We are "OK"... 5 Reasons Why

[XXBKXX]

Let's all take a deep breath.... (Myself included)... Admittedly, it does suck that we are 2-5 but my eyeballs tell me that we are "ok". I put "ok" in quotations because before the season I had us finishing in the 9th - 7th range for the year. For those fans that are already calling for Luke's head were probably the same fans that thought we would automatically be the 2nd seed in the west. I was never drinking the Kool Aid that much. Theres nothing I've seen thus far that has swayed me from my pre season prediction.

Why?

1. Our opening schedule has been tough .. even for Western Conference Standards..

2. The next 10 games are much more favorable and could - IMO - be a season swinging stretch of games for us. More on this later...

3. Players will get more comfortable in roles once Luke settles on a rotation. Those suspensions really hurt us in terms of cohesiveness/comfortability.

4. Free Throw disparity will improve... Right now we give up the 3rd most ft attempts and are not getting any calls despite the fact that we constantly attack the rim and lead league in points in the paint. I think that will normalize. Bron will start to get the superstar calls/treatment ala Harden. Hes the biggest star in the league. Refs will take care of him eventually.

5. We have played well during all these games. Really well actually. We just havent been able to close. We have the 2nd best offense in the league so far and that's without shooting 3s, getting rebs and foul calls. Granted we are bottom 7 defensively, but I dont expect us to stay there. We have the talent and length to be at least an avg defending team.

We have 7 guys consistently scoring double digits. Individually, our young core players are all playing well. Hart is making a HUGE leap this season so far. He also looks good behind the arc. Kuz finally decided to show up and is doing well in the starting lineup. BI was also great yesterday inspite of foul trouble. I like the starting lineup we went with against the Wolves. I've been pleading for this lineup all offseason : Zo, BI, Bron, Kuz, McGee. I subscribe to the Play your best 5 players mantra... I like Zo's defense on the smaller PGs and we play better with him getting more mins than Rondo. Luke should stay with this lineup... On top of that, Lance looks like a solid signing and has been a legit catalyst off the bench (I did NOT see that coming). I'm also excited to see Mo get some run. Jonathan William's is playing well in the 2nd unit but Mo brings that fire, rebounding and outside shooting that will be a nice change of pace from McGee.

So In retrospect, there are things to get excited about. Our main players (not named KCP or Beasley) have all played well individually. Just need more time for them to foster that cohesiveness. Through 7 games weve only been outscored by 2 pts.. These next 10 games will be a great opportunity to get into rhythm and build some momentum. There's a very real chance to go 7-3 or 8-2 during this stretch. Worst case 6-4. NOW .. if Lakers go 500 and below the next 10 games then I give full carte blanche to freak out.

Next 10 Games :

Mavs
@Portland
Raptors
TWolves
@Kings
Atl
Portland
@Magic
@Heat
@Cle


My prediction : 7-3 the next 10 games which would put us at 9-8 for the year. I think we will go 3-2 in first 5 games then drop one in the 3 game road trip.

Here's to 9-8 !!!

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[Pythagoras]

The Cavs got off to a 19-20 start in Lebron’s first year back. Honestly, it’s going to take awhile for all of these new pieces to gel and I’m really not going to start worrying about the record till about the 30 game mark.

Now with all that said, it’s looking like they may need to trade for another big. The fact that Magic let Randle and BroLo walk and now they’re having to play Svi and Williams, neither of whom are ready to contribute regularly on a playoff team, was insanely irresponsible.

[Ball so hard]

I think it's fair to say i'm nowhere near as optimistic as the OP.

1. Our schedules hasn't been that tough.
3. Luke does not believe in set rotations. He's previously expressed his desire to go with whomever is playing well.
4. Great! If only we could actually make them at a decent clip.
5. This is most concerning in my view... playing well yet losing. 2nd best offense by what metrics? I certainly don't see a great offense (2nd best).

I have not seen a huge leap from Hart. Love the guy, but he's becoming extremely overrated here.
Kuzma has improved defensively, but he seems slightly worse on the offense than he was last year. I'm starting to wonder if last year's shooting was a fluke.

"...we play better with him [Lonzo] getting more mins than Rondo". The difference is likely negligible. Haven't looked up any stats, but it appears to me the team plays better with Rondo on the floor. Unlike many here, I don't really care who starts. I would simply like to watch winning basketball. It's not like we have a future superstar on our roster.

Mo is an unknown and could possibly be worse than Williams.

If he (Luke) were't a fan favorite many would be calling for his head already, and rightly so. This is his third season and I can't say comfortably we're heading in the right direction. At best, one could say Luke's been ok, and at worse one could say he's underachieved. Read somewhere Luke's name is atop the list of coached to be fired next on some betting sites.

[Landsberger]

I think it's fair to say i'm nowhere near as optimistic as the OP.

1. Our schedules hasn't been that tough.
3. Luke does not believe in set rotations. He's previously expressed his desire to go with whomever is playing well.
4. Great! If only we could actually make them at a decent clip.
5. This is most concerning in my view... playing well yet losing. 2nd best offense by what metrics? I certainly don't see a great offense (2nd best).

