Interesting. Thanks!

you basically need to win 40 something. yes 38-39 could do. but to what end? trading away the future picks for someone who could likely leave? then the cavs could be right back where we started next year. this is the more likely scenario given the hodtory of cle sports. ugh.

Again...40 wins and we're in consideration for the #3 seed?!?

 

Are you saying that if we can't win the whole thing, we should just tank again, and again, and again?

 

You never know what can happen, the Cavs very well could put another deal together for a big man and one of Miami's big 3 could have a season-ending injury.  Who knows..  Even if they win just one playoff round, it sure beats sucking game after game, year after year, going on four years.  Enough is enough..

 

no, no, no. i am just saying save the draft picks and ping pong balls for an fa or someone who will stick. why waste them on the moral victory of just making the playoffs when deng is gone and then we are even more sunk at the end of the season. but yeah, deng could stay and certainly other deals will be wheeled anyway for a big man, etc. thats a different and brighter story.

Surprisingly I think this map has flaws...alot of Pittsburgh NBA fans are cavs fans, not sixers

you basically need to win 40 something. yes 38-39 could do. but to what end? trading away the future picks for someone who could likely leave? then the cavs could be right back where we started next year. this is the more likely scenario given the hodtory of cle sports. ugh.

Again...40 wins and we're in consideration for the #3 seed?!?

 

Are you saying that if we can't win the whole thing, we should just tank again, and again, and again?

 

You never know what can happen, the Cavs very well could put another deal together for a big man and one of Miami's big 3 could have a season-ending injury.  Who knows..  Even if they win just one playoff round, it sure beats sucking game after game, year after year, going on four years.  Enough is enough..

 

no, no, no. i am just saying save the draft picks and ping pong balls for an fa or someone who will stick. why waste them on the moral victory of just making the playoffs when deng is gone and then we are even more sunk at the end of the season. but yeah, deng could stay and certainly other deals will be wheeled anyway for a big man, etc. thats a different and brighter story.

 

I think one key here is that Deng IS still an expiring deal. It's certainly not out of the question that he could be traded for assets this season. If he works out then you can feel more comfortable about extending him, if not he's easily tradeable. It just cost us a few almost worthless picks to make the lateral (monetarily) move from Bynum to Deng.

Surprisingly I think this map has flaws...alot of Pittsburgh NBA fans are cavs fans, not sixers

 

I was wondering about that.

Surprisingly I think this map has flaws...alot of Pittsburgh NBA fans are cavs fans, not sixers

 

Thats' definitely true in Erie and even Buffalo is split between the Cavs and Raptors.

The map has flaws much the same as MSA boundaries have flaws.  The Cavs' "market" extends further east and not so far west as the map would indicate (particularly towards the SW part of the State).  The Bulls market should be MUCH bigger and the Bobcats MUCH smaller, just to point out a few other flaws.  The Bulls pretty much own the Great Plains.

 

no, no, no. i am just saying save the draft picks and ping pong balls for an fa or someone who will stick. why waste them on the moral victory of just making the playoffs when deng is gone and then we are even more sunk at the end of the season. but yeah, deng could stay and certainly other deals will be wheeled anyway for a big man, etc. thats a different and brighter story.

 

I fail to see how it is a foregone conclusion that he is automatically gone at the end of the season..... and it is even more difficult to see the scenario in which he leaves without us recieving anything in return.  First off, I think you can expect for the Cavs to aggressively seek an extension before the season ends.  He is a 28 year old two-time all-star.  I don't know how much better they can expect to do in terms of eliciting free agents.  What's going to be interesting is if they pay Deng enough to preclude their ability (without moving some more pieces) to offer a max contract this summer.  Hmmmmm..... I wonder how the media / fanbase would react to that.  I would be fine with it.  No sense in risking getting burned twice.

