Ferry's Grade at this time

[KI4MVP]

I see faults - that's why I've said things like we are growing. There is a difference between having flaws that you are working to improve and things being awful like so many posters - not just on this thread or even this board. it's all of the cavs boards, the sports talk radio, etc.

We beat the heat the other night - the first two callers in the post game show were people who called to complain about things. And expectations by so many complainers are so unrealistic. People want Hughes, Z, Drew, Marshall, Jones to all have the same productivity they had last year. That is impossible. We are 3rd in the league in scoring. We'd have to average 115-120 ppg for them to all match their averages from last year.

I'm planning to start a new thread when I get around to it that gets into this more, and to talk about the complaining I keep seeing/hearing, but it is just flat out impossible for these guys to all have the same productivity as they had last year and that's not even why we singed Z/Hughes/Marshall/Jones.

We signed them because each guy is capable of exploding on offense on any given night. We can attack the other team's weaknesses, we can adapt if one or two guys is having a poor night shooting. All of those weapons makes LeBron's job easier too. He's scoring over 3 more ppg without taking any more shots than he took last year.

 

[PIP]

I see faults - that's why I've said things like we are growing. There is a difference between having flaws that you are working to improve and things being awful like so many posters - not just on this thread or even this board. it's all of the cavs boards, the sports talk radio, etc.

We beat the heat the other night - the first two callers in the post game show were people who called to complain about things. And expectations by so many complainers are so unrealistic. People want Hughes, Z, Drew, Marshall, Jones to all have the same productivity they had last year. That is impossible. We are 3rd in the league in scoring. We'd have to average 115-120 ppg for them to all match their averages from last year.

I'm planning to start a new thread when I get around to it that gets into this more, and to talk about the complaining I keep seeing/hearing, but it is just flat out impossible for these guys to all have the same productivity as they had last year and that's not even why we singed Z/Hughes/Marshall/Jones.

We signed them because each guy is capable of exploding on offense on any given night. We can attack the other team's weaknesses, we can adapt if one or two guys is having a poor night shooting. All of those weapons makes LeBron's job easier too. He's scoring over 3 more ppg without taking any more shots than he took last year.

That's fine... But, do you at least have the same concern I have about the lack of effort or energy that is not brought on the same level on the road as the homecourt ?

I can live with some of these losses as long as we are not down by the 10-15 point mark in all of those games.... You get what i'm sayin ?

We are two completely different teams... We take it to teams at home, but we let them run us over on the road... Too many come from behind games with large deficits...

 

[Pioneer10]

With regards to the productivity numbers, this is where PER comes in rather then looking at Points per games, rebounds per games, etc.

Since it based on per possession it takes out factors like minutes and since it is an overall stat a player doesn't have to score let's say big points to have a good PER. To underscore this Z, Gooden, and Lebron's PER are equal or better then last year. Marshall and D. Jones is slightly better but Hughes has had a huge dropoff. Fact of the matter is Hughes (who I really like) is not playing as well as he did last year. I hope and fully expect him to do better once he gets more used to our poor offensive scheme (compared to the Princeton offense run by the Wizards) and used to playing with Lebron. I see nothing wrong in critizing Hughes for this especially he signed that massive contract. He is being payed like an All-star and while it might be too much to ask him to play like an bonafide All-NBA player he should be playing at least like an All-star candidate

 

[Maximus]

I see faults - that's why I've said things like we are growing. There is a difference between having flaws that you are working to improve and things being awful like so many posters - not just on this thread or even this board. it's all of the cavs boards, the sports talk radio, etc.

We beat the heat the other night - the first two callers in the post game show were people who called to complain about things. And expectations by so many complainers are so unrealistic. People want Hughes, Z, Drew, Marshall, Jones to all have the same productivity they had last year. That is impossible. We are 3rd in the league in scoring. We'd have to average 115-120 ppg for them to all match their averages from last year.

I'm planning to start a new thread when I get around to it that gets into this more, and to talk about the complaining I keep seeing/hearing, but it is just flat out impossible for these guys to all have the same productivity as they had last year and that's not even why we singed Z/Hughes/Marshall/Jones.

