Cavs’ Defensive Issues Are Due To All The Changes.

Our initial reaction after the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night was they looked like they had never played with each other before.

Which, of course, is true.

Think about it, Derrick Williams has been with the team for about three weeks, Deron Williams about two. Kyle Korver has been with the wine and gold since early January (he didn’t play on Thursday), so he’s never been on the floor as a teammate of JR Smith, who missed two and a half months with a thumb injury.

This presents a problem offensively, as Deron Williams learns where the rest of the players like to get the ball so they can score.

And as great as LeBron James is, and as much as he studies his teammates as well as opponents (remember how he told us we watched tape of Korver to see where he likes to catch the ball), even he admitted last night how tough this year has been with all the comings and goings due to roster moves and injuries.

There have been too many games recently where the James and Kyrie Irving are scoring almost half of the Cavs’ points.

Anyone still want to tell us how Kevin Love isn’t important to this team?

Love is a guy who is scoring more than 20 points per game, and in addition to that, is a huge factor on the defensive boards. Anyone else notice the increasing amount of offensive rebounds the Cavaliers are giving up?

It is even a bigger problem defensively. On that side of the ball, there is a great deal of trust, knowing you can pass an opponent off to another member of the Cavs, but you have to know they are going to be there.

Think about what Tyronn Lue has had to do on the fly.

He got Korver basically to replace Smith when he went down, and although Korver isn’t a horrible defender, he tries to hide his lack of quickness with knowing where to be, he isn’t as good a defender as Smith, who emerged last year as very good on that end of the floor.

Love isn’t an elite defender, but he is better than most people think, but replacing him in the starting lineup with Channing Frye is a large drop off in defense. The wine and gold’s defensive rating takes a huge hit when Frye is on the floor.

Another issue with Love being out is that it has taken a toll on the Cavs’ chief interior defender, Tristan Thompson.

Thompson seems to be getting worn down as the season has progressed, having to battle opposing big men basically by himself over the past few weeks.

No doubt this was the biggest reason Andrew Bogut was signed, and also that it appears Larry Sanders will be inked to a deal in the coming week.

Smith is back now, and hopefully Korver’s foot won’t cause him to miss too many more games.

Love should back soon as well, perhaps in about 2 weeks.

Getting everyone back, and getting some extra practice time before the playoffs begin could be the biggest remedy for the defensive issues the team has had.

They need to play and practice together to get the trust back on the defensive end of the floor. That should greatly decrease the glaring breakdowns when the opponents have the ball.

With all of the shuffling on who is and isn’t available on a nightly basis, something is going to suffer, and it’s usually defense.

When that improves, this team will be very difficult to beat.

Can Cavs-Warriors Be Analyzed Accurately?

It seems like a constant debate in Cleveland, Ohio every spring. Can the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors?

Last year, there was a great deal of hand-wringing over this, but as we said then, in reality, the wine and gold doesn’t have to worry about Steve Kerr’s team until the Warriors win the Western Conference and the Cavs are the Eastern Conference champs.

Look, we understand Golden State is a great team. They won the title in 2014-15 in six games over Cleveland, and lost in seven games to the Cavs last year. You don’t get to the NBA Finals two years in a row unless you are an excellent squad.

And yes, the same can be said for Tyronn Lue’s club.

The question has gained traction again after the NBA trading deadline came and went, and Cleveland added Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut, who were waived and traded/bought out of their current situations and joined the Cavaliers.

When JR Smith and Kevin Love get healthy, Lue can legitimately go 12 deep with a solid core of talent.

Point guard? He can use Kyrie Irving and Williams.

#2 guard? He has Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Kyle Korver at his disposal.

Small forward? James is still the best player in the sport, and another recent acquisition, Derrick Williams provides incredible athleticism in reserve, and Richard Jefferson doesn’t seem like he is 36 years old.

The Cavs have Love and Channing Frye to play the four, and Tristan Thompson and Bogut who can handle the middle.

