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Cleveland Cavs (2016 NBA Champions)

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NFBuck said:
117 points scored, with nobody going for over 17. All five starters and two from the bench scored in double figures. Nice team effort, to include 32 assists, to overcome a terrible first 10 minutes and win by 25.
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i've never seen a team look so terrible and so dominant in such a short period of time. that's been a pattern with them as of late, which better not remain come playoff time.
 
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I think Love takes a lot of flack, but what he brings is important for the Cavs to be at their best. When Thompson and Mozzy play together they pack the lane and make it that much harder for Lebron and Kyrie to get to the hoop. Regardless of how he is shooting Love must be accounted for and pulls one of the bigs away from the lane. He might not like being a stretch 4, but he is most valuable to the Cavs playing outside the 3 pt line at least when he is out there with Lebron and Kyrie. They could do a better job of staggering minutes so Love is always in the game when Lebron sits and vice versa. When Love sits I would like to see Lebron play the 4 and when Lebron sits Love can spend more time in the post.

The problem for Love is he isn't big enough or a good enough defender to play the 5 in a small lineup, which is usually why they go with Thompson when they go small. Love and Mozzy make a good pair because Mozzy helps cover some of Love's defensive issues. If they could find a way to play defense with a lineup of Kyrie, Smith, Shump, Lebron, and Love they would be unstoppable on offense.
 
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Speaking of Love...

http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/2...rooklyn-nets-behind-box-score-timofey-mozgov/

+11 – The Cavaliers’ rebounding advantage. This is particularly noteworthy because the Cavs had an average rebounding differential of minus-11.5 the past two games, both of which, if you’ll recall, one Kevin Wesley Love sat out. Love hauled in 11 rebounds against Brooklyn, and seven other Cavs had at least 3. Love’s defense and shooting and back and facial expressions and everything else get much of the attention, but let us not forget that this guy has averaged nearly 12 rebounds per game in his career, and that he’s still averaging double digits this season.
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Cavs only played the 2nd half today and went from 9 down to a +15 with 3 minutes left. Pretty sure Irving and Love sat the whole 4th with the lineup of Delly, Smith, Shump, Lebron, and TT killing it on D in the 4th. I get the feeling the playoff rotation will vary widely depending who the Cavs are playing and how they matchup.
 
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ethan said:
With Love being such a liability defensively, I just hope we can play him in the fourth...He is literally the most unathletic max player in the league.
http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2013/08/maximum-salary-players.html
Best thing he has going for him is that he can knock down 3's.
We could find someone else to rebound, but they wouldn't be able to shoot from behind the arc.
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Cleveland's defensive efficiency ratings and rebounding numbers are higher with love than without.
 
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I don't think it's Love as much as the matchups. Sometimes he doesn't matchup well or the Cavs are better off going small with Lebron playing the 4 to close a game. I don't think they ever go with Mozzy and TT in the 4th with Love on the bench. It's always TT and Lebron at the 4 and 5. Every time Love misses a game you can see how much he means to the team. They might be underutilizing him in the post, but his shooting opens up the lane for Lebron and Kyrie to get an easier path to the basket. To Love's credit he says the right things and is giving effort.

I think the Cavs offense is going to be a work in progress for another year until they all learn to play together. They are already amazing when clicking, but I would look for them to be on fire more often by this time next year. For better or worse Blatt doesn't seem to care about egos so anyone other than Lebron could find himself on the bench at an unexpected time if that's what the matchups dictate. i.e. Sunday when Kyrie was on the bench the whole 4th because the lineup with Delly was on fire. Delly didn't really do anything of offense, but when you are rolling you don't want to mess with it until it stops.

Love just needs accept that his best roll with the Cavs is to be a shooter and give as much effort as he can on D. When Lebron is on the bench they can get him more looks in the post.
 
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Fortunately Love is 6'9" which helps mask his closeout speed.
I don't think there is another PF in the league who is as good at knocking down long range shots as Love, other than Bosh.
I think that is what really makes him irreplaceable for this team.

Also...
MVP = Lebron. Otherwise it belongs to Westbrook.
Harden is a fake superstar, he gets half his points from the foul line...lame.
Curry is a sharpshooter with a good handle, I would take Lebron over Curry any day of the week.
 
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ethan said:
Fortunately Love is 6'9" which helps mask his closeout speed.
I don't think there is another PF in the league who is as good at knocking down long range shots as Love, other than Bosh.
I think that is what really makes him irreplaceable for this team.

Also...
MVP = Lebron. Otherwise it belongs to Westbrook.
Harden is a fake superstar, he gets half his points from the foul line...lame.
Curry is a sharpshooter with a good handle, I would take Lebron over Curry any day of the week.
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Lebron is to the NBA what Urban Meyer is to B1G coaches. He is better than the rest of them, but a lot of times the award goes to the guy that seems to do more with less. Lebron hasn't looked as good this year as he has the past few so people take that as he doesn't deserve the MVP even if he is still the best player. Every time they poll NBA coaches and GM's about who they would want to start a franchise around Lebron gets like 90% of the vote. There's your MVP.

There won't be any going small tonight against the Griz so hopefully Love and Mozzy are in for good games. I'm guessing this is one of the games that Lebron will really want to win.
 
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