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Cavs Regular Season

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I can't imagine how brutal 4 NBA games in 5 days would be. I play in a 1 day a week rec league and I'm sore for a couple days after the game. Noted I'm not in the kind of shape NBA players are, but I don't play as hard or for as long as they do.
Bring back Larry Hughes and last nights game is different IMO. Hughes would take Wade, which would let Snow take Payton. Payton was having his way with Pavlovic, who just wasn't fast enough to cover GP.
I just have a feeling that if the Cavs can get and stay healthy they will consistently be playing good ball by playoff time. Their best bet is to get the 4th playoff spot and play a team like the Bucks in the first round. The Bucks don't have the playoff experience either so home court would probably help the Cavs get playoff broken. I wouldn't want the Cavs to drop to the 6th-8th playoff spots because I wouldn't want them to play the Pistons, Heat, or Nets in the first round.
The Cavs tend to play well against the Pistons at home so that would be a good series. The last 2 games of February will be a good look into that series when the Cavs have 2 games in a row against the Pistons. Hopefully Hughes will be back by that point as well. They actually match up pretty will against the Pistons since Snow and Hughes are the best 2 defenders and can hold their own against Billups and Hamilton. Lebron can handle Prince. Rasheed is better than Gooden, but not by that much if Gooden can keep his head in the game defensively. Z has an advantage over Ben Wallace on offense since Wallace is short for a center. If Varejao can give them good minutes, and Marshall/Jones/Pavlovic can score off the bench the Cavs have as good of a chance as anyone against the Pistons.
 
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Z

exhawg said:
The Cavs are already down their second or third best player so when Z got hurt for most of the first half much of their offense went with him.
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Last night would have been a really tough win to get, given the travel and whatnot ... but the thing I really took out of it was just how crucial Z is to the cavs offense when the chips are down. The whole offense runs inside out through him, and while they may be able to handle his abscence against lesser teams or in non-crucial situations, the guy is going to be a CRITICAL part of the cavs success down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Plus, you gotta love Z's attitude. Dislocates finger, misses half the game, the team is down 50 or something like that, and Z says "screw it, I'm going back out there".

Really, the thing I wonder is how many more years does Z have left in him. I didn't watch the end of the game, but the box score tells me that little-Z rookie got in the game. Now I'm pissed that I didn't watch. Did anybody tough the game out? How did he look?
 
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WestEnd said:
but the box score tells me that little-Z rookie got in the game. Now I'm pissed that I didn't watch. Did anybody tough the game out? How did he look?
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Very raw. He's way too light and very young still. He needs to be down in the D league for the rest of the season and put on 30-40 lbs. He had one open look at a basket and threw it off of the backboard. I'm sure that was just nerves. Varejao was the same way last year and his shooting has come around this season. Give him a couple years to develop and he could turn into a clone of Big Z. Hopefully as Big Z's career winds down Little Z will take over for him. If that doesn't work the Cavs would probably be fine with a Ben Wallace type of center.
 
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ABJ

2/4/06

Cavaliers a team in good standing

Ranking in league OK despite rout by Heat

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->CLEVELAND - It was hard for the Cavaliers to feel very good about themselves in the wake of their worst loss of the season Thursday.
The 101-73 loss to the Miami Heat was a setback. Not only did it break a seven-game win streak, but it also handed the second-best record in the Eastern Conference back to the Heat.
Taking stock of their position in the order of things, the Cavs find themselves in excellent position with a little less than half the season left.
The Central Division is virtually conceded to the Detroit Pistons, who are chasing history more than another division crown.
With the No. 2 and No. 3 playoff seeds assured to the winners of the Atlantic and Southeast divisions, the best the Cavs can hope for is the East's fourth seed and homecourt advantage in the first round.
Despite going 9-8 since 2006 began without Larry Hughes, the Cavs (27-18) have opened a four-game lead on that spot.
``We're No. 4'' is hardly an enviable battle cry, indeed. But for a team that hasn't tasted the playoffs since 1998, it holds some value.
The Cavs' nearest competition for that spot is due in town, as the Philadelphia 76ers visit tonight and the Milwaukee Bucks come Tuesday. Both were tied for the fifth spot entering Friday's play, and both are down in the season series to the Cavs.
With a win over Philadelphia, the Cavs would grab a 2-0 lead in that series, and a win over the Bucks would give them a 3-1 season victory. They've already secured the tiebreaker over the Indiana Pacers, currently in seventh position, by winning the series 3-1.
The Cavs are 18-7 against Eastern Conference teams, the second-best record behind the Pistons.
``Being able to get the edge in the season series is important,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ``It is like the playoffs, you want to win series.''
Brown slips into classic ``one game at a time'' coach-speak when it comes to such matters of standings. But there's no doubt he's as aware of the standings as any other Cav. If not, the up-to-date Eastern Conference order is posted in a highly visible area in the team's locker room a step outside the coach's office.
M*A*S*H report
Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas underwent an MRI on Friday that revealed that there was no internal damage after he dislocated the middle finger on his right hand in the loss to the Heat. However, he did experience some swelling, and he's listed as a game-time decision for tonight.... Guard Ira Newble remained in the Cleveland Clinic for a fourth consecutive day as he battled an infection that started in his nose. He'll miss his fifth consecutive game against the Sixers.
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Ok so the game tonite didnt turn out how I would of liked it but I had a helluva time. My first time ever seeing the Cavs live, and man was it a blast, besides for the fans next to me who were the most negative fans I have ever seen.

