Game 5| Bobcats @ Cavs Jan. 3rd 7 pm EST

[RappSoda]

I went last night and had the opportunity to watch this team live finally. I have just a few observations, nothing surprising:

- Kyrie looked energetic all night, he clearly had more gas left in the tank when he was taken out and DJ Augustin was trying to keep up with empty points.
- Kyrie was also in position to gather a few more rebounds, but chose to play the point and allowed the bigs to take them.
- At some point, this team cannot depend on out-running teams, but it is helping them now.
- The team seemed to play pretty darn good defense all night, Kyrie included; however, they are vulnerable on defense when they have just finished a big offensive score.
- Tristan Thompson was in pretty good position all night to gather rebounds. I am surprised that he has good mechanics under the hoop to move around without traveling.
- Samardo cannot guard big centers. He also has a tough time getting comfortable in the paint with those tall guys as well.
- BJ Mullens is not as bad as I had anticipated.
- Boris Diaw is fat and worthless.
- Kemba Walker will begin to hit shots as he gets more comfortable, but he doesn't seem like much more than a good shooter with below average defense (Damon Jones, anyone?). Definitely not afraid to take the shot, it just looks forced at times.
- I really hope we find a way to justify keeping Varejao. He is just good and looks like a good teammate to have both at the Q and in Independence.
- Alonzo Gee looks like a keeper. He is a good teammate although he needs to work on his passing a bit. I still like his attitude at the bench, something you don't get to see much on TV.
- Kyrie has some extremely good ball handling skills and simply put, he has a very bright future (if he stays healthy ). I felt like I was at an And 1 game when he broke Maggette.
- Speaking of Corey Maggette, I am as happy as anybody could be that we didn't trade for him in the #6 days. He yelled at teammates and got ignored and he literally takes every shot.
- The bench celebrating stayed in Cleveland. This is moving on, I hope we can all stay the path.

Other than that, I am not sure what lies ahead for the Cavaliers, but I know for certain that I will be going to more games. We need more fans.

[Green Lantern]

I haven't watched the game yet(probably will when there is nothing on I like) but it seems like this team is being constructed the right way.
We all know they need more talent but at least it doesn't look like it's a lost cause.

[DaNewCavs]

Why are we even discussing Playoffs...A team that is 3-2 after playing: Raptors, Pistons, Pacers, NY and Bobcats isnt going to make the play-offs. We have been playing the worst teams in the NBA so far (excpect Pacers) and its only going to get more difficult in the next weeks. We have a 7 game road trip coming up now and who says it isnt already 4-9 or 5-8 after that?

Anyways I have to admit, I was feeling awesome this morning because of our performance yesterday.

The teams we are playing and beating are in the East. If 4 of the 5 teams we are playing in the East are terrible and we are better than them, then it makes sense that we may make the playoffs. I have a feeling that 28-30 wins may be all you need to make the playoffs in the East.

[AvonCavsFan]

I was at the game last night. And there had to be less than 10,000 people in there, there were entire sections empty. I thought attendance would be down this year, but after getting two top 4 picks, I thought the excitement would lead to some walk up traffic. Much worse than anticipated.

As for the game:
Kryie is already good and the sky is the ceiling for him.
Tristan is a pleasure to watch compared to what we saw from JJ last year. His footwork with the ball is 100000x better. For someone so young and in his first few games the most impressive thing is he does not seem rattled, he takes his time with the ball, he is not rushing it. He uses his footwork to get him a better look quite often, WITHOUT Traveling! He has incredible timing for blocking shots--I can see him leading the league or at least top 5 when his minutes go up.
Gee keeps impressing me with his all around play--he made a few nice defensive plays to give us a spark in that first quarter--he keeps making shots--by the way his shooting improved END OF LAST YEAR, this is not just a this year thing.
I do not get why Byron wants to play Casspi? He is just not that good a player, maybe that will change--but me personally I would rather see Eyenga grab some of those minutes and see what he can do. Can he do worse?

As far as the team making the playoffs--way too soon to tell for sure. I do think they have a shot (whether this is good or bad can be debated elsewhere, I am talking about just what I see currently) because we are a deep team that will be able to win some games when the other team is tired. And I know our schedule has been easy, but these ARE NBA teams we are playing, and anytime you can beat THREE NBA teams by 14+ points in a 5 game stretch, I don't care who they are, that is saying something. I mean Detroit has beaten Indy and Orlando. Toronto has beaten the Knicks, played the Magic and Pacers tough. The Bobcats were a last second shot from beating the Heat just last week. Indy is 4-1, and we were a layup away in their building. I thought we would be better than a lot of the people in here thought, but they are playing even better than I think anyone thought they would.

