Pistons 85, Cavs 71
–Cavs qualified for the playoffs tonight, thanks to New Jersey’s loss to Phoenix, which is the limited good news for the team. The way they are handled in this one actually may end up being good for them. It is a reality check and a reminder of where they need to get better. Also, it shows how much work they have to do, although I am not sure there is time. The Pistons were upset with the way they played in Cleveland last week and so they pushed back. Now we’ll see what the Cavs do.
–This is the second time in the last month I have felt the Cavs got shoved around and knocked off their game by pure physical play. The other time was in Boston, when the Celtics play the same roughhouse stuff. Not a coincidence when you look at the standings. The Pistons were way more aggressive on the defensive end and it took the Cavs out of their game. They responded by complaining about calls. Sure there were some missed calls, but why would the officials respect the way they were playing? Want to know the last time Mike Brown got a technical? In Boston. Again, not a coincidence.
–Based on my conversations with players and coaches, I think of one the reasons the Cavs and LeBron couldn’t answer the move to put Rip Hamilton on him was due to the limited plays they have installed on offense. I am told they are not yet ready to operate with LeBron in the post because they aren’t crisp with how to handle the double teams. These are the penalites you pay when you make an 11-player deal this late in the season. Not everyone is up to speed, things have been forgotten, things are in disarray. I supposed they’ll have to be more ready when they play the Pistons again on the final night of the season. Although, that game will probably be meaningless to Detroit.
–That said, there must be better work by the players and coaching staff to help LeBron out. He was being swallowed up by the Pistons and it didn’t seem to me like much was being done about it. He settled for jumpers, too much, but he never had much space and there didn’t look like many antidotes were being tried.
–The only guy who seemed to play aggressively tonight was Devin Brown. He attacked the glass, moved on offensive and took mostly smart shots. He had 11 points and two assists.
–The injury to Ben Wallace is a blow. The Cavs wanted to rest him, but I don’t think that is why he was hurt. When he was in the air Antonio McDyess smashed his shoulder and bad his back twisted quickly. At this point, I think you’ll see the Cavs try to shut him down for another long stretch. He’s left three games with pain now, that conclusion must be reached.
–Daniel Gibson looked very rusty in his 20 minutes. I don’t think he trusts that ankle yet, several times he swallowed shots because he didn’t seem like he wanted to draw his leg up underneath him. When you miss a quarter of the season, things like this happen.
Recap, if you must:
Pregame
Starting lineups
Cavs: Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
EDIT: West was a late scratch for Damon Jones.
Pistons: Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace
–All the “questionable” guys were cleared. West hasn’t practiced for two days and I think the Cavs wanted to rest Big Ben over the weekend, but he seemed to win out. Daniel Gibson is back as well. That is the first time since Anderson Varejao got hurt in January in L.A. and the first time since the trade the Cavs’ full rotation has been available. We’ll see how it plays out. EDIT: This is no longer true, see the note above.
–The Cavs’ lead on the No. 4 spot in the East has shrunk to two games, which makes this weekend semi-important. Plus playing the Pistons is always a big deal. There is no excuse for a focus issue here, which has been the case on the road for the Cavs for the last month. Plus, they ‘ve had two days off so there is no rest issue.
–In my mind, West is better equipped to guard a guy like Billups than guys like Chris Paul and Mo Williams. He did a good job last week in Cleveland and that is a key matchup. Also, let’s see how much the Pistons test Big Ben with Sheed as they did last week. I have no faith in anyone, though, who can cover Hamilton and the Pistons seemed to forget this in the second half last time. Bet they don’t this time.
Halftime — Pistons 49, Cavs 33
–They have are being handled by a much more aggressive and physical Pistons team. This is especially true at the defensive end, where the Pistons are pushing the Cavs around. This is why the Cavs aren’t getting any calls, because they have not earned them. In a switch, Flip Saunders has put Rip Hamilton on LeBron instead of Prince. The reason, I believe, is because Rip is better at keeping LeBron in front of him. Otherwise, the Cavs are allowing themselves to be pushed around. Not unlike how the Celtics pushed them around in Boston a few weeks ago.