Does all the depth added by GM David Griffin translate into being better than a Golden State team that added one of the premier players in the sport in Kevin Durant.

To do that, the Warriors lost some of their famous depth, including Bogut, who is now wearing the wine and gold.

Can the Cavs repeat as champs if they play Golden State again?

First, the Warriors will probably have a tougher time getting through the West than Cleveland will, because of the presence of San Antonio, Houston, and the LA Clippers.

All three teams are better than the Cavs chief challengers, the Celtics, Wizards, and Raptors.

The other factor is it is difficult to evaluate the Warriors because of two things, one of which is the LeBron factor.

James is still the preeminent player in the game, and it is difficult to bet against him in a seven game series. When he is making a decent number of shots from outside, he is impossible to guard.

You also have to figure in the rest of the league’s fear of the Warriors.

We believe one of the reason’s the Warriors are 50-11 this season is most of the team’s in the NBA don’t play the style needed to beat them.

They try to play the Warriors’ style, which is not effective because they are better at it than everyone else, so you will probably lose.

You don’t see many opponents getting physical with Golden State, bumping them on picks, challenging Steph Curry defensively, etc.

Some of that is most team don’t have the personnel to do that like the Cavs do, but we feel some of that is the intimidation factor. Other teams are afraid of the Warriors embarrassing them.

The Cavaliers do not have that fear. They know they can beat Golden State. They lost in six games without Irving and Love two years ago, and overcame a 3-1 deficit to win last year.

We understand that on paper, the Warriors still look like the better team, but as we learned last June, the game is not played on paper.

That’s why it is tough to analyze a third title matchup.

Griffin The Magician.

When JR Smith went down with his thumb injury around the beginning of the year, the depth of the Cleveland Cavaliers took a serious hit.

Coach Tyronn Lue was really only using three or four (depending on the day) players off his bench anyway, so he tried putting DeAndre Liggins into the starting lineup so he could still use Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, and Channing Frye off the bench.

Unfortunately, opposing teams discovered Liggins can’t make an outside shot and they quickly left him alone, which allows them to close the driving lanes for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

So, Lue adjusted and moved Shumpert into the starting lineup, but it left a gaping hole on the wine and gold’s bench.

And with the short bench, James and Irving were forced to play more minutes than we are sure both the players and the coach would have liked.

Then, GM David Griffin sprung into action as he has each of the last two years.

First, he trading struggling outside shooter Mike Dunleavy to Atlanta and brought in Kyle Korver to replace Smith’s outside marksmanship. And unbelievably, Griffin saved salary cap money in this move.

Korver’s shooting accuracy has declined since his all-star season in 2015, but Griffin correctly thought it was just a slump and Korver has hit 50% of his three point shots since arriving in Cleveland.

A few weeks ago, he signed Derrick Williams, the guy picked right after Irving in 2011, as a free agent after he was released by Miami.

Williams is a tweener, not big enough to play exclusively at power forward and not quick enough to play exclusively at small forward. However, in today’s NBA, Williams can be an effective bench player, which he has been here, averaging 10 points per game in the seven games with the Cavs.

Plus, Lue is also giving him tough defensive assignments too. He guarded Derrick Rose against the Knicks and Jimmy Butler vs. the Bulls. His length and quickness are perfect for Cleveland on the defensive end.

It’s still a small sample size, but the early returns look like Williams can be an asset for the Cavs.

Yesterday, Griffin added another piece to the bench by signing veteran Deron Williams after he was released by Dallas. Williams is a three time all star and played with James and Kevin Love on the 2012 US Olympic team.

Williams should ease the ball handling/play making role that seems to be solely on James and Irving. He played 40 games with the Mavericks this year, averaging 13 points and 7 assists in 29 minutes per night.

You have to think Williams can be very effective in less minutes and also surrounded by James, Irving and the rest of the Cavs. His presence should allow those two to play less minutes through the end of the season.

And it also seems likely that Griffin will add another big man, possibly Andrew Bogut, to the bench, perhaps as early as next week.

