DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs 2017-18 Season

So we are about a week away from the opening festivities. No time like the present to discuss. What are everyone's thoughts on the new look Cavs. I think if Lue commits to using Love more, we will see a much more efficient offense without KyMe iso ball. I know alot depends on IT and when he comes around, while we might not see dominating 50 point efforts and dazzling finishes at the rim, I think for the most part we should see an much more enjoyable offense to watch in terms of flow and spacing. Defensively I expect us to be much better, with the addition of Green and Crowder, it should make TT more effective defending the paint as not as much should be getting to him. I also think Tavares might end up being a decent piece, he could be that defensive big for the second unit that we haven't had. At any rate, I'm ready to get this going.

I'm excited for this season, I am going to ignore LeBron leaving/not leaving and just enjoy the ride. I think if we truly focus on Love it will be a very efficient/fun team to watch. I'd like to see us not fall apart when LeBron rests.

I have to laugh at some Boston fans, who were posting that they were happy to get rid of "ballhog" Isaiah and get Kyrie instead. Boy, are they in for a rude awakening.

Not sure how I feel yet about this team, but the Kyrie thing could just be a blessing in disguise. There are quite a few numbers-breakdown articles that show that the team plays better with rotations that don't include Kyrie. Rotations that included Lebron and Love, were better than ones that included just Lebron and Kyrie and much better than ones with just Love and Kyrie. He's probably the best one-on-one player in the league, but that doesn't necessarily translate to the team game.

I'm much more worried about the surrounding cast. Having Crowder will be nice. He was under-rated in Boston and is the kind of 3-and-D guy we need. I'm hoping JR finds his form again. Last year was brutal for him, between holding out, the injury, and his premature-daughter. I'm hoping that he can focus on ball much better this season. I'm hoping Shump has learned how to pass out of a dribble-drive and Korver can keep his 3 point shot for at least one more season (and post-season this time).

Point guard scares me though. IT is injured, and Rose is an injury waiting to happen. After that we have ... Felder? Yikes.

yeah PG is a question mark for sure, we just need someone to get them into sets, we don't really need much else from it, hit an open shot, pass to open man kinda thing. But I agree, i think Kyrie, while immensely talented, hurt the offense quite a bit last year, especially when lebron wasn't on the floor. Even if we can get from Rose a year like last year we should be fine, Calderon isn't horrible, but yeah I'm not sure why felder is still here

Do the Cavs still have LeBron?

Yeah, in June he had his kids enrolled in a Brentwood school. Last week he was touring an LA school looking to see if he should enroll his kids there. So by the time the season starts, his kids should be going to school in Ohio again.

I think we should blow it all up and trade every player and fire every coach.

I am cautiously optimistic. I like the trade. I just wish IT was healthy.

My concerns are:

--I think we should have signed a big to be a back up to TT. A guy who can rebound, protect the rim, set picks, and foul hard. Bogut would have been good in that role. We are missing that aspect.

--I wish we would have kept DWill at PG. IT is hurt and Rose is injury prone. But, Calderon is an okay backup. The concern is that he is 35.

Excited to see:

--LeBron pissed off by all the negative reports and him wanting to make people pay.

--Love becoming more of a focal point. He is a good player. Just gotta ride him.

My key to the season:

It all comes down to whether or not this squad wants to become one of the better defensive teams in the league. If they play D like they did last year, they won't have a chance. If they decide to commit to playing tough D each and every night so that it becomes a mindset and an identity, they have a chance to win another title.

I think Tavares might be that guy. I know he's been hurt, but he made quite an impact when he could play. Dwill is still a FA, maybe he takes a vet min. if he doesn't get on a team. There are some others that could help, I know Cole is still a FA, Lawson, jennings, burke, all guys i wouldn't mind looking at if it came down to it. Calderon I think will be decent in this situatioin, he's not going to be asked to do much. He can run the offense and hit an open shot.

