Can The Cavs Respond Tonight?

A week and a half ago, basketball fans in northeast Ohio were excited about the Cavaliers. They won 51 games and had homecourt advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Things can change drastically in ten days, right?

Tonight, the Cavs are playing for their playoff lives, down 3-1 to the New York Knicks with a possible elimination game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Can the Cavs come back and win the series? Our first thought is no, because New York has exposed the weaknesses the Cleveland roster has, namely a top-heavy roster that provides little depth.

One issue we don’t think J.B. Bickerstaff can address is the lack of a third big man who can get on the court. We aren’t going to re-hash the whole Kevin Love situation again, but the real issue is Koby Altman and Mike Gansey did not replace Love with another serviceable big. So, when Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are on the bench, the Cavaliers really have no big bodies to replace them.

We say it all the time, yes, basketball has changed. The smaller players do have a bigger impact on the game right now, but never forget that size still matters. You have to have size to win, and beyond Allen and Mobley, the wine and gold don’t have enough.

Bickerstaff needs to pull out all stops tonight, he really has nothing to lose. The Knicks primary offensive threat is Jalen Brunson, and the Cavs best success against him is to guard him with bigger people, which we agree with.

Brunson is simply too strong for Donovan Mitchell or Darius Garland.

We believe you have to use Isaac Okoro on him with Caris LeVert and Lamar Stevens also taking turns guarding him. Stevens hasn’t played real minutes in the series, but we think he has to be on the floor tonight.

We have heard many folks complaining about Mitchell’s performance on Sunday and about Allen’s play in general. We agree Mitchell played poorly, but think about it, what did the coaching staff do to help him?

The Knicks are trying to take Mitchell away from the Cavs, and that’s good strategy, he’s their best player, but the Cavs’ staff have to figure out a way to get the All-Star guard some good looks, perhaps with some off-ball screens to get some shots in the paint so he can get in a rhythm early.

As for Allen, he is having problems defensively, but mostly because he is helping with players who are penetrating, and he’s done that all year. He either needs his teammates to keep their men in front of them or somebody to pick up his man when he helps.

That isn’t happening.

Offensively, the Cavs really don’t do much for Mobley or Allen. When the Knicks’ trap out front, the middle is open and that’s where Mobley can help. Get him the ball there and he can either attack the basket or set up a lob for Allen. But really, the Cavaliers don’t ever make a reasonable effort to establish either on the offensive end.

We would go back to starting Okoro, and use LeVert, Osman, and Stevens off the bench. That’s it.

Again, it is a tough road for the Cavs to win this series, but they need to extend the series back to New York to gain some respect among the basketball cognoscenti.

The flaws were always there, they are just being exposed now.

Once Again, The Cavs Have To Dig Deep.

The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to relish a challenge, especially in their first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks.

They blew the home court advantage they gained with their 51 regular season wins by losing game one at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, and after a win to even the series, they put the pressure firmly on themselves this afternoon by getting smoked at Madison Square Garden Friday night, losing 99-79.

It was the lowest point total of the year for any NBA team.

Both teams struggled in the first quarter which ended tied at 17. Jarrett Allen was outstanding, making all three of his shots, grabbing three rebounds, and blocking a shot. On the negative, Darius Garland was awful, missing eight shots, including four three-pointers.

That was followed by a 15 point second quarter. Cleveland was 2 for 19 from beyond the arc at the half, and to us, the crazy stat was that those 19 attempts were almost one-half of their field goal attempts (43).

The Knicks started knocking down closer shots and led by 13 at the half. The wine and gold actually outrebounded New York before intermission26-24.

In the second half, only Caris LeVert (7 of 11, 3 of 7 from three) and Donovan Mitchell, who was 5 of 11 in the first half, and made half of his eight shots in the second, were able to put the ball in the basket.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff did change the starting lineup, moving LeVert in, replacing Isaac Okoro, but that left the bench with no weapons. The non-starters, excluding garbage time, took just seven shots, making two.

