Isaac 3 & D Okoro - A Two Way Playing Basketball Savant

[Cavatt]

I agree with this 100%

I also cant shake the parallels between how good he looked for Bruce Pearl and then when he first got here before our coaching/scheme threw him off AND how good Jarrett Allen looked for Atkinson and prior to here, and then in his first weeks here before he did the same thing Okoro did midseason.

I simply dont believe Allen would be looking this lost and unsure of himself, save the concussion, if he knew his role, believed in it and wasn't focused on thinking through the game.

Basically, these guys look better and play with confidence and then as they adjust to and are assimilated into our coaching/schemes they look lost and unsure of themselves suddenly.

If you are thinking on the court, instead of reacting/playing with full confidence, you are at a disadvantage. Good coaching and scheme fixes overthinking by having clear defined roles for guys in a system that they can excel at without having to overthink.

I dont believe we have that.

Don't disagree with this. The one thing that is for sure is the offense sucks and is worse than it was even under Beilein.

Can this be solved with an offensive coordinator? I keep thinking about Vanterpool and if we could get him on the bench and as an insurance policy.

It's hard for me to say JB needs to go. He worked all training camp on defense, which has been better and even good at times. I believe they have had something like 10 practices all year. A young team needs more than that. A team with a lot of turnover and injuries needs more than that.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I’m not celebrating anything! So he scored 30 points! Hell Danny Ferry scored 32 points for the Cavs in a game....where did his career end up. Nothing more than a role player

C'mon dude, that is just an awful point of comparison.

Danny Ferry was a 4 year college player who then played a year in Italy. He didn't play for the Cavs until he was 24, and so came into the NBA as a very experienced player. He also was drafted as a guy who was expected to be a primary scorer -- the next Larry Bird. But Ferry didn't have a 30 point game until his sixth season with the Cavs when he was 29 years old. Not hitting the 30 point mark until his sixth year in the league, at age 29, was a mark that he was a huge disappointment.

That's the complete opposite of Okoro. Okoro was not drafted with the expectation that he'd be a go-to scorer. The hope for him was that he'd be a very good two-way player (Danny's defense was never his calling card), who could give you tough defense, along with decent points, assists, and a solid floor game. Maybe a No. 2 or No. 3 scorer as an upside, with the fact that he was two-way being what would make that so valuable. And he came into the NBA with only one year -- shortened at that -- of college. So what we were hoping for in his rookie year (that came with no offseason because of Covid) was just a sign or two that he might be able to develop those offensive skills. The scoring expectations were so much lower for Okoro than for Ferry because there were drafted to fill different roles, and because Ferry was the far more experienced player when he came to the Cavs.

So in light of all that, Okoro scoring 32 points as a 20 year old rookie is vastly different from Ferry scoring 32 for the first time as a 29 year old guy in his sixth year in the league. It is entirely reasonable to assume that Okoro is only going to go up from where he is now offensively, whereas it was entirely reasonable to assume that Ferry was only going to go down from when he hit that 32. And in fact, Ferry never did score that many points again in his career, and only hit 30 one more time, in his very next game. That was his peak, at 29. Right around what you'd expect.

Okoro scoring 32 during his rookie year, and at the age of 20, does not mean that he's going to be a perpetual NBA scoring champ, but nobody is claiming that it does. It is simply a positive sign for a rookie touted for his defense to show that his offensive game is developing well. It is a good sign for the future -- that's it.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Don't disagree with this. The one thing that is for sure is the offense sucks and is worse than it was even under Beilein.

Can this be solved with an offensive coordinator? I keep thinking about Vanterpool and if we could get him on the bench and as an insurance policy.

It's hard for me to say JB needs to go. He worked all training camp on defense, which has been better and even good at times. I believe they have had something like 10 practices all year. A young team needs more than that. A team with a lot of turnover and injuries needs more than that.

I really like Vanterpool and feel Minnesota made a mistake passing on him. Good call. He'll be available this summer I believe.

 

[Cavatt]

I really like Vanterpool and feel Minnesota made a mistake passing on him. Good call. He'll be available this summer I believe.

I think so too. He might feel it is beneath him to be below a coach like JB, but it seems like it could be a sneaky good opportunity if he can turn the offense around, maybe he gets head coaching gig. I think we have the young guys he could do wonders for in Sexton and Garland. I'd also rather have him there than the current assistants in case they do fire JB.

 

[I'mWithDan]

Not even the scoring......it is awesome to see him average 4+ rebounds and 3+ assists here, in this extended May stretch.

His general activity is most promising to me.....as that is likely how he will contribute offensively, when we have a complete roster.

In May he's at a 16/4/3 slash line for PTS/REB/AST.

I hate that we won that game last night but during this losing streak, Isaac has been a really pleasant surprise.

Hopefully an off-season of shooting will build on all this end of year confidence.

 

[kidduck]

 

[daytripper]

It's great to see that he's filling up the stat sheet a little bit.

 

[Mcreek]

Over the last 12 games, Okoro is averaging 15.5 points on 42.2% from the field and 25.5% from 3-point range to go with 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 35.0 minutes. Few rookies have been asked to do more. Don’t forget, this is guy who entered the league with substantial concerns about his offense.

