A couple half-glass full notations after the first six games of the season.....

 

- We are literally two jump shots (end of games against Bucks and Suns) away from being 4-2

 

- Our starting backcourt is averaging 40 points/gm

 

- Even though they might not win much, this is an exciting team to watch play

- Even though they might not win much, this is an exciting team to watch play

 

Even if they were to go 2-80, I would still enjoy the Cavs, and mainly because I love watching Kyrie play.

Could there be anyone in the NBA that looks like they don't belong on the floor any more than Jon Leuer?

It's going to be hard to agree with that given that I know that the rest of the Cavs bench exists.

i actually think Leuer isnt terrible.  That being said, the bench besides boobie sucks.  Andy has 35 tonight. Andy who is about as offensive as I am.  Perfect.  Somebody help this poor guy.  That being said.  I still like this team and expect them to make a run at the 7 or 8 seed

I like the team and will keep watching, but not because I think they'll be anywhere near an 8th seed.  Get well soon Tyler Zeller.

The bench is just a disaster.  That group is digging holes which the starters can't fight their way out of.  The good news is that a decent bench can probably be bought via free agency and we have an owner who is willing to spend.  The bad news is that we usually have to overpay free agents to play here over more attractive winter destinations and/or more solidified teams.  At the moment, absent some total reversal of how they are playing, we might be well served to reallys start scouting the D-league to hopefully find a diamond in the rough.  I wonder if Lester Hudson is still looking for a team?

 

I was waiting for Dion to have an off-night.  He wasn't taking bad shots last night..... they just weren't falling.

 

Serious question - has there ever been a player in the history of the NBA that had his dunks blocked more than Tristan?  It seems as if that straight up with two hands move he uses results in the ball being swatted more than it does in a dunk.  Last year, I thought it was just a matter of adding some upper body strenth.  It seems to be more than just that.

I don't know if this has been discussed, but I like the idea of putting Waiters on the bench to provide a scoring punch for the second team. 

Serious question - has there ever been a player in the history of the NBA that had his dunks blocked more than Tristan?  It seems as if that straight up with two hands move he uses results in the ball being swatted more than it does in a dunk.  Last year, I thought it was just a matter of adding some upper body strenth.  It seems to be more than just that.

 

Haha, I had this exact thought a few days ago.  It has nothing to do with upper body strength and everything to do with him exposing the ball and saying "please block this dunk".  It's so predictable.

Kyrie out 4 weeks with fractured finger.  Looks like Dion is gonna have to grow up real quick..... breaking out of his mini-slump would be a start.  I think we have to play Boobie in place of KI2, which is going to make our bench that much more cwappy.  This could get ugly

It's all good we have the masked duo.

Kyrie out 4 weeks with fractured finger.

 

Whoa! I missed that news. At least now I'll know why the Cavs will enter 2013 without adding any more to wins to their grand total of two so far. We may be looking at 2-17 when Kyrie comes back.

Kyrie who?  :)

Yeah right. I have no recollection of the Cavs picking up someone named Jeremy Pargo in the offseason. None. Nothing. Nada.

I see the Cavs have adopted the Browns' strategy regarding 4th quarter leads.....

 

Kind of hard to close out a game without your closer (Kyrie).  But I have been very happy with the way this team has been competing since Kyrie went down.  I thought we would see some lopsided losses and that hasn't occured.  In fact, the past two games, they took two of the best teams in the league down to the wire. 

 

We need to storm Stern's office if Andy is not selected for the All-Star team.  His effort is off the charts and he is basically carrying us at this point.  Dion is also stepping in nicely as the playmaker and Gee is putting on a defensive clinic night in and night out.  Lack of depth, experience and elite talent is what is doing us in.

Every night we don't lose by 20+ w/o Kyrie is a victory.

 

It basically necessitates that somebody who we have grown to assume doesn't really know how to play NBA basketball (most of the bench) stepped up. So those are great things to see. If just one guy comes out of this part of the year knowing that they can step up their game when it matters that's great for this team. They suddenly have more assets and the focus on who to get rid of in the mid-to-long term becomes clearer.

Kind of hard to close out a game without your closer (Kyrie).

 

Kind of hard to watch, too.

 

I'll wait a while before I decide whether to get emotionally invested in this team again.

Really?  You didn't enjoy watching the last two games?  I thought both were very well played, very hard fought basketball games.  In all, even though their record is awful, the Cavs have had very few stinkers all season.

I stopped watching before those two games. I'll start up again sometime after Kyrie returns.

Good thing you didn't decide to start watching tonight.  Cavs horrible, but so were the Suns for much of the game, and then the wheels fell off.

Forgot to watch. Oh well.

Cavs won? Against the 9-4 Hawks? Oops, now 9-5.

i watched this pistons game. ugh they got off to a terrible start but did kind of claw their way back in the second half. poor sideshow bob Andy its like its all on him. does anyone know when or roughly when Irving is supposed to be back?  before the end of the year I hope?

i watched this pistons game. ugh they got off to a terrible start but did kind of claw their way back in the second half. poor sideshow bob Andy its like its all on him. does anyone know when or roughly when Irving is supposed to be back?  before the end of the year I hope?

 

Yes, he's due back before Christmas.

Get ready for several months of Andy trade rumors.  I expect OKC and Boston to be among the top suitors, given that they have some young talent and enticing draft picks to offer.

 

From a business perspective, it makes sense.  And I would love to see AV get a chance to play for a title.  But it still pains me to think where this team would be without him.  He has nine straight games of 15 or more rebounds.  His stat line from the last 5 games is...... 15/22, 20/18, 20/18, 19/17, and 17/18.  That's insane.

Get ready for several months of Andy trade rumors.  I expect OKC and Boston to be among the top suitors, given that they have some young talent and enticing draft picks to offer.

