put a greater onus on Irving to keep the ball and score.
To me, the real question is whether Irving has improved enough as a team player to help this version of the Cavaliers win a championship. And I think that answer is a clear “no.”
The more I look at Irving and Kevin Love this year, the more they seem like two players who haven’t lost enough yet. That may seem crazy to say — both Irving and Love have already lost a ton of NBA games before teaming up with James — but they seem like they haven’t lost enough high level game… enough games that hurt.
As much as I find James’ over-dramatized exhaustion with his teammates… well, equally exhausting, part of me understands. Say what you will about James, but he does typically sharpen his focus and intensity at this time of year. For him to be staring at a long playoff run with some of main cogs of this team not yet showing him that they’re ready has got to be incredibly difficult.
2.) Not that it excuses this…
LeBron got asked about unfollowing the Cavs and immediately became the most flustered human on the planet pic.twitter.com/FTJB4pJdmW
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 22, 2016
Let me be clear about this: it couldn’t be less of a story who James follows, unfollows and why. However, for the man with the “beautiful mind” to seethe at the mere thought that this question was even asked after his well documented flirtation with social media button-pushing is just…
Ugh.
The follow-up question actually returned to basketball, asking if the Cavs could build off the 38 assists they accumulated in routing the Nuggets. That’s when James shut the door.
At least his passive aggressive game is still best in the league.
3.) So…
There’s nothing wrong if you feel the need to excuse yourself from taking another spoonful of the angsty stew the Cleveland Cavaliers are currently marinating in. There’s nothing wrong if you need to distract yourself by gazing off at some bright, hopeful point in the future. I found myself doing just that earlier this week…
So, here’s your Cedi Osman update.
Osman, the 6-8 swingman from Turkey who the Cavs draft-and-stashed with the 31st pick in last summer’s NBA draft, has put together a solid season for Anadolu Efes Istanbul this year. Despite not turning 21 until April 8, Osman is averaging 10.4 points per game on 46.4% shooting from the floor — including 36.4% from three — in 24 minutes a game in the Euroleague’s Top 16 field of games.
Osman is teammates with another highly-regarded draft-and-stash prospect, Dario Saric, taken by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 12th overall selection of the 2014 NBA Draft. The 6-10 Saric plays closer to the basket than Osman, but is a legit floor spacing big, connecting on 52% of his three point shots during the regular season (but only 30% in Top 16 play). A year older than Osman, Saric is averaging 10.6 points on 46% shooting from the floor.
4.) Given their similar levels of production, if Saric comes to the NBA for the 2016-17 season, as expected, and plays well, Osman, the Cavs lone wolf future asset, could see his value skyrocket, either as a future member of the Cavs or as trade piece in a future move.
Anadolu Efes, currently sitting in fifth place (in a division where the top four teams go to the playoffs) with 5-6 record, will continue the fight for their playoff lives on March 25 against Unicaja Malaga. And Osman looks to continue a strong stretch of play, that included this Euroleague Top Play last week.
[Note: No, this isn’t like watching highlights of LSU’s Ben Simmons and knowing that he’ll be on your team’s roster very soon — thinking like that is reserved for Lakers fans — but it is a nice steal and slam by Osman.]
Fyi i had turn. Turn. Off auto updating of comments. It was killing the site. Apologies. We will work on this.
