Our pick and roll D is dreadful. The other teams always gets an easy drive to the basket and/or open 3 look. Doesn't seem matter whom are involved. Whatever gameplan we are using needs to be scrapped and burned. Unless we come up with a better strategy, it won't matter who plays or we trade for. A 1st team D couldn't do anything if he is constantly getting picked and the the helping rotation does shit. The return of Delly, trade for Brewer...Hibbert...Matthews...won't matter.
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Let it all out. The Cavaliers Rant Thread
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Rainman
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Not sure we should waste the rest of Lebron's career hoping Wiggins will be something.
Chris
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Could not agree more. The stars are fine- the role players are mostly wrong.
The team isn't winning a title this year. Just isn't. Need to look to the future of replacing some of these players with more defensively minded guys. If it means waiting until the summer, so be it. Only thing that sucks is LeBron isn't getting any younger. Who knows what he'll look like next year.
Just so disappointing. It's way more interesting than the last few years at least.
I'm not even a Wiggins fan, I think Jabari is the better player anyway, i'm just so bummed with the D and the role players.
mhi
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Why guard bother guarding Marion ? You'll see this all year gents.
Marion is in the game ? Hell yea, we can crash the paint and make penetration useless
Lebron dribble drives. Met with four bodies, AV and Marion's men could care less about guarding them, Irving here should be cutting towards the key/left wing but he's just watching.
Same deal but better positioning this time.
Yahh, spacing, four players beyong the 3pt line
Antic got the Marion treatment. The difference ? He can actually shoot.
Again! Wow!! it's like our ball pressure defense plays exactly into their offense....
And so now you can see why Lebron wouldn't necessary enjoy playing in an offense that limits his best action on that end. It's one thing for an opposing defense to do that, it's another for the restraining to be coming from his own team.
CavsFan005
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I keep hearing this, but what about the big 3 itself? Wade and Bosh played BOTH sides of the ball. We are built exactly like the Miami Heat, but 2 of our max players are liabilities on the defensive end. Throw in AVs 10 million dollars and your kind of handcuffed minus maybe a Brewer.
I think its going to be difficult moving forward to built the right pieces around the big 3, Miami struggled to do but they picked up the slack for the rest of the role players. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say we will have to move TT in a package of players (easily our best role player) to get some value back
Andrew
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I never get too worrisome about the long regular season but at the same time that is where patterns emerge and you start to see the product on the floor. I must admit, the pure lack of hustle is daunting and at this point, its more mental than physical.
Every team has to find their identity, this team hasn't yet. It's not time to hit the panic button but like AC said tonight, this team isn't going to be a defensive onslaught-type squad or a score more than you squad, it has to be a happy combo of the two.
As most of you know, I followed LBJ in Miami and while I do not like to compare the dynamics of both squads I find myself looking at what the 2010-2014 Heat did when they couldn't find the basket, they simply turned up the defense until they got their offensive legs back. This squad doesn't have the defenders that squad had, but they do have more than solid guys who can play defense and hustle.
In this young season, I see more ball watching than anything else. I know it keeps being said but at some point, these guys will find a pattern and it will emerge when they go on a nice little win streak. Could this team use some upgrades in positions? Yes, all teams could but like James said tonight, he doesn't get embarrassed losing now just in the finals. Lose now, get it out of the system, work out the kinks. At some point, they will hit their stride and we will see glimpses of what this squad can do come May/June.
I don't like to make suggestions, but maybe Blatt needs to dial down the minutes of say Harris and give JJ more of a shot. Teams know all he wants to do is hit the 3 so just him on the court is a threat. He rarely takes it beyond the 3 line but I have seen him slash to the bucket to keep a defense honest.
Every team has to find their identity, this team hasn't yet. It's not time to hit the panic button but like AC said tonight, this team isn't going to be a defensive onslaught-type squad or a score more than you squad, it has to be a happy combo of the two.
As most of you know, I followed LBJ in Miami and while I do not like to compare the dynamics of both squads I find myself looking at what the 2010-2014 Heat did when they couldn't find the basket, they simply turned up the defense until they got their offensive legs back. This squad doesn't have the defenders that squad had, but they do have more than solid guys who can play defense and hustle.
