2023-24 Season | Game #52 | Sixers @ Cavs | Feb. 12, 2024 | 7:00 p.m.

[Rich]

Merril's minutes slowly but surely drying up.

Give it just one rough patch, a few losses in a row. Losing 4 outta 5 perhaps, and watch those DNPs start rolling in.

 

[ice cream man]

Idk why people are acting like Garland was playing well pre-injury. He was probably shooting better, but that’s about it.

Anyway…He was a minus 8 tonight. Mobley was also a negative and the other three starters were +5, +10, +10. As usual we have to overcome Garland’s lack of defense and rebounding and he himself didn’t do enough to make up for that on the other end. He had a 2-3 minute stretch where he was aggressive & effective. Assists are not going to impress me at this point. He’s a natural set up man and he can rack up assists in his sleep.

I don’t think 2-3 years ago we’d be content with Garland being a clear level or two below Maxey (who is 1 year younger with 1 year less experience), but that’s for sure the case.

Garland is going to be a max player who is not even top 10 at his position.

 

[redscoon]

I'd like JB to acknowledge that Niang is probably not playable come playoff time and really lean into Merrill getting bigger minutes. The offense can be deadly enough with him out there that we need to make teams react to us and not worry so much about what defensive shortcomings may arise.

 

[Dr No]

Actually he didn’t get any more minutes than what he normally gets. And it’s not going to change.

yup. JBB went back to riding his starters & Vert. Wade’s 12-15 and 5-8 that have been going to Merrill got distributed to the main 6. Given how bad George was, other than playing Merril more, I’m not sure what he should have done.

 

[Comeback kid]

Merril's minutes slowly but surely drying up.

Give it just one rough patch, a few losses in a row. Losing 4 outta 5 perhaps, and watch those DNPs start rolling in.

Yep…. $$$$

 

[Mr. Glass]

Idk why people are acting like Garland was playing well pre-injury. He was probably shooting better, but that’s about it.

Anyway…He was a minus 8 tonight. Mobley was also a negative and the other three starters were +5, +10, +10. As usual we have to overcome Garland’s lack of defense and rebounding and he himself didn’t do enough to make up for that on the other end. He had a 2-3 minute stretch where he was aggressive & effective. Assists are not going to impress me at this point. He’s a natural set up man and he can rack up assists in his sleep.

I don’t think 2-3 years ago we’d be content with Garland being a clear level or two below Maxey (who is 1 year younger with 1 year less experience), but that’s for sure the case.

Garland is going to be a max player who is not even top 10 at his position.

Agree with pretty much everything but the DG/EM minutes overlap significantly with Niang and that does them no favors on plus-minus. That's one area where I add a grain of salt.

 

[CavzAddict]

Brutal L for the Knicks. Brunson fouled a guy shooting a 3 as the clock was expiring. Rockets hit 2 fts to win the game.

 

[Pierre Pan]

Philly played small and fast. Without Wade we had Niang getting those minutes and he got exposed

It doesn’t take much to expose him unfortunately; basically anyone that shows up at the scorer’s table is bound to expose him

 

[Jscc]

Idk why people are acting like Garland was playing well pre-injury. He was probably shooting better, but that’s about it.

Anyway…He was a minus 8 tonight. Mobley was also a negative and the other three starters were +5, +10, +10. As usual we have to overcome Garland’s lack of defense and rebounding and he himself didn’t do enough to make up for that on the other end. He had a 2-3 minute stretch where he was aggressive & effective. Assists are not going to impress me at this point. He’s a natural set up man and he can rack up assists in his sleep.

I don’t think 2-3 years ago we’d be content with Garland being a clear level or two below Maxey (who is 1 year younger with 1 year less experience), but that’s for sure the case.

Garland is going to be a max player who is not even top 10 at his position.

Having a rough season does not make DG 'a clear level or two below' Maxey. The guy just had back to back seasons of 20+ points/7.8+ assists while shooting 38%+ from 3. He led his team to a play-in in '22 and helped lead them to the fourth seed in '23.

While this was happening, Philly moved Maxey to the bench because he was a volume scorerer taking shots away from Harden and Embiid. Now he's taking almost as many shots as Mitchell currently is and making a good percentage of them. He's having a good season in that regard, but that's about all he does.

