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Couple thoughts so far...

- I wish Okoro wasn't so hesitant to shoot.
- Surprised we couldn't abuse the Mobley vs. Royce O'Neal matchup.
- I believe Rudy Gay was their backup center for a brief moment?

But really... wtf is up with this O'Neal thing? A 6'4" PF? I know the dude is tough, but...

Contrary to whatever tf Austin Carr is on, Cavs need to be shooting outside when Gobert is in and attack when he's out. Idk what is more legendary: Rudy Gay as their backup center or the pass Ingles threw 10 feet above Conley.

They can't gass Stumps Gobert out, so they are trying to play smallball to give him some rest.

Not exactly working but they hold the ground and then Stumps returns and they take a bit of advantage again.

Will be like this 'til the clutch I guess.

This game is why I think Mobley is more of a KG styled 4 than a true center.

Also, Love is having a bad game. When that happens, Bickerstaff has to be mindful of how many non-shooters he's got on the floor with Rubio and stagger the rotations accordingly. I wouldn't mind waiting to get Love in until after the Jazz are in the penalty. Teams love fouling Love in the post.

Great game by Garland that was tarnished by a little too much hero ball those last two possessions. They had Mitchell trying to guard Mobley down low after a switch in the second to last possession. Also, if Lauri is going to be out there, the Cavs at least need to be using him as a safety outlet.

We fought 'til last second against a very good team, just one step behind contenders.
No bad feelings.

I might think we should have been more aggressive at the paint while Rudy the Stumps was resting and Rudy The Fatty was pretending to be a Center instead of having our 2nd unit Bigs living behind the 3p line, but it was a good game.

This whole game seemed like a "We could really use Sexton here" type of game. Someone that could iso-score with ease when they were struggling to find shots at times and then that shot by Garland at the end would've likely been a higher percentage shot with a great iso player. Yes I prefer Sexton, but anyone that could do that.

There's little reason to criticize the offense when the other team goes 20/48 from three. Not much you can do at all really as long as you're contesting shots.

toooskies wrote:There's little reason to criticize the offense when the other team goes 20/48 from three. Not much you can do at all really as long as you're contesting shots.

We could have contested more of those shots.

Utah's shooting + Rudy are a pretty good counter to our funky lineup and often questionable spacing.

I'm just not sure why we didn't use Okoro on Mitchell more.

And yet this team is growing up on the fly, we might just beat them next time. Darius needs to learn when he only needs 2, how to get a good look at one. If he doesn't want to call for a screen because of the risk of a switch or trap, then he'd better get to a better spot before launching.

(this should guarantee he knocks down his next 38ft game winning attempt)

toooskies wrote:There's little reason to criticize the offense when the other team goes 20/48 from three. Not much you can do at all really as long as you're contesting shots.

This is the first game I felt like Bickerstaff could've done a better job. Maybe stop helping off their shooters and make them put the ball on the floor and score in the paint. Also, I want a better play called on that last possession. It can't be a straight ISO with no outlet. If the Jazz are gonna sell out to stopping Garland/Allen, and why wouldn't they, you need either Lauri or Mobley spotting up.

JonFromVA wrote:

toooskies wrote:There's little reason to criticize the offense when the other team goes 20/48 from three. Not much you can do at all really as long as you're contesting shots.

We could have contested more of those shots.

Utah's shooting + Rudy are a pretty good counter to our funky lineup and often questionable spacing.

I'm just not sure why we didn't use Okoro on Mitchell more.

And yet this team is growing up on the fly, we might just beat them next time. Darius needs to learn when he only needs 2, how to get a good look at one. If he doesn't want to call for a screen because of the risk of a switch or trap, then he'd better get to a better spot before launching.

(this should guarantee he knocks down his next 38ft game winning attempt)

Yeah. Even I thought wtf when they had Markkanen on Mitchell and he couldn't anything to stop him. And they just continued to roll with it for too long.

But in the middle of all the b1thcing let's give them some props: they challenged a contender to the wire. I'm not sure many of us would've believed that a month ago.

This team is growing, enough said.

FranchisePlayer wrote:But in the middle of all the b1thcing let's give them some props: they challenged a contender to the wire. I'm not sure many of us would've believed that a month ago.

This team is growing, enough said.

This is well said. We have a really young team. Young teams are going to have young team moments - especially in close games. Sometimes experience is the best instructor.

cavs4872 wrote:Couple thoughts so far...

- I wish Okoro wasn't so hesitant to shoot.
- Surprised we couldn't abuse the Mobley vs. Royce O'Neal matchup.
- I believe Rudy Gay was their backup center for a brief moment?

But really... wtf is up with this O'Neal thing? A 6'4" PF? I know the dude is tough, but...

I remember Gay playing some at C for the Grizzlies in the good ole Barone days, with sexy results. What a visionary he was.

FranchisePlayer wrote:But in the middle of all the b1thcing let's give them some props: they challenged a contender to the wire. I'm not sure many of us would've believed that a month ago.

This team is growing, enough said.

The only issue I have with this coaching staff is how in the world is Lamar Stevens getting 10-15min per game over Dylan Windler. Those are Windlers mins. not Stevens. Having Okoro/Stevens on the court for a combined 40-45min per game creates a massive weakness of shooting.

So that would be my press conference question to JB. Why is Windler not getting those 10-15min and Lamar Stevens is.