Fair piece Robert… although it’s days like this that I wonder why it’s become so difficult to root for a team that’s leading the East, still the odds on favorite to wind up in the Finals, and still (on paper at least, and at times in actuality) the most talented professional sports team ever assembled in Cleveland… Though I don’t understand LBJ’s methods (I mean you don’t have to unfollow people to go Zero Dark Thirty… maybe just don’t actually look at your social media accounts for a couple months instead?), he’s probably got the right idea of tuning out… Read more »
Wait? What? They haven’t lost enough? Please ask Kyrie that question. Yeah I heard the high level part. I’m not buying into the underground railroad whispers started since Jan. with the hint of Windhorst on Kyrie. He’s not happy. He wants out. Lebron hates him, His team mates can’t stand him Yada Yada Yada. Excuse me, some perspective.. What outward action has Kyrie done to show his displeasure? Did he make some cryptic tweets? Make a new rap song dissing the team? Did he unfollow his own team’s twitter account and to the people that have been kind to him… Read more »
Agree with yr sentiments mostly. I’m hoping LBJ goes Zero Dark Thirty again very soon, locks down and all our players work the plays like it’s the last thing they’ll ever do. We are all waiting for the playoffs to start because then we will hopefully see the team committed and display what they are capable of. Having said that, while this interim period holds potential for distraction and derailing, it also gives Lue time to experiment with setups – something he hasn’t truly had time to do yet. I don’t feel we can judge him until next year properly… Read more »
I don’t think it’s as simple as “Kyrie wants out” either. I was just bringing up the string of talking points that have surrounded him for the last month or so and asking the question beneath a lot of the chatter: is Kyrie playing in a way that makes this team reach its potential. I don’t think he is yet… and I’m not convinced it’s injury related. It seems mental. Also, I’m not sure that learning to use your game to maximize the effectiveness of both you AND your teammates would necessarily make Kyrie down trodden. Plenty of players learn… Read more »
All good points! I know you are only repeating some of what is being said from other reporters. I should clarify better that my remarks are directed to that in general not to you personally. I am sorry for that. The exaggerated comment of ” down trodden” had more to do with Kyrie’s mentality approach. I don’t want him hanging his head down low around Lebron. I want Kyrie to be Kyrie. Nothing in his way. And as far as injury. Watch him closely when he’s weaving in and out, that knee does betray him at times. It’s still not… Read more »
I disagree with the generally accepted position that LeBron became “flustered” when being asked about unfollowing the Cavs Twitter account. I think he became incredibly annoyed and probably angry, and so he had to take a few moments to collect himself and by the time he was supposed to answer the next question, he lost his train of thought. He was clearly super annoyed and was basically like “If you’re going to waste my time with dumb questions like that, then I’m done answering your questions.”
Mostly agree. That should have been the very last question to ask if you are going to ask it. Look, it was either going to be asked by a nicer “local” reporter or an abrasive in your face ESPN guy. IF you listened to the tone from Vardon, it’s hard to get mad at the guy for asking. He seem like he wanted to run for the door after he asked it.
YEAH INSTEAD OF THROWING MONEY AT “KING KAUN AND MO GOTTI ” SHOULD HAVE THROWN IN ANOTHER DIRECTION ——BYOMBO AND DUDLEY WOULD LOOK NICE IN CAVS UNIFORM——-SHERIDAN HOOPS HAD A GOOD ARTICLE BREAKING DOWN RAPTORS STARTING 5 VS THE CAVS ——GDS —RAPTORS HAVE THE EDGE ——CENTER —RAPTORS HAVE THE EDGE ——POWER FORWARD—RAPTORS HAVE THE EDGE —-OUR MAIN ADVANTAGE ( AND IT IS HUGE ) IS SMALL FORWARD BY A MAN NAMED LEBRON / IF CARROLL COMES BACK STRONG –HE IS A GOOD LEBRON DEFENDER —-JUST SAYING …..IT IS NOT GOING TO BE A ” CAKEWALK ” TO THE EASTERN CONFERENCE… Read more »
I don’t buy that Carroll will be a real difference maker. Not coming back from injury and being thrown into playoff intensity. When it came down to in the hawks cavs series last year, he barely touched LeBron as he almost averaged a triple double. Regular season game, fully healthy, carroll gives LeBron problems. Playoff James with playoff intensity coming off of an injury? The raptors still won’t have an answer. They will 100% need to rely on Lowry. Don’t get me wrong, I think it wil be a tough series, but Carroll won’t have the impact many might think,… Read more »
Agree. Carroll is another one of those guys who everyone says can guard James but then James averages a triple double verse him over the course of the playoffs.
