Game 46: Cavs @ Memphis 1/18/2023

[JonFromVA]

Memphis has won 10 in a row and in the process have passed the Cavs in defensive rating and net rating.

Michell is doubtful due to what they're calling a groin strain.

Assuming he doesn't go, Darius will have every opportunity to make his case as the best PG from the 2019 draft. There's a fair chance, he'll just have to do it with 4 guys who can't reliably shoot 3's let alone space the floor ... while Morant will have 2 good shooters and Brooks who will shoot a lot of 3's but is only at 33%.

If I remember right the last time we played Memphis, we did a nice job countering Adam's strength with our front-court speed, but that must had been in pre-season. Then again, I'm not sure we want to play Adams off the floor when Santi Aldama has been playing so well in limited minutes.

[ijspeelman]

Memphis has won 10 in a row and in the process have passed the Cavs in defensive rating and net rating.

Michell is doubtful due to what they're calling a groin strain.

Assuming he doesn't go, Darius will have every opportunity to make his case as the best PG from the 2019 draft. There's a fair chance, he'll just have to do it with 4 guys who can't reliably shoot 3's let alone space the floor ... while Morant will have 2 good shooters and Brooks who will shoot a lot of 3's but is only at 33%.

If I remember right the last time we played Memphis, we did a nice job countering Adam's strength with our front-court speed, but that must had been in pre-season. Then again, I'm not sure we want to play Adams off the floor when Santi Aldama has been playing so well in limited minutes.

Not that this game will make or break our season, but winning a game like this, especially without Mitchell, can really tell us how we are looking come playoff time.

We haven't stolen many games we should lose this season, and turning it up on these big nights should help us project success come postseason.

I'm expecting the Cavs to drop hard on Ja and pack the paint when Mobley and Allen are on the floor. Biggest threat will be Bane on these actions and they will need to do their best to block the passing angle without giving up easy ones in the paint. Doesn't seem easy, but we've seen the guys do it.

[JonFromVA]

Memphis has won 10 in a row and in the process have passed the Cavs in defensive rating and net rating.

Michell is doubtful due to what they're calling a groin strain.

Assuming he doesn't go, Darius will have every opportunity to make his case as the best PG from the 2019 draft. There's a fair chance, he'll just have to do it with 4 guys who can't reliably shoot 3's let alone space the floor ... while Morant will have 2 good shooters and Brooks who will shoot a lot of 3's but is only at 33%.

If I remember right the last time we played Memphis, we did a nice job countering Adam's strength with our front-court speed, but that must had been in pre-season. Then again, I'm not sure we want to play Adams off the floor when Santi Aldama has been playing so well in limited minutes.

Not that this game will make or break our season, but winning a game like this, especially without Mitchell, can really tell us how we are looking come playoff time.

We haven't stolen many games we should lose this season, and turning it up on these big nights should help us project success come postseason.

I'm expecting the Cavs to drop hard on Ja and pack the paint when Mobley and Allen are on the floor. Biggest threat will be Bane on these actions and they will need to do their best to block the passing angle without giving up easy ones in the paint. Doesn't seem easy, but we've seen the guys do it.

A win would be a lot of fun, but I imagine we'd need some crazy shooting on the road from players other than Garland. We do have Rubio back but presumably?/hopefully? JBB won't lean too hard on him.

It's hard to predict on our roster who it might be, but JBB can't be shy about looking for someone to help open up the game. Kevin, Cedi, and Caris would be the likely suspects but Rubio/Neto may get their chance too if the Griz load up on DG.

Unfortunately, what we really need to see before the playoffs is a starting lineup with both Garland and Mitchell that fires on all cylinders. That we can keep one of those guys on the floor when the other sits is supposed to be how we sustain/build on a lead, not create one.

[ijspeelman]

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[ijspeelman]

Don't usually like complaining about opposing players, buuuut lol @Ja complaining after EVERY shot.

[ijspeelman]

The Love Cedi cold streak is still going into this game. I love how many open looks we are getting them, but they aren't going down

[ijspeelman]

Okoro is 2/2 on threes and LeVert has a fairly efficient 19 at the half.

Impressed by our paint defense especially against Ja. We've had a few more defensive breakdowns today; mainly missing rotations. We've left a few Grizzlies wide, wide open and Bane once.

[ijspeelman]

Personally think we are getting lucky that Memphis is shooting 6/23 from three. We have given up a decent chunk of wide open shots and to decent shooters

[KuruptedCav]

Uno, dos, tres, 5 second violation.

Great effort by the Cavs with Mitchell out. Mobley and Okoro balling out.


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[afarmenian]

Another wasted game. When we are the 6 7th seed and only 2 games from the 3rd seed these are the games that really hurt. Horrible execution down the stretch but it's also hard to watch a guy get gift free throws just fall forward and get free throws the refs are embarrassing.

[jbk1234]

JBB really should've challenged that blocking call on Allen. If the league office wants to say defenders need to get out of the way because it's Morant, make the league office say it. You win that challenge, and it's game. It was a mistake not to.

[afarmenian]

JBB really should've challenged that blocking call on Allen. If the league office wants to say defenders need to get out of the way because it's Morant, make the league office say it. You win that challenge, and it's game. It was a mistake not to.

Wish somebody would ask but our reporters are pretty soft. What are you holding onto the challenge for but that moment?

[jbk1234]

Also, Garland's my favorite player, but what makes Garland so good is that he's a triple threat who takes what the defense gives him. Everyone knew he was going to try to be the hero on that last possession. Everyone knew the Cavs were going to try to inbound to him the play before. It's better to be unpredictable. It's much harder to defend.

