Recap: Cavs 91, Heat 107
2012-02-07
The scoreline is deceptive. This was a really fun, competitive game until the Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter to transform what had been a relatively close matchup into a rout.
–All praises due to Alonzo Gee, who had to guard D-Wade or LeBron whenever he was on the floor (35 minutes). I was impressed with not only Gee’s ability to stay in front of two of the most talented scorers in the NBA (he did pretty well!), but also by his attitude. Guarding guys like LBJ, Kevin Durant, et al. is sometimes an exercise in staying confident in the face of repeated defeat. Some possessions you keep your feet moving, direct the scorer toward help, do your best to contest the shot… and the superstar scores anyway because he’s really good at basketball. Gee didn’t hang his head at all when LeBron and Wade scored over him. He just kept plugging away. Also: 16 points on 6-11 shooting and no turnovers. I’m starting to imagine Gee as a Jared Dudley-type wing defender who can score a little bit. And he’s probably a better athlete than Dudley.
–Ryan Hollins: -14 with four fouls, three turnovers, five points, and a rebound. I have this friend, Jake, who’s, like, at least 6’6″. I think he might have played basketball in middle school? I’m positive he could play the 5 more effectively than Hollins. Does anyone have Chris Grant’s phone number?
–A Luke Harangody-Ryan Hollins frontcourt happened at some point? I dunno, I blacked out.
–Subpar game from Kyrie Irving. His jumper wasn’t falling, so the Heat were able to pack the lane on him without any consequences. He help up well enough on the defensive end; Mario Chalmers heating up from long-range wasn’t his fault.
–Antawn Jamison posted 25-9 on 22 shots. I’m fine with this.
–Sessions was awful, though Miami’s not a good matchup for him. Regardless, he was careless with the ball (4 TOs in 30 minutes) and the offense stagnated when he ran the point. I was exchanging emails with C:TB’s own Kevin Hetrick a few weeks ago and claimed that I thought Sessions could be a valuable bench scorer moving forward. I’ve since changed my opinion: Sessions is somewhat useful on this particular Cavs team, but he’s not a very good basketball player. He’s not a pure point guard (which, at 6’3″ is problematic); he’s a terrible defender; and he’s streaky to the point of being unreliable. The Cavs should cash in on his inflated stat line and look for a less expensive backup for Irving moving forward.
–The Cavs lost this game largely because of their depleted backcourt. Or at least the game devolved into a blowout because of this lack of depth. Eyenga saw some minutes, Gee performed admirably, and the strange Irving-Sessions backcourt remained strange, but in the end, the Cavs guards just didn’t have their legs beneath them in the final period, as LeBron and Wade got to the rim with ease.
Anyway, the Cavs host the Clips tomorrow night, which should be exciting. Irving v. Paul, Blake v. Andy, and Mo Williams’s homecoming are all compelling storylines. Until tomorrow, friends.
“A Luke Harangody-Ryan Hollins frontcourt happened at some point? I dunno, I blacked out.” Colin, I just wanted to say that this line actually made me laugh out loud.
@Rod – Agreed about the timing Thompson. But I think they had no choice. If he was still on the roster, his contract becomes guaranteed. That could have made it tougher to make a trade.
@Ben – I’m not sure why Erden isn’t playing. However, it seems that players can end up in Scott’s doghouse quickly and without warning. Last week, Bryon Scott did say that he thought Erden wasn’t playing hard the whole time.
Man, reading the comments, you’d think the Cavs lost by 50. Consider, without a 2-guard last night and having to play Harangody, Hollins and Eyenga big minutes, they were still within two possessions with 6 minutes to go. I think if they’d had AP or Boobie last night, they may have pulled it out. Hell, even Mychel Thompson. Poor timing for his release, by the way.
And @Scuzz, totally agree on Hollins. If he can manage to piss someone off enough to get a technical drawn (see: Wade, Dwyane and Villanueva, Charlie), he’s actually much more effective.
Let’s not come down too harshly on Ryan Hollins. I’ll always appreciate the way he played last season, the second time the Heat came to Cleveland. He was a big part of getting that win. However, I think Erden should be in front of him in the rotation. It just seems like he’s fighting the ball (or the ball is fighting him) every time he touches it.