I agree about the defense, it was my biggest gripe last year, we couldn't defend the dribble drive and it made our paint defense look worse than it probably was, both green and crowder will help stop the ball, I think(hope) TT takes a step forward this year. Last year he pretty much was just there. We need him to take a step forward and be the guy. He has the athleticism and the hustle, just needs to focus it and become a more complete (offensive) guy, if he can do that, you solve quite a bit of spacing issues on offense, and defense he can roam the paint now that he doesn't have to cover up kyries defense . I fully Expect TT and Love to have bigger roles this year. Crazy thing is, i don't think we are done making moves, I'd be really surprised if shump and frye are still here come march. I think Holland is going to surprise people and I think he will be a pretty decent guy off the bench.

Nice post.

No idea how this year goes... Hope we win it all... Don't expect to though...

Looks like we signed Perkins to a camp deal

Kind of wish we kept Perkins on the Roster just for the enforcer role.

Anywhere, here's the squad:



Taverez is a tall dude!

Great pic.

Is there a chance the Cedi Osman guy is going to be any good?

yeah I'm really hoping he provides that defensive big presence we need..he's huge

He is huge, but he moves like Lurch from the Adams family.

he has 7'9 wingspan, and is 7'3 with a standing reach of almost 10ft, one thing you can't teach is size, I agree his lateral quickness is slow, but he seems to understand that and makes up for it somewhat with timing. He's a great rim protector.. Was dleague DPOY when he was with raptors, which is saying alot because that whole team was great defensively. Had 6 blocks in his debut..looked good defensively and around the rim in summer league. He would be great in half court. But I think Zizic may have made him expendable, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a 2 way contract

JR Smith still doesn't have a shirt. Poor guy.

I'm only asking because if the Cavs still have LeBron, nobody should worry about anything except trying to beat the Warriors in the finals.

I haven't been keeping up with the Cavs.

What is IT's injury?

Melo opened up his no trade list to include the Cavs and the Thunder.

I love LeBron.



https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/911610455877021697

he called him a bum lmfao

https://twitter.com/CP3/status/911623341076832256

side note: i wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of massive display by the players around the league on Sunday. he's already getting trashed by the sports community. i mean even Goodell chimed in and called Trump's words "divisive". Steve Kerr already hates trump to no end, as well as Popovich.

and i wouldn't be surprised if the nba players started doing it as well, to bring it back to cavs and the nba.

imo, it will matter even more because the NBA is global. it's getting up there, and in the next decade or so will rival FIFA. it will be interesting how it all plays out, especially since NBA players carry so much more influence than nfl players.

Also, no one can take LeBron's job.

yep.

nba players have been doing moderate protest and only gain in popularity because of the sport and branding. the nfl suffers a bit because it's more domestically geared, even with london rising as a decent market, but the nba could have players protesting and not miss a beat in revenue.

Melo to the Thunder.

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/911636442136416256

That's weird.

The Knicks got Kanter and McDermott for Melo. What a farce.

yea, looks like they were just trying to unload melo at this point.

so the lineup is: Westbrook, Adams, PG13, Melo, and robison?

that's pretty good.

Offensively that team is pretty unstoppable.

Defensively it's sketchy, but both George and Roberson are very good.

Also, that's only the team for 17-18. George and Melo (and possibly Westbrook) will be gone.

Still be watching playoffs on tv with rest of us. I didn’t want Melo anyways

Nah, unless they have major Chemistry issues, they should make the playoffs. They might not get out of the first round, but George and Westbrook both carried teams by themselves to the playoffs last year.

When I first read this, I thought he called Steph a bum.

I asked this above but does anyone have any opinion on the Cedi Osman guy?

Too early to tell. He was pretty good in European competition, but he relied a lot on athleticism that he might not be able to get by on in the NBA.

j/c:

Westbrook, George, and Melo were all in the top 10 of isolation points last year. LMAO.........that should be great for chemistry.

I am so thankful we did not trade for Melo.

Sorry should have said still watching from home come june

Dwyane Wade got bought out. Cavs, Heat, Spurs, and Thunder are the rumored destinations.

you would think Cavs would be the favorites, if he wants a chance at another ring, we give him the best chance and he could start immediately over JR here. Sources close to lebron feel they are the favorites too. Theres a report out saying knicks reached out to cavs and wanted TT. I think they may have wanted one of our firsts as well. I can see saying no to the firsts, but to get rid of TT's contract I think i might have done it, so either there was some picks we didn't want to part with or Cavs believe Lebron is going to stay and didn't want to break up the band.