2024 Playoffs Round 1: Cavs (4) / Magic (5) (3-2)

[JonFromVA]

Is it possible that JBB's total focus on defense has gone beyond Mike Brown level?

Every sound bite, every presser, it's all he talks about.

Merrill seems to be out of the rotation and Niang may get little more than a heat check before he's pulled.

It would be nice if Bickerstaff worried just a little bit about how this team score might more than 100 pts in a game ...

[JujitsuFlip]

Allen with another fantastic game.

Mitchell had a great 1st quarter and a terrible 2nd half, his shooting splits are ugly.

Cavs really need to take better care of the ball, too many turnovers again.

But aye, a win is a win.

I'm assuming his knee is getting progressively worse as he plays on it, which is bad news for us in the long run; but it makes sense why he was aggressive early and looking for his shot. Fortunately Darius eventually found his shot, but he's struggled as well. This isn't going to get it done .vs. a team that can score 100 pts.

Yeahhhhhhh it is gonna get brutal against the Celtics, team is full of 2 way players. Their starting 5 scares the crap outta me.

[jbk1234]

Is it possible that JBB's total focus on defense has gone beyond Mike Brown level?

Every sound bite, every presser, it's all he talks about.

Merrill seems to be out of the rotation and Niang may get little more than a heat check before he's pulled.

It would be nice if Bickerstaff worried just a little bit about how this team score might more than 100 pts in a game ...

In fairness, Niang is 0-8 from 3 and 1-11 overall in the series which isn't helping the team get past 100.

[JonFromVA]

Is it possible that JBB's total focus on defense has gone beyond Mike Brown level?

Every sound bite, every presser, it's all he talks about.

Merrill seems to be out of the rotation and Niang may get little more than a heat check before he's pulled.

It would be nice if Bickerstaff worried just a little bit about how this team score might more than 100 pts in a game ...

In fairness, Niang is 0-8 from 3 and 1-11 overall in the series which isn't helping the team get past 100.

Guys like Niang and Merrill are paid to come in cold and start burying 3's, but as we've seen over the years it's a pretty high bar even for established shooters when the playoffs come around. There are reasons for it, but the solution has always been helping players find the range and get in to a rhythm; otherwise what are you doing? Sitting on the bench and crossing your fingers?

Obviously a playoff level defensive team like the Magic has been preparing to take away the things they've seen us do on tape, which means one of two things. Either we'd better be better at running those plays than they are at stopping them, or we'd better add some new wrinkles they haven't seen. The later would likely require spending some of that practice time on offense.

[toooskies]

Is it possible that JBB's total focus on defense has gone beyond Mike Brown level?

Every sound bite, every presser, it's all he talks about.

Merrill seems to be out of the rotation and Niang may get little more than a heat check before he's pulled.

It would be nice if Bickerstaff worried just a little bit about how this team score might more than 100 pts in a game ...

JBB gets asked a lot about defense in a series that's a battle between two defensive teams. Crazy how he's talking about the macro perspectives that the beat reporters see.

But if you go look at the Steve Jones twitter feed or watch the Sam Vecenie Game Theory podcast (if not notice with your own eyes), the Cavs are running a lot of interesting stuff on offense. The outside shots just aren't falling.

[JonFromVA]

Is it possible that JBB's total focus on defense has gone beyond Mike Brown level?

Every sound bite, every presser, it's all he talks about.

Merrill seems to be out of the rotation and Niang may get little more than a heat check before he's pulled.

It would be nice if Bickerstaff worried just a little bit about how this team score might more than 100 pts in a game ...

JBB gets asked a lot about defense in a series that's a battle between two defensive teams. Crazy how he's talking about the macro perspectives that the beat reporters see.

But if you go look at the Steve Jones twitter feed or watch the Sam Vecenie Game Theory podcast (if not notice with your own eyes), the Cavs are running a lot of interesting stuff on offense. The outside shots just aren't falling.

It's also all JBB talks about when he's mic'd up on the sidelines, but there are other coaches on the team scouting the Magic and helping prepare the game plan. It's more a matter of time, energy, and focus and the head coach is going to dictate the majority of that.

Thanks for the twitter/podcast suggestions, though.

[jbk1234]

Is it possible that JBB's total focus on defense has gone beyond Mike Brown level?

