“Well the problem is they don’t have no dogs. They got some good players, but you have to have a guy who imposes his will on the game.”
This was the opinion of Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA after the Cavaliers 29 point blown lead to the Philadelphia 76ers last night. He is not wrong, when you look at this Cavs team, one of their biggest issues is when teams start making those runs, they under react.
If they want to solve this issue, there are different players they can look to be that “dog”.
Evan Mobley
This has been a long topic of discussion. Whether or not Evan Mobley can be the IT guy on this team or any NBA team. Mobley in the first half and second half were two different players last night.
15 points in the first half was followed by 3 in the second half when the lead was starting to fade. The idea that Mobley can take over a game seems beyond belief anymore, but if he does really want to play winning basketball he easily can.
His confidence in that first half to take more jump shots when he had them was one of the only positives the team had in the game. Philadelphia changed their defensive approach to give him more shots in the second half and he stopped taking them.
That is where the issue begins. Being that “dog” that Barkley was talking about seems like it could be the easiest route for Mobley, especially with the idea that Kenny Atkinson had to imagine Mobley like Kevin Garnett.
James Harden
Harden is the most experienced player on the team. Being the “dog” in those situations could be the best case scenario, except for one major problem. His defense is awful.
If Harden was not a liability on defense when the opposing team goes on runs like that, we would not be having this conversation. Late in the game yesterday he was one of the only guys actually hitting shots. Cleveland went 2-13 from three in the second half and Harden was the only guy to make those shots.
Unfortunately it is pretty clear that the Cavs do not have Houston Rockets James Harden on the team because if so they would almost certainly be a championship contender.
Donovan Mitchell
Who would you most expect to be the “dog” on this team? Maybe it is the guy who leads the franchise. Donovan Mitchell is the leader of this Cavs team and was the best player yesterday who was let down by everyone else.
When the 76ers went on that run though, he did not have that mindset of a leader mentality of taking over the game and win or lose it is on him, like Barkley and Kenny Smith were saying after the game.
The idea that Dononvan Mitchell can not be the number 1 guy on a team is getting more clear by the game.
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