Former Browns linebacker, Kaluka Maiava, goes to jail
March 1, 2015
James on James crime, Quickstrikes, and Fathead’s Fridays: While We’re Waiting…
March 2, 2015
Cleveland Cavaliers (37-24) 103
Houston Rockets (41-18) 105
After the Cavaliers manhandled the juggernaut Golden State Warriors at home on Thursday night, it only seemed fair that whatever karmic forces of the universe control professional basketball would soon and unpleasantly jar Cavs fans’ faith in their team. Kyrie Irving suffered a shoulder strain in Thursday’s victory over Golden State, and the Cavs faltered with losses on Friday night in Indiana against the Pacers, and again on Sunday afternoon in Houston against the Rockets. In only two games, Cavs fans’ semi-conscious ego has gone from “WHOOOCAVSAREAWESOMEGONNAWINITALL” to “Uh oh, we have some problems here.”
Ultimately, there is no cause for grave fear. The Cavs are still 18-4 in 22 games A.B. (After Bowling). They were the favorites to win the NBA Finals before the season started, when they were suffering their early season growing pains, on Friday morning after stymieing the NBA-best Warriors (by a large margin), and will be again tomorrow morning. Losing two games on the road — both without the team’s only capable point guard, and one without its best player (LeBron sat out of Friday’s game) — is no reason to panic. But there are still some long-term concerns. Like Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Brandt in The Big Lebowski, it is necessary to express those concerns as they become apparent. “These are our concerns, dudes.”
Despite all the numbers, statistics, and analysis I will provide below, the most amazing fact about Sunday’s game between the Cavs and Rocket will remain that in a game featuring MVP candidates LeBron James and James Harden, the stars of the game were officials Danny Crawford, Michael Smith, and Tony Brown. Bravo! The Crawford, Smith, and Brown trio lost complete control of the game early in the second half with their inconsistent whistles, never to regain it. We know the Cavs lost 105-103, but let’s take a peek behind the box score.
3-of-11 – LeBron James, who had a great game overall, did not have a great day shooting. Without Irving, James was left little choice but to carry the team offensively. But he missed eight crucial free throws. He scored 37 points, but needed 35 field goal attempts to reach that total. He added eight rebounds and four assists, played 42 minutes, and defended James Harden in the fourth quarter, shutting him down until the last minute. But … the free throws. After a foul sent him to the free throw line with four seconds remaining and the Cavs down one point, James bricked both free throws. Sad face. James has missed important, game-deciding free throws a number of times in the past. It’s the one thing that always inspired cries of “SEE, he doesn’t have what it takes!” before, you know, he won two straight NBA Finals. He’s never been a great free throw shooter, just a really good one (career 74.6 percent on free throw attempts). His clutch-ness on free throws is his greatest flaw as a basketball player. I would complain, but it continues to be the one thing reminding the world that LeBron James is in fact a human capable of basketball-related mistakes.
49 & 54 – To circle back to officials Danny Crawford, Michael Smith, and Tony Brown being the stars of the game — there were 49 personal fouls called and 54 free throws in Sunday’s game. This Rockets contest featured the fourth worst free throw disparity for the Cavs this season (-12, for a team that averages +4.1); and the worst personal foul disparity (a tie at -9). It wasn’t merely the volume of fouls though, but the quality. The whistles were extremely inconsistent, which was what caused the officials to lose control of the game. They didn’t properly handle the technical/flagrant fouls that transpired. Rockets guard Patrick Beverley lost his mind when LeBron was trying to stand up after a blocking foul, not realizing that he needed to wait two seconds before trying to stand up; and James Harden appeared to use his right foot to take a shot at LeBron’s uhh groin region when he didn’t receive a call against two Cavaliers reaching after the ball. Although this space isn’t for griping over officials, the calls decidedly did not favor the Cavs. In general, calls favoring James Harden that don’t favor other great players in the league is a persistent problem for the NBA. Harden clearly deserves MVP consideration for what he has done with this Rockets team. What he doesn’t deserve are token trips to the free throw line when he blatantly initiates the contact with his off hand or exaggerates the contact. Again, he’s a great player. But he leads the league with 9.6 free throw attempts per game, 1.4 more than James and 4.9 more than Kyrie Irving, one of the best finishers in the league. If you believe that Harden receives more contact in one of his team’s average NBA games than LeBron James and twice as much as Kyrie Irving, then I have a used Chrysler Cirrus I’d like to sell you for $5000.
