Cavs: the Blog - Cleveland Cavaliers TrueHoop Blog

This one was painful to watch.  The Cavs and Pistons battled within a few points of each other for much of the game, and then with 5 minutes left, a free-throw contest broke out.  Let’s get to it.

1st Quarter: The Cavs came out looking to get Tristan Thompson involved early in the post, which wasn’t a bad plan.  TT scored and got to the line.  He also finished some nice dimes from Livingston and Irving to finish the quarter with 11 points.  Though it was effective, TT is sometimes ponderously slow at coming to a decision when he is surveying the offense in the post, and often, the offense stops.  Making decisions more quickly should be a priority in the off season.

Ellington got going early, with 7 points in 8 minutes, by running for layups in transition and Kyrie got to the line.

Defensively, the Pistons put the Cavs in a lot of pick and roll and got a lot of point blank shots for Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond.  This was repeated throughout the game.  Dribble penetration both in isolation and in the P/R led to bigs over-helping and easy layups after one or two passes for the Piston bigs.  Drummond and Monroe have developed some really nice chemistry.  They’re going to be a force for a long time, and Stuckey, Singler, and lousy Cavs defense did a nice job of setting ‘Dre and Greg up. I don’t know if Byron Scott is going to coach the Cavs next year, but he or whoever is coaching them has got to come up with a scheme to stop the pick and roll from eviscerating Cleveland.  24-28, Detroit.

2nd Quarter: Free Casspi! Omri executed a nice up and under from the mid post to score the first points of the quarter at 10:22.  Will Bynum made a layup, and then the Dion Waiters show started.  Playing his first game in three weeks, Dion came in to start the second, and swished a 19 footer out of a left elbow post-up.  He followed that up with a face-up drive from the top of the key, which he used to feed Livingston under the basket.  Then Waiters drove from the right wing to the left block for a sweet little reverse.  After a Piston timeout, Dion drove from the left post for a 3 point play after Drummond made a very dumb goal tend.  It was nice to have Frion back.

Cleveland pushed it out to a 9 point lead as Herculoids 2.0 (Dion, Shaun, Omri, KJ, and Marreese) dominated.  Casspi was rebounding and running the floor well.  Waiters was attacking and getting Kobe assists.  Kevin Jones was all over the boards, and Speights Eurostepped into a layup, making Charlie Villueva look as mobile as Gheorghe Muresan.

Stuckey drained a 3, and after a timeout, Kyrie got back in and the Pistons promptly resumed scoring.  First they lost Stuckey in transition for 3, then Bynum waltzed by Dion and set up Drummond for a dunk to cap an  8-0 run.

Cavs fans collectively let out an “ugh,” as Zeller pump faked and then traveled on the drive for the 3000th time this year for the year.  Drummond punished him after the whistle with a swipe at the basketball, which hit ZPA in the jimmies, felling him.

After an anticlimactic end of the quarter, which characteristically had the Cavs outscored in the final thirty seconds, TT had 13 points and 8 boards and the Pistons were shooting 55%.  49-53, Detroit

3rd Quarter: Zeller gave up a Drummond putback dunk, Tyler Zeller canned a 20 footer, Monroe scored easily on TT, Zeller canned another 20 footer, and then allowed Drummond to flush another putback dunk.  That was like watching tennis.

Kyrie bailed on a Brandon Knight a back door cut like he was playing a pickup game at the Y, which led to another putback.  There is no one on the Cavs who could keep Drummond off the offensive boards.  Adding someone with real size and weight in the offseason is going to be a priority for nights like this.  I hear Marcin Gortat might be available.

Ellington was playing better defense earlier this season.  He’s been routinely abused off the dribble over the last two games.  This quarter it was by Stuckey.  To make him feel not so bad, Kyrie decided to play equally bad defense on Brandon Knight.

Late in the quarter, Irving started to get aggressive: getting to the line, converting +1s . Then he posted up Knight and pork chopped him right in the collar bone, drawing an offensive foul.  That wasn’t smart.

