More Browns hires: Ray Horton DC, Al Saunders offensive assistant, Pep Hamilton QBs, Hal Hunter O-line
January 20, 2016An open letter to people who write open letters: While We’re Waiting…
January 21, 2016Cleveland Cavaliers (29-11) 91
Brooklyn Nets (11-32) 78
Box Score
After Monday’s throttling at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in sore need of a win on Wednesday to alleviate some of the pain left by one of the more humiliating home defeats in team history. (There have only been six games in team history in which the Cavs lost by more than Monday’s 34-point loss to the Warriors; three of them were in 2012.) Like the aftermath of a bad breakup, the Cavs needed a rebound: a night with someone else (perhaps a little below their standards) to restore their confidence, dull the pain, and have a little fun. On cue, the Brooklyn Nets stumbled along: damaged, wobbly, and looking for some bad shots (and not of the tequila variety).
The Cavs rebounded on Wednesday against the Nets — securing some rebounds of the basketball variety in the process — hopefully quelling some of the hysteria after Monday’s loss. Let’s take a peek behind the box score and see what happened.
17 & 18 – Speaking of rebounds, Kevin Love gobbled up loose balls like a hungry hungry hippo swallowing marbles. Granted, all of Love’s rebounds were the defensive variety, but he played a solid all-around game after his three-point stinker on Monday. Love led the Cavs in minutes (31), touches (71), points (17-tied with LeBron James), rebounds (18), and free throw attempts (8). Love was 5-of-10 from the field, and only attempted three three-pointers! (Which is probably a better place to be than the extravagant 5.6 threes Love averages per game.)
The thing that was most encouraging on Wednesday was that Love had touches all over the floor, and in places with which he’s familiar. Even when he caught a pass behind the three-point line, he wasn’t afraid to put the ball on the floor — even teasing a nice left-handed dribble-drive for a layup in the second half. The Cavs still need Love to have more post and paint touches (he had two and one, respectively), but the Cavs set him up with the ball in a variety of places better than they had been — and the offense was well served by it. Love even DUNKED!
https://vine.co/v/ienTTZjFVwd
As for the people bandying about hypothetical Kevin Love trades and other radical roster reconstructions on the inter-cloud and even real life: settle yourself.
42 to 49 – The Cavs were exceptionally balanced on Wednesday, receiving 42 points from their “bigs” (Love, Timofey Mozgov, and Tristan Thompson) and 49 points from the small or non-big players. The Cavs made a concerted effort to involve their frontcourt bigs who, together with Anderson Varejao, scored a total of 16 points against the Warriors. Timofey Mozgov had six post touches and wasn’t scolded when he goofed, but was instead given more chances to succeed — including a jumper from the free throw line to add to his 11 points. Tristan Thompson wasn’t used merely as an obstacle to open up a driving lane for LeBron James or Kyrie Irving, but was an actual option in the pick-and-roll game. The Cavs victimized Brooklyn several times with the Delly-Thompson lob, a staple of the Cavs offense that should transfer to other combinations and offensive tactics.
Credit Kyrie Irving and LeBron James for the offensive balance on Wednesday: each had five assists in efficient, low-volume ballgames (4-of-7 and 7-of-12, respectively). For as frustrating as Irving’s “keep shooting ’til it goes in” approach has been of late, he played a holistic game on Wednesday, looking for open teammates and putting on his dribble exhibitions only when they had an actual purpose. It was a restrained and effective performance. Playing Brooklyn makes it easy to involve everyone (because anywhere from one to four teammates are always open against the Nets), but the Cavs are significantly better when Irving and James direct the offense through others and score when the ball finds its way back to them — which it often does, as shown in the James dunk below.
https://vine.co/v/ienFUEgQVxw
30.8 – A large chunk (30.8 percent) of the Nets’ points came from midrange jump shots. Their shot chart (below) shows a lot of midrange shots and a lot of red. Credit the Cavs — but the Nets don’t have a lot of shooters. Brook Lopez (16 points on 8-of-15 shooting) and Thad Young (14, 7-of-14) were impressive on the blocks. But if the Nets’ next best option is a Donald Sloan midrange J off the pick-and-roll, I have a feeling they won’t win 30 games. The reanimated corpse of Joe Johnson wasn’t great, either.
0 – Love, James, and Irving all sat the fourth quarter, saving their legs for a tough back-to-back ask against the Los Angeles Clippers. After what happened on Monday, the Cavs can inspire a lot of forgetting with a good performance on national television against the fourth best team in the Western Conference on Thursday.
As for garbage time, Mo Williams shook some rust off (1-of-7) while playing the quality of defense we’ve come to expect from him: bad. James Jones (who avoided derision after the Warriors game only because he was so low on the priorities list) was an offensive and defensive disaster, scoring zero points in a full quarter of play while stopping no one. I felt Varejao could have used some fourth quarter minutes, but it seemed that David Blatt wanted to workshop some small-ball lineups (the Cavs went small for most of the second half).
12 Comments
Still laughing at this:
“the Cavs needed a rebound: a night with someone else (perhaps a little below their standards) to restore their confidence”
Time to make an easy but impact adjustment; start Shump and bring JR off the bench after Kyrie has his rest.
Start: TT/Moz, Love, LeBron, Shump and Kyrie
First of the bench: Delly, TT/Moz
Start of the 2nd: JR and Kyrie with your mix of bigs (RJ, TT, Moz, Love)
Agree 100% about Shump starting. Need more D in starting lineup and more O from bench.
A slump buster. 😉
Cavs are in the best groove in transition offense.
Shumpert’s perimeter and interior defense lets you hide Love easier and can lead to more turnover/runouts for LeBron and Kyrie.
I’ve been saying for awhile I’d rather see Shump start bring JRs shooting off the bench with Delly and or Mo. But I’ve also been thinking about small ball primarily Golden Showers. I’d like to see Love play center. The issue comes at PF and a match-up with Green. It can’t be TT. It could be LBJ but honestly this is the spot/player I’d like to see added. Hence my significant interest in Thad Young.
Golden State’s small ball lineup puts Draymond at the Center and Iggy/Barnes in the foward positions. You can’t play Love on Green in any way shape or form.
If I’m countering GS’s small ball lineup I would mess around with combinations of Kyrie, Delly/JR, Shump, TT, LeBron. Love may be on the bench depending on the circumstance.
JR plays better in spacing off of Kyrie’s ability to drive all the way which is why I bring in Delly first and then start the second with Kyrie/JR.
I was talking about starting the game with Love at center.
WHAT!?!! AND SIT YOUR BELOVED MOZGOV?????
sidenote; if you’re starting Love at C, who are your forwards.
extra sidenote: i think this is an awful idea.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZRThqlUEAAujTL.png
I must break you!
My brother is going to the game Saturday and getting me one on those hats. Yeah!
sidenote: right now SF-PF is the issue. LBJ would assume either the problem is the other. That’s why I’m advocating for an additional PF or better yet a player like Thad Young who can not only play either spot but can do so inside or out. Of course the problem becomes when whoever GS has at C leaves and Green takes his spot. Then I say TT plays center and you work off that lineup.
Green is the guy I key on over and over and over. Curry and Thompson are going to make incredible shots especially Curry you can’t afford to let Green get the ball in the middle of the lane leaving shooters open. You also have to be right on these guys from the initial jump ball. This doesn’t mean dirty it just means aggressive. I’d rather make them drive to the basket then stand out there hitting 3s and posing. But that’s just me.