The first four points of Cavaliers rookie guard Mychel Thompson's NBA career couldn't have come at a better time. Those first two jumpers he hit proved critical to a 4th quarter comeback win on the road Sunday, capped off by the last second heroics of Kyrie Irving, in what became the Cavs most exciting finish of the season so far. During that one-point win over the Celtics, Thompson finished with a team high plus / minus of +9 for the game as well, and an effort worthy of earning his first NBA start ever on Tuesday in relief of the injured Anthony Parker and Daniel Gibson.
In that 93-90 home loss to the Celtics, Thompson connected of 2 of his 4 three point attempts for the night, scored 8, and dished out 4 assists to go along with, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 1 massive rejection of a Mickael Pietrus jumper in 31 minutes of work. I caught up with Thompson for a minute afterwards to talk about what it felt like making his first start in the NBA, and our exchange is below:
Your first NBA start ever and you're matched-up with Jesus Shuttlesworth, aka the greatest shooter in NBA history, with Paul Pierce flanked on his other wing and Kevin Garnett patrolling the paint. No pressure. Despite that though, and all those butterflies associated with the realization that you are actually in the process of living out a lifelong dream that millions of kids have but never accomplish, I thought Thompson held his own out there to be sure. He didn't look nervous at all, played pretty solid, and probably earned himself a spot in the rotation for the next few games at least too.
Mychel's younger brother Klay, Golden State Warriors rookie by way of the 11th overall pick, is averaging 7 ppg on 42% shooting from 3-pt range in 17 minutes per night this season in his own right as well. Pretty successful family. But while Klay has played in 19 NBA games so far, as opposed to the 3 Cleveland's Thompson has appeared in for the Cavs, they're both now tied in the NBA starts category.
So congrats on that start last night Mychel, when I was twenty-three I was not doing things as cool as that with my Tuesday nights.
Anderson Varejao played like an Eastern Conference All Star again on Tuesday night. He opened the game by scoring 10 points in his first ten minutes on the floor, finished with career highs of 10 offensive rebounds to go with a career mark of 20 total boards, and chased all that with 20 points of his own as well. If you insist on a statistical argument to validate Varejao's worth as a player, use those. Beyond that, which makes stats lines the 20/20 he posted that some guys get by taking plays off on the defensive end even more impressive, he tirelessly defended the Boston frontline essentially by himself for 42 minutes too. Varejao, alone, out-rebounded the starting frontline of the C's collectively - Pierce (4 rebs), Garnett (4 rebs), Jermaine O'Neal (3 rebs) - by nine. Throw Boston's top big off the bench into that mix too, Brandon Bass (6 rebs), and you can also say that Andy out-rebounded all four of those guys by three. Because he did.
Varejao left everything on the floor on Tuesday night, and utilized every ounce of his NBA effort to will his team to a victory they finished three points away from stealing. After the game Byron Scott echoed the Andy is an All Star sentiment, by offering the following on his 20/20 performance: “I don’t know what to tell you. I already said it last week-he’s playing like an all-star. I don’t know what else to say.” There isn't really too much else to say on the topic, actually. Despite that though, Doc Rivers weighed in anyways: “Varejao’s energy is just amazing. It’s amazing to watch him run around relentlessly, and pursue (loose) balls…Varejao’s always an All-Star as far as I’m concerned. I think they should keep a spot for a role player. That’s what he does, he plays his role…He had 20 points and they didn’t run one (offensive) set for him…Down the stretch, he and Kyrie (Irving) were tough for us to handle.”
Below is video of Andy talking about that effort and his young PG post-game; for the first time all night he did appear tired:
Andy might not actually have any go-to type scoring moves, well actually he doesn't, but he does find ways to not only secure those loose balls he has no business securing, but he also finds ways to score anyways too. His energy is amazing, and he played relentlessly all night again on Tuesday. If his teammates played with something close to that same energy during that stretch where they let the Boston lead extend to twenty-two late in the third quarter, than maybe they'd have been making that final surge from down a more reasonable of 14 or 15 points. Or maybe it would've never even gotten that far away. It did though, and the Cavaliers did rally late, they kept fighting down the stretch, and those are the type of things a young team can and is learning by playing alongside an All Star like Varejao. It's good to see, and it's tangible progress for this group too I think.