With 24 seconds left, Gee retook the lead.  He pump faked at the wing drove and pulled up at the elbow for a bucket.  This is the play that will keep Gee in the league.  If he can pass up the wing 3, which he’s pretty bad at, and start hitting the 20 footer consistently, he will be better served.  75-74, Cleveland.

4th Quarter: Herculoids 2.0 started the quarter, and the Pistons countered with Monroe, Bynum, Singler, Jerebko, and Middleton.  I don’t think there was a minute of this game that the Pistons didn’t have Monroe or Drummond in the game.

Cavs had a hard time getting into their offense, and didn’t score for the first two minutes.  They finally forced the ball into Livingston against Bynum in the post and got to the line.  After trading buckets, Casspi cast off the chains that had been holding him to the bench and rose up for 3! Waiters attacked, and finger rolled for 2!  I love the new Herculoids.  Then, St. Weirdo killed the buzz with a 26 foot heat chuck with 13 seconds left on the clock.

Dick Bavetta really put the kibosh on the festivities when one of his liver spots covered his eyes and he called Waiters for a travel when his right foot was nailed to the floor.  Waiters was lucky he didn’t get a tech from Great Grandpa B.

Livingston continued the game trend of terrible perimeter defense as he allowed Bynum who is 7 inches shorter and 3 years younger than him to shoot over him for an easy two.  Then he let Bynum do it to him from 26 feet.  To make him feel better, Kyrie subbed in and allowed Bynum to do it to him, too with some putrid pick and roll defense (see pic to the right).  Timeout. Cavs, down 4.

The most boring Crunch Time ever: Waiters: nastily attacked the rack with a left handed finish off the square.  I missed you, Dion.  And then Hack-a-Dre started.  Drummond split the first pair and Ohmygod, Kyrie followed it up with a ridiculous weaving dribble drive through four Pistons to score with a spinning finish.

After another Drummond split, TT scored with a right hand hook on the left block to tie the game!

And that was as exciting as it got for the next 2 minutes as the Cavs kept fouling Drummond and the Pistons couldn’t keep from fouling Kyrie.  And Kyrie couldn’t stop turning it over.  Aside from a nifty Canadian Dynamite layup, it was an aesthetic nightmare.  The funniest part of the stretch was when Bynum drained a three before the Cavs could foul Drummond, in yet another brain fart by the Cavs perimeter defense.

With 28 seconds, the game was tied, and then Monroe scored on a lefty hook that touched every part of the rim before it fell in.  Kyrie missed an iso-three, coming about 2 inches short, and it still had a chance to rattle in. Then Tristan Thompson fouled Drummond without the ball.  So the Pistons got two technical free throws and the ball.  Well, that wasn’t smart.  After four freethrows, the Pistons were up 4 with 17 left.  And the Pistons fouled Kyrie!?  Ugh.  The game would not end.  Kyrie split.  The Cavs down 3.  Another foul.  Cavs down five.  Kyrie turned it over to seal the game.  Oy.

Conclusions: Tristan Thompson’s dribble -> jump stop -> pivot footwork has gotten really good.   He creates space with it incredibly well: jump stopping into or by his defender, then clearing space with his lower body and/or shoulders, then reverse pivoting into a hook shot.  He and the Cavs development staff really ought to be commended.  His 19 and 8 were efficient and much needed.  Conversely his defense was stymied by the Cavs difficulties guarding the pick and roll.  The bigs seem to have no idea what the guards are doing and the whole thing breaks down consistently.

Herculoids 2.0 were great.  They went teen deep, and until the Will Bynum fourth quarter explosion, they killed the Pistons bench.  They gathered 37 points and 26 boards. Jones, Speights, Casspi, Livingston, and Waiters were a pleasure to watch.

Irving was good on offense, though sloppy with the ball.  The 5 turnovers hurt, especially the late ones.  But 27, 9 dimes, and 12-13 at the line is a line maybe 5 people in the league can post.  Unfortunately the -14 and -16 he and Ellington posted in +/- was a fully accurate representation of how badly they defended.

