Is Cleveland more flawed this year?

[BudweiserCeltic]

Come back during the Playoffs and ask the question. I don't buy their possum job.

That said, they do have a glaring weakness that was missing from last seasons. They don't have size, and some teams can expose them. That said, they didn't use their size in last playoff run, Mozgov playing sparingly, so the point might be moot. But, the difference is that they don't have that type of option this time around when needed.

We'll see.

[Moranis]

Come back during the Playoffs and ask the question. I don't buy their possum job.

That said, they do have a glaring weakness that was missing from last seasons. They don't have size, and some teams can expose them. That said, they didn't use their size in last playoff run, Mozgov playing sparingly, so the point might be moot. But, the difference is that they don't have that type of option this time around when needed.

We'll see.

Size really only matters against two teams i.e. Toronto and San Antonio (and a team like Detroit in the first round who just lacks talent to really make use of the size advantage).  Every other team basically plays small and thus Cleveland's lack of size won't affect them (though they can't use size as advantage either). 

[Celtics4ever]

It took ref intervention for them to win last year though Green should have been suspended earlier.

Size really only matters against two teams i.e. Toronto and San Antonio (and a team like Detroit in the first round who just lacks talent to really make use of the size advantage).

I wonder if Ainge still believes that given our rebounding woes and size issues.  For other teams playing small is an option they can whip out.   We do not have the option to play big, we are small most all the time.   Sure, we can throw out Zeller and KO but those guys have issues that limit them playing big.   Zeller is not strong enough but can run, KO is softer than wet Kleenex most of the time, though he can man up every ten games or so.

[Ilikesports17]

simply put, yes.

They are on pace for the worst season by a Lebron James team since the 2007-2008 season.

[Moranis]

It took ref intervention for them to win last year though Green should have been suspended earlier.

Size really only matters against two teams i.e. Toronto and San Antonio (and a team like Detroit in the first round who just lacks talent to really make use of the size advantage).

I wonder if Ainge still believes that given our rebounding woes and size issues.  For other teams playing small is an option they can whip out.   We do not have the option to play big, we are small most all the time.   Sure, we can throw out Zeller and KO but those guys have issues that limit them playing big.   Zeller is not strong enough but can run, KO is softer than wet Kleenex most of the time, though he can man up every ten games or so.

I get Green was suspended for game 5 (which I think was well earned), but Game 5 is also the game that Bogut got hurt and didn't play again in the series.  Bogut, while not playing a lot of minutes, was a pretty integral part of what the Warriors did and once he was out it altered that series a great deal.  Pachulia is no where near Bogut in that regard.  As such, I don't see size being an issue for the Cavs against the Warriors, they have plenty of other problems in that series assuming Durant is healthy.  For example, last year James could take Curry defensively and leave Barnes wide open, that just can't happen this year. 

The Cavs also potentially have Larry Sanders.  I wouldn't expect much of anything from him, but if he can even give them just 5-10 minutes of shot altering play, it could seriously alter a game (which could affect a series). 

[Ilikesports17]

It took ref intervention for them to win last year though Green should have been suspended earlier.

Size really only matters against two teams i.e. Toronto and San Antonio (and a team like Detroit in the first round who just lacks talent to really make use of the size advantage).

I wonder if Ainge still believes that given our rebounding woes and size issues.  For other teams playing small is an option they can whip out.   We do not have the option to play big, we are small most all the time.   Sure, we can throw out Zeller and KO but those guys have issues that limit them playing big.   Zeller is not strong enough but can run, KO is softer than wet Kleenex most of the time, though he can man up every ten games or so.

I get Green was suspended for game 5 (which I think was well earned), but Game 5 is also the game that Bogut got hurt and didn't play again in the series.  Bogut, while not playing a lot of minutes, was a pretty integral part of what the Warriors did and once he was out it altered that series a great deal.  Pachulia is no where near Bogut in that regard.  As such, I don't see size being an issue for the Cavs against the Warriors, they have plenty of other problems in that series assuming Durant is healthy.  For example, last year James could take Curry defensively and leave Barnes wide open, that just can't happen this year. 

The Cavs also potentially have Larry Sanders.  I wouldn't expect much of anything from him, but if he can even give them just 5-10 minutes of shot altering play, it could seriously alter a game (which could affect a series).

Id be absolutely shocked if Larry Sanders had a material impact on anyone outside the D-league this season.

[Moranis]

It took ref intervention for them to win last year though Green should have been suspended earlier.

Size really only matters against two teams i.e. Toronto and San Antonio (and a team like Detroit in the first round who just lacks talent to really make use of the size advantage).