With Boston in town for game two of this home and away series with the Celtics tonight, the talk following Kyrie Irving's heroics on Sunday revolved around specifically that on Tuesday after shoot-around. Or at least that, along with Christian Eyenga being categorized as a "might play" tonight with Anthony Parker and Daniel Gibson banged up, was basically all I was interested in as I stood there listening.
Following Sunday's game, I thought it was particularly cool that Byron instructed Kyrie Irving to take that last shot with seven seconds to go. It's was a gutsy call that Kyrie made look easy. There were 22 seconds to work with, the Cavs could've taken the best shot available and then played the free throw game from there, but they didn't.
They went for the win on the road, they got just that, and in the video below Byron talks about telling Kyrie to "go at seven":
As he mentioned, some assistant coaches thought maybe that was a tad aggresive. But "Kyrie Irving's a closer" people, something that "every team needs", as Byron went on to say on Tuesday as well:
Cavs tip tonight at 7pm against the visiting Celtics, and Rajon Rondo is expected to miss Tuesday's game too. Byron also said that he expects Boston to come out "pissed" that his Cavs team, in their view, "stole that game" from them on Sunday, and I expect he's right. Kevin Garnett, for one, will probably be even madder than usual so watch out for him trying to turn this thing into a bar-fight somehow.
Kyrie Irving was playing in his 19th NBA game ever last night when he went and did this to give his Cavaliers the 88-87 win over the Boston Celtics:
LeBron James hit his first ever game winning shot in the 227th game of his career. The jumper he connected on came with 0.9 seconds left in an overtime match-up with Charlotte, launched 21-feet away from the basket. It was the 68th game of his third NBA season.
Kobe Bryant's first game winner came in the 214th NBA game that he played, when he connected on two game winning free throws with 8.6 seconds left to beat the Dallas Mavericks 108-106.
Of the these three, only Micheal Jordan's first game winner also came during his rookie season. In only his eighth NBA game, Jordan hit a 12-foot jumper with four seconds left to beat the Indiana Pacers 118-116.
When Jordan hit his first game winning NBA shot, he was 21-years old. The same age that both Kobe and LeBron were when they first did what Kyrie Irving did last night, at the age of 19.
With one minute to go in the first half on Sunday, as the TD Garden's "Noise Meter" urged Boston's faithful to their feet, Kyrie Irving calmly fired a laser from the top of the key through the Celtics defense. That pass found Anderson Varjeao standing wide open underneath the rim, who then regained a one point lead for his Cavaliers, 42-41. After an ensuing basket by the angriest rich man in the history of professional sports, Varjeao came back down and deposited two more from seven feet out. The Cavs took a 44-43 lead into the locker room at intermission as a result, and they'd come back out to play Boston to the most spectacular draw we've seen in Kyrie Irving's young career over the next twenty-four minutes.
Twenty-three minutes and thirty-eight seconds of game action later, Kyrie Irving patiently stood just above the top of the key. He wasn't pounding the basketball into the hardwood beneath him with the nerves of jack-hammer, nor did he hope for a teammate to soon break free for a pass in the corner. He stood there planning to win the basketball game for his Cavaliers. He stood there embracing the opportunity to take his best shot on his team's last offensive possession. With seven seconds to go he attacked the basket, with three seconds left he let it fly, and with only two seconds remaining he had connected on the first game winner of his nineteen game NBA career.
Not to be lost in the heroics, is just how Kyrie Irving came to have that final opportunity for his game winning shot. As the Cavaliers preceding field goal attempt rimmed off with about 26 seconds to play, it did so with no reason or intention of landing in the hands of Anderson Varejao. If you rewind that play, seconds before the last of Anderson Varjeao's nine rebounds for the game, you almost don't even think he's in the play. Before he launches his body specifically into it that is, and claws his way to possession of a basketball he had no business securing. Until he did, called timeout, and put Kyrie Irving on center stage. Most players in the NBA don't want it that bad, but Anderson Varejao isn't most players in the NBA.
