Moderator: ijspeelman
Some thoughts after watching the whole CLE-MIA game.
On the Cavs:
1.) Cleveland has very little talent. Our defense was quite bad the whole game leading up to crunch time, but the players just couldn't hit open shots. They are a pretty good TEAM though.
2.) Trade Jamison. He's a chucker and takes some (Please Use More Appropriate Word) shots (though I guess those are "normal" shots for him). His offensive role is probably much bigger than it should be at this point, considering the lack of offensive firepower in the lineup. He made some ridiculous shots in the 1st half (mainly lapse on defense), but he was straight chucking in the 2nd half, especially in the clutch where I was just smh.
3.) I would trade Varejao. He's a very valuable player and hustles great, but he's a championship-team role player, kinda like Noah. He can't help the Cavs win that many games right now, because they're lacking in talent and don't have the foundation where he can be effective. Not to mention he's 29, and the Cavs will take a couple years at least. If they can get some really good value for him (they should), they should pull the trigger.
4.) Trade Sessions. He seems like a nice pure point, but when he's on the floor with Kyrie, he usually handles the ball and Kyrie's not as effective. He's great insurance and a really good backup, but I think he should be gone by the deadline, after which Kyrie should take full control of the team. I think they could do with Boobie as a backup point and get some value for Sessions.
5.) The keepers I see are Gee, Kyrie, TT (didn't play), Samuels, and possibly Casspi/Eyenga (meh).
On Kyrie:
1.) We played really good defense on him tonight. He also took some good shots, but couldn't connect, especially from midrange. He was great from three though.
2.) He plays a lot of off-ball. Just an observation.
3.) He coasts a bit, just in general. I dunno if it's fatigue or what, but I think he should demand the ball more.
3.) He's a very, very good passer. He doesn't handle the ball a TON, but he almost always looks to make the right plays. Varejao and Jamison should cut him a check.
4.) He's still turnover-prone. I thought he did a good job protecting the ball the past 7 games, but he wasn't able to handle the tough pressure that well. He'll definitely need to improve in this area.
5.) He did okay in crunch time. He got to the foul line well despite really good defense from us in the clutch, and had a couple of good shots from getting into the lane well. He just couldn't finish it up, and didn't get the ball much afterwards.
6.) Thus, he needs to demand the ball better and take control of the team IMO. He might not be fully ready, but I think at some point, if you have that much talent, you just gotta be thrown into the fire to really improve. I think coach did a great job managing his minutes up to now, but he needs more freedom.
