Cavs vs. 76ers
Posted December 15th, 2007 by bwindhorst
Pregame
Starting lineups
76ers: Andre Miller, Willie Green, Andre Iguodala, Reggie Evans, Samuel Dalembert
Cavs: Eric Snow, Sasha Pavlovic, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Officials
Mark Wunderlich, Derek Richardson, Tony Brown
–Daniel Gibson is out after getting hit in the mouth by Jason Kidd in the second half Friday. That may be why he didn’t score in the second half.
–The Sixers have been playing pretty well of late and have some good young players you may not of heard of. Louis Williams is a bright guard prospect and Jason Smith has been a really good rookie for them off the bench.
–Sixers are another team that supposedly has trouble scoring, especially in the front court. We’ll see if the Cavs actually play defense tonight or not. On the board in the locker room before the game one of the coachs wrote: “Defensive Pride???” We’ll see.
Halftime — 76ers 51, Cavs 46
–The Cavs aren’t doing a whole lot right tonight. Their execution level across the board is very low. Last night in the fourth quarter they did a lot of standing around on offense and it has carried over to tonight. They do have 13 assists and Eric Snow has five, they’ve had good possessions, but many bad ones.
–The bad possessions and long shots and rebounds have really let the Sixers get out and run. And with Andre Miller and Louis Williams, they know how. Try 22 fastbreak points in the first half. That is a great number for a game. Cavs transition defense is what is terrible tonight, in the halfcourt they haven’t been too bad. The 76ers had 18 fastbreak points in the second quarter alone. Man, that may be the most I’ve ever seen in a quarter from a team other than Phoenix.
–Miller, who has 16 points, really pushes the ball up the floor so well. Plus he knows how to get fouls and how to score. You can say he’s not a great shooter, but neither is Jason Kidd.
–Anderson Varejao just isn’t getting to loose balls, he is really looking sluggish. 13 minutes and one rebound, but beyond that he just isn’t getting his hands on balls he usually does and it happened last night, too. Guess this is getting into basketball shape.
–When all Larry Hughes does is take jumpers he is going to look bad. That is all he’s done the last two nights and he’s 4-of-20. Maybe I am wrong, but he looks like he’s favoring the left leg a little bit. I am not sure of that. Also, Mike Brown put him at point guard for a few minutes in the second quarter which made him so unhappy he immediately dribbled a ball off his foot.
–LeBron is one his way to a good night but he hasn’t been able to get to the line yet. Andre Iguodala is in foul trouble and LeBron should go at him early in the half and attempt to get him out of the game.
Postgame — 76ers 92, Cavs 86
Stars
Sam Dalembert, 16 points, 19 rebounds
Andre Miller, 20 points, five assists
Andre Iguodala, 20 points, four steals
Drew Gooden, 21 points, 10 rebounds
–The 76ers shot 12-of-40 in the second half on the road and won this game. Tonight this blog must focus on offense, I guess. Just shows how out of rhythm the Cavs are right now because they were pretty darn good in halfcourt defense tonight.
–This was LeBron’s first bad game since the opener. I don’t know if it was an energy issue after playing last night, but he was passive LeBron. We’ve seen it before just like we’ve seen standing around on offense before. He had just two baskets in the second half and one was a freebie at the end. The Cavs had just four points in the paint in the second half, one was the freebie. He has just one free throw, a major indication of how he was playing.
–The 76ers trapped LeBron on pick-and-rolls, which is only effective when he doesn’t attack. Tonight after the first quarter he didn’t. They may congratulate themselves for great defense and give them credit because the scheme worked, but this was more about LeBron stopping himself in my opinion.
–All that said, he is entitled to have an off game every now and then. It just can’t happen on a night when Shannon Brown, Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic go 6-of-28. Sasha is back to airballing big shots again, safe to say his confidence is messed up. Way, way, way too many jumpers overall. That is all they took in the second half, can’t win that way.
–Starting to wonder what is happening to the Cavs’ rebounding. Varejao actually played much better in the second half but the Cavs again got pounded on the boards and it made a major difference. Seems like they are out of position a lot.
–The Cavs are surely in a terrible streak here and they better start getting concerned. They are also not a complete team. But save the overreactions for later, it is a long season. But as you’ll see from the quotes, there is reason to find urgency.