We said (before the game) we would have started Danny Green if he was going to make a change, but frankly, we would have just stayed with Okoro. And although we are usually critical of Okoro, we thought Bickerstaff didn’t play him enough. He was making an impact when he came in during the first half, but only played seven minutes until the game was decided.

Before the series started, we noted Cleveland needed at least one reserve to play well. In game two, LeVert did. With him starting, they need all five starters to produce. They didn’t.

We mentioned earlier that Allen took three shots in the first quarter, making all of them. Unfortunately, those were the only three he took all night, as the Cavs decided to ignore going inside.

Why is that a problem? If you aren’t going to look inside, Evan Mobley only had 10 shot attempts as well, it allows the Knicks’ big men, mostly Mitchell Robinson to have no real defensive responsibility. Robinson was able to block a Mitchell jumper in the first half.

After the game, Bickerstaff said the Cavs had open looks, they just didn’t make them. To us, that’s a rather simplistic view of the game of basketball. True, the wine and gold shot just 38.8% from the floor. But if a team takes a lot of poor shots, they will probably shoot a poor percentage.

Bickerstaff keeps talking about his team’s inexperience, and they haven’t grasped that in the playoffs, every possession is important. You cannot have 20 turnovers, and bad shots are pretty much the same as a turnover.

Here’s what we mean by a bad shot. At the end of the first half, the Cavs were down 40-32 with :40 remaining. They had a chance to keep it close going into the half.

Instead, Mitchell took a three with plenty of time on the shot clock, missed it, and New York came down and hit a three. Then another turnover and a Knick hoop and the Cavaliers were down 13 at the half.

In our mind, Mitchell’s shot is only good if he makes it.Today’s game is the turning point. If Cleveland wins, they regain homecourt advantage and come home with two of the remaining three in downtown Cleveland.

Can the Cavs adjust? Can they get someone out of their bench? Can Garland rebound from a terrible game? The answer to those questions has to be yes.

JB Makes Changes, Cavs Win Game Two

The Cleveland Cavaliers needed a win badly Tuesday night and they got it, evening the series with the New York Knicks at one game apiece with a 107-90 victory at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

The wine and gold showed toughness, especially on the glass, outrebounding New York a few days after the Knicks dominated on the glass.

And J.B. Bickerstaff totally changed his rotation, benching Ricky Rubio and Dean Wade, both of whom contributed little in game one, and pretty much went with seven players in the win. We don’t know how sustainable that will be going forward, but it worked in Game 2.

Darius Garland was phenomenal shooting the ball, making six of ten from three-point range, scoring 32 points, 26 of them in the first half. In the early moments of the game, Garland was very careless with the ball, seeming to want to make the spectacular pass rather than the right one.

He corrected that issue by just making a bunch of shots.

Donovan Mitchell became the playmaker, dishing out 13 assists to go with 17 points. There is no doubt the Cavs will need Mitchell’s scoring ability before this series is over, but with the Knicks trying to double him when they could, he simply made the right basketball play over and over again.

Caris LeVert was skewered by many fans after the first game, but he has been so solid over the second half of the season, we figured he would bounce back, and he did, scoring 24 points, grabbing four boards, and dishing out three dimes, as well as hounding Jalen Brunson all night.

He played a team high 40 minutes.

Cedi Osman didn’t shoot the ball well, but played solid defense and grabbed six rebounds, behind only the Cleveland big men, Jarrett Allen (10) and Evan Mobley (13).

We are critical of Bickerstaff at times, mainly how he judges the talent of his players, but it took guts to not play Rubio and make the decision after Dean Wade’s poor first half in game one, not to give him any time during game two.

But the shocking move was with Isaac Okoro. Okoro started and picked up two fouls in the first three minutes on the floor, was removed from the game and never returned. Was his knee acting up again? After all, he did miss the last two weeks with an injury. Still, we were stunned he never went back in.

Instead, Bickerstaff went with veteran Danny Green at the #4 spot. Green only took two shots, making one, but the defense has to guard him, and they don’t do that with Okoro.

We expect the Knicks will try to exploit Green defensively as the series goes on. Quite frankly, having Green guard Julius Randle is not a good match for the Cavs, but the element of surprise worked for Cleveland.

