Recap: Cleveland 97, Boston 91 (or Tristan Thompson ought to say “bogus” more often)

April 5th, 2013 by Nate Smith

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 10th 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.

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Kevin’s Pre-season Predictions, a Redux

April 4th, 2013 by Kevin Hetrick

This week, Cleveland reaches the 90% point of the season, and the team quit already, so now serves as good a time as any to review my bold, and likely folly, pre-season predictions. Let’s dive in:

The prediction that I made about Tristan developing several right-handed moves...probably my most accurate. Oh, I didn't say that? Well, his 11 & 9 proved closest for me.

  1. 33 wins – Ouch.  If Andy and Kyrie played 75 games, this would have happened.  The good health was wishful thinking.  Please stay on-the-court next year.
  2. Beat an elite team on the road by double digits – Not quite.  Cleveland’s victory in Los Angeles against the Clippers failed to qualify; the Cavs won by seven.
  3. Lose at home to a horrible team by twenty – Also, slightly off, but a loss by 13 to Phoenix nearly hits the mark.  General idea being that the season would be up-and-down.  I wish it was ending as “up” though.
  4. CJ Miles finishes second on the team in scoring at nearly 14 points – Tom consistently noted his friend projecting CJ as a solid contributor on the Wine & Gold, but I was riding that train, too.  Miles currently resides sixth on the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game.
  5. His PER is also 13-ish – Miles is pairing true shooting that exceeds his previous four seasons with career best defensive rebounding; his PER hits 15.  At the beginning of the season, I envisioned Miles receiving more minutes, while scoring frequently, yet inefficiently.
  6. Each of Cleveland’s wings post PER between 13 and 14 – Only Dion Waiters came through here.  Miles exceeded, while Casspi and Gee under-performed.
  7. Boobie’s PER would be 11.2, but with 40% from deep – Gibson is hitting career lows from the field, from deep, and at the free throw line.  Sigh…
  8. He gets traded – Wrong here.  Jon Leuer got sent packing instead.  Best of luck in free agency, Daniel.
  9. Kyrie receives four points in MVP voting – If Irving played 70 games, no doubt this would have happened.
  10. Due to 20 points, 7 assists and 57% true shooting – Kyrie’s TS% is 57%, but his scoring is higher, with lesser distribution.  All things considered, I would have preferred my prediction.
  11. Harangody hits 17 threes – I picked the wrong Luke as my surprise bench player of the year.  Ummmm…Harangody made 23 from deep in the D-League, where he is a career 41% three-point hoister.
  12. Tristan averages 11 & 9 – It’s actually 11.3 and 9.2…I will turn in my prognosticator-card on the way out the door.
  13. With 47% shooting from the field and 57% free throws – Thompson exceeded my guess, posting 48.6 and 61 to date; this small difference is an exciting development for the young big man.
  14. Pargo + Sloan > 800 minutes = disappointment – That duo combined for 704 minutes, prior to being usurped by Shaun Livingston, who was fun to watch.  Disappointment averted.
  15. Dion plays 23 minutes per game, with 9.5 points and 2.6 assists – Per minute, I was in the ballpark; I expected Miles to start and Waiters to serve as the sixth man.
  16. He plays less than 10 minutes several times, due to “doghouse” duty – Pulled several times for poor defense or shot selection, Waiters never went through a spell where he was glued to the bench.  I expected the frustrating play evidenced by the rookie in December, but his leash never got too short, and he appeared to learn some valuable lessons regardless.
  17. Coach Scott never loses sight of Dion’s potential – Undoubtedly true; an odd prediction in hindsight.
  18. Omri Casspi starts 25 games – He met this threshold each of his first three years in the league, obviously he was glued to the bench this year.  I expected a rebound towards his rookie levels, but that did not develop.
  19. He shoots 36+% from three – again an anticipated return to his Sac-town days, but no dice.
  20. Jon Leuer mixes nights of high quality ball, with frustrating displays of wimpi-ness – Actually, I meant to say Tyler Zeller (stupid auto-correct).  Leuer never managed anything productive in Cleveland.  His PER in Memphis is 14.1 though.  That makes his career track record over the last four years: Memphis 14.1; Cleveland 3.3; DLeague 20.1; Milwaukee 15.3; Eurocup 19.4; NCAA 28.7; NCAA 30.2.  A reasonable pattern emerges with one exception…
  21. He will be back in Cleveland in 2013 – 2014 – Not so much.   I intended to say Wayne Ellington will be with the Cavs next season…stupid auto-correct!
  22. This year is Samardo’s final in Cleveland – Yes!  One for Twenty-two.  At roulette, I would be a winner!
  23. Anderson Varejao suits-up 73 times for the Wine & Gold – Yeah, so, I meant, uhhh “wears a suit 73 times for Wine & Gold.”  Next season, play him 20 – 25 minutes per night, and never 4 times in 5 nights.  If he doesn’t stay on the court, then I give up.
  24. He pays $15000 in flopping related fines – I can’t recall any fines for Andy.  In 73 games though; who knows?
  25. Cavs fans quit talking about trading him, as we gear up for the 2014 playoff push – Not sure this happened, but given his current status as “injury prone”, he is almost certainly worth more to Cleveland than other teams.  Limit his minutes next year.
  26. Zeller averages 10 & 6 with 54% True Shooting – Eight and Six with Fifty Percent?  Oops.  In his last 28 games (one-third of a season), the TS increases to 56+%.  I’m holding out hope for a leap next year, TZ!
  27. He makes second team All-Rookie – This could still happen, right?  Tyler ranks 4th of rookies in minutes played, 2nd for total rebounds, 6th for blocks, 1st for personal fouls, 11th for points scored, and 11th for win shares.  Only one of those things is definitely bad, right?
  28. Alonzo Gee makes the ESPN daily top-ten seven times – This was exactly right; I keep a log of these things.
  29. Kyrie is featured twenty-seven times – Also right on the mark…send me a check and I will predict your future.
  30. Cleveland is repeatedly mentioned in rumors as the third team in a big trade, but nothing happens – This was more or less right.
  31. They draft 9, 26, 35 and 39 – There is a lot of wrong here.  Everyone thought the Lakers would be good though, didn’t they?
  32. A draft day trade will occur – This is correct, or at least you can’t disprove it.
  33. Cleveland makes a big free agent signing or trade prior to 2013 – 2014 – Not sure about this one, but betting on what Chris Grant will do is a good way to go broke.  Next year is definitely the time for the master plan to start flourishing.

