RealGM

Okoro: out
Strus: questionable; if he plays will be on a minutes restriction.

======================
Dame: out
Middleton: probable (illness, so we'll see)
Giannis: probable

We had 2 close wins against them earlier in the season. They're fresh off winning the IST in Vegas.

This group always plays us tough.

Final matchup with them is not until March.

Cavs blowout victory, woooooo

Fun watching the end of the bench get some extended burn.


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I was at the game in much better seats than I'm accustomed to. Great time. I still like Tyson as a prospect, but he's got to tighten up that handle. It's not quite Emoni Bates bad, but he's got some work on that front.

jbk1234 wrote:I was at the game in much better seats than I'm accustomed to. Great time. I still like Tyson as a prospect, but he's got to tighten up that handle. It's not quite Emoni Bates bad, but he's got some work on that front.

Seemed like things just got real sloppy at the end, I won't judge him on one random game.

JonFromVA wrote:

jbk1234 wrote:I was at the game in much better seats than I'm accustomed to. Great time. I still like Tyson as a prospect, but he's got to tighten up that handle. It's not quite Emoni Bates bad, but he's got some work on that front.

Seemed like things just got real sloppy at the end, I won't judge him on one random game.

That TT putback attempt...

mcfly1204 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

jbk1234 wrote:I was at the game in much better seats than I'm accustomed to. Great time. I still like Tyson as a prospect, but he's got to tighten up that handle. It's not quite Emoni Bates bad, but he's got some work on that front.

Seemed like things just got real sloppy at the end, I won't judge him on one random game.

That TT putback attempt...

I'm seeing the same sort of things with Tyson in limited minutes. He looks steady, not rushing, just needs to work on the consistency of his shot, as well as his handle. Well, more than that obviously, but I can see him being in the rotation next season.

mcfly1204 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

jbk1234 wrote:I was at the game in much better seats than I'm accustomed to. Great time. I still like Tyson as a prospect, but he's got to tighten up that handle. It's not quite Emoni Bates bad, but he's got some work on that front.

Seemed like things just got real sloppy at the end, I won't judge him on one random game.

That TT putback attempt...

We should keep our eyes on Emoni, he eventually let it out that his knee problem had been bothering him for a while.

Nice to see Dean putting in his claim on the SF spot just as Max returns. We'll have to see how Max looks in Kenny's offense, it may very well be transformative; but as I've mentioned before the numbers from last season suggest Max would be better used in bench rotations than with the "Core 4".

By the way, at 24-4 can we start calling them the "Big 4"?

JonFromVA wrote:

mcfly1204 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:
Seemed like things just got real sloppy at the end, I won't judge him on one random game.

That TT putback attempt...

We should keep our eyes on Emoni, he eventually let it out that his knee problem had been bothering him for a while.

Nice to see Dean putting in his claim on the SF spot just as Max returns. We'll have to see how Max looks in Kenny's offense, it may very well be transformative; but as I've mentioned before the numbers from last season suggest Max would be better used in bench rotations than with the "Core 4".

By the way, at 24-4 can we start calling them the "Big 4"?

Our core four didn't even play 30 games together last season and I'm not sure how many games Strus was on the floor with them for the games they did play.

jbk1234 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

mcfly1204 wrote:
That TT putback attempt...

We should keep our eyes on Emoni, he eventually let it out that his knee problem had been bothering him for a while.

Nice to see Dean putting in his claim on the SF spot just as Max returns. We'll have to see how Max looks in Kenny's offense, it may very well be transformative; but as I've mentioned before the numbers from last season suggest Max would be better used in bench rotations than with the "Core 4".

By the way, at 24-4 can we start calling them the "Big 4"?

Our core four didn't even play 30 games together last season and I'm not sure how many games Strus was on the floor with them for the games they did play.

Are you being intentionally lazy these days?

The lineup data is on BBR, and the Strus+4 lineup is our top lineup with 367 minutes.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2024/lineups/

Look at the data, draw your own conclusions.

JonFromVA wrote:

jbk1234 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:
We should keep our eyes on Emoni, he eventually let it out that his knee problem had been bothering him for a while.

