2020-2021 Cavs Season General Discussion

[cabs]

The Drummond experiment at least proved us that we play much better with a big body defender down low (preferably someone moderately mobile) and on offense a capable passer really clicks our ball movement. Drummond can pass as bad as his BBIQ is, even Javale is attempting a bunch of passes. If we could get someone that defends, is a capable rim protector and a good passer we'd be golden.

Mobley is the picture perfect fit obviously, but who could be the guys who are already in the league? Steven Adams is a name I keep thinking of. I wanted Turner in the off-season coz of his shooting, but now I think a passer would do much more for us.

Capela is pretty good and plays within himself + hawks may want to open up time for Okongwu but I think he’s on an ugly contract

 

[CleveRocks]

The Drummond experiment at least proved us that we play much better with a big body defender down low (preferably someone moderately mobile) and on offense a capable passer really clicks our ball movement. Drummond can pass as bad as his BBIQ is, even Javale is attempting a bunch of passes. If we could get someone that defends, is a capable rim protector and a good passer we'd be golden.

Mobley is the picture perfect fit obviously, but who could be the guys who are already in the league? Steven Adams is a name I keep thinking of. I wanted Turner in the off-season coz of his shooting, but now I think a passer would do much more for us.

This is why we accumulated 7 footers.. they can hide the warts of the backcourt defense, and create matchup problems. And they are relatively cheap.. right this minute, I think there are playoff bound teams, who could use Drummond or McGee.. but I think we will play him heavy until it's decision. Then we either extend him or trade him for next, depending on where we are

 

[ryanf]

The Drummond experiment at least proved us that we play much better with a big body defender down low (preferably someone moderately mobile) and on offense a capable passer really clicks our ball movement. Drummond can pass as bad as his BBIQ is, even Javale is attempting a bunch of passes. If we could get someone that defends, is a capable rim protector and a good passer we'd be golden.

Mobley is the picture perfect fit obviously, but who could be the guys who are already in the league? Steven Adams is a name I keep thinking of. I wanted Turner in the off-season coz of his shooting, but now I think a passer would do much more for us.

Check out Jarrett Allen's passing during the bubble

 

[ansatsusha80]

The ball movement was superb, I hope it stays like this. Very Miami Heat like. One possession where the ball was flying around included a quick Drummond pass which ended up with an Okoro assist to Garland for 3. Beautiful basketball.

I posted,a few times that Gottlieb, Bickerstaff and Lang were looking at the Heat,Nuggets and I forgot the third team was but those three were looking at their offenses during the offseason.

 

[rabman_gold]

Loved that we won the game, but until further notice, that's all it was: one game. But playing 23 games in 41 days is an unusually fast pace. To put that in perspective with last year, we didn't play that many games until 48 days had passed (10/23/19 to 12/9/19). Despite the Cavs waiting 9 months to play a real game, there was no summer league, or extended training camp, or as many pre-season games.

Can't really add much more than what the rest of you already said. I don't think pre-season was a good indicator for how we'll do. Injuries didn't help. And neither did faulty rotations from the coaching staff. But there's some hope our rebuild will go forward now that we have a reason to play.

As a (usually) passive observer, I'm curious about how each player will perform to expectations. So I'll bullet them (and organize by most played minutes to least):

Spoiler: Observations of Players from 1st Game

Sexton: Good: Scoring machine, Bad: Kinda faulty pg skills

Nance: Good: Really well rounded, Bad: Not really an all-star

Okoro: Good: Well-rounded game, Bad: Currently closer to 3&D level than Jimmy Butler level, need bigger sample size

Garland: Good: Primed to improve on a mediocre rookie year, Bad: It's one game, needs to be consistent

Drummond: Good: Can be unstoppable if he's under the hoop, Bad: Is he more concerned with stats than winning in a contract year?

McGee: Good: Solid, can give good minutes at center, Bad: He's still an idiot on the court

Osman: Good: Will give us good minutes with a more defined role, Bad: Don't see a star here

Wade: Good: There's potential, Bad: Needs more body of work

Dotson: Good: Solid depth chart signing, Bad: How many minutes will he be playing due to injuries?

Windler: Good: If he can play, he can shoot, Bad: He's brittle, hope he's more Korver than Luke Jackson...

Bolden: N/A

All things considered, it was still one game. We need a bigger sample size. By February, how many of these games will we win? How many will we have a 20-point halftime lead? How many will we lose said 20-point halftime lead? And how many will we be dealing with a hot-shooting player, like Rozier? It might tell us who we should keep, who we should trade (or waive), and if we're good enough to fight for a play-in tournament?

Let's see what these guys got!

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Loved that we won the game, but until further notice, that's all it was: one game. But playing 23 games in 41 days is an unusually fast pace. To put that in perspective with last year, we didn't play that many games until 48 days had passed (10/23/19 to 12/9/19).

That's a great observation and I actually think the compressed schedule will help the Cavs.

1. They've had more time off than all but seven other teams. For example, the Celtics played 26 games in August and September, including 18 playoff games. Their last game was Sept. 27. So they only had two months off before they were back at it. Now they are playing a heavier than usual schedule. Most teams are in this situation to some extent, depending on how far they went in the playoffs.

