Final: Boston 95, Cavs 89
Post-mortem: After getting off to a sizzling start in the first quarter, the Cavaliers fizzled the rest of the game partly because of unfamiliarity and mostly because of sloppiness.
This is what coach Mike Brown meant about starting the season out rough as the Cavaliers jumped on the Celtics early only to watch Boston beat them from the outside and claim the lead.
For much of the game, the Cavs’ defense went missing – especially from the outside and Boston made them pay connecting on 47 percent on three-pointers and a host of other jump shots that went uncontested.
After that start, it was clear that the team’s not quite in tune offensively – especially in the fourth quarter – as they committed five turnovers when the game mattered most. In one instance, free-agent acquisition Anthony Parker looked surprised by a ball that LeBron James fired at him. Parker had a wide-open look on the shot. Instead, the ball bounced off his hands out of bounds.
At the time it as just a two-possession game with more than 50 seconds left. It ws one of a host of miscues the Cavs had in the fourth.
From Mike Brown:
‘’Defensively, one of our staples is to contest shots and for a stretch in the first half, we didn’t contest shots, especially 3-point shots in transition. We have to do a better job of that.’’
From Shaquille O’Neal:
”I’ve been around 17 years. Win the first game, lose the first game you just got to get better. It’s still a very new team. You’ve just got to take care of the ball down the stretch and just keep at it.”
Game: Cavs vs. Bsoton
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); Anthon Parker(G); Mo Williams (G). Celtics: Paul Pierce (F); Kevin Garnett (F); Kendrick Perkins (C); Ray Allen (G); Rajon Rondo (G)
Injured and inactive: Cavs: Leon Powe (knee), Delonte West. Boston: Glen Davis (thumb), Tony Allen, Brian Scalabrine, Bill Walker.
Officials: Steve Javie, Tony Brothers, Derek Richardson.
Three things to look for:
How the Cavs first unit meshes. It was difficult to tel how they’d do given the invasion of the flu and assorted injuries.
The team’s defense was spotty in the preseason.
How Shaq and LeBron work together. Their chemistry is key to the season.
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The primary question waiting to leap from tongues of the media herd assembled at Quicken Loans Arena for shootaround this afternoon: wither Delonte West?
Here’s the official answer. Delonte West is doubtful for tonight’s game. The team continues to handle his situation with kid gloves and coach Mike Brown once again stated that he’ll play West when West is ready.
We’re going to go lace ‘em up. The guys that can play will go play hard and try to get a win.
Getting Better?
Coach Mike Brown is all for doing whatever makes his team better.
For that reason, he’s open to veteran guard Antonio Daniels coming to the Cavaliers if it can be worked out.
Recent reports said that the Cavs are close to signing the former member of the Minnesota Timberwolves who was cut recently. The sides reportedly are haggling over whether Daniels would receive a guaranteed contract.
Daniels would add more depth and flexibility to the Cavs bench because he possesses the ability to play both guard positions. Add to the mix his experience and it’s not difficult to understand why the Cavs would find want to acquire him. The final decision doesn’t rest with Brown obviously.
‘’It’s up to (Danny Ferry) and his staff. I coached Antonio. I liked him as a person,’’ Brown said. ‘’He’s a veteran guard with some size who’s won a championship. I’m sure time will tell after Danny does his homework whether he’ll be a good fit.’’
Brown said, however, there is not hurry to move on a deal.
‘’I like our team the way it is, but in the same breath, if somebody comes along and we felt that they helped our team be better, the it would be wrong for us to not try to explore it,’’ he said.
A league source said that though the Cavs have an interest in Daniels, a contract offer isn’t imminent.
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Psssttt…Have you heard the news?
Delonte West is in trouble – again. I wrote the last sentence with a healthy dose of sarcasm and disdain.
According to a report from WOIO Channel 19, West argued with his newlywed wife this past weekend and she filed a report against him for domestic violence.
The two reportedly fought at their apartment when Delonte tried to take her wedding ring off. Mrs. West left their home and headed to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, where she filed a domestic violence report.
Cleveland Police tell 19 Action News there were no signs of abuse or injury. Mrs. West then got on her flight and flew out of Cleveland.
Key words: “no signs of abuse or injury.” This should be filed under non-story. The only thing that makes it news is the trouble West has had in the past couple of months. I understand that he’s a public figure, but this borders on frivolous.
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It’s difficult to find anything to like in a game where the Cavs give up 109 points on 55 percent shooting in a five-point loss. The Wizards were able to get off easy layups, uncontested jump shots and perimeter defense was non-existent.