The price for all these additions? Dunleavy and a first round draft pick.

Griffin also kept Cedi Osman, a Turkish player whom Cleveland has the rights to, and supposedly can play.

Lue and James are the other keys to these moves. The organization has shown a tremendous ability to integrate new players quickly and seamlessly. That’s a tribute to how they run the locker room.

The Cavs may just have the deepest roster in the league right now, particularly when Love and Smith are healthy. That should be huge as the season goes down the stretch and heads into the playoffs.

Can Griffin pull another Larry O’Brien Trophy out of his hat for his next trick?

Will or Can The Cavs Make A Move?

The crazy season in the NBA is in full force this week as the All-Star Game is over and the trading deadline is the middle of this week.

It will be tough to top the bomb that went off within the Association after the game yesterday, when the Sacramento Kings dealt perhaps the most talented big man in the game in DeMarcus Cousins to the team who has the other player in that category, the New Orleans Pelicans to Tyreke Evans, rookie Buddy Hield and some draft picks.

The team in the Big Easy now has the two best big men in the sport in Anthony Davis and Cousins.

Of course, with the Cleveland Cavaliers trying to defend their NBA title, and one of their best players down with an injury in Kevin Love, the question that concerns local basketball fans is will the wine and gold make a move to bolster the roster prior to the deadline.

Recent history, of course, says yes.

In his first year as GM, David Griffin traded for JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mosgov, changing the roster dramatically, and putting the franchise into position to win the first championship in franchise history.

As we all know, injuries to Love and later, Kyrie Irving decimated the Cavs’ roster by the time they battled to reach The Finals, and Cleveland came up just short to the Golden State Warriors.

Last year, Griffin traded for another sharp shooter, Channing Frye, who contributed greatly in the playoffs after kind of being an afterthought in Orlando. Frye showed that sometimes players who aren’t great contributors on bad teams can be very useful on very good teams.

Already this season, Griffin has been very active.

After Smith went down with a thumb injury after the holidays, Griffin traded for another premier three point shooter in Kyle Korver. The veteran was showing signs of decline in Atlanta, dropping to 44% shooting, with 41% behind the arc, but in Cleveland, he has regained the touch.

In 19 games with the Cavaliers, Korver has hit 51% of his shots, both from behind the three point line as well as overall. He has picked up the outside shooting lost with Smith’s injury.

Then, Griffin signed veteran Derrick Williams for added depth, and see our comments about Frye in talking about Williams, who was the second pick in the NBA Draft behind Irving in 2011.

Still just 25 years old, Williams has averaged 9.8 points in his four games in Cleveland, and has been very active on both ends of the floor. He looks very much like he can be a contributor for the wine and gold going forward.

All of this history leads us to believe the Griffin will make some sort of move in the next week or so. It may not be a trade, he could wait for players who will be released after the deadline, who can help Tyronn Lue’s roster.

One player we would advocate looking at is a player we thought about in the late summer, because he didn’t sign until late in the process, and that is Terrence Jones, who is likely to be moved by New Orleans after last night’s deal.

Jones is young (just 25 years old), and Cleveland could use some youth on its roster, and he is also long, another need for the Cavs. Jones is listed at 6’9″ and his primary position is power forward, another need for the wine and gold with Love out.

He’s a career 50% shooter from the floor, but isn’t a three point threat. He’s averaging 11.5 points per night in just 25 minutes per game. He is also grabbing six caroms a game, and his reputation is that of a little better than average defender.

We are also sure that Griffin will come up with another back up point guard, because resting Irving and LeBron James will be very important in March, so Lue will need someone he can trust.

That may be a guy who comes to Cleveland in a buyout situation, perhaps someone like Dallas’ Deron Williams.

It will be an interesting week surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers for sure. We feel very positive that the wine and gold will bolster the roster for post-season push.

To this point, fans need to trust Griffin and his group because they have pushed the right buttons. It helps him when Lue and James are around to assimilate the new players into what the Cavaliers want to do.

Why Still No Love For Love?