Every sound bite, every presser, it's all he talks about.

Merrill seems to be out of the rotation and Niang may get little more than a heat check before he's pulled.

It would be nice if Bickerstaff worried just a little bit about how this team score might more than 100 pts in a game ...

In fairness, Niang is 0-8 from 3 and 1-11 overall in the series which isn't helping the team get past 100.

Guys like Niang and Merrill are paid to come in cold and start burying 3's, but as we've seen over the years it's a pretty high bar even for established shooters when the playoffs come around. There are reasons for it, but the solution has always been helping players find the range and get in to a rhythm; otherwise what are you doing? Sitting on the bench and crossing your fingers?

Obviously a playoff level defensive team like the Magic has been preparing to take away the things they've seen us do on tape, which means one of two things. Either we'd better be better at running those plays than they are at stopping them, or we'd better add some new wrinkles they haven't seen. The later would likely require spending some of that practice time on offense.

Most of Niang's shots have been open, if not wide open, and when he's not hitting them, he's not a net positive player. The reason he's on the Cavs is the Sixers viewed him as a guy who couldn't be relied on in the playoffs. He got very little postseason run for them and as a result and they weren't prepared to pay him.

Merrill wasn't even healthy enough to play in game 1, but if we're leading, and the Magic are struggling to get anything going offensively, I can't fault JBB for concluding it's not worth the risk that a guy like Cole Anthony gets going with Merrill on the floor.

Hopefully, the Cavs have at least a two series over which these guys get multiple opportunities to show they can provide positive value in the playoffs, but I'm aware of no successful organization that leaves bench guys on the floor in the playoffs when it's not working out. Those guys get the hook.

[JonFromVA]

In fairness, Niang is 0-8 from 3 and 1-11 overall in the series which isn't helping the team get past 100.

Guys like Niang and Merrill are paid to come in cold and start burying 3's, but as we've seen over the years it's a pretty high bar even for established shooters when the playoffs come around. There are reasons for it, but the solution has always been helping players find the range and get in to a rhythm; otherwise what are you doing? Sitting on the bench and crossing your fingers?

Obviously a playoff level defensive team like the Magic has been preparing to take away the things they've seen us do on tape, which means one of two things. Either we'd better be better at running those plays than they are at stopping them, or we'd better add some new wrinkles they haven't seen. The later would likely require spending some of that practice time on offense.

Most of Niang's shots have been open, if not wide open, and when he's not hitting them, he's not a net positive player. The reason he's on the Cavs is the Sixers viewed him as a guy who couldn't be relied on in the playoffs. He got very little postseason run for them and as a result and they weren't prepared to pay him.

Merrill wasn't even healthy enough to play in game 1, but if we're leading, and the Magic are struggling to get anything going offensively, I can't fault JBB for concluding it's not worth the risk that a guy like Cole Anthony gets going with Merrill on the floor.

Hopefully, the Cavs have at least a two series over which these guys get multiple opportunities to show they can provide positive value in the playoffs, but I'm aware of no successful organization that leaves bench guys on the floor in the playoffs when it's not working out. Those guys get the hook.

My point was there's more to getting a shooter going than generating an open look.

[jbk1234]

Guys like Niang and Merrill are paid to come in cold and start burying 3's, but as we've seen over the years it's a pretty high bar even for established shooters when the playoffs come around. There are reasons for it, but the solution has always been helping players find the range and get in to a rhythm; otherwise what are you doing? Sitting on the bench and crossing your fingers?

Obviously a playoff level defensive team like the Magic has been preparing to take away the things they've seen us do on tape, which means one of two things. Either we'd better be better at running those plays than they are at stopping them, or we'd better add some new wrinkles they haven't seen. The later would likely require spending some of that practice time on offense.

Most of Niang's shots have been open, if not wide open, and when he's not hitting them, he's not a net positive player. The reason he's on the Cavs is the Sixers viewed him as a guy who couldn't be relied on in the playoffs. He got very little postseason run for them and as a result and they weren't prepared to pay him.

Merrill wasn't even healthy enough to play in game 1, but if we're leading, and the Magic are struggling to get anything going offensively, I can't fault JBB for concluding it's not worth the risk that a guy like Cole Anthony gets going with Merrill on the floor.

