GT #23: Cavs @ Bullets 7 PM (NBCSW/106.7 FM) [12/3/21]

[NatP4]

It’s simple: the worst player on the roster still leads the team in minutes played at a ridiculous 745 minutes played. It’s absolutely terrible coaching. Dinwiddie is right to be upset. He has to watch the starting PF brick 7 shots a game and turn the ball over 2-3 times as well. It has to be infuriating.

[Zonkerbl]

I want Holiday in particular to completely change his attitude/body language on the floor. Trez too - he needs to say what he wants to say without showing up the refs. Don't let the opposition see that you're frustrated, it gives them confidence.

[payitforward]

...Dwinddie is a huge downgrade from Westbrook and its affected beal

Yup. Russ at least plays with fire and energy. Dinwiddie plays like he doesn't care. He can't blow by anyone off the bounce. Russ on this team would be much better.

Russ would be more impactful, but I don't know if he would be better. The guy shot us out of a lot more games than he shot us into. It's easy to see the things Westbrook does well, but it's harder to track the lost opportunities when Westbrook squanders possessions with bad shots, turnovers, and reckless gambling on D. The team got blown out occasionally last season too.

We are still 14-9. We were 30-35 in games Westbrook played in last year.

First off, Russell Westbrook at his peak was one of the 3-4 best players in the game. Obviously, that's better than Dinwiddie could hope to be.

Overall, Russ played at a high level last year, especially the last 1/3 of the year. But, he's not playing particularly well for the Lakers this year. & he's 33. Complaining that we traded him seems waaay off base to me -- especially since, as nate points out, we are 14-9.

In the last 20 years, how often has this team started a season 14-9 or better?

As to last night, we were down by 29 points after 3 quarters. I'm pretty sure we can't blame that deficit on Spencer Dinwiddie!

[JonFromVA]

I watched the game, the Cavs got several super easy buckets playing pick and roll when the defensive rotations weren't fast/strong enough. Cavs big man was getting dunks on the same play over and over again. In the second half Trez was able to at least get a body on him so he wasn't dunking but he was still getting easy buckets. Opposing offenses are finding holes in the Zards defense - they have a system that hides their lack of foot speed at the guard position but it can be exposed with the P&R, force the big to come up and help, lob it over and bob's your uncle. High school stuff really.

I'm also not happy how easy it is to get into the Zards' heads with three dunks in a row. Part of is the coaching staff having no answer for their lack of physical talent on defense. But the players need to accept that sometimes they're just going to get their asses kicked and they have to save that negative emotional energy for practice the next day. Don't direct it at the refs - at one point they got three techs in a row. Just a team full of mentally soft whiners right now, unacceptable in a team that has to rely on defensive intensity to win.

Its a pick your poison situation... but Allen lob dunk has got to be the worst of the possible outcomes.

[payitforward]

It’s simple: the worst player on the roster still leads the team in minutes played at a ridiculous 745 minutes played. It’s absolutely terrible coaching. Dinwiddie is right to be upset. He has to watch the starting PF brick 7 shots a game and turn the ball over 2-3 times as well. It has to be infuriating.

Has everybody gone completely nuts?

Last night, Kuzma scored 12 points on 10 shots & 2 FTs. Brad managed 2 more points -- on 7 more shots & 2 more FTs. But, you want to tag Kuzma?

[CobraCommander]

Went to game...it was bad...fans were despondent and the team seemed to not care...

Such a bad look for a Friday night at home against a team in your conf that is on the rise, just like you, supposedly missing one of their best players with a young coach.

The Cavs and Hornets appear to just be better than the wiz at everything and it doesn’t make sense on paper.

Again getting down early...it’s like teams know the wiz start slow and are coached to work to get off to a lead and then we are fighting from 20 back to come back...you can’t do that every game and shouldn’t have to. Wes has to start the game off better and honestly get more on the court leadership from din and beal when things start spiraling-

Trez not perfect but he is by far the most consistent guy on this team....and he is on the bench.

I saw what NatP4 said...appreciate it but Kuz has been same guy...he is awkward but doing what he does- Beal is the guy that has fallen off a cliff and maybe it’s Din as people have said...but let’s be honest, how many games has he been the best player on the court for either team? Not many if any. I don’t mean scoring or passing...but just the best player in the gym like CP3 is on days when Booker has 30 and CP3 has 15...CP3 is the best most trustworthy consistent smart play over smart play guy on court.......juxtaposition Beal...

