The Browns’ new helmets, Johnny Manziel’s social media silence, and MLS Cup: While We’re Waiting…
December 3, 2014Kevin Love: “I’m a Cavalier for the long term”
December 3, 2014Milwaukee Bucks (10-9) 108
Cleveland Cavaliers (9-7) 111
Cleveland Cavalier swingman Mike Miller was born in some place called Mitchell, South Dakota. I’ve never been to Mitchell, but I’ve no doubt it’s a lovely place. Mitchell is a distant three hundred miles away from NBA relevance,1 which was still much closer to relevance than its former denizen Miller, who could have been exiled in Siberia and had the same impact on the Cavaliers as he had entering Tuesday night.2
The Cavs front office, LeBron James, and the local and national media touted Miller as a veteran presence and effective player that would help compensate for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love’s lack of playoff experience. Prior to Tuesday night, Miller had a paltry 13 points in 11 games, which I believe is a lower point total than Cavs mascot Moondog. As a member of the Memphis Grizzlies last season, Miller exceeded 13 points in 10 different games, shooting 45.9 percent from three-point range. 13 points was less than Miller’s two-game average. Miller’s poor shooting this season (3-of-15 on three-point attempts) and general ineffectiveness are clearly not solely his fault, but a side effect of a Cavalier team and bench still coalescing. Nevertheless, the Cavs need players like Miller to be innovative and craft ways to contribute in order to win games like Tuesday night’s contest against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The @Cavs improve to 9-0 this season when out-scoring their opponents. Also undefeated at home when @KateUpton is in attendance.
— Moondog (@CavsMoondog) December 3, 2014
7 – Returning from basketball exile, Mike Miller had his most impactful performance for the Cavaliers thus far in the young season. Despite hitting only two shots, Miller had seven rebounds in nearly 18 minutes. His seven rebounds exceeded the rebound totals from LeBron James, Shawn Marion, and Tristan Thompson, who all had more playing time. Both of his field goals were back-breaking threes: the first spine-bruiser was probably the turning point of the game when the Cavs were trying to fight back from a 11-point deficit, and the second a vertebrae-crunching kick to the lumbar region of a Bucks team trying to keep the game within one score in the fourth quarter. But the real takeaway from Miller’s box score was the way it epitomized the tired cliché, “players find a way to make plays.” After struggling to be any more than a very mobile statue in the season’s early-going, Miller creatively affected the game’s end result in ways both measurable—the seven rebounds, six points, one block on a great defensive play—and immeasurable—the best defense he’s played all year, the timing of his threes, being in the right spots on the floor for spacing, and a cannon pass to LeBron off a rebound that immediately combusted in a fast break.
0 – Contrasting with Miller’s effective performance was Dion Waiters’ zero point effort. It’s not that he failed to score, because if Waiters had helped the Cavs in any tangible way without scoring, his goose egg in the scoring column would be used to compliment his performance. Instead, he had one assist, one turnover, and two personal fouls in an effort that yielded a plus-minus of -11 in only eight minutes. His eight minutes were barely one-third his season average of 24.1 minutes (already down from last season’s 29.6), and it’s beginning to become less speculation and more fact that when Dion doesn’t immediately impact the game with his scoring, he’s not going to be able to stay on the floor. Cavs fans should begin to wonder if Dion Waiters is a complementary component on this team, or one that functions individually and only sporadically.
52.7 – The Milwaukee Bucks had an effective field goal percentage of 52.7, four percentage points higher than their season average of 48.4.3 This isn’t a gigantic number, but the Cavs allowed several low-difficulty buckets in Tuesday night’s game. The Cavs defense has been either feast or famine in this regard, and on nights where it’s famine it has been ugly (Utah, Toronto, the first Washington matchup). Brandon Knight had a 69.4 effective field goal percentage (49.8 on the season) including 5-of-9 on three-pointers and Jabari Parker had a 73.3 effective field goal percentage (46.3 on the season) on 11-of-15 shooting. Every team is going to be thoroughly stoked to play the Cavs, so they can’t allow them to get into a rhythm by permitting low-resistance baskets. Of course, it helps when the Cavs have a 57.5 effective field goal percentage of their own, as they did on Tuesday.
