Three Games, Three Nights; and Cool Hand Luke

By: Kyle Schimming

The Cavaliers ended a back-to-back-to-back stretch of games with a 100-84 loss to the Dwight Howard-less Orland Magic.

The loss left the Cavs 1-2 over the three games, with a win over the mighty Washington Wizards sandwiched between the Magic loss and a defeat to the Indianapolis Pacers.

Before I get to my overall thoughts on the three games, it just wouldn't be right for me not to take a second to point out the obvious importance the Deep in the Q blog has already had on the Cavs season.

Luke Harangody rose from the ashes that is the NBA D-League playoffs to turn in a 16 point, 10 rebound performance up on the Wizards. Luke arrived in Cleveland for a spot-start for Antawn Jamison one night after helping the Canton Charge to a victory.

I know what you MUST BE thinking, Luke was so inspired by "The Luke Harangody of Blogs" inaugural week that he went out and put up an old school 2010-Notre Dame offensive display.
To say that I was fired up to see Luke put up a nice performance would be like saying that Ryan Hollins cant catch.

So Luke, I'm honored to be able to give you the proper motivation needed to make Jan Vesely wish he and his girlfriend were back in Czechoslovakia.

Let's hope this is the start to monumental rise for both Harangody and the blog that motivates him.

Now here's the rest of my thoughts on the Cavs play the past three days:

• Tristan Thompson has hit the rookie-wall. I was hoping to see Thompson step up while Kyrie Irving was out and show Cavs fans some glimpses of what he can become in the future. But instead he turned in two games of only three points scoring against the Magic and Pacers. But what was more troubling for me was the fact that he only pulled in 13 total rebounds over the three games. I understand that he is extremely raw offensively, but if he cant impact the game with his rebounding/shot blocking it will become very hard for him to stay on the court. Thompson did score 14 points against the Wizards, but his play this weekend left me wanting more. He's played a lot of games in a such a short time, so hopefully that was just a product of tired legs and something that he'll learn from.

• Byron Scott gave Jamison the night off against the Wizards. I had no problem with this, as Jamison has been out there virtually every night competing hard despite the losses mounting up. Jamison scored 21 against the Magic and appeared to be fresh following the rest.

• Unfortunately, the rest of the Cavs seemed to think they had today's game off. It was never really a contest, the Magic went up 23-15 after the first quarter and cruised the rest of the way.

• For all the hype surrounding John Wall when he entered the league, he has really failed to impress. He did have 19 points and nine dimes, but Wall just doesn't control the game like other top point guards. True floor generals like Chris Paul and Steve Nash just have a natural leading feel to them. I don't get the sense that Wall has that quality, or that it's something that a player can just gain over time. Then again, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook don't impact the game more with their scoring, so Wall could eventually develop enough offensively to make up for his lack of true point guard skills.

• The Pacers looked much better at home compared to the previous meeting in Cleveland. They did just about everything better the second time around...well except beating up Moondog.

The Cavs take on the Pistons on Tuesday in Detroit. I'm hoping Kyrie can play for this one, his match ups with Brandon Knight have been enjoyable this year.