Cavs Recap Madness Game #2: In Which We Set A Blueprint for making The Leap

Published
by
John Krolik
on October 30, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

First things first: I am not Bob. My name is John Krolik. I’ve been around the internets a little bit, notably my now-defunct blog Truth In A Bullet Fedora and the one and only Freedarko.com (buy their book!), but these days I’m squeezing most of the juice from my mind-grapes over at SLAM Online, as well as doing some moonlighting here. I’m 19, a sophomore at USC, and a Cavs fan. Additional information available on request, I suppose.

But anyways, let’s talk Cavs, because the Wine and Gold looked just fantastic tonight.

Talking Point #1: When was the last time you remember the Cavs winning a game this comfortably? I honestly cannot think of the last time LeBron got to watch the end of the game off the top of my head. The Cavs are an enigma in that their extremely slow pace of play and erratic offense, as well as their penchant for preferring dramatic 5-point or less finishes and occasional over-reliance in their ability to pull wins out by the skin of their teeth, made the Cavs a team that can as often as not beat any team in the league but never really flexed their dominance against the league’s lesser teams. Tonight, we were clearly the dominant team all night, save that ugly third quarter.

On a macro level, we did this because our increased speed allowed for us to use full-court pressure and quick-hitting double teams to exploit Charlotte for easy points while sticking with the boring fundamentals that make Mike Brown’s unit one of the league’s best defensive teams, our 2nd unit didn’t allow the other team back in the game, and we found other sources of scoring. More Specifically:

Talking Point #2: MO WILLIAMS. Yes, it’s one game. Yes, it was against the Bobcats. Yes, 17/4/7 isn’t exactly blowing the doors off the place. But there was nothing tonight that didn’t suggest that this guy isn’t the best offensive player who’s ever played with LeBron James in the NBA. Other than an itchy trigger finger from deep (1-6 on threes), Mo shot 6-8 from inside the arc on a combination of drives to the basket, easy jumpers off curls, and pretty little pull-ups off of screens-he’s like the player Larry Hughes thinks he is. Normally, I don’t like over-relying on the mid-range game, but Mo was maybe the best mid-range shooter in the league last year, and seeing how comfortable his stroke and moves are from that range, I’m breathing easy. And his stroke from deep is making me think he’ll make teams pay for leaving him unguarded more often than not.

AND DID I MENTION HE’S ACTUALLY A POINT GUARD? Here’s Mo, pushing the ball at absolutely every opportunity. Here’s Mo using his handle to set up angles and then feeding the big man inside. Here’s Mo, finding a counter-cutting LeBron for an early stuff. (I was moist after the 1st few possessions). Here’s Mo, who absolutely has the ball on a string. 1 turnover. And for those of you worried about D, Ray Felton went 1-10 from the field and Augustin went 3-8, and Mo looked to be denying them the corner and even drew some nice offensive fouls. And with the 2nd unit, we actually look like a functional basketball team thanks to Mo’s playmaking abilities. It should tell you something about what’s happened with LeBron’s past sidekicks that I was convinced Mo was going to sprain his ankle in the 4th quarter. I’m still not committing all the way to Mo. But I’m getting there.

Talking Point #3: BOOBIE. When he doesn’t miss shots, he’s really good. That’s some top-notch analysis. With Mo out there as another playmaker to free up Boobie, he’s getting a lot more of those feet-set looks he’ll kill you with, and he made all 5 of those extended-elbow turnaround catch-and-shoot Js off pin-down screens he seems to have added this off-season tonight. And he’s got the Reggie Miller 3-ball flop down pat. You can’t expect this every night, but Boobie is looking like Ben Gordon with social skills and seems to be the clubhouse leader for the crunch-time guy out of our harem of 2-guards right now.

Talking Point #4: When was the last time you saw LeBron this far down on the list of talking points? He put up a 22/9/9 tonight in 30 minutes, and he honestly didn’t play that well. The disturbing thing tonight is that LeBron hit literally nothing from outside of the paint, missing all 8 of his jumpers, making him 2-18 on jump shots so far this season. His usually shoots about 40% eFG on his jump shots during the season, but of course outside shooting was still an area of his game that could improve. His >50% 3-point shooting in the pre-season and lights-out display overseas suggest the stroke is there, so hopefully that’ll come around, although I’d still like to see him shooting more from the 10-15 foot range off pull-ups than the 15-20 footers he seems to settle for with the ball in his hands-all his jump shots were from more than 14 feet away. And he still left points at the line, going 8-12 and giving Cavs fans everywhere ulcers.