I am dying for Windler to get 10-15mins for 30 games in a row to see him grow. Its like we have a potentially extremely valuable 1st round talent asset that we are letting rot in favor of a UDFA 2-way wing.

I need answers JB. Why.

LivingLegend wrote:

FranchisePlayer wrote:But in the middle of all the b1thcing let's give them some props: they challenged a contender to the wire. I'm not sure many of us would've believed that a month ago.

This team is growing, enough said.

The only issue I have with this coaching staff is how in the world is Lamar Stevens getting 10-15min per game over Dylan Windler. Those are Windlers mins. not Stevens. Having Okoro/Stevens on the court for a combined 40-45min per game creates a massive weakness of shooting.

So that would be my press conference question to JB. Why is Windler not getting those 10-15min and Lamar Stevens is.

I am dying for Windler to get 10-15mins for 30 games in a row to see him grow. Its like we have a potentially extremely valuable 1st round talent asset that we are letting rot in favor of a UDFA 2-way wing.

I need answers JB. Why.

Oh, the why is simple enough ... to JBB it's 48 minutes of tough wing defense and fwiw, Lamar is currently our on-court +/- leader (the Cavs are +7.1 when he's on the floor).

But it's fair to say JBB seems to know better how to use Lamar than Dylan. Having him sit and rot out at the 3pt line when the defense has so many other players to cheat off of isn't very productive. They should have in motion coming off screens, but I guess that's not the in the playbook this season.

Some opinions I've read on the subject suspect JBB sees the 5 positions as roles and the players simply slotting in to those roles. I'm not sure that really holds up, but perhaps has some validity for back of the rotation players. Alas, practice time is limited.

Or maybe JBB is just out to prove that floor spacing a bunch of modern BS ... grit & grind baby!

LivingLegend wrote:

FranchisePlayer wrote:But in the middle of all the b1thcing let's give them some props: they challenged a contender to the wire. I'm not sure many of us would've believed that a month ago.

This team is growing, enough said.

The only issue I have with this coaching staff is how in the world is Lamar Stevens getting 10-15min per game over Dylan Windler. Those are Windlers mins. not Stevens. Having Okoro/Stevens on the court for a combined 40-45min per game creates a massive weakness of shooting.

So that would be my press conference question to JB. Why is Windler not getting those 10-15min and Lamar Stevens is.

I am dying for Windler to get 10-15mins for 30 games in a row to see him grow. Its like we have a potentially extremely valuable 1st round talent asset that we are letting rot in favor of a UDFA 2-way wing.

I need answers JB. Why.

Well, Windler hasn't been playing very well.

He's shooting 28% since November 11th, 25% on threes. He's out there to stretch the floor but has only taken 4 threes total in his past 8 games played, and five of those games he played double-digit minutes.

He's been fouling a ton over that span, averaging 1.8 fouls in ~10 minutes per game. So fouling out if you gave him 36 minutes.

He hasn't had a positive +/- since 11/15.

toooskies wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:

FranchisePlayer wrote:But in the middle of all the b1thcing let's give them some props: they challenged a contender to the wire. I'm not sure many of us would've believed that a month ago.

This team is growing, enough said.

The only issue I have with this coaching staff is how in the world is Lamar Stevens getting 10-15min per game over Dylan Windler. Those are Windlers mins. not Stevens. Having Okoro/Stevens on the court for a combined 40-45min per game creates a massive weakness of shooting.

So that would be my press conference question to JB. Why is Windler not getting those 10-15min and Lamar Stevens is.

I am dying for Windler to get 10-15mins for 30 games in a row to see him grow. Its like we have a potentially extremely valuable 1st round talent asset that we are letting rot in favor of a UDFA 2-way wing.

I need answers JB. Why.

Well, Windler hasn't been playing very well.

He's shooting 28% since November 11th, 25% on threes. He's out there to stretch the floor but has only taken 4 threes total in his past 8 games played, and five of those games he played double-digit minutes.

He's been fouling a ton over that span, averaging 1.8 fouls in ~10 minutes per game. So fouling out if you gave him 36 minutes.

He hasn't had a positive +/- since 11/15.

He's also taken a grand total of 5 shots in 7 games since 11/15.

It shouldn't be that hard to get him open looks, but someone would have to try.

JonFromVA wrote:

toooskies wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:
The only issue I have with this coaching staff is how in the world is Lamar Stevens getting 10-15min per game over Dylan Windler. Those are Windlers mins. not Stevens. Having Okoro/Stevens on the court for a combined 40-45min per game creates a massive weakness of shooting.

So that would be my press conference question to JB. Why is Windler not getting those 10-15min and Lamar Stevens is.

I am dying for Windler to get 10-15mins for 30 games in a row to see him grow. Its like we have a potentially extremely valuable 1st round talent asset that we are letting rot in favor of a UDFA 2-way wing.

I need answers JB. Why.

Well, Windler hasn't been playing very well.

He's shooting 28% since November 11th, 25% on threes. He's out there to stretch the floor but has only taken 4 threes total in his past 8 games played, and five of those games he played double-digit minutes.

He's been fouling a ton over that span, averaging 1.8 fouls in ~10 minutes per game. So fouling out if you gave him 36 minutes.

He hasn't had a positive +/- since 11/15.

He's also taken a grand total of 5 shots in 7 games since 11/15.

It shouldn't be that hard to get him open looks, but someone would have to try.

Some of the responsibility for him not getting (or taking) open looks is on him.