Cavs 06-07 season thread

[Brutus1]

What's with the trip to Charlotte for a Sat night game when you're playing at San Antonio the previous night? That seemed a bit odd to me. Actually that seemed stupid. What happened to the old SA, Dallas, Houston trip?

Did anyone else see that babe on Deal or No Deal last night ? I thought she looked familiar and then she said she's the on court hostess for the Cavs home games. She's the annoying one that never shuts up between breaks. By the way, she went on to win $249k, but later found she had the $400k case. My fingers are crossed that she'll quit her job, but who would give up a great gig like that?

Anyone else notice that the 'pushovers' from the last few years seem to be playing much better basketball ?

I'd like to see a blowout tonight so Brown can get some pt.

Gooden has played well.

Free throw misses agravate the hell out of me.

I've heard alot of win predictions from local hacks that suprised me. More than a few of them had 57-58 wins. I just can't see that many. I hope I'm wrong but I figure 54 at the most. It might not sound like a big difference, but 50 from last year, to 58 is a big jump.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

What's with the trip to Charlotte for a Sat night game when you're playing at San Antonio the previous night? That seemed a bit odd to me. Actually that seemed stupid. What happened to the old SA, Dallas, Houston trip?

Did anyone else see that babe on Deal or No Deal last night ? I thought she looked familiar and then she said she's the on court hostess for the Cavs home games. She's the annoying one that never shuts up between breaks. By the way, she went on to win $249k, but later found she had the $400k case. My fingers are crossed that she'll quit her job, but who would give up a great gig like that?

Anyone else notice that the 'pushovers' from the last few years seem to be playing much better basketball ?

I'd like to see a blowout tonight so Brown can get some pt.

Gooden has played well.

Free throw misses agravate the hell out of me.

I've heard alot of win predictions from local hacks that suprised me. More than a few of them had 57-58 wins. I just can't see that many. I hope I'm wrong but I figure 54 at the most. It might not sound like a big difference, but 50 from last year, to 58 is a big jump.

I tend to agree with the 50-54 for the number of wins that we will pull off this year.

And I agree about the free throw misses. Hopefully they get those out of their system. Seems like alot of teams are missing a lot of free throws early.

 

[exhawg]

Ditto, when they show him on the bench he looks down. I think we should start seeing him take over some of Wesley's minutes soon.

Wesley's minutes? How about Damon Jones.

 

[exhawg]

Either...I don't see why they play in the same rotation. Give Brown one of those spots, see how he does...and let DJ and Wesley share the PG minutes.

Where is Gibson? Is he playing in the D-League?

IIRC they were going to keep him with the team for a while before sending him down. He isn't active for the games.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I can't believe we can't make free throws. If we could make our free throws this game wouldnt of even been close.

The ESPN guys are ripping us b/c we have lost these two games. I have seen enough to understand that we have a very good team, and once we start knocking down shots and making our freethrows we are going to rattle off quite a few wins in a row.

Also I think Atlanta is a very much improved team, and they go hot down the stretch.

It was nice to see Brown get some pt tonite, and he didnt play bad. He led the one fast break, but instead of making a jump stop and passing off he ran the guy over and got a charge call. I think at this point he has already passed by Sasha and is behind guys like Jones and Wesley in terms of pt. Those guys have to start knocking some more shots down. They are getting open looks just not making them as consistently as they should.

We will be fine, but we need to work out the kinks quickly tho.

Also the Eastern conference looks to be extremely deep this year, especially the Cavs division.

I have been looking forward to the Bulls game coming up, should be a good game on Thursday.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

FTs again hurt Cavs in OT loss
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
BY Mike Popovich REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

AP Ron Schwane BEATING A DOUBLE TEAM Cleveland Cavaliers guard Eric Snow tries to drive between Atlanta Hawks guards Speedy Claxton (left) and Joe Johnson in the first quarter of Tuesday?s game at Quicken Loans Arena. Atlanta rallied to win, 104-95, in overtime.​

CLEVELAND The first week of the NBA season offered no clear conclusion about the Cavaliers.

