Cavs Add More Shooting, And That’s A Good Thing.

When LeBron James was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the idea was to surround him with shooters, players who needed to be defended on the perimeter so James had driving lanes to the basket.

The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t follow that blueprint last year, but that’s another story for another time.

That theory was before the sport and the people who build teams within it started to embrace the three point shot, and that revolution culminated in Golden State’s three titles in four years, the first centering around the long range shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

While the 2018-19 Cleveland Cavaliers were a bad team, finishing 19-63, they did rank 13th in the league in three point shooting, led by Nick Stauskas’ 43% mark, while recently retired Channing Frye and rookie Collin Sexton both hit 40%.

Last week, the Cavs adding even more shooting drafting Darius Garland, Dylan Windler, and Kevin Porter Jr. in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Garland only played five games at Vanderbilt, but made 11 of 23 attempts from beyond the college three point line, and he hit 75% of his free throws.

And at his workout for the Cavs in Los Angeles, apparently he put on an incredible shooting exhibition from long distance. We can’t wait to see his range when the exhibition games start.

Windler, a four year player from Belmont, shot 40.6% from three throughout his college career, and the last two seasons, hit 42.6% and 42.9% from long range respectively. He was also a career 76.1% maker from the line, with a high of 84.7% last season.

Porter also made more than 40% of his long distance shots in his abbreviated college career (he played just 21 games), making 28 of 68 attempts. Unfortunately, he hit only 52% of his free throws, a figure that has to improve in the pros.

As they say, the NBA is a make or miss league, and it looks as though the Cavaliers got a few more guys who can make shots. We have always said, anyone can be a shooter, what you really need are makers.

The next part of the puzzle is to add size, which Cleveland has seemed to ignore over the past five years.

Outside of Ante Zizic, the wine and gold really don’t have a legitimate big man, although we have yet to see John Henson.

Kevin Love is 6’10” and has been miscast at center at times, but he’s a scorer and rebounder, not really a rim protector or a defensive force inside.

Tristan Thompson is a good defender and rebounder, particularly on the offensive end, but he is very limited offensively, and is still just 6’9″.

Larry Nance Jr. has incredible hops, so he can block shots, but he’s struggles to handle bigger players in the post.

We understand that the game has evolved and throwing the ball in the post is no longer needed to be successful, but having players who demand double teams near the basket helps.

Love does, but that’s probably it at this point.

We would like to see Koby Altman add another bigger player before the season starts. With all the shooters he is bringing in, that could be very important.

Drew Deserves Credit For A Job Well Done

More than likely, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be looking for a new head coach after the season ending loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

Our guess is Koby Altman will want a head coach who will work side by side with him for several years, meaning someone younger and with a strong player development background.

That’s not to say Larry Drew didn’t do a good job though. With Kevin Love missing more than 50 games, let alone taking over the squad after six games into the season, Drew held the team together and had them playing hard all year long.

We have said through much of the season the front office deserves credit for this as well. There were no knuckleheads on this roster. All of the losing can lead to players wanting to better their statistics, but the Cavs pulled together and played as a team.

That’s the legacy of the players remaining from the LeBron James era, guys like Love, Tristan Thompson, and Channing Frye, who is a first class person, and we wish him well for the future.

Besides creating a good atmosphere on the floor and in the locker room, Drew developed the team’s young players. particularly rookie first round pick Collin Sexton.

Look at these numbers–

Sexton (Pre All Star Game): 15.1 PPG, 2.9 assists, 40.8% from the floor, 39.2% from three
Sexton (After the ASG): 20.8 PPG, 3.2 assists, 47.7% from the floor, 41.3% from three.

Sexton will regarded by people not in the know as a bust before the All Star contest, but showed you can’t judge most 19-20 year olds by how they start their career.

Cedi Osman: (Pre ASG): 12.6 PPG, 4.6 boards, 2.3 assists, 32.7% from three
(Post ASG): 14.0 PPG, 4.8 boards, 3.2 assists, 38.8% from three

Larry Nance Jr: (Pre ASG): 9.1 PPG, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 51% from the floor
(Post ASG): 10.1 PPG, 8. 2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 54.2% from the floor.

Ante Zizic: (Pre ASG): 6.7 PPG, 5.0 rebounds, 51.9% from the floor.
(Post ASG): 10.2 PPG, 6.3 rebounds, 61.2% from the floor.

