Cavs Lose again

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

His stats flip flopped after going 1-5 on threes last night...now 39.5 % overall and 37% on threes. Cavs fans are still high on Love, and blame the team's problems on their inability to get looks for Love around the basket. I wonder how long they will continue to ignore his defense...it's still the honeymoon period.

[Monster]

Last week I watched the first quarter of the Cavs vs NO game and it was some ugly basketball so I quit watching.

All this hand wringing about the Cavs who are 5-4 while the Spurs are 6-4. I'm not worried they lost to a Nugs team who are more talented than their record. There was like 1 or 2 close games last night in the NBA which quite frankly makes the league look like a joke. Clips got blown out by the Bulls without Rose and Pau. We all knew defense was gonna be an issue for the Cavs no surprises there. The Cavs are gonna have issues but they are gonna figure it out.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

His stats flip flopped after going 1-5 on threes last night...now 39.5 % overall and 37% on threes. Cavs fans are still high on Love, and blame the team's problems on their inability to get looks for Love around the basket. I wonder how long they will continue to ignore his defense...it's still the honeymoon period.

Have you seen Lebron's D this year? He literally just stopped guarding Lawson down the stretch for no reason. Love looks about the same on D, but Lebron has been just awful.

[Monster]

I should add that one thing that could keep the Cavs from being good is if Blatt actually sucks as a coach. We will see.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I see a Rondo would be perfect for LeBron post. And Rubio would be perfect for LeBron post.

I don't get it. Both are pass-first, pass-second PGs. They need the ball in their hands to be effective. And guess what... nobody in the NBA is better (arguably) with the ball in his hands than LeBron James.

Surrounding him with shooters who can also pass has proven to work. Pairing him with a ball-dominant PG who can't shoot?

[TheFuture]

Sounds crazy, but for months---and I knew it had ZERO chance of happening--- I was saying to my friends that we should make a run at Lebron.

Seriously. Top to bottom, I think that we're better then them (last years team).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2014.html

Pek and Dieng by year's end was better then Varejao.

Love equals Love.

Brewer was NOT as good as L Deng but Lebron would be the 3 anyway. So it wouldn't have mattered.

Martin is better then Waiter.

But the key thing is Rubio. While not a great shooter, is exactly the PG that Lebron needs. Kyrie could score all he wants but he has to realize that he has 2 other very capable scorers on the team----top 10 guys in the whole darn league!!! That's what he has to realize and learn. Then again, Rubio is hurt and can't even play cause of his bum ankle....LOL.

Rubio and Rondo are not good fits for any team with Lebron. Both of those players require the ball to be effective. Their talents would not be utilized playing off of lebron. lebron is a PG in a PF body. He facilitates an offense and requires shooters everywhere around him. Kyrie and Love are perfect fits for Lebron. In 30 games they will have some chemistry and hit full stride. They remain the team to beat. I can see them signing ray ray and trading for a defensive big this year. Watch out

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

How terrible a perimeter defender is Kyrie Irving? Shelvin Mack was 9-44 on threes before going 6-6 tonight in Cleveland...Cavs lose to atlanta by 29 at home. They have some serious issues on defense.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Cavs just won 9 out of 11 games, although against some less than terrific competition. But if we're supposed to get excited about the Warriors 14+ streak against weak teams too, then who really cares. Winning is winning.

They'll continue to learn each other's games on the fly. I'm not worried about them, as I've preached all year.

[kekgeek]

I am don't think the cavs will win it all this year, but saying kyrie is terrible at d is an overreaction, he has been pretty good at d this year and mack got hot. It's like thad (who is a better player than mack) in the 3rd quarter against the wiz he was hot and they were going in and the d was very good

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Yes. I agree that it was more about a player getting hot last night than the D, and I also agree that Kyrie appears to be more focused on defense this year. That said, I think that most would agree that at least 2 of the Cavs' starting five (Irving and Love) are clearly in the bottom quartile of their position defensively, and you could probably add Varejo to that list also. Combine that with a very weak bench, and I don't see a championship for them barring a significant trade. I can't think of a recent NBA champion team that was that poor on defense.

The Cavs are pretty strong against the weak East (12-4), but being 2-6 against the West a quarter of the way through the season tells me a lot about their chances.