I hate to keep blaming the tired legs, but once again down the stretch we went cold, we were missing shots that we normally make and we werent quite where we needed to be on defense. I liked the idea that Brown played Jackson, even know he didnt hit his shots, they were taken in rhythm and he played good defense.

I think Brown if realizing that his guys are getting tired and they need rest some times. Also Philly couldnt miss down the stretch.
 
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Canton

2/5/06

Cavs headed wrong way once again

Sunday, February 5, 2006

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]BY Mike Popovich REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER[/FONT]


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AP tony dejak The Cavaliers’ LeBron James (center) is surrounded by the 76ers’ John Salmons (left) and Allen Iverson in the first quarter Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
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CLEVELAND - The NBA’s streakiest team is starting to head the wrong way again.
Allen Iverson scored a game-high 34 points and handed out nine assists as Philadelphia handed the Cavaliers their second straight loss, 100-95, Saturday at The Q.
The two-game slump comes after the Cavaliers won seven in a row. The seven-game winning streak followed a six-game losing streak.
The team’s inconsistency is starting to concern Head Coach Mike Brown.
“Our inconsistencies have shown up not only from the streaks of wins and losses, but from quarter to quarter,” Brown said. “We start out playing like gangbusters, then we lose a little focus.”
That is exactly what happened against a Sixers team that was playing for the second straight night.
The Cavaliers (27-19) scored the first 9 points of the game and led 41-27 with just over seven minutes left in the first half. Then they spent the rest of the half blowing the entire 14-point lead.
That is when the game really was lost.
“It wasn’t a good effort by us tonight, simple as that,” said LeBron James, who led the Cavaliers with 31 points. “We came out with the intensity that we wanted to win the game. Then we just let it slip by.”
Iverson, who sat out the last four games with a sprained left ankle, and Chris Webber combined for 15 points during a 22-8 run that gave the Sixers (24-23) a 50-49 lead.
The Cavaliers turned the ball over six times during Philadelphia’s run.
“I thought there were instances where we faded a little bit,” Brown said. “It was evident in some of our turnovers. Some of our turnovers were unforced. When you have unforced turnovers of the magnitude of our turnovers, it makes it tough to win basketball games.”
Philadelphia regained the lead in the second half and pushed it out to 76-69 early in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers responded with an 8-2 run and cut it to 78-77 on a Drew Gooden jumper with 8:58 left.
But the Sixers answered with a 9-2 run. Iverson’s jumper with 5:51 left gave them a 87-79 lead. They led by as many as 9 down the stretch.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Gooden added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Sasha Pavlovic finished with 12 points for the Cavaliers.
Webber added 26 points and eight rebounds for the Sixers.

NOTEBOOK Cavaliers forward Ira Newble continues to receive treatment at Cleveland Clinic for a facial infection ... Former Cavaliers center Zendon Hamilton is now a member of the Sixers. He is on his third 10-day contract. ... Saturday’s sellout was the seventh of the season. Reach Repository sports writer Mike Popovich at (330) 580-8341 or e-mail: [email protected]
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Suddenly the Cavs are thin at SG/SF, hopefully Hughes isn't too far away from coming back.

Cavaliers' Jackson breaks wrist
By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer
February 6, 2006

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Cavaliers forward Luke Jackson will be out for at least seven weeks after breaking his left wrist Saturday night during a loss to Philadelphia, another costly injury for Cleveland.

Jackson has gotten more playing time with starter Larry Hughes sidelined following finger surgery. But Jackson will be gone during a crucial stretch for the Cavs, who have lost two in a row following a seven-game winning streak.

The team sent out an injury report late Sunday saying that Jackson will need surgery. Jackson didn't score in 11 minutes on the floor Saturday, missing three field-goal attempts in a 100-95 loss.

Jackson has struggled in his second season in the NBA after missing most of his rookie year with a back injury. The former first-round pick had surgery to fix a herniated disc last January.

He's averaging just 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds, but Jackson has played well in spurts and Cavs first-year coach Mike Brown said on Saturday that he would like to play the 6-foot-7 fan favorite more often.

The Cavs also said forward Ira Newble remains hospitalized with an infection in his face. Newble has been in the Cleveland Clinic since Tuesday with what the team has called a facial abscess.

Newble is being treated with antibiotics. Brown visited him on Saturday and said Newble's face was still swollen but that his condition had improved.

With Hughes, Newble and now Jackson sidelined for an extensive period, the Cavaliers, who host Milwaukee on Monday, will have to sign a free agent or make a trade to get some depth off the bench. The league's trading deadline is Feb. 23.

Hughes, who had surgery on his broken right middle finger on Jan. 6, was expected to miss at least eight weeks. But Hughes has been encouraged by his progress and will see a doctor on Tuesday.

Updated on Monday, Feb 6, 2006 12:19 am EST
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tsteele316 said:
boy, jackson looks like he's on the trajen langdon career path.

of course all of his jumpers barely hit the front of the rim the other night anyway.
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Yeah, he wasn't really shy about throwing up shots, even though he was wide open for most of them. Of course if I'm playing against a guy who is going to shoot and miss wide open 3's I'll let him shoot them all day. Jones and Wilks are probably going to have to play more now, since I doubt that the Cavs will sign anyone who is going to be able to help much. They are heavy with big men now so Marshall might get some time at 3 if they play a slower team.
 
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