Recap: Hornets 89, Cavs 84
2012-02-22
The Hornets defeated the Cavs in an utter rock fight.
–Don’t let the scoreline fool you: this game was a mess for both teams. The Hornets shot just 40% from the field and led for the duration of the game. This is because the Cavs shot a paltry 32%, including a 6-27 performance from behind the stripe.
–Irving had his worst night as a professional, shooting 2-13 from the field. He did have a career-high 11 assists, but his wayward shot overshadowed his court vision tonight.
–Marco Belinelli looked great tonight. He was 8-13, including a dagger three with a minute left. Marco Belinelli.
–If Cavs fans are to take any sort of silver lining from this game, it’s indication that Tristan Thompson might have the Andy Varejao rebounding gene. TT had an ugly game (like almost every player on the floor tonight), but he grabbed six offensive boards (ten total) in just sixteen minutes of action.
–I would be remiss if I didn’t give Antawn Jamison some more much-deserved credit. He wasn’t as efficient as last night (8-22 from the floor), but on a night when Irving didn’t have it, Jamison kept the Cavaliers in the ballgame. Way to raise that trade stock, ‘Tawn.
–Chris Kaman shot the ball 25 times in this game, and would have led all scorers if Antawn Jamison hadn’t dropped in a couple garbage time buckets. That’s as good a summary as I can offer.
The Cavs have almost a week off before the Celtics come to town on Tuesday. Time to rest legs that look incredibly weary. Until tomorrow, friends.
LA seems like an ideal landing spot for Sessions, but what do the Cavs get for him? A late 1st and 2nd rounder? Do you really see them adding a backup PG that late in the draft that adds as much value as Sessions does? He’s not an all-star, but as far as backup PG’s go, he’s pretty damn good. They’ll be rolling the dice with him leaving after this season, but hopefully Grant and co. are seeing where his head is at. He might be comfortable in Cleveland and willing to back-up Irving for the next 3-4 years if… Read more »
Nupe,
Couldn’t you technically say that about any coach? Phil Jackson was only good because he got to coach some of the most talented players ever to play basketball (MJ, Pippen, Kobe, Shaq). Coaching is also about putting your players in the best possible situation to succeed. Did BS put Paul in a great position to succeed? I say yes, otherwise he wouldn’t be the best PG in the league. Is he doing the same with Irving? I’m leaning towards yes on that, too.
^Why does Kyrie need to be more of a facilitator? He has a pure jump shot and can penetrate at will. I’m fine with him getting us points by any means available.
Anytime Kyrie get double digit assit, I’m pleased. All shooters have off nights, and I don’t mind this from Kyrie on occassion. But, what I want to see from him is more asst on a regular basis. On a night when his shot wasn’t falling, it’s nice that he was able to get others good looks. I like Jamison, not always very efficient, but I’ll live with 44% TS from him. He shouldn’t be playing this many minutes in a single game let alone on back to backs, and since he’s our only true scoreer (outside of Kyrie who really… Read more »
Time to send Harangody on his way…anywhere. He’s shooting only 25% from the field, and 14% on 3-pointers this season, which are down from his career marks of 36% and 23%. Like the hustle, but he’s a tweener who can’t seem to put the ball in the hoop. Time to cut bait!
Likewise, despite his size, Hollins is a career 2.2 rpg guy, and he hasn’t even matched that this year, averaging a very poor 1.9 rpg. In my best Austin Carr voice……: “Get that weak stuff out of here…” !!!!!
Ron: Mannie Harris is in his second year. As for young players that BS developed, you’re forgetting David West, who Scott got in West’s 2nd year, and who he helped turn into a 20 ppg scorer in his prime.. Also J.R. Smith, Brandon Bass (both of whom got better after they left Scott, but I’m arguing causality), Rasual Butler, Tyson Chandler (who got significantly better under BS), and Kyrie Irving.
RYAN HOLLINS!!!! I don’t know if Byron just found out that Ryan is his biological son and is making up for lost time, or if he has a bet with Lawrence Frank: “I’m gonna play Ryan Hollins 30 minutes tomorrow” “Yeah right” “20 bucks?” “You’re on!” Or maybe Chris Grant is dangling him as trade bait? All I do know is I just spent good money last night to watch 29 minutes of Ryan Hollins, and I did not like it.
I don’t know about you guys, but this loss was a lot more painful to me than the Miami game…just thoroughly bad basketball here.
This should just go to show everyone why they shouldn’t get worked up about the Cavs getting a couple close wins. At the beginning of the year, myself and many other posters here said the Cavs would be picking around #8, and nothing this year has given me a reason to expect different. This is a young team that has been playing large minutes due to injuries to key rotation players (TT, Boobie, Parker, Andy). They are gaining some valuable experience even though the results are wildly unpredictable. And if Jamison keeps this up, he’ll be on a contender within… Read more »
the change in tone in these comments following a loss compared to a win is incredible. The Cavs are going to fail to show up from time to time, its a young developing team. And we are developing at a faster rate than i think anyone anticipated. This is still the same team who beat the Knicks, Mavericks, and Clippers each of those on the tail end of back2back games. I’m sure Manny Harris has a few things to prove to Byron Scott during practive before he gets any minutes in a game, regardless of how good he looked in… Read more »
“What’s the point of having Manny Harris on the team if you’re not going to play him?”
He’s a rookie, and CP3 is the only young player that B.S. has ever actually developed.
Jamison didn’t score any “garbage time buckets.” His last FG came at 3:22, his only 2 points in the 4th quarter… it cut the lead to 74-72. Jamison was clutch down the stretch, though. With 1:30 to and the Cavs down two, Jamison gave up an offensive rebound on one of the most piss-poor box outs I’ve ever seen… he just stood next to Ayon and the ball flew right by his head like he had no clue what was going on. Ayon then promptly blew right by him on the same possession in what lead to an uncontested dunk… Read more »
Eh. This team does not know how to play back to backs, and Scott doesn’t know how to coach them. What’s the point of having Manny Harris on the team if you’re not going to play him? That 7 minutes 0-5 Luke Harangody stretch was… Ugh. I feel for the kid. Never understood why Scott didn’t just put Gee at the 4, and Harris at the 3, and try to run the Hornets out of the gym. That’s gotta be a better option than Harangody, right? And cut Jamison some slack. That guy shouldn’t be playing nearly that many minutes… Read more »
I’m giving Antawn no credit. His .439 TS% was god-awful, yes he grabbed quite a few boards, but so did Gustavo Ayon, and Jamison’s defense was, as is typical, underwhelming. Just because most of the team played even worse doesn’t mean that Jamison’s play was even acceptable.