Let it all out. The Cavaliers Rant Thread

[buzzdog]

Touche, though I wouldn't call it "worrying" so much as "getting the lube ready."

I'm resisting giving in to the possibility of the worst case scenario, sorry to throw shade on those voicing concern. I have to admit there's a very real possibility that Donovan's knee is toast for the rest of the season. He hasn't been right since the all-star break. I blame JBB for riding him too hard leading up to the break. But another 5-7 minutes of CPJ per game might to cut Mitchell's minutes not have been enough to stave off what's potentially looking like a chronic knee problem. It couldn't have hurt though.

 

[Boobie4Three]

What a shame. Another good season toasted. That's 3 years in a row. If you remember 2 years ago when we actually were on pace for 50 games and then injuries happened. Then we shipped Collin and Lauri off.

 

[Kouki]

Giannis told me that there's no such thing as a failure of a season. Though he was talking about losing in the finals and we are talking about slipping to the play-in, lol.

One can only hope that the people getting paid millions to make tough decisions make the correct decisions this off-season. We are far from "sky is falling" but depending on how this off-season goes, we might be on that fast track...

 

[Beanie4Heisman]

 

[FrontPageNews]

Mitchell clearly isn’t right and needs to sit down until he’s healthy. But it’s too bad that garland is too much of a loser to carry this team until he got back. We’d probably be a play in team if Mitchell shut down till the playoffs.

 

[Beanie4Heisman]

How maddening would it be if we slide to 5!?!

 

[Nphan]

Honestly there is no hope for this team to do much this season. This is a 1st round sweep if Mitchell don't get healthy soon. So im just waiting for the Domino effect after the sweep and JBB getting his pink slip along with Koby. It's time for a change.

 

[chuck0609]

JBB isn’t a good coach. I question Koby as an executive to think he’s the guy. Now you have Mitchell coming into a contract year with a new coach if Koby does what he should have last year. Shows nothing but instability.
Even worse is keeping JBB to try and show stability. That shows nothing but incompetence.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

 

[Mr. Glass]

The thing that sucks is that there's not a single glaring issue with this team. Last year it was easy to point to the lack of spacing/shooting. Some roster changes helped address that.

But all that's left is more doubt. EVERYTHING is at issue. And last year's inaction on the coach and the roster fit leaves so many layered problems to solve.

• Why is Dean Wade still such a load-bearing pillar of this roster?
• Why is Isaac Okoro always hobbled going into the playoffs?
• Why is this team always limping, literally and figuratively, into the playoffs?
• Can we count on Garland in the clutch and in the playoffs?
• Does anyone on this team have any heart?
• Can Garland and Mitchell share the floor?
• Can Mobley and Allen coexist?

I know the "core 4" has this solid net rating, yada yada yada. I should hope so since they're going to be eating up 75% of the salary cap once Mobley gets extended! I just don't buy it against serious competition. I think it's regular season fluff.

JBB absolutely needs to go and needed to go last off-season. But I don't buy for a second that he's the only problem. I think the players are soft. Even if they have quit on the coach, I'd hope for a bit of pride and willingness to play for their own reputations / teammates. That's to say nothing of the serious skill gaps / redundancies.

And since you waited to dump JBB, you didn't get to use 2023-24 to see what the same roster looks like under improved leadership/scheme. Pressure will rightly be on to make serious roster changes, and you'll probably be left wondering what might've been when one of our young guys flourishes elsewhere.

 

[Smooth]

The thing that sucks is that there's not a single glaring issue with this team. Last year it was easy to point to the lack of spacing/shooting. Some roster changes helped address that.

But all that's left is more doubt. EVERYTHING is at issue. And last year's inaction on the coach and the roster fit leaves so many layered problems to solve.

• Why is Dean Wade still such a load-bearing pillar of this roster?
• Why is Isaac Okoro always hobbled going into the playoffs?
• Why is this team always limping, literally and figuratively, into the playoffs?
• Can we count on Garland in the clutch and in the playoffs?
• Does anyone on this team have any heart?
• Can Garland and Mitchell share the floor?
• Can Mobley and Allen coexist?

