Future is uncertain in THE LAND - Cav's '18 story

[cincy14fan]

February Recap

League Injury Report

There are now three teams vying for the worst injuries going into final month and a half. If it is straight star power it would be the Spurs who have just two injuries but is two of their star players in Aldridge (83 overall) and Leonard (95 overall). If we are talking about players who have hurt the team overall it would be two teams in the East in why the Knicks and Wizards are sitting tied for the 3rd worst record in the league with a 22-40 record. Both teams are missing three players, but have their star power out. First the Knicks have Prozingis (85) still out for 2-4 weeks, still from last month injury report is Hardaway Jr. (78) still out for the season, and Kuzminskas (73) who is another power forward to make them thin there. For the Wizards it would be Wall (90) out for 4-6 weeks as well as Porter (81). Meeks (71) was like Hardaway Jr. who made the list last month and will continue to show up as he is out for the rest of the year.

Eastern Conference Standings

Biggest Surprised: Philadelphia 76ers at 30-29 (Sixth in Eastern Conference)

Biggest Shock: Chicago Bulls at 23-38 (Eleventh in Eastern Conference)

76ers looked like they would be missing the playoffs this year a month ago. There seemed to be improvement, but it looked as if the playoffs would come later than sooner. Then this month they roll of 10 wins out of 11 and move all the way up into the sixth seed. Still plenty of tine, and it was a very weak schedule (only two teams with winning records) so this might be a fluke. Either way the fans are pleasantly surprised to see their team rise in the ranks. As for the Bulls they made the trade with Cleveland to trade LaVine (who was in the running for 6th man of the year) for two true point guards to help out their banged up roster. Everyone is now healthy going into March, but February wasn't kind to them as they lost 9 of 10 games. Despite Thomas being the leading scorer in the game in 8 of the ten games, and Rose would claim one of the other games. Only game where they weren't the leading scorer was Wall from the Wizards in a loss by one.

CENTRAL DIVISION:



Cavs would push their lead over second from last month by a game-and-a-half. This should be the nail in the coffin for sealing first, but with LeBron out for the first two weeks of the month anything can happen. Luckily the Cavs have to play the Nuggets (second worst team in the NBA) twice in that span. Should help out. Pistons would finally lose their grasp on second place as the last game of the month they would lose to the Bucks who now have the same record as them. The Bulls who were in third last month drop like a rock to last in the division.

Western Conference Standings

Biggest Surprised: Los Angeles Clippers at 36-24 (Third in Western Conference)

Biggest Shock: Denver Nuggets at 20-41 (Last in Western Conference)

With that trade earlier by the Clippers it looked like a short fix for their injuries. Yet chemistry hasn't dip at all and they would go on a tear to move all the way up to third place in the West despite still having two point guards injured (Beverley and Augustin) out for the next 2-4 weeks. The Nuggets don't look that bad on paper, but on the court they are just bad. Most people are thinking they are tanking the season and trying to get the first pick overall. Even the Lakers have a better record than them by four games.

