Game 4: Cavs @ Knicks 10/28/2024

[toooskies]

Okoro just isn't a Kenny type player. If he's the 10th man, that's okay.

Okoro looks like a guy who showed up late and is still trying to catch up, in addition to his usual flaws. He's at risk of falling out of the rotation. Niang getting in shape to justify playing real minutes at the 4, Wade shifting minutes to the 3, and LeVert playing great defense are all marginalizing him.

That may be good for him. Then he can work on his deep ball and his handle to try and get back into the rotation.

If Kenny sticks to his word though, Okoro will be getting minutes well into the regular season, one way or another.

If Strus is out for another 4+ weeks, Okoro has time to work his game out, but he's only getting roughly a 6-8 minute shift in the second quarter that's guaranteed, judging by last night and the first few games' rotations. Given that it's the same roster as last year it's a quick fall for a guy who was getting starts when Allen went out in the playoffs last year.

What he really needs to do is learn how to finish strong at the rim instead of trying to go up with touch and getting the ball stripped. And then he needs to learn how to reposition and have the confidence to shoot. But Okoro's been striking me more and more as a guy who's unsure of himself and needs permission to do stuff, and that's just not a role in Atkinson's system.

[gflem]

Okoro looks like a guy who showed up late and is still trying to catch up, in addition to his usual flaws. He's at risk of falling out of the rotation. Niang getting in shape to justify playing real minutes at the 4, Wade shifting minutes to the 3, and LeVert playing great defense are all marginalizing him.

That may be good for him. Then he can work on his deep ball and his handle to try and get back into the rotation.

If Kenny sticks to his word though, Okoro will be getting minutes well into the regular season, one way or another.

If Strus is out for another 4+ weeks, Okoro has time to work his game out, but he's only getting roughly a 6-8 minute shift in the second quarter that's guaranteed, judging by last night and the first few games' rotations. Given that it's the same roster as last year it's a quick fall for a guy who was getting starts when Allen went out in the playoffs last year.

What he really needs to do is learn how to finish strong at the rim instead of trying to go up with touch and getting the ball stripped. And then he needs to learn how to reposition and have the confidence to shoot. But Okoro's been striking me more and more as a guy who's unsure of himself and needs permission to do stuff, and that's just not a role in Atkinson's system.

To me, Okoro really needs to develop a floater. With him its either take the three from the corner, which he is hesitant to do, or drive all the way to the basket against (usually) bigger players or as mentioned get stripped along the way. If he could learn to take two dribbles and make a floater it would open things up for him in regard to making the opposing big come out to meet him instead of just waiting at the basket and would in theory eliminate him driving into multiple defenders as well as opening up the backside of the defense for potential cutters for him to pass to.

[JonFromVA]

There's a lot Isaac can improve on, but the first thing is he just needs to bring a **** ton of energy and go after the ball like Josh Hart constantly gets after it and makes a pest of himself. Maybe his feel for the game isn't that great, but he should be able to overcome that to some extent by paying attention to the scouting reports, film study, and knowing tendencies.

[JujitsuFlip]

There's a lot Isaac can improve on, but the first thing is he just needs to bring a **** ton of energy and go after the ball like Josh Hart constantly gets after it and makes a pest of himself. Maybe his feel for the game isn't that great, but he should be able to overcome that to some extent by paying attention to the scouting reports, film study, and knowing tendencies.

Needs to channel his former teammates Delly & Andy. Those guys had high motors and a nose for the ball.

[JonFromVA]

Some Tuesday afternoon schadenfreude. Enjoy!

Watch on YouTube

[jasonxxx102]

That was just a great game to watch overall. Lots of fun and good vibes to start the season.

Garland was hitting shots, Mobley started strong (disappeared in the middle) but finished with a dominant 4th.

Cavs seemed perfectly happy to switch Garland onto the Knicks wings which was annoying because he was getting absolutely crushed on every play. When the Cavs did double Knicks were kicking it out to wide open shooters. I'm not really sure about that strategy, you might not want to just straight switch it all the time.

Cavs struggled again rebounding, Hart is like Cavs kryptonite I don't get it.

Overall the offense looked really good, lots of open 3s just didn't fall tonight

I cannot stand watching Niang, he might be a great glue guy and team guy but man he's not good on the court.

[JujitsuFlip]

Some Tuesday afternoon schadenfreude. Enjoy!

Watch on YouTube

I took a peak at the Knicks board, a couple of them applauded our coaching change but overall they still feel we're the inferior team lol

The dude on that video is having a meltdown in real time.

[JonFromVA]

Some Tuesday afternoon schadenfreude. Enjoy!

Watch on YouTube

I took a peak at the Knicks board, a couple of them applauded our coaching change but overall they still feel we're the inferior team lol

The dude on that video is having a meltdown in real time.

Well, not only did they get that first round win against our beat up roster and idiot coach a couple years ago, but as you know a lot of people in and out of the media just don't like our starting 5 and have written us off.

It's cool.

We're all used to being the underdog.

Even when we had LeBron, somehow we always ended up being treated like the underdog.

[JujitsuFlip]

Some Tuesday afternoon schadenfreude. Enjoy!

Watch on YouTube

I took a peak at the Knicks board, a couple of them applauded our coaching change but overall they still feel we're the inferior team lol

The dude on that video is having a meltdown in real time.

Well, not only did they get that first round win against our beat up roster and idiot coach a couple years ago, but as you know a lot of people in and out of the media just don't like our starting 5 and have written us off.

It's cool.

We're all used to being the underdog.

Even when we had LeBron, somehow we always ended up being treated like the underdog.

