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LeBron James returns to Ohio. Will he put on another show?

Starters are Howard, Gabriel, James, Reaves, and Westbrook.

Los Angeles faded in the fourth quarter on a back-to-back last time out. Now there are only eleven games left. At least one report says opposing teams "have no fear" when it comes to facing this season's Lakers. Plus, they are already putting out whispers about who will replace Frank Vogel (yet another classless vote of no confidence) and statements about how they would like to retain Malik Monk (but not pay him full value for his work).

Although Wenyen Gabriel has earned his second start in nine games played, he will be ineligible for the postseason, since he is on a two-way contract.

The Cavaliers keep smacking or kicking the LA players in the head. So far, not a single flagrant has been called.

It’s hard to believe that Avery Bradley can get minutes but Ellington cant.

Can we get a 1 game win streak goin

Damn, could've had a 3 game win streak going if only we didn't flatline against Wizards the other night. Russ seems to be waking up though, so maybe we are finally ready to make some noise.

Another thing, purely observational, the team seems to play better when THT and Melo either don't play or get very limited minutes. Maybe Vogel should take a look at that and figure out why? lol

Dirty little secret:

THT isn’t a winning player. We need to trade him immediately once he’s eligible in the off season. How we chose him over Caruso continues to baffle me.

huge disclaimer; I'm very pessimistic about this being anything than a hot streak from Russ, but I think it's something we should acknowledge;

His last 3 games have been damn impressive, both statistically and from the eye test

a nice win on to the next one. We need AD back and someday see nunn.... Still 10 games below .500 unacceptable.

a nice win on to the next one. We need AD back and someday see nunn.... Still 10 games below .500 unacceptable.

If we are serious about winning, we need to take THT out of the rotation entirely and limit Melo's minutes as well. THT needs a lot more refinement as a player still and is a terrible fit next to LBJ and Russ. DJ Augustin should take all his minutes because he is a great fit next to our stars.

Melo is just a walking defensive liability at this point. He cannot guard any position and opposing teams are targeting him hard every time he gets on the court. Gabriel should be taking most of his minutes at this point until AD can come back. Melo can still be an instant offense in very short spurts but can't be a 25 min a game player any more for us.

slifersd wrote:

Melo is just a walking defensive liability at this point.

Agree with almost all your post, but I think Carmelo has been a defensive liability since he joined the league.

There's no shame in saying it: Westbrook and Melo should have never donned the purple and gold. Soon it will be over.

We startin our win streak babeh

The biggest reason why Melo isn't mentioned with the greats in his draft class are cause of his defense. He just will never have that defensive ability. He can try as hard as he can but he's never been a good defender. And his team defense is even worse.

He works well when he is your only defensive liability out there.

Gabriel is a keeper. He has all the length and defensive versatility for a coach to work with and I hope Vogel doesn't go small again.
Reaves' passing is coming along nicely.

euphorbus wrote:Although Wenyen Gabriel has earned his second start in nine games played, he will be ineligible for the postseason, since he is on a two-way contract.

They can always convert his contract. Waive Baze.

TheGameWinner wrote:

euphorbus wrote:Although Wenyen Gabriel has earned his second start in nine games played, he will be ineligible for the postseason, since he is on a two-way contract.

They can always convert his contract. Waive Baze.

Good point. We need Gabriel a whole lot more.

Nice win against a good Cavs team. That Lebron dunk was nasty