Game 39 | Cavs @ Blazers | Jan.15th | 10:00 PM ET

[DatDudeZ3]

the tristan block was a bad call, the foul on andy was the right call although it was a tad late. Andy clearly pushed him pretty far while he was shooting.

What about the ball that Kyrie deflected with his hand that would have lead to a layup for Kyrie, but the ref said Kyrie "kicked" the ball when he clearly hit it with his hand.

 

[stick]

Great effort tonight. Disappointing end, but whatcha gonna do?

I have fond memories of Earl Clark leading a fast break with a defender with him the whole time only to force up a layup and miss badly. I'm pretty sure every Cavs fan had the same thought at that moment. Luckily Andy cleaned it up. Still, funny play.

 

[Goldin Brown]

But damn look at all the young talent Portland has developing ON THE COURT with the veterans sitting over there chewing on pumpkin seeds and mentoring like they should.

Young talent? The only young talent the Blazers played were Lillard, McCollum and Thomas Robinson and McCollum and Robinson barely played. The only young guy they're really relying on is Lillard. Leonard, their other lottery pick from last season plays about as much as Anthony Bennett plays for the Cavs. I really don't think the 2 teams are comparable. Most of the primary contributors for the Blazers are in or are just entering their primes. Whereas most of the Cavs primary pieces are 22 or younger, that's a big difference. Our guys are a few years away from even entering their prime years.

 

[Fuggles]

Young talent? The only young talent the Blazers played were Lillard, McCollum and Thomas Robinson and McCollum and Robinson barely played. The only young guy they're really relying on is Lillard. Leonard, their other lottery pick from last season plays about as much as Anthony Bennett plays for the Cavs. I really don't think the 2 teams are comparable. Most of the primary contributors for the Blazers are in or are just entering their primes. Whereas most of the Cavs primary pieces are 22 or younger, that's a big difference. Our guys are a few years away from even entering their prime years.

I just had to double check Matthews age but you are dead on and Rch is wrong.

3 of the top 5 in minutes played on our team tonight are under 23. Lililard is 23( he is a second year player though so he gets slack) and the other 4 are 25+.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Im not wrong in the least bit.

They have as much, if not better, young talent than we do. Last year just after drafting Lillard, it was still pretty widely expected that this team would be a few years away from where they are now. And it was expected that Aldridge would be moved and the team would be rebuilt around Lillard.

One offseason later, they are a veteran dynasty?

Lillard has 1 yr in the league... you can point to 23 years old, doesnt matter as much to me. We had the choice of drafting him. Just like we had the choice to draft a 4 year senior in Tyler Zeller instead of guys like Terrence Jones, Perry Jones and JJ Sullinger. (shrugs) young talent, is young talent. Maturing in college (as players need to... the main reason Lillard is making Irving his bitch right now) should and never will be considered a disadvantage to me. NBA miles/mins are much more stressful than the 30 game college season.

Age is not the defining metric for players, as much as you would like to reference it.

The only real comparison I was making/am making, is Kyrie and the way we are building to mature/develop him in comparison to Lillard.

SIDENOTE: Carrick Felix and Matthew Dellavadova are both just 2 years younger than Robin Lopez and only one year younger than Nic Batum. However both guys are 5 year veterans... by your metric though, we should be holding Delly and Felix to Batum and Lopez standards halfway through next season. (shrug)

 

[DatDudeZ3]

I am very, very upset about the loss tonight because we played good enough on the road against a top team in the west to give ourselves a chance to win.. Unfortunately this whistles didn't go our way at all and Aldridge hit a 3 point bullshit shot at the end of the shot clock. Things just didn't fall our way tonight, BUT I loved the fight in our guys. They got down a couple times late in the game and the crowd was going crazy, but we always fought back and tied it or took the lead. I think we just ran out of gas on the 2nd night of a back to back... But it was an admirable effort.