30 – The Cavs scored 30 points in the first quarter yet again, taking a seven point lead into the second quarter. The Cavs have been dynamite in the first quarter all season, leading the NBA with 28.4 points per first quarter and a plus-minus of +4.4. This merely confirms what everyone already knows: the Cavs are better with James, Irving, and Kevin Love. Obvious. But this shows that Cavs, in their offense, are executing as good as anyone else in the league. The other teams lagging behind Cleveland in first quarter plus-minus are the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors, aka the best teams in the NBA right now. The Cavs’ inability to maintain this offensive proficiency is indicative of a whole slew of things, both good and bad, and may be deserving of its own entire post down the road.
4-of-8 – Kevin Love hit four of eight his three-point attempts, helping him to 27 points, the second-best mark of his Cavalier career. But it wasn’t merely that he shot well from three or had a lot of points, it was where the shots came from and how. Most of Love’s three-point attempts came from the corner.4 So far this season, the Cavs have not been attempting enough corner threes, an easy shot worth (duh) three points. The alternative, threes from the top of the key, are like aiming for a home run to dead center at Progressive Field (400 feet) instead of pulling the hell out of it down the line (325 feet)—the easier one is worth the same amount of points! Plus, the way Love shot the ball and from where show that he’s finally getting comfortable in the offense; which is terrifying for the Eastern Conference.
10-of-15 – Not a lot of time to fawn over Kyrie Irving today with everything else to discuss, but he continues to be scary good. After shooting 10-of-15 on Tuesday, his effective field goal percentage is at 55.0. If he continues to play this patiently, shoot this efficiently, score twenty-plus points per game, and have an assist-to-turnover ratio nearing 3:1, then he deserves to be in all conversations for the league’s best point guard. The layup below, which increased the Cavs lead when the Bucks were narrowly on their heels, is an offensively difficult finish.
- Mitchell, South Dakota, is about three hundred miles away from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the Minnesota Timberwolves call home. [↩]
- Though if Mike Miller was in Siberia, metaphorically speaking, then James Jones is probably on one of the moons of Jupiter. [↩]
- Via basketball-reference.com. [↩]
- It appeared so, anyway. [↩]
24 Comments
Glad we won, but it’s getting worrisome that we can only do so when the Big 3 (god I hate that term) play 40+ minutes. We really need more production from the bench. These 10 point first quarter leads evaporate quickly in the second, when ideally we should be able to maintain if not increase that lead and allow them more rest.
I think I’d like to see Delly assume the starting 2 when healthy, allowing Marion to come off the bench for Lebron (Marion can still have the crunch-time minutes though). And it kills me to say this because I’ve always been a bigger fan than most of his, but it’s time we ship Dion out of a rim protector (another term I hate). My guess is that we’re already on the phone looking for the right deal, it just hasn’t come along yet.
Dion will be traded this season. Question is when
I posted that the same time you did lol
Jinx you owe me a coke
I have liked and defended Dion in the past as well. I think he will be a good ballplayer eventually, i just think he needs to mature and develop his whole game.
Agreed, and I think he just needs to be in the right role/on the right team – one where he can start and flourish as a top-2 option. Now, said team might not be very good if Dion is the second best player (as we kinda saw these last couple years), although if he hits his ceiling as DWade-lite, who knows.
I think David Blatt needs to relate to him better and find better scenarios for him to succeed. I think we have exactly the kind of score-first guard that can be a real asset in the NBA off the bench. But Blatt is undercutting Dion with the sets they run when he’s in the game (geared towards generating 3s and not penetration of the paint). He should be a damn coach and develop Dion and get rid of his ball-stopping habits.
I think we might regret shipping Dion out. We already lack bench scoring, and Dion is the kind of guy who can get it done. But I get the feeling that Blatt is more old-school that I would’ve thought, and that’s not what Dion needs. He needs positivity and encouragement in style of Pete Carroll or Brad Stevens…not the Draconian Mike Brown approach where he knows he’s gonna get benched if he doesn’t make a scoring impact which incentivizes him to force the issue and puts him in a spot where he will compound a bad offensive night by forcing he issue and making mistakes on the other end.
Be very, very positive with Dion. Let him know how important he is. Keep encouraging him. And then, only then, if he continues to struggle, should they consider a move.
I’m really disappointed with David Blatt’s efforts so far this season.
I agree for the most part – that some of this is on Blatt. Like a week or so ago when he put Dion in with the garbage time unit at the end of the game – that’s not what Dion needs. I do think Dion has the ability to be that Harden/Manu/Crawford off the bench scorer, but he and Blatt just don’t seem like they can co-exist, and it’s definitely on both of them, and it’s definitely a shame.
