Author Topic: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?  (Read 35031 times)

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Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #15 on: October 22, 2009, 10:40:04 AM »

Offline Bankshot

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After last night, no regrets on missing out on Moon.

The Cavs are going to be a great team, but they weren't sharp last night.  S'ok, it's preseason, we weren't terribly sharp against the Knicks.  LeBron's rejection of Rondo made Rajon look like a little kid trying to play against his mean older brother.  Z looked slow, but he was able to get those set shots off without much trouble.

Delonte was their second-best player once the games started really counting, so it's hard to make too many judgements.  Think they get a lot of energy from him, and I've got to believe that he would make life at least a little more difficult for Quisy than Moon did.

If Delonte is their 2nd or 3rd best player, don't expect them to make it to the finals.
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Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #16 on: October 22, 2009, 10:47:32 AM »

Offline the_Bird

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Well, he should be their fourth-best player now that they've picked up Shaq (and assuming Mo Williams doens't disappear in the playoffs again).  Still, he has been one of their best players, and I've got to think he would have done a better job on the defensive end that the guys they put out there.  Boobie shouldn't be on the court, dude can shoot but nothing else.

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #17 on: October 22, 2009, 10:55:39 AM »

Offline Brickowski

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The Cavs are like the Celtics: they live or die with their defense. Last night it wasn't there, particularly with their second unit. For starters, Jamario Moon is terrible defensively--Daniels abused him repeatedly-- and the Cavs consistently lost track of Eddie House.   

Delonte West is a very underrated defender and they need him back.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2009, 11:07:46 AM by Brickowski »

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #18 on: October 22, 2009, 10:55:57 AM »

Offline nickagneta

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What last night showed me, and granted, I only saw the first half, is the fundamental flaw in the Cleveland offense that bringing in Shaq creates. In the past, Cleveland had Wallace and Ilgauskas playing the bigs positions.

When LBJ had the ball and was looking to create(which is 70% of the Cavs offense), Big Z would be outside setting screens for LeBron while picking and popping for an open jumper if LeBron felt good enough to pass it to him. Wallace would be weak side looking for an offensive board crash. Or they would try to establish Z low with LBJ and Wallace weak side, swing the ball and let Wallace set the screen for LBJ. Either way, LeBron had a clear path because someone was not directly in the lane.

They have taken half of those options out because neither Shaq nor Varejao can pick and pop. On most possessions, Cleveland is going to have to be pulling AV away from the basket to set outside screens or else LeBron will be relegated to shooting outside because there will be to many people clogging the lane for LeBron to go to the basket.

I think they are going to soon discover that have an outside shooting center or power forward is in LeBron's offensive game's best interest.

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #19 on: October 22, 2009, 11:01:55 AM »

Offline Chris

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The Cavs are like the Celtics: they live or die with their defense. Last it wasn't there, particularly with their second unit. For starters, Jamario Moon is terrible defensively--Daniels abused him repeatedly-- and the Cavs consistently lost track of Eddie House.   

Delonte West is a very underrated defender and they need him back.

The C's really dodged a bullet when they got Daniels instead of Moon.

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #20 on: October 22, 2009, 11:03:42 AM »

Offline Bankshot

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The Cavs are like the Celtics: they live or die with their defense. Last it wasn't there, particularly with their second unit. For starters, Jamario Moon is terrible defensively--Daniels abused him repeatedly-- and the Cavs consistently lost track of Eddie House.   

Delonte West is a very underrated defender and they need him back.

The C's really dodged a bullet when they got Daniels instead of Moon.

Agreed.
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Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #21 on: October 22, 2009, 11:18:20 AM »

Offline Reyquila

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Dont get carried away with a pre-season game. Lebron will be Lebron during the season. Shak will be a force inside. Mo will continue scoring. They have a good team. They will be in the thick of it when it counts; When crunch time comes, it will be up for grabs between us, The Cavs and the Magic. You know which teams worry me? Washington; we did not match well with them when Arenas was healthy. They are a quick team that gives us trouble. They can give a few teams lodas of trouble. They won reach the finals but they can do a lot of damage before they are eliminated. At the end of the day, injuries will be a factor. Between the above mentioned teams, the one(s) that stay the healthiest will have the best chance. It has happened in the last 3 years; it will happne again. So enjoy the season; its out of our hands who wins and who is second best. lol
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Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #22 on: October 22, 2009, 11:21:00 AM »

Offline Brickowski

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I have zero worries about Wahington.  If we played them 82 times we would definitely win more than 72 games.

The sleeper team that scares me is the Bulls, and if I were a Laker or Spurs fan, I would be very afraid of Portland.  Greg Oden has emerged big time.

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #23 on: October 22, 2009, 11:28:14 AM »

Offline KJ33

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Which is funny if you saw the espn highlights this morning.  They pumped up lebron etc, highlight was him blocking rondos shot and a few other bright spots for cavs.  I didn't even think it was a game last night.  Basically our subs beat their starters  :-\
lebron is lebron
shaq looked good but way out of shape and he clogs lane for cavs, if i'm coaching against them in a series I'd let him go 1 on 1
marquis' looked like he could have had his way for 30
other thought, isn't mo williams an all star or was pushing to be one? he isn't in the same league with rondo
if i'm a cavs fan i'm worried!

