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Cavs Regular Season

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ABJ

1/31/06

Cavs suddenly hot on road

James scores 30 in three quarters as away streak hits four in a row

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It's not a traditional basketball statistic, but the Cavaliers finished off a pretty impressive save Monday.
With a routine 103-91 trouncing of the injury-riddled and cellar-dwelling Charlotte Bobcats, the Cavs picked up their sixth consecutive win to close out their most devilish month of the season.
Just 10 days ago, the Cavs slinked into Salt Lake City on a six-game losing streak with their leader's toughness being questioned and their status as a sure-fire playoff team in doubt.
It was the middle of the most testing month of the season, which included 10 road games and nine in a span of 19 days. All, it turned out, without key contributor Larry Hughes.
The response to that bleak situation has been telling and, with perspective down the pike, perhaps defining.
LeBron James broke into a streak of the best basketball of his career to this point.
And his slumbering teammates came to life as well and altered their fortunes dramatically.
With Monday's win, the Cavs (26-17) got to 8-7 for the month and won their fourth consecutive road game, a feat not accomplished since 1998, to get to 5-5 on their long road journey. It also got them back to their high mark of the season at nine games better than .500.
``I'm not into moral victories, but I still believe on that road trip when we were losing we were playing decent basketball,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ``We were doing some things the right way that if we continued to do sooner or later we'd break through.''
As always is the case, James has been the epicenter. On one hand, he had one of the roughest months of his pro career. During the West Coast trip, his clutch play was questioned in an array of missed late shots, questionable decisions, and missed free throws that left him emotionally blaming himself.
Yet, as he almost always does, his answer was profound. He put together a string of wicked efforts, including his 30 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals in just 32 minutes of work on Monday. It was the sixth time since last April that James has put up at least those numbers in a game. Only New Jersey Nets star Jason Kidd has done that once in the same time frame.
James averaged 32.8 points in January, his highest-scoring month ever, along with 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who abused the Bobcats' (11-35) weak interior for 19 points in just 18 minutes, also rose to the occasion with Hughes out, playing his best stretch of the season.
What has gotten the Cavs really turned around, however, as been the surge from the role players. It started with Sasha Pavlovic's insertion into the starting lineup. That coincided with the winning streak.
Donyell Marshall, who delivered another gem with 14 points and six rebounds Monday, and Damon Jones have emerged from shooting slumps.
Lately, Anderson Varejao has added to the mix, and he grabbed 10 rebounds and scored six points off the bench against Charlotte. In all, the Cavs' reserves piled up 44 points, thanks in part to Luke Jackson's 10 points, and they're now 10-3 when the bench scores more than 30.
The Bobcats, who lost their 12th game in a row, were led by Alan Anderson's 14 points.
``We hung tough and we've showed some improvement,'' said Eric Snow, who had seven assists. ``We've tried to put together more complete games and hopefully we can continue doing it.''
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http://mb3.scout.com/fclevelandcavaliersfrm1

If anyone gets a chance, you should hit up the cavs' scout board. It's actually worse than Bucknuts. I can't believe people bitch over there as much as they do. There's actually a thread/poll asking whether Mike Brown should be fired right now and one claiming that Hughes/Marshall/DJones were all worthless signings.

I guess when you jump on the bandwagon, you expect to win a championship your first couple years after making the leap. This is a young team that needs serious time to gel. The schedule this year up until this point has been more difficult than at this time last year. I'm confident this team will avoid the late season collapse of last year's squad and secure the 4th or 5th seed in the playoffs. That would be significant improvement.

If the jumpers can't handle the growing pains, then they can get off the bandwagon right now as far as I'm concerned. This organization needs to focus on stability in the roster and in the coaching staff. Unfortunately, some so-called "fans" keep having their typical knee-jerk reactions.
 
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crazybuckfan40 said:
I agree with the first part, I hate those lapses.

On the second part tho, I disagree b/c I think that Jackson could actually help this team, unlike what most walkons do.
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It's amazing how much getting to start has helped Pavlovic. I thought he was a waste of space until he got a few games of starting experience and came into his own. Now he is playing better than I thought he could on offense and defense. I could only imagine what Jackson would do if he was given a similar shot. The injury to Hughes might end up being a blessing in disguise since it looks like it has turned Pavlovic into, at the very least, a reliable 6th man. When Hughes comes back the Cavs are going to have Jones, Marshall, Pavlovic, and Varejao as quality backups with Jackson, Newble, Henderson and Wilks and role players off the bench. This team is deep. I just hope they can hold their ground for the next month, because the schedule is brutal.
 
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StadiumDorm said:
http://mb3.scout.com/fclevelandcavaliersfrm1

If anyone gets a chance, you should hit up the cavs' scout board. It's actually worse than Bucknuts. I can't believe people bitch over there as much as they do. There's actually a thread/poll asking whether Mike Brown should be fired right now and one claiming that Hughes/Marshall/DJones were all worthless signings.

