This first glimpse at the 2007-2008 Cavs will give me a good chance to offer my early opinions on how we look as a team and our prospects for the year.
Linining up for the magic:
C: Dwight Howard
F: Hedo Turkoglu
F: Keith Bogans
G: Jameer Nelson
G: JJ Redick
I started to type PF and SF, but really, this Magic team is playing a PF at C, a tweener at PF, a SG at SF, and 2 undersized “guards”. Clearly Jameer is the point, but I don’t expect to see him run an offense aside from “dump it in to Howard” or “look for my own shot”.
The Cavs lineup looks a lot like it will for the regular season:
C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas
PF: Drew Gooden
SF: Lebron
SG: Larry Hughes
PG: Insert random PG – today, Ori’s archnemesis, Damon Jones
Time to fast forward; thank you Tivo!
Shanghai is 15 hours ahead, so if this game was originally 5:30 am PST Wednesday morning, it was 8:30 pm local. Now I feel pretty good about flipping it on just after 9 here.
9:09 The Cavs are missing Petrovic, our shooting guard (thank you hubie), and Lebron and DJ, our ambassadors to China, just bowed to one another.
9:11 I like Sasha and Varejao, but really, this hold out thing is a little bigger in terms of future contract negotiations around the league than it is from a basketball perspective for the Cavs. Thank you Danny Ferry for now breaking the bank on these two and Lebron’s plane ticket to Brooklyn.
9:12 I don’t think I can type quickly and accurately enough to watch, think and blog without pausing. I feel as helpless as the Bengals defense.
9:13 Pounding Z to start the game. Mike Brown does have some good notions about how to establish an offense.
9:14 I’ll take all of Hughes’s blown layups because we’re a lot more likely to score with Z underneath than with Hughes from the elbow. At least Hughes will draw fouls and work to our strength on the offensive boards.
9:15 Is it wrong that I don’t give a crap about the Magic? I don’t think Rashard Lewis makes them a contender and I trust our defense. I’ll use Magic possessions to type.
9:16 Damon Jones to the rim! Let the 4 month audition begin.
9:16 Lots of midrange jumpers to start the game, and lots of misses. Maybe this is the beginning of the new midrange era. Especially with the success of all the PGs who hit those floaters for inside the free throw line, I think we’ll see kids working on these 10-12 footers more often.
9:17 Paraphrasing Hubie: “Lebron is good. He can do everything. No really, everything!”
9:18 Hughes with good vision twice already and an assist to show for it. Even with DJ as the PG, or Boobie as it will be during the regular season, Hughes can run the offense for the first 3 quarters.
9:19 Early in the season last year, I remember our offense looking like a 4 player line extending from the free throw line. The intent seemed to be to call a play where certain plays cut different directions creating passing lanes. 3 games in, we ditched that offense. This year, the shape of the offense seems to be a tilting line, with a player in the corner, a player in the lane and a player on the wing staying on a plane in front of the ball handler.
9:21 I had to pause to write that last line.
9:21 … and the next possession was just old fashioned pick and roll, no offensive design. But a 3, followed by a 3 point play for Hughes. A confident, healthy Hughes would be FANTASTIC. Even hit his free throw.
9:23 First commercial. Let’s see if Tivo lets me finish this by 10:30.
9:24 Hey! Hubie just said exactly what I did about Orlando’s small lineup. Suddenly, I completely respect Hubie and feel smart. I can’t remember if Hubie is usually good. I’m too tainted by McCarver and the idiots on TBS to think clearly about broadcasters right now.
9:25 First sub for the Cavs with 5 minutes left in the 1st: Dwayne Jones and Devin Brown.
9:27 Pausing again to think about the offense. My “line” offense seems to be one of three. Sometimes we’re looking for a post up (Gooden or Z) from the start, otherwise we’re using the screen and roll. Sometimes that screen and roll leads to a curl or drive, sometimes it leads to the “line”. By the way, is there a difference between a screen and a pick? A screen can be off the ball? Is this one of life’s great mysteries?
9:29 Lebron on the block. It didn’t lead to a good shot, but thank you Mike Brown. Only Dwight Howard could come close to guarding him down low in this game. He’s quicker and stronger than Hedo and he could snap Keith Bogans in half.
9:31 Lebron holding the ball at the top of the key. . . . . .
9:36 Do the Chinese characters on the court say the team names? Is there a Chinese word for Cavalier?
9:37 Lebron takes advantage of the overplay. If he learns how and when to move off the ball, it might actually matter that we don’t have a real point guard. As it is, last year he just stood off camera, in the corner 90% of the time he didn’t have the ball.
9:38 Shannon Brown should’ve dunked that. Hard. Too much respect for Dwight Howard. He couldn’t have gotten there. And if he did, it would’ve made a cool highlight.
9:40 I’ll admit it, I can’t tell all the Cavs players by their numbers and look. It’s the preseason; we all have things to work on.
9:41 Slick pass by #33…. Aha, the other Brown!
9:42 Next possession, another nice highlight for Brown. Of course, Hubie is extolling him as a 2/3, while Coach Brown is using him as a 1.
