Cavs off to slow start again.

Cavs defense so porous.

Lue doubles down on the answer for no defense is more offense.

Cavs' thread off to another great start. LOL

It's a shame that the Cavs' threads have very few participants anymore. I wonder why that would be?

Man this team looks like hot garbage

First timeout of the game.

Score is 20-4 wolves.

To me, this is similar to a game day thread. You're commenting as the game goes along. The Cavs are currently down 20-4. They consistently look like garbage through long stretches of games.

What would you like for us to say?

Send what you need to get Jordan, not like the Brooklyn pick is all that right now. It should have been traded right after the IT trade when everyone thought Brooklyn would be lottery

Not flipping the pick right away was a huge mistake.

Like..what do we do in between games? Can’t be practice.

Yep

I don't think it is a game-day commentary, though.

I would like some information instead of comments like "this team is hot garbage." I don't know........don't we have one of the better records in the East? Is that "hot garbage?"

I would like to hear some commentary on the actual players and plays. Rather than just trashing the team constantly.

Come on, Rish.........you are a smart guy......are you telling me that you have noticed how many people have stopped posting the the Cavs' threads this year?

The constant trashing of the team is a turnoff. I think it's good to criticize them, but man, that's all you guys do.

But whatever, this entire board has gone so far downhill that it probably doesn't even matter anymore.

I'm pretty sure the Cavs don't practice due to the age of the team.

I'm in favor of that actually.

Our offense just stands there

So we were down 16 at the first timeout.

Now, we’re only down 14. Progress?

I'll tell you what...if Spergon and Excel come on here and say my game day commentary has driven them away, I will stop posting in-game commentary for the Cavs.

Wonder if we take a look at DeAndre liggins, I’d rather have him than calderon

Our defensive switches make no damn sense.. do we even have a coach

You are taking this the wrong way.

I can't see most games. I just wish I could get some real commentary.

For example............how does IT look? Did he start? How is his lateral movement? Is his shot off? Is the jump shot on or is it short, perhaps due to tired legs?

What are we doing to defend KAT? He seems to be a mismatch for Love. Are we doubling him? Are we fronting him w/Love?

How is our ball movement? Are we swinging the ball or running ISO most of the time?

STuff like that would be interesting and inspire conversation. "This team is hot garbage" is not exactly discussion.

I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm trying to ask y'all to step it up.

Wade forced to foul because TT was nowhere to be found. These switches need to stop, we have no clue what we are doing

Officially a blowout

All of our 3’s have been wide open shots.

We are 1-13 from 3.

And now we’re down 21.

Its hard to be that detailed while the game is going on.

Ouch.

There’s so much wrong with this team

Can’t even complain about IT’s defense, cause nobody on our team is playing defense.

And it ain’t an exaggeration. Right now we suck on that end. We aren’t running back, the wolves and other teams are pushing pace, we do too many switches, and guys are getting way too many wide open looks.

Defense is really bad, in general. If the Cavs aren't hitting shots, they've got no chance. Teams score with minimal resistance.

I don't think it's you, Rish . It's that the season lasts an eternity and this is a meaningless weeknight game in the grand scheme of things.

On a side note, I think there's a chance the Cavs may not have use Brooklyn pick to get Jordan if Koby doesn't blink first. That said, I'd have no problem sending that pick if necessary. It's all about setting yourself to beat GSW in The Finals and winning now.

Well, good news I guess.

Korver just passed Paul pierce on the list for 4th all time.

in contrast teams like GSW and Boston lead the league in defensive efficiency, while we are at the bottom. Until that changes, we will not win anything

Man IT looks really really bad, on both ends. He has no explosion

I swear, if Love is guarding you, no matter what your position, just put up a 3. It will probably go in.

Jr keeps forgetting what he’s for, shoot the damn ball, you can’t dribble or drive

This game is a joke now. We look so old. I think AC could coach this team better than Lue.

I just don't understand the lack of effort on D.

I just don't get it.

I don't think it's an old thing.

It's lack of effort and bad habits.

That's disappointing for a LeBron team.

Because they have a coach that doesn’t feel it’s important. He has actually said that offense is how you play defense. Team has been worse every year he coaches. Blatt made them play defense

Doesn’t help when everyone is charmin soft either. Love might be the softest 5 in the league, which is why he’s supposed to be a 4

Love is big for no reason.

Time to watch football

Butler just got a buzzer beating 3.

We are down by 27 at half.

Time to watch the title game.

Love has 0 pts, 0 rebounds.

Just got 1 rebound on a tip.

I don't think Love has ever made a tip in in his life.

I’m still trying to figure out what Lue does so much better they fired a guy with 18 championships.

Switching to football myself.

Cavs are just an awful watch, even when they win.

Not looking good tonight at all.

Ouch.

You've definitely driven me away you dirty bastard...

lol, to be honest, I just don't get to see all the games. Seems like whenever they are on ESPN or TNT, I have a hockey game or some other garbage to attend.

The constant whining in these topics gets old. We do it every year. Fire Lue, Lebron is leaving. Should have gotten this guy instead of that guy, should have done this blah blah blah. Who cares. The regular season when you're the Cavs is garbage, and I'll continue to say that. I said the same thing the last few years when people freaked out.

I do think the East is a little more dicey this year. Cavs will be pressed by several teams. You know what I say? GOOD. I don't think the coasting is the best thing in the world. The rest is great, especially for Lebron, who has a million miles on him, but these guys could use some intensity.

I just don't think any of it matters. Seeding doesn't matter. All that matters is that this team is healthy when the season is over. Beyond that I think these guys know what needs to be done. They know how to raise their game when chips are actually on the table. (They aren't on the table until mid-April)

Like I said earlier, I bet you could go back the night the Warriors destroyed the Cavs in Cleveland in 2016, and see some of The laughable comments made by everyone (myself included) How'd that turn out for ya? Oh that's right.

I love the NBA, but this is a problem. There's just no reason to be that excited about the regular season. It's fun to watch individual guys. Lebron, Russ, Giannis, AD, Harden etc... but the outcomes of these games just don't really matter.

I love the Cavs, but before the season started, before we traded Kyrie, I didn't think the Cavs could beat GSW 4 out of 7. After the trade, I thought it opened up some options for the team, adding Crowder helps defensively, you still have a volume scorer in Thomas, but even so, I don't think they can beat GSW 4 out of 7.

After the 2015 finals, I think most of us thought that the Cavs could pull it off next year. It was just a general feeling that if a few bounces went their way that it could happen.

Could be worse, it could be college basketball's regular season, which is a hot steaming pile of dog crap..

Boston will win the East this year and maybe the World Title ... Remember the Celtics are the blue blood's of the NBA that is almost ready to win number 18, and remember you heard it hear first

To quote Austin Carr, "Get that weak stuff outta here". Cavs will win the East again.

Yeah, Sperg pretty much echo's my feelings on the matter.

Regular season doesn't matter much. I haven't been able to watch a lot of games because we recently had a baby and I've been sick pretty much all winter.

Congrats on the baby!

What is even worse than Rish and Leads " the sky is falling "schtick. Is Vers whining about it and feeling he needs to point it out , like we dont all already know about it

I haven't been able to watch many games. I have been hoping for some real insight into the team.

How horrible of me.

Btw------wonder why YTown isn't posting on the Cavs' threads anymore. He is another guy who had good takes.

Well, I think we all know how Lead is , so we just scroll on by.

I don't find either lead or Rish to be anything other than honest in their analysis of what's going on on the court.

Are they a little negative? If there wasn't something to be negative about, would they be?

For clarification purposes only: I wasn't really getting on lead and Rish as much as I was hoping others would start making BB posts that would help inform those of us who can't watch the games.

I have been thinking about something Rish said to me. He mentioned that he views the Cavs' threads as GameDay threads. I never really thought about that, but yeah, I guess I can see that now after reading all of the reactions over the years during games.

My issue is that I NEVER read the football game day threads because I think they are too stupid and I don't see how you can possibly really watch a game while typing constantly.

I wonder if we could have a Game Day thread for the Cavs and also an overview thread about them? I wonder if there would be enough interest?

I try to watch the Cav's when they are on TV.

However, I don't really get into BB until playoffs.

Playoff BB is almost a different game than regular season.

I've been thinking of how much of a problem this is for the NBA. Almost everyone who knows anything about the league knows that the regular season is next to meaningless.

Why watch games that don't matter?

I wonder if the NBA needs to rethink things a bit?

For the life of me, I don't get why someone would want to complain the entire season and predict losses for every playoff series all the way to the championship. Sit back and enjoy what we have now, it's not going to last forever.

