Altman Says Cavs May Take A Guard. We Say No Way.

It is anybody’s guess as to when we will see our professional basketball team again, as it has been reported that the NBA season may not start until after the calendar turns to 2021.

The Cavaliers are currently getting some work in at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, as part of the program for teams that were not invited to the “bubble” in Orlando.

So, coach J.B. Bickerstaff gets his first look at his team in six months, although Andre Drummond and free agent to be Tristan Thompson are not taking part in the workouts.

Bickerstaff does get his first look, on the court at least, of rookie first round pick Dylan Windler, who missed the entire 2019-20 season with a stress fracture in the leg, and subsequent surgery to repair it.

The next big order of business for the franchise is the draft, which will be held on November 18th, with the free agency period apparently to follow, although that is not confirmed.

The Cavaliers have the fifth overall pick, and GM Koby Altman has said the wine and gold will take the best player available at that spot, even if it is a guard.

Don’t believe that for a second. It is pure rhetoric unless the roster is overhauled before the draft occurs.

The Cavaliers have drafted guards in the top ten of the draft the last two years, and both are primarily point guards. With only five players on the floor at one time, you cannot have this kind of duplicity on the roster.

In addition to Collin Sexton (2018 first rounder) and Darius Garland (’19), Altman also used the last pick of the first round, which he traded for, to take yet another guard, and Kevin Porter Jr. showed signs he can be a starter in the Association long term.

So, while saying you are going to take the best player available, which is typical GM-speak going into a draft, you don’t want your organizational leader saying “we really don’t need this position, so we are going to reach to take a lesser player”, if the Cavaliers take another guard at five, it would be a colossal error.

It has been reported that Altman doesn’t want to move either Sexton, who looked much better after Bickerstaff took over as head coach, or Porter, who averaged 12 points per game after December 1st, and is the bigger guard the team needs.

That would leave the organization open to moving Garland, although they would be selling low on the second year guard, but could package him and the fifth pick this year to get a young, veteran, and yes, taller player.

Remember, the Cavs were the smallest team in the NBA a year ago, and even though they made the deal for Drummond, they lost another tall player in Ante Zizic, and Thompson could be gone by the time training camp opens.

The Cavs already have a logjam in the backcourt with Sexton and Porter the likely starters, with Garland needing minutes to develop, and don’t forget Dante Exum, a bigger guard who was the fifth overall pick in 2014, and will be only 25 years old when the next season opens, provided it opens before next June.

Don’t panic about Altman’s comments, because they are purely rhetoric, draft speak. It would be a shock if he took another guard in this draft. More likely, they will take a big man or a taller wing player.

That makes the most sense.

Cavs’ Forgotten Man: Dylan Windler

Last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers would up with three first round picks.

Everyone was hoping they would get the first overall pick with their chances in the lottery, but they would up getting the fifth pick and selected Darius Garland, who played sparingly at Vanderbilt and had an up and down rookie season.

GM Koby Altman moved a bunch of second round picks to get the last pick in the first round, and selected Kevin Porter Jr., who turned out to be one of the surprises of the season.

Porter Jr. played 23 minutes per game, and scored 10 points on 44% shooting and his free throw shooting, a weakness in college (52%), wound up at 72% during his first season in the NBA.

He will only be 20 when the 2020-21 season starts, but he is viewed as one of the building blocks of the future for the wine and gold.

The third first round pick is largely forgotten because he was injured in training camp, and didn’t play a minute last season.

Dylan Windler was the 26th overall pick, a four year college player out of Belmont. A 6’7″ wing player, he shot 54% during his senior season, including 42.9% from beyond the three point arc.

Because he’s a four year player, he will turn 24 years old before the next regular season gets underway, but there is no question he can shoot the rock.

While some long range shooters can be mechanical and slow, the report on Windler (and watching highlights too) is he has a very quick release and he’s also a lefty, which fools defenders used to righties, which is the norm.