Pre-season predictions are a fool’s errand, leaving them right up my alley.  As this season spirals into unwatch-ableness, we can start dreaming of the draft and predictions for next year.

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“Whatever Happens, Happens.”

April 4th, 2013 by John Krolik

The Cavaliers were decimated by the Nets Wednesday night.

The Cavaliers are not a very good basketball team. The Cavs lack in star talent and depth at nearly every position other than point guard, and the remarkable Herculoids have faded down the stretch. However, no NBA team should lose games as badly as the Cavs did last night. The final deficit was only 18, but anyone who watched the game would tell you that the game was much worse than that number would indicate. The Nets led by around 30 for much of the “contest,” and the action consisted mostly of wide-open jumpers, the monotony occasionally broken by free throw attempts for Brooklyn. I’ll keep the game action recap brief.

First Half:

The Nets outscore the Cavaliers by eight in the first quarter. Marshon Brooks makes it clear that he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for Andre Toney’s jumper. Deron Williams also plays well. As the second quarter starts, the slaughter begins. Seven minutes into the quarter the deficit is 17, soulless Marshon continues to dominate, and Jerry Stackhouse dunks all over the Cavaliers. By the way, he’s 38. Deron Williams scores 11 in the last three minutes of the second, and the Cavs trail by 30 at the half. BKN 66, CLE 36.

Second Half:

The third quarter starts out a little bit better, thank God(s?). Kyrie dishes a few assists, devilish Brooks finally misses a few shots, and with 7:50 left in the quarter the Cavaliers have battled back to within 27. Brooklyn hurriedly calls a timeout, as the panicked Nets snipe at each other about defensive rotations and missed shots. The young Cavs snarl, smelling blood. The chase is on. Unfortunately, at the end of the third the lead remains 27. The fourth quarter is the definition of bad basketball. Tornike Shengelia (That’s a real person, I promise), Mirza Teletovic (Didn’t the Cavs look into signing this guy?), Chris “Funny Ears” Quinn, and Omri “Am I Even On This Team Anymore?” Casspi all make appearances. Final Score: BKN 113, CLE 95.

The pervading storyline from this game will be Byron Scott’s future, or lack thereof, with the Cavaliers. Losses are expected, accepted and perhaps beneficial this late in the season. However, no one wants to see the Cavs get run out of their own gym, and home losses this bad usually come back to the coach. After the game, Scott said “The energy, the effort wasn’t there — for whatever reason.” I agree with him– Cleveland looked flat and uninspired all night. But whose fault is that, if not the coach’s? Byron Scott may be on the way out of Cleveland. As he said regarding his job, “Whatever happens, happens.” If that’s how Scott feels, than he should by all means allow the Cavs to keep losing like they did tonight. But if he has any interest in coaching Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson in the playoffs next year, he’d better make some adjustments.

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L2tP: Luke Walton All-Stars Edition

April 2nd, 2013 by Nate Smith

Grantland’s Zach Lowe names his “how is this guy relevant” all-stars, also know as the “Luke Walton All-Stars“.

[On Walton...] His chemistry with Livingston has been legitimately entertaining, and the Livingston–Walton–C.J. Miles–Marreese Speights–Wayne Ellington bench mob has poured in better than 107 points per 100 possessions — the equivalent of a top-five overall mark.

Congrats, Luke, to have your own team of effective yet highly unexpected contributors named after you is a fantastic thing.  But, come on Zach, no Herculoids love?

Tristan Thompson is a finalist for the J. Walter Kennedy Award “given annually by the Pro Basketball Writers Association to the player, coach or trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.”  Go on, Tristan.  Link here.  (Really, though, that is fantastic from the team that once employed Ricky Davis and Darius Miles).

Shaun Livingston plans to reach out to fellow gruesome leg injury sufferer Kevin Ware of Louisville.  The Plain Dealer’s Mary Schmitt Boyer has the story, here.

Steve Nash out tonight in a hugely important match up for Drafty.  Yeah, “Drafty:” my nickname for the second of the Cavs’ two first round draft picks this year. The Lakers play Dallas tonight who are only a game and a half behind them for the 9th spot in the Western conference.  The Lakers are half a game behind Utah for the final spot in the playoffs.  The game is on tonight TNT tonight at 10:30.  Random unvetted blog site game preview here.  (Also, in case you were wondering, the other 2013 picks are named Blue Chip, Stashy, and Tradey).

This one’s a little late, but it’s for Stashy and Tradey.  Last week, DraftExpress profiled Nate favorite, intriguing prospect, and NCAA tournament first round disappointment, Mike Muscala of Bucknell, here. 

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Recap: Cavs 94 – Hawks 102

April 1st, 2013 by Tom Pestak

You got the green light tonight, Mo. Awwwww yeeeeah.

No C.J. Miles and no Kyrie tonight, apparently.  The Cavs gameplan is to sit him on the second night of back to backs.  That seems like a good idea to me.  And of course Dion Waiters is still out.  We’ll see how the Cavs generate offense in this game.

