Tag: nate thurmond

Cavs Giving Some Vibes Of “Miracle” Team

Think about it for a bit…29-4

The Cleveland Cavaliers started this season with a 15-game winning streak, but right now, they’ve won eight in a row, and started an always tough west coast swing the Friday after Christmas, and won handily against Denver, Golden State, and the Lakers.

One of the indicators of how good a basketball team is their margin of victory, which is second in the NBA at 11.88, just behind Oklahoma City’s 12.0. The only other team over ten points per game are the defending champion Celtics (10.73).

At this point of the season, the NBA is kind of lopsided. There are only six squads that sit 10 games over .500, while there are five teams that still have not reached the 10-win mark.

If you look at teams who have a legitimate chance to end the season by hoisting the Lawrence O’Brien Trophy, there is no doubt the Cavaliers are one of those teams. It is remarkable to think that it was just the 2018-19 campaign where the wine and gold won just 19 games, and they followed that with the same number of victories in the COVID shortened season.

The national media talks about Kenny Atkinson’s club, but they haven’t really been a huge story in the Association to date. One reason is the people who cover the NBA seem to have an agenda on what stories will be important before the season starts, and it is hard to break into that realm.

The other reason is playoff success. This iteration of the Cavs (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley) have only one a single playoff series, the seven-game victory over Orlando last season.

However, the darlings of the Western Conference, Oklahoma City have done the same. The only difference is the Thunder did not make the progression from also ran to the “play-in tournament” to losing in the first round, to winning in the first round like Cleveland.

And despite this tremendous start to the season, the reality is the real season for the Cavs starts in the playoffs.

These Cavs remind us a bit of the “Miracle at Richfield” team from 1975-76. That team had nine players who averaged over 15 minutes a game, whereas Atkinson plays ten players regularly and when injuries have occurred, other players have stepped in to take their place in the rotation.

We have talked about how Mitchell, the team’s star, is playing a career low 31.5 minutes a night. The ’75-’76 Cavaliers had a former All-Star in Nate Thurmond anchoring the second unit, and the star of the franchise’s early years, Austin Carr, also came off the bench.

Both teams could shoot from outside. The ’76 team, who got to the Eastern Conference Finals, had outside marksmen like Carr, Bingo Smith, Campy Russell, and Dick Snyder. This year’s squad lead the NBA in three-point shooting, making an absurd 40.7% as a TEAM!

The next best percentage is the 38.8% being made by the Knicks.

We have seen people saying nothing should be done by president of basketball operations Koby Altman at the trade deadline. However, we disagree.

Yes, this group has amazing chemistry, but they still need another post presence in case of an injury to Allen and/or Mobley. And we also think that could use another wing defender with some length.

This team has amazing depth, particularly at the wing position. With Max Strus’ return, Atkinson now has Strus, Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Georges Niang, and Sam Merrill to play on the wing.

And we haven’t mentioned rookie Jaylon Tyson, who when pressed into service has done a solid job.

The one thing Altman has seemed to always prioritize is character. The Cavs haven’t really had a “knucklehead” or “diva” on their roster for a long time. So, we have no doubt if a deal is made, the addition will fit right into what is working right now.

In a week, the Cavs and Thunder get together in Cleveland. That just might be an NBA Finals preview.

Comparing These Cavs To The “Miracle” Team

Since the calendar flipped to 2022, the Cleveland Cavaliers have taken it to another level, winning eight out of nine, and currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference, just two games out of the top spot.

However, the East is so competitive this season that the Cavs are also just 2-1/2 games ahead of the current 7th seed and finishing seventh through tenth gets you a spot in the (ridiculous) play in tournament.

Although Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are getting all star buzz, J.B. Bickerstaff and GM Koby Altman have put together a “team”, and we have discussed before how important it is that any addition made to the roster has to be done with an eye on the incredible chemistry and togetherness this group has.

That togetherness reminds us of the first Cavalier team to make the post-season, the 1975-76 Miracle of Richfield group. That team had nine players who averaged 16 minutes per game.

Out of the 11 players who have played 30 games this season for Cleveland, 10 of them have averaged 15 minutes per game. Now a couple of those guys (Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens) have done that because they move into the starting lineup because Bickerstaff doesn’t want to mess with the bench minutes.

The ’76 team was led in minutes per game by Jim Brewer, who averaged 35.5, while this year’s group is paced by Garland’s 34.7 a contest. So, playing time is spaced out among nine or ten players.

Both groups have veterans who were stars in the NBA embracing a reserve role.

Nate Thurmond was a 7-time all-star and started for Chicago the year before coming to the Cavs early in the 75-76 season. Coach Bill Fitch asked Thurmond to come off the bench and be the anchor of the second unit defensively. Fitch felt the veteran would have a huge impact as a shot blocker and rebounder playing 15-20 minutes per night.

This year’s group has Kevin Love, a key part of the 2016 championship team here. Love spent the post-LeBron James’ years being an undersized center, and the pounding of playing against bigger bodies took its toll on him.

With Allen, rookie Evan Mobley, and even Lauri Markkanen, Love can do what he still does very well. Shoot the three ball, score, and rebound. And as with Fitch in ’76, Bickerstaff has limited Love to just 21.6 minutes a game.

Love is hitting 40% from three and is third on the wine and gold in rebounds at 7.2.

Both squads made their bones on the defensive end of the floor. Fitch’s team was 4th in defensive rating, Bickerstaff’s team is 3rd.

There are differences though. The ’75-’76 team missed the playoffs by one game the previous season, the current edition came out of nowhere. These Cavs have the probable rookie of the year in Evan Mobley, while those Cavaliers were largely a young veteran core, many players with two to four years experience.

One problem Altman and Bickerstaff won’t have to worry about is the dispersal draft, which really hurt the Cavs. The NBA and ABA merged following the ’76 season, and not only the college draft, but the players from ABA teams not absorbed into the NBA were drafted in reverse order of their records, meaning Cleveland could not improve its roster.

Players like Artis Gilmore (Chicago), Maurice Lucas (Portland) and Moses Malone (Portland, but traded to Buffalo and then to Houston) went in that selection process.

By the way, Portland won the title the following season.

What strikes us as the most similar thing about the two teams is the togetherness, the unselfishness of the two squads. They are about winning, and that’s refreshing. They want each other to succeed.

That ’76 team went to the Eastern Conference finals, where they took Boston to six games. They did it despite losing starting center Jim Chones to a broken foot, meaning Thurmond had to start and did a tremendous job in the series.

Hopefully, these Cavs can stay healthy so we can see how far they can go this spring.

Oh, and one other similarity. Both teams are incredibly fun to watch.