Game 1: Cavs @ Nets 10/25/2023

[ijspeelman]

Starting this thread early as I may miss the beginning of the game.

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[jbk1234]

Wish Allen was available, but the prudent move is to wait.

[jbk1234]

Jones being borderline unplayable is a problem.

[Iwasawitness]

Jones has been hot garbage. Even Lopez wasn't this bad and at least provided some kind of value, whatever little it was. But if this is what Jones is giving you... you're in a lot of trouble.

[ijspeelman]

Its weird to say that the offense has been carrying us so far, but here we are. Missing Allen today.

Its not that we've given up too many wide open shots, but the shots haven't been as contested as they could be.

I have not liked what I've seen from Jones at all.

Side note: Austin Carr saying that the Nets are offense first and lacking on defense is a take

[jbk1234]

Jones has been hot garbage. Even Lopez wasn't this bad and at least provided some kind of value, whatever little it was. But if this is what Jones is giving you... you're in a lot of trouble.

I'm wondering if the Cavs should consider cutting him, TT, and Merrill in order to sign someone else.

[Iwasawitness]

Jones has been hot garbage. Even Lopez wasn't this bad and at least provided some kind of value, whatever little it was. But if this is what Jones is giving you... you're in a lot of trouble.

I'm wondering if the Cavs should consider cutting him, TT, and Merrill in order to sign someone else.

But who is there to sign? I just don't know who they can get that will be a decent backup center at this point.

I would strongly consider looking to make trades for a true backup big if I'm Cleveland.

[Iwasawitness]

I know we just got done **** talking Damion Jones, but he's actually been much better in the second half. He's playing good defense, picking his spots on offense and even made a really nice pass to a cutting Strus to the basket. This is a complete 180 for him.

[Iwasawitness]

Well, that ended in the way I expected, but did not go how I expected. Cleveland really needs Allen back and they need to find a real backup big. And Cam Thomas hit a lot of crazy shots in this one. Oh well.

Edit: Apparently the game's not over yet. Silly me.

[Iwasawitness]

BROOOOOOO

Edit: Wow. We actually stole the win from Brooklyn. I'll gladly eat crow on that one.

[ijspeelman]

Well, that ended in the way I expected, but did not go how I expected. Cleveland really needs Allen back and they need to find a real backup big. And Cam Thomas hit a lot of crazy shots in this one. Oh well.

Edit: Apparently the game's not over yet. Silly me.

With the Cavs, its never over in either direction lol

[jbk1234]

Struss is a baller. Okoro is playing with a chip on his shoulder. The refs tried to give this one to the Nets and we still took it.

[jasonxxx102]

Wow what a game. Gritted out a huge W and just overall hard game.

First road opener win since 2000.

Okoro looked amazing, Strus was on fire, Donovan showed up when it mattered after being terrible all game…

The only gripe was Mobley, he was totally invisible. If this is gonna be his level of involvement offensively I’m going to be really disappointed

[ijspeelman]

There were many things I liked and disliked with what I saw today (makes sense since we won by one).

I've like the addition of some of the sets they've created to incorporate more movement by our shooters. I may be incorrect, but idk if Niang got in on any of this besides the long-range transition shots he attempted. They let Mobley and Damian Jones playmake a bit from the high post and Strus fit right in as a cutter, screener, and shooter.

Strus shot lights out and got a lot of shots that I hope to see him keep shooting. He hit twoish crazy movement threes, but otherwise it was smoother shots (some off movement). I do think there were a few moments they went for a set play for him to shoot a crazy three that probably could have been a better play, but I like seeing different things from JB.

Bench was downright putrid lol. Jerome only played 5 minutes and I do not remember any egregious errors by him. Niang didn't get any great looks, but he was a matador on defense. Jones makes me want Isaiah Mobley to get some minutes . LeVert did his dirty work that doesn't show up in the stat sheet, but I think LeVert has forgotten how to shoot middies. Last year he wasn't great, but previously he was respectable. I think he airballed 2 or 3 middies lol.

