The Tristan Dilemma

Training camp started for the Cleveland Cavaliers this week, and while they are a welcome respite from the mediocrity of the Browns or Indians, there is still an issue hanging over the team.

Tristan Thompson isn’t in camp yet and is still seeking a maximum contract, an estimated $94 million over six years. Reportedly, the Cavaliers have countered with $80 million over five seasons.

The problem is that although Thompson is a very good player, providing he is on a very good team, which the Cavaliers are, he isn’t a starter, and would another team pay him that kind of cash.

Remember, before LeBron James returned to the Cavs, Thompson was looked at as a disappointment because his offensive game is basically non-existent.

In 2013-14, Thompson averaged 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per night playing in all 82 games, which is a regular occurrence for the former 4th overall pick.

However, if you are counting on him to be a big contributor on the offensive end, forget it. Thompson can score by grabbing offensive rebounds and putting the ball in the basket or by getting a layup or dunk off another player’s penetration.

He can’t create his own shot, and even if he could, you don’t want him taking it.

You see Thompson has made just 36.7% of his shots from more than three feet away in his career. Yes, you read that right, THREE FEET AWAY.

The people who think the Cavs should pay Thompson have usually two agendas. The first is the worry that it would upset LeBron James, and those people have the constant worry than James will leave for free agency again if he isn’t coddled all the time.

The second concern is that this team is poised to win a championship and therefore, any distractions would be counterproductive, so it would be prudent to just give Thompson the cash.

We would counter that by saying that originally James said he would not sign until everyone else came back, but he didn’t wait until Tristan inked his deal. This may mean that although LBJ sides with his fellow players at least publicly, behind the scenes, he thinks Thompson isn’t reasonable with his demand.

The distraction point is kind of insulting to James’ leadership. He is simply not going to let something like this get in the way of a run toward a title.

Is Thompson worth a maximum deal? Of course not. And the Cavs have to look at the fact that if they pay Thompson the money he is looking for, he will be making roughly the same amount of money as Kyrie Irving, a two-time All Star.

And they have to pay Timofey Mozgov next year too, and he is probably more important to the wine and gold because he’s a rim protector (Thompson averages less than a block per game) and a better offensive player.

Thompson is taking a risk if he signs a qualifying offer, not only because he would leave something like $73 million on the table, but also because there are only a limited amount of teams where his style of play makes a difference.

Can you imagine, let’s say Brooklyn giving him a max deal? They will expect something like 16 points and 12 rebounds per night. Thompson isn’t capable of those numbers, so he will get a lot of grief from a new fan base when he plays like Tristan Thompson.

A compromise is needed and we believe it will occur with Thompson getting less than maximum dollars, but getting the long-term deal because he is important to this franchise.

And then he can go out and be appreciated like he should being the player he is for a championship contending team.

Our Comments On What Cavs Are Up To

The free agent frenzy in the NBA has come and gone for the most part, and the word has come down today that LeBron James is ready to sign another two-year deal (a one year contract with a player option, much like last year) with the wine and gold.

We thought it would be time to answer some questions about the Cavs and what they have done and still may do this off-season…

The Tristan contract. Look, there is no question that Thompson’s value to the Cavaliers is much higher than most any other team, because his skill set fits better with a contending team.

We also understand that Thompson is represented by the same firm that handles James, and LeBron wants him back here and wants him to get paid.

So, big deal. Just do it.

We realize that some older fans can’t understand how James can impact how Dan Gilbert and David Griffin handle Thompson’s contract, but that’s the reality of the NBA these days.

James put himself in a situation where he has a substantial say in the future of this basketball team.

And the Cavs and Gilbert are better off with him wearing wine and gold (or navy blue) and having that say than him being somewhere else.

We are sure Gilbert doesn’t have a big deal with it.

Signing Mo. Our first reaction was bringing back Mo Williams was that it was no big deal. Williams is on the wrong side of 30 years old (he’ll be 33 in December), and he’s never been known for his defense, which is key in post-season basketball.