I like the regular season games. I don't get emotional about them, but it's entertaining to watch the world class athletes on the Cavs play, especially live. Like someone here said, there's no defense until April and there's no point in getting upset about it. Hell, I enjoyed that Orlando game where both teams were in the 60s at the half. My son gave me tickets for the Spurs game for Christmas. 4th year in a row I'm going to a Cavs game instead of the Browns.

If you're watching the game live and watching the opposing team scoring with little resistance and pointing that out in real time, how is that a schtick?

It's not easy but I seem to push through.

Seriously, I'm usually behind the play. I live in a house full of women. My daughter's aren't of the age where they are into sports yet. No one watches with me. Posting while watching is like being at the bar with my buddies.

I appreciate the compliment. I have been reading far more than I have been posting, lately.

The Cavaliers have yet to really play the team they wanted to set on the court this year. They have had injuries. Everyone does, but man, it seems like the lineups have to change every 3 or 4 days. Consistency has been well beyond a challenge.

I hope that things will settle down as IT is able to play every game. However, I am still beyond worried about the way teams just abuse our defense. I think that we need to add another quality big. We really need to shore up our defense .... and that's not going to happen by adding IT back on the floor.

This makes sense to me.

yep this is how I use it too. usually not much else to post about during the season as its long and nothing really happens until trade deadline.

On that note, I think anyone with a set of eyes can see the issue right now is TT..we are just a worse team on both ends with him in there. As soon as he's come back and Lue has tried to force him into the rotation everything is screwed up.. From spacing to defensive assignments. Wade and Lebron are constantly yelling at TT on the floor about a missed assignment. I usually hate PD writers, but Livingston had a decent article about it. I think despite his claim the cavs have a Thompson problem, I think we have a Lue problem..

http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/inde...on_problem.html


While a guy like TT can be valuable in certain situations, He's not at the minutes he's getting, problem is he's being paid like a starter. Thats all on lebron and his stupid meddling with team affairs/contracts. Frye needs to be playing 20-25 minutes a night. It seems to be obvious to just about everyone except Lue. We are ranked 29 out of 30th in defense...all those that say oh we'll just turn it up in april. Say they turn it up, what's the ceiling, because it hasn't been good enough, Warriors are still tops in defense and offense...Boston is at the top defensively as well. Its a tough row to hoe to go from 29 to even middle of the pack, and we need to get even higher, so yeah, anyone that has played this game knows this isn't an easy fix and just deciding you are going to play defense. If it was just individual effort you could get better returns, but we have systematic failure. Bottom line is this team isn't built well to play the defense needed to win a ring, it does, when coached properly, have the offense to win one, so we need to fix the defense, trades are going to have to be made. TT and JR to me are the biggest weakspots on the team. Love at the 5 doesn't work defensively either, fix the TT issue and you fix the Love issue

j/c:

Here is my opinion on what we are seeing. We are in an adjustment period. If you recall the beginning of the season, you will remember that the team was really struggling and losing to poor teams. I think that had more to do w/all the new pieces becoming acclimated w/each other than it did coaching or a lack of talent. I think LeBron is at the hub of this and he tries to figure out how get the team to mesh in the best way he can. I think the Cavs struggle out of the gate almost every year w/LeBron.

After the initial struggles, the team found it's groove. I forget the exact numbers, but didn't we win something like 19 out of 20.

Now, we have a situation where TT and IT are being thrust into the lineup. We are witnessing another adjustment period as LeBron tries to figure out how to get the most out of these lineups.

My bottom line is that I think this Cavs team is more talented than the teams that were in the Finals for the past 3 years. I think they will get things figured out w/their rotations and how guys are used, just like they always do w/LeBron. I think that the Cavs have an excellent shot at not only reaching the Finals, but also at winning it. I am not buying all of the doom and gloom from a moron like Bill Livingston.

The schedule is brutal. They don't play series. Hard to zero in on a team.

Playoffs they get down and dirty. The defense is torqued up. the over intensity is way different.

Regular season is like just go and watch great players play.

one could argue that this is how the Steelers and Patriots fans feel every year.

Exactly.

I'll sound like a broken record by saying they need to shorten the season, but they do. During the 2012–13 NHL shortened season, teams played 48 games. Heck, going all the way back to the 1998–99 NBA season, they played 50 games. Both of those were affected by work-stoppages, but it gave us a glimpse of what a shortened season would look and feel like.

Just when you might get bored, boom, it's the middle of the season and playoff positioning starts and then before you know it, there are 5 games to go. Each game felt important and that this game could really set the tone for something later on.

I'm not suggesting lowering to 50, that's unrealistic, but maybe 10%. And if the leagues would raise ticket prices for the other 90% to compensate for the dropped games, I'd be okay with that. I'd rather pay 10% more to watch a game that's one of 72 than one of 82. I'm sure there are other factors I don't know about, like the cities that host these teams want fans to bring their tax dollars 41 times to downtown, not 35.

Personally, I can't stand back-to-backs in the NBA and NHL. It's as if the league wants teams to lose more because they set them up for failure. And it's not just that the team will probably lose, but the product suffers for the fans. We all know that watching Thursday night NFL is sloppy at best.

It may not be the amount of games, it's that the playoffs are obviously what matters most. Look at the EPL and college football models, they either have no playoffs or such a limited playoff bracket that it makes the regular season carry most of the weight. That's why I don't want to see an 8-team CFP expansion, that week 3 OOC game between OSU and Florida becomes almost meaningless. Why tune in?

Hanging in there with Toronto, 24 to 30, end of first quarter. I think we have been losing since the game started, but I started watching it late/don't know for certain.

We are still trying to figure out our rotations, just like I said a few posts above. Reggie Miller just brought up the same thing. So did Kevin H.

I also have seen inspired play from TT and Reggie was singing his praises.

Our defensive effort is still not very good and we don't have a rim defender.

I think it might be important to get a rim defender at some point this season.

I didn't like that lineup at the start of the 2nd quarter. Not much scoring. They just put IT back in.

I really don't think we will win this, as Toronto is really good and it seems to me we have trouble beating the better teams.

Good to see IT playing. He's so short, it trips me out.

Nothing good about this team right now. We look to have been fleeced in this trade. Comes down to the pick now

Batman is missing Robin.

Man this team blows. I’d try to trade everyone not named lebron. Or find a coach that actually has a clue. This team looks like the browns

They need to get a superstar. Love and IT ain’t it. This isn’t regular season blues, this is just a bad team. Regular season ain’t affecting the other contenders

And here we go...

Comical how bad this team is, against team missing 2 starters

Come on, the Cavs are not nearly that bad, but they ain't the same team since Kyrie left.

You obviously aren’t watching the games

The Browns lost all their games this season. Right now? The Cavs are 26 & 14. Big difference. It was your comparison.

Feels just like a browns game is my comparison, worthless players and constantly outcoached

JC...

I never knew this site had a basketball thread lol

I knew I'm sure this has been brought up probably numerous times by others. But maybe someone can answer it, possibly? While disputing the Cavs last year...I kept seeing we were just too slow, old, lack of hustle and D, not wiry enough, coaching, and other traits to compete with Golden State. Off-season came and went...and in all fairness I don't think we addressed any of the issues (heck I think we magnified it). And now its rearing its face once again...How do we attempt to rectify it?

Besides dosing the whole team every game (or at least in the playoffs) with Adderall and steroids? (J.K.) You got me.

Well, this has been a horrific performance.

I have three things to say:

1. Once again, I think working in IT and TT is going to take some time. We don't have a flow right now.

2. If this team doesn't play better defense, they have no chance. We played lazy defense tonight.

3. We need a rim protector. I would love to see Jordan here, but I would settle for a guy who will bust dudes in the mouth when they attack the rim.

They were partying last night with Drake for DWade's birthday.

This is what we've been saying. Easiest bet I made tonight was the Raptors.

I do think some of this is complacency. They look uninterested. They've had no challenge the last 3 years, and I think there's a mental affect from that. They're not hungry.