The decision to go hack-a-Dre smacked of desperation, and ultimately backfired when TT got so in the habit of doing it, he fouled off the ball in the final two minutes: a big no-no.  Tough to know whether to blame Byron or Thompson there.

Andre Drummond is a beast.  At 6’10″, 270 pounds, and an enormous 7’6″ wing span, suffice it to say, at least 5 teams whiffed by not drafting him.  He dunked everything tonight, and the rotations and over-helping by the Cavs big men helped he and Monroe immensely.  What is really impressive about Drummond is how well he moves without the ball, and how good his hands are.  He cuts, seals, and runs the floor incredibly well for his size and wingspan.  And he catches everything that comes at him.  There was a time about three years ago when he and Shabazz Muhammed were in high school and considered the most cant miss prospects of the 2013 draft.  In the summer of 2011, the CtB comment board was abuzz with visions of Drummond playing along side Andy and Tristan.  Drummond changed his eligibility to enter college a year earlier, and his struggles at UConn were well documented, and because of that and his awful free throw shooting (which has improved immensely), his stock fell significantly.  I wasn’t a believer till tonight, but I’ve not seen a young big man with a chance to be this dominant since Andrew Bynum started putting it together.  In light of that, I’m reconsidering my stance on Shabazz Muhammad.  He might just be as good as everyone thought he was in high school, and like Drummond was trapped in a crappy college situation.  Will teams pass on him the way they did on Drummond, and regret it later?   I like Dion Waiters an awful lot, but it’s tough not to feel some buyer’s remorse after this one.  I hope the Cavs got it right, and get it right this summer.

As the season winds down, there are two Cavaliers that I am particularly interested in: Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller.  Tonight, that duo faced-off with the Orlando Magic’s 22 / 23-year old, second year / rookie starting-lineup front-court.  In the previous two games versus Nicola Vucevic and Andrew Nicholson, the young Cavaliers emerged victorious, however on February 8th, the Magic-pair combined for 46 points and 21 rebounds, routinely abusing their counterparts.  Over the next ten years, Tristan and Tyler will need to leave Nicola and Andrew in the dust; let’s see how that progressed tonight.

Tristan made plays when it counted and Cleveland notched win #24.

The affair started poorly; after the game’s first possession when Tyler helped Tristan to block a Nicholson shot, the first quarter performance declined.  As the Magic sprinted to an early lead, Tristan missed three shots and was called for a traveling violation.  While Tyler nailed a jumper and a running bank-shot, he also allowed Vucevic to push-him-around and grab an offensive board, and Nicholson canned two hook shots over him.  Worse than that though, following a pinpoint laser from Kyrie that provided an uncontested dunk for Tyler, he instead floated up a lefty layup, missing, and ending the possession.  TZ headed to the bench with the Cavs trailing 10 to 16.  Orlando had three offensive rebounds, as Vucevic and Nicholson combined for ten of their early points.  Over the rest of the quarter, Cleveland’s defense tightened, they held Orlando to one opportunity per possession, CJ Miles stroked some threes, and the deficit dissipated to 22 to 24 at the quarter.

When the Cavs’ young front-court checked-in for the second, the team trailed by one.  The duo looked revived, with Zeller forcing a Vucevic air-ball.  Tristan finished a fast-break on a sweet between-the-legs pass from Kyrie, then on the ensuing possession, Tyler obstructed an Orlando shot at the rim, proceeding Tristan swishing a right-handed hook; Cavs lead 43 to 41.  Unfortunately, the closing minutes unravelled for Zeller: a dunk attempt was blocked; he missed a ready-made tip-in; and a third foul was assessed as he mismanaged some pick & roll defense.  He routinely provided minimal resistance to the ball-handler in the pick and roll, precipitating a Beno Udrih and-one that took Orlando into the half, leading 48 to 44.  Austin Carr ranted for at least a minute about throwing people in the basket, dunking with authority, and how players will take advantage of you if you’re not physical in this league…exhibiting poor body-language through this stretch, Tyler also seemed upset with his play.

