The Wood Shop: Let’s Talk About Dwyane Wade For A Few Minutes
2017-10-23Dwyane Wade, through three games, isn’t having a very great season offensively. He’s shooting 28% from the floor and is averaging 2.7 turnovers a game. He’s only making 2.3 shots a game. That’s a bit concerning. I can’t think of any players that have ever been impactful notching more turnovers than made shots per game. If you can name one, I’ll be eternally grateful, and you can’t factor in great end of bench celebratory skills.
However, Wade will probably figure out the offensive stuff. His shot just looks off. What’s more concerning is his defense. During the Magic game, this became really apparent in the first quarter. Wade was part of three straight defensive breakdowns. Let’s check it out. If you read the recap of Saturday’s game against the Magic, you know it wasn’t pretty. This was the first lapse of the Wade-Centric Ones, which contributed to the Magic going on a huge run early.
In this play, Wade ends up on D.J. Augustin, a journeyman point guard at this point who is four inches shorter than him. Once D.J. gets the ball, Nikola Vucevic comes to set a screen, which D.J. denies. Typically, Wade would slide laterally to stop Augustin from driving. That just isn’t the case. Wade is able to slide just once before being forced to turn and chase Augustin. Fortunately, Augustin fears being blocked at the rim and tosses the ball to the corner. The shot doesn’t fall. Wade just looks a tad slow here.
In the next play, the Magic run a modified weave play without handing off the ball directly. Wade starts off in the corner covering Evan Fournier. Fournier than starts moving to the top of the floor to get the ball as Terrence Ross moves Wade’s direction to rub him off of Fournier. Wade smartly tells Jae Crowder to switch and all is well for a moment.
Crowder chases Fournier and fights over a Vucci screen. For some reason Kevin Love decides to trap on the screening action. The result is Vucci rolling to the rim unchecked. Well, the trap causes Evan to have to look for a pass. The pass to the weak side, which Wade is manning, isn’t open. It’s a LeBron level heave. It’s also not a smart option because Vucci is closer by and a pass to him has less distance to travel.
Wade, however, doesn’t realize this or he doesn’t care to. He stands upright, always a no-no on defense, and decides not to bump Vucci off his rim roll once he sees the trap. Doing so would have caused Fournier to have to attempt a cross-court pass to Ross in the corner. Wade probably could have recoverd and prevented a free bucket if the ball was passed that far.
And, the third play to close out this journey of sadness involves Wade showing the ultimate, “I’m gonna tell you what to do,” attitude. This play isn’t entirely Wade’s fault, but, well, just watch.
Wade notices at the beginning of this action that Jonathan Isaac is crossing paths with Augustin. He smartly motions to the Kevin Love to pick up the bigger and presumably slower Isaac. However, Wade himself is standing completely upright at this time. And, Love is turned sort of sideways with his eyes on Augustin and back to Issacs. Shame on him in some ways, but shame on Wade for not letting Love feel confident he had Augustin under control. Wade’s rationale for standing upright then becomes that LeBron’s man, Ross, in the corner is starting to come up to the top of the floor and that LeBron should crash down to stop Augustin from diving while Love stops Isaac. Wade, of course, gets to stand in the same spot with this rationale. Luckily, the Magic don’t score.
Ultimately, this incident falls on Wade. Had Wade been in a defensive stance Augustin wouldn’t have had the gall to cut and put pressure on the King to drop down and help, or to put pressure on Love to stop two guys rolling to the hoop. Overall, Wade just isn’t showing the effort he needs to on the defensive end. It just waits to be seen if this is because he’s out of shape or just can’t do it anymore.
This is picking on Wade in some respects, but Wade does need to answer for these mistakes. He needs to at least put himself in the proper stance to move, so I can’t get on him as easily. A lot of these issues though are with Tyronn Lue‘s defensive system. He needs to cut all of the switching out and go with a simple drop back and recover scheme on pick like actions. As the team shows they’re capable of this, Lue can slowly introduce some off-ball switches and eventually start introducing some hard traps. This team is full of new guys and guys playing new positions. They’re just beginning to understand how they fit together. Why complicate that?
Live Thread is up…
As for the defense. It was great in the playoffs but the warriors exchanged Barnes for Durant and it destroyed our defense because we had nowhere to hide. Getting Crowder and Green should really help us there.
I agree Crowder will help. We will see on Green. He has never been good defensively for prolonged stretches, but obviously has the length and athleticism to be a decent defender.