They're Rocky from Rocky III.

can someone explain to me what the hell I just watched?

man, we suck

Let the panic trades begin

Now Lue telling the media that certain players have agenda's. Between that and Lebron blowing up on the coaches and teammates last night, the wheels are shaking loose. Lebron has looked like he's just out there...he had 1 assist last night..Lebron is a big part of the problem on offense, he just pounds the air out of the ball until he sees a pass that will get him an assist instead of just keeping the ball moving. We go as lebron goes. I am curious how much we are going to get out of IT, he's had a couple good years and I attribute that to Brad Stevens, dude is easily the best coach in the NBA. I think coaching is still our weakest link as a team, but man JR is just utter trash. Crowder would be good off the bench. TT should be used situationally. The rotations aren't good, he needs to go deeper to try to find something. Yeah we have a few months left before games start to really matter, but seeding is pretty important this year in the east I think, we look extremely vulnerable this year, alot more than in years past, and now there discord between players and coaching. Lue keeps airing stuff to the media then Lebron is going to fire him. Not sure I've seen lebron as fed up as I did last night, you can tell he knows this is more than just a few off nights. This is a bigger problem. That winning streak seems like ages ago

I am looking forward to "The Real Housewives of Lake Erie " to end, this team is OLD , Unlikable, slow and OLD

We had the same stretch last year in January. I'd actually prefer we rest guys. Even give Lebron a week or two off due to a fake injury. Let the bench battle through January and early Feb.

We always have these stretches and yet we make the Finals.

I really do think there is something to us learning the rotations and figuring out how to mesh w/IT specifically and even TT being inserted into the lineups.

We were something like 2 and 7 at the start of the year while we figured out how to play w/Wade, Green, Crowder, etc. We then won around 19 of 21 w/that lineup. We have struggled since TT and IT came back. With LeBron here, that always seems to happen. I think he is trying to figure out how to get the best out of these guys. We should be good to go for the playoffs.

I also don't get people hating on LeBron. How fun was it when he left for Miami? We were a damn lottery team every year. Folks should be careful what they wish for.

That's sort of the problem. I think Lebron KNOWS he needs to coast in December and January so that his body is in top condition come May and June. So, he plays at 50% at mails it in this time of year to save himself. The problem is the rest of the team does the same thing and plays like trash because they all key off of him.

If this is what is happening, that really bothers me. LeBron should be setting the right example. I think one of the biggest problems with this team the past few years is the lack of good habits. They know they can't beat the Warriors without playing good D yet they put no effort in on that side of the ball. The whole focus of the team should be on doing the things it takes to win it all. That includes coaching. This could be the last hoorah.

We need a 2 guard desperately. JR is really bad right now. A 2 guard is supposed to give you consistent scoring. JR cannot create his own shot, his 3 ball has been average, his defense has fallen off, and he's averaging in single digits. A trade for Jordan and Williams is starting to look really good if you're going all in on this year. The problem with that is you're screwed beyond this year with a trade like that if LeBron bolts.

I want to enjoy watching the games and it's been hard. Last night was not something new. They've looked like this a lot this season.

Eh, it's really not as easy as that. As much as we the fans think players should play at 110% every day they hit the floor, the human body just can't do that night after night. Your body will fatigue and break down after about 3-4 months of maximum effort. If you pace yourself, you actually train your body to hit max efficiency at a certain point, and then go all out for those last couple of months. But it requires you to go 50%, 60%, 70% for those few months leading into it. That's how guys train for things like the Tour de France. The contenders for that are usually pretty pedestrian in races leading up to it.

I think Lebron knows that, and tries to save himself for June. But like I'm saying, it's a double-edged sword. The rest of the team goes as Lebron goes. Rather than picking up the slack and balling-out for Lebron in his downtime, they take it easy too.

This was actually the hidden value of Delly in our Championship year. If you remember he had his best games in the early part of the season that year. While he was helping to grind out victories and inject some energy into the rest of the team, Lebron got his rest. When the playoffs came around, fatigue had set in and Delly just didn't have it anymore. That's sort of what happens, but it was what Lebron needed to be ready for the Finals.

heres my whole problem with the playing half ass during the season....we are the only ones doing it. GS sure isn't playing like that, neither is boston, because they have great coaching and they know that this is the time you build the good habits so that you're not just figuring it out in the postseason. Yeah we won in 2016 but that team played much better defense and that was mostly all Blatt, he made them play defense, Lue didn't tinker with much when he took over, Blatt took a team missing love/kyrie to 1 game of beating GS, GS dealt with Bogut hurt and green suspension for pivotal game 4 and we got some luck finally. Lets not pretend we were dominant, last year showed how bad we are on defense and we can't just do what we want on offense..guys like Korver and TT got exposed. JR is trash... this is nothing like last year...everyone acts like the finals is some kind of achievement, 2nd place is still first loser. You're trying to win a ring, not get to the finals..this team as constructed will not win a ring. Changes have to be made, not only to personnel but scheme.. I still don't think Lue is the coach that can right this ship...he has no clue what NBA defense should look like. He literally said his defense is more offense.. Fire him now and bring in Mark Jackson..going to happen next year if lebron stays and we don't win it all this year, give yourself a chance this year. We have some major holes and poor decisions by Griffin put us here...the TT/JR/Shump contracts are criminal, though I blame more lebron than Griff because we all know Lebron and co. meddles incessantly. Bottom line this team isn't even worth tuning into right now because the outcomes are predictable. We are second to dead last in defense, and then we put the guy who was statistically the worst defensive player in the NBA in the starting lineup..not sure how this is going to turn out..hate to say it but if we can snag a defensive/assist oriented PG I'd trade IT in a heartbeat, but that move is dependent on what we do with other moves, like if we upgrade the 2 so we can replace and improve scoring on the starting unit

Trade talk: Report says Cavs willing to move Thompson

With the Cleveland Cavaliers struggling mightily, not win games, but to simply be competitive in them, at this point, it comes as no surprise trade rumors have been ignited.

The latest comes from Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, who reported the Cavaliers would be wiling to include Tristan Thompson. Per his report:

As teams pick up trade activity before the trade deadline, the Cavaliers are shaping up to be perhaps the most fascinating contending team.

They have two first-round draft picks — including the heralded Brooklyn Nets’ selection via the (Kyrie) Irving trade — but the superstar player whom the franchise could pursue with that pick has not been made available.

Multiple NBA teams have cited Tristan Thompson as an asset Cleveland is willing to move in the right deal, such as one for the Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan.

Nevertheless, the superstar talent of Oklahoma City’s Paul George or New Orleans’ DeMarcus Cousins, each deserving of that Nets first-rounder, won’t see the light in this trade market as of right now, league sources said, as those teams are fully focused on winning with each respective player.

Thompson, 26, missed six weeks with a strained calf and has been working his way back into top playing shape.

While the Cavaliers (25-16) have hit the skids, Thompson has made small strikes as of late.

In his las four games, contests in which Cleveland has gone 1-3, Thompson has averaged 8.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game.

The 6-foot-9, 238-pounder out of the University of Texas, Thompson is making $16,400,000 this season and is owed $17,469,565 in 2018-19 and $18,539,130 in 2019-20.

http://amicohoops.net/trade-talk-report-says-cavs-willing-to-move-thompson/

Cool with me but that contract may be an issue. It is crazy that the guy is only 26. Both he and Kyrie came onto the team at such young ages.

I'll take two Cousins in Cleveland this year please. #ClevelandCousins

j/c:

This hasn't been talked about much, but what about JR Smith? The guy has been horrible since he signed that contract. He is averaging 7 pts a game and didn't even score last night. Please!

Playing with a lot of energy so far, let's see if it's sustainable.

Lead talks about it all the time. I mentioned it a few posts up.

Horrible is an understatement.

Jefferson destroying TT

I like green, he goes 100% all the time

So many scrubs. Seriously Lue is the problem

lol LeBron is unraveling against Stephenson.

Looks like he tickled Lebron, lol.

I hate the dude, but you have to give him credit for trolling LeBron so well and so successfully. LeBron must hate that dude.

Cedi has flashes of really good defense, but other than that he just looks lost.

This team as constructed isn’t going anywhere

Awesome analysis.

So I didn't watch the game but saw the Cavs were up 20+ in the first half and just lost.

What the hell happened?

They were up 58-44 at the half. And lost.

Wow.

This team is trash.

Love was 8-14, shooting 57%, and only got 14 shots.

At some point the coaching has to be questioned.

It’s Lue, dude is clueless. Guys like korver, JR, TT and crowder just stealing money. Looking like one of the worst trades ever. Kyrie has to be laughing. He knew what was coming.

Korver was 0-5 on 3s.

This team just stinks right now.

I. AM. LEGEND.

Boom.

Korver to me is a guy you can cut tomorrow and it wouldn’t matter. He can’t dribble, rebound or defend, you have to move heaven and earth for him to get his shot because he can’t create and he’s just not consistent enough to be playing 25+ a game

TT gets 2 points in 20 minutes and frye can’t even see the floor

Age might actually be catching up with him a bit. That and confidence. His game was always predicated on hitting tough shots with a lot of confidence. Last year was brutal for him. He got injured and was out most of the year. Then he had the whole problem with his pre-me daughter. He probably didn't even want to play basketball at that point. Since then, he's never got his confidence back. I've seen some suggest it's because he's dropped down to the 4th or 5th option on the team. He doesn't get a lot of volume shots to get going. And when he misses the few shots he does get, then it just hurts his confidence going into the next game.

