Who is the "next man up"?

[SteelSmack]

Blatt has shown recently that Delly and Jones are the guys he likes to ride off the bench (beyond Shumpert and Thompson). I don't see why this will be any different, even with James Jones playing like utter crap.

 

[godfather]

Marion has to play, for defensive purposes, I'm thinking, but start James Jones. At least against the Bulls. Go with Marion in the later series, since he provides more defense. Jones defending Horford/Nene/Duncan/Green would be a nightmare.

I don't fear Noah enough right now, where I think you can start Jones against the Bulls. He's not going to play 30 minutes, just 20. Hopefully he gives us something.

Blatt is going to have one hell of time trying to make a patch work of what he has left.

 

[Kizzle]

We can still win the title. But how we have to do it changes without Love. Flat out Jones and Miller have to step up and when they are in HAVE to be a threat to shoot over 40%. Were not gonna get Love's rebounding and IQ back, but we can at least get that floor spacing back. Then TT has to get a double double every game. Mozgoov needs more postups as well. Hes got skills.


It will be hard to replace Love and if any other team got dealt this blow I would say its game over, but we have LeBron and Kyrie and any team we play doesn't. that's a simple ass way of putting it but its the truth.

 

[Green Lantern]

Blatt has shown recently that Delly and Jones are the guys he likes to ride off the bench (beyond Shumpert and Thompson). I don't see why this will be any different, even with James Jones playing like utter crap.

If Blatt doesn't have Jones guarding Noah or Gas-all , it should be better.

 

[Omar The Horse]

If Blatt doesn't have Jones guarding Noah or Gas-all , it should be better.

Have you guys watched how poorly Noah has looked lately? They will have their weakest defender on him.

 

[Green Lantern]

Have you guys watched how poorly Noah has looked lately? They will have their weakest defender on him.

I have but Noah is still bigger than Jones and will try to crash the boards against him.

 

[ajz20]

I really wish we had a different player besides Haywood as our emergency big.
Moz and Perkins and TT and Shawn Marrion up front should be the rotation up front.
James Jones in limited play as a PF when you want to go small.

 

[Scrote Squad]

I would play Miller and Shump. Keeps the bench intact for the most part. My hope would be that Miller can be hidden on Dunleavy and still be able to provide valuable spacing for Kyrie and LeBron. Put Shumpert on Jimmy Butler which allows LeBron to play free safety defense while loosely guarding Noah, who looks like a shell of his former self. Keeping Kyrie on Rose would be a gamble, but Rose looks more worn down each game I see him play. Sag off, go under screens and force him to shoot jumpers. LeBron could also play on Gasol if they want to keep Timo in the paint for rim protection. I can see several scenarios playing out, but Miller and Shump would be the two guys that I would start.

 

[Kris032]

I could still see Blatt going for Joe Harris. He can shoot the ball and capable of guarding 2 or 3 spot for limited minutes. It's a good thing too since the Kid was playing well in Canton a couple of weeks ago, that should have made his jumper ready.

Our bench will be tested heavily and Blatt need to do tinker with sets in order to make the offense work for the bench guys.

 

[Douglar]

Disregard the post below-- I had a link to an old rule

This was brought to my attention:

http://www.nba.com/analysis/00421026.html

The NBA Playoffs

Each team that qualifies for the NBA Playoffs must submit a list of its players eligible to compete in playoff games on the day following the end of the regular season.

Because there is no Injured List for the NBA Playoffs, each playoff team must designate the 12 players eligible for the playoffs from all of its regular season lists (Active, Injured and Suspended).
​

Cavs have had 11 guys on the floor & Miller has dressed for games.

That means to me that Varejao, Haywood, & Harris are not eligible to play in the playoffs.

 

[The George]

Against the Bulls I'm not sure if he goes big with TT & Moz to match size against Gasol & Noah (who has sucked more than usual other than his good Rebs)

Or do you play LeBron at 4 as mentioned before let Shumpart and either Marion or jones play 3 but then who does LeBron want to defend? Shump can play Butler but would LeBron guard Noah or Dunleavy and let Marion guard Noah or jones guard Dunleavy?

If we play small we could score but get out rebounded play big we hang with them on the boards and maybe even out rebound them but do we have the depth to stay with that line up and would we score enough? Not sure

 

[Kevalier]

OK, Kelly Olynyk's clumsy doofish-ness has opened up 35 minutes a night in the Cavs playoff roster. JR Smith's generosity towards his team mates has opened up another 30 minutes a game. Lebron says "next man up". Whose number will David Blatt call?

Clumsy doofishness? More like amateur jiu-jitsu from some dishonest goon.

 

[godfather]

Have you guys watched how poorly Noah has looked lately? They will have their weakest defender on him.

Exactly, we're going to have to play Jones. Wanting him to guard guys like Mirotic or even Gibson is a nightmare.

I think he should start, you can hide his defense on Noah. It's the only thing that makes sense for me.

 

[TitleTown]

Marion. Shaun Marion.

This is the dude that makes the most sense.

 

[ThirdWorld]

Im rooting for the Spurs to lose

Team really got no answer for them without Varejao and Love.


Bron / Marion cant handle Duncan, and Diaw is already tough to deal.