Game:  Cavs at Knicks

Broadcast: TV:  ESPN.  Radio:  WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)

Starters:  Cavs:  LeBron James (F); J.J. Hickson (F); Shaquille O’Neal (C); Anthony Parker (G); Mo Williams (G).  Knicks:  Wilson Chandler (F); Danilo Gallinari (F); David Lee (C); Chris Duhon (G); Larry Hughes (G). 

Officials: Ken Mauer, John Goble, David Guthrie

Streaking: Cavs have lost one.  The Knicks have lost one.

What to watch:

The Cavaliers can’t get caught up iin a the Knicks run-and-shoot game that Mike D’Antoni loves for his teams to play.  They aren’t exactly built for it.

Watch to see what LeBron James does.  Last time at the Garden he put up 50-plus points and had a triple-double taken away from him.

Post-mortem: Bulls 86, Cavs 85

A few observations:

LeBron James said it himself.  Right now, the team’s primary problem remains on offense.  They averaged more than 100 points per game last year and are nowhere near that this season.  Allow me to add something to that.  The free throw shooting sucks. I probably couldn’t hit one to save my life, but I’m not paid to do that.  On a night when charity shots were at a premium, they shot just 60 percent from the line.  That was rather Ben Wallace-like of the whole team.

After that resounding return, Delonte West still hasn’t been able to find himself out on the court.  He scored just two points and looked out of sorts most of the night. 

The Cavs are going to have to get more points off their bench.  Tonight, they got just 12, eight of which came from Daniel ”Boobie” Gibson.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas went 0-9 on the night and West hit just 1-of-5. 

While things look better on the defensive side, the Cavs still gave up points to the wrong person.  They did a fantastic job of containing Derrick Rose for three quarters, only to allow him to get in the lane for shots and assists and the fourth.  Rose scored 10 points in the fourth and tossed out five assists in the same span, giving the Bulls the lift that they needed.

Game: Cavs (3-3) vs. Chicago Bulls (3-2)

 Broadcast:  TV: TNT Radio: WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Shaquille O’Neal (C); Anthony Parker (G); Mo Williams (G).  Bulls: Luol Deng (F); Taj Gibson (F); Joakim Noah (C); John Salmons (G); Derrick Rose (G).

Officials: Ron Garretson,  Michael Smith, Eli Roe

 Streaking: Cavs havewon three in a row, the Bulls one.

What to watch:

The Bulls are counting on Derrick Rose to get back into game shape – and soon.   Last year’s rookie of the year sat out most of the preseason with a sprained ankle and has yet to work  himself back into game shape.

The Bulls need him because they’ve struggled offensively in their four games thus far, shooting just 40.9 percent from the floor after four games.  They are, however, coming into Quicken Loans Arena with some momentum as they beat the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night in dramatic fashion, erasing an 18-point deficit to do so.

There is one big difference in the Bulls this year, however.  Ben Gordon, a guy who always seemed to find his shot against the Cavaliers is now plying his trade with the Detroit Pistons. His absence certainly figures into the Bulls’ offensive woes thus far.

CLEVELAND – It looks as if Delonte West will be in coach Mike Brown’s rotation until he has to deal with his legal issues.
But even with West back, Brown doesn’t plan to make any changes to his starting lineup just yet.
‘’For now I like it and I’m going to keep grinding away to see how it turns out, but if I feel like I need to make a change, I will,’’ he said.
Of course West was last year’s starter at shooting guard, the spot now occupied by Anthony Parker (9.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists) and that may very well happen again.
I haven’t said anything to our team about this being set in stone or this is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year,’’ Brown said.
Brown is aware of the lift that West’s presence provides to his team, but that alone doesn’t guarantee a starting spot.
‘’Whenever he’s on the floor and it would be the same if we were missing Z or LeBron or Mo or Andy, when that piece comes back on the floor, you tend to get a boost,’’ he said.
West and refs
One of the first things casual observers jumped on regarding West was a technical foul he received on his first night back.   For anyone else that might have been no big deal, for West, given recent events, there might be a tendency to over react.  Brown isn’t, however.
‘’I don’t like any of our guys getting techs, so anybody who gets (them), I’m going to watch close,‘’ he said. ‘’We pride ourselves on being a no-excuse team, but yeah we want to get our point across at times, but we do not want to give up points to help our opponent just so we can get the last word in.’’
Rose in bloom?
Chicago Bulls point guard phenom Derrick Rose sat out most of the preseason with a sprained ankle.  By all accounts he’s looked a bit rusty in the regular season and that injury still isn’t fully healed.  Brown doesn’t expect that ankle to be a hindrance as the Bulls stampede into Quicken Loans Arena tonight.
‘’He’s developing very well.  You can just feel the maturity he has on the floor, comfort level he has on the floor has just skyrocketed,’’ he said of Rose.   ‘’He’s already talented as it is.  He’s already athtletic as it is and now he’s putting it all together.’’

Normal format blown by other duties tonight:

Tonight the Cavs flashed what they could look like under ideal circumstances in a couple of ways. 

