Tristan Thompson

[nerds]

With the Cavs in a rut when does TT finally get the nod as the starting centre?

TT played like a beast in that early game against the Bulls and since then he has seen sporadic minutes

Take in account these long stretches he has on the bench are potentially affecting his next salary, does he force a trade if he is still relegated to bench duty

Cavs need their version 'Horace Grant' on the court but so far Blatt is sticking with the usual suspects

[andremiller07]

He's terrible why would he start over AV who is literally 10 times as good? Nothing more hilarious than watching him attempt those shot put type shots to brick them every time. TT is a energy guy who rebounds nothing more.

[ArbitraryWater]

He's terrible why would he start over AV who is literally 10 times as good? Nothing more hilarious than watching him attempt those shot put type shots to brick them every time. TT is a energy guy who rebounds nothing more.

cosigned

I hate it.. He has the offensive rebound, just dish it back out dude...

Instead he thinks dude is Shaq and tries to put it back up.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Why does he shoot those foul line runner type shots? Hideous looking and they never come close.

The Cavs needs their roles redefined. LeBron needs to be the guy, TT needs to be garbage guy/energy/toughness underneath, Kyrie and Love need to figure out who is #2, Waiters needs to stop pretending he's Jordan...

[Smook A.]

It's because Anderson Varejao has been clearly better so far. Both TT and Andy are playing about the same minutes, but Andy is just doing a little more in the amount of time he gets. Also, the starters and Varejao seem to connect better. Thompson is a nice player off the bench, but he doesn't deserve the starting center spot.

Just compare the stats...
Varejao: 10.5 ppg/6.5 rpg/1,6 apg/0.9 bpg in 27 mpg (58% shooting)
Thompson: 8.4 ppg/6.1 rpg/0.5 apg/0.8 bpg in 24 mpg (49% shooting)

The stats are almost identical but Andy just does a little more. And some the things he does doesn't even show up on the stat sheet.

[nerds]

I agree AV has played well but TT is as other has stated an energy guy and his job is too do the dirty work

I don't think TT is terrible player, he has the game of a scrapper / junkyard dog which the Cavs need to tap into more but if he keeps riding the bench after being a starter for several seasons that that will possibly affect is output and motivation

Cavs need to mix it up so starting TT is worth a look

[fpliii]

Varejao is the superior defender and rebounder, and clearly the better player when healthy, from what I've seen from him over the years. That "when" is a big qualifier though.

The main problem is (I've only watched 3 of Cleveland's games, so I may be wrong), LeBron and Love are slumping (personally I'm not sure that LeBron hasn't exited his prime, but I don't want to hyperbolize just yet), and neither guy (or Irving) is playing a lick of defense.