Mobley showed some flashes of aggressive Giannis-y type plays. He's still elite on defense. We did miss having a help guy or more elite drop big man.

Mitchell's game was odd all night and it remained odd at the end of the night where he misses a lay-up then steals a hand-off then plays physical D resulting in a foul and then finishing it off with ultimately the game winner. Still feel like he goes against the flow of what we are building up with this offense. This can be emphasized by the first play of the game where he goes up the floor and immediately bricks a three lol.

Garland was off tonight with his three and some odd turnovers. I can see him being more aggressive, but it felt like it meant him being looser with his handle. Still had some great passes including his dropdown to Jones.

Okoro remains Okoro. His "dawg mentality" is always a joy to watch until it results in untimely fouls. I cannot fault him at all for Cam Thomas going off. He was hitting tough shot after tough shot on everyone.

Overall, I like the recipe and want to see Allen (and Wade in it). May need to invest in our young big man or start reaching out to teams.

[jbk1234]

There were many things I liked and disliked with what I saw today (makes sense since we won by one).

I've like the addition of some of the sets they've created to incorporate more movement by our shooters. I may be incorrect, but idk if Niang got in on any of this besides the long-range transition shots he attempted. They let Mobley and Damian Jones playmake a bit from the high post and Strus fit right in as a cutter, screener, and shooter.

Strus shot lights out and got a lot of shots that I hope to see him keep shooting. He hit twoish crazy movement threes, but otherwise it was smoother shots (some off movement). I do think there were a few moments they went for a set play for him to shoot a crazy three that probably could have been a better play, but I like seeing different things from JB.

Bench was downright putrid lol. Jerome only played 5 minutes and I do not remember any egregious errors by him. Niang didn't get any great looks, but he was a matador on defense. Jones makes me want Isaiah Mobley to get some minutes . LeVert did his dirty work that doesn't show up in the stat sheet, but I think LeVert has forgotten how to shoot middies. Last year he wasn't great, but previously he was respectable. I think he airballed 2 or 3 middies lol.

Mobley showed some flashes of aggressive Giannis-y type plays. He's still elite on defense. We did miss having a help guy or more elite drop big man.

Mitchell's game was odd all night and it remained odd at the end of the night where he misses a lay-up then steals a hand-off then plays physical D resulting in a foul and then finishing it off with ultimately the game winner. Still feel like he goes against the flow of what we are building up with this offense. This can be emphasized by the first play of the game where he goes up the floor and immediately bricks a three lol.

Garland was off tonight with his three and some odd turnovers. I can see him being more aggressive, but it felt like it meant him being looser with his handle. Still had some great passes including his dropdown to Jones.

Okoro remains Okoro. His "dawg mentality" is always a joy to watch until it results in untimely fouls. I cannot fault him at all for Cam Thomas going off. He was hitting tough shot after tough shot on everyone.

Overall, I like the recipe and want to see Allen (and Wade in it). May need to invest in our young big man or start reaching out to teams.

I would add to this that at some point they need to reach out to Rubio's agent, figure out what the prognosis is, and decide what direction they want to go in. Garland played 32 minutes on a bum hamstring and Strus played 39 minutes in Game 1. At some point, we have to actually develop a bench. The thing with staggering Allen/Mobley and Garland/Mitchell is that they're not playing that many minutes together. Particularly with Garland and Mitchell, it matters.They don't step on one another, but there really isn't the hoped for synergy. The clock is running.

[toooskies]

There were many things I liked and disliked with what I saw today (makes sense since we won by one).

I've like the addition of some of the sets they've created to incorporate more movement by our shooters. I may be incorrect, but idk if Niang got in on any of this besides the long-range transition shots he attempted. They let Mobley and Damian Jones playmake a bit from the high post and Strus fit right in as a cutter, screener, and shooter.

Strus shot lights out and got a lot of shots that I hope to see him keep shooting. He hit twoish crazy movement threes, but otherwise it was smoother shots (some off movement). I do think there were a few moments they went for a set play for him to shoot a crazy three that probably could have been a better play, but I like seeing different things from JB.