Until the day that David Blatt was fired a little over a year ago, every time something went wrong with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the blame shifted to the now-deposed head coach, and Kevin Love.

Because Love didn’t put up the 26 points and 12.5 rebounds he put up during his last year with the Minnesota Timberwolves. This totally forgets that in Minnesota he was the focal point of the offense, and in Cleveland, he was probably option #3.

So, his numbers dropped with the Cavs to around 16 points and 8 boards per night in his first two years here, although this year, he is up to 20 points and 11 rebounds per game.

When it was announced earlier this week that Love had a loose body removed from his knee and would miss about six weeks of action, the critics came out yet again.

Those people once again advocate dealing Love for a variety of different packages, because he’s not reliable, he’s injury prone, and he doesn’t fit in against Golden State, the only team Cavalier fans think about in terms of opponents.

This despite Love being a starter for a team that won the NBA Championship a year ago, and having a very good game seven in the NBA Finals, scoring 9 points and grabbing 14 boards.

He averaged almost 15 points and nine boards per game throughout the playoffs last season.

Really, what does this guy have to do to garner some respect from the basketball fans in northeast Ohio?

There has even been people revisiting the trade which brought Love to Cleveland, giving up former first overall pick Anthony Wiggins to Minnesota. Those criticisms came of course after Wiggins scored 41 points vs. the wine and gold on Tuesday night.

Not to get all analytical with you, but Love has a VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) of a little over 2.0 in both seasons he has played with the Cavs.

His win shares in both seasons with Cleveland are around 8.5.

As for Wiggins, his VORP has been negative in both of his first two seasons with Minnesota and this year, it’s at the break even point of 0.0.

His win shares for last season was 3.4.

The point is that by the analytics Kevin Love is a way better basketball player than Anthony Wiggins, and it is not even close.

Wiggins can score, there is no question about that. He’s averaging a career high 23.2 points per game. Unfortunately, that’s about all he does on the basketball floor, getting just 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest.

Do the Cavs really need another high volume scorer?

Heck, Love averages almost two assists per game, and that is hardly his primary function on the Cavaliers.

Wiggins was the first overall pick, but he might be the only the third or fourth best player on his own team. Certainly, Karl Anthony Towns is better, and so is Zack LaVine.

And while Love is the third best player on the Cavs, Cleveland is a championship team, and they have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Being the third best player on a title contender is a heck of a lot better than being the third best player on an also ran.

The Cavs will probably overcome Love’s injury and will continue to pile up wins. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good player, or that he can be replaced.

That speaks more about the leadership provided by LeBron James and Tyronn Lue, and the championship pedigree developed here.

Kevin Love is a big part of this basketball team. Make no mistake about that.

Cavs’ Injuries Adding To Difficult March Slate

Since the beginning of the calendar year, the Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have been beset by injuries, which makes people nervous about the prospect to repeating as NBA champions.

It started with JR Smith’s thumb, which has him out until what looks like the middle of March. The question with this malady is will Smith have enough time to round back into shape, more of that meaning will his outside shooting be up to standard come playoff time in the middle of April.

Smith’s shooting and defense were of tremendous importance in the run to the title a year ago, so the seriousness of this injuries cannot be understated.

Then came the Kevin Love situation. First it was his back, which caused him to miss a few games, and now comes the revelation that the all-star forward has some knee problems, and it would not be surprising if he needs to miss about 3-4 weeks of action, which would put him out until the middle of March too.

And we haven’t even mentioned Iman Shumpert’s sprained ankle, which has put him out for a week, and at this point, it would be in the Cavs’ best interest to keep the guard out of action until after the All Star break.

With these injuries to key players, it is kind of amazing the wine and gold are still sitting at 37-16 and with the best record in the Eastern Conference by two games over Boston.

While no injuries are timely, these comes at a particularly bad time because the schedule is very heavy with road games in March.

After a road game tonight and a game vs. Indiana at The Q tomorrow, the Cavaliers start the post break slate with three home games.

