Game Thread | 2020-21 Season | Game #56 | Cavs @ Bulls | April 17, 2021

[Wham with the Right Hand]

FOr hte love of god if we don't draft someone willing to shoot the ball from 3 I'll burn this mother down.

I didn't think it was possible to have too many unselfish players but the fact is we have a lot of guys who either can't create their own shot or don't want to try. We're last in the NBA in 3-point attempts and 29th in 3-point percentage. The Bulls took 10 more 3's, made four more, which is a 12 point advantage from deep in a 10-point win. Yeah, we need another scorer.

You can't win in this league if you're last in 3-point attempts and second to last in 3-point percentage.

Okoro is quietly shooting 52.5% from the field and 45.0% on 3's in April. Part of that is he rarely shoots unless he has a high percentage shot. He needs to attack more and be more aggressive hunting 3's.

 

[daytripper]

Love and Delly should be playing in a 35 and over rec league at this point...Sorry to say but it's the truth.

 

[Rodzilla]

Give it about 2 more weeks and get back to me on the +/-.


No one is going to guard that man anytime he's in the game anymore. Took a few games to figure that out, and now they have.

He'll be completely unplayable going forward. Tony Allen level jump shooting only w/o the size and athletic ability to defend.


This is it for him.

ok i will produce updates on the delly +/- compared to the sexton +/-

delly now has produced 40 assists to 4 turnovers in 10 games, so even if his 14 3pt misses are counted as turnovers then he still has a better playmaking ratio than sexton who has 40 assists and 24 turnovers in his last 10 games

i don't care if delly has advanced CTE, covid-19 and acute appendicitis, you can give him that plus severe dehydration on top of it and he still will be a better winning basketball player and it comes from his teammates lifting and feeling better

 

[Alec]

Didn’t watch the game. Did Allen get handled by a center who actually deserves a max deal?

 

[ansatsusha80]

the bench only got 16 shots of the basketball compared to the 35 on the other side, this is a classic case of blaming the victims

i guess thats one way to avoid blame, sexton should go even further and take 40 shots next game so that low brainwave people can point to how he is not getting any help scoring ("the bench only scored 7pts and you are blaming sexton who scored 40pts")

The bench got outscored by 53 points in the last two games. The starters,particularly Sexton and Garland are the only two scoring consistently because Okoro is still developing, I have no clue what's going on with Allen but Love has been garbage for the most part since he came back..

Then,you have the coach putting Sexton with the bench unit that's no threat of scoring. Teams are leaving Nance and Dellavedova wide open because they don't respect them at all. Hartenstein and Prince, moreso Prince are inconsistent scorers. That leaves teams trapping Sexton because he's the only scoring threat on the floor.

I don't understand,why Bickerstaff is leaving Sexton with the second unit for long periods of time.

When,the Cavs made there run late in the second quarter it was Garland, Sexton, Hartenstein, Okoro and Allen but people want Sexton to score and playmake when he's with the second unit.

 

[Rodzilla]

The bench got outscored by 53 points in the last two games. The starters,particularly Sexton and Garland are the only two scoring consistently because Okoro is still developing, I have no clue what's going on with Allen but Love has been garbage for the most part since he came back..

Then,you have the coach putting Sexton with the bench unit that's no threat of scoring. Teams are leaving Nance and Dellavedova wide open because they don't respect them at all. Hartenstein and Prince, moreso Prince are inconsistent scorers. That leaves teams trapping Sexton because he's the only scoring threat on the floor.

I don't understand,why Bickerstaff is leaving Sexton with the second unit for long periods of time.

When,the Cavs made there run late in the second quarter it was Garland, Sexton, Hartenstein, Okoro and Allen but people want Sexton to score and playmake when he's with the second unit.

it was less than a week ago when sexton and garland sat out, this forum predicted a massacre but 6 players scored in double figures including 21pts wade and 19pts okoro, those 2 going for 14-22 shooting, 33pts from the bench and cavs unlucky to lose including conceding a 3rd quarter buzzer beater from over halfcourt

then sexton continued to sit out for the hornets game, i didn't see that game but the box score looks good, every player scoring, every player in +, looked like good team basketball with 41pts off the bench

sexton inserted back into the lineup, takes 19 and 20 shots, 5 turnovers, i think that is very deflating for the team anyway but especially if he isn't shooting well

 

[ryanf]

it was less than a week ago when sexton and garland sat out, this forum predicted a massacre but 6 players scored in double figures including 21pts wade and 19pts okoro, those 2 going for 14-22 shooting, 33pts from the bench and cavs unlucky to lose including conceding a 3rd quarter buzzer beater from over halfcourt

then sexton continued to sit out for the hornets game, i didn't see that game but the box score looks good, every player scoring, every player in +, looked like good team basketball with 41pts off the bench

sexton inserted back into the lineup, takes 19 and 20 shots, 5 turnovers, i think that is very deflating for the team anyway but especially if he isn't shooting well

Here's the thing... sexton hasn't had a bad shooting night in months.

