Hawks aftermath
Posted November 8th, 2006 by Brian Windhorst
–With 6.7 seconds left, why does the inbound pass come to LeBron? On the floor were Larry Hughes, who was 8-of-8 at the line and Drew Gooden, who was 9-of-12. In fact, Drew might’ve been the best choice because he doesn’t really feel pressure. The way Drew is wired, I don’t think he sees clutch free throws as anything different than those in practice.
–That said, missed free throws were not the direct reason the Cavs lost to the Hawks. I know that is a popular thing to complain about and it is an issue that must be addressed. However, the overall offense is a much bigger issue in my opinion. The Cavs are not scoring, they are not shooting the ball well, and they are still being stagnant. After getting the 10-point lead in the fourth quarter they were as stagnant as they were two years ago at the end of the season. Not the way to win. This is the biggest thing that needs to be addressed, the offense has to be cleaned up. The whole point of the new offense, which I like, is to get motion. That’s what all these turnovers and all these hard time are about…learning the new offense. But if you’re not going to move in crunch time, then what is the point? I am sure this will be pointed out in practice today.
–The Cavs need to run more plays with Zydrunas Ilgauskas in mind. They did in the first quarter and he got some baskets. I realize he’s struggled, but this offense is not designed with him in mind. They have to take him into consideration somewhat.
–He’s a great guy and he’s very knowledgeable, but David Wesley is giving the Cavs nothing right now. And he gave them almost nothing in the preseason. Shannon Brown is going to get his chance very soon.
–By the way, the Hawks were amazing in the stretch run. They made some great shots under pressure and made almost no mistakes after getting down by 10. They have a promising team and they played a great game. They deserved to win that one.
November 8th, 2006 at 11:01 am
Great to know that at least one guy in the media gets this team. Keep up the good work and work on your Free Throws!!haha
November 8th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
well, bri, i agree with pretty much everything you said but i will say, on the flipside, the cavs defense has been tremendous for the most part.
and while i agree that the O stagnated, there were missed open shots left out on the floor last night. a fair amount. and sorry, i will say the FT is why we lost. the whole strategy changes for the hawks if LBJ hits that 2nd one. and the way the cavs D’ed up the hawks on the possession before, i like our chances defending the 3 there…of course, considering that johnson hit a turn-around 30-footer, maybe not…
November 8th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
I agree with your accessment but I think the biggest reason the Cavs lost that game last night was this; In the clutch let the ball move through your star’s hands. After the Cavs got that ten point lead (mostly by LeBron)he basically didn’t touch the ball for 7 of the last 8 minutes!!! I kept pointing this out to my friend WHILE it was happening. (You can’t use the rookie coach excuse anymore)
Incidently did you notice the terrific job Snow was doing on Joe Johnson while T. Lue was torching Larry Hughes? Then Snow HAD to guard Lue in overtime and Johnson torched Hughes! They even tried LeBron late in overtime but it was to late. Once they took Snow off of JJ he caught fire and made sure to take advantage of not having the Cavs BEST defender on him. Larry Hughes is good at jumping in the passing lane and getting steals (like LeBron used to do before he realized that wasn’t a good gamble by percentage) but anyone who thinks Hughes is half the on ball defender as Snow is just not paying attention. (And I mean guarding anyone from 7′ Nowinski to 5′10 Lue)
November 8th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
The offense looked better to me the first two games but the team has again fallen into old bad habits. The logic of getting more touches for Z, a player who admittedly doesn’t fit the new offense, escapes me.
They’ll improve but hopefully Shannon Brown is better than his minutes so far suggest. Collectively, the guards who do get minutes are probably the worst in the NBA.
November 8th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
larry, you’re dead-on in everything you say up until this whopper: “but hopefully Shannon Brown is better than his minutes so far suggest.” he has what, played four minutes so far? seem like quite a small sample to base an opinion on…
November 8th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Hi Brian,
I was at the Cavs / Hawks Game last night. How do you like your new press box?
There was some concern expressed on the post-game radio shows about fans booing LeBron. (There seems to be this lingering fear that if we treat Lebron in any way short of how a god should be treated, he is going to leave the Cavs.)I personally have no problem with fans booing when LeBron missed some crucial free-throws. Every fan who bood LeBron last night loves Lebron. I just see it as tough love. I would think and hope that LeBron is secure in himself enough to take a little criticism from time to time.
