10/28 Cavs vs Grizzlies game thread

[JT123]

We already know what Bron's gonna do. Hopefully the shooters can be a little more accurate tonight. :rockon:

[dubeta]

Grizzlies will win tonight, just a much more talented team than the Cleveland LeBrons

Hopefully Love saves his scoring for the 1st 3 quarters instead of statpadding at the end :(

[EricGordon23]

No way Mo has a good game against Conley I feel like it will be worse for Lebron tonight.

[Lebronxrings]

hope the cavs bigs don't go ghost and hopefully step their game up. Anyways, expect either gasol or zbo to get 40.

[PP34Deuce]

Mo Williams- 12 points 5 assists
Bron- 22 8 and 7
Love- 24 and 12 rebounds
JR Smith- 10 and 4 ( Slow starter)

[Rocketswin2013]

Grizzlies look horrible. Surprisingly. Hopefully Cleveland steals this.

[CavaliersFTW]

Here it is, Finally

[CavaliersFTW]

Grizzlies are ICE cold right now - Cavs look okay on both sides

[TaLvsCuaL]

Grizzlies playing great basketball :banghead:

[Warfan]

Grizzlies look like shit. Shot about 5 airballs that qtr :facepalm

[VengefulAngel]

Grizzlies playing great basketball :banghead:

Grizzles offense. :roll: :roll:

[G0ATbe]

3 mins into the 2Q and Grizz only have 5FGM in the entire game..? :biggums:

[JT123]

Grizzles offense. :roll: :roll:
Which is why I always laugh when people try and call them contenders. :lol
If you can't score you aren't a contender, period. The West really isn't as stacked as people wanna pretend it is.

[Rocketswin2013]

LOVE :rockon:

[raprap]

Bron looking like a 6-8 Big Sean :pimp: #mustache

[EricGordon23]

Man I was way off on this game

[RedBlackAttack]

I knew Richard Jefferson still had something in the tank, but he has looked really freaking good in wine and gold so far (yes, I know it has only been 1.5 games plus preseason). He brings something that the team was missing last year off the bench with his all-around game and especially his jumpshooting.

Love is looking great tonight. He is keyed in with his passing, rebounding and floor IQ. The offense looks so fluid when we work it through him.

LeBron looks way better to start this season as compared to this time last year.

No complaints so far.

[RedBlackAttack]

Also, is Tony Allen the worst guard with the ball in his hands on a fastbreak in NBA history? My goodness.

[Mr. Jabbar]

LeTHICK transition defender :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

[Uncle Drew]

Like what I'm seeing. Lots of good passing. Played our best game of the year at FedEx last season also.

[CavaliersFTW]

When is Kyrie and Shump supposed to be back?

I'm liking what I'm seeing from the current units the team is forced to play but I'm curious how the team will look once those two starting players are back. Who moves to the 2nd unit, who in the 2nd unit gets benched, etc.

[Uncle Drew]

Delly looks hella improved.

[DonDadda59]

Kevin Love needs more help. Dude's gonna need back injections this season to get Ws judging by tonight.

[Uncle Drew]

Sasha Kaun sighting.

[Megabox!]

Kevin Love needs more help. Dude's gonna need back injections this season to get Ws judging by tonight.
I know you're a c*ck-munching MJ stan, but your troll game is weak af

[DonDadda59]

I know you're a c*ck-munching MJ stan, but your troll game is weak af

My troll game is ATG status, f*ck outta here. :whatever:

[DaOldLion]

hopefully bran stans will now STFU after he played horribly and the team still won by 30

[CavaliersFTW]

hopefully bran stans will now STFU after he played horribly and the team still won by 30
They won't. Criticize or point out something wrong with LeBron just once and they'll resort to personal attacks and accuse you of not wanting to win - that's all they ever do

[Lebronxrings]

:banana: :banana: :banana:

first win of the season. Lets build this this boys.

:banana: :pimp: :applause:

[Indian guy]

Cleveland, predictably, is a lot more dynamic on offense this season than last. They actually run plays now besides iso and high pick n roll. 2nd year team, 2nd year coach, far better familiarity, so naturally, Blatt's been able to incorporate an actual offense. Very similar to what happened with the Heat in 2012. And Cleveland's even more talented.

On the downside, LeBron looks no different than he did the first 2 months of last season. Just stiff as hell with no 0 bounce or explosiveness. And I don't know what the remedy is, because what helped last season(anti-inflammatory injection + 2 week rest) was already put into action in preseason this year, and the results haven't been very good so far.

[RedBlackAttack]

When is Kyrie and Shump supposed to be back?

I'm liking what I'm seeing from the current units the team is forced to play but I'm curious how the team will look once those two starting players are back. Who moves to the 2nd unit, who in the 2nd unit gets benched, etc.
The last credible report I heard on Kyrie was late-November or early-December. I think they'll be extra cautious with KI, so it wouldn't shock me if it maybe stretched to mid-December, but those reports a month ago about how it could be February... totally without validity and just click-bait.

Shump will probably be out longer. He had surgery in late-September and his initial timetable was 10-12 weeks. So, we're looking at probably sometime in January.


My guess on the rotation would be like this:

Starters
PG - Kyrie Irving
SG - JR Smith
SF - LeBron James
PF - Kevin Love
C - Timofey Mozgov

Quick note: I think Smith will get the start just due to his ability to space the floor for Kyrie, LeBron and Love. Plus, it allows Shumpert to come off the bench and lock up whoever happens to be hot or a matchup problem in the backcourt. Just have a feeling this is the way they'll play it, though obviously Shump could easily get the nod as the starter.


