2023-24 Season | Game #53 | Bulls @ Cavs | February 14, 2024 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN

[CavsFaninNJ]

Okoro has improved year to year

Game threads have called for his head 14,897 times

 

[Pierre Pan]

On now; Sniper Sam to be joining shortly

 

[bushwick_bill]

 

[Pierre Pan]

 

[Pierre Pan]

Game threads have called for his head 14,897 times

I’ve been as guilty as anyone but he’s made tremendous strides and looks like a must re-sign and I’m on board and tickled pink. Ice has improved his drives to the basket, is shooting 48% from deep over the last 10 games and is a superb defender (finally shut off Demar’s water late)

 

[bushwick_bill]

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Philly and the Knicks lose so the Cavs are now 4 games ahead of the Knicks and 4.5 ahead of Philly.

After an ice cold first half with tons of missed 3's (uncontested) the Cavs put 65 points on the board in the second half to eke out a win. Mitchell was magnificent as usual and Garland hit a huge step-back contested 3 over Caruso (their best defender) and then two clutch free throws to get the win.

At halftime Windy pointed out that the Cavs are 31-13 when Wade plays and 4-4 when he doesn't. We sure could have used him tonight, especially to get a bigger guy on DeRo's mid-range jumpers.

Niang was awful; in 24 minutes he committed six fouls, went 1-for-5 on 3's, missed BOTH free throws in a game that came down to the final shot, and committed three turnovers. I can't wait until he's out of the rotation entirely. However, he was 4-for-4 on his 2-point shots. His 3-pointer is broken, however. He's under 28% in February. Stick with the 2's for now, George.

White and DeRo carried the Bulls. Both were awesome, especially White who was 5-for-7 on 3's before he had to force the last one up over Mobley.

At halftime Kendrick Perkins pointed out that the Cavs were a -14 in the first half with Mobley on the floor and all the other starters were positive. Perkins said Mobley was "not involved in the offense" and has a negative +/- in four of the eight games since he returned. He said Mobley "doesn't fit".

It needs to be said that usually Allen is on the floor with Mitchell and Mobley with Garland, who is still working his way back. Evan hit a huge fallaway at the 2:49 mark to give the Cavs the lead. He also forced White to pass off on a drive with 17 seconds left and the Cavs up by 1. White's pass went off Vucevic's hands for the turnover. Finally, he disrupted White's 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Perkins also noted that the Bulls came out with a "dog mentality" and the Cavs were "not fighting back".

These teams are an interesting contrast. In the first half only 8 of the Bulls' 20 field goals were assisted while 16 of the Cavs' 18 buckets had helpers. The Bulls just set picks and force switches until they get the matchup they want, then it's one-on-one. The Cavs try to create good shots by moving the ball. For the game they had 31 assists to 18 for the Bulls.

Okoro played well off the bench with 16 points, including 4-for-8 from deep. He even attacked the rim, which he does about once a month, and scored a layup on a beautiful spin move. We need more of that. Also, his corner 3's are very good but he still struggles from the wing. Keep working on it, Isaac.

I think with Wade we win this one by at least 10 points. But it was great to see the Cavs get some stops and hit some clutch shots, especially by Garland who is still finding his feet after missing six weeks.

 

[MD13]

Philly and the Knicks lose so the Cavs are now 4 games ahead of the Knicks and 4.5 ahead of Philly.

After an ice cold first half with tons of missed 3's (uncontested) the Cavs put 65 points on the board in the second half to eke out a win. Mitchell was magnificent as usual and Garland hit a huge step-back contested 3 over Caruso (their best defender) and then two clutch free throws to get the win.

At halftime Windy pointed out that the Cavs are 31-13 when Wade plays and 4-4 when he doesn't. We sure could have used him tonight, especially to get a bigger guy on DeRo's mid-range jumpers.

Niang was awful; in 24 minutes he committed six fouls, went 1-for-5 on 3's, missed BOTH free throws in a game that came down to the final shot, and committed three turnovers. I can't wait until he's out of the rotation entirely. However, he was 4-for-4 on his 2-point shots. His 3-pointer is broken, however. He's under 28% in February. Stick with the 2's for now, George.

White and DeRo carried the Bulls. Both were awesome, especially White who was 5-for-7 on 3's before he had to force the last one up over Mobley.

At halftime Kendrick Perkins pointed out that the Cavs were a -14 in the first half with Mobley on the floor and all the other starters were positive. Perkins said Mobley was "not involved in the offense" and has a negative +/- in four of the eight games since he returned. He said Mobley "doesn't fit".

It needs to be said that usually Allen is on the floor with Mitchell and Mobley with Garland, who is still working his way back.