However, he did average 17 points per game after being traded from Minnesota to Charlotte last year, and he likely will not have to carry a large role with Cleveland. He will be Kyrie Irving’s primary back up, and he can still stroke the jumper.

And it didn’t cost the Cavaliers entire mini-mid level exemption, so Griffin still can spend around $1 million on another free agent.

Williams can provide scoring with the second unit, and on the days where Irving has to miss games.

All in all, it’s a good thing for the Cavs.

Dealing Andy? The talk of a possible deal with New Jersey involving G/F Joe Johnson in which the Cavs give up Brendan Haywood’s expiring deal and Anderson Varejao have died down a little bit.

However, if the Cavs had a deal to significantly improve their roster and had to give up the long time Cavalier, then so be it.

Look, it’s a business and there is no room for sentimentality.

Varejao’s problem over the last five years has been staying on the court. In that time frame, he has played more than 31 games just once, in 2013-14 when he participated in 65 games.

When James was in Miami, we advocated dealing the big man in order to get value for him before his worth was totally decimated by the injuries. He was no longer reliable.

If we had our druthers, and you could improve the team by moving only Haywood, then fine, but if you have to deal Varejao to make it work, then that’s okay too.

James’ Contract. We are convinced there is no more misunderstood or questioned player on the planet than James. After agreeing to the deal today, idiots came out of the woodwork complaining about his “loyalty” to the Cavs.

His people told us we was going to do this last year, and to this point, he has been true to his word. The “one and one” deals are simply to get him the most money he can according to the system every year.

And remember, last summer, he said he didn’t have the energy to change teams again.

Fans who question this are no better than the national media people who said Kevin Love was leaving via free agency this year.

Despite What “Experts” Said, Love Stays With Cavs

Once again, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have befuddled the national media.

Despite all the conjecture following the playoffs that Kevin Love would never resign with the Cavs because he wanted to be “the man” and get more shots, and his so-called personality conflict with James, the free agent announced he will ink a five-year deal with the wine and gold, and will be here to pursue a title.

Not only that, Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert also re-upped with Cleveland, insuring that the same cast of characters that dominated the NBA entering the playoffs, and survived injuries to key players in the post-season, will be together again for the 2015-16 NBA season.

It was even reported the night before free agency started that Love was going to meet with the Lakers. The four letter network really missed it here, and when it comes to the Cavs, they haven’t been right very often.

We believe that most of these national “insiders” take their own personal feelings into account, and they cannot believe that given a choice, anyone would want to play or work in Cleveland. Therefore, they assume everyone wants out.

As for Love, he had steadfastly maintained all year-long that his intention was to be with the Cavaliers in the upcoming season, and instead of taking him at his word, these people chose to think he was just “saying the politically correct thing”.

And make no mistake, Kevin Love is very important to this team offensively. The Finals should be evidence of that.

With Love on the floor and his ability to shoot the ball, defenses have to account for him, meaning if he is at the three-point line, you have to guard him. This opens up the lane for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to get to the basket.

Remember against Golden State how the Warriors packed the paint with defenders to stop James? That doesn’t happen with Love on the floor.

James needs to be surrounded by shooters, and against Golden State, he was missing two of his most reliable guys in Irving and Love. The wine and gold were down to J.R. Smith, an ailing Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova, and veterans James Jones and Mike Miller.

The latter two were not afforded a lot of minutes in the regular season.

Besides that, Love is a very good rebounder, averaging 9.7 per game in the regular season. He might be the team’s second best rebounder behind only Thompson.

And he’s not as bad of a defender as he showed earlier in the year. Once GM David Griffin traded for Timofey Mozgov, providing the team with a shot blocking presence, Love’s defense was much better, mainly because he didn’t have to guard centers.

Simply put, he’s one of the best players in the NBA, surely among the top 25 players in the game. And he’s committed to stay with Cleveland for five more seasons.