Good analysis. I’d only add:
– The Bucks have scary young talent and this game was another example of how each opponent except maybe the Spurs seem up to play the Cavs. It’s like a playoff game for them. Can’t wait for guys like Tristan and Dion to get used to that. Floating when coming off the bench doesn’t work in this atmosphere.
– Like how they’re feeding Love inside now, where he can show off his array of almost-McHale moves. You bought a gadget that does all sorts of cool and useful things – use it!
– There’s a diff between supposedly “embracing” your bench role and performing it. Dion is sinking. Lazy passes that picked off in his few minutes tell me that either he’s still too immature to change his mindset once he trots out there, or that they better acknowledge his immaturity by letting him shoot a few times right away. He knows he should play within a sharing offense and play defense but you can see he’s itching to score. Almost like Dion needs to be in attack mode. Find a way to let him lead an attack with the bench squad or trade him. Since it would be ridic to trade him at his lowest trade value, c’mon, Blatt, you’re a genius, find a way.
– See the way the whole team rejoiced with Mike Miller’s shots and responded? That’s how you confirm a veteran is a team leader. Not by a beat writer saying it is so.
Dion scored 19.3 ppg under “Draconian Mike Brown.” This year he is around 13.
As far as i can tell, Kyrie Irving seems to have no problem driving to the hoop when he is on the floor so I can not agree with your blanket assessment of David Blatt’s coaching style. Maybe Blatt needs to change up the offense a little but it seems counter-productive to create a special offense for your pouty, inconsistent, ball-hog 6th-(7th? 8th?) man.
The Bucks announcers were all over Dion yesterday, basically saying that he doesn’t work hard enough and stops the ball, among other things.
.there’s no question. He’s a pouty ball-stopper. I don’t think anyone enjoys playing with him. The more i think about it the more i realize that Kyrie was completely justified in standing up to Waiters last year and showing Dion that he is the Alpha.
listening to the Bucks announcers last night, it was curious to hear them speak of their happiness that Love was playing inside. They talked of how the Bucks’ most glaring weakness is defending the corner 3, and they were happy that Love wasn’t standing on the 3-point line launching them last night. I wonder why the Cavs didn’t try to exploit that.
(of course, 20+ points isn’t exactly NOT-exploiting that weakness)
What are you talking about? Dion is a cancer…has been and always will be! He can’t play defense at all. It’s like watching a 3rd grader running around and only guarding his guy even if he doesn’t have the ball. He’s NEVER in help position and doesn’t rotate when needed. Oh, and by the way…everyone I know that watches this team has a nickname for him…The Black Hole…because once he gets the ball in his hands, it’s never coming out. If he’s shooting 45% that’s one thing, but when it’s less than 30%, it’s a problem. 3 coaches have tried to get through to this nitwit, and he’s only gotten worse. Ship him out for a couple sticks of gum!
He took 8 three-pointers and hit half – how many more should he take? But he was also abusing the Bucks inside, so no reason for their announcers to be giddy. He lit them up for 27 and, unlike LeBron, his points weren’t artificially goosed with 8 FTs in the last minute when the Bucks were intentionally fouling.
I’m sure, according to him, Dion Waiters has “gotten us to this point.”
hey, don’t kill the messenger!
8 seems like just about right. He sure had his hands full with Parker. That kid is going to be a stud. LOVE his game.
He flourished under Jim Boeheim, as crusty old school as you can get, but only after an initial tumultuous year. Same pattern in high school. Criticizing Blatt for this is premature – we’re less than 20 games in with a new coach and new system and for all we know Blatt is doing the best possible job with him. Sometimes the prob is not finding the Magic Coach, sometimes the kid just needs to grow up. And him realizing that he can’t kill this coach like the last two, he’s the one who has to change.
was responding to your wonder why the Cavs didn’t exploit his 3 point skills – they certainly did.
Agree: Parker looks great, more explosive and confident than I thought he would be this early in his rookie year. And that 12-foot long Greek teenager – looks like in another year he might be unstoppable. Bucks should be really good soon.
“Dion scored 19.3 ppg under “Draconian Mike Brown.” This year he is around 13.” – I wonder if anything else has changed since last year? This “point” is obviously not a point at all.
“As far as i can tell, Kyrie Irving seems to have no problem driving to the hoop when he is on the floor” – Well, then you should watch more closely. When Ky, Dion, and Harris / Miller on the floor, both Ky and Dion struggle to get to the hoop. That’s what happened last night in the 2nd quarter.