Hopefully, the Cavs have at least a two series over which these guys get multiple opportunities to show they can provide positive value in the playoffs, but I'm aware of no successful organization that leaves bench guys on the floor in the playoffs when it's not working out. Those guys get the hook.

My point was there's more to getting a shooter going than generating an open look.

I think we just disagree that the question the coaching staff should be asking itself is how do we get George friggin Niang going when he comes in during a playoff game. Are you suggesting we run specific plays for him? If so, how are those plays going to work better than guys helping off of him and leaving him with open looks? He's on the floor to space the floor. He needs to knock down open shots.

[JonFromVA]

Most of Niang's shots have been open, if not wide open, and when he's not hitting them, he's not a net positive player. The reason he's on the Cavs is the Sixers viewed him as a guy who couldn't be relied on in the playoffs. He got very little postseason run for them and as a result and they weren't prepared to pay him.

Merrill wasn't even healthy enough to play in game 1, but if we're leading, and the Magic are struggling to get anything going offensively, I can't fault JBB for concluding it's not worth the risk that a guy like Cole Anthony gets going with Merrill on the floor.

Hopefully, the Cavs have at least a two series over which these guys get multiple opportunities to show they can provide positive value in the playoffs, but I'm aware of no successful organization that leaves bench guys on the floor in the playoffs when it's not working out. Those guys get the hook.

My point was there's more to getting a shooter going than generating an open look.

I think we just disagree that the question the coaching staff should be asking itself is how do we get George friggin Niang going when he comes in during a playoff game. Are you suggesting we run specific plays for him? If so, how are those plays going to work better than guys helping off of him and leaving him with open looks? He's on the floor to space the floor. He needs to knock down open shots.

Can you not use your imagination?

What if he's nervous? How do you get a player in the flow of the game and get him over the nerves.

What if he's just lost the range because he's coming in cold? How do you help a player find his rhythm?

This isn't my life, my career, it's theirs. They're supposed to recognize the problems and find the answers.

Traditionally you start a player out with easier stuff. Let him touch the ball. Let him get a layup, knock down a free throw, make a short jumper. Set him up in his favorite spot multiple times. Extra shooting before and/or after games seems to help some players.

There are few players who can come in to a game cold and just start burying 3's from different spots on the floor.

[toooskies]

Read on Twitter

[JujitsuFlip]

My point was there's more to getting a shooter going than generating an open look.

I think we just disagree that the question the coaching staff should be asking itself is how do we get George friggin Niang going when he comes in during a playoff game. Are you suggesting we run specific plays for him? If so, how are those plays going to work better than guys helping off of him and leaving him with open looks? He's on the floor to space the floor. He needs to knock down open shots.

Can you not use your imagination?

What if he's nervous? How do you get a player in the flow of the game and get him over the nerves.

What if he's just lost the range because he's coming in cold? How do you help a player find his rhythm?

This isn't my life, my career, it's theirs. They're supposed to recognize the problems and find the answers.

Traditionally you start a player out with easier stuff. Let him touch the ball. Let him get a layup, knock down a free throw, make a short jumper. Set him up in his favorite spot multiple times. Extra shooting before and/or after games seems to help some players.

There are few players who can come in to a game cold and just start burying 3's from different spots on the floor.

jb's solution is to cut their minutes and if that doesn't work, just remove em from the rotation lol

[jbk1234]

Read on Twitter

He can sit out this series, but if he's out for the next one, I'm trading him.

[ijspeelman]

[JujitsuFlip]

I think the Cavs are about to take the Magic's best punch in this one.

Can't wait to get off work and watch it!

[ijspeelman]

[ijspeelman]

I think the Cavs are about to take the Magic's best punch in this one.

Can't wait to get off work and watch it!

Neither team has shot particularly well, but w the Magic headed home, you'd think they'd shoot better

We will see

[ijspeelman]

Offensive rebounds are rearing their ugly head. Keeping Magic in the game

[ijspeelman]

Mitchell is visibly frustrated with himself.

Really need to come back and guard the threes while mitigating the offensive boards (o-boards got better as the half went on)

[JujitsuFlip]

Terrible start to game 3. As i said, this is the Magic's best punch.

Mitchell will need to shoot 20 more times in the 2nd half and try to get 50+ if the Cavs are gonna have a shot.