I wouldn’t call it a big win. Toronto is not good.
The Cavs have been beating some of the dregs of the league lately. No doubt there’s been a couple of big wins in there against some good teams as well.
But I am having a hard time envisioning playoff success. Maybe I’m still feeling burned from last year. I wish the playoffs would just get here and we can see how it shakes out.
My feeling is that anytime you win your 9th in a row, it's a big win. (especially when you win by 24)
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Not looking good for tonight ..... 57 seconds left and down 7
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Cavs had a shot with 6 seconds left, but couldn't get the 3 to drop, and the streak ends to the Sixers by 2.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Cavs games coming back to WUAB. Good move by the Cavs for those that do not have Bally's, albeit it is only for five games at this time.
Cleveland Cavaliers to air five games over the air on WUAB (Channel 43) George M. Thomas Akron Beacon Journal Published 12:09PM ET Feb, 13th 2024
Gray Television owners of WOIO (Channel 19) and WUAB (Channel 43) will air five Cleveland Cavaliers games during the second half of the NBA season, according to an announcement the team made Tuesday.
It marks the first time that a local telecast of the team will be available on over-the-air television (antenna) since the 2017-18 season, the last year the team appeared in the NBA Finals.
Diamond Sports Group (owner of Bally Sports Ohio), which has been in bankruptcy proceedings for almost a year, currently owns broadcast rights for the Cavs. However, as part of a deal approved in bankruptcy court this past fall, they and the NBA teams they hold rights agreed those organizations – in exchange for accepting reduced rights fees – could sell up to 10 games to another broadcast partner.
Cavs news:CEO Nic Barlage says team working to solve broadcast puzzle with Bally Sports
Gray Television made waves prior to the start of the NBA season by partnering with the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury of the NBA and WNBA, respectively, to air their games in the Phoenix market.
They could not have struck a deal with the Cavs at a more fortuitous moment. The team is playing its best basketball of the year, having won 17-of-19 and currently own the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference as they head into this weekend's All-Star break.
With playoff seeding, and a likely battle for that two-slot on the line, interest in the team will be high. Airing on a channel carried on cable and satellite systems along with live TV streaming services such as YouTube TV in addition to over-the-air will only increase the team's exposure.
Channel 43 will air the following games:
Boston Celtics - March 5 Minnesota Timberwolves - March 8 Philadelphia 76ers - March 29 Los Angeles Lakers - April 6 Los Angeles Clippers - April 7
The sports television market will continue to evolve over the course of the year. The NBA, MLB and NHL made deals with Diamond Sports Group that their teams would air games on the regional sports networks for regular seasons concluding in 2024, with their respective broadcast rights reverting to the leagues.
What happens beyond then is up in the air. Amazon threw Diamond a lifeline with an investment that allowed them to stream the games of some of those teams – primarily MLB with the Cleveland Guardians being a notable exception.
Amazon’s willingness to dip its toe in the water a few years ago by adding the NFL and “Thursday Night Football” to its programming portfolio has shown that big tech could have a role to play in this conversation. Will they continue to partner with Diamond beyond this year in an attempt to negotiate for those rights?
Additionally, traditional media players such as the Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Sports, are not sitting on their collective backsides either as they announced a partnership for sports-based streaming service slated to launch in the fall.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had no business beating the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 23. Not only were their four top scorers -- Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert -- all sidelined, they were without Sam Merrill, the reserve sharpshooter who had gone supernova (eight 3s, 27 points) in a win against the Utah Jazz three days earlier.
In Chicago without much firepower, the Cavaliers needed Max Strus to take 17 3-pointers and Jarrett Allen to grab 17 rebounds. They held the Bulls to 16 points in the third quarter, executed well down the stretch -- with rookie guard Craig Porter Jr. running the show -- and earned a victory that allowed them to celebrate Christmas on a high.
Looking back at this meaningful, memorable moment, the first thing Cleveland forward Georges Niang said was, "I missed a lot of 3s that game."
Niang shot 1 for 5 from 3-point range and Strus missed more 3s (12) than he ever had in a single game, but that wasn't a big deal. The important thing was that the Cavs attempted 45 3s, despite the fact they did not have any star ballhandlers to create them.
"We were playing fast," Niang said. "We were taking layups and 3s, and that's what teams are trying to take away."
It's not that they were running and gunning like the Indiana Pacers. It's that, even in the halfcourt, they were moving and making decisions quickly. They cut hard, moved the ball and attacked the basket with force. After the 109-95 win, they "felt like, OK, if we play this style and share the ball and play together then we can be pretty successful," Merrill said.