In the third, Tristan’s shooting continued to struggle, but his impact came in other ways.  Contesting shots at the rim, he forced a couple of Magic misses, and also blocked an Andrew Nicholson shot, leading to a travel.  And he just kept rebounding, snagging four on the quarter, to improve to twelve for the night.  Tyler unfortunately continued providing ineffective pick & roll hedges, and was routinely abused by Vucevic on the offensive glass; the second-year Orlando big was en-route to piling up 21 points and 21 rebounds (8 offensive).  Cleveland trailed 62 to 66, as the game entered the finale.

And Tristan Thompson had enough of losing.  Constantly active, in addition to three offensive boards, Cleveland re-gained possession three other times due to TT batting the ball & keeping it alive.  Thompson scored off a tough pick & roll with Kyrie, a sweeping right-handed drive into his hook-shot, made two free throws, and tossed a nice high-low pass to Zeller, netting Tyler a trip to the line.  Over the last 5:13 after a Cavalier time-out, largely defended by TT, Vucevic was limited to 2 points and 2 rebounds, and Cleveland cruised to the 91 to 85 victory.  Tristan finished with 15 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  He struggled with his shot (43% TS), but made several plays down-the-stretch, including putting-a-lid on Orlando’s primary big man; Vucevic and Nicholson combined for 29 points on 44% true shooting.

I really wanted this to be an all-around feel-good story: Tristan dominates like on Friday, Tyler scores efficiently…but instead Zeller struggled towards 5 points and 6 rebounds in 26 minutes, looking over-matched by the sizable and physical Vucevic.  Keep your head up, Tyler, and come back strong next year.  The Cavaliers got the win though, beating another of the Eastern Conference’s youngest teams.

I will be at Tuesday’s game against Indiana.  Looking forward to that, so go Cavs!!

I’ve developed a strong aversion to how losing teams finish out seasons in the NBA.  Sometimes, it stinks like my socks after a pickup game.  This week, the stink in Cleveland got so high that it reached a tipping point.  Sports radio, fans around the water cooler, the blogosphere, and the media finally got fed up.  People felt embarrassed after the lack of effort in the Brooklyn game, and the Boston game was probably a referendum on Byron Scott and the team’s future.  That referendum wasn’t fair.  The mob hadn’t been paying attention for the previous nine games.  Their problem with the Brooklyn loss?  It wasn’t entertaining enough.  It was embarrassing.  But how can fans and the media expect effort when it seems to some that this team is being sabotaged to prevent winning? And for what? …draft positioning in a mediocre draft.  So with that in mind the Cavaliers had a lot to play for tonight (for once).

1st Quarter: The Cavs went to Tristan early and often, both in the post and in pick and roll, to good effect.  The team seemed focus early.  Unfortunately, Zeller got foul trouble again early.  He doesn’t seem to know how to stop a penetrating player other than to foul.  He’s going to have to work on that.  Tristan had a couple shots blocked early by Chris Wilcox, mainly because he wasn’t warding off Wilcox with the off-ball shoulder, and because he doesn’t dunk one handed.  He’s going to have to work on that.  But TT  mixed in some nice one handed push shots in traffic and two handed slams off feeds from Kyrie and Luke Walton to finish with a 9 point quarter.  The Cavs were up 24-16 with about 3:30 left, but with characteristic bad shots, bad fouls, sluggish offense, missed rebounds, and plentiful turnovers they gave up a 14-0 run until Mo Speights got to the line to break the lid on the basket.   The quarter ended with Boston up 28-26, with Boston shooting 62%.

