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November 20, 2008Indians Bullpen Update
November 20, 2008Back-to-back games. On the road. Against a top-tier team. The stars were aligned last night for the 9-2 Cavaliers to become the 9-3 Cavaliers. Last night’s loss to the Pistons was frustrating given our double-digit lead going into halftime. But unlike the majority of the games that lead up to yesterday, the wine and gold reverted to the Cavs of old by having a lackluster second half.
Foul trouble, which may or may not have been due to fatigue, plagued the Cavaliers backcourt as Mo Williams and Delonte West combined for nine personal fouls. In fact, though dropping 25 points and five three-point field goals, Williams played the fewest minutes since opening night against Boston. Coincidentally, also a game where Mo had foul trouble.
The result of said foul trouble, as well as the absence of Wally Szczerbiak (personal reasons) was thirty-plus minutes for Daniel Gibson (1-7, two points). And the fact that Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace had one of the best games of the season (21 points, 15 rebounds, three 3PM) did not help matters much. Couple all of this with Allen Iverson being Allen Iverson, and the results are not surprising.
You could see the collective sweater unraveling in the second half with some untimely turnovers. Mo Williams left his feet under the hoop (never a great move) only to pass to the top of the key. The only problem was the player at the top of the key was Rodney Stuckey who went the other way for an easy two. Not long thereafter on an inbound play, Mo Williams was dinged for elbowing Iverson, giving the ball back to Detroit after they had just scored.
The Cavaliers had more free throw attempts than Detroit in the first half, but the second half was all Pistons. Momentum was not our friend in this instance, but it is definitely something that this team can learn from.
LeBron put in his token 25 points, six boards and six assists. He shot 8-of-21 from the floor, but did cash in on nine of his ten free throw attempts. For those keeping score at home, James is currently shooting 77 percent from the line – easily his best conversion rate of his career. For what it’s worth, he’s also playing the fewest minutes per game of his career. A fresher LeBron makes more free throws? You be the judge.
Looking forward, the Cavaliers have a half of a game lead on the Pistons in the Central. Detroit travels to Boston tonight for what will be one heck of a game. Our next five games include Atlanta, at New York, Oklahoma City, Golden State and then at Milwaukee. The combined record of our opponents through this five-game stint is 24-34, so the Cavs should be able to end next week in the same position that they are in as of today. Only time will tell.
10 Comments
Oh what could have been! The Cavs had such a great first half in this game and executed the offense perfectly. I don’t know if it was the fatigue factor, the lineup changes that were necessitated by foul trouble and Wally’s absense, or Detroit’s freakishly hot shooting down the stretch, but the offense grinded to an absolute halt in the mid-third quarter. Clearly, one thing Mike Brown and co. will need to work on is continuing to execute the normal offense during momentum shifts that don’t go your way. I think LeBron’s instincts are to just try and take over the game at that point. That might work (and has worked) against lesser competition, but against a strong defensive team like Detroit, it’s a recipe for the Cavs’ third loss.
Incidentally, if this game is in Cleveland, the Cavs win going away. Down the stretch, the crowd, which was previously asleep, definitely became a demoralizing factor.
was anyone else surprised by all of the empty seats near courtside last night?
looking at the picture a bit closer, maybe it was just due to being close to halftime when i noticed… carry on.
Not too worried. 2nd night of a road back-to-back is always tough and it showed in the 2nd half. The ticky tack fouls on Mo and Delonte didn’t help (though the Cavs seemed to be getting a lot of the calls in the 1st half). Would’ve been nice to get the win to assert some dominance in the Central, but the schedule ahead is favorable and should lead to another good stretch of wins.
Can’t really say too much on the game seeing as NBA League Pass audio has really dropped the ball as far as audio quality and i can hardly hear the games anymore (so bad last night i gave up). But one thing does bug me. if you are a fan of the NBA in general, why in the world are the Celtics and Piston playing two times in November? Same with the Cavs and Bulls. I haven’t looked at the schedule of either the Pistons or Celtics but I hope they have the rest of their matchups later on when playoff positioning is on the line or something.
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LeBron’s shot selection was Larryesq last night. It’s frustrating when people with so much talent make such stupid decisions (although when you get tired the brain does wander).
I tuned in with about 9 mins in the 4th quarter. The Pistons seemed to be getting hot and the Cavs were not running much in terms of an offense. The Cavs needed to make the Pistons defense work to try and get back in the game. Instead the Cavs were taking bad shots with a lot of time left on the shot clock. Pistons seemed to be playing pretty well.
Mark, you probably couldn’t have tuned in at a worse time. The Pistons were on fire and we just couldn’t convert. We weren’t getting the ball over the halfcourt line quickly, and were just rushing.
Cleveland still needs a shooting guard who can average more than 10pts, a power forward more than 3pts no matter how good his defense is, and a bench. Dice would help but he is probably going back to help Detroit. LeB can’t do it every game.