Game 5: Cavs @ Warriors, Wednesday, November 7, 2012, 10:30PM EST

[BimboColesHair]

I just wish Dion would attack the basket more. If he can truly "get into the paint at will," then why doesn't he try to more often? Dribble penetration is how our offense thrives. Notice how we don't have offensive flow when Kyrie and Dion are both jacking up jumpers?

Hard to get in the paint when your two big men don't space out the floor. Every time he has drove into the lane so far this year he has been met and contested by one of our bigs defenders. I bet, as a rookie, he has seen what happens on the few times he has drove so far and has been bumped with no foul call or blocked and that has kind of left him 2nd guessing if he should drive more. He was better tonight driving to the rack and dishing off to Samardo or Tristan though, evidence by the 5 assists. Also, its Leuer guys, not Luer.

 

[Numbers Guy]

Gotta say.. Kyrie really seems to not like Tristan.. just seems constantly annoyed at him being in the wrong position, not setting a good screen, lack of focus etc.

Dion is the same.. I've seen him a few times reject a TT screen and call the other guy up.

 

[apolo29]

Gotta say.. Kyrie really seems to not like Tristan.. just seems constantly annoyed at him being in the wrong position, not setting a good screen, lack of focus etc.

Dion is the same.. I've seen him a few times reject a TT screen and call the other guy up.

I think kyrie is mad at everyone but Andy

On the plus side, the opposing announcers compared kyrie to derrick rose, said he would score a ridiculous amount of points as a 2 guard, used phrases like "this kid is special" multiple times and all around gushed about him all night long. Some of the gushing involved left handed layups, which I guess they have never seen kyrie play before considering that's a staple of his game.

On the minus side, kyrie was a huge defensive liability tonight. If he doesnt step that side of his game up he will never be the truly truly top point guard caliber player we all think he can be.

 

[Rich]

I think kyrie is mad at everyone but Andy

On the plus side, the opposing announcers compared kyrie to derrick rose, said he would score a ridiculous amount of points as a 2 guard, used phrases like "this kid is special" multiple times and all around gushed about him all night long. Some of the gushing involved left handed layups, which I guess they have never seen kyrie play before considering that's a staple of his game.

On the minus side, kyrie was a huge defensive liability tonight. If he doesnt step that side of his game up he will never be the truly truly top point guard caliber player we all think he can be.

I dunno. When one ranks the top PGs in the league really only two of them are what one would call "good" defenders. Westbrook and Paul. Rondo is decent, but takes a lot of chances. After that, you've got Rose who is average and then Deron Williams below that.

Point being, there aren't a lot of defensive stoppers that are also considered top tier PGs.

 

[RikSmits]

If Scott made Dion sit so long for a defensive lapse, as was assumed, that is a travesty if you look at Kyrie's defense. In previous games, Kyrie looked okay when defending iso's. But he just does not know how to handle piscks. It drives me nuts how a guy can slither between three players at one end of the court and is just leaning into a pick at the other end without even trying to work his way over it. And last night he was just overall awful.

This problem is as much on Scott is it is on Kyrie, IMO. I understand that you give your star players some breaks that you don't give others. But with a young team, Scott has to be very careful and understand that Kyrie's lack of effort on D will affect others at one point or another, if not consciously then subconsciously.

At this moment, I have abandoned all thoughts of TT being a contributor on offense. He first has to learn the fundamentals on where to be on the floor. He is passing a bit better, but that's about it. On D, although he is maddeningly inconsistent, I see improvement in some areas. Baby steps...

What can you expect from guys like Leuer and Casspi coming into such a game, honestly? Leuer didn't look good on D, but hit some shots. Casspi the other way around. Put them in a unit with good vets like Jack and Landry, and you likely see two different players.

I don't know what Casspi did to deserve hate this game. Despite being in a contract year, he tried to play within the offensive flow (and I use that term loosely) and didn't force up shots (unlike some others). He grabbed 5 rebounds in ten minutes and helped get a 15 point deficit down to 8 at the half. Zero playing time in the second half, to allow a sick CJ Miles force up some more shots...

