Cavs Lose again

[kekgeek]

Even though I agree I don't love the cavs chances who knows if they add ray Allen and a player like a birdman they would have a very good chance at winning. They do have the best player another top 10 player and another to 25 so it is possible

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I wound down Christmas Day watching the Heat/Cavs game, and I continue to be amazed at how poorly the Cavs play defense...it's even worse now that they have lost Varejo for the season, even though he is not a great defender either. I recognize that Wade and the Heat were motivated to beat the Cavs, but losing to a Heat team playing without Bosh on the national stage is very telling. Surprisingly Waiters played pretty good defense last night, but James looked lazy and Love and Irving were atrocious.

The prevailing opinion on this board is that the Cavs will eventually figure it out and rise to the top, but I don't see it. They have had a very easy schedule to date (heavily weighted to home and Eastern conference games) and still aren't in position for home court in the first round. Toronto, Washington, Atlanta and Chicago have good looking clubs, and the Cavs will have a difficult time passing them playing defense the way they are. The Big Three is still a formidable offensive force, even with Love not shooting well...Irving was terrific offensively last night. But you win with defense in the NBA, and the Cavs don't do defense.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Realized this recently...

S. Ibaka is shooting a higher percentage on three pointers than Kevin Love. And he's taking 3+ attempts per game. It's not necessarily an anomaly. It's the third straight season Ibaka is shooting a higher percentage than Kevin Love.

With all the commentary we hear about Love's ability to shot from deep, I found the stat interesting. I'm still a fan of Love offensively, but he just hasn't proven to be able to shoot a high percentage in the NBA. His ability to get fouled and hit free throws does help his overall shooting efficiency though.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, I watched the Cavs game too. Besides poor defense, I would even say they underachieve on offense, even though they are ranked 4th in the NBA. I mean, seriously, they have three of the most gifted offensive players of this generation in Irving, Love, and LeBron. What I saw yesterday was a lot of one-on-one action, with minimal off the ball movement. It was kind of ugly to watch.

Abe, as for shooting 3's, a lot of forward-thinking NBA front office types and coaches look at volume, in addition to accuracy. If you can crack the 30% barrier, it's a worthwhile shot to take compared to open "long 2's".

[mjs34]

I think it comes down to chemistry, and I don't see Love fitting well with either Irving or Waiters offensively. Both guys rarely pass out once they start their drive, and that is where Love could really help. I watched Love on a couple of occasions, acting out when not getting that pass out.

I still think Dion gets moved, most likely for a big. Not sure if that will be enough though. I think Love re-signing there isn't a given anymore. Wouldn't be surprised to see him just pick up his option for next season, and wait for a bigger payday.

Am I the only one that thinks Lebron actually looks bigger than last season? I thought they said he had slimmed down.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Yeah, I watched the Cavs game too. Besides poor defense, I would even say they underachieve on offense, even though they are ranked 4th in the NBA. I mean, seriously, they have three of the most gifted offensive players of this generation in Irving, Love, and LeBron. What I saw yesterday was a lot of one-on-one action, with minimal off the ball movement. It was kind of ugly to watch.

Abe, as for shooting 3's, a lot of forward-thinking NBA front office types and coaches look at volume, in addition to accuracy. If you can crack the 30% barrier, it's a worthwhile shot to take compared to open "long 2's".

That's what's interesting with Ibaka. He's shooting nearly 5x as many shots and his percentage has gone up. It's gone up 4 straight seasons.

Granted, he still isn't a guy who's going to catch the ball on the move and take that shot via Love at times... but nearly 40% at this point from Ibaka is pretty damn good.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Lebron becoming a turnstile on defense isn't helping either. Dieng got past him at will yesterday and every time it was Lebron complaining about the help defense not being there when he should still have enough athletic capabilities to keep a guy like Dieng in front of him. The only time Lebron really tried on D yesterday was when he tried to shut down Wade which worked to some extent, but Wade was settling for jumpers in the second half and Lebron didn't need to cover him once Waiters turned it on defensively. You can't let Dieng post Lebron type numbers when you supposedly have a great defender on him. If they can get Waiters to play D like that more often, they should have no problem finding a team willing to give them a big for him.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Love's getting 10 less offensive touches than last year, which is absolutely ridiculous to me. Want him to be a star player? Give him the damn ball.

[Coolbreeze44]

Love's getting 10 less offensive touches than last year, which is absolutely ridiculous to me. Want him to be a star player? Give him the damn ball.

He's the number 3 option on that team, what do you expect? Do you think his touches were going to stay the same?

[Phenom]

What is interesting to me is how Love is handling less touches. He can be an elite rebounder when he wants to be. Bosh mentioned that Love will struggle adjusting to being the third wheel and I think he is right. When he is ready to fall into his new offensive role he should really be able to focus more on rebounding and defensive effort. So far the numbers indicate he is not as interested in rebounding and maybe it has to do with less touches. 5 rebounds against Miami? He has had 4 games this month with less than 10 rebounds. He had 8 in November. That is a troubling sign for me. He had 13 single digit rebounding games all of last year.