And he’s not a guy who just stands around the perimeter, waiting for someone to see him open. He is active without the ball, and will cut to the basket to get opportunities around the basket. He’s also a solid rebounder, averaging 9.3 and 10.8 boards per game in his last two collegiate seasons.

The biggest question, as is for most players coming into the pro game, is how well he can defend. We say it all the time, pretty much every player who gets to the NBA can put the ball in the basket, what determines their playing time is what they can do on the other end of the floor.

It’s not just a quickness thing either. You have to be strong, be able to hold your ground to play defense at the pro level. You have to wonder if Windler has been able to improve his strength while he is recovering from his stress reaction to his leg.

The other issue is it’s a young man’s league in the NBA and Windler will get his first action at 24. How much room does he have to grow as a player? It’s not impossible, some players get better in their late 20’s because they discover their niche in the league.

It’s tough because he lost a year of development because of the injury. There is no replacing experience. Garland and Porter Jr. know what to expect in their second season, Windler doesn’t.

However, he can be a huge asset to the Cavaliers because the team needs both shooting and wing players. They also need players with length, and J.B. Bickerstaff knows that.

Dylan Windler could make the 2019 draft a huge bonanza for Altman and the Cavs if he can translate his the abilities that made him a player in college to the NBA.

Maybe we can see that if the non-playoff teams get their own “bubble” coming up.

All Kinds Of Ways To Win In The NBA, You Don’t Have To Play Small

Doing things differently is what separates the good from the great, particularly when it comes to sports.

The NBA is no different, many teams copy the system that works, instead of looking at their roster, their talent, and doing what is best with the players at hand.

In 2013-14, the Golden State Warriors finished 51-31 under Mark Jackson, an improvement from the prior season (47-35), and a huge improvement from Jackson’s first year as coach, when they had a 23-43 mark in a shortened season.

That Warriors team was 4th in the league in three point shooting percentage (38%) and was sixth in pace.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were the stars of the team, and Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green were already in place.

Jackson was let go, and Steve Kerr took over, and quickened the pace of play, as Golden State ranked first in that category. They also led the league in three point shooting, and won the NBA title.

The pace slowed a bit the next season, and even more when Kevin Durant joined the team, and even though the Warriors had plenty of big men on the roster, the “small ball” movement was in full swing, and many teams followed.

Including the Cleveland Cavaliers.

When the Cavs won the title in 2016, they won the last three games by slowing the pace, playing their speed. After winning, it seemed to us they felt like playing at the Warriors’ pace, which we felt was the wrong move, because that was Golden State’s game, and they were better at it than Cleveland.

There is no rule that says every team in the NBA has to play like Golden State, and here’s hoping GM Koby Altman understands this.

Perhaps the wine and gold’s two best players are big men, Kevin Love and Andre Drummond. If you adapt to your talent, and we think J.B. Bickerstaff is a smart coach, it would seem playing smaller, like many NBA teams are, would not be the way to go.

You can’t win that way, you say?

The Milwaukee Bucks have the sport’s best record at 53-12, and they usual starting lineup featured a 7 foot center, forwards that were 6’11” and 6’7″, and guards that were 6’1″ and 6’4″.

The Lakers have the best record in the west, and their lineup consists of a 7 foot center, a pair of forwards measuring 6’10” and 6’9″, and a backcourt of 6’3″ and 6’6″.

Toronto has a smallish set of guards (6’1″ and 6′), but their starting frontcourt measures 6’11”, 6’9″, and 6’7″.

The Clippers? 7 foot center, forwards and 6’7″ and 6’8″, and guards at 6’1″ and 6’4″.

Our point is there are a number of ways to win in today’s NBA despite the talking heads telling everyone teams have to play like Golden State and Houston to do so, and the Cavaliers should be paying attention to that.

This year, the team tried to win with a very small squad, statistically the smallest in the league, and it didn’t work for a variety of reasons, inexperience being one of them.

