Cavs: 3 players that must step up with Kevin Porter Jr. sidelined
By Dan Gilinsky
Cedi Osman
Cedi Osman has hit a shooting slump. In his last 10 games, Osman has had an effective field goal shooting clip of only 46.7 percent, and he’s hit only 29.4 percent from three-point range.
In that span, he’s hit just 31.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot looks, as compared to a 38.3 percent hit rate on the year, and on pull-up triples, Osman’s hit just 16.7 percent (as compared to 35.4 percent on the season), all courtesy of NBA.com’s shot tracking data.
I understand Osman’s a nice secondary playmaker, and I still have been fairly pleased with his passing, but he’s got to hit more of his open looks, such as this one from Sexton below, or get going more off of rhythm dribbles. For the record, excellent reference from Good Will Hunting, Cavs!
https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1235384130797367296?s=20
Hopefully, Osman can get out of this slump that he’s in, and the two-man games between him and Love/Nance can get Cedi going with some more cutting opportunities in coming games with KPJ sidelined.
Now, on the other end of the floor, though the effort is always there, Osman is still struggling mightily and continues to get lost in on and off-ball screen situations, and I’m not sure what Bickerstaff can really do to considerably help Osman against starting wings for long stretches.
Maybe with Cleveland’s barrage of injuries, Bickerstaff can throw 10-day man Sir’Dominic Pointer in in some spot minutes, given that he has displayed quality defensive instincts in his years with the Canton Charge, particularly as a rotating shot blocker? That’s unlikely something Bickerstaff will deploy in meaningful minutes, but it might help at this point.
More. Cavs: What Sir'Dominic Pointer could provide in spot minutes during 10-day deal. light
Moreover, Cedi is likely not going to be the Cavs’ starting 3 next season because of his defensive deficiencies, and his fairly low scoring ceiling, but he still will be a productive rotation player, I believe.
Anyhow, Sexton and the Cleveland Cavaliers need more out of Osman than they’re getting lately, at least in terms of Cedi capitalizing on open looks more from deep or having better touch near the paint.
Moving on to the third player, this one isn’t as much of a critique, but Cleveland needs this guy to keep up his ascending play, at least for a bit.