9:44 The game has felt a lot slower since the backups came in. I’m not sure we’re running an offense any more complicated than a pick-up game. Still – the drive and kick thing is working.
9:46 A Devin Brown / Larry Hughes / Lebron James ballhandling triumvirate wouldn’t be bad. We have a style for each of them. Brown hesitates, then drives left. Hughes gets a pick and goes right. Lebron glares, crushes the ball in his hand, waits for 20 million people to collectively blink, then throws home a monstrous dunk.
9:47 No wonder he holds the ball so long. In China, he needs a lot more than 20 million people to blink.
9:48 Jameer Nelson needs to work on his curveball. He doesn’t have the height or elevation to drive right and use that overhand hookpass to the far corner.
9:49 I try to look for some sense to our offense, then I realize we have Devin and Shannon Brown, Donyell Marshall, Dwayne Jones, and Ira Newble on the floor. No wonder it’s all ugly one-on-one.
9:50 Dwayne Jones got a little too handsy trying to stop Howard from shouldering into the lane. Obviously, he doesn’t have the heft to body anybody up down low.
9:51 I look forward to Shannon Brown getting some time in the spotlight so we can see how creative he can get with his braids.
9:53 Lot more whistles with all these backups.
9:53 Unlike Dwayne Jones, Donyell didn’t budge as Howard rolled into the lane. Good to know being earthbound can be a positive, too. Still, I look forward to those 4 games this year where Donyell somehow collects his only 18 blocks of the season.
9:57 Right on cue, Donyell blocks a Dwight Howard dunk. Without jumping.
9:57 Z prevent Dwight Howard from shouldering in, forcing a spin makes it clear to me that the only way to stop him is to simply be wide and strong. Oliver Miller might be the anti-Howard because he would simply occupy the space Howard would try to move into.
9:59 I just got invited to meet the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow. I’m not a huge hockey fan – though it is a good time in person. Still, I’d be all over that except for the fact that tomorrow I’m headed to the strip club to meet Destiny.
10:01 Larry Hughes gets some contact going through the lane, loses the ball, and lingers to complain to the ref. Next time I want to hear an audible grunt if he got hit. ESPN Classic teaches me that that sort of thing gets the refs attention.
10:03 Hubie has said Cleveland Clavaliers at least 11 times already. By the way, still 3 minutes left in the half. And the Cavs are up 6. Maybe I should mention these things. Then again, this game ended 14 hours ago.
10:04 Hubie has called Sasha “Petrovic” both times he’s referenced Pavlovic tonight. Three times now; twice that last (run on) sentence. If he was Petrovic and, you know, alive, he’d be worth the money he wants.
10:07 Shouldn’t we be using the preseason to see who plays well with whom? This game basically features two 5 player units. I guess that means we’ll be seeing this starting package, only with the younger, faster, better Boobie in place of Damon Jones, so we’re working on chemistry.
10:08 Since when does Lebron stop at the free throw line on a fast break?
10:09 Bet that last line makes a good read, when you have no point of reference in the game and no explanation.
10:10 Between Z and Donyell, we have the best stationary defense in history. Against a big, strong center, I’d say Z is as effective as Ben Wallace ever was. Only difference is that Z doesn’t look like he’s trying nearly as hard.
10:12 How does Anthony Tolliver feel being the end of the bench guy at this point in the preseason? He’s the guy who comes in for “defense” with 16 seconds left in the half so nobody picks up a foul. Has he already put his resume on Monster.com? Are there enough leagues now that he knows he has a job waiting somewhere?
10:14 Halftime took 2 minutes on X4 fast forward. Cavs up 46-42.
10:15 Damon Jones has been dribbling a lot. It’s not awful. I mean, it hasn’t gone off his leg or anything, and he seems to create some angles.
10:18 At what point am I rich enough to justify hiring a video guy to edit for me? I want to be watching this game without a remote and without seeing Dwight Howard catch an alley-oop on a broken play. Then tomorrow while I’m at work, he’ll be putting together a reel of Jhonny Peralta’s playoff at bats. What would that cost me, anyway? Seems like a guy like Jimmy Kimmel would be willing to pay for this. Somebody tell him I’m available.
10:28 Just feel like I need an entry every 10 minutes, minimum.
10:29 The Magic are replacing Grant Hill, Darko Milicic and Tony Battie with Rashard Lewis. Also, they have nobody to consistently feed their best player. Is this even a playoff team in the East?
10:32 Hughes looks comfortable. That’s really all we need from him. Still, the offense really doesn’t need to count on him taking those 18 footers. Please.
10:34 In case you were wondering, the Cavs were bad before the got Lebron. Then they were good. Thank you, ESPN.
10:36 I was watching Gooden play D, impressed at the way he kept his hands up and moved his feet. Then I realized it was Adonal Foyle scoring over him. Kinda tarnishes things.
10:38 Of 3 “point guards” we’ve used today, Hughes, Damon Jones and Devin Brown, only Hughes has Arroyo on his heels. The other two have to turn their back to protect the ball when Arroyo gets aggressive.