 

Deng is gonna get paid.  He will either sign an extension during the season, sign an extension this summer after he becomes a free agent, or sign with another team this summer.  I think a player like Deng would prefer to get it done ASAP, so if the Cavs put the money on the table, expect him to take it.  But if he opts to wait until this summer, it's not like his options are wide open.  Presumably, he wouldn't re-sign with us so he could go to a more solidified franchise.  Which one has the cap room to sign him outright, considering he turned down $10mill/yr from the Bulls?  Which teams who are looking for a SF are not going to consider him option C behind Lebron and Melo?  At the end of the day, if he wants to go to a contender, there would have to be a sign and trade.  I just can't see the scenario in which we are left empty handed.

deng joined the team, running and spreading out the scoring. nice to see all three of these things go just as brown would like:

 

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/gamecast?gameId=400489412&version=mobile&appsrc=sc&ex_cid=espnapi_internal

 

The map has flaws much the same as MSA boundaries have flaws.  The Cavs' "market" extends further east and not so far west as the map would indicate (particularly towards the SW part of the State).  The Bulls market should be MUCH bigger and the Bobcats MUCH smaller, just to point out a few other flaws.  The Bulls pretty much own the Great Plains.

 

no, no, no. i am just saying save the draft picks and ping pong balls for an fa or someone who will stick. why waste them on the moral victory of just making the playoffs when deng is gone and then we are even more sunk at the end of the season. but yeah, deng could stay and certainly other deals will be wheeled anyway for a big man, etc. thats a different and brighter story.

 

I fail to see how it is a foregone conclusion that he is automatically gone at the end of the season..... and it is even more difficult to see the scenario in which he leaves without us recieving anything in return.  First off, I think you can expect for the Cavs to aggressively seek an extension before the season ends.  He is a 28 year old two-time all-star.  I don't know how much better they can expect to do in terms of eliciting free agents.  What's going to be interesting is if they pay Deng enough to preclude their ability (without moving some more pieces) to offer a max contract this summer.  Hmmmmm..... I wonder how the media / fanbase would react to that.  I would be fine with it.  No sense in risking getting burned twice.

 

Deng is gonna get paid.  He will either sign an extension during the season, sign an extension this summer after he becomes a free agent, or sign with another team this summer.  I think a player like Deng would prefer to get it done ASAP, so if the Cavs put the money on the table, expect him to take it.  But if he opts to wait until this summer, it's not like his options are wide open.  Presumably, he wouldn't re-sign with us so he could go to a more solidified franchise.  Which one has the cap room to sign him outright, considering he turned down $10mill/yr from the Bulls?  Which teams who are looking for a SF are not going to consider him option C behind Lebron and Melo?  At the end of the day, if he wants to go to a contender, there would have to be a sign and trade.  I just can't see the scenario in which we are left empty handed.

 

sure, i think we are aware of those positive alternative outcomes, but good to spell them all out.

 

so what i dont understand is why you dont want one of them to happen?

 

 

And, btw, the worst possible outcome would be for him to resign  :wink:

 

 

Last night's game was the best road win of the year. And since Deng's minutes were limited, I think we can chalk that one up to the new energy/optimism this trade has brought to the team.

 

I don't know what went on in the locker room, but I would bet that Bynum became a cancer. At best, he lethargic attitude became infectious. After we beat Orlando in Orlando on Dec. 13 and raised our record to 9-13, I thought this team had turned a corner. But then word started getting how Bynum wasn't sure he wanted to stay in the league and his play showed it. The Cavs went 1-8 for the rest of the December. The Cavs suspended Bynum on Dec. 28. So far in January, the Cavs are 3-2.

 

This Cavs team has just too much talent to be 13-23. This is at least a .500 team, especially in a weak Eastern Conference. I hope we can make up some ground by April. Unfortunately we've got a lot of games against the West over the next 60 days.

And Saturday night's game against Sacramento was one of the worst road games of the year. Losing by 44?? WTF

^It was last night, not Saturday.  We were down by 9 at the half.  I thought we would win it because Sacto shot the lights out in the first half and Kyrie was cold.  It would've been an easy gap to close IMO if all things were equal, but Sacto was just too hot.  They weren't missing and we weren't making.  Even Derrick Williams, who shoots 18% from 3, was 'making it rain'.  Jimmer couldn't miss.  Isaiah Thomas couldn't miss.  In contrast, we couldn't hit the broad side of the barn.  I wouldn't take too much from last night. 

so coach brown had his revenge last night, awesome. wish it wasnt so late, looks like it was a fantastic game.

