While We’re Waiting… Cavalier Body Language, New Draft Grades and Comparing Browns and Steelers
January 31, 2011CSU Takes Two in Chicago – Judgment Week is Here
January 31, 2011The Cleveland Cavaliers are among the league worst in offensive rebound rate, clocking in with a percentage of 22.87. This statement is unlikely to surprise given that this year’s crop is chilling in the cellar when it comes to almost every statistical measure known to man.
However, when you consider that the Cavaliers are surrounded by – when it comes to ORR – Atlanta, Denver, Dallas and Boston, things may not seem so bad. It’s been a while since they were mentioned in similar breath. Even more surprising, through the 2010-11 season, the Orlando Magic pull down approximately 25.19 percent of offensive rebounding opportunities; nothing that would normally provide a large advantage over an opponent on a given night.
Unless said opponent is the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On Sunday night, the Magic finished their 103-87 win over the Wine and Gold with an ORR number of 45.3. Almost every other missed field goal was rebounded by a member of the Magic – Ryan Anderson (9) and Dwight Howard (6) combined for 15 offensive rebounds on their own. The Magic took 92 field goal attempts, sixteen more than the Cavaliers. The Cavs actually had better percentages across the board in this game and still managed to lose by 16.
Why? Because the Cavaliers – a team already swimming upstream with an insurmoutable talent gap – decided that they could skirt through this one by tallying an offensive rebound rate of… wait for it… 14 percent. Fourteen. Of the Cavaliers’ missed shots (something that there is a lot of these days), one out of every seven missed shots was touched by a member of the same team.
The 37-29 gap in total rebounds is expected when JJ Hickson is your starting center. The 24-6 gap in offensive rebounds is simply inexcusable. Typically, one would point to effort and pure hustle when it comes to offensive rebounds. Conversely, Byron Scott played the talent card.
“I don’t think it has to do anything with effort to be honest with you, I think our effort is there, said Scott postgame. “We are playing some real good teams right now. We obviously have less talent with all the guys that are hurt and the guys who are playing some of them are hurting. It’s just a matter of still trying to figure out how stay close the first half of the game, because like I said it’s been like that for the last 5, 6, 7 games where all the sudden we’re down by 20 and then in the second half we’re trying to stage a comeback it just takes too much out of you.”
Only four players provided what could be considered an efficient game for Cleveland: Manny Harris (finishing with a team-high 20 points on 12 shots), Ramon Sessions (11.3 points “contributed” in 11.5 possessions), Anthony Parker (five points and six assists in 19 minutes), and Samardo Samuels (16 points on eight shots).
Antawn Jamison, Daniel Gibson and JJ Hickson combined to go 4-for-25 from the field, though Hickson did pull down 11 rebounds and block three shots in 22 minutes. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jamison’s 10 rebounds and and one blocked shot, but it’s admittedly tough given his 2-for-11 night and one-point, 0-for-7 first quarter.
The abovementioned Anderson and Howard combined for 43 points and 36 rebounds. Howard tallied a 20/20 game without even playing in the fourt quarter – the third time he has done such in his career; he’s the only player to achieve this feat at all, let alone three times. The Cavaliers managed to hold the Magic to 9-of-31 from the three-point line (a huge difference from the last time these two teams met), but it was all for naught.
The team heads to Miami tonight to “take on” the Heat as 17.5-point underdogs with 20 consecutive losses. Oh, and they’ll likely be without Gibson who tweaked the ankle that caused him to miss five games earlier in the month.
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(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
18 Comments
Skyenga was on fire in the first quarter. I thought he was gonna put up a game to remember.. He didn’t. Manny and Samardo did.
7-9 meet 1-30.
I’ve already sent my personal apology letter to Kelly Dwyer. I suggest some of the rest of us do the same. I never imagined a Byron Scott coached team could look as bad as this one does.
(and I am one of the biggest trumpets of ineptitude is what we need, but my goodness)
on a related note, Pacers fired O’Brien. As if an interim coach is going to make a mediocre 7-12seed look better.
Ok, I don’t know who Kelly Dwyer is, so she will not be getting an apology from me.
It’s a “he.” And he’s the scribe at Yahoo! who picked the Cavs to finish with 12 wins, causing fans to throw e-fits.
With the Cavs a full 3 games out of 2nd to worst place in the NBA, think it is time to really focus on who to draft and which player will be the best fit for Byron Scott’s team.
Assuming the Cavs stay in the cellar, we will have no worse than pick #3 in the 2011 draft.
With that being said, which player would you pick if you were Chris Grant:
Jared Sullinger – PF – OSU
Kyrie Irving – PG – Duke
Perry Jones – PF – Baylor
Terence Jones – SF – Kentucky
Kemba Walker – PG – Connecticut
Jimmer Fredette – PG – BYU
Who would you take from this list (or not from this list) and why?
Really believe the quality of basketball in Cleveland over the next 10 years hinges mightily on getting it right in the upcoming draft.
If Dwyer has somehow projected that the best player on the team would be lost for the season early into it and cost us a few wins here and there, maybe then I would give him the slightest amount of credit. But until ANYONE acknowledges that our record is due NOT ONLY to the loss of Lebron, but the other players we lost as well as the inability to stay healthy this year causing the lot of Manny Harris, Samardo Samuels, Alonzo Gee, etc. to see major minutes, there will be no hat tipping from me. People want to look at this in the simplest of terms, that losing Lebron alone would drop us to the bottom of the league. If nothing else, that’s just lazy.
The Cavs had better start worrying about breaking the 72-73 76ers of least wins in the season because I honestly can’t see how we win any more games this season.
This team would a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and be upset in the first round.
For the thousandth time, Jimmer Fredette is not a top-10 player in the upcoming draft and most certainly not a top-four, where the Cavaliers are almost a lock to select.
But Jimmer is white and his name sounds like Jimmers Thome!!
@Scott – Agreed. However, there are some people who will most likely disagree with you. I would like to hear why.
Maybe you can write an article on why not so you don’t hear it for the 1001th time.
To me, Jimmer is Mark Price without Price’s ball-handling skills.
To me Jimmer Fredette is Adam Morrison without the cool mustache and hair.
Nice, the Kings won again, we’re up four games. I think it’s OK to win one now.
I like Perry Jones. He’s a freaky athlete. But he seems to to be under performing. With his size and athletic skill set he reminds me of Jonathon Bender. Bender was a 6’10” SF who could shoot from anywhere and get up the court in the blink of an eye. But Bender had issues with his knees and it prematurely ended his career. Sad story, but I would love a Jon Bender 2.0 freak on the Cavs… Exciting to watch.
Another reason for the freefall in offensive rebounds: the absence of Z pattycaking his own weirdo lay-ins and awkward hook shots twice a game .
@JNeids – in fact, he did predict the Cavs would lose at least one of their top players. he thought they’d trade them in the offseason or early in the season (i assume after the dec. date when you can trade newly signed players).
the same can be said from injuries though. if daniel gibson is 70% and needed in a championship season, he plays. this year? i’m guessing he sits. just like maybe AV could have come back at some point, but the FO decided, why bother.
@MattyFos – if Mr.Jones didn’t disappear the rest of the game every time someone bodies him up fiercely, then I might share that optimism.
@12 No Jimmer can do more then the porno stached one but I’m not sure he’s a true #1. The problem is there isn’t a single #1 out there which is why I still say trading down would, as of today, be a very high strategy. There is always a team who wants to move up so the Cavaliers should seize every opportunity to make the most of a possible top pick. If no deals are liked well then make the pick.