However, it didn’t help that rookie Darius Garland and his 40.1% shooting was taking the third most shots on the team, because the coaching staff gave him the green light. He was taking one less shot per game than Love, and that can’t happen.

It’s about maximizing the talent you have and adapting a style in which they can thrive.

That’s what Kerr did, and that’s what Bickerstaff is charged with in the upcoming season.

It’s the definition of coaching.

Cavs Plans This Summer Should Include The Sorting Of The Guards.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a problem at the guard position, and we aren’t criticizing the 2018 first round draft pick Collin Sexton, who has been a whipping post for many both locally and nationally.

Sexton’s play over the last month or so, have given us optimism for the 6’1″ second year guard who, by the way, still hasn’t reached his 22nd birthday.

In the 11 games played after the All Star Game, Sexton is averaging 25.5 points and 4.2 assists a night, on 53% shooting from the floor, including 43.1% from three point range.

Even better, the Cavaliers have gone 4-6 in that period. Of course, the wine and gold also changed their head coach, replacing John Beilein with J.B. Bickerstaff.

No, the problem is there seems to be too many guards on the current roster, and with the Cavs perhaps having one of the top picks in the NBA Draft, whenever it occurs, several of the highest ranked players also play guard.

In the past two seasons, GM Koby Altman has adopted the draft the best player available mentality, so what happens if that is all that’s left when Cleveland’s turn comes up in the selection process.

It would seem to trigger some sort of move or at least a change in philosophy.

One reason for the overload at the position is Altman’s gamble at the end of last year’s first round, trading for Kevin Porter Jr.

Porter has improved as the season as gone on, and has earned more playing time as a result. He started the season playing about 18 minutes, and in each month has earned more court time, going from 21 minutes in November, to 23 in January, and then to a little less than 27 in February/March.

The Cavaliers need some size in the backcourt after using top ten picks on two guards under 6’2″ the past two drafts, and Porter at 6’4″ gives them just that. Beilein used him at small forward, where he was undersized, to get him on the floor, but in reality, he’s a #2 guard, where he can be paired with Sexton or Darius Garland, last year’s first pick.

Can Bickerstaff juggle playing time for three young guards, because they all need playing time to develop, and what happens if when the Cavs turn comes up in the draft, the best players remaining are Anthony Edwards of Georgia, LaMelo Ball, and Cole Anthony of North Carolina.

The “best player available” theory has to go out the window.

If the NBA does not resume the regular season and goes right to the playoffs (which we believe will be the plan), Cleveland misses 17 games to see if or how the three young guards can coexist together, especially with the changes Sexton has made in his game.

So, what does Altman do? Does he move either Sexton or Garland prior to the draft in an effort to get either a young player with some size or another first round pick?

Or does he trade down in the draft and pick either a small forward to compete with Cedi Osman or another big man because Tristan Thompson is a free agent at the end of the year, Andre Drummond can be a free agent next summer, and you never know when Kevin Love could be traded.

The point is the Cavs have plenty of holes, but maybe the backcourt isn’t one of them. It will be interesting to see what Altman and his crew does this summer.

Bickerstaff Showing Winning Is Important And Expected

Cavs’ coach J.B. Bickerstaff used the “p” word the other day regarding his basketball team. He said the expectation for the Cavaliers next season would be to make a run at the playoffs.

First of all, that a refreshing point of view. Coaches and players should want and expect to make the post-season. We doubt players start any season, even the wine and gold this season and think “gee, let’s lose 65 games”.

Second, this has to make all the tankers nervous. There are people out there who believe teams should be trying to do one of two things: Either be in a position to win a title or trying to maximize your chances of getting the first overall pick in the draft.

They don’t understand teams need to experience winning, coming out with victories occasionally breeds more wins. It’s a learned skill, that’s why you see veteran teams who have lost a great player continue to win for awhile. The players have learned how to come out ahead.

We hate to tell people, sometimes it’s not all about talent. It’s knowing where to be on the court, knowing how to set up a teammate, knowing what’s the right play.