On top of that, he's 32 and aging. He's probably not as fast as he once was, so it's hurting his defense and non-shooting offense. I'm kind of bummed that he's struggling this year. He's probably one of my favorite Cavs.

just awful last night ... this team is in a bad place right now

j/c:

This team doesn't have the same feel as it did in previous years. I'm beyond concerned.

They have been painful to watch over the last couple of weeks. Losing a 22 point lead and having it come down to the final possession was not what this team needed at this point of their struggles.

The out-of-bounds call on LeBron was probably one of the worst I've seen so far, but it should have never come to that.

x2

I'm sure most know but it's Warriors tonight (1/15), at home. TNT.

it could get ugly

Golden State only 5 point favorites. Seems like an easy bet there.

Line has now moved to GSW -6.

Probably should be closer to -60

I'm watching the Lakers right now and man, this team does not play defense.

They ran Scott out of town because these spoiled, young kids didn't want to play D and now they are talking about running Walton out of town [who I think is an extremely intelligent, young coach.]

Maybe it's time to hold the players accountable?

We are NOT off to a bad start, which is good.

Lavar Ball told ESPN that Walton lost control of the team.

Solid start so far

Yes, I'm surprised.

There’s more normal . Adrenaline has worn off

Defense is going to have to get better. They are getting whatever they want

The King! Nice dunk.

Lebron making a statement early, hopefully the rest of the team follow

Right now it looks like lebron vs GS

IT missing too many shots.

I just can’t watch TT. Dude hasn’t done a single thing better in 5 years. If we can somehow get Williams and Jordan from clips that would be huge

nice little run

Great dunk by Lebron.

Yep.

I'm really really really surprised we aren't getting hammered.

What a way to close out the half!!

Wade having a great night

I just got out of the shower and saw that. That was freakin' awesome!

GS is a second half team, hopefully Lue shocks everyone and actually mkes good adjustments. Not holding my breath so hopefully the players self correct

Love when Love doesn't miss.

Crowder has to be replaced with the starters, dude just isn’t the guy we thought we were getting

He seems to be playing a bit better tonight but usually? He misses way too many of his shots.

JR Smith doesn't seem like he likes to shoot, he passes instead.

More his defense . JR seems to forget what a 2 is supposed to do

Curry's 3 pointers are usually a thing of beauty.

Gotta be careful here

That was a great shot by IT.

My sleeping pills are kickin' in, I'm gonna hit the hay and watch the rest of this game in the morning.

Slipping away

Not good

Just not enough consistent talent, and our coaching sucks

Cavs can't hit a shot to save their lives.

IT still can't find his legs on his shooting.

j/c:

My thoughts on the game:

--IT admitted he doesn't have his legs yet. And as everyone who has ever played the game, it's almost impossible to make a decent percentage of your shots w/out your legs.

--However, I like what IT can give us. He will start hitting those shots. His penetration is huge. His ability to draw doubles and dish is huge. That lob to LeBron was sweet. This guy is going to help us.

--I really liked the energy that DWade brought in the first half. I think a lot of people are underestimating him. I know he is older, but his experience, mental toughness, and clutch play will be huge in the playoffs.

--I don't think Crowder is nearly as bad as one poster is claiming. He's a role player.

--Korver is a good team defender despite what one poster says.

--JR is bugging me. He had that early turnover and he was the last guy back on D. Inexcusable.

--Green brings some energy and athleticism.

--Love was great at first, but got out of rhythm due to foul trouble/rotations.

--Golden State is very good. They also get almost every call.

--I thought our effort and defense was better tonight.

--I think we lost because we went cold from the field. We missed a ton of makeable shots.

--I think this team is still a threat to win the title.

Coaching is our biggest issue, Lue is straight up clueless. Should have either kept Blatt or got the coach lebron wanted with Mark Jackson. His rotations suck, his schemes suck and his adjustments suck. You play a 9 man rotation to GS 11, go ice cold the second half and you don't even try to change what you are doing?

Starting PF- 7 points 2 rebounds
Starting 2- 8 points 1 rebound
Lebron 8 turnovers and 6 assists...How long have people been saying stop letting him run the point. He's a below average ball handler.
Korver- 3 points
Thompson -2 points

I mean seriously. When the warriors came out with Bell, frye should have immediately replaced thompson in the lineup. Especially when we couldn't score. Then after games of getting substantial minutes, Osman gets 1 minute.

Now theres discord within the team, players questioning rotations, coaching, wondering if the problems are even fixable. It's a mess and its not normal regular season blues, we just suck. Doubt they are going to fix the biggest problem and fire Lue, but they have to get younger and more defense. This team won't make it to the finals, the might not make the ECF. A trade to get Jordan and Williams would do quite a bit on both ends. Theres just so much wrong right now its hard to say what the sure fire fix is....all i know is Boston snookered us BIG in that trade. We are so much worse with IT, getting his legs isn't going to help. He's just too small. He had his best 2 seasons under Stevens because Stevens is a top 3 coach, but IT under Lue will regress. I believe the reports that Irving wanted away from Lue, not lebron. Didn't think Lue was smart enough to help him with his game.

This team needs to add a piece or two, namely a #2 and/or #5. Guys I would consider off the top of my head and not looking at contracts:

2
Kent Bazemore
Tyreke Evans

5.
Marc Gasol
DeMarcus Cousins

This team is soft under the rim, can't rebound, and needs another shooter. I expect IT to come around and improve the team, but this roster shouldn't be a finished product. The problem is Lebron won't commit to the future and you're stuck with a tough decision on that Brooklyn pick. I don't envy the position that Koby Altman is in.

It would also be nice to have Crowder come off the bench rather than start.

IMO that Brooklyn pick must be used ... this is our last year regardless. We have to salvage it

They certainly need to make a move if they want to have any shot at beating GSW. Cavs have lost 7 of the last against GSW.

Doubt is creeping in and "prominent" players in the locker room are questioning if this is a championship caliber team as constructed (if anyone read Jason Lloyd's piece in The Athletic).

IT is continuously stating the team does not practice enough and he is trying to find his rhythm in game action.

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One trusted source pulled me aside at the @nbagleague Showcase last week in suburban Toronto and insisted that the Cavs will "definitely" swing at least one deal before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. But is there really one deal out there that closes this gap?

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Only way we should get rid of that pick is if Boogie is involved. That pick could be top 3 and there are 3 really good prospects in this draft, we're talking future all-stars.

Definitely lost the game because we missed a lot of shots towards the end. GS was hittin' just about everything then.

Practice, practice, practice.

This appears to be one thing the Cavs do not really do, per IT and LeBron.

They play like crap at times. When they work hard, they shine. GS just ran them off the court.

I get especially upset watching us loaf back on D. Seems like most of the success is one-man ball, and not real good every night. Too many three's, and weak percentages overall.

There are losses and there are beatings, lately, the latter by far. Find solutions not named LBJ and change the starters .

when you have JR smith playing ISO ball, you have a systematic issue..I about threw something at the tv when i saw that....JR stopped doing what he's known for...and its always the same, dribble dribble, behind the back dribble and try to drive...its so predictable, almost as much as lebron jacking up a 3 at the worst time

I read where the Celtics might trade for Anthony Davis.

The rumors are Horford and either Tatum or Brown for Davis. I don't think that seems like enough.

In fact, I think Love and Brooklyn's pick is better.


I love Love, but AD is a generational player and he would put us over the top and I think we could beat GS w/him.

What say you guys?

I don't think getting AD and losing Love puts the Cavs over the top. You'd need to acquire AD without losing Love to compete with GSW. Get rid of TT.

Marcus Thompson wrote a gut punching article for The Athletic about how the GSW vs Cavs rivalry is essentially over. I'd love to see the Cavs give GSW one more real fight before the window closes.

Jason Lloyd just put out an article as well where he spoke with LeBron and LeBron admitted this has been his most challenging season since his return.

Here are Alvin Gentry's comments as far as AD being traded to Boston....

WALTHAM — The Celtics and Pelicans have yet to engage in any discussions regarding a trade for Anthony Davis, but, in a Herald exclusive, New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry set the price for a potential transaction between the clubs.

“I know there’s been rumors about Boston trying to trade for him or whatever,” said Gentry, “and my response to that is, yeah, we’ll trade him.