But circumstances have to be taken into consideration. LeBron James out with flu-like symptoms. Though not as impactful, so were Darnell Jackson and Coby Karl -same reason.
Mo Williams? Right groin problem. Danny Green? Right glute contusion. And, of course, there are ongoing issues with Delonte West.
Then Daniel Gibson and Anderson Varejao go down with injuries. Fun. Fun. Fun. Yes, it was a thoroughly enjoyable night at Quicken Loans Arena. And, yes, and I say this with all due sincerity – there were good moments. Laugh if you will, but it’s not like it was the Browns beating the Buffalo Bills 6-3.
So with that heaping pile of bad, comes these facts:
Shaquille O’Neal can still dominate games. He wasn’t the high scorer for the Cavs but he pushed around any Wizard that dare guard him, tallied 13 points and six rebounds in the process.
Jawad Williams, a back up forward, made the case for a roster spot with his 21-point performance that including 4-of-6 from the three-point line.
Andre Barrett will make it difficult for coach Mike Brown to cut him. He scored eight points, dished out eight assists, ran the offense well, played aggressive defense.
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Delonte West returned to the Cavaliers Monday night, said coach Mike Brown.
Last year’s starting shooting guard, didn’t play with his team against Olympiacos, but did practice with coaches at Cleveland Clinic Courts.
So is this good news or bad news? Ultimately it depends on the type of person you are.
Looking at this situation last year, West missed approximately 10 days of training camp and went on to have the best season of his still-young career. It’s quite evident that he will be able to come back whenever he wants.
A source with knowledge of West’s situation told me that the team is in no hurry to get him back on the court. Anxious fans sniffing the possibility of a championship might consider this disruptive to those aspirations, but personally, I think the team is handling this properly.
West and his father Dmitri both told me that Delonte is at his best when he’s on the court. He can forget his problems. As therapeutic as it may be for him, it’s better for both parties to take their time getting him back to form.
Coach Mike Brown says he’s in no hurry to get West back, preferring to get it right as opposed to rushing things. West will be in shape and he will be ready to play. The best thing he can do is to get mentally healthy.
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Two weeks remain in the Cavaliers’ preseason and there are a couple of things worth noting:
Shaq and LeBron are showing that they’re developing that elusive thing called chemistry. While Monday night’s exhibtion game against Greek team Olympiacos felt every bit like a preseason fling. Those two got to work toward the end of the first half showing that they should indeed be able to mesh.
One thing to note, however, this doesn’t look as if it’s going to be the Shaq and LeBron show solo. Judging from the way the team is playing, this will be an ensemble effort – as much as it can be when you have someone like James on the roster.
Why do I say that? Just looking at the way they play. James loves to find a streaking Anderson Varejao cutting to the hoop. Monday night, O’Neal, whose passing skills have gone unnoticed by yours truly until now, did the same thing. Varejao will get his share of shots if he remains active around the offensive side of the ball.
Anthony Parker more than once shown that he’s as advertised – you can toss him the ball breaking to the outside and he can drain a jumper with little problem.
The Cavs’ first unit toyed with Olympiacos and that was without Mo Williams.
That’s just the first unit. If you look to the bench, the ssecond unit could potentially start in the league. This Cavs team with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Daniel Gibson, J.J. Hickson and, should he return, Delonte West , gives the Cavs their deepest team ever.
Hickson is someone fans should watch once the regular season begins. If he ever plays defense and does the little things that coach Mike Brown stays in his ear about, he’s going to be a hell of a player. The Cavs drafted him on athleticism and potential. Both could yield huge dividends in the coming season.
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You can never accuse the Washington Wizards of having long memories. The team that injuries decimated last season is healthy, has a new coach and, apparently a new life.
Some things never change, however and that’s the fact that the Wizards kinda, sort of, well…detest the Cavs and, it would seem LeBron James in particular. But the level of vitriol was taken to a new level – I’ll leave it to you to decide whether it’s high or low – the other day during a practice.
Mike Miller, a player the Wizards acquired in the offseason from the Minnesota Timberwolves and a good friend of James, wore some of the Cleveland superstar’s signature shoes in practice. The reaction was immediate according to the Washington Post.
Miller has been wearing Adidas since he was a sophomore in high school but switched to Nike after signing a contract with them this summer. He’s been urged by Deshawn Stevenson, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison to wear any pair but the ones donned by the could-be King.
Much of this is apparently being driven by Deshawn Stevenson, a second-tier player who has an on-going thing with James.