4-of-21 – The guard triumvirate of Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert made four of 21 field goal attempts on Sunday afternoon. Over the last two games, they’ve shot a combined 23-of-73 (31.5 percent). That’s not good enough. That’s why LeBron James felt like he had to take over the game on Sunday. Dellavedova, bless his little heart, tries so hard. But the Cavs are DOOMED if something happens that requires him to play more than 41 minutes per game, as he did on Sunday. Smith and Shumpert have their moments, but are not point guards who have struggled without Irving helping set them up off the ball. Over his last four games, J.R. Smith is shooting 30.8 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from three-point range. If that continues, a starting lineup shake may be in order. This is not an attractive guard option right now. KYRIE, COME BACK!!!
3 – This remains probably the biggest problem with the Cavs offense right now. Kevin Love had three field goal attempts in the fourth quarter and overtime. Only one of those was inside three-point range. Love is a great stretch four, but he needs more touches in the post. It needs to happen if this team will ever reach its full potential. On his only two-point field goal of the fourth quarter, he made a great move from one side of the basket to the other, evaded two defenders, and had the shot roll out of the hoop amidst a lot of contact (see bad officiating, supra). He’s a great passer (he always looks for a rolling teammate on the high-low pass combo above the elbow) and a good shooter. He’s not helping himself by shooting at a lower percentage than the league is accustomed to from him. But he’s getting way less touches than he’s accustomed to, and the Cavs offense is better when he touches the ball, plain and simple.
15-15 – After Sunday’s contest, the Cavaliers are exactly .500 on the road. That’s the biggest red flag hanging over team’s head right now. It’s hard to win on the road against a 50-plus win team without your All-Star point guard. But nine of the Cavs’ next 13 games are on the road. If they don’t improve upon the mediocrity on the road, their chances to win the Eastern Conference become significantly less promising, as the Cavaliers will need to win road games in the playoffs.
15 Comments
Harden is as unwatchable as Dwayne Wade with their reliance on the refs to bail them out on drives to the basket being their #1 offensive move.
Not s good day for officials. But hey at least we avoided Joey Crawford.
Can we PLEASE put an end to this Dellavedova thing?
I know Blatt likes him some ferners, but jeeze,..surely there’s some D-Leaguer that’s an upgrade.
Totally agree. Nice guy with good hustle but is out of his league as a backup PG. Costly turnovers and lacks ability to make a play to create a shot for himself or others. Oh also can’t shoot.
i thought the refs actually did a GREAT job last night. There were plenty of calls that could have gone either way but i love that they let the guys play for the most part. I do, however, HATE that stupid rule that if a small guy just puts his shoulder into a bigger player defending the rim it is automatically “contact” and thus a foul. no sir.
He’s shooting over 40% from 3 this year and playing good defense. He’s fine as a 3-and-D wing… just shouldn’t be relied on to run the point. That’s why I’m intrigued at this Baron Davis stuff… he can actually handle the ball and set up teammates, but who knows if he still has the skills now.
The only egregious thing the refs did was that they let Harden continue to play after he kicked LeBron in the junk. That’s a flagrant 2 and should be an ejection. I don’t know how the referees could watch the video and determine that the foul was “unnecessary” but not “excessive”. Even if Harden didn’t mean to kick James in the nether region, he obviously DID mean to kick him. He didn’t suffer from a temporary spasm.
Delly isn’t good. No argument there – anyone can see that he’s a below-average NBA player. That’s kind of what you expect for your 9th or 10th guy.
