The Refreshed Hopefuls

This week we’re spotlighting the Hawks Cavs game as two teams who are playoff hopefuls, but have also done a bit of an overhaul of the roster leading into the season with eyes on what is to come! Currently they’re just outside the top 8 but we are only one week in, so there really are endless possibilities for both teams as they get healthy and go their own way.

The Hawks:

The Hawks recently sent their leader and star, DeMar DeRozan packing in a move to increase the teams depth and future aspirations, and this was in line with moving out Montrezl Harrell and Terrence Ross last year for Myles Turner also. They have a solid roster and went 2-2 in week 1, despite missing TJ Warren and having Spencer Dinwiddie gone for the season. They don’t really have an out and out star anymore, but the team depth and make up just seems like it could really click with shooters, slashers, passers and defenders a bounds and maybe they can be like the Hawks of the NBA a couple of years ago where their entire starting 5 were named Player of the week because they were such a cohesive unit, rather than individuals? Today they meet the spritely young Cavs and hope to keep up above .500.

The Cavs:

Only 6 months ago the Cavs were Lebron James, Andre Drummond and…Danny Green? And now, they are JJJ, Collin Sexton, Luguentz Dort, Aaron Gordon, KCP, Xavier Tillman, Mo Bamba, Kyle Kuzma and Harrison Barnes. That’s a transformation and a half and a nicely put together bunch of younger pieces that should mesh into the future and reshape the Cavs who were the Lebron lead dominant force of the NLL for so long. Lebron got to the age where you either die by him, or move him for a rebuild and the logical thing in Cleveland was go for the rebuild when what they had wasn’t going to rival the Bucks dynasty. They are yet to see JJJ on the floor, but he was the prize piece of all the deals and the man they hope to turn into the face of the franchise going forward, so they eagerly await his arrival to the floor. For now, Sexton looks to be a walking bucket and the team looks to run and gun teams off the floor…which they also will try with JJJ, let’s be honest! They’re 1-3 currently, but that could change in a hurry.

The Projected Match-Ups:

C: Myles Turner  Vs  Xavier Tillman  

Turner averaged a double double in week 1 on 14/11 and a massive 3.3 blocks a game and he’s going to be a handful for the Cavs who for once are without a man mountain down low. Xavier Tillman, the defensive stud rookie, has been promoted to the starting line up despite an opening week of only 3 points and 7 rebounds off the bench, but we’ll see how he fares against the bigger, quicker, longer, Turner. My bets are all on Myles.

PF: Davis Bertans  Vs  Mo Bamba

Has Bertans finally come to play more? He had a really nice 1^st week despite not shooting the ball well, which is his forte, with averages of 13/8/2/2/1 and he’ll look to keep the momentum up against Bamba who is debuting for his new team. Bamba hasn’t lived up to any sort of hype in the NBA yet, but has been useful with his size and mobility in the NLL, hence the start at PF. Is he still that guy in this engine though? Will his length bother the shooting less athletic guy? Could be much of a wash of a match up.

SF: Gary Harris  Vs  Aaron Gordon

Gary started last week and was solid…but really shot the ball terribly considering he’s meant to be a shooter. 26%? 35% from deep? Low defensive numbers? Not looking good for Gary but he’s getting another shot at it this week. Gordon was the polar opposite. Hello Aaron! 16/10/1/2/2 was Gordon on 49/40/100 shooting and maybe he’s going to put it all together for the Cavs? Can you imagine JJJ/Gordon at the forward spots? He’s got big height and athleticism advantages on Harris and I think he’s really going to punish the Hawks.

SG: Joe Harris  Vs  Luguentz Dort  

Joe signed a big deal in the offseason and if he can keep up even half of what he did week 1 through the year it’ll be worth every dollar. 19/4/4 on 67% shooting, 72% from deep! He has always been lights out, but that’s nuts! Dort is an elite defensive guy so he’s going to bother Joe immensely you’d imagine, but he wont punish him much back the other way. At least it’s the #1 defender on the super hot offensive guy.

PG: Eric Bledsoe  Vs  Collin Sexton  

Eric was unleashed, finally, after years of having to fit with contenders and he exploded week 1. New trend? We’ll see! 30 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists and a steal. He shot it 55% from the field and even 48% from deep and he’s going to get all he wants on Sexton who is defence phobic. Sexton too however will try and torch the much more defensively apt Bledsoe as he averaged 22/4/6 for his team in the opening week on 48/44/100 shooting. This is going to be a cracker of a match up but I give the edge to Bledsoe.

Bench V Bench:

Ivica Zubac, Ricky Rubio, Danuel House, Pat Connaughton, Goga Bitadze
Vs
Norvelle Pelle, Kyle Kuzma, Harrison Barnes, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kira Lewis Jr

The benches are pretty darn solid on both sides of the ball. They feature shooting and defence to match, but the Hawks are definitely bigger. The gunning style of Barnes/Kuzma should give an edge to the Cavs in that way though.

Head to Head Prediction:

I think this is going to be a really great game. Tight. Lots of storylines and I think in the end we’re going to see the Hawks come out on top. The Cavs have some really nice pieces but size still matters and the best back court player also belongs to the Hawks. That said…I said the Spurs would beat the Bucks and they lost big!

Hawks by 5.

-          Flat out scoring. The Cavs starting line-up may be more balanced towards offense and defence, but the bench is heavily leaning to flat out offence. Look for Barnes and Kuzma to go double figures each off the bench and if that happens, they could surprise this writer.