Cavs at Nuggets
Posted November 12th, 2007 by Brian Windhorst
Pregame
Cavs: Daniel Gibson, Larry Hughes, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Nuggets: Allen Iverson, Yakhouba Diaware, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby
–Sasha Pavlovic is out with back spasms, although he is still active.
–This is maybe the toughest back-to-back the Cavs have this season, considering it is the fourth game in five nights, the last game on a six-game trip and in Denver. However, the Nuggets are coming off a four-game road trip, which has certain affects.
–Rebounding will be a big factor in the game. The Nuggets like to run and push it after defensive rebounds. The Cavs are not great at transition defense and tend to hoist a lot of jumpers that lead to long rebounds. It may be hard to control. Same goes for turnovers, which the Cavs give away from time to time.
–The Nuggets will try a bunch different guys on LeBron, the idea is to keep him away from the basket.
–Not sure how Daniel Gibson covers A.I.
Larry Hughes ejection
–Maybe those of you watching on television have some information I am not aware of, but it appeared that Larry had been complaining two or three straight trips down the floor about a non-foul call on a jump shot. Whatever he said to Bill Spooner must have been magic, because he ejected him with anger, punching the air as he tossed him. I couldn’t read his lips on the replay but I’m sure he’ll be asked after the game.
It is never good to get thrown out, but with Sasha Pavlovic already out and the Cavs a little gassed from last night it might come back and haunt them. Look for Ira Newble to get some extra minutes now.
Halftime — Nuggets 58, Cavs 43
–This one is going about like you’d expect considering the circumstances. The Nuggets are quicker and more focused than the Cavs and they are pushing them around. They are beating them back and getting free and easy points. This is what the Nuggets do and often this is what the Cavs allow them to do. They’ve won six of the last eight.
–The Cavs are back to playing lazy and slow offense, they are shooting just 35 percent because they are standing and dribbling and playing 1-on-1 basketball a great deal.
–LeBron is playing hard and the Nuggets can’t defend him. Doesn’t look like it will be enough.
–Save the e-mails on the free throw shooting and all the tips for LeBron. He will not change until he decides he wants to change. It is not good, everybody knows it. LeBron has drawn nine fouls but he’s not taking advantage.
–Despite that, the big difference in the game is really the spurt at the start of the second quarter when the Cavs committed five turnovers and it fueled the Nuggets’ big run.
–Iverson is just too quick for anyone the Cavs can put on him, Gibson is getting frustrated.
–The Nuggets have 30 points in the paint, which is terrible for the Cavs defense. That is an out of control number.
–Folks, I am not kidding, Coolio is singing “1, 2, 3, 4″ live here right now. My head is bouncing from memories of my college days. Oh, now he’s doing “Fantastic Voyage.”
–The Nuggets will shoot the opposition back into games, but it will take some effort I don’t see in the Cavs tonight. This has the potential for a mega blowout.
Postgame — Nuggets 122, Cavs 100
Stars
Allen Iverson, 37 points, eight assists…and lots of lessons given to Daniel Gibson
Carmelo Anthony, 22 points, nine rebounds…and gamesmanship, see below.
LeBron James, 27 points
*I refuse to acknowledge garbage time submissions
–Larry Hughes said he was complaining because Carmelo Anthony was hitting him on the arm whenever he took a jump shot and the referees were not responding to his pleas to get a call. Here’s what he said: “I said what I had to say and it’s over with. I got hit four straight times and I asked him to call a foul. Melo kept smacking my arm. He was trying to get away with it, on the first shot he fell and then smacked me on the leg and that started it off. It’s a good tactic if you can get away with it. You have to be allowed to say something about it. Any time you get ejected it’s over the top. You say what you have to say. I am not going to drag it on, I want to move on.”
–Cavs played like they were ready to go home and so now they are. They didn’t try very hard on either end, though some disagree with that (see farther below). Not even for pride’s sake, considering the Nuggets are 7-2 against them in the LeBron era.
–Not sure how much analysis can be done on this one. It was the most points the Cavs have given up in the Mike Brown era in regulation, that tells you something about the defensive effort. In general, the Cavs did not play very good defense on this trip. They did so in spurts and it got them some wins, but they were nowhere near the level they were at a year ago.
–Nuggets numbers: 50 points in the paint, 21 fastbreak points, 55 percent shooting.
–Considering the schedule, 4-4 is a fair start. In the George Karl standings (road wins minus home losses) the Cavs are at +2 right now. Believe it or not, that’s the same as Boston though it is early.
–Wednesday is a tough game. Cavs are coming home from the trip and Orlando is 4-0 on the road. That will be a fair test to see where the Cavs are at.