Bench was downright putrid lol. Jerome only played 5 minutes and I do not remember any egregious errors by him. Niang didn't get any great looks, but he was a matador on defense. Jones makes me want Isaiah Mobley to get some minutes . LeVert did his dirty work that doesn't show up in the stat sheet, but I think LeVert has forgotten how to shoot middies. Last year he wasn't great, but previously he was respectable. I think he airballed 2 or 3 middies lol.

Mobley showed some flashes of aggressive Giannis-y type plays. He's still elite on defense. We did miss having a help guy or more elite drop big man.

Mitchell's game was odd all night and it remained odd at the end of the night where he misses a lay-up then steals a hand-off then plays physical D resulting in a foul and then finishing it off with ultimately the game winner. Still feel like he goes against the flow of what we are building up with this offense. This can be emphasized by the first play of the game where he goes up the floor and immediately bricks a three lol.

Garland was off tonight with his three and some odd turnovers. I can see him being more aggressive, but it felt like it meant him being looser with his handle. Still had some great passes including his dropdown to Jones.

Okoro remains Okoro. His "dawg mentality" is always a joy to watch until it results in untimely fouls. I cannot fault him at all for Cam Thomas going off. He was hitting tough shot after tough shot on everyone.

Overall, I like the recipe and want to see Allen (and Wade in it). May need to invest in our young big man or start reaching out to teams.

Okoro put up 18, 6, 4, 2, 1. This was an Okoro that was insulted by his contract offer.

Most of his fouls wouldn't have been called in the playoffs.

[jbk1234]

There were many things I liked and disliked with what I saw today (makes sense since we won by one).

I've like the addition of some of the sets they've created to incorporate more movement by our shooters. I may be incorrect, but idk if Niang got in on any of this besides the long-range transition shots he attempted. They let Mobley and Damian Jones playmake a bit from the high post and Strus fit right in as a cutter, screener, and shooter.

Strus shot lights out and got a lot of shots that I hope to see him keep shooting. He hit twoish crazy movement threes, but otherwise it was smoother shots (some off movement). I do think there were a few moments they went for a set play for him to shoot a crazy three that probably could have been a better play, but I like seeing different things from JB.

Bench was downright putrid lol. Jerome only played 5 minutes and I do not remember any egregious errors by him. Niang didn't get any great looks, but he was a matador on defense. Jones makes me want Isaiah Mobley to get some minutes . LeVert did his dirty work that doesn't show up in the stat sheet, but I think LeVert has forgotten how to shoot middies. Last year he wasn't great, but previously he was respectable. I think he airballed 2 or 3 middies lol.

Mobley showed some flashes of aggressive Giannis-y type plays. He's still elite on defense. We did miss having a help guy or more elite drop big man.

Mitchell's game was odd all night and it remained odd at the end of the night where he misses a lay-up then steals a hand-off then plays physical D resulting in a foul and then finishing it off with ultimately the game winner. Still feel like he goes against the flow of what we are building up with this offense. This can be emphasized by the first play of the game where he goes up the floor and immediately bricks a three lol.

Garland was off tonight with his three and some odd turnovers. I can see him being more aggressive, but it felt like it meant him being looser with his handle. Still had some great passes including his dropdown to Jones.

Okoro remains Okoro. His "dawg mentality" is always a joy to watch until it results in untimely fouls. I cannot fault him at all for Cam Thomas going off. He was hitting tough shot after tough shot on everyone.

Overall, I like the recipe and want to see Allen (and Wade in it). May need to invest in our young big man or start reaching out to teams.

Okoro put up 18, 6, 4, 2, 1. This was an Okoro that was insulted by his contract offer.

Most of his fouls wouldn't have been called in the playoffs.

Was there an offer? Thybulle got $11M per as a RFA. That's Okoro's Q.O.

[toooskies]

There were many things I liked and disliked with what I saw today (makes sense since we won by one).

I've like the addition of some of the sets they've created to incorporate more movement by our shooters. I may be incorrect, but idk if Niang got in on any of this besides the long-range transition shots he attempted. They let Mobley and Damian Jones playmake a bit from the high post and Strus fit right in as a cutter, screener, and shooter.