Highest Scoring: Golden State Warriors (115.0 points a game)/Cavs 107.0 (7th)
Lowest Points Allowed: Cleveland Cavaliers (96.1 points a game)
Difference: Golden State Warriors (15.2)/ Cleveland Cavaliers 10.9 (3rd)
Field Goals Made: Golden State Warriors (42.0)/ Cleveland Cavaliers 42.0 (T-1st)
Fields Goals Attempted: Cavs (90.9)
Field Goal Percentage: Golden State Warriors (49.6 %)/ Cav's 46.2 % (T-15th)
3PT Made: Golden State Warriors 12.0/ Cav's 7.4 (26th)
3PT Attempted: Chicago Bulls 31.7/ Cav's 19.8 (29th)
3PT %: Golden State Warriors 41.1 %/ Cleveland Cavaliers 37.6 % (6th)
Foul Shots Made: Milwaukee Bucks 19.5/ Cav's 15.5 (25th)
Foul Shots Attempted: Milwaukee Bucks 25.2/Cav's 19.9 (T-27th)
Foul Shot %: Chicago Bulls 82.1%/Cav's 78.7% (9th)
Offensive Rebounds: Cav's 13.7
Defensive Rebounds: Cleveland Cavaliers 47.8
Total Rebounds: Cleveland Cavaliers 61.4
Assists: Golden State Warriors 30.1/Cav's 28.4 (2nd)
Steals: Houston Rockets 9.4/Cav's 6.8 (23rd)
Blocks: Miami Heat 5.7/Cav's 4.3 (T-23rd)
Turnovers: Charlotte Hornets 14.8/Cav's 11.6 (Last)
Fouls: Phoenix Suns 22.0/Cav's 11.6 (Last)
Second Chance Points: Sacramento Kings 12.4/Cav's 11.1 (9th)
Bench: Chicago Bulls 43.6/Cav's 27.9 (27th)

Playoff Race: Cleveland regain the top spot in the East by 1.5 games, but now have James out for another 2 weeks. The top 5 teams in the East have a very good chance of making the playoffs which is weird cause three of them are in the Central Division (Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Detroit). Charlotte who is .500 on the year with a 31-31 record have a 4.5 lead over the ninth place team (Magic). Still with that short of a lead and still with 20 games left it isn't the most comfortable spot to be in.

Playoff opponent prediction: Right now we will have to face off against the Hawks. Again, this is if we can control the number one spot. This would be a easy matchup for the Cavs as they have already played the Hawks four times and have won all four of their meetings.

Eastern Conference Thoughts: Boston has a chance to leap frog the Cavs for the top spot with LeBron out. Toronto doesn't have a chance for the number one seed unless the unthinkable happens (Boston and Cleveland losing every game this whole month) and the Raptors winning every game this month. Bucks have came out hot to climb into the playoff hunt in a healthy position, but it does look like for sure five teams are already out of the playoff hunt this year. Starting with the Bulls (4.5 games behind) then the Wizards, Heat, and Kicks all have the same record and are 6 game behind. Last is the Nets who are the only team in the NBA who hasn't won 20 games yet.

Western Conference Thoughts: What is going on in the West? Sure, still have seven teams over .500 on the year, but the battle for third place to tenth is only within 6.5 games. 8 teams are fighting for the final 6 spots, but even the Mavericks have an outside shot of making the playoffs only being behind by 2 games for the final spot. The final four teams (Kings, Grizzlies, Lakers, and Nuggets) are all but out from the playoffs. Still again 20-22 games left but with most teams having winning records and most are at least 10 games under .500 it is fair to say in the West it won't cut it.

[cincy14fan]

Season Awards

Player of the Week



Player of the Month



Rookie of the Month

League Leaders

Points Per Game

Notable Players:
9. Kyrie Irving (BOS) 25.6
10. DeMarcus Cousins (NO) 24.3
12. Klay Thomspon (GS) 22.5
13. D'Angelo Russel (BK) 22.5
19. CarMelo Anthony (NY) 21.7

Rebounds

Notable Players:
11 Kevin Love (CLE) 9.6
12. Nikola Jovic (DEN) 9.5
13. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 9.4
18 Willy Hernangomez (NY) 8.7
19. Kyle O'Quinn (NY) 8.6

Assist's

Notable Players:
12. Dennis Schroder (ATL) 7.6
11 Draymond Green (GS) 7.4
12. Derrick Rose (CHI) 7.2
13 Milos Teodosic (LAC) 7.0
18. Nicolas Batum (CHA) 6.3

Steals

Notable Players:
11. Lonzo Ball (LAL) 1.9
13. Andre Drummond (DET) 1.8
15. D'Angelo Russell (BK) 1.8
16. Paul George (OKC) 1.7
18. Trevor Ariza (HOU) 1.7
20. Robert Covington (PHI) 1.6

