Cavs’ Injuries Open Up Opportunity For McRae

The Cleveland Cavaliers are having players dropping like flies in the past week, and the best thing about that is that it is happening now, instead of March or April, right before the playoffs start.

Already playing one man short because of the Mo Williams situation, the wine and gold played the last two games without Kevin Love, who will be back (hopefully) on Friday, and then Chris Andersen blew out his ACL in practice.

Then they lost JR Smith to a broken thumb during Tuesday overtime victory in Milwaukee, and Smith will be out about 4-6 weeks, so he should be back around the beginning of February.

We have maintained since the beginning of training camp that the opening night roster would not be the same as the players who will take the floor for the first playoff game in April.

Mostly because we couldn’t see Tyronn Lue going into the post-season with a rookie back up point guard or using Iman Shumpert as Kyrie Irving’s replacement for about 12 minutes per night.

Teams trying to repeat as champions can’t use rookies in key roles.

The bright side of these injuries is it will give some players who haven’t been getting a lot of time on the floor an opportunity to either contribute or show Lue and GM David Griffin they can’t be counted on for the playoffs.

Mike Dunleavy has had a slow start to the regular season, perhaps trying to fit in to his new teammates. With the injuries, he has started to get more playing time, and is starting to knock down shots. He’s hit 46% of his three point shots over the last five games.

Dunleavy’s spot on the roster probably wasn’t in question, but it is good to see him getting more comfortable in the wine and gold.

The biggest opportunity with the players being out is in front of Jordan McRae, who seems to have played his way into Lue’s doghouse.

We had high hopes for McRae coming into training camp as a possible replacement in the rotation for Matthew Dellavedova. Our bet is that Lue wants McRae to play like the rest of the team, that is to say move the ball on offense and play solid defense.

McRae came into a close game against Memphis (Cavs were down by five) last week. He immediately shot the first three times he touched the ball, and within a couple of minutes, the Grizzlies’ lead shot up to 12.

Not the impression you want to make when you finally get some playing time.

McRae shoots the ball the same number of times as Dunleavy per game, and with a lot less minutes.

The young man would be better off putting a little more DeAndre Liggins into his game. Liggins has gained time and passed McRae in Lue’s eyes because of his ability to defend.

We understand that McRae is a scorer, that’s how he got to the NBA from the D-League. But in the NBA, playing time is distributed based on being able to defend. And that’s what McRae needs to show the coaching staff.

If McRae doesn’t impress the staff, he could be released with contracts become guaranteed or moved with either Andersen’s or Williams’ contract for a piece the Cavs need.

The opportunity is there for Jordan McRae, it’s up to him what he does with it.

Cavs Allow Fans Some Relaxation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While their fans just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Game 3 Won’t Be Easy For Cavs

After last night’s blowout victory at Quicken Loans Arena by the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Atlanta Hawks, fans seem to be not only regarding the Hawks as a speed bump on the way to a title.

Not to be a wet blanket, but we believe Friday night’s game could be the sternest test the wine and gold have faced in the playoffs thus far.

Mike Budenholzer’s team was thoroughly embarrassed yesterday. He pulled his starters toward the end of the third quarter.

Despite the lopsided win yesterday, and the nine straight victories by Cleveland over the last two seasons, the Hawks aren’t the Philadelphia 76ers. They won 60 games last season and won 48 this year.

And if they have any pride at all, and we believe they do, they have some pro’s pros over there in Paul Millsap and Al Hoford, they will come out Friday night and fight on their home floor to get back into the series.

TNT’s Charles Barkley hammered the attitude of the Hawks as well, basically saying that Atlanta’s players lost their fight after halftime, when they needed to set a tone for game three.

Our guess is the series will take a physical tone too, especially from the home team, because they will be playing angry. They have to be sick and tired of the Cavs beating them, particularly in the playoffs.

This doesn’t mean the Cavaliers won’t win, because at this point, Cleveland has to be in the heads of the Hawks. They have to wonder what they have to do to defeat the number one seed in the East.

All we are seeing is that last night’s game was probably an anomaly, the Cavs aren’t winning by more than 20 points again in the series.

Since we don’t take anything for granted, fans shouldn’t think for a minute that if Cleveland advances to the conference finals, that will not be a cakewalk either.

The fans need to slow their roll a tad.

The guys wearing the wine and gold uniforms are saying the correct things and the supporters of the squad should listen.

JR Smith said it right after the game. All the Cavs did was hold the home court, and now they have to go on the road for the first time in the series and win in Atlanta. They weren’t sending the NBA a “message”, they were just doing what they were supposed to do.

It is understandable that the fans are getting excited. The Cavs are the only team that hasn’t lost a playoff game, and through six post-season games, their outside shooting is on point.

