Browns FO/Coaching: Who Ya Got?
January 2, 2009Browns Bullets for Sunday January 4, 2009
January 4, 2009
Cavaliers 117, Chicago 92 (Box)
In the absence of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cavalier big man Anderson Varejao had a banner game. (Sorry, I couln’t help myself.)
The Wild Thing scored a career best 26 points and grabbed eight boards. (His previous high was 18 points.) More than just the points, Andy supplied his usual hustle and toughness over 31 minutes. With Zydrunas out for at least three weeks, the Cavs will need more of the same from Andy on a regular basis. Now, I don’t expect Varejao to score in the 20’s every game, but they will need him to play more minuites than his season average.
Not lost in the Varejao love-fest at the Q was LeBron’s first triple-double of the season. If I told you LeBron only shot eight times you might think something diastrous had happened. Instead LeBron was the ultimate distributor, missing out on a few more assists due to fouls down low. LeBron did make all eight of his free throws and finished with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. He had one breakaway dunk, and a rejection that brought the crowd alive in the second half. He would finish the game with three blocks, and the team recorded a total of eight.
Ben Wallace played one of his best games in a Cavs uniform. He was always in good position for a rebound, and altered many shots around the rim. He scored 13 points to go with his pair of blocks, including a rim rattling dunk that, well to be honest with you, he wasn’t elevating enough for at the beginning of the season. He had no problem throwing it down on his former team on this night.
J.J. Hickson had a decent night with extended minutes. He still looked like a rookie at times, but was eager to mix it up defensively. Apparently the young man is starting to understand what it is going to take to earn playing time on this team. West, Gisbon and Mo Williams all played well, knocking down jumpers and driving to the basket.
It was great to see the Cavs playing team offense again. There was plenty of movement without the ball, and unselfish passing. At one point LeBron even passed up a chance to score on a two on one situation with Hickson. J.J. wasn’t able to connect on the play however.
We’ve all known for a little while now that Z just wasn’t right. Hopefully a few weeks of rest will be all he needs to be ready for the stretch run.
8 Comments
It definitely was a good win, but I’m left wondering how the doctors missed Ilgauskas’ fractured left ankle the first time they took an MRI. I’m no doctor, but in the million dollar business of the NBA, how does a costly mistake like that happen?
I’m also very worried that our perfect home court record will end against Boston without Z in the lineup, but on the plus side, I’m glad this injury is happening earlier rather than later in the season.
Chris –
You’re exactly right on all points. Not to mention how fast Z came back. I don’t recall them giving a real timetable for his return, but he was back a lot faster than I thought. I was really surprised to hear him say 3 – 4 weeks last night too.
If Andy plays anything like he did last night against the Celtics, we can keep the perfect home record, but realistically I don’t see it happening. Whatever. I was very happy to see those guys playing like they were prior to the Wizards game.
How funny was it to hear AC not buying Derrick Rose’s paring knife injury? I loved it.
Don’t lose hope yet, guys. Remember, this is the same Celtics team that lost to the Blazers minus Roy. They are human. The game will come down to keeping Rondo contained. I hope D-West is assigned the job with Bron on Pierce; Mo can chase Ray-Ray around screens. With Rajon and Pierce matched up, I think the Cavs can pick up the W.
“Get that weak stuff outta here!”
Last night’s game seems like it would have been a great one to attend. Andy was on fire, LBJ was sniffing that 10th rebound for a little while, and they all got their Chalupas. Job well done 🙂
I believe the doctors missed the injury to Z because there are a lot of limitation to how they can scan his foot due to the large amount of metal plates he has there. Not sure what they did different the second time.
Z, Quinn and Winslow all must have the same doctor.
That would make it a triple blind study.
speaking of AC, i loved his response to one of larry hughes’ bad shots – “ecchhh – THATS a brick.”
[…] the Cavs obviously have much less interior scoring. But, we’ve seen that Anderson Varejao can pick up some of the slack when given the ball. On Sunday, he had only 9 shots in 40 minutes of PT, and scored only 10 points. […]