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JB deserves some respect



What this team has done without Garland and Mobley is stunning. If Kevin Stefanski is a wizard for getting the Browns to the postseason without Deshaun Watson, Nick Chubb and all the other guys who were out injured, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff has matched him in creativity for dragging the Cavs up to fourth in the East without two key weapons for the last month.

The Cavs’ .786 winning percentage since the two stars went down is tops in the [NBA](https://theathletic.com/nba/). Their net rating of plus-10.5 is third-best behind only the [Celtics](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/celtics/) and [Pelicans](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pelicans/).

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The Cavs lead the league in 3-point attempts per game since the Garland and Mobley injuries. They’re second in made 3s. They’re sixth in assists since Dec. 16, the day after Garland and Mobley were ruled out. They were 25th in the league before those injuries.

by sad_post-it_note

6 Comments

  1. descartes127

    Stefanski has won the NFL version of a playoff series. We got cooked by the Knicks.

    NFL to NBA is apples to oranges anyway imo

  2. steamofcleveland

    While I’ve been happy with the team’s recent play, it has to be noted that our schedule has really lightened up.

    We’ve beaten:

    Bucks without Giannis
    Bulls x2
    Nets
    Spurs
    Wizards x2
    Mavs
    Rockets
    Jazz
    Hawks

    It should also be noted that we started the season in an absolute gauntlet while also dealing with injuries the whole season. Allen, Mobley, Garland, Mitchell, and LeVert have all missed time and I’m not sure how many games our starting lineup has played together it can’t be very many.

    All I’m saying is that we can’t judge this team based on this recent run, but wanted to clarify that I’m not saying anything bad about JB or the team.

  3. AngryKiwiNoises

    Man can coach a mid-tier roster pretty well. He cannot coach a true contender

  4. I agree. Although I still think his rotations have been very questionable at times. Have concerns about how he handles the team at full strength but we’ll see.

    I also think we’ve employed more shooting lineups with Mobley out because we now don’t have two bigs who can’t shoot. This team needs to figure out what to do with both Mobley and Allen in. I think an Allen trade will eventually happen as much as fans won’t like to hear it.

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