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2022-2023 Regular Season II: Cardiac Cavs

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I actually think we can give Philly a good fight with fair reffing. Unfortunately, with Harden and Embiid involved, that is not possible
 
foucault87 said:
I actually think we can give Philly a good fight with fair reffing. Unfortunately, with Harden and Embiid involved, that is not possible
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I'm counting on better refereeing in the playoffs. I think they'll call better because the best referees will be involved.
 
Great night for the Cavs.

Both Knicks and 76ers lose. Hopefully Philly and other teams accumulate some attrition during this last stretch. The Cavs will be pretty rested going into the post-season. Each remaining game is essentially spaced 2-3 days apart.
 
Is it too late to sign Tristan Thompson and Get rid of Lopez?
 
Jscc said:
Khris Middleton needs to get his $#!+ together. He looks cooked.
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Yeah, whenever I see him slip and fall with the frequency he does... the end looks near.
 
Julius Randle pours in 57 points but the Knicks lose at home last night to 36-36 Minnesota by a 140-134 score. The Timberwolves were missing their two best players; Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. Former Cav Taurean Prince had 35 points in 32 minutes, going 8-for-8 on 3's. WTF happened to the Knicks' defense?

The Knicks are an odd team. Their record is 22-14 away and 20-17 at home. They have a 2.0 game lead over Brooklyn so it looks very likely that the Cavs will play the Knicks in the first round. The Cavs will have the home court advantage but the Knicks have been better on the road.

The key matchup will be Mobley on Randle, who is averaging nearly 29 points in 10 games in March.
 
The Athletic is out with their weekly power rankings. This week they're highlighting team and individual clutch performance, ranking each team by performance in late and close games and picking one player who has excelled and underperformed in those situations. The Cavs remain 6th overall and 4th in the East behind Milwaukee, Philly, and Boston who rank 1, 2, and 3. It looks like whoever wins the East should win the whole thing.

6. Cleveland Cavaliers (previously sixth) | 45-28 | +5.8 net rating

Weekly slate: Win at Hornets, Loss to Sixers, Win over Wizards

Team clutch: (20-20) | -0.2 net rating (ranked 15th)

This is a bit disappointing from the Cavs this season. They should be better than a coin flip when it comes to the clutch, and that’s exactly what they’ve been. Their net rating is almost a 0.0 and their record is an even 20-20. They’re a good clutch defense and a bad clutch offense. That shouldn’t happen with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland as your backcourt. You should operate at a higher level.

Mr. Reliable: Evan Mobley | 64.5 FG | 40.0 3FG | 47.1 FT | 13.5 points per 36 | 7.8 rebounds per 36 | 1.1 assists per 36 | 0.8 turnovers per 36

It’s hard to say their big man safety valve is the reliable one, but it’s kind of shaken out that way. Mobley is really good at scoring when the defense converges. He doesn’t panic. He doesn’t rush stuff. Now, he might start doing that if his free throw shooting in the clutch remains in the DeAndre Jordan zone, but Mobley has been very reliable as a dump-off/secondary option.

Mr. Unreliable: Donovan Mitchell | 39.8 FG | 29.7 3FG | 87.5 FT | 29.6 points per 36 | 5.8 rebounds per 36 | 3.3 assists per 36 | 2.3 turnovers per 36

We’ve seen this Mitchell in the clutch before and it’s not going to be good enough. The Cavs need him to be the guy who forces the action toward the hoop, rather than settling for contested long-range jumpers. He scores a lot because he takes a ton of shots. But this feels a lot like the bad Mitchell we saw in the clutch toward the end of the Utah era. We know he can be better than this.

My comment:

I agree the Cavs have been bad offensively in the clutch (the numbers don't lie) and Mitchell and Garland bear a lot of the responsibility. Too often they try to win the game by themselves. Mitchell does tend to force up long, contested jumpers and Garland dribbles into heavy traffic and loses the ball. They get away from running the normal offense and play hero ball. JBB needs to have a talk with these guys and point out that what they've been doing isn't working.
 
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Wham with the Right Hand said:
The Athletic is out with their weekly power rankings. This week they're highlighting team and individual clutch performance, ranking each team by performance in late and close games and picking one player who has excelled and underperformed in those situations. The Cavs remain 6th overall and 4th in the East behind Milwaukee, Philly, and Boston who rank 1, 2, and 3. It looks like whoever wins the East should win the whole thing.

