標籤: Allens

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson provided an update on Jarrett Allen’s status on Tuesday, indicating significant progress ahead of the Wine and Gold’s meeting with the Orlando Magic for a three-game homestand.

“They’ve ramped it up over the last few days, so there’s a positive trend,” Atkinson said. “I saw him on the court yesterday, contact. I think we’re in the last stages of preparing him, so I can guess [he’ll return within] The next few games, that window.”

Allen returning to the fold would be a welcome sight for the Cavs, who have missed James Harden with his rim protection and pick-and-roll skills. He missed the last game and will not be in action against the Magic due to right knee tendinitis. Cleveland’s veteran big man suffered the injury early in the second half of the Detroit Pistons game on March 3 and has not played since.

If Atkinson’s optimism proves justified, we’ll see Allen this week.

Cavs receive another important injury update

Elsewhere on the injury front, Atkinson shared the latest news on Jaylon Tyson, who hasn’t played since the fourth quarter of the Cavs’ win over the Chicago Bulls last Thursday. The second-year swingman suffered a sprained left toe and what is now being treated as a bone bruise.

“Not long-term,” Atkinson said of the label change. “He practiced yesterday, and it was bothering him, quite honestly, so we took him out of practice. It’s an injury; definitely not long-term. I can see it being very short-term. It’s going to be a pain to bear. I hope he recovers very quickly.”

Tyson has been a big part of the Cavs’ rotation recently despite his minutes being cut back, so this is solid news regarding his troublesome toe. However, it doesn’t help their case in the current battle for more minutes, as Cleveland tries to figure out who will play the most minutes and who will be in the starting five.

The Cleveland Cavaliers announced Monday night that Jarrett Allen will miss the team’s upcoming three-game road trip due to knee tendinitis, extending his absence to 18 days since the injury. The Cavs are 2-3 without February’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month in their lineup, and there is reason to be uncomfortable. The setback is believed to be minor, but it would have been at least two weeks since Allen last suited up.

“I still think it’s a day-to-day thing,” Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson said Sunday afternoon. “That’s where we are with it. I wish I could get more specifics. But I don’t expect it to be long-term. He’s just dealing with some serious tendinitis, and sometimes that happens during the season, right?

“Especially after his stretch and his usage. So I’m thinking it’ll just be a short break, and we’ll get him back in the team soon.”

In two of the Cavs’ last three games, they have given up 128 and 130 points to the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks. The first player shot 51.8% from the field with 37 attempts at the free-throw line, and the second shot 52.9% from the field with 27 attempts at the charity stripe, which is a sign of a bad habit.

Much of the problem can be blamed on a defense that is not consistently protecting the perimeter, with Allen lacking a key rim protector. Combine those two factors, and it’s difficult to keep opponents in check.

Cavs All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell said after a “bad loss” to the Mavs about the need to improve on defense, “Especially now that we don’t have JA in there, sometimes, we’re five short.” “[We have to be better at] To be able to defend, and if we lose, [making] [right] Rotating, and then, keeping them away from the glass. Although we sometimes play small ball, that is no excuse. I think this is the biggest thing. I think our defense was the only issue.

Cavs defense needs improvement

After losing a game against the Orlando Magic last week, James Harden had a similar message: Cleveland needs to be better on that side of the field.

“Communication, knowing who we’re protecting,” Harden said. “The matchup changed possession-by-possession. This team did a really good job, and they do it every game, of putting the ball in the paint, and we didn’t have any resistance. [The Magic] Shot an incredible percentage at the basket, and got to the line multiple times. Something we can fix, something we can control.”

“I think early on, we let them get to the rim too easily,” Keon Ellis said. “They’re a rim team, so I think that’s how they’ve got to roll at first… Maybe if it’s going to be close in a short period of time, they have to think about shooting it to try to slow it down. It’s probably at first because they want to get to the rim, so they’ll drive and drive and drive. Try to get them live from the outside.”

According to the star duo, this Cavs group has too much talent to worry about putting the ball in buckets.

Harden said, “Offensively, we’re very talented. Defensively we need to get better.” “We can score with the best of them. It’s important to get consistent stops and rely on our defense to win games.”

“I mean, I’m not really worried about the offensive piece,” Mitchell said. “We had 16 turnovers for 25 points; it affects your transition defense. You can’t get set even when we have Evan [Mobley] At 5. But I think the biggest thing is just stopping the ball and then staying in our rotation. It’s just the finer details, and we have to get better.”

Mobley has had success when Allen has been absent, but he has also been able to rely on perimeter players generally holding their own. Mitchell specifically pointed this out on Sunday, but Cleveland hasn’t been able to put anyone up front for a week. This results in overhelp, which takes teammates out of their spots and ultimately allows opponents to touch the paint.

From there, they are either scoring, getting to the free throw line, or kicking out to shoot or initiate a swing-swing sequence. The Cavs start scrambling, and then it becomes a world of hurt.

“You can look at my postgame comments against Orlando, OK? Very, very similar,” Atkinson said. “I think it’s a very similar game. Much more generous on the defensive end. And I just told guys, it starts with that first unit. Not very good defensively. They never felt us out. They got comfortable. They got confidence, and then, it’s the same kind of story, right? We’ve got really good defenders in that lineup, so an unforgivable defensive effort today.

