Game 78: Kings @ Cavs 4/6/2025

[toooskies]

One concern I have is that Jerome's game can be rather heliocentric and sometimes it comes at the expense of Garland or Mitchell getting into rhythm. I'm not really sure what's to be done about it either as the better defender is always assigned to Garland or Mitchell. The smart basketball play is to let the guy with the weaker defender initiate the offense.

As far as the other end, we probably should've been forcing the ball out of LaVine's hands about halfway through the 4th quarter. The guy is on a multi-game heater. He had 43 last night against the Pistons.

I agree here, and that's one thing you notice without LeVert. Jerome and Hunter are get-mine players, which is great when they're converting those shots. But I feel like that style is leading Garland into trying to play with the same my-turn shooting and he's just not looking smooth out there.

[JonFromVA]

One concern I have is that Jerome's game can be rather heliocentric and sometimes it comes at the expense of Garland or Mitchell getting into rhythm. I'm not really sure what's to be done about it either as the better defender is always assigned to Garland or Mitchell. The smart basketball play is to let the guy with the weaker defender initiate the offense.

As far as the other end, we probably should've been forcing the ball out of LaVine's hands about halfway through the 4th quarter. The guy is on a multi-game heater. He had 43 last night against the Pistons.

I agree here, and that's one thing you notice without LeVert. Jerome and Hunter are get-mine players, which is great when they're converting those shots. But I feel like that style is leading Garland into trying to play with the same my-turn shooting and he's just not looking smooth out there.

Are you remembering LeVert right?

Jerome is 2nd on the Cavs this season in AST% well behind Garland and barely ahead of Mitchell and 4% higher than Caris.

Hunter and Jerome's decision making and shot making have been A+ in my book, if one of them hits a slump; let's hope they can adjust but we wanted guys who aren't shy to shoot so it goes with the territory.

I'm just curious how Kenny will work the rotations in the playoffs and whether he'll let one of our bench guys finish the game when they've got the hot hand.

[JujitsuFlip]

One concern I have is that Jerome's game can be rather heliocentric and sometimes it comes at the expense of Garland or Mitchell getting into rhythm. I'm not really sure what's to be done about it either as the better defender is always assigned to Garland or Mitchell. The smart basketball play is to let the guy with the weaker defender initiate the offense.

As far as the other end, we probably should've been forcing the ball out of LaVine's hands about halfway through the 4th quarter. The guy is on a multi-game heater. He had 43 last night against the Pistons.

I agree here, and that's one thing you notice without LeVert. Jerome and Hunter are get-mine players, which is great when they're converting those shots. But I feel like that style is leading Garland into trying to play with the same my-turn shooting and he's just not looking smooth out there.

Are you remembering LeVert right?

Jerome is 2nd on the Cavs this season in AST% well behind Garland and barely ahead of Mitchell and 4% higher than Caris.

Hunter and Jerome's decision making and shot making have been A+ in my book, if one of them hits a slump; let's hope they can adjust but we wanted guys who aren't shy to shoot so it goes with the territory.

I'm just curious how Kenny will work the rotations in the playoffs and whether he'll let one of our bench guys finish the game when they've got the hot hand.

I'd say Jerome, Hunter, and Strus are locks to be in the playoff rotation every night with the core 4.

Then pick 1 or 2 of Merrill, Okoro, Wade, Green, and Okeke to join them.

[toooskies]

One concern I have is that Jerome's game can be rather heliocentric and sometimes it comes at the expense of Garland or Mitchell getting into rhythm. I'm not really sure what's to be done about it either as the better defender is always assigned to Garland or Mitchell. The smart basketball play is to let the guy with the weaker defender initiate the offense.

As far as the other end, we probably should've been forcing the ball out of LaVine's hands about halfway through the 4th quarter. The guy is on a multi-game heater. He had 43 last night against the Pistons.

I agree here, and that's one thing you notice without LeVert. Jerome and Hunter are get-mine players, which is great when they're converting those shots. But I feel like that style is leading Garland into trying to play with the same my-turn shooting and he's just not looking smooth out there.

Are you remembering LeVert right?

Jerome is 2nd on the Cavs this season in AST% well behind Garland and barely ahead of Mitchell and 4% higher than Caris.

Hunter and Jerome's decision making and shot making have been A+ in my book, if one of them hits a slump; let's hope they can adjust but we wanted guys who aren't shy to shoot so it goes with the territory.

I'm just curious how Kenny will work the rotations in the playoffs and whether he'll let one of our bench guys finish the game when they've got the hot hand.

Jerome’s also got much higher usage than LeVert. Caris was playing a lot better this year and was a key reason for our hot start. He cut out a lot of his isos and midrange shots and moved the ball.

Jerome and Hunter call their own number a lot. That’s not to put them down or anything, you need that when the offense gets bogged down. But it can also cause the offense to get disconnected. We are at our best when the ball is flying around.

LeVert ran most of his iso stuff at the end of quarters or late in the shot clock. And he didn’t need to do that much this year because our pace improved.

That is definitely in contrast to LeVert in past years.

[jbk1234]

I agree here, and that's one thing you notice without LeVert. Jerome and Hunter are get-mine players, which is great when they're converting those shots. But I feel like that style is leading Garland into trying to play with the same my-turn shooting and he's just not looking smooth out there.

Are you remembering LeVert right?

Jerome is 2nd on the Cavs this season in AST% well behind Garland and barely ahead of Mitchell and 4% higher than Caris.

Hunter and Jerome's decision making and shot making have been A+ in my book, if one of them hits a slump; let's hope they can adjust but we wanted guys who aren't shy to shoot so it goes with the territory.

I'm just curious how Kenny will work the rotations in the playoffs and whether he'll let one of our bench guys finish the game when they've got the hot hand.

Jerome’s also got much higher usage than LeVert. Caris was playing a lot better this year and was a key reason for our hot start. He cut out a lot of his isos and midrange shots and moved the ball.

Jerome and Hunter call their own number a lot. That’s not to put them down or anything, you need that when the offense gets bogged down. But it can also cause the offense to get disconnected. We are at our best when the ball is flying around.

LeVert ran most of his iso stuff at the end of quarters or late in the shot clock. And he didn’t need to do that much this year because our pace improved.

That is definitely in contrast to LeVert in past years.

I draw a distinction between Hunter and Jerome in that they were acquired to fill different roles. Jerome is a backup PG who plays more like SG. Hunter was brought in because none of LeVert, Wade nor Okoro are reliable options offensively.

Hunter should be forcing opposing defenses to pick their poison when he's on the floor. You don't want to let the opposing team hide their weakest defender. Under those conditions, Jerome should eat as well. It's just that the offense can go through stretches where the rest of the team doesn't really touch the ball with Ty as the primary ball handler and there's a cost to that.