Farewell, Timofey Mozgov

[Gus Zing]

@AuxiliaryPie

MOZGovernor

 

[cavsfanclanman]

Man, it's been so long since we had a guy who actually deter shots. It's such a blessing. What an A+ pickup.

 

[Pioneer10]

I haven't seen a Cav protect the rim like this since an early Z? He totally wiped out a couple of layups and forced Rose to hit jumpers to be effective.

As a sidenote, Love's defense looks much better with Moz and Lebron around him

 

[Frank Stallone]

Great pickup. Overpaid? Maybe slightly. But he makes one hell of a difference.

 

[LeShaq]

Mozgov gives Pau Gasol fits. Gasol does not like guarding Mozgov and often does not do well when having to guard Mozgov.

Mozzy wrecked Pau once again. How sweet it is for the Cavs and Mozgod!

 

[wuck]

I like how they are integrating more designed plays for him (or that he is at least an option in some of the plays they are running). I don't know why they can't run some of the same stuff to get Love an open 17-foot jumper from the key, but that's another story.

He's having a much bigger effect on the half-court defense than shown by statistics. As mentioned upthread, lots of deterred shots. Also a few shot-blocks cancelled out by fouls committed by other Cavs.

His presence has already changed how they deal with the P&R and how effectively they deal with it.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

He's way better offensively than I originally thought. He's very comfortable already, some of that can be attributed to his experience with Blatt I assume.

But early on this is looking like a sneaky great pick-up.

 

[Sebastian]

Mozgov is now my favorite Russian.

 

[The Red Viper]

The mozGOD!

 

[TFIR]

Great to see him hit a 17 footer tonight in addition to doing all that dirty work. This guy is a keeper - totally worth the low first rounders. You would never get that kind of player with those picks.

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

He's way better offensively than I originally thought. He's very comfortable already, some of that can be attributed to his experience with Blatt I assume.

But early on this is looking like a sneaky great pick-up.

I've long thought that Mozgov was not properly used in Denver on offense. He's got good range and can often be left open long - as we saw tonight. Dude is a banger who is smart about picking his fights. I love watching him make the call in action on what is a wise contest and what is not. He'll foul, but he always seems to want to make them worth it.

I think Mozgov's aggressive play is a spark. He's also a guy who will relish finally getting 30+ minutes to show what he can do. Even if Noah were healthy, who does he cover? Probably Love, but that leaves Mozgov open and can pull Noah out of the paint. If Mozgov can do anything near that 15/15/2 line when you give him 33 minutes on most nights then the guy was a steal for what we got him for.

 

[gratefuldead]

Mozzy wrecked Pau once again. How sweet it is for the Cavs and Mozgod!

i loved the hard fouls mozzie put on bitch ass gasol

he hammered brooks's little ass too

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

i loved the hard fouls mozzie put on bitch ass gasol

he hammered brooks's little ass too

Pau looked like he might throw a tantrum any minute - well, even more so than usual. Either that or he was really constipated.

 

[Lee]

Great to see him hit a 17 footer tonight in addition to doing all that dirty work. This guy is a keeper - totally worth the low first rounders. You would never get that kind of player with those picks.

It is not impossible, but unlikely to get someone like moz with a mid first. It is even less likely they are ready to contribute right away like moz.

For sure with the 2 mid to late 1sts we gave up if he continues to play this way. Might be the third most valuable player on this team.

 

[TFIR]

He'll foul, but he always seems to want to make them worth it.

Yep, a couple times he clearly fouled just to send a message. Good move too, as the game was out of reach for the Bulls at the time.