1st Quarter

Sloppy start for both teams.  Lots of running up and down and wild shots.  Tristan showed off some foot speed blowing by Horford for a foul but he missed both free throws.  He also committed 3 turnovers and was blocked for a non-box-score turnover and was forced to switch onto Devin Harris who promptly plowed right into him to draw a foul.  (Rough start for Tristan)  Luke Walton had a sweet give and go to Shaun Livingston for the lefty flush.  Kyle Korver got 5 wide open 3 point attempts.  Fortunately, he only canned 2 of them.  Devin Harris attacked the Cavs defense at every opportunity and went to the line over and over.  In a rather embarrassing defensive breakdown, both Tyler Zeller and Wayne Ellington decided to close out hard on Harris spotted up in the corner for 3.  Harris pump faked and drew the foul because Ellington couldn’t get out of the way with Zeller right next to him.

At this juncture I checked the Cavs’ shot chart and they had taken 6 of their 13 shots in the “long-2” region.  Thankfully, the Hawks obliged by repeatedly missing wide open corner 3s.  It is nice to see Horizon League legend Shelvin Mack making it in the league.  He canned a J.   The Cavs seemed to be playing a zone.  I hesitate to call it a “lazy zone” but that’s what it looked like.  It worked – as the Hawks just refused to make wide open outside shots.  Watching Syracuse grind out a victory this weekend was like getting a root canal – didn’t know I was getting back in the chair tonight.  Luke Walton found Tyler Zeller sneaking behind the Hawks transition defenders for an alley-oop and the Cavs weathered the storm of their own making (lazy defense and horrible shot selection).   25-19 Hawks after 1.

2nd Quarter

Omri Casspi started the second quarter.  (FREE CASSPI!) Luke Walton finished the 1st quarter with an airballed floater, and he started off the second with an airballed long-2.  Then something weird happened.  Boobie Gibson missed a 3 wide right and collapsed like he was fouled.  After a play stoppage, the camera focused in on Boobie – who had a look on his face like: “I’m not totally sure, but I think in most leagues that might have qualified as a shooting foul.  Huh.”  He was about as calm as you could possibly imagine an NBA player being after thinking he was screwed out of free throws.  And the next thing I know – he got ejected.  Wait, what?  He didn’t even bark at the ref as he walked off the court – just sort of walked away with a look on his face like: “Really, I just got ejected?  Huh.”   Byron Scott had a look on his face like: “Why are you walking this way?”  It was all very surreal without sound so I assumed I missed something.  Then the replay showed Boobie kinda looking in the direction of NBA Champion DeShawn Stevenson.  Apparently, Boobie got T-ed up for arguing the call with the nearest ref, and that caused the original stoppage in play. Then, he and Stevenson had words – in the way that Victorian heiresses have words over tea – but it was enough to warrant a double technical and it sent Boobie to the locker room for the night.  Apparently, the refs saw all the uncontested corner 3s from the Hawks and all the uncontested airballed long-2s from the Cavs and decided the game was spiraling out of control.  They wanted to assert some order before the game really got violent.

I dare say, Catherine, whether or not you are betrothed to Sir Marmaduke, you simply must get that career PER above 10 lest you beget shame on your good father's name.

Alonzo Gee came to play in the second quarter.  He was pretty active on D and made a bunch of his patented 15-foot turnarounds.  On the one he missed, Dwayne Jones was there with good position for the put back.  Then, Wayne Ellington and Jeff Teague traded 3 pointers. (offensive explosion!)  After a Shaun Livingston baseline J off a Luke Walton feed (where neither player was even considered by the Hawks D), Jeff Teague ran really fast up the court, and then pulled a Pete Mitchell special.  Only instead of flying right by, Walton rammed right into him, which may have been the point of the maneuver actually…

Teague made 1 of 2  – and after an empty Cavs possession he followed it up by taking an out-of-rhythm contested 3 from 4 feet behind the line which, of course, he drained.  In one of the least entertaining halves of basketball I’ve watched this season, the Cavs trailed 52-44 at the half.  Zeller, Speights, and Livingston kept the Cavs afloat in the 1st half, and Luke Walton filled the stat sheet the way only Luke Walton knows how.

3rd Quarter

The Cavs came out with more composure to start the third.  Shaun Livingston patiently backed down a smaller defender and drained a 12 foot turnaround.  Tyler Zeller got called for a weak call away from the ball (his 4th foul) and then Alonzo Gee drained a mid-range J and then a triple jab step corner 3 – which has to be his lowest percentage shot-type, bringing the Cavs within 2.  Atlanta called timeout.  And then they proceeded to go on a 14-4 run in 3 minutes, forcing the Cavs to call their own timeout.  After trading baskets and playing like the game was already in garbage time, the Cavs were saved by…OMRI CASSPI?  Three straight transition opportunities – two buckets, and a shooting foul.  Casspi air-balled the first free throw (entertainment!) and professionally missed the second one.  And then Luke Walton drew a technical foul.  I was waiting for these refs to whistle Austin Carr for a technical foul for being too jovial.  The Hawks led 79-68 at the end of the third.

4th Quarter

Apparently Tristan Thompson got poked in the face and required stitches around his eye – thus the limited minutes tonight.  The Hawks started the 4th by scoring the first 4 points and Byron Scott called a quick timeout to galvanize the troops.  He must have Care Bear-stared Omri Casspi because he turned into a positively breathtaking spectacle of feel-good basketball.  (He cared a lot.) He got out in transition again for a bucket, then found Luke Walton for a driving layup before canning a triple and bringing the deficit back down to 8.  It forced the Hawks to call timeout.  Out of the timeout Casspi drove and collapsed the D and found an open Mo Speights for an 18 foot baseline J.