However, there were definitely a lot of miscues that series as well. That hopefully will be cleaned up with practice and chemistry and personnel with better defensive fundamentals.
John B
Also I don’t see how the Cavs were easy to game plan for. After game one of the Finals the Cavs put up an Orating of 1.20 which is crazy good. And this is against a so-called top 5 defense in the warriors. If they were easy to game plan for this wouldn’t be true.
I just don’t see it in the numbers or in watching the team that this is an easy team to game plan for. The goal is to score buckets on offense and last year’s Cavs offense was supremely great at this.
From the Lue is smarter than you think files: “When Wade and Lue told the media about the move Monday, one thing became abundantly clear: Lue always felt like this was the right move; he just didn’t want to force his viewpoint on Wade.
Said Lue: “We talked about it before he got here; it’d be a better fit with him coming off the bench.””
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21141215/nba-tyronn-lue-handles-dwyane-wade-lineup-change-deft-touch
But hey, continue to think Lue is dumb despite all evidence.
I don’t think he is dumb. You don’t draw up out of bounds plays like he does without some creativity when it comes to X’s and O’s. However, the defense was consistently bad last year, much of it due in part to the schemes they used, e.g. the constant switching on a team that didn’t have the personnel to do so. I have a feeling that is Longibardi. Also the offense was easy to game plan for and required Herculean efforts from James to function. Obviously it did, but I don’t think it did anyone on the team any favors… Read more »
The offense last year was 3rd in the league despite missing Love and JR Smith for long periods of time. The defense was great in the post season. A loss in the Finals to a great team that was peaking and had a guy go out of his mind in Durant does not make these things less true.
It was efficient. Like I said, it completely broke down when James wasn’t on the court. The defense was average in the playoffs considering the eastern competition they faced and got exposed in the finals. There were a ton of breakdowns and miscommunications in multiple games. They couldn’t keep gs under 113 points in any game and gave up games of 132, 137, and 129.
Yes. James off the floor screwed up the offense. I’m blaming this on Kyrie for now.
LOFL
Can’t wait for the Shump tribute video too.
Regarding Fultz from below:
Yep. Injured. 76ers are being dumb here.
I don’t buy it. You risk reinjuring a shoulder, which can become a very nagging and recurring injury, jeopardising the health of a player you invested heavily on to “help the team”? Help the team do what? If it was the playoffs, then OK, but it is October and the Sixers are not this dumb. Something is fishy.
The sixers are this dumb.
No kidding. They have screwed up a bunch of things in the last several years.
A lot of the posters at Libertyballers think the Sixers are this dumb. He took a fall on his shoulder in preseason. I agree with you, btw…it doesn’t really add up…
Hmm. Maybe it is an injury. Here is the link to what I read about Fultz rebuilding his shot this summer on his own though.
http://www.nj.com/sixers/index.ssf/2017/10/sixers_brett_brown_unhappy_with_markelle_fultzs_ju.html
JR Smith is out tonight and Cedi is going to start in his place. Hopefully he shows something to earn more playing time.
He’ll never get a better opportunity than the Bulls…
THE JEDI!!!!
It’s like Adams has a bull’s-eye or something…
Lucky Kiwi groins are made ram tough!
The Suns extended McDonough’s contract through the 2019-20 season this past summer and also hired James Jones as VP of basketball operations. It was Jones, famous for being LeBron’s teammate in Miami and Cleveland and for playing a prominent role with the National Basketball Players Association, who first called Triano to let him know of the coaching change Sunday, a person briefed on the matter told B/R. With strong relationships around the league, Jones is expected to have significant input into the Suns’ next coaching move. But for those hoping that Phoenix can one day recapture the glory of the… Read more »
Mike Brown has learned about as much as he can from Braymond Green…time for him to get a shot at the ring in Phoenix…
Nice article David.
Arch, the two things I take from the article is that Gilbert didn’t meddle and let his basketball people decide things. And Grant went with the wisdom of the crowd instead of his own personal choice and was especially persuaded by his assistant, David Griffin. Oh and the third thing is that the Cavs sucked at talent evaluation in that draft.
Well, Gilbert didn’t meddle in that instance. I’d like to read the whole book, because Lloyd has stated Gilbert continues to consolidate power within the organization. Particularly when it comes to front office power. He doesn’t trust his GM’s, which is why he is essentially the GM right now.