November 8th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
booing the home team is stupid. period. the ONLY time to boo a home team is when they are NOT trying or dogging it badly. do you think the cavs are NOT trying to make free throws?
this is what happens, just like it happened with the tribe in the 90’s, when a bunch of johnny-come-lately bandwagon jumpers start filling the Q. it’s crap to boo. it’s ignorant and stupid. it’s not “tough love.”
having said all this, i do believe that LBJ deserves to be called to account for walking off the court before the game was over. i understand he was pissed and understandably so, but he CANNOT do that. he just can’t and bri, i hope you let us know who in the cavs brain trust had the “assignment” to talk to LBJ about this. hopefully, even stern called the cavs cuz that CANNOT happen again…
November 8th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
Even good motion offenses tend to bog down when the intensity level raises, because they can be countered by effort (fighting through screens, rotating and giving help).
At some point guys have to go up, take a straight on jump shot with a hand in their face and make it. Not these off-balance heaves. The Cavs at times seem so afraid of getting their shot blocked, they won’t even bother to try a clean shot.
Biggest problem is that Z should had been taking ZaZa to school and rejecting Lue’s layup instead of warming the bench.
I was also confused why when Larry delivered such a big shot, that we didn’t go back to him.
November 8th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Here’s my question: where has the Z pick-and-pop gone? I know there’s a new offense based on movement and all that, but that 15 footer is a layup for Z.
As for the booing, from my point of view, the Cavs kinda had it coming. I think the free throws were just a culmination of the entire night. For the second game in a row, the Cavs offense was awful to watch.
In both games Cleveland got the lead early by pounding the ball inside, to LeBron, to Gooden or to Z. Once they get the lead, the entire team just stands around hoisting jumpers. LeBron’s always taken a couple of ‘heat check’ shots per game, but he’s LeBron, so the Cavs live with it. But when the rest of the team isn’t doing much, having LeBron take off balance 3 pointers isn’t exactly the way to go.
to me, not running the offense and shooting too many jumpers + missing free throws + getting out hustled at home to freaking Atlanta (after playing poorly vs Charlotte) = a decent reason to boo.
The FT shooting should turn around, these guys have decent forms, it’s not like there’s a Ben Wallace in the bunch. It’ll come around.
November 8th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
My mistake, KJ.
I meant “hopefully Shannon Brown is better than the number of minutes the coach has given him would suggest.”
November 9th, 2006 at 7:49 am
Jay Mariotti slanders LeBron James.
http://firethefucktard.blogspot.com/
November 9th, 2006 at 9:22 am
larry, shannon cannot be any worse than wesley, who’s minutes suggest he is best suited to retirement. wouldn’t you agree?
November 9th, 2006 at 9:34 am
Lebron was on a roll and was instrumental in helping the cave extend the lead to 10 early in the fourth and then the team forgot about him until it was too late. ther were 7 or eight posessions in a row where he didn’t even touch the ball. That might be okay in the first half, but in crunch time, your money player should at least get a touch every time down. I know the they need to work on the free throws, but if they would have kept going to the hot man (Lebron), they even that would have been a moot point.
November 9th, 2006 at 10:12 am
KJ:
I guess I’m not being clear because I agree very much. Both Brown and Gibson get very good reports but the fact that they haven’t earned any minutes away from Wesley, Damon Jones and Eric Snow is worrisome.
Hopefully it’s a decision based solely on the two youngsters’ development. But both come from big time college programs and if they’re not better, right now, than the guys the Cavs are playing, I have to wonder how high their ceiling can be.
November 9th, 2006 at 11:10 am
I always thought David Wesley looked like Andre Knott. I didn’t know he played like him, too.
November 9th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Funny how little attention has been paid to LeBron walking off the floor leaving the team in a 5 on 4.
When Randy Moss quit on his team, it was national hysteria. Why does LeBron get a free pass.
I am a Cavs fan and a huge LeBron fan, but he can’t start doing this.
November 9th, 2006 at 11:40 am
larry, you are reading too much into this, i would repectfully submit. mike brown, like most NBA coaches does NOT want to play rookies unless he has too. i mean brian has constantly cautioned us fans from expecting too much floor time for the rooks, because a 50-win team does not just give minutes to a rookie. and quite frankly, now he almosr HAS to play brown over wesley. and really, you could take solace that he is choosing brown ahead of sascha. that clearly means that brown has passed pavs in practice, most likely, and that is most likely because of brown’s defense.
November 9th, 2006 at 11:59 am
I’ve played with Andre Knott. He’s not that bad. In fact, I think that the Cavs should consider him coming off the bench instead of Wesley.
November 9th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Hey Phil!
