Cavs 08-09 Season - Central Div Champs (official thread)

[crazybuckfan40]

Now Saturday we get to see how the Cavs play at home against the best team to come into the Q this year in Utah. Everything just seems to be coming easier to the Cavs this year and I like it.

I would say Denver is the better team than Utah right now...Okur is down, and KK is starting for them...

Mo with a great game tonight, same for Boobie, It is great that LBJ finally has guys that can score for themself and not have to have him create for everyone, which allows him to open up his game and get lots of easy looks...

We can be a great defensive team when we really put our minds to it, and Brown seems to get them in that mindset often especially when we need to make a run...LBJ looked great on Melo tonight...

We could average 110 if we hit jumpers on a regular basis...I hope this great play can transfer over to the road when we play good teams...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Win streak reaches six as Cavaliers defeat Nuggets, 110-99

by Brian Windhorst/Plain Dealer Reporter Friday November 14, 2008, 12:28 AM

Tony Dejak/Associated PressMo Williams reacts after hitting a three-pointer Thursday against the Nuggets. Williams might have had his best game as a Cavalier scoring 24 points in the 110-99 win.
Just like in years past, the Cavaliers allowed the Denver Nuggets to come into their building and play a bunch of wild offensive basketball Thursday night.
Unlike in years past, the Cavs had the ability to throw it back in their faces.
Further showing the depth and diversity of the team, the Cavs put together the best offensive display of the young season on a night they needed it most to outlast the Nuggets, 110-99, at The Q.
The Eastern Conference's hottest team has now won six in a row and snapped the rather embarrassing five-game skid to the Nuggets that had lasted nearly three years.
To do it, the Cavs (7-2) got contributions from everywhere and pretty much did it from tip to final buzzer. Six players scored in double figures and the club shot a season-best 57 percent from the field and had a season-high 30 assists.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cavaliers Insider: Changes cut into Ilgauskas' rebounding efforts

by Brian Windhorst/Plain Dealer Reporter Thursday November 13, 2008, 9:30 PM

Joshua Gunter/The Plain DealerZydrunas Ilgauskas has been playing farther away from the basket to begin the season. His scoring numbers are up but his rebounding numbers have dipped.
Mo Williams and LeBron James aren't the only Cavaliers adjusting to changes this season. Old standby Zydrunas Ilgauskas is being asked to do different things, some of them subtle, with both positive and negative results in the early going.
Overall, he's been off to a great start on offense, carrying the Cavs early in games. Compared with last season, his scoring is up despite his minutes being down as coach Mike Brown attempts to keep him from wearing down.
But Ilgauskas' rebounding, as well as the Cavs' rebounding efforts as a whole, have been down and some changes might be the reason for it. After leading the league in offensive rebounding over the past two seasons, the Cavs ranked just 22nd after eight games this season.
Just as James has been playing much closer to the basket, Ilgauskas has been playing farther away than normal. Part of it is to free him to take jumpers off pick-and-rolls and when teams collapse on James on the inside. Also, Ilgauskas is being used to space the floor and pull his man away from the paint, which is why he's suddenly been taking 3-pointers.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Cavs buckle down, extend winning streak
Friday, November 14, 2008
BY CHRIS BEAVEN
[email protected]

CLEVELAND Defense started out as optional Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

A sold-out crowd of 20,562 and a national TV audience watched the Cavs and Nuggets run up and down the floor like it was a pickup game, scoring at will on each other.

It looked like fun. Cavs point guard Mo Williams knew otherwise.

"It was ugly," Williams said.

But by night's end, things looked beautiful again for the Cavs after a 110-99 win over the Nuggets.

It was their sixth straight win, their longest streak since March, 2007. The Cavs (7-2) also snapped a five-game losing streak against Denver (4-4) in a game where LeBron James quietly approached a triple-double and contributions came from everywhere.

Consider Denver Head Coach George Karl impressed.

"They seem to have more strut to their step, they seem to have more confidence they are going to win," Karl said. "Whatever it takes, they're going to figure out what it takes to win, more so than last year."

What it took Thursday was "focusing on wanting to defend," Cavs Head Coach Mike Brown said. And he wasn't shy about making that point to his team at halftime. He showed his players five video clips of poor defense where effort not execution was the problem.

"He took a shot at our ego, took a shot at our heart," Williams said.
Cont...

 

[Brutus1]

Their 2nd half defense was the exact type needed to win a championship. After giving up 61 points in the first half, they tightened the screws in the 2nd half and only gave up 38. Very nice defense.

Wallace with 10 points !!!

Wallace and Andy combine to go 5-5 from the charity stripe.

Andy hasn't missed a shot the last 2 games.