I will break the bench down into tiers.

First off the bench
Tristan Thompson
Iman Shumpert

These two guys are essentially equal to starters, except that Blatt will use their defensive versatility to change the game by either going big or small depending on the opponent and situation. Tristan can play the 4 or the 5 and Shump can play the 2 or the 3. These two also allow him the ability to put a defensive stopper on any perimeter player who happens to get off to a strong start (Shump) or any frontcourt player who happens to be giving us problems (Tristan).

Next off the bench
Mo Williams
Richard Jefferson

Both of these players have looked pretty phenomenal so far, though we have a small sample size. But, since they're so experienced and their roles are going to be so specific, it is hard to imagine them regressing with Kyrie and Iman coming back. I only expect them to get better. Mo is the perfect backup for Kyrie because he can mimick some of the things that Kyrie does as a scorer without a huge drop with the spacing, as he is a pure shooter.

And I can't say enough about Richard Jefferson. He looks great so far. Shooting has been lights out, he's been active defensively and he is even handling the ball when asked. He is everything we hoped Marion could be last year, except with the added bonus of somehow becoming an elite three-point shooter. His jumper looks so smooth right now... I don't remember him being this good a shooter even in his best years. He had his best statistical shooting season last year and it looks like he is going to continue with that.

Third tier
Delly
Varejao
and maybe James Jones

I think Blatt will do everything in his power to keep Andy's minutes down because of his penchant for the playoffs, but he has looked really good so far too. He is one of the best passing big men in the East, a great rebounder (still), runs the P&R very well, and he can even make a bucket now and then when you need it. Where he has regressed is defensively, but he isn't atrocious. He was one of the most versatile big defenders in the league in his prime and he's no longer that kind of player. Still passable though.

Delly is another guy you go to if a PG or SG is going off and/or you need an energy boost. He's a good bench player, especially this deep on the bench.

Jones will be used sometimes at the 4 when we go small and want to completely space the floor for LeBron/Kyrie. He's basically a specialist on this team now as opposed to being a 25+ minute a night guy like he was in the Finals. That's not to take anything away from Jones. He is still great at what he does. It is just a testament to the depth of this team. Only so many minutes to go around.


The wildcard is Jared Cunningham. It's way too early to make a definitive decision on whether he'll get meaningful minutes or not later in the season, but I've been impressed so far. He could be a diamond in the rough for us.

When healthy, the depth on this team is amazing.

[RedBlackAttack]

Cleveland, predictably, is a lot more dynamic on offense this season than last. They actually run plays now besides iso and high pick n roll. 2nd year team, 2nd year coach, far better familiarity, so naturally, Blatt's been able to incorporate an actual offense. Very similar to what happened with the Heat in 2012. And Cleveland's even more talented.

On the downside, LeBron looks no different than he did the first 2 months of last season. Just stiff as hell with no 0 bounce or explosiveness. And I don't know what the remedy is, because what helped last season(anti-inflammatory injection + 2 week rest) was already put into action in preseason this year, and the results haven't been very good so far.
He looks far, far better to start this season when compared to how he came in last year. He still isn't in game shape yet, but at least you can see he has his legs under him. Last year, it was U-G-L-Y for the first few weeks, especially. He really wasn't even trying on defense and he was turning the ball over at a historic pace because of his back, being out of shape and whatever else.

The back is obviously still a work in progress. He lays on a heating pad while on the bench and he isn't looking to explode to the rim yet (I'm fine with that). It isn't so much that he can't do it, imo... it's that he knows he isn't 25 anymore and he can't sustain that kind of explosiveness over an 82-game season plus playoffs.

But, overall, he looks way better so far. I don't care what the numbers say. His defensive bounce alone makes him way better.

I think he is following the Popovich model of how to play a season. Slowly build yourself up until you're ready to play come May and June. This is basically like his preseason.

[DukeDelonte13]

Cavs played great on both ends, and the second unit really looked good.

Andy V in the second unit is going to be huge this year, and was sorely missed last year.

[RedBlackAttack]

Cavs played great on both ends, and the second unit really looked good.

Andy V in the second unit is going to be huge this year, and was sorely missed last year.
If there is ever a situation where you want to "save" a player for the playoffs, it is Andy. He looks really good right now and you can basically plug him in and he will be able to do his thing without a ton of preparation. His minutes should be really limited when we get back to full strength, because he will be huge in the postseason when every possession (and extra possession via offensive rebound) is so important.

[Meticode]

When is Kyrie and Shump supposed to be back?

I'm liking what I'm seeing from the current units the team is forced to play but I'm curious how the team will look once those two starting players are back. Who moves to the 2nd unit, who in the 2nd unit gets benched, etc.
On ESPN First Take they said Kyrie might come back around December. I'm guessing 4-6 weeks away. Shumpert's injury was 12-ish weeks. I'm guessing late December to January for him.

[Meticode]

If there is ever a situation where you want to "save" a player for the playoffs, it is Andy. He looks really good right now and you can basically plug him in and he will be able to do his thing without a ton of preparation. His minutes should be really limited when we get back to full strength, because he will be huge in the postseason when every possession (and extra possession via offensive rebound) is so important.
I'm hope if the Cavs get Kyrie and Iman back that Andy is limited to 20 at most. Right now he's getting limited minutes anyway.