The Cavs are Interesting

On opening night I texted about 10 friends and told my Dad: Cavs are making the playoffs.

The Cavs played terrible on opening night against Toronto and fell victim to hot shooting from Andrea Barginini and wizard playmaking by Jose Calderon. I reneged on my statement pretty quickly, laughing it off like I was kidding all along. In reality, even after getting smoked by a shitty team that's rebuilding, I still felt like the 7th seed was in the Cavs' grasp.

Since, they have played like a gritty and focused group. They have a lot of good defensive possessions. They share the ball and get good shots, open 3 point shots in particular. Their rotation, the guys that play, have played their asses off. And the guys on the bench have been very involved and invested in the game, cheering on their teammates.

They don't have 13 professional basketball players, but they sure do have professional coaches. Byron and his staff are doing an awesome job. Paul Pressy seems to be the co-offensive coordinator with Byron and Jamahl Mosely seems to be the defensive coordinator. Those guys did a great job using the lockout time to step their games up. I think they are all very inspired about what they're building and are pumped about the prospects of a young team lead by Kyrie and Tristan.

But more than anything, through 5 games, they're fun to watch. There are a lot of likable guys. Boobie, Tristan, Kyrie and Andy are great. Ramon Sessions has been a very good professional so far, and plays his role perfectly. Alonzo Gee is coming into his own. Jamison has been good. AP has been very solid. The team chemistry is off the charts so far, which has made the games pretty enjoyable.

Tristan is a violent jumper. He can really elevate with speed and power. He blocks a lot of shots. Offensively, he's a live body. Very hard to block out and gets his hands on a lot of loose balls and offensive rebounds. He rolls to the right spots when he sets ball screens and is creative with the way he finishes plays. The bad news is that he's creative mostly by neccessity. He has no go to move. He has no go to second move. He has no spot on the floor where he make a jump shot. He only makes half his free throws. If he solves 2 of the those 4 problems in the next 60 games, he's gonna be an animal heading into his first offseason with the team.

Kyrie can control and quietly dismantle an opponent with his scoring and passing. He is a great shooter and makes all his free throws. He can shoot 3's off the dribble and can find spots in the mid-range where he can knock down shots. He doesn't turn the corner and create chaos like his peers Rose, Wall, Rondo, Westbrook, and Wade. But he picks his spots and is a finisher when he goes all the way to the basket. He got a little excited against the Pacers and forced some shots, but hey it was a big game. And at least we have a guy on our squad who can get to the rim and make a big shot, even if that one rolled in and out.

Let's stay tuned on the Cavs. Let's see how we hold up and see if we stay receptive to and buy in to the message Byron is using with this group.