We don't need another Maxey nor should we want DG to be more like Maxey. We have a better one already. We just need DG to be DG.

 

[Pierre Pan]

Idk why people are acting like Garland was playing well pre-injury. He was probably shooting better, but that’s about it.

Anyway…He was a minus 8 tonight. Mobley was also a negative and the other three starters were +5, +10, +10. As usual we have to overcome Garland’s lack of defense and rebounding and he himself didn’t do enough to make up for that on the other end. He had a 2-3 minute stretch where he was aggressive & effective. Assists are not going to impress me at this point. He’s a natural set up man and he can rack up assists in his sleep.

I don’t think 2-3 years ago we’d be content with Garland being a clear level or two below Maxey (who is 1 year younger with 1 year less experience), but that’s for sure the case.

Garland is going to be a max player who is not even top 10 at his position.

DG’s defense certainly hasn’t improved and his size not only hurts there but likewise on the boards. Pat Beverly is virtually the same size as DG but is tenacious on D; DG needs to get tougher and moving quicker laterally ; so often his stance is just out of position defensively and puts him at a disadvantage

 

[Smooth]

Merril's minutes slowly but surely drying up.

Give it just one rough patch, a few losses in a row. Losing 4 outta 5 perhaps, and watch those DNPs start rolling in.

Honest question, where do you find Merrill minutes?

In a game where Mitchell and Garland accounted for 68 minutes of the available 96 backcourt minutes, that leaves 28 minutes to split in the backcourt along with 48 minutes to split amongst Okoro, Strus, and LeVert at the SF spot..

Not saying Merrill doesn't deserve more minutes, but the Cavs needed Okoro's POA defense more than the needed Merrill's shooting it's not like any of those other three guys played extreme minutes (Strus, 29; LeVert, 26; Okoro, 23)...

The problem with Merrill is the three other wings can play beside Mitchell and Garland, whereas Merrill will get squeezed when it comes down to crunch time lineups and Garland and Mitchell are on the floor..

 

[2 For The Brew]

Yup, my thoughts were the same, our agile bigs where getting trouced inside. Same thing we seen last year in the playoffs

These are not one off issues, these are warning signs and big ones

So how did Allen and Mobley help lead the Cavaliers against Embiid earlier this season when we were missing Mitchell, Vert and Okoro?

I’d say losing 2 of 19 is closer to a one off issue than a big warning signs but if this loss tonight provides you with confirmation of your bias then by all means run with it.

We didn’t play well tonight. And no, it’s not the same thing we saw in the playoffs. Not even close. Allen and Mobley outplayed Reed and Bamba. We got one more rebound than they did.

 

[boostorbust1]

So how did Allen and Mobley help lead the Cavaliers against Embiid earlier this season when we were missing Mitchell, Vert and Okoro?

I’d say losing 2 of 19 is closer to a one off issue than a big warning signs but if this loss tonight provides you with confirmation of your bias then by all means run with it.

We didn’t play well tonight. And no, it’s not the same thing we saw in the playoffs. Not even close. Allen and Mobley outplayed Reed and Bamba. We got one more rebound than they did.

Reed and Bamba? Your kidding me.... I bet 90% of us didn't even know who these guys where before tonight. They should of double them up in every category

 

[Smooth]

• To that point, I didn’t love subbing out Isaac Okoro for Sam Merrill to start the second quarter. It’s these small things that add up and matter in the end. I get trying to find minutes for Merrill but in a lineup with Darius Garland, LeVert, Georges Niang and Evan Mobley and Tyrese Maxey on the other side may not be the best time. The Cavs needed Okoro’s point of attack defense more than they needed some quick threes. Sure enough, Maxey proceeded to hit the second quarter’s first eight points.
• That five-man lineup was a -6 in just under five minutes of play.

RCF RECAP
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[Smooth]

Reed and Bamba? Your kidding me.... I bet 90% of us didn't even know who these guys where before tonight. They should of double them up in every category

Bamba is a former 7th overall pick and Reed signed a 3 year, $23M contract in the off-season.. I think it says a lot more about you then anyone else..

The Cavs were 20-1 coming into the night when Mobley and Allen both notched a double-double (which they both did).. It's been a rarity for both of them to play so well and have the Cavs lose.. Typically when they both do, it means the team as a whole plays well which wasn't as much as the Cavs tonight espcially defensively..