Open Thread: Buckeyes at Northwestern Wildcats
November 8, 2008A Win Is A Win
November 9, 2008Cleveland Cavaliers (4-2) vs
Chicago Bulls (3-3)
United Center, Chicago, IL
Saturday, November 8, 2008
8:30 PM EST
FSNOH/WTAM
The Cavaliers survived a game Friday night against the Indiana Pacers in which the energy level was down, the focus was bad, and Ben Wallace had all of 0 rebounds…..and they won the game. It was in some ways the most impressive win of the year, as this was a game that in past years the Cavaliers would have lost. They let the Pacers dictate the pace of the game, the perimeter defense was atrocious, and still they found a way to rise up in the 4th and get a huge win. Now, tonight, the Cavaliers must follow that game up by travelling to Chicago to take on the Bulls for the 2nd time in 3 games. The Cavs won the first game 107-93 in the Q, but this game will be much different. Historically teams do not fair well when they play a road game on the tail end of back-to-back games, and the Cavaliers energy level was so low for 3 quarters that this game tonight presents a huge challenge for the Cavaliers.
Projected Starting Lineups
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-G Mo Williams (14.7 ppg, 4.5 apg, 0.7 spg, 11.83 PER)
-G Delonte West (11.5 ppg, 2.2 apg, .538 3P%, 16.44 PER)
-F LeBron James (26.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 7.5 apg, 30.46 PER)
-F Ben Wallace (1.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 11.59 PER)
-C Zydrunas Ilgauskas (15.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 21.28 PER)
Key Injuries: Eric Snow (Out), Darnell Jackson (Out)
Chicago Bulls:
-G Derrick Rose (17.8 ppg, 4.5 apg, 1.2 spg, 16.69 PER)
-G Thabo Sefolosha (3.7 ppg, 1.3 apg, .000 3P%, 12.81 PER)
-F Luol Deng (12.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, 10.73 PER)
-F Tyrus Thomas (8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 9.69 PER)
-C Drew Gooden (12.0 ppg, 8,5 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 18.18 PER)
Key Injuries: Larry Hughes (Out), Michael Ruffin (Out)
Team Efficiency Stats
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-Off (98.5 ppg, 41.8 rpg, .468 FG%, .753 FT%, 19.7 apg, Efficiency-105.4, Rank-10)
-Def (92.3 ppg, 36.7 rpg, .425 FG%, Efficiency-99.0, Rank-10)
Chicago Bulls:
-Off (95.0 ppg, 43.8 rpg, .420 FG%, .775 FT%, 18.8 apg, Efficiency-98.6, Rank-25)
-Def (93.8 ppg, 42.0 rpg, .435 FG%, Efficiency-97.5, Rank-8)
Game Notes
The schedule makers evidently weren’t too kind to the Central Division to start this year off. 3 of the top 10 in the NBA in strength of schedule are from the Central Division. The Pacers have the league’s toughest schedule so far, Chicago ranks 7th and the Cavaliers rank 10th. So don’t be fooled by Indiana’s 1-3 record or Chicago’s 3-3 record. These are much improved teams that the Cavaliers must contend with in their own division. We saw this first hand in the Cavs last 2 games, against the Pacers and Bulls. Both teams pushed the Cavs and hung in there for 3 quarters. The Cavaliers relied on their continued trend of superb 4th quarter play to put both teams away. Those games were at home, though. This one’s in Chicago, and the Cavaliers cannot afford to fall behind early and play catchup like they did last night. There will be no home crowd for the Cavs to feed off, so it is important for them to come out much stronger tonight.
I said in my preview for the last game that it was important for the Cavaliers to keep up the good ball movement. Well, that didn’t really happen, and the Cavaliers really let Indiana dictate the tempo. In this game, when the Cavaliers are on offense, I want to see them get back to form. Swinging the ball and reversing court, cutting and passing, and limiting turnovers. Most importantly, though, Ben Wallace must re-assert himself. After a 0 rebound game, I look for Big Ben to come out jacked up and ready to go. He needs to control the glass and get some key offensive rebounds for the Cavaliers. Despite pretty good defensive efficiency numbers, the Bulls will give up a lot of rebounds and they will give up a lot of points. The Cavaliers have scored 100 points or more in 3 straight games (amazing, isn’t it?!?!), and they must take advantage of what the Bulls are giving up. When the Bulls went small last time, the Cavaliers were able to post up LeBron and use Wally’s size to take advantage on offense. We’ll see if that happens again tonight.
On defense, I want to see the Cavaliers do a better job slowing down and disrupting Derrick Rose. This guy showed me a lot in the first game, but he’s still a rookie. The Cavaliers need to pressure him better and try to force him to give up some turnovers. If you can take away some of Rose’s easy points, you can really shut down this team. Ben Gordon will always get his, but Luol Deng has yet to really get himself going this year. If you can shut down Rose and just contain Gordon the best you can, the Bulls will struggle to find much scoring. In many ways, the Bulls offense reminds me of the Cavaliers offense the last few years. There’s no real identity to it, and no real go-to guy other than maybe Ben Gordon. Force the Bulls to chuck up outside jumpers, box them out, grab the rebounds, limit second chance opportunities, and you make the Bulls much easier to beat. The Cavaliers were successful at doing this for stretches in their first matchup, and I look for them to try to continue it tonight in a tough, hard-fought road battle.
Vegas Line
Chicago +2
Over/Under 189
From The Outside Looking In
Blog a Bull
Thank You Isiah
Bull Riding
Top Ten Chicago Sports
Next Game For The Cavaliers
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
7:00 PM EST
Milwaukee Bucks at Cleveland Cavaliers
FSNOH/WTAM
3 Comments
I wouldn’t be suprised if we lost the game but i wanna win this game. Derrick rose is a beast and they whacked phoenix last night. Luckily for us we better than phoenix. If we win i’ll be elated. we gotta hope ben gordon has a great game like last time
oh yeah. We are playing so well right now.
Good game for the Cavs, they deserve the two day rest coming to them.