Not sure Gilbert has to consolidate power. Last I heard, he owned the team!
I understand and it’s his right. But how often do owners who don’t trust their front offices enough to do there jobs succeed? Gilbert has LeBron for now, and LeBron covers a lot of those issues.
The mistake Gilbert made in this case was trusting his front office.
Or he’s hiring the wrong people. Or he’s the problem and he’s meddling and interfering too often creating an unpleasant working environment? Maybe there’s too much of a revolving door, much like the Browns organization.
It doesn’t seem like it though. 5 Finals appearances in 10 years is pretty great.
Yep LeBron.
Yeah favoritism towards the Warriors is insane.
And he’s surprised at the size of the fine ($50K).
That was a real team meltdown: Curry tossed and fined, Durant tossed (no fine announced). Iguodala fined $15K for verbal abuse of a ref, and Draymond should have been T’d up or fined for in-your-face taunting of the ref with mock applause. That’s four out of five Warriors on the floor at the time losing it.
It’s a team full of 6 year olds.
THIS IS WHERE A REAL GOOD SCOUT IS YOUR BEST FRIEND—–ONE WHO CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN SKILL AND HYPED UP STATS ——GOING AGAINST GOOD COMPETITION VS MEDIOCRE —-POTENTIAL OF ATHLETE TO GROW / IMPROVE—–HELL MICHAEL DIDN’T PUT UP ASTRONOMICAL STATS IN COLLEGE BUT YOU SAW THE SUPERSTAR POTENTIAL—-THAT IS WHERE I THINK THE SPURS ARE THE VERY BEST —-THEY KNOW HOW TO SCOUT TALENT / DON’T BUY INTO THAT ” STAT HYPE “——WHAT IF WE WOULD HAVE TAKEN EMBIID OVER WIGGINS — HOW DOES THE FUTURE OF THE CAVS LOOK /CHANGE IF THAT DRAFT PICK IS MADE
Speaking of Bennett and terrible first picks, Fultz has serious Bennett potential. I don’t know if you guys have watched Philly this young season, I watched most of last night’s game against the Pistons. Fultz was literally hiding behind defenders so that he was never open, fumbled the ball twice bringing it upcourt all alone (even if it didn’t result in turnovers) and passed up wide open 3s, like wiiiide open. And don’t get me started about his free throw stroke. Chuck Hayes level bad. I don’t watch college basketball, but I have to wonder what is it that made… Read more »
And this was the guy who said he is aiming to be MVP in his rookie year. LaVar Ball has infected a lot more people than we thought.
Was referring to Fultz btw.
Lol, I had forgotten about that. Comedy at its finest.
Fultz looked much better in college…I mean just as a shooter. I’m betting he has some injury affecting his shot. He didn’t have a shooting motion like this in college, from what I recall. If he has an injury and it’s affecting his game, the Sixers should shut him down.
Unfortunately, even if Fultz comes around, Danny may come off as a genius just because Tatum may be better.
And why don’t the Sixers just shut him down and instead let him embarass himself and lose confidence like that? They didn’t have a problem shutting Embiid and Simmons, who are both the real deal by the way. This situation doesn’t make sense. Weird stuff.
Yeah. If he’s injured they should redshirt him like the other guys. I wonder if they are afraid of the bad press? That’s a dumb reason but maybe it’s why. Or maybe he isn’t injured. So weird.
His shot was definitely different in college. The injury may be to cover-up the fact that for some inexplicable reason he apparently decided to rebuild his shot on his OWN this summer, which is insane. Don’t remember the reason but I think he wanted a higher quicker release. I don’t know how much is injury and how much is his misguided attempt to rebuild his shot from the ground up, but whatever it is he is not the same player he was in college, not even close.
Thanks for the insight. The flaws I saw were beyond his shooting form though. It was like he didn’t want any responsibilty. He didn’t slash and instead settled for some weak midrange floaters. Maybe he can’t the big stage. Whatever the case, he looks like a colossal bust. And to see him playing alongside Simmons, also a rookie, made him look even worse. Still very early though. He could turn it around.
Geez. And of the two, Grant wanted McLemore, who sucks. And Gilbert wanted Oladipo who isn’t a star but doesn’t suck. Gilbert FTW!
Is FTW! WTF? backwards?
For the Win!
