Game Thread | 2022-2023 Pre-Season | Game #1 | 76ers @ Cavs | October 5, 2022 | 6:00 p.m. Central Time

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Not commenting on all of it, but just highlighting that Garland might be about the most shiftiest player in the league at this point, which isn't Mitchell's game (obviously).

What a PITA they will be to guard for other teams.

Last year teams put their weakest defender on Okoro. What the heck are they going to do now?

Garland does seem like the shiftiest guard in the league. This duo in an impossible guard because you got no one to hide or no one that is quick enough to defend both of them.

This is, they are both really elite in isolation. They are also great in the PnR..(Garland is elite at it), and you also have two elite Roll Man bigs. You can run so many things with both bigs that it's ridiculous. You really can't switch and you can't play a drop coverage either. This is also why it's so important to put a shooter at the 3.

 

[jjvors]

Just saw the first half.
Garland and Mitchell can get whatever the hell they want against PJ Tucker. I know it'll take the vet some time to get into gear, but that's big.

Donovan was active on defense, really like what I saw there.

Harden is in mid-season form. Love that he's over there in Philly. Absolutely love when he's on the court. I'm trying not to be too harsh, I know vets in preseason and the early year tend to be in a lower gear but...

Was happy to see some of that bs Embiid contested shots miss this time around. Joel was going half speed, but even still, was so sick of the contested jumpers he was hitting on the Cavs last year

Cavs were looking quick and decisive. Philly could not string together stops against that. Cavs easily could've had 70+ points at half time, missed bunnies + free throws had nothing to do with what the 76ers was doing defensively.

Not too concerned with the amount of points given up. Honestly the DG - Donovan - LeVert - Love - Allen unit held up a little better than I was thought they would on d, but not a big fan of that unit to start. JB did say throughout camp that they would be experimenting with different starters (at the three).

This season is going to be wild!!!

We'll be able to score with anyone. I counted at least 6 points missed from Allen alone in the first half. He knew it too. He had a disgusted look on his face after a miss/turnover.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

On the road with no Mobley or Rubio while the 51-win Sixers had their whole crew and we still were up 4 at halftime before the non-rotation guys came in. Could have been more but Allen was stumbling around for some reason.

Maxey went off for 21 points on 9-for-11 or we would have been up more.

All in all pretty exciting stuff.

 

[JayP146]

Imagine trash talking the opposition after dominating a bunch of 3rd stringers in a preseason game

Cool story, Trez

 

[2 For The Brew]

Imagine trash talking the opposition after dominating a bunch of 3rd stringers in a preseason game

Cool story, Trez

Pitiful

 

[jjvors]

Imagine trash talking the opposition after dominating a bunch of 3rd stringers in a preseason game

Cool story, Trez

Heh. This is a Philly fan desperate for any victory over which they can gloat. I'll be happy to sweep them in the regular season and the playoffs. I feel that coming. Philly can't match us.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Heh. This is a Philly fan desperate for any victory over which they can gloat. I'll be happy to sweep them in the regular season and the playoffs. I feel that coming. Philly can't match us.

It's Montrezl Harrell... not really a fan.

 

[The Oi]

With the way he’s been bouncing around the league playing less and less of a role each year, he may well be a fan soon.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Harrell comes off the bench and brings fire. He's a rebounding machine, gets offensive boards or tips the ball out for second shots, and just raises the intensity. Look how hard he played in a preseason game. I'd love to have him here. I'm hoping Lamar Stevens can develop into a version of Harrell.

He had a game last year against the Cavs where he scored 22 points with 11 rebounds in 26 minutes. The Wizards won by 3 points. The Cavs had no answer for his intensity. I love the way he attacks the offensive glass.

Later in the season he was acquired by Charlotte and he had 11 points and 9 rebounds in 17 minutes as the Hornets stomped the Cavs by 21 in Cleveland.

By the way, he averaged 22 minutes a game last year for 71 games. I don't see his role as decreasing each year. He's apparently going to be the Sixers' backup center this year. He's listed as the #2 center on their depth chart ahead of Paul Reed, a 6'9", 210 pound small forward who was a late 2nd round pick in 2020.

