Just thought the Cavs deserved a running thread,wait, I mean the winning record Cavs do
I dont want to get too hyped up over a couple early season wins,but something just seems right about this team. We have some young talent,but what is even more encouraging is their character. No, showboating,no attitudes,just come to play hard and get better every day.
We took our lumps last season, but it looks like maybe we are going about building this team back in the right way.
KING
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
Quote: Just thought the Cavs deserved a running thread,wait, I mean the winning record Cavs do
I dont want to get too hyped up over a couple early season wins,but something just seems right about this team. We have some young talent,but what is even more encouraging is their character. No, showboating,no attitudes,just come to play hard and get better every day.
We took our lumps last season, but it looks like maybe we are going about building this team back in the right way.
KING
I think even if this team falters and wins only 20-25 games, fans will be happy, the progress being made is pretty obvious. This team actually has a bit of depth, they just lack that really really good 2/3 backcourt player who can average 20 a night. Sad thing is if this team plays well enough, they could put themselves right out of the running for the top few spots in the draft, in which as mentioned before, there are 2 or 3 guys who fit that bill.
The good thing is though, that this team has a lot of assets that might help swing a deal for a pick, even if they don't "earn" one on the court. I know it's unlikely, but who would have thought that the Clippers would trade away a lottery pick just to dump a contract.
We gotta hope that Hickson turns it on and gets the Kings moving in the right direction and out of the damn lottery. Maybe 2 1st round picks and 2 2nd round picks can be used as trade bait. Who knows?
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.
Quote: Chris Grant is smarter than apparently everybody else too. Tristan Thompson at #4 is looking pretty darn good right now.
I read a few articles, even one before the draft, that showed T2 was really under-rated when you applied some sabermetrics to their college numbers. I believe John Hollinger has some sort or college-to-pro formula he applied, and T2 scored above the mark that usually indicates that they will be a solid pro. (like all-star type potential) Usually his calculations were less reliable if there weren't a lot of college games to sample (like they were hurt, ineligible or played in Europe) ... but TT had a lot of games to factor in, and he still scored really well from a sabermetrics point of view.
Then there was a story that Chris Grant brought TT and Derrick Williams in for a workout and had them play 1 on 1. Apparently they went toe to toe and it came out in a dead-heat. That was probably all Grant needed to finalize the pick.
Last nights game against the B-Cats was fun to watch. Yeah, they stink, but the Cavs have an excitement to them even though I know they are probably just an average (hopefully) team. Watching the two rooks has been entertaining. Being a short season, it just might help them with the rookie wall of an 82 game marathon although it could be worse given back-to-back-backs. This road trip will show what kind of character coach Scott has built into them in a very short amount of time. Looking forward to it. 3 wins with solid showing against LA will shed a lot of light on this.
Quote: The good thing is though, that this team has a lot of assets that might help swing a deal for a pick, even if they don't "earn" one on the court.
We may have some assets, but I'm not sure we have any good enough to get a non-lottery protected pick. I'm not sure how much that Antwan contract is either ... although, I guess we'll have to see how things shake out with the new CBA too. Maybe a team gets desperate to clear cap space. Then again, everyone thought we'd get a ton for the trade-exception cap space we had last year, and it wound up going mostly unused.
Quote: I know it's unlikely, but who would have thought that the Clippers would trade away a lottery pick just to dump a contract.
Part of the reason they did that was because they felt it was the weakest draft in years. And people still admonished them for it.
Quote: Maybe 2 1st round picks and 2 2nd round picks can be used as trade bait. Who knows?
Not in the NBA. Non-lottery picks aren't worth a whole lot, and they aren't going to get you into the top 5 ... where you need to be to get a premium draft pick.
Davis Thorpe of espn picked thompson to win rookie of the year. He has the same type of athleticism as hickson, just way better work ethic, and character as well. Looks like a great draft by Grant.
I've seen this team do some pretty amazing stuff since losing James ..... so I won't count out anything at this point.
I could definitely see them trading picks from this draft for future picks if they wind up with 4 overall. Maybe I'm just having a bout of blind homeristic optimism .... but I feel pretty good about a lot of our players right now.
I actually still think that we'll wind up in the lottery. Hopefully we haven't used up all of our "Lottery Luck".
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 didn't even realize that we traded JJ a long time ago. It's almost like the team has a different mindset in how they play out there. They're fun to watch and I hope they stay that way.
Quote: Then there was a story that Chris Grant brought TT and Derrick Williams in for a workout and had them play 1 on 1. Apparently they went toe to toe and it came out in a dead-heat. That was probably all Grant needed to finalize the pick.
this world surprise me. DW was considered the 1B pick of the draft (after Irving). I find it very hard to believe he would have considered playing 1on1 against someone that was considered by most to be a top10 guy.
Heck, Irving refused to play Brandon Knight 1on1 during workouts (and Knight refused vs. Kemba) just because they were known to be in the tier above and there was nothing to gain from it.
Pretty exciting to see these young guys get after it but keep in mind the Cavs were (6-7) to start last year and then proceeded to go (2-35) over their next 37 games.
I realize that was a combination of a string of injuries and some poor, uninspired play but the Cavs are going through their soft part of the schedule. Indiana is the only "good" team they've played and they dropped that game (although in a very tough way). Detroit, New Jersey and Charlotte are 3 of the worst 6-7 teams in the NBA in my opinion, so it's nothing to write home about (yet).