First there was trying to get Shaquille O’Neal going in the middle.  When the offense stagnated just a little, coach Mike Brown and his teammates got O’Neal going by tossing him the ball down low.  The result:  O’Neal found a rhythm and hit a number of high percentage shots.  He scored 21 points on the night and grabbed eight rebounds. 

Secondly going to Shaq forced the Wizards to pay attention to him with double teams, which enabled him to find teammates for easy looks.  When he wasn’t doing that, he was getting fouled, something that helped contribute to the Cavs’ comeback.  In the second quarter they entered the penalty early and march to the free throw line.

O’Neal helped his team’s call by actually hitting his free throws, connecting on 7-of-10. 

Defensively, the new pieces to the puzzle look to finally be getting Brown’s system.  For the game they held the Wizards to 39 percent shooting from the floor.  Through the last three quarters, that was a whopping 33 percent on 16-of-49 shooting.

Was the game perfect?  Given their sluggish start, falling down by 18 at one point, no.  But for three quarters they played nearly flawless basketball.

And the charges are worse than probably expected…

This little gem from Bethlehem Shoals of the Sporting News’ Baseline blog:

Yes! Exactly! If only the rest of the world would realize this and stop harping on whether or not Shaq will ever be something he hasn’t been in years. It’s like no one bothered to watch O’Neal in Phoenix, or has been so blinded by LeBron that they don’t notice what else makes the Cavs click.

 For the sake of this season, I can only hope that over time, Shaq become a genial sideshow providing heft off the bench, and this team does whatever necessary to make sure Delonte’s playing and plugged in. It’s not that West is a neglected All-Star, but for this team, he’s indispensable.

Total agreement here. When you have players like LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal lobbying for your return, they know of your importance. 

From the Washington Post’s website:

DeShawn Stevenson when asked about the possibility of former teammate Antonio Daniels signing with the Cavaliers:

“I have nothing against [Daniels] as a person,” Stevenson said. “It’s just that jersey and that person that’s over there.”

The ”that person”? Give you a guess.  Here’s betting that Stevenson, who will likely find himself riding the pine much more than playing in D.C., never heard the words:  ”You don’t tug on Superman’s cape.”

One of the teams playing in tonight’s Cavs-Wizards game is living in a fantasy world.

Here’s a tip, it’s not the Cavs.  At least one Wizards player, DeShawn Stevenson, still believes that this meeting tonight renews a rivalry.

The rivalry filled with Papa John’s Pizzas, Soulja Boy vs. Jay-Z and said Stevenson not being able to feel his face. 

As long as I’m on the court, yeah. As long as I’m on the court, Gilbert’s on the court, Caron, Brendan, Antawn. Until we all go away, it’s going to be a rivalry.

The reality of the alleged Wizards-Cavs rivalry is that it’s gone by the wayside.  Point guard Mo Williams could only grin when asked about it Monday afternoon.

We look at it as a big game.  It probably has a little bit more edge to it than other games. They’re going to be more intense.  We’re going to be more intense because we want to win obviously, but rivalry?  I wouldn’t say (that).  Boston’s more of a rivalry in my opinion.

Last season the Cavs split the season series 2-2.  It was the year of the ”crab dribble” which created a non-sensical stir for more than a week in the NBA because LeBron James got called for traveling on that particular play.

But it was also a year in which the injury-depleted Wizards didn’t make the playoffs and coach Eddie Jordan was dismissed.  Prior to that, when it mattered most, three consecutive years in the playoffs, the Wizards lost to the Cavs in hotly contested series.

When you’re on the other end of those types of whippings, bad blood is inevitable.  In this intance, however, this ”rivalry” has devolved into a case of OSU-Michigan in football.

Post mortem:  Cavs 90, Bobcats 79

Ultimately what turned this game into a win is what usually does for this team – defense.

At one point in the third quarter the Bobcats tied this thing up at 46 and it looked as if this would be another night of writing about the Cavaliers’ struggles. That was premature.

They reeled off a 9-2 run and never looked back and it came courtesy of blocks, steals and good solid defense.

Some of the pieces the Cavs went out in got are looking as if they’re finally going to start fitting this puzzle.  Anthony Parker had a solid night with 13 points, some great defense that included two steals.  Shaq was solid on both sides of the ball.

And then there are the Cavs’ vets.  Mo Williams came up huge with 24 points, hitting from the outside at will.  Some may disagree with this, but I thought Delonte West’s appearance gave the Cavs a bit of lift and his 13 point performance certainly didn’t hurt.

There’s little doubt that the team still need work.  At times they were sloppy, turning the ball over 19 time.  Those TOs led to 23 Charlotte points and they only had five offensive boards. 

However, they actually got better from last night’s game to today’s.

Game: Cavs vs. Raptors

Broadcast:  TV: FSOhio. Radio; WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Shaquille O’Neal (C); Anthony Parker (G); Mo Williams (G). Bobcats:  Gerald Wallace (F); Boris Diaw (F); Tyson Chandler (C); Stephen Graham (G); Raymond Felton (G).

Officials: Mark Wunderlich, Marc Davis, Kane Fitzgerald

Streaking: Each team has won one.

Things to look for:

Look to see if the Cavs can build on their win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.  The dilemma:  that win didn’t really come from the starting five.  Most of it came from LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson playing based on familiarity.

