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[JonFromVA]

With the Hawks a game under .500 and their head coach canned after their big off-season acquisition, I can kind of get why Bickerstaff sometimes coaches each game like it may be his last.

[JujitsuFlip]

With the Hawks a game under .500 and their head coach canned after their big off-season acquisition, I can kind of get why Bickerstaff sometimes coaches each game like it may be his last.

I don't think the 2 situations are super relatable.

JB is in his 4th season with the Cavs, never made the playoffs.

Nate was in his 3rd season and made the playoffs both times, the caveat is he went ECF, 1st round, was currently the 8th seed with a losing record.

One is trending up, the other trending down.

[JonFromVA]

With the Hawks a game under .500 and their head coach canned after their big off-season acquisition, I can kind of get why Bickerstaff sometimes coaches each game like it may be his last.

I don't think the 2 situations are super relatable.

JB is in his 4th season with the Cavs, never made the playoffs.

Nate was in his 3rd season and made the playoffs both times, the caveat is he went ECF, 1st round, was currently the 8th seed with a losing record.

One is trending up, the other trending down.

So, the moral of the story for JBB is don't overachieve?

I am just saying the Hawks sure didn't show much patience in waiting to see if Murray and Young could work things out, and ironically Murray is actually shooting the 3-ball pretty well this season (36.3%).

The Raptors took a big step backwards this season, but they went out and tried to fix things at the trade deadline rather than trading away OG/Siakim, or firing Ujiri/Nurse.

[JujitsuFlip]

With the Hawks a game under .500 and their head coach canned after their big off-season acquisition, I can kind of get why Bickerstaff sometimes coaches each game like it may be his last.

I don't think the 2 situations are super relatable.

JB is in his 4th season with the Cavs, never made the playoffs.

Nate was in his 3rd season and made the playoffs both times, the caveat is he went ECF, 1st round, was currently the 8th seed with a losing record.

One is trending up, the other trending down.

So, the moral of the story for JBB is don't overachieve?

I am just saying the Hawks sure didn't show much patience in waiting to see if Murray and Young could work things out, and ironically Murray is actually shooting the 3-ball pretty well this season (36.3%).

The Raptors took a big step backwards this season, but they went out and tried to fix things at the trade deadline rather than trading away OG/Siakim, or firing Ujiri/Nurse.

Haha exactly but seriously JB probably has some leeway just have to see how deep the playoff runs are and if the front office helps him construct a roster that makes sense.

With Nate, I think there was some personality issues at play too, not just being 1 game under .500.

For Nurse, he's been with the organization for 10 years, and they've only missed the playoffs once in that span. He also won a title his first season as their head coach so their relationship has loyalty and equity in it.

[JonFromVA]

I don't think the 2 situations are super relatable.

JB is in his 4th season with the Cavs, never made the playoffs.

Nate was in his 3rd season and made the playoffs both times, the caveat is he went ECF, 1st round, was currently the 8th seed with a losing record.

One is trending up, the other trending down.

So, the moral of the story for JBB is don't overachieve?

I am just saying the Hawks sure didn't show much patience in waiting to see if Murray and Young could work things out, and ironically Murray is actually shooting the 3-ball pretty well this season (36.3%).

The Raptors took a big step backwards this season, but they went out and tried to fix things at the trade deadline rather than trading away OG/Siakim, or firing Ujiri/Nurse.

Haha exactly but seriously JB probably has some leeway just have to see how deep the playoff runs are and if the front office helps him construct a roster that makes sense.

With Nate, I think there was some personality issues at play too, not just being 1 game under .500.

For Nurse, he's been with the organization for 10 years, and they've only missed the playoffs once in that span. He also won a title his first season as their head coach so their relationship has loyalty and equity in it.

Mitchell presumably got the job because the Hawks played so well for him. I suppose the real mystery is why they turned Travis Schenck in to an advisor rather than just parting ways. Hoping Landry Fields can make sense of their roster - smells a lot like hoping.

Anyway, JBB will need to prove he's not just the guy to babysit the kids and teach them to play hard on defense. I've felt he'd get two cracks at the playoffs to show that, but we'll see. The pre-stroke Dan Gilbert didn't have a lot of patience.

[JujitsuFlip]

So, the moral of the story for JBB is don't overachieve?

I am just saying the Hawks sure didn't show much patience in waiting to see if Murray and Young could work things out, and ironically Murray is actually shooting the 3-ball pretty well this season (36.3%).

The Raptors took a big step backwards this season, but they went out and tried to fix things at the trade deadline rather than trading away OG/Siakim, or firing Ujiri/Nurse.

Haha exactly but seriously JB probably has some leeway just have to see how deep the playoff runs are and if the front office helps him construct a roster that makes sense.

With Nate, I think there was some personality issues at play too, not just being 1 game under .500.