I DVR'd the game and got up early to watch it.  Entertaining.  Luol was unbelievable.  Andy was Andy again.  Some of the Lakers were making shots they had no business making.  If they didn't get great games from Young and Meeks, it would've been a blowout.  We scored 120 and Kyrie was off again.  It is hard to imagine that happening, so it is a good statement about the supporting cast being able to step up.  The defense was troubling again, though.  I think part of it is they are not yet in sync with Deng and Varejao playing with the starters and the rotations are late.  Brown can't be too pleased with giving up 240 points in 2 games.  We can't do that tonight against Portland.

I don't understand how this team's defense is so bad considering that's supposed to be Brown's calling card.

 

Oh well, I'm going to go ahead and add one to the loss column for tonight's game.  They're not going to beat Portland.

 

Also, the Cavaliers are chasing the 6th seed, not the 8th seed, as far as I'm concerned.

even with the changes the cavs continue to play better with portland than any other good team.

 

so tied up at 96 and then...nothing? and portland goes on a 12-0 run to close? another game that was on too late, but what a strange finish. i would like to have seen what happened at the end in real time instead of highlights. hts i hope you dvr'd this one?

 

They were winning by 10 Or so with 2 mins left in the first too and have up a 14-4 run to be down by four.

They were winning by 10 Or so with 2 mins left in the first too and have up a 14-4 run to be down by four.

 

Also, just before halftime Portland was down 8, and then went on a 14-2 run to take a 4 point lead.

They were winning by 10 Or so with 2 mins left in the first too and have up a 14-4 run to be down by four.

 

Also, just before halftime Portland was down 8, and then went on a 14-2 run to take a 4 point lead.

 

That's what I was trying to say. I turned the game on as the buzzer on the first have was going off. Phelps and Campy were talking about it. Rough night, baby did not want to go to sleep and I was working on a project for work....Looks like I got the numbers twisted.

So did the Cavs. They were tied at 96 with a couple minutes left and lost by 12. At least it was to a 29-9 team, but still. I couldn't believe how bad their shooting was at the end. I was starting to get mad a Kyrie for missing so many shots. Yes he shot 14 of 25. But dude's supposed to be our money player at the end of games. That was the big knock on Deng in Chicago -- too many bricks at crunch time. We went 9-for-26 in the 4th. Who's our money player? Waiters?

Most of the separation occured when we were forced to chuck up three's (and missing) and then fouling Portland to stop the clock.  Portland is really rolling this season.  They are an unbelievable jump shooting team which kind of reminds me of that Bucks team (with Big Dog, Ray Allen, and Sam Cassell) which made the finals 10 or so years ago.  I thought we played them tough and the final score is definitely not indicative of how close the game was.  It was back and forth until the last two minutes.  Our shots just didn't fall at the end and I think we were out of gas after playing a back-to-back on the west coast.  It has to be hard to get enough energy together to close a game out when your internal clock is telling you it is past midnight.  I always thought that was an unfair advantage in the NBA, much like it is somewhat unfair to make NFL west coast teams play 1pm EST games.

 

Deng was fantastic last night.  He is getting more and more comfortable with our guys.  Him and Andy seem to be quickly developing some chemistry, which has shown up nicely through their interior cuts and passing.

 

If we beat Denver (again) on Friday, we will have gone 3-2 on our west coast trip and that has to be viewed in a positive light.

I'll take 3-2 on a road trip.

3-2 is very acceptable on any West Coast swing... this was true even during the LeBron days.  The difference, of course, is that at 14-25 we're behind the 8-Ball and are almost forced to win the road trip lest we fall further out of the playoff picture... When LeBron was here, we were nearly unbeatable at the Q and split on the road.