Granted, some of this extra production came as a result of more playing time because of injuries to Thompson and Love, but all four of these young players (Nance is the oldest, turning 26 on New Year’s Day) progressed as the season went on.

And we would think this quartet, along with Love and David Nwaba, who is interested in staying long term, and the Cavs should make this happen, make up a good starting point for the future.

Yes, we understand Love is 30, but he seems to embrace the leadership role here and as we all saw when he returned, he can make a big impact on this basketball team.

Ending the season with a ten game losing streak guaranteed the Cavs have a better than 50% chance of picking in the top four of the draft, where they should get another very good player to add to this group.

While it would be great to get Zion Williamson, there are some others available who will turn out being solid NBA players.

Credit goes to Drew for turning what could of been a disaster into a learning environment for the young players. We know, a 19-63 record isn’t anything to be thrilled about, but seeing guys getting better within the season is something to grab onto.

This should be a big summer for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is likely a player or two who has been here a while will be moved before training camp starts.

Regardless of whether he stays or goes, Larry Drew should get credit for a job well done.

Time For Lue To Be A Leader.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are teetering on the brink right now.

They haven’t played well since the holiday season started, the defense is getting progressively worse, and now, Kevin Love will be out for awhile after breaking his hand in last night’s loss at Detroit.

Some team’s would look at the injury and band together, strengthen their resolve to win games without their all-star. Look at Washington last night in their first game without John Wall, a 102-96 victory over Oklahoma City.

Unfortunately, we do not see that happening with this group of Cavaliers.

LeBron James looks disgusted with what is going on, and we are sure he and Dwyane Wade can’t believe what is happening.

The defensive effort on this team is putrid. We saw at least four times last night where Pistons went the length of the floor for layups without anyone stopping the ball.

That’s taught in fifth grade basketball.

We have watched probably thousands of basketball games and we have yet to see someone score without the ball. You have to stop the ball.

It’s time for strong leadership from Tyronn Lue, and we hope he has it in him.

It’s time for the coach to start holding players responsible.

If you aren’t going to put forth effort on the defensive end, you should be on the bench. And that means anyone, including LeBron James. The correct tone has to be set.

We found it ludicrous that Cedi Osman was inactive for last night’s contest, and when Love went down, that decision came back to bite the head coach.

Meanwhile, Iman Shumpert, who has been out since the middle of November with a knee injury, and when he came back fired up a three point shot 24 seconds after entering the game, was dressed, but he didn’t play, even when the game got out of hand.

So, the Cavs had to have Channing Frye and Wade playing in garbage time because Lue didn’t want to disrespect Shumpert and Derrick Rose by putting them in in that situation, even though neither played to that point.

Why didn’t Rose play? Outside of Sunday’s game vs. Detroit, he had played pretty well since returning from the ankle injury, averaging 10 points on 15 of 24 shooting. He has an off night Sunday and gets buried on the bench?

Lue’s rotations are often criticized and this is another case of a puzzling move.

Why was Frye benched when Tristan Thompson returned? Why did Derrick Williams lose playing time a year ago when he played well? It’s due to loyalty to veterans, and sometimes that’s not good.

Right now, the Cavaliers are getting very little on a nightly basis from Isaiah Thomas, JR Smith, and Tristan Thompson, all of whom are currently starting.

Besides James, which players are playing well? Jeff Green, Wade, Frye, and Kyle Korver come to mind. The problem is all of those players are over 30 years old, so limiting minutes for them has to be done to keep them effective.

Good players want to be coached. Wade is always pulling players aside to offer insights on the game, but it’s time for Lue to start basing playing time based on performance right now, and not the past.

It’s a critical time for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They need leadership from their coach.

Two Wins Doesn’t Mean Cavs Are Good To Go

For the first time since mid December, the Cleveland Cavaliers have won two games in a row. The consecutive victories came after coach Tyronn Lue moved Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup and moved Jae Crowder to the bench.

However, any thoughts that GM Koby Altman doesn’t need to make any moves heading into the February 8th trading deadline should be put to bed. This roster still needs some revamping.

First, the two wins both came at Quicken Loans Arena, where the wine and gold haven’t had trouble winning this season. They are 18-6 at home in 2017-18, one of the top ten records in the league this season. The best records are San Antonio (21-4) and Toronto (18-4).