6. Cleveland Cavaliers (previously sixth) | 45-28 | +5.8 net rating

Weekly slate: Win at Hornets, Loss to Sixers, Win over Wizards

Team clutch: (20-20) | -0.2 net rating (ranked 15th)

This is a bit disappointing from the Cavs this season. They should be better than a coin flip when it comes to the clutch, and that’s exactly what they’ve been. Their net rating is almost a 0.0 and their record is an even 20-20. They’re a good clutch defense and a bad clutch offense. That shouldn’t happen with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland as your backcourt. You should operate at a higher level.

Mr. Reliable: Evan Mobley | 64.5 FG | 40.0 3FG | 47.1 FT | 13.5 points per 36 | 7.8 rebounds per 36 | 1.1 assists per 36 | 0.8 turnovers per 36

It’s hard to say their big man safety valve is the reliable one, but it’s kind of shaken out that way. Mobley is really good at scoring when the defense converges. He doesn’t panic. He doesn’t rush stuff. Now, he might start doing that if his free throw shooting in the clutch remains in the DeAndre Jordan zone, but Mobley has been very reliable as a dump-off/secondary option.

Mr. Unreliable: Donovan Mitchell | 39.8 FG | 29.7 3FG | 87.5 FT | 29.6 points per 36 | 5.8 rebounds per 36 | 3.3 assists per 36 | 2.3 turnovers per 36

We’ve seen this Mitchell in the clutch before and it’s not going to be good enough. The Cavs need him to be the guy who forces the action toward the hoop, rather than settling for contested long-range jumpers. He scores a lot because he takes a ton of shots. But this feels a lot like the bad Mitchell we saw in the clutch toward the end of the Utah era. We know he can be better than this.

My comment:

I agree the Cavs have been bad offensively in the clutch (the numbers don't lie) and Mitchell and Garland bear a lot of the responsibility. Too often they try to win the game by themselves. Mitchell does tend to force up long, contested jumpers and Garland dribbles into heavy traffic and loses the ball. They get away from running the normal offense and play hero ball. JBB needs to have a talk with these guys and point out that what they've been doing isn't working.
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Yeah totally agree. If they would just run some sets they would be fine. Just getting the big men more involved in the Clutch would be a big deal.

I have the feeling they will learn this lesson the hard way
 
Part of it is Mobley not being developed enough to feel the confidence to demand the ball. He isn't even 22 yet. Once he feels it, you better heed his warning or face wrath in the locker room.
 
The Human Q-Tip said:
No, I don't think they are.

There are some personalities that most acknowledge cannot be "handled". Not reliably, anyway. Those are the people from which coaches/teams stay away because they've been burned. Could be playing time issues, refusal to fit their assigned role on-court, or a propensity to lead other guys astray off-court.



No backup we're going to be able to get can do that. That's why we have Allen, and without him, we're inevitably going to struggle against Embiid. We struggle even with Allen.

The problem with those kind of guys that the league as a whole seems to be "inexplicably" shunning is that they're always carrying some kind of baggage that isn't readily apparent to fans. So when there are message board discussions, we're likely lacking some of the critical information that is available to the teams.
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Actuslly that IS the job (handling personalities) of a HC. Both Phil Jackson and Pat Riley said that was THE most challenging part of their job….but necessary
 
Ohioplayer00 said:
Actuslly that IS the job (handling personalities) of a HC. Both Phil Jackson and Pat Riley said that was THE most challenging part of their job….but necessary
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Their job is to handle personalities. Their job isn't to handle EVERY personality because some can't be "handled".

The point being that it isn't fair or accurate to blame a coach for "failing" when the player himself makes it impossible. Ben Simmons, for example. Making it someone else's fault that Simmons failed lets Simmons himself off the hooks.
 
Cavatt said:
I'd drop Lopez and sign Diakite and I am not kidding
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I agree. Should be what they do in offseason and look into either continue building Brobley or get a real 4/5 (a Covington like player)
Lopez was good for vibes, occasionally entertaining on court but he can't run with these dudes like that
 
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