Game 25 : Cleveland Cavaliers (10-14) @ Phoenix Suns (13-9) - 9:00PM

[ducler]

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[Stillwater]

No CP3 should be interesting. If Dotson does not get pt esp if Sexton or DG are struggling , JBB is being forced to play them by this front office because it's a pure tank move
Same goes for O if he struggles should start taking a seat for others more often like Windler or again Dotson

[jbk1234]

McGee is playing like he wants to get bought out.

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[jbk1234]

Both McGee and Allen are out there getting sonned by Frank the Tank. SMH.

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[jbk1234]

I really want to win this game.

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[Stillwater]

$ $ $ time

[jbk1234]

You can't call that an offensive foul. I can see a no call there, but not an offensive foul.

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[Stillwater]

If Sexton isnt getting that call he needed to shoot it as soon as contact was made
I did not like Prince in for Allen when Prince was out for so long then despite coming in cold he gets the out of bounds play call to shoot the 3 and misses it... bad coaching there.
had they already ised the challenge ? should have used it for Sexton offensive foul etc.
Both guards forcing it late then pulling Allen and inserting somebody who was hot in the first half and hadnt done much since was nothing more than a tank move
Windler should have been in for O as well for the offense out of the time out if you want decoys off the bench and one of DG or Sexton taking the last shot with those other 2 in Windler and Prince keeping the defenders honest and being there as secondarys
being cold etc.
that was the one game they had a decent chance of winning. dont see it against Denver or anyone else really on this road trip barring some break out performance or the other team choking

[tundraknight]

And just like that the Cavaliers are in the 6th spot on nbatankathon.

Out of boredom I clicked on the “simulate draft” tab, and very first try it shot up to the #2 Overall pick. Hopefully that luck will translate when the draft lottery eventually happens.

Would love to add one of Jalen Green, Kuminga, Evan Mobley for next season.

[Stillwater]

^If sextons leg issue continues to be a problem with his shot confidence which would be the only thing that would make sense and stop him from shooting an uncontested 3 besides coaching, then this team has to get more offense out of someone asap or they will be a high lottery team again. The funny thing is i see dg dribbling around dropping lob dimes and finding easy buckets but he still looks like a kid out there and is a long ways away. Not sold he gets to where you say with a straight face hes your starting pg on a contender at all. I think right now Sexton is hurt but was proving to be the one piece that might still be around in 3 years . I actually liked this teams make up better with exum next to Sexton but trading for a true rim protector like the fro was more than justified. This roster has a lot of long term development kids and no win now studs but there rarely ever are any win now players in any draft outside of 1 like Ja or Luka each year. I mean right now Ball is that guy from 2020 and Prospect like Wiseman snd Okoro are the norm

[JonFromVA]

^If sextons leg issue continues to be a problem with his shot confidence which would be the only thing that would make sense and stop him from shooting an uncontested 3 besides coaching, then this team has to get more offense out of someone asap or they will be a high lottery team again. The funny thing is i see dg dribbling around dropping lob dimes and finding easy buckets but he still looks like a kid out there and is a long ways away. Not sold he gets to where you say with a straight face hes your starting pg on a contender at all. I think right now Sexton is hurt but was proving to be the one piece that might still be around in 3 years . I actually liked this teams make up better with exum next to Sexton but trading for a true rim protector like the fro was more than justified. This roster has a lot of long term development kids and no win now studs but there rarely ever are any win now players in any draft outside of 1 like Ja or Luka each year. I mean right now Ball is that guy from 2020 and Prospect like Wiseman snd Okoro are the norm

At the moment ... Ja, Zion, Luka, LaMelo, and Wiseman are all on their way to the lottery same as Sexton, Garland, and Okoro. It's hard for young players to "win now" regardless of the talent level. Injuries are a big problem across the league, so, I don't want to pretend we're anything special ... but for a team that has to scrap for every win, the loss of a player like Nance Jr is a pretty big deal.