Nor would most coaches wind down the last twenty-two seconds of the game clock, trailing by one, and instruct their 19-year old rookie to begin his attack of the basket with seven seconds left. Man's game, Byron, nice call. Scott believed that Kyrie Irving can finish at the rim as good as anybody in the NBA, right now, and he was proved correct in that assessment on Sunday in Boston. With Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and the ghosts of Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Larry Bird all packed into the paint trying to stop Kyrie Irving, nobody could. Kyrie was simply better than everybody else. Only a few weeks after missing his first game winner that just about went down in Indiana, the kid cashed this one in because his Coach went right back too him. And his team rolled out of Boston with an 88-87 win they never should've gotten.
no commentsPrior to the Cavaliers 99-96 loss to the New Jersey Nets on Friday night, I caught up with former Cavaliers Head Coach and current living legend Mike Fratello. I asked the Coach of the Ukraine National Team and Czar of The Telestrators what his opinions were of Kyrie Irving so far this season, as well as what other players he'd compare Kyrie's game too.
That conversation is below:
StepienRules: Based on what you've seen so far, can you just offer your opinions on Kyrie Irving and his play so far?
Mike Fratello: I think they're [Cavaliers Organization] very happy that they selected the young man. You try to do your homework, and do your research, but you never know until you actually get him there. And here he is, and they've seen the kind of talent that he has, he seems to be a very mature person for his age, and he has a very, very bright future. So Cleveland has one piece that they can move forward with now, use that as a cornerstone, and hopefully add other pieces around him.
StepienRules: Over the years, who would you compare his game too as far as other Point Guards?
Mike Fratello: Kapper, Kapper, his game is like Kapper's game, you and Kyrie.
StepienRules: Oh, okay, that would be Tim over here with Nets radio?
Tim With Nets Radio aka Kapper: My game is very solid.
Mike Fratello: You know, I don't know who I would compare him to really. I think it's better if we let him get his own identity, and down the road let somebody say his game is like Kyrie Irving's. Because, what do you want to say, want to say he's a Chris Paul type guard? I don't know that yet. I'd like to see this kid get his own way, develop his own reputation, and then let people try to be like him.
Throughout Anderson's career he's been somewhat dismissed as being simply a "nice piece" for a contending team. Which is basically because for all those years that's what his contending team needed him to be. But while he was that, and is still capable of being that if needed, he is also demonstrating right now that he can be more than simply that too. Anderson's game is not completely designed to only fit-in, and only compliment a collection of stars around him. His basketball IQ is high, he believes in teamwork, and if that's the way he best helps his team he'll gladly fill that role. But he can also lead from the front too, he's a competitor, and if I was to wake up one morning as a coach who needed to win one game later on that night or I'd surely get fired, say I woke up tomorrow as Mike D'Antoni, Dwight Howard is the only Center in the Eastern Conference I'd rather have on my team than Anderson Varejao right now. The only one.
Over at Waiting For Next Year, Scott has been pointing out the All Star qualities of Anderson Varjeao for a while now, and I agree with him. He mentioned yesterday at WFNY that Anderson is second in the Eastern Conference in rebounds per game (11.2), total rebounding percentage (21.0), and also has a lead in terms of total offensive rebounds and offensive rebounding percentage (16.6) right now too. So enter his points into my Andy Is An All Star Arguement here, and allow me to then add the following: Anderson Varejao is averaging more rebounds per game than any Eastern Conference Center not named Dwight Howard, he's averaging more steals than any of them as well, has a better PER number than Joakim Noah, and is scoring only eight tenths of a point per game less than Tyson Chandler too.