Deng brings so much to this team, shooting, slashing, passing, and great defense and length. He plays the passing lanes and reads passes beautifully... It's like he sees the pass before it happens much of the time. I think Deng will help make our guys bring it every night also, and if we bring it, we are a pretty good team. We NEED this win in Denver on Friday to bring some momentum into our home stretch where every single game is winnable (not saying we will win them all, just saying we have a shot). Anxious to see how we play in Denver after a bitter loss tonight.

And this team does care about winning, you don't see players shooting jumpers on the opposing teams home court after a back to back on the road. That was great to see, they are sending a message. And just because Deng, Kyrie, Dion weren't out there, don't assume they don't care. They do, believe that. I think this team is starting to put it together, this is our time to make a run too.

 

[Fuggles]

Im not wrong in the least bit.

Try talking with people and not at them next time.

Friggen Rudy.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Try talking with people and not at them next time.

Friggen Rudy.

I have no idea what this means, nor do I believe for a split second that you did not read that post.

But... if it makes you feel bigger at your keyboard to tell me you didnt read that post, (shrugs) cool I guess. :chuckles:

 

[CavsFanJapan]

Just got home from the game. Disappointed for sure but we played good. One thing I noticed is how good of a passer Dion is in traffic but when he curls around on the perimeter and has Kyrie open for a three, he never passes it. It happened I think 3 times tonight. Talked to AC afterwards and he just said how they need to finish out quarters. Give up little bit here and there and then the final 2 minutes of the game. It was fun game. Lots of Cavs fans here in Portland. Chris Grant is tall. He was watching the game from the player entrance about 10 feet away from me and he was reacting like a fan would. Hope this means something but he looked really frustrated when Jack and Clark were out there. But who doesn't? LOL! After the game, CJ, Jack, Gee, Clark, Handy, Mosby were out on the court practicing for at least an hour and were still going when I left the arena. Fucking Clark looked good during that practice time but can't play in the game the same way. Watched Bennett in warm-ups and from one angle he looks like he is dropping his right shoulder slightly when he sets and then shoots. If anyone goes to a Cavs game, can you check that out? Maybe I was just trying to notice "something."

Well, Goodnight from Portland. As AC told me as I left, "See you next year!" LOL!

 

[Tornicade]

Portland is an experienced team regardless of their age.
lets do a comparison.

Players (time with team)	Games	Players(time with team)	Games
Irving 3rd year with Cavs	146	Lilliard-2nd year with blazers	120
CJ Miles 2nd year with cavs	489	Mathews-4th year with blazers	337
Luol Deng- 3rd game with cavs	641	Batum-6th year with blazers	366
Tristan Thompson- 3rd year with cavs	181	Aldridge-8th year with blazers	546
AV- 10th year with cavs	508	Lopez- 1st year with blazers	362
Waiters- 2nd year with cavs	95	Williams- 1st year with blazers	672
	2060		2403

<tbody>
</tbody>

Of Portlands top 6 rotation pieces. Only 1 guy has less than 200 games
of Cavs top 6 rotation 3 guys have less than 200 games.

Im not sure why last season was relevant but lets take a look

for alot of the season Cavs were starting 4 guys with less than 150 games experience.
Zeller, Waiters, Irving and Thompson led by venerable all nothing alonzo gee with 213 games at the end of last season.

What is different about this portland team from last yea. they subtracted JJ hickson and reduced the role of rookie meyers leonard and added Lopez and Mo Williams.

If anything Portland is an example of letting your young guys develop.

Batum, Mathews, and Aldridge have been with portland for 4+ seasons.


so in summary the Blazers have 5 of their 6 top minute guys with 4+ years of experience. with 3 of them being with Portland 4+ years.


Cavs have 3 of their top 6 players with 4+ years experience with 1 guy whose been with the team 4+ years.


Age matters in high school ball. experience matters in the NBA.

If Anything Portland is an example of what the Cavs can become if they stick with their core

 

[SteelSmack]

Order.