Open Discussion (Cavs + related issues)

[Real Deal]

People need to see postseason LeBron to be happy again. You know, the same guy that looked like batman? That shit didn't diminish, I don't care what the hell I read on here. He's still postseason batman until proven otherwise. High turnover rates or not.

If the team was complete it'll be more satisfying, I get it. But without JR we have 3 problems and I'm learning Korver wasn't a need more and more I see Cavs play. Cavs just tried to get richer with him, and enough fucking around already play him with the starters at all times. That's his strength and the teams strength.

Need #1: Backup PG. It's a mess, LeBron cannot pass the ball to himself on the 2nd unit. We need a playmaker, flat out. Too many indians, only a few chiefs so to say... Delly was great at doing just that. Playmaking! By passing perfect passes for scores we aren't getting this season.

Need #2 Upgrade RJ. Besides dunking on Klay and stepping on KDs foot, he's been jack shit. He's hurting the team in many ways, and getting killed by the 2nd units is one. That west trip he looked very atrocious. Like it's over, then very seldom he looks respectable. I'm done being fooled. PJ Tucker would look so much damn better than RJ at the moment. We desperately need somebody to defend KD, Kawhi, Harden, Derozan, when the time comes.

Need #3, some type of rebounder. Andersen was a gimmick addition. Or a human victory cigar. But not a player that would contribute. Let's not forget that Frye didn't see the court in the finals so this need isn't a heavy need, but it can be if we don't happen to play GS. I also know in the postseason LeBron is more PF than perimeter and he attacks the glass. It'll be nice to have a foul eater though.

Let's calm down a little. The best thing that happened is losing to GS and SA. It shows we still need a few moves instead of winning and management going a different direction.

It's bullshit that GS added KD, we'll never top that, but we gotta try to weather the storm a little better than Kyle Korver. We really need to strike luck with a few buyout players and promise them key roles. 3 roles are open for business in Cleveland, and they're the needs I mentioned.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

I want Korver to work out for us and I think with time he will, but it's at least nice seeing others openly acknowledge that he fails to address our biggest areas of concern.

What the hell is/was Atlanta asking for Thabo? Was it seriously more than the 1st rounder we sacrificed for Korver?

 

[roozy]

Frye is almost unplayable, defensively he has to be the worst center in the league.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

Frye is almost unplayable, defensively he has to be the worst center in the league.

That's because he isn't a center...we're playing him there because we're so anemic in the front court.

Yet apparently hemorrhaging points on the inside isn't cause for concern to our F.O.

 

[Pioneer10]

LeBron has taken a hit defensively this year. He's still really good, but not what he once was. That might be part of the defensive woes, given his age, he can no longer cover so many of the holes we always had.

I'm a little puzzled to how bad we are on that end, but that could be part of it.

A lot of people want to point to the center position. And sure, I'd like a more viable option but Tristan hasn't been that bad defensively.

Sure, Kyrie isn't very good but this is nothing new.

The Cavs defensive woes is at an all-time high.

At first I liked the Korver trade, but now I'm starting to think it could be a waste if can't make any other moves. Sure, I'm not against a guy that can shoot like he can, but I don't feel our offense is, or will be a problem going forward.

We really aren't a very good defensive team and we got to fix that. We can't win a title defending the way we have thus far. This game meant something to the Cavs. They respect the Spurs. They were God awful defensively tonight. They were lottery worthy on that end.

Even when the game got close, and it mattered, they couldn't defend worth a damn at all. That to me is so troubling.

The Cavs last year had problems playing defensive consistently in the regular season, but they would defend in money time. We couldn't even do that.

JR was an above average defender
Delly was a beast
Mozgov took up interior space for a few minutes

This year
Delly gone
JR hurt
RJ lost a step

Lebron defense against Kawhi was very good in the 4th but his stamina is another issue. Overall though we went from having 4 wings you can trust on defense to 2 and one of them in Liggins I'm not sure you can play due to his large limitations on offense

A lot to expect TT to hold the fort inside as he is our only really good interior defender. It's actually surprising we're not worse on defense

 

[Gus Zing]

Agreed, LeBron and Kyrie both need to score 27+ for us to be at our best, looking to attack the rim and score first and passing the ball should be secondary only if met with a help defender.