“We already talked about that,” said Stevenson, a noted James agitator. “He got to get ‘em out of here. We already had a discussion. He said he going to try some new shoes. Me, Caron, Antawn told him about how we feel about them. LeBron shoes — we off that. We already got war against them. He can’t wear that. It’s all beef right there.”
James has had a short week of feuds and controversy. You can’t blame him for wanting to put things behind him.
‘’I don’t have feuds with anybody. Everybody has feuds with me. I don’t know why,’’ he said.
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We’ll get back to the regular game blog format when the regular season rolls around.
In the meantime, here are a couple of highlgiths from the Cavs-Bobcats game at Quicken Loans Arena Tuesday night.
Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James look very comfortable out on the floor together. The entire starting lineup looked comfortable, despite the fact that there were two new faces in O’Neal and Anthony Parker. One thing that apparently caught at least Anderson Varejao by surprise – O’Neal’s ability to pass the ball. He tossed one to Varejao that the power forward didn’t expect and the result was a turnover. As the month wears on, O’Neal’s teammates will get used to it.
J.J. Hickson, who looked so out of sorts on the court last season played with confidence against the Bobcats. He, along with James, led all scorers with 15 points a piece. Hickson hit from the outside with a mid-range jumper. He drove to the hoop with confidence and showed some creativity getting the ball up and in the hoop on a couple of occasions.
Coach Mike Brown wasn’t ready to praise him effusively just yet, however. He harped on the fact that Hickson needs to work on his defense, specifically guarding players on the weak side.
And a couple of ugly things came to light. The Bobcats scored 40 points in the paint and as a team and the Cavs committed 19 turnovers. Those problems can be corrected given the fact that it’s early in the preseason.
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Bad news Cavs fans: The Cavaliers aren’t the favorite, even with the additions of Shaquille O’Neal and Anthony Parker, to win the NBA’s championship this season. They’re not even the favorite to win the league’s Eastern Conference – at least not with the league’s general managers.
Just 17.9 percent of league GMs say that the Cavs are good enough to win this year’s championship and they’re tied with the 2007-08 champs, the Boston Celtics. The reigning champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, are favored to repeat by 60.7 of the NBA’s top execs.
Fifty-percent of GMs expect the Celtics, who will have the Boston Three Party in tact to start the season, to reassert themselves atop the Eastern Conference. More than 42 percent said the Cavs will find themselves in The Finals.
Individually, there was good news for LeBron James as GMs expect him to repeat as NBA MVP.
My assessment? Nothing wrong with a healthy dose of skepticism or a reality check for the Cavs. Expectations by Cleveland fans desperate for a winning are so high, I suspect that they’d starte following the Cleveland City Stars, the local pro soccer team. Yes, there is one.
The reality is the Cavs got better in the off season. The bench has the depth that most NBA teams would scream for with the additions of Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon. It gets better when Leon Powe is cleared to play. But so did many teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Orlando Magic added Vince Carter to their roster. They probably gave up a lot in Courtney Lee, who will be an All-Star in the future, but it’s quite obvious they want to win now. As for the Celts: they added Rasheed Wallace, a personality who’s been a handful in the past, but one that Coach Doc Rivers will be able to tame.
In short: the Cavs won’t be dancing through the season.
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In case you missed the latest Cleveland sports soap opera: Braylon Edwards allegedly decked one of LeBron James’ friends – a club promoter named Edward Givens giving him a black eye.
Words were bandied about beforehand. Edwards said Givens wouldn’t have what he has without being a F.O.L, which may or may not be true.
But Givens and Later James said something interesting:
“As long as I’ve known Braylon, I’ve allowed him and his friends to come into our events free of charge. Whatever jealousy he has with LeBron, he felt he needed to take it out on me,” Givens said to Cleveland. com
James took it a step further:
”I never crossed paths with Braylon before, but it seems there’s a little jealousy going on between Braylon, me and my friends,” James said. ” I have no idea why. I’ve never said anything to Braylon at all. For him to do that, he’s just very childish.”
Strong words, but for anyone who remembers the 2005 NFL Draft vividly, such as yours truly, you can’t help but believe there is some truth there. I remember cameras following Edwards working on a documentary. I also remember the draftee’s concern with marketing himself across many platforms.
In Cleveland an athlete has done that successfully, but it hasn’t been Edwards. In fact, his stay here in Northeast Ohio is tumultuous at best with one memorable season in 2007. Is Edwards jealous? Only he knows for sure, but given some of the vitriol mentioned related to this incident, it takes just one small step to get to the answer ”yes.”
What say you, blogosphere?
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