Nice to see Dean putting in his claim on the SF spot just as Max returns. We'll have to see how Max looks in Kenny's offense, it may very well be transformative; but as I've mentioned before the numbers from last season suggest Max would be better used in bench rotations than with the "Core 4".

By the way, at 24-4 can we start calling them the "Big 4"?

Our core four didn't even play 30 games together last season and I'm not sure how many games Strus was on the floor with them for the games they did play.

Are you being intentionally lazy these days?

The lineup data is on BBR, and the Strus+4 lineup is our top lineup with 367 minutes.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2024/lineups/

Look at the data, draw your own conclusions.

At 36 mpg that equates to a 10 game sample size - over the course of an 82 game season. The fact that it's the biggest sample size we have suggests nothing other than the the Cavs were truly injury riddled last season.

jbk1234 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

jbk1234 wrote:
Our core four didn't even play 30 games together last season and I'm not sure how many games Strus was on the floor with them for the games they did play.

Are you being intentionally lazy these days?

The lineup data is on BBR, and the Strus+4 lineup is our top lineup with 367 minutes.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2024/lineups/

Look at the data, draw your own conclusions.

At 36 mpg that equates to a 10 game sample size - over the course of an 82 game season. The fact that it's the biggest sample size we have suggests nothing other than the the Cavs were truly injury riddled last season.

This isn't about pretending we can make an accurate future prediction based on data, we're talking about what happened on the floor last season and the lineup data is a snapshot of exactly what happened.

You watched the games - feel free to draw you own conclusions for why those lineups with Strus didn't perform as well as the lineups with LeVert or Okoro the season before and why Strus was so much more effective in other lineups.

Personally, I don't find it hard to come up with plausible explanations.

The good news is Max should improve quite a bit this season under Kenny who understands what to do with a movement shooter, manages spacing so much better, and doesn't wear out his players.

Whether that makes him a better option in the starting lineup, though, is tbd.

JonFromVA wrote:

jbk1234 wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:
Are you being intentionally lazy these days?

The lineup data is on BBR, and the Strus+4 lineup is our top lineup with 367 minutes.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2024/lineups/

Look at the data, draw your own conclusions.

At 36 mpg that equates to a 10 game sample size - over the course of an 82 game season. The fact that it's the biggest sample size we have suggests nothing other than the the Cavs were truly injury riddled last season.

This isn't about pretending we can make an accurate future prediction based on data, we're talking about what happened on the floor last season and the lineup data is a snapshot of exactly what happened.

You watched the games - feel free to draw you own conclusions for why those lineups with Strus didn't perform as well as the lineups with LeVert or Okoro the season before and why Strus was so much more effective in other lineups.

Personally, I don't find it hard to come up with plausible explanations.

The good news is Max should improve quite a bit this season under Kenny who understands what to do with a movement shooter, manages spacing so much better, and doesn't wear out his players.

Whether that makes him a better option in the starting lineup, though, is tbd.

For me, it's either Wade or Strus who needs to start SF. Only issue with it being Wade, is Niang is the only big off the bench.

JujitsuFlip wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

jbk1234 wrote:
At 36 mpg that equates to a 10 game sample size - over the course of an 82 game season. The fact that it's the biggest sample size we have suggests nothing other than the the Cavs were truly injury riddled last season.

This isn't about pretending we can make an accurate future prediction based on data, we're talking about what happened on the floor last season and the lineup data is a snapshot of exactly what happened.

You watched the games - feel free to draw you own conclusions for why those lineups with Strus didn't perform as well as the lineups with LeVert or Okoro the season before and why Strus was so much more effective in other lineups.

Personally, I don't find it hard to come up with plausible explanations.

The good news is Max should improve quite a bit this season under Kenny who understands what to do with a movement shooter, manages spacing so much better, and doesn't wear out his players.

Whether that makes him a better option in the starting lineup, though, is tbd.

For me, it's either Wade or Strus who needs to start SF. Only issue with it being Wade, is Niang is the only big off the bench.

I don't know if Isaac can keep shooting 3's at 50%, but he's been terrific too and Caris hasn't started any games yet, but he's been amazing.