They didn’t exactly “throw money” at Kaun and Mo (I think they’re probably the two smallest salaries outside of McRae)… It’s fine to be appropriately concerned about the Raptors, but I’m not overly afraid of them…
Biz was out of what they could afford unless they sign and traded himwith Charlotte using the Heyward exception. Would have been a tough get. Biz rally wanted to go to Toronto, it was reported. Also would have messed up the TT situation for sure.
Irving was injured for a while then he turned in a pretty spectacular January and February. His March has been a bit inconsistent. But without his 33 points we lose he th Mavericks. I’m not at all worried about his offense. All he needs to do is get his defense up just a bit and we are winning it all. As for Love. Just get him healthy and out of his shooting slump. Dude is still working as hard as anyone out there on the boards and defensively. He’s just missing some shots he normally makes. LeB. As usual. Is… Read more »
To your first point – I thought that about last year. That Love and Irving being out – what they really missed was that painful learning experience. Because they got injured, the thought was “Warriors were lucky they were healthy. Once we’re all healthy, we’ll win the finals.” Instead of, “I’m not good enough yet.” I think you are right about Irving and Love not experiencing enough losing to finally put in the team work to get better. No just staying late and shooting, but staying late and working on plays together, studying tape, doing team drills. They think if… Read more »
I just don’t think either Love nor Kyrie get it. They are supremely talented in certain things they do. But I haven’t seen a ton of growth in their games. I thought Kyrie stepped up last year, but he’s seemed to regress. Part of it you could blame the injury, but he’s frequently injured, so at some point that can’t be an excuse. Love seems very ho-hum, and probably lacks the least amount of drive in that big 3. They don’t seem to want it, like Bron wants it. But just because they don’t dramatize each and every possession like… Read more »
Great piece Robert! Definitely agree that Kyrie and kevin missed out on the pain of last year’s finals loss. They each have built in excuses for not feeling the pain because they were both out by game 2 of the finals and never felt the exhilaration of winning. However, Kyrie Irving in particular raised his level to pretty spectacular heights before the knee injury last playoffs. I’m not worried one iota about him. And Love can score against most bigs in the half court. The only issue we might have is whiteside. I refuse to let Nate convince all of… Read more »
Bizmack definitely matters. You don’t think that having a top ten rim protector improves team defense? I’d love to have Bizmack! He’d be a huge upgrade to Timo. Just like Whiteside dramatically improves the Heat’s defense. Can’t believe how Toronto pulled off that deal for Bizmack? Huge steal. Just think we could’ve put the money we spent on Mo towards Bizmack. Then we wouldn’t complain about PG defense as much as we do.
The raptors have literally the best defensive backcourt in the league…so you are thinking about it backward. Their defensive rim protection is so good because their guard defense is so good. Timo has struggled all year with numerous problems, but his rim protection is still way better than bizmack. There’s more to basketball than athleticism.
I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but Timo is definitely not a better rim protector than Bizmack. Yes, having a good defensive backcourt helps, but it didn’t help there team last year when they were a poor defensive team. Bizmack is why they are a great defensive team now.
Although, ironically, even with the Cavs’ recent slippage on the defensive end, they are still allowing a point and a half less per game than the Raps…
Is that for the whole season? Or since Lue took over?
Bizmack was the best move of the offseason, followed by Jared Dudley. Both of those guys could’ve been had for a song, and for whatever reason we weren’t interested.
A rim protecting big that can move laterally? Yeah, that’d be nice.
A combo forward that plays excellent D, can switch on wings, and is money from three? Yeah, ditto that.
I disagree about Whiteside. He is spectacular but chases blocks at the expense of switching and positioning. That’s why they started playing him off the bench and then not coincidentally strung a few wins together.
Last I heard, Cedi wasn’t playing so well. Looks like he’s turned that around.
Great point Robert! I agree that Kyrie and Love haven’t lost enough high level games.
Cedi is the next Manu.