Cavs at Raptors

[ijspeelman]

There are going to be some bumps in the road early on. Our schedule is brutal and Garland/Mitchell need time to gel. Cavs need to do a better job of getting the ball to Allen early on when there's an undersized guy guarding him. He has to get better at passing the ball back out when he's getting double/triple teamed.

But we're a lot better after game one this season and that's without Rubio and with Garland missing the entire half.

I'm not convinced that the Raptors approach scales over an 82 game season. Their starters, especially FVV, just play way, way too many minutes. The foul all the time, and on the road, or with the wrong crew, that's not going to fly. Teams will start chirping about it, or get physical right back at them.

You're spot on, it's not sustainable and it was proven last year. Fred was on one leg in the first round and it cost us.

Tonight was the same problem as last year, our bench was a huge negative. Yeah, we're missing Porter and Boucher...but still. There was no pop off the bench.

You guys would really benefit from a back-up PG or another playmaking wing. Outside of FVV, Siakam, and kinda Barnes there are not enough playmakers out there for when two of the three hit the bench.

[Duffman100]

There are going to be some bumps in the road early on. Our schedule is brutal and Garland/Mitchell need time to gel. Cavs need to do a better job of getting the ball to Allen early on when there's an undersized guy guarding him. He has to get better at passing the ball back out when he's getting double/triple teamed.

But we're a lot better after game one this season and that's without Rubio and with Garland missing the entire half.

I'm not convinced that the Raptors approach scales over an 82 game season. Their starters, especially FVV, just play way, way too many minutes. The foul all the time, and on the road, or with the wrong crew, that's not going to fly. Teams will start chirping about it, or get physical right back at them.

You're spot on, it's not sustainable and it was proven last year. Fred was on one leg in the first round and it cost us.

Tonight was the same problem as last year, our bench was a huge negative. Yeah, we're missing Porter and Boucher...but still. There was no pop off the bench.

You guys would really benefit from a back-up PG or another playmaking wing. Outside of FVV, Siakam, and kinda Barnes there are not enough playmakers out there for when two of the three hit the bench.

That was suppose to be Malachi Flynn. Who actually is a pretty decent defender and intangible guy. But has a terrible first step and hasn't been able to find his shot. No first step and no shot is pretty bad combo.

I was hoping they swing a deal for Eric Gordon. I think he'd slot into that bench unit pretty nicely.

[toooskies]

The Cavs' worst two plays were both nearly the same-- Allen got mauled by a triple team and got knocked to the ground, got up slow, and the Raptors got an easy basket going 5 on 4. Those two plays were enough to be the difference tonight.

Or you know, any of the hits to the face being called a flagrant.

[jbk1234]

The Cavs' worst two plays were both nearly the same-- Allen got mauled by a triple team and got knocked to the ground, got up slow, and the Raptors got an easy basket going 5 on 4. Those two plays were enough to be the difference tonight.

Or you know, any of the hits to the face being called a flagrant.

I'd like to see Allen pass out of that triple team (he was definitely fouled though). His teammates need to show there so that he's got a clean passing lane. They also need to make sure he eats earlier in the game so he's not reluctant to pass back out, especially when he's close to the basket with a single defender on him.

You don't want to go nuclear on the officiating early on. Teams will start chirping about how the Raptors are allowed to play in Toronto. You want to join that choir, not lead in after Game 1. We have Lopez and Stevens if we need to force an issue with the officials.

[jasonxxx102]

Good, hard fought game overall. Offense really struggled without Garland and Mitchell on the floor. Neto just can't do anything

Just some thoughts before rewatching anything.

I thought LeVert would be a terrible fit but he actually had a decent game I thought. Made a couple shots, had some nice passes, and I thought he gave a great effort defensively.

Mobley was really aggressive in the 1st half and then kind of just disappeared? At least it felt that way once Garland went out.

Mitchell is awesome. This team has so many weapons.

Okoro did less than nothing so there's really nothing to comment on there. Cedi looked really solid offensively.

[cupcakesnake]

There are going to be some bumps in the road early on. Our schedule is brutal and Garland/Mitchell need time to gel. Cavs need to do a better job of getting the ball to Allen early on when there's an undersized guy guarding him. He has to get better at passing the ball back out when he's getting double/triple teamed.

But we're a lot better after game one this season and that's without Rubio and with Garland missing the entire half.

I'm not convinced that the Raptors approach scales over an 82 game season. Their starters, especially FVV, just play way, way too many minutes. The foul all the time, and on the road, or with the wrong crew, that's not going to fly. Teams will start chirping about it, or get physical right back at them.

You're spot on, it's not sustainable and it was proven last year. Fred was on one leg in the first round and it cost us.

Tonight was the same problem as last year, our bench was a huge negative. Yeah, we're missing Porter and Boucher...but still. There was no pop off the bench.

You guys would really benefit from a back-up PG or another playmaking wing. Outside of FVV, Siakam, and kinda Barnes there are not enough playmakers out there for when two of the three hit the bench.

One playmaking element I noticed tonight from the Raps was OG driving into the paint, then going into a post-up looking to pass. He's done this in past seasons but it always looked like bad improvisation after a failed drive. Last night he seemed to be doing it more purposefully. For a Raps team that doesn't have 1 elite source of rim pressure, they need small measures like this to add up.