I guess when you jump on the bandwagon, you expect to win a championship your first couple years after making the leap. This is a young team that needs serious time to gel. The schedule this year up until this point has been more difficult than at this time last year. I'm confident this team will avoid the late season collapse of last year's squad and secure the 4th or 5th seed in the playoffs. That would be significant improvement.

If the jumpers can't handle the growing pains, then they can get off the bandwagon right now as far as I'm concerned. This organization needs to focus on stability in the roster and in the coaching staff. Unfortunately, some so-called "fans" keep having their typical knee-jerk reactions.
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Come on any real Cavs fan knows that they should have traded for Steve Nash, Ben Wallace, and Garnett this past off season if they wanted to win a championship. Jones, Marshall, and Hughes are worthless. :p
 
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exhawg said:
It's amazing how much getting to start has helped Pavlovic.
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Sasha showed signs last year as well. When Lebron went out for a few games, he really stepped up and showed that he can be a playmaker. The fact is, outside of Lebron and Larry, Pavs might be the only other guy on this team that can create his own shot from the outside. He has the guts to take it to the hole, and is a very competent dribbler. His big problem is his decision making and erratic shooting ability. Not sure if that has improved at all since he became a Cav.
 
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StadiumDorm said:
Sasha showed signs last year as well. When Lebron went out for a few games, he really stepped up and showed that he can be a playmaker. The fact is, outside of Lebron and Larry, Pavs might be the only other guy on this team that can create his own shot from the outside. He has the guts to take it to the hole, and is a very competent dribbler. His big problem is his decision making and erratic shooting ability. Not sure if that has improved at all since he became a Cav.
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That's a bingo. I think the difference between him and Jackson is that Pavlovic seems to play under control, whereas Jackson sometimes plays like a bulldozer in a construction yard. Both of their shooting seems to be erratic.

This starting gig for Pavlovic seems to have given him alot of confidence, which he certainly needed.

Varajeo doesn't need confidence, just pt.
 
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From looking at his line the past 6 games it looks like Pavlovic has found his confidence over the past 2 games.

FG's/3's: 3-4/1-2, 5-8/2-4, 2-7/1-2, 0-3/0-2, 6-9/4-5, 4-9/0-3

The past 2 games he's shooting 66% and 50% for 3's. He was on fire the first Pacers game in his second start. His numbers in his 6 starts are still great: 50% on FG and 44% from behind the line. I would rather have Hughes healthy and in the lineup, but Pavlovic is doing a nice job filling his shoes, and gives the Cavs a real 3 pt threat in the starting lineup to spread the floor for Lebron.
This is pretty much Jackson's rookie year so hopefully he will get some decent playing time this season, and summer league this year to work out his kinks. He should be able to come into his own next season. I can only imagine what the Cavs would be like with Pavlovic and Jackson playing up to their potential. The second unit of Jones, Pavlovic, Jackson, Marshall, and Varejao might be better than some other teams starting lineups. Talk about firepower.
 
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exhawg said:
It's amazing how much getting to start has helped Pavlovic. I thought he was a waste of space until he got a few games of starting experience and came into his own. Now he is playing better than I thought he could on offense and defense. I could only imagine what Jackson would do if he was given a similar shot. The injury to Hughes might end up being a blessing in disguise since it looks like it has turned Pavlovic into, at the very least, a reliable 6th man. When Hughes comes back the Cavs are going to have Jones, Marshall, Pavlovic, and Varejao as quality backups with Jackson, Newble, Henderson and Wilks and role players off the bench. This team is deep. I just hope they can hold their ground for the next month, because the schedule is brutal.
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Yep, Brown finally realized that Jones should not be starting.

I think at the same time tho, we need to bring Jackson along, b/c that depth will only help in the future, and if we get too deep, we could always trade a Jackson or Pavs to get a position of need(only if they have trade value, which will require pt from Brown to get them up to that level of play)
 
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The worst thing to happen to Jones this season was getting moved into the starting lineup. Now that he's back on the bench he seems to be back in his comfort zone. He is one of the few players on the Cavs that can shoot 3's off of the dribble. I'm just glad to see him driving to the hoop every once and a while. That will open him up for more 3's and help space the floor for everyone else.
 
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exhawg said:
The worst thing to happen to Jones this season was getting moved into the starting lineup. Now that he's back on the bench he seems to be back in his comfort zone. He is one of the few players on the Cavs that can shoot 3's off of the dribble. I'm just glad to see him driving to the hoop every once and a while. That will open him up for more 3's and help space the floor for everyone else.
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Also helps confidence, especially when he is slumping a lil bit from behind the arc.
 
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Im disappointed hes not in the dunk contest. The greatest players in the NBA have been there, and won it. Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, etc. all have been in the Dunk Contest, and won it which made them even more popular.

Ill probably be ripped for saying it, but I am really disappointed that he is not doing it, I want to see how great he could be at it...
 
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