So, the national media will have to deal with the fact that the Cavs aren’t going anywhere. They will be making deep playoff runs annually with James, Irving, and Love.

They just don’t get it. One more reason you shouldn’t believe anything they have to say regarding the Cleveland Cavaliers.

No Excuse, Cavs’ Injuries to Love, Irving Are Fact

We are sure that LeBron James will get criticized for speaking the truth after the deciding game of the NBA Finals, mostly because he gets picked on for pretty much everything he does.

James pointed out that the Cavs didn’t have good luck in the health department on their side, losing Kevin Love in the fourth game of the first round series vs. Boston, and Kyrie Irving also missed the bulk of the post-season, including the last five games of The Finals.

In a series where the Cavs struggled to find anyone who could shoot from outside consistently, the absence of Love and Irving, both players who can most definitely shoot, sticks out like a sore thumb. Or shoulder and knee if you will.

For the regular season, Cleveland shot 36.7% from behind the three-point line, and in The Finals, they shot 29%. Now, we agree that there would be some decrease in that percentage in the playoffs due to the stepped up defense.

As a comparison, Golden State’s percentage on long distance shots dropped from 39.8% in the regular season to 36% in The Finals, a drop of almost four percent. The Cavaliers drop was double what the Warriors’ was.

There can’t be a question that having Irving and Love on the floor would have made a major difference.

Love’s replacement, Tristan Thompson, played marvelously in the playoffs, but he’s not an offensive threat outside of the paint. There is no need to guard him away from the basket.

In terms of shooting, some of the shots Love would have had were taken by James Jones, and he hit only 4 of 13 from long distance in the series. There is no question, Love would have helped Cleveland both in spacing the floor and in making shots.

As for Irving, his shooting from outside and his creativity around the basket would have added a different dynamic to the Cavalier offense. His replacement, Matthew Dellavedova, a gritty defender who did a good job on Stephen Curry (so good that the league MVP in the regular season didn’t receive a single vote as MVP of The Finals), made only 6 of 26 three-point shots (23%) and doesn’t drive to the hoop nearly as well as Irving.

It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact.

And it’s a fact ignored by several national media people who were exposed as trolls for constantly saying that LeBron James was a one man team during these finals.

He was, but only because two of the Cavaliers’ starters, and not just starters, but current and former all-stars were unable to play due to injury.

The insinuation is that the Cavs’ management can’t put a decent team around the best player in the sport. The reality is they did, but a couple of freak injuries took their toll on the roster and forced David Blatt to shorten his rotation.

Which leads to another point. Blatt is portrayed as a coach that doesn’t use his bench because he played really just seven players in The Finals. However, with Irving and Love in the mix, he would have played nine guys.

The Cavaliers played the way they played at the end because it was the only way they could compete. And they got within two games of an NBA title.

It’s too bad the national media came late to the party and didn’t see how they played when James had Love and Irving at his side. In the last 35 games they played together, Cleveland was 32-3.

That’s why you should be optimistic heading into the off-season.

James will get criticized, because that’s what these guys do. He is in the middle of the cycle where he has been around so long, people pick on him.

In a few years, he’ll be the elder statesman, and will go back to being loved.

After the game, he was honest. That’s the best policy.

Blatt Needs to Learn to Protect His Star

All year, Cleveland Cavaliers’ coach David Blatt has railed against being called a rookie coach.

While it is true that he has a tremendous amount of experience as a head coach on the international scene, certainly more than his counterpart on the Golden State bench, he is a novice in knowing the way of the NBA.

This has nothing to do with his ability to coach players, devise scheme, and put his squad in the best position to win. While we can all debate how much LeBron James has to do with the Cavs’ success, and it is plenty, Blatt changed the style of play for the wine and gold enough that they can be competitive in this series despite the loss of all-stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

Where Blatt needs to learn about the NBA ways is in protecting his superstar player.