I have not seen a huge leap from Hart. Love the guy, but he's becoming extremely overrated here.
Kuzma has improved defensively, but he seems slightly worse on the offense than he was last year. I'm starting to wonder if last year's shooting was a fluke.

"...we play better with him [Lonzo] getting more mins than Rondo". The difference is likely negligible. Haven't looked up any stats, but it appears to me the team plays better with Rondo on the floor. Unlike many here, I don't really care who starts. I would simply like to watch winning basketball. It's not like we have a future superstar on our roster.

Mo is an unknown and could possibly be worse than Williams.

If he (Luke) were't a fan favorite many would be calling for his head already, and rightly so. This is his third season and I can't say comfortably we're heading in the right direction. At best, one could say Luke's been ok, and at worse one could say he's underachieved. Read somewhere Luke's name is atop the list of coached to be fired next on some betting sites.

This year is real and it's not going to be easy on the youth. They HAVE to perform now.... no waiting for potential that will never arrive. I like our young guys but would also trade anyone of them in a NY Minute to improve the team now.

I've always wondered about Luke as well. His lack of experience matched the team when we were "developing" so was he. The focus will begin to be on him if we continue to see constantly changing lineups and lack of defense due to not adjusting.

That said, I'm not that down on this group. There are holes in the composition of the team. Fans love "their" guys and want them to be in front of the vets we've brought in. This is where it gets dicey for Luke IMHO. We've seen many different lineup combos and some success and some failures with them. It will take time and I think we will improve.

I'm not jazzed with the way we finished the game against Min. We put Rondo/Ball and Kuzma in the corners and ran screen roll with Ingram and Bron. The offense basically stopped and became very easy to defend and we failed to close out the game. Why we didn't keep going with what was working early is beyond me. Ingram was loose and in motion and shot 6 for his first 7.... when we started forcing him the ball and watching he ended 2-11 in the second half. One of those was an "oh by the way" 3 at the buzzer. Having Rondo and Ball sit in the corner while Ingram works one on one is where Luke needs to be careful. Not the best use of the talents on the court. I think this will change as we move forward..... I hope it does because we went stagnant and became very easy to defend.

As for the "progress" of the youngsters.. too early to label anyone at this point. Ball seems to be shooting a little better, Kuz is playing a little more defense and Ingram seems to be about the same. Definitely no "jumps".

The pressure is on Magic, Luke and the youngsters right now..... that will separate the wheat from the chaff soon enough. Bron has had pressure from the day he was drafted so I'm not concerned about how he handles it.

[Dr Aki]

The Cavs got off to a 19-20 start in Lebron’s first year back. Honestly, it’s going to take awhile for all of these new pieces to gel and I’m really not going to start worrying about the record till about the 30 game mark.

Now with all that said, it’s looking like they may need to trade for another big. The fact that Magic let Randle and BroLo walk and now they’re having to play Svi and Williams, neither of whom are ready to contribute regularly on a playoff team, was insanely irresponsible.

That 19-20 record probably had them 7-8th seed.

19-20 in the west probably has us, 11-12th seed

[Landsberger]

My guess is that we have a tough first 20 games or so before we find a consistent rotation. The caveat in this is that Luke will find a consistent rotation.... he seems to run right past one when it happens and keeps tinkering. That could be his downfall.

I think hardened fans like this group tend to overreach on both ends by 25% or so.... when we reel off a 8-10 or 9-12 streak with a big win or 3 in it we'll be talking finals.....

[TheHartBreakKid]

When you throw in those last three east games our schedule looks way easier than it actually is....these next 6 games are far from easy.


We have one "sure" win against the HAwks....then we have two games against Portland one in Portland.....and hosting the raptors and Wolves....each playoff teams, followed by the a hot kings team in SAC.


I'm not sure we go better than 3-3 in this spell.......but overall I agree....we'll be fine.

[XXBKXX]

When you throw in those last three east games our schedule looks way easier than it actually is....these next 6 games are far from easy.


We have one "sure" win against the HAwks....then we have two games against Portland one in Portland.....and hosting the raptors and Wolves....each playoff teams, followed by the a hot kings team in SAC.


I'm not sure we go better than 3-3 in this spell.......but overall I agree....we'll be fine.

Correct.. that's why in my post I said that the first 5 games (starting with Mavs game) we would go 3-2; then continue on a win streak thereafter eventually dropping one on the 3 game road trip at the end....

Its early, but looks like my 7-3 prediction is holding up so far... Obviously tonight was a big win -- against Portland on the road. This was actually one of my 3 losses i had earmarked so I'm double happy we won.. Tomorrow against the Raptors - on a back to back -- will be one of the toughest games we face in this 10 game stretch.

We desperately need to keep this push going..

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[XXBKXX]

** yes I am bumping my thread.. LOL.

My 7-3 prediction during this 10 game stretch is looking good so far..

Right now we're 3-1 so far . Big wins tonight against minny and on the road in Portland have been huge.. need to keep it going in Sac town against the queens on Sat.. a W against the queens gets us back to 500



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