2024-25 Regular Season

JujitsuFlip · Post #961 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Sun Jan 26, 2025 9:46 pm

jbk1234 wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2025/01/why-evan-mobley-sounded-cavs-alarm-after-rockets-loss-and-how-wake-up-call-might-help-jimmy-watkins.html?outputType=amp

Wow, Cavs defense fell off a cliff.

We are the 29th ranked D for the month of January.

I do think the schedule and injuries are a part of it but glad the team isn't using it as an excuse.

It would be nice to have someone like jb be our "defensive coordinator". Kenny is damn good at offense but the other side of the ball has suffered, after early success.

This isn't schematic. It's the personnel that's on the floor. Niang, plus one of Merrill/Jerome, plus one of Garland/Mitchell, constitutes three players who range from awful to barely passable on defense. We often have four of them on the floor at the same time. We papered over some liabilities with the zone, but that's been scouted and opponents have been pummeling the weak spots.

I think you can get away with playing Niang in units that have two of Strus, Okoro, or Lavine (maybe Tyson), but that's it really, and it's well past time to ask whether that's justifies us continuing to have him on this roster.

Yeah, from the article, you can tell Kenny is struggling with minute allocation.

toooskies · Post #962 » by **toooskies** » Mon Jan 27, 2025 3:10 pm

jbk1234 wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2025/01/why-evan-mobley-sounded-cavs-alarm-after-rockets-loss-and-how-wake-up-call-might-help-jimmy-watkins.html?outputType=amp

Wow, Cavs defense fell off a cliff.

We are the 29th ranked D for the month of January.

I do think the schedule and injuries are a part of it but glad the team isn't using it as an excuse.

It would be nice to have someone like jb be our "defensive coordinator". Kenny is damn good at offense but the other side of the ball has suffered, after early success.

This isn't schematic. It's the personnel that's on the floor. Niang, plus one of Merrill/Jerome, plus one of Garland/Mitchell, constitutes three players who range from awful to barely passable on defense. We often have four of them on the floor at the same time. We papered over some liabilities with the zone, but that's been scouted and opponents have been pummeling the weak spots.

I think you can get away with playing Niang in units that have two of Strus, Okoro, or Lavine (maybe Tyson), but that's it really, and it's well past time to ask whether that's justifies us continuing to have him on this roster.

Niang is shooting 48% from three in January and is still a -9.6 plus/minus in January.

LeVert is shooting 26% from three in January and is a -8.5 plus/minus.

Sam Merrill is shooting 27% from three in January and is still a +13.3 plus/minus in January.

Okoro is shooting under 10% from three in January and has the highest plus/minus on the team (in only five games).

Not sure if that's terribly enlightening but I've always said that Niang is valuable as long as he's shooting well. Hasn't been the case this month! But he's looked more like last year's Niang of late than early-season Niang. Maybe because he's out there less with two other bigs, so there's less abilty to hide him. Or maybe the schedule just got harder.

Post #963 » by **jbk1234** » Mon Jan 27, 2025 3:30 pm

toooskies wrote:
jbk1234 wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2025/01/why-evan-mobley-sounded-cavs-alarm-after-rockets-loss-and-how-wake-up-call-might-help-jimmy-watkins.html?outputType=amp

Wow, Cavs defense fell off a cliff.

We are the 29th ranked D for the month of January.

I do think the schedule and injuries are a part of it but glad the team isn't using it as an excuse.

It would be nice to have someone like jb be our "defensive coordinator". Kenny is damn good at offense but the other side of the ball has suffered, after early success.

This isn't schematic. It's the personnel that's on the floor. Niang, plus one of Merrill/Jerome, plus one of Garland/Mitchell, constitutes three players who range from awful to barely passable on defense. We often have four of them on the floor at the same time. We papered over some liabilities with the zone, but that's been scouted and opponents have been pummeling the weak spots.

I think you can get away with playing Niang in units that have two of Strus, Okoro, or Lavine (maybe Tyson), but that's it really, and it's well past time to ask whether that's justifies us continuing to have him on this roster.

Niang is shooting 48% from three in January and is still a -9.6 plus/minus in January.

LeVert is shooting 26% from three in January and is a -8.5 plus/minus.

Sam Merrill is shooting 27% from three in January and is still a +13.3 plus/minus in January.

