Starting SG: Smith or Shumpert?

[YuenglingGator]

It really is a great problem to have, isn't it? I like the idea of Shump starting, for his defense on quick guards and because he has earned it. I am really surprised how well he can create his own shot and his mid-range game is better than I thought. He has also proven he can hit the 3.

As far as JR, I do think he's all-in on what's best for the team, especially after how bummed he was for letting them down with the suspension. So having him come off the bench with JJ, etc... to space the floor and provide some 3's would be ideal. When we go to the second unit, we don't need to light the world on fire, a few timely 3's to maintain a lead or keep us in the game is what we need offensively from that unit. JR does just that.

 

[MirORich]

The original plan when the trade went down was for Shumpert to start and then just see what JR did off the bench. Shumps injury necessitated JR starting and he did so well helping to ignite the Cavs turnaround that Blatt rightly did not want to lose that momentum.

The suspension provided the opportunity to get to the original plan(albeit minus Love as part of that starting lineup). With Love out and Mozgov rarely getting more then 24-28 minutes per game, there are still tons of minutes for JR to play, including many where he plays with the other 4 current starters(LBJ,Kyrie,Shump, TT)

 

[Jack Brickman]

Shump. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We need his D with a hobbled Irving more than we need JR's offense.

Agreed. It's not a knock on Smith that he's not starting. It's acknowledging that Kyrie is hobbled and, thus, defense takes the priority over floor spacing.

 

[614balling]

Does this thread deserve this bump or do we keep things the way it is?

 

[Cavatt]

I think it's hard to make this choice. Sump can hit a shot, but he just isn't the threat to go off like JR. Defenses dont stick yo him.

Spacing hasn't been quite the prob that appeared to be either, but with Kyrie diminished, it seems like they could use the scoring.

Of course 28 off the bench for JR ain't bad either.

 

[NasstyNate]

Any team with Lebron is going to be excellent on offense. Way too many people ignore the defensive side of the ball, which is arguably more important in the playoffs. I wish we would have gone with Shumpert starting months ago to prepare for the playoffs, but we are where we are. Credit to Blatt for going with Shump.

 

[David.]

start them both. Please.

 

[TyGuy]

start them both. Please.

They certainly need to play more minutes together. That lineup with Delly, shumpert, smith, lebron and tt/mozgov is destroying teams.

 

[David.]

Dare you to look at the+/- for the regular season

They certainly need to play more minutes together. That lineup with Delly, shumpert, smith, lebron and tt/mozgov is destroying teams.

 

[Marcus]

I think you leave things as is.

With Kyrie hurt, he can't keep up with either member of their backcourt. Having Shumpert in the starting lineup at least allows the Cavs to pick their poison as to who they want to beat them - in last night's case, they allowed Teague to get his, while shutting down Korver. I'd expect that to continue.

JR Smith represents something the Cavs have desperately needed all season long and are finally getting in that he can consistently score off the bench. The Cavs outscored the Hawks 28-19 in bench scoring last night, with all those points coming from Smith. How many times have the Cavs been able to outscore the other team's bench this year? Not many, as they've had one of the least productive benches in the league.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[David.]

"Bench scoring"is the least useful stat there is though.

You'd see a graphic showing Boston outscoring our bench 40 to 5.. and we're up ten points. And their leading scorer comes off the bench, and our starters convert 1.3 points a shot, play 36 minutes each and take a fcombined 90% of fga

 

[614balling]

At first shump looked amazing offensively to the point I was asking myself where bad that been all year and damn is this young guy really this good. Ever since the groin pull in Chicago he just hasn't looked the same offensively, and it's a shame because he was being compared to jimmy butler and I even wondered if he was a future star on the rise.

I get the bench argument for keeping shump as a starter but the defense argument is not so strong. Jr plays solid defense and up till this recent spurt of shumperts and, I'd have said that Jr was playing to the level of the second best defender on the cavs behind mozgov. I think the drop off in scoring and spacing is more significant with shumpert out there instead of smith than the drop off in defense.

You also have to consider which player would fit well in the starting lineup in this lebron based offense that's formed due to a hobbled kyrie. Lebron likes to hold the ball, drive and look for open shooters amongst other things. Id like to see him paired up Jr smith is as much as possible. Jr's shooting can build insurmountable leads. The question is at what point of the opening of the chess game is it much needed.

 

[natedagg]

I put this in the Hawks thread but it deserves a mention here: how about my man JR just going to the bench without any ego? That's easy to overlook, and it's a demonstration of the (dare I say) Spurs-like sacrifice that these guys are making for each other. JR's defense is also on swole, but I think ultimately Shump's defense is the whole package: court awareness, hands, quicks, speed, power. I would love to see how he stacks up against elected all-NBA defenders from a statistical standpoint...

We will keep it how it is with Shump starting until we need to make a change. I really think Blatt's substitutions are on point - match-up based switches based on what advantages he thinks we can lean on with any given set of players and opposition on the court. These guys will see plenty of time on the court together too, which is often overlooked by the casual fan such as myself - we are essentially 7.5 players deep at the moment, so leave it to Blatt to spin on the 1s & 2s.

In other words, I'd bet on Shump starting, but if JR does, there's about 0% of me that will question the decision, and I will understand that I don't understand JACK SQUAT compared to our coaching staff. As long as the players are buying in and the hot hand is being fed, I'll just post up and enjoy the ride.

 

[shoes22]

I really don't think it matters. I consider Smith and Shumpert starters 1A and 1B at the SG position. For now, I prefer to keep things the way they are, starting Shumpert to establish our defense, and bring Smith off the bench for some quick scoring.

 

[Just Checkin]

I wish they could fuse.