Since the beginning of training camp, coach J.B. Bickerstaff had been trying to turn Cleveland into a more unpredictable team. He wanted the Cavs to get into their offense faster, flow from one action to the next and make the most of the shooting the front office had added in the offseason: More motion, more reads, more 3s. It never fully clicked, though, until they were forced to play that way. On Dec. 15, when they had a 13-12 record, they announced that Garland and Mobley both needed surgery -- the former for a broken jaw, the latter to remove a loose body from his knee. Cleveland won three straight games after that, but to Allen the Chicago game was when it turned the corner.
"We had to find a way to win without, what, three, four of our starters," Allen said. "And we just found a way that worked. And that continued to work."
The Cavs "learned, through this, how dangerous the 3-point shot can be for our team," Bickerstaff said. They "needed to find weapons" with Garland and Mobley sidelined, and the Bulls game gave them "something visual that our guys could see, and then now we've got numbers that we can hold our guys to, and now they go out and try to create and reach those goals for us, game by game."
At the All-Star break, coming off a totally different win against Chicago on Wednesday, Cleveland is now 36-17, second in the East, with the league's fourth-best point differential. Since the day the Cavs announced those two surgeries, they've gone 23-5, and in that span they rank first in passes per 100 possessions, second in 3-point attempts per 100 possessions and third in offensive efficiency. The defense is elite, as expected, but this offensive explosion is the best story in the NBA.
"I'm not going to say I'm not a big numbers guy, 'cause I am, but I think it's also a feel of playing the right way and taking and making the right shots," Niang said. "I've been in places where we haven't played the right way, and then I've been in places where we have played the right way. And you kind of have that feel where things start becoming easy, you see the defense getting frustrated, and that's the way that you want to play, right? You want to feel good while you're playing, and not feel like everything is a struggle."
Garland and Mobley returned in late January, and the good habits -- and vibes -- that developed in their absence have remained.
"We found an identity through that," Mitchell said. "So now, you add those two guys back, and we're still doing that. I think it's something that -- you never want to have those two guys out, but it helped us see, one, the depth of our team, and also see the playing style we wanted to be able to play with them, kind of how it comes about."
The Cavaliers have only lost twice since New Year's Day, so it's easy to forget how bleak things appeared to be before they found themselves. I optimistically suggested the Cavs' first few games might play like early episodes of "The Simpsons" when they were 3-5 in mid-November, but I can't say I envisioned them going on a run so close to perfection that it could be credibly described as the NBA equivalent of Season 4. On Nov. 30, they were booed at home during a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers,
That dispiriting defeat prompted an extended postgame meeting in the locker room. The next day, The Ringer's Bill Simmons predicted on a podcast that Bickerstaff would be fired. On Dec. 19, Simmons and Ryen Russilo had a lengthy conversation about potential trade destinations for Mitchell, who can be a free agent after the 2024-25 season. Bickerstaff is now a Coach of the Year candidate, and Cleveland stood pat at last week's trade deadline.
"Technically we did do something: We added DG and Ev back," Mitchell said hours after the deadline, following a 118-95 win overt the Nets at Barclays Center. "We feel like we have enough with what we've got."
Mitchell won't win Most Valuable Player, but he's been playing MVP-caliber basketball; his passing and defense have never been better. Allen won't play in Sunday's All-Star Game, but, compared to when he made it two years ago, his short-roll game has grown immensely. Garland is slowly starting to look more like himself, and, per 36 minutes, Mobley averaged 22.2 points on 61.4% shooting, 13.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks in his first eight games back from knee surgery.
"He just came back seamlessly," Allen said.
Mobley and Garland have been on minutes restrictions, so Cleveland's starting lineup has still logged only 239 minutes together. Mobley has been mostly tethered to Garland lately, and less than half of his minutes since he returned have come next to Allen. Skeptics of the Cavs' upside can point to their competition -- aside from late-January wins against the Bucks and Clippers, they haven't been beating contenders -- and can still concern-troll the bigs, neither of whom is a prolific 3-point shooter.
"We don't really care, honestly," Allen said. "That's just the best answer I can give you. People say what they want to say about that, but we have a belief in our system."
The bigs assist each other "all the time," Allen said. "Evan's 3-point shot" -- 8 for 13 in his last six games -- "is only improving. It's only up [from here] for us, I believe." And on defense, there is no one on the planet saying they don't complement each other.