Too many fantastic options.

It would be something if Kenny just used these guys situationally instead of like a robot.

JonFromVA wrote:

JujitsuFlip wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:
This isn't about pretending we can make an accurate future prediction based on data, we're talking about what happened on the floor last season and the lineup data is a snapshot of exactly what happened.

You watched the games - feel free to draw you own conclusions for why those lineups with Strus didn't perform as well as the lineups with LeVert or Okoro the season before and why Strus was so much more effective in other lineups.

Personally, I don't find it hard to come up with plausible explanations.

The good news is Max should improve quite a bit this season under Kenny who understands what to do with a movement shooter, manages spacing so much better, and doesn't wear out his players.

Whether that makes him a better option in the starting lineup, though, is tbd.

For me, it's either Wade or Strus who needs to start SF. Only issue with it being Wade, is Niang is the only big off the bench.

I don't know if Isaac can keep shooting 3's at 50%, but he's been terrific too and Caris hasn't started any games yet, but he's been amazing.

Too many fantastic options.

It would be something if Kenny just used these guys situationally instead of like a robot.

LeVert is too valuable to the bench, i don't think he should be considered.

Yeah, Okoro just doesn't have the volume from deep and most likely never will. Need gravity from that 3 spot, even with the new offense.

JujitsuFlip wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

JujitsuFlip wrote:For me, it's either Wade or Strus who needs to start SF. Only issue with it being Wade, is Niang is the only big off the bench.

I don't know if Isaac can keep shooting 3's at 50%, but he's been terrific too and Caris hasn't started any games yet, but he's been amazing.

Too many fantastic options.

It would be something if Kenny just used these guys situationally instead of like a robot.

LeVert is too valuable to the bench, i don't think he should be considered.

Yeah, Okoro just doesn't have the volume from deep and most likely never will. Need gravity from that 3 spot, even with the new offense.

We don't really run a spread offense that relies on gravity. That's the little bit of magic that Kenny has sprinkled on the team, they create enough chaos for the defense that someone ends up open.

We'll see when we have to face some of the better teams, but at the moment almost everything is working.

JonFromVA wrote:

JujitsuFlip wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:
I don't know if Isaac can keep shooting 3's at 50%, but he's been terrific too and Caris hasn't started any games yet, but he's been amazing.

Too many fantastic options.

It would be something if Kenny just used these guys situationally instead of like a robot.

LeVert is too valuable to the bench, i don't think he should be considered.

Yeah, Okoro just doesn't have the volume from deep and most likely never will. Need gravity from that 3 spot, even with the new offense.

We don't really run a spread offense that relies on gravity. That's the little bit of magic that Kenny has sprinkled on the team, they create enough chaos for the defense that someone ends up open.

We'll see when we have to face some of the better teams, but at the moment almost everything is working.

I mean, Kenny actually utilizes the corner the right way and puts the ball in Mobley's hands to remove the twin towers clogging the lane.

Wade and Strus are better options. Especially Wade with his size.

JujitsuFlip wrote:

JonFromVA wrote:

JujitsuFlip wrote:LeVert is too valuable to the bench, i don't think he should be considered.

Yeah, Okoro just doesn't have the volume from deep and most likely never will. Need gravity from that 3 spot, even with the new offense.

We don't really run a spread offense that relies on gravity. That's the little bit of magic that Kenny has sprinkled on the team, they create enough chaos for the defense that someone ends up open.

We'll see when we have to face some of the better teams, but at the moment almost everything is working.

I mean, Kenny actually utilizes the corner the right way and puts the ball in Mobley's hands to remove the twin towers clogging the lane.

Wade and Strus are better options. Especially Wade with his size.

Wade needs to play 10-15 minutes a night to reduce his risk of injury before the playoffs, and those minutes need to all be at the 4/5. He’s too important there.

I feel like the 5th starter is the spot in the rotation that needs Strus’s all-around game the least and benefits from point-of-attack defense the most, so I’d start Okoro. But I don’t feel that there’s a right or wrong answer.

Kenny likes to close halves/games with LeVert even when Okoro starts, so if Max does get the starting job back I wonder if that’ll continue.