Long as we keep winning the media and opposing fans can keep doubting us lol

[jbk1234]

That was just a great game to watch overall. Lots of fun and good vibes to start the season.

Garland was hitting shots, Mobley started strong (disappeared in the middle) but finished with a dominant 4th.

Cavs seemed perfectly happy to switch Garland onto the Knicks wings which was annoying because he was getting absolutely crushed on every play. When the Cavs did double Knicks were kicking it out to wide open shooters. I'm not really sure about that strategy, you might not want to just straight switch it all the time.

Cavs struggled again rebounding, Hart is like Cavs kryptonite I don't get it.

Overall the offense looked really good, lots of open 3s just didn't fall tonight

I cannot stand watching Niang, he might be a great glue guy and team guy but man he's not good on the court.

I was fine switching Garland on to O.G. Dude can't dribble and takes so long to back Garland down that help is always there. Bridges has a passable handle and can shoot over Darius, so that's riskier. The end result was that KAT only got 8 FGAs and Brunson forced a lot of bad shots against length after he got tired of the 3rd and 4th options hunting Garland. A trap the Cavs didn't fall into with Brunson on LeVert.

One thing I don't like seeing is Garland and Merrill on the floor together. If you have to hide Merrill on Hart, Garland has to actually guard someone bigger regardless of switching. The lineup I hate is Niang, Merrill, and Garland. You can't cover for 3 bad defenders in a unit.

Brunson trying to generate offense by himself isn't going to work against good defensive teams. Losing DDV !hurt them. I think they're going to have to start McBride before the season is out.

[toooskies]

That was just a great game to watch overall. Lots of fun and good vibes to start the season.

Garland was hitting shots, Mobley started strong (disappeared in the middle) but finished with a dominant 4th.

Cavs seemed perfectly happy to switch Garland onto the Knicks wings which was annoying because he was getting absolutely crushed on every play. When the Cavs did double Knicks were kicking it out to wide open shooters. I'm not really sure about that strategy, you might not want to just straight switch it all the time.

Cavs struggled again rebounding, Hart is like Cavs kryptonite I don't get it.

Overall the offense looked really good, lots of open 3s just didn't fall tonight

I cannot stand watching Niang, he might be a great glue guy and team guy but man he's not good on the court.

I was fine switching Garland on to O.G. Dude can't dribble and takes so long to back Garland down that help is always there. Bridges has a passable handle and can shoot over Darius, so that's riskier. The end result was that KAT only got 8 FGAs and Brunson forced a lot of bad shots against length after he got tired of the 3rd and 4th options hunting Garland. A trap the Cavs didn't fall into with Brunson on LeVert.

One thing I don't like seeing is Garland and Merrill on the floor together. If you have to hide Merrill on Hart, Garland has to actually guard someone bigger regardless of switching. The lineup I hate is Niang, Merrill, and Garland. You can't cover for 3 bad defenders in a unit.

Brunson trying to generate offense by himself isn't going to work against good defensive teams. Losing DDV !hurt them. I think they're going to have to start McBride before the season is out.

I think Niang, Merrill, and Garland are all improved defenders over what they were last year. Niang lost weight and Garland gained it, just helping them fundamentally compete at the NBA level. Merrill seems quicker.

Length will always be an issue for Garland and Merrill. It's also an issue for Jerome-- both he and Merrill have negative wingspans. But as long as the offense actually improves while they're out there together, we can survive those stretches.

[JonFromVA]

That was just a great game to watch overall. Lots of fun and good vibes to start the season.

Garland was hitting shots, Mobley started strong (disappeared in the middle) but finished with a dominant 4th.

Cavs seemed perfectly happy to switch Garland onto the Knicks wings which was annoying because he was getting absolutely crushed on every play. When the Cavs did double Knicks were kicking it out to wide open shooters. I'm not really sure about that strategy, you might not want to just straight switch it all the time.

Cavs struggled again rebounding, Hart is like Cavs kryptonite I don't get it.

Overall the offense looked really good, lots of open 3s just didn't fall tonight

I cannot stand watching Niang, he might be a great glue guy and team guy but man he's not good on the court.

I was fine switching Garland on to O.G. Dude can't dribble and takes so long to back Garland down that help is always there. Bridges has a passable handle and can shoot over Darius, so that's riskier. The end result was that KAT only got 8 FGAs and Brunson forced a lot of bad shots against length after he got tired of the 3rd and 4th options hunting Garland. A trap the Cavs didn't fall into with Brunson on LeVert.

One thing I don't like seeing is Garland and Merrill on the floor together. If you have to hide Merrill on Hart, Garland has to actually guard someone bigger regardless of switching. The lineup I hate is Niang, Merrill, and Garland. You can't cover for 3 bad defenders in a unit.

Brunson trying to generate offense by himself isn't going to work against good defensive teams. Losing DDV !hurt them. I think they're going to have to start McBride before the season is out.

I think Niang, Merrill, and Garland are all improved defenders over what they were last year. Niang lost weight and Garland gained it, just helping them fundamentally compete at the NBA level. Merrill seems quicker.

Length will always be an issue for Garland and Merrill. It's also an issue for Jerome-- both he and Merrill have negative wingspans. But as long as the offense actually improves while they're out there together, we can survive those stretches.

In the Knicks game, the Merrill, Niang, and LeVert units with Mobley and Mitchell were very good. Wade, Okoro, and Jerome were not.

If Atkinson has a feel for what's working on any given night expanding the roster like he's doing should pay off big time. Bickerstaff would sometimes reach back to his bench out of desperation and dust someone off who hadn't played in a week and was often rewarded with a rusty performance from a rusty player.

https://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20241028&game=CLENYK