In this young season, I see more ball watching than anything else. I know it keeps being said but at some point, these guys will find a pattern and it will emerge when they go on a nice little win streak. Could this team use some upgrades in positions? Yes, all teams could but like James said tonight, he doesn't get embarrassed losing now just in the finals. Lose now, get it out of the system, work out the kinks. At some point, they will hit their stride and we will see glimpses of what this squad can do come May/June.
I don't like to make suggestions, but maybe Blatt needs to dial down the minutes of say Harris and give JJ more of a shot. Teams know all he wants to do is hit the 3 so just him on the court is a threat. He rarely takes it beyond the 3 line but I have seen him slash to the bucket to keep a defense honest.
priceFTW
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Why guard bother guarding Marion ? You'll see this all year gents.
Marion is in the game ? Hell yea, we can crash the paint and make penetration useless
Lebron dribble drives. Met with four bodies, AV and Marion's men could care less about guarding them, Irving here should be cutting towards the key/left wing but he's just watching.
Same deal but better positioning this time.
Yahh, spacing, four players beyong the 3pt line
Antic got the Marion treatment. The difference ? He can actually shoot.
Again! Wow!! it's like our ball pressure defense plays exactly into their offense....
And so now you can see why Lebron wouldn't necessary enjoy playing in an offense that limits his best action on that end. It's one thing for an opposing defense to do that, it's another for the restraining to be coming from his own team.
Good stuff here--shows why James has wound up taking some really bad shots as the spacing hasn't been to give him room to operate the way he wants. In the third and fourth pics, he's surrounded by 5 defenders in a very small area.
What's amazing is how well we have scored in the first quarter DESPITE Marion's shooting limitations and have the fourth best offense overall. Frankly, solving this issue and perhaps the subsequent heights our offense could reach gives me some hope despite the terrible defense we have shown thus far (as long as the defense improves back to where it was 1.5 weeks ago at 14th in the league).
Andrew
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run of the mill maybe sam from nyc?
clevelandrox23
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Let me know when the playoffs start. I don't think LeBron cares much about winning in the regular season or trying to set franchise records which is unfortunate. Him along with his other teammates will continue to take random games off defensively and we won't see any great win streaks like we did 08-09. We'll likely finish with 55 wins similar to what the Heat did last year and have to hope for a lot of things to go right during the playoffs in order for us to win the finals.
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kookoo
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HAHAHAHAHA. We need a guy who can cover the floor. I like Dalembert from Philly. He has not deserved a starting spot in a while. Literally the perfect player would be DeAndre Jordan. But that's impossible. McGee is too stupid. I wish the Wizard gave him a brain, because he is the exact specification physically that we need on this team. I'd be much happier with the team if we could get either Mason Plumlee or Koufus. If we get desperate enough, we may have to settle for a guy like Alexis Ajinca. I wish we could have nabbed Dieng in the Love deal.
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Thought Lloyd's final thoughts from last nights game were worth the share this time around:
Hawks 127, Cavs 98; Jason Lloyd's 16 final thoughts on 'embarrassing' home loss
By JASON LLOYD Published: December 18, 2014
Tristan Thompson passes away from Hawks defenders in the fourth quarter Wednesday in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
View Larger Version >>
CLEVELAND: Sixteen thoughts for 16 Hawks 3-pointers during a 127-98 beatdown Wednesday…
1. Here are the most egregious numbers: The Hawks shot 65 percent, scored 91 points over the final three quarters, made 16 3-pointers and allowed a backup point guard with the touch of an airport baggage handler to shoot 6-for-6 on 3-pointers.
2. That about covers it. No wonder everyone was so grumpy.
3. David Blatt politely warned reporters before opening his postgame presser that he was a man of few words tonight. “That was embarrassing,” Blatt said. “I apologize to all the good fans that came out here as they always do. Just a poor, poor performance.” He didn’t have much to add beyond that.