Whelp. Go read this and then realize that we’ve been way too hard on Chris Grant. Griffin was the main driver behind drafting Anthony Bennett. The two biggest Bennett critics in the draft room? Chris Grant and Dan Gilbert. Gilbert should’ve meddled.
Sorry for all the slagging Chris Grant. It was Griffin all along,. Now we know why Gilbert didn’t want to give Griffin the money bag.
Article here: https://theathletic.com/135466/2017/10/24/the-blueprint-how-anthony-bennett-became-the-no-1-pick-of-the-2013-nba-draft/
When can I get my ‘Cols luvs Corby and Chris Grant’ t-shirt?
I will never have too much love for Chris Grant. But we’ve been crazy hard on him over the year on the Bennett pick when it wasn’t him. It was Griffin who wanted Bennett.
Grant made a lot more questionable decisions than one draft pick.
MikeO. I get it. You hate my comments. But read the article. And you can see that it’s not Grant who wanted Bennett. Yes Grant wasn’t great, but over the years we, INCLUDING ME!!!, have railed about him.
Or you can not let new information change any of your opinions.
Yes, but Bennett was the prize dumbbell decision. I recall that he did have about seven points in one minute late in a preseason game his rookie year, and that was his entire career highlight reel!
Truly shocking to see Griffin actually was quoted as one of the guys that was high on Bennett. His strength obviously wasn’t drafting, but he was one of, if not the best in season GMs in the league in finding and making impact trades that work out and finding guys on buyouts.
This is actually a pretty good article and seems factual. Check it out. The gist is that the Cavs brain trust voted 9-1 to select Bennett, and Grant was the 1. Mike Brown was the primary Bennett fan.
I’m still not a big believer that the Bennett pick was terrible, other than in hindsight. I remember that draft class well. There was NOTHING. Probably the weakest draft class in history. Noel was actually my top choice, because I didn’t care if he missed another year (I’m all about tanking if you don’t have a shot at a title). Bennett was injured, and that’s about the biggest reason for not drafting him IMO. Other than that, he was a big body (albeit not super athletic), had great touch down low, and seemed like a 15/8 guy in the NBA.… Read more »
Sorry. 1000x no. It was so obvious that Bennett was going to be awful the minute he showed up at the draft lottery weighing three bills. The dude played in an awful conference, had no NBA position, was injured, overweight, diabetic, asthmatic, and had bad eyesight. There were a thousand red flags. He ended up being possibly the worst player in the draft and was taken No. 1 overall.
But again, hindsight is 20/20. When he showed up overweight, it was because he had the shoulder injury and couldn’t work out (allegedly). So that isn’t something that shocked everyone and would cause a team that wanted to draft him to say “Red flag!!” It was expected. Some pre-draft reviews of Bennett described him as explosive and unguardable. His weaknesses were his tweener status and the fact that he didn’t pass the ball at UNLV. But he had the talent to indicate he could be very successful in the NBA. Drive? Weight issues? Obviously red flags that were noted. Again,… Read more »
Grant was actually pretty great at being a GM except for the rather important task of making high draft picks. He was the one who acquired all of those assets that Griffin was subsequently able to spend.
Interesting article Cols. I plan to purchase “The Blueprint,” once I’ve read all the other Cavs books I’ve bought since the championship. I admit I was wrong about Grant wanting Bennett, but still wasn’t it ultimately his decision to select him? I knew Gilbert like Oladipo. Bennett was a mental midget and certainly the biggest bust in NBA history.
This picture makes me realize how old LeBron is
I’m confused. Do you mean how old Lue is?
No I mean Lebron. LeBron was already dominating the NBA when these two guys were sitting here looking like this
Oh, I understand now. Got it.
So is Antetokounmpo going to lead the league in scoring/have one of the highest PERs of all time? Certainly seems headed that way. I now think he might end up averaging 30 ppg and shooting 60 percent. Tonight’s line is 13/21 for 32 pts, 14 Reb, 6ast, 1 stl, 2 blks. Ridiculous.
If he becomes decent at shooting outside and stays healthy, the “best now playing” title will pass directly from LeBron to Antetokounmpo in a few years, and Durant will be squeezed out. HaHaHa!
Durant is astoundingly talented, but he lacks the mental toughness to ever be the best. Plus, he is a wuss. And, (as Cols would say) he likes hanging out with frauds. It would have been great to have seen Durant matched up with Charles Barkley. Durant would be “shooting and running”, trying to keep away so Barkley couldn’t bully him.