How Many All Star Spots Are Available: no comments
I stood watching Mike D'Antoni's pregame press conference and walked away before the game literally feeling sorry for the guy. About an hour later, I finally asked myself why it was I cared exactly? I suppose I don't. But if I did care, I later decided, if I was related to the guy, delivered him newspapers as a kid, or had some remote rooting interesting in his team's success, I'd feel bad for him as an NBA Coach because he doesn't have anybody on his team like Anderson Varejao. Nobody even close. For all the high profile stardom that Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony combine to possess, even in today's NBA, you can't go out on given nights and fake heart, you can't fake pride, you can't fake that will and sheer desire to win, and you can't fake the overwhelming belief in your teammates that elevates the play of everybody else around you.
Anderson Varejao was all those things the Knicks weren't on Wednesday night, because he is all those things. He is all those things these Knicks can't fake. All of the things that Carmelo Anthony wasn't on Wednesday and hasn't been this season, as he followed a 1-point game on Tuesday by shooting 5 for 14 in Cleveland, Anderson was. It was Anderson Varejao that listened as Melo bark at him all the way down the floor following the technical foul on Tyson Chandler late, and it was the same frizzy haired Brazilian who responded by dunking on Anthony two possessions later. The same guy we call Andy who finished with game high's in rebounds (16), steals (4), and blocked shots (2), as indication of that pride, hustle, and overall toughness, to go along with his 10 points and 4 assists. Same guy who completely willed these Cavaliers to victory on Wednesday night because he believed in his teammates a thousand times more than those guys believed in D'Antoni's Knicks.
I'm tempted to write that many words in about Anderson Varejao specifically right now too. He went out and grabbed 8 offensive rebounds on the game, a chance for 16 additional points, and the Cavaliers won by 10. He shot fifty percent from the field, and did his damage on both ends of the floor against a front-line that reads on paper Tyson Chandler, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony. He made things difficult for all those guys at different stretches in the game too defensively, whether playing in a one-on-one situation, or being in the right position to help under the basket. It took Stoudemire 19 shots to score 19 points, Carmelo scored 15 points on 14 shots, and Chandler stayed at a manageable 11-point number as well. Which was maybe why, during his post-game presser (video below), D'Antoni had his eyes closed for approximately one minute dreaming about just how awesome it would be to coach Anderson Varejao. Or maybe that was a minute long blink, I still haven't decided.
While it was Anderson Varejao who assumed that ultimate role of leading veteran to help the Cavaliers get back in the win column, I also have to give some credit to Antawn Jamison too. It's only fair. It did take him 15 shots to get to 15 points, and on one hand I did kinda knock Stoudemire's performance for that same thing, but regardless, a couple of the shots that Antawn did hit were big. His team won too, Stoudemire's didn't. Which is all these Cavaliers seem to ever do when New York shows up on the schedule. Omri Casspi seemed on his way to 20+ point performance too on Wednesday, as he was big in the opening the quarter with 9 points, and that's another positive as well for this young team. He would've finished with more than the 13 points he did score too if he hadn't been forced to the locker room with a cut that required stitches in his chin during the 3rd quarter. He returned to the bench, could've played, but by that time it was almost a route as the Cavaliers lead stayed around double digits for the rest of the fourth. Omri tweeted after the game that "it was a great team win" on Wednesday, and he was right about that.
There is a distinct difference between criticisms and critiques as far as NBA related commentary is concerned. Or I suppose any commentary. If a team doesn't show up, doesn't play hard, goes in the tank, gives up, quits, or whatever type of cliche' you feel like using to express that said team played with zero pride, then criticisms are fair. Byron Scott had his Cavaliers team ready to play last night. They didn't stagger into Miami the same way they limped off the floor in their previous two games, they were collectively ready to put forth a max effort in Miami last night, they did hold LeBron James (18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) ten points below his season average, and they kept a Heat team who usually hangs 100-plus on the board at a striking distance number of 92. So heading into Tuesday's game, I think Byron Scott did his part to stop the proverbial bleeding as it related to the Cavs previous three losses.