Last night’s 25 three point makes is proof of that.

But remember that for the most part, NBA players have pride and they don’t like to be embarrassed. That’s why we think it won’t be easy on Friday night, that’s all.

Now, if the Cavs can overcome the Hawks’ emotion in game three and come out with a victory, this series won’t come back to Cleveland.

Atlanta likely will not have anything left.

Remember, every playoff game is different. Friday night will be no exception.

Can Cavs Put It Together Before Playoffs?

The NBA playoffs are less than a month away, but it feels like the Cleveland Cavaliers are further away than that from competing for an NBA title.

There are many people confident that the Cavs will put it all together before the post-season begins and they will march through the Eastern Conference and get to The Finals for the second consecutive year.

We are not one of those people.

Shortly after Tyronn Lue took over as head coach of the wine and gold, we wrote about how the Cavs had to get mentally tougher as a team in order to win a title.

After more than 30 games with Lue at the helm, the Cavaliers still seem to be shaky in terms of attitude.

There are several reasons for these thoughts:

The Constant Clunkers It seems like this team can’t play more than three good games in a row without following up with a simply horrible outing.

The home loss to Memphis and a terrible performance on Thursday against a bad Brooklyn team are just the two latest examples.

Perhaps they are bored and looking towards the playoffs, but it feels like it happens too often. What’s worse is the coaching staff doesn’t seem to have an answer.

Over-reliance On The Three Ball In the loss to the Nets, the Cavs went 9 of 37 from behind the arc. That’s 24.4%.

When Cleveland loses these days, it is usually because they are not making their threes, so they’ve become a live by the three, die by the three type of team.

The Cavaliers rank 9th in the NBA in three point shooting percentage 35.7%, taking the fourth most in the league.

However, when they aren’t going in, the team doesn’t seem to have or better yet, look for another alternative. They just keep chucking them up from deep.

That would be fine if they didn’t have players who have other options. Both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving can take the ball to the hoop with anyone in the league. And Kevin Love can score in the post and has a solid mid-range game.

JR Smith is also versatile offensively even though he is best known for his long range marksmanship.

When the three ball isn’t falling, the wine and gold have to try another attack.

Defense Or lack of it, we should say. Since Lue took over and wanted the Cavs to play at a faster pace, the defense has suffered. And in the playoffs, you have to be sound at the defensive end.

Too often, Cleveland defenders allow opposing point guards to get into the paint which causes the big men to cover up for them, which in turn, allows their men to get lay ups and dunks.

If that singles out Kyrie Irving, then so be it. He simply has to do a better job keeping his man in front of him.

Which brings us to…

Kyrie Irving Irving has always been a scorer, but he’s becoming a major ball stopper. We don’t have a problem with him scoring, it’s the way it’s being done.

Mostly, he stands around the outside dribbling looking for a lane to drive to the basket. When the defense doesn’t allow that, it creates bad, long range shots to beat the shot clock, and fast break opportunities for the opponents.

Irving needs to move the ball, and then move without it to get open, and then get it back. That would seem to alleviate both problems.

Improvement in these areas would make us feel better about the Cavaliers’ chances.

Do they have the talent to get back to The Finals? Of course. But, the East is better, so without shoring up these areas, it will be difficult to get back.

Cavs Still Seem To Lack Toughness

The Cleveland Cavaliers fired David Blatt on January 22nd with a record of 30-11. This means Tyronn Lue has now been at the helm for roughly six weeks, and the wine and gold have a 14-6 record with him at the helm.

What, if anything has changed?

The most obvious thing is the scoring is up. Cleveland has scored more than 110 points in half of the games with Lue as the head man, while they did the same just nine times in Blatt’s 41 contests as coach.

On the other hand the defense seems to have slipped. The Cavs have allowed more than 100 points in 11 of Lue’s 20 games at the helm, compared to only 17 in the 41 where Blatt was running the show.

Some of that is due to the faster pace the Cavaliers want to play at, but there is no question that the defense, particularly on the perimeter, has taken a step in the wrong direction.

And the other question that needs to be answered is whether or not Cleveland is better off playing faster. Based on the won-lost record, the answer appears to be no.

The one thing that we thought Lue wanted to change with this team was some toughness, making the players accountable for what occurred on a game by game basis.

That is still a work in progress.

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen Kyrie Irving remove himself from a game due to a bout with bedbugs in an Oklahoma City hotel, a deplorable effort without LeBron James on the road against Washington, and several players complaining about the need for “an enforcer”.

This has to drive Lue insane.

The odd thing about the Irving issue was the team did rally and despite having only eight players available scored a huge win over the Thunder, one of the league’s best teams.

