Scott Raab discusses the Browns hiring of Mike Pettine – WFNY Podcast – 2014-01-25
January 25, 2014Browns could consider Callahan, Loggains for OC opening; Cameron out
January 26, 2014The Phoenix Suns were not expected to be competitive at all this year. The Cleveland Cavaliers were expected to be at least slightly competitive.
The two teams have had about as opposite of seasons as possible so far. Phoenix, expected to finish among the worst teams in the hyper-competitive West, is somehow 24-18. They tenuously remain the No. 7 seed. Meanwhile, the Cavs are 16-27 and tied for the No. 10 seed in the terrible East.
After a 4-12 start to the season, Cleveland at least has been mediocre since. They’re 12-15 since Nov. 30. They’re 6-9 since the Andrew Bynum suspension (Dec. 27). They’re 4-4 since Luol Deng’s debut (Jan. 10). But it remains to be seen if they can make a bigger run into the playoff picture.
A home game against Phoenix is a very intriguing test. This is a scrappy young opponent without any well-known stars. Yet they could easily blow the Cavs out of their own building.
The Injury: The most significant event of the Suns season thus far was the injury to guard Eric Bledsoe back on Dec. 30. For Phoenix, the uber-athletic Bledsoe represents the future. They were only 25-57 all last year and used the No. 5 overall selection on Alex Len (remember him?). While the young center is healthy and playing occasional (mop-up) minutes, the face of the team’s 2013-14 turnaround is Bledsoe.
With the offseason departure from the Clippers, the 24-year-old was averaging 18 points, 5.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals in his first extended stint as a starter. He missed five games earlier this year with a shin problem. The current issue is a meniscus injury that required minor-ish surgery. In a best-case scenario, Bledsoe could return shortly after the All-Star Break.
Thus far in January, the Suns are only 5-7 without Bledsoe. It’s possible that the long grind of the season is starting to catch up to their perhaps fluky start. But they control their own playoff destiny and can’t afford to trip up on a four-game East road trip that begins with Cleveland, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
The Unheralded Star: If Goran Dragic played for a team like the New York Knicks, he’d be an international superstar. But because the 27-year-old Slovenian has played the majority of his career in the Valley – with a brief 1.5-year stint in Houston – he doesn’t receive the attention he deserves.
Even with Bledsoe in the lineup, Dragic was arguably the better and more productive guard. He’s likely hitting his prime right now. He’s a borderline All-Star in the West. In 39 games, he’s averaged 19.4 points and 6.1 assists on 49.2% shooting. More significantly for tonight’s game, he’s exactly the kind of player that could beat up Kyrie Irving defensively.
It’s no secret that Irving is a below-average defensive guard. In fact, opposing point guards have an 18.4 PER against him this season, per 82Games.com. Of course, Irving has a 19.8 PER himself and that stat has some major caveats, but that’s just one micro-example of the following stat: The Cavs are 6.7 points per 100 possessions better defensively without Irving on the court.
Dragic has averaged 21.7 points and 6.3 assists on 57.9% shooting in his last three games against Cleveland. He should be salivating about the opportunity tonight. He’s the main opposing player to watch.
The Sneaky Good Rotation: One of the odd components to the Suns’ success is that virtually their entire ragtag rotation has produced an average PER rate or better. Seven of their eight season-long rotation players have a minimum 14.5 PER. The worst is P.J. Tucker at 12.4. For the Cavs, the equivalent of four rotation players have PERs worse than Tucker’s: Dion Waiters, Jarett Jack, Earl Clark and the Delly-Gee-Bennett trio.
Phoenix’s secret weapon and their second-best player sans Bledsoe has been Channing Frye. After missing all of last season, he’s averaging 16 points per game on 44% three-point shooting in January. The 30-year-old big man should certainly be a Most Improved Player candidate. The team’s offense is 11.6 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court. He’s kinda like their C.J. Miles.
One of the most active post defenders in the NBA is sophomore center Miles Plumlee. After playing just 55 minutes all last season for Indiana, he’s been a pivotal starter this season for the Suns. He’s averaging 9.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 27.9 minutes per game. If the rotations align perfectly, I could easily see a Plumlee-Tyler Zeller tussle reminiscent of their Duke-UNC days.
Gerald Green (14.4) and Markieff Morris (12.9) have been the team’s third- and fourth-best scorers in January. One of the better stories, however, has been returning veteran Leandro Barbosa. He had his best days in Phoenix, thus predictably returned as a free agent two weeks ago. Thus far in seven games, the 31-year-old is averaging a very solid 9.1 points in 22.3 minutes in his seven games.
The Struggling Cavs Bench: In seven games since Luol Deng’s debut, the Cavs bench is averaging only 29.1 points per game. They were averaging 38.5 points combined in the first 36 games this season. Nearly everyone is struggling right now with Friday’s blowout win as the lone aberration.
Dion Waiters went scoreless on Monday for the first time in his NBA career. Jarrett Jack played only 12 minutes a week ago Friday, his fewest in three years. Earl Clark can’t do anything but shoot yet loves to dribble. Alonzo Gee can do everything but shoot yet loves to shoot. Matthew Dellavedova hardly sees the court. Anthony Bennett should be in the D-League. The only guy steadily showing improvement is Tyler Zeller.
I have lots of bones to pick with Mike Brown’s rotation – for example, why did HENRY SIMS get first-quarter minutes on Friday!?! – but the bench hasn’t made it easy for him either. The Suns are a tough matchup. They have the eighth-best offense and the eighth-fastest pace in the league. If the Cavs bench can’t provide any lift, this could turn into an ugly affair.
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Photo: AP Photo/Matt York
4 Comments
*Cavs a newer logo too.
http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/e4701g88mmn7ehz2baynbs6e0/Cleveland_Cavaliers/2011/Primary_Logo
*have
Well that really got away from us.
writing about the cavs is an unenviable task. you all have to find something different to talk about every 3 days or so.
how many ways can one say that this team is disappointing and just bad?