[DJTJ]

Did anyone else notice how much more Boobie has a spring in his step? He looks like he is enjoying playing basketball again. Always the first off the bench on a big play, playing better on the court.

[CavsFaninNJ]

A team that is 3-2 after playing: Raptors, Pistons, Pacers, NJ and Bobcats isnt going to make the play-offs.

I see the logic here but...then again I don't.

Against the 4 non-playoff teams here the cavs are 3-1, with the loss being opening night. Against the playoff team they were a layup away and lost in OT.

It's a small sample size so 3-2 is really very close to 4-1, and they have been competitive every night except opening.

Do I think they are a playoff team? No. I think this road trip might get kind of brutal. But saying that 3-2 against those 5 teams means you can't make the playoffs is very misleading.

[Sawduzt]

the problem with lockout seasons is the unpredictablility of the standings, i expect there will be lots of 'upsets' as the season progresses.

[Cavatt]

the problem with lockout seasons is the unpredictablility of the standings, i expect there will be lots of 'upsets' as the season progresses.

I think this is really true. One of the big reasons for the wins is how good our guys look late in game. These guys that are scoring a lot like Augustine are running out of juice by the end of the game the way the cavs run, and the cavs are still nailing shots at the end. Our 10 man rotation and low minutes for starters has been really effective.

Most of the other teams are out of shape. Their shots clank at the end, and our guys keep attacking.

[CleveRocks]

Defense and energy can win a few games. I also think the team gets better over the year, not just because of the rookies, but because Erden comes back and that means Samardo gets back to position and gets better. It is also possible we see better from Hollins later in the year. We were surprised by his competitiveness against miami last year. Lets see if Scott can get into his head (and Christian's for that matter)..

[Gimme Some Mo]

I went last night and had the opportunity to watch this team live finally. I have just a few observations, nothing surprising:

- Kyrie looked energetic all night, he clearly had more gas left in the tank when he was taken out and DJ Augustin was trying to keep up with empty points.
- Kyrie was also in position to gather a few more rebounds, but chose to play the point and allowed the bigs to take them.
- At some point, this team cannot depend on out-running teams, but it is helping them now.
- The team seemed to play pretty darn good defense all night, Kyrie included; however, they are vulnerable on defense when they have just finished a big offensive score.
- Tristan Thompson was in pretty good position all night to gather rebounds. I am surprised that he has good mechanics under the hoop to move around without traveling.
- Samardo cannot guard big centers. He also has a tough time getting comfortable in the paint with those tall guys as well.
- BJ Mullens is not as bad as I had anticipated.
- Boris Diaw is fat and worthless.
- Kemba Walker will begin to hit shots as he gets more comfortable, but he doesn't seem like much more than a good shooter with below average defense (Damon Jones, anyone?). Definitely not afraid to take the shot, it just looks forced at times.
- I really hope we find a way to justify keeping Varejao. He is just good and looks like a good teammate to have both at the Q and in Independence.
- Alonzo Gee looks like a keeper. He is a good teammate although he needs to work on his passing a bit. I still like his attitude at the bench, something you don't get to see much on TV.
- Kyrie has some extremely good ball handling skills and simply put, he has a very bright future (if he stays healthy ). I felt like I was at an And 1 game when he broke Maggette.
- Speaking of Corey Maggette, I am as happy as anybody could be that we didn't trade for him in the #6 days. He yelled at teammates and got ignored and he literally takes every shot.
- The bench celebrating stayed in Cleveland. This is moving on, I hope we can all stay the path.

Other than that, I am not sure what lies ahead for the Cavaliers, but I know for certain that I will be going to more games. We need more fans.

Only thing I really disagree with here is the comparing Kemba Walker to Damon Jones. That is just an insult. Kemba busted his ass on defense in NCAA. I don't think Damon even knew what defense was.

[Huber.]

Pretty sure him viewing the site, not actually spreading the feeds, will not land him 5 years in jail.

The government is cracking down on online streaming. Not just the people that are spreading the feeds. Just a friendly warning.