So, the series goes back to Madison Square Garden for games on Friday and Sunday and the Cavs need to win one game in New York at some point if they want to win the series.

As mentioned earlier, the Cavaliers are going to need quality minutes from players not named Mitchell, Garland, Allen, Mobley, and LeVert if they are going to prevail. So, there will be opportunities for guys like Okoro, Rubio, and Wade to help.

They have to come through because you can’t keep playing seven players.

It worked in game two, and it had to. Going down 0-2 at home would have spelled a quick end to the Cavaliers’ season.

Cavs’ Warts Show In Disappointing Game One.

Sometimes, it stinks to be right. That’s how we felt last night watching all our fears about the series between the Cavaliers and Knicks come true.

We were concerned about the Cleveland bench, and led by Josh Hart, the New York reserves outscored the Cavs’ by a 37-14 count. Hart not only scored more (17 points) than the wine and gold’s bench, he also outrebounded them, grabbing 10 boards.

The Cleveland bench had just five.

We were also worried about the rebounding of the Knicks. Cleveland spent the last two months of the regular season losing the battle of the boards, and indeed, the same thing happened in game one, as New York grabbed 51 caroms to the Cavs’ 38.

We have been complaining about the lack of size for the Cavs since the trade deadline, when the organization decided to let Kevin Love go. Love can’t guard on the perimeter anymore, and his shooting dropped off when he injured his thumb.

We felt they would add another big man to the roster to replace Love on the buyout market. Instead, they picked up Danny Green and Sam Merrill, two wings, neither of whom saw action in game one.

And by the way, former Cleveland big man, Isaiah Hartenstein had eight points and five rebounds.

Our other concern was J.B. Bickerstaff. The coach had a week of practices to decide who would get action in the playoffs, and the only member of the bench who made an impact in the game was the last player he used, Cedi Osman.

Osman had nine points and two rebounds and drew the defensive assignment against Jalen Brunson in the fourth quarter, and we thought he acquitted himself quite well.

The first big man sub used by Bickerstaff was Dean Wade, who somehow was put on Julius Randle, and was abused by the Knicks’ star in seven minutes, and Cleveland was outscored by 14 minutes while he was on the floor.

Cleveland out-shot the Knicks from the floor (43.4% to 42%) and from three (32.3% to 27.6%). The young Cavs inexperience showed, missing six free throws (NY missed just three), including a pair each by guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.

Mitchell tried to will the Cavs to victory, scoring 38 points and dishing out eight assists, but he got very little help. Garland had 17, but also five turnovers. Evan Mobley seemed a bit tentative around the basket, hitting just 4 of 13 shots.

We saw some criticism of Jarrett Allen, but he had 14 points and 14 boards and dished out 4 assists, the second highest total on the team.

New York predictably left Isaac Okoro open on the perimeter and he missed all four of his attempts from long range and went one of six overall. The Cavs need Okoro’s defense on the floor, but he can’t be a liability on the offensive end.

And Caris LeVert, who finished the regular season strong, had an off night, making just one shot in seven tries, and had just one assist and one rebound.

The good news is the Cavs know now what kind of performance is needed in the playoffs. And we have always said until the ultimate game in the series, the even numbered games are most important. The Cavs can even things up on Tuesday night, and if they lose that one, it could be a very short visit to the playoffs for the wine and gold.

Simply, Garland, Mobley, and LeVert must be better in Game 2. We wonder if we will see Osman earlier in the next game. And why not use Lamar Stevens, who may be the “grittiest” Cavalier?

But it will be a big issue if the Cavaliers cannot hold their own with New York on the glass. The defensive job isn’t over until you get possession of the ball.

Gonna Be A Tough Series For Cavs Against The Knicks

The NBA playoffs start this Saturday and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be hosting the New York Knicks Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Many fans are using the Cavs’ 51 regular season victories and the home court advantage in the series to proclaim a win in the best-of-seven series and an advancement to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

We have our doubts.

This doesn’t mean we think the wine and gold will lose to the Knicks, but it will be a very difficult series for J.B. Bickerstaff and his squad.