And know what? The past couple of games were played against fringe playoff teams compared to "less than a week ago" when we played bottom dwellers. So yeah, scapegoat sexton.

 

[Comeback kid]

ESPN sucks. They actually employed Paul Pierce for years. You’d get more factual information from @Comeback kid .

They don’t want facts on this forum. They want proof and when they get it and announce it to the world....... then they scramble ya.
Good decision last night to sit Wade and play their sharpshooter veterans who don’t like to guard either. Lol

 

[Rodzilla]

Here's the thing... sexton hasn't had a bad shooting night in months.

And know what? The past couple of games were played against fringe playoff teams compared to "less than a week ago" when we played bottom dwellers. So yeah, scapegoat sexton.

no he had a bad shooting night in the last game and i can bring up what he did against the bottom dwelling pelicans a month ago if you'd like a better comparison? 7-18 shooting and -31 in a 82-116 loss

it was actually 62-102 when sexton left the game to avoid further embarrassment with 6 minutes to go, but the delly run team a week ago already surpassed that by halftime when they led 68-62, btw zion only was used for 17 minutes compared to 36 minutes, so this should have been even worse

and stop acting like the bulls are harder competition

 

[Comeback kid]

Delly is done and I suspect Love is done, too. He was 2-for-10 on 3's tonight, and on most of those misses he was wide open. I get that he's lost a step and what little vertical jump he once had. But how do you lose your ability to knock down open 3's? If anything you should be better because that's all you got left.

Love is 3-for-17 over the last two games on 3-point attempts. Every miss is short and hits the front of the rim. Is he ever going to learn to put more air under his shots? I'm so sick of seeing that flat shot bang off the front of the rim.

The key was when Love had an uncontested 3 to tie the game at 96 with 2:45 to go and bricked it. Markkanen then hit a 3, Sexton tried to dribble through the entire Bulls team and lost the ball, then Vucevic knocked down another 3 and it was Bulls by nine with 1:49 to go and that was the game.

Once again the Cavs' bench was dominated by the opponents' bench. I don't know why Wade didn't play. The Cavs' bench had 15 points in 72 minutes. Prince is the only guy who doesn't need an invitation to shoot. The rest of them play hot potato with the ball until the shot clock is expiring and Sexton or Garland has to force up a bad shot.

Allen had no clue as to how to stop Vucevic who had 25 points on 10-for-17.

Like I said in the game preview, the Cavs had everything going their way, especially LaVine being out and the Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back and having lost five straight. Which almost always means they play like crap and lose. That held true tonight as I predicted.

 

[Comeback kid]

Delly is done and I suspect Love is done, too. He was 2-for-10 on 3's tonight, and on most of those misses he was wide open. I get that he's lost a step and what little vertical jump he once had. But how do you lose your ability to knock down open 3's? If anything you should be better because that's all you got left.

Love is 3-for-17 over the last two games on 3-point attempts. Every miss is short and hits the front of the rim. Is he ever going to learn to put more air under his shots? I'm so sick of seeing that flat shot bang off the front of the rim.

The key was when Love had an uncontested 3 to tie the game at 96 with 2:45 to go and bricked it. Markkanen then hit a 3, Sexton tried to dribble through the entire Bulls team and lost the ball, then Vucevic knocked down another 3 and it was Bulls by nine with 1:49 to go and that was the game.

Once again the Cavs' bench was dominated by the opponents' bench. I don't know why Wade didn't play. The Cavs' bench had 15 points in 72 minutes. Prince is the only guy who doesn't need an invitation to shoot. The rest of them play hot potato with the ball until the shot clock is expiring and Sexton or Garland has to force up a bad shot.

Allen had no clue as to how to stop Vucevic who had 25 points on 10-for-17.