Perkins also noted that the Bulls came out with a "dog mentality" and the Cavs were "not fighting back".

These teams are an interesting contrast. In the first half only 8 of the Bulls' 20 field goals were assisted while 16 of the Cavs' 18 buckets had helpers. The Bulls just set picks and force switches until they get the matchup they want, then it's one-on-one. The Cavs try to create good shots by moving the ball.

Okoro played well off the bench with 16 points, including 4-for-8 from deep. He even attacked the rim, which he does about once a month, and scored a layup on a beautiful spin move. We need more of that. Also, his corner 3's are very good but he still struggles from the wing. Keep working on it, Isaac.

I think with Wade we win this one by at least 10 points. But it was great to see the Cavs get some stops and hit some clutch shots, especially by Garland who is still finding his feet after missing six weeks.

This is proof of how bad using +/- without any context is. Anyone who actually watches the games could tell you that Niang is singlehandedly sinking those minutes, because my god he's been awful the entire Feb. Can't defend, can't rebound, can't shoot... Dean Wade HAS to stay healthy.

 

[CavsFaninNJ]

This is proof of how bad using +/- without any context is. Anyone who actually watches the games could tell you that Niang is singlehandedly sinking those minutes, because my god he's been awful the entire Feb. Can't defend, can't rebound, can't shoot... Dean Wade HAS to stay healthy.

Funny how Niang was supposed to be a hedge against bad play by Wade, but now we're talking about keeping Niang off the floor to play Wade

 

[MD13]

Funny how Niang was supposed to be a hedge against bad play by Wade, but now we're talking about keeping Niang off the floor to play Wade

I don't even know what's going on, but hopefully this week off will do him good. For basically the entire Feb he's been completely unplayable.

 

[Smooth]

• Mitchell had his third quarter but the bench bunch had their fourth quarter to keep the Cavs in the game and gain the momentum they needed. The Garland-Okoro-LeVert-Niang-Mobley crew were a +5 in four fourth quarter big minutes. They provided 4+ minutes of rest for Mitchell and really allowed the Cavs to make a push once Mitchell reentered.
• To that point, the Garland-Mitchell-Okoro-Mobley-Allen finishing lineup was a +7 in 3 fourth quarter minutes. With Strus’ rough night (1-6 3P, -8), Okoro earned fourth quarter finishing minutes. On the night, Okoro put up 16 big points (4-8 3P) and was a +12.

RCF RECAP
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[Jscc]

Weird take.

Sounds like he took flak from his player/media buddies after riding so hard and early for the Cavs in 2022 and 2023 only to have them flame out against the Knicks and is just now overcompensating with an inaccurate diagnosis

Not the only one. Zach Lowe said he refused to vote JA for the all star game because of the Knicks series. He then had Fedor on his show to talk Cavs, but before Fedor could say anything he backhand complimented Mitchell ["he deserves his Brunson moment in the spotlight, but he's not an MVP like Giannis, Jokic, and Shai"].

 

[thegodfather]

Interesting game.

First half I was thinking “well I guess we’re back to a grind it out half court team.” Niang was tough to watch in the first half. It was sad to not have Wade and Merrill.

Second half we started playing with more pace. We still slow-walked it up too much, especially at the end when we needed to get into sets faster.

JB said something that surprised me during a timeout. He said they needed to stop over helping and letting shooters get too open. I figured that annoying habit was part of the philosophy so it was nice to hear that’s not the design and guys need to understand not to sag or help too much.

Okoro balled out. He had me doing the finger guns with his 3-point shooting. Had some solid drives. I’ve been impressed with his play at both ends.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

JB said something that surprised me during a timeout. He said they needed to stop over helping and letting shooters get too open. I figured that annoying habit was part of the philosophy so it was nice to hear that’s not the design and guys need to understand not to sag or help too much.

They over-helped on DeRo at the end of the 4th quarter after Garland nailed that step-back 3 over Caruso to make it 103-100. It was a pick-and-pop with DeRo going around a White screen up top. Both Cavs went with DeRo and he passed it back to White for an uncontested 3 which tied the game with 1:03 to go.

White was on fire and that was a huge mental mistake to leave him open to double a guy who didn't hit one 3-pointer all night (and attempted only one in 41 minutes). Gotta be smarter when you're up by 3. You can't leave the hot 3-point shooter unguarded to double team the 2-point shooter.

 

[Dr No]

Funny how Niang was supposed to be a hedge against bad play by Wade, but now we're talking about keeping Niang off the floor to play Wade

I’m not sure how he does it, there is no stat that explains it, but these last 2 games add to the ever increasing correlation of Wade getting good minutes = us winning.