After winning 51 games and then falling apart in the first round against the New York Knicks last season, Cleveland bet that it could solve its playoff problems with movement and shooting. The last two months are a testament to the changes the Cavs made, but it'll be another two months before they be validated. Mitchell is aware of this -- "We can win the rest of the games for the rest of the year; ultimately, we gotta go out there and execute in the playoffs," he said -- but there's a collective confidence that comes from how well they've been playing and how much fun they've been having.
"Everybody's happy," Niang said. "Everybody touches the ball, the ball is moving. Guys have the freedom to make plays, but also know when it's time to play the right way and get a great shot when a team is going on a run. So it's been awesome. I just think we're focused on continuing to build."
As those words came out of Niang's mouth, Mitchell, walking past him in the locker room in Brooklyn, playfully hit him in the back and said, "Shut up!" Niang let out a little laugh, but was not thrown off, barely pausing as he finished his thought: The Cavs are trying to stay in this moment, rather than looking too far ahead.
"We're going to keep riding this until the wheels fall off," Niang said. "And when they fall off, try to put 'em back on and keep riding a little bit."
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
You know, I actually went back to the previous thread to read the earlier comments (it's always fun ). Some were hilarious, especially by lead. I won't post them as many were definitely warranted and we all know how reactionary he can be lol.
THIS, I will repost:
Originally Posted by Rishuz
Originally Posted by Milk Man
Originally Posted by Rishuz
The Cavs are a tough watch. They really struggle to score. Strus got hot, but that will only happen for a handful of games over an entire season. It's not something that can be depended on. The Cavs actually have nothing to hang their hats on. Struggle to score, struggle to defend, no real identity on either side of the ball. It's going to be a long season.
Eh, it's tough for me to have any real angst this early in an NBA season. Most know by now the NBA regular season is generally meaningless.
Cavs will be a top six seed and make the playoffs. It's what they do once the playoffs begin that matters.
Dinner bet!
Deal! And when I win, if you try to push In and Out with the secret menu it does not count a meal. I have a discerning palette.
Esther’s is ok. I would take Milk somewhere way fancier.
I still would not get my hopes up of the Cavs in the playoffs. One saving grace is they may be able to snag a top two seed and have an easy first round.
This run they are on has been against some of the worst comp in the league. They’ll have to prove they are physically and mentally tough enough to win the playoffs. Mitchell is. Strus is. I’m not sure about anyone else.
Esther’s is ok. I would take Milk somewhere way fancier.
I still would not get my hopes up of the Cavs in the playoffs. One saving grace is they may be able to snag a top two seed and have an easy first round.
This run they are on has been against some of the worst comp in the league. They’ll have to prove they are physically and mentally tough enough to win the playoffs. Mitchell is. Strus is. I’m not sure about anyone else.
well what I feared would happen has, as soon as garland/mobley came back, minutes for Merrill/Porter have gone down, despite both Garland/Mobley having a negative +/- in every game. Cavs took off like gangbusters the first half of the year and then folded like a cheap tent in the second half becuase 90% of playoff teams coast in the first have to preseve for the run.. The cavs rode mitchell like a rented mule last year and he faded in playoffs. All indicators they've done the same this year in an effort to turn it around and save JB. These next few weeks will show where we are i think. I still think, since we didn't make any moves to improve bench play, we are still a 6-7 seed. Embid getting hurt helps, If we can stay healthy and manage minutes for Mitchell we might be able to make some noise. I think anything less than a conference finals this year and mitchell is gone.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Even more convinced we should have moved garland and or Mobley. They both are losers. Garland is so overrated. This team is better without them. Without Mitchell this is a lottery team. We don’t have 3 guys that can put ball on floor. Allen has gotten worse now that Mobley is back. Niang is such a waste . It’s clear what the problem is but Altman stood down at deadline. He should have dropped some of this dead weight and created more opportunities for the guys that won 20/24
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Tonight they ..... Can't make shots. Can't rebound. Can't shoot the 3. Can't shoot free throws. It's not Garland and Mobley alone. It's everyone.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
The Cavs are 100% a lottery team without Mitchell.
Mitchell is a legit superstar. Their second best player, Max Strus, is a try hard guy who would be the fourth option on a championship team.
Garland and Mobley are average to below average players relative to where they were drafted. Neither player has improved since they were drafted. Think about this…Maxey is better than Garland.
If I were Mitchell I’d run away and run away fast. Altman has failed the organization and should be fired. JB can’t get the most out of his players. Porter is clearly a top five player on the team and can’t get any playing time except to give Garland a breather.
