This week for the Cavs had some ups and downs. The Cavs beat down the Wizards for two wins after dropping the first game of 2024 to the Raptors. This was all overshadowed by the departure of 12 year NBA veteran Ricky Rubio. More on Rubio later, as we are going to cover the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of week #11 for the Cavs.
The Good
Offense vs Wizards: Now, we know the Wizards are a bad team, but the offense for the Cavs were hitting on all cylinders this week. On Wednesday, the Cavs hit 20 3-pointers shooting 48% from 3-point range and 54% overall from the field. This efficient night allowed the Cavs to get rest for starters and allow more subs to play. And again on Friday, the Cavs shot 48.5% from 3-point range and 53% overall from the field. Another stat that shows the offense has been healthy is that the last 6 games the Cavs are averaging 31.1 assists per game. This is #1 in the NBA over that stretch. Let’s keep this going.
The Bad
Adios, Ricky. Richard Rubio Vives, known as Ricky Rubio has announced his NBA retirement this week. Rubio had been away from the Cavaliers since this past summer dealing with mental health issues. The Cavs organization and Rubio came to a contract buyout agreement, which will allow both parties the ability to move on. As we have stated before, we hope for the best for Ricky and his family and hope he gets whatever help he needs.
The Ugly
The hot takes/ clicks game: Lots of outlets go hard with their takes of late about the Cleveland Cavaliers. At the risk of naming names, a certain Cleveland sports talk show seems to think Donovan Mitchell is unhappy, he wants to get JB Bickerstaff fired, and is angling to get traded by sitting out games due to ‘illness.’ I mean I get it, outside looking in, lots of theories can get tossed around, but come on. Even one of the commentators hedged by saying that he didn’t know much about basketball….you don’t say.
Coming up this week for the Cavs: French week! On Sunday, Cleveland welcomes French phenom Victor Wembanyama to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Then, the Cavs travel to Paris to face the Brooklyn Nets for the annual NBA Global Game.
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