Okoro is shooting under 10% from three in January and has the highest plus/minus on the team (in only five games).

Not sure if that's terribly enlightening but I've always said that Niang is valuable as long as he's shooting well. Hasn't been the case this month! But he's looked more like last year's Niang of late than early-season Niang. Maybe because he's out there less with two other bigs, so there's less abilty to hide him. Or maybe the schedule just got harder.

Merrill was -16 Saturday night so I wonder if those numbers included that game. I still like Merrill, I just don't like how he's being used. Kenny seems wedded to the idea that max offense can always win regardless of how bad you crater your defense (and rebounding). There could be alternative explanations for his decision making here. I guess we'll know one way or another by February 6th.

toooskies · Post #964 » by **toooskies** » Mon Jan 27, 2025 3:45 pm

jbk1234 wrote:
toooskies wrote:
jbk1234 wrote:
This isn't schematic. It's the personnel that's on the floor. Niang, plus one of Merrill/Jerome, plus one of Garland/Mitchell, constitutes three players who range from awful to barely passable on defense. We often have four of them on the floor at the same time. We papered over some liabilities with the zone, but that's been scouted and opponents have been pummeling the weak spots.

I think you can get away with playing Niang in units that have two of Strus, Okoro, or Lavine (maybe Tyson), but that's it really, and it's well past time to ask whether that's justifies us continuing to have him on this roster.

Niang is shooting 48% from three in January and is still a -9.6 plus/minus in January.

LeVert is shooting 26% from three in January and is a -8.5 plus/minus.

Sam Merrill is shooting 27% from three in January and is still a +13.3 plus/minus in January.

Okoro is shooting under 10% from three in January and has the highest plus/minus on the team (in only five games).

Not sure if that's terribly enlightening but I've always said that Niang is valuable as long as he's shooting well. Hasn't been the case this month! But he's looked more like last year's Niang of late than early-season Niang. Maybe because he's out there less with two other bigs, so there's less abilty to hide him. Or maybe the schedule just got harder.

Merrill was -16 Saturday night so I wonder if those numbers included that game. I still like Merrill, I just don't like how he's being used. Kenny seems wedded to the idea that max offense can always win regardless of how bad you crater your defense (and rebounding). There could be alternative explanations for his decision making here. I guess we'll know one way or another by February 6th.

I pulled them just now from bbref, should be fresh. But looking at the game log, a major factor is Merrill only played the 4th quarter against OKC, so while most of the team had big negatives in their plus/minus, he had a +18 in that game. But he's generally been slightly better than the overall team performance discounting that.

Merrill is playing better defense out there than a lot of our perimeter guys. I think part of that is because Mitchell and Garland have had to push the issue on offense and that's leading to less-engaged defense at the point of attack and slower rotations/contests.

JonFromVA · Post #965 » by **JonFromVA** » Mon Jan 27, 2025 6:46 pm

Evan is really important to our defense, let's get him back to 100%.

JujitsuFlip · Post #966 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Tue Jan 28, 2025 12:01 pm

https://hoopshype.com/rumor/dean-wade-out-multiple-weeks/

Unfortunately it seems right on queue, Wade out through the All-Star break..

Which we've seen this before, probably will actually be out until the playoffs.

toooskies · Post #967 » by **toooskies** » Tue Jan 28, 2025 2:31 pm

JujitsuFlip wrote:https://hoopshype.com/rumor/dean-wade-out-multiple-weeks/

Unfortunately it seems right on queue, Wade out through the All-Star break..

Which we've seen this before, probably will actually be out until the playoffs.

Let's not worry too much about a bone bruise. It's a lot better news than a sprain or tendinitis.

I'm much more concerned about Okoro's shoulder. If it affects his shot too much (like it did on comeback attempt #1) that seriously hurts his value in the playoffs.

JujitsuFlip · Post #968 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Tue Jan 28, 2025 3:38 pm

toooskies wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:https://hoopshype.com/rumor/dean-wade-out-multiple-weeks/

Unfortunately it seems right on queue, Wade out through the All-Star break..

Which we've seen this before, probably will actually be out until the playoffs.

Let's not worry too much about a bone bruise. It's a lot better news than a sprain or tendinitis.

I'm much more concerned about Okoro's shoulder. If it affects his shot too much (like it did on comeback attempt #1) that seriously hurts his value in the playoffs.