Blocks

Notable Players:
9. Serge Ibaka(TOR) 1.8
11. Ante Zizic (CLE) 1.7
18. Draymond Green (GS) 1.5
19. Deyonta Davis (MEM) 1.5

[cincy14fan]

Cavaliers Monthly Report

Player Stats

What the analysis are saying: Cleveland Cavs despite with 22 games left should of wrapped up winning their division, and yet here we go again going into another month where the King is sideline. They are a lot younger and athletic so maybe they can hold down the fort until the King is back, but now we will have to wait half a month to see if they can clinch it. Also they took over first seed in the East by a game-and-a-half, but now with LeBron if Boston can come out strong it be a tight finish to the end. If not the falter in the first two weeks of the month then the edge goes to Cavaliers.

What the NBA fans are saying: James is gone, but we still have Zizic and we missed him! Offense will still be spread out, but now instead of looking from shots outside to in, it will be inside to out. with the driving ability of Sumner and LaVine it should open a lot of easy looks for Zizic. Last time we were worried when he went out, this time we are excited to see how well the team does. If LaVine does well with James out it will be a big boost for his contract after the year.

What Coach Lue thinks: Still have Love who has been more consistent shooting and rebounding over the last month for us. Zizic hasn't be our focal point, but he still might now with the two additions to our starting team. If anything this will be good for our chemistry moving forward since these new guys know the pressure is on to step it up.

Thoughts/Concerns/Questions moving forward

1. Sumner a mirage or real deal: This month it seems the more important questions now is who will be on the team next year with some contracts that are up. Looking at the stats first hand it looks as if it would be a no brainer to re-sign Sumner. His stat line reads like this since joining the Cavs:

11.1 points, 3.7 rebounds (.7 off), 7.9 assists, .6 steals. .3 blocks, and 1.7 turnovers in just 24.5 minutes in 18 games for the Cavs. Shooting percentage is 53.3%/30.3%/78.6%.

So off first glace it seems like the trade was a steal for the Cavs and they have their starting point guard moving forward. Yet the reason why he scores so much is that he is 67/79 within 3 feet from the basket. Sure most of his shots have come off steals, offensive rebounds, or just a beat a guy off a screen or faking using the screen. He is shooting 30% from deep but has a terrible shot so most of the time no one really puts a hand up in his face. Mid-range is where its painful to watch him shoot. From outside three feet to the three-point line he is just 13/57 where he is basically cold except for one corner where he is 5/14. Take away his 2/3 of his shoots being dunks and he is a terrible shooter, who only excels at dishing the ball and driving. It's a wash on the defensive side either he lets people score at will at certain spots, but then shuts the door shut at the other half. While he might be a great value signing he is still very raw. If he works on his shot (and outside at that), and clean up his defensive awareness he will be a power in the future and a great steal for a low price if the Cavs can resign him for cheap.

2. LaVine for 25M?: Again I wish there was a stat for the current year that broke down between both teams (if there is one I don't know how or where to find it), but this is his stats between coming off the bench for the Bulls (yes that's right he was in the running as sixth man of the year when the Cavs traded for him) and being a starter on our team:

17.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, .7 steals, and 1.6 turnovers in 30.6 minutes

Well one thing is that LaVine can shoot basically anywhere on the floor. Currently only three spots he is cold at, and shockingly it is all between 3-10 feet away. Everywhere else is a positive side and his hot. He has a nice touch from outside, and on this team with Sumner or James driving there is a lot of kick outs for him to hit down open shots which shows he has all year. Problem is he basically allows his man to score at will anywhere on the court for how poor his defense is. He also wanted to test Free Agency when getting traded to the Cavs, and maybe it was a good thing cause his agent said that it will be close to max to get him to be with the team. Is his offensive power warrant enough for 25 million a year, and with him and Love out there the defense isn't the best defensive unit. Fans are split on re-signing him, but 100% said if we could get him between 10-15 million a year they should definitely re-sign LaVine.