Isaac Okoro’s late-season rise shows potential, has him eyeing All-Rookie spot

It seems like a lot. Maybe even too much for some. Not Okoro.

www.cleveland.com

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Over the last 12 games, Okoro is averaging 15.5 points on 42.2% from the field and 25.5% from 3-point range to go with 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 35.0 minutes. Few rookies have been asked to do more. Don’t forget, this is guy who entered the league with substantial concerns about his offense.

Isaac Okoro’s late-season rise shows potential, has him eyeing All-Rookie spot

It seems like a lot. Maybe even too much for some. Not Okoro.

www.cleveland.com

And this about his summer workout plans:

Shooting will be a major point of emphasis....Ball-handling is on that list too. There’s room for him to get even stronger. Beyond that, Okoro isn’t revealing his secrets.

“Just got to wait and see,” he said with a grin. “Just going to be a lot of hard work. A lot that I’ve got to work on, a lot that I’m going to work on. Feel like I’m going to come back a different player.”

 

[Nphan]

Cant believe it took until 85% of the season until JBB figured out how to use this beast correctly. Imagine if he was able to play the way he wanted too from the beginning. Shit coaches do things like this.

 

[ansatsusha80]

Cant believe it took until 85% of the season until JBB figured out how to use this beast correctly. Imagine if he was able to play the way he wanted too from the beginning. Shit coaches do things like this.

I don't understand, why JB had him spotting up at the three-point line for most of the season. He should be moving around getting easy shots. And,he should have been playing a little point much earlier too. While,his ball-handling is average at the moment, he should have been gotten experience much earlier because having an extra ball-handler helps,especially for Collin.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

C'mon dude, that is just an awful point of comparison.

Danny Ferry was a 4 year college player who then played a year in Italy. He didn't play for the Cavs until he was 24, and so came into the NBA as a very experienced player. He also was drafted as a guy who was expected to be a primary scorer -- the next Larry Bird. But Ferry didn't have a 30 point game until his sixth season with the Cavs when he was 29 years old. Not hitting the 30 point mark until his sixth year in the league, at age 29, was a mark that he was a huge disappointment.

That's the complete opposite of Okoro. Okoro was not drafted with the expectation that he'd be a go-to scorer. The hope for him was that he'd be a very good two-way player (Danny's defense was never his calling card), who could give you tough defense, along with decent points, assists, and a solid floor game. Maybe a No. 2 or No. 3 scorer as an upside, with the fact that he was two-way being what would make that so valuable. And he came into the NBA with only one year -- shortened at that -- of college. So what we were hoping for in his rookie year (that came with no offseason because of Covid) was just a sign or two that he might be able to develop those offensive skills. The scoring expectations were so much lower for Okoro than for Ferry because there were drafted to fill different roles, and because Ferry was the far more experienced player when he came to the Cavs.

So in light of all that, Okoro scoring 32 points as a 20 year old rookie is vastly different from Ferry scoring 32 for the first time as a 29 year old guy in his sixth year in the league. It is entirely reasonable to assume that Okoro is only going to go up from where he is now offensively, whereas it was entirely reasonable to assume that Ferry was only going to go down from when he hit that 32. And in fact, Ferry never did score that many points again in his career, and only hit 30 one more time, in his very next game. That was his peak, at 29. Right around what you'd expect.

Okoro scoring 32 during his rookie year, and at the age of 20, does not mean that he's going to be a perpetual NBA scoring champ, but nobody is claiming that it does. It is simply a positive sign for a rookie touted for his defense to show that his offensive game is developing well. It is a good sign for the future -- that's it.

I wasn’t comparing the two but I was saying I’m not getting all google eyed over an inconsistent player who just had his first 30 point game!

 

[Henry Tuttle]

+1 in 39 minutes in a game we lost by 15. For the non-math folks that means Cavs were -16 in the 9 minutes he sat.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I’ve got a huge admiration for that kid -- his emotional stability, his emotional maturity, his thirst for wanting to get better and that hunger to take on challenges. He’s going to be special because of that. - Bickerstaff

He has those physical gifts, but once he comes into his own really as a skilled basketball player, he has the tools to do all of that. I think the sky’s the limit for what he can accomplish. - Kevin Love

Over the last 12 games, Okoro is averaging 15.5 points on 42.2% from the field and 25.5% from 3-point range to go with 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 35.0 minutes. - Chris Fedor

 

[ansatsusha80]

Don't disagree with this. The one thing that is for sure is the offense sucks and is worse than it was even under Beilein.

Can this be solved with an offensive coordinator? I keep thinking about Vanterpool and if we could get him on the bench and as an insurance policy.

It's hard for me to say JB needs to go. He worked all training camp on defense, which has been better and even good at times. I believe they have had something like 10 practices all year. A young team needs more than that. A team with a lot of turnover and injuries needs more than that.

If,they let JB go after the season,which I'm on the fence,Collin will be on his 5th coach,Garland his 3rd and Okoro his 2nd. This organization can't keep letting go coaches and expect the players to tolerate it.At,some point this organization needs to settle on a coach and let the coach develop the players. They can't say they want to create a good culture when you're letting coaches go all the time.

With that said,JB needs to get an offensive minded assistant coach on his staff because the system he's running isn't working. This team needs to move faster,take more three-point shots,move without the ball and etc..

I really don't wan see this team have another year with new coach.