Monday, December 13, 2010

Not J.J.'s Best Night

This wasn't the only fastbreak dunk the Cavs allowed, but it was certainly the sickest:


Not only did Hickson get absolutely posterized, he had some choice words after the game:
”I have to find a combination of that second unit that’s going to come in and play the right way and do the right things,” Scott was quoted in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer after the game. “As soon as all five guys are off the floor, we’re getting slaughtered.”
Hickson, a former starter who had nine points in 24 minutes off the bench (and got crowned by James Harden) last night, couldn’t resist a snappy response when asked about it by reporters.
“Oh, so he’s blaming it on the bench?” Hickson asked. “If (Scott) feels that way, then that’s the way he feels. That’s his opinion.”

Yeah, that's Coach Scott's opinion, but there's some solid reasoning behind it, mostly the whole 19-1 run the bench gave up to end the third quarter. 

The Cavs have too many of those types of runs.  They'll play well for stretches and keep themselves in the game but they seem to have a 3-5 minute stretch every game where the bottom just drops out. There was the 16-0 Heat run that broke open the December 2nd game, they started down 10-0 to the Bulls, after being down 20, they got within 4 in Houston only to watch the Rockets go on a 17-4 spurt and hell, the entire Minnesota game was one giant run.

The Cavs aren't terrible, but they're playing terrible. They have too many dead stretches where nothing happens offensively and it affects their defense. Once the opponent grabs their big lead, they then have a tendency to hoist threes to try to get it back (ignoring the offense in the process).  It's a big mess and I really don't know how they fix it. 

The Cavs head to Miami and Wednesday and there's no way it won't be a blood bath. 

6 comments:

Geoffrey said...

Sounds like JJ is getting sick of Scott's tough love. I don't like where this is headed

Erik said...

This team is psychologically ruined, and I think it's beyond repair. There are three schools of thought on where to go from here:

1. bulldoze the roster and get rid of all of the players who are still smarting over LBJ's betrayal. Just do whatever you need to do to get LBJ's aura out of that locker room so that you can have a mentally healthy team again.

2. Keep this team together and plow this bitch right into the iceberg. Make Kelly Dwyer's 12-70 prediction a reality. Then hope for the first pick and your choice of Perry Jones, Kyrie Irving or Harrison Barnes. Then salvage what you can from this roster and trade the rest.

3. Keep this team together and try like crazy to use that $14.5M trade exception to add a star player before the deadline. We'll call this the "Dan Gilbert Route," because I think he still has "I Will Survive" near the top of his iPod most-played list. Time to let it go, Dan. He's gone.

Ben said...

I vote for #1 or #2.

Also, Kelly Dwyers 12 win prediction was based on the assumption that they'd gut the roster of all the vets.

But I agree, psychologically, these guys are toast. The December 2nd game sent them into a tailspin that shows no sign of letting up any time soon.

Teams smell blood when they play the Cavaliers and they seem powerless to stop it.

Take your chances in the lottery. Stock up on draft picks and young players. There's not really anyone on this roster who I think is worth keep (let alone untouchable).

Hickson seems to think that he deserves court time no matter what, bad shots or defense be damned.

If Gilbert doubles down and picks up Iggy or Arenas, I may be done with the team until they rebuild. That would not support that move in the slightest.

Erik said...

There is also option four, which we'll call the "Chris Grant Option."

Completely freeze like a deer in headlights and tell everyone that you're just going to let things play out.

Does anyone seriously think Grant is going to be the guy to rebuild the Cavs into a contender? Maybe I'm being too harsh, but this is the guy who is going to forge a new direction for a decimated organization? Danny Ferry's understudy? Really?

Geoffrey said...

It's like he is used to the notion of how to act when you are a good team. Don't panic, try to stabilize things, try to work with the chemistry. Don't overreact to a losing streak. Problem is we aren't the same team anymore.

However, I don't blame him for making those public comments. You can't go to the media and SAY you are gutting the team, cuz then you lose your leverage. Hell, they could be leaking the oh we're still going for it/Iggy rumors, such that they will get a good return on current players.

The season's over basically, and there isn't a rush to trade these guys right at this moment. However, if the trade deadline passes with no activity, or they actually act on these competing rumors, I'll be very pissed.

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