Then, starting on March 1st, seven of the next eight games are on the road, and included in that span are games against Boston, Atlanta, Houston, and a home/road back to back against Miami.

It doesn’t get any easier after that. Following two home games against Detroit and Utah, Tyronn Lue’s squad goes back out west for games with the Clippers, Lakers, and Nuggets, then stopping in Charlotte before heading home.

At the very least, that portion of the trip could be concerned with getting Love and Smith back in the groove for the playoffs.

Besides all of the schedule and injury problems, remember that the trading deadline takes place next week, and it wouldn’t be a shock if GM David Griffin makes some sort of a move at the deadline to bolster the Cavs for the stretch run.

That puts Lue squarely in the middle as the guy who has to bring this all together, and he needs to do it while still winning games.

Over the past three years, and we include the year David Blatt was in charge, the Cavs have done a great job integrating new players into their culture, a tribute to both the coaching staff and the team’s leader, LeBron James.

Look at how quickly Derrick Williams has seemed to fit in being here not even a week.

Tristan Thompson summed it up the other night when he said the Cavaliers bring in guys who do one thing really well, and allow them to do what they do best.

The biggest thing is getting everyone in full gear when the playoffs start in the middle of April.

There isn’t any evidence to suggest this organization can’t do just that.

Defense Is Cavs’ Biggest Issue

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a funk.

Perhaps it’s an annual thing, because they seem to go through this each of the last two Januarys, or maybe they are simply bored as the season has just passed the halfway point.

Maybe it’s a hangover from the franchise’s first title last summer, and they will be able to turn the switch after the All Star game at the end of February.

Whatever, it’s not very pretty to watch.

Monday’s loss to Dallas was embarrassing. Yes, they are missing two starters due to injury in JR Smith and Kevin Love, but so were the Mavericks, who were without Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut.

Dallas is the third worst team in the Western Conference at 18-30 and have a below .500 record at home. And they played the night before and picked up a huge road win, perhaps their biggest of the year, at San Antonio.

Still, the Cavs couldn’t take advantage. They continue to struggle away from Quicken Loans Arena, dropping to 11-10 on the road for the season.

And while LeBron James continues to say the team needs a backup point guard, the biggest need for the wine and gold is to improve their defense.

Yes, if you play an up tempo game, you are going to give up points in the NBA, but the Cavs have allowed 100 or more points in 13 of the last 14 games. In the first 33 games this season, Cleveland held their opponents under 100 points 13 times.

That’s why in today’s “tryout camp” for veterans that the Cavs are having today, we would look for defense first.

Now, that being said, we don’t want players who don’t have any ability to put the ball in the basket, like say DeAndre Liggins. Those players become liabilities when you have the ball and allow teams to double on James and Kyrie Irving.

However, we would look to sign players who can defend, but also have the ability to score. We understand that sounds like an oxymoron, but Tyronn Lue has players who can shoot at his disposal, guys like Smith, Channing Frye, and Kyle Korver.

But outside of Smith, they are not strong on defense.

What is really needed though is an accountability from the current players on the defensive end. We have seen too many opposing players getting by their defender, which causes someone to help, and that leaves someone wide open on the perimeter.

If the help doesn’t arrive, then it’s a lay up. That is happening far too often, and it isn’t just elite players causing problems. Heck, Dallas had Yogi Farrell, currently on a 10 day contract, and Seth Curry, not Steph Curry, parading to the basket.

That just comes down to personal responsibility. Keep your man in front of you. We know they are capable of doing that, which plays into our boredom argument.

We understand there probably isn’t a real threat to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference, but that doesn’t mean if these bad habits aren’t curtailed soon, other teams might feel like they have a shot.

Part of the Cavs’ mystique is many other teams are defeated before they take the floor. That’s something they don’t want to lose, and stepping it up on the defensive end is a step in that direction.

January = Drama Month For Cavaliers

It’s the first month of the new year and once again there is drama and anxiousness regarding the city’s professional basketball team.

