DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NBA / Cavs Discussion II

I think that's all we're asking of Kevin right now. Rebound, get better on defense, and keep working on that shot. I'd still like the offense to find different ways to get Kevin integrated into the offense early on. I know everyone wants the ball early to warm up, I think he needs special attention right now.

Tim Legler was saying last night that Kevin is getting 40% less shots than in Minnesota and it's been hard for Kevin to find that rhythm. The Wolves lost a lot of games and Kevin could just shoot as much as he wanted, that's the case here.

I know a lot of fans were a bit worried Kevin would walk at the end of the year, but if he doesn't settle into the offense, do we even want him at a max deal if THIS is the Kevin we'll be getting?

If Kevin keeps playing like this, I'd rather throw money at Kawhi Leonard / Jimmy Butler than him and stick Lebron at PF.

What money? Also, both Butler and Leonard are restricted.

we cannot do sign-n-trades as a tax paying team.

Right. The Bulls have already conformed they'll match any offer Butler gets. I'd imagine the Spurs would do the same.

I think Kevin will eventually figure it out. But I wonder if he'll want this winning but limited role in Cleveland long term OR going to LA and struggle but get to shoot his brains out.

If I'm him, I'd lean towards staying because the contract is bigger and I'd rather win now. But the Lakers will be a totally different roster in the 2016-17 season (Kobe retired, Kevin? and maybe Durant?).

I wasn't a fan of offering Wiggins in a trade for Love back in the summer and it's looking worse now. Reality is setting in that Love is a free agent, free to sign with any team, and we're not even sure if he is worth offering a max contract. Love for Wiggins, who says no? The 'Wolves snookered us and nobody had ever given up a player of AW's value to get a player with one year left on their contract who wanted out. We panicked and blinked first when we could have either gotten Love for much less value sometime during the season, or held tight and used the assets and cap space for a 4th star sometime down the road. Pretty much exactly what I said this summer and that's when I thought Love was an elite player and thought Wiggins was more raw than he actually was. That trade is going to haunt is in the future. Anyway...

Really happy to see how the Cavs are doing, despite what's written above. Love the Mozgov pickup and he's just what the team needed. Good defensive play from big men is so underrated in the NBA but it's pretty much a mainstay of every championship team.

With the Hawks losing last night, the Cavs have the longest win streak in the NBA.

Kevin has said that he wants to win championships. Where can he go, right now, and have a better chance of doing so?

I do think that he is still working to find his role on this team. However, I think that he is doing a lot of good things right now. He is playing solid defense. (and who thought that we would be able to say that?) He is rebounding the ball. He is still an effective passer. He is playing unselfishly. If anything, he might be playing too unselfishly. I think that he needs to take a few more of those shots, instead of passing the ball. He needs, especially,m to get more involved down close to the basket, with some high percentage shots to get him going. I also wonder if his back is back to anywhere near 100%.


Another poster said that we cannot do sign and trades as a tax paying team. I did not know that.

Back to Delly, here's a take from the ABJ:

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-cava...t-team-1.563872

7. Don’t look now, but Delly is shooting the highest percentage on 3s of any Cavs player (42.4 percent). His assist-to-turnover ratio is better than 3 to 1. And he still has the trust of his head coach, who acted surprised to hear fans are tired of seeing Dellavedova.

8. “That kid deserves nothing but love and support,” Blatt said before explaining what he sees in him that he likes so much. “Mental toughness, defensive capability, hustle, makes open shots at big moments.”

9. “Delly’s primary thing is to come in and play as hard as he can, defend at a high level, get us into our offense and make the right plays,” LeBron James said. “Everything we get from him is extra.”

I've heard nothing but good things about Delly from Lebron, Irving and Blatt. I think his biggest problem is when he's asked to do too much. He can't create his own shot and he has trouble creating plays which get other guys open. He's not a traditional point guard. But he gives you defense, he doesn't make dumb plays and he can hit a spot up 3-pointer, which is why you see him at the end of the 4th quarter all the time. When he can defer to the better guys and take on the "role-player" persona, he helps the team. Lebron and Kyrie like him because he'll happily take on the toughest defensive assignments, he'll let them run the offense late in the game, and he'll usually hit the open 3-pointer if the defense collapses on Lebron or Irving. He's the kind of "solder" you want playing on your team when you already have a ton of "generals".

That's an interesting take, that he's being to unselfish (not sure which came first, his unselfishness or the struggling).

I'm still not too worried because I think it will take more time for everyone to find their role. Heck, the newest version of this team is only about 11-12 games old. Lebron, Kyrie, Kevin, JR, & Timofey are still gelling, despite winning 11 in a row.

As was mentioned, if Kevin can just focus on rebounding, defense, and passing, then his scoring efficiency will improve. I would like to see him attempt to take the game over now and again though. You know, he sees Lebron on the bench resting and Kyrie's shot not dropping, so he just demands the ball to help the team. But it seems like Lebron and Kyrie split doing that, so maybe that's why he can't, the other two alpha males are taking turns.

And yes, he's probably not healthy. Maybe he needs a few nights off too.

I think the biggest concern is Love doesn't appear to be enjoying himself. Maybe he's down because he knows he can play better, but he doesn't seem to know how to enjoy not being the guy.