We'll see how they do in this 15 game stretch. They play @Portland, @LAL, Chicago, @Atlanta, @Miami, NYK and Boston twice (home / away). 8 of the 15 are against playoff teams and 5 of those 8 are on the road. They have some winnable games in there (@ Minny, @ Utah, @ Charlotte, Golden State, New Jersey) but 3 of the 5 are away from home. Realistically, something like (6-9) would be great (as stupid as that sounds) but it's not out of the question that they go (2-13 or 3-12) and exit January (5-14) overall.
In terms of the future, it looks pretty damn good. Kyrie and TT both look like keepers. Grant has done a rather masterful job with his current selections and also stockpiling picks moving forward. The Cavs are shedding all their bad contracts this season, have a ton of cap space and a nice arsenal of draft picks. It's going to take a couple years but they are set up to have a nice run down the road.
I think all they really need is one really really solid FA signing, and one more lotto pick and I think fans can start talking about a really good team.
I think having both TT and Kyrie playing now and playing well could play into trying to land a free agent. I realize Dwight ain't coming here, or anyone on that level, but there are still guys who would look really good on this team.
If we can land a Lottery Center, and find a decent SG, this could be a dangerous team.
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.
It'd be awesome, but he's destined for LA. He wants that life. I'm not all that sure he cares about winning a championship as much as a lot of guys do.
I've thought for a while now. He just doesn't come across as a guy that wants it like a Kobe. Don't get me wrong, I dont think he doesn't care or is lazy, not trying to say that. Just that he doesn't come across a guy is willing to do anything to get a ring.
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
Quote: I've thought for a while now. He just doesn't come across as a guy that wants it like a Kobe. Don't get me wrong, I dont think he doesn't care or is lazy, not trying to say that. Just that he doesn't come across a guy is willing to do anything to get a ring.
Exactly. We've all heard stories of Kobe and Michael waking up in the middle of the night because they can't sleep because they are that driven to be better.
I'm sure Dwight works his ass off when he comes to work. In practice, in games, but I don't think he's driven like that. I don't think Shaq ever was either. Shaq was such a bully on the court that in his prime it just didn't matter. Same with Dwight. Has he really even developed different parts of his game since he came into the association? Not really. He's better than he was then, but I don't think he added something like others have.
I don't think Lebron falls under that category. I've heard that guy works a ton. I don't know how driven he is, but I think most basketball people's problem with him is that he's too dense in that he won't develop a real post game.
I honestly think that Kobe and Jordan "Need"(ed) to win. They are so driven that they cannot deal with any other outcome, and losing, even to a better team, just drives them insane.
I think that a lot of the younger players want to play against their friends. (or play alongside them) I think that the game is a key to the lifestyle they want to live ... not an end to itself. I think that if you went to a 22 year old Kobe Bryant, or a 22 year old Michale Jordan, and said: "I'll give you $50 million .... but you can never play basketball professionally ever again", they would turn it down, and probably threaten or commit violence.
I think that there are a ton of stars today who would happily take the money and never look back,
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'm not going to post the whole article since it's kind of long and not about the Cavs, but it's an interesting write-up about those who "need to win" and why we decide how we feel about players who don't care as much as we think they should.
and to make it worse, he sucks...he'll score 20 points but it will take 30 shots to do it, we absolutely need to move AJ and andy before the deadline, andy is not a starting player. Hes a great come off the bench guy. But he gets abused as a starting 5. Hollis, might be, imo, the worst player i've ever seen. If erden is even serviceable, hollis is cut. Not sure why we aren't attacking like we have before, irving just settling, not being aggressive...calderon is schooling him pretty bad. Not sure why sessions gets so many minutes, everyone knows this team is lottery bound, imo, the rooks should be playing as many minutes as their bodies can handle. Team in general playing like crap tonight, we can't guard the perimeter if their lives depended on it. too many open looks. I was kinda hoping to mychel thompson some today since samuels can't play. Kid supposed to be a lights out shooter and above average on D.
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
man everything Toronto threw up, went in. Dunno if they are a really good team or they just are a horrible matchup for us. Bargnani looks like he has improved his game.
I'm not going to post the whole article since it's kind of long and not about the Cavs, but it's an interesting write-up about those who "need to win" and why we decide how we feel about players who don't care as much as we think they should.
lol
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
Drummond scares me. I like him alot more than some other big men who tend to drift more (no to Perry Jones, no to Perry Jones), but he still has that boom/bust look to him.
and I like Lamb, but man, that Gilchrist-Kidd guy is dang good. he'd look real nice in wine-n-gold running those breaks with Kyrie and Tristan
I have a question for all of the NBA aficionados .....
We always hear about the importance of big men in the NBA ..... usually PF and C types ....... but it seems like a lot of the dominant type players recently are SG/SF types .... and this type of player was missing almost completely from last year's draft. (for example)
I look at the NBA, and some of the biggest stars are guys who play the SF/SG spots. There are some PF mixed in, but very few true Centers in the mix.
Guys like Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James pretty much carried their teams from the SF and SG positions.
Everyone always talks about the importance of finding great big men, Centers and Power Forwards ...... but isn't it harder to find great SF/SG types, and aren't they almost more important when you can find them?
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.