I wonder if Ainge still believes that given our rebounding woes and size issues.  For other teams playing small is an option they can whip out.   We do not have the option to play big, we are small most all the time.   Sure, we can throw out Zeller and KO but those guys have issues that limit them playing big.   Zeller is not strong enough but can run, KO is softer than wet Kleenex most of the time, though he can man up every ten games or so.

I get Green was suspended for game 5 (which I think was well earned), but Game 5 is also the game that Bogut got hurt and didn't play again in the series.  Bogut, while not playing a lot of minutes, was a pretty integral part of what the Warriors did and once he was out it altered that series a great deal.  Pachulia is no where near Bogut in that regard.  As such, I don't see size being an issue for the Cavs against the Warriors, they have plenty of other problems in that series assuming Durant is healthy.  For example, last year James could take Curry defensively and leave Barnes wide open, that just can't happen this year. 

The Cavs also potentially have Larry Sanders.  I wouldn't expect much of anything from him, but if he can even give them just 5-10 minutes of shot altering play, it could seriously alter a game (which could affect a series).

Id be absolutely shocked if Larry Sanders had a material impact on anyone outside the D-league this season.

I don't think he will provide much of anything either, but I wouldn't but absolutely shocked either as it wasn't like he was 100 pounds overweight or anything.  He still has another handful of DL games to get into better basketball shape and they can probably give him some burn in the 1st round and see what happens before they have to really decide if he is worth one of the roster spots for round 2 and later.

[colincb]

I've  expected the Cavs to repeat all year and now I don't. Can't put my finger on it, but when I watch them, I don't automatically think they're going to win the close games.

[celticsclay]

It took ref intervention for them to win last year though Green should have been suspended earlier.

Size really only matters against two teams i.e. Toronto and San Antonio (and a team like Detroit in the first round who just lacks talent to really make use of the size advantage).

I wonder if Ainge still believes that given our rebounding woes and size issues.  For other teams playing small is an option they can whip out.   We do not have the option to play big, we are small most all the time.   Sure, we can throw out Zeller and KO but those guys have issues that limit them playing big.   Zeller is not strong enough but can run, KO is softer than wet Kleenex most of the time, though he can man up every ten games or so.

I get Green was suspended for game 5 (which I think was well earned), but Game 5 is also the game that Bogut got hurt and didn't play again in the series.  Bogut, while not playing a lot of minutes, was a pretty integral part of what the Warriors did and once he was out it altered that series a great deal.  Pachulia is no where near Bogut in that regard.  As such, I don't see size being an issue for the Cavs against the Warriors, they have plenty of other problems in that series assuming Durant is healthy.  For example, last year James could take Curry defensively and leave Barnes wide open, that just can't happen this year. 

The Cavs also potentially have Larry Sanders.  I wouldn't expect much of anything from him, but if he can even give them just 5-10 minutes of shot altering play, it could seriously alter a game (which could affect a series).

Id be absolutely shocked if Larry Sanders had a material impact on anyone outside the D-league this season.

I don't think he will provide much of anything either, but I wouldn't but absolutely shocked either as it wasn't like he was 100 pounds overweight or anything.  He still has another handful of DL games to get into better basketball shape and they can probably give him some burn in the 1st round and see what happens before they have to really decide if he is worth one of the roster spots for round 2 and later.

If are hoping to get Larry Sanders "altering a game"  7-8 weeks after coming back into the league for the first time in 2+ years it is hard to imagine your season ending in a championship.

The Cavs really really wanted to win last night. Lebron played 39 minutes. Kyrie played 38 minutes. Thompson played 36 and Jr Smith played 38. They tried their hardest and couldn't even make the game close against a really mediocre Bulls team. At this point acting like everything is fine and they have some magical switch is becoming a bit comical.

They could play a lot better in the playoffs and come out of the east obviously, but they have to figure out some achievements in the final 8 games of the season badly.

[Donoghus]

I keep thinking that they're going to pull a "2010 Celtics redux" but they have not looked good lately at all.

[saltlover]

Yeah, the Cavs are just a different kind of underperforming this year.  A LeBron team lost 10 games in a month for only the second time in his career -- the first was literally his first full month in the NBA, November 2003.  We say that we've seen LeBron teams do this before, but it's never been to this degree.

http://www.sbnation.com/2017/3/31/15132170/lebron-james-10-losses-march-bad-month-13-years-2nd-time

[celticsclay]

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-cavs-might-actually-be-in-trouble/?ex_cid=538twitter

[Celtics4ever]

The Cavs also potentially have Larry Sanders.

Which shows how desperate and in trouble they are really.