Game Thread | 2021-22 Season | Game #9 | Trailblazers @ Cavs | Nov. 3, 2021

[KilgoreTrout]

Man, Rubio is too veteran to get a 5 second violation like that. It ended up not mattering, but boy oh boy that would have been brutal to lose like that.

Overall the Cavs continue to be a way better experience than the browns.

RUBIO screwed that up?!

How do you screw that up?!

 

[Lee]

Too much complaining about our coach tonight and not enough consideration given to the fact that missing three of our top 8 players we beat yet another playoff team.

I agree, but I think its funny how all of us refer to teams as playoff teams yet no one has made the playoffs. lol

If we counted all the teams one of called a "play off" team, ny my count we would have 28 playoff teams, lmao

 

[red.]

Too much complaining about our coach tonight and not enough consideration given to the fact that missing three of our top 8 players we beat yet another playoff team.

Too many excuses made for incompetence.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I can agree with you on that point while not agreeing that Mobley had to be taken out of the game. Though more minutes to Cedit certainly could have facilitated that to a result that we'll not know.

I think I was just reacting strongly because while I don't 100% percent disagree with your point, I just don't feel like the minutes played tonight or the 8 man rotation was some crime against basketball or crime against the health of any of our players.

Yes, some coaches would have gone deeper on their bench(even with the truly disgusting options) and some may have played the three bench guys more minutes to bring Mobley's or another starters minutes down by a few.

But I believe just as many current NBA coaches would have handled the minutes and rotations for this game similarly or the same as JBB did given the circumstances of Love/Lauri/Okoro out.

Maybe that still sounds dumb or crazy to you and fair enough. not trying to have any sort of final word but also not wanting to rehash it out much further than we already have.

You see, I don't care about JBB playing anyone else too much. Whatever. I care about Mobley and protecting the investment and basically the future of the franchise. Mobley suffers a setback or god forbid an injury and that's it, we are fucked. He is a rookie big with a non NBA ready body that has shown fatigue on the floor (you can't see it because your eye is blunt)

Yes, we will meet each other on the battlefield in the next game thread. Trust me, i will hit first and hard.

 

[MirORich]

You see, I don't care about JBB playing anyone else too much. Whatever. I care about Mobley and protecting the investment and basically the future of the franchise. Mobley suffers a setback or god forbid an injury and that's it, we are fucked. He is a rookie big with a non NBA ready body that has shown fatigue on the floor (you can't see it because your eye is blunt)

Yes, we will meet each other on the battlefield in the next game thread. Trust me, i will hit first and hard.

If we actually drafted Chet, you'd probably want to wrap him in bubble wrap for two full seasons while consuming 6,000 calories a day. I thought Mobley was a little thin in the bones, Chet looks like a toothpick. Surgically melt Chet and Even together and you still have a player smaller than Shaq.

Serious question though, say the Cavs end up in the 9 slot on lotto night and then miracle move up to pick 1 or 2. Would you pick one of the bigs like Chet, Branchero, or Duren or lock in 100% on a 6'6-6'8" wing like Griffin, Baldwin, Houstan, Watson, or Dieng(via that top pick or via trading down further to get the wing and future picks or other players)?

 

[Anglefan]

First thing I reflexively do when I wake up is check twitter, which I only use for NBA and other Cleveland related sports tweets.
When I saw the Koby tweet on his official "from the desk of..." digital stationary I first thought it was something serious like a scandal or resignation. When I read what he actually wrote, I thought I was still asleep and dreaming. Just such an odd choice and looks amateur as hell.

Yeah as George W Bush said after Trump’s inauguration speech, “That was some weird shit”. It was nothing short of bizarre, I had to read it twice because I was sure I’d missed something.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

If we actually drafted Chet, you'd probably want to wrap him in bubble wrap for two full seasons while consuming 6,000 calories a day. I thought Mobley was a little thin in the bones, Chet looks like a toothpick. Surgically melt Chet and Even together and you still have a player smaller than Shaq.

Serious question though, say the Cavs end up in the 9 slot on lotto night and then miracle move up to pick 1 or 2. Would you pick one of the bigs like Chet, Branchero, or Duren or lock in 100% on a 6'6-6'8" wing like Griffin, Baldwin, Houstan, Watson, or Dieng(via that top pick or via trading down further to get the wing and future picks or other players)?

My post about chet was a joke.

I want a SF.

I'm off to sleep... we will talk tomorrow.

Good win. Fuck JBB. Peace.

 

[Prof123]

I agree, but I think its funny how all of us refer to teams as playoff teams yet no one has made the playoffs. lol

If we counted all the teams one of called a "play off" team, ny my count we would have 28 playoff teams, lmao

Fair enough. I should have said "beat yet another team that made the playoffs last year." Denver, Clippers, Charlotte (as a play-in team), Atlanta, and Portland all made the playoffs. All of the teams that beat us made the playoffs, too.

 

[sailfish]

If we actually drafted Chet, you'd probably want to wrap him in bubble wrap for two full seasons while consuming 6,000 calories a day. I thought Mobley was a little thin in the bones, Chet looks like a toothpick. Surgically melt Chet and Even together and you still have a player smaller than Shaq.