Will they consistently be like the team that beat the Spurs in San Antonio for the first time in almost a generation? Or will they continue to have hiccups against teams they should beat, especially at home?
The Spurs win is ancient history now. The Cavs have stumbled to two straight losses, the latest being Tuesday's 104-95 overtime defeat to Atlanta.
The Hawks are 3-1, but no one is ready to proclaim their ascension to the top of the Southeast Division yet. The Cavs are 2-2 with losses to the Hawks and Charlotte Bobcats, who won 26 games apiece last season.
Seasons are marathons, not sprints. So it is too early to figure out what to make of this team yet.
Against Atlanta, though, the Cavs lost control of a game they should have won.
The Cavs led 80-70 with just under eight minutes left. But a 20-10 run by the Hawks forced overtime.
Atlanta's Tyronn Lue converted a driving layup at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
"I think we probably relaxed a little bit, and they turned it up a notch," Cavs Head Coach Mike Brown said. "I've said many times before that we have to play for 48 minutes. There was a period there where we didn't.
"They made a run and got back in the game. That gave them confidence and gave them the opportunity to win down the stretch."
The Cavs' continuous struggles at the free throw line also helped out the Hawks.
Things started well, but they fell apart during crunch time. The Cavs were 8 of 18 from the line in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Larry Hughes hit all eight of his attempts, but the Cavs finished 23 of 37 as a team.
"We talked about it already, but we have to keep practicing our free throws so that when we get to the line in the fourth quarter, we can knock them down," Brown said.
LeBron James would not blame the free-throw shooting even though he was 5 of 11 from the stripe himself.
"We shot better from the free-throw line than they did," James said. "They shot 57 percent and we shot 62 percent.
"It's not the free throws. It can always help, but they missed and we missed."
Lue did not miss when it mattered.
James split a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds left to give the Cavs a 90-88 lead. His second free throw was missed and rebounded by Atlanta's Josh Smith.
Smith got the ball to Lue, and the 6-foot guard was able to tie the game with a shot over James' outstretched hand.
"I just wanted to get a quick 2," Lue said. "I saw LeBron come across the lane, so I just floated it up as high as I could so he couldn't get it."
Joe Johnson scored 7 of Atlanta's 14 points in overtime. He finished with a team-high 25.
Lue hit three 3-pointers and scored 19 points off the bench. He also scored 19 last season when the Hawks won in Cleveland.
"He did a nice job spacing and caught us on a couple of flares during the course of the ballgame when he knocked down some threes," Brown said. " ... He hit some tough shots."
James scored a game-high 34 points for the Cavs. Drew Gooden added 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Hughes finished with 17 points.
Donyell Marshall added 12 points off the bench. His final point was his 10,000th career point. Reach Repository sports writer Mike Popovich at (330) 580-8341 or e-mail: [email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

Cavs are keeping it cool with rule
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Cavaliers notebook MIKE POPOVICH

CLEVELAND NBA officials have been given the green light to assess technicals for excessive complaining this season.

The new zero-tolerance policy has not hurt the Cavaliers. In their first three games, they were not whistled for a technical.
"Our guys have been pretty good about it," Head Coach Mike Brown said. "Watching ESPN every once in a while, you see certain guys got kicked out. But it hasn't affected us."
It is affecting the Detroit Pistons.
Rasheed Wallace is already a quarter of the way to a one-game suspension. He received his fourth technical of the season during Monday's 2-point loss at Utah. Players are suspended for one game if their technical total reaches 16.
League penalties have not been limited to just players and coaches. The NBA fined Phoenix owner Robert Sarver $25,000 for excessive complaining about the officiating during a Suns-L.A. Clippers game last week.
Cavs forward LeBron James said you simply have to watch what you say.
"Technicals are being thrown like Peyton Manning passes right now," James said. " ... Me being an emotional player, I've always been passionate about the game. You find yourself having to be cool."
BASHING THE BALL
James is already tired of the league's new composite game ball.
"It's not a good basketball," James said. "It kind of feels like a basketball you buy for your kids at Christmas or something."
James said he didn't like the smaller balls used by FIBA at this summer's world championships in Japan, but that he and his U.S. national teammates got used to it. So far, he hasn't gotten comfortable with the NBA's new synthetic model, which replaced a leather version used for years.
Among his beefs with the new ball, James said it doesn't have the same bounce as the old one.
"Sometimes you can grip it, and sometimes during the game it sticks to your hand," he said. "It won't bounce, it will just roll on you. I don't know why we can't get used to this ball. But it's just not good."
James also doesn't understand why the league changed balls in the first place.
"You can shorten our shorts, tell us how to wear wristbands, things like that. Change the dress code. But the one thing we care about is the basketball," he said. "When you start changing the thing we play with every single day, it doesn't make sense to me - at all."

NO CHARITY YET A telling stat about the first week of the season was the 40 free throws the Cavs missed in three games. The only player who shot over 70 percent from the line was David Wesley. He was 1-of-1. "We're getting more reps at the free-throw line," Brown said. The Cavs actually increased their free-throw shooting from 50 percent in the season opener to 69 percent in Saturday's loss at Charlotte. "As long as we're heading up and not down, I'm OK with it," Brown said.
NAP TIME James obviously has a busy calendar. But one thing he tries to squeeze in after morning shootaround on game day is some sleep. "If anything is going on between 12 and 4, I probably missed it," James said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report Reach Repository sports writer Mike Popovich at (330) 580-8341 or e-mail: [email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Cavaliers turn what appeared to be a victory into OT loss
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
James Walker
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

</IMG> RON SCHWANE ASSOCIATED PRESS LeBron James dunks in front of a trailing Josh Childress of the Hawks.