3. Grant for 2.64M, yes please!: His stats have been dropping since coming from the trade with LaVine. Since the trade he dropped 3 points off his average and his minutes have taken a dive:

10 points, 3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.5 steals, 2.1 turnovers in 27.4 minutes.

Sure his minutes are going to drop since he is the backup. Lets just say at the end of the year his stats look like 7 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, .5 steals, and 1.5 turnovers in about 20 minutes. For a backup point guard, who does have the ability to shoot the three, the team has the option to pick him up for just 2.64 million. This would be a no brainer, but with a high draft pick (Brooklyn top 3, and now Bulls maybe a top 10) there could be options to find a starter or even someone cheaper for a couple of years in the draft. Still fans say it would be stupid to keep salaries low for not having him on the team for just one year with that low salary.

4. Shumpert or Smith: Logically one of these players will need to go, or that Smith will have to restructure his deal to help cap space. Which we all know that Smith won't do. At least Shumpert restructured his deal to keep it minimal for the next three years basically, but this was before the trade that saw him as a valuable bench player to now odd man out since J.R. Smith is coming off the bench. That is only cause he is making 13.76M and next year will be at 14.72M. Smith has been very streaky but since coming off the bench he has been red hot from deep going 10/14 in the last 8 games. Shumpert is 5 years younger too and with his contract might be the better option, but can you really get rid of a red hot shooter from deep, even if he is streaky, in Smith when it comes down to clutch. Or better yet, the playoffs?

5. Gabriel Thomas for the win: Sure the Cavs don't have the best overall record in the NBA, but could Thomas be in the running for best assistant GM who helped the Cavs get younger, more athletic, explosive, and generally just exciting to watch. If the product on the floor wasn't exciting enough lets talk about the trades. Sumner and Zizic have been more than expected. Especially Zizic who could win rookie of the year. Then you have 3 total draft picks, with two coming in trades this year which both are easily lottery picks and one could be the number one pick overall. This has set up James decision of leaving that much harder, and speaking of James...

6. Should the King stay or go?: Before the LaVine and Sumner trade this would be an easily "King needs to stay" for the fans as if he left this team would be in shambles. Now if he leaves it doesn't look to be that huge of a blow. Zizic seems to be a real star in the making, and cheap too for the next 3 years. Say the Cavs re-sign all there players (Sumner, Lavine, and James) sure they will not have any salary cap relief but it will be a very good team. Although if that is the case someone else will need to go to free up some cap space relief. Another year together for this group with improvement on some players (Sumner overall, Love and LaVine defense) and people staying healthy and it could cause Golden State trouble. Yet, if LeBron leaves you have enough money to resign Sumner and Lavine (even his max deal). Trade away one player in mid salary (Korver, Crowder, or Smith) and they will be out of the tax repeater and still have their draft picks. Talking of the draft picks...

7. 1st, 7th, and 28th That is the first round picks at the first of the month. Sure still have 22 games left, but lets look into that crystal ball shall we. James leaves, and other mid level player is traded. That leaves a big hole at small forward. Don't worry the mock draft has the best player being a small forward. Sure he isn't going to be anywhere close to LeBron's level even as a rookie, but that will help and keep the salary low. At #7 the mock draft has the Cavs going big again with a power forward from Duke, and no its not Bagley that's at #6, but is Wendell Carter Jr. While this probably isn't realistic, unless Fyre gets cut, this might be a chance to pick up a shooter at the guard position. Just in cause they can't re-sign LaVine. Or decide that Sumner is too much of a project. At #28 is more of a throw away pick now another power forward from Oklahoma State in Bo Holland.

[cincy14fan]

March Preview

Key Games:

March 1 vs Philadelphia

76ers have been hot of late, and while this would be a very good test of them to see how they do against the best its going to be a little short sided with the King injured. Still for the Cavs it is a wonderful test to see how well they can do against a now slated playoff team in the East without having the King.