In the regular season, teams play the way they play. The league schedule is such that there is very little practice time, so coaches set a style of play and a plan and the players execute. In the playoffs, coaches take advantage of things their opponents do not do well, and they exploit weaknesses.

This isn’t to say the Knicks have no areas where Cleveland can attack them, nor are we proclaiming Tom Thibodeau a genius. Yes, Thibodeau has more playoff experience than Bickerstaff, coaching in 61 post-season games.

His record is just 25-36. The last time he won a series was in 2015-16 when his Bulls were eliminated by the Cavaliers. His last two times in the playoffs have resulted in first round losses in five games.

Our worry is the lack of depth for the Cavaliers will hurt them against the Knicks, who are much deeper. Earlier in the season, we felt if the Cavs got production from one or two of the non-core players on the roster, they had a very good chance to win.

And we include Caris LeVert in the core player category.

This means Bickerstaff needs solid games from one of these guys on the nightly basis: Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman, Ricky Rubio, or Lamar Stevens.

Okoro has missed the past few weeks with a knee issue and no doubt his defense will be needed, particularly against Knicks’ guard Jalen Brunson. Okoro missed the last regular season game vs. New York, and Brunson went off for 48 points.

We are also concerned about the decline in rebounding for Cleveland over the last two months. The Cavs outrebounded their opponent for four of the first five months of the season (January was the exception), but March and April (18 games) have been a different story.

Opponents are grabbing five more caroms per game since the beginning of March. You can be a very good defensive team, but your job isn’t done until you corral the missed shot. Lately, this has been an issue for Cleveland. It’s one of the reasons we have advocated getting another player with size who can play.

And we do remember Jarrett Allen did miss some time during this period, which didn’t help. By the way, the Knicks are third in the league in offensive rebounds this season.

No doubt, the Knicks are going to try to devote attention to Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, the Cavs’ primary scorers. Hopefully, Cleveland uses Evan Mobley to ease the pressure. The second-year player increased his scoring from 15.7 points per game before the All-Star Game to 17.5 after. His rebounds and assists increased too.

We will learn a lot about not only the players, but the coaching staff in this series. That’s one of the reasons we wanted the Cavs to get in a seven game series last year. We would already know.

This series will go at least six or seven, the people who think it will be a five gamer and likely viewing with rose colored lenses.

Playoff basketball is back in Cleveland. That’s the best news of all.

Cavs Still Have Work To Do In Last Week Of Season

We have reached the last week of the NBA regular season and the Cleveland Cavaliers have just four games remaining.

Their “magic number” to clinch home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs is two, and the four games they have left are against the teams currently in 12th, 13th, and 14th place in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks are in the fifth position and they play a pair against Indiana (the Cavs’ opponent tonight), the Wizards (11th place), but they have a tough one at New Orleans, who is fighting for their playoff position in the west.

We aren’t putting too much stock Friday night’s loss to New York at home, as we are hoping J.B. Bickerstaff wasn’t about to show Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks’ coach, how he was going to defend G Jalen Brunson.

That’s the only explanation we can come up with because Brunson lit up Cleveland for 48 points.

Bickerstaff went with Donovan Mitchell on Brunson and really didn’t waver from that, but again, in a seven game situation we are sure the Cavs would blitz the Knicks’ point guard and force the ball out of his hands.

Of course, two of the Cavs’ better defenders, Jarrett Allen and Isaac Okoro, did not play but both will be ready when the playoffs start in two weeks. Still, because the Cavs are a team that hangs its hat on the defensive end of the floor, it was a bit startling to see Brunson get 48 points, even though he did take 32 shots.

New York didn’t have Julius Randle, out at least two weeks with an ankle sprain, and we bring this up because we would love to see the Cavs clinch the fourth spot sooner than later because then Bickerstaff can start giving some of his regulars some time off.

We have been saying this for some time, but the Cavaliers are not a particularly deep team and we can see by having Allen and Okoro out forces Bickerstaff to use players he probably wouldn’t want to use in a post-season situation.