While he was somewhat forced too because Tristan Thompson was unable to go, he did also kinda give Samardo Samuels a chance that he hadn't given him over the last handful of games as well. He could've played Semih over Samardo, but B-Scott recognized that Erden was nowhere near athletic enough to be on the floor with Miami last night, and he didn't put him there. Good move. Samardo responded in 22 minutes with a game high plus / minus of +10 as a result, scored 15 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 2 assists, blocked 1 shot and added a steal as well. He should've played in the 4th quarter over Antawn Jamison though. Jamison posted a team worst plus / minus of -13 in 30+ minutes of work, scored only 5 points, grabbed only 4 rebounds, and allowed Chris Bosh to go off in the 4th quarter by scoring 17 of his game high 35 points in the decisive period. 17 points, and the Cavaliers lost by 7. That sound you hear is Jamison's trade value falling off the face of the NBA universe. Byron should have also most definitely not forgotten that Kyrie Irving was sitting on his bench too, until he remembered with only about 5 minutes left in the game, and he should've pulled Gee (who did play well on both ends) way sooner than the 1:57 mark also. 
Those are all critiques there though. If Byron doesn't steady the ship, if it's another Coach leading this team, the Cavs could've very easily had their doors blown off from the open jump last night, lost by 20+ again, and that feeling of progress you couldn't help turn the game off noticing would be non-existent. That game was a step forward though, no way around that, and hopefully some of what the Cavs did well last night will carry over into tonight's game with the Knicks. So I'm not criticizing Byron Scott at all, those are just the breaks sometimes. I am really wondering though, what the hesitation is behind giving Kyrie Irving 30+ minutes per game. Is it Kyrie's stamina at this point, a decision to manage minutes based on the compressed schedule? I suppose those would be good reasons, but I don't really know. I do know that Kyrie looked spectacular at times last night however, bouncing that ball off the backboard from all angles on his way to a team high 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting with 4 assists and 4 rebounds, and I did want to see him play more than the 25 minutes that he did. Maybe I'm just being greedy though.
Bob Finnan of The News-Herald published a quote from Antawn Jamison today that read like this: "Last year is last year, and that (stuff is) not going to happen. This is a different team. This is a better team. What happened last year happened last year. The biggest thing for us is that we're 6-9, we're tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference and the most important thing is to stop the bleeding as quickly as possible."
As opposed to 6-9, last year the Cleveland Cavaliers were 7-10 before the first time they played the Miami Heat. They were probably somewhere around being tied for seventh or eighth place in the Eastern Conference at that time too. I'm not totally sure about that though because I don't really start charting possible playoff match-ups until like the 40th or 50th game of the season, but that's just me. I guess Antawn does. But without knowing specifically, I suppose it is also fair to assume that the Cavaliers did hold a similar playoff position after seventeen games last year too.
We know what happened in that Miami Heat game a season ago though. The circumstances surrounding tonight's game with the Heat don't really compare at all either, beyond the fact that it does come at about the same time on this year's schedule, and the Cavs record is sorta the same heading into it. That was a totally different deal last season however, we all know that. No need to go back into all those reasons why it was. What last year's game against the Heat did do though, was send the Cavaliers season into a downward spiral of historically pathetic proportions that they never responded from. That pummeling on December 2nd impacted each of the games that followed, and the Cavs lost the next one million times they stepped on the floor as a result. More than simply losing though, they completely gave up too. Quit trying, quit competing, and quit caring about whether or not they got humiliated on the basketball court.
That was last season though, and Antawn is right that this year's team is a better team. Even though they lost their last three games by seventy-six points while Steph Curry, Derrick Rose, and Al Horford sat in street clothes, I still believe that. Antawn Jamison needs to step up and help prove that though. He can't be complaining about an offense that has no flow and at the same time chuck up one-handed runners that make no sense with 22 seconds left on the shot clock. He needs to be that veteran leader. He needs to help this young team play with the pride the Cavs didn't have last season. Offering the tough talk heading into tonight's game is a start, there's nothing wrong with what he said, and he's right on all accounts I think. But these Cavs need to also know that if they give a collective effort that's less than what would qualify as going all out, they will still get embarrassed this season too. Regardless of how much better they might be than the worst team in NBA history. They will get especially embarrassed by LeBron James and the Miami Heat too if they don't max out tonight.