March 17 @ Bulls
Hopefully James will be back. Even if he isn't its the first match up since the trade so it will be exciting on how both teams play. Thomas has been the leading scoring in almost every game since playing for the Bulls but they only won once since the trade. So while he is making buckets it's saw their fight for 8th seed in the East drop to be a lottery team. Still LaVine will want to put on a show of what they could of have if they just resigned him earlier when he wanted and the trade would of never happened then.

March 21 vs. Raptors

It's not the best thing for the East to know this is the toughest game on the schedule for the Cavs for the month and it should easily be enough time for James to be healthy. If the Raptors want any chance to dethrone the Cavs in the playoffs this is the start. They need a great game, and most are saying perfect game if LeBron is healthy, and right now most people think it won't happen.

[cincy14fan]

Cavs score lowest total on season

Game 61 vs. 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers at Cleveland Cavaliers
Mar 1, 2018	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Philadelphia (30-29, 0-2)	20	18	12	19	69
Cleveland (41-19, 2-0)	27	11	23	20	81

People though it would be the inside game for the Cavs to get going and sure did they. Love seemed to find only open shots from outside, and while he and the rest of the team was a combined 2-6 from deep it would be Zizic to keep them into the game. The 76ers would pretty much stop everyone from shooting except for Zizic, who before getting subbed out had more points (14) than the 76ers had total (12) points as he went 6/7 from the field with 3 rebounds (2 offensively) in just the first quarter.

Second quarter the 76ers would make just one adjustment and it seemed to throw the home fans in an uproar. They would double every time Zizic would get the ball and would just rotate as long as the open shot wasn't in the corner. It would work wonders as the Cavs just shot 20% for the quarter (their lowest on the year) and was 0-6 from deep. 76ers weren't much better at 36% but it would be enough to claw themselves back into the game at half to tie it up.

One would think that one team would wake up and start scoring in the second half. It would be the Cavs doing the scoring in the third, but still wasn't very good as they shot 36% from the field. It did look impressive compared to just 25% for the 76ers who saw the game in grasp now fall to its biggest deficit in eleven points after the third.

In the end the game would be broken free from the Zizic and Zizic to Sumner/LaVine connection. If the double team took too long to get to Zizic he would dominate his man. When the double team did get there in time it would be just trying to find Sumner/LaVine for the easy jumper or the occasional drive to the basket. While the 76ers did shoot 37% for the quarter it would be the Cavs who would finally hit shots as they were 44% from the field.

Box Score:

76ers Box Score:

Cavaliers Box Score:

[cincy14fan]

Zizic still POTG despite worst shooting night

Game 62 vs. Nuggets

Denver Nuggets at Cleveland Cavaliers
Mar 3, 2018	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Denver (20-42, 0-0)	13	21	22	22	78
Cleveland (42-19, 0-0)	22	23	21	27	93

Sure the Nuggets only shot 22% in the first quarter which why they are down so much and only scored 13 points correct? Yes and no. The Cavs would only shoot a tad better (25%) but it came down to three-pointers and offensive rebounds. Cavs would win both of them in the quarter as they were the only ones to hit a shot from deep (5/13 to 0/6) and had more second chance points, 9 to 0, off of the offensive rebounding (8 rebounds to 4).

Both teams would shoot over 35% for the second quarter but again it would come down to second chance points and rebounds that would help push the lead even higher for the Cavs before half. It also didn't help that Jokic was in foul trouble early in the second which made him sit on the bench for 9 minutes in the second quarter. Love on the other side picked up his third foul but was in the final minute before half so the Cavs didn't have to miss him too much.

Cavs seemed like they would put this game away by going on 5-0 run and then later a 7-0 run. Problem was that between those runs the Nuggets would make two runs of there own to keep the game at double digits heading into the fourth. Love would have to sit after picking up an super early foul, and Nuggets found more success inside as they would score 14 points in the paint.