But it doesn’t say a lot for Irving’s toughness that he took himself out, especially with Mo Williams out with a knee issue and Matthew Dellavedova on a minutes restriction due to a balky hamstring.

Put this together with Irving’s seemingly indifference on the defensive end, and you have a problem for the head coach and the organization.

It didn’t help with the giant egg laid against the Wizards. Let’s face it, even without James on the floor, Cleveland has two “max” players in Irving and Kevin Love, so to get blown out is inexcusable.

Particularly when the effort seemed to be lacking, something JR Smith addressed to the media after the game.

However, the weirdest issue is the players bringing up the loss of Kendrick Perkins in the off-season, someone who barely played when he was here.

That made us sit back and think the players need to just shut up and play. They seem to be worried about things that could and have gone wrong, rather than having the mindset that they are very talented and should be able to win a title.

The team did take a positive step on Saturday when they fell behind against Boston early, but then overcame the deficit to win the game going away, and against a quality opponent.

Maybe this could be the thing that pulls this team together and pulling in the right direction.

On the other hand, someone might get a hangnail tonight, and the wine and gold will focus on that.

Should Cavs Tinker or Stand Pat?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are sitting at 38-14 on the season, the best record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth best record in the entire NBA, yet it appears GM David Griffin is trying to improve his team.

Many fans and members of the media are wondering why a team with this kind of record would be willing to tinker with the roster, but really, a good GM should always be looking to improve his team. That’s his biggest responsibility.

At this point in the year, Griffin has to be worried about a possible date in The Finals against Golden State, but also has to be prepared for a scenario where the Spurs or the Thunder come out of the Western Conference.

And all of this while making sure the Cavs superiority in the East isn’t threatened either.

It’s a delicate balance for Griffin.

Tyronn Lue’s team could use another reliable threat from three point range, and could also use some help on the defensive end, particularly on the perimeter.

And the drop off of Timofey Mozgov’s game has necessitated not only the exploration of moving the free agent to be, but also replacing the big man if a deal involving Mozgov is made.

Because, you know, if Cleveland gets to the championship round, they may just play San Antonio.

What Griffin can’t be sure of is the transition going as smoothly as last season’s when the general manager made deals for Mozgov, Iman Shumpert, and JR Smith within a one week span.

It only took a few games for the Cavs to gel and make a run to a Central Division title and an Eastern Conference championship.

As we said at the end of the regular season last year, most transitions have an adjustment period attached, and there is no guarantee it will occur again.

So, what should Griffin do?

An easy response would be to stand pat. After all, your team is 24 games over .500 and if not for what the Warriors are doing, no one would be panicking. The Cavaliers are still regarded as one of four teams with a solid chance at hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

We wouldn’t have an issue if no changes were made, either. But, then it would be up to the coaching staff to fix some of the issues the Cavs have that need fixing. And please don’t take that as a possible slight to Lue and his staff.

However, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Griffin tinkered with players outside of the top seven or eight in Lue’s rotation.

For example, moving Mo Williams, who is barely getting on the court right now, for a bigger wing defender would be a solid move and wouldn’t upset rotations and chemistry.

The same would be true with Richard Jefferson. We don’t believe anyone would be upset if you could swap him for a more reliable three point threat.

Making a deal would also send a message within the locker room that the front office hasn’t lost faith in the core players and they believe this team can win the franchise’s first title.

The talk about major changes should be just that. And if the wine and gold don’t get to The Finals, or get blown out once there, perhaps a major change will be made this summer.

But for right now, making a minor addition would be just fine.

Cavs Still Need To Be Better

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a position where they aren’t really playing opponents anymore, they are playing themselves.

And that’s why even though the wine and gold enters the All Star break with a 38-14 record and a three game lead in the Eastern Conference, we don’t feel satisfied with what they have accomplished.

When GM David Griffin replaced David Blatt with Tyronn Lue, the new coach said he wanted to play more up tempo. The number of points the Cavs are scoring would indicate they are playing faster, as they have scored more than 110 points in seven of 12 games since Lue took over.

But in reality, the faster pace comes in spurts, and there are many times the dreaded isolation ball rears its ugly head.

Lue also wanted to get Kevin Love more involved by having the offense run through him while playing without LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on the floor.

Love was more of a factor in Lue’s first few games, but has battled a couple of injuries on the current home stand, stalling that plan.

The higher scoring has come with a downside too. The defense has severely declined, with Cleveland allowing more than 100 points in eight of Lue’s dozen games as the head man.

That won’t win in the playoffs.

We aren’t criticizing Lue by any means here. The break will allow him to have some practices to get his message across to his team, and here’s hoping everyone listens.