I know the "core 4" has this solid net rating, yada yada yada. I should hope so since they're going to be eating up 75% of the salary cap once Mobley gets extended! I just don't buy it against serious competition. I think it's regular season fluff.

JBB absolutely needs to go and needed to go last off-season. But I don't buy for a second that he's the only problem. I think the players are soft. Even if they have quit on the coach, I'd hope for a bit of pride and willingness to play for their own reputations / teammates. That's to say nothing of the serious skill gaps / redundancies.

And since you waited to dump JBB, you didn't get to use 2023-24 to see what the same roster looks like under improved leadership/scheme. Pressure will rightly be on to make serious roster changes, and you'll probably be left wondering what might've been when one of our young guys flourishes elsewhere.

I've long felt like this team is missing an emotional leader... Every great team has one.. It doesn't have to be the best player but it's someone who is the engine that makes the team go..

Mobley and Allen are quiet by nature, Garland is mercurial as a teenager and Mitchell is the unquestioned leader but he can't do it all on his own...

The Warriors had Draymond, the Knicks have Hart, the Wolves have Conley, the Thunder have Dort, etc..

I was hoping they would do more to address their overall toughness/mentality in the off-season and while Niang and Strus can kinda play into it, they're not really the heart and soul of any team..

It's kind of why I've been attracted to Dorian Finney-Smith this offseason, as he's known to be that type of character piece on teams, and seems to fill a lot of the gaps on both sides of the ball..

 

[Pierre Pan]

The thing that sucks is that there's not a single glaring issue with this team. Last year it was easy to point to the lack of spacing/shooting. Some roster changes helped address that.

But all that's left is more doubt. EVERYTHING is at issue. And last year's inaction on the coach and the roster fit leaves so many layered problems to solve.

• Why is Dean Wade still such a load-bearing pillar of this roster?
• Why is Isaac Okoro always hobbled going into the playoffs?
• Why is this team always limping, literally and figuratively, into the playoffs?
• Can we count on Garland in the clutch and in the playoffs?
• Does anyone on this team have any heart?
• Can Garland and Mitchell share the floor?
• Can Mobley and Allen coexist?

I know the "core 4" has this solid net rating, yada yada yada. I should hope so since they're going to be eating up 75% of the salary cap once Mobley gets extended! I just don't buy it against serious competition. I think it's regular season fluff.

JBB absolutely needs to go and needed to go last off-season. But I don't buy for a second that he's the only problem. I think the players are soft. Even if they have quit on the coach, I'd hope for a bit of pride and willingness to play for their own reputations / teammates. That's to say nothing of the serious skill gaps / redundancies.

And since you waited to dump JBB, you didn't get to use 2023-24 to see what the same roster looks like under improved leadership/scheme. Pressure will rightly be on to make serious roster changes, and you'll probably be left wondering what might've been when one of our young guys flourishes elsewhere.

Great post, my friend.….especially your last paragraph. I see that as a major hurdle/ problem going forward. Unless something unexpectedly amazing comes to fruition in the playoffs, it’s like it was a complete waste of a season. What do we do? Bring back the same team but with a different coach? Probably not going to happen and not feasible. Like you stated , that’s what needed to be done this year to truly judge the roster composition.

 

[Pierre Pan]

I've long felt like this team is missing an emotional leader... Every great team has one.. It doesn't have to be the best player but it's someone who is the engine that makes the team go..

Mobley and Allen are quiet by nature, Garland is mercurial as a teenager and Mitchell is the unquestioned leader but he can't do it all on his own...

The Warriors had Draymond, the Knicks have Hart, the Wolves have Conley, the Thunder have Dort, etc..

I was hoping they would do more to address their overall toughness/mentality in the off-season and while Niang and Strus can kinda play into it, they're not really the heart and soul of any team..

It's kind of why I've been attracted to Dorian Finney-Smith this offseason, as he's known to be that type of character piece on teams, and seems to fill a lot of the gaps on both sides of the ball..