“But they’re going to have to give us the New England Patriots and the two planes that they just bought. ... And I don’t think they’re going to do that. So we’re not even thinking about those kind of things.”

Article

TT isn't going to get that deal done in my opinion. And I respectfully disagree that AD is not better than Love. The dude is one of the very best players in the league. Love is very good. AD is in the conversation for top 5.

There's some miscommunication. I agree, TT will absolutely not get a deal done for AD. I was merely stating he is a piece that needs moved.

Also, I'm not sure where I said Love was better than AD. Love is clearly not better than AD. I simply contend the Cavs would need both AD and Love to compete with GSW.

This should clear up any confusion.

The Pelicans should just blow up the East by sending AD to Boston and Boogie to Cleveland.

I don't want to argue, Milk. I apologize because I did ask for opinions.

I just think AD would be a huge difference maker.

I absolutely agree.

I don't think that can be reasonably argued against. However, do we have the assets to even try to get him?

we have a ton of deadweight on this team...hell Lue thinks he only has 8 or 9 players anyways. JR is the worst perimeter defensive player in the NBA(true not hyperbole) and he makes 13mill, TT is 16 mill, shump makes 9 million. We have the assets, the guys we have like those 3 aren't helping so getting rid of them for a top 5 player is an easy decision.

If the FO wouldn't have given away firsts like oprah does cars, we could have built something more sustainable, i mean just think 2 first for mosgov, and 1 for korver, and neither had an impact, Mosgov his first year, Korver just isn't that good for a first. He disappears in big games. So theres 3 potential first round picks, but we overpay for marginal NBA talent or well past prime and barely servicable. Alot of this is on lebron, if he'd just stop playing his stupid games and commit to something, the FO wouldn't be constantly handicapped. You think other GMs/owners would allow this? I guarantee you Riley wouldn't. Lebron has the team hostage, yet is the first one to yell that he don't have the players around him.

Some reports of us going after Favors. He'd be good depending on what we give up. Depending on what happens with detroit, I'd love to try to snag Bradley. We need 2 way players, simple as that. AD/Boogie/PG would all be great. I'd take Jordan as long as Lou williams is included.

Looks like Rose might be back tonight

Two things...

1. Will he even help?
2. How long before his next injury?

Me personally, I think of the Cavs and don't even fathom we have Rose. His health is shot and it was my concern and many others when we got him. I think the Cavs would be wasting time and effort in trying to get him a role on our team given the state of his health.

I think they won't depend on him, meaning nothing really changes for them, he should be an upgrade on the second unit though, so as long as he can play, let him. If anything he can reduce lebron having to play with the second unit and wade can go back to the 2 with the second unit. But yeah I think the cavs are taking a wait and see and probably not expecting much

Curry with a block to his face. Lauri Markkanen might end up being quite good.

https://streamable.com/iykf1

3 ball falling tonight

who can we give up for aaron gordon?

Solid track record of ripping on Orlando so... hopefully what we need to get back on the W track. Looking good thus far! I love the ball movement.

good to see rose back on the court.

Rather have biyombo.

why? we have TT. they're the same player.

no. Biyombo is who we hoped TT would be. He has a jumper, and can defend.

Orlando is so bad

Lebron hasn’t hit a single FT

Thomas puts about as little effort in defense as humanly possible

Another huge lead whittled down to a close game...

Are the Cav’s playing tonight?

Great adjustments Lue. This guy needs to go seriously

23pt lead gone

They were, but they stopped after halftime.

Damn, the Cavs won. That messes w/agendas.

Hopefully this W is a turnign point

Yep.

I watched a bit at the beginning and more at the very end. They beat a team who's record is 13 & 32 by one point, but at least they won.

P.S. What a crazy 'do:

jc

About the Cavs trading for Anthony Davis: it's not going to happen. AD is 24 years old, a top 10 player in the league, and under contract for 3 more seasons after this one. What on Earth could the Cavs offer in a trade that would make sense for the Pelicans?

yeah that was some convincing win against the worst team in the NBA.. Team still sucks and still not going anywhere as they are.

Easy, a lottery pick and any player(s) not named lebron.

heres a question, if you could trade thomas for another PG before deadline do you do it? I would in a heartbeat if we can get a 2 way PG, doesn't have to score 28pts a game, I was thinking of like Kemba walker. IT just doesn't fit with this team, we suck defensively as a team and its even worse because they have to cover for a guy who doesn't even try. Will take more than IT but with IT it seems Love gets even less touches, and since he's our most consistent offense outside of lebron, his volume going down makes no sense.

Possible follow-up: The Pelicans hang up the phone and don't even bother answering when we call back.

Yeah they did... not sure how we won. 20+ point lead given away like free candy corn at the parade.

No because Lue doesn't call a lot of plays, but does a great job at trying to exploit mismatches. IT will get better as he gets healthier. But I do understand the want for great guard defense, especially at the point position. Curry and quicker guards eat us alive. Shump is always in our top 3 defensive players because he has that ability.

I wonder if we will see Rose with the starters and IT with the second team at all, Rose isn't all nba defense, but he's strong with decent size and plays aggressive on defense, IT doesn't even try. Be curious to see how each group would react. I think if we make any trades that get a perimiter defender. As insurance for our PGs that seem to get the lengthy injuries, I'd trade for a guy like maybe George Hill. Not going to score a ton of points but plays solid defense and floor game and has proven to be able to slow down top guards

Even if IT did play D, what can he do besides clog up a lane or take an offensive foul that will get him killed? Is it just me, or does anyone else think that IT's height is a real problem? No one seems to talk about it. I lmao when he tried to box out Biyambo last night, and when Durant patted him on the head like Benny Hill after shooting over him. He threw up some real bricks last night, too.

no, it is for me and I've stated as such, he just really hurts alot of what we have done in the past...I don't think he fits, he has to be hidden and needs to be alot more efficient on offense. I don't think trading him is off limits for the cavs, particularly if you believe reports about lebron and wade and what they feel about IT's defensive lack of effort/ability

interesting https://twitter.com/ASinGleWordLPG/status/954162255083507712

Would love to have Batum, but I'm not sure the move is to pick up his or Howard's contract.

Not sure that's really a reliable source.

didn't say it was done, but theres actually been quite a bit of rumors of us getting walker. That tweet was from a larger story

all hypotheticals, came out because CHA said Walker is available

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ft...mnba-topstories

https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/954506029642940416

They can probably get George Hill as a salary dump, but to get DeAndre Jordan they're going to have to give up real stuff.

Yeah I said in earlier post I’d love to get hill. He’s steady on both ends. Only way I want Jordan is if Williams comes too, if it takes the Brooklyn pick

I don't see the Clippers trading Jordan and/or Williams unless they get a town back. The Nets pick (and more) might do the trick. The thing is that they'd have to absorb some pretty terrible contract(s) (Thompson and/or Smith in order to make things work. I don't see it happening.

I like IT, but I’d move him in a heartbeat fot Kemba

You'd have to. Thomas' injury still seems like it's lingering and he's a free agent at the end of the season. The problem is taking on whatever horrible contract that comes along with Kemba.

It was interesting to see that George Hill was a coach's decision DNP tonight. Trade pending?

I don't think IT's hip is bothering him. I think he doesn't have his "game legs" back. Anyone who has ever played BB knows that there is a huge difference between being in shape and being in BB shape. You can't shoot when your legs are tired.

Regarding Kemba's contract, I heard last night that he was the 6th highest paid player on the team, so it must not be too bad. Maybe his contract is winding down? I'm not sure ...

Walker makes 12million a year. He’s cheap

This team is trash, all this trade talk and the biggest issue not being talked about and that’s Lue. He has to be fired

Please for the love of god trade TT.

He is doing absolutely nothing.We already have a 20 point blowout in the first quarter because we are playing 4vs5 right now.

This is ugly, don't be surprised if it's a blowout.

Need to swap Thomas for a normal size pg, sick of seeing him constantly getting curb stomped in the lane without the center having to jump

Lebron looks like he’s rapidly going down hill, he’s slow, makes bad decisions and his shot looks disgusting. He’s a walking turnover and just looks like he’s already checked out. Everyone else follows suit. This team isn’t going to the finals in the east let alone the nba finals barring some major changes

The main announcer is informative but at the same time? Gets on my nerves.

IT looking better!

So our bench comes in, gets it down to 9.

Lebron comes back in, then the rest of the staters, and we’re getting blown out again.

