Cavaliers v Bobcats 1/3/2012

[Orenthal]

BISMACK

Fantastic series where Bismack blocked Gibson then TT blocked DJ.

TT just displayed a face up jumper??? OMG ITS A NEW YEAR!

/end analysis (and probably the post count for this thread!)

[Doc]

I'll join for a bit. I love Kyrie's game. You can already see that he's leading (or attempting to as much as a 19 y/o can). He's got a nice pace to his game and isn't afraid to push it like Byron loves. Shot is pretty decent. Real nice handle. I like to see him take it to the hoop...want to see him set up a few more shots (as he hits AP for 3).

TT had a pretty nice stretch there. A real glimpse of what he could be. You're getting someone with a high motor and a desire to block shots and play defense. Maybe he never becomes the scorer you'd like at #4, but I think he's got a bright future as an athletic big man that can be a double-double guy just on running the floor on fast breaks and converting offensive rebounds into 2nd chance points. I want to see the 2 rooks play together, in meaningful minutes.

[BruceK]

LeBron who? Kyrie just chased down and blocked from behind on a fast break

[Doc]

Damn he's good.

[BruceK]

Cavs up by 19 with six minutes left

[dmiles]

TT is going to make us forget all about JJ Hickson.

[e0y2e3]

Meh, my boy Henderson with another great all around outing and Biyombo keeping up his block every six minutes pace.

[Orenthal]

Thompson is always in position (offense and defense), compare that to Diaw's fat ass chucking 3's and fouling himself to the bench.

JJ Hickson made me "want" to forget about JJ Hickson.

Concur on Irving's game. He is the floor general that maintains pace and gets the ball to guys where and when they need it in the flow of the offense. It helps that there really aren't any alphas/boneheads on the team that demand or dominate the ball. Irving is left to assume the "vocal leadership" vacuum. You have the same thing to a lesser extent with Sessions and the second unit. Add weak competition and shooters actually hitting their shots (partly due to the PG play) and you have a team that is halfway watchable.

[Orenthal]

God Hollins is such a fucking tool. Hopefully Semih Erden can take on the role of obligitory 7 footer.

[BruceK]

TT finishes with 16 and 8

[e0y2e3]

BTW: Cousins leads the league in offensive rebound rate, is sixth in total rebound rate and is playing great D. So blow me with your shooting % OJ you douche.

[statmasta]

Kyrie Irving embarrassed Kemba Walker tonight.

Irving: 20 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 0 steals, 8-10 FG, 2-2 3pt, 2-2 FT in 20 minutes
Walker: 2 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 1-6 FG, 0-1 3pt, 0-0 FT in 11 minutes


Irving's clearly the best point guard, and best player, in the draft. All that talk about getting Knight or Walker instead was so silly.

[e0y2e3]

And some of you assholes wanted Kemba...

[rebelwithoutaclue]

Everyone (those that weren't already on board) is finally starting to come around on Irving. He's been better even than I imagined and it's only taken 6 games to take control of this team. He can do everything you ask of a pure point guard: dribble, shoot, pass, penetrate to score or kick-out, etc. He's fast/quick and he tries hard on defense even if he isn't the greatest individual defender yet.

My only quibble, again, has nothing to do with Kyrie; it's Byron Scott. I don't care about the scrubs on the second unit. They have their place but let Irving play in the 4th quarter, I beg you. Get him the experience now and it will pay off down the road. I wish that he would maintain the separate units for the first 3-3.5 quarters and then in the final 6 minutes, go with the 5 best players. Have Irving and Sessions play together with Parker, Jamison (or Thompson depending on the situation i.e. needing scoring or defense) and Varjeao.

Other than that, Kyrie is quickly becoming my all-time favorite Cav.

[LakeErieWarriors]

Better career FT% TT or Shaq? I don't know if I can handle that shit.

[bookelly]

Kyrie Irving embarrassed Kemba Walker tonight.

Irving: 20 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 0 steals, 8-10 FG, 2-2 3pt, 2-2 FT in 20 minutes
Walker: 2 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 1-6 FG, 0-1 3pt, 0-0 FT in 11 minutes


Irving's clearly the best point guard, and best player, in the draft. All that talk about getting Knight or Walker instead was so silly.

Don't forget 0 turnovers.

[statmasta]

Everyone (those that weren't already on board) is finally starting to come around on Irving. He's been better even than I imagined and it's only taken 6 games to take control of this team. He can do everything you ask of a pure point guard: dribble, shoot, pass, penetrate to score or kick-out, etc. He's fast/quick and he tries hard on defense even if he isn't the greatest individual defender yet.

My only quibble, again, has nothing to do with Kyrie; it's Byron Scott. I don't care about the scrubs on the second unit. They have their place but let Irving play in the 4th quarter, I beg you. Get him the experience now and it will pay off down the road. I wish that he would maintain the separate units for the first 3-3.5 quarters and then in the final 6 minutes, go with the 5 best players. Have Irving and Sessions play together with Parker, Jamison (or Thompson depending on the situation i.e. needing scoring or defense) and Varjeao.