For Nurse, he's been with the organization for 10 years, and they've only missed the playoffs once in that span. He also won a title his first season as their head coach so their relationship has loyalty and equity in it.

Mitchell presumably got the job because the Hawks played so well for him. I suppose the real mystery is why they turned Travis Schenck in to an advisor rather than just parting ways. Hoping Landry Fields can make sense of their roster - smells a lot like hoping.

Anyway, JBB will need to prove he's not just the guy to babysit the kids and teach them to play hard on defense. I've felt he'd get two cracks at the playoffs to show that, but we'll see. The pre-stroke Dan Gilbert didn't have a lot of patience.

I agree, think by summer of 2024 the Cavs should have a pretty good idea. It will probably be super dependant on what the front office does this summer though, we all think the roster is incomplete.

[JonFromVA]

Haha exactly but seriously JB probably has some leeway just have to see how deep the playoff runs are and if the front office helps him construct a roster that makes sense.

With Nate, I think there was some personality issues at play too, not just being 1 game under .500.

For Nurse, he's been with the organization for 10 years, and they've only missed the playoffs once in that span. He also won a title his first season as their head coach so their relationship has loyalty and equity in it.

Mitchell presumably got the job because the Hawks played so well for him. I suppose the real mystery is why they turned Travis Schenck in to an advisor rather than just parting ways. Hoping Landry Fields can make sense of their roster - smells a lot like hoping.

Anyway, JBB will need to prove he's not just the guy to babysit the kids and teach them to play hard on defense. I've felt he'd get two cracks at the playoffs to show that, but we'll see. The pre-stroke Dan Gilbert didn't have a lot of patience.

I agree, think by summer of 2024 the Cavs should have a pretty good idea. It will probably be super dependant on what the front office does this summer though, we all think the roster is incomplete.

I suppose there's the hope we play well in the playoffs and we can attract someone with our MLE; but it won't be until the Summer of 2024 we can dangle a first rounder in a trade. So, unless Isaac/etc come on strong or we find another Lauri this Summer - JBB may not have the luxury of a complete roster.

Unfortunately the bigger the perceived hole we have at SF, the more likely a talented young player would want to sign here to get playing time to prove himself; but perception among players is different than that of fans. JBB's love of defense and Isaac Okoro will likely be seen as an impediment.

But hey, interesting how the timing lines up there.

[ijspeelman]

Love has been not very good for the Heat

[JujitsuFlip]

Love has been not very good for the Heat

That 70% from 3 though

[TheLand13]

Love has been not very good for the Heat

I was a little hopeful after his 13/13 game that he'd at least be able to provide production close to that on a consistent basis, but it just hasn't materialized. Even though he's no longer on our team, I genuinely want him to do well on the Heat and get one last decent contract.

[JujitsuFlip]

Well, Noel to the Nets, per Woj. I guess Merrill better stick lol

[ijspeelman]

Love has been not very good for the Heat

I was a little hopeful after his 13/13 game that he'd at least be able to provide production close to that on a consistent basis, but it just hasn't materialized. Even though he's no longer on our team, I genuinely want him to do well on the Heat and get one last decent contract.

I do hope he shows out a little to get a two-ish year deal somewhere to finish out his career. I have no ill will towards the guy, I just saw the Cavs benching him as fair.

Not that I don’t think he can bounce back his shooting, but his defense has become one of the worst in the league. It’s really hard to hide someone slow and not athletic. He can’t guard one-on-one, he’s not a good drop big, and he’s not a good help defender. That leaves his team defense where he’s alright in the first action against an offense (he’s normally in the right position), but once anything starts swinging around he’s too slow to close out or stop a drive.

His shooting needs to be on for him to be a valuable piece and even then I don’t think he’s starter quality anymore.

[JonFromVA]

Love has been not very good for the Heat

I was a little hopeful after his 13/13 game that he'd at least be able to provide production close to that on a consistent basis, but it just hasn't materialized. Even though he's no longer on our team, I genuinely want him to do well on the Heat and get one last decent contract.

I do hope he shows out a little to get a two-ish year deal somewhere to finish out his career. I have no ill will towards the guy, I just saw the Cavs benching him as fair.

Not that I don’t think he can bounce back his shooting, but his defense has become one of the worst in the league. It’s really hard to hide someone slow and not athletic. He can’t guard one-on-one, he’s not a good drop big, and he’s not a good help defender. That leaves his team defense where he’s alright in the first action against an offense (he’s normally in the right position), but once anything starts swinging around he’s too slow to close out or stop a drive.

His shooting needs to be on for him to be a valuable piece and even then I don’t think he’s starter quality anymore.

I feel JBB just got to the point where even if Kevin got his shooting back, he didn't want him breaking the defense. He'd rather use Stevens, Wade, Osman, etc.