That said, LeBron is 3-of-11 and Z is 3-of-11. Those are bad performances.
–The Pistons are shooting the ball pretty well tonight, which means they are going to look good. They have gotten quite a few points in transition, but in the halfcourt they have taken mostly mid-range jumpers. I believe this is the Pistons biggest downfall, they shoot too many jumpers. I expect them to level off a bit on them in the second half, but if they keep getting to run offense before the Cavs are set then it will be a blowout. The Cavs have to be more effective on the offensive end.
–Ben Wallace has looked good at times now that he is back, he has four rebounds and two blocks and is 3-of-3 shooting. He is one guy who is bringing it physcially, which isn’t a surprise.
–Damon Jones is a liability at the Pistons at the defensive end at times, him running the point against this team isn’t a great matchup. But he does have four assists, he’s tried to run the offense and get the Cavs into things. For what it is worth.
Postgame
Stars
Tayshaun Prince, 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists
Antonio McDyess, 14 points, 10 rebounds
Quotes:
LeBron: “”It was complete dominatation. They knocked us out of our sets. Rip has guarded me before, he is good but he knew he had guys behind him.”
Mike Brown: “They came out and got up into us, they were very physical from the opening tip. You have to make sure you are punching along with them or the result will be the same.”
{ 1 trackback }
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Why not just LeBron on Hamilton? Prince isn’t too hard to cover.
So no Delonte then, huh?
Man, it’s been ugly so far. It’s like everybody on the Pistons in running around on crack.
This is a pitiful first-half performance by the Cavs.
If the NCAA Tournament wasn’t equally pitiful (UCLA is destroying Xavier in yet another tourney blowout), I’d be watching that instead.
MBH – Prince kills smaller defenders in the post.
Ouch, Lebron gets undressed by Stuckey on one end and stuff by Rasheed at the other. And sits on his butt like he’s just weathering the storm.
http://www.lecavs.com/2008/03/never-same-game-thrice.html
Ugliest game of the year? Decade?
Are we even going to have 30 at halftime?
Ouch.
Detroit cant miss, we cant get a call… wow. This one’s an eye-opener.
And before all the clowns show up, let’s get one thing straight. This is the regular season, and I bet if you ask the 2007 Dallas Mavericks how important the regular season is, they’ll answer you accordingly.
And now Ben’s hurt. When will this team catch a break?
This is an embarrassing and shameful performance. I knew they’d lose this game, but I figured it’d at least be competitive.
Get LeBron out now….the game tomorrow is more important. All of a sudden, the 4-seed is now in jeopardy.
Is everyone else sick of watching Cavs opponents walking around with a swagger, while the Cavs always head back to the bench like it’s taking every ounce of energy they have to score a bucket? It’s the Piston’s tonight, but it’s been the Hornets, the Bucks, the Wizards, just about every team the Cavs are playing lately. The team seems to be playing with a combination of exhaustion, low effort, and a lack of confidence. This is going to change, right?
The Cavs just need better players. This current roster is just not good enough.
Besides LeBron, who can create for himself and find others?
if the cavs wind up ending the game with 80 points or less , mike brown is still going to blame this loss on defense
This team is in huge trouble.
Windy said it himself before the game…..there shouldn’t have been any focus issues tonight. But the numbers show otherwise….
LeBron: 4 – 17, 13 points. (4 of 17??? You gotta be kidding me.)
Z: 5 – 16, 11 points. I’ll give him a pass because he played his a$$ off on Wednesday, albeit in a wasted team effort.
Sasha Pavlovic: 2 of 8. He was flat-out awful.
Ben Wallace hurt once again. They might as well just shut him down until the playoffs. Hopefully he can get through at least the first series.
On top of all of it…..it was against the Pistons. Other than the Steelers, there’s no professional sports franchise I hate more.
Mike C: You’re right, I’ve noticed that too. To me, it’s a coaching issue.
