Goodbye Larry Nance Jr.

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Trade him for a late 1st.

Can't stand him. And I used to like him.

 

[LeeBuckeye]

It's crazy to think we have two Power Forwards tied up to long-term contracts of $45 million and $113 but can simply never be relied on to be available. I still don't get the big picture moving forward with Nance. Love is an all-star talent who has flaws but can definitely impact the game. Why tie yourself with Nance this early with an extension, when you could've waited until the end of this season. Couldn't agree more with @Sir'Dom Pointer, use him to move up along with the Rockets pick or get a late pick because I'm not seeing it either.

 

[CavsFanJapan]

It's crazy to think we have two Power Forwards tied up to long-term contracts of $45 million and $113 but can simply never be relied on to be available. I still don't get the big picture moving forward with Nance. Love is an all-star talent who has flaws but can definitely impact the game. Why tie yourself with Nance this early with an extension, when you could've waited until the end of this season. Couldn't agree more with @Sir'Dom Pointer, use him to move up along with the Rockets pick or get a late pick because I'm not seeing it either.

Plus, hang number 22 back in the rafters for the Nance everyone likes. LOL!

 

[Cavs Need To Win]

He's not a good NBA player. I respect anybody who makes it to the NBA, but compared to the rest of the players in the league he's not very good. I did not think at the beginning of the season he would get any better, so I didn't like all the talk about him being part of our young core. He's not going to get much better. Shouldn't have signed him long term.

 

[inliner311]

I'm just not seeing the benefit of Nance putting up assist numbers if he isn't going to rebound. Maybe if he was a scoring threat then the lack rebounding could be tolerated. Does it make sense to find rebounding in other places just to appease Nance?

 

[inliner311]

After reading @The Human Q-Tip post in the TT thread about TT and other players gravity. I realize the major problem with Nance wanting to be a point forward. He lacks the scoring ability on the ball to create the necessary gravity to create for others effectively. Without the ability to score, defenses will just invite him to shoot and just play the passing lanes. He doesn't have the ability to create action to get the defense off its heals so he has to wait for off the ball action to create openings. Without him able to score, the offense will just be a bunch of slow developing plays. Add to that the lack of rebounding on Nance's part and you get a real ineffective offense.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

After reading @The Human Q-Tip post in the TT thread about TT and other players gravity. I realize the major problem with Nance wanting to be a point forward. He lacks the scoring ability on the ball to create the necessary gravity to create for others effectively. Without the ability to score, defenses will just invite him to shoot and just play the passing lanes. He doesn't have the ability to create action to get the defense off its heals so he has to wait for off the ball action to create openings. Without him able to score, the offense will just be a bunch of slow developing plays. Add to that the lack of rebounding on Nance's part and you get a real ineffective offense.

That's exactly what I see with him too. As a point guard/forward initiating the offense, you must be either 1) a great ball handler able to beat people off the dribble, or 2) a great shooter who creates space because you have to play him closely. Otherwise, there is nothing to unbalance the defense and create the kind of passing opportunities/motion necessary to get good, open shots for other player.

It's not enough just to be a good passer, which Nance is. That's enough to be a valuable part of a ball-movement offense as a wing or post player, but not as the guy who is supposed to initiate the offense.

 

[Cavatt]

That's exactly what I see with him too. As a point guard/forward initiating the offense, you must be either 1) a great ball handler able to beat people off the dribble, or 2) a great shooter who creates space because you have to play him closely. Otherwise, there is nothing to unbalance the defense and create the kind of passing opportunities/motion necessary to get good, open shots for other player.

It's not enough just to be a good passer, which Nance is. That's enough to be a valuable part of a ball-movement offense as a wing or post player, but not as the guy who is supposed to initiate the offense.

He has ball handling ability, but not really enough to penetrate and his finishing is pretty poor. Dump off passed and dho's are fine, but bringing the ball up and initiating takes 15 or more sec. It's the slowest play they have. Great post

 

[inliner311]

I'm more willing to move Nance now as others have suggested than any other time since he has come to the Cavs.

At this point I'm not sure he is any better than TT. Yes he added a 3 point shot but I think TT hustles more and knows his role. Nance isn't really able to backup or fill in for Love. Both TT and Nance are injury prone at this point. I'm not even sure how many minutes Nance can play at center and stay healthy for the whole season.

Outside of adding a 3 point shot, I'd say Nance wasted the year. The inside/outside switching pairing that we envisioned with Love looks like it has a slim chance of ever happening. Nance would have to make major jumps in his game especially his post game and finishing at the rim when he can't dunk.

 

[Kouki]

That's exactly what I see with him too. As a point guard/forward initiating the offense, you must be either 1) a great ball handler able to beat people off the dribble, or 2) a great shooter who creates space because you have to play him closely. Otherwise, there is nothing to unbalance the defense and create the kind of passing opportunities/motion necessary to get good, open shots for other player.

It's not enough just to be a good passer, which Nance is. That's enough to be a valuable part of a ball-movement offense as a wing or post player, but not as the guy who is supposed to initiate the offense.

I was on and off watching the game yesterday and there was one possession that clearly depicted this. Nance had the ball right at the FT line and was doing his "look I can hold the ball with one hand and move it around" thing and there were no defenders within five feet of him. At the FT line. Eventually he found buddy boy Clarkson. Is that how he has been getting all his assists, just passing to Clarkson who is quite obviously going to shoot it?

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I was on and off watching the game yesterday and there was one possession that clearly depicted this. Nance had the ball right at the FT line and was doing his "look I can hold the ball with one hand and move it around" thing and there were no defenders within five feet of him. At the FT line. Eventually he found buddy boy Clarkson. Is that how he has been getting all his assists, just passing to Clarkson who is quite obviously going to shoot it?

Yes.

 

[Nathan S]

Weird that Nance has this chemistry with Clarkson. It's almost as if they've played their entire careers together. Very suspicious...

 

[inliner311]

I was on and off watching the game yesterday and there was one possession that clearly depicted this. Nance had the ball right at the FT line and was doing his "look I can hold the ball with one hand and move it around" thing and there were no defenders within five feet of him. At the FT line. Eventually he found buddy boy Clarkson. Is that how he has been getting all his assists, just passing to Clarkson who is quite obviously going to shoot it?

It's either passes to Clarkson or draining the clock so whoever he does pass it to has to shoot it. He will make one or two good bounce passes every once in a while but he makes just as many if not more bad cross court passes.

Defenders now know how to play him in transition. Even slow guys like Zubac can be draped around his back and cause him to fumble around the ball when he is trying to bring it into the half court.

My hope is Clarkson is gone in the summer and Nance will be forced to play better team ball. If not, Koby can trade him at the deadline.

The front office needs to also make it clear that they need him to work on post moves and more shooting spots around the arc in the summer.

 

[kidduck]

Whatever gave Nance the idea that he is a team leader who can speak on the state of
the matter of the moment? I thought you had to have some credibility from your game on
the court for that .

And perhaps his twirling the ball would entertain pre-schoolers, it does nothing
for the Cavs offense. I'd like to see the stats on how often that act leads
to a basket- for Cleveland.

 

[LeeBuckeye]

I wonder if the offense initiator role as a big was a team directive or if he's just improvising. I think utilizing this season as a purely pick and pop player would've served us and him better in the long run but it's tough without any inside info on this drastic shift in playing style.