How Can the Cavaliers Correct Their Struggles Down the Stretch? – Sports4CLE, 3/4/24

How Can the Cavaliers Correct Their Struggles Down the Stretch? – Sports4CLE, 3/4/24

So I guess the question is 22 games left in the regular season what do they do to fix it if you’re how do how do you go about making sure that you give yourself the chance to get out of the first round of the playoffs yeah I think Dave some of this

Is time right um more reps together with Donovan and Darius more reps together with Jared and Evan Mobley finding out what works what doesn’t work um there’s a level of experimentation that’s going to go on here over the final 22 games when it comes to lineups combinations

Twan thre man fourman fiveman all of that stuff that the Cavs are trying to figure out JB bicker staff trying to figure out and sometimes you figure that out the failure right sometimes you figure out what doesn’t work because you actually see it on the court not working

Um so I do think time can fix some of this stuff for the Cavs there’s no doubt about that um and I also think a lot of it falls on JB bicker staff to make what I think are going to be some pretty difficult lineup related decisions is he

Going to close every single night with Evan Mobley and Jared Allen there’s a big risk involved in that especially when it comes to the offensive end of the floor because the spacing is different teams just do not respect Evan Moy out on the perimeter um so what are

They going to do when it comes to those two bigs Darius and Donovan are they going to finish every game together um can they get something more out of the power forward spot than what they’ve gotten recently from Dean Wade and George Nang so again es and flows that

Happen throughout the course of an NBA season and right now the Cavs are not in a great Rhythm especially offensively um with more time is that going to change you would think so because this group it hasn’t been together as much as some of these other ones in the Eastern

Conference like the Cavs haven’t been at full strength nearly as much as a team like you know Boston or the Denver Nuggets or um some of these other teams around the NBA so so I I think it’s time I think it’s more understanding um I I

Think they have a lot to prove to themselves and they have some things to figure out here over the final 22 games it’s not just a situation where it’s like okay let’s play out the final 22 and then flip a switch going into the playoffs like they’re not that team

They’re not the Miami Heat they can’t have that kind of mentality yeah that do you it almost seems like you want to see more of a sense of urgency and I don’t know if it’s intensity sense of these games mean something come out and play like they mean

Something yeah there are nights where the Cavs bring it right they have the effort they have the intensity they have the physicality um they have the attention to detail they have the focus but a lot of the guys were talking about it in the locker room after the loss

Last night against the Knicks it’s just inconsistent when that happens right they’ll have it in the first quarter and not have it in the second they’ll have it in the fourth quarter but not the third quarter so there just has to be a level of accountability um there has to

Be a level of consistency um and there has to be a level of responsibility that each individual feels every time they take the court to bring what it is this team needs to be successful whatever your role is be a star in that role to borrow

A coaching cliche um and you’re right I think um their effort has waned throughout the course of games and here’s the thing Dave like this is a talented team everybody understands that but they’re not talented enough to stop doing the little things you know what I’m saying like part of the reason why

They won 51 games last year is because they competed their butts off they played harder than most teams they made things so difficult on the defensive end of the floor even though they’re a more talented team they can’t lose those components of of what made them so successful throughout the course of the

Regular season um and and it feels like at times they are losing some of those

Dave Bacon and Chris Fedor discuss how the Cavaliers could fix their struggles down the stretch.

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