Ok I like the moves the Cavs made if you just want to see a team make moves. Impact moves for the playoffs, I don't see it. Hood may be the best but none of these guys moves the needle. This makes the Cavs better prepared for when Bron leaves, not to win the East this year.
I think if we can get Joe Johnson or Bellineli we are still a formidable, but everyone will always see the Cavs as having the best team no matter who they sign.
They are absolutely better prepared to win the East this year. Hill and Hood is a much better starting backcourt than injured IT and Smith, and they still have Smith now on the bench along with Clarkson. That is a significantly improved 4 man backcourt rotation. Nance provides defense and toughness that they weren't getting from Frye and better allows them to withstand the Love absence. When Love is back is the clear #2, which is when he is at his best on that team. None of the players acquired need the ball in their hand to be successful, so the offense can now run through James, which is also when the Cavs are at their best. Additionally, Hill and Hood are among the best transition players in the entire league and the Cavs love to run (I think they have the 3rd most transition attempts this year, but aren't all that successful because of who was on the team). The Cavs transition offense might even be better than it was when Irving was on the team given just how good Hill, Hood, and Nance are at running. Couple that with Hill leading the league in 3 point shooting and the Cavs now have 2 of the best 3 point shooters in the world (Hill and Korver who is 12th this year but 7th all time), which is a perfect compliment to James' drive and dish style of play.
The Cavs are much better situated to win the East this year then they were before the trades. It isn't close. I think you could even make a reasonable argument that the current team (if Love is healthy and they gel, and those are both VERY BIG IF'S) would have a better chance to beat the Warriors then the team that played them last year. They are younger, more athletic, better defensively, are better shooters, and a better fit around James then the one that played the Warriors in the Finals last year.
Great analysis. They got role players from lottery teams. Better shooting but this isn't 28 yr old Bron, this is 33 yr old Bron. I want to see who will play defense NOT in the regular season but in the playoffs. They forfeited experience for young legs.
George Hill has played in 83 playoff games. For comparison, Love has played in 42. Hill's 83 games is ahead of all but James, Smith, and Korver on the team and the only player they traded yesterday that had more was Wade (and Hill more than doubles every other player traded away). Now obviously Hood has only played in 11 playoff games (and wasn't a starter) and Clarkson and Nance haven't played in any, but they actually got a highly experienced veteran to play PG for them.
Moranis, I know one of your big talking points the last month was that you were confident IT was going to return to being an elite scorer and near all-star player, but he just wasn't healed yet. That was one of your keys to the Cavs finding success. Now that he is gone, do you feel less optimistic about them reaching that higher level?
I think, if they can gel this team has far more overall potential then the one from yesterday, even if IT would have healed. They had more problems then just IT and this trade shored up most of them. And while Hill isn't as good as a healthy IT overall, I think he is a much better fit for the Cavs than IT was. Hill is still a plus defender (not elite, but good), is a better 3 point shooter than IT, plays much better off the ball than IT, and is a better transition player than IT. IT is obviously far greater at creating baskets, especially out of nothing, than Hill is, but the Cavs don't need that and they could have easily reverted back into the your turn/my turn style of offense they played long stretches of the last 3 seasons with James and Irving. During those stretches they often ignored Love, who is a terrible matchup for most teams to guard and is a huge advantage for the Cavs.
As I said in another thread, if Love heals up and they all gel, I think this could be the best Cavs team since James 1st year back (the year Love and Irving missed the Finals), and they might even be able to eclipse that team and be the best Cavs team ever (even if they don't win the title that might still be true, as this years Warriors team is a lot better than the Warriors team the Cavs beat in the Finals to win the title).
Topic: Tremendous outcome for us tonight (Read 5456 times)