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The guy is finally playing with some confidence offensively. Shooting 35% for the season and 39% if you take out the 0-12 start to the season. Attacking the basket with purpose, making smart passes, and of course (not that there was ever a question) playing elite on-ball perimeter defense.

Okoro takes the opponents best creator every game and he's been the Cavs best perimeter defender by a mile this season.

He's a key piece of this team and it's really great to see him playing so well

Yes, I'm so glad Isaac turned around his ugly start to the season and has even been expanding his role a bit.

JonFromVA wrote:Yes, I'm so glad Isaac turned around his ugly start to the season and has even been expanding his role a bit.

He's shooting and making contested threes now. Good to see the work paying off.

toooskies wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:Yes, I'm so glad Isaac turned around his ugly start to the season and has even been expanding his role a bit.

He's shooting and making contested threes now. Good to see the work paying off.

Okoro WTF is this

I said from the beginning that Okoro needed to be our starting SF. I felt it was good for his development and I was confident that he could continue to be a positive asset to our team.

He’s really turned corner and has become a surprisingly reliable 3/D threat on this team. Opponents are continuing to leave him open and he’s continuing to not only make them pay, but he’s gaining a lot more confidence. He’s not afraid to shoot the ball and as we just saw against the wizards, he’a even doing pull ups with defenders close to him off of jab steps.

With Okoro playing well and Wade back to playing again, Cleveland’s offense is really starting to thrive and we’ve looked incredible these last three games. This is the first time in a while that I’m extremely excited about how we’re playing again.

Yeah he's looked good. I might've given up on him too soon. He can be a solid player in this league if he gets consistent from the corner because his defense has been awesome this season and he's attacking closeouts and finishing strong at the hoop.

We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

We want to see a young player flashing the talents we hope will become consistent eventually, even against a pretty clueless team .... not whatever that was in the first part of the season.

What we've always needed was someone to step up and take the SF spot, and Isaac's doing that. The starting unit has been playing well, even though Mitchell is playing hurt.

JonFromVA wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

We want to see a young player flashing the talents we hope will become consistent eventually, even against a pretty clueless team .... not whatever that was in the first part of the season.

What we've always needed was someone to step up and take the SF spot, and Isaac's doing that. The starting unit has been playing well, even though Mitchell is playing hurt.

Isaac is still a little on the short end for SF and the Cavs are going to need explore starting Wade against guys like Tatum. Durant, etc.

jbk1234 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

We want to see a young player flashing the talents we hope will become consistent eventually, even against a pretty clueless team .... not whatever that was in the first part of the season.

What we've always needed was someone to step up and take the SF spot, and Isaac's doing that. The starting unit has been playing well, even though Mitchell is playing hurt.

Isaac is still a little on the short end for SF and the Cavs are going to need explore starting Wade against guys like Tatum. Durant, etc.

I don't think you change the starting 5 situationally, but I can see Wade coming off the bench quickly if\when Okoro has a rough matchup. I would expect him to get more physical as the game continues to slow down, which should help offset him not having ideal length.

jbk1234 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

We want to see a young player flashing the talents we hope will become consistent eventually, even against a pretty clueless team .... not whatever that was in the first part of the season.

What we've always needed was someone to step up and take the SF spot, and Isaac's doing that. The starting unit has been playing well, even though Mitchell is playing hurt.

Isaac is still a little on the short end for SF and the Cavs are going to need explore starting Wade against guys like Tatum. Durant, etc.

Okoro is significantly better at defending big forwards, better defending everyone, really. If he uses up his fouls that's fine but asking Wade to start against guys like Tatum and Durant is a recipe for disaster.

Okoro is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. Wade is fine but let's not get carried away

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

With each passing game, the sample size increases. I’m not saying it’s large enough to come to a conclusion that this is what we should expect going forward, but…

Well, let me put it this way. If teams aren’t going to take Okoro seriously, that will only benefit him. Having these wide open looks that we know he can make will help the likelihood that his shot continues to fall because… well, you’d rather have that over a contested three. But if teams start taking him seriously, that just opens up our offense, which will do wonders for us.

So, I welcome this. Keep letting either scenario happen. I think we’ve gotten to the point where this is a clear win/win scenario for us.

jbk1234 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

We want to see a young player flashing the talents we hope will become consistent eventually, even against a pretty clueless team .... not whatever that was in the first part of the season.

What we've always needed was someone to step up and take the SF spot, and Isaac's doing that. The starting unit has been playing well, even though Mitchell is playing hurt.