Exum is still out injured (as he's been most of his career). Hard to count on him, but we definitely have a hole at backup PG.

As for Garland, of course he still is a kid out there ... but he's a kid averaging 16 & 6, shooting 40% from 3pt and giving solid effort on D. A kid who's already shown you more than you thought he would. Rebuilding around a core of 21 year old players is a slow process, let alone 19 year olds.

[Stillwater]

^If sextons leg issue continues to be a problem with his shot confidence which would be the only thing that would make sense and stop him from shooting an uncontested 3 besides coaching, then this team has to get more offense out of someone asap or they will be a high lottery team again. The funny thing is i see dg dribbling around dropping lob dimes and finding easy buckets but he still looks like a kid out there and is a long ways away. Not sold he gets to where you say with a straight face hes your starting pg on a contender at all. I think right now Sexton is hurt but was proving to be the one piece that might still be around in 3 years . I actually liked this teams make up better with exum next to Sexton but trading for a true rim protector like the fro was more than justified. This roster has a lot of long term development kids and no win now studs but there rarely ever are any win now players in any draft outside of 1 like Ja or Luka each year. I mean right now Ball is that guy from 2020 and Prospect like Wiseman snd Okoro are the norm

At the moment ... Ja, Zion, Luka, LaMelo, and Wiseman are all on their way to the lottery same as Sexton, Garland, and Okoro. It's hard for young players to "win now" regardless of the talent level. Injuries are a big problem across the league, so, I don't want to pretend we're anything special ... but for a team that has to scrap for every win, the loss of a player like Nance Jr is a pretty big deal.

Exum is still out injured (as he's been most of his career). Hard to count on him, but we definitely have a hole at backup PG.

As for Garland, of course he still is a kid out there ... but he's a kid averaging 16 & 6, shooting 40% from 3pt and giving solid effort on D. A kid who's already shown you more than you thought he would. Rebuilding around a core of 21 year old players is a slow process, let alone 19 year olds.

The point is most players taken in the lottery are actually not win now players unless you overpick a 3rd or 4th year college player entering his prime as a athlete the day he enters the NBA and prospects like Luka and Ja immediately impacted their rosters and started winning right away...what happened after that was Covid. Lamelo is absolutely much farther along than say Sexton was as a rookie and is impacting the game far more quickly than DG has even in his 2nd season. But to say both our guards will or wont maybe be that impactful is just an unknown since they are not.
DG doesn't project to me no matter how talented of a high iq player he can become to ever compete as a starting pg on a contender unless he transforms into a Sexton level athlete. I put my $ on the kid with the athleticism and the drive to be great like Sexton every time over the kids who are farther along in their development like DG at the time he was drafted when the player like DG lacks NBA level athleticism as a small guard. Some bigger forwards like KLove can get by on meh athleticism and high IQ basketball skll but few if any PGs can unless they are hunting for calls like Trae who is finally starting to be exposed and whos flame is burning out.
Yes Exum is an injury prone guy , the point is Sexton plays better next to elite defenders not elite creators who are undersized

[Harper4Ferry?]

I thought we traded Exum? We still need a backup PG though.

[Stillwater]

I thought we traded Exum? We still need a backup PG though.

they did the comment was me referencing how much better Sexton was next to a defender like exum than next to a creator like DG but obviously the Cavs are better long term with a player like Allen added to the mix.
Anyway , the Cavs need to take it slower than most fans want probably if they are going to stick with the DG Sexton back court , but the fact they are the worse offensive rating in the league could push them to hit the fast forward button and trade for a better fit next to Sexton who is far more proven even if it means moving DG to the bench and making him earn the starting gig back later.

[Stillwater]

Sexton apparently has been playing with a neck strain lately as well which makes me feel a little better about his somewhat passive shooting attempts in past 3 games.Maybe the defenses ramping up has less to do with it than just his being banged up