Quotes
Mike Brown: “We got our behinds beat from me on down.”
LeBron James: “I’m not too disappointed. We didn’t execute offensively or defensively. I think we tried to do some things right. I’m not disappointed in our effort, not today. We played well out here and now we can go home.”
November 12th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Larry knows that Denver Strip Clubs close early on Mondays
November 12th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
What a nice, deep rotation we have. With Hughes gone and Sasha out, will we see Shannon Brown?
November 12th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Never have seen anything REMOTELY like that in my twenty-five plus years of watching the NBA. But, as Mr. Windhorst assures us time and again, the refs are just great and never effect the outcome of game.
What, me worry?
The Genius has…left the building!
November 12th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Don’t leave GenUIs!
If you will feel better by blaming the refs, I’m sure Brian doesn’t mind. Just don’t expect him to agree with you!
November 12th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Brian, I expect credit on your eventual LeBron James FT routine/shooting woes article.
He will continue to clank free throws at the end of quarters until he submits to what they teach you in middle school which are rhythm dribbles and a good knee bend.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
So wait Mr Genius, you’ve never seen a NBA player cuss out a ref before and get tossed? What league have you been watching? Hughes is a thug.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
So did Coolio do Gangsta’s Paradise, too? I heard JR Ride…err JR Smith requested it.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
as i said in the “cleveland vs. clipper” blog , don’t get too carried away with the road victories against the warriors ,kings , and clips . sure , those are good wind because you have to beat the teams you are supposed to , but i’m not ready to say cleveland is a great team in the making . this roster and coaching has too many flaws .
November 12th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Why is LeBron still out there with 4 minutes left in the third in a 27 point blowout? Does Mike Brown want LBJ to get hurt?
November 13th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Would be perfect if Weird Al was around to sing Amish Paradise along side Coolio.
Takes me back to ‘92
November 13th, 2007 at 12:37 am
4-4 with all of the roster nonsense, a China adventure, plus a trip out West, count me in the camp of optimisim for this team.
Not too concerned about this game, kind of nice to see everyone get some time, even if they were garbage minutes
November 13th, 2007 at 12:40 am
People, relax. This is an expected loss. The Cavaliers have had a great road-trip going .500 with all the questions they faced before heading out on the road. Not many expected them to be 4-4 coming home and they easily could be 5-3 if Z decided to actually step in front of a last minute drive in Utah. The bench has showed more depth and versatility than expected. And, most importantly, other than tonight the Cavaliers have gotten back to defense which was the key last year. Let’s give this crew some credit for being the defending Easter Conference Champions rather than running them down after every loss. The Cavaliers have a toughness the Indians and Browns do not.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:44 am
JR Smith is a thug, not Larry Hughes.
This is the first learning experience of the year for the Cavs. How easy it is to get blown out when you take a team likely.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:53 am
Uh where is Wild Thing? Somebody tell Boat Shoes to get
his bald ass to Brazil and grow his hair wild and swing from
some #$%$#@#$%$# trees. Without him we are done.
Where the hell was Z tonight. AWW was the big boy tired.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:00 am
Recap in pictures:
http://www.lecavs.com/2007/11/cavs-nuggets-recrap-in-pictures.html
November 13th, 2007 at 10:00 am
gotta love how anderson varejao is being seen as some sort of savior on these blogs
November 13th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Anyone else bothered at all by LeBron saying he’s “not too disappointed”? I don’t like the built in excuses for this game (4th game in 5 days, last game of road trip, etc). I mean, don’t get me wrong, those are legit obstacles, but still…we got absolutely KILLED last night. I thought it was a pathetic performance from the 2nd quarter on.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:41 am
Uh reckut nala you are dead on. We have got to do
something soon or we will be 44-38 sixth seed and
out in the second series. Did you see the free throw shooting
last night. Tuck-Tuck Suck Suck and Joe Genuis could
shoot better. Simmons looks like he needs bifocals at
the line. And Lebron is wasting all that time and energy
in addition to taking shots like Charlie Frye just go up
there and CLANKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 13th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I would rather lose by 20 points than by two. The effort should go into the 2 - 4 point spread games. the team basically played well in 5 out of 6 west coast road games. I’ll sure forgive them for a “back to back” loss at the end of a long 6 game road trip out west after earlier spenting a week or so on a long China trip.
There are those who, having gone through the same, couldn’t get out of their “easy boy” to go to the frig for a Bud.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I keep hearing on the Cav’s forum that these (Iverson) guys are way toooo old! Hay Boobie, what ya think?
Quotes
Mike Brown: “We got our behinds beat from me on down.”