 

Denver's going to be a tall order.  The've slipped somewhat since earlier in the season and, at 20-18 are 2 games out of the 8th seed in the very competitive Western Conference.  True, we beat them convincingly in Cleveland, but that very fact means they'll be looking to even the score coupled with our still awful road record (though we've doubled our road win total to 4 wins in the 1 week of the Deng era).

yep, but thankfully its much easier to stay up and out at the 'ol sports tavern on friday, so i'm looking forward to watching this denver game. this road is really lively and entertaining.

I'll take 3-2 on a road trip.

 

So would I. But I'm almost afraid to say that because I wonder if we can beat Denver in Denver. Actually, considering what this team has done on the road so far this year, coming back home 2-3 from this trip isn't all that bad.

You got a 3-2 road trip! I never expected a win in Denver. Jason Lloyd at ABJ tweeted that this was a game the Cavs wouldn't have won before the Deng trade. The talent, energy and poise he brings calmed down the young Cavs down the stretch in the 4th. And he and Andy have great chemistry together in moving the ball around.

Thanks, we needed that... We had just 2 road wins in 35 games and, then, 3 road wins in our last 5.  Go figure ... The Deng Difference!

The Deng Difference!

 

I like that!!

that was the best qtr of basketball i have seen out of the cavs since the king james era, meaning the 2nd qtr. wow. fun game.

Deng is one of those guys that just "has it", whatever "it" is.  When I used to just see him play occasionally with the Bulls, I wondered what made him good.  He's not quick, doesn't have a nice looking jump shot, has a downright ugly stroke from the free throw line, and has a below average handle.  But he always gets himself into the right spot to make things happen on offense (put backs, open shots, opportunities for other guys, etc.), makes good decisions, finds a way to put the ball in the basket, plays good D, knows how to draw fouls, and provides a leadership presence on the court.  It goes to show that if you had to pick between raw talent and having a nose for the game, the latter will get you further.  Of course, having both is still what makes you a legend, but he's a great asset to have on our team.

^The guy flat out knows how to play the game.  I just want to know who the joker is that gave him that haircut.

 

Friday was the most 'gutty' win of the season.  Denver has a built in home-court advantage due to the altitude and it is not uncommon for the visiting team to collapse down the stretch.  But our guys kept countering each and every Denver run.  It was a really exciting game.  ESPN could've probably taken its nightly Top 10 Plays from that game alone.

 

Lesson from this road trip is that we play our best at a fast pace.  I think there is a misconception that just because Brown is known as a defensive coach, he does not like to play at a fast pace.  To the contrary, I think his system is at its weakest in the half-court sets, which is why we have more problems with the tougher Eastern Conf. teams that seek to slow the pace down as opposed to playing at a pace more often seen from Western Conf. teams.

 

I don't see how, on the whole, any basketball fan wouldn't enjoy watching this team play.

I don't see how, on the whole, any basketball fan wouldn't enjoy watching this team play.

 

That is exactly what I was thinking while watching the game on Friday.  It was the most I've enjoyed watching the NBA in a while.

Lesson from this road trip is that we play our best at a fast pace. 

 

Which is how the Cavs we're able to pull to within 2 points in the final minutes against the Mavs despite trailing by 24 points in the 2nd period and by 15 points with about 8 or 9 minutes to play.

^Talk about a game of up and downs.  I finally got to watching it about 9pm..... wanted to throw my remote through the TV at the end of the first half..... was on the edge of my seat the entire second half as we closed like a racehorse....... and then, ugggh.  I'm not a Mike Brown hater like a lot of Cavs fans, but two patterns seem to be repeating from his earlier tenure - (1) end of game offense is horrendous and (2) we fall victim to the proverbial 'trap game' after returning from a lengthy road trip.  How the F do we have two games in the past two weeks in which we completely fail to get a shot off with a chance to tie at the buzzer?  What a waste of all that effort and energy Andy and TT expended willing us back into that game yesterday...

I'm getting worried that all of our recent top picks have either regressed or stagnated. Kyrie's numbers have been flat since his rookie year, Tristan seems to pass the eye test but his advanced stats are poor and his fg% is far too low, and Dion-he's breaking my heart!