I’m not sure what’s so attractive about Dorian Finney-Smith. Whatever leadership you think he brings to a team, that certainly hasn’t helped since his trade to the Nets who were swept in the 1st round of the playoffs last year and this year are a stellar 31-47. Apart from supposed leadership , he‘s averaged 8.3 points for his career to go with 4.6 rebounds on 35% shooting from distance and 43.5% overall. In tonight’s game alone, in a starting role he shot 1-5 and scored 2 points to go with a nice 7 rebounds. That hardly seems like a game changer to me.

 

[redruM]

I've long felt like this team is missing an emotional leader... Every great team has one.. It doesn't have to be the best player but it's someone who is the engine that makes the team go..

Mobley and Allen are quiet by nature, Garland is mercurial as a teenager and Mitchell is the unquestioned leader but he can't do it all on his own...

The Warriors had Draymond, the Knicks have Hart, the Wolves have Conley, the Thunder have Dort, etc..

I was hoping they would do more to address their overall toughness/mentality in the off-season and while Niang and Strus can kinda play into it, they're not really the heart and soul of any team..

It's kind of why I've been attracted to Dorian Finney-Smith this offseason, as he's known to be that type of character piece on teams, and seems to fill a lot of the gaps on both sides of the ball..

Good point. I would say along with that is lack of toughness, defending the perimeter and too many turnovers

 

[Smooth]

I’m not sure what’s so attractive about Dorian Finney-Smith. Whatever leadership you think he brings to a team, that certainly hasn’t helped since his trade to the Nets who were swept in the 1st round of the playoffs last year and this year are a stellar 31-47. Apart from supposed leadership , he‘s averaged 8.3 points for his career to go with 4.6 rebounds on 35% shooting from distance and 43.5% overall. In tonight’s game alone, in a starting role he shot 1-5 and scored 2 points to go with a nice 7 rebounds. That hardly seems like a game changer to me.

I don't think the Nets win/loss record is a Dorian Finney-Smith stat..

Regardless, you're missing the point: The Cavs starters last year had a significantly better offense (122 pts/100 possession) than the starters this year (114.4 pts/100 possessions)..

Now how did the Cavs have a better offense last year running the same system with the same players but with a worse offensive player? Strus is a better all-around offensive player than Okoro yet the Cavs fared better with Okoro offensively..

Strus is a higher volume player and has a different shot profile than Okoro leading to a cascading effect on how the Cavs starters play...

This isn't a slight against Strus but it's more so a point of how much fit matters in this case and the better player isn't always the better fit.

To me, DFS has a more similiar profile to Okoro offensively yet rebounds better, has more size defensively, and brings the sort of intangibles the Cavs are missing..

There may be other examples of players who provide a better connection between JA + Mobley and DG + Mitchell but DFS seems like one of the more obtainable options..

 

[Pierre Pan]

I’m

I don't think the Nets win/loss record is a Dorian Finney-Smith stat..

Regardless, you're missing the point: The Cavs starters last year had a significantly better offense (122 pts/100 possession) than the starters this year (114.4 pts/100 possessions)..

Now how did the Cavs have a better offense last year running the same system with the same players but with a worse offensive player? Strus is a better all-around offensive player than Okoro yet the Cavs fared better with Okoro offensively..

Strus is a higher volume player and has a different shot profile than Okoro leading to a cascading effect on how the Cavs starters play...

This isn't a slight against Strus but it's more so a point of how much fit matters in this case and the better player isn't always the better fit.

To me, DFS has a more similiar profile to Okoro offensively yet rebounds better, has more size defensively, and brings the sort of intangibles the Cavs are missing..

There may be other examples of players who provide a better connection between JA + Mobley and DG + Mitchell but DFS seems like one of the more obtainable options..

I’m not missing your point; I just don’t think that Dorian Finney-Smith and his “intangibles“ would help the Cavs. That’s it. You do. I feel that scores of players would be of more value and a better fit. Period. Moreover, under the current coaching regime, I find it difficult to believe that he would get significant playing time. Let’s agree to disagree.