The Cavaliers aren’t too far off that pace.

Cleveland is 11-13 away from northeast Ohio. Only seven teams have winning records on the road this season, but the Cavs are supposed to be an elite team. The best records are by Golden State, Boston, Houston, Toronto, and Miami.

Outside of the Heat, those are teams who came into the year searching a championship.

The good teams in the NBA also win big. The squads with the best records in games decided by 10 or more points are Toronto, Boston, Golden State, Houston, and Washington. Cleveland is 8-11, in the lower half of the league.

This is not a team that looks like an elite team, at least right now. So, management shouldn’t look at two victories, one over a Pistons team that has lost eight in a row, as a solution.

This basketball team still needs height.

The Cavs’ only true big men are Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, Channing Frye, and little used Ante Zizic. None provide a deterrent to opponents who want to drive to the basket.

It is something the front office has ignored since the middle of last season, when Chris Andersen and Andrew Bogut went down with injuries. It has to be addressed going forward.

We are sure that Lue would also be happy if some of the roster logjams are taken care of. With Isaiah Thomas back, he has to divide up time for Thomas, Dwyane Wade, and Derrick Rose at the point. For sure, Wade isn’t going anywhere, so moving one of the other two would clarify things.

Jeff Green has been a godsend to date, averaging in double figures in points (10.8) and is one of the few Cavs playing solid defense, but Lue can’t find minutes for Iman Shumpert, who hasn’t earned them, and Cedi Osman, who has.

And remember, in Sunday’s win over Detroit, neither Thomas, Rose, or Thompson played in the fourth quarter when the wine and gold put the game away.

Lue has problems fitting people into rotations, and the roster may be too deep because the coach can’t keep everyone happy. Players like to know how they are going to be used, and it is difficult for Lue to make that happen.

So, with just a week ago before the trading deadline, Altman can’t be complacent, he has to realize this roster needs help to get to the NBA Finals for a fourth straight year.

General Managers don’t usually get fooled by two games. Here’s hoping Altman isn’t either.

Cavs Need An Aggressive JR Smith

When you are the Cleveland Cavaliers and your best player is the best in the sport, the scrutiny is unbearable.

The wine and gold have lost five of their last seven, and seven of their last nine, yet still have the sixth best record in the NBA. But, if you listen to people talk about Tyronn Lue’s squad, you would think they may miss the playoffs.

When you figure in eight of the last ten contests have been on the road, with the next two also away from Quicken Loans Arena, you could almost understand the mini-slump.

Lue is working Isaiah Thomas back in the lineup, and he is bringing some added scoring to a starting lineup that really had only LeBron James and Kevin Love as scoring threats.

When Love isn’t making shots, which has happen in two of the last three games, the starters struggle to score and the Cavs fall behind early in games.

Unfortunately, Jae Crowder and more specifically, JR Smith haven’t stepped up when needed. So, should Lue start pondering shaking up the starting lineup?

It’s trickier than you think. First, the second unit has been so good, you have to think he doesn’t want to do anything to upset the apple cart with them.

Second, if you make a move with Smith, do you risk losing him as a contributor down the road.

Smith is second on the Cavs in minutes (29.8), trailing just James, playing about the same amount of time per game as he has since arriving in Cleveland.

His number of shots taken has dropped from 11 per game in his first two years here to just 7.1 this season. And his defensive rating is the lowest it has been too.

Smith turned 32 last fall, and you have to remember not everyone ages like James, who is in his 15th season. This is Smith’s 14th year in the NBA, so perhaps age is starting to take its toll.

Before making any changes in terms of who plays, we would like to see Smith start looking for his shot more often. He seems to be looking to drive more often and his assist numbers are the highest since he arrived in Cleveland.

But that hasn’t been Smith game since he came to the NBA. He’s a sniper, a shoot first guard with the ability to make tough long range shots, and when he gets going, he’s unstoppable.

He was the reason the Cavs took game one of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015, hitting eight threes, scoring 28 points as Cleveland stole home court advantage with a 97-89 win.

If he can’t regain that form and that style of play, perhaps Lue should try Channing Frye with the first unit, providing another three point shooter at the start of games.

After all, when the veteran big man has played ten or more minutes in a game this season, the Cavs are 16-3.