But onto the good news-LeBron got easy buckets tonight, the type he’s only gotten for team USA in the past. Fast-break feeds from Mo Williams, catches in the low-post for baskets (!), put-back buckets, points off cutters-all of these are making LeBron even better and giving him a dimension he didn’t have before. If he can combine the type of buckets he got tonight with the scoring off iso and pick-and-rolls with the ball in his hands that got him 30 points per game last year, as well as get some kind of perimeter game going, this could get downright freaky. And we may well see that when we get into the type of game where LeBron’s playing 40+ minutes and we’re not just working on getting the new, dynamic offensive elements of the offense worked in.

Talking Point #5: The big-man situation is still up in the air. Big Z’s still doing Big Z things, holding the paint down phenominally and rebounding like a beast, but I’m not sure where he fits in the new offense. His passing from the high-post is keeping him passable, but that 18-foot set shot is just not an effective option now that we have guys like Mo and Boobie to create better shots, and our offense noticeably stagnates when he goes to work on the blocks.

Oddly, the new offense suits Ben Wallace’s talents A LOT better. Ben’s actually quite good at making good, quick passes to the open man when he has the ball and moving without it in order to get easy points, and when the ball’s moving crisply like it was tonight, that means he can use those sills to keep it being a 5 on 4 game on the offensive end. When the offense stagnates, he’s still horrifyingly and revoltingly terrible on offense. And he actually does seem springier, which 10 boards (2 offensive) and 5 blocks with only one foul in 24 minutes helped to show-when healthy, he really does make the advertised impact inside on defense and on the boards. Andy wasn’t the bright spot he was in Boston, but he still looked great, providing energy, getting all the way out to deny corners on pick-and-rolls, finding lanes, getting loose balls, and NOT DOING STUPID CRAP ON OFFENSE.

JJ Hickson-Dayumn. I think his wingspan is approximately eleventy feet long, and he’s got straight-up pogo sticks, and he is absolutely unafraid to mix it up and go up strong, as well as try to stuff the ever-loving poopy out of anyone who tries to go at him on defense. And then there’s this flush on Emeka (snuff-film quality): notice not only the athletic ability and sheer ballsiness but that where he caught it is where Big Z and Drew Gooden settled for mid-range jumpers for the last three years. I am hoping against hope that this guy can get some pick-and-roll synergy with LeBron-this could be the East’s answer to Nash-Amare or Paul-Chandler. I am serious. The kid has that much realness.

Notes and Errata:

Wally Z appears completely and utterly worthless. I still haven’t seen Kinsey play, but if my life depended on a game I’d probably rather have Kinsey in the rotation right now. I’m hoping his contract brings in a big fish, but even with more ball movement and a faster place, Wally appears completely over-matched. Delonte still looks like he’s catching up from missing pre-season (best wishes for his recovery), and he should get it going pretty soon. Sasha Pavs didn’t do that bad, but is still making those stupid over-agressive mental slips on both ends of the floor.

I’m still pumped about Hickson’s slam.

Watching LeBron try to adjust to being the screener looked like Austin Carr trying to give a reading of Pynchon, but that could be very dangerous.

It’s always fun watching Larry Brown lose.

Linton Johnson was 1 foul away from a 10 quadrillion. I honestly did not notice him on the court. Larry Brown is hilarious.

On the flip side, no Lorenzen Wright tonight until garbage time. No offense to the guy, but thank God. I want more JJ. I believe that amazingly mediocre veterans should be hidden from coaches with young, talented players like you hide cigarettes from someone who says he’s trying to quit smoking.

Well, I’ve probably written enough. Peace and celebration.

Lebron sick of departure talk, Windhorst headed to the Plains Dealer, Boobie fires agent

Published
by
Bob
on September 30, 2008
in Cavsboard News and Lebron
. 1 Comment

So this will likely get little to no national run, since that’s how these things work, but Bob Finnan had a quote in his News Herald write up about media day from Lebron James regarding all the rumors of his departure in two years:

“Go on the Internet and see every time I’ve been asked if I’m happy in Cleveland and see my response,” he said. “It’s simple. I’ve never given any indication I was leaving Cleveland or I didn’t like being here.

“I love being here and playing in front of these fans. My family is here. I grew up 30 miles away from here.”

My favorite quote from Lebron though was not the one above.  It’s the one below.  Lebron was asked about how he’s improved over the summer due to the level of competition the Olympics brought.  What followed was a reference to Daniel Gibson that must have made Boobie feel like “hey, what did i do?”.