Josh Smith stopped the bleeding the only way Josh Smith knows how – with an out-of-rhythm 21 footer.  Luke Walton jumped a passing lane and comically lost the handle on a high dribble in transition.  But he recovered and passed behind him to Casspi who crashed full speed into Devin Harris.  Even though Harris was still moving and Casspi came at it with a bit of an angle, it was a collision that’s judged ‘a charge’ 99% of the time, but not tonight.  (The Power of Caring) Without Zaza Pachulia or angry Boobie Gibson, the two teams leveraged their referee exasperation to the tune of more long-2s – one from Josh Smith (the “prize” of the offseason) and one from Mo Speights.  After two more quick buckets from the Hawks, Byron took another timeout with the Cavs trailing 10 and running out of time.  Out of the timeout the Hawks got a wide open 3 for Jeff Teague, and then after a Cavalier turnover, Teague found Devin Harris hiding out under the hoop after he set a screen for a baseline cutter and both Cavaliers followed the cutter.  Speights answered with an 18 footer that didn’t really touch the rim or the net – the quietest 18 footer you’ll ever see.  After a Hawks miss, Speights had the decency to russle the net on his next made 18 footer.  Al Horford answered with an 18 footer of his own, and Speights showed everyone in Atlanta that no one can out-long-2 him, swishing yet another 18 footer.   After some stout defense by the Cavs, the Hawks finally decided to get physical with Speights.  I won’t say he didn’t earn the heat check, but it wasn’t a great shot and he missed.

Tristan bullied his way into the paint and banged one in off the glass to bring the Cavs within 8, and they got a crucial stop, but with under a minute to play.  Wayne Ellington popped in his own miss to bring the Cavs within two possessions, and the Hawks called a 20 second timeout.  The Cavs sent Josh Smith to the line – not a bad move as he’d only made 2 of 6 from the line up to that point.  But he channeled his inner Shaq and “made them when they counted” only he actually did make both.  After a Livingston miss, ‘Crazy’ Ivan Johnson made 1 of 2 freebies before Ellington airballed a desperation 3.  The Cavs stole the ball back, but Casspi missed a contested corner 3.  Speights got the rebound and was fouled – making only 1 of 2.  Down 8 with under 15 seconds, the Cavs put pressure in the backcourt but did not foul, and the game ended 102-94.

Notable Performances:

-Shaun Livingston had a decent game – taking advantage of the smaller Hawks guards.  He finished with 14 points on 10 shots, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal, and only 2 turnovers.

-Tyler Zeller had a nice first half but foul trouble kept him on the bench most of the night.

-Marresse Speights finished 11 of 15 from the field and 10 of those shots were deep 2s.  That is crazy impressive.  He also had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block for good measure.  Twenty-three points in 24 minutes for Speights in a losing effort.

-Omri Casspi finished 4-6 for 9 points and added 4 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, and an admirable effort.  He missed 2 free throws and 2 field goals.  Of those 4 misses, 3 were airballs.

-If Luke Walton could just play the game with his mind, he would be an MVP-level player and his nickname would assuredly be Jedi Knight Luke.  Unfortunately, until he becomes a successful coach, he must use his body to play the game.  It’s sometimes surreal to watch Walton play.  How can a guy anticipate passing lanes so well that he can rack up 4 steals in 25 minutes, but he’s so unathletic that he looks like me running a fast break? (I’ve lost the ball over my head before on the break – it’s embarrassing.)  How can a guy pump fake a defender out of his Jordans, drive into the lane, and then airball an uncontested 8 foot floater?  A guy with enough touch to dish out 6 assists…  Anyway, it has been a pleasure watching Luke Walton this year.  A friend of mine was talking about how his buddy won a Luke Walton autograph in a charity event where the Cavs donated memorabilia.  His reaction was: “When did Luke Walton go to the Cavs?”  Then my friend commented that it was pretty cheap of the Cavs to give out such a crappy autograph.  Let me just say I would TREASURE a Luke Walton autograph, especially if it was personalized on the picture below.  In all seriousness I think Luke Walton has been a huge positive for this young Cavs team.

Think any player has ever signed a meme poster?

-Wayne Ellington had a rough shooting night.  He finished 1-5 from three.

-Alonzo Gee had his moments, but finished 5-14 from the field.  Most of the shots were bad shots (for him), but there were some pretty desolate offensive possessions at times and someone has to shoot.

-It’s a one game sample, but the Hawks sure seem to have lost their edge, even with DeShawn Stevenson.  I think losing Zaza Pachulia for the season is going to thwart whatever playoff hopes they may have had.

-Tristan Thompson was ineffective.  The cut above his eye limited his minutes, but he didn’t do much in the time he did have on the court.  I, along with many others, have called for Tristan to get more plays called for him, try to score more, etc.  He still struggles sometimes when he does get/take these opportunities.  Tonight was a good example.  I imagine he is exhausted at this point in the season.  An offseason of rest and work on his touch will do him some good.

-I’m wondering if the way I view Josh Smith is the way other people view Andre Iguodala.  I say this because I thought Josh Smith almost sabotaged his team’s victory tonight and his final stat line is really good.  Eighteen points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, a steal, a block (seemed like 3 or 4) and a +9.  I think he plays into my biases against him (settling for all the flat-footed long-2s) and I end up exaggerating their consequences when I watch.

Final Thoughts:

That was one of the softest games I’ve seen in a long time.  The Hawks jacked up 30 threes against the Cavs sagging zone defense.  Honestly, almost all of them were open, and the Hawks just kept missing.  They finished 9-30 from beyond the arc.  They also shot the heck out of long twos.  Everyone other than Jeff Teague scored easily in the paint, but the Hawks just weren’t interested in pounding the Cavs inside.  So credit Byron Scott for going to the zone.  It worked if the goal was to bait the Hawks (led by Captain Gets-Baited, himself – Josh Smith) into long jumpers.  It didn’t work in the sense that the defense was still a step slow, and Devin Harris just ran into out-of-position Cavaliers all night to draw free throws.  The final stats were very similar if you remove Harris’ 8-8 from the stripe.