Ironically, Frye’s three point shooting is down, from 40% to 31% this season, but he is making 68% of his attempts inside the arc. His defensive rating is behind just James, Love, and Dwyane Wade on the Cavs.

Since, Frye’s time has diminished since Tristan Thompson’s return to health, moving him into the starting five could be a big benefit.

The other player we would consider is rookie Cedi Osman, who could provide length, hustle, and his defensive rating is just behind Frye’s.

It has been reported that instead of another big man, GM Koby Altman may be looking to upgrade at the #2 guard spot, which would mean the organization would like Smith to step it up.

The trading deadline isn’t that far away, so the time for Smith to step up is now. He needs to be more aggressive on both ends of the floor.

Wily Vets Off Bench Contributing Big Time For Cavs

Remember when you were just out of high school and you and your friends went up to the local YMCA or playground to play some basketball?

And your team could run, jump, and make behind the back passes beating other teams in your age group, right?

Then you met up with some guys in their 30’s, and they did all the right things, like making the extra pass, getting the ball to the hot hand, being in the right spot defensively, and getting position under the boards. They kicked your butt.

That team has morphed into the Cleveland Cavaliers, who quietly have won eight straight games, their record now 13-7, one of the league’s best.

They are 7-3 on the road, a win total away from home that is only behind Houston and Boston in the NBA.

It has been the bench that has keyed this stretch of good basketball. We understand that +/- isn’t the be all statistic in professional basketball, but on a nightly basis, the wine and gold’s leader in this category are frequently Kyle Korver (36 years old), Dwyane Wade (who will turn 36 in January), or Channing Frye (34).

The other key member of the bench is a young pup by these standards, but Jeff Green (31) was perhaps the most overlooked player Cleveland had coming into training camp, but he has been a major contributor.

The most interesting player is Wade, a superstar in the league for most of his career, a three time champion with Miami.

A lot of players in his place among NBA history have a hard time taking a lesser role as they get older, but perhaps because of his friendship with LeBron James, he has been a tremendous force since the Cavs turned their season around.

He has been malleable, contributing something different each night, depending on who is matched with. If a smaller guard is defending him, he posts him up. If it’s a bigger player, he takes him to the hoop.

All the while he is getting the rest of the players involved. He’s averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game in 23 minutes per night.

Korver has shot the Cavaliers to two wins this season with epic fourth quarter performances, scoring 19 points in the last stanza. He’s shooting 43.6% from three point range, and he always gives an effort on the defensive end.

Frye wasn’t supposed to get a lot of playing time, but when Tristan Thompson went down, he got an opportunity, and made the most of it, scoring a little over seven points per contest in the last seven games, and has had a positive +/- in six of those contests.

Green was coming off a season with a bad Orlando team, in which he scored 9.2 points per game and shot 39.4% from the floor.

This season, he is scoring 10.0 points a night, shooting 49%.

He’s also been effective guarding smaller players on the perimeter, most notably doing a good job against Houston’s James Harden and Charlotte’s Kemba Walker.

When Isaiah Thomas returns, this veteran group could include Jose Calderon (36) to the mix.

Wade plays the most minutes out of the quartet at 23, with Korver and Green getting around 20, which should keep them fresh throughout the long season.

These four are a big reason the Cavs can play even with opponents while James is on the bench. And because they can do that, it should lead to James getting more rest during games as the season goes on.

The “old guys” are getting the job done.

Cavs Allow Fans Some Relaxation

Usually for a Cleveland sports fan, there is worry, concern, and angst in following your team.

Maybe the lack of that worries you, because you are a product of following sports in northeast Ohio, but this NBA basketball has an odd sense of calm to it.

Right now, the Cavaliers are off to a great start, winning 13 of their first 15 games, and already are four games ahead in the loss column in the NBA Eastern Conference standing.

Barring any sort of health related problems, probably the next time any basketball fan will have any concern is when the playoffs get underway, and even then, perhaps not until the Eastern Conference finals.

That’s how good this Cavs team is, and winning that title last spring and experiencing that run together has freed them up to play seemingly even better to this point in the season.

A full training camp with Tyronn Lue has the wine and gold ticking like a Swiss watch. Kevin Love, the reigning Eastern Conference player of the week, is playing like he did with the Timberwolves, averaging more than 20 points per night and grabbing more than 10 rebounds.

