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Game Thread | Game #36 | Cavs @ Pacers | Dec. 29, 2022

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The very real problem with trading Love is the Cavs desperately need the spacing he provides. For all the griping about his defense, he was +2 against the Nets and neutral tonight in a game they lost by 9.

Wade should be able to provide what you lose with Love. Not the defensive rebounding, but better defense. Love should absolutely be gone if you can add talent by moving his contract. There aren’t a ton of paths to improvement giving the lack of picks.
 
Cavs give up 135 points, easily their season high. Just an incredible 3-point shooting exhibition by the Pacers; 19-for-31 at 61.3% is insane.

So over the last four games Cavs' opponents are 69-for-128 or 53.9% on 3's. What the fuck is going on? A lot of those 3's are contested. It's like every team we play has their best 3-point shooting game of the year the night they play us.

The Cavs appear to be getting beat off the dribble which forces a big to pick up the ball leaving a 3-point shooter open.

Over his last seven games Buddy Hield has made 33 of 50 from deep, or 66%. The guy is on fire. Then late in the game he forced Garland to play him so tight to prevent the automatic 3 that he was able to blow by for uncontested layups.

If you told me before the game that the Cavs would score 126 points, have 17 offensive rebounds to 4 for the Pacers, and have 29 assists against just 10 turnovers, I'd say it was an easy win. But there's nothing you can do when the other team hits over 60% of their 3's.

Three straight games the Cavs' opponent has made over 50% from deep. Incredible. You knew it was going to be one of those nights when Hield stole the opening jump ball and hit a 3-pointer 3 seconds into the game.
 
Wade should be able to provide what you lose with Love. Not the defensive rebounding, but better defense. Love should absolutely be gone if you can add talent by moving his contract. There aren’t a ton of paths to improvement giving the lack of picks.
Let me put it this way, Hayward is probably the best player you can get for Love's deal and I have very ambivalent feelings about trading for a guy who's injured as often as he is. He's been injured so much he looks like 80% of the player he used to be.
 
Cavs give up 135 points, easily their season high. Just an incredible 3-point shooting exhibition by the Pacers; 19-for-31 at 61.3% is insane.

So over the last four games Cavs' opponents are 69-for-128 or 53.9% on 3's. What the fuck is going on? A lot of those 3's are contested. It's like every team we play has their best 3-point shooting game of the year the night they play us.

The Cavs appear to be getting beat off the dribble which forces a big to pick up the ball leaving a 3-point shooter open.

Over his last seven games Buddy Hield has made 33 of 50 from deep, or 66%. The guy is on fire. Then late in the game he forced Garland to play him so tight to prevent the automatic 3 that he was able to blow by for uncontested layups.

If you told me before the game that the Cavs would score 126 points, have 17 offensive rebounds to 4 for the Pacers, and have 29 assists against just 10 turnovers, I'd say it was an easy win. But there's nothing you can do when the other team hits over 60% of their 3's.

Three straight games the Cavs' opponent has made over 50% from deep. Incredible. You knew it was going to be one of those nights when Hield stole the opening jump ball and hit a 3-pointer 3 seconds into the game.
The Cavs have been terrible at defending 3s since JBB took over. The hope is the other team can't shoot 40%. Sometimes it works, the last 3 games it hasnt. At the end of the day it's the scheme/coach
 
The Cavs have been terrible at defending 3s since JBB took over. The hope is the other team can't shoot 40%. Sometimes it works, the last 3 games it hasnt. At the end of the day it's the scheme/coach
They weren't terrible last season.
 
I just can't get my mind where my expectations should be.

They made the Mitchell trade and gave up a lot. And yes, it was a lot.

So, in my mind, they're supposed to be competing for at, minimum, an ECF appearance this year based on that alone.


Yet my mind tells me the roster isn't yet experienced enough or well rounded enough to do that. That they aren't as good as the Bucks, Celtics, Nets, or Sixers. The names on the back of their jerseys + their experience is just better than ours.


Ok, but then back to my first point: if you give up 3 unprotected picks and 2 swaps and your lottery pick from this season and Lauri Markennen....doesn't that just demand you compete for an ECF?

Just can't quite figure out where to put my expectations.
My expectations for last year, with Laurie and a healthy team were 53 wins. We lost 7 games off that due to injuries.

My expectations going in were 50-53 wins--before the trade. The East is tougher and even playing better than last year, we'd have a hard time making 53. After the trade, I set my expectations at 53 and I haven't moved off that.

Our defensive problems are a function of losing Wade and changing the line up--a lot. We're still young and learning to play together on both offense and defense. Other teams adapt to us and we have to learn to adapt to them.
 