I’m telling you, lebron is a big problem, he refuses to play in a system, unless He doesn’t trust the system. He’s terrible at team offense. Refuses to move the ball unless he’s going to get an assist

The Cavs are obviously (at least to me) in their decline. But don't worry, next season the Browns will take over as the new kings of Cleveland sports. It's 110% true!*



















*Okay, that may not be 110% true... and that's probably not at all. (Roll the horror music.)

Holy crap this is brutal. Rose and Green are the only one's that showed up today. Smith/Thompson/Shump....Tons of money for ounces of production. And just as I type this, we narrow the deficit to 26, lol.

j/c:

Does anyone think we can use Rose as our 2?

JR is pathetic. Rose has some quickness and he would give us another ball handler in addition to IT.

j/c...

After today's game....

Chris Fedor Verified account
@ChrisFedor
Asked if he’s ready to consider lineup changes to shake things up, #Cavs head coach Ty Lue said, “Not yet”

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Chris Fedor Verified account
@ChrisFedor
#Cavs LeBron James on Ty Lue possibly fired: “I would hope not, but really don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen with our team. I have no idea what conversations have been going on. I’ve been trying to stay as laser-sharp as I can to keep my guys ready to go out & play"

Tweet

JR "Miss" is killing us...I thought our two guard rotation was poor last year JR/Shump...It's even worse this year.

JR's effort and body language is very telling to me...Idk what is going on with him, but he never slashes anymore and half asses most of everything else.

I think its possible to play Rose at #2...However with Isiah being already pint sized...that's a really small back court...I do love Rose's effort and least he puts his hands up and scrambles on D...Also despite all his injuries he still slashes to the bucket.

Team is awfully small, slow, and overpriced

Be interesting what happens at the trade deadline...

Given what we've seen, most definitely. Trouble is he'd probably get hurt with the increase in PT. He's playing better D than anyone on the team right now.

How many days until baseball season?

we got 3 guys on horrible contracts right now:

TT, JR, and Shump.

and as of now, all 3 are useless. we got our 2 guard average a whole 7 points a game.

i like our bench, so we don't even need to touch it, but i wouldnt mind moving rose to the 2 just to see what happens. but right now our fastest guys are Rose and IT.

one is getting completely abused on the defensive end, the other makes everyone gasp when he hits the floor.

but we need those two because one is a good scorer and the other plays solid D and still creates. i'd still take kemba over IT, but right now the 2 guard starting spot is way more of an importance to make a move on.

Good point about the injury thing.

JR's 'tude is bugging me. I'd cut his ass. DRose at least tries to play D and he is pretty quick and create some shots. The only problem--other than his injury history--is that he is not the outside shooter that you would typically want in a 2.

I think we gotta shake some things up.

Sorry to get off the Cavs conversation, but dang, Chris Paul is such a great, great player. He is so smart. He always seems to be in the right place. He is an underrated shooter and obviously a great passer. But, what I love the most is how freaking tough he is.

The guy is a pleasure to watch.

That’s why the only way I trade for Jordan is if we get Williams too. Then we upgrade two of our most worthless players. But I still think you need to fire Lue. Hire fizdale or Jackson. Lebron sure seem committed to him lol

https://twitter.com/OMaroneyNBA/status/955089119952056321

Ouch!

lol he must hate LeBron.

damn bro

Blatt needs a rimshot too.

I think it’s hilarious. Blatt was 100x the coach Lue is. This team has gotten worse every year under Lue. More lebron meddling that backfired. If I’m Altman and lebron won’t commit I go from being a buyer to a seller so we aren’t stuck without any capital to rebuild. I know it sounds harsh but this team needs too much

wow

Jason Kidd got the axe. That is bad news for the rest of the Eastern Conference (if the Bucks get a good coach).

Yes it is. MIL is a good, young team. A good coach should catapult them upwards a bit.

I’ve said since last year Kidd was holding that team back. Curious who they end up with, if they end up with Fizdale or Jackson lookout

If only Jabari Parker wasn’t made of glass.

I pull for them because the Greek Freak is fun to watch and Delly is there (not playing much though).

David Blatt's team gave up 151 points that same night and lost. Oops.

Yeah, Kidd did a bad job there.

Wheels coming off the bus? (It starts with poor leadership from the top).....

Adrian Wojnarowski Verified account
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The Cleveland Cavaliers held an emotional team meeting prior to Monday’s practice, where several players challenged the legitimacy of Kevin Love leaving OKC loss on Saturday ill and missing Sunday’s practice, league sources tell ESPN.

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In a locker room increasingly full of finger-pointing, Love defended himself and explained his side to teammates, coaches and management, sources said. At end of meeting, there was a sense with some that team had worked out some issues, but that ultimately remains to be seen.

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Getting tired of this dumb drama with the Cavs. Lebron is obviously a top 5 player of all time, but he brings baggage and headaches too

Jason Kidd really has no argument either ... his team is 8th in the East with top 3 talent

It’s beyond dumb and further proof Lue is the wrong coach. He’s scared to make a tough decision. Says he don’t like making changes during losing streak. Seriously, stupid. And my biggest issue with lebron is we are mostly in this mess because of him and his representation. Bulls were able to build around Jordan because he committed to them long term. Lebron constantly puts the FO in bad place. He’s great but he’s not a team. Last time I checked other teams have won championships. It’s still a team game. I hope he commits long term and holds true to his word, but if he won’t I would seriously consider a fire sale and prep for future

That was an all-star game though.

In comparison, the last two NBA all-star games have been won by the West, 192-182 and 196-173.

This team is almost the polar opposite of the team that won that Championship in 2016. You wanted to cheer for them back then. Now they just seem like drama queens.

Cavs are getting more difficult to want to stay in tune...

The beginning of the end. I could see 3-4 players traded.

I also don't think they'll ship the Nets pick. If this team is dysfunctional, bringing in a star won't change the playoffs outcome. Therefore, the Nets pick is needed for the Cavs future.

I was kind of hoping Golden State would turn into drama queens ... so much success/attention with big egos

Sadly, it looks like Cleveland is the victim of it

when players are mad at love for going home ill, theres a big problem, one of the few guys that brings it most nights...if I was Love I'd laugh in their faces and tell them to stfu and worry about yourself. So much infighting already. Lue has lost this team

j/c...

Bron Bron beating everyone to the punch by congratulating himself first on his impending feat of reaching 30,000 career points.

wow

Wow is right! Are we sure this is real? Congratulating YOURSELF on social media? Narcissism at its finest.

He's acting like he did the first time he left town.

I miss 2015-16 Lebron.

j/c...

Iman Shumpert is back tonight. Just in time to show-off before being traded (if rumors are true).

I'm gonna go out on a short limb and say he's not being narcissistic with that post. He's posting a picture of himself way back when he was still living in a rough neighborhood saying, hey!, look how far you've come!

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22191...ing-george-hill

George Hill anyone?

That's the rumor I was referring to. On a related note, George Hill has not played at all tonight against ORL. Not wanting to risk an injury prior to being traded?

I wonder why the Cavs would want George Hill?

Holy Crap! Did anyone just seen that dunk by Green?

He’s an upgrade at shooting guard over JR.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team so bad against the PNR as the cavs

Austin Carr could strap up today and be an upgrade over anything we have at SG

He's a PG.

He plays both, if you u haven’t followed his career.

I have a question that probably won't be well-received due to how much y'all are down on the Cavs, but.........

The announcers on TNT keep talking about how awful the Cavs' D is tonight and then say stuff they are lucky they are scoring, too. LOL

What about the Spurs' D? Aren't they bad for allowing so many points?

It's like a script.

And no, I am not excusing our D. It sucks. But man, if one team is bad on D that gives up so many points, the other team also deserves some criticism for giving up even more points [at the time I am posting this.]

Jr is just embarrassing

I have. He isn't a good shooter. He is a good, steady PG who can defend a bit. But man, he can't even start in Sacramento and has been bounced before because he isn't very dynamic.

I'd take the guy if we drafted him or he was a FA, but to trade for him??????????? I just don't get how he is worthy of that.

I could be wrong though. Just my opinion.

Lebron going to shoot us out of the game

90 year old Parker destroying the Cavs and blowing by TT

We’re a healthy squad.

The spurs are missing their best player. Who is also their best defender.

We once again allowed over 60 in a half.

So many guys stealing money, JR TT, shump, korver, guys that don’t fit like IT and rose, and guys that don’t see the floor that could help like frye Calderon and osman. Just nothing looks good

Pretty lame. The Spurs are doing this w/o Leonard, Gay, Gasol and Ginobli.

I hope the Cavs do not trade the Brooklyn pick at this point, i think the party is over.

