Good:
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At the 6:48 mark in the first quarter, the camera pans to Kevin Love talking to Lue, and he's nodding his head and saying "Yeah, get me, get me." He was tired, and ready to come out. Kudos to him for his terrific defensive effort those first five minutes, and for owning up to the fatigue and getting a fresh teammate in there who could continue the great defensive effort, rather than selfishly staying on the floor.
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The entire effort defensively of the starting five those first 5 minutes was great. Lots of second and third efforts helping each other and recovering out to their man - exactly the type of stuff we haven't seen from the Cavs against the Warriors and Spurs, which is death against those teams.
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Getting to see Mo Williams and James Jones in the first half, part of Lue's new 10-man rotation he had alluded to prior to the game. Williams, specifically, came out inspired, absolutely sprinting from the opposite sideline for a loose ball rebound off a missed three-point attempt in his first minute of action. This is a level of quickness the Cavs haven't had enough of in the rotation. I instantly thought of the Warriors shooting threes, and how much trouble they give slow-footed players who can't chase down long rebounds, which leads to another wide-open spot up 3. I really like the idea of Mo Williams in the rotation against the Cavs and Warriors. He brings offensive firepower and another guy who can get to the rim off the dribble, and he won't be posted up by Curry, Barbosa, Tony Parker, or Patty Mills.
Bad:
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Lebron. This was a sneaky-bad game that doesn't really show up on the stat sheet. The average fan will see the 26, 13, and 9 and say he played great, none of his teammates did enough. The pickup ballplayer and coach in me is disgusted that the most physically gifted athlete on the floor guards Tony Snell and relaxes on the perimeter while J.R. Smith keeps losing his ISO battle against Jimmy Butler at the other end. Lebron played 40 minutes last night and what's depressing for me as a coach/fan is that he doesn't appear willing to accept the role that would give his team the best chance of winning a title: lockdown wing defender who expends much more energy at that end of the floor than on offense. He's the only one of the Big 3 who has the physical gifts to be an elite defender. The Cavs would be better if he played 33 minutes a game, went balls out on defense and terrorized opposing wings, shot 55% percent from the field while scoring only 17-18 points per game, took four less jumpers per game, and cut hard to the rim off the ball when his teammates were posting up or in a PnR on the other side of the floor. That extra defensive energy would somewhat help cover for the limitations of Love, Kyrie, and Mo Williams, all of whom are terrific scorers at the other end of the floor. But Lebron wouldn't do those things for Blatt, and there wasn't any change in that behavior last night with a new coach. He wants to win if he can win his way - scoring 25 ppg and being the man.
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The free-throw shooting, which is a fluke and barely even worth commenting on, because unlike all the other stuff it isn't revealing of anything larger or long-term.
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The Cavs' shot selection. it was frustrating to see them settling for contested jumpers given that, even within this game against a good defense, a) Lebron could duck in and seal anytime he wanted, b) Love was highly effective on the left block when he got the ball there, and c) Kyrie clearly has enough burst to get to the rim off the dribble. If those three options are on your team, there's really never a need for a Shumpert fadeaway (1-of-6 last night), a contested Lebron or Kyrie jumper, or a J.R. Smith deep three early in the shot clock.
Someone needed to stop scrimmages and enforce some consequences about bad shot selection way back during training camp in September/October.
The Ugly:
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Coach Lue's debut. The previous day he spoke about a 10-man rotation. True to his word, he played 10 guys...in the first half. And they were the right 10 guys! But he only gave Mo Williams 3 minutes and then didn't play him or James Jones in the second half, presumably because of the deficit the Cavs faced and because the Cavs seemed to be struggling on the boards a bit when Williams was in. He needed to give it more time, and he needed to stagger the big 3's minutes better. If his plan is to try a true 10-man rotation, he shouldn't abandon it at the first sign of a deficit. There was a time in the first half when Lebron, Love, and Kyrie were all off the floor, and this never needs to happen. When it does, the offense ends up featuring too much Shumpert and J.R. Smith.
Also, if Lebron's really not running the team, he shouldn't be playing 40 minutes - he should be playing 32-34 minutes of great defense.
You could start the game featuring Love, and have him bust his ass for 4-5 minutes before TT goes in for him, and then bring Love back into the game to sub out Lebron late in the first quarter. If this was your rotation at those two spots, those three guys would average 32 minutes per game. -
Lue's post-game presser. What a disaster. You remember point #1 in the "Good" column, how Kevin Love had the trust in his new coach to communicate his fatigue to the sideline at the 6:48 mark in the first Q after busting his ass for five up-and-down minutes defensively? How Love's selflessness in that situation actually helps Lue toward his stated goal of getting 10 guys into the game, and improving overall bench morale and team chemistry? Well, Tyronn Lue decided to light all of that goodwill on fire by calling out his three stars for being out of shape. Here's the thing that pisses me off about this, as a big man who plays basketball - Ty Lue has never been 240-250 pounds. So, in his criticism, he's doing the same annoying Byron Scott thing a lot of former players do as coaches - "I did this, so everyone should be able to do this." That's one of the worst things coaches do. Instead of meeting players where they are at, molding around their strengths, they go "one size fits all." He also complained during the press conference that the lack of conditioning ended up affecting his pre-planned rotations. This is a little thing called in-game adjustments, Ty. One day you're even going to have to deal with a player in foul trouble, or a guy with a cut over his eye who has to sub out of the game.
How has he been with this team for a full year and a half and not have a strong grasp of the physical limits he can push the guys to? If that press conference is a window into the strategic mind of Ty Lue, that's a problem. -
The Cavs' title hopes. Without some major changes, this team tops out as the fourth-best squad in the NBA, and roadkill for any of the top 3 teams in the West. Those changes don't need to be trades - it could just be accepting the optimal style of play for the team (Lebron) and figuring out the right rotations if the star player does indeed accept that (Lue).
Submitted January 24, 2016 at 10:34AM by notsellingjeans