He needs to speak out about how the officials are referring the best player in the game, LeBron James.

In last night’s 104-91 loss in Game 5, James shot just nine free throws, and one of those came as the result of a defensive three-second call in first half.

That means he shot one less free throw than Draymond Green, who took nine shots for the game, of which six were inside the three-point line.

By contrast, James took 26 field goal attempts inside the arc, and apparently was only fouled on four of those attempts judging by the number of free throws.

We think even the most even-handed professional basketball fan would think that is ridiculous.

The next time Blatt speaks to the media, he needs to mention that he has the sport’s best player, and that player is attacking the rim pretty much on a consistent basis, and he is simply not getting the calls.

Phil Jackson did this as an art form, both when he coached Michael Jordan and also when he had Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. He cleverly pointed out that his guys got the short end of the officiating stick, especially when they lost a game.

Steve Kerr even did the same prior to Game 4, when he mentioned certain things being “legal”, and that he wasn’t aware of those things. Kerr, of course, played for Jackson with the Bulls.

For the entire series, the Cavaliers, a team that has slowed the pace and tried to jam the ball to the basket, have shot just 12 more tosses from the charity stripe than the Warriors, who everyone would agree are a perimeter based team.

Based on the styles of play, it wouldn’t be surprising if Cleveland shot 5-10 more freebies than Golden State on a per night basis.

The insulting thing is how James hasn’t been able to get to the line. Even some veterans NBA writers and observers, including ABC/ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy, have commented on how James isn’t getting the whistles usually associated with great players.

He won’t mention it, because it would be out of character for James. But his coach needs to have his back, and he needs to make the comment prior to tomorrow night’s game because the Cavs either win or go home.

You might say it is gamesmanship, and it might be. It also may be the truth. We all see the replays and there is no doubt LeBron James is getting hit on a number of his shot attempts.

He shouldn’t be penalized for his size and skill set.

Cavs Determination is Off the Charts

Last night was one of Cleveland’s best sports nights in a long time.

In front of 21,000 delirious fans at Quicken Loans Arena, LeBron James and his gritty, gutsy teammates took a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals with a 96-91 win over Golden State.

It wasn’t without heart palpitations though.

The wine and gold held a 20 point lead late in the third quarter, but the Warriors, who can score points more quickly than any team in the NBA, came roaring back and closed to within one point in the 4th quarter.

We remember Joe Tait saying as long as you never give up the lead it kind of stops the opponents momentum, and David Blatt’s group never did. Matthew Dellavedova hit a miracle shot while being fouled, and his subsequent free throw put the Cavs up four, and they held on from there.

Of course, there was another virtuoso performance by LeBron James, who is reminding everyone involved with the sport that even though Stephen Curry and James Harden finished one-two in the MVP voting this year, the best player in the sport wears #23 and plays in Cleveland.

James scored 40 points (he is averaging 41 per game in The Finals), grabbing 12 rebounds, and had 8 assists and controlled the tempo and pace of the game. But he received support from his teammates, as everyone who got in the game made a big contribution.

Little used Mike Miller played five minutes, and made a great play diving on the floor after a loose ball saving it to Dellavedova at the end of the first quarter.

Delly added another performance to his growing legend, scoring 20 points, with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and pestered Curry all night long.

However, he would up in the hospital following the game getting treatment for cramping. And in other bad news, Iman Shumpert reinjured his shoulder in the first quarter, but returned to the game basically playing with one arm, and still made a contribution defensively with his ability to get his hands in passing lanes and on the ball when the Warriors went to the basket.

Hopefully, both will be able to play tomorrow night because Cleveland can ill afford to lose anyone else.

The will and determination of this team is unreal. LeBron James keeps mentioning it because it seems like the national media have forgotten, but the Cavs are playing without two all-star players in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

They are also missing the guy who started at center on opening night in Anderson Varejao.

But they keep persevering, keep grinding.