Optimism is shrinking when you fight to beat OKC, lose to SA and lose to Cleveland at home like this - after Charlotte- you still gotta see the Suns, Lakers, nets, warriors, clippers.....that’s ten Ls right there If they don’t get thus cleaned up

[NatP4]

It’s simple: the worst player on the roster still leads the team in minutes played at a ridiculous 745 minutes played. It’s absolutely terrible coaching. Dinwiddie is right to be upset. He has to watch the starting PF brick 7 shots a game and turn the ball over 2-3 times as well. It has to be infuriating.

Has everybody gone completely nuts?

Last night, Kuzma scored 12 points on 10 shots & 2 FTs. Brad managed 2 more points -- on 7 more shots & 2 more FTs. But, you want to tag Kuzma?

My comment was in reference to the entire season, obviously. I don’t think Kuzma played 745 minutes in the game last night.

Are you suggesting that Beal should play less? That would be a completely obnoxious take. Kyle Kuzma has been one of the worst players in the entire league this season, and yet he leads our team in minutes.

This is simple stuff

[80sballboy]

Yawn about Kuzma. Everybody said he's the worst player in the world, so he's been a very good rebounder and late game shooter. Can't ask for much more because he's a 6-10 tweener. The whole team was garbage last night, but you look at your point guard for points when the offense breaks down and leadership. Dinwiddie is a smart guy but he doesn't seem to want to lead. I get it. He's been here 20 games and I know it's not his team. It's Beal's team, which can be good and bad. Though I think because of Dinwiddie's tentative play. Beal is asked to defend finally (he's at least trying). He's trying to initiate the offense all the time when Neto in and often when Holiday is in and probably 50% of the time when Din is in. I thought the story was the defense was really putrid last night. I think we're going to struggled until Rui comes back and we'll need another 10 games to figure out the rotation and then Bryan will come back and give us more size, but Trez will lose some minutes.

I didn't notice the body language until last night with Dinwiddie, but yes, it shows he's not comfortable here or in luv with BB.
Dinwiddie is averaging 13.7ppg, 5.0 RPG and 5.4apg on 34.8% three-point shooting and 40% fg (88% FT). Of course, he averaged 20.6ppg with the Nets pre-ACL injury. But his shooting numbers were about the same, he was just getting more takes to the basket. He averaged 7 free throw attempts that year and just 2.6 FTA this season. That's his game. He has to get back to that.

[pcbothwel]

It’s simple: the worst player on the roster still leads the team in minutes played at a ridiculous 745 minutes played. It’s absolutely terrible coaching. Dinwiddie is right to be upset. He has to watch the starting PF brick 7 shots a game and turn the ball over 2-3 times as well. It has to be infuriating.

This.
Kuzma is actually a very useful player due to his jack of all trades skill set and defensive versatility. But he is taking WAY to many shots and getting to much slack.
Im hoping some GM overrates his activity and versatility so we can move him for a decent package.

[FAH1223]

Went to game...it was bad...fans were despondent and the team seemed to not care...

Such a bad look for a Friday night at home against a team in your conf that is on the rise, just like you, supposedly missing one of their best players with a young coach.

The Cavs and Hornets appear to just be better than the wiz at everything and it doesn’t make sense on paper.

Again getting down early...it’s like teams know the wiz start slow and are coached to work to get off to a lead and then we are fighting from 20 back to come back...you can’t do that every game and shouldn’t have to. Wes has to start the game off better and honestly get more on the court leadership from din and beal when things start spiraling-

Trez not perfect but he is by far the most consistent guy on this team....and he is on the bench.

I saw what NatP4 said...appreciate it but Kuz has been same guy...he is awkward but doing what he does- Beal is the guy that has fallen off a cliff and maybe it’s Din as people have said...but let’s be honest, how many games has he been the best player on the court for either team? Not many if any. I don’t mean scoring or passing...but just the best player in the gym like CP3 is on days when Booker has 30 and CP3 has 15...CP3 is the best most trustworthy consistent smart play over smart play guy on court.......juxtaposition Beal...

Optimism is shrinking when you fight to beat OKC, lose to SA and lose to Cleveland at home like this - after Charlotte- you still gotta see the Suns, Lakers, nets, warriors, clippers.....that’s ten Ls right there If they don’t get thus cleaned up

I was at the game too and it was an embarrassment.

[9 and 20]

Went to game...it was bad...fans were despondent and the team seemed to not care...

Such a bad look for a Friday night at home against a team in your conf that is on the rise, just like you, supposedly missing one of their best players with a young coach.