If Brown were to get canned, I wonder if Chris Jent would be seen as a possible replacement.
WOW what a game that was. Look we lost a tough game to New Orleans than got destoryed by Detroit. I know it is regular season but we are only ahead by 2 games. Guys you might want to a win a few to keep that spot or it will be a quick postseason.
Who cares if Wallace is hurt again? Put a fork in him, he’s done. The highest-paid role player in the league. Counting down the days left on his contract like we used to do with Hughes and Ferry. But I’ll say this for the guy, despite his torpedoed skills, he’s still in terrific shape and clearly still has some athletic skills. On that play when he strained his back, he was flying pretty high.
These days, Wallace would be far more effective if he also became a cheapshot artist, like Ferry used to be with San Antonio, or Danny Fortson was with every team he ever played on. Give guys something to consider before they come driving in.
alan, i couldn’t agree with you more on wallace. the cavs have needed a hammer in the paint badly. a nice elbow to someone’s face would be nice to see. we’ve seen rasheed and even a punk like brendan haywood manhandle the cavs physically. it’s about damn time the cavs start hitting back. last season i was so pissed watching scot pollard sit and watch without once cracking someone in the jaw in the post.
mike brown has got to go after this season. his offensive schemes (or lack of) are killing this team. windy talks about lebron in the post but other than earlier this year when did the cavs consistently play him down low?? they didn’t!!! coach brown is too passive and has no offensive philosophy. this is not a guy who is going to get a ring. just like george karl the cavs are with brown too early in his coaching career. they need to get someone on the clipboard who demands respect. mike brown must go!
“I am told they are not yet ready to operate with LeBron in the post because they aren’t crisp with how to handle the double teams. These are the penalites you pay when you make an 11-player deal this late in the season. Not everyone is up to speed, things have been forgotten, things are in disarray.”
WOW…..THIS statement is a complete call out of the coaching staff. How can you NOT FIND A WAY to offensively put Lebron on the block. For THREE years, Brown has had no REAL offense. This is getting out of hand now. I know he’s a defensive guy….but DAM….you need a cohesive, workable offense to win a championship. WOW.
Why did Joe Smith only play like 2 minutes in the first half?
And why is Damon Jones starting against Billups?
Not sure what coach Brown is trying to do with some of these lineups.
Hindsight being 20/20, the team would have been much better off NOT making this trade.
In other new, Larry Hughes had 19 points last night.
Mike Brown insisting on going with the ridiculous Varejao/Wallace combo after Z started cold is a big part of what dug us into the monster hole. When teams collapse on Lebron – especially in games when officials are swallowing their whistles like in the first half – he needs as many scorers around him as possible. The adjustment is to go offense over defense, but Mike Brown refuses to do that. It HAS to be a scoring BIG, too, that can come out and screen and roll, screen and pop, pick and roll, pick and pop – three point shooters aren’t enough, because you’re really just asking Lebron to drive into three defenders to create their shots, or make a skip pass across the middle against a good defensive team like Detroit. Smith is a good mid range shooter, just like Z, and plays very well with Lebron. It made no sense to keep him on the bench when the team just can’t score.
What a bunch of losers. The regular season means nothing. 4 spot. 5 spot. Means nothing. It is all about being healthy when the playoffs start and having the chosen one, Lebron, on our team.
Hughes had 19 points huh? On what, 5-21 from the field? And he left midway through the 3rd quarter with a chipped fingernail? The trade was a must, and Larry’s comments afterward sealed the deal.
Again, no judgement can be made on the trade until this bunch has played a full season together.
The Cavs just need a win, period. Get the monkey off their backs. This week may have been light with games, but the games they are playing are against the NBA’s elite teams. Even Philly is playing lights out.
Hey remember when Windy wrote that he “Couldn’t possibly see how anyone could vote for anyone other than LeBron for MVP?”
Well Windy, that’s why you don’t vote for MVP’s a week after the all-star game. If you do vote LeBron MVP on a team that’ll win 43 or 44 games, then you should get your votes revoked. It’s either KG/CP3/Kobe… maybe TMAC. No LeBron. He’ll win his, just not this year.