Delonte West has returned.  What’s he got for the team.  Lately in the locker room at home and on the road, the same old happy guy could be seen joking with his teammates.

Looking at the Cavaliers in their first two games, I am reminded of Kevin Bacon’s anal-retentive Omega House pledge in Animal House as the hordes of parade attendees trampled him fleeing Bluto Blutarsky (John Belushi), his Delta House chums and the mayhem they created in the name of revenge.

“Remain calm!!! All is well,” Chip screamed to no avail.  The crowd ignored the call to calm and he ended up flatter than day-old Schlitz. 

I’m going to modify Chip’s plea a little:  ”Remain calm, all is not well – for now.”

Although I am in Minneapolis, I hear and read the nervousness in the blog posts and on newspaper websites.  “What’s wrong with the Cavs?”  “Oh my goodness, we’re not going to go 82-0.”  “Typical, Cleveland sports team.” 

Might I suggest chilling just a wee bit for a host of reasons.

Cavs fans were warned many times over during the preseason that this version of the team wasn’t about to start off the way last year’s did.  Check that, maybe they still could.  After all, they started 1-2 last year and if all goes as it should tonight, they will do so again.   They’d return home tomorrow to face the Charlotte Bobcats, a team that couldn’t hit 60 points earlier this week.

Yes, they could still start the same as last year, but let’s be realistic.  The likely won’t and there are a host of reasons why they won’t.

Let’s face it,  there are too many new parts for all of this to work out seamlessly. Shaquille O’Neal?  Mike Brown hasn’t had a low post presence like him to work with since being in Cleveland. Figuring out how to play him is a big part of the Cavs’ issues.  Because Brown is planning to save O’Neal for the playoffs, he’s still working out minutes and how to balance O’Neal’s with the need to rest him.

The preseason set the Cavs behind seriously. Flu? Had it.  Injuries? Had those too.  They haven’t had the chance to work together enough to get a feel for one another.

And given the fact there are two new starters and a couple of new bench players in Jamario Moon, and Leon Powe eventually, establishing chemistry isn’t about to be an instant thing.  If anything it’s akin to making a movie.  Take all the elements – screenplay, cast and director – mix them properly and you get Schindler’s List.  If anyone of those elements are off, you end up with Ishtar.

And finally, observers are getting a look at just how important Delonte West is to the team.   Because he’s so focused on the court, that he does almost flawless.  When LeBron James isn’t on the floor, he’s usually the best Cavalier playing.  An educated guess is West returns sooner rather than later.

None of this excuses what we’ve seen on the floor so far.  Brown has been correct in his observation that in some cases the effort from his team just hasn’t been there.   And they do look disjointed and awkward together.

But what I do know is that this isn’t a football season.  A record of 0-2 in pro basketball is a blip.  In football it can be a lost season.

So when should the worrying commence?  Talk to me in January.

Raptors 101, Cavs 91

So who do the Cavs miss most?  Delonte West or former assistant Jon Kuester? Considering they’re having problems on both sides of the ball right now, the short answer might ”both.”

Defensively speakign the Cavs let the Toronto Raptors have their way with them the entire first half, going into the locker room down 57-39.   The shot just 31 percent in the first half and it didn’t get much better in the second.   They finished the game shooting just 35 percent.

Mike Brown was succint in his appraisal of what’s going on the defensive side of the ball:

We go through stretches defensively right now, where the effort isn’t there.  Even if coverage breaks down the effort can be there.

The one key moment when the effort was there, the Cavs enjoyed some success, coming back from that 18 point halftime deficit to tie the game at 69.  For much of the third quarter, they held the Raptors at bay.  It didn’ t last  as Toronto went on a 9-2 run to end the quarter.

Brown says the effort wasn’t there.  Players say it’s a matter of gelling.  Right now, it’s probably a bit of both. But they also have to be missing West right now.  Other than James, he’s the most complete player on the team.

As for the offense: ditto Kuester.  When the team racked up those high scores and long winning streaks last year, they did so courtesy of, yes, their defense but some high-flying offense by Kuester.  Right now, it’s difficult to see which direction they’re headin there.

Game: Cavs vs. Raptors

Broadcast:  TV: FSOhio. Radio; WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Shaquille O’Neal (C); Anthony Parker (G); Mo Williams (G).  Raptors:  Hedo Turkoglu (F); Chris Bosh (F);  Andrea  Bargnani; DeMar DeRozen; Jose Calderon (G).

Injured and inactive:  Cavs:  Delonte West; Leon Powe, Daniel Green.  Raptors:  Sonny Weems; Reggie Evans; Quincy Douby.

Officials: Greg Willard; Sean Corbin; Tommy Nunez Jr.

Streaking: Cavs have lost one.  This is the season opener for the Raptors.

Things to look for:

The Cavs need to rebound from a weak offensive performance Tuesday night.  Last night’s game was the first of the season, but that doesn’t excuse the fact taht overall it lacked consistency.

Ditto the defense.  They started out gangbusters, but quickly faded.  While they protected the paint, the exterior defense allowed unchallenged, wide-open threes.