The Cavs fought pretty hard considering how decimated they were with injuries and that TT (cut above eye) and TZ (foul trouble) weren’t available for much of the night.  There were a couple times when the ship seemed ready to capsize, and the Cavs would scrap back into single digits.  It would have been a heroic victory, but it’s just as well – more ping pong balls.

Sometime in mid-December I almost wrote a very strongly opinionated piece on player development.  At the time, the Cavs were struggling, and I couldn’t see the wisdom in trotting aging veterans (Walton) and fringe NBA players (Sloan, Pargo) over someone like Omri Casspi, a 24 year old pup.  At some point, the Cavs FO decided that Tristan Thompson and Omri Casspi were more valuable going forward than J.J Hickson and the #4 draft pick that they netted with a historically bad season.  It seemed that this season was a good one to discern whether Casspi had any future with the Cavaliers.  I never finished that piece, and by the time I thought about re-writing it, the Cavs were showing significant improvements. The Herculoids were in full force, and C.J. Miles and Luke Walton were playing so effectively it seemed silly in hindsight to be so concerned with the lack of player development with Casspi. “Can’t get ‘em all right,” I thought.  Tonight was a reminder of those cold December feelings.

I don’t know what goes on in practice, but I’ve watched enough of Casspi to know he’s a better version of Sasha Pavlovic – a guy that can look lost at times but can also make an impact when his confidence is waxing.  He’s big, he’s long, he’s mobile, he can shoot the three, and he seems to work hard if slightly out of control.  He’s only played about 200 minutes of non-garbage time basketball this season.  (No chance for him to play with confidence) He’s been terrible, posting a career low 38% true shooting percentage and an offensive rating of 95 to go along with a defensive rating of 106.

Just kidding.  That was Luke Walton until mid-January.  But truthfully, he’s been terrible, posting a career low 43% true-shooting percentage with an abysmal offensive rating of 88 and a poor defensive rating of 104.

Kidding again, shame on you.  That was C.J. Miles’ first 240 minutes this season.  [Ok, April Fools is over now.] On the season Omri Casspi’s posted a career low 45% True-shooting percentage and an offensive rating of 93 and a defensive rating of 108.  Unlike Walton (gone next season), and Miles (a veteran with a fairly static value), Casspi is only 24.  And unlike Walton and Miles, who both played under Hall of Fame coaches in distinguished organizations, Casspi has played in Sacramento and post-Decision Cleveland.  Finally, Luke Walton and C.J. Miles got the opportunity to play themselves out of some historically awful basketball but not Casspi. It’s a lost season for him (maybe a lost career), and I’ll never understand why the Cavs went out of their way to sit him during a season when there was really never any doubt about the Cavs’ post-season chances.  They traded for a young guy and then never played him.  He’ll be gone next season, and maybe his value is so diminished that he won’t even play in the NBA any longer.  Maybe he was never any good in the first place, and the 1st round pick was a mistake and his promising rookie season was a mirage.  I really hope that is the case, and I’m not watching Omri Casspi play meaningful minutes for a good team next season. When your team is going to be built around youth, player development is essential. Maybe like Danny Green and J.J. Hickson before him, Omri just needs a change of scenery…

Posted in Recaps | 33 Comments »

Links to the Present: April 1st, 2013

April 1st, 2013 by Tom Pestak

[Doc Rivers on naming Austin Rivers] “I used to go to basketball camps here in Ohio when I was a kid, to Austin Carr’s camps. He would come in and start shooting. I remember him making like 40 jumpers in a row. I was just in awe of him. So when we had the other two [children] . . . I decided to name Austin after Austin Carr. Austin James. His middle name is after Jim Brewer. So I put the whole Cleveland Cavaliers thing together.” [Mary Schmitt Boyer - The Plain Dealer]

“That’s [expletive]. If we were going to the playoffs, that’d be one thing,” he said. “We’ll have six months to rest. Shut up and play.” [Jason Lloyd - ABJ]

“Now check out the Cavaliers’ record in 2008-09. That team, which ultimately lost to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals (despite James’ averages of 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game), won a league-high 66 games. Miami, 26-game winning streak and all, three stars and all, will have to go 8-1 the rest of the season just to match that total.” [Kevin Pelton - ESPN Insider]

“So. What have we learned? First, Tim Duncan and Dwyane Wade were beasts in college (go figure, Hall of Famers are great in college too). Second, most of the eventual All-Stars played pretty well in their final collegiate runs. Third, even the guys who did play (or rather, shot) poorly, most of them did other things to fill up the stat sheet. They still made an impact on the game. I didn’t come across any “2-15, 1 rebound, 3 assist” type games.” [Ben - WFNY]

“What both like: Porter’s all-around game will ease his transition to the NCAA. Compared to other small forwards in my database, Porter is among the top 25 percent in six key categories and does not have a single statistical weakness (among the bottom 25 percent). Plus Porter is nearly seven months younger than Muhammad.” [Kevin Pelton on Otto Porter]

“Why the stats like him: Coming off the bench, Dekker made 57.1 percent of his 2-point shots and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc. Ken Pomeroy’s similarity scores say the best match for his freshman campaign is lottery pick Ben McLemore. Why scouts are skeptical: Dekker is seen as a better college player than a pro. Before he can even think about the NBA, he’ll have to crack Bo Ryan’s starting five first.” [Kevin Pelton on Sam Dekker - ESPN Insider]

Tweets to the Present:
TCU took a commitment from small forward Hudson Price. Yes, that would be Mark Price’s son. [Dave Telep]

Posted in Links To The Present | 8 Comments »

Recap: Cavs 92, Hornets 112

March 31st, 2013 by Kevin Hetrick

I was out-of-town this weekend and arrived home later than expected, plus I have a cold, so not much of a recap tonight.  Not that this game deserves an opus.  Cleveland, riding a seven-game losing streak towards the third-most lottery chances, faced one of their closest “competitors”.  Kyrie Irving returned from injury to face 2012 first-pick Anthony Davis.