Strus shot lights out and got a lot of shots that I hope to see him keep shooting. He hit twoish crazy movement threes, but otherwise it was smoother shots (some off movement). I do think there were a few moments they went for a set play for him to shoot a crazy three that probably could have been a better play, but I like seeing different things from JB.

Bench was downright putrid lol. Jerome only played 5 minutes and I do not remember any egregious errors by him. Niang didn't get any great looks, but he was a matador on defense. Jones makes me want Isaiah Mobley to get some minutes . LeVert did his dirty work that doesn't show up in the stat sheet, but I think LeVert has forgotten how to shoot middies. Last year he wasn't great, but previously he was respectable. I think he airballed 2 or 3 middies lol.

Mobley showed some flashes of aggressive Giannis-y type plays. He's still elite on defense. We did miss having a help guy or more elite drop big man.

Mitchell's game was odd all night and it remained odd at the end of the night where he misses a lay-up then steals a hand-off then plays physical D resulting in a foul and then finishing it off with ultimately the game winner. Still feel like he goes against the flow of what we are building up with this offense. This can be emphasized by the first play of the game where he goes up the floor and immediately bricks a three lol.

Garland was off tonight with his three and some odd turnovers. I can see him being more aggressive, but it felt like it meant him being looser with his handle. Still had some great passes including his dropdown to Jones.

Okoro remains Okoro. His "dawg mentality" is always a joy to watch until it results in untimely fouls. I cannot fault him at all for Cam Thomas going off. He was hitting tough shot after tough shot on everyone.

Overall, I like the recipe and want to see Allen (and Wade in it). May need to invest in our young big man or start reaching out to teams.

Okoro put up 18, 6, 4, 2, 1. This was an Okoro that was insulted by his contract offer.

Most of his fouls wouldn't have been called in the playoffs.

Was there an offer? Thybulle got $11M per as a RFA. That's Okoro's Q.O.

I dunno, but we know he didn't get one he wanted to sign.

[jbk1234]

Okoro put up 18, 6, 4, 2, 1. This was an Okoro that was insulted by his contract offer.

Most of his fouls wouldn't have been called in the playoffs.

Was there an offer? Thybulle got $11M per as a RFA. That's Okoro's Q.O.

I dunno, but we know he didn't get one he wanted to sign.

I'm still rooting for him, and he'll get minutes whenever only one of Allen or Mobley is on the floor, but consistency has been an issue for him the last two seasons. He's had multiple turning the corner moments but he hasn't managed to make the turn. I think he's valuable even if he never gets there offensively, but it's hard to see him getting his starting job back from Strus when Allen returns. I'd love to be wrong though.

I don't know if anyone has the gravitas to pull it off, but someone really shoukd talk to Mitchell about his defense. Watching how well he defended in the final two minutes kind of pissed me off. This team will go a lot further if he expends even 2/3 of that energy on defense regularly, even if he has to dial it back offensively a bit.

[ijspeelman]

Was there an offer? Thybulle got $11M per as a RFA. That's Okoro's Q.O.

I dunno, but we know he didn't get one he wanted to sign.

I'm still rooting for him, and he'll get minutes whenever only one of Allen or Mobley is on the floor, but consistency has been an issue for him the last two seasons. He's had multiple turning the corner moments but he hasn't managed to make the turn. I think he's valuable even if he never gets there offensively, but it's hard to see him getting his starting job back from Strus when Allen returns. I'd love to be wrong though.

I don't know if anyone has the gravitas to pull it off, but someone really shoukd talk to Mitchell about his defense. Watching how well he defended in the final two minutes kind of pissed me off. This team will go a lot further if he expends even 2/3 of that energy on defense regularly, even if he has to dial it back offensively a bit.

I don’t hate his defense on a regular basis honestly. He has his moments, but typically doesn’t get best easily. It does help he usually has Mobley and Allen backing him up.

My biggest gripe with him has been off-ball movement and staying a little bit more in the flow of the offense.