Sessions’ first minutes were the best ball from him I have ever seen. He made 3 fantastic passes. Unfortunately, he is an awful player and he couldn’t sustain it at all. Oh well, no news there. For all the injuries in the backcourt and with Kyrie missing far more than he usually does, the game was still lost by Hollins and Luke. They are totally unable to catch and finish easy plays. Hollins has the worst hands of anybody I have seen ever, and Luke was just playing volleyball and hoping for the best. If they just convert a few… Read more »
I am under one clear assumption at this point:
EVERY single basketball player is better than Ryan Hollins…
Hollins just happens to be a 7-footer…so B Scott let’s him run around on the big court every so often…
Also…Harangody might challenge my above assumption…
I agree with everyone about Hollins. I defended him at times last year but have found no reason to do so this year. It seems like Erden and Samuels have more to offer than him.
It concerns me that they still rely on Jamison so much for scoring when he’s not going to be here next season. 25 points last night. Where’s that going to come from next year? Tristan? That might be a lot to ask of him. Hopefully he gets back on the court soon. Also, why have the Cavs stopped going to Samardo in the paint? Last season he spent a lot of time forcing his way into the low post and getting some points. Now, when he does get into the game, he’s on the wing or just inside the 3… Read more »
Also that 96 minutes doesn’t even include “1% amazing, 99% man”, Christian Eyenga.
Dan,
Like Scott Raab writes in The Whore of Akron, “You can only go to war with the dick you have.” These are our players–most of them suck, but they’re all we have!
It kind of amazes me that the Cavs team of “misfit toys” keeps staying competitive. Obviously Gee has been a revelation that has helped alot and Irving & Varejao are great, but the Cavs gave 96 minutes last night to players that were picked 50th or later in the last six drafts.
Even when they’re healthy, it still has that same feel. Parker’s old, Gibson is a 6’1″ SG, Thompson is a rookie that can’t play offense, Jamison shoots around people…we’ll never see a team quite like this again.
Anyone concerned about Casspi? I watched about 5 minutes of the game and thought I saw him go 1-4 from the field. The one basket he made was a drive by LeBron, on which play I think LeBron overcommitted to try to steal the ball and Casspi still barely made it past him. I swear, I think LaMond Murray, or even Jiri Welsch from past teams could be as effective as Casspi has been this year. For all the talk about Jamison in Cleveland, why doesn’t anyone seem upset that Casspi is playing so poorly? His shot never seems to… Read more »
Ok guyz. This Ryan Hollins situation is seriously getting to an alarming point. There’s absolutely no way Semih Erden is worse than Hollins. Hence why i fail to understand why BScott keeps sending him out there. Hollins has no IQ of anything in life leave alone basketball. I mean really. That lineup of Eyenga Sess,Hollins and Harangondy has got to be the very worst in the history of the NBA. I hope i never have to see that again.Ever again. There has to be some D-Leagers out there who are better than Hollins.A 7footer who grabs 1 rebound cannot be… Read more »
Is it me, or did it seem like Semi Erden was just starting to play well before he got buried on the bench again? Hollins played that game awfully. Erdin deserves a shot at backup center again. Thought that the coaching at the end of the game was pretty bad. The Harangody, Eyenga, Hollins, Sessions lineup was truly awful, and brought back nightmares of last season. Didn’t understand Sessions at the in end of that game. We desperately needed another athletic wing out there, and I thought Casspi was the least bad option there. Hey. I hear Mychal Thompson is… Read more »
Luke Harangody is just terrible. Enough with the white mamba. Dear God, please heal Tristan’s ankle quickly so the Cavs can ship this bum back to the Canton Charge. I know kids who play at the YMCA that can set better screens and picks than Ryan Hollins. How many moving screens did he have tonight killing possessions? Dude is a foul machine – I guarantee he has to average the highest amount of fouls per 48 minutes in the league. Props on the nice block by Skyenga – now I gotta take the props back because the nastiest block in… Read more »
Cavs bench 4-23 tonight. I’ve been disappointed in Eyenga and Samuels this season. I thought going forward they could be part of the future. Samuels looked really slow out there and Eyenga never does anything right. He just runs fast and jumps high. He has no basketball fundamentals and can’t score.
Irving didn’t look too bad to me. He shot wasn’t falling but he just looks like he can do whatever he wants. Can’t say enough good things about Gee. He just goes strong over and over, plays tough D, and has earned his spot as part of the rebuild.