Other than that, Kyrie is quickly becoming my all-time favorite Cav.

Playing in the 4th quarters of blow outs doesn't do any good.

Scott plays Irving in the 4th quarter in close games when it matters (Raptors and Pacers games). Byron Scott is playing everything perfectly, imo. I see no reason to complain about anything he's doing.

[Prosecutor]

Cavs beat another sub-.500 team at home. Too early to order playoff tickets, but these wins are good for confidence building. And it beats 26 losses in a row.

Cavs were 10-for-21 on 3-point shots. That's 26-for-47 in the last two games. Not too shabby. In the first five games they're shooting 48% at home and 32% on the road from downtown. Now they're going on a seven-game road trip, so let's see if they can improve that percentage a bit. They were 5-for-25 against the Pacers in their last road game. I think they'll need to dial back the 3-pointers a bit and attack the rim more.

Irving had 20 points, 6 assists, and no turnovers in 21 minutes, not to mention that chase down block. He came out of nowhere on that one. With LeBron you could see it coming, but Kyrie was two strides behind their point guard and just exploded to get the block. Definitely highlight film worthy. I had no idea he'd be this good this soon.

TT with 16 pts, 9 boards and 2 blocks off the bench. However, he's shooting 39% on free throws, so if that doesn't improve teams are going to just start hacking him. Yeah, he's worse than Shaq so far.

Casspi is a mess. Unforced turnovers, missed free throws, offensive and defensive fouls - he even threw away a routine inbounds pass after a Charlotte basket. He airballed a 3-pointer and almost airballed a free throw. He can't possibly be this bad. My guess is he's starting for the first time in his career and is trying to prove he deserves it, so he's pressing. Maybe going on the road will help.

The former Buckeye B.J. Mullens came off the bench for 14 pts, 4 boards and 2 blocks in 18 minutes. Wish we had him.

Augustin had a great game with 26 pts and 9 assists, but he played 38 minutes and wasn't a factor in the 4th quarter. I think Scott's strategy to divide the PG minutes fairly evenly is giving the Cavs an advantage late in the game.

I was impressed with Biyombo. He'll be a playa.

Cavs with 17 blocks in their last two games.

[peeker643]

Everyone (those that weren't already on board) is finally starting to come around on Irving. He's been better even than I imagined and it's only taken 6 games to take control of this team. He can do everything you ask of a pure point guard: dribble, shoot, pass, penetrate to score or kick-out, etc. He's fast/quick and he tries hard on defense even if he isn't the greatest individual defender yet.

My only quibble, again, has nothing to do with Kyrie; it's Byron Scott. I don't care about the scrubs on the second unit. They have their place but let Irving play in the 4th quarter, I beg you. Get him the experience now and it will pay off down the road. I wish that he would maintain the separate units for the first 3-3.5 quarters and then in the final 6 minutes, go with the 5 best players. Have Irving and Sessions play together with Parker, Jamison (or Thompson depending on the situation i.e. needing scoring or defense) and Varjeao.

Other than that, Kyrie is quickly becoming my all-time favorite Cav.

Playing in the 4th quarters of blow outs doesn't do any good.

Scott plays Irving in the 4th quarter in close games when it matters (Raptors and Pacers games). Byron Scott is playing everything perfectly, imo. I see no reason to complain about anything he's doing.

Maybe Byron realized they had back-to-backs last night and tonight and smartly limited minutes??

Maybe?? There's also the concept of sitting Irving down after a really efficient and effective night and letting him bask in that as opposed to going out there and cocking around in the 4th qtr of a 22 point game.

And yes OJ, I agree. JJ Hickson was forgettable before Tristan Thompson ever showed up in Cleveland. Hickson's a fucking tease who might not beat the basketball in a 'Words with Friends' game.

Oh...enjoy it now fellas. The cupcakes at home thing is over. You can get righteously indignat, but the next seven are away and if this tam comes home 2-5 after these next seven they may get a parade.

[rebelwithoutaclue]

Everyone (those that weren't already on board) is finally starting to come around on Irving. He's been better even than I imagined and it's only taken 6 games to take control of this team. He can do everything you ask of a pure point guard: dribble, shoot, pass, penetrate to score or kick-out, etc. He's fast/quick and he tries hard on defense even if he isn't the greatest individual defender yet.

My only quibble, again, has nothing to do with Kyrie; it's Byron Scott. I don't care about the scrubs on the second unit. They have their place but let Irving play in the 4th quarter, I beg you. Get him the experience now and it will pay off down the road. I wish that he would maintain the separate units for the first 3-3.5 quarters and then in the final 6 minutes, go with the 5 best players. Have Irving and Sessions play together with Parker, Jamison (or Thompson depending on the situation i.e. needing scoring or defense) and Varjeao.

Other than that, Kyrie is quickly becoming my all-time favorite Cav.

Playing in the 4th quarters of blow outs doesn't do any good.

Scott plays Irving in the 4th quarter in close games when it matters (Raptors and Pacers games). Byron Scott is playing everything perfectly, imo. I see no reason to complain about anything he's doing.

