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April 23, 2012Recruiting: Ohio State Lands DL Joey Bosa
April 24, 2012Tough loss tonight in Memphis, but the Cavaliers shouldn’t hang their heads. Playing one of the better teams in the West, the Cavaliers hung in there for pretty much the whole game, even holding the lead for much of the first half.
Kyrie Irving was simply terrific tonight for the wine and gold, scoring 25 points in 29 minutes of play. It was certainly curious to see Irving sitting for much of the 4th quarter despite being the hot hand in this game. Was Byron Scott tanking? I’m sure he’ll just say they’re limiting Kyrie’s minutes as he works his way back into game shape, but the Cavaliers might have won this game had he played more in the 4th quarter.
None of which is to say the Cavaliers did the wrong thing. They showed a lot of spirit in this game and had a chance to win, but in the end they maintained their position in the bottom of the standings. Sort of a best case scenario for the tanking mentality.
Kudos to both Donald Sloan and Manny Harris who both stepped up and did some of the things I was hoping to see from them in this game. Manny provided some offense off the bench, and Sloan looked steady in the backup PG role. The more I see from Sloan, the more I feel comfortable with the idea of bringing him back next season to try handling the backup PG role from day one.
From a defensive standpoint, 6 Grizzlies were in double digit points including all 5 starters. The Grizzlies did a nice job moving the ball around and getting scoring from every spot, but the Cavaliers defended pretty poorly in this game and allowed the Grizzlies to control the rebounds a little too easily.
It’s never fun to lose, but as far as losing goes, this is the kind of loss you can live with in a learning season such as this.
Cleveland
Starters | Pos | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
K. Irving | G | 29:28 | 10-16 | 2-6 | 3-5 | +3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 |
A. Parker | G | 22:38 | 1-4 | 1-3 | 2-2 | +3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
T. Thompson | C | 29:33 | 3-10 | 0-0 | 6-10 | -4 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
A. Jamison | F | 32:52 | 6-14 | 3-6 | 2-2 | +6 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 17 |
A. Gee | F | 22:04 | 3-7 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
Bench | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Totals | 37-80 | 11-24 | 16-22 | 13 | 36 | 19 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 101 | ||
Percentages | .462 | .458 | .727 | Team Rebounds: 8 | ||||||||||
O. Casspi | 25:56 | 2-6 | 1-2 | 0-0 | -8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
M. Harris | 25:22 | 5-9 | 1-1 | 0-0 | -11 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
D. Sloan | 18:46 | 3-6 | 0-1 | 3-3 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
S. Samuels | 18:27 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
L. Walton | 14:54 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | -16 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
L. Harangody | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
D.J. Kennedy | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
A. Varejao | DNP – Coach’s Decision |
Memphis
Starters | Pos | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T. Allen | G | 30:53 | 6-9 | 0-0 | 1-2 | +9 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
M. Conley | G | 23:37 | 4-8 | 2-3 | 2-2 | +6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 |
M. Gasol | C | 24:12 | 5-13 | 0-0 | 7-8 | +3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
R. Gay | F | 34:07 | 4-10 | 0-2 | 7-8 | -1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
M. Speights | F | 30:47 | 6-9 | 0-0 | 5-8 | +3 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 17 |
Bench | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Totals | 38-81 | 5-13 | 28-36 | 17 | 42 | 18 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 19 | 109 | ||
Percentages | .469 | .385 | .778 | Team Rebounds: 14 | ||||||||||
O.J. Mayo | 25:39 | 6-14 | 2-5 | 0-0 | +6 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
D. Cunningham | 21:47 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 3-3 | +22 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
Z. Randolph | 19:14 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | -12 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
L. Hudson | 12:14 | 3-6 | 1-3 | 2-3 | +7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
J. Selby | 11:35 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Q. Pondexter | 5:55 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
H. Haddadi | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
J. Pargo | DNP – Coach’s Decision |
8 Comments
Outscored us by 9 in the last quarter and beat us by 8? Not a terrible loss. I can see us winning the next two… Is Varejao ready but not playing because we only have a few left and are already out of it?
Very encouraged to see how this team transforms with nothing more than Irving being back on the floor. I can’t even imagine what his stat line would look like with a two guard that is a threat to can 3s or drive. I don’t think its hyperbole to say that the next 7 years of 2/3rds of our sports happiness are going to be completly determined by the decisions in these two upcoming drafts.
KOWTOW for the UniBrow!!! (nothing really rhymes with Davis)
I would love for us to build a team like the Grizzlies. They share the ball/shots, play good defense, and just have a solid team all the way down. If Zach can get himself into playing shape (not sure if conditioning or injuries are holding him back now), then they could make a run this year.
Clippers -> Spurs -> Thunder is their current road. It’s a tough road, but it’s actually the one they match up with best. Be an interesting team to face Miami (after OKC, SA) as they have the wing-defenders, PG, and big men to make life hard on the Heat.
(i’m sort of giving up hope of anyone in the East beating Miami. maybe Boston, but not likely. Indiana doesn’t have enough scoring. Chicago is just a terrible matchup)
I pretty much agree with all of this. Memphis did beat Miami fairly easily in their only matchup. And it was in Miami with LeBron, Wade, and Bosh all playing. I don’t think Memphis can get there, but it would be an interesting matchup for sure.
The one who can save us, is Anthony Davis.
Well played Schnitkey, well played indeed.
Loser admission, I spent 10 minutes trying to think something clever up that rhymed with Davis.
I think the Spurs give the Heat a similar yet better matchup than Dallas did last year. Aggressive big men, deeper bench, a point guard that can get into the lane at will against Chalmers, and of course Manu, who does everything Jason Terry does only better, and isn’t a head case.
The only question is will they have the legs after probably having to go to the mat with Memphis and OKC in the last two rounds of the West finals.
The Heat meanwhile are going to get a confidence boosting 4 game sweep of New York and pancaking of Indiana, and then probably a 6 game series against Chicago as everyone starts to figure out that the Bulls have the exact same problems in playoff basketball that the Lebron Cavs did.
Look how long it took Memphis to get where they are now too. Randolph is a beast but it’s going to take awhile before he’s back anywhere near what he was before it. Probably the summer. The West is going to be a meat grinder come playoffs.
Spartan alum Draymond Green reminds me of Randolph except a little more dynamic.