Simmons is going to live up to his hype I think. If Embiid can stay healthy they have their foundation of two stars. I really want to see Embiid healthy this season because that guy will be the best big man in the league if he can simply be on the court. He is perhaps one of three big men in the league who could be the best player on a championship team with Davis and Towns included.
Wizards look fiesty.
They are the 2nd best east team.
The spurs are really good at drafting. Getting Leonard when their dynasty was ending was pure gold.
Two guys the Cavs should’ve and could’ve drafted — Leonard and Giannis. We have those two and Bron, we have a dynasty.
Add Gobert. Chris Grant: SO BAD.
Yep.
Draymond was the player we should have had. I thought we had 2 high #2s that year.
To be fair no one had Giannis as a lottery. No one had Leonard as high as 4 either. Though I don’t remember what TT was projected as. I seem to recall he may have been a surprise pick by the Cavs.
The Spurs are the organization that all others try to emulate. I think they traded for Kawhi pick to get him.
Untrue on Leonard. Up to a week before draft he was in Cavs’ discussion. I wanted him badly. Was so disappointed with the TT pick. Lots of teams had Tristan at 9. And yes. Spurs traded George Hill, a very good point guard for Kawhi.
Huh didn’t no that about Leonard. Well you were certainly more prescient than most. Heck, I mean 13 teams passed on him too right?
As far as Giannis, that draft was one of the worst set of talent whiffs ever.
By a lot of teams. Obviously with the Cavs whiffing the most with the all time worst number one pick.
TT wasn’t that much of a reach. Recall that it was later revealed that the Raptors had a trade ready to go for the #5 pick, and the other team canceled when the Cavs picked TT.
I wanted Klay or Jonas when we drafted TT. I was half right.
They certainly spot talent. They also spot guys who they can develop into fitting perfectly into their system. That is a luxury of them having such a strong organizational base with continuity of Pop’s ever tweaked system and Buford’s brilliant management. Those two guys have basically been there the whole time. Strong talent at the top of management and coaching and continuity with that talent has allowed them to extend their ability to contend for two decades. Mind boggling run really.
Spurs win: Dejonte Murray, Kyle Anderson getting crunch time run. They are the greatest talent developers in the NBA.
They’ve been to 6 Finals in 20 years. We are about to go to our 5th Finals in 10 years. They don’t have anything on us.
Huh, they’ve won 5 of them. We’ve won 1.
They’ve drafted so many guys at the end of drafts or picked them up off the scrap heap and turned them into very good players. It’s amazing.
Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Dujante Murray, Kyle Anderson, George Hill, Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills…
Cavs have developed about three players without high draft picks or off the scrap heap.
Well all that developing got them one extra Finals trip but it took them 20 years.
http://500.co/backup/eye-roll-2013-12-31-13-14-49.gif
Except 4 Titles. No losing seasons. No missed POs. All those 50 win years in a row.
They have nothing on the Cavs except a ton more wins. You are so right.
LaMarcus Aldridge: fake tough guy.
Brandon Paul playing crunch time minutes for the Spurs. Because, of course.
I wish Lue would just play Cedi and Zizik in non-garbage time minutes.
I wish I had a unicorn.
He plays for the Knicks.
I stand by my statement.
Haha.
Spurs Raptors is pretty good. I don’t think the lead has been farther than five points either way all night. Danny Green shooting the lights out.
The Nuggets don’t draw a lot of fans apparently.
Great D by Delly on Kemba at the end of the game. Made him shoot an air ball.
I think they didn’t look hard enough:
With the Suns exploring potential trades involving Eric Bledsoe, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders notes (via Twitter) that Phoenix “looked hard” at Cavaliers swingman Iman Shumpert over the summer, but Shumpert’s player option is a problem for the club.
James Jones.
just as easy to amnesty him. They’re not using that cap space. They’re so danged cheap.
I’m betting Sarver sells in the next year.
Yeah Sarver is notoriously cheap.
Delly started for bucks and has a perfect half 1/1, 6 ast, 0 TOs .
Cavs can probably get Parsons for Shumpert.
What is his timeframe? Is he even back yet? I am wary because I kind of expect another injury. Too bad he is a good player, but injuries have derailed him.
I saw him play against warriors, looks okay to me but probably take half a season for him to gain confidence.
