Zach Lowe's NBA preview -- Cavs #1 (if healthy!)

[Randolphkeys]

Backcourt depth won't truly be in place until December at least. With KI and Shump out, it will be a challenge to keep Lebron in the low 30s in terms of MPG, which is where he should be. We will have some combination of Lebron, Mo, Delly, JR, RJ, JJ, and Cunningham to handle 3 positions / 144 MPG. At least two of those players -- JJ and Cunningham -- are problems to have on the court, and RJ can't handle many minutes and is something of a defensive liability.

Every NBA team has weaknesses in the last four spots on the bench. Every single one. Let those faulted players get burn now rather than next spring. The first seed is nice, but isn't as important as health. Last season, I thought Jones could have put in more games early. I remember LeBron and Delly (of all people) being the banged up guys early. They ended up being the relatively healthy bodies near the end.

The team has a lot of players on the mend early, but I believe its manageable if they tread water until mid-December. The old guard of the NBA don't believe the season really begins until Christmas anyway. If the Warriors can keep Livingston, Curry, Barbosa, and Bogut upright all last season we can keep these guys upright. Everyone has players with a history and mileage.

 

[cavsfever]

Agreed. Keep Lebron on a nice steady 30 MPG with the occasional game off during back to backs, give Cunningham some good burn at SG while JR plays some SF, and don't even worry too much about the record until Christmas.

Also, try out schemes where KLove carries the main burden on offense.

 

[TyGuy]

Even with this rash of injuries to start the season, I don't think it's possible that this team starts off as a bad as it did last season. I also don't think you are going to get a runaway team like last season (Atlanta). The cavs can tread water until the cavalry arrives and still conceivable get the #1 seed in the east while resting guys. I'm thinking the east will be even worse than it was last season. Atlanta and Washington both took a step back in my mind. Chicago I think is roughly the same, but they could be a bit improved with a fresh face on the sidelines that seems to have a more imaginative offense.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I also don't think you are going to get a runaway team like last season (Atlanta).

Atlanta learned just how valuable wins are before the All Star game, didn't they? I understand they had long stretches of unwatchable basketball for a decade before it, but a playoff atmosphere early in the season obviously did them no favors in the spring.

 

[MoFlo]

Yes, healthy is potentially a concern, but we are in much better shape to battle any injuries this season than last.

LeBron is always smart about his health.

The depth we have will allow us to bring Andy, and eventually Kyrie & Shump, along slowly.

One thing that got overlooked quite a bit in the Tristan saga is that he's out there every game. That's a huge benefit to a team who may have injury concerns.

The added depth also allows us to give Love and some of the vet bench guys, if necessary, some games off to preserve them.

We've gone from Marion, Miller, Haywood, Perk, & Harris as our bottom five to Cunningham, Harris, Kaun, Jones, Delly/Jefferson.

Think about that, that's two guys who were legit contributors to our run last season and, if you include R-Jeff instead of Delly, two vets who have been contributors to multiple playoff teams, one of which was with us.

The added depth allows us to have a little more leeway and continue winning while bringing guys along slowly and giving players days off.

 

[cavsfever]

Even with this rash of injuries to start the season, I don't think it's possible that this team starts off as a bad as it did last season.

There is no question we have come a LONG WAY since the beginning of last season. I mean, we were scary bad at times. Remember that Portland game really early on where we just looked totally helpless? Or losing to the Sixers when Lebron was out? I think Lebron was running scared all season because of what he saw at the beginning of the season before the trade. I mean, those first two months he must have been like, 'oh shit....'

 

[MirORich]

^ Do you realize how stacked the Cavs are? I don't see any weaknesses and we have the best player on the planet.

Agreed. That doesn't mean we can't lose a game or two in an Eastern Conference playoff series.

 

[Kypus]

No, I see it as an actual weakness. KI, Love, Mozgov, and Shump had actual surgery. Lebron has actual back problems. We are all assuming it will be OK by next June but there are no guarantees of that, and if you have an actual problem today it is more likely that you will have an actual problem later.

If the Warriors can keep Livingston, Curry, Barbosa, and Bogut upright all last season we can keep these guys upright.

A lot of ppl seem to be operating under the assumption that because we have so many injuries and guys will be coming back that somehow we're going to be injury-free until then.

We would have to bat .1000 to make that happen- which is highly unrealistic. It is more realistic that one of the frontcourt guys goes back down (most likely Andy) due to our Gumby frontcourt defense, or another injury-prone guy like Mo goes down before we attain the Holy Grail of Jan- when we're projected to have Shump and, God-willing, Kyrie back.

This season is on a knifeblade, like it or not. Maybe I'm hedging hard, but I just don't see us being completely injury free until Jan, let alone June. Treading water is one way to put it- that's dangerous enough as it is- until Dec or Jan, maybe, but until June- I'm not seeing it.

Moz- our defensive anchor- being a step slow is not encouraging either, and frankly, rim protection is where it starts.

 

[cavsfever]

A lot of ppl seem to be operating under the assumption that because we have so many injuries and guys will be coming back that somehow we're going to be injury-free until then.

We would have to bat .1000 to make that happen- which is highly unrealistic. It is more realistic that one of the frontcourt guys goes back down (most likely Andy) due to our Gumby frontcourt defense, or another injury-prone guy like Mo goes down before we attain the Holy Grail of Jan- when we're projected to have Shump and, God-willing, Kyrie back.

This season is on a knifeblade, like it or not. Maybe I'm hedging hard, but I just don't see us being completely injury free until Jan, let alone June. Treading water is one way to put it- that's dangerous enough as it is- until Dec or Jan, maybe, but until June- I'm not seeing it.

Moz- our defensive anchor- being a step slow is not encouraging either, and frankly, rim protection is where it starts.

Yes, we are in a dangerous situation. There isn't some total fixed amount of injury bad luck such that if you have a certain number of injuries you won't get any more. Having five players either out from injuries or recovering from injuries to start the season makes it MORE likely you will have guys hurt in May and June, not less likely. No way around that.

But if we can somehow get and stay healthy with our complete lineup we will be a great team.

 

[TyGuy]

Every NBA team has weaknesses in the last four spots on the bench. Every single one. Let those faulted players get burn now rather than next spring. The first seed is nice, but isn't as important as health. Last season, I thought Jones could have put in more games early. I remember LeBron and Delly (of all people) being the banged up guys early. They ended up being the relatively healthy bodies near the end.

The team has a lot of players on the mend early, but I believe its manageable if they tread water until mid-December. The old guard of the NBA don't believe the season really begins until Christmas anyway. If the Warriors can keep Livingston, Curry, Barbosa, and Bogut upright all last season we can keep these guys upright. Everyone has players with a history and mileage.

If you think about it though, the cavs actually rolled into the playoffs healthy and playing excellent ball. It was the Boston goon squad that the cavs drew in the first round that threw a monkey wrench into the plans. Their attitude of "if we can't advance then we will screw you over!" did more damage than any team the cavs played in the playoffs. They took out Irving and Love for pretty much the entirety of the playoffs and made Jr lose his cool with their thuggery that took him out for a few games. If the cavs don't draw Boston in that opening round (which cavs had a hand in by losing to them twice) then perhaps a title is celebrated.

 

[cavsfever]

Yes, it was disgraceful what the league let the Celtics get away with. Blatt should have been a lot more assertive about calling them out and saying that it was unacceptable.

 

[Zeus69]

I can see us running another 32-3 stretch after Kyrie and Shump return.

Oh, and Jalen Rose is a retard.