And the less playing time the top players for Cleveland get going forward, it would seem to minimize an injury risk.

Our guess is the coaching staff will lean heavily on his four core players (Mitchell, Darius Garland, Allen, and Evan Mobley) a lot in the playoffs, playing each of them 35-40 minutes per night.

Behind this quartet, we would expect Caris LeVert to get the next most court time, likely between 30-35 minutes.

If he goes with the higher amount, that would be 195 minutes out of a possible 240, leaving 45 minutes remaining. Okoro likely gets the majority of the time, around 25-30, probably depending what he is doing on the offensive end.

We would expect Ricky Rubio and Cedi Osman to get what is remaining. Meaning he the Cavs will play eight, which is what most figured all along.

But there still is work to do. The Cavaliers need to win two more games, or less if the Knicks stumble. And they need to get everyone healthy and have them stay that way.

Cavs’ Needed To Make The Playoffs This Year. They Did!

Before the NBA season started, we felt the goal of the Cleveland Cavaliers should be to avoid the “play-in tournament” nonsense that the NBA put in place and get to a seven-game series.

Sunday night’s win over the hapless Houston Rockets clinched that for JB Bickerstaff’s squad. The wine and gold have won 48 games so far, and should hit the 50 win plateau in 2022-23.

How many times in franchise history have they reached that mark without LeBron James on the roster? Well remember, the Cavs did have a pretty good team in the late 80’s and early 90’s, getting 57 wins in 1988-89 and ’91-’92, and had 54 victories in ’92-’93.

It hasn’t happened often.

When Koby Altman pulled the trigger for Donovan Mitchell last summer, we were skeptical. The Cavs’ identity was the big front line last season, and trading Lauri Markkanen took away the unique style Cleveland was playing.

Also, the trade did not address the Cavaliers’ lack of size in the backcourt. They were still starting two small guards.

Watching Mitchell play night in and night out changed our mind. He will make either the second or third team All-NBA this year, and there were games this season where he willed Cleveland to victory.

He’s averaging 4.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game in addition to his 27.4 points. And he and Darius Garland have meshed very well. The latter is scored the same as a year ago (21.7 last year, 21.6 this season) and his assists aren’t too far off, down from 8.6 to 7.8.

Mitchell was reportedly a defensive issue in Utah, but he has bought in to Bickerstaff’s defensive mantra and gives effort each and every night.

If anyone questions the deal because of what was given up, we would say if you can get a top 15 player in the league, it would seem to be worth the price.

It will help this young group of Cavaliers, only Mitchell (26), Caris LeVert (28), and Cedi Osman (27) are over 25 among the top eight players in terms of minutes played, to get in a seven-game series to see the intensity of the games, and to make adjustments on a nightly basis.

And that goes for Bickerstaff as well.

Mitchell has played in 39 playoff games in his career, more than Jarrett Allen, LeVert (each with 9), Garland (0), Evan Mobley (0), and Osman (14) combined. No doubt, he will be leaned on heavily to guide the inexperienced guys through the grind.

It could mean a lot for the careers of Garland and Mobley in particular to be exposed to basketball’s post-season.

If the standing hold and the first-round opponent are the New York Knicks, we anticipate it will be a very tough series, and that’s a good thing. There shouldn’t be any more games against the Rockets, Hornets, or Pistons when you get to this point.

The Cavs’ style of play, defense first, controlling the pace should play well in the playoffs. However, teams will focus on Mitchell, so others are going to have to take advantage. And we would love to see Mitchell not settle for the long jump shots and attack the basket more.

He seems unstoppable at times doing that.

It’s been a long time (1997-98) since a Cavaliers’ team without James made the playoffs, so that is not anything to dismiss. They should celebrate the accomplishment. That they didn’t is a good sign for this group.

JB Seems To Want Another Big. Go Get Him One.

Since the middle of this NBA season, we have been concerned about the Cleveland Cavaliers not having enough depth of big men.

They start one of the best duos in the league with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. But the signing of Robin Lopez is fine if he is going to play once a week for about ten minutes, but if he is pressed into service longer or more frequently than that the Cavs have a problem.

