Recap: Cavs 117, Nets 122
2012-04-08
The Cavs pulled out a gutty overtime loss against the Nets of New Jersey.
–A man named Lester Hudson went for 26 points and hit a game-tying three-pointer with 0.3 ticks left in the fourth quarter. According to Ian Eagle, Byron Scott was going back and forth before the game about whether to start Hudson or Manny Harris. Given how ineffectual Harris has been lately, I wouldn’t be shocked if Scott gives Hudson and the very mortal Anthony Parker the bulk of the minutes at the 2-guard slot for the remainder of the season. Of course, for that to happen, the Cavs have to resign Hudson to a new deal, since his 10-day contract expires on Monday, but that’s a virtual given after Hudson’s pretty remarkable performance over the past week or so.
–I think Kris Humphries is shook from that Yeezy diss earlier in the week. He was only 6-for-15 with 11 boards and struggled to keep Tristan Thompson off the offensive glass. Or maybe he’s just hurt that his pseudo-wife upgraded from an ostensibly moronic role player on one of the worst teams in the NBA to the guy who made My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. And Khalifa’s got Amber Rose locked down, Kris, so there’s no real way to exact your revenge.
–Speaking of TT, he played very well. He had 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting and 15 rebounds, with 10 of those boards coming on the offensive end. It’s natural to focus on the skills Thompson doesn’t possess—and the development of those skills are going to determine whether he becomes a rotation player or a really good one—but I think we can say with a degree of certainty that he has a preternatural ability to find and snatch offensive rebounds. He’s just great at it for some reason. Now, if the Cavalier coaching staff can get him to stop trying to block every shot on the defensive end, he might start stuffing the box score with some Kevin Love rebounding numbers.
–Here’s a sequence that actually happened in this game: Anthony Morrow baseline fadeaway —> Samardo Samuels isolation —> Donald Sloan free throw pull-up —> Gerald Wallace catch-and-shoot free throw line fadeaway. None of those shots went in, and they were all as cell-vibratingly incredible as you can imagine.
–Fun fact I learned from watching the Nets’ broadcast team of Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello: since 05-06, the player who has made the most consecutive buckets in a game? Josh Boone! Or as he’s known to Big East aficionados: half of one of the ugliest PF/C combinations of all-time along with Charlie Villanueva. What a rich and storied history the Nets have! I really hope they hold on to that draft pick they inexplicably traded away for Gerald Wallace. If they open up their new arena in Brooklyn with Brook Lopez and Marshon Brooks as their best players, the state of New York might just give Brooklyn over to Jersey out of shame.
–Additional Nets trivia: Derrick Coleman was voted the fifth-best New Jersey Net of all-time by the fans. I think Coleman gets a bad wrap historically because, yes, he was a disappointment, but he had a pretty good NBA career regardless. The problem, though: Derrick Coleman played five years for the Nets. Five years! And he’s number five? Yikes. (By the way, to any New Jerseyites reading this: I write this as a Cavs fan. It’s not like the fifth-best Cavalier is Clyde Drexler or something.)
–Next season it’s gonna be a great feeling to remember how insanely talented newly-signed Dallas Maverick Deron Williams is. The guy’s been noncommittally loafing up and down the court for a year and a half, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him unleash holy hell on the league next season when he’s playing alongside Dirk and Jason Terry. He’s one of the 15 best players in the league and this New Jersey experiment has been a disaster. See you dropping 25 and 8 in the playoffs next year, D-Will. Until then, stay sane.
–How many NBA players participated in this game? Insane athlete and terrible basketball player Gerald Green posted 32 points. As much as I would like to be happy about Alonzo Gee’s 22 or Lester Hudson’s 26, it’s hard to take much away from a game involving so many scrubs. Here’s the emblematic stat line of the game: Donald Sloan dropped 14 assists, wasn’t totally destroyed by Deron Williams, and was 3-for-13 from the field. What the hell am I supposed to do with that information?
The Cavs host the Bobcats on Tuesday. Until tomorrow, friends.