Sorry, but I don't qualify being up 7 going into the 4th as a blowout. I saw last night's game as a good, low-pressure situation to get Irving 4th quarter experience in closing out a game.

Maybe Byron realized they had back-to-backs last night and tonight and smartly limited minutes??

Maybe that New Jersey game was on New Year's Day instead of the night before last. I'm sorry if I don't want to see Alonzo Gee and Daniel Gibson play 6 more total minutes, and the entire 4th quarter, ahead of our franchise player.

[Orenthal]

BTW: Cousins leads the league in offensive rebound rate, is sixth in total rebound rate and is playing great D. So blow me with your shooting % OJ you douche.

1 for 5 tonight woohoo! JJ Hickson

[e0y2e3]

Yeah, Westfal benching him is going to lead to one of them having to leave the team.

The mind games being played here are insane.

[Orenthal]

I like the guy, he is the prototype OJ fanboi player, but holy gawd dude has to start acting like a pro. The FG% prolly won't last as the sample size increases. Just find it funny a 6'11" legit big body is shooting near south of 30%.

This stuff didn't start with Westphal. He confronts it in an equally dismal way, but he is one of the few to actually confront the behavior. I wonder what recourse the trainer has???

[e0y2e3]

I like the guy, he is the prototype OJ fanboi player, but holy gawd dude has to start acting like a pro. The FG% prolly won't last as the sample size increases. Just find it funny a 6'11" legit big body is shooting near south of 30%.

This stuff didn't start with Westphal. He confronts it in an equally dismal way, but he is one of the few to actually confront the behavior. I wonder what recourse the trainer has???

Nothing Westfal is claiming makes sense here and his teammates have had the same issues with Westfal.

A guy that demands on a trade on Dec 24th doesn't come out and bust his ass so much he leads the league in offensive rebounding rate while playing good D. Just doesn't happen.

[Gradysmanldy]

Very, very entertaining team right now. Hope they don't play their way away from the draft pick they need.

[e0y2e3]

Also, Cousins has curbed the on the court temper tantrums that were his previous calling card

[peeker643]

Maybe Byron realized they had back-to-backs last night and tonight and smartly limited minutes??

Maybe that New Jersey game was on New Year's Day instead of the night before last. I'm sorry if I don't want to see Alonzo Gee and Daniel Gibson play 6 more total minutes, and the entire 4th quarter, ahead of our franchise player.

Umm.... yeah... it was.

Which has absolutely zero to do with the fact they play tonight. Which is the day after last night.

[e0y2e3]

Franchise Player that played all of 11 games last year...

[peeker643]

Sorry Reb... makes all the sense in the world to me from a physical and mental angle to have KI play 20 of his very best minutes of the young season and get him out before they play Toronto 22 hours later when KI has to go up against Calderon, who stole his girlfriend and his lunch money on opening night.

Makes a ton of sense to send KI in fresh and mentally high.

YMMV (but I have no idea how it could )

[e0y2e3]

Calderone shouldn't be stealing anyone's lunch and/or girlfriend's at this point.

:-(

[peeker643]

Calderone shouldn't be stealing anyone's lunch and/or girlfriend's at this point.

:-(

Ha! The fact he shouldn't doesn't mean he didn't.

[rebelwithoutaclue]

Maybe Byron realized they had back-to-backs last night and tonight and smartly limited minutes??

Maybe that New Jersey game was on New Year's Day instead of the night before last. I'm sorry if I don't want to see Alonzo Gee and Daniel Gibson play 6 more total minutes, and the entire 4th quarter, ahead of our franchise player.

Umm.... yeah... it was.

Which has absolutely zero to do with the fact they play tonight. Which is the day after last night.

My bad.

The point still stands. 21 minutes is nothing and there's no reason for Alonzo freakin' Gee to play more minutes than Irving.

[statmasta]

Maybe Byron realized they had back-to-backs last night and tonight and smartly limited minutes??

Maybe that New Jersey game was on New Year's Day instead of the night before last. I'm sorry if I don't want to see Alonzo Gee and Daniel Gibson play 6 more total minutes, and the entire 4th quarter, ahead of our franchise player.

Umm.... yeah... it was.

Which has absolutely zero to do with the fact they play tonight. Which is the day after last night.

My bad.

The point still stands. 21 minutes is nothing and there's no reason for Alonzo freakin' Gee to play more minutes than Irving.

Sure there is. After playing just 11 games in college, Kyrie has never played a long basketball season. He's not used to the wear and tear of a college season, much less the twice as long NBA season. And it's especially important this year with the condensed schedule that Kyrie get as much rest as possible so he's fresh at the end of the season. Scott isn't going to put any more of a workload on Kyrie's shoulders than what is necessary. Scott's playing it smart, imo. Kyrie didn't need to play in the 4th, so he didn't. Being fresh for the entire season is more important than playing a mostly garbage time 4th quarter against the Bobcats in January.

[Orenthal]

Don't hate on Gee, he is becoming a useful role player and minute absorber.

[e0y2e3]

Fuck Alonzo Gee.

[Orenthal]

Suck it ZaZa I'm leading ORR!