When you think about it, this has become an annual rite of passage.

In 2015, the team endured LeBron James missing two weeks to basically refresh his body. The Cavs actually dropped below the .500 mark at one point (19-20), and then GM David Griffin traded Dion Waiters and some draft picks for JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mozgov and the team took off.

Oh, and there was the team bonding bowling trip then coach David Blatt took his squad on.

That team went on to win the Eastern Conference and ultimately lose to Golden State in the NBA Finals.

2016 brought the blowout loss to the Warriors on Martin Luther King Day and the shocking firing of Blatt with the Cavs sitting at 30-11 for the season.

It was a bold move by Griffin, and it turned out to be the right move as well, as the wine and gold went on to win its first NBA title.

So why would you think 2017 would be any different? Apparently, the title doesn’t change everything.

The Cavaliers are going through their first rough patch of the season, losing three of six on a west coast trip and then losing to New Orleans and Sacramento.

The defense has been non-existent and the foul shooting deplorable.

And then LeBron James made comments about the roster and it has been reported that he and owner Dan Gilbert are at odds about the money being spent on improving the roster.

Yep, it’s January alright.

We understand James’ comment about the roster and we believe he is talking more to his teammates than he is to the front office. He is saying that the players can’t continuously look to himself, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love to get things done.

The rest of the team has the ability to make some things happen and they need to step it up.

James keeps talking about another point guard, or playmaker as Griffin says, and we feel another inside defensive presence is a more pressing need. Right now, Tristan Thompson is the only quality interior defender on the roster, and the team certainly could use another big man.

As for the discussion with the owner, we are sure James wants to make sure the luxury tax, of which the Cavs are paying a ton, isn’t a deterrent to defending the title.

James has to believe that the Warriors, Spurs, and any other contenders will add to their roster by the trade deadline, and to be sure, he wants assurances Griffin will not be hamstrung by tax concerns.

But the current roster has to play better too. It seems like a little complacency has set in and right now, the wine and gold have been playing sloppy–too many turnovers and laziness on the defensive end.

They are getting every team’s best shot as the defending champions, and they aren’t responding.

That’s not something Griffin and/or Gilbert can fix. It must come from within the locker room.

We would start by putting Kyle Korver in the starting lineup and putting everyone else back into the roles they were in before Smith went down with his injury.

We would also start giving some minutes to Kay Felder and Jordan McRae, thus cutting back on playing time for James, Irving, and Love.

We may see that as soon as tonight.

Right now isn’t the time to panic. It’s just a normal January for the Cavaliers.

Changes, Injuries Hurting Cavs Right Now

The Cleveland Cavaliers still sit at the top of the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings at 30-12, but they’ve hit a little bit of a slump.

They have split their last eight games, six of those coming on a long trip that spanned from Brooklyn to Golden State.

It appears the changes that have occurred to the roster have caught up a bit to Tyronn Lue and the guys in wine and gold.

First, they lost JR Smith to a thumb injury that will keep him out of the lineup until the middle of March at the earliest. That led Lue to replace him with DeAndre Liggins, but he is not a very good outside shooter, and the league figured that out pretty quickly.

That forced Lue to start Iman Shumpert in Smith’s usual spot, which takes away from the defense on the second unit.

For example, Lue started newly acquired Kyle Korver, Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, and Liggins with LeBron James at the start of the second and fourth quarters, and San Antonio went on runs both times.

Getting Korver is another change for Lue to handle. He doesn’t seem to know exactly how he fits right now, mostly because of the very little practice time the team has had since he arrived.

Perhaps the best thing to do is to start Korver in Smith’s spot and put everyone back in their accustomed spots, the way it was early in the year when the Cavs were rolling.

Another complication has been nagging injuries to two of the “Big Three”, an ankle problem for Kyrie Irving and a back issue for Kevin Love.

Irving is shooting the three ball like he did two years ago, and his assist numbers are the highest since before James returned to the team.

In the seven games right before he hurt his ankle vs. Boston, Irving averaged 24 points and 10 assists per game with slightly less than three turnovers.