The problem is: Who do you replace him with? D-Leaguers are D-Leaguers for a reason. Euroleague players haven’t been pulled into the NBA for a reason. It’s post-trade-deadline, but even if it weren’t which team would give up a decent-to-good PG for Delly and spare parts?
This is a problem with no easy answer. At the trade deadline they should have been looking both for a fourth big (they got one in Perkins) and a better backup PG (they didn’t get one). This is why.
Look, they were beaten in OT, barely, by a very good team with a virtually unstoppable player of their own. So, big picture, this was a great experience for all our young players and newcomers still meshing. Having said that:
– In the absence of Kyrie, why do technical FTs go to LeBron? I know, because he demands them, but the staff should discuss this with him.
– The refs were not great. They decided to let the guys play – LeBron’s very first drive was a non-call mugging – but they sprinkled those with totally phantom calls, and then ended up with the third quarter tempers, followed by ticky-tack calls to try and regain control.
– Delly is what he is unless/until he develops a mid-range shot. He can’t play 20+ minutes against a quality opponent without exhausting LeBron. But they still would have won that game if either: 1) Shumpert hits some wide open looks, or 2) Love accesses his inner alpha in the 4th Quarter. Love has to show LeBron he wants the ball and will win the game, not exude the vibe that the ball stings his hands in late game. Kevin, stop facilitating with the game on the line; screw the hockey assist. Make them fear you again.
– So much for the Princeton-influenced offense. This was 2007, LeBron do-or-die, just like in the GS game.
– Tristan is going to thrive in the playoffs. Like Andy, he’s enjoying these pressure moments. You can tell not only by his corralling every rebound but the way his free throws are actually softer and more accurate when it counts. Amazing that Blatt had to keep Mozgov on the bench late to make sure Tristan was out there.
This loss might be valuable. The team can see what it takes to win a huge game on the road.
Disagree. I rarely think LeBron doesn’t get calls but there were a few yesterday – one late when he was body-blocked twice on a lay-up – that were pretty outrageous non-calls. And the non-calls opened the door to the floor scrumming and Harden’s kick. A good ref squad starts with a sense of the teams and the environment. These refs were tone deaf and, predictably, struggled to control the game at the end.
Agree on the throwback to 2007. LeBron dribbles beyond the arc until there are 6 seconds left while everyone else.stands around, someone sets a high screen and it’s LBJ do or die. It didn’t happen while playing some other high caliber teams this year–wondering why the reversion? Hoping vs Golden State (where we had Kyrie) it was a matter of him just being on fire and vs Houston him needing to step up while the team lacked someone to penetrate. Let’s hope it’s not going to be a default once we are at full strength.
Yeah I think you’re right. He reminds me of a hint and peck, chicken like dribbles like Steve Kerr—although without the marksmanship which to be fair he has improved upon. Why not give Davis a tryout. Can’t hurt.
If Baron still has his handle and can create shots for the other guys, that is really all the Cavs need. We desperately need someone who can run an effective pick-and-roll when neither LeBron nor Kyrie is in the game. We have so many bench guys who are best used as spot-up shooters (Shumpert, Delly, Jones, Miller, Harris) and a solid pick and roll finisher in Thompson. Our team is screaming for a guy like BD (the version who played for the Cavs and was amnestied).
To your third point, let me add a 3) LeBron hits just half of his free throws. It’s hard to criticize LeBron because even when he’s playing poorly by his standards, he’s still playing well by the rest of the league’s standards. But for him, he had a bad game. He started taking the game personally, and when that happened the idea of running any sort of offense went out the window. WAY too much iso-ball yesterday.
To your first point, that is something that has always bugged me. When Kyrie is in the game, he seems to have enough cache to take those shots. LeBron doesn’t fight him for the honor. When Kyrie is out, it isn’t the better-shooting Kevin Love taking those shots, but it’s LeBron. I don’t get that, especially on a day when he’s already struggled to hit from the line. It’s an obnoxious ego thing.