2023-24 Season | Game #44 | Clippers @ Cavs | Jan. 29, 2024 | 7:00 p.m.

[Lee]

I'm a little worried that the NBA has caught into Merrill and that we will have a hard time getting him shots now

One team with allot of length. Sure it will be tougher for Merrill in the playoffs, but its supposed to be...its the playoffs.

What you need to focus on isnt Merrill himself, but the adjustments made by JBB, and we continued to play the 3-point shooting, pass first offense style. We got 40 3-point shots up while continuing to play excellent defense and made a couple of playoff type adjustments

 

[Peacedog]

In our short example window we have I would disagree, his release is just as fast maybe faster and his % is on par.

SM 3pt% this season is 42.8%
Curry 3pt% this season is 40.8%

Yes I know the attempts are way different, but my statement is SO FAR what we have seen this year

Curry was/is a master at getting open, SM nowhere near that talent level

Curry is a incredible ball handler, SM struggles with ball handling

But in shooting only and what we see so far SM is like Curry

Get real.

 

[Lee]

Sam Merrill is nowhere near Steph as a shooter.

Merrill is nowhere near Steph as a player. If he cant get his shot off, its hard for him to stay on the court, lack of ball handling, lack of play making, lack of quickness, lack of defense. But as a shooter he is right there.

Merrill is the definition of a one trick pony, its just a really good fucking trick when he is able to get looks. Lue made sure Merrill was not able to get shots off. Good for Lue, he won that battle, but JBB won the war.

 

[Dr No]

Westbrook was successfully attacking Merrill when the Clippers had the ball and Merrill was unable to get off a 3-point shot. Like the Cavs' assistant coach said at the start of the second half, the Clippers have height at all positions and are switching everything, so they are very good at half-court defense.

JBB was smart not to use Merrill in the second half. The Clippers had scouted the Cavs and they weren't going to let Merrill get any open looks.

For all the crap Westbrook gets, he is an incredible weapon to have off the bench. Being on the second unit, Sam won’t have to match up with a guy like him often.

 

[Jscc]

One game.

It may be one game or it may be the rest of the season. I need to see him implement it before I decide between the two. If he does it, great. We are just yelling at clouds. If he doesn't, and shooting is a problem again in the post-season, then the Cavs didn't learn from their mistakes and wasted a season.

Mitchell will be 28 before the start of next season. I'm going to assume he won't be interested in doing it a third time.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Sam Merrill is a first ballot Hall of Famer now. Wow.

 

[mds]

Sam Merrill is like a cross between Steph Curry, Tony The Tiger, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

 

[foucault87]

Sam Merrill is close to steph as a catch and shoot guy imo. Steph is another dimension as a shot creator tho

 

[AustinCarr]

Sam Merrill is like a cross between Steph Curry, Tony The Tiger, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Man, I wish Sam had Stay Puft's height. I Wish Niang didn't have Stay Puft's body type.

 

[Tlyons]

It's ok if if Merrill gets shut down from time to time.

Hopefully it means he's dishing to an open man most nights.

 

[2 For The Brew]

In our short example window we have I would disagree, his release is just as fast maybe faster and his % is on par.

SM 3pt% this season is 42.8%
Curry 3pt% this season is 40.8%

Yes I know the attempts are way different, but my statement is SO FAR what we have seen this year

Curry was/is a master at getting open, SM nowhere near that talent level

Curry is a incredible ball handler, SM struggles with ball handling

But in shooting only and what we see so far SM is like Curry

187 made three point shots to 71. That doesn’t even take into account Steph’s superior midrange shooting.

Steph also faces better defenders than Sam.

Steph isn’t even in the top 20 of percentage shooters but he’s made more threes than anyone in the game, both this season and in his career. Volume matters.

 

[The Oi]

Sam Merrill is a first ballot Hall of Famer now. Wow.

Steph Curry is a top 5 player of all time.

Sam Merrill is a top 5 shooter on the Cavs the last 10 games of the 2023-24 season.

 

[MirORich]

Bottom line is this, SM struggled getting open with the clippers. Instead of making adjustments to get your best 3 point shooter open you benched him. You might have the luxury today and win but in a playoff series you will need your best 3 pont shooter getting open, so why not try some things in the regular season to test the sucess of certain plays. Benchinig SM the whole second half is not the playoff answer.

Sam will get you 10-20 points a game shooting 3's. All the coach needs to do is try to draw up plays to get him open, do that and you will get the points.

JBB and ATO's have been a weakness of his coaching, we can all agree with that. Is getting your sniper open by running plays for him another weakness that is closely related to your ATO weakness?

There was more to the second half rotation than just scheming open one shooter, which if done over and over is one dimensional and even either to stop.

So yeah, these things called defensive considerations against specific unique opponent roster construction also matter.

And again, no one should discount that we had our best screener/picker taken away from us a few games ago for the next 25 games. No one on this roster can use their body with the same efffectiveness on picks and screens like TT could and that is not something that will have to be addressed and acknowledged

 

[MirORich]

Steph Curry is a top 5 player of all time.

Sam Merrill is a top 5 shooter on the Cavs the last 10 games of the 2023-24 season.

It’s crazy that we have two HOF now potentially out of the rotation stuck on the bench while playing guys ahead of them who bring just absolutely nothing of value at all to the team. Crazy

 

[2 For The Brew]

It’s crazy that we have two HOF now potentially out of the rotation stuck on the bench while playing guys ahead of them who bring just absolutely nothing of value at all to the team. Crazy

Last time the site was this mad about a duo not playing was Cedi Osman and Ante Zizic.

I like Sam & Craig but the hype is way overdone. If this was 2018-19 they’d be getting a ton of playing time but we’ve got a bunch of vets ahead of them and we’re contending. I doubt either of them will be significant playoff participants although each might get a chance in a game or two (esp Sam).