“There’s no way you can’t get better,” he said. “If you can go out and lead guys who are already established, guys who won NBA championships, scoring titles, MVPs and Rookies of the Year, then I should be able to lead Daniel Gibson.”

Speaking of Daniel Gibson, he must have gotten wind of talk of his “team-friendly” deal.  He’s parted ways with his agent Lewis Tucker, joking that “I’m a free agent”.

And a big congratulations goes out to both Brian Windhorst and to Waiting for Next Year.  WFNY made us aware that Brian will be departing the Akron Beacon Journal to join Terry Pluto at the Cleveland Plains Dealer.  Brian has already collaborated on a book with Terry Pluto, and should really solidify the Plains Dealer Cavalier coverage with the ahead of the curve way he’s consistently broken news.

Also be sure to check out Dan Labbe’s notes from media day.  I found his comment about Delonte West being the only Cavalier to shy away from talk of a championship interesting.  Considering the following quote from Delonte on media day, why the restraint?

“My momma’s house is paid for,” he said. “My Uncle Rudy will get his teeth. My daddy got a boat. My little sister’s college is paid for. I can just concentrate on basketball now.”

Best Offseason Moves of 2008

Published
by
Bob
on September 29, 2008
in Free Agency, Signings and Trades
. 1 Comment

Well it’s time I stop being a lazy piece of shit. After the Delonte signing, I needed to put some real work in so as to not get fired from my paying job. But at this point, it’s time to start writing again and start looking around the division/league. Seeing as I already did a write-up on my least favorite moves of this offseason, it’s only fitting that I make my feelings known about which moves I like best.

So without any more delay, I give you my five “Best Moves of 2008 Offseason”:

1.) Elton Brand signs with the Sixers

This one is pretty obvious to sit atop my list in large part because it was unexpected. If you had told me that Brand would leave the Clippers, under rather nefarious circumstances, after the Clippers acquired Baron Davis, I would have told you that you were crazy.

The guy has been nothing but a loyal workhorse, and the monetary differences didn’t seem enough to prompt a guy to uproot his life and walk away from a potentially contending trio of Brand/Davis/Camby with promising young support from Thornton and Gordon.

But yeah…. That happened, and now I have to hope the 20 and 10 we’ve all come to expect from Brand is either a thing of the past, or mostly hollow numbers that don’t translate to “surpassing the Cavs”. Call me skeptical that another year together and the addition of Brand/Speights/Ratliff won’t spell significant progress for the Sixers.

He’s worth every cent of the deal he got, and the fact that Sixers resigned Igoudala and Williams only makes this deal all the bigger in my eyes.

2.) Rockets acquire Ron Artest

This is one of those fantasy roster moves that of course I love until I see how it plays out. It’s low risk, and simply for that reason alone, I can get behind it. If Artest works out, you’ve put yourself in the driver’s seat when he negotiates his next contract. If not, he plays out the final year of his contract and he’s off the books next summer. Either way, the on court impact he could have on an already solid defensive squad could be tremendous. With Battier and Artest harassing the opposition, Tracy can focus on what Tracy does.

Giving up Donte Greene after his summer league showing might have been unfortunate, but we all know summer league ball does not an NBA player make (see Shannon Brown), and considering the way his stock free fell during the actual draft (sliding all the way to Memphis at #28 before being traded to Houston for weed smoking Darrell Arthur, the Rockets were probably fortunate to luck into such a promising talent that late in the first round anyway. Turning him and the corpse of Bobby Jackson into Ron Artest is a deal you make 11 out of 10 days.

2.5) Clippers acquire Marcus Camby

I already posted my thoughts on why this was a bad deal for the Nuggets, so logically I’d love it for the Clippers. Low risk, high reward. Moving on.

3.) Portland acquires Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu for Brandon Rush/Jarrett Jack/Josh McRoberts

A slashing point guard like Bayless would have been a dream scenario for the Cavs, but most expected he could go as high as the fourth overall pick. Why dwell on something which will never happen? He did slip quite a long way…. all the way to #11 where he was taken by the Pacers. Instead of holding on to him as the replacement for Jamaal Tinsley, the Pacers shipped him off to the Trailblazers.

The Trailblazers essentially turned the 13th overall pick (Brandon Rush) and two other players (Jarrett Jack and Josh Roberts) into the summer league’s best rookie who could start immediately or provide a huge scoring punch off the bench, a big man in Diogu, and almost as importantly, they opened up one more roster spot which is valuable for a team that is loaded up on overseas talent.