For as much as we've bitched, Brown's rotation has been excellent.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Their 2nd half defense was the exact type needed to win a championship. After giving up 61 points in the first half, they tightened the screws in the 2nd half and only gave up 38. Very nice defense.

Wallace with 10 points !!!

Wallace and Andy combine to go 5-5 from the charity stripe.

Andy hasn't missed a shot the last 2 games.

For as much as we've bitched, Brown's rotation has been excellent.

Still want to see Hickson...There is no reason not to let him see the court and get him some experience...He will be needed at some point this year...It is early, let him get 2-5 minutes in the first half and then let him play at the end if we are winning...It isn't going to hurt and he isn't going to kill the team...

 

[stowfan]

I'm in complete agreement. the first few games Hickson, didn't get in until there was 2 minutes or less left in the game. The last 2 games, he has gotten a few minutes in the first half. Whenever his in, he's the focus of my attention.

At present, he shows a ton of promise but looks a bit lost, which is OK at this point. As the season wears on, Z, and Ben will be sitting more leaving more playing time for Hickson. Usually, unless your name is Lebron, it takes a young player a full year to come into his own. Carlos Boozer is a good example.

50 games into the season, the Cavs' deep rotation will pay off. All the rest LBJ, Ben and Z and others are getting now will equate to fresh legs in March and April. IMHO, the Cavs' depth helped last night, as the nuggets starters tired the Cavs pulled away.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I'm in complete agreement. the first few games Hickson, didn't get in until there was 2 minutes or less left in the game. The last 2 games, he has gotten a few minutes in the first half. Whenever his in, he's the focus of my attention.

At present, he shows a ton of promise but looks a bit lost, which is OK at this point. As the season wears on, Z, and Ben will be sitting more leaving more playing time for Hickson. Usually, unless your name is Lebron, it takes a young player a full year to come into his own. Carlos Boozer is a good example.

50 games into the season, the Cavs' deep rotation will pay off. All the rest LBJ, Ben and Z and others are getting now will equate to fresh legs in March and April. IMHO, the Cavs' depth helped last night, as the nuggets starters tired the Cavs pulled away.

I agree and I hate it, because it is not Mike Brown's strong suit...I still remember how he left Boobie on the bench, and Boobie didn't take off till playoffs...I just think of what he could of done then if he had played him earlier in the season...

 

[Brutus1]

Can't argue there, I'd like to see a litlle more JJ, whicj I think we will as the season progresses.

Boozer had a good rookie year. He was somewhere near 10/11 pts and 7/8 boards a game. If I remember, though, unlike JJ, his team wasn't very good so he got alot of minutes. Boozer also had 4 years of Duke basketball, JJ just had 1 year at NCS.

Ideally, I'd like to see JJ get maybe 4 minutes a half.

 

[stowfan]

Box score

cleveland.com

 

[buckeyemania11]

Cavs remain perfect at home with a 105-93 over the Jazz

LeBron leading the way with 38 points

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I can't say it enough this team is just so exciting to watch...

LBJ has a hole in his roof, because he is just not reaching his ceiling and he keeps expanding his game...

 

[TooTall]

Still want to see Hickson...There is no reason not to let him see the court and get him some experience...He will be needed at some point this year...It is early, let him get 2-5 minutes in the first half and then let him play at the end if we are winning...It isn't going to hurt and he isn't going to kill the team...

I think we'll see PLENTY of Hickson in the weeks to come... He's adjusting VERY well, and it's only a matter of time before he finds his way to giving LeBron much needed breathers...

 

[tsteele316]

I can't say it enough this team is just so exciting to watch...

LBJ has a hole in his roof, because he is just not reaching his ceiling and he keeps expanding his game...

when LBJ can consistently play off the ball like he does now, he almost scores at will. teams will give him the 18-20 ft jumper all day to keep him out of the paint. as long as he knocks it down with any sort of consistency, he'll drop 25+ points a night.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

NBA notebook
James sparks Cavs to seventh straight victory

Sunday, November 16, 2008 3:51 AM



Associated Press

LeBron James calls the fourth quarter "winning time."
The Cleveland Cavaliers superstar proved that yet again last night.
James scored 16 of his 38 points in the final period, leading a second-half rally that gave the Cavaliers their seventh straight victory, 105-93 over the short-handed Utah Jazz.
"That's when games are decided," said James, who was 6 of 10 from the field in the final 12 minutes. "Especially when it's a close game, and tonight was a close game."
Mo Williams added 20 points for the Cavaliers, including a three-pointer and a layup midway through the fourth quarter that pushed Cleveland's lead to 95-84, its biggest since the first quarter.
From the Cavaliers' standpoint, the game was a lot closer than expected. The Jazz, in the finale of a five-game Eastern trip, was without starters Deron Williams and Mehmet Okur and top reserves Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring.

Continued.............