2023-24 Playoff Series #1 | Game #4 | Cavs @ Magic | April 27, 2024

[mds]

How’s everybody doing?

 

[AustinCarr]

I’m talking about trading everyone to recoup picks for the future. Don’t care if it leaves our cupboard bare and the jazz benefit. They already creamed us on the trade.

What I mean is that we would get no benefit from the Indefinite sucking that would ensue. We would be subject to the quality of picks from other team. The team would lack agency in a rebuild.

I'd rather a soft rebuild if blow it up. See what you can get out of a further featuring Mobley or Allen and let the younger roll players develop. Either way, the future is looking murky to be sure.

 

[bushwick_bill]

 

[Holden beach]

That was a painful, awful second half effort to watch.

What's it going to take to try Morris instead of Niang when the game counts?

Maybe the embarrassment of this game will lead to a better performance in game 5.

 

[Thelastcavsfan]

To everyone saying TT and Morris are old and done, you all were probably saying Flacco was done. Sometimes you just need to play guys that have been there and done that

 

[Jstock12]

Mitchell was scoreless in the second half. The knee must be bothering him - that's the only possible explanation.

It's clear the Cavs are better without Garland. They went 18-2 in Jan/Feb when he and Mobley were out at the same time. Mitchell (when healthy) is a fantastic point guard. He's playing out of position because Garland can only play the point. The Garland/Mitchell pairing just doesn't work.

The Cavs' bench was outscored 38-6 with three minutes to go. Beyond embarrassing. We have no bench. Niang is a joke and so is LeVert and Okoro. LeVert is a smaller version of Mobley; skinny, athletic, but just can't shoot.

We can't expect to win with 6'5" guys like LeVert, Strus, and Okoro guarding Franz Wagner. He's 6'10" and very skilled. We needed Dean Wade on him and Mobley on Banchero.

The announcers were gushing about Franz Wagner, who went 13-for-17 for 34 points and 13 rebounds. They started talking about big men who can "do everything"; dribble, shoot 3's, score inside, rebound, defend, pass. Someone said that trend started in Europe and you're seeing guys like Wembanyama who plays like a guard a 7'3". Of course there have been many other Euro bigs who are really skilled like Dirk, Jokic, and Sabonis.

The Cavs' have traditional American bigs who play close to the rim and can't shoot at all. Allen and Mobley are useless more than about six feet from the rim. Watching the Orlando centers Carter and Isaac combine to go 6-for-9 on 3's while Mobley and Allen were 0-for-0 really pointed out the difference. Carter and Isaac are not European, but they play like they are. Same with Banchero. Wagner, of course, is also European.

I'm reluctantly coming to the conclusion that a team with two bigs with no shooting range outside the paint and two small guards simply can't get far in the playoffs in today's NBA, regardless of who is coaching. This team is toast; I don't see how a team can lose by 38 points and then get beat 61-29 in the second half and win the series. After this season it's time to tear it down and start over.

This is a league dominated by big men with skills and the Cavs have zero of those.

Having Alperen Sengun would be quite nice right about now.

 

[Real Deal]

It is pretty funny to me that Donovan's Utah Jazz was a better team top to bottom than the Cavs now.

Obviously from a coaching perspective. But the swift kick to the dick is Evan Mobley and Darius Garland being a flop.

 

[LutherRackley]

How’s everybody doing?

Crappy. But I appreciate your concern

 

[dice1717]

It’s gotta be tough for Strus to go from playing for Eric Spoelstra to playing for this crossed armed hack

 

[Rich]

"We've got two games in Cleveland" is already setting the mindset that he doesn't expect to win in Orlando and is projecting zero confidence in that statement.

Awful.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Listen to me RCF.

DO NOT BE UPSET. BE EXCITED.

Sometimes you to take one step back to take two forward. JBB will 100% be fired after losing this series and honestly Koby may be too.

Can you imagine how pissed Dan is right now? It is probably raining fire in the FO right now.

This is a wonderful outcome for us. Let’s hope we can lose the next two, as shitty as it will be in the short term, come June we can begin to have hope again.

I just worry that Dan was too messed-up by his stroke and the death of his son, to be a really attentive owner. If he’s absentee, he may need to sell the team. Which is sad, because he’s been one of the greatest owners in Cleveland sports history.

 

[bushwick_bill]

 

[KilgoreTrout]

It’s gotta be tough for Strus to go from playing for Eric Spoelstra to playing for this crossed armed hack

If this team is ready to play about half the time, that’s a bit of a problem.

 

[bushwick_bill]

 

[-Akronite-]

How’s everybody doing?