We signed them because each guy is capable of exploding on offense on any given night. We can attack the other team's weaknesses, we can adapt if one or two guys is having a poor night shooting. All of those weapons makes LeBron's job easier too. He's scoring over 3 more ppg without taking any more shots than he took last year.

I understand your point, yes, there are only so many "touches" availabe so certain players will see their productivity go down. But that hasn't happened with Donyell. Last year he averaged 25.3 minutes a game and 9.10 shots per game. This year he's averaging 27.9 minutes and 8.8 shots per game. What has dropped off is his ability to hit a shot....from anywhere. He is only shotting 38% from the filed and 33% from 3. To make matters worse he is trending down. In his last 19 games he is shooting 33% from the field and 31% from 3.....a lot of them are wide open looks. His points have dropped by 2 per game and his turnovers have doubled from last year too.
So while I see your point, I don't think it explains Donyell's productivity drop off. For whatever reason, he is in a shooting slump....a long one....and it's getting worse. Let's hope he finds his stroke soon.

 

[KI4MVP]

even in the shooting slump, though, Marshall has been the key to at least two wins this year already. And he's not the guy most people complain about. I see tons of complaints about Jones, Drew, Hughes and even Z.

 

[TruBuckeye22]

We have the 2nd best record in the east, the 4th best record in the whole league - what more did you expect from Danny Ferry? The team is starting to gel, but we aren't there yet. What are people upset about - that we have that long 1 game losing streak?

more people should pay attention to ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Maximus]

And he has also shot us out of the game in some very close losses.....the other night Donyell, DJ and Drew were 2 of 17. Donyell has also gone 1 fo 8(lost by 5), 0 for 9(lost by 4) and 2 for 9(lost by 2). That said, I don't think its fair to analyze single games....players have off nights. Looking at his shooting on the year overall has me very concerned. We brought him here to shoot....missing 2 out of 3 all season long isn't what Ferry had in mind.

Z has been pretty consistent....he's been in double digits every game since Thanksgiving and he's probably averaged 3 blocks per game since then too. He's been doing this injured most of the time so I'm very satisfied with his performance. His numbers are trending up since a bit of a slow start. He's made adjustments and figured out where he fits in.

Hughes has had several nagging injuries and his brother weighing heavily on him. I think he will get better as the season progresses and I think he and Lebron will improve their chemistry. I think Larry will fit nicely here.

Drew has been up and down, you have no idea what you are going to get from him on a given night. People have a right to complain about him. To be a contender we need a PF that plays defense all the time....Drew seems to lose interest often.

Jones defense and showboating are always going to piss people off....I don't see him in Ferry & Brown's long term plans.

 

[PIP]

This pretty much sums up my argument... Even the "leader" admits there is something wrong.... That's a problem, we need a leader.

Intensity comes and goes for Cavs

Brown seeks more consistency, especially on the road, if his team wants to remain in contention

``We're still a team trying to find our identity,'' Brown said. ``Sometimes complacency sets in a little bit; we've got to figure out how to give that effort for as close to 48 minutes as possible.''

``If we want to be an elite team, we have to do it for more than a half on the road,'' guard Eric Snow said. ``We need to play with more of a sense of urgency early on.''

Brown will continue preaching it, but whether the team can put it into practice is yet to be seen.

``It is something we need to work on,'' LeBron James said. ``We need to approach games like we do at home, but that's very difficult for every team in this league.''

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/13506381.htm

 

[KI4MVP]

are you suggesting LeBron isn't a leader or that his play suffers on the road? You realize he's averaging more points and assist on the road than at home, right? The only area his game suffers is 3 point shooting.

Do we need to do better on the road - of course. Is it as big a problem yet as you make it out to be - not at all. It's part of the growth process, they'll get there.

 

[PIP]

LeBron is not a true leader... Not yet...

He was thrusted into that role because of his talents...You can put the moniker on him, but not a true leader yet...