Isaac is still a little on the short end for SF and the Cavs are going to need explore starting Wade against guys like Tatum. Durant, etc.

Everyone was on the "short end" vs KP last night and he was hot, but didn't win the game by himself.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Isaac defend a shorter-quicker player and Evan or even Jarrett given a go .vs. some taller SF's.

But its not always clear what if anything will bug a superstar that's on fire. There will be times, we'll have to fire right back to win.

TheLand13 wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

With each passing game, the sample size increases. I’m not saying it’s large enough to come to a conclusion that this is what we should expect going forward, but…

Well, let me put it this way. If teams aren’t going to take Okoro seriously, that will only benefit him. Having these wide open looks that we know he can make will help the likelihood that his shot continues to fall because… well, you’d rather have that over a contested three. But if teams start taking him seriously, that just opens up our offense, which will do wonders for us.

So, I welcome this. Keep letting either scenario happen. I think we’ve gotten to the point where this is a clear win/win scenario for us.

I am just imploring fans to not get ahead of their selves. If/when Okoro has a cold streak, the same people supporting him now may vilify him. I just want to use the full context of this season and prior seasons to paint the picture that 47% from three on 4 attempts per 36 minutes is not sustainable for Okoro (the last 25 game sample).

ijspeelman wrote:

TheLand13 wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

With each passing game, the sample size increases. I’m not saying it’s large enough to come to a conclusion that this is what we should expect going forward, but…

Well, let me put it this way. If teams aren’t going to take Okoro seriously, that will only benefit him. Having these wide open looks that we know he can make will help the likelihood that his shot continues to fall because… well, you’d rather have that over a contested three. But if teams start taking him seriously, that just opens up our offense, which will do wonders for us.

So, I welcome this. Keep letting either scenario happen. I think we’ve gotten to the point where this is a clear win/win scenario for us.

I am just imploring fans to not get ahead of their selves. If/when Okoro has a cold streak, the same people supporting him now may vilify him. I just want to use the full context of this season and prior seasons to paint the picture that 47% from three on 4 attempts per 36 minutes is not sustainable for Okoro (the last 25 game sample).

Nobody expects 47% from 3. 35-36% on 3-4 a game is perfectly fine and it's more about taking the shots and guys respecting it.

He's the only guy the Cavs have who you can put on the opponents best ball handler and make them work all night.

ijspeelman wrote:

TheLand13 wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

With each passing game, the sample size increases. I’m not saying it’s large enough to come to a conclusion that this is what we should expect going forward, but…

Well, let me put it this way. If teams aren’t going to take Okoro seriously, that will only benefit him. Having these wide open looks that we know he can make will help the likelihood that his shot continues to fall because… well, you’d rather have that over a contested three. But if teams start taking him seriously, that just opens up our offense, which will do wonders for us.

So, I welcome this. Keep letting either scenario happen. I think we’ve gotten to the point where this is a clear win/win scenario for us.

I am just imploring fans to not get ahead of their selves. If/when Okoro has a cold streak, the same people supporting him now may vilify him. I just want to use the full context of this season and prior seasons to paint the picture that 47% from three on 4 attempts per 36 minutes is not sustainable for Okoro (the last 25 game sample).

So I should not expect him to continue shooting 71% from three for the rest of this month???

ijspeelman wrote:

TheLand13 wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

With each passing game, the sample size increases. I’m not saying it’s large enough to come to a conclusion that this is what we should expect going forward, but…

Well, let me put it this way. If teams aren’t going to take Okoro seriously, that will only benefit him. Having these wide open looks that we know he can make will help the likelihood that his shot continues to fall because… well, you’d rather have that over a contested three. But if teams start taking him seriously, that just opens up our offense, which will do wonders for us.

So, I welcome this. Keep letting either scenario happen. I think we’ve gotten to the point where this is a clear win/win scenario for us.

I am just imploring fans to not get ahead of their selves. If/when Okoro has a cold streak, the same people supporting him now may vilify him. I just want to use the full context of this season and prior seasons to paint the picture that 47% from three on 4 attempts per 36 minutes is not sustainable for Okoro (the last 25 game sample).

I’m a broken record on him. I just want him to shoot those 4 3PAs per game regardless of whether he is hot (47%) or cold (27%) with the confidence that he’ll average out to a 37% by the end of the year.

That’s the difference between a $5mil/yr player and a MLE+ player.


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ijspeelman wrote:

TheLand13 wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:We should still temper our Okoro expectations. I'm not saying this cannot be the new norm, but more realistically this is a hot stretch.