The other thing that has to strike fans is the closeness of this group and the fun they seem to have together.

They attended the Indians’ post-season games together, they have an annual Halloween party, they stopped off to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game a few days ago.

Maybe all of that is done because LeBron James says it needs to happen, but the rest of the squad is following their leader, and that has to help when it comes down to crunch time in games. They trust each other and they trust their coach.

Yes, LeBron is playing more minutes than we all expected, but Lue has told us the plan is to give James more rest when the schedule gets heavy in January and February. His minutes will go down then, and there will probably be some days off as well.

There is no doubt or handwringing from the fans and sports talk hosts around town. The Cavs won, so we believe in what they tell us.

Outside of the game they lost in Indiana when James sat out, this team rolls on even if they are missing some of it’s cogs.

Channing Frye has tragically missed time due to deaths in his family. JR Smith missed some games with a sprained ankle. Last Sunday, both Frye and Iman Shumpert were out, the Cavs still won on the road.

Lue has also made everyone a part of the early success. Rookie Kay Felder has contributed. Jordan McRae has seen more time lately and played the entire fourth quarter of a game against Washington that was still in doubt.

Sunday, without Frye and Smith in a slump, Lue turned to veteran James Jones, who came in and knocked down two three pointers.

It is true that the Cavs have been home a lot thus far (10 of their 15 games have been at Quicken Loans Arena), so the schedule will get a little tougher coming up. However, that still doesn’t provide great concern.

And by the way, let the media keep chasing Golden State and the continuously preening Warriors. The Cavaliers will keep quietly going about their business, which is winning.

While their fans just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Getting Frye, Not Moving Love=Right Moves for Cavs

The trading deadline in the NBA came and went, and the Cleveland Cavaliers only did some tinkering as we hoped they would earlier this week.

One of the things the Cavs needed to address was getting another reliable shooter from beyond the three point line, and they did just that, getting C/F Channing Frye from Orlando for Anderson Varejao, Jared Cunningham, and some draft picks.

We understand that dealing a long time Cavalier in “Wild Thing” will hurt some fans, but if you take sentimentality out of the equation, you will realize this is a good move by GM David Griffin.

Varejao didn’t get much playing time under either David Blatt or Tyronn Lue, so basically, Griffin moved someone who doesn’t play for someone who should get some minutes and also could solve a weakness.

Let’s face it, Tristan Thompson and Varejao are basically the same player, they don’t compliment each other.

Frye is a career 39% shooter from beyond the three point arc, and is making 40% of these shots in 2015-16.

His minutes are down about eight per game from a year ago, but Frye is now 32, and quite frankly, we would be surprised if he plays more than the 17 minutes a night he was getting in Orlando with the wine and gold.

There were many rumors surrounding Kevin Love as the trade deadline approached, and that made us shake our heads.

The primary rumor was Cleveland getting Ryan Anderson is return, which is ridiculous because he will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Love continues to be a whipping boy for those critical of the Cavs, but we feel the player hasn’t been productive as everyone thought because he is not utilized to the best of his ability.

When Lue took over the team, he wanted to get Love some touches around the elbow, where he had success in his best years with the Timberwolves. However, since the first couple of games, that has disappeared along with the production from Love.

After a four game stretch where the forward averaged 22.5 points and 9 boards per contest, the last four outings have produced 10 points and 7 rebounds.

Granted, Love left two of those games early with injuries, but even when he was in there, he seemed like an afterthought on offense.

Lue talks about sacrifice, but really no one has given up more than Love, who has been used pretty much like a glorified “stretch four”.

We feel that part of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving’s sacrifice should be to get Love some scoring opportunities as well. The team will be tougher to defend when they don’t ignore the big man.

Now, that doesn’t mean Love is blameless. His shot from outside (including at the free throw line) seems flat. He’s had many wide open looks from beyond the arc, and simply hasn’t made as many as he needs to.

His percentage isn’t down from last year, so perhaps again, it’s that he’s being used in this manner too often.

Maybe Frye makes the Cavs less reliant on Love for outside shooting from a big man.

We will not consider Love a “bust” or not worth getting in the trade until the wine and gold make a concerted effort to use him more efficiently.

By the way, we also don’t understand complaining about a guy who averages 16 points and 10 rebounds per night.