Particularly Irving.

Sure, fans look at his 32 points and 10 assists on Monday against the Kings, and his 35 tallies last night vs. the Lakers, and will question this criticism, and right now, he’s the primary culprit for the ball sticking.

He seems more comfortable with a slower pace, and don’t confuse his attempts to drive to the basket with faster play please. Many of these drives come as a result of him pounding the ball and waiting for an opening to drive.

It’s not coming off of the ball movement his head coach wants.

That’s why perhaps Irving should be the focal point when James and Love are on the bench, because there is no question the young man from Duke can breakdown defenders with the best of them.

Lue has stressed getting shooters off of the three point line, and the Cavs have been somewhat successful there, but there is still way too much dribble penetration, particularly since Matthew Dellavedova has missed time with a sore hamstring.

You simply must play better defense than this in the playoffs. You cannot expect to outscore opponents in the later rounds of the post-season. The Cavaliers were second in the league in preventing points, and have now dropped to fourth.

The other teams people feel are in contention for a title, the Spurs, Warriors, and Thunder, ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in defensive field goal percentage on two point shots.

We are sure Lue knows this and will get this area fixed, but it may take a trade by Griffin.

They could also use another shooter. Irving is making less than 30% of his shots from beyond the arc, so the only reliable three point shooters are Dellavedova (43%), JR Smith (40%) and to a lesser extent, Love (36.8%).

For a team that shoots a lot of threes, they don’t have many guys who are consistently knocking them down.

That could be another area where Griffin explores someone in a deal.

It’s difficult to be “disappointed” with a team that is 24 games over .500 a little over halfway through the season, but we think Tyronn Lue would be the first to tell you he isn’t satisfied where his team is at.

Perhaps we will see some changes with a couple of practices before the second half of the season (and the trading deadline) picks up next Thursday.

The Cavaliers need to play better, particularly defensively, if they want to bring a title home in 2016.

It’s Not Easy Being Blatt

It appears that as long as LeBron James is on the Cleveland Cavaliers, David Blatt will be a lightning rod.

In preseason discussions about the NBA, and when the question of what could derail the Cavs’ hopes of getting back to The Finals, the answer inevitably was either health or the head coach.

Apparently, getting a team with two injured all-stars to the brink of championship doesn’t gain you any respect from the NBA media intelligentsia.

Look, we understand that is life for a coach who has LeBron James on their team. James gets the credit if the team wins, and the coach and/or general manager take the heat if the squad falls short of a title.

We are also pretty sure that Blatt understands this as well.

Still, it’s incredible that the criticism of the Cavaliers’ coach has continued into the beginning of a new season.

We understand that Blatt’s only been in the NBA for a year, and whether you discount all of the international experience the man has, there should be no question that he has been around the game a long, long time, and he understands the game of basketball.

Is the NBA game different? Of course. Is the NBA a players’ league? Absolutely.

But if you know the game, you know the game.

And Blatt knows and understands the sport, and his team’s have been pretty successful over the years.

He doesn’t get any credit for transforming the Cavs into the best defensive team in the playoffs last year. And when J.R. Smith tells the media he would walk through a wall for Blatt, you can almost see people’s eyes roll.

Kyrie Irving has spoken glowingly about Blatt in the past, and men who played for him overseas have given him glowing reviews.

However, we guess none of that matters until LeBron James says it, and that’s probably never going to happen, because it’s never happened before at the professional level.

James did repeat many times during the post-season a year ago that the coaching staff gave them an excellent game plan, and it was up to the players to carry it out.

And when the Cavs had the ball with 10 seconds remaining in the season opener against the Bulls, it appeared that James and Blatt were discussing the final play and looked to be in agreement.

It won’t end until the wine and gold win the final game of the season, hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and have a parade down Euclid Avenue.

Even then, some media crackpot, probably from ESPN, will say that Blatt will be on the hot seat if the Cavs don’t get off to a good start.

Blatt is an outsider from the NBA circle, and he doesn’t have the best relationship with the press, mostly because he knows that he knows more about the game than they do, and isn’t shy about letting them know that.

We know people who are friendly with the media get a fairer shake (see Shapiro, Mark).

The criticism of David Blatt is getting out of hand. If the Cavs are 10-15 and aren’t playing hard, then he should be on the hot seat. But, the folks who cover the NBA had him out last year win or lose in The Finals, but here he is back strolling the sidelines.

And if LeBron wanted him out, the guess here is he would be out.

James may not think he’s the greatest coach, but he apparently doesn’t think Blatt is a hindrance to winning.

Until they start losing, or don’t win a title because of his coaching, let’s keep the narrative that David Blatt can’t coach out of the news.

Except that will never happen.