Tag: becky hammon

Thoughts On Hoops And Cavs…

Some basketball thoughts and how they pertain to the Cleveland Cavaliers as the NBA Finals are in full swing.

**This has been a theme for us all year, but both the Celtics and Mavericks are significantly bigger all around the court than the Cavs. Boston goes with two 6’4″ guards, their forwards are 6’6″ and 6’7″ and with Al Horford at center they are still taller at three spots than the Cavs.

If Kristaps Porzingis is at center, they are taller at four spots with only Evan Mobley having a size advantage.

Dallas goes 6’10” at center, 6’7″ and 6’5″ at the forwards, and 6’7″ and 6’2″ in the backcourt. But they have two bigs they bring off the bench in Maxi Kleber and Dereck Lively, both of whom are 6’10”.

The Cavs simply have to get more size, particularly in the backcourt and small forward and running it back with the same crew simply doesn’t get that done.

Last year’s champs, Denver, goes 6’11”, 6’10”, 6’8″ up front with guards who are 6’4″ and 6’5″. The 2021 title holders, Milwaukee, started a 7 foot center, a 6’11” and 6’7″ pair at forwards and a backcourt of 6’4″ and 6’5″ players.

**Hall of Famer Becky Hammon, coach of the WNBA Las Vegas Aces, a great player and longtime assistant coach for the Spurs took some heat during the NBA season for suggesting it is difficult to win with a smaller player as your best player.

We agree with her. Think about it, how many small players were the best players on championship teams? We can think about only Isiah Thomas, who at 6’1″ led the Pistons to back-to-back titles.

It isn’t impossible. But that’s what the Cavaliers have to think about when building around Donovan Mitchell, should he agree to a contract extension.

And remember those Pistons’ teams had three big men, 6’11” or bigger among the top eight on their team in minutes, and one of the best wing defenders ever coming off the bench and getting starter minutes.

We aren’t saying they should abandon the Mitchell led team, but we are saying they need to put some size around him.

**Don’t forget the Cavs do have the 20th overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and there should be some size and experience there when they make their selection.

By experience, we mean players who have played a couple of years in college and because of that should be able to contribute right away. A couple of our favorites are 6’9″ Tristan da Silva, a four year college player at Colorado out of Germany and 6’10” Bobi Klintman, who played one year at Wake Forest, but is 21 years old.

We did see one mock draft with Cleveland taking a 6’5″ combo player and if that happens, we will lose any shred of confidence we have with the current front office.

It has been a while since the draft has been a thought in Cleveland. The Cavs did draft Ochai Agbaji in the first round in 2022, but he was quickly dealt to Utah in the Mitchell transaction.

Hopefully, whoever the Cavs select later this month will be around longer than Agbaji.

Cavs Didn’t Add, But Should They Have?

The Cleveland Cavaliers roared into the NBA trade deadline on a roll and have extended their winning streak to nine games and 17 wins in the last 19 contests with wins over Brooklyn and Toronto after the deadline.

We can understand not wanting to upset the proverbial apple cart by making a trade, after all, the Cavs are not just winning, they are blowing teams out. 

Over the past couple of seasons, we have felt the Cavs’ organization wants to take incremental steps toward a title. They were satisfied with making the play-in tournament in 2021-22. 

They wanted to get to a seven-game series the following year (2022-23) and they did just that but lost in five games to the Knicks. This year, our guess is the goal is a playoff series win. If they get further, that’s great, but winning a series is most important.

We think that is short sighted. 

In our view, the Cavaliers should be looking at the rest of the Eastern Conference and be thinking the only obstacle in our way is the team on top of standings, the Boston Celtics. 

The Celtics didn’t let their gaudy record get in the way of improving their roster, trading for big man, Xavier Tillman, from Memphis. 

The other contenders at the top of the East, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York also added to their rosters. Yes, Cleveland is hot, but that doesn’t mean they should have stood pat. And you have to add insurance if nothing else.

Look, the Cavs are playing beautiful basketball. We watch the games and think some of these teams have no chance because either they aren’t talented enough or aren’t experienced enough.

This isn’t a criticism of the wine and gold, because we certainly don’t want them to lose to inferior teams, but we will say it again, they haven’t beaten many juggernauts in this stretch. 

Beating the Clippers, the hottest team in the West, was a very good win, and so was the second game in Milwaukee against the Bucks. 

When Darius Garland broke his jaw, it was during the second loss in three nights to Boston. Evan Mobley didn’t play in either of those games. In this 27-game stretch, in which Cleveland has gone 22-5, they have only played four games against the top four seeds in either conference. 

Three of those against the Bucks, and one of those was without Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

We would have liked the front office to add another big man. We bring this up all the time, but the Cavs simply don’t have enough players in their rotation that are over 6’8″. 

Maybe they sign one from the buyout market, but to get to the NBA Finals, which should be the goal, they will have to go through some bigger great players.

Hall of Famer Becky Hammon ruffled some feathers recently when she said it is tough to win in basketball if your best player is the smallest player on the court. She was referring to the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, but she could’ve been talking about the Cavs.

Donovan Mitchell is no doubt the Cavs’ best player, and he’s listed at 6’3″. Boston’s best players are 6’8″ Jayson Tatum, 6’6″ Jaylen Brown, 7’2″ Kristaps Porzingis, and 6’4″ Jrue Holiday. 

Milwaukee has Antetokounmpo at 7′, and if Joel Embiid is ready to go in the playoffs for the Sixers, he’s seven foot as well. 

The Cavs have Jarrett Allen and Mobley both at 6’11”, but we just feel they could use a little more length to combat the Celtics, who are probably the only team in the East with an edge over Cleveland.

As for the remaining schedule, there are some measuring sticks. There are home games against the Knicks and Celtics on March 3rd and 5th. Phoenix will provide a solid challenge and the Cavs have home and road games with them. 

And of course, there is a west coast trip the first week in April, where besides the Suns, the Cavs get the defending champion Nuggets, the Lakers, and the Clippers.

Here’s hoping the organization doesn’t put limits on what this team can accomplish and seriously looks at getting bigger if players become available.