10:39 NBA League Pass, only $159 for a limited time. My girlfriend would not be happy.
10:40 Unit 2 back on for the 4th. Cavs by 8.
10:41 Devin Brown, off his own foot. Can I convince myself that’s not so bad, since he’s our 3rd option at PG and he’d never run the offense in a meaningful situation?
10:43 Very next possession, pick and roll 8 feet beyond the arc, Devin whiffs on the not-quite-rolling Donyell, who clearly didn’t feel the need to move further towards midcourt.
10:46 Sasha to the Heat? Who could we possibly want in return? Would they give up a 1st rounder? Jason Williams is a decent PG in the last year of his deal, but the Heat are as hungry for a 1 as we are. I can’t see a deal happening, unless the Cavs are looking to dump and take a 2nd round pick.
10:51 Shannon Brown is a decent ballhandler, though he dribbles with the ball too far from his body, but he is not a point guard. I’d say he’s a smaller, slightly more athletic Sasha, though I’ve only seen him driving from the top of the key, while Sasha seemed to get it on the wing and go hard baseline. In any case, I’d just double him with the second defender sagging, trying to disguise it, playing for the steal.
10:55 Dwight Howard is continually destroying Dwayne Jones. Why not see if Noel Felix, Darius Rice or Anthony Tolliver could offer slightly more resistance? Maybe an indication that Jones is in as our 4th big. Or 12th man again, if Andy signs.
10:57 Shannon Brown tries to create again. Jameer Nelson just waits for Brown to put the ball down on the wrong side of his body and takes it away.
11:00 Devin and Donyell with a nice pick and roll getting Donyell a floater.
11:02 I’ve taken to fast forwarding the Magic’s possessions. I certainly don’t care what this bunch is doing defensively.
11:03 One game is way too small of a sample size, but Shannon Brown is not impressing as a ball handler. Working a pick and roll, he had a clear path to the hoop, but couldn’t cut sharply enough to get any better than a 12 footer than he passes up. Lebron dunks that. Any good PG lays it up, maybe with an up and under to protect the ball. Hell, I probably would’ve gotten within 5 feet and had the pleasure of watching Dwight Howard send it back across the Pacific.
11:06 Why is Dwight Howard still in with 2 minutes left? I’ve saving checking the box score until after the game, but it seems like he’s playing an awful lot of meaningless minutes. Don’t they need to see what else they have up front?
11:08 I don’t mind losing this game. Dwight Howard, 3-10 in the first half, is killing the JV.
11:09 Remember when we talked ourselves into Ira Newble as a plus defender? Tell that to the ankles Turkoglu just broke.
11:10 Down 4, :12 left. Who is taking the impending 3? I say quick pick and roll with Devin and Donyell. Hubie says go for the quick 2. Fair enough.
11:10 Newble inbounds to Shannon Brown way up top. Pick from Dwayne Jones. Couldn’t quite get to the rim, gets contact from Howard. Play took too long for just 2 points. Mark Jones says “Good night for Shannon Brown.” He’s the professional…
First thoughts, without a glance at the box score:
- Lebron, Hughes, Boobie and Devin Brown will do 90% of the ballhandling. Jones will be out there some, but Lebron will be running the show, so DJ will only bring it up when there is a lot of pressure upcourt on Lebron. Inevitably, Snow will return. Hopefully as an assistant coach.
- Shannon Brown makes a solid back up SG. The only PG we have who would look to feed the energy guy, though, is Snow.
- Even without Sasha, there is no room for Newble. Ferry is patient, but he’s not foolish. If there is something out there, he’ll get it for Newble and DJ.
- I hope the something out there looks, or at least plays, a lot like Antonio Daniels (3yrs/18.6mm remaining).
- The front court is a lot thinner with Anderson. A quick triggered ref and we turn to Dwayne Jones way too quick against anybody with an interior presence. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry much about the Bulls or Pistons.
Now with the help of the box score:
- Wow. 13-16 FT for Howard. That’s frightening.
- Gooden didn’t get touches because he wasn’t in the post or Gooden wasn’t in the post because he didn’t get touches. I couldn’t tell.
- I hate games where Lebron doesn’t rebound, but after leaving with a shoulder injury last game, I’m ok with it.
- Damon Jones with 6 assists. Tell all your friends in the sports media that he’s going to have a huge year. Then quietly remind Danny Ferry to sell high. Then again, if DJ is humble enough to look to set up, I’m not sold on him being a worse fit than Boobie.
- Shannon Brown with 0 assists and a poor shooting night (3-11).
- Who is Anthony Tolliver and when did he touch the ball?
On this game alone, my opening night depth chart (with projected minutes) is:
C: Z (30), Donyell (20)
PF: Gooden (35), Dwayne Jones (5)
SF: Lebron (40)
SG: Hughes (35), Shannon Brown (10)
PG: Boobie (30), Devin Brown (15), DJ/Snow (20)
Goodnight and GO TRIBE!