Which only makes us as a fan base even more proud of them. They have adopted the “hard-working town, hard-working team” that Michael Stanley sang about twenty years ago.

The job is only halfway done, though.

Because we grew up here, we cannot think positively about this just yet.

The Warriors’ fourth quarter, scoring 36 points, scares us. We do have confidence though, that the coaching staff will figure out what Golden State was doing and will have something to counteract it.

Why? Because they’ve done it all during the playoffs.

The Cavs still need to control the pace of the game if they want to continue having success in this series. And they have to continue “making it tough” for the Warriors on the offensive end.

No matter what the outcome is, these Cavs should be praised for their grit, which is difficult when you have the best player in the world.

When that guy plays that way, it’s easy for everyone else to fall in line.

Cavs’ Grit and Defense (and LeBron) Even Up the Series

We don’t think anyone can say the Cleveland Cavaliers lack heart.

They came into The Finals without Kevin Love and then lost Kyrie Irving during the first game with a fractured kneecap, but they gritted out a win last night to even the series at a game apiece with a 95-93 victory over Golden State in overtime.

Oh, and LeBron James showed once again why he’s still the best player in the sport with a virtuoso performance, scoring 39 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and making 11 assists in 50 minutes.

David Blatt’s team controlled the tempo and turned up the defensive intensity, holding the Warriors to under 60 points through three quarters, and under 90 points in regulation.

The wine and gold played gritty solid defense and bothered Stephen Curry into a 5 for 23 shooting night, with Matthew Dellavedova playing the role as main pest.

And for the most part, the coaching staff made adjustments all night long.

When Steve Kerr tried to go small, the Cavs countered by staying with Timofey Mozgov, and going to him a lot. The big Russian responded with 17 points, and went to the line 12 times, mainly because whoever was trying to guard him, mostly Draymond Green, lacked the size to handle him near the basket.

That said, we wish the coach would have gone back to Mozgov when the Warriors were intentionally fouling Tristan Thompson in the fourth quarter. We understand Thompson is the superior defensive player, able to guard guys much smaller than he is, but it would have messed up the strategy, and they could have used Mozgov’s superior offense in the post.

To be sure, Golden State fans will say that Curry won’t be this bad again in the series, but we would counter that by saying although Klay Thompson is an all-star, he probably won’t be as hot as he was in the first half either.

Nor will LeBron James have another game where he shoots 33% from the floor (11 for 34). If James is more efficient with his shooting going forward, it bodes well for the wine and gold.

Also, while the Warriors got a huge offensive boost from Andre Iguodala in game one (which we said was unlikely to happen again), the Cavs haven’t had a big game yet from J.R. Smith, who is capable of knocking down seven or eight three-pointers on a given night.

Cleveland did get a good game from James Jones last night, as he scored eight points in 23 minutes, but Smith and Iman Shumpert are capable of hitting long range shots that will open up the defense.

By the way, Shumpert did hit a huge three at the start of overtime last night.

And it is also doubtful the Cavs will shoot 32% as a team in the confines of Quicken Loans Arena.

Coming home doesn’t guarantee anything for the Cavs, and we are sure Mr. James will NOT let anyone of his teammates fall prey to complacency.

The concern is that since the Cavs are really only playing seven guys, the quick turn around could lead to fatigue, particularly late in the game. Blatt may need more minutes from Mike Miller and perhaps Shawn Marion tomorrow night, especially with the first two games going overtime.

The old adage is that defense is a constant, and that’s the biggest reason the Cleveland Cavaliers are in this series. Three more efforts like last night will be needed.

Cavs Need to Show Some Greed.

An impressive defensive performance in the second half and J.R. Smith’s hot shooting gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a huge road win last night, as they defeated the Atlanta Hawks 97-89.

The Cavs wrested home court advantage from Mike Budenholzer’s squad with Game 2 taking place Friday night in Atlanta.

