Cleveland Sports Forum

Don't think that will ever happen for many reasons. Biggest being that Love plans on playing in LA after 2015 season.

The top pick in the 2013 NBA Draft is shooting a pathetic 26.9 percent from the field this season, has an average of 6.9 fouls per 48 minutes and has some major deficiencies on defense.

But other than that . . .

you must be bored......

Cavs beat Denver tonight to go to 3 and 2 on their 5 game road trip.

Looking more and more like the Kings loss might have been more about getting out of Sacramento and on to LA.

Watched that game last night, and the chemistry on the team is so much better with Deng. Andy is dishing
(7 assists) and already has chemistry with Deng. Irving too. Announcers commented how those three are quickly learning to play "free lance" with each other.

I agree on the Sacramento game. By the way, also watched them lose by 1 point IN Memphis last night. With Gasol at full strength. That team is .500 since the Rudy Gay trade, and they are not chopped liver. Doing that in the West is good stuff.

In the Portland loss the Cavs were tied with under 3 minutes to go. The Cavs did not score again. Portland scored the last 12 points.

UNLV coach Dave Rice urges Cleveland Cavaliers fans to be patient with Anthony Bennett

Mary Schmitt Boyer, The Plain Dealer By Mary Schmitt Boyer, The Plain Dealer
Follow on Twitter
on January 18, 2014 at 3:00 PM, updated January 18, 2014 at 3:06 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- UNLV men's basketball coach Dave Rice was about to board a plane for Saturday's game at San Diego State when he took a few minutes to talk about Cavaliers rookie Anthony Bennett.

"I'll always talk about Anthony Bennett," Rice said. "He's special.''

Cavs fans may not believe that yet, as the No. 1 draft choice has struggled in his rookie season. He is averaging just 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in just over 10 minutes a game, and he didn't play at all in the final three games of the recent five-game Western Conference trip.

Rice knows that. He tries to watch as many Cavs games as he can, and he has been talking and texting Bennett, trying to encourage him.

Is Bennett discouraged?

"The biggest thing with AB is, he's such a good guy that he's a pleaser,'' Rice said. "He wants to please coach [Mike] Brown and he wants to please the Cavalier fans and he wants to play well.

"Obviously, he wants to play well for himself, but more than anything he wants to play well. I think he feels a certain amount of responsibility because he was the No. 1 pick in the draft, and Cleveland put their faith in him and he wants to pay that back. That's just the kind of quality young guy he is. I think he will work really, really hard in the offseason and have a breakout year next year.

"People will be very happy in Cleveland with how he plays next year."

That's not necessarily what fans want to hear, but Rice has seen how good Bennett can be.

In 35 games (32 starts), Bennett averaged 16.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 27.1 minutes at UNLV, was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, was first-team All-Mountain West, MWC all-tournament and one of 15 finalists on the ballot for the John R. Wooden National Player of the Year Award.

Scouts who saw him play last year -- Rice said no one scouted Bennett more than the Cavs -- raved about his scoring ability and how fierce he was around the basket, traits that have not been evident so far in his professional career.

"He was our leading scorer,'' Rice said. "He was a jump shooter, but we also posted him up a bunch, too. He scored for us in a variety of ways. Obviously, this is our level and the NBA is a different game at a different level. But he's a very, very capable shooter and when he gets into a rhythm he can really knock them down.

"We actually ball screened for him and had him put it on the floor. He's a multi-dimensional player. He's not playing with a whole lot of confidence right now. That's nobody's fault. That's just the nature of moving up a level.''

Rice thinks off-season shoulder surgery set Bennett back, but he also thinks he will make up for it this summer.

"The one thing is, Anthony Bennett is a terrific person,'' Rice said. "He's very deferential almost. I know even on our team he was our best player. He was a freshman, but he just wanted to fit in. He didn't want to step on the toes of the upperclassmen. There were times I actually had to encourage him to take over a game. He's very, very capable of doing that.

"But I think a lot of it is his character. He wants to fit in. I have no doubt that he's going to be a terrific NBA player. I know that he hasn't gotten off to a great start, but I have a lot of confidence in him just because of his character and his talent and his basketball IQ.''

Cavs executives say exactly the same thing as they face a bit of a dilemma since the arrival of Luol Deng. Whereas there had been opportunities for Bennett -- either at his natural power forward spot or at small forward -- before Deng arrived, those minutes have disappeared. Earl Clark, who celebrated his 26th birthday in Friday's 117-109 victory at Denver, is the backup power forward. When Deng comes out, Brown often turns to his three-guard lineup with one of those guards filling the small forward spot.

Rice wouldn't offer an opinion on whether some time with the NBA Development League team in Canton might help Bennett, but he said he knows Bennett would be open to the possibility. Bennett said the same thing last week in Los Angeles.

"Whatever Chris Grant and coach Brown decide is absolutely what AB would agree with,'' Rice said. "He's a wonderful teammate. He's a guy who desperately wants to win. He's got too much talent, too much character and too high a basketball IQ not too be successful.

"It's a huge transition for guys, especially when you think about his conditioning because of the shoulder injury. I think he will make huge strides from his first year to his second year. I expect him to have a breakout second year in the NBA.''

So what would Rice say to fretting fans?

The coach didn't hesitate.

""Everyone be a little bit patient,'' he said, "and he will be a terrific Cavalier.''

David (Cleveland)

Anthony Bennett is the clear cut best player in the draft if you watch him. Why are more people not talking about him as the #1 pick?


Chad Ford (1:49 PM)

I think you could be right. High upside + NBA ready. A couple of things ... at No. 1 he's not a terrific fit with Cleveland. But I could see him going No. 3 to Washington or No. 4 to Charlotte. They both like him A LOT.