CLEVELAND ? The Cavaliers will not have the type of season they envision if they continually lose focus. LeBron James and company had another lapse last night, blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to suffer a 104-95 overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavaliers (2-2) missed 14 free throws, shot 36.3 percent from the floor and showed no spark in the fourth quarter and overtime when the Hawks (3-1) began to rally and take over the game. James had 34 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
In the first week of the NBA season, Cleveland, which has title aspirations, had wins over the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards ? two playoff teams ? followed by losses to the Hawks and Charlotte Bobcats, which are two draft lottery teams.
"Teams are really excited to play against us," said guard Larry Hughes, who scored 17 points. "We?re obviously seeing those things and it?s something we got to get used to. We have to try to impose a dominance from the jump ball and that?s what I think we?re not doing right now. But that?s what we need to work towards doing."
The Cavs had an ugly first half in which they shot 28.9 percent, including 17 percent in the second quarter. They stayed in the game by locking down defensively. Cleveland forced 14 turnovers and led Atlanta 38-37 after ending the first half on a 14-5 run.
Cleveland appeared on its way to an easy victory after James made three great plays in the final two minutes of the third period.
He converted on a threepoint play, made an assist to Drew Gooden (21 points, 14 rebounds) and took a charge on Hawks forward Josh Childress.
The Cavs? advantage grew to 10 points early in the fourth quarter, but that was when things began to unravel.
Cleveland?s free-throw struggles continued. The Cavs missed 7 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter and it allowed the Hawks to get back into the game and force overtime.
Atlanta point guard Tyronn Lue, who came off the bench to score 19 points, drove coast to coast to make a floating layup over the outstretched arms of James and tie the score at 90 at the end of regulation. Atlanta carried the momentum into overtime.
The Cavs have dominated the Hawks in recent years. They entered the game winning nine of the past 10 meetings. Last season, the Hawks won 26 games.
"Anybody that thinks they can go out, play the Hawks and walk all over them and get a ?W,? it?s fool?s gold," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "When you start thinking that, that?s when you get beat."
Free throws

Cleveland fell to 3-1 on LeBron James bobblehead night. ? Cavs forward Donyell Marshall scored his 10,000 th career point in the fourth quarter. ? Rookie first-round pick Shannon Brown played in his first NBA game and shot 0 of 2 from the floor with one rebound.
[email protected]

 

[Brutus1]

While the ft shooting was once again bad, the Hawks ft shooting was much worse.

It helps that the Haws shot 9-12 from beyond the arc while the Cavs were 6-20. Why they take so many 3's, especially Jones and Wesley, is beyond me.

Why, why, why, when you're up 81-78 and Atlanta's on a run are you not driving to the hole !!!!???? Lebron threw up that deep 3, then on the next possesion, they screwd around and ran down the clock so Gooden was forced to put up a 3.

Feel free to stop that little shit Lue when he's driving right down the middle of the court for the game tying bucket.

Agree with you CBF40 that we need more Brown and less Jones and Wesley.

 

[exhawg]

You would think Damon Jones would realize that he hasn't been able to shoot for over a year now so maybe his touch isn't going to come back and he should stop shooting. I wish the NBA had the NFL's contract rules where they could just cut his ass. Last night the announcers were talking about how Wesley had lost his confidence. WTF it's the third game of the season! Why do all the shooters the Cavs bring in "lose their confidence" as soon as they get here? The way Jones and Wesley have been playing I would much rather see Shannon Brown as long as they tell him to focus on going to the basket and not throwing up 3's. The only thing that I don't like about Lebron is how he jacks up so many long shots rather than trying to go the the hoop, noted he makes a good number of them, but it's just ugly. Sometimes the offense looks good, but most of the time they revert to the stand around and watch Lebron dribble from last year. You're up by 10 in the fourth quarter I don't want anyone to take a shot outside of the paint. When did Tyronn Lue become the best player in the league?

 

[jlb1705]

These last two losses undid any good that came of the first two wins.

I can almost understand losing to the Bobcats. It was the second straight road game, and they have a rough itinerary, arriving at 4:30 AM, right? Losing to Atlanta at home is unaccepatble. If you want to be taken seriously, you have to beat the bad teams - especially at home.

By the way, what's up with the Cavs' new floor? It looks fucking awful.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

i didnt watch the game, but someone said lbj walked off the floor in ot once the game was decided? can someone describe what happened?

 

[jlb1705]

I remember the crowd booing when LeBron was missing free throws down the stretch.

 

[exhawg]

i didnt watch the game, but someone said lbj walked off the floor in ot once the game was decided? can someone describe what happened?

Lebron probably did the same thing I did. Turn it off when it was over. Hopefully he was heading to the practice gym to practice his FTs.

 

[akronbuck]

lebrons going to have to start doing what Jordan use to at the beginning of the Bulls greatness.
Start getting in some of those half/ass players faces. To get them fired up to play harder.
They need a true PG not the old guys and please someone smack that Jones . He is a waste and shouldn't be on the team.