We all know the Cavaliers are a very young basketball team. Their top three in minutes played in 2019-20 are all 25 years old and younger–Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, and Darius Garland.

Add Kevin Porter Jr. to the mix and that would make four of the top seven, and three of those guys are under 21.

And they will add another player from this year’s draft, as they will have one of the top six picks, and that guy will also be under 21 years old.

But they still need a goal of success, and that’s where Bickerstaff’s playoff comment comes in. Talented young players sometimes need to be reminded that winning is the main goal in the NBA.

Those four young players will have some veterans still on the roster to teach them the correct way to play. We have no idea about what this summer will bring (for the league, right now too) for Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, who will be a free agent, but even if they are gone, other solid veterans will likely be brought in.

For example, after Bickerstaff took over, look at the difference in the offense when Matthew Dellavedova got a ton more minutes at the point. Delly is third on the Cavs in assists, behind Sexton and Garland, both of whom play twice the minutes of the Australian.

Look at the influence he had on Sexton when we started moving the basketball offensively. Sexton saw the success, and his assist totals, criticized by many (including us) started to rise.

That’s learning. Now we aren’t naïve to think all players are open to learning and understanding that winning is important. There are plenty in today’s game who think making the “pretty” play is the right thing to do, and winning is secondary.

Those guys usually become guys who put up numbers on bad teams.

The great players are part of winning teams, championship teams.

That’s what J.B. Bickerstaff wants to develop in Cleveland with the Cavs. And telling his young group of players that winning is important and expected is a good step.

You can’t start too early.

Season Continues Or No, Altman Has Key Decisions This Summer

With the season suspended due to COVID-19, the league that shutdown first, the NBA, is wondering what they should do when play can begin again.

While they would probably want to play some regular season games, at least to get players and teams in somewhat of a routine before the playoffs start, we believe the league should go right into the post-season.

In the Eastern Conference, there is a 5-1/2 game gap between 8th seed Orlando and the team with the ninth best record, the Washington Wizards.

In the West, the separation is 3-1/2 game between Memphis, who currently holds the final playoff spot and Portland.

With most teams having only 17-18 games remaining, it is doubtful any team currently qualifying for the post-season would drop off. Yes, we understand it is mathematically possible, not in reality, not likely.

If that is the way the NBA goes forward, then the Cavaliers have the second worst record in the NBA, and by rules, would have a 14% chance at the first pick (the highest odds along with Golden State and Minnesota), and could not fall lower than the 6th overall pick.

According to NBADraft.Net, the top six players right now are as follows–

Anthony Edwards, Georgia 6’5″ Guard
LaMelo Ball, 6’8″ Point Guard
James Wiseman, Memphis (sort of) 7’1″ Center
Obi Toppin, Dayton 6’9″ Forward
Cole Anthony, North Carolina 6’2″ Guard
Jaden McDaniels, Washington 6’10” Forward

Who should Cavs’ GM Koby Altman select?

That really depends on what decisions the team makes regarding the talent currently on the roster. Can Collin Sexton and Darius Garland play together? Making that decision is probably the key to everything else.

Our opinion is they can’t, and not because of any flaw in either player’s game. It’s because it is tough to be effective defensively, even in today’s NBA playing two guards under 6’3″.

And yes, we understand Portland has had some success, but to us, that’s the outlier not the norm.

And don’t forget the most impressive rookie for Cleveland this season, Kevin Porter Jr. and Dylan Windler, who hasn’t played all year.

What we mean is this…if you get the first overall pick, the Cavs really can’t take Edwards, Ball, or Anthony without moving either Garland or Sexton. We are not saying they don’t know that, but obviously you would get a decent piece for either player if they are dealt.

Obviously, the best fits for the wine and gold would be the big men, Wiseman, Toppin, and McDaniels. The one who figures to help most immediately would be Toppin, who played two years as a Flyer, and is 22 years old.

