Game Thread | Game #19 | Cavs @ Bucks | Nov. 25, 2022

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Brook Lopez and Grayson Allen are both shooting 42% from deep at home. The Cavs need to make sure they don't double Giannis at the 3-point line where he's no threat and leave Lopez or Allen alone. We saw what Lopez did last game after the Cavs doubled the ball and left Lopez alone.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Serge Ibaka is also questionable with a non-COVID illness. In the last game he had 9 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. He's shooting 50% on 3's at home, although he only takes 3.6 per game. If he can't go that helps the Cavs.

Holiday is now listed as "probable".

 

[Dr No]

Love, LeVert, & Stevens out. It’s wild how few games we’ve had at full strength

 

[macbdog]

Love, LeVert, & Stevens out. It’s wild how few games we’ve had at full strength

Is there some kind of rule that you have to sit out of your first or last name starts with an L?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

The Athletic's latest power ranking has the Bucks 2nd.

The Bucks have the best defense in the NBA so far in this young season. They’re exceptional at preventing 2-point shots from converting, and the Bucks are one of the best at rebounding the defensive boards and not sending opponents to the free-throw line.

They have the Cavs ranked 8th.

What are they thankful for? Koby Altman. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ lead executive has done a brilliant job in reshaping this squad. It took a few years, but his trust in J.B. Bickerstaff has paid off. His belief in Darius Garland has paid off. Trusting that Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley could play together has paid off. Looking at their situation and deciding to roll the dice on Donovan Mitchell has paid off. The Cavs were one of those teams that would normally operate quite safely in shaping their squad. Altman decided to take some chances and some big swings.

What I'm wondering is whether he has one more "big swing" in him this season, or if he even has the ammunition to do anything significant after the Mitchell deal. He has until the trade deadline of Feb. 9 so there are still 39 more games to evaluate the roster.

 

[Cavatt]

Just want to see a real competition

 

[Omar The Horse]

Wade wearing starter uni to no surprise. Stevens picked the wrong time to be sick and might lose that starting job permanently.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Wade wearing starter uni to no surprise. Stevens picked the wrong time to be sick and might lose that starting job permanently.

I love Mitchell.

 

[Jscc]

Wade wearing starter uni to no surprise. Stevens picked the wrong time to be sick and might lose that starting job permanently.

It's like fate is going Final Destination on anyone that may obstruct Wade's insertion into the starting lineup. Even took out the backup PF for good measure.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

If we don't make the playoffs we do.

NBA Future Drafts By Team - RealGM

NBA Future Drafts By Team - RealGM

basketball.realgm.com

LMFAOOOOOOO!
Do you really expect this team to miss the playoffs???

 

[jjvors]

Jrue Holiday can only handle one at a time. I'm not 100% confident he can handle Garland and I'm 100% confident he can't handle Mitchell. PnR with Mitchell and Garland and a big should be fruitful.

I'll give us a 45% chance of winning. We're helped more with Allen than they are with Jrue. If we win, it'll be 112-108.

If we lose it'll be 112-108 the other way.

 

[Futuredome]

So a 7 man bench tonight????

 

[stick]

Allen -> Giannis, Brook
Wade -> Brook, Giannis
Mitchell -> Portis, Jrue
Mobley -> Jrue, Portis
Garland -> Grayson

*Switch the Giannis, Jrue PnR
*If Portis makes some shots over Mitchell and gets hot, change the matchup. I like Donovan playing the passing lanes to a spot up shooter and I hope Milwaukee is adamant that's a mismatch and force feeds Bobby.
*Mobley on Jrue disrupts what Milwaukee wants to do. It's difficult for Mobley to help off Portis and Brook on Giannis drives without surrendering open threes, so I would roll the dice on the Mobley PG disruption matchup with the added bonus of Mobley/Allen switching onto Giannis off their PnR/P.
*Sprinkle some zone defense
*Want Wade to chase around Brook and crowd him on threes/play ball denial. He can also switch the Giannis/Brook PnR/P. He's strong enough to not get overwhelmed on post ups should Milwaukee force feed him down low and I'll take that matchup. Also... Box Brook out.

Cedi -> Portis, Ibaka, Grayson
Okoro -> Jrue, Portis, Grayson
Lopez -> Lopez

*If the Bucks start Carter, have Mitchell guard him to start. Mobley guarding Carter may allow Evan to roam on help-d a bit easier so that's another matchup that could be good.(though Carter is shooting 38 percent on 4 attempts, so he's been shooting fairly well)

*With Pat and Wes back, have the guards/wings guard them depending on who else is on the court (Garland, Mitchell, Cedi, Okoro, Wade)

*Would like to see Neto get some time on Grayson and Wes. If Neto can get under Grayson's skin, that's a plus if G.Allen retaliates.

*With Lamar out, would like to see Diakite get some run.

 

[Dr No]

So a 7 man bench tonight????

We are a bit thin for sure. And asking wade to go 30+ is a lot

 

[Rich]

The Cavs have better tools today to guard Giannis than they did the first time.

I'd put Allen on him and simple tell Allen to back up inside the paint and give Giannis as many clean looks at 15 footers as he wants until he starts making them.

The gameplan last time we played them got torched.

They wanted Giannis to take Stevens to the hoop and get Mobley to help weakside. Giannis just turned into a passer once he got into the paint and found Lopez over and over and over again.

So since that didn't work last time, let's not start out with that plan this time.