I am liking more what I am seeing outside of the three point shot because it feels repeatable at higher levels. I also hope he can fall into being a 38-39% three point shooter on this slightly higher volume. He would be a legit elite role player.

With each passing game, the sample size increases. I’m not saying it’s large enough to come to a conclusion that this is what we should expect going forward, but…

Well, let me put it this way. If teams aren’t going to take Okoro seriously, that will only benefit him. Having these wide open looks that we know he can make will help the likelihood that his shot continues to fall because… well, you’d rather have that over a contested three. But if teams start taking him seriously, that just opens up our offense, which will do wonders for us.

So, I welcome this. Keep letting either scenario happen. I think we’ve gotten to the point where this is a clear win/win scenario for us.

I am just imploring fans to not get ahead of their selves. If/when Okoro has a cold streak, the same people supporting him now may vilify him. I just want to use the full context of this season and prior seasons to paint the picture that 47% from three on 4 attempts per 36 minutes is not sustainable for Okoro (the last 25 game sample).

47% from 3pt should be sustainable if teams are going to continue to ignore him, but we're already seeing signs that's coming to an end. His next challenge is coping with the fact that team's will try to 'rest' players by having them defend him, and that's lead to some big moments for him recently. For instance, he shot that 3pter in the face of Monte Morris who's 6'2".

Anyway, I don't vilify players, I don't attribute their value on the floor to single factors, and I don't have a "horse in the race" - just want to see the team grow and figure things out as they face new challenges. So don't worry about me.

KuruptedCav wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:

TheLand13 wrote:
With each passing game, the sample size increases. I’m not saying it’s large enough to come to a conclusion that this is what we should expect going forward, but…

Well, let me put it this way. If teams aren’t going to take Okoro seriously, that will only benefit him. Having these wide open looks that we know he can make will help the likelihood that his shot continues to fall because… well, you’d rather have that over a contested three. But if teams start taking him seriously, that just opens up our offense, which will do wonders for us.

So, I welcome this. Keep letting either scenario happen. I think we’ve gotten to the point where this is a clear win/win scenario for us.

I am just imploring fans to not get ahead of their selves. If/when Okoro has a cold streak, the same people supporting him now may vilify him. I just want to use the full context of this season and prior seasons to paint the picture that 47% from three on 4 attempts per 36 minutes is not sustainable for Okoro (the last 25 game sample).

I’m a broken record on him. I just want him to shoot those 4 3PAs per game regardless of whether he is hot (47%) or cold (27%) with the confidence that he’ll average out to a 37% by the end of the year.

That’s the difference between a $5mil/yr player and a MLE+ player.

Careful now ... the gap between Isaac shooting 37% on 4 attempts a game and Mikal Bridges who entered the league as a 22yr old and is presently making $20M+/year or even OG Anunouby who's making $16M/yr now but will be looking for a max on his next deal - is not all that wide. I'd very much like to lock-up Isaac on a super affordable contract during his athletic prime years.

JonFromVA wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:

TheLand13 wrote:
With each passing game, the sample size increases. I’m not saying it’s large enough to come to a conclusion that this is what we should expect going forward, but…

Well, let me put it this way. If teams aren’t going to take Okoro seriously, that will only benefit him. Having these wide open looks that we know he can make will help the likelihood that his shot continues to fall because… well, you’d rather have that over a contested three. But if teams start taking him seriously, that just opens up our offense, which will do wonders for us.

So, I welcome this. Keep letting either scenario happen. I think we’ve gotten to the point where this is a clear win/win scenario for us.

I am just imploring fans to not get ahead of their selves. If/when Okoro has a cold streak, the same people supporting him now may vilify him. I just want to use the full context of this season and prior seasons to paint the picture that 47% from three on 4 attempts per 36 minutes is not sustainable for Okoro (the last 25 game sample).

47% from 3pt should be sustainable if teams are going to continue to ignore him, but we're already seeing signs that's coming to an end. His next challenge is coping with the fact that team's will try to 'rest' players by having them defend him, and that's lead to some big moments for him recently. For instance, he shot that 3pter in the face of Monte Morris who's 6'2".

Anyway, I don't vilify players, I don't attribute their value on the floor to single factors, and I don't have a "horse in the race" - just want to see the team grow and figure things out as they face new challenges. So don't worry about me.

Don't worry you are the last one I'd worry about

Even if teams left him wide open the rest of his life, I would not expect him to shoot 47% on average. But, your second point is great. I think what Okoro has shown off these actions has been the most replicable thing. He's using his shooting and/or space given to him to get to the cup or dish it open the open man near the basket.