All night it was fun to watch the Cavs 7 footers wrestle with the Raps big wing armada. Pardon the pun but it was like watching a pack of Raptors fight with a couple t-rex. Sometimes the Cavs were just too big and could wipe out nice plays from the Raps, but over the game they did seem to chip away at them in the paint.

[mcfly1204]

I am really looking forward to see which role players step up this season. The ask should be a lot less than years past, with niches being more clear. Can Cedi can knock down shots consistently off the bench? Will we see a repeat year for Love? Agreed with the comments on LeVert last night...

[JonFromVA]

For a team that doesn't foul, we sure got called for a lot of fouls. I was watching the Raptors feed and they weren't too interested in showing close-up's of questionable calls on their guys, but Isaac clearly wants to play aggressive defense and the refs aren't letting him. Meanwhile the Raptors are throwing their hands everywhere.

Also curious if one of their points of emphasis was to stop slowing down games for flagrant foul reviews, definitely some hard shots that I thought would have triggered one in the past.

Anyway, Garland was struggling and was taken out of the game so couldn't get his act together and Evan is clearly still getting his legs back under him and tried to do too much but I'm sure we want him to. Mitchell certainly showed some of the next level abilities we hoped we were buying. I'll miss Lauri and Collin, but they simply can't do the things he does - against all those long players and long arms all focused to stop him.

Good news is it sounds like DG won't miss much time - and as terrific as he was last season - we need to keep in mind he's still got a lot to learn about dealing with different situations and opponents. Looks like he has a back-court mate to help him with that.

[ijspeelman]

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[ijspeelman]

Surprised it took Garland going down for Neto to get minutes

Against a good team, and with all of Garland, Mitchell, and LeVert as options, I'm not.

After seeing him play, I now easily agree with you. Looked lost out there yesterday. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though as it was only the first game.

I didn’t like a lot of the decisions he made in general (when to shoot, not shoot, and his passes). As a lead ballhandler, that’s extremely worrying.

[JonFromVA]

Surprised it took Garland going down for Neto to get minutes

Against a good team, and with all of Garland, Mitchell, and LeVert as options, I'm not.

After seeing him play, I now easily agree with you. Looked lost out there yesterday. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though as it was only the first game.

I didn’t like a lot of the decisions he made in general (when to shoot, not shoot, and his passes). As a lead ballhandler, that’s extremely worrying.

So far, I liked Neto a lot more when he was playing against us.

Any clue what our percentage of set plays .vs. random offense is?

I don't get the idea our offense has much structure/depth and that may not work with a player like Neto. Might be part of Cedi's problem too and even Evan's because when we keep seeing that when someone other than Garland, Donovan, or Ricky try to run the offense they generally seem to be biting off more than they can chew and the reason could be that the "system" does little to help them.

[jbk1234]

Against a good team, and with all of Garland, Mitchell, and LeVert as options, I'm not.

After seeing him play, I now easily agree with you. Looked lost out there yesterday. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though as it was only the first game.

I didn’t like a lot of the decisions he made in general (when to shoot, not shoot, and his passes). As a lead ballhandler, that’s extremely worrying.

So far, I liked Neto a lot more when he was playing against us.

Any clue what our percentage of set plays .vs. random offense is?

I don't get the idea our offense has much structure/depth and that may not work with a player like Neto. Might be part of Cedi's problem too and even Evan's because when we keep seeing that when someone other than Garland, Donovan, or Ricky try to run the offense they generally seem to be biting off more than they can chew and the reason could be that the "system" does little to help them.

I mean he is who he is and the Raptors are who they are. When they're aggressively blitzing like that and the refs are swallowing their whistles, it's tougher on smaller guards. I felt like even Garland got into trouble against them.

Neto's a backup who was available for the league minimum. He's better than the G League rotation we've been using as backups after Rubio and Exum got injured, but that's it. If he can give us serious minutes against bad teams when we're up, so JBB can get Garland and Rubio rest. Or just hold leads against meh teams, he's served his purpose.

[JonFromVA]

After seeing him play, I now easily agree with you. Looked lost out there yesterday. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though as it was only the first game.

I didn’t like a lot of the decisions he made in general (when to shoot, not shoot, and his passes). As a lead ballhandler, that’s extremely worrying.

So far, I liked Neto a lot more when he was playing against us.

Any clue what our percentage of set plays .vs. random offense is?

I don't get the idea our offense has much structure/depth and that may not work with a player like Neto. Might be part of Cedi's problem too and even Evan's because when we keep seeing that when someone other than Garland, Donovan, or Ricky try to run the offense they generally seem to be biting off more than they can chew and the reason could be that the "system" does little to help them.

I mean he is who he is and the Raptors are who they are. When they're aggressively blitzing like that and the refs are swallowing their whistles, it's tougher on smaller guards. I felt like even Garland got into trouble against them.

Neto's a backup who was available for the league minimum. He's better than the G League rotation we've been using as backups after Rubio and Exum got injured, but that's it. If he can give us serious minutes against bad teams when we're up, so JBB can get Garland and Rubio rest. Or just hold leads against meh teams, he's served his purpose.

Garland did get in to trouble against them and turned the ball over way too much ... he'd have an easier time too if we weren't so reliant on our ball handler breaking down the defense on his own.

Fortunately, Mitchell was up to the challenge.

The "fix" might have been as simple as playing Lopez and seeing what some decent screens would have done.