Quotes
LeBron: “I’m very concerned, we’re not playing good basketball. Right now we are not a very good team. It looked good (Tuesday) but a loss to New Jersey and a loss at home puts things in perspective. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re just not a good team, simple as that. It has to be (fixable) or we’ll be 15th in the Eastern Conference soon.”
Mike Brown: “We had a couple wide open looks at the didn’t go in that took the wind out of. Right now we’re reeling a little bit because of the losses that we’ve had.”
December 15th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
I’m expecting a BIG GAME out of LeBron tonight. I don’t think he can take another loss to a bad team.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
That dunk by Shannon Brown was AWESOME! I bet Alan T was even out of his chair on that one!
But then the refs have to call one of their ticky tack calls and T up the bench for celebrating. Give me a freaking break. Can’t these guys have any fun. Refs suck.
December 15th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
What a mail in job by Lebron tonight. He wasn’t even trying.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Blow this team up right now. I dont know how or whom to get but the mix isnt right and this season will soon be lost.
Mike-they doubled and tripled him constantly. Other guys still have to make shots in order for him to take over. He really cant do it without other people helping out.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
its either time to break up this team, or trade Lebron while they could still get something for him. this team sucks and it will be a long season for you diehard fans, and i think if they wait to febuary to make a trade it will be to late, they need to package a trade now, or forget about this season and wait for some contracts to come off of the books next year.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Sasha and Hughes- 3 for 18. Add Shannon Brown and it improves to 6 for 28. With all the talk about the point guard position, shooting guard is killing us. Brown is young and out of control. Sasha’s game is so fragile it drives me crazy. How does an NBA player shoot an uncontested 3-pt airball and call himself a shooter? And Hughes? I just can take anymore. I remember when Danny Ferry was so unwatchable the Cavaliers tried to buy him out. But they owed him so much money, they just kept him on the roster anyway. Now Ferry has Hughes. GM karma at its worst!
Trade Lebron?? For what? Oblivion? Is Dan Gilbert also going to get $150 million in cash to make up for the instant loss in franchise value? You build around LeBron. You don’t trade the best player in the world. You’re thinking like an also-ran Clevelander.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Give Philadelphia what they want and let’s bring in Miller.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:40 am
James- that is still no excuse for having one free throw. Wasn’t it 3 last night?
I saw lanes for James to attack but he was too interested in kicking it out to his teamates. As Windy said in his postgame comments when James stops attacking, everything stops. He acted like he was more concerned about leaving his Hummer out in the snow than he was basketball tonight.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:59 am
[...] Slice of Scifi - Science Fiction TV & Movie News, Interviews & more wrote an interesting post today on Cavs vs. 76ersHere’s a quick excerptCavs vs. 76ers December 15th, 2007 Pregame Starting lineups 76ers: Andre Miller, Willie Green, Andre Iguodala, Reggie Evans, Samuel Dalembert Cavs: Eric Snow, Sasha Pavlovic, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas Officials Mark Wunderlich, Derek Richardson, Tony Brown –Daniel Gibson is out after getting hit in the mouth by Jason Kidd in the second half Friday. That may be why he didn’t score in the second half. –The Sixers have been playing pretty well of late and have some goo [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 1:01 am
I’ll agree, tonight was a debacle offensively. The Cavs might not be a good enough team to win the Championship, but they’re certainly good enough to beat the Sixers at home in December.
When LeBron is refusing to penetrate, which he was tonight, the team settles for too many jump shots. And when they settle for jump shots, they lose. All in all, it was a terrible offensive performance. I’m not sure which was worse, watching Damon Jones throw lob passes to nowhere, or watching Shannon Brown try to make a play during the last two minutes. No, it was probably Sasha airballing a wide-open 3 late in the game.
And as bad as Sasha was tonight, is there any excuse for having Shannon Brown on the floor in crunch time? He doesn’t shoot well, he doesn’t pass well, and he’s turnover prone. He is a bad possession waiting to happen.
And still, he gave you more production tonight than Larry Hughes, who after that amazing night on Tuesday is now 5-24 since, while
But despite all of that, right now LeBron isn’t doing his job, and Coach Brown isn’t doing his job. As long as that keeps up, this team is going to lose to bad teams.
Go Cavs. Another “tough” opponent comes in on Monday.