I blame Eric Snow. Having him around for the last two seasons has hamstrung us at PG and led to Ferry making desperate trades. If Ben is the most expensive role player in the league, then Snow is the most expensive cheerleader. He’s poisoning our PG’s I tell ya.
This ‘Douglar’ joker has a pathetic argument. It’s not a vote for the best player on the best team, and I haven’t seen NO or LA even clinch the playoffs yet. Either one could end up 7th or something, and then your argument just seems even more stupid, if possible. If Phoenix wins, should we hand it to Nash or Shaq? If San Antone is #1, should Duncan get it? And by your own logic, Kevin Garnett is the obvious winner, dummy. The Celtics sucked last year and now they have the best record. Stats don’t seem to matter to you if your’re throwing CP3 in and I say that as a CP3 fan.
MVP is the award for the best player in the league, mixed in with how valuable they are to their team. It’s not about records, and it’s not about retroactive awarding (see Kobe Bryant). Now if the player is on a team that is a bottom-dweller, that’s one thing, but any team getting a playoff seed has achieved the first objective. The Cavs wouldn’t make the playoffs with the king, period, so being fourth with him is pretty good.
Well, I’d rather be LBJ with no MVPs and a trip to the Finals on a fairly bad team than Kobe with no MVPs and no trips to the finals except when clinging to Shaq’s coattails. He even complained about that, must be an LA thing.
Sorry Jim, last time I checked, 43 or 44 wins doesn’t get you an MVP award, whether you like it or not.
And Kobe is still a better all-around player than LeBron, only Clevelanders and Chris Broussard think otherwise. Here’s a list of analysts of feel the same way: Barkley, Screaming A Smith, Bill Walton, Kenny Smith, Mike Tirico, Doug Collins, Rich Bucher, Marc Stein, Greg Anthony..need I say more?
Nice try.
Was that a list of people who think Kobe is a great player, or a list of brain damaged NBA has-beens? Or both?
“Barkley, Screaming A Smith, Bill Walton, Kenny Smith, Mike Tirico, Doug Collins, Rich Bucher, Marc Stein, Greg Anthony..”
Each and every one of them work for ESPN, so obviously there will be anti-Cleveland bias right off the bat. Add to that the fact that Barkley is wrong on practically everything he predicts, year in and year out, Bill Walton is STILL high from his playing days, and guys like Mike Tirico and Greg Anthony are just happy to be employed, and I’m not terribly impressed with that list of “experts”.
By the way, Chris Broussard was the only so-called “expert” who picked the Cavs to win the East last year, so maybe he’s not a bad guy to ask??
Barkley and Kenny Smith work for ESPN?? Umm … wrong employer, I believe.
Regardless, like I wrote before, given that O’Neal said he thinks Bryant deserves it, then maybe he does. It ain’t like Bryant is going to be the best man at O’Neal next wedding, let alone ever invited into O’Neal’s house.
Please don’t tell me you think O’Neal is biased, too.
James is better. No matter hoiw you whine otherwise, you’re wrong.
Not that it matters, but Collins doesn’t work for ESPN, either.
Poorly constructed writing, but I meant ESPN is national media, therefore, they piss on Cleveland. ESPN, TNT, CBS, it doesnt matter. Unless it’s a Cleveland station, the Cavs get no love. Anyone who disagrees is drunk.
Shaq may not be biased, but I’m sure he could very possibly be WRONG. An MVP carries his team when things go wrong (like injuries to Pau Gasol/Andrew Bynum). Kobe has allowed his team to be trounced at home by Charlotte and Memphis, getting technicals and reverting to his 12-40 shooting nights and reducing his teammates to glorified rebounders. Not the MVP.
I think it’s Chris Paul or Tim Duncan… LeBron is the best player in the league, but the Cavs’ record just doesnt justify the award. It’s truly a shame because of how great he has been, and the stats are just eye-popping.