2. The Cavs are younger than most teams. Kevin Love is the only starter over 27 years old, and I honestly think Nance will end up playing more minutes even if Love is the listed starter. The Cavs' youth will give them the advantage in a compressed schedule.

3. The Cavs are deep. Look at the guard position: Sexton, Garland, Porter, Exum, Dotson, and Delly. They'll easily be able to manage minutes so nobody gets worn down. Same with small forward; Cedi, Okoro, and in a month or so, Windler. At PF they have Love, Nance, and Wade. At center it's Drummond and McGee.

The Hornets, for example, will be heavily dependent on Hayward and Rozier, who combined for 70 points in their first game. Hayward is 30. He played 36 minutes against the Cavs - more than anybody on the Cavs played. The Cavs aren't dependent on two or three players to carry the scoring load every game.

They should be less vulnerable to injuries because of their depth and other than Love they won't need to rest veterans on back-to-backs.

So in summary the Cavs are young, deep, and well-rested. They used a 10-man rotation against Charlotte despite Love and Porter being out. The Cavs can send waves of hungry young players at opponents every night. I think they'll win some games they shouldn't just because the opponent is tired and the Cavs will keep hitting them with fresh bodies for 48 minutes.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I also think the Cavs' biggest weapon could be their bench. As I see it, the Cavs' starters will play about even or slightly in the negative against most teams. But once the starters sit down the Cavs may have the advantage.

How about this for a second unit: McGee, Nance, Osman, Porter, and Exum. I have to believe a lot of benches around the Association are going to get their asses kicked by that group. If you sub in Dotson or Delly at one of the guard spots - no problem.

I expect a lot of games where the starters "hold their own" but when you check the box score after the game you see a number of bench guys with a +/- north of 10. We saw a hint of that in the opener when all the starters were between -5 and +7 but we had two bench players who were +12 and +14.

Against Charlotte the Cavs' starters were a combined +15 in 165 minutes. The bench was a combined +20 in 76 minutes. The bench was more effective. It would have been even more dramatic if Love started and Nance was in the second unit. If Porter, Delly and Exum were also available the second unit would have been scary good.

 

[ansatsusha80]

Report: Cavs in 'no hurry' to rush Kevin Porter Jr. back into action

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been without the services of sophomore Kevin Porter Jr. for the 2020-21 season due to personal matters. Yet, the organization isn't reportedly in a rush to bring back the youngster.

cavaliersnation.com

Look like,we're not seeing KPJ for awhile...

 

[cabs]

And this is why I didn’t want Oubre

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Report: Cavs in 'no hurry' to rush Kevin Porter Jr. back into action

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been without the services of sophomore Kevin Porter Jr. for the 2020-21 season due to personal matters. Yet, the organization isn't reportedly in a rush to bring back the youngster.

cavaliersnation.com

Look like,we're not seeing KPJ for awhile...

I don't know, what does "no hurry" mean?

Porter is healthy and practiced with the team briefly last week. The legal charges against him have all been dismissed. It sounds like the Cavs want to impress upon him that if his behavior doesn't meet their standards they will just play without him and not sweat about it.

 

[avs2000]

I don't know, what does "no hurry" mean?

Porter is healthy and practiced with the team briefly last week. The legal charges against him have all been dismissed. It sounds like the Cavs want to impress upon him that if his behavior doesn't meet their standards they will just play without him and not sweat about it.

And so they should

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Report: Cavs in 'no hurry' to rush Kevin Porter Jr. back into action

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been without the services of sophomore Kevin Porter Jr. for the 2020-21 season due to personal matters. Yet, the organization isn't reportedly in a rush to bring back the youngster.

cavaliersnation.com

Look like,we're not seeing KPJ for awhile...

Don’t really understand what the terms are. What are the conditions under which he could return to the floor? And what do they think his problem IS? I know what he DID, but do they this his issue is substance abuse, a mood disorder, or something else? What kind of help is he GETTING? And what does he have to do? Not get ARRESTED again?

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Don’t really understand what the terms are. What are the conditions under which he could return to the floor. And what do they think his problem IS? I know what he DID, but do they this his issue is substance abuse, a mood disorder, or something else? What kind of help is he GETTING? And what does he half to do? Not get ARRESTED again?

The Cavs obviously have no intention of providing answers to any of those questions. And without knowing those answers, we can't even say they're wrong.

 

[natedagg]

I feel like we beat a pretty bad team and it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves....

but... how many games last year did we outscore an opponent by 20+ in a half?

 

[Joe Henderson]

So, what are some of the lineups everyone’s interested to see?
For me, it’s Garland-Sexton-KPJ-Okoro-Nance — obviously to see a glimpse of the future, but I also wonder if a front court like that, with tons of length and agility but not a lot of size, would work with Sexland.

Also Sexton-Okoro-Cedi-Nance-McGee — to see the defensive potential and if that amount of playmaking would be enough. Could be KPJ for either of Okoro or Cedi.

And I’m really intrigued by the wing combinations. Between Okoro, Cedi, KPJ and Windler, the Cavs have a good crop of prototypical NBA wings, but each of them brings some unique challenges as well, so interested to see how they mix and match.

Not terribly interested in lineups featuring heavy doses of Exum, Drummond, Dotson, Delly. Not that they shouldn’t play, but they are known quantities and pretty much just placeholders.