Mike
December 16th, 2007 at 1:17 am
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 3:12 am
Can someone explain to me why in a close game during the fourth quarter, all five Cavs starters are on the bench? Of course we didn’t score. Does any other coach do this on a regualr basis? We’ve got Jones, Hughes, AV, Newble, and Shannon Brown out on the floor to start the fourth. Yuck.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Sorry but Mike Brown has to go!
December 16th, 2007 at 10:47 am
If Lebron doesn’t leave this team he’s dumber than a rock. Period.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I don’t like seeing Lebron chuck up those 3 pointers as he fades off to the side and out of bounds. What is he thinking? And what happened to super star Larry Hughes who was on fire 2 games ago, but as I figured, has gone silent again. Very strange.
I think one of the big differences between a team like Cleveland and a team like San Antonio is…. consistency!! The Cavs sucked without Lebron, and have played up and down with him. The Spurs on the other hand were winning big games even without Duncan and Tony Longorio. When needed, Genobli stepped up and carried them. The Cavs don’t seem to have anybody consistent enough to carry the team if Lebron is off.
December 16th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
It’s simple. Unless Lebron has an outstanding game they lose. That cannot be said for any other team in the NBA with a superstar. This game, for James, wasn’t as bad as the blog host and some commenters are saying. But he wasn’t aggressive and that is complete BS that he has to have a great game every freaking time for them to win. The real difference? How about your starting and backup 2 gaurd going for 3 for 18 and bringing absolutely nothing to the game? Miller was lighting up Hughes and they put Jmes on him and James stops him. You guys expecting James to have a great game every game are ridiculous and ankle biters of the highest order. Could he have been more aggressive? Of course. But to say you saw open lanes that he could have exploited just underscores your ignorance of the game. Watching on your TV is not the same as being on the court and seeing the defense that is soley designed to stop one person.
December 16th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Hughes has got to go. It’s not that he’s overpaid, it’s that he is so bad on the court he actively harms the team. And because he is supposed to be a “star”, the coach plays him. Any other player with his performance would never see any PT except at garbage time.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Hughes actually played better down the stretch than Lebron did last night. He got to the line and knocked down his FTs. That tells you all you need to know about Lebron’s interest in last night’s game.
December 16th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I think if a guy’s contract is bought out, both the full dollar value and the years of the contract are still held against the future salary cap, is it not? I think so, but maybe somebody can answer the question. Regardless, if Gilbert & Co. want to save some millions of hard cash, and that’s been the modus operandi as of late, then Gilbert should order Ferry to order Brown to bench Hughes and make him downright miserable. He’d eventually be begging to get the hell out of Cleveland, even if it cost him some guaranteed money plus the fat bonus he gets when the Cavs win 49 games. He could easily make up the difference when he signed with another team. At this point, it would probably be the best for all concerned.
December 16th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I want them to play Shannon Brown more. That baller can throw down some serious dunks. Even Alan T loves that guys game!
December 16th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
I agree, JoeHoops, that’s just what the doctor ordered to cure the Cavaliers’ woes, a lot more dunks. Who cares if a guy can’t play worth sh*t. It’s why the Celtics and the Lakers won so many NBA championships. It was the dunking. I was particularly impressed with the dunking guy featured at 0:30 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxRkAqiNXjw
December 16th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Newble, Snow, and a draft pick would match up salary-wise and give philly 2 players who come off the books soon, meanwhile we get a point guard who can actually handle the ball, get people where they need to be, and defend the other team’s ballhandler. It’s really a no-brainer, and Gibson needs a true point to learn from until he’s ready to be an every night starting PG. Make something happen Ferry, before it’s too late.
I dont think there’s any way we can get rid of Larry Hughes, unless a team is dumb enough to trade for him. Maybe we can get a load of clean towels and 2 extra cheerleaders back. Of course, Ferry would hold out for more i suppose.
December 16th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Mike, you gotta be drinking. Hughes was garbage. Plain and simple. Yes, he was more aggressive. And yes, at least he was making his free throws. But again, you’re showing your ignorance of the game. No offense, there. It’s not meant as a putdown. But, it is SO much easier for Hughes to attack when his guy is trailing off of him to help on James. When James has the ball, he has two, if not three guys watching him at all times. You’re acting as if the defense are equal when it comes to James and anybody else on this team. The fact is, James has to do so much more. Again, I agree, that he seemed to be NOT as aggressive, but I’m guessing the defense had a lot to do with that. To think otherwise, shows a niavete of the game.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:09 am
A nice piece of spin in the paper today, on Ferry’s good signings in 2005 and his subsequent fiscal restraint dealing with the younger more promising players.
