Why are the Cavs struggling so far? Responses from the Nation of Cleveland Cavaliers Fans
November 11, 2009Cavs 102, Magic 93: The LeBron and Mo Show
November 12, 2009Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3) vs
Orlando Magic (6-2)
Amaway Arena, Orlando, FL
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
8:00 PM EST
ESPN/WTAM
Get ready to continue the tour of misery portion of the 2009-10 schedule tonight. After a nice and much needed 4 day break, Cavaliers fans will pick up right where they left off. After being subjected to ESPN’s heavy handed approach to the proliferation of LeBron to New York innuendo last Friday, tonight we get to relive one of the most painful sports series we have ever been subjected to in Cleveland. Speaking as a lifelong Cleveland sports fan, I’m not sure any series loss has hurt more than the Magic series last year. I have never felt more sure that a Cleveland team was destined to win a Championship than last years’ Cavs team. So yeah, that one hurt. A lot. Now, tonight, I fully expect ESPN to pounce on the opportunity to show highlights and bring it up as frequently as they can because, well, it’s ESPN and beating storylines and talking points into the ground is what they do best. So brace yourself. Beyond that, the struggling Cavaliers only have to play a team that, despite not having Rashard Lewis, Vince, Carter, and Ryan Anderson for parts of this season still has been able to score points at will and is off to great 6-2 start. It could be a long night for the Cavaliers in Orlando.
Projected Starting Lineups
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-G Mo Williams (15.7 ppg, 4.0 apg, 0.7 spg, 13.88 PER)
-G Anthony Parker (9.1 ppg, 2.3 apg, .560 3P%, 8.92 PER)
-F LeBron James (26.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 8.0 apg, 29.41 PER)
-F JJ Hickson (1.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.0 bpg, –0.60 PER)
-C Shaquille O’Neal (11.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 17.34 PER)
Key Reserves: Anderson Varejao, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamario Moon
Injuries: Leon Powe (out)
Orlando Magic:
-G Jameer Nelson (13.3 ppg, 5.9 apg, 0.9 spg, 16.62 PER)
-G Vince Carter (15.3 ppg, 2.5 apg, .440 3P%, 20.70 PER)
-F Matt Barnes (9.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 11.76 PER)
-F Brandon Bass (9.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 14.23 PER)
-C Dwight Howard (19.4 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 26.59 PER)
Key Reserves: JJ Redick, Mickael Pietrus, Jason Williams, Marcin Gortat
Injuries: Vince Carter (probable), Ryan Anderson (out), Rashard Lewis (out), Adonal Foyle (out)
Team Efficiency Stats
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-Off (94.4 ppg, 41.9 rpg, .449 FG%, 21.3 apg, 14.4 TOpg, Eff-101.6, Rank-19)
-Def (89.9 ppg, 41.1 rpg, .427 FG%, Eff-96.1, Rank-5)
Orlando Magic:
-Off (102.4 ppg, 39.4 rpg, .463 FG%, 21.4 apg, 13.8 TOpg, Eff-109.4, Rank-5)
-Def (97.3 ppg, 39.6 rpg, .471 FG%, Eff-104.3, Rank-15)
Previous Matchups
None
Future Matchups
- Thu, Feb 11 at Cleveland
- Sun, Feb 21 at Orlando
- Sun, Apr 11 at Cleveland
Game Notes
As a basketball fan, this is one of those games that should be superb to follow. Why? Because this a game where the two teams match up in a way that we will showcase strength against strength and weakness against weakness. The Cavaliers have quietly found their rhythm on defense again and have found themselves back in the top 5 in the NBA in that category. For Orlando, their offense is their bread and butter. They showcase one of the most efficient offenses in the NBA and they really strive to put pressure on teams who do a lot of switching on defense.
Conversely, while the Cavaliers offensive troubles have been well documented this year, the Magic have been a woeful defensive team in their own right. Orlando is letting opponents shoot 47.1% from the field (22nd in the NBA), 36.1% from three (16th), have given up the 6th most free throw attempts in the NBA, and is giving up 97.3 ppg (11th). This is quite a change from the team whose defense last year was the most underrated in the NBA all season long and was easily one of the 3 best defenses in the Association.