Zizic would come up huge in the fourth as they would start to make a run as he would stop any chance of the worst team in the Nuggets a chance to win as he would go on a 7-0 run himself, got Jokic his fourth and fifth foul, and came up with three huge blocks on the other end. Nuggets three big men all had double digit rebounds, but it was their offense that just couldn't seem to make any shots.

Box Score:

Nuggets Box Score:

Cavaliers Box Score:

[cincy14fan]

Cavs fans want free taco's

Game 63 vs. Pistons

Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers
Mar 5, 2018	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Detroit (34-29, 2-1)	24	30	15	15	84
Cleveland (43-19, 0-0)	21	24	27	27	99

Turnovers are finally the Cavs friend as that would be the sole purpose they are still in this game after one quarter. At one point the score was 14-4, since the Cavs are still in a shooting slump (37%), and would only claw away as they had two dunks to go along with two layups off of 6 turnovers for the Pistons as they only had 1 in the quarter. The Pistons were hot too shooting 55% and even are winning the rebounding battle right now, but the lack of focus on the ball has let the Cavs keep this a game.

Both teams would shoot over 50% in the second quarter, but the Pistons continue to build the lead. While the Cavaliers shot 10 less shots to the quarter was cause they went to the foul line 10 times (0 for the Pistons). Pistons would dominate every aspect this quarter as everything was in their favor except for fast break points (both with 0) and assists (tied at 4).

The Pistons would not only go cold shooting in the third, but seemed that they though the buzzer for halftime was the final buzzer. They seemed to still be in the locker room as the Cavs would win every category except for fast break points and points in the paint (which the Pistons were leading) as well as Defensive rebounds which was tied with each team having 13. With that the Pistons would lose the lead for the first time all game with 1:52 left in the quarter.

Fourth quarter just looked like the Pistons ran out of gas. They didn't have an answer to stop Zizic inside, and when the Cavs didn't feel like shooting easy buckets they would just kick it out for a wide open shot which now they decided to knock down as they shot 61% in the quarter to just 33% from the Pistons.

Box Score:

Pistons Box Score:

Cavaliers Box Score:

[cincy14fan]

Sumner triple-double not good enough for POTG

Game 64 @ Nuggets

Cleveland Cavaliers at Denver Nuggets
Mar 7, 2018	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Cleveland (44-19, 1-0)	21	21	28	24	94
Denver (21-43, 0-1)	21	25	23	17	86

The Cavs looked to see to break their shoot shooting as they were shooting 50% for the first seven minutes. Then they went on the cold streak and would end with the same shooting percentage as the Nuggets with 33%. Love and Plumlee both picked up two early fouls and it was good for the Cavs to see Plumlee out since he has 6 rebounds in just 6 minutes.

Cavs would shoot better than the Nuggets in the second quarter, but team ball and the ability to caused turnovers was what the Nuggets got to take the lead at half. Jokic does have two fouls in the first half, but Plumlee would pick up his fourth and that was when the tide would turn. With the Nuggets up as much as 14 in the second it would then turn into a two-man game of Zizic and Sumner who was just too quick against Mudiay to help make it single digits at half.

Third quarter it would be one-on-one between who would lead their team in scoring between Zizic and Will Barton. Barton would come out throwing two haymakers has he would hit two shots from deep to push their lead to double-digits. Halfway through the quarter the lead would balloon up to 18, but that's when the offensive rebounding and put backs from Zizic would swing the tide in favor for the Cavs. It also helped that Plumlee would pick up his fifth foul in the quarter, and a buzzer beater three-pointer for Love would give the Cavs their first lead.

The final quarter was a let down for the hometown fans as the Nuggets only shot 28% from the field while letting the Cavs shoot 45% which would be the deciding factor in the game. Even with Zizic sitting most of the quarter he won player of the game while most people though it would go to Sumner. Plumlee would be the only player with double figures in rebounds for the Nuggets while the Cavs would have three players.

Box Score:

Cavaliers Box Score:

Nuggets Box Score: