Podcap: Cavs 111, Suns 98 (or, One and Done?)
2019-02-22The Cavs won another one against one of the few teams behind them in the standings. The good news was the way that they won… by sharing the ball, rebounding the ball and generally playing smart basketball. Then again, these are the Suns who make sure their best defenders are done before they’ve won. Will this be the start of a win streak for the Cavs… or will it be another one and done? That probably depends on just how hard the next opponent, the Memphis Grizzlies, want to tank…
To recap this one, Nate and EG went one-on-one in the podcast booth. We not only break down how the Cavs won, but have a spirited debate about the current basketball debate over the collegiate “one and done” rule. We also touch on one LeBron James and whether or not his Laker team is already done for the postseason. Oh, and a bonus prediction on which one film will win Best Picture when it’s all said and done.
As always, check us out below, on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or Google Play.
https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-195-one-and-done
If we do not draft a PG & the Knicks do something dumb, I would take a look at Kadeem Allen next year. Thought he was excellent against us.
Lakers supposedly eyeing DeAndre Jordan…would not surprise me, since LeBron has wanted him for a while…Might hurt Javale’s feelings, though…
Deadspin on Tristin T: https://deadspin.com/dont-throw-away-a-friendship-with-a-billionaire-for-a-g-1832824719
On his way to becoming the next Shawn Kemp. Except, without the talent Kemp had for his peak. Deadspin is gross though.
That’s a ridiculous assertion.
I read rumors that Draymond plans to change his agency and join Klutch. Imagine a Lakers team with “puppet master” Lebron, Anthony Davis forcing so ungracefully his way there and Draymond in 2020. Wouldn’t that be one of the least likeable teams of all time? At least the league will be competitive again.
Ralph Nader just tied the game in OKC…these two teams are so weird. OKC isnt nearly as good as their record I don’t think…and I think the jazz are much better than theirs. Have the jazz dealt with a bunch of injuries this year?
Rubio missed some time. Gobert oerhaps a little. Utah had a brutal early schedule and Mitchell struggled early. They lack shooting outside of Ingles, Korver helped them.
He’s come a long way since spoiling the 2000 election.
Westbrook, Mitchell, PG13, and Favors putting on a show tonight in OKC.
Bulls won a thriller. 3 scores in last 10 seconds.
Pop blew that game. Should have called a TO after DeRozan got that rebound late. Instead, he lets DeRozan bring it up alone vs Kawhi & he picks his pocket.
Spurs are not gonna make the POs.
WOW…. Spurs and Raptors really playing high level basketball tonight.
Gasol’s missed two easy shots that I’ve seen… looks a little out of rhythm scoring the ball… but his passing is noticeable.
Lin’s creating open look after open look… really running offense well and initiating ball movement.
Spurs Raptors shaping up to be a good one… saw only 1 quarter, but Lin’s stood out as far as FA pickups.
Suns have lost 16 in a row. Next 11:
at Atl, at Mia, NO, LAL, Mil, NY, at Port, at GSW, Utah, at Houston, at NO.
at ATL, NO, NY, and #27 at NO seem like their best chances to win if they are going to set thr record and erase the Cavs from the record books.
Oops, FWIW, here are the season FG%s from TWO point land, per player, with # of attempts as well: Knight 62.5% (8), Blossomgame 55.2% (67), LNJ 54.7% (287), Chriss 53.8% (26), Zizic 53.0% (219), TT 52.6% (329), Nwaba 52.6% (99), JC 51.6% (539), Delly 51.1% (88), Cedi 50.2% (321), Sexton 41.1% (669), Adel 40.0% (10), Love 38.5% (52), JR 37.5% (40), Frye 27.6% (29), Stauskas 25.0% (4).
IDK what is considered efficient on twos these days, but having 10 guys over 50% isn’t too bad.
Mathematically, 52.5% from two is the same as 35% from three. Of players with enough attempts to matter, Sexton, Osman, and Clarkson are shooting way to many twos. Osman and Clarkson don’t shoot that well from three, but it’s close enough that they should be leaning to threes instead of twos. Sexton – holy hell. He’s shooting 38.5% from three. That means he needs to shoot AT LEAST 57.75% from two for it to make sense. He’s shooting 41.1%. We’ve been harping on it all year, and to his credit he is slowly improving, but that is a drastic error… Read more »
Another way of looking at it, if Sexton’s 669 two attempts had been three attempts instead (not realistic, of course), he’d have 222 more points this year. That would raise his average from 14.9 points per game to 18.7. That would make him second to only Doncic (20.7) among rookies.
It would also be higher than Kyrie’s rookie scoring average (18.5)
good analysis.. thx
Good podcast. On the NCAA, as primarily a soccer fan, I can say that the college model of player development pales in comparison to the Euro model where players are put into professional settings at a much younger age.
Now, educationally, there are fair criticisms to that model. But it DOES produce better players at a younger age.
Perhaps the NBA is starting to fear Luka is the tip of the iceberg. Wants to give kids who do not want college, or the 1 year facade of college, to just jump right in.
The NCAA is basically institutional slavery. They make billions, the schools millions, Nike, Addidas,… all on the backs of these kids. If you want to consider their educations a fair trade, which it’s not even close, then these schools need to assure that these kids get an education. We all know they could care less if they graduate or take classes with any benefit to their futures. They put them in BS classes where they can maintain the impression that they’re passing. Zion isn’t getting paid. If he even takes a dime he’s broken NCAA rules, but it’s okay for… Read more »
Yeah it’s bad. I used to like the 19 rule because it helps some guys and certainly is far far better for nba teams and the level of overall play in the league since nearly every high school kid drafted has not been ready to play. But there has to be a better way. Maybe the NBA d league could take precedence. NBA needs a minor league pipeline similar to mlb where prospects go get paid while they get good enough/physically develop enough to actually draft. Meaning they are actually ready unlike the majority of high schoolers that declared for… Read more »
Get good enough to actually play.
Man the league was at a low point for awhile in the early 2000s in terms of level of competition and talent. Most high school kids take years and years to develop if they ever do.
It’s complete bs that a grown man (18yo) can’t decide what to do with his future unless he first makes a school/program/tv/sponsors an insane amount of money while not making a dime for himself.
Total BS.
Well, he can always sit out a year, or play in an overseas league. Whatever one thinks about the collegiate system, this isn’t forced slavery.
I think the real issue is with the NCAA. As Mike O pointed out, you could play in Europe or sit out. You’d get paid in Europe though those kids would be in over their heads save for maybe a once in a generation prodigy like LBJ. Maybe drafting at 18 is option, but maybe they have to play in the d league for a year or something while getting paid to do so. I definitely don’t want dozens of high school kids who have zero fundamentals and no disciplined high level experience playing meaningful minutes in the league. Quality… Read more »
There would need to be some kind of draft and stash put into effect yeah. Likely using the g league
Think that is the way to go. I mean I guess they could do that now by just sending a guy down to g league, but those guys are still getting paid their millions I think to play in g league. So the issue is paying a first round pick millions when they won’t be effective for years. Seems dumb. The kid is still getting paid a decent salary but won’t get the big bucks until he gets brought up from the g league. Basically instead of spending 1-3 years in college not getting paid, he spends those 1-3 development… Read more »
on a minor league contract the league would function better and everyone would probably be happy.
Whoops forgot to finish that sentence.
Great podcast. Thanks!!! Question for the class (😊), if LeBron was playing for the Cavs, with a healthy Love and TT, what would their position be in the East and what would the expectations be? With that in mind, if the current Lakers team was in the East, what would their position be and what would the expectations be? I think if the Lakers played in the East, they would be 4-5 and would be considered a 2nd round team, possibly losing in the ECF. If LeBron was playing with this Cavs’ team and Love/TT were healthy, I think they… Read more »
Lakers would be 6th in the East.
Are you going by current standings/records or what you think would be the case?
I think they would be better than 38/20 or if not, right in the same mix.
Zion league: wins + remaining SOS
11: PHX (26th), NY (19th)
13: Cavs (6th)
14: Bulls (16th)
———
19: Hawks (11th)
Though NY and PHX are so deep in the tank I am not sure SOS matters. Suns have lost 16 in a row.
How should the SOS stat be interpreted. Is 1st the hardest or the easiest?
IN MY OPINION –LEBRON’S ” NOW ACTIVATED ” IS NOT ANYTHING MORE THAN AN NBA “HYPE ” TO GENERATE FAN INTEREST DOWN THE STRETCH / AND INTO PLAYOFFS —WHY I THINK THE LAKERS WILL NOT ONLY MAKE THE PLAYOFFS BUT ADVANCE A ROUND OR 2——NBA ” SETTING UP THE NOW ACTIVATED ” HYPE ……………..JUST MY OPINION——–WATCHED REPLAY GOOD TO SEE CONTRIBUTIONS BY MANY PLAYERS —REALLY PLAYED INTO / WITH THE FLOW OF THE GAME—GRANTED IT WAS THE SUNS —-GO CAVS !!
Yeesh…I feel like i’ve been too critical of the coverage here lately. I can’t imagine putting in the effort the creative team does here and get criticized by a schmuck from cleveland who now lives in Texas. I fully appreciate the time and dedication this blog staff puts in. It’s an asset to my life. The live threads get me through super boring meetings when i can’t watch games. I genuinely cannot think of another website I have more fondness for…Please don’t take my disagreement for contempt. I admire the contributions all the staff continue to produce.
No worries. Part of the process is to just have the discussion and not just take the knee jerk reaction to what’s going on. I carved out a position and we explored it. I’m not skip Bayless. I can be reasoned with.
Hey, I am from Cleveland and now live in Texas. This blog is the tits!
Nate you WAAAAYYYYY overestimate the value of a college eduction on one hand, especially the value of the college education of a highly subsidized college athlete, and on the other hand you seem to think that college players experience some kind of long term benefit from being attached to certain college programs. And you also seem to infer that college basketball is played in any sort of similar way or coached in any sort of similar way to the G-league. It is a pretty silly comparison. However…you make a wonderfully poignant argument about the arbitrary nature of the 18 year… Read more »
Good point about Sexton…. not a productive game, but played in a flow during the game. Huge step in that regard.
Lakers win. Sac has a chance to win at the buzzer but lose by two at GSW.
Rockets 5th but only 0.5 up on SA & Utah.
Crazy that LAL came back against Houston… wonder if they’ll put a run together for the playoffs.
Very probable if LBJ can stay healthy and still has the stamina day in day out. Both are not a given at this point in his career.
Kings up 3 at Oracle late 3rd despite shooting 17% from deep while Steph is 7/12.