It is, like I said I think lebron is gone too, I’d try to unload some of these contracts for some younger guys to help with the rebuild. Not mortgage the future and still get bounced in the first round as the 6/7 seed and lebron leaves anyways. This has the feel of 2010

George Hill has started 36 of 38 games for the Kings this year that he's been active.

On the radio today, Windy explained how Hill was once an elite perimeter defender, but has not been the same since he dealt with turf toe a couple years ago. Also said, Hill still rates as a better defender than the current Cavs perimeter defenders.

I don't think he does much for the Cavs, but giving up Frye and Sumpert for him (the rumored trade) is kind of meh. Although, if LeBron leaves, Cavs are stuck with Hill's $19M salary.

Seems like a bad move to me. Mainly due to having to absorb his salary.

This team is a roll of double ply charmin

Okay Swish. We suck. The world is ending.

Goodness, you are some negative dudes.

Have at it.

Right now we do suck.

That’s not even debatable.

We are down 14 points to a team with most of their bench starting for whatever reason while we have the Michael Jordan of the era on our team.

JR is so checked out he just bounced the ball off the back board from the corner. If you're gonna miss while making 8 figures a year, it better be off the rim.

If this has the feel of 2010, it's because everyone around Lebron can't hang with the rest of the league just like they couldn't when he left the last time.

Mind pointing out something to be positive about?

It's obvious, from things being said in the media, that these guys don't like each other. Kevin Love is the scapegoat every year, which has to be disheartening for him. Isaiah Thomas has barely played and is calling people out. Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Channing Frye are in every Cavs trade rumor. And Tyronn Lue has no/has never had any power with the team. On top of all of that, no one knows if LeBron is even coming back next year. The perfect storm of dysfunction.

It can't help the guys that are on the team now that Lebron won't commit either.

I read Jason Lloyd's piece in The Athletic re: the players meeting (coaches and FO were there as well). I would not be disappointed at all if IT was traded and it sure seems like a few of the players would like it, too.

The team is undoubtedly a mess right now.

No. We suck and have no chance because of games in January.

We've never been bad in January before.

Can you give me one good reason why the play I'm seeing isn't the play I'll be seeing come the play offs?

When will the switch be flicked and they start dominating like a team that should be considered a real contender?

You don't want a reason. So later.

Okay, so Korver misses a wide open J and the announcer says that he is way off in a demeaning tone, then a SA dude gets a wide open J and he insults the Cavs' D.

The Cavs' D sucks, but this is biased reporting. We are only down by 6 and we have a chance.

Lebron has been a turnover machine lately.

If ya ain't got one ya ain't got one.

Garbage . Fire Lue for gods sake. It’s stupid to keep thinking they are going to figure this out

Ted........I am not interested in a petty argument and I tried very hard to escape that. However, I already answered your question when I said that the Cavs have sucked in January forever. And we listen to this crap every year.

This year the negative crap might come true, but we've made 3 straight Finals despite all of the January negativity.

So, you go ahead and freak. I'll wait.

Lol. Lebron tried an ally-oop to IT. Guess what, a much taller guy ended up with the ball.

I'm not freaking, but I don't understand why it is that every game these guys stink it up, guys in this thread give very objective observations on what they're seeing and you just can't see it that way.

The only January I remember being this bad since the return was the one where Lebron took two weeks off.

j/c:

I know most of you hate TT, but man.........we gotta get him in to defend LA.

Ted, if you are calling lead objective and me not objective, I will NEVER talk to you again.

Not to mention the fact that we scored 120+points the other night and still got blown out the building.

That's off kilter right there.

I didn't say you weren't. But you don't seem to want to analyze what you're seeing while waiting for what you expect to see.

Do you think this team is playing up to it's true potential right now?

If you do, you're the only one.

No Ted, I don't think this team is playing up to their potential. I don't think they are playing well. I think there are serious concerns w/how they are playing and what is going to happen moving forward.

I just ain't buying the BS that guys like lead are spreading. I also recognize that we always suck in January. I also understand that you best not underestimate LeBron.

Hate it when I’m right huh. I laugh at those that say this is like the other January’s. Not even freaking close

You can laugh and you might be right for once.

But, you're the same dude who said Atlanta was going to destroy us a few years ago. You are the same guy who said we wouldn't make it out of the East the last 3 years. You are the same guy who called me ignorant for saying that we could come back against GS when were down 3-1 a couple of years ago.

So go ahead ahead and laugh at me again. One time you will be right...........and it will be the first time.

Sounds reasonable.

Alright................I ain't giving up, but yeah, I feel guys like you who question the Cavs now. It does seem a bit different. They suck right now.

I am not giving up on them, but yeah Ted, there are some huge concerns.

I'll never give up! Same Cleveland fan that sticks with the Browns rooting for the Cavs gets the same stick to it the Browns get!

j/c..

About time...

Dave McMenamin Verified account
@mcten
Ty Lue on his lineups after another loss: “I’m going to make a change.” He would not reveal what.

Tweet

Y'all will hate this, but TT needs to be in the staring lineup and bring Crowder off the bench. I would also replace JR w/either Rose or DWade.

This year's Cavs vs Last year's Cavs

You’re the guy who thinks TT is a good player. You also think korver and crowder are good.So you win some you lose some. I can say without a doubt this team as built isnt getting out of the east.

Okay, what are you trying to prove w/that link?

I kind of have a feeling, but are you going to deny that the Cavs have reached the Finals the past three years despite poor records during this time of the season?

Exactly a bunch of selfish Divas. I’d really like Love to request a trade. Dude has been misused since he’s been here, been the scapegoat despite doing what’s asked of him and playing out of position. He deserves better. Put him on Boston or Houston and those team give GS all they want. This team is hard to like as individuals. Then you look at the results and it’s just ugly. The more I see and hear from ITs punk ass the more I def want him gone. No one except lebron can say anything to anyone about accountability . It’s laughable these scrubs are upset with love

Yeah lead, I am a dummy and you are smart.

j/c...

There are a multitude of issues with Cavs right now and LeBron concurs...

A snippet from Jason Lloyd's piece

This is the worst it has ever been. That cannot be overstated or exaggerated. The mood around the locker room, the vibe among players, the general feeling throughout the organization is a stunning bewilderment of how it all fell apart so quickly.

Even LeBron James is privately acknowledging to those around him that this is the worst it has been since he returned. Worse than trying to stomach David Blatt’s unfamiliarity with the NBA, worse than the 19-20 start that first season and much, much worse than anything he endured last season, when he skewered the organization for a “top-heavy” roster while questioning the franchise’s commitment to winning. This is worse. Much worse.

... while Isaiah Thomas continues to aggravate teammates with both his mouth and his play, it’s curious that Love — who is likely headed to the All-Star Game next month — was the first target just because he went home with dizziness during the debacle Saturday and then missed practice Sunday.

I am assuming that your recent posts suggest that there is no way the Cavs make the Finals. Is that correct?

Looking forward to getting a copy of this in the paper tomorrow. Cavs may be a mess right now, but very cool.

yep, everyone saying this is just like past years...it isn't this team has too many issue, Id be looking for any reason to trade IT right now..dude is a punk, dude needs to shut his mouth and play..Kevin Love is 10x the player he is. Love deserves better than this BS. I'm not a fan of him at the 5 because i think he's undersized and soft down there, but he's the perfect stretch 4. Dude could average 28 pts a game if his coach had a clue how to use him. Its not a secret that his utilization has gone down since IT has come in. IT is a bad fit on this team as are many others. Trades need to happen to consolidate and swap out some of this.

Whats even more telling is lebron was never about the scoring, he scored because his teams needed him to. But if he was a selfish player, he probably could have hit 30k years ago

Lue finally says he's going to make changes, interesting to see what that will be because frankly his rotations blow.. I honestly wouldn't change anything until after trade deadline because most of the guys he's probably thinking doing something with probably won't be here. But to play along, what i would do

swap Osman for JR
Rose/Calderon for IT
now the frontcourt has a few options

Frye/TT for Love sliding love over to the 4 and putting crowder back on the bench where he needs to be

or Keep love at 5 and replace crowder with Green.

Take JR and Shump completely out of the rotation, activate Holland.