Very glad to have you back, Kyrie! Now, watch the tape of the first half. Play like that all of the time. Burn the tape of the third quarter.

Starting sloppily, the teams combined for six turnovers in the first three minutes, until Kyrie started his Mr. Amazing routine: a between the legs pass to Tristan for a dunk, a pick-and-roll dime to Tyler, followed by another drive & dish that netted Thompson a slam.  12 to 8 Cleveland.   Limiting his minutes, Kyrie headed to the bench early, and Ryan Anderson and Brian Roberts started scorching the Cavs; the duo combined for thirteen points in five minutes, pacing New Orleans to a 21 to 23 first-quarter lead.  One Cleveland highlight featured a nasty backdoor pass from Walton to Livingston, allowing Shaun to ridiculously posterize a poor-Hornet with a filthy left-handed slam; the play deserved each of those adjectives.

Anderson scored another seven early in the second, building his fifteen first-half points with back-downs against Livingston and Speights.  The Hornets lead 23 to 34 when Kyrie checked-in around the 8:30 mark.  Irving proceeded to dominate: a tough and-one in the lane; a scintillating ball-handling display that ended with Lou Amundson on the ground and Kyrie at the hoop; two drive & kicks for easy teammate-jumpers; three drained hoists of his own; and two free throws.  The deficit ceased to exist, as Cleveland went to the locker-room ahead 49 to 48.  Recently, I read Jamal Crawford talking about Chris Paul’s complete control of the game; twenty-five year old Kyrie Irving can (needs to?) own that same mastery.  In the first half, Kyrie’s plus-12, behind 14 points on 69% true shooting, with 5 assists and zero turnovers, ranks amongst Irving’s best offensive play to date.  He found open teammates, complimenting it with his other-worldly scoring ability (or vice-versa).  It was definitely great to see him on the court again.

Then, everything went to hell; shocking that a third quarter would start like that.  New Orleans forged a 17-to-2 run: errant passes, offensive fouls, missed jumpers…the offense turned to garbage.  And from that, resulted New Orleans alley-oops.  Several of them; Cleveland routinely butchered transition defense, and Anthony Davis thanked them.  Many of his thirteen third-quarter points arrived via soaring throw-downs as the Cavs whimpered helplessly.  Kyrie’s second-quarter magic shifted down a few gears, including a horrible three-on-two break, where instead of hitting Ellington flying down the wing, he dribbled behind-the-back away from him, allowing the defense to catch up, before botching a bounce-pass to a trailing Tristan.  Cleveland trailed 57 to 70 when Irving headed to the bench.  The Herculoids offered highlights; Walton found Livingston and Speights for dunks, but every time the Cavs mounted a run, New Orleans found an open three or lay-up.  Cleveland trails 73 to 84, as we’re off to the fourth.

Tonight, the back-ups could not package their special brew of lightning-in-a-bottle.  Livingston and Walton provided turnovers, and the Cavs did not score for nearly five minutes.  New Orleans stretched the lead to twenty…and that is how the game ended.   Of his twelve points in five minutes of garbage time, Kyrie made one of the most absurdly awesome lay-ups ever…EVER!!  Underhanded, with his arm fully-outstretched flying under the basket, switching hands after drawing contact, he spun the ball high off the glass, for a jaw-dropping and-one.  Phenomenal, but unfortunately occurring while embroiled in a double-digit runaway loss.

Cleveland’s defense was generally horrible.  New Orleans hit 54% of their field goals and 57% from deep.  After forking-over twelve turnovers in the first half, the Hornets only lost-the-ball twice in the second, scoring 64 points and running the Cavs out of the gym.  If you get a chance, check out their third & fourth quarter shot charts; only four of those 64 were not in the paint, from three, or at the free throw line.  The entire second half, New Orleans got whatever shot they wanted.  It was hideous.

With 22 wins and 50 losses, Cleveland continues to firmly entrench themselves into the third-best lottery chances.

A few bullets:

  • Kyrie Irving…31 points and 6 assists in 29 minutes.  Very glad to have him back.  But his first half featured 5 assists and 0 turnovers, compared to one versus three in the second.  Greivis Vasquez and Eric Gordon abused him a few times on defense also, both in isolation or the pick & roll.
  • Tristan finished with 12 & 10 on 6 of 9 shooting.  He finished a few rim-rattling dunks off of Kyrie dishes, but also finished put-backs and his running hook.  On a couple of his early misses, I thought fouls may have been in order…but I am biased; Cleveland shot only 12 free throws, compared to New Orleans with 29.
  • Walton and Livingston combined for 3 assists and 4 turnovers, a major contrast from their Herculoidian hey-day.  Miles finished one of nine from the field, as only Speights played particularly well, draining several jumpers and finishing contested shots at the rim.  Despite his 12 points & 4 rebounds on 67% true shooting, the second-unit allowed runs early in the second and fourth quarters.
  • Daniel Gibson and Omri Casspi shot 0 for 5 and finished minus-26 in twenty-six combined minutes.  I want to remember the good times (even though for Omri that may only mean the pre-season game against Orlando when he scored six in overtime).
  • The Hornet point guards (Vasquez and Roberts) finished with 40 points, 12 assists, 4 turnovers, 5 steals and 83% True Shooting.  Congratulations to Toledo-an Brian Roberts on a stellar “rookie” season, after graduating from Dayton in 2008.  Whether open threes or lightly-contested forays to the hoop, Gee, Irving, Gibson, etc offered little resistance on the perimeter, while the bigs impeded little at the hoop.
  • Outrebounded 45 to 31, Cleveland grabbed only 3 of 39 available offensive boards.  As far as giving an inspiring effort, making hustle plays, etc, the Cavs offered very little tonight.

