Let it all out. The Cavaliers Rant Thread

[Damien O'Connel]

I mean this team doesn't look like a championship team right now, no doubt, but i'll give just a little comforting fact. The Cavs have played the 8th toughest schedule so far, and it's the toughest out of all of the playoff bound teams, save for New Orleans, who probably won't be playoff bound for long.

Western conference teams can't play themselves...

 

[Rich]

Western conference teams can't play themselves...

I don't really understand? By the end of the season the top half of the .SOS rankings will be made up mostly by teams in the West. So while a team like San Antonio can't play themselves, they do get to play Dallas, Houston, and Memphis 4 times a piece. Meanwhile, by season's end we'll have played Indiana, Detroit, and Milwaukee 4 times a piece. Point being our schedule has been front loaded.

 

[scopedog]

I mean this team doesn't look like a championship team right now, no doubt, but i'll give just a little comforting fact. The Cavs have played the 8th toughest schedule so far, and it's the toughest out of all of the playoff bound teams, save for New Orleans, who probably won't be playoff bound for long.

That is something to keep in mind. The records don't really mean much of anything at the moment (especially for us) aside from maybe suggesting that the Golden State Warriors are pretty awesome. Doubt they will be the ones to make it to the finals though. I'm thinking the Western conference is gonna be between the Spurs, Grizzlies and Mavericks and anything other than that is an upset.

As for our playoff matches, I think our worst matchup would actually be the Hawks if we can't make some trades to fix both the perimeter and rim defense. They can exploit our weakness better than anyone in the East. I've been a little down ever since that game because we were exposed so badly, but I'm just gonna calm down now. We all knew this might take longer than a year so no need to get stressed over some early season games this year. Our true test won't come until the playoffs anyway because that's when LeBron really turns up the volume.

 

[David.]

if you dont think Toronto and Atlanta are scary teams to beat us in the East, idk what you've been watching.

 

[scopedog]

Well I never said they weren't, but I'd feel pretty confident against the Wizards at least. Just saying I think the Hawks are our worst match up even though they would probably lose against Toronto, Chicago and maybe the Wizards as well. They just have such great spacing and 3 point shooting, in addition to being able to exploit our interior D weakness, although every team can do that.

Toronto seems to me like the second dangerous at this point and Chicago is a wildcard with all the injury concerns.

 

[Dshuks]

Grant's drafting imo was a mixed bag.

2011- Kyrie was a good pick obviously, and Thompson wasn't a bad pick although in hindsight a center like Valanciunas or Vucevic, or a guard like Klay Thompson probably would have been better. Vucevic would have been a huge reach though at 4 .

2012- Dion obviously hasn't worked out super well, but Zeller was a good pick for where he was taken in the draft.

2013- Bennett was a disaster, but Sergey again was a good pick for where he was taken and when he has been given playing time this year with Brooklyn he's done decently. I honestly think theres a decent chance that Karasev has a more productive career than Bennett.

So by my analysis Grant made one very good first round pick, three solid ones, and two bad picks.

 

[kookoo]

That is something to keep in mind. The records don't really mean much of anything at the moment (especially for us) aside from maybe suggesting that the Golden State Warriors are pretty awesome. Doubt they will be the ones to make it to the finals though. I'm thinking the Western conference is gonna be between the Spurs, Grizzlies and Mavericks and anything other than that is an upset.

As for our playoff matches, I think our worst matchup would actually be the Hawks if we can't make some trades to fix both the perimeter and rim defense. They can exploit our weakness better than anyone in the East. I've been a little down ever since that game because we were exposed so badly, but I'm just gonna calm down now. We all knew this might take longer than a year so no need to get stressed over some early season games this year. Our true test won't come until the playoffs anyway because that's when LeBron really turns up the volume.

Any of 1 through 8 could go to the finals and it wouldn't surprise me. Houston with Howard, Golden State with Lee and Bogut healthy, the Clippers, OKC with a healthy Westbrook and Durant, and Portland...