Can’t wait to see the group of overpaid, complaining bums he brings in when the team starts over in two years.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Apparently the 76ers, with the great Samuel Dalembert patrolling the lane, are the best defensive team in the league. I’m sure that the Spurs and the Celtics are just pouring over the film of Saturday night’s game, amazed that the Sixers found the defense that can keep LeBron James from getting to the hoop. The Pistons are sitting there, jaws agape, amazed that they could have missed something so simple that could have stopped LeBron from scoring the last 25 points of Game 5, and effectively ending their last legitimate title run.
Or maybe the Sixer defense is actually pretty average, and LeBron just wasn’t working very hard in the second half.
Which seems more likely, that the Sixers made a superhuman defensive effort against LeBron that the likes of the Spurs and Pistons could only dream about, or that LeBron took the second half off? I know which way I’m leaning, but apparently anyone who would criticize LeBron James, even for one game, just doesn’t know the game of basketball.
Contract buyouts continue to count against the cap. The cap number is equal to the total amount of the buyout divided along the same general percentages established in the original contract. So if a player has a contract of 2 years and $12 Million/year left, and was bought out for $20 Million, he would count as $10 Million on the cap for each season.
There’s no reason the Sixers would trade Andre Miller for Eric Snow, Ira Newble and a draft pick. The Sixers aren’t going to give Miller away for nothing, and that package amounts to nothing. As much as I would love to see Miller come to Cleveland, the Cavs would have to give up Gooden to make it happen. And Danny Ferry is smart enough to know that the Cavs aren’t going anywhere if they lose any of their frontcourt.
Go Cavs. Tighten it up tonight.
Mike C.
PS: Hughes wasn’t any better than LeBron down the stretch. Everyone on the floor was equally awful.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Oh, chill, Mike. Shakespeare did sarcasm well. You don’t. It is more than fine to criticize James WHEN it is appropriate. Take for example the last 4 or 5 minutes of the game against NJ, where he just threw up junk 3 pointers. That was as chump play as you can get. I AGREE, he was not as aggressive as usual.
My point is, only the naive would blame James for these losses, because he wasn’t superhuman. He wasn’t great. But he was still pretty good. Those constant double and triple teams he alone sees, don’t show up in the box score. The fact that you guys expect him to have great games every time out shows a lack of basketball intelligence. NOBODY plays with 100% intensity every game out. Not even the greatest of them all. No matter the “legend” of Mike. When James, for whatever reason (and it’s amazing how you guys have the ability to see into a player’s heart), has a more than usual passive game, the other clowns on this team need to step up. They fail at a remarkable rate.
I realize that you’re probably kids that expect the impossible out of James, but he is going to have games where he just isn’t great and he looks overly passive. These are the games where the support needs to do it’s job and assist him.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
I don’t know how you could tell it was sarcasm. Given your support of the Sixers fantastic defense, I’m surprised you weren’t standing and applauding as I praised them.
I don’t need to see into a player’s heart to know when he’s not playing well. Anyone with any basketball knowledge could tell that LeBron was not playing with the type of focus and dedication that he typically demonstrates. When he doesn’t have that focus and determination, he goes from being one of the most potent offensive forces in the league to being just another player out on the floor. Somehow I don’t think you would be such a LeBron apologist if you thought he was “just another player out on the floor.”
It is tacitly absurd to think that any player, regardless of talent, is allowed to take nights off. It happens, and it’s not exactly a mortal sin, but when it happens you recognize it, rather than pointing to other players who also failed to step up. If LeBron was able to take the second half off of every game in which Larry Hughes stunk, he’d never have to come out of the locker room.
If LeBron James plays all-out in the second half, the Cavs win the game. Everybody knows it. His half-hearted effort in the Sixers game warrants criticism.
Finally, your pseudonym so clearly demonstrates your superior maturity. Thank you for showering us with your wisdom. (Ha ha, more sarcasm!)
Go Cavs.
Mike C.