4. LeBron James, in an out-of-character moment, snapped at a reporter for always asking negative questions after asking LeBron if he was embarrassed by the loss. The reporter was merely following up on Blatt’s opening statement, but LeBron didn’t know that at the time.
5. Then when Kyrie Irving returned to the court for a 45-minute shooting session, reporters were told to clear the aisle behind the court to give Irving some space. Of course, this was an empty 20,000-seat arena. Irving had plenty of space. But most everyone was cranky tonight and with good reason.
6. This was the Cavs’ first home loss since Nov. 22. It was just their third loss in their last 12 games. Now is hardly the time to panic, but there are signs of concern.
7. This clunker came on the heels of Friday’s meltdown at New Orleans, when the Cavs allowed the Pelicans to shoot 56 percent on a night they didn’t even have Anthony Davis. That lasted as the highest shooting percentage for a Cavs opponent for less than a week because the Hawks just smashed it. And again, Atlanta was without its leading scorer in Jeff Teague.
8. Shelvin Mack is a career 32-percent shooter from 3-point range. In 189 games spanning nearly 3,000 minutes, he entered the night having made more than three triples in a game only twice in his career.
9. Yet he made six of them Wednesday against the Cavs – equaling his total from the previous 14 games combined. He never even got off the bench in either of the Hawks’ last two games. But the Cavs turned him into Dana Barros just as the Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson couldn’t miss in two games against the Cavs after struggling against everyone else.
10. Irving is frustrated that his shot isn’t falling, but he admitted to losing track of Mack a couple of times on Wednesday. (It was more than a couple). Irving’s defense is improved over past seasons, but now comes the next important step when he has to learn how to do it every single night. That goes for all the players, not just Irving.
11. As for his extra shooting session, Irving said he has done it before, but I don’t recall it. He wasn’t part of the quartet that stayed after in Portland following a game last season. The Cavs have an old practice court they rarely use anymore upstairs at the Q. Players have snuck up there after games to get up shots. I can appreciate Irving trying to zero in on his range, but his missed shots aren’t losing games for the Cavs. Their defense is.
12. “Getting good looks, just got to knock them down for the team,” Irving said after his session. “It’s frustrating for myself when I’m getting the looks I want to get and they’re rattling in and out or I’m being lazy with my jump shot. I just have to figure it out. Tonight getting extra shots up, it’s just something I felt I needed to do.”
13. Irving also grew testy when someone asked if he or the coaches noticed any change in his shooting form. “Let’s not go deep into my jump shot,” he said. “I’m the basketball player and you guys just watch. It’s very meticulous when it comes to jump shooting. The coaches can’t really do anything, it’s got to come from me knocking down open looks.”
14. The Hawks were geared up for this game. They’re now 13-3 since the Cavs hammered them by 33 last month, but they’ve beaten up on a lot of weaker teams. That all changes with this current five-game stretch. They’ve already beaten the Bulls and Cavs and now play the Mavericks and Rockets on the road. But this was the game the Hawks were circling, according to one person with knowledge of the team’s thinking.
15. They wanted to see how their team would respond on the road, in an environment where they previously struggled badly and now without their leading scorer. They got their answer in a big, big way.
16. There were plenty of other things I wanted to get into, but it all seems moot now so I’ll hold it for another day. Bad loss, tough night. The Nets are here on Friday. Talk to you then.
Hawks 127, Cavs 98; Jason Lloyd's 16 final thoughts on 'embarrassing' home loss
By JASON LLOYD Published: December 18, 2014
Tristan Thompson passes away from Hawks defenders in the fourth quarter Wednesday in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
View Larger Version >>
CLEVELAND: Sixteen thoughts for 16 Hawks 3-pointers during a 127-98 beatdown Wednesday…
1. Here are the most egregious numbers: The Hawks shot 65 percent, scored 91 points over the final three quarters, made 16 3-pointers and allowed a backup point guard with the touch of an airport baggage handler to shoot 6-for-6 on 3-pointers.
2. That about covers it. No wonder everyone was so grumpy.
3. David Blatt politely warned reporters before opening his postgame presser that he was a man of few words tonight. “That was embarrassing,” Blatt said. “I apologize to all the good fans that came out here as they always do. Just a poor, poor performance.” He didn’t have much to add beyond that.