The Cavs and Hornets appear to just be better than the wiz at everything and it doesn’t make sense on paper.

Again getting down early...it’s like teams know the wiz start slow and are coached to work to get off to a lead and then we are fighting from 20 back to come back...you can’t do that every game and shouldn’t have to. Wes has to start the game off better and honestly get more on the court leadership from din and beal when things start spiraling-

Trez not perfect but he is by far the most consistent guy on this team....and he is on the bench.

I saw what NatP4 said...appreciate it but Kuz has been same guy...he is awkward but doing what he does- Beal is the guy that has fallen off a cliff and maybe it’s Din as people have said...but let’s be honest, how many games has he been the best player on the court for either team? Not many if any. I don’t mean scoring or passing...but just the best player in the gym like CP3 is on days when Booker has 30 and CP3 has 15...CP3 is the best most trustworthy consistent smart play over smart play guy on court.......juxtaposition Beal...

Optimism is shrinking when you fight to beat OKC, lose to SA and lose to Cleveland at home like this - after Charlotte- you still gotta see the Suns, Lakers, nets, warriors, clippers.....that’s ten Ls right there If they don’t get thus cleaned up

I was at the game too and it was an embarrassment.

I didn't go to the game, even though I kinda wanted to see Ludacris. I'm glad I didn't pay to sit through that garbage. The past several games, it seems on several possessions, on both offense and defense, the team is all messed up and doesn't know what to do. Not sure who to blame that on - I guess it has to be the coach and/or the best players on the team, Unseld, Beal, and Dinwiddie. Last night, it just happened on more possessions than previous games, so we lost by a lot.

Poor Ludacris had to watch that garbage, haha. ROLL OUT. Pick and roll out?

I wonder how much uncle Ted paid Luda (we're definitely selling our 2nd round pick this year).

[payitforward]

...Kyle Kuzma has been one of the worst players in the entire league this season, and yet he leads our team in minutes.

This is simple stuff

Simply wrong. Kuzma hasn't been "good" NBA player in his career -- where that word is used to mean "better overall than an average player at his position" -- but he has certainly NOT been "one of the worst players in the entire league."

Here are a bunch of guys at the 4 who've been way worse than Kuzma this season (I'm only naming guys who've played 500+ minutes): Jeff Green, Jaden McDaniels, Georges Niang, Jerami Grant, Cameron Johnson, Carmelo Anthony, Robert Covington, Danilo Gallinari, Jae Crowder -- & a bunch of other guys.

[FAH1223]

Went to game...it was bad...fans were despondent and the team seemed to not care...

Such a bad look for a Friday night at home against a team in your conf that is on the rise, just like you, supposedly missing one of their best players with a young coach.

The Cavs and Hornets appear to just be better than the wiz at everything and it doesn’t make sense on paper.

Again getting down early...it’s like teams know the wiz start slow and are coached to work to get off to a lead and then we are fighting from 20 back to come back...you can’t do that every game and shouldn’t have to. Wes has to start the game off better and honestly get more on the court leadership from din and beal when things start spiraling-

Trez not perfect but he is by far the most consistent guy on this team....and he is on the bench.

I saw what NatP4 said...appreciate it but Kuz has been same guy...he is awkward but doing what he does- Beal is the guy that has fallen off a cliff and maybe it’s Din as people have said...but let’s be honest, how many games has he been the best player on the court for either team? Not many if any. I don’t mean scoring or passing...but just the best player in the gym like CP3 is on days when Booker has 30 and CP3 has 15...CP3 is the best most trustworthy consistent smart play over smart play guy on court.......juxtaposition Beal...

Optimism is shrinking when you fight to beat OKC, lose to SA and lose to Cleveland at home like this - after Charlotte- you still gotta see the Suns, Lakers, nets, warriors, clippers.....that’s ten Ls right there If they don’t get thus cleaned up

I was at the game too and it was an embarrassment.

I didn't go to the game, even though I kinda wanted to see Ludacris. I'm glad I didn't pay to sit through that garbage. The past several games, it seems on several possessions, on both offense and defense, the team is all messed up and doesn't know what to do. Not sure who to blame that on - I guess it has to be the coach and/or the best players on the team, Unseld, Beal, and Dinwiddie. Last night, it just happened on more possessions than previous games, so we lost by a lot.

Poor Ludacris had to watch that garbage, haha. ROLL OUT. Pick and roll out?

I wonder how much uncle Ted paid Luda (we're definitely selling our 2nd round pick this year).

The sound system in the arena was terrible! I couldn’t even hear Luda! Or the beats well!