And Mike, I thought that you would never grow up enough to say this!
November 13th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
recknut…Yeah, that line pisses me off by Lebron. But, then I remember, that that is his stock answer to that question. He never is disappointed it seems. At least he doesn’t voice it to the media. The loss was bad, but when you lose your best on the ball defender 5 minutes into the game against some great one on one players (AI abused Boobie), your two big men are absolutely terrible on offense, and again your whole team can’t shoot FT’s (led by Lebron) you’re gonna lose.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
The effort was bad. Hughes needs to check himself. I don’t like LeBron’s comments afterwards — agree on all those points.
But what really pissed me off last night was listening to Austin Carr drone on and on about the NUGGETS lack a true point guard and how they won’t “turn the corner” as a team unless they get one!
Are you kidding me? The Nuggets?!? First of all, it makes him sound really stupid to hammer another team for something that the Cavs are even more lacking of — a true PG. Secondly, he is saying it while the Nuggets are destroying the Cavs !
AC — I loved you back in the day, but as an announcer, you’re horrible. You’re forcing me to watch with the sound off for the rest of the season.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Hey Brian, any chance of signing and trading Andy (and expiring deals if necessary) for Andre Miller? They don’t really have a young 4, Andy fits with their scrappy D hustle game, and they have little need for Andre anyway. I suppose thats assuming Philly would pony up the cash. What happened to the days when teams would be tripping over themselves to throw money at athletic bigs??
November 13th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Man, if you hated AC doing the broadcast, you DEFINITELY should’ve tuned in to Joe Tait.
I don’t listen to the radio broadcast much, so maybe Joe Tait has just aged curmudgeonly or maybe he was tired, just like the Cavs.
But he hated EVERYTHING last night. Denver, the refs, the Cavs, the bench he was sitting on - though it was upholstered, the height of the press box, everything.
At one point he told the listeners to turn off the radios, then paused for a minute, realized that could get him fired, did a quick 180 and died a little inside.
He commentary was the highlight of the game, by far.
http://www.LeCavs.com
November 13th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Corporate: I agree with all that….The problem is, most of those things you mentioned are recurring problems and not just the result of playing a west coast trip. You pointed out some of the biggest flaws with this team: Gibson’s defense, inconsistent offense, and no free throw shooting.
Not to mention, we gave up 122 freaking points. I halfway expected the offense to be flat, but I can’t recall the last time I saw this team put forth a defensive effort (or lack thereof) like that.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Hughes is hurting this team in so many ways at this point. Besides his shooting and lack of dependability, we desperately needed someone to play defense against Denver last night and he ended up getting tossed… Just great. Hey, how about a Hughes-for-Marbury deal??? Has anyone heard of a cancer transplant???
November 13th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Hi Brian,
I like the format you are using to write up the games. Keep it up! It’s great to get insight different than an AP wire story like i get here in boston.
November 13th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Does anyone know what exactly Larry said to get tossed so quickly last night? Larry justt pretty much said that he was telling the ref to watch Carmelo hitting his arm on his shots. That hardly seems like a reason to get tossed, so I wonder what Larry REALLY said to the ref.
November 13th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
in ‘02 when i was in school we had a chance to hear Coolio…..we voted him out of a group as the artist we would most like to see and hear…we then found out that he wasnt going to perform, just give a motivational and inspirational speech…needless to say, he didnt come…we ended up getting Naughty By Nature (which is sweet cause they played “Hip-Hop Hooray” twice in a row)…but i am glad to hear that he is performing again, when i saw him at half-court i was wondering if he was flowin or preachin
November 13th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Everyone will kneel to the KING
November 13th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Thoughts on the Cavs game last night:
- Joe Tait may have been in a bad mood, but he was absolutely right last night. I was surprised by just how pessimistic he seemed early in the game, but the Cavs went out and justified his pessimism.
- Only Larry Hughes could find a way to get kicked out in his first game back after taking most of the road trip off. What a gamer. Somebody call Gilbert Arenas and ask him for more secrets on how to make Larry Hughes not suck.
- One rebound for LeBron last night. Not exactly an MVP effort from anyone last night.
- That includes Z. I really couldn’t tell you why he was so different last night. Maybe it was the non-stop penetration by Iverson and Anthony. Maybe it was too many minutes. Maybe he just mailed it in, like the rest of his team. In any case, I hope it’s not the start of something bad.
- Hard to believe that the team that got skunked by the Mavericks and the Nuggets was the same team that played tough in the other six games.
- I sure hope the Cavs come to play against Orlando tomorrow night.
Go Cavs.
Mike C.