The biggest bit of emporer’s new clothes BS ever.
https://deadspin.com/a-warriors-consultant-explains-how-high-fives-help-win-1819776784
That team is so insufferable.
That is why Borat was the best player ever from Kazakhstan; awesome high five!
HA–HA—–LOVE IT TOJ——-IS BLEDSOE THAT GOOD THAT TEAMS ARE LINING UP TO TRADE FOR HIM —JUST HAVEN’T SEEN MUCH OF HIS GAME TO FORM AN OPINION
He’s a really good two way player who can play both guard spots. Think: a more explosive Avery Bradley. The problem is that he’s had three knee surgeries, and he averages about 60 games a season, including seasons of 40, 43, and 31 games, and just 66 last year.
Hi David, I’ll have to disagree on two of the three posted defensive-lacking videos (and corresponding comments). The first video shows Augustine, who I think is a decent enough PG, beating Wade with quickness. Sucks but Wade is 35yo and not as mobile as he used to be. I don’t think it was a mental lapse but rather a faster PG attacking a slower defender. Luckily Wade recovered and was able to force Augustine to pass the ball as opposed to score a layup. Second video shows Wade sticking near his guy on the corner. I think the defense collapsed… Read more »
SO WHO STARTS AT PT GD TOMORROW —-JOSE AGAIN —–HOPE WE SEE THE “OLD ” J.R. STARTER TOMORROW —–THINK WE WILL !!——ALSO WITH WADE COMING OFF THE BENCH THERE SHOULD / COULD BE MORE “TOUCHES ” FOR HIM WHICH HE DISCUSSED AS BEING A HUGE ADJUSTMENT
I assume Blesoe will start at pt gd
Peltons explanation: Bledsoe has long been linked to Cleveland because he’s represented by Klutch Sports Management, which represents LeBron James, but Bledsoe also would fit well with the Cavaliers. Derrick Rose’s sprained ankle has exposed how thin Cleveland is at point guard while Isaiah Thomas is sidelined by a hip injury. In any event, Bledsoe is a better fit than Thomas defensively to match up with the Golden State Warriors in a possible NBA Finals rematch.
I’ll be honest, I would give up a hell of a lot for Bledsoe, but adding another really good ball dominant player to a Lebron James team with a questionable coach…I mean I guess if they can do it do it but I don’t expect Lue to be able to manage a greater product than the sum of its parts
Bledsoe is a career 33% shooter fron deep with major surgeries to both knees. He is a good defender not a great one (Beverley, Tony Allen), he won’t slow Curry. Plus he is a mediocre passer.
He is an upgrade from Shump and Calderon.
Thank goodness Dwayne wade isn’t an idiot. His willingness to come off the bench could literally add 5 wins to the first couple months of the season
To John B’s point about Wade’s lateral quickness. The old guys are going to struggle, especially defensively on back end of back-to-backs. They just are.
Yep, that is why I wasn’t all that upset about the loss. I think they got away from some of what they were doing offensively against the bucks but I don’t expect this team to perform well on back to backs this year. Actually, I wouldn’t mind testing Silver and going full on popovich having some Spurs rest games this year where two or three guys get rested on every other back to back.
The Orlando game was a disaster all around. I saw Lebron standing around on D plenty as well. I’m going to assume they were gassed from Milwaukee and had beat Orlando 17 straight games, the longest such streak in the NBA. Everything regresses to the mean. I know it’s the blogs purpose to analyze the games, but with so many new players and a small sample size of 3 games ( including the crazy weird Hayward injury opener) I find it hard to draw a whole lot of conclusions. Wade has always been a great defender and a high IQ… Read more »
Good breakdown of some of these miscues David. The defense was so poor that game it kind of got lost in the shuffle. I can forgive the Augustin play a bit because he is really quick and as you pointed out I am just not sure Wade has the lateral quicks to keep up with that quick of a pg anymore. As for the other two, hopefully it gets sorted out with a bit more practice. He is still probably going to be a better defender than Ky.
I think Wade’s defense and shot making at the end of games is going to make a big difference.
The difference Wade’s defense will make is in the wrong direction.
Kevin Pelton’s Suggestion:
Potential suitor 3: Cleveland Cavaliers
Suns get: Guard Iman Shumpert, center Ante Zizic, protected 2021 first-round pick
Cavaliers get: Bledsoe
I think the suns probably ask for a bit more than that, but hey that would be nice.
I’d do that.