Dion has some growing up to do.  If his shot is not falling, it affects his entire game and he loses focus.  I definitely see improvement in TT.... I just wish he was 2 inches taller (same for Dion).  The guy just switched shooting hands, which has never been done before.  I thought that was going to be a rough transition, but I feel in another year or two he has the potential to be really dangerous with an array of moves.  That said, I've never projected him as a perennial all-star.  Horace Grant seems to be his ceiling.  If Kyrie's numbers stay flat for his entire career, he'll be a HOF'er.  I would actually prefer to see Kyrie more at 18 & 8 rather than 22 & 5.  I certainly don't see any regression in any of the three.

Maybe a liiiiiittle bit in Dion? Maybe I just remember his glorious January '13 and am expecting too much. I'm not sure where to look it up, but it seems like he must be shooting much worse at the rim this year, since his 3% is up and his FG% is flat.

I happen to like Mike Brown and I think he is really trying to teach this team.  But I think the Gilbert ax to make the playoffs may be poised over his head, even though if Mike is fired, he has 4 more years of $5M/year payments coming in... You can see the growth in wins like LA and Denver on the recent trip and even the comeback yesterday after spotting Dallas 24 points early in the 3rd.  But you CANNOT keep having these end of game failures like we do on these last second shots -- ball going to Andy for a 3 pointer; Clark standing out of bounds on the Delly pass, and an egregious 5-second call yesterday ... the 2nd of the game!... You just can't have that in the NBA, even on a young team.

 

Brown didn't call the guy out, but you could tell he was pissed at Jack, a veteran no less, who couldn't get the ball in.  Brown kept repeating that Kyrie was open, which he was... I'm surprised that Mike didn't have a bigger guy, like Deng, inbound the ball, but it appeared Jack could have gotten the ball to Kyrie even though he claims he couldn't see him...

 

And I just don't get Waiters at times. I've been his biggest champion against critics.  But games like Sacramento -- where he scored 4 points and obviously pouted, and yesterday (only 4 shots and zero points) give me pause.  As the ABJ noted, Kyrie was on the brink of bringing us all the way back until Dion's momentum-killing 3-point brick.  He seemed to be ball hogging and turned it over shortly thereafter.  Brown got him out of the game and scrapped the usual 3-guard rotation -- at least the Waiters version, down the stretch -- he did use Delly a bit (who was a Coach's DNP in Denver, oddly enough)... I really think that Grant is feverishly working on moving Waiters before the trade deadline.  I could be wrong, but...

The only way Grant trades Dion is if it is in a package to bring another established All-Star to the team.  I think he realizes that not every player can come into the league at 20 and dominate.  Dion thinks very highly of himself, which is both a good thing (when he is on) and a bad thing (when he is off).  I don't think he was ball-hogging at all last night, or in any of the recent games.  He has been sharing the ball quite well..... better than Kyrie I'd say.  He also is giving good effort on the defensive end, for the most part.  I always expected the three guard lineup to be scrapped once we got Deng.  When it was either play a three guard lineup or go with Earl Clark or Alonzo Gee down the stretch in crunch time, it was a no-brainer.  Now, Brown is just riding Kyrie, TT, Andy, Deng and then whomever out of Dion, Jack, and Miles is playing the best in any particular game.

Oy that Dallas game. Why would you have Jared Jack inbound the ball, he needs to be on the floor. Use Andy on the inbound he can see the floor better at 6'10. You need guards who can shoot on the floor not big men. There was no time for a rebound. Why wasn't Dion on the floor? Mike Brown keeps stressing that this is a young team, that's gonna get old as the season goes on.

Me, Myself & Irene: Analyzing the 3 sides of Chris Grant

Written by Patrick Duprey on Tuesday, 04 February 2014 12:25.

 

 

I hated everything about the summer of 2010. Of course July brought LeBron James’s “Decision,” when the game’s best player bolted Cleveland on national TV to join forces with All Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

 

But before LeBron left, the Cavs relieved two figures instrumental to Cleveland’s run of five consecutive playoffs — Head Coach Mike Brown and General Manager Danny Ferry. According to reports at the time, Brown’s termination was a last-ditch effort to appease LBJ, and Ferry’s parting a result over disagreement on Brown’s firing.