When LeBron plays in that more passive mode trying to get everybody involved/touching the ball and just overall playing slow is usually when we get down early and fight the entire game to get back.

Yea the fear is that LeBron can get too comfortable passing that he loses his focus on scoring.

Just like tonight. If he spent less time trying to force shots to Love when he's clearly off/not healthy we could have won.

There are going to be games in the finals where Kyrie/LeBron have to drop close 65 to 70. Good thing is they are capable of doing it.

 

[Chris Parker]

Because of how team salary is calculated and how player contracts are paid.

For both luxury tax and salary floor purposes, team salary is calculated based on the value of contracts on the last day of the team's season..... It's a nice bit of salary cap magic.

This changes in new CBA, and is salary paid... I assume for this very reasom. Surprised 76ers didn't try to add Keith Van Horn...

 

[shoes22]

Yea the fear is that LeBron can get too comfortable passing that he loses his focus on scoring.

Just like tonight. If he spent less time trying to force shots to Love when he's clearly off/not healthy we could have won.

Yup...and the Spurs knew LeBron was going to do this too...LeBron played right into their hands and that’s why Popovich is such a good coach.

Because LeBron is one of only two facilitators we have on the team, the Spurs knew that passing would be more of a priority than scoring for him. So they blocked all his passing lanes to make that as difficult as possible and the result was a win for them regardless of what LeBron did. The Spurs philosophy is that “superstar ball” isn’t sustainable, and in large part they’re right. The only times we beat the Spurs are when LeBron and/or Kyrie go *OFF*...obviously that can’t happen every game, and when it doesn’t the Spurs win. They always play the long game and I think they’re pretty satisfied with that.

 

[TyGuy]

We have a few glaring issues personnel wise. Backup big shouldn't be a problem but Frye has been giving us a lot of nothing for awhile now. We still only have one bigger wing defender in LeBron. Jefferson has been really, really bad and clearly Korver wasn't going to solve that problem. We have major issues when LeBron sits primarily because we have nobody that can reasonably guard big wings when he sits.

Jefferson- not good
Shump and liggins-too small

Backup point guard or just a third playmaker of whatever position still doesn't exist on this team.

Loves shooting and Kyries up and down play are the least of our worries at the moment.

 

[Ohio]

LeBron + bench lineup got absolutely murdered last night.

We really need another player that can initiate offense. Asking LeBron & Kyrie to do themselves for an entire season is too much.

 

[TitleTown]

We have a few glaring issues personnel wise. Backup big shouldn't be a problem but Frye has been giving us a lot of nothing for awhile now. We still only have one bigger wing defender in LeBron. Jefferson has been really, really bad and clearly Korver wasn't going to solve that problem. We have major issues when LeBron sits primarily because we have nobody that can reasonably guard big wings when he sits.

Jefferson- not good
Shump and liggins-too small

Backup point guard or just a third playmaker of whatever position still doesn't exist on this team.

Loves shooting and Kyries up and down play are the least of our worries at the moment.

Shump and Liggins played great last night. Are they too small for Durant? Sure. But who isn't aside from LBJ and a few others? They will be a great part of our postseason 8-9 man rotation.

Our #1 priority remains a backup PG.

 

[Rich]

Shump and Liggins played great last night. Are they too small for Durant? Sure. But who isn't aside from LBJ and a few others? They will be a great part of our postseason 8-9 man rotation.

Our #1 priority remains a backup PG.

Liggins shouldn't play in a playoff rotation.

 

[TyGuy]

Shump has been excellent since his insertion into the sl. Liggins and that bench unit has been awful.

 

[TitleTown]

Liggins shouldn't play in a playoff rotation.

Disagree. Liggs keeps improving. He'll have a chance to prove himself in the first two rounds.

You could be right, but it's far from a sure thing. Lots of basketball left to play.

 

[Rich]

Liggins minutes have been trending downward. When jr comes back he's not gonna see the court much at all.