Since returning to the lineup, he has played eight games. His scoring is fine at 23.5 points, but his assists are down to 4.5 and his turnovers are over three per night.

He just hasn’t found the groove he was in before the ankle issue.

Love’s back has been bothering him since the New Orleans game the day after New Year’s, and his production has dropping off dramatically.

He has scored over 20 points just once in that span and hasn’t shot over 50% in a game since the Cavaliers beat the Lakers on December 17th.

Besides the back issues, it seems like the Cavs have gotten away from getting Love touches near the basket, as he is relying more and more on three point shots.

In last night’s loss to the Spurs, Love took 15 total shots, 11 of those from behind the arc.

The team needs a healthy Kevin Love to succeed, but the lack of depth at the #4 and #5 spots in the lineup make it tough for that to happen.

We know James has lobbied for a back up point guard, but right now, the weakness that needs to be addressed is interior defense, which hasn’t been good as of late, and really the only player who can be counted on the contribute there is Tristan Thompson.

GM David Griffin needs to get another big, and the sooner the better.

We have faith that Lue will get the rotations down quickly and when Korver is more acclimated to the team, the Cavs will start playing well again soon.

We know what this team is capable of, and the talent is certainly there. They are simply going through a period where a lot of players are nicked up and others have had to change their roles.

Lue and Griffin have earned the trust that they will take care of this. With three home games following Monday’s game in New Orleans, and then five out of the next six on the road, it might be time to right the ship.

Cavs Loss Last Night? Not A Huge Deal.

If you are a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers, you have to be disappointed in last night’s 126-91 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

There were some things to be concerned about for GM David Griffin and coach Tyronn Lue, but not to be simplistic, but when you shoot 34% and your opponent shoots 53%, you will probably lose.

As LeBron James says, it’s a shot making league, and last night Golden State made theirs, and the Cavaliers did not.

The schedule also didn’t do the wine and gold any favors. The home team was really the home team as Steve Kerr’s team hasn’t left the state of California since they lost in Cleveland on Christmas Day.

On the other hand, the Cavs were on the last game of a six game trip that started in Brooklyn. They didn’t have their legs and it showed.

That doesn’t mean the Cavaliers should be happy this morning, but they shouldn’t be overreaction either.

One of the ways the wine and gold have played well against the Warriors is they have been able to control the tempo, and they have done this by making shots and not letting Golden State get out and run.

When the Warriors fast break, they take a lot of three point shots in transition, and they did that with a few minutes remaining in the first quarter, when Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant started draining threes in transition.

So, not only did the poor shooting kill the Cavs offensively, which is obvious, but it also hurt them defensively, which was a hidden problem.

And though it will sound like sour grapes, the Warriors continued their habit of fouling virtually every time down the floor, hoping the referees will not call them all, and that influenced the misses of many shots, particularly those near the basket.

The other thing in Cleveland’s favor is they did not have JR Smith, and we know that Griffin is not done tinkering with the wine and gold’s roster. He understands his team needs another big man and another playmaker, and we have all the faith in the world that the GM will solve both of those needs.

To be fair, we are sure the Warriors will make a move to add to their roster as well.

Remember, the Cavaliers got blown out at home on Martin Luther King Day a year ago. What happened at the end of the season? A championship. That’s why no one should overreact to what happened yesterday.

If you feel the need to be concerned, worry about the injury to Smith, and getting Kyle Korver up to speed both offensively, but also in the team’s defensive concepts.

Be concerned that DeAndre Liggins’s usefulness is becoming lessened by the game. He cannot shoot, and the opposition knows it. They aren’t guarding him. He also struggles defending players without the ball.

On the other hand, the season is far from over. The playoffs don’t start for three months, and there is plenty of time to improve.

Last year, the Cavs found out after game two of The Finals that they needed to make some adjustments. They did and they won the title.

So, excuse us if we aren’t worried about a game in January against a team the Cavs defeated four consecutive games before yesterday.