100% first round exit coming up.
This team is an absolute joke. The whole win streak was against the worst comp in the league. They played the sixers without Embiid and were never in the game.
Tonight they ..... Can't make shots. Can't rebound. Can't shoot the 3. Can't shoot free throws. It's not Garland and Mobley alone. It's everyone.
yeah i do, and I watch ALOT of basketball. Theres a reason all those things happened.. the ball has energy, when you have someone who can get the team rolling, stuff starts to happen. thats what we have with mitchell, its what we don't have with our other high picks.. theres a reason why as soon as garland and mobley came back it started to go to tank Garland turns the ball over and is a turnstile on defense.. Mobley can't get out of his own way and now fancies himself a perimiter player, but when inside he clogs everything up for allen who fell off a cliff after mobley got back.. its either a player problem or a coach that can't figure out who should play when. But this is not a good team without mitchell, and they will run him into the ground just to stay in the playoff race and we get there and will lose again. Altman should def. be fired
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Strus sure came through tonight ...... including the 3/4 court shot to win it!
Wow!
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
I was watching and said "Holy *smokes* ...... that look slike it's got a chance......"
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Man Mitchell was complete trash tonight, and Mobley and Allen got absolutely abused. Allen lost the game with his boneheaded foul. Living and dying by the 3 down the stretch and we just folded. No way we should have lost to Chicago especially after Vucevic fouled out.. Rotations at the end of regulation were baffling. Allen and Mobley cannot co exist, one is always compromising something, and neither are very good by themselves.. we have a problem there. Turnovers from our guards have to stop. Bad loss tonight when we should have coasted and blew a 12 point lead in 4 minutes
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
It’s painful watching this team play, especially on offense. Something is off. It’s either JB or the players. Maybe both. Garland and Mobley play like late first round, early second round players. No dynamicness at all. No growth as players.
Knicks were absolutely depleted tonight.
And Mitchell, you got to be available. Missing 4 out of 7 games because of a stomach ache and you’re sore is pathetic.
Altman is such a failure. This team has zero playmakers except for glass Mitchell. He can go next year and I’ll be fine. Dude is challenging garland for games missed. But we have two bigs that just suck. And Strus and Niang . Can’t stand either. I’ve seen more athletic rec league players than Niang, no way he should be getting minutes over porter or Merrill. Merrill should be playing over both Niang and Strus. We live and die by the long ball. Yeah we mostly shoot it well but we never defend it so it becomes and issue when we can’t hit. The offense is hilarious to watch, same two plays they just switch sides. Noone can create . I think they will lose 5 of the next 6 and drop back where they belong at the 6-7 seed
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
It’s painful watching this team play, especially on offense. Something is off. It’s either JB or the players. Maybe both. Garland and Mobley play like late first round, early second round players. No dynamicness at all. No growth as players.
Knicks were absolutely depleted tonight.
And Mitchell, you got to be available. Missing 4 out of 7 games because of a stomach ache and you’re sore is pathetic. I’m
This team will get bounced in the first round.
I said before. Garland and Mobley would come back and we would suck again because JB will go right back to his horrible rotations . Altman should have moved one or both at the deadline for a legit 2 and Bench help. The team doesn’t work as constructed and it’s been painfully obvious since garland and Mobley came back.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
The problem with Merrill is he’s a borderline nba player. He won’t get open shots in the playoffs and he doesn’t provide anything else. He tries hard on defense but can’t stop anyone. If he’s not getting open threes he has no value.
The problem with Merrill is he’s a borderline nba player. He won’t get open shots in the playoffs and he doesn’t provide anything else. He tries hard on defense but can’t stop anyone. If he’s not getting open threes he has no value.
No way Mitchell is sticking around for this team.
Have you watched merrill? he don't need open shots.. he's got the quickest release of any player the cavs have ever had.. If he's borderline then Strus/Niang are YMCA players because merrill has shown alot more imo. Speaking of providing nothing else.. thats very definition of Strus/Niang.. i lost count how many 3's they gave up tonight. Mobley and Allen got ate up on the boards tonight by Hart. 6'4.... vs 2 7ft. Man the more I watch this team against contenders the more I shake my head.. I don't even know where I'd start fixing it.. Probably first get rid of altman and JB, and hope we can somehow recoup some of the draft capital squandered
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
). Some were hilarious, especially by lead. I won't post them as many were definitely warranted and we all know how reactionary he can be lol.