Posted in Recaps | 5 Comments »

Recap: Cavs 87 – 76ers 97

March 29th, 2013 by Tom Pestak

So you're saying there's a chance...

The Cavs hosted the Philadelphia 76ers, who are not yet mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Recaps | 13 Comments »

Byron isn’t Sorry

March 29th, 2013 by John Krolik

That's a familiar pose.

While searching for a Byron Scott-as-coach image to post with this link, I noticed that every single picture looked the same. Stalwart, stoic Byron, standing with his arms firmly folded across his chest. Every Cavaliers fan has that image burned into their head by now, indelible. Throughout it all, close losses and huge defeats alike, Byron has maintained his serious face, and folded his serious arms. This reflects, unfortunately, his apparent attitude towards coaching. Unchanging, unwilling. Against the Celtics, Tyler Zeller was kicking ass through three quarters. 11 points, 9 rebounds. Coach Scott promptly benched him for the entire fourth. While the Celtics made their late charge to win the game, the Cavaliers had three timeouts left. The Cavaliers ended the game with three timeouts. Check out this Jodie Valade article about Scott’s thoughts on the game. Do you feel comfortable going forward with Byron Scott as coach of the future?

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Posted in Links To The Present | 7 Comments »

Lessons from the Bench

March 29th, 2013 by Tom Pestak

The Cavs core contains: Kyrie Irving – Dion Waiters – Tristan Thompson – Tyler Zeller

All four members of the core were selected with first round picks in the last two drafts.  It’s reasonable to assume that at least 1 more draft pick will be added to the core this offseason.  The core remains solidified barring a major trade until at least 2015.

The Cavs bench can reasonably include: Shaun Livingston – Wayne Ellington  - Luke Walton –  Marreese Speights

The bench contains waiver-wire gem Shaun Livingston and 3 guys acquired in salary dumps.  It’s easy to imagine the trades were more about the accompanying draft picks than anything else.  But then they started playing together, and the Cavs, perhaps buoyed by a less grueling schedule, suddenly looked like a decent team.  The fate of the bench, or the Herculoids as they’re known around here, is anybody’s guess.  Logic suggests Ellington will be back, and I think Speights will opt-out, making it highly unlikely he returns to the Cavs.  Walton and Livingston will be unrestricted free agents. [HoopsWorld]

I appreciate what you did with the bench. But are they gonna be around next year?

The core and the bench share a locker room, and not much else.  Consider some of the differences:

Age and Experience: Zeller is the adult of the core, and the other 3 could still be in college next season had they stayed.  Ellington and Speights are 3 and 4 year players and Livingston and Walton are certified veterans.

Offensive Approach: The core scores more than 20% of its points off turnovers, and scores almost 11% of its points in transition.  The bench generates about 15% of its points off turnovers, but only 6% in transition.  The core has the edge in points in the paint and plays at a faster pace.  Naturally, it is a more athletic ensemble and tries to leverage that athleticism on offense.  Armed with only that information, you might suppose the core is a more efficient offensive team.  But it’s the opposite.  The core has posted an offensive rating of 100.9, while the bench sits comfortably at 107.7.  For perspective, the Heat lead the NBA with an ORTG of 112.6 and the Wizards are last with a 99.9 mark.

Defensive Approach: The core generates a lot of turnovers.  At a rate of 16.4% of opponent possessions ending in turnovers, that’s good for 5th in the NBA.  Their opponent foul shot to field goal attempted ratio (FTA/FGA) is slightly better than league average so they aren’t playing Jerry Sloan defense in order to force the turnovers.  The core secures only 70.4% of opponent misses – which would be the worst mark in the NBA this season.   The bench generates a more modest 14.2% opponent turnover rate, sends teams to the line more often, and does a decent job blocking out offensive rebounders – securing 76.1% of missed shots (higher than any NBA team this season).  The core bites more on pump fakes and chases shooters off the three point line, whereas the bench tends to concede many more triple tries over cemented feet and outstretched arms.  The core gives up 7 threes a game at 43% while the bench gives up 9 threes a game at 37%.  The core really can’t stop anybody on defense and is often exposed on the perimeter during a pick and roll.  The D breaks down and the players are left scrambling after the ball handler the way pee-wee soccer teams play defense.  The bench does a slightly better job, often choosing to switch screens on the perimeter limiting the crippling bouts of 4 on 5 defense.  The bench is longer, and more fundamentally sound, making life more difficult on ball handlers.  The bench gives up 46% FG and 36% 3PFG which is below average, while the core gives up 50% FG and 43% 3PFG which is shockingly poor and would easily generate the worst eFG% in the NBA.

The situation may not be quite as dire as presented above.  The bench as categorized avoided much of the early season gauntlet and does get the benefit of playing more minutes against opponent 2nd stringers.  Still, they do many things better than the core.  As the youth movement comes of age there are lessons that they can learn from their elders.  I’ll highlight a few that I’ve noticed over the course of the season.