The free agent I would love to the cavs sign for 3-4 years is Jeff Green. The guys has all-star potential and can probably be had for a bargain price since he just had heart surgery. 3 years 24 million should be enough. the guy is 23, and had to play behind pierce and durant. He’s 6-9 but really more of a 3 than a 4 but can play either depending. Playing him Gee AV and TT with irving would be one of the most athletic teams in the NBA
Kj,
I think the Cavs should sign Gee to a contract to fill a roll as a rotation player on their future winning team; that fits my definition of core player. I hope they draft Casspi and Parker’s replacements in the next drafts…
Dd someone say Harris had a good handle? Jesus! He has a terrible handle and is not a gr8 passer! He is frequently a TO machine. Btw, at no point am I ready to call Gee a “core” player. He is most likely a 18 minute guy on a good team. Don’t get me wrong, I want the Cavs to re-sign him but I hope to god we draft his replacement in the next drafts…
@Kevin Basically agree. Perhaps Hudson can still win me over… But whom I really want is Andre Miller He is on the top of my list of guys to pick up for a couple seasons and he can still ball. He has shown a great ability to play with another PG in the backcourt in his time in Denver. He can truly run a team, but has never been a crazy ego guy. He can allow Kryie extended minutes off ball where his spot up shooting can kill. And if we actually sign/draft someone who can catch a lob, he… Read more »
Matthew, I tried to respond to you but got eaten by the monster. I was up to 12 or 13 players. I agree with Ben that Jamison, Parker, Erden & Harangody should all go. I wanted Manny to get a chance. He’s getting it and not producing. If the next ten games are like the last ten, he’s done too. Sloan’s working his way towards being done, too. Basically for 13th and 14th (or 14th and 15th) players, I’d say Samardo for one more year. If he’s a team’s 5th big man, that’s fine. If Hudson keeps scoring, I’d sign… Read more »
With regards to Matthew’s question and Ben’s response, I think: Irving, Varejao, TT, Gee…back and part of core Walton and Casspi…back because they’re under contract Gibson – pick up his option because we know him and the Cavs need 15 players 3 or 4 rookies That puts the team at 10 or 11 of the likely 15 players. The team should bring in at least two free agents and I want one to be a starter. I think the Cavs should significantly overpay a player for 2 or 3 years. Pay him for 3 years what anyone else will pay… Read more »
Who would be the 5th best Cav? We have 6 retired numbers + Lebron. I guess if you take out Nate Thurmond, Nance is our worst case, having only 6 seasons with the team. I’d say Coleman’s 5 seasons are better than Nance’s 6.
7 Bingo Smith, F, 1970–79
22 Larry Nance, F, 1988–94
25 Mark Price, G, 1986–95
34 Austin Carr, G, 1971–80
42 Nate Thurmond, C, 1975–77
43 Brad Daugherty, C, 1986–94
Great recap. You successfully kept a good level of sarcasm but added some really basketball stuff back in. Well played… As far as all of these guys are concerned, I would only like to retain these players: no explanation needed: Irving Andy Tristan some explanation needed: Gee- Contrary to popular belief, (and unfortunately Byron’s) Gee really is a more effective 2 guard than 3. Obviously, for defensive purposes we can switch his assignments from time to time, but offensively, he doesn’t have to try so hard at the 2. Since Casspi has been pretty horrible this season, Gee is an… Read more »
The question that I have, if people care to add some input, is… who do we look to bring back next year? I don’t see us resigning Harangody, and probably not Erden either since he isn’t even getting any minutes. I’m okay with that. Anthony Parker is probably going to retire. We’ll offer Jamison something but I think he signs with a contender. I think it’s a given that we resign Gee. Those are the easy ones. That leaves four open roster spots for our four draft picks. I think Boobie’s has a team option for his last year. Do… Read more »
Not to discredit Gerald Green’s breakout game or anything, but:
-104 of the Cavs’ 106 minutes at PG and SG went to players that were in the D-League for most of this season
– All 106 minutes for the Cavs at PF and C went to players 6’9″ or shorter. Antawn Jamison played 45 minutes.
– The height of the Cavs most effective five players at each position was 6’3″, 6’3″, 6’6″, 6’9″ and 6’9″.
If Gerald Green hadn’t scored 32 points, he probably should have retired after the game.
Lester Hudson (without massive improvement) = do not want His TS% is <45%- and he shoots 85% from the line! Ok, it is higher than 45% after last night and its a small sample size but dear effing lord I am not getting wound up about that. Has he earned himself a 2nd 10 day contract…. sure, we need a guy to make Antawn feel good about his shooting %, but I threw up in my mouth a little when I realized that 1. He shoots 35% from the floor and 2. He's already 27. Twenty-Seven. Hes no 22 year… Read more »
@burb,
Seriously, if you wanted a serious recap from that game then your appetite for the D-League must be insatiable. Colin your recaps of meaningless crud crack me up. keep it up man.
I just hope Lester Hudson is a future rotation player. That’d be so nice.
Is this TMZ or Nets:the blog?
Haven’t visited the Blog in some time, but I am happy to see the “tank” meme from RCF has caught fire.
Put the pedal to the metal boys, this tank is in top gear!
“What the hell am i supposed to do with that information” , “A man named Lester Hudson” LOL!!!!. My non basketball fan watched the final few minutes of this game and kept yelling #15 made the shot. Then when he missed the final one she asks, Wait, what’s that guy’s name anyway? And where is Kyrie, Boobie, Andy and the guy who shoots corner threes? Who are these pple anyway?” I taped this conversation to simply laugh endlessly all week.
Let Lestomania begin!