I hope he does stay with Cleveland. They have something special going on. I think losing Love would be a big setback.

You know who has taken on not being the guy? Irving. And I love that. I think once Love finds his role he will excel. Irving has just found his niche alot faster.

Yeah, Irving seems to be relishing in just winning, no matter who gets the stats.

Great to see.

They are building something special here. I hope they bring a title to the city of Cleveland. Would be so awesome.

Kyrie has the chance to be the 2nd greatest Cavalier of all time. It's just unfortunately he's playing with the guy who will probably have a statue.

well,there's a chance that statue will have one of Kyrie with his arm around him

And possibly Timofey Mozgov with his other arm.

Think about this. In our last 11 games, after we got everyone back and acclimated, we have run off 11 straight wins. Overall we are 11-3 since trading for Mozgov.

The Nuggets? are 4-10, if I count right, since trading Mozgov.

Have I mentioned how happy I am that we traded for Mozgov?

Cavaliers were off tonight, but made major moves in the standings.

Toronto, Washington, and Chicago all lost. Cleveland is now in 4th, tied with the Bulls. They are 1 game behind the Wizards for 3rd, and 3 behind the Raptors for 2nd.

Hard to believe that there was a time, not that long ago, where the Cavaliers were in danger of slipping out of the playoffs.

unless you are referring to last season, there was no time that the Cavs were in actual danger of slipping out of the playoffs.

they were 1 game under .500 at 19-20 at one point, true. but, it was pretty obvious that they were going to make the playoffs unless LeBron missed the entire season (and that is w/o the trades for JR, Shump, Moz).

currently, the Nets hold the 9-seed and are 8 games under .500

Perhaps a bit of hyperbole on my part .... but they were definitely listing about. Now that we have guys who fit the team, got rid of a guy who did not fit the team, and, of course, got Lebron back, this team looks 100% better.

Big test for our Cavs tonight. Kind of got sloppy last game, so hopefully they clean that up and keep the streak alive! From what I gather, Clippers are a worthy opponent.

Cavs started off on hot fire!!

Love already hit 2 3-pointers.

Our D is frustrating the heck out of Paul. That's two frustration fouls in a row.

Bulls really need to get out of that 4-5 seed slot. Wizards would be a nightmare for them in round 1.

65-42 Cavs, loving it! Irving is showing he is not selfish at all. I freaking freaked out freaking watching Irving and that freaking King James hustling down the freaking court for that freaking alley oop play! I sooooooooooooooooo want to FREAKING see more of that!

Just thinking of possible playoff matchups- unless we face the Heat in round 1, we're probably going to "out talent" whoever we face in the 1st round as a 2 seed. Don't think Toronto would be much of a threat. LBJ gives them problems.

So I guess the Clippers are trying to get as many technical as possible. Four already lol!

so i'm going to go in a different direction.

I'm scared man.last time we was this good, we ended up getting smacked by orlando in the ECF.

Those teams didn't have a Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love.

true.

Clippers are soft as baby crap.

Cavs look unstoppable.

They have every element you need for a championship team.

Hell, their third best player is somewhat of an afterthought. But it can't be underestimated the way he cleans the glass.

Classy move by Irving to give up the breakaway earlier to Love too.

These guys are talented and tight.

As long as there are no injuries, they have a legit shot to win it all.

Lol @ Barkley calling the Clippers 'soft'. Haha

We're up huge, just force the ball to Love. Get his confidence up.

The Clippers have no fortitude. They got a few techs early, and they crumbled. Started getting chippy with both the Cavs and the Refs and they are pouting.

I wasn't saying he was wrong, it was just funny the way he worded and said it.

Our bench should be able to close this one out...

What do you guys think about Chris Paul? In general, I love him as a player, but he seems to be missing something in terms of rallying his team and getting guys to play their best.

Maybe need to take that back, this group cannot put any points on the board. They've also had like, three balls stolen from them in a short time period.

GO CAVS! Good game of nothing but domination! THE STREAK CONTINUES TO 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I saw Miller, Jones, and Marion go a combined 0-12 for 3s in the last 4 minutes alone..

This is a fun, fun team. (unless you're playing them)

They all seem to understand how to play the game. Kyrie appeared to be off offensively, and he did not force the issue. The defensive intensity just keeps ratcheting up and up. Their team defense is spectacular lately. I can't wait to see how we'll be playing by the time the playoffs roll around. 23 assists on 31 made FGs. We got to the line 44 times, to 20 for the Clippers. Thompson is actually starting to block shots. I don't know what happened there, but he really is playing better than ever. Delly and Shumpert each had 2 steals, and JR Smith had 5. He has really been HUGE, and has been exactly what the team needed.

Chicago was off tonight, and Washington lost, so we are tied for 3rd now, with the Wizards, and are 1/2 game ahead of the Bulls. We are 2 1/2 games back of the Raptors for 2nd in the East.

This is really fun. This is what we hoped for early on.

Griffin should win GM of the year for turning Waiters and his back pocket cards into Mozgov.

The death of the rugged big man is greatly exaggerated.

You may not need Ewing, but you need a Birdman. If you don't have one in crucial situations, you will lose.

Tiago Splitter doesn't have multiple rings because he's versatile.

If you don't have at least 5-8 minutes a game of rim protection, you will lose.