2nd Quarter: Shavlik Randolph who was recently out of the league for almost 2 years, and has only played in 53 games since 2006, outrebounded three Cavs and then scored on them to open the quarter.  He drew the third foul on Zeller on the next play, leading to Randolph’s 10^th point in 6 minutes.  Luke Walton turned his ankle, and since Boobie was out, we saw a lot of Kevin Jones after that, not that I noticed him much.  Randolph continued to score at will, getting to his career high in points, 13, with 9:30 to go in the second quarter.  Thompson continued to be a go-to scoring option in the pick and roll, transition, the post, and off the offensive boards.  He had a beast of a first half with 21 points (a career high for a half), and 10 rebounds on 9-12 shooting.  But he was routinely abused by Brandon Bass and his 16 foot jumpers (and ahem, Shavlik Randolph).  Gee followed up two horrible shots with three straight buckets to finish the first half with 10 points and 6 boards.   Kyrie was passive, but his 5 assists and 2 steals and general orchestrating of the offense was adequate, and enough to match the Celtics as the half ended with the score 52-52.

3rd Quarter: Jeff Green scored the first five for the C’s who dominated at the outset.  The only points the Cavs scored in a 10-3 Boston start were from a 25 foot Ellington parabola as the shot clock expired.  But after a coach Scott timeout, the Cavs notched 11 straight – 6 off of Kyrie threes — to counter as the quarter started to get ragged.  Go-to Celtic Jeff Green was relegated the bench after picking up his fourth foul, and the Cavs played scrappier during this stretch as Kyrie asserted himself.  But in words that have never been uttered in the NBA before, Fred McCleod quipped that the Cavs needed “to score before Shavlik Randolph comes back in the game.”  Randolph, fortunately reverted back to his old ways: fouling and flailing.  Gee, on the other hand, really looked sharp this quarter: playing from the corners with shots and dribble drives, and of course high percentage finishes in transition.  TT kept getting to the line and kept converting.  Furthermore, with Green on the bench, the Cavs defense was solid: holding Boston to 6 points over the final 7:50.  Cavaliers finish the quarter up 74-68.

4th Quarter: Livingston played ok without his Herculoid running mate, Luke “Tundro” Walton who never came back after his injury.  Shaun fed Zeller with a funky bullet pass at his face, and ZPA’s quick hands saved himself from another broken schnozz as he converted around the basket.  Jason Terry made an inexplicably stupid play taking out Darius CJ Miles with a midcourt forearm shiver — an obvious flagrant foul.  Miles made the freethrows to put the Cavs up 10.  After a Zeller 22 footer, and a Miles runout, the Cavs were up 14.  Of course Terry canned a three and Boston sicked Avery Bradley and his full court pressure on Livingston who coughed it up for 5 quick Boston points.  After a Bradley three, Livingston scored a layup, which was countered with a Shavlik layup… UGH.  Miles really attacked the basket and thankfully (WTF?) fouled Randolph out.

TT and Kyrie came back in with 6:40, and after a Boston miss, TT leveled Avery Bradley under his own basket with a unexpected but legal crack back screen that will make Bradley reconsider full court defense for the rest of the season.  But Terry answered on the next possession with a corner three to cut the lead to 4 because of an inexcusably lazy closeout by Kyrie Irving.  This led to a much needed Byron Scott timeout, 87-83, Cavs.

Crunch Time: Out of the timeout, TT thumped a putback after throwing his body around for two offensive rebounds.  Canadian Dyamite! was absolutely Varejaoian: extending possessions, tipping balls off other players, fighting for each possession…  Then, off a TT extended possession, Gee drove — out of control — and jumped with no where to go and as he hovered a foot above out of bounds and at the last second spotted a cutting Ellington who swished a mid post pull-up.

Avery Bradley is one of the premiere perimeter defenders in the NBA, and he caused havoc in this quarter, constantly hounding the ball.  But what he gives Boston on defense, he takes away on defense.  He had a crucial turnover by stepping out of bounds, and a couple big missed shots, and Doc Rivers was eventually forced to substitute Terrence Williams in to try to pick up the offense.

