2024 Playoffs ECSF: Cavs (4) / Celtics (1) (1-4)

[JujitsuFlip]

What really sucks about Allen being injured is the bet you're making is Mobley on Tatum fundamentally alters the series and you can't put Mobley on Tatum without Allen.

I really want one healthy season with Mitchell/Garland to try to develop some synergy. I don't want one guy who the opposing team can key on in the last couple minutes. You better get a real wing back if you trade one of them.

This is our 3rd straight post season not being fully healthy. I don't think giving it 1 more season changes that. Obviously this has been the worse season and post season for injuries.

I think you for sure could get a legit wing for Garland, if Mitchell extends. An expiring Mitchell, I'm not so sure what his going rate will be.

The prospect of watching Ingram forcing contested midrange shots, as Allen and Mobley watch their attempts dwindle in the playoffs, does not excite me. He did not have a good series against OKC, and if the goal is to get you further along in the playoffs, that swap probably gets you farther removed from it.

After Ingram, I'm not sure what legit wing might be available. Bridges? You better hope Mobley develops into a second option, but Bridges sure isn't.

Obviously everything hinges on Mitchell wanting to extend anyway, but if he will, I'm running it back for one more season. Whether JB comes along for the ride, or you hire a coach who might be able to capture some synergy between Mitchell/Garland, is an open question.

Mitchell extension or not, i personally have no desire to run it back. This team isn't winning a championship, as constructed.

If Mitchell extends, trade Garland. If Mitchell does not extend, trade Mitchell.

If Mobley extends, trade Allen. If Mobley does not extend, trade Mobley.

This is all very easy, black and white for me. There is no false hope here for me. I've watched 3 post seasons, I'm good on the core 4 getting any more chances to come up short.

100% jb is gone the second this season is over, if it were me.

[JujitsuFlip]

Allen, Mitchell, and Levert questionable for game 5.

CPJ doubtful.

TJ out.

Wade still on a minutes restriction.

[jbk1234]

Allen, Mitchell, and Levert questionable for game 5.

CPJ doubtful.

TJ out.

Wade still on a minutes restriction.

Crazy as it may sound, I think Allen is the most important player on that list if we are to have any chance of winning.

[JujitsuFlip]

Allen, Mitchell, and Levert questionable for game 5.

CPJ doubtful.

TJ out.

Wade still on a minutes restriction.

Crazy as it may sound, I think Allen is the most important player on that list if we are to have any chance of winning.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2024/05/cavs-notes-officiating-mitchell-allen-levert-wade-lebron.html#google_vignette

Ik you're not a fan of hoops rumors but they cite other sources.

Those questionable tags do not sound realistic. Mitchell is scared of tearing his Achilles so I'm okay with him sitting out tomorrow. Allen i guess isn't close.

The other thing that caught my attention was Wade may require off-season surgery.

[jbk1234]

Allen, Mitchell, and Levert questionable for game 5.

CPJ doubtful.

TJ out.

Wade still on a minutes restriction.

Crazy as it may sound, I think Allen is the most important player on that list if we are to have any chance of winning.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2024/05/cavs-notes-officiating-mitchell-allen-levert-wade-lebron.html#google_vignette

Ik you're not a fan of hoops rumors but they cite other sources.

Those questionable tags do not sound realistic. Mitchell is scared of tearing his Achilles so I'm okay with him sitting out tomorrow. Allen i guess isn't close.

The other thing that caught my attention was Wade may require off-season surgery.

They stole the article Fedor wrote this afternoon.

[JujitsuFlip]

Crazy as it may sound, I think Allen is the most important player on that list if we are to have any chance of winning.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2024/05/cavs-notes-officiating-mitchell-allen-levert-wade-lebron.html#google_vignette

Ik you're not a fan of hoops rumors but they cite other sources.

Those questionable tags do not sound realistic. Mitchell is scared of tearing his Achilles so I'm okay with him sitting out tomorrow. Allen i guess isn't close.

The other thing that caught my attention was Wade may require off-season surgery.

They stole the article Fedor wrote this afternoon.

Regardless, not looking good for the Cavs, from a health perspective.

[jbk1234]

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2024/05/cavs-notes-officiating-mitchell-allen-levert-wade-lebron.html#google_vignette

Ik you're not a fan of hoops rumors but they cite other sources.

Those questionable tags do not sound realistic. Mitchell is scared of tearing his Achilles so I'm okay with him sitting out tomorrow. Allen i guess isn't close.

The other thing that caught my attention was Wade may require off-season surgery.

They stole the article Fedor wrote this afternoon.

Regardless, not looking good for the Cavs, from a health perspective.

I really think we had a shot at the upset if Allen was healthy.