And they’ve a glut of bigs. Not sure what Zizic gives them.
A bit off topic, but if we are to trade for a point guard, please let that be Patrick Beverley. Do I love him! I have been a fan since before he played in the NBA, as he happened to play in Greece before going to Houston. There is no doubt in my mind that we would win the championship with him. He would do whatever it takes and he would surely get in Curry’s and Braymond’s head in a potential matchup with the Dubs. I would give up IT and even the Nets pick, which is looking less valuable… Read more »
Completely agree. I’ve said that I’d give up the Nets pick for Beverley in recent weeks and stand by that statement. I’d do that trade yesterday.
No way. Nets pick is much more valuable than Beverly.
I was with you until the last sentence…no way can the Cavs sacrifice 52 wins!
Perhaps onebof the non-Nets sucky teams get Bledsoe & pass them up (NY, Orl, Indy).
https://247sports.com/Bolt/watch-suns-josh-jackson-gunshot-motion-curses-fan-109312391
Not a good look there.
Man what is going on with the Suns?!
Saw that and it is not great, but I will reserve judgment for now. The suns locker room, organizational atmosphere, and current situation with Bledsoe wanting out and basically tanking the his performance the first three games seems toxic. Wouldn’t be surprised if all of that is affecting Jackson’s morale to start his career.
Yeah. Lue and the defensive coaches have been mostly incompetent. Trapping with no shot blocking is kind of dumb.
FWIW, DJ Augustine killed Kyrie all the time.
The trapping and closeouts are very haphazard. The amount of times I’ve seen two guys running to the corner has been more than I have fingers. It’s effective sometimes, but usually results in an open basket. Who is rotating to whom is often in doubt.
It’s been three games.
And? I shouldn’t point out what I’m seeing?
The problem isn’t saying “The Cavs played badly last night”. The problem is then extrapolating to all the Lue is stupid nonsense. Like there isn’t a fulls season to be played and players to integrate and schemes to try out and discard before the playoffs.
And when did I do that?
Have you not been reading the comments on CtB? There’s a constant stream of how dumb Lue is. Which makes no sense since he’s decided to start Love which is super smart. His out of time out plays are great and known throughout the NBA as great, and he’s got his finger on the pulse of a team with tons of egos and is still the only coach since 1948 to celebrate a championship in Cleveland.
Yet according to the comments section at CtB, he’s dum dum.
Then comment on those guys, not on me for pointing out an observation on the way they’re playing. I just pointed out what’s happening on the court. I didn’t put a value judgment on it. Don’t kill the messenger.
I don’t think Lue is the greatest coach in the world, but I don’t think he’s the worst, and some of the decisions that get made rest with the players (one in particular) and not him, so he has a fine line to walk.
OK, fair enough.
Nobody has said he is dumb, at lest as far as I can remember. Even you cannot deny the fact that he plays players based on fame and past accolades instead of actual production and analytics, that the defense of the Cavs was laughable last year and outside of the ATO plays the offense is basically give Lebron the ball and he will figure sth out. Yes he is a good motivator presumably, he commands enough respect out of Lebron to not say bad things about him in public, but he is definitely not in the top 10 of coaches… Read more »
Um. He definitely seems to play players based on analytics.
Yeah because Shump blows the metrics away.
Shump rocks the metrics, which is why the Suns should trade Bledsoe for him…
The trapping was awful last year. It only worked vs Bos cause IT was on one leg & they had no shooters. Nor did the Raps. Vs competent O it always leads to an open lane/shot.
Agree Jason, unfortunately the mental miscues and disorganized rotations was just as much of a problem as effort last year, especially during the finals.
AND YES FIRE THE “MIDGET ” LOGENBURGERBASKETS “—–WHY IS HE STILL HERE —-THERE ARE COACHES OUT THERE WHO ARE MUCH BETTER
Wade will be fine.
YES I GIVE DWADE ALOT OF CREDIT FOR DOING THIS—-IT COULD HAVE ENDED UP BEING UGLY / DRAMA / MORE FOR THE MEDIA TO HYPE UP
Absolutely. Impressed with his attitude, though not necessarily surprised considering some of the sacrifices he made in Miami. I am surprised it happened so soon. He has always seemed like a guy that wants to win first and foremost.
Lol I’m so glad Wade asked to come off the bench already. I just saved months of annoyance.
Tyronn Lue has a defensive system?
Fire Longabardi
Nice analysis