Some folks have the opinion that in the playoffs Allen and Mobley will play about 40 minutes per game, so there is no reason to bring in another player who can handle center or power forward, but we like to have our bases covered.

Allen’s recent eye injury brought the need for another decent big man into focus (no pun intended). Yes, Cleveland has won three of the four games without their starting center, but they lost to Philadelphia, who of course has MVP candidate Joel Embiid.

Lopez got eight minutes the first game Allen was out and the Cavs were a minus 9 in those minutes. He hasn’t been in a game since.

Dean Wade got the opportunity the next game, another win over the lowly Hornets, and he provided no points (on four shots) and more concerning, no rebounds in 19 minutes! The exclamation point is for someone 6’9″ playing that long without accidentally getting a rebound.

Against Philly, coach J.B. Bickerstaff dusted off two-way player Mamadi Diakite, who had played all of 16 games with the Cavs this season, and he played nine minutes, totaling two points and a rebound. He then played 12 minutes in the win over Washington, getting two points, five boards, and picking up five fouls.

We realize there is no question Allen and Mobley will play the bulk of the minutes once the playoffs start. But what if they have to miss time? If it is a long-term injury, the Cavaliers are probably screwed anyway, but what if either has to miss a game? Or one of them gets into foul trouble?

Does Bickerstaff really want to trust Diakite to play 15-18 minutes in the playoff game? And based on the Wizards’ game, could he last 15 minutes without fouling out?

After the Sixers’ game, the coach said he felt the team was short on big men, shorter than he is comfortable in being. So why don’t Koby Altman and Mike Gansey get him another player with the ability to play the #4 or #5 spot?

They used the roster spot created with the Kevin Love buyout to sign another wing, 6’4″ Sam Merrill, who has played in just two games since his arrival on March 3rd. And that was after signing Danny Green on the buyout market. He’s appeared in four games.

We understand Green’s experience may help come playoff time, but why get another wing like Merrill when there is clearly no playing time available for him.

The front office could still go out and get another big man before the playoffs, but they would have to cut someone. Maybe that’s why Diakite has played the last two games, they are seeing if he can be a contributor going forward.

The Cavs have made it a priority to get into the playoffs, the real seven game series playoffs this season. Why not go out and get an insurance policy for the post-season if Allen or Mobley have to miss some time next month?

It just makes too much sense.

Cavs Have Come A Long Way, But It’s OK To Want More

It was just two years ago that the Cleveland Cavaliers finished the shortened 2020-21 season at 22-50, and those 22 victories were the most by the franchise since LeBron James departed for the Los Angeles Lakers after four consecutive Finals appearances.

They’ve come a long way since then, winning 44 games last season and this year stand poised to make their first playoff appearance without James on the roster since 1997-98 when Mike Fratello’s squad went 47-35 and lost in the first round.

This will likely be the best non-LeBron season since 1992-93 when Cleveland went 54-28 and lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Bulls, led by a guy named Michael Jordan.

So big picture, the Cavaliers have made tremendous progress over the last two seasons, going from one of the worst teams in the league to one that right now would have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

How can anyone complain about that?

It’s a fair question to ask, especially to us, since we have been a little concerned about the play of the Cavs, particularly their bench, which obviously is still a work in progress.

When Koby Altman started the rebuild, it began around lottery pick Collin Sexton, but really made a leap when Altman was able to get Jarrett Allen from Brooklyn in the James Harden move from Houston to Brooklyn.

Since the center arrived, he has averaged 14.6 points and 10 rebounds a game, while providing excellent defense. His presence and the drafting of Darius Garland the same season gave the wine and gold three solid pieces, although Garland had some struggles in his rookie year.

The past two seasons saw the drafting of Evan Mobley and the dealing of Sexton for the more polished Donovan Mitchell, an established three time all-star, adding two more building blocks, giving the Cavs a “core four” as a foundation for success.

That success has arrived, as Cleveland will likely win 50 games this season.