Let's teach these young bloods how a 2-man game works

1.) Movement without the ball

Here at CtB we’ve bemoaned offensive stagnation all season – specifically when Dion and Kyrie are the culprits.  Check out Kevin’s answer to question 1.  http://www.cavstheblog.com/?p=18025 Neither player seems willing to make defenses pay any attention when the other is in isolation.  The Herculoids are a great lesson in moving without the ball.  Few offensive possessions feature non-ball handlers clearing out and waiting for something to happen.  Ellington flashes to the corners and Livingston does a great job keeping defenses honest by constantly making sharp backdoor cuts when he doesn’t have the ball.  Luke Walton’s willingness to pass is the secret ingredient that keeps the other players hungry to find an opening.  Walton, Livingston, and Ellington all make better use of screens than their younger brethren and it creates a fluid offense that scores well in half-court sets.  This is something the core must improve upon if they are to compete in the playoffs.  Good defensive teams can make even the best isolation scorers inefficient in the half-court.  Think back to the 2008 Celtics against the Cavs.  The game slows down in the playoffs, defenses tighten, and offenses really need to move defenders from sideline to sideline to generate easy looks.

2.) Using individual moves to gain an advantage for teammates

It’s the black mark of a chucker, really.  The AI/Kobe/Melo syndrome. These players can get their shot off from anywhere on the court.  Iverson did it with his elite handle, Kobe does it with elite footwork and balance, and Melo does it with a nasty jab-step jumper and explosive first step.  But these guys are not natural facilitators.  When they start losing games questions often arise about how well they fit with their teammates.  And we all remember how Melo + AI worked out.  Contrast those prolific one-on-one scoring attacks with a team like the Spurs, where small advantages are leveraged to give other players much bigger ones.  The Cavs bench provides a nice example of this.  Walton and Livingston are the focal points again.  Both players, even with range limitations on their shot and below average athleticism, are superior to Irving and Waiters at creating seams for their teammates to score more easily.  Walton, despite shooting 29% on threes and sporting a career TS% below .500 gets so many defenders to bite on his deliberate pump fakes.  He uses that slight opening to take a dribble or two into the teeth and gets another defender to step up.  With 2 players out of position, the court is his canvas and he regularly finds Shaun Livingston moving into the open space for layups and uncontested mid-range Js.  These are skills the core really needs to hone.  For all of Kyrie’s prodigenous (first used here) talents, he is weak at passing out of double teams and exploiting the 3 on 4 defense that remains.  Waiters seems more willing to use his explosive first step to draw defenders and then dish off once the defense has collapsed – a welcome sign.  Overall, the creativity and willingness to pass needs to manifest after the initial defensive breakdown.  TT can afford to look for cutters as well when he makes his strong bull move across the lane.  He’s gotten better at creative counters to give himself angles around the basket.  However, when he gets pushed away from his sweet spot by a committed defense, he can survey for open perimeter shooters.  The bench scores 64% of it baskets off assists, compared to the core at 56% despite less dynamic offensive players.

3.) Decisiveness

One of the mysteries of the Cavaliers season is how a bunch of cast-offs could play so well together.  It’s never easy to integrate new players to an existing system.   But in this case, most variations of the Herculoids contained no more than 2 players that had ever played together.  And despite that, they seem supremely comfortable executing offense.  Some of this is due to the decisiveness of the personnel.  Watching Kyrie and Dion in isolation can be a lot like watching a cat stalk/attack its prey.  It might probe, it might play, it might pounce.  It’s hard to predict.  I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions how ineffective some of the picks set for Kyrie are, because he doesn’t really use them.  He generally plays with his defender using elite ball-handling and one on one moves, trying to get his defender to bite before finally creating the separation he needs to score.  But there’s a reason cats hunt alone.  The bench guys probably learned after the first practice that Luke Walton would always look for them to cut backdoor, that Mo Speights would rise up and shoot anything he got his hands on, that Shaun Livingston loves backing down smaller guards to collapse the defense and that Wayne Ellington would always find open space to fill around the perimeter.  Making crisp, decisive moves and forcing the defense to react to that is an effective way for players to get comfortable playing with each other.  All season I’ve commented that the starters don’t seem to be more than the sum of their parts – sometimes even less than that.  The decisiveness with which the bench approaches the offense has made it easy for strangers to develop chemistry quickly.

No hesitation.

4.) Composure

The Cavs core has played considerably worse this season on the road.  The offensive rating in road games is a putrid 98.6.  It is also much worse in second halves: 98.0 versus 103.8 in the first half.  The bench exhibits the opposite on both counts: playing better on the road and in second halves.  Part of the reason for the Cavs offensive woes is that they don’t generate easy baskets in the half court unless individuals catch fire.  When defenses ramp up the intensity, the Cavs core often folds.  At the other end of the court, the pick and roll devastates the core’s perimeter defense – often on account of poor anticipation by Kyrie, and slow lateral quickness by Zeller trying to stop the penetration.  The bench production seems to be less effected by place and time.

5.) Toughness

The Cavs are not a tough team, but the addition of Livingston and Speights provided examples of both a mentally tough and a physically tough player.  Watching Livingston direct the defense and constantly fight until the end of so many heart-wrenching losses should motivate the young guys.  That sort of leadership and attitude is something that could elevate Kyrie from all-star to generational superstar.  The success of the team is going to hinge on Kyrie’s commitment.  If he’s content to take plays/quarters/games off, particularly at the defensive end, so will the rest of the UncleDrew army.  Waiters needs to stay mentally tough as well.  He has been resilient this year, and quieted concerns about his character and coachability.  But he needs to stay in attack mode even when he’s not getting the better end of whistles.  I’ve come prepared to help. Zeller can learn a thing or two from Speights.  Maybe not on defense where Speights has been poor, but noting instead how he throws his body around and punishes defenders under the basket.  For a guy that’s a bit undersized and has a rep for chucking – he gets to the line quite a bit and has really honed his jumper – something Zeller needs to emulate.  He also has a bit of a mean streak – which many of the Cavs could experiment with from time to time when situation demands it.

There are lots of opportunities for the Cavs core to assimilate some of the traits and skill sets of that bench guys that give them a breather every night.  Hopefully they are taking notes.

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