He would seem to be able to step in at small forward, moving Cedi Osman either to a true swingman, coming off the bench to play both guard and forward, or to the starting #2 guard spot.

Toppin doesn’t have a comparable player on the site, but Wiseman, just 19, is more of a true center (compare to Hassan Whiteside/DeAndre Jordan). If you select him, then Andre Drummond is likely gone after next season.

McDaniels, while talented, looks to be a project, weighing just 185 pounds. He will need to add weight and muscle to be more than a bench player in his rookie season. And you never know how big men with slight builds develop as NBA players.

Do they become Chris Bosh or Marquise Chriss?

This is a rather large off-season for Altman because of the decisions he has to make with his young backcourt. He has three first round picks from the last two draft who are ideally guards, and only two can play.

And it is difficult to ask young guys to come off the bench in 6th man roles. Sexton, Garland, Porter…which two are wearing wine and gold next season?

Was Drafting Garland Unfair To Sexton?

Last June, the Cleveland Cavaliers made Darius Garland the fifth overall pick in the NBA draft despite drafting a smaller guard the year before in Collin Sexton.

We’ve heard a few people compare the situation to 1987 when the Cavs traded for Mark Price after he was drafted by Dallas in the second round, and then GM Wayne Embry picked Kevin Johnson, another lead guard in the first round the following draft.

The difference is Price didn’t play a lot as a rookie, averaging just 18 minutes a night, and scored just 6.9 points and three assists, and shot just 41% from the floor behind John Bagley.

The next season, Price averaged 16 points, 6 assists, and shot 50% from the floor, and by mid-season, Johnson was traded to Phoenix in a package that netted the Cavs Larry Nance Sr. and Mike Sanders.

Nance was the missing piece Cleveland needed and they won 57 games the following year, being eliminated in the playoffs by “The Shot”.

With Garland and Sexton both drafted very high, the front office and coaching staff felt they needed to play the two guards together, even though they sacrificed size, with two under 6’2″ players in the backcourt.

John Beilein thought the pair could play together and perhaps they could have in college, but in the pro, it’s tough to play defense with a lack of height, even at guard.

Perhaps the better idea would have been to start Sexton, who improved as his rookie season progressed and pair him with a bigger #2 guard, and bring Garland off the bench, much like Johnson over 30 years ago.

Sexton, who has been widely criticized all season long (including here), seemed unsure of what he was supposed to do, being moved off the ball.

Since the end of January, the second year man from Alabama has averaged 24.2 points and 4.2 assists per game. Keep in mind, a year ago, Sexton averaged three dimes per contest.

Perhaps it was too much to expect two rookie guards to play effectively at the NBA level this early. It seems playing with veterans helps Sexton, and maybe not having to guard bigger off-guards all night helps his offense too.

This is not to denigrate Garland, but he’s 19-years-old and only played four games in college a year ago.

When you play with guys who have been around, and know how to move the basketball, like Kevin Love, Larry Nance, and Matthew Dellavedova, it becomes contagious, and you become a better passer too.

Sexton admitted when Beilein stepped down and J.B. Bickerstaff took over, that he looked inward and wondered if he needed to play better and play differently. He certainly has done just that.

If Sexton continues to play like he has in the last month, GM Koby Altman has a huge decision to make. Does he turn the keys to the offense over to Sexton and make a move with Garland?

The rookie is averaging 12.3 points and 3.9 assists per game, and he looks like he can play in the NBA. But Kevin Porter Jr. has scored 10 points and dished out 2.2 assists in seven less minutes per night, and he looks like a keeper too.

Resolving the backcourt may be the single most important decision the Cavs have to make this off-season. However, they may not get the value they want because of how they handled the 2019-20 season.

Could Playing With Size Be More In Vogue For Cavs?

In the fourth quarter of Monday night’s comeback victory over the Miami Heat, new Cavs’ coach J.B. Bickerstaff did something we have advocated for about three months.