We should trade Okoro by next Thursday so it's not our worry either way lol

JujitsuFlip · Post #969 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Tue Jan 28, 2025 7:10 pm

toooskies wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:https://hoopshype.com/rumor/dean-wade-out-multiple-weeks/

Unfortunately it seems right on queue, Wade out through the All-Star break..

Which we've seen this before, probably will actually be out until the playoffs.

Let's not worry too much about a bone bruise. It's a lot better news than a sprain or tendinitis.

I'm much more concerned about Okoro's shoulder. If it affects his shot too much (like it did on comeback attempt #1) that seriously hurts his value in the playoffs.

The guy went on paternity leave March 10th 2024 and we did not see him play a game again until the 2nd round of the playoffs (May 11th).

So I never take anything with Wade's health as a grain of salt. Guy could be out for the season with this bone bruise, for all we know.

Post #970 » by **jbk1234** » Tue Jan 28, 2025 9:20 pm

Welp, Wade's out for at least two weeks with a bone bruise.

Post #971 » by **ijspeelman** » Thu Jan 30, 2025 11:49 pm

Garland and Mobley named all-star reserves!

JujitsuFlip · Post #972 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Sat Feb 1, 2025 3:53 pm

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/02/how-the-cavs-zone-defense-works-and-why-it-has-been-a-success.html?outputType=amp

Nothing too in-depth and some here dislike the zone but cool to see it in a couple different scenarios.

Post #973 » by **ijspeelman** » Sun Feb 2, 2025 10:41 pm

40 wins before 10 losses

toooskies · Post #974 » by **toooskies** » Mon Feb 3, 2025 6:43 pm

Fedor reported Wade is close to 100%, although caution may keep him out till after the All-Star Break.

Post #975 » by **ijspeelman** » Fri Feb 7, 2025 2:37 am

Idk if LNJ is a buyout guy but would also love him

JujitsuFlip · Post #976 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Fri Feb 7, 2025 2:50 am

ijspeelman wrote:Idk if LNJ is a buyout guy but would also love him

I always say this when people bring him up, but i see no need for a 6'7" center lol

Post #977 » by **ijspeelman** » Fri Feb 7, 2025 2:51 am

JujitsuFlip wrote:
ijspeelman wrote:Idk if LNJ is a buyout guy but would also love him
I always say this when people bring him up, but i see no need for a 6'7" center lol

I think I just have to put into the context that what we are getting is a buy-out guy so the guy is going to have his flaws. I like that theoretically LNJ can play next to either Mobley or Allen

JujitsuFlip · Post #978 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Fri Feb 7, 2025 3:04 am

ijspeelman wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:
ijspeelman wrote:Idk if LNJ is a buyout guy but would also love him
I always say this when people bring him up, but i see no need for a 6'7" center lol

I think I just have to put into the context that what we are getting is a buy-out guy so the guy is going to have his flaws. I like that theoretically LNJ can play next to either Mobley or Allen

Meh, give me Hunter or Wade in those situations. Strus/Okoro in a pinch.

If we sign a big guy to one of the open spots, he needs to have legit NBA size, in my estimation.

JonFromVA · Post #979 » by **JonFromVA** » Fri Feb 7, 2025 4:45 am

JujitsuFlip wrote:
ijspeelman wrote:Idk if LNJ is a buyout guy but would also love him
I always say this when people bring him up, but i see no need for a 6'7" center lol

His 7'2" wingspan is handy, he's also a smart savvy player who'd fit in well if he has anything left in the tank.

JujitsuFlip · Post #980 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Fri Feb 7, 2025 2:07 pm

JonFromVA wrote:
JujitsuFlip wrote:
ijspeelman wrote:Idk if LNJ is a buyout guy but would also love him
I always say this when people bring him up, but i see no need for a 6'7" center lol

His 7'2" wingspan is handy, he's also a smart savvy player who'd fit in well if he has anything left in the tank.

He can have a 9'9" standing reach like Mark Williams, i still don't want him back lol

His shot seems to have improved but he left a lot to be desired in that area his first stint. Also, i know there's no cure for Crohn's disease but i really did feel like it made him be low energy sometimes, not his fault, just another variable.

Then this is more so just something that sticks with me as funny but when he walked right past the kid wanting an autograph like he didn't exist LOL