 

From a business perspective, it makes sense.  And I would love to see AV get a chance to play for a title.  But it still pains me to think where this team would be without him.  He has nine straight games of 15 or more rebounds.  His stat line from the last 5 games is...... 15/22, 20/18, 20/18, 19/17, and 17/18.  That's insane.

 

He's played for a championship here in Cleveland.  If Z can wait so can Andy!

Andy is 30.  He can't do what he does for much longer.  The guy is going to lose a step is the coming years when, if all goes as planned, we MIGHT be ready to compete.  Don't get me wrong.  I am more on the fence than my posts my suggest with the idea of trading Andy.  On the one hand, you want to maximize his value.  On the other hand, maximizing his value might be keeping him around and letting his work ethic, heart and desire rub off on our younger players.

Andy is 30.  He can't do what he does for much longer.  The guy is going to lose a step is the coming years when, if all goes as planned, we MIGHT be ready to compete.  Don't get me wrong.  I am more on the fence than my posts my suggest with the idea of trading Andy.  On the one hand, you want to maximize his value.  On the other hand, maximizing his value might be keeping him around and letting his work ethic, heart and desire rub off on our younger players.

 

I chose the later!

I think he has at four more years of solid production with two or three years of diminishing value.  If the cavs can make the playoffs next year, he could still be a key player if the team can improve consistently over the next three years. 

Its not his skill set I'm worried about, its his body. The way he plays, he's an injury waiting to happen, and the older he gets, the more likely he gets dinged up.

 

That said, count me in for keeping him. He's the heart and soul of this team.

omg what the heck would they do without varejao, esp with the oft-injured irving out? but i guess if they can do him a solid and get him to a contender and also get something in return before he gets injured it will have to be done.

 

i see another really bad start with the bulls and this guy belinelli out of nowhere, but then some clawing back that cant be sustained in the fourth quarter. oh well, no doubt this team wins games with a healthy kyrie and dion back to help close out.

With Kyrie and Dion out, they really don't have anybody who can penetrate and break down a defense.  As a result, their FG% and PPG have suffered.  Before Dion got hurt, he was in a bit of a shooting slump, but his penetration and passing were showing remarkable improvement.  In all honesty, he's probably a better overall passer than Kyrie..... although Kyrie is more likely to pull of the spectacular pass.

^Dion's passing ability has been completely overlooked with his shooting slump. I went to the Blazers game and he was penetrating and finding guys for open 3s every other time down the floor. He needs to stop taking stupid long 2-pointers and find a way to finish around the hoop, but I'm confident he'll figure it out. I also think he's going to be a + defender. He's so quick and strong.

Hard for him to finish around the rim when the defenders know they can hack him to death without the whistle blowing.  Dion must have called some ref a c#cks#cker or something unforgivable earlier in the season.  I understand that rookies usually don't get all of the calls they should, but the refs have definitely been swallowing their whistle everytime Dion gets near the rim.

That is one thing that really really annoys me with the NBA.  Since when does a foul depend on who has the ball in their hands (All-Star vs rookie vs bench player)?

What annoys me even more is the current trend of waiting to see if the ball goes in before the ref decides if he/she is going to blow the whistle.  If it's a foul, it's a foul and should be called.  Whether or not the ball rims out should have no effect on whether a foul occured.  The same thing happens with contact by the sideline (i.e. if the player falls out of bounds it is a foul, but not a foul if he stays in bounds).  I understand the latter a little more because you want to do what you can to not slow down the game with too many breaks in the action.

Kyrie! Wish we could have gotten a few more free throws there at the end, cuz Kobe was making me way nervous. Zeller looked good hustling against Howard. Dwight might be the 2nd least likable NBA player.

I was there! Exciting game. Hope this team can build and be a playoff contender in the next few years.

Great game! Glad to see Kyrie was able to come back and play at a high level right away. Poor Lakers -- NOT!

WTF?? Cavs score 58 first-half points against Indiana and lead by 10.

 

Then they score just 23 second-half points and lose by 15 ....81-96.

 

23 in a half?? WTF!!

The 58 was probably more flukie than the 23 considering Indiana is near the top in defense.  They're an especially bad matchup for us.  When Granger gets back, their starting lineup will go 7'2, 6'10, 6'9, 6'8, 6'3.  I expect the Pacers to be one of the top teams in the East when it is all said and done.

The 58 was probably more flukie than the 23 considering Indiana is near the top in defense.

 

I get that they're good on defense. What I don't get is how we could score 58 on them in a half, then go so far in the opposite direction in the second half. Neither is representative. Bizarre, frustrating game.

they played so hard against the melo-less knicks! i tried, but couldn't get reasonable last minute tix. then i only watched the first half, but i was very impressed again. and it all came down to andy at the line. that aint right. ugh.

Cleveland Cavaliers fall to Chicago Bulls for 11th straight time

 

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2013/01/whats_new_cleveland_cavaliers.html#incart_river_default

 

 

Insert your own meme for that one

You gotta hand it to Dan Gilbert. He's somehow managed to run a franchise that is even more pathetic than the Browns and Indians.

^How is that somehow his fault?  I'd say he was running it fairly well until he got kicked in the balls by The Decision.  He is also severely handi-capped, in terms of attracting talent, in a way the Browns and Indians are not..... at least not to the same extent.

Andy's quad (cough, cough.... I mean knee) is getting to be very worrisome.  I thought the media was just joking around with Scott a week or two ago, but it does appear that there is something going on here that the Cavs don't want to reveal.

Lets hope the Lakers continue to play like dog poo.  We get to pick the more favorable draft position between LA and Mia.  Could be another pick in the 15 - 22 range. 

Not too much like dog poo.  If they don't make the playoffs and their pick is in the lottery, we forfeit that right to swap.