Free of Bradley, Kyrie kept shooting in isolation and kept missing.  This was ill conceived considering how well all the other Cavs were playing on offense.  But with two minutes left and a six point buffer, the lead held and so did the defense.  The Cavs beat the constant press and Kyrie hit a pull-up from the free throw line to stretch the lead to 8.  Out of a Boston timeout, Jeff Green flushed one to finish a drive from the right wing.  Alonzo Gee yelled Olé! after the score.   A subsequent Cleveland shot clock violation, a Boston miss and loose ball foul on Tristan closed this one out as TT swished his ninth consecutive freethrow to stretch the lead to 8 with 40 seconds left.  Final score, 97-91 Cleveland.

Conclusions: It’s tough to know what to make of this one.  After the first quarter, the Cavs held Boston to 34% shooting, but this was a Boston team missing its three best players from the beginning of the season.  The Cavs won despite a fairly terrible Kyrie Irving shooting game of 4-20.  Kyrie did have a few defensive highlights with a couple blocks and a couple steals, but he had some big lapses with rotations and that noticeably lazy closeout on Terry.  He finished with 11 points, 8 assists, and 4 turnovers.  Zeller was OK.  He had a couple very timely buckets on his way to 9 points and 6 boards of 4 of 9 shooting.  Ellington’s 12 points, 6 boards, 5-8 shooting from the floor, and decent defense were key contributions. CJ Miles’ 5-6 from the freethrow line were also key.  Though his jumper wasn’t falling, he attacked the basket and got to the line, finishing  with 9 points in 15 minutes.  His defense wasn’t great, giving up 3 fouls in that time, and I counted more than a couple blown assignments.

Alonzo Gee played one of his best offenseive games of the season, shooting 8-15 on non threes (0-2 on those).  He converted a lot of tough drives, finished well in transition, grabbed offensive rebounds, and converted some critical buckets to keep the pressure on the Celtics. He finished with16 points and 7 offensive boards and a game high +13.  But on defense, he gave up 23 points and 4 dimes to Jeff Green on 8-13 shooting.  He had more than a couple poor closeouts and gave up layups and dunks that he really shouldn’t have.  The only thing that stopped Green tonight was his teammates’ turnovers and his own foul trouble.Kevin Jones got Mo Speights’ and Luke Walton’s minutes tonight on his way to 1-6 shooting and 8 boards in 22 minutes, but +10 for the game.  I didn’t notice him much.  The other guy getting Speights’ minutes: Tristan “Canadian Dynamite” Thompson.  In his best game of his career, Tristan showed how good he can be.  Finishing with 29 points and 17 rebounds, TT scored every way post player should score: post-ups, roll finishes, put backs, and plays in transition.  His push shot was pure, and his footwork was the best I’ve seen all season:  he used his strength to clear space, his quickness and footwork to claim that space, and his athleticism to finish.  He was also a rebounding demon: going after every ball when he was on the floor.  He should have had more plays run for him with as well as he was playing.  He could have easily finished with 35.  It was a glimpse of his potential when he plays with focus and will.   He won this one for his coach: telling the press earlier Friday that the speculation on Scott was “bogus.”  TT backed that speech up with his play.

This game was a Rorschach test for Cavs fans.  Fans who think the Cleveland has been mostly tanking during this 10 game streak can say, “yep, when they needed to win to quell fan unrest, and they did.”  Fans who think that Byron Scott is a bad coach and that this Cavs team isn’t very good can look at this game and say, “Woo hoo.  The Cavs beat a team that is firmly implanted in the 7th seed in the East, and is sitting their two best players.”  They have a point.  The Celtics shot awfully.  Some of that was by design, as the Cavs packed it in the paint and dared the Celtics to beat them from outside.  The Celtics didn’t do it, but the Cavs gave up a lot of wide open corner threes, and the Celtics couldn’t convert, going 6-22 from the 3 point line.  The Cavs also gave up 16 points and 7 rebounds in 13 minutes to Shavlik freaking Randolph. The Cavs interior defense mostly stunk.  If the Celtics had anyone who could score in there, they probably would have won.

I don’t know what to think.  For what it’s worth, Tristan Thompson won the completely unfair referendum tonight for coach Scott and the team’s future — next referendum Sunday.