4. LeBron James, in an out-of-character moment, snapped at a reporter for always asking negative questions after asking LeBron if he was embarrassed by the loss. The reporter was merely following up on Blatt’s opening statement, but LeBron didn’t know that at the time.
5. Then when Kyrie Irving returned to the court for a 45-minute shooting session, reporters were told to clear the aisle behind the court to give Irving some space. Of course, this was an empty 20,000-seat arena. Irving had plenty of space. But most everyone was cranky tonight and with good reason.
6. This was the Cavs’ first home loss since Nov. 22. It was just their third loss in their last 12 games. Now is hardly the time to panic, but there are signs of concern.
7. This clunker came on the heels of Friday’s meltdown at New Orleans, when the Cavs allowed the Pelicans to shoot 56 percent on a night they didn’t even have Anthony Davis. That lasted as the highest shooting percentage for a Cavs opponent for less than a week because the Hawks just smashed it. And again, Atlanta was without its leading scorer in Jeff Teague.
8. Shelvin Mack is a career 32-percent shooter from 3-point range. In 189 games spanning nearly 3,000 minutes, he entered the night having made more than three triples in a game only twice in his career.
9. Yet he made six of them Wednesday against the Cavs – equaling his total from the previous 14 games combined. He never even got off the bench in either of the Hawks’ last two games. But the Cavs turned him into Dana Barros just as the Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson couldn’t miss in two games against the Cavs after struggling against everyone else.
10. Irving is frustrated that his shot isn’t falling, but he admitted to losing track of Mack a couple of times on Wednesday. (It was more than a couple). Irving’s defense is improved over past seasons, but now comes the next important step when he has to learn how to do it every single night. That goes for all the players, not just Irving.
11. As for his extra shooting session, Irving said he has done it before, but I don’t recall it. He wasn’t part of the quartet that stayed after in Portland following a game last season. The Cavs have an old practice court they rarely use anymore upstairs at the Q. Players have snuck up there after games to get up shots. I can appreciate Irving trying to zero in on his range, but his missed shots aren’t losing games for the Cavs. Their defense is.
12. “Getting good looks, just got to knock them down for the team,” Irving said after his session. “It’s frustrating for myself when I’m getting the looks I want to get and they’re rattling in and out or I’m being lazy with my jump shot. I just have to figure it out. Tonight getting extra shots up, it’s just something I felt I needed to do.”
13. Irving also grew testy when someone asked if he or the coaches noticed any change in his shooting form. “Let’s not go deep into my jump shot,” he said. “I’m the basketball player and you guys just watch. It’s very meticulous when it comes to jump shooting. The coaches can’t really do anything, it’s got to come from me knocking down open looks.”
14. The Hawks were geared up for this game. They’re now 13-3 since the Cavs hammered them by 33 last month, but they’ve beaten up on a lot of weaker teams. That all changes with this current five-game stretch. They’ve already beaten the Bulls and Cavs and now play the Mavericks and Rockets on the road. But this was the game the Hawks were circling, according to one person with knowledge of the team’s thinking.
15. They wanted to see how their team would respond on the road, in an environment where they previously struggled badly and now without their leading scorer. They got their answer in a big, big way.
16. There were plenty of other things I wanted to get into, but it all seems moot now so I’ll hold it for another day. Bad loss, tough night. The Nets are here on Friday. Talk to you then.
Real Deal
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This team badly needs Ray Allen and to trade for a Center. It would fix 2 big issues.
Marion starting and lack of defending the bucket.
I'd love to see teams leave Allen like they do Marion, the offensive spacing would be entirely much better.
I also beleive the team will be better with TT starting rather Varejao. It's time for Blatt to shake it up. Tired of the wash, rinse, dry, repeat.
Marion starting and lack of defending the bucket.
I'd love to see teams leave Allen like they do Marion, the offensive spacing would be entirely much better.
I also beleive the team will be better with TT starting rather Varejao. It's time for Blatt to shake it up. Tired of the wash, rinse, dry, repeat.
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