After seeing Rudy Fernandez’s performance in the Olympics, you’d be hard pressed to find somebody that would take issue with the Blazers offseason roster maneuvers. Did I mention Greg Oden returns?

4.) Roger Mason signs with the Spurs for 2 years, $7.3 million

I had to make at least one of these picks about a role player who flew under the radar. I loved this signing. The Spurs are aging and they added a 28-year old perimeter player who can do a little of everything to ease the loss of Brent Barry and the decay of Michael Finley. He shot nearly 40% from behind the arc last year, showed the ability to put the ball on the floor a little, and even spelled Daniels and Arenas at point when injuries required it.

Considering players like Michael Pietrus got the entire midlevel exception even after the Magic invested a first round pick in a player of the same position (Courtney Lee), you can hardly second guess the Spurs for acquiring yet another versatile role player for only $3.5 million to plug in alongside their starters. Watching Mason play these last few years have given me a healthy respect for his all around game. Mason won’t be enough to offset the age/injury concerns the Spurs continue to have, but he was a nice addition.

5.) Timberwolves acquire Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins for OJ Mayo, Greg Buckner, Marko Jaric, and Antoine Walker

Let’s take the dead weight out of the analysis of this deal (Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, Brian Cardinal). It’s moving bad money for other bad money, with the only difference being years.

The core of this deal is Kevin Love and Mike Miller for OJ Mayo. Personally I think I’d take Love for Mayo straight up. Love is a big man with both an inside and outside game (although we’ve yet to see how effective his inside game will be in the pros). He’s worked tirelessly to get his body in optimal NBA condition. He rebounds very well. He has a good attitude and fundamentally, he’s perhaps the best player in this year’s draft.

As for Mayo, he’s got the “upside”. Many would say at USC he was underwhelming given the level of hype he came in with. His character certainly can be called into question after witnessing his youtube antics and reading about his alleged “benefits” while playing at USC. But I’m trying to view this independently of any off court related reasons.

Why would a big man starved team (the Grizzlies) trade a very promising big man for another perimeter player on a team that already has Conley, Crittendon, Lowry, and Gay? Mayo has the “upside” but he’s hardly shown that’s he’s a traditional point guard, and with Crittendon and Gay on the outside, the Grizzlies don’t lack for guys who can fill it up when given the green light.

Call me a hater, but I think the Mayo legacy that was created post-Lebron is responsible for the Grizzlies trading away a guy who will end with a better NBA career.

The Worst Offseason Moves of 2008

Published
by
Bob
on September 22, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Well, with the season still a month away roughly, it’s time to start putting making some predictions and getting on my soapbox.  So I give you my first “The Worst Offseason Moves of (insert year)” piece. 

1.) The Nuggets trade Marcus Camby for a second-round pick:

Fine. You don’t want to pay the guy. I wish the Cavs didn’t have to pay Wallace or Wally either. But Camby is far more productive than the Cavaliers dead weight, and he makes nearly half of what those two do. There had to be a better option out there then to deal him for a second round pick, even if it’s not out there before the season.

At the trade deadline, when teams are trying to add that one piece (see Kurt Thomas to the Spurs) the Nuggets probably could have gotten a first-round choice, or at least some promising prospect who wasn’t going to be playing much with a contender (like a Donte Greene). Sure, they would have had to pay the luxury tax for one more year, but I think that’s a far better alternative.

Couple that with the fact that Camby’s deal is actually pretty reasonable ($8 million this season, $7.65 million next), and I’m completely underwhelmed by the “salary dump” that Denver found in the Clippers. When looking for a team with enough cap space to take on $8 million dollars, their choices were limited. But sometimes, if the party is full of fat chicks, you should just go home alone.

2.) The Knicks sign Chris Duhon for 2 years, $11 million:

I want to just write “it’s the Knicks” and move on, but here goes.

This deal is a bad deal. It’s yet another midlevel deal doled out to yet another career backup by the New Yorks Knicks.  If there is any team in the last five years who has so woefully misused their midlevel, it would be the New York Knicks. 

But to the Knicks credit, at least they didn’t give him a long, bad deal. In two years, if Duhon proves to be overpaid, they can wash their hands of him. They’re just reaching that point with Jared Jeffries and Jerome James, two of their other midlevel mistakes. They’re showing improvement in that respect.

