He played 29 minutes tonight.ElUno20 said:Looks like lebron got tired of slumping. This pace may burn him out before the break though
BigSoxFan said:Seems to me that LeBron is turning into Kobe.
Joe Harris can play some good defenseDeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
I think he is a bit frustrated after having what he had in Miami. Many people who really followed the Association knew this already but now maybe casual fans are figuring out that Chris Bosh was, maybe, the true second banana to LeBron for the past few Wade-declining seasons. He really was a huge help cleaning up on defense.
The sad fact is that while Kevin Love is an elite offensive player, he continues to be a massive liability on defense. And Kyrie Irving, thus far, isn't showing any improvement to his defensive game either. Aside from LeBron, there really isn't anyone on the Cavs squad who has what can be considered an above average defensive pedigree. LeBron, at his age, is slipping too - this season is continuing a trend from his peak D-Rating season back in '11-12 so he alone cannot make up for the rest of the Cavs turn-style defense.
If this team is going to improve, someone is going to have to become a defensive stopper down low as well as on the wings. Its just not clear who that is and maybe its going to have to come from the outside.
Obviously kidding about Brown but my concerns on Blatt with this team is running its course so far. If he's fired some may call him a scapegoat I'll stick with him being the wrong guy to lead this team.Rudy Pemberton said:At what point do they scapegoat the rookie coach, and bring back Mike Brown?
Kidding. I think.
HomeRunBaker said:Obviously kidding about Brown but my concerns on Blatt with this team is running its course so far. If he's fired some may call him a scapegoat I'll stick with him being the wrong guy to lead this team.
bosox4283 said:
Why wrong guy? Real question -- I've been really interested in this Cavs experiment.
Blacken said:I have trouble with the idea of trading a guy like Irving, because you probably do force LeBron back into the role of primary ball-handler and I think he's better when you have some flexibility there...but man, Horford would look really good on that team.
Kliq said:I would really enjoy seeing this blow up in his face because GM LeBron put this whole team together, if that makes me a sadist then so be it.
I heard some ESPN talking head the other day mention that Blatt isn't the right fit for Cleveland, because he lets LeBron be the coach. Spolestra didn't get enough credit for being willing to step in and yell at his team and tell LeBron what he needs to be doing. So when LeBron was "slacking off" on defense, Spo would let him know, while Blatt doesn't do anything. Honestly speaking, I think it is dumb to think that a player as talented and as accomplished as James needs a coach to tell him to play harder, but it does raise an interesting point. Blatt really doesn't have the luxury to get on LeBron's case, because we all know that with a snap of his fingers, LeBron could send Blatt back to Russia. It doesn't lend itself to a great environment when a coach is more focused on appeasing his players instead of actually coaching.
Blacken said:It's too early to bury them, obviously, but this is where I'd start worrying that Love's defensive issues are "can't" rather than "won't." I've always thought it was "hey, I'm in Minnesota and nobody's gonna pay me on defense, so conserve energy for the offensive end" but even when he's trying it doesn't look good.
(Irving's defensive issues are firmly "won't".)
Love is a terrible defender, and based on his physical profile he'll never be a rim protector. I think you can get away with that if your C is a rim protector and your guards defend well. (Which keeps guards from getting runs at Love, or drawing the C and making Love rotate.)Blacken said:It's too early to bury them, obviously, but this is where I'd start worrying that Love's defensive issues are "can't" rather than "won't." I've always thought it was "hey, I'm in Minnesota and nobody's gonna pay me on defense, so conserve energy for the offensive end" but even when he's trying it doesn't look good.
(Irving's defensive issues are firmly "won't".)
Cellar-Door said:I don't think you can have a championship team with subpar defenders at 3 spots, 2 of them among the worst in the league at their positions.
nighthob said:Allen was bench depth and Bosh isn't a subpar defender (he's a net positive as the primary help defender and a net negative as the post defender, but it evens out). Wade, was of course terrible. The Cavs by contrast start Irving, Love, and Waiters.
nighthob said:Allen was bench depth and Bosh isn't a subpar defender (he's a net positive as the primary help defender and a net negative as the post defender, but it evens out). Wade, was of course terrible. The Cavs by contrast start Irving, Love, and Waiters.
HomeRunBaker said:I'd place more weight on these teams being reliant on such a crapshoot as the draft by attempting to project how 20-year old kids develop as men once handed millions of dollars.
While the more draft picks the better (Danny's strategy appears to be the acquisition all 30 first round picks), I am not sure the Memphis pick is all that desirable. Not only is Memphis doing quite well, but the pick is heavily protected for the next two years. Something such as 1-5 and 15-30 protected.nighthob said:He has Wright and a TPE to eat contracts. If he can facilitate a C to the Cavs for the Memphis lottery pick it could be a coup.
I said it here at the time that is was a horrible selection to manage this type of team. In fairness to Gilbert & Co they didn't have LeBron or Love at the time but it was still a strange hire at the time when they are going after LeBron. Not sure what the rush was to hire a flier such as Blatt so soon in the process.ifmanis5 said:David Blatt is on the clock. When you get beat down at home by the Pistons, the end is near.
Somewhere in the Cleveland area, Dion Waiters is laughing.RedOctober3829 said:@SpearsNBAYahoo: Cavs say LeBron James is expected to be out two weeks with left knee and low back strains.
Because he will be getting twenty shots a game.Eddie Jurak said:Somewhere in the Cleveland area, Dion Waiters is laughing.
Unless Kyrie freezes him out, which would be awesome.Blacken said:Because he will be getting twenty shots a game.