The Magic offense is a bit of an enigma. You might think they run a lot to initiate their offense, but they don’t. In fact, they are 22nd in the NBA in Pace Factor. When you look at their rankings in the Four Factors, they are 4th in eFG%, 11th in TOV%, 22nd in ORB%, and 14th in FT/FGA. Based on those rankings, it might be hard to understand why they are the 5th most efficient offense in the NBA. From those numbers, it looks like a team that just takes a lot of jump shots and happens to make a lot of them. However, only 63% of their shots are jump shots, which isn’t really that high. In fact, the Cavaliers take more jump shots than the Magic do. Instead, what the Magic do is use pick and roll combined with high amounts of ball movement to put pressure on the defenses by forcing them into uncomfortable positions. From their, the Magic do a great job of attacking and exploiting any weaknesses they find, primarily by getting good, easy looks inside for Dwight Howard.
The Cavaliers perimeter defense has really struggled this year, and for the Cavaliers to win, they need Delonte West to play a lot of minutes and they need him to play well. Without his defensive presence, the Magic will be able to pick apart the Cavs defense. Without Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, LeBron is going to be free to roam a little more on defense and make a bigger impact, which should help. Inside, the big question will be whether Shaq still has what it takes to at least slow down Dwight Howard a little.
Quite frankly, the Cavaliers don’t defend that well on the road. They let teams shoot 2 percentage points higher on the road and they give up almost 6 more points per game on the road. This is a major reason the Cavaliers don’t look like a Championship team right now. Championship teams defend and play well on the road. The Cavaliers defended and played well on the road all last season. Offense can often times be a function of what the opposing defense is allowing, but defense is almost always pure desire. This is why defense wins championships, and this is why chemistry matters. The Cavaliers are getting closer, but they still haven’t put it all together yet. They need a signature win this season to announce their arrival to the party, and tonight would be a great place to start.
When the Cavaliers are on offense, we will see if they continue to try to work in some of the plays they tried against Chicago. They didn’t work in that game, but I believe they have potential to work once the team gets it figured out. Unfortunately, that’s what preseason is supposed to be for, but instead the Cavaliers are still working in new wrinkles 3 weeks into the season. This is a problem.
If we get specific on this offensive matchup with Orlando’s defense, the Cavaliers starting unit has big time chance of failing spectacularly against the Magic. With one guy with a negative PER in the starting lineup and a guard with a sub-10 PER in the starting lineup, the Cavaliers are making things awfully easy for a mediocre defense to defend. I’m not opposed to Hickson starting at all, but against Orlando, I’m not sure it allows the Cavaliers to apply the necessary pressure on Orlando’s defense. It will require both Shaq and LeBron to be effective early, and Mo Williams must avenge his performance against Orlando last year in the ECF. With Delonte, Z, and AV running the 2nd unit offense, there will be more opportunities to create matchup issues, but the starting unit has to beat Orlando straight up. With Hickson in the lineup, there is less room for creativity and errors.
Even though Pietrus is not expected to start, I would still expect to see him out there a lot tonight defending LeBron. Beyond Pietrus, Orlando doesn’t have the kind of big defender who can give LeBron fits without Rashard Lewis. Perhaps we will see Brandon Bass take his turn defending him, but I would anticipate LeBron being a tough assignment for Matt Barnes. For the Cavaliers to win this game, it’s imperative that LeBron be aggressive in this game and try to open up some easy baskets for his teammates. If LeBron continues to just hold on to the ball and dribble down the shot clock as he did in the playoffs last year, it will be a long night for Cleveland.
The Magic are a beatable team, but they require you to play your best to do so. After the way the Cavs played against Orlando last year, it’s time for them come out and make a statement. If they can come out and steal a big win in Orlando, it could go a long way to providing the spark they need to serve as a catalyst for the 2009-10 campaign. A loss tonight could be disastrous for Cleveland as they must go to Miami tomorrow and then play Utah on Saturday. A win, however, could help slingshot them through this tough part of the schedule and allow us to see the Championship caliber team we all thought we were getting this year. Only time will tell.
Vegas Line
Orlando –1.5
Over/Under 190.5
From The Outside Looking In
Third Quarter Collapse
Orlando Magic Daily
Howard The Dunk
The Puns Are Starting To Bore Me
Next Game For The Cavaliers
Thursday, November 12, 2009
8:00 PM EST
Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat
TNT/WTAM
51 Comments
@ #41 Bridgecrosser
haha, i’ll keep that in mind
@ #49 Jason
uh… delonte’s writing childrens books for dr. seuss?