He went big.

He played Darius Garland at the point, played Kevin Porter Jr., a two guard with some actual size at 6’4″, and then went with Larry Nance Jr. at the three, with Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson up front.

These Cavaliers were better defensively, and we feel a big reason for that is the height being used.

Nance’s improved three point shooting, he’s a respectable 34% from distance in the past two seasons, allow the coaching staff to play him there. Nance referred to himself as a “swiss army knife” after the game, and that’s a pretty good analysis.

We loved the acquisition of Nance in 2018 at the trade deadline, because in watching a few Lakers’ games that season, we felt he was the best “player” on the team.

He’s a solid defender, which the wine and gold desperately need, and a very good passer for a forward. Defensively, he has enough quickness to stay with small forwards, and with his leaping ability, can bother the shots of power forwards.

The only questions about the former Revere High School product are his durability, he’s never played more than 67 games in a season, and his lack of bulk when defending in the paint.

We have written about this ad nauseum, but a big part of Cleveland’s struggles defensively is lack of size. Playing Garland and Collin Sexton at guard together make the team very small, and that is compounded playing Porter Jr. at small forward.

Notice that Andre Drummond wasn’t in that lineup against the Heat, but he soon will be part of that group, at least we hope so.

The new big man is getting just 10.8 shots per game with the Cavs, compared to almost 14 a night with Detroit. In the loss to Miami Saturday night, Drummond took just three shots, which is ridiculous.

We are not worried about this because the Cleveland guards are quite frankly, terrible at making entry passes into the post. That’s amazing to say about a player in the NBA.

As the coaching staff works with them, and playing Porter, who is a willing passer, more often, we would expect that to improve, and Drummond will get more shots.

He is active defensively, moves well for a big guy, and at 6’10”, gives the franchise a legitimate offensive big man. Tristan Thompson has done a great job, but he is really more suited to being a defensive oriented power forward.

The other player we hear being questioned is Cedi Osman. He is another player we feel is not being used in an optimate manner.

We think Osman is best used as a slasher, a guy who drives to the hoop and either finishes or has the ability to find the open man. Right now, he’s kind of a spot up three point shooter, and although he is hitting 38% from behind the arc, he is more streaky from distance.

It will be interesting to see if Bickerstaff uses this bigger lineup more often. It certainly can’t hurt. Hopefully, he is using the rest of the year as a laboratory, seeing what does and does not work.

Even though teams are playing smaller in today’s NBA, make no mistake, size is still important. It’s about time the Cavs’ front office got on board.

Hard To Find Fault With Cavs Or Beilein For This Failure.

It appears the revolving door that is the head coaching position for the Cleveland Cavaliers has started to turn again.

It is very likely that John Beilein has coached his last game in the NBA for the Cavs, and it is difficult to place blame on this failure to work on any one party.

In theory, hiring a college coach was a decent idea. The wine and gold put together a very young roster, and the thought was let’s bring in someone who can teach the kids to play the right way.

Beilein was connected to the Cavs by assistant GM Mike Gansey, who played for him at West Virginia, and obviously he thought he was prepared for an 82 game schedule and all the other things that came with being an NBA head coach.

He was wrong. He isn’t happy, and at 67 years old, shouldn’t you want to do something that gives you joy?

And that’s what we believe, that this is Beilein’s decision more than it’s the front office being unhappy with the direction of the team.

We do think there are reasons for the coach’s discontent though.

We feel he knows the current roster isn’t set up for success, and the front office is driving the idea of playing the “mini backcourt” of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. The coaching staff knows it is very difficult to win in the pro game playing a pair of guard that are under 6’2″.

The tipping point for the former Michigan coach may have been the trading deadline. There has been speculation Beilein wanted Sexton and Kevin Love moved before the rosters were set for the balance of the season, and when that didn’t happen, he decided he couldn’t wait to get out.

