Take your clothes off, we're going streaking! The Cleveland Cavaliers have won two games in a row (ignore the opponents) and this one against the Bobcats was truly a joy to watch. Other than a rough start, this game was really freaking fun and had me grinning from ear to ear.
Cavs Leaders: Points: Irving, 20; Rebounds: Thompson, 9; Assists: Sessions, 9
Quick Thoughts:
The Cavaliers once again played another bad team. I don't know why the schedule worked out this way, but the Cavs have started the season with a bunch of reallllllyyy bad teams. By the way, they continue this streak again with the Raptors tonight. I know that you have to consider the team that the Cavs played on Tuesday night, but they looked really good as a unit. They were firing on all cylinders offensively. As a team, they had a turnover rate of just 8.9 and had 9 turnovers to 25 assists. That is a much better ratio and when you take care of the ball like that, you'll generally win.
The Cavaliers continued their torrid 3-point shooting at 10 of 21 (47.7%). They shot 50% from the floor and had an eFG of 55.6%. The Cavs did a great job at getting easy shots at and around the rim. They shot a whopping 26-36 at the rim. It's no secret that the Bobcats have struggled in protecting the paint, and Cleveland did a great job taking advantage of that. Tristan Thompson shot 6 of 8 at the rim. Anderson Varejao shot 4 of 4. Kyrie Irving shot 4 of 5. That's really good. If a team can successfully get layups and hit three point shots, that's another great recipe to winning ballgames.
Something that has come up a few times in this young season is the idea that the Cavaliers are going to be too good for own our good. The plan all along has been to suck again this year and add another top-5 lottery pick to the core. Once we have a solid core in place, start adding veterans and build the next Oklahoma City Thunder. People have voiced some concern that the Cavs are going to be too good and perhaps challenge for the 8th spot in the East. Personally, I'm not concerned about this yet. Once again, I look to the schedule that we have played. Who have the Cavs played so far? Raptors, Pistons, Pacers, Nets, Bobcats. If we were truly a good team, perhaps a playoff team, we'd be 4-1 at the very very least after that stretch. It will undoubtedly get harder as the season goes on and we will gradually, if not quickly, move towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference. As good as the Cavs looked last night, there will be nights when they look horrible. When two of the key players on your team are merely teenagers, there will be ups and downs. The downs haven't come yet. They will.
I also liked how Byron Scott managed the team's minutes against the Bobcats. Knowing that they have another game tonight against the Raptors, Scott once again managed not to play any one player for 30+ minutes. Alonzo Gee played the most minutes with 28. I like the awareness by Scott. It's a compressed season and he needs to keep these guys fresh.
Notable Performances:
Luke Harangody!!!! HOLLA. Check out who got some playing time! Luke Harangody provided a much needed one minute off of the bench. He shot 100% from the field and scored 2 points. His shot selection was fantastic and he managed not to do anything ridiculously goofy. I love what Harangody brings to this team: comic relief and a goofy white guy for the crowd to cheer for.
Omri Casspi was pretty terrible. He started the game with some of the worst basketball that I've ever seen. He was benched after about 4 minutes and I'm surprised Scott stuck with him for that long. He got slightly better as the game went on but it was still pretty bad. Of the Cavaliers' 9 turnovers, Casspi had 4 of them. Ew. Byron Scott said after the game that he is not in danger of losing his starting spot to Alonzo Gee. I would probably lean towards Gee at this point, but I'm not the head coach.
Tristan Thompson is definitely a worthy candidate for player of the game. He dunked on everybody. EVERYBODY. He absolutely oozes energy. He tries to swat every shot that goes up. He tries to grab every single rebound. He had 9 rebounds total, 5 of them on the offensive glass. Tigger was 1 rebound away from his first career double-double.
Fear The Sword's Player Of The Game:
Kyrie Irving
The two best players on the floor for the Cleveland Cavaliers last night were rookies. Think about that for a moment. I don't think you can really argue it, honestly. Thompson and Irving showed us exactly what we wanted to see from them. Irving missed his first two shots of the game....and then went on to shoot 8 for 8 the rest of the night to finish 8 of 10 from the floor. He played just 20 minutes, yet lead the team in scoring with 20 points. He effectively ran the offense, tossing 6 assists and committing 0 turnovers. He also two blocks, one of which was a spectacular chasedown. I think you'd have a hard time finding a flaw in Irving's performance against the Bobcats. He was spectacular.
0 recs | 12 comments
I’m really liking what I’ve seen from this team so far. Irving is showing that he deserves to be the #1 pick — and without the “it was a bad draft” qualifier that we’ve been hearing all summer — and Thompson has really surprised me with his place. I thought he was a reach at 4, like many others, but he could become a very good player once he learns what he’s doing. This team is actually fun to watch, even if they’re losing, unlike last year’s miserable team. I know the schedule gets much tougher the next couple weeks so it will be interesting to see how they play when they travel out west.
Buckeye Brad - January 4, 2012
I agree with all of that. I thought Thompson was a big reach but I’ve been amazed at his play so far. We’ll see if he can do it consistently, but right now I don’t care.
The whole team is fun to watch, which is really all that matters to me this season.
notthatnoise - January 4, 2012
I think you could counter your point about our schedule by saying that we were very close to being 4-1 (probably should be). But, I agree. We’ll have to wait and see how we perform on this road trip to really get a gauge for how good this team can be. I’m with you, though. We’re probably going to be bad.
ahowie - January 4, 2012
The Pacers and us have benefited from some early games thus far for sure.
johnf34 - January 4, 2012
yes we have played somebad teams but we are beating them buy double digits .how many games last year before we did that?we are still a bad team but better than last year by a lot.
beanjames - January 4, 2012
I think Jamison had a pretty good game last night too.
notthatnoise - January 4, 2012
Looking at Hollinger’s team efficiency stats, the Cavs are playing like a top 10 team so far (granted, against easy competition). We rank 6th in offensive efficiency and 10th in defensive efficiency, which is just crazy. We’re not going to finish that high, of course, but those stats certainly show that we’re moving in the right direction.
Buckeye Brad - January 4, 2012
Also, Irving is 3rd and Thompson is 7th in rookie PER (insider required). Those two, along with Sessions, are in the top 50 of all players.
Buckeye Brad - January 4, 2012
I personally don’t miss anything Hollinger says. Of course there’s stuff I’m not on board with but he always makes me think about some new stuff or gives me an idea.
His PER Diem columns are must reads every day to me.
johnf34 - January 4, 2012
He knows much more about basketball than any of us do
Conrad Kaczmarek - January 4, 2012
The problem is he knows it. Don’t get me wrong, I like him, he certainly knows his stuff. His stats are great. I just think sometimes he trusts his stats too much, without recognizing that they might not be perfect.
notthatnoise - January 4, 2012
I completely agree with this. He only relies on stats. I love reading him but there’s no reason to agree with absolutely everything he says. He just gives me ideas that help me form my opinions.
johnf34 - January 4, 2012
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