[ijspeelman]

[JujitsuFlip]

They stole the article Fedor wrote this afternoon.

Regardless, not looking good for the Cavs, from a health perspective.

I really think we had a shot at the upset if Allen was healthy.

A fully healthy Cavs and the Celtics without KP, i think the Cavs have a punchers chance to win for sure.

[JonFromVA]

They stole the article Fedor wrote this afternoon.

Regardless, not looking good for the Cavs, from a health perspective.

I really think we had a shot at the upset if Allen was healthy.

I'm not going to say I predicted it, it was just a simple observation; but the injuries never start and end with just one player with this team. Having all players available seems to just increase the chances someone will suffer a new injury.

Mitchell and Garland were just starting to look like themselves for more than a quarter here or there, when Mitchell hurt his calf. IMO, he'd be smart to sit out game 5 and avoid further injury. He's fortunate playing on that knee that all he's dealing with is a calf strain.

LeVert has had issues all year and playing him extended minutes takes a toll ... of course that's what JBB felt he had to do in game 4 and now he may be gone for 5.

The Cavs could bring the same group back and wish for better health - it's not actually insane to do so; but change is pretty much inevitable. We'll just have to see what form it takes.

[jbk1234]

Regardless, not looking good for the Cavs, from a health perspective.

I really think we had a shot at the upset if Allen was healthy.

I'm not going to say I predicted it, it was just a simple observation; but the injuries never start and end with just one player with this team. Having all players available seems to just increase the chances someone will suffer a new injury.

Mitchell and Garland were just starting to look like themselves for more than a quarter here or there, when Mitchell hurt his calf. IMO, he'd be smart to sit out game 5 and avoid further injury. He's fortunate playing on that knee that all he's dealing with is a calf strain.

LeVert has had issues all year and playing him extended minutes takes a toll ... of course that's what JBB felt he had to do in game 4 and now he may be gone for 5.

The Cavs could bring the same group back and wish for better health - it's not actually insane to do so; but change is pretty much inevitable. We'll just have to see what form it takes.

To the extent that JBB messed up, it was with letting Mitchell decide for himself whether he needed rest. Even before the calf injury, you could see the diminishing returns on the defensive end, his rebounding effort, and shot selection when he played huge minutes straight in the second half.

The Allen injury can't be attributed to anyone other than the Wagner brothers.

LeVert didn’t play excessive minutes for his role IMO. He does play with a certain reckless abandon while driving to the rim that lends itself to injury. But really, you have a roster construction issue if losing Wade or LeVert causes your team to lose a playoff series. Niang was a miss and Okoro isn't able to give enough offensively to be more than a niche player in the postseason.

It's just really unfortunate that we weren't able to see what Allen and Mobley together could do against the Celtics. To the extent that the Cavs do make a franchise altering decision this summer, they'll do so without knowing whether that frontcourt was a net benefit when dealing with players like Tatum.

I also felt like the players were growing together as a team during this run and that they were learning from the adversity they were forced to overcome. To have that playoff maturation cut short by injuries is just unfortunate.

[ijspeelman]

Read on Twitter

[JonFromVA]

I really think we had a shot at the upset if Allen was healthy.

I'm not going to say I predicted it, it was just a simple observation; but the injuries never start and end with just one player with this team. Having all players available seems to just increase the chances someone will suffer a new injury.

Mitchell and Garland were just starting to look like themselves for more than a quarter here or there, when Mitchell hurt his calf. IMO, he'd be smart to sit out game 5 and avoid further injury. He's fortunate playing on that knee that all he's dealing with is a calf strain.

LeVert has had issues all year and playing him extended minutes takes a toll ... of course that's what JBB felt he had to do in game 4 and now he may be gone for 5.

The Cavs could bring the same group back and wish for better health - it's not actually insane to do so; but change is pretty much inevitable. We'll just have to see what form it takes.

To the extent that JBB messed up, it was with letting Mitchell decide for himself whether he needed rest. Even before the calf injury, you could see the diminishing returns on the defensive end, his rebounding effort, and shot selection when he played huge minutes straight in the second half.

The Allen injury can't be attributed to anyone other than the Wagner brothers.

LeVert didn’t play excessive minutes for his role IMO. He does play with a certain reckless abandon while driving to the rim that lends itself to injury. But really, you have a roster construction issue if losing Wade or LeVert causes your team to lose a playoff series. Niang was a miss and Okoro isn't able to give enough offensively to be more than a niche player in the postseason.

It's just really unfortunate that we weren't able to see what Allen and Mobley together could do against the Celtics. To the extent that the Cavs do make a franchise altering decision this summer, they'll do so without knowing whether that frontcourt was a net benefit when dealing with players like Tatum.