David Blatt’s team needs to get greedy and not settle for the split on the road, because they can drive a stake in the collective hearts of the Hawks with a victory tomorrow night.

Remember, the Bulls didn’t have that greed in the conference semi-finals, losing in the second game in a blowout. Our guess is that LeBron James will not let his teammates get complacent.

There has been some discussion as to whether or not Kyrie Irving, who seemed to aggravate his sore knee last night should play in the second game of the series so he can get healthy.

We see that point, but if the medical staff determines that Irving cannot hurt himself more by going out there, Irving should be out there again tomorrow.

As we once read, nothing is given, everything is earned.

If Irving were to sit out, it could send a message that the coaching staff is fine with the split in the Peachtree State, instead of showing a preference to get this series over as soon as possible.

Unless something shows up in an examination between games, Irving has tendonitis in his knees, so it’s just a matter of playing with the pain. Having an extra two days off, won’t help once he starts playing again.

There were five days off between ending the Chicago series and last night’s game, and once Irving started playing, the pain and discomfort returned.

Besides, it wasn’t as though Irving wasn’t effective when he was in there. Yes, he did have problems keeping Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder out of the paint, but he also had 10 points and six assists, and hit two big hoops when LeBron James was hobbled after turning an ankle.

We aren’t saying this is going to happen, but if Cleveland wins in Game 2, they are set up very nicely for a sweep, which would end the series next Tuesday night in Cleveland.

Since The Finals are slated to begin on June 4th, that would give the Cavs more than a week to heal up the assorted injuries they currently are saddled with.

We don’t think the Cavs will take their foot off the gas one bit, and as evidence look at the end of the game, when Iman Shumpert wouldn’t even allow Teague to get a meaningless three-point shot off before time expired.

James even acknowledged this in a comment today, saying his team “is just as desperate as the Hawks are”, despite having a series lead.

This is the veteran LeBron. He understands there is no relaxing in the playoffs now, and every game has to be approached as another opportunity to squash the will of the opponent.

Was it a nice win? Yes. However, the Cavaliers haven’t won anything yet. They still need three more wins and make no mistake, the Hawks are a good team, and they will probably shoot better on Friday.

We don’t expect Smith to be that hot again tomorrow, but maybe it will be Shumpert, or maybe Matthew Dellavedova will make a shot. Or perhaps Irving plays like he did in Game 5 vs. Chicago.

James and Blatt have a foot on Atlanta’s throat. No time to let up now.

Blatt Can’t Win, No Matter What Happens

David Blatt is in a no win situation.

He knows it. It goes along with the territory when you are coaching the league’s best player in LeBron James.

When James’ team wins, he gets the credit, and when his team loses, the coach takes the blame. Not LeBron.

So, the big to-do about James waiving off the play Blatt was calling in the huddle before the game winning shot, is nothing. Blatt wanted James to be the inbounder, probably to find J.R. Smith, who knocked down three shots from beyond the arc to get the Cavaliers back in the game.

James said he wanted the shot, and the coach obliged.

That’s why Blatt made the comments about “picking up the tab” in his post-game press conference. James wanted the check and Blatt gave it to him. There’s nothing to the story.

We’ve heard many people refer to the movie “Hoosiers”, about this situation, and we admit we thought the same thing.

In the movie, Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) was calling a play with the game on the line for another player, with his squad staring at the coach in disbelief. Hickory High’s star, Jimmy Chitwood, told the coach he would make it, and the play was changed.

No word whether or not Dale was skewered on Twitter the next day.

The other thing Blatt is being hammered about was trying to call a timeout when there were none to call.

We hate to tell people, but that’s on one of the assistant coaches. If you have ever coached at even the high school level, you know the head coach has assistants make sure he is aware of things like how many timeouts he has and the foul situation on individual players.

Our guess is that no one reminded Blatt the Cavs didn’t have any timeouts remaining.

And that’s not something he can say to the media and not sound like he is throwing someone under the bus.