There is an angst that comes with success though. There are no guarantees the Cavaliers will finish in top four of the East next season, so although we don’t want the front office to do anything that will jeopardize success down the road, because Mitchell is the oldest of the core at 26-years-old, but you have to think Altman and GM Mike Gansey could have strengthened the current roster for the stretch run.

We understand the brass wanting to see how the current members on the roster play in important games and post-season ones too, but we also think it’s fair to not expect those guys getting better with higher stakes on the line.

We’ve also been very concerned about the lack of size on the roster besides Allen and Mobley, and Allen’s eye injury brought a spotlight on that. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem he will be out long, but we don’t see Robin Lopez being effective for a long period if he was needed.

And time will tell if J.B. Bickerstaff’s plan to ramp up minutes right now to prepare the players for a heavier workload come the post-season will do just that or will the four most important Cavaliers just be worn down after the regular season.

At some point, we believe the coach will rest Mitchell, Garland, Allen, and Mobley for the playoffs, perhaps in a couple of weeks.

The Cavs have turned it around over the last two seasons and a best-of-seven series will come their way next month. But it’s alright to want more, with the expectation that the best will come in the next couple of seasons.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Cavs’ Need To Solve Bench Problem.

Since February 1st, the Cleveland Cavaliers have gone 10-4, but it seems like they are still in state of flux.

In this span, the Cavs have bought out Kevin Love and the remaining members of the second unit, save for Caris LeVert, have been wildly inconsistent.

J.B. Bickerstaff has said he is using his bench personnel based on game situations, meaning it depends on the opponent. We disagree with this, but as we all know, we are not, nor ever have been an NBA coach.

We know the players are grown men, but we still feel when players know how they will be used, they feel more comfortable and that leads to better performances.

We get the Cavs didn’t want to get into the luxury tax this season, and we understand why. They want to save that for next year, when they figure to make a deeper run in the playoffs.

That said, we continue to see a very top-heavy roster, one that will need to be tweaked going into next season if the Cavs want to contend for an Eastern Conference championship.

The front office and coaching staff have put a lot of faith in certain players and over the last month, those players haven’t justified that confidence, and right now, it’s a problem for the Cavs.

We know once the playoffs start, the rotation will be tightened, and Bickerstaff will likely use just eight guys. LeVert will no doubt be one, and Ricky Rubio will be the other. Who’s the third non-starter to get time?

Bickerstaff has established a defensive mindset for the team and that’s great. In the seasons between LeBron James leaving with Ty Lue as coach until Bickerstaff took over, there seemed to be no identity for the wine and gold. The current coach gave them one.

However, it seems like every roster move and decision about playing time is based on how a player defends, and that can be problematic because it puts the entire scoring burden on Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

If one of that quartet is having an off night, more often than not, it’s a huge problem for the Cavs.

Isaac Okoro is still starting and after a brief stretch in January and early February where his shot was falling, particularly from three-point range, he has returned to his usual performance. In his last 10 games, he’s scoring 6.4 points per game on 43% shooting from the floor and is 9 of 32 (28.1%) from long distance.

In Dean Wade’s last 14 games, he is averaging 2.6 points and 3.3 rebounds a game. He’s shooting 32.5% from the floor and 27% from three.

Cedi Osman was making 45.8% of his shots before the All-Star break, averaging 21 minutes per game. Since the break, his time has dropped to 17 minutes, missing one game entirely, and his shooting has dropped to 35%.

In our opinion, we don’t think the coach has ever been a real fan of Osman’s game, and we differ there. We think Osman should start because opposing defenses would have to guard him, and we feel he could be an effective slasher and passer.

We would still like to see Lamar Stevens get more time in the last 15 games to see if he can be a rotation piece, and he showed what he can do last night. Stevens is a solid defender and has a decent mid-range game. He doesn’t shoot a lot of threes, because he knows he’s not effective from out there.

At this point, we think he’s a better option than either Wade or Okoro.

The hardest thing for a coach to realize at times is when he is being stubborn. We hope Bickerstaff uses these last five weeks of the season to kind of hold tryouts for who should earn playing time in the playoffs.

Right now, no one is really stepping up on the offensive end of the floor.