“Give credit to Dallas. I just thought their energy level was higher. But, when your energy level isn’t there — sometimes you have games where it’s not there — now you have to use your kind of savvy and experience and be in the right position. You might not have a game where you’re super active, and that happens, but there were a lot of mental breakdowns.”

In addition to praising Max Strus for a great comeback effort and start to the season, Atkinson used his entire press conference to discuss the defense.

He himself also reflected on whether Cleveland should have switched groups from 1-to-5 as a challenge to prepare for the playoffs, because “we don’t normally do that.” But describing this effort as passable feels like a real red flag at the end of the season.

“We showed four or five clips where we’re not touching them,” Atkinson told ClutchPoints in the press room. “In a switching defense, you have to control the screener. You have to slow down the screener, right? You have to stay on the ball. We’re playing man-to-man, but it was like, we were in a zone because we were so different. And in the NBA, if teams are so comfortable, the shots are easier. They’re not worn out physically, so they’re fresher to make shots.”

Take care of basketball matters too.

“I’ll just say the last thing I knew the focus wasn’t there [there]I think we had 12 live-ball turnovers,” Atkinson said. “Some of those were differentials. Some of those were the lineup. Maybe I threw some in there by not shooting enough, so that was a big part of it too.

“Live-ball turnovers are death. I hope this doesn’t sound too harsh, but they are. If you have a live-ball turnover above the free-throw line, it’s probably going to be a layup. You can’t prevent it.”

Cavs have been banged up again, but depth needs to shine defensively

It should be noted that Sam Merrill has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and Jaylon Tyson injured his ankle last Friday in Dallas. They are key pieces of the perimeter.

However, Ellis is known for his ball pressure and technique, and Dean Wade is a top defender with his versatility, so the Cavs should be outmatched very easily.

Mitchell and Harden have the right message, but they need to hold up their end of the bargain in this case too.

At times, Cleveland’s wings behave a little more loosely due to the frontcourt threats behind them. And although this defensive drop off over Allen’s absence from the lineup may be a bit much for one player, it undoubtedly underlines his importance to the team.

There have been many stories told about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ unforgettable title run in 2016. But Iman Shumpert’s revelation about Tony Allen’s role in helping them shut down the Golden State Warriors is a new one.

The Warriors were juggernauts that year, winning a record 73 games. They took a 3–1 lead against the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals and appeared poised to capture their second consecutive title. However, Cleveland came back strongly and pulled off a most improbable comeback for the team’s first title.

On “Out in the Mud”, Shumpert admitted that he and JR Smith were having “a nice little battle” with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson defensively in the series. Shumpert said Allen called him to give him some suggestions.

“M********* called me right away. ‘Hey, brother, you got Klay right? Who do you have, Klay or Steph? I know you got one of them.'” Shumpert recalled.

“I said, ‘Don’t help. Wherever you are, I don’t care, going to help, there’s no help,'” said Allen, who was with the Memphis Grizzlies at the time.

When a three-time All-NBA Defensive First Team member tells you how to play defense, you listen. So that’s exactly what Shumpert and Smith did. Ultimately, they survived the Warriors, winning a classic battle in Game 7.

“He (Allen) said, ‘There’s no help, and get used to it, you’re going to have about three rebounds.’ He said, ‘Why?’ Who do you want to get a rebound for? If they get a rebound, where is it going? And what if you’re not there?’ But it seemed to make sense,” Shumpert said.

While Curry and Thompson still got their numbers, Shumpert said he and Smith performed poorly against them even on Allen’s advice. Matthew Dellavedova also played a huge role in protecting the Splash Brothers.

Allen had his fair share of intense feuds with Curry and Thompson, with the Grizzlies and Warriors meeting several times in the regular season. Golden State defeated Memphis 4–2 in the conference semifinals en route to the title in 2015.

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a stir during trade season when they traded Darius Garland, an original member of the team’s core four, to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for James Harden. Harden is playing much more spectacularly than Garland this season, and he’s healthy, too. But an underappreciated part of bringing Harden in as a more consistent member of the starting lineup was unlocking the best from Jarrett Allen.

For almost his entire career, Harden has made life much better for his pick-and-roll partners. Clint Capela played his best basketball with Harden. Ivica Zubac did the same. And now, Allen is following suit. Since the Cavs brought The Beard in, Allen has averaged an impressive 20.4 points and 11.3 rebounds on 76.7 percent shooting from the field – numbers, suffice it to say, are absolutely insane.

The Cavs have been playing exceptional basketball lately, and Allen’s improved play as a result of Harden’s arrival is a big reason why. Cleveland sped up its competitive deadline by bringing in Harden, but this move seems smart given the early returns.

Allen had another double-double, 19 points and 10 rebounds in the Cavs’ 109-94 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.

James Harden makes life easy for the Cavs

If there’s one thing Harden has going for him, it’s that his track record of excellence in the regular season is nearly unmatched. He is a regular season winning machine, and the Cavs have been humming since they brought him in via trade.

Harden reduced the burden on offense on Donovan Mitchell. He should make life easier for Alan and Evan Mobley in terms of getting good looks. And he reduced the need for Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson to rely on more inconsistent players to try to partner with Mitchell in the backcourt.