“Maybe Blatt needs to change up the offense a little but it seems counter-productive to create a special offense for your pouty, inconsistent, ball-hog” – Yep, he should tweak the offense a bit. You got some smart digs in on Dion there though. Really drove your point home. Here’s another way to say that though: “Maybe Blatt needs to change up the offense a little bit to try and get Dion going because he is our best chance to generate bench scoring which is, currently, the biggest problem this team faces and Dion has shown in college that he can be a viable 6th man option. When he’s allowed to be aggressive he gets to the rim and creates opportunities for others.
“The Bucks announcers were all over Dion yesterday, basically saying that he doesn’t work hard enough and stops the ball, among other things.” – Yep, I said he stops the ball. He does. That’s what a coach should help with. That’s what coaching is. Why give up on a guy who obviously has raw talent because he has some bad habits?
“What are you talking about? Dion is a cancer…has been and always will be!” – Refreshing, intelligent take. Your intimate knowledge of the Cavs chemistry behind-the-scenes is refreshing. Who are your sources? We want in!
“Everyone I know that watches this team has a nickname for him…The Black Hole” – Yep, you, like saggy, seemed intent on making this point too even though I already characterized him as a ball-stopper. Again, coaches should fix that. You know else were ball-stoppers with some natural scoring ability that took a while to shake bad habits? – Melo, Vince Carter, imgoingtostopbecuasethelistislonganddistinguished. You don’t just throw your hands up, dimiss the guy as a “cancer,” and give up because the guy has bad habits and has had no structured NBA experience to date.
“If he’s shooting 45% that’s one thing, but when it’s less than 30%You must know very few people,” – You understand how illogical this is, right?
So, let’s say you have demonstrated at your job that you are skilled. You have demonstrated that on several levels over several years. You have demonstrated that you have potential to improve even further. You are excited and enthusiastic about the opportunity to to contribute meaningfully to a new division at your company. Now, you don’t have a choice. You’re being included in the new division spin-off no matter what. But when you get there, you realize the management and new system are difficult to navigate. You’re not sure where you fit. Your boss keeps changing your responsibilities on you. You never work with the same people on projects, so it’s hard to develop chemistry. Your boss continues to make underhanded / passive-aggressive comments about you to the rest of the organization. When you do get a chance, your mind isn’t in the right place and you begin to make some mistakes and compound them by forcing the issue ever harder. Your heart is in the right place; you’re talented; and you know you can do more. But it feels like everything is working against you.
Now, let’s imagine you’re 22.
High-horses, man.
I can imagine all that. But the problem is that you’re imagining the company as Sherwin -Williams while I am imagining it being apple. There’s no time to fix certain things at the highest levels. If you can’t right your own ship at some point you’ll soon be swimming. This is the NBA, not high school, AAU, or even college ball. This is the best – there isn’t any time to adjust attitudes. And, for me, that’s what this is about more than X’s and O’s.
“Why give up on a guy who obviously has raw talent because he has some bad habits?”
WHY? because at some point there are diminishing returns. I am not sure Dion Waiters has what it takes to be successful on a winning NBA team. He certainly has talent, but so do a lot of other guys. Joe Harris seems to want to learn and also work hard. I haven’t seen those traits in abundance in Waiters.
Dion thinks he is a superstar when he is only just a role player. He should be playing for a middling or losing team; that way, he could pile up stats and satiate the desire to live up to his inflated self-image.
I agreed with you to an extent earlier, but now you’re just coming off as a staunch Dion apologist. Are the working conditions you outlined difficult? Sure. But welcome to the NBA (especially Cleveland, where we go through head coaches like the Browns go through QBs). You want to survive? You adapt. And if you don’t like it (and you’re not a superstar that has the ability to force his way out of town), you make the best of the situation and hope those above you realize you need to be shipped out for everyone’s best interests. If you pout around when given the chance to prove yourself, not only are you diminishing your value to your current team, but you’re making it harder to get traded since no other team will want a stubborn, immature, pouty, self-absorbed…
And before you think I’m just attacking you and Dion, remember that I like Dion more than some/most. He’s just making it harder (for me) to defend.
I don’t disagree, especially over the last few games, that Dion has done himself no favors. As an admitted Dion fan, it’s been obvious and frustrating. But given the circumstances of his previous NBA experience, I think people are being too quick to point to him as a definitive problem instead of a potential solution. I wish the fan-base would support him and not make him the collective scapegoat / punching bag, etc.