 

[scopedog]

Oh right, I forgot about OKC, they are in the top 4 as well. I'd still be very surprised if GSW, Clippers, Rockets or Portland make it though its certainly possible.

 

[Ryan Gladish]

Ok dion has to go. Hes to slow and cant play D without fouling. He also seems to have rocks for brains. Since brewer is gone i guess our only option is kufos.

 

[Kizzle]

Ok dion has to go. Hes to slow and cant play D without fouling. He also seems to have rocks for brains. Since brewer is gone i guess our only option is kufos.

Dion is what happens when your not needed to play D for you whole career. In colegeand in the NBA so far hes been a gun for hire. Dude simply has no idea how to play D

 

[Triumph36]

Grant's drafting imo was a mixed bag.

2011- Kyrie was a good pick obviously, and Thompson wasn't a bad pick although in hindsight a center like Valanciunas or Vucevic, or a guard like Klay Thompson probably would have been better. Vucevic would have been a huge reach though at 4 .

2012- Dion obviously hasn't worked out super well, but Zeller was a good pick for where he was taken in the draft.

2013- Bennett was a disaster, but Sergey again was a good pick for where he was taken and when he has been given playing time this year with Brooklyn he's done decently. I honestly think theres a decent chance that Karasev has a more productive career than Bennett.

So by my analysis Grant made one very good first round pick, three solid ones, and two bad picks.

but you're ignoring the most important aspect - where the picks were made. his bad picks were all very, very high which is inexcusable. i'd also throw thompson into the "bad pick" category because we don't need to use hindsight to slot guys ahead of him in the draft; many, many people both on the forum and in the nba world thought they should've picked at least jv over thompson. not including passing on vucevic as a knock against grant is fine, because we do need hindsight for that and nobody had him that high; the same cannot be said for jonas though.

i think grant's drafting was really bad because hitting on the top picks is infinitely more important than the later picks and he flat out failed in that regard. were it not for lebron returning (& love, etc), this team would've been in a hell of a lot of trouble going forward, most of which was caused by grant's decision making.

of course grant is currently unemployed, the cavs are on the verge of contention, and they won't have any top 5 picks anytime soon sooo...water under the bridge i guess

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

I have to admit that Grant's drafting was poor... but it's not necessarily all on him.

If you go the consensus route and take Jonas at 4 back in 2011, you have Kyrie/Jonas (PG/C) to build your team from--a damn good starting point.

The next year, you probably still take Dion though. Nobody was taking Drummond after how awful he looked in college (And doubly so since we took our center the year before). Your only other options besides Dion were Thomas Robinson and Harrison Barnes. Sadly, Dion was the correct choice out of those three.

That still leaves you with 1/2/5 filled, and Anthony Bennett staring you in the face come 2013... can you take Oladipo with 1/2 already filled? You don't draft Noel or Len with Jonas already on board. Otto Porter, Anthony Bennett, and Cody Zeller are your options... and they're all pretty bad picks.

Obviously, coming away with what we did, Grant had to go... but I'm not sure the problem was Chris Grant as much as where our draft picks ended up.

 

[catfish]

This was not on Grant but the Wiggins pick is looking worse by the day.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

This was not on Grant but the Wiggins pick is looking worse by the day.

Correct. It wasn't Grant.

Wiggins also isn't on our team anymore.

Furthermore, with LBJ coming to town, I'm not sure you take Jabari, who wouldn't have a spot on the floor (and is now hurt anyways).

You also probably don't waste a year on an injured center.

Honestly, Wiggins would be a fantastic 2 to stick between Kyrie and LeBron. He's athletic, a plus-defender, and can hit the three. Who cares if he can't handle the basketball and will never become a star? You weren't drafting the best player to start your team with. You were drafting a player to go alongside Kyrie and LeBron... or just to move to Minnesota.

 

[Kouki]

you can't call wiggins a bust a few months into his nba career

we all knew what his limitations were coming into the league, we all knew he was raw. anyone expecting him to come out and dominate was crazy, it was obvious that he had problems dribbling and creating in college, and relied on his athleticism to look impressive.