November 9th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
It took a full day to recover from Tuesday night’s loss to the Hawks (among other things), but I think I’m finally ready to vent my frustrations. It seems like a lot of people have solutions for what ails the Cavaliers, and the multitude of solutions illustrates the number of problems that the Cavaliers demonstrated on Tuesday.
Here’s what I noticed in the loss to the Hawks.
1. The Cavs defense against motion offenses is great. They’re staying low, they’re plugging passing lanes, and they’re rotating with aplumb. That being said, they are still having a real problem dealing with dribble penetration, and even mediocre guards with exceptional speed are able to cause all sorts of havoc. I expect we’ll see more problems tonight with Hinrich and Gordon trying to get into the lane. The problem is, you can’t really solve pick-and-roll penetration by NBA-level guards with standard defense. The only solution is to have an intimidating shot-blocker in the back line to change shots and force kick-outs. My first suggestion would be to let Z go after more blocked shots, and make the forwards focus on rebounding and defending against cutters, but Z might not be agile enough anymore to alter enough shots. While the point defense is slow, Team USA couldn’t defend against Greek “speedsters” in the world championships, so Snow, Jones, and Wesley don’t deserve too much blame. Now, the fact that they each have one basket this year might be a bit of a problem.
2. The Cavaliers offense, on the other hand, has been awful. They have had problems scoring against two of the worst defenses in the league in Charlotte and Atlanta, and they only managed 95 points *in Overtime* on Tuesday. And that’s with LeBron playing almost 48 minutes and scoring over 30. So far the motion offense has not taken advantage of the talent of the players. Why, exactly, would you change Z’s shooting positions? Why would you have an offense the limits dribble penetration when you have LeBron and Larry Hughes? So far, the offensive scheme itself has a long way to go, and then there will be a long transition time where the team is learning it. I don’t think you can give Mike Brown a long time on this either; if things don’t improve soon you’re going to need to make the decision to bring in a coach to work just on the offense. Even Bill Belichick eventually learned that he needed a Charlie Weis to manage the offense if they were going to get to the next level. Phil Jackson didn’t invent the triangle offense, he had Tex Winter to establish the offense while Jackson embraced and imparted the philosophy behind it. A little humility from the head coach could goes a long way, and hopefully it Mike Brown can admit some of his shortcomings and get some help.
3. LeBron looks wrong. Not sure why, but he looks tired at times, disinterested at others. I know it’s still early, but it’s worrisome.
4. The Cavs need to fix Z. You need an interior presence to make games against teams like Charlotte and Atlanta much easier. The Cavs need to run drills in practice to help him avoid turning the ball over down low to small guards. They need to commit to getting him opportunities on the court, without worrying that he might not get off the bench in the second half. I know that a lot of people aren’t Z fans, but he’s like the shy kid in the sports movie. The quarterback needs to pick him up, the team needs to rally behind him, because they’re going to need him to win.
5. Finally, the booing. The loss to the Hawks was a very frustrating experience. Frustrating for the fans, and frustrating for the players. That being said, the Cavaliers lost because they failed to execute a fundamental element of the game. Just like an infielder booting the ground ball that would win the game, missing free throws happens, but it’s never acceptable. And the Cavaliers proceeded to boot 10 ground balls in the fourth quarter and overtime alone. Fans got frustrated, and they booed and they groaned (I heard more groans than boos). LeBron got frustrated, and he walked off the court early, then took a shot at the fans when he was taking questions after the game (”We’re just playing for ourselves now. The players, the coaches, us.”). It was immature of Lebron to make that kind of statement, especially when the Cavaliers, to a man, had no one to blame but themselves for the loss. Neither the booing or the statement was good form, and I hope that both parties regret what happened. We can hug it out.
Well, that’s my haypenny, probably a little too late to really get into the discussion. But at least it was cathartic.
Go Cavs.
Mike
Blog.CavsHQ.com
November 9th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
but mike, you make my point for me about why fans should almost never boo unless it’s clear the team is, game after game, not giving full-effort. not making shots? sorry, that is NOT cause to boo! the only thing that happens when ignorant fans (i still say it is mainly fans of the cavs who were not fans of the cavs 4 years ago who are the problem here)boo is that it pisses off the players and you get comments like that from LBJ. then the fans get pissed at LBJ for saying it, then LBJ gets *more* mad at the fans, and the vicious cycle continues.
sorry, i remain committed to the believe that no damn good can come from booing your *home* team and i have yet to hear argument why i should think otherwise…
November 23rd, 2006 at 9:00 am
the cavs stink ! if you think you’re a championship team , you’re wrong .
coach brown needs to use younger guards . eric snow is old and slow .