I think it can't be stressed enough too that most shooters are inconsistent and the ideal SF for JBB will be able to help our guards and contribute in other ways beyond gravity/shooting. We might be beggars, but JBB is being choosey.

[toooskies]

Kevin Love against the Hawks: only 3 minutes off the bench in a loss where they got crushed on the boards. Too bad he didn't want to ride things out, he would have been useful against the Knicks...

[JonFromVA]

Kevin Love against the Hawks: only 3 minutes off the bench in a loss where they got crushed on the boards. Too bad he didn't want to ride things out, he would have been useful against the Knicks...

For them? His last game he played as a Cav before being perma-benched he managed -20 in just 12 minutes .vs. the Knicks.

Now if his thumb ever healed and he got his shot back, maybe he would have been dusted off and used situationally.

[ijspeelman]

Kevin Love against the Hawks: only 3 minutes off the bench in a loss where they got crushed on the boards. Too bad he didn't want to ride things out, he would have been useful against the Knicks...

For them? His last game he played as a Cav before being perma-benched he managed -20 in just 12 minutes .vs. the Knicks.

Now if his thumb ever healed and he got his shot back, maybe he would have been dusted off and used situationally.

I’ll be honest, even when his shot was his average this year I was hoping he wasn’t going to make the playoff rotation. His defense has been that bad for a few years.

I’m taking it as a blessing in disguise. Losing the three ball hurts, but he gave up too much on the other end.

[toooskies]

Kevin Love against the Hawks: only 3 minutes off the bench in a loss where they got crushed on the boards. Too bad he didn't want to ride things out, he would have been useful against the Knicks...

For them? His last game he played as a Cav before being perma-benched he managed -20 in just 12 minutes .vs. the Knicks.

Now if his thumb ever healed and he got his shot back, maybe he would have been dusted off and used situationally.

I’ll be honest, even when his shot was his average this year I was hoping he wasn’t going to make the playoff rotation. His defense has been that bad for a few years.

I’m taking it as a blessing in disguise. Losing the three ball hurts, but he gave up too much on the other end.

I think he'd be useful against a team that plays two bigs and goes after offensive rebounds, regardless of how well his shot is falling. Both to keep the other team off the boards and because a glass-crashing offense is more vulnerable to his outlet passing. Whether his shot came around or not is beside the point, although you'd obviously prefer that it would.

Of course we could use some other rotation-level big even more, but Love's non-shooting skills would've carried more value in this series, even if his shot kept him from being playable in other situations.

[JonFromVA]

For them? His last game he played as a Cav before being perma-benched he managed -20 in just 12 minutes .vs. the Knicks.

Now if his thumb ever healed and he got his shot back, maybe he would have been dusted off and used situationally.

I’ll be honest, even when his shot was his average this year I was hoping he wasn’t going to make the playoff rotation. His defense has been that bad for a few years.

I’m taking it as a blessing in disguise. Losing the three ball hurts, but he gave up too much on the other end.

I think he'd be useful against a team that plays two bigs and goes after offensive rebounds, regardless of how well his shot is falling. Both to keep the other team off the boards and because a glass-crashing offense is more vulnerable to his outlet passing. Whether his shot came around or not is beside the point, although you'd obviously prefer that it would.

Of course we could use some other rotation-level big even more, but Love's non-shooting skills would've carried more value in this series, even if his shot kept him from being playable in other situations.

It comes at a cost, though. For instance, Allen and Mobley would do a better job keeping Robinson off the glass if they weren't so busy trying to keep the ball handler from scoring too. Even his outlet passing is not a positive when they get picked off by the other team.

When Kevin's shot is on, we know he can be a positive contributor - we have the evidence. When it's not, like after this thumb injury? Not so much.

And even so, the way he breaks our team defense was very damaging to our scheme. Having to play a different way when he's in the game combined with the hot & cold nature of 3pt shooting may have relegated Kevin to break in case of emergency status.

Remember how we used Channing Frye in the Raptors playoff series 5 years ago or so? Ty Lue would insert him at C just long enough to chase Jonas Valanciunas off the floor, and then Ty would sit him down. If JV got ready to go back in, Lue would tell Frye to get up, and then JV sat back down.

I'm not sure Kev was in line for much more of a role than that. Danny Green won't be chasing any big men off the floor, but he might give JBB an option when teams are leaving our perimeter players wide open and they can't hit a shot.

[jbk1234]

Watching this Heat v. Bucks game and concluding that home court advantage is wildly overrated in the postseason. You steal one of the first two on the road, take care of business at home, and you're in control of the series. Odds are that either the Heat or the Knicks will be in the ECF.

[JujitsuFlip]

Watching this Heat v. Bucks game and concluding that home court advantage is wildly overrated in the postseason. You steal one of the first two on the road, take care of business at home, and you're in control of the series. Odds are that either the Heat or the Knicks will be in the ECF.

Also shows how important it is to have wings who can put the ball in the bucket.