 

(Author’s note: I had firmly been on the ‘Fire Mike Brown’ bandwagon previously, but felt change was unfair following the 2010 playoffs when the blame should lay almost solely on LeBron’s shoulders. Frankly

 

http://www.stepienrules.com/2014-articles/february/me-myself-irene-analyzing-the-3-sides-of-chris-grant.html

 

I didn't even know the Cavs played tonight. I've stopped paying attention to them. Sounds like I didn't miss anything anyway....

 

Andy Baskin ‏@andy_baskin  20m

Effort? Effort? They lost to a D league team with no legs at the end of the game. Lakers were gassed.

 

Andy Baskin ‏@andy_baskin  26m

Mike should just say. "I have nothing to say tonight, this is the lowest moment in my career." Drop his microphone and walk out.

^Mike, being the proud man he is, probably would just resign; walk away ... if he didn't have to forfeit the roughly $18M on his contract by so doing.

Cavs waited to be down 26 points before showing any signs of life. I'm afraid there's no simple fix for this team. Looks good on paper, looks terrible on the court in just about every facet of the game (granted I only see them on tv when they play the west coast teams, but that's quite enough).

 

Also, for some reason Kyrie Irving was benched while the Cavs made their comeback. The Laker broadcasters were questioning what was up, as there was no mention of an injury. The Drama!

Also, for some reason Kyrie Irving was benched while the Cavs made their comeback. The Laker broadcasters were questioning what was up, as there was no mention of an injury. The Drama!

 

Good. I'm glad he was benched. This is probably part/all of the reason why....

 

Jason Lloyd: Quiet grumbling turns into dissension in troubled Cavs locker room

By Jason Lloyd

Beacon Journal sports writer

Published: February 1, 2014 - 10:23 PM | Updated: February 2, 2014 - 07:00 AM

 

HOUSTON: The rumbles within the Cavaliers locker room have been growing louder for weeks. Players who initially didn’t want to talk about what is plaguing this team are beginning to open up, and most of the issues are pointing back to guards Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, along with an unhappiness with Mike Brown and his staff.

 

“He’s acting like he doesn’t care,” one Cavs player said of Irving.

 

Many players in this story were granted anonymity based on the sensitive nature of the topic.

 

All of this comes on the heels of a New York Daily News story released Saturday evening reporting that Luol Deng has complained of a locker room out of control.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.ohio.com/sports/cavs/jason-lloyd-quiet-grumbling-turns-into-dissension-in-troubled-cavs-locker-room-1.463491

I never say this.... but go ahead and blow it up.  Start with Kyrie.  Idk what happened to him at the All-Star weekend last year, but he hasn't been the same player ever since.  It sure seems that his poor attitude is infecting the rest of the team.

Oh man, if Hts is panicking you know it's bad! I know it's probably irrational but for some reason I'd rather see Kyrie go than Dion. Kyrie's just no fun to watch this year.

This is why I get so frustrated with the NBA. The article said it: on paper this team should be a playoff contender, but the personalities are too 'me' centric. That's a problem with many of the stars in the league, and because of the disproportionate impact any one star player can have on a team's performance (and culture), they have more power to influence that team positively or negatively than other sports where the rosters are bigger, and your rookie / vet mix is more diverse.

 

Plus, I'm really frustrated to see another Syracuse player with tremendous talents and a sh!t attitude, a la Derrick Coleman, Billy Owens, John Wallace, Melo, etc etc etc.

Re: Brown - I get that players have to be willing to be coached and buy into the system.  And while it seems like Kyrie and Brown aren't getting along, I'll certainly not defend Kyrie for being immature, but just because Kyrie is being immature, doesn't mean that Brown isn't a bad coach.  I mean for being such a defensive coach, why do we rank 23rd in points allowed???

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA  2m

The Cleveland Cavaliers have fired general manager Chris Grant, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.