No kidding, if you didn't know better, you'd have thought the Cavs whooped the C's, they only showed highlights of Lebron and Shaq, not one Celtics play.  I realize the results in preseason don't mean much if anything, and ESPN is more concerned with spectacular plays, but come on, that was insulting.  LeBron's big block, which he was clearly very enamored of himself for, resulted in the C's taking the ball out of bounds. 

I am holding my breath in terms of the regular refs and how that 1st game is going to go.  With the new traveling rules, Lebron and Shaq are two of the biggest beneficiaries.  As dominating physically as they both are, getting extra steps now makes them unstoppable.  If somehow someway, you can stop Shaq from getting the really deep position he needs, he will just spin back the other way taking a few extra steps along the way, it makes him unguardable.  Ditto for Lebron.  When he has no idea what to do, he just carries the ball while taking 3 running steps without dribbling and bulls his way to the hoop.

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #24 on: October 22, 2009, 11:33:29 AM »

Offline Birdbrain

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The Cavs are like the Celtics: they live or die with their defense. Last it wasn't there, particularly with their second unit. For starters, Jamario Moon is terrible defensively--Daniels abused him repeatedly-- and the Cavs consistently lost track of Eddie House.   

Delonte West is a very underrated defender and they need him back.

The C's really dodged a bullet when they got Daniels instead of Moon.

Is this a play on words or are you stating that Boston wanted Moon over Daniels?  Specifically Ainge? 
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Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #25 on: October 22, 2009, 11:34:37 AM »

Offline fairweatherfan

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Didn't see the game, but I think how Delonte does in the early season is going to be a big factor in how they get out of the gate.  He's more of a stabilizing influence on the court than many fans realize.  Does anyone know what his current situation is?

He's medically cleared to play, but the Cavs have him benched for the time being.

Thanks Roy, TP.  It sounds like whatever mental issues he's having this year are especially bad - maybe related to/caused by the arrest?  The Cavs are much worse off without him, but I hope he makes a full recovery and is out there to give his all come Tuesday.

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #26 on: October 22, 2009, 11:39:37 AM »

Offline indeedproceed

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Didn't see the game, but I think how Delonte does in the early season is going to be a big factor in how they get out of the gate.  He's more of a stabilizing influence on the court than many fans realize.  Does anyone know what his current situation is?

He's medically cleared to play, but the Cavs have him benched for the time being.

Thanks Roy, TP.  It sounds like whatever mental issues he's having this year are especially bad - maybe related to/caused by the arrest?  The Cavs are much worse off without him, but I hope he makes a full recovery and is out there to give his all come Tuesday.

To elaborate on this:

Mike Woodson per Greg Dickerson on whether D West would play in the opener:
"I don't know. He will play when he plays. The people monitoring him will let me know when he is able to play"

That is paraphrased but pretty accurate. I'm not sure this entails that he is actually medically cleared to play.

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Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #27 on: October 22, 2009, 11:42:50 AM »

Offline ben

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The Cavs peaked in 2008, people should realize.  They were sooo good that season, 2007 - 2008 and were our hardest  opponent on our way to our title.  Since then they have been overated.  

Their second best player is Ilgauskis, and unfortunately for them, he is aging.  

Cleveland lost to Orlando last year.  Orlando.  We almost beat Orlando with out our best player.

The reason they were good was because of the Lebron Ilgauskis duo.  With Ilgauskis in his last season, Cleveland just isn't that great.  

However, if Powe comes back healthy, and Shaq and Ilgauskis are playing well and healthy for the playoffs, then this team becomes DANGEROUS.   Lebron is lebron(awesome), but he can not do it alone.  

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #28 on: October 22, 2009, 11:53:45 AM »

Offline Chris

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The Cavs are like the Celtics: they live or die with their defense. Last it wasn't there, particularly with their second unit. For starters, Jamario Moon is terrible defensively--Daniels abused him repeatedly-- and the Cavs consistently lost track of Eddie House.   

Delonte West is a very underrated defender and they need him back.

The C's really dodged a bullet when they got Daniels instead of Moon.

Is this a play on words or are you stating that Boston wanted Moon over Daniels?  Specifically Ainge? 

I don't know if they wanted Moon more, but the rumors were (and take the rumors with a grain of salt) that the C's were after Moon, in a sign and trade, and did not move on to Daniels until they realized the Moon deal would not happen. 

It could be completely innaccurate, but thats how the timeline was reported.

Re: Anyone Impressed With the Cavs?
« Reply #29 on: October 22, 2009, 12:02:51 PM »

Offline Bankshot

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The Cavs peaked in 2008, people should realize.  They were sooo good that season, 2007 - 2008 and were our hardest  opponent on our way to our title.  Since then they have been overated.  

Their second best player is Ilgauskis, and unfortunately for them, he is aging.  

Cleveland lost to Orlando last year.  Orlando.  We almost beat Orlando with out our best player.

The reason they were good was because of the Lebron Ilgauskis duo.  With Ilgauskis in his last season, Cleveland just isn't that great.  

However, if Powe comes back healthy, and Shaq and Ilgauskis are playing well and healthy for the playoffs, then this team becomes DANGEROUS.   Lebron is lebron(awesome), but he can not do it alone.  


Really now?  Powe? I'm sorry, but Powe doesn't scare me one bit.  I know everyone here loves Powe, but he's really not that good, is undersized and will probably be even less effective due to his injury.
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