The Cavs shouldn’t be shocked with the move either. After all, they hired a 66 year old head coach with no NBA experience. If they didn’t have an idea this may not work, then they were foolish.

We would guess JB Bickerstaff takes over the reins for the rest of the season. What he needs to establish is a blueprint for how the Cavaliers are going to play, and that imprint should come after a discussion with the front office.

Cleveland sports people have been using the term “alignment” a lot recently, mostly in discussing the Browns. However, the same thing is needed at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

We have been saying for about a month now, that the Cavs need an identity besides young players getting better.

If it was up to us, we would establish a defensive mindset. Most NBA players (if not all) can put the ball in the basket, but playing time should be determined by effort and success when the ball isn’t in your hands.

Until there is accountability on the other end of the floor, it is difficult to see significant progress for this group.

Perhaps Bickerstaff can talk to Altman and get the “season has been a success” crap out of the way. It is time to start seeing progress, and it should start with playing defense.

You don’t play it? You don’t play.

If Bickerstaff can start putting this in place, keep him on for next year. If not, hire someone who will, but they have to have Altman on the same page.

Otherwise, it won’t work, and we will likely be talking about the same thing at this time next year.

Key Word For Cavs? Accountability

Watching Saturday night’s Cavaliers game against the Chicago Bulls, both Austin Carr and Brad Daugherty both mentioned the same word multiple times.

The word was accountability.

Right now, the young Cavs don’t have it.

There doesn’t seem to be any personal accountability from the players themselves, and most of that seems to be because there isn’t any from the coaching staff.

This isn’t a blast on John Beilein because we believe the entire organization is invested in the development of the players drafted over the past two seasons: Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Dylan Windler, and Kevin Porter Jr.

So, this is something that has to come from both the front office and the coaching staff. Together.

Beilein was brought in to teach, to guide the young players in learning the game, to play a style conducive to winning, but it seems right now like while these things are discussed in film review and in practice, there are no consequences for not doing what the coaches want.

There is a fine line between letting players learn while playing and taking away playing time for transgressions, and now that 46 games have been played, perhaps it is time for a velvet glove to be used.

The wine and gold have been blown out the past three games, all at home, by the Knicks, Wizards, and Bulls, all teams in the Cavaliers’ class, that is to say, none of that trio is making the playoffs.

We could understand the lopsided defeats if they were playing the Bucks, Lakers, and Clippers. Or if they lost close games to the lesser lights of the NBA. But getting smoked indicates something needs to change.

The Cavs are reverted to the same god awful defensive team they were last season, although they weren’t a juggernaut on that end of the floor earlier this year. However, looking at the box score, we see John Henson played 11 minutes and Matthew Dellavedova was on the court for five.

Doesn’t seem like defense is a priority for the team if you are playing those two just 16 combined minutes. And yes, we know Delly has had a horrific shooting year, but if defense is important he should play.

After getting blitzed in the third quarter Saturday to fall behind by more than 20 points, the 4th quarter opened with Garland taking a 30 foot shot, and no, the shot clock was not running down.

When Beilein says he doesn’t want Garland losing confidence in his shot, we are sure he didn’t mean a shot like that was okay. Why not take him out of the game at that point?

Later, Dante Exum, who has more size to guard Zach LaVine than Sexton or Garland, was doing a decent job on the Bulls’ leading scorer, but Beilein removed him to put Garland back in the game.

Look, we know winning isn’t the end game for the Cavs in 2019-20, but you have to have some success and also build a foundation for winning down the road, and that begins by having the players be accountable.

The coaching staff put Tristan Thompson on LaVine at times during the game, which isn’t fair to Thompson, who is a very good defender, but shouldn’t be expected to stop a 6’6″ shooting guard on the perimeter.

That’s the problem when you lack size though. The Cavs don’t have any guards long enough to be a deterrent to a guy like LaVine. Hopefully this is addressed soon.

It’s time to take the training wheels off some of the young guys and force accountability on them. Until that happens, get used to seeing games like the three played last week.