Inconsistent Cavaliers Should Be Better
The Cavaliers are a frustrating team. They have the third best record in the east, but they are just painful to watch on a lot of nights. I know that they just finished a brutal road trip out west, but this team lost in double overtime to a listless Philadelphia 76ers team that recently traded Allen Iverson to the Nuggets. Obviously all fans hate to watch their team lose. This isn’t anything new. So why is it so frustrating?
Look at the game stats in the loss to Philadelphia. The Cavs attempted more free throws 34 to 27. They out-rebounded the Sixers 46 to 38. They had one more assist 22 to 21 and two more steals 6 to 4. Finally - and most importantly - the Cavs had fewer turnovers - 13 to 17 - than the 76ers.
With advantages in all these categories, how did the Cavs lose? The Cavs lost the game on offense. Now, when I say that they lost on offense, I am sure a lot of people are thinking, “Duh. If you don’t score more than your opponent, then you obviously lose.” My point is that with advantages in all those other statistical categories, there is no reason why a team should lose.
I break it down like this.
- Shooting - the Cavs shot only 39.4% in this game, including 8 for 21 from 3-point. This isn’t an isolated incident either. On the season, the Cavs are shooting 43.71% while opponents are shooting 44.87% against them.
- Free Throws - the Cavs shot a dismal 25 of 34 from the free throw line last night for 73.5%. On the season the Cavs are shooting a mere 68.54%. They are only one of two teams in the east that aren’t above 70% for the year.
Another problem could be Mike Brown’s inconsistent player rotation. This could be contributing to the collective inconsistency of the team. Maybe I am missing something and the Cavs are showcasing certain players as we approach the trade deadline, but the best examples of inconsistent playing time would be Daniel Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic.
- Daniel Gibson didn’t play last night against the Sixers. In the last month he has played in most games including 16 minutes against Phoenix, 33 minutes against Portland, and 26 minutes against Denver. In December, he averaged 19.3 minutes per game. So far in January, his playing time has been more erratic and the average is down to 10.1 minutes per game.
- Sasha Pavlovic is also used inconsistently. In November Pavlovic averaged 19.2 minutes per game. True, he was filling in for Larry Hughes during part of that time, but he did some good things that should have warranted at least some time off of the bench. Then in December he lost his spot in the rotation and averaged 6.5 minutes per game and failed to appear in 6 out of the 14 games.
I would expect that this team would have hit its groove by this point in the season. The Cavaliers don’t have the greatest team in league history, but they have one legitimate superstar in Lebron James and a whole collection of pretty effective role players. It seems to me that they should be performing better, night in and night out, especially considering Mike Brown’s stated goal for this season was to improve the offense.
If they don’t figure it out soon, and if they don’t make it far into the playoffs, expect the conversation about Mike Brown’s future with the Cavs to carry on more consistently than the Cavs offense has been so far this season.
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I’ve been saying this for a while now. The offense last season consisted of two offensive sets: a high pick and roll repeated ad nauseum, and the very popular stand around and watch LeBron set. I was excited at the beginning of the season, when they seemed to use an offense that employed movement without the ball and looked a lot like a motion offense is supposed to. Problem is, they seem to have regressed to their two set playbook last year. I have no idea why there has been no move to get a true point guard, nor can I figure out why we haven’t brought in a three point specialist. Damon Jones is a freaking joke, and we really don’t need a 6′10 spot up shooter coming off the bench to miss key three pointers, D-Marsh. I keep hearing talk of making a trade to get Andre Miller back. Um… Yes, please? The only two guys on this roster right now who I would keep absolutely off the trade table are Bron-Bron and Varejao.
I would love to see Andre Miller back in a Cavs uniform too, but at almost 9 million he is really hard to line up for a trade.
The Cavs are going to need to cut some payroll sometime soon. They have Hughes at $13 million and Z at $9.5 million, but these aren’t the really offensive salaries. Check these out.
Drew Gooden - $6,645,402
Damon Jones - $3,884,678
Donyell Marshall - $5,633,037
Ira Newble - $3,196,050
Scot Pollard - $2,200,000
Eric Snow - $6,093,750
David Wesley - $1,750,000
If they could get something in return for Eric Snow at a much cheaper price that would be the greatest move in the history of basketball GM’s. Who in the world would take on Eric Snow at over $6 million a year?
I wonder if Isiah Thomas is in the phone book.
Pound it inside. Go to the hoop. Z shooting and missing 18-footers isn’t going to win games.
I agree Bill.
By the way, the Cavs beat the 76ers last night. They did so while Lebron was out hurt.
How soon until some idiot writes an article with the subject, “Are the Cavs Better Without Lebron James?”
ICK!
Danny Ferry’s off season to do list:
1. Fire Mike Brown
2. Hire a real NBA coach
3. Enroll in remedial mathematics course at CSU.
Between Ira Newbell and Scott Pollard, he’s got $5.4 million in DNP - coach’s decision every night. Seriously… when was the last time Pollard even dressed? Seems like his purpose on the team is to look goofy in a suit with a blonde mohawk, and to even out the scrimmage teams in practice. I don’t get it — he started 32 games last year, and he’s not good enough to come off the bench for us? But Donyell Marshall can come off the bench and miss threes all season long. Have pitchers and catchers reported yet???
Imagine if they could use that DNP money and add in Eric Snow they will have over $11 million freed up.
Mike Brown needs to go. If they fire him at the All-Star break would it do any good, or are they better off just finishing out the year with him?
Pitchers and Catchers are coming soon.
Hey, Filtering Craig… where’s the love for briansblog?? No link to my site on your friends page? What’s up with that??
Note this is coming from a guy without a links page on his site…
There you are, sir. You got to take over the BaldRhetoric slot which our buddy apparently shut down at some point last year.