When deciding between deals, Duhon was considering the Magic and Knicks, but the Knicks came to the table with a lot more money in offering 2 years at roughly $5.5 million per. Put that in perspective with West’s 3 years at roughly $4 million per with a third year team option, and you have to think they might have overspent a little on a position where they already have $21 million dollars invested in a lunatic (Marbury).

Speaking of bad deals for average role player talent….

3.) Kwame Brown to the Pistons for 2 years, $8 million:

I have a general rule. It’s an infrequently cited rule, but here goes.

If a team signs a player who has spent the last three years of his career with the Lakers, a storied franchise…. and if said player is cited as “former Washington Wizard Kwame Brown” in the adjoining article in the local rag announcing his acquisition, then said player must have sucked with the Lakers.

2 years, $8 million dollars… How Brown keeps getting money when he’s been an injury prone, inconsistent, baby-handed disappointment his whole career is beyond me. It just goes to show you that if you can fill out a uniform and are taller then 6’10” somebody will pay you.  $4 million dollars is not a ton of money for a big man (Ronny Turiaf who played less then Kwame in LA when Kwame was healthy got $4.5 per season), but it’s too much for a guy who can’t stay in the lineup for any long stretch of time of plays like he’s not in it even when he is.

The Pistons should have just taken 20 million dollars, mashed it up into a basketball shaped wad, and offered to let Kwame keep it all if he could catch it. I guarantee you Kwame would be playing for free.

4.) Joe Alexander taken with the 8th overall choice for the Milwaukee Bucks:

I didn’t get this at the time, and I still don’t understand it now. A poor summer league showing by Alexander only solidifies my belief that taking him with the 8th overall pick was the wrong move for the Bucks. It screams Luke Jackson revisited.

They moved Yi and Simmons to acquire Jefferson. They appear to be trying to “win now”. But then they turned around and drafted a guy with the number 8 pick who is not going to be able to significantly contribute being buried behind Jefferson. They lack interior bangers and when they dealt Mason in the Mo Williams deal, not only did they knowingly deal away the most talented player in the deal (Williams), but they failed to get back any big men.

The Alexander choice can’t be looked out without the context of the surrounding moves. But when you do consider the Bucks other maneuvers, it sticks out like a sore thumb. One that you’ll want to amputate from your hand later on.

5.) Corey Maggette signed to a 50 million dollar deal:

Maggette had little to no leverage when he inked his deal. The money on the free agent market had largely dried up. The Clippers has spent “Maggette’s money” on Baron Davis and still were under the impression they’d be resigning Brand. The Grizzlies weren’t going to spend their money period.

Nobody on the market was offering Magette the kind of money he felt he was worth ($10 million per season) mainly because nobody had that kind of money available. And in swooped the Warriors, bidding against themselves to get Maggette. It’s like taking a prostitute to a nice steak dinner. Completely unnecessary. You could have sex with her in your car, and not even share the Del Taco.

Now he’s not a bad player. Quite the opposite, but when you’ve got two free agents to resign (Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins) who both eventually cost more than $10 million per season, a little financial responsibility would have been nice to see. Who was going to outbid the Warriors if they’d only offered $8 million per year, or $8.5?

Ronald Dupree coming to camp with the Cavs

Published
by
Bob
on September 18, 2008
in Free Agency and Signings
. 0 Comments

Well Hoopshype is reporting that Ronald “Super Dupe” Dupree, the former Piston small forward has signed on with the Cavs to compete for a roster spot in training camp. 

Ronald Dupree, who will go in history as the last player inked by the Seattle SuperSonics, will be signed by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While Dupree has had a largely insignificant career in the NBA, he has managed to stick around filling up a spot on the bench for a few different squads.  Undrafted out of LSU, Dupree (6′7″, 200 lbs.) had his biggest on court impact his rookie season when he logged 20 minutes a night with a bad Bulls team averaging 6 points and 3 boards per game during ‘03-’04.

Since then, he served as roster filler for Larry Brown’s Pistons, had a short stint in Minnesota when he was traded there for a second-round pick, and then returned to Detroit where he rode the bench until he was waived to make room for Primo Brezec and Walter Hermann in the Pistons-Bobcats deal that sent Nazi Mohammed to Charlotte.

It’s not really a surprise that Mike Brown would want bring in another long wing player since he seems to be searching for some more defensive help on the perimeter.  Whether Dupree makes the team or not (which is unlikely), is largely going to depend on what happens with Eric Snow, since the roster is pretty full up now on guys who are better options.  Regardless, I wouldn’t expect him to have any more of a roll with the Cavs then he did with the Pistons after his initial year…. that being the role of a towel waiver and seat warmer.