And as usual, Blatt doesn’t get any credit for the wine and gold’s comeback from an 11 point deficit late in the quarter, and for the squad’s defensive effort in the fourth quarter which allowed Cleveland to have a five point lead with around two minutes left. That’s a 16 point swing.

Nor does he get credit for staying with Timofey Mozgov staying in the game in the fourth quarter because he was playing well. Blatt is a “feel” coach, and he played the hot hand, something he has done throughout the year.

As for the inbound play, we think James Jones, who was the trigger man on the play was a little too conservative and forced the use of at least one timeout. There appeared to be players open, but Jones didn’t want to make a mistake with a turnover.

It turned out, the refs forced the turnover anyway when they called an offensive foul on James, who was getting hit repeatedly by Derrick Rose and Mike Dunleavy Jr. when they were trapping James.

The point here isn’t to say Blatt is a perfect coach, but merely to point out that he is not a complete idiot either.

We have said from early in the season that Kevin Love and Blatt were the go-to guys whenever this basketball team had problems. And the national media is quick to point every flaw out because he’s an outsider in NBA circles. They don’t know him.

Yes, he’s arrogant. He’s confident in his ability to coach and win at any level.

He’s learning his way around the NBA and has become more humble at least to the media.

He just can’t win because of the situation. Just realize it’s a tough spot to be in.

Cavs Now Even, But It’s Going to Get Tougher

The Cleveland Cavaliers faced their first adversity of the NBA playoffs last night and passed with flying colors, evening up their Eastern Conference semifinal series at one game apiece with a 106-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Obviously, when the Cavs win they get very good performances out of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, and Game 2 was no exception.

James scored 33 points and had eight rebounds and five assists, while Irving put up 21 points with three assists in the win.

But with Kevin Love sidelined, David Blatt needs other players to step up. Iman Shumpert has done just that in both games, and last night, he hit several three-point shots early, finishing with 15 points and seven boards.

He has stepped up big time with J.R. Smith serving a two game suspension, and with Smith returning Friday night, perhaps Shumpert can continue to provide the long-range shooting that Love provided.

We believe for the wine and gold to win in this series, they need a good performance out of one of their three “old hands”, meaning James Jones, Mike Miller, or Shawn Marion.

Jones provided such a game Wednesday night, hitting five of nine from beyond the arc and scoring 17 points. He hit two big triples after the Bulls ran off 14 consecutive points in the third quarter to cut a 25 point lead down to 11.

The Bulls never got any closer.

Coaches can be stubborn, so Blatt should be commended for seeing that the Mike Miller as a starter experiment didn’t work, and going to Tristan Thompson to begin the game.

Thompson, who really fits the definition of a guy who is better on a good team that a bad one, scored only five points, but grabbed 12 rebounds, and as usual, kept several possessions alive by tracking down his teammates errant shots.

And you have to give credit to the much-maligned Matthew Dellavedova, who had nine points and nine assists.

However, now it’s on to the Windy City and without a doubt, those games will be a challenge. Marginal players are usually more productive at home, so the burden will be on James and Irving, to get the team off to a good start.

Shumpert, who left the game with a groin injury, hopefully can continue to contribute as he has over the last four games, and they will need Smith to come back from his suspension to pick up right where he left off.

If Smith can pick up right where he left off before the last two games, the Cavs will be able to spread the floor the same as when Love was playing because the Bulls will have to honor the ability of the two former Knicks to make long-range shots.

Because as much as last night’s game was about James’ aggressiveness, Shumpert’s first quarter shooting was equally a key. He provided the three-point shot that was missing in the first game.

The best case scenario is for the wine and gold to come out early like they did last night in Game 3, and take the Chicago fans out of the game. It would also show the Bulls that Monday night was the aberration.

James needs to be in aggressive mode again, because it doesn’t appear the Bulls have any answer for him in the paint.

The three-point shooting is key in this because making some shots from outside will open up the middle.

Without a doubt, this is a series now.