LivingLegend wrote:JonFromVA wrote:jbk1234 wrote:
Fair point regarding Okoro's age, but I think the Cavs need to ask themselves whether they can continue to allow him to develop as a starter if his shooting doesn't markedly improve by next season. I don't think the sample size of facing four defenders in or around the paint is limited. I think it's pretty vast - stretching back all the way to last season unless Hartenstein and/or Love was on the floor. The Cavs probably need to ask themselves whether facing those types of defenses night in and night out is good for Mobley's development at some point.
Again, your best players are your best players. You can't have every wing on the roster preferring to score within 15 feet of the basket unless you're starting Vuc or Gasol at center. The Cavs F.O. needs be clear eyed about that.
Sure, there's a point Isaac could be dropped as a starter. It might even happen as soon as Friday if Jarrett is activated, but I'm not making long-term decisions on what does or does not work with our starting lineup when that starting lineup is missing key players, just got back from an injury, not integrated yet, etc, etc.
I'm more than happy to let the numbers tell me what's working and what's not working.
Speaking of, 82games.com is not updated very often anymore, but they did just update their numbers for the regular season. Lots of interesting stats to start assimilating. For instance, Garland has not been an efficient scorer in clutch time. Two players who have been efficient in the clutch are Allen and Markkenen. Of course someone has to get them the ball ...
I think if the Cavs want to roll out another year of 3 Bigs in a lineup--the other 2 players on the court have to be playmakers because Lauri/Mobley/Allen all need fed. Its even more reason to bring back Rubio and/or do something at the SG spot. Which is why I lean towards Sexton at SG.
You cant keep putting 4 guys on the court who cant create their own offense and expect Garland to do everything. It worked when we had Rubio because he played 28min--but without another shot creator you are backing yourself into a corner big time.
This team is way too Garland dependent. If he were to go down like Sexton did--you can chalk up their entire season. We need a legitimate 2nd scoring option on the perimeter and a legit SF.
Again, I'm data driven and the data says we're ok as long as we have our big 3 in various combinations and that includes JBB's preferred starting lineup with Lauri and Isaac.
There was always a chance we were going to get figured out in the regular season or run smack in to a road block in the playoffs, but we can't know for sure because of the injuries.
And while we've spent a lot of time over the years pondering what the final touches would be to help turn our team in to a championship contender, it's just too early with this group.
We've identified our core ... that's pretty much mission accomplished for the season.
As for our supporting cast, consider for a moment that 6 of them ended up shooting 35% or better from 3pt, and that includes Rondo, Love, Wade, Markkanen, Osman, and even Okoro. While I wouldn't bet on Rondo staying in that list next year, Sexton could re-join it and LeVert has done it in the past and needs to get back there.
As a team, we shot 35.5% from 3pt and actually out-shot our opponents (by a whisker), so, in theory we should be able to exploit opponents who pack the paint on us and it wouldn't hurt if we saw continued shooting improvement and/or volume.