Answering Your Cavs Questions: Oct. 28, 2023

Let's try to calm everybody down (you'll see why I say that next).

Is JB ever going to learn how to coach in close games? I know it’s early and we were down some key players, but the timeout management along with the lack of free flowing offense/plays down the stretch has been awful since he initially took over! Do you expect things to improve? - @Breezy_E_Baby

I'll add to this. Does JB feel his preoccupation with barking at officials helps his late game management? Does he have any evidence that abusing them for the whole is a better use of his time than calling plays? - @MrARobbins

How much should we read into the hiring of Dave Joerger as a coaching consultant? Is the organization concerned about JB’s performance? - @D_Readance

When will they fire JB? - @ChrisTH13180744

Well, at least we made it to two games before these reactions. Clearly, there were a lot of unhappy fans after blowing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. They should be. Surrendering that kind of advantage against any team that late in a game is not good, and it’s not the first time the Cavs have had those mishaps down the stretch.

But before we go into this point-all-fingers-at-the-head-coach mentality, it’s helpful to break down what actually went wrong and whether or not there’s substance to it. If you have the time, rewatching the film frame-by-frame is a healthy exercise when you aren’t caught up in the moment. In the next question, we broke that down and the “he doesn’t call plays” thing in more detail.

As for the other J.B. Bickerstaff-related questions: No, he’s not getting fired. Sorry to burst that bubble, and please don’t do this with every loss. I already deal with this lazy approach to losses too much as a Browns fan.

Regarding the officiating, yes he is quite vocal about his displeasures from the sideline and it probably doesn’t help his cause. With that said, if you saw some of the whistles (and non-whistles) on Friday evening — especially the injured Isaac Okoro fiasco — surely you can see why his blood was boiling.

Regarding Dave Joerger: I am told that he is strictly a consultant that works with the Cavs but won’t travel with the team or be on the bench as the other assistant coaches are. Joerger was brought in to help Bickerstaff “from afar” with whatever he asks. It’s a tad vague, but those are the best details I could dig up.

What do you think ultimately contributed to the @cavs losing the 10 pt lead down the stretch? And how can they improve moving forward? - @AIM_330

So here’s how I saw the last two minutes unfold: There was a lot of over-helping on account of unnecessary double teams and perimeter defenders getting beat, accompanied by turnover-prone possessions. 

I’ll go play by play. Watch along with me with the links.

OKC, 1:49: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s wide-open triple to cut it to six happened because Caris LeVert (who was elite defensively on SGA 1-on-1, by the way) shifted to the baseline instead of switching with Donovan Mitchell when he pressured Luguentz Dort in the corner.

CLE, 1:29: Mitchell is doubled up top and finds Evan Mobley, who pump fakes, attacks and is met by Chet Holmgren at the rim. A foul call was reversed (correctly) and gave the Thunder possession back.

OKC, 1:16: Isaiah Joe comes off a curl above the break with Okoro chasing him over a Holmgren screen. Okoro takes too wide of an angle, Joe beats him to the paint and forces Mobley to help, leaving Jalen Williams to nail a three from the wing with nobody there except for a late-contesting Max Strus.

CLE, 1:09: Mitchell inbounds to Mobley on the right block. The Cavs try to free up Strus with Mitchell running to his left, but Williams stays attached to Max’s hip with no breathing room. Thunder get a stop on an unnecessarily rushed possession where Cleveland wanted a quick bucket to make it a two-possession game.

OKC, 1:03: Holmgren snags the rebound and runs the floor. Mobley wants to stop Williams from getting to the rim with momentum. Jalen reacts with a backward bounce pass to Holmgren for a trail three in transition. Not much you can do about that one. Your own offense put you at a disadvantage and on the retreat. 

CLE, 0:46: Mitchell dribbles right off a Mobley screen as Dort refuses to give him any space. Lu stands his ground and stops him in his tracks in no-mans land — turnover in the corner. It was either going to be a travel or a throwaway on that play. That’s called the Dorture Chamber and many men have experienced it, including LeBron James.

OKC, 0:29: Dort fakes a pass to Williams in the corner and Dean Wade bites. Lu has every bit of his right hand side to drive into the paint, finishing with strength in between Strus and Mobley. There, again, Cleveland has to do better on the perimeter.

Yes, you have to improve offensively down the stretch and be more cognizant of the clock. It wasn’t a lack of play-calling on the majority of these; it was lack of (and rushed) execution combined with Mitchell dribbling into trouble, which he does have a history of doing despite his clutch-bucket gene.

I also saw a lot of confusion about Georges Niang being the offense-for-defense sub with Wade. Why? He’s a 40 percent sharpshooter in a game where you were down four and three — early performance be damned. Shooters shoot and command attention (and he didn’t get the opportunity to try anyhow). Plus, he and Mitchell have a rapport together.

And even with all of that said, defensive breakdowns were the reason everything went awry Friday night. If you're interested in Bickerstaff's thoughts on late-game situations, I wrote about it after the Brooklyn win.

Is it concerning that 3 years in, Evan Mobley still has no sense of an offensive repertoire? Through two games, he’s still just driving head first into two defenders and throwing the ball at the rim. - @TheShwam

Even though it’s technically two years "in," I hear you. The Cavs are going to need more from Mobley, yep. Getting upstaged by a rookie Holmgren probably won’t sit well with him or Cleveland fans for a while. Seeing Chet burn the nets I’m sure made a lot of people ask themselves, “Why can’t our guy do that?” Well, as I said in The Spin, not all seven-footers have the same style or skill set.

Mobley is a work in progress on offense. His best traits are his playmaking, his face-up game, his mismatch hunting and his activity on the glass with putbacks thanks to his bounce. While it’s not going to look perfect yet, Cleveland wants him involved as a hub up top on dribble handoffs. I thought last night Evan responded to a poor first half with increased aggressiveness and anger on a few different occasions against Chet.

He’ll take mid-rangers and turnaround faders here and there, but sorry all, but Mobley's not going to be a jump shooter or a three-point assassin anytime soon. With the Cavs addressing that need in the offseason and two All-Star guards, why would he need to be?

Why on a night like Friday when we need scoring help do we not see Emoni Bates? - @brettwalk_

The Cavs were happy with their process on Friday night. They were getting good three-point looks and they just weren’t falling. Cleveland made nine triples in the second half and those came from the players who were ice cold in the first 24 minutes.

Emoni Bates can play basketball and has been an excellent pro thus far. We have to remember that he’s 19 years old and there’s a pecking order in the NBA. Strus, Okoro, LeVert, Wade and even Sam Merrill have those guard/wing slots held down in the rotation. The Cavs want to develop Bates in the right way. Give him an opportunity to play full-game minutes and experience ups and downs with the Charge in the G League. Sticking him in for five minutes because the team was cold doesn’t seem to be the smartest way to introduce him.