How the Cavaliers have unlocked their potential with Luol Deng
By Matt Moore | NBA writer
January 19, 2014 11:11 am ET

Friday night, the Cavaliers improved to 3-2 after the addition of Luol Deng. Outside of an embarrassing 40-point loss to the Kings, the Cavaliers have looked the most like a playoff team they have all season. Mike Brown's move to add C.J. Miles to the starting unit earlier this season, when combined with the addition of Deng, has had terrific results.

The Cavaliers' biggest problem this season has been offense. They average 98.4 points per 100 possessions on the season, the sixth-worst mark in the league. But the lineup of Kyrie Irving, Miles, Deng, Tristan Thompson, and Anderson Varejao is averaging 118.2 points per possession, an incredible mark.

A lot of that has to do with the fact that for the first time, the team has spacing. Deng demands so much attention off-ball and is good in working in that capacity that it opens the floor. Add in C.J. Miles' ability to stretch the floor (41.2 percent from three-point range this season) and you have a combination that for the first time, actually makes use of the Cavs' strengths.

(Note: An added benefit has been Dion Waiters' move to the bench where he's able to dominate the ball and act as a creator without making the flow awkward with ball-dominant Kyrie Irving. Waiters is playing some of his best basketball in that role.)

I asked Miles what's working so well about that starting group.

"We compliment each other well," Miles said after a win over the Nuggets in Denver Frida. "The things that we do well, we help each other. My ability to space the floor for Kyrie, be more of a threat as a cutter and in the post. It helps him to be able to make the read and then find his shot. Coach has been running different kinds of sets, too. It gets everyone going, and it forces them to have to pick their poison.

"(Varejao's) a heck of a passer. Tristan's eating the glass, he's working in the post, getting better offensively. We're finding a balance, trying to keep everybody eating. The lineup helps because there are more shots to find."

One of those sets that Mike Brown has started using involves a commonly-used tactic which the Pacers are killing teams with this season, using Tristan Thompson. Instead of just posting the big man like the Cavs had to do with Andrew Bynum on account of his girth, the Cavaliers have started having Thompson post coming out of the pick-and-roll.

"Yeah, we're using that set more," Miles said. "He's doing a great job sealing his man too, getting position. He's strong as anyone down there. He gets himself in the post, we'll look for him. And then if the shot goes up out of the pick and roll, he can attack the glass and rebound."

The action punishes teams for hedging or doubling Kyrie Irving coming off the pick. A switch results in Kyrie with a slower defender on him. Thompson says the big key with that move is the matchup it creates for him.

"It's the matchup. A lot of teams, if you set a good screen, they have to send a smaller defender to help, so we throw the ball in the post. Coach stresses us to be playmakers, so either kick it out or score the bucket."

Thanks in part to that spacing the addition of Deng provides as well as the new wrinkles Brown has put into his sets, Thompson scored 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting while adding 10 rebounds in a 117-109 win over the Nuggets.

It hasn't been long since the addition of Deng, and there's a long way to go for the Cavaliers to make the playoffs. But for the first time this season, their lineups and the way they're playing make sense. If they can keep building off this, there's a good chance the Cavaliers actually cash in on the hope and excitement of the preseason for them.

Rick Noland MG/CT @RickNoland


Cavs coach Mike Brown said he and GM Chris Grant have had discussions about sending Bennett to D-League at some point, but not just yet

4:47 PM - 21 Jan 2014

why not?

JMO, I think they are concerned that the NBDL has a lot of shady characters and they do not feel that Bennett is best served by hanging out with a bunch of guys making 5 million dollars less then he is.

They also like the fact that the teams coaches are currently able to work with Bennett daily.

Good reasons.

Jason Lloyd’s Cavs Twitter mailbag
By Jason Lloyd
Beacon Journal sports writer
January 25, 2014 - 10:03 PM | Updated: January 26, 2014 - 12:13 AM

Just what is the league perception of the Cavs handling of Anthony Bennett? @TH_Da_06er


Teams I’ve spoke to are surprised at how badly he has struggled. Most everyone had him in their top 10, and probably their top seven or eight. And since there was so little separation between the top handful of players, no one has said they saw this coming.
As far as his handling, I presume you mean the fact he’s not playing much and he’s not in the D-League. I haven’t specifically asked anyone with another team about that, but I can tell you this recent outcry to send him to the D-League is a far bigger deal publicly than it is within the Cavs. He’s not going, period. That could change in the future, but for now, he’s staying put.


What’s the biggest problem for the Cavs right now? @maxzhang23
Sadly, it’s hard to pinpoint just one. I don’t know if this is their biggest problem, but I’ve come to the conclusion recently that this team lacks mental toughness. They tend to crumble too easily when most teams should keep fighting. I don’t know if that’s a product of the youth or the constant losing of the last three years.
Mike Brown said last week the losing that has infested this franchise for the last three years doesn’t dissipate overnight. That has certainly proved to be true this season. If the Cavs could simply adopt the Chicago Bulls’ concept of playing hard every night, regardless of the score or personnel, this team could easily have three to five more wins, if not more.


Does Adam Silver do something about the officiating in this league? It really has been abysmal this year. @SteelSmack
I’ll go a slightly different direction. I’m interested to see what Silver addresses first upon taking over next month. There seems to be a push in various sectors to address the draft lottery and the growing number of teams tanking every year. The league seems open to tweaking the system. We’ll see.
I try to stay out of the officiating debate. It’s an incredibly difficult job with very, very little time to react. I was amazed watching the league’s “points of emphasis” video prior to last season how razor thin of a line there is oftentimes between a charge and a blocking foul, for instance. It’s a tough, tough job. Having said that, yes, I have seen some truly awful officiated games this season.

Its time to trade for more picks and charge up the old tank.