 

[jjvors]

It's Montrezl Harrell... not really a fan.

LOL! I didn't realize it was Trez. Sounds more like a fan.

 

[Cavatt]

Harrell comes off the bench and brings fire. He's a rebounding machine, gets offensive boards or tips the ball out for second shots, and just raises the intensity. Look how hard he played in a preseason game. I'd love to have him here. I'm hoping Lamar Stevens can develop into a version of Harrell.

He had a game last year against the Cavs where he scored 22 points with 11 rebounds in 26 minutes. The Wizards won by 3 points. The Cavs had no answer for his intensity. I love the way he attacks the offensive glass.

Later in the season he was acquired by Charlotte and he had 11 points and 9 rebounds in 17 minutes as the Hornets stomped the Cavs by 21 in Cleveland.

By the way, he averaged 22 minutes a game last year for 71 games. I don't see his role as decreasing each year. He's apparently going to be the Sixers' backup center this year. He's listed as the #2 center on their depth chart ahead of Paul Reed, a 6'9", 210 pound small forward who was a late 2nd round pick in 2020.

Why are his on off numbers so bad though? He brought down the lakers and the clips. I don't think he is any good, he's just a cav killer

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Why are his on off numbers so bad though? He brought down the lakers and the clips. I don't think he is any good, he's just a cav killer

According to cleaningtheglass.com his on/off for Washington last year was +8.7, which put him in the 91st percentile in that category. With Charlotte it was +1.8. He's had a positive on/off every year of his career except with the Lakers in '20-'21 when it was -2.8.

In three years with the Clippers he was +2.2, +2.9, and +0.6.

 

[Peacedog]

According to cleaningtheglass.com his on/off for Washington last year was +8.7, which put him in the 91st percentile in that category. With Charlotte it was +1.8. He's had a positive on/off every year of his career except with the Lakers in '20-'21 when it was -2.8.

In three years with the Clippers he was +2.2, +2.9, and +0.6.

Well, other than Washington, Charlotte, and 3 years with the Clippers, his on-off numbers were pretty bad, right?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I was just looking over some of the Cavs numbers from last season.

Offensively they were 18th in points per possession; defensively they were 6th. No surprise there.

Breaking it down, they were 16th in effective field goal percentage, 8th in offensive rebound rate, and 11th in free throw rate, which should add up to around 14th in scoring. The problem was they were 27th in turnover percentage, which reduced their shots and pulled down the scoring average to 18th.

With Mitchell on the floor this year they have a better ball-handler than Okoro so hopefully the turnovers will decrease and the scoring increase.

The Cavs were below average in percent of shots coming from 3-point range, ranking 23nd. They were 16th in percentage of threes made. I expect both those numbers to increase this year. Mobley is promising to take more 3's and we also have Mitchell now.

Defensively all the numbers were very good expect opponents' offensive rebound percentage, where the Cavs were on the lower end of average ranking 18th. I'm not sure that's going to improve.

In the half-court game the Cavs ranked 9th in points per play, probably due to the effectiveness of the Garland/Allen pick-and-roll. The Cavs had the fifth highest percentage of half-court possessions at 84%. I'd like to see them get out and run more this year.

They ranked 28th in offensive rebound percentage in the half-court. They scored well and got fouled more than average, but they rarely got second chance points in half-court situations. It looked like they didn't really try that hard - maybe JBB wanted them falling back to defend fast breaks.

They had some tall skinny guys like Allen and Mobley who really aren't built to muscle their way to the offensive glass. I don't expect to see any improvement in offensive rebounding especially with Markkanen probably being replaced by Okoro or LeVert.

I would say the main thing they need to improve is the offense and the biggest potential area of improvement is reducing turnovers.

 

[Cavatt]

According to cleaningtheglass.com his on/off for Washington last year was +8.7, which put him in the 91st percentile in that category. With Charlotte it was +1.8. He's had a positive on/off every year of his career except with the Lakers in '20-'21 when it was -2.8.

In three years with the Clippers he was +2.2, +2.9, and +0.6.

So why is playing on such a small contract? I guess it is because he is easy to scheme for in a series?