Like I said in the game preview, the Cavs had everything going their way, especially LaVine being out and the Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back and having lost five straight. Which almost always means they play like crap and lose. That held true tonight as I predicted.

Wade didn’t play because he had gone 11-23 in his last 5 games from 3. With 6+ rebounds and a 3/1 ast/to ratio. Hope Koby gives JB another “hello?” call.....

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Wade didn’t play because he had gone 11-23 in his last 5 games from 3. With 6+ rebounds and a 3/1 ast/to ratio. Hope Koby gives JB another “hello?” call.....

They have a logjam at power forward with Love, Nance, and Wade, so Wade is the odd man out. One solution would be to play Wade at the 4 and Nance at the 3 off the bench but then Prince is out and he has been playing well lately along with Okoro. I think it came down to whether JBB wanted Nance at the 4 and Prince at the 3 or Wade at the 4 and Nance at the 3. He went with Nance and Prince over Wade and Nance.

Unfortunately, Prince didn't have it going on last night. The Bulls were taking away his 3-point shot, knowing he's hitting 47.4% from deep in April. He wasn't able to get a single 3-pointer off.

 

[ryanf]

no he had a bad shooting night in the last game and i can bring up what he did against the bottom dwelling pelicans a month ago if you'd like a better comparison? 7-18 shooting and -31 in a 82-116 loss

it was actually 62-102 when sexton left the game to avoid further embarrassment with 6 minutes to go, but the delly run team a week ago already surpassed that by halftime when they led 68-62, btw zion only was used for 17 minutes compared to 36 minutes, so this should have been even worse

and stop acting like the bulls are harder competition

I see... you comparing the game from a month ago when sexton was the PG and quinn cook was back up because garland and delly is injured? The game where everyone else couldn't hit a shot and sexton was the one showing some fight? Ok... next...

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

it was less than a week ago when sexton and garland sat out, this forum predicted a massacre but 6 players scored in double figures including 21pts wade and 19pts okoro, those 2 going for 14-22 shooting, 33pts from the bench and cavs unlucky to lose including conceding a 3rd quarter buzzer beater from over halfcourt

then sexton continued to sit out for the hornets game, i didn't see that game but the box score looks good, every player scoring, every player in +, looked like good team basketball with 41pts off the bench

sexton inserted back into the lineup, takes 19 and 20 shots, 5 turnovers, i think that is very deflating for the team anyway but especially if he isn't shooting well

I don't get it. Last month the Cavs beat the Bulls by nine points with Cedi, Cook, Dotson, Stevens, Windler, and Thomas playing 81 minutes. Zach LaVine played for the Bulls and led them in scoring with 22 points. Sexton was out with an injury.

Last night none of those six players got a single minute. Those 81 minutes were replaced by Sexton, Love, Nance, Delly, Prince, and Hartenstein. On paper that's a huge upgrade in talent. On top of that, LaVine was out.

What happened? Instead of winning by nine the Cavs lost by 10, a swing of -19. If anything you would expect a swing of +19 or more with the Bulls losing LaVine (but gaining Vucevic) while the Cavs replaced a group of bench players and G leaguers with proven veterans.

Since returning to the team Delly is 2-for-16 on 3's. Overall he's shooting 23.1% from the field. Love has made 3 of his last 17 from deep. I don't think it was Sexton's fault that Love was 2-for-10 from deep last night or that Delly is shooting 23%. But I can't explain how the Cavs, who on paper were much improved over the team that beat the Bulls on March 24, were 19 points worse last night.

Sexton and Garland missed a ton of shots, going 17-for-41. Love and Delly were awful. Prince couldn't get off a single 3-point attempt as the Bulls hounded him on the perimeter. Allen only shoots the ball when he gets a lob. Nance only shoots when he has an uncontested dunk or an uncontested 3. Hartenstein and Nance are always looking to pass to a cutter, never to shoot. If no cutter is open the time clock expires and somebody has to force up a bad shot. The Cavs scored seven FEWER points than the last game when they were playing Cedi, Cook, Stevens, Dotson, etc.

They need another scorer in the worst way.

 

[Rich]

Vucevic is also just a better player than LaVine, I think. And that'll become obvious over the course of them playing together.

Vuc, to me, is one of the 5 best centers in the league. Jokic, Embiid are at the top, and then I think Vuc is right there with Gobert and ahead of Towns and Bam.