Well my friend, take a look at the standings.

Which of those teams are they supposed to beat in the first round? Milwaukee, Brooklyn, or Philly?

Because that's who they'll be playing baring some major injury derailing a season.


I think I was hoping either BKN or Philly imploded due to ego and disgruntled stars, but the opposite is occurring now, with both teams playing extremely well.
I think we have a puncher's chance in a series against Brooklyn and Philly. With a home court advantage, I'd put the series at 50-50. This is assuming we have Wade and Rubio playing. We have a good offensive, defensive, and rebounding team.

I'm less confident about Milwaukee if they have Middleton. We'd have to play better over the series than I've seen us play.
 
Cavs give up 135 points, easily their season high. Just an incredible 3-point shooting exhibition by the Pacers; 19-for-31 at 61.3% is insane.

So over the last four games Cavs' opponents are 69-for-128 or 53.9% on 3's. What the fuck is going on? A lot of those 3's are contested. It's like every team we play has their best 3-point shooting game of the year the night they play us.

The Cavs appear to be getting beat off the dribble which forces a big to pick up the ball leaving a 3-point shooter open.

Over his last seven games Buddy Hield has made 33 of 50 from deep, or 66%. The guy is on fire. Then late in the game he forced Garland to play him so tight to prevent the automatic 3 that he was able to blow by for uncontested layups.

If you told me before the game that the Cavs would score 126 points, have 17 offensive rebounds to 4 for the Pacers, and have 29 assists against just 10 turnovers, I'd say it was an easy win. But there's nothing you can do when the other team hits over 60% of their 3's.

Three straight games the Cavs' opponent has made over 50% from deep. Incredible. You knew it was going to be one of those nights when Hield stole the opening jump ball and hit a 3-pointer 3 seconds into the game.
Must be the magnetic rims people talk about. Home teams get the special treatment. This was an insane onslaught of 3s. Almost....too good to be true.
 
Must be the magnetic rims people talk about. Home teams get the special treatment. This was an insane onslaught of 3s. Almost....too good to be true.
We've played two of the best three point shooting teams in the NBA the last two games. Assuming the Pacers make the playoffs, and if healthy, there's no reason to think they won't, they're going to be a scary opponent for any team. Haliburton is the real deal and he's starting to feel himself.
 
We've played two of the best three point shooting teams in the NBA the last two games. Assuming the Pacers make the playoffs, and if healthy, there's no reason to think they won't, they're going to be a scary opponent for any team. Haliburton is the real deal and he's starting to feel himself.
Record aside, I don't think they make it out of the play in when the time comes.

I will say this, Haliburton has an edge to him that I wish Darius would exude. Darius is incredible but he doesn't seem to have that, "you can't stop me" attitude.
 
I just can't get my mind where my expectations should be.

They made the Mitchell trade and gave up a lot. And yes, it was a lot.

So, in my mind, they're supposed to be competing for at, minimum, an ECF appearance this year based on that alone.


Yet my mind tells me the roster isn't yet experienced enough or well rounded enough to do that. That they aren't as good as the Bucks, Celtics, Nets, or Sixers. The names on the back of their jerseys + their experience is just better than ours.


Ok, but then back to my first point: if you give up 3 unprotected picks and 2 swaps and your lottery pick from this season and Lauri Markennen....doesn't that just demand you compete for an ECF?

Just can't quite figure out where to put my expectations.
Exactly. The Mitchell trade was *premised* on the idea that with Mitchell plus our “big three” we’d become a competitor for the East title by, say, at the latest next year. We should be seeing a path to that with this team. Maybe it won’t happen this year but it shouldn’t be impossible to imagine it with our current personnel. We should be feeling like a contender by the end of this year.

The heightened expectations mean it’s harder to sit back and just enjoy a winning team that’s a first round playoff out
 
“Officiating has become a problem for the Cavs”

Think it has anything to do with JBB treating all the ref crews like complete shit for 3 hours?

Bingo, we have a winner.

Nba refs are like a brotherhood, insult one of them they all gang up on you.

Never seen an NBA head coach complain more to refs then this fool. Of course we don’t get calls.
 
Bingo, we have a winner.

Nba refs are like a brotherhood, insult one of them they all gang up on you.

Never seen an NBA head coach complain more to refs then this fool. Of course we don’t get calls.
Seriously? Do you think the refs are going to gang up on Rick Carlisle for showing them up yesterday? Show me a coach that doesn’t complain calls. JBB seems to have calmed down a bit on the sidelines. I do wish he’d sit down more with a stylus and pad and think of some in-game adjustments though.
 

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