I also felt like the players were growing together as a team during this run and that they were learning from the adversity they were forced to overcome. To have that playoff maturation cut short by injuries is just unfortunate.

Team's only publicly release what they have to release when it comes to injuries and health.

Players, coaches, and GM's will push buttons they shouldn't push which sometimes leaves only agents and families to protect the player in question from himself.

We do know even if fully healthy the team has a number of problems that need to be addressed. So, for instance, while I do think Allen and Mobley can continue to play with each other, both of them still need to improve. And if they don't get any tougher/stronger it will put a cap on how far they can go.

Their length and mobility are great assets, but it's too easily negated by opponents who can push them around and are allowed to get away with it in the playoffs.

No doubt we wasted a great opportunity to take advantage of the Celtics without Porizingis, but we can't count on them getting to face off in the future against a front line of Horford, Kornet, and Tatum. Evan should have been dominating those matchups even without Allen, but instead he only flashed the ability.

Same thing with Garland and Mitchell, even if fully healthy they have their own challenges to get the most out of each other and not become an exploitable weakness on defense or the boards for opponents.

It would have been fun to see them at full health .vs. the Celtics, but if we beat the C's it would have been somehow inspite of those underlying problems.

[Iwasawitness]

It’s a shame what injuries did to this team. I consider it a success when you consider how much they went through. I’m excited for what next year has in store for us.

[toooskies]

It’s a shame what injuries did to this team. I consider it a success when you consider how much they went through. I’m excited for what next year has in store for us.

They may have derailed us, but this was never the year.

But those injuries have at least illuminated a bunch of different scenarios and combinations for future consideration. We got to see versions of what the team looked like both with just Mitchell + Allen (in the regular season) and now just Garland + Mobley. With bright sides to both team constructions in case we move on from a core four.

But we also have a bright side to running it back, figuring out what to work on and how to pattern our offense.

We learned Niang is useless in the playoffs, which I think Philly could have told us but now we know we need to replace him.

We learned Allen can get over bright lights, we learned Mobley has made progress, we learned Mitchell still has an amazing playoff ceiling.

My only major disappointment is that Garland just had a lost season.

[Iwasawitness]

It’s a shame what injuries did to this team. I consider it a success when you consider how much they went through. I’m excited for what next year has in store for us.

They may have derailed us, but this was never the year.

But those injuries have at least illuminated a bunch of different scenarios and combinations for future consideration. We got to see versions of what the team looked like both with just Mitchell + Allen (in the regular season) and now just Garland + Mobley. With bright sides to both team constructions in case we move on from a core four.

But we also have a bright side to running it back, figuring out what to work on and how to pattern our offense.

We learned Niang is useless in the playoffs, which I think Philly could have told us but now we know we need to replace him.

We learned Allen can get over bright lights, we learned Mobley has made progress, we learned Mitchell still has an amazing playoff ceiling.

My only major disappointment is that Garland just had a lost season.

It wasn't the year, but there was potential to be had. I consider it a success regardless, but it's still a shame how much injuries hurt us.

[JonFromVA]

It’s a shame what injuries did to this team. I consider it a success when you consider how much they went through. I’m excited for what next year has in store for us.

They may have derailed us, but this was never the year.

But those injuries have at least illuminated a bunch of different scenarios and combinations for future consideration. We got to see versions of what the team looked like both with just Mitchell + Allen (in the regular season) and now just Garland + Mobley. With bright sides to both team constructions in case we move on from a core four.

But we also have a bright side to running it back, figuring out what to work on and how to pattern our offense.

We learned Niang is useless in the playoffs, which I think Philly could have told us but now we know we need to replace him.

We learned Allen can get over bright lights, we learned Mobley has made progress, we learned Mitchell still has an amazing playoff ceiling.

My only major disappointment is that Garland just had a lost season.

It wasn't the year, but there was potential to be had. I consider it a success regardless, but it's still a shame how much injuries hurt us.

Mitchell has a 4 year run now of injury problems affecting him in the playoffs.

Is that something we should hope or count on ending? Or is it just the nature of quick twitch athletes who put so much stress on their joints in order to do the things they do?

The more minutes you ask them to give, the more physical you ask them to be, the more defense you ask them to play, the more scoring load you ask them to assume the more likely something is going to wear out or break.

As for Darius ... we drafted him even though he couldn't hold up for 5 games in College. So, like with Kyrie, it's an expected risk we took because of the player's upside.

[JujitsuFlip]

Allen and LeVert will join Mitchell and TJ as out for game 5. No news yet but I assume CPJ is out too.

Per Tim Bontemps

[ijspeelman]

[jbk1234]

That starting 5 isn't awful, but I dare not ask what the second unit looks like.