Serious question though, say the Cavs end up in the 9 slot on lotto night and then miracle move up to pick 1 or 2. Would you pick one of the bigs like Chet, Branchero, or Duren or lock in 100% on a 6'6-6'8" wing like Griffin, Baldwin, Houstan, Watson, or Dieng(via that top pick or via trading down further to get the wing and future picks or other players)?

Don’t plan on picking in the top 10 as those days are over. This team has too much talent is playing too well.

We’ll likely be picking somewhere between 11-17. Some small forwards that may be available in that range are Peyton Watson, Ousmane Dieng, Bennedict Mathurin, & Kendall Brown. Maybe also Josh Minott, who my son played against this past year. Dyson Daniels & Max Christie are two other names to watch.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Don’t plan on picking in the top 10 as those days are over. This team has too much talent is playing too well.

We’ll likely be picking somewhere between 11-17. Some small forwards that may be available in that range are Peyton Watson, Ousmane Dieng, Bennedict Mathurin, & Kendall Brown. Maybe also Josh Minott, who my son played against this past year.

That makes me sad in a way.... can't tank and win too?

 

[sailfish]

That makes me sad in a way.... can't tank and win too?

Lol. Nope. The good news is it looks like we have a great chance at the playoffs this year and that experience would be invaluable.

 

[MirORich]

Don’t plan on picking in the top 10 as those days are over. This team has too much talent is playing too well.

We’ll likely be picking somewhere between 11-17. Some small forwards that may be available in that range are Peyton Watson, Ousmane Dieng, Bennedict Mathurin, & Kendall Brown. Maybe also Josh Minott, who my son played against this past year. Dyson Daniels & Max Christie are two other names to watch.

I LOVE being competitive in every game and winning 5 of the first 9.

But I am not going to make too many assumptions about the full 82 game season just 9 games in. Won't get too high. Won't get too low.

In the lottery scenario I pitched, I only had us in the top2 on the small small odds of moving up from the 9th position. Last years 9th slotted team on lotto night won % that would have equalled 35 wins in a 82 game season. I still think that's in the realm of our possible finishes.

Thankfully, historically since the 2010 draft, a good number of the eventual above average to elite wings in the league have been drafted 9 or later, so we should be positioned well to find a good wing regardless.

Edit: if we surpass that this year and win 40+ games somehow, we also have a different range of possibilities in FA or trade market, where players that in past years might make noise about not wanting to come here are far more open to coming here.
So I have no desire for any tanking or even be close in every game but still lose, but I still think there are several scenarios in which we either have a chance to beat the odds and move up on lotto night or to be in the 9-13 range were good wings are often found historically.

 

[sailfish]

I LOVE being competitive in every game and winning 5 of the first 9.

But I am not going to make too many assumptions about the full 82 game season just 9 games in. Won't get too high. Won't get too low.

In the lottery scenario I pitched, I only had us in the top2 on the small small odds of moving up from the 9th position. Last years 9th slotted team on lotto night won % that would have equalled 35 wins in a 82 game season. I still think that's in the realm of our possible finishes.

Thankfully, historically since the 2010 draft, a good number of the eventual above average to elite wings in the league have been drafted 9 or later, so we should be positioned well to find a good wing regardless.

Yes, it’s a long season, but this team has already shown an ability to withstand injuries and the unexpected. The additions of Mobley, Rubio, & Mark, coupled with the maturation of Allen, has made all the difference in the world.

Getting into the top 3 & landing Mobley was a huge, unexpected blessing. With the lottery odds, it’s highly improbable for any team in the 10-14 range to move up into the top 4. Just enjoy this season and plan on picking in the teens, if this team continues to do what I think they’re capable of.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

If we are competitive, do we trade Rubio at the deadline? And do we still try to break up SexLand? SexLand still isn’t really sustainable, right?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

They did everything they could to screw it up at the end, but held on thanks to some great defense on the last possession by Allen. Two turnovers by the Cavs on inbound passes and they gave up a three-point play on a layup by the point guard. They tried hard to blow it but Allen bailed them out.

The Cavs were 15-for-30 on 3's as Garland and Cedi were hot. Cedi is up to 50% from deep on the season! Sexton had 21 points on only 13 shots and did a great job of breaking down the defense. Garland had 19 points and 10 assists but was abused defensively. I'm hoping that 5-for-6 on 3's is the start of something big for him.

The last time these teams squared off it was also in Cleveland and the Blazers won 141-105, so this game shows how much progress the Cavs have made since May.

The defense was solid, holding the Blazers to 104 points on 44.4% from the field. Lillard and McCollum combined to go 17-for-48. Gotta love that. The Cavs gave up 10 offensive rebounds according to the box score but it sure looked like a lot more.

With three forwards out Dylan Windler stepped in and scored 13 points and added three assists in 21 minutes. Cedi had 12 points on seven shots. But the Cavs need to cut down on the turnovers - they had 17 to the Blazers 9. Between the turnovers and the offensive rebounds the Blazers took 90 shots to only 74 for the Cavs, so it's amazing the Cavs won.

This was a frustrating game because every time the Cavs got out to a 9-10 point lead and had a chance to separate the Blazers reeled them in. At one point in the 4th quarter the Blazers got hot and went on a 13-3 run but the Cavs broke the run before the Blazers could take the lead. Then they hung on. Allen was amazing the whole game with 24 points, 17 boards, and the huge stop against Lillard on the final possession.