[JonFromVA]

Also, Garland's my favorite player, but what make Garland so good is that he's a triple threat who takes what the defense gives him. Everyone knew he was going to try to be the hero on that last possession. Everyone knew the Cavs were going to try to inbound to him the play before. It's better to be unpredictable. It's much harder to defend.

According to the Memphis broadcast graphics the Cavs were sitting on a timeout. Was that not the case? Okoro could have burnt it to avoid the 5 sec (why was Isaac inbounding?) JBB could have risked it by challenging the Allen block. JBB could have used it to advance the ball and tell DG playing for the walkoff wasn't sound when behind, etc.

Lot of little dumb mistakes they hopefully won't be making in a couple years.

Ultimately everyone showed a lot of heart and really stepped up, but they're just too young. Can't waste possessions in the playoffs like that.

[jbk1234]

Also, Garland's my favorite player, but what make Garland so good is that he's a triple threat who takes what the defense gives him. Everyone knew he was going to try to be the hero on that last possession. Everyone knew the Cavs were going to try to inbound to him the play before. It's better to be unpredictable. It's much harder to defend.

According to the Memphis broadcast graphics the Cavs were sitting on a timeout. Was that not the case? Okoro could have burnt it to avoid the 5 sec (why was Isaac inbounding?) JBB could have risked it by challenging the Allen block. JBB could have used it to advance the ball and tell DG playing for the walkoff wasn't sound when behind, etc.

Lot of little dumb mistakes they hopefully won't be making in a couple years.

Ultimately everyone showed a lot of heart and really stepped up, but they're just too young. Can't waste possessions in the playoffs like that.

I'm hoping the learning curve isn't as steep as a couple of years.

[JonFromVA]

Also, Garland's my favorite player, but what make Garland so good is that he's a triple threat who takes what the defense gives him. Everyone knew he was going to try to be the hero on that last possession. Everyone knew the Cavs were going to try to inbound to him the play before. It's better to be unpredictable. It's much harder to defend.

According to the Memphis broadcast graphics the Cavs were sitting on a timeout. Was that not the case? Okoro could have burnt it to avoid the 5 sec (why was Isaac inbounding?) JBB could have risked it by challenging the Allen block. JBB could have used it to advance the ball and tell DG playing for the walkoff wasn't sound when behind, etc.

Lot of little dumb mistakes they hopefully won't be making in a couple years.

Ultimately everyone showed a lot of heart and really stepped up, but they're just too young. Can't waste possessions in the playoffs like that.

I'm hoping the learning curve isn't as steep as a couple of years.

We can hope, maybe get lucky or out talent some teams, but there's a reason championship teams are often littered with 30yr old players and have a coach who can draw up an inbound play.

How many years had the Jays and Smart been playing together before they went to the finals?

We're still in year 1 figuring out how to play with Mitchell.

[TheLand13]

I know the sample size is still pretty small but it needs to be said: Okoro has been thriving in the starting SF role and teams might need to start respecting him again.

I said at the start of the season that our best bet was to give him the starting role. I’m starting to think that I was right. Wade is just not trustworthy enough health wise and even when he was playing, he wasnt this impactful. Obviously being left wide open most of the time helps. But the question remains: who will be the first team to respect Okoros three point shooting. And when they do… how much of an impact will that have on our offense?

[KuruptedCav]

I know the sample size is still pretty small but it needs to be said: Okoro has been thriving in the starting SF role and teams might need to start respecting him again.

I said at the start of the season that our best bet was to give him the starting role. I’m starting to think that I was right. Wade is just not trustworthy enough health wise and even when he was playing, he wasnt this impactful. Obviously being left wide open most of the time helps. But the question remains: who will be the first team to respect Okoros three point shooting. And when they do… how much of an impact will that have on our offense?

Agreed on the small sample size. But we’ve seen this before in Dec 2021, then Feb/Mar 2022. With him, it’s always a volume issue. If he would average 5-6 3PA per 36; and hit them at a 35% clip (he can), then he’s your SF.

To do that, he needs a 25% increase in total FGA and a little over 50% of his FGAs coming from beyond the arc. That second rate metric is where he has improved YoY.

The book on defending Okoro is that since he has no mid-range game and shoots >60% of his shots at the rim, you can stay back on him and play the passing lanes, position to help off-ball or maintain position at the rim.

A lower usage Dillon Brooks…


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[ijspeelman]

That was an incredibly disappointing way to end a great game so I'm not going to be too negative about it.

I liked Mobley's presence throughout the game. Okoro had his best shooting performance of his career. I love Garland's ability to break down the defense even against the number one ranked D. LeVert had a good game breaking down the D and getting his.

Some untimely errors by players and coaching (and refs) lead to our demise, but its on to the next one.

[JonFromVA]

I don't mind Isaac being picky with his shot selection, and JBB has made it clear that clanking shots when the offense could be running more clock will get you pulled unless your last name is Mitchell, Garland, or Rubio. Only Isaac's last shot was even close to being contested as Ja skied to try at least get a hand up, but he makes them seem closer because he gets his shot off very slow. Who knows how long it will take to do something about that.

Something I keep my eye on is a stat called hv or "helper value" in popcornmachine.net's game flows, it's a simple stat that adds up all the positive non-scoring box-score stuff a player does and subtracts the negative and while it doesn't account for every play Isaac defends or every screen he fights through ... it would be really helpful if Isaac was contributing more to rebounds, steals, blocks, and assists which it does track. He's up a bit this year in rebounding, steals and blocks but down in assists.

Unless Altman can pull off a miracle, we're going to need to make some compromises at the SF spot; and I feel Isaac is certainly back in the race.

Speaking of compromises, Caris had a really impactful first half and then disappeared in the second half. Would be nice if he was more consistent and a cleaner fit on the team, but that's rather the story of our bench.