I don't care about his numbers on the road... How many W's has he been able to lead us too in those situations ? The team takes on the personality of it's leader in crucial and hostile situations and look to him to bail them out and execute to perfection down the stretch... Off balance "heat checks" from deep is not expressing the amount of leadership we need.... Not taking the challange of guarding a Richard Jefferson on the road in the middle of a 6 game winning streak is not living up to the "leader" or "captain" status that has been placed upon him by his adoring fans and teammates of lesser talents..

A leader does not let a inferior Atl Hawks team come into his place of business and work them over like they did... Even if he was to have 50/10/10 in that game, it doesn't happen... Hell, that was following a 50 point performance to the Bucks and letting NJ come into his place and rough his team up again...

But again, he is 21.... So it will take time... But as of now, NO, he is not a leader.

If we make the playoffs, we will see how much of a leader he truly is...

 

[KI4MVP]

you realize, right, that even in Jordan's 72 win season, the Bulls dropped a game to the then expansion raptors. You have totally unrealistic expectations. We can and will do better on the road as we get deeper into the season. But even Tim Duncan fails what you are expecting.

 

[PIP]

you realize, right, that even in Jordan's 72 win season, the Bulls dropped a game to the then expansion raptors. You have totally unrealistic expectations. We can and will do better on the road as we get deeper into the season. But even Tim Duncan fails what you are expecting.

You realize that we are not the 95-96 Chicago Bulls

The 05-06 Spurs, Pistons or the 04-05 Heat, Spurs, Pistons...

You keep comparing the Cavs situations to "elite" teams... You've done it in almost every post...It makes zero sense to me..

You keep asking me if i realize this, or that.... But do you realize those teams are where the Cavs want to be...We both know those teams will be there when the smoke settles

Those teams play in late May and June.... Those teams can afford to drop a game here or there because they know they will be there in the end (the Cavs have no such luxury) ... Other teams give those "elite" teams their so called "A-GAME" because it's the dominant teams..

Those games are considered championship (playoff) like games for the lesser teams..

Robert Horry said the other night the Spurs know what they need to do, and are coasting right now because they want to be ready for the playoffs... Now that is a man with 6 rings and has been to the playoffs every year of his career... He knows that the Spurs are just crusing through since they can hit the Switch..

The Pistons are giving Lindsey Hunter as much time as he needs to recover because they want him to be healthy for the playoffs... They are just moving along because they know they will be there..

The Pistons had to build up that point where they can relax and coast right along without missing a beat, and it took games and challanges in seasons like 00-01,01-02,02-03 so they could build up to their championship season of 03-04 up to the current date...

They had to attack certain challanges and get over the hump, the Cavs are still trying to get over the "road hump" and have failed so far this year... Now, they can still improve this no doubt about it, but as of now, I am not seeing no evidence of that... Nothing leads me to believe that the Cavs can go to Dallas,Miami,Indy,Det,Phx,NJ,Was,Mil,LA,GS, and get a win on the road.... That is their next challange...

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

lj4mvp - why do you keep trying to refute emotion and expectation with facts and figures? some people think that the only thing that counts is their opinion. we're doing great. if detroit had lost a dozen of their games, we would have the best record in the east - and though we would be no better, everyone here would have to consider us a success. across the nba we are considered a top team in the east. if the nba fans in the know realize that we are formidible, why are so many of us here afraid?

the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

i wonder of fans from other teams (like atl, toronto, nyk, celtics, nuggets, sonics, blazers, jazz, magic, rockets) think that we cav's fans are ignorant for some of the things we post? while several of the teams i mentioned fully expected to make the playoffs, i suspect that none of them are focussed on their struggles on the road.

news flash: the home team has an advantage!

 

[Karma]

The way I see it is that we are not a better road team from last year. The difference being that we have better pieces. Last season we played the same way with only LeBron and Zydrunas capable of going off and getting us a W. This season we have Hughes, Marshall and Jones capable of lighting it up on top of James's improved game to let us "steal" wins.

I am hoping with time the teams chemistry grows and along with that some consistency. I also hope to see continued development in Coach Brown and see this team making progress with a set system with a roster that won't be changed overly.

This team is just the same as last years in terms of exucution on the road.