 

[Tornicade]

sit so long? the man played 30 minutes that only 2 minutes shy of what he played against the clippers

Rk	G	Date	Age	Tm		Opp		GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	GmSc
1	1	2012-10-30	20-325	CLE		WAS	W	1	28:14	6	14	.429	2	5	.400	3	4	.750	0	2	2	0	3	0	3	0	17	9.8
2	2	2012-11-02	20-328	CLE		CHI	L	1	25:02	3	7	.429	1	2	.500	0	2	.000	0	2	2	4	1	1	2	2	7	4.8
3	3	2012-11-03	20-329	CLE	@	MIL	L	1	28:59	5	12	.417	1	2	.500	2	4	.500	0	2	2	3	1	0	3	0	13	6.5
4	4	2012-11-05	20-331	CLE	@	LAC	W	1	32:15	10	17	.588	7	11	.636	1	1	1.000	0	3	3	1	0	0	1	2	28	19.9

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soe of you need to turn on the fatigue setting on your video games )

 

[Stark]

Get rid of CJ Fucking Miles.

3-11; 1-7

Christ.

 

[Scholar]

If Scott made Dion sit so long for a defensive lapse, as was assumed, that is a travesty if you look at Kyrie's defense. In previous games, Kyrie looked okay when defending iso's. But he just does not know how to handle piscks. It drives me nuts how a guy can slither between three players at one end of the court and is just leaning into a pick at the other end without even trying to work his way over it. And last night he was just overall awful.

This problem is as much on Scott is it is on Kyrie, IMO. I understand that you give your star players some breaks that you don't give others. But with a young team, Scott has to be very careful and understand that Kyrie's lack of effort on D will affect others at one point or another, if not consciously then subconsciously.

I can appreciate knocking Kyrie for his defensive play overall for the season. But, last night he was playing with an illness, and didn't feel well. You could see it in his mannerisms on court. Even when he was on the offense end, he wasn't always moving like he normally does. So, I'd cut him some slack for that game.

 

[SteelSmack]

Tristan +10 in the game. Glad the results followed what I saw on the court. Nobody slowed down the Warriors, except Tristan.

 

[3 Ball...GOT IT]

Watch out for Landry off the bench... He's been picking up the slack for Bogut lol

mhmm

 

[caf]

I have a feeling this season is going to be a lot of this:

 

[DanRosenberg]

Let's show Samardo some love.

He played 38 minutes (most on the team), was 5-9 shooting and actually had a few nice cuts to the basket. His defense wasn't stellar, but he is 6'9" and was forced to play the 5 against above average post players.

Hopefully he'll get out of Byron's doghouse and see more PT

 

[Soar]

Kyrie and Miles had food poisoning. Varejao and Zeller were injured. And Waiters bruised his thigh in the 3rd quarter. On a team without much depth, we lose every time given those circumstances.

 

["Boobie" Gibson]

Let's show Samardo some love.

He played 38 minutes (most on the team), was 5-9 shooting and actually had a few nice cuts to the basket. His defense wasn't stellar, but he is 6'9" and was forced to play the 5 against above average post players.

Hopefully he'll get out of Byron's doghouse and see more PT

Samardo did play well offensively, especially considering it was his first significant chunk of game time.

But as far as defense... atrocious. However, I'm pretty sure he was matched up against the PFs and Tristan was playing against the Cs. I don't know, either way, he was terrible on defense.

 

[abraxas]

I get to see the Cavs live twice a year (GS and Sac) and here's a few random thoughts from first time this season:
* Kyrie is more explosive live than on TV. He seems to be working on another level, something that separates great talent from elite superstars. He seems to see things slowed down and lets the game come to him as opposed to reacting. I just keep being more impressed by him every game.
* Dion looks like he's got so much potential to tap. He also makes it look fairly easy out there, somewhat laid back, I'm looking forward to Scott rubbing off on him.
* I was incredibly disappointed with Tristan. He just looks like he doesn't have any feel for the game. We've seen quite a few of these types of guys in Cleveland, but not one that was picked #4. Hopefully he develops but he really looks lost most of the time. I was way more impressed with Samardo's feel for the game last night than Tristan. His stats sound like he played alright but being there, he was a complete non-factor.
* Omri needs to put in more effort. His attitude is off. I've defended him on this board before but I saw last night that his body language just is way off.
* This is going to sound strange, but I thought that after the 1st half, Harangody would've been a better call than Leuer. They needed a strong body and Leuer isn't a banger. Without Andy (and with Tristan's weak approach) they needed some energy and muscle, and I would've liked to see him get some PT.
* Scott looked more animated than I've normally seen him, he was definitely frustrated - quite a few palm to the forehead moments, Tristan, Samardo, etc.
* This is clearly obvious, but this team really sucks without Andy. Might not be the worst thing for this season to suck - it's debatable - but Andy gives us life and hope. Without him, we are a top 3 pick in the 2013 draft. With him possibly playoff bubble.