2023 NBA Playoffs 1st Round: Cavs vs. Knicks

Dear RCF,

For those going to the game tonight. Be loud. Be proud. Give ‘em Hell.

For those watching or listening elsewhere show up and show out.

For all of us Cavs fans,

You Gotta Believe,
Keep the faith,
And most importantly
Don’t stop Believin’ !!!!

LETS GO CAVS!!!

HammerGold said:

Usually they demand a trade. But the Jazz decided they couldn't win a championship building around Mitchell as their best player.

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The Jazz traded Gobert and were going to build around Mitchell, but the relationship between management had deteriorated too much. Couple that with an aging roster and it was time to move on.

It was very much like KD's situation with the Nets.

Comeback kid said:

I have watched several times. Have you? Hmmm

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Yes. Your boy looked like an absolute shell of the best he's shown in a Cavs uniform. I assumed it's because of a lingering injury which I expect to see quiet news about in the offseason.

If he's 100% healthy, that's far worse. He has not looked like a legitimate NBA contributor since early in the season before the initial injury was reported.

Great contribution to the discussion.

HammerGold said:

Why did the Jazz want to trade him if he's such a must have commodity?

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I applaud you for asking this question. Probably not for the reasons you would think.

The Jazz decided their roster's window of contention had passed and decided to liquidate players for assets. Ainge followed the exact same plan he executed when breaking up the Garnett and Pierce Celtics.

Donovan Mitchell would have single-handedly prevented that team from bottoming out the way he envisioned. Pair future assets with a top notch lottery pick - that was very clearly the plan. A first team all-NBA talent gets in the way of that, and due to his age and contract status, his value was very high. Cashing in, from that perspective, makes sense.

The Jazz overachieved, and ironically, that was the worst thing for them assuming they aren't the benefactors of incredible luck on lotto night. They're on the play-in contention treadmill even with Lauri turning in the year he did. They'll need to pull draft rabbits out of their hat unless a free agent superstar suddenly converts to being a Mormon. Whether or not it works remains to be seen.

It's *very* clear why Ainge gutted that roster, including Mitchell.

Cassity14 said:

Yes. Your boy looked like an absolute shell of the best he's shown in a Cavs uniform. I assumed it's because of a lingering injury which I expect to see quiet news about in the offseason.

If he's 100% healthy, that's far worse. He has not looked like a legitimate NBA contributor since early in the season before the initial injury was reported.

Great contribution to the discussion.

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I’m sure you re-watched. Did you remember the passes to Rubio and LeVert where they missed the layups?

WUJU said:

Dear RCF,

For those going to the game tonight. Be loud. Be proud. Give ‘em Hell.

For those watching or listening elsewhere show up and show out.

For all of us Cavs fans,

You Gotta Believe,
Keep the faith,
And most importantly
Don’t stop Believin’ !!!!

LETS GO CAVS!!!

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I've played this no less than 5x today @WUJU

cavsfever said:

Obviously the odds would be against us but I’m saying there’s a chance…

And frankly if we have another stinker in game 6 that would say it all about this team. The NBA requires that you play on the road

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We have played well on the road--at times. We will have 5 more playoff games under our belt. when we go back to Knickland.

Will we learn? I expect that to happen.

cavsfever said:

yes it's critical to adjust for pace. Especially when you have two teams that are horrible fast break teams and rarely push the pace.

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I disagree. You play 48 minutes every game. Pace is a choice, offensively and defensively. I look at points per game.

RchfldCavRaised said:

I've played this no less than 5x today @WUJU

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My image of you is completely shattered.

Maybe we can win tonight, but so far it's been more like this:

jjvors said:

I disagree. You play 48 minutes every game. Pace is a choice, offensively and defensively. I look at points per game.

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the reason it's crucial to adjust for pace is that when you slow it up you also can't score as many points. In a slow paced game it's just harder to outscore a low point total for the other team.

cavsfever said:

the reason it's crucial to adjust for pace is that when you slow it up you also can't score as many points. In a slow paced game it's just harder to outscore a low point total for the other team.

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Yeah, that's true. But in comparing offense and defense it doesn't matter. It still comes down to outscoring the other team each game. We've already hashed this out: improve our 3-point shooting and/or our defensive rebounding.

What we're not doing is taking midrange shots, either by our guards, SF, or bigs. I know it's hated analytically, but if you're not hitting 3s and you can't get in the lane, that's what's left.

Particularly our guards are good from the midrange. When they're not hitting threes, move in. Two 2s are worth more than one 3.

Being fake competitive in the series and stealing a game tonight from the Knicks team, who may not be all the way in it, is definitely worst case scenario because JBB will probably keep his job that way.

Alec said:

Being fake competitive in the series and stealing a game tonight from the Knicks team, who may not be all the way in it, is definitely worst case scenario because JBB will probably keep his job that way.

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I'm hoping we're fake competitive in games 5, 6, & 7 tbh.

Comeback kid said:

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Wade hasn't played great, but I would seriously consider going to a small lineup with him at PF with Mobley and try to space. Seems like a no brainer for the style of D they are playing