I think it was no coincidence that when we went on that long winning streak, it was because IT, Rose, TT and Shump were all hurt. What do those guys have in common? They can't stretch the floor. So we rolled lineups like you are talking about with Frye, Love, Lebron, JR and Caulderon starting and we had all kinds of space to shoot. Granted, I don't know what's happened to JR since.

yeah success in past has been because we had great spacing and we played hard at the defensive end even if we weren't a lockdown team, we atleast contested shots and tried, none of that is happening now. Thats why I think for this team to have any chance, you have to get new blood in here that better fit what you want to do. Guys like Hill, williams, DJ, and walker would be huge upgrades to what we have. Particularly defensively. Or maybe being able to get a guy like Bazemore who can help lock down the perimeter. Its obvious after watching this team where our biggest gaps are..only question is do we have enough assets to do anything about it.

After watching the game last night I came to a couple of conclusions.

Shump is disinterested and is waiting to be traded.
Rose has lost his confidence and might be done. He turned the ball over on 3 straight possessions.
IT doesn't have any chemistry with the team (yet).
Wade is a defensive liability during fast breaks ( he has been playing well otherwise ).
LeBron is deferring a lot to IT and Kevin Love to the point of forcing it. This is causing a lot of bad turnovers.
JR has disappeared.
TT is only half the player he was a couple years ago. The energy isn't there.
LeBron isn't playing defense.
Korver is hesitating.

We over pursue ALL the time on defense and don't box out.

I think LeBron is coasting right now. It looks like he is giving 70% to allow the other guys to step up and make something happen. So far that hasn't panned out, everyone is just missing shots.

We need the All Star break to happen now.

I would agree with all of your other points, but I have one question.
This year so far, when has JR appeared? He's been pretty close to pitiful thus far. He's averaging less than 8 ppg in 30 minutes per game. For a 2 guard averaging those minutes, he should be at least closer to 10+ppg.

Defensively, the team is horrible. For Lue being a "defensive specialist" they are pretty offensive. How can a professional basketball team be so bad at playing the pick and roll and boxing out? It's fundamental basketball!!

I would cut JR yesterday. Dude got paid and checked out.

I will get a lot of grief for this because I have heard it before, but I think Lue's lineup change should result in this:

PG: IT [but I would be okay if he was benched. I think the personality issues are a concern]

SG: Ceidi [I think he will play hard.]

SF: LeBron

PF: Love [Asking him to play the 5 is too much to ask.]

C: TT [We need his rebounding and he is a better defender than Love.]

Has this been talked about, yet?

Gilbert wants to sell the Cavs.

Gilbert wants an assurance from LeBron that LeBron stay so Gilbert can get maximum profit; hey Dan, go kick rocks.

maybe sell the team to LBJ??

Well he’s already the player, coach, and GM. Might as well cover all the bases.

yep, my thought too

Lebron would be a worse owner than Jordan. Besides, Lebron isn't even close to being able to buy a nba team, especially the cavs which is valued at 1.2 billion. Gilbert pays more in luxury tax than lebron's net worth. Gilbert should have sold last year.

reports out now that Lebron didn't want IT at all, he wanted Bledsoe, like many of us said, we should have done the trade with PHX. I still think regardless of the brooklyn pick, we got the worst of that trade by far. None of the pieces we got seem to fit and the pick isn't even much. IT has become a cancer and he isn't even that good. More proof of how good Stevens is

http://thebull.radio.com/2018/01/24/photo-lebron-james-appears-to-hint-at-trade-to-the-rockets/

I've mentioned this. Instead of being buyers being sellers and expedite rebuild if lebron won't commit long term. Houston is the only team that legit has a chance to beat the GSW, if they add lebron to that team, they beat GS in 5

So excited when we secured him, just to feel the total opposite as the season went on.

#5 is hardly on the court it seems, on either side. No three ball, none of that JR defense we embraced and just... bleh.

JR
Shump
TT

... all okay with me if we trade them. None are helping the Cavs except taking money. JR willing to take a bench role is still meaningless to me.

Not critiquing you, but the guy is looking at the rocket in the tweet as evidence Lebron wants to go to Houston? Damn, that's a stretch.

As for trading Lebron, I wouldn't mind it. If it helped him win a title and we could rebuild faster, then I'd do it. As it stands, we look like we'll waste a playoff run of his and flame out in the 2nd round.

We could fire sale the team and rebuild quite fast. I wouldn't be pissed if it were happen.

its not the rocket, its the text message I think, and its was meant more as a "imagine this scenario" right now, I'm more for a fire sale unless lebron comes out and says he's going to commit, if not screw him, send him away and get something now and start rebuilding with a bevy of picks and young players.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2018/01/cleveland_cavaliers_move_trist.html#incart_big-photo

well one of my suggestions came to fruition, though TT sucks he can atleast be hidden on offense at the 5 and allow Love to play outside more. I don't believe TT will be here after february 8th so this is a temp move

I think the Kardashian curse is in full effect.

Gilly , Gilly !

Lol, Lebron picked Kyrie on his team.

Petty king strikes again.

Did he pick Love?

How is that petty? He also picked Durant. So it's two guys that people were saying he wouldn't pick.

I see Curry likely picked Antetokounmpo with his first pick. Probably didn't want to get dunked on again.

I get that most will disagree, but I think Westbrook should have been a starter over Curry. The latter has missed quite a few games and Westbrook hasn't. He also goes all-out in ever game. Every single minute. I don't think anyone plays w/more energy or passion than he does.

I get that a lot of people don't like him, but the dude plays hard, is an athletic freak, puts up huge numbers, and produces night in and night out.

And how in the hell did Cupcake Al Horford make it over Drummond? LOL.......absurd.

I agree with Westbrook over curry.

Dude is the true "Warrior." Freaking beast.

Exactly. Petty would be NOT selecting Kyrie, Durant, etc.

I don't see how that's petty..

We now have a team with LeBron/Kyrie.. and Westbrook/Durant... should be fun to watch.

Westbrook is prob my fav player in the NBA, he's not a great shooter, but dude is honey badger. He is going to give you everything he has every night. I'd take him on this team in a heartbeat. I love that he's stuck with the team through all the bs. Shows his mental make-up. He's not going to quit ala Durant and Lebron, he's going to do everything he can to make his team successful

Well, do I want to watch the Pacers level us tonight, or don't I? Hmm, that's the question.

i used to tape the cavs so i could get to the gym, now i just go to the gym and watch whenever i get home. They've not been worth taping. Not fun at all this year to watch. They don't even like each other..such a far cry from years past

Maybe I'm still riding high after 2016, but I don't really care if the team is imploding. Sure, it's not fun, but we won a ring in one of the best comebacks in sports history.

As I've said before, there are probably 20+ other NBA teams that would kill for the run we've had. Plus, they'd accept knowing it would flame out badly too. That banner won't be coming down.

Plus, even if the team was playing well right now, the Warriors would still take us in 5 or 6 games. So, the drama isn't even warranted.

Yes, it's when I get down that someone makes a comment about the ring and provides some sort of comfort about the current state.

Man, that was a great comeback. I guess in Cleveland sports, we're just itching for victory and etc. Especially when you get a taste of it. Good post.

I sort of agree with you both.

The 2016 team was just so much fun to watch. I probably watched 80% of the games that year, and just loved that team. The comeback was amazing, and Game 7 was legendary. Bill Simmons used to say back in the early 2000's that if you win a Championship, then you should have a 5 year grace period where you can't complain about anything. Then Boston started winning championships, and he turned into a douche Yankee-type fan.

All that said, it doesn't change the fact that the current team is still pretty hard to root for. It probably would of helped if we had over-turned the roster to the point where it it was unrecognizable from the 2016 squad, but a lot of the guys that we loved from the Champ squad are now acting completely different.

Tristan Thompson, used to be the high-energy/hard-worked, built in the Varajao mold, that would always get that tough offensive rebound. Now he's a Kardashian baby-daddy.

JR used to be the misunderstood dude, that had a tough backstory, and made bad decisions, but finally redeemed himself and learned to play team ball, play defense and hit amazing shots from 3-land. Now he seems like he's a shell of himself.

Lebron was the savior that wanted to do everything he could to win a championship for Cleveland. Now he seems to have one foot out the door, has convinced management to hand out bad contracts to everyone, chased Kyrie out of town, and seems to want the GM to dump all future options into one last hurrah before he bails on us again.

Kyrie was the guy that was unstoppable in the one-on-one and could do amazing things. Then he basically demanded to be traded out of town, and said that "Now he's in a real sports town".

Shump was the guy who could lock a guy down defensively and provide some bench energy. Now we're left wondering if we should of given Delly his contract and let him be the one to leave via free agency.

Kevin Love is the only guy left that's still been pretty stand-up. He moved to the 5 even though it's not his best position because the team needed him to do it. And yet he's the one the team is giving heat to because he left a game due to illness.

I'd look back at that 2016 team more fondly if they weren't behaving the way they are now.