May 24, 2013

Cavs Do Their Best Toddler Routine Losing to Rockets

December 10, 2009 by 33 Comments

LeBron WorriedIf the Cavaliers could have taken their ball and gone home last night, they might have just done it. A night after losing to Memphis in overtime, the Cavaliers seemed tired, irritable and ill-tempered. The technicals mounted as the Cavs began to lose any semblance of cool. The Cavs weren’t getting a lot of calls, sure, but these refs were pretty bad both ways. The Rockets handled it better than the Cavs did though. Mo Williams, Shaquille O’Neal and Delonte West all got technicals. Mike Brown even got himself ejected before the end of the first half after he stomped his way onto the court.  I don’t know if Mike Brown lost his mind, was trying to get the refs to make better calls, or fire up his team.  Maybe he just sensed how bad this team was going to look and decided not to watch it so up close.  Make no mistake though, the refs did not cost the Cavs this game.

The Cavs lost this game by shooting 4-14 from the field in the first quarter. The Cavaliers lost this game by shooting 5-15 from three. The Cavaliers lost this game by committing 26 personal fouls, getting numerous technicals, and committing 20 (TWENTY!) turnovers over the course of the game. The Cavaliers lost this game by not having a center that could capitalize on the match up with the Rockets’ undersized 6 foot 6 inch center Chuck Hayes. The Cavs lost because Mo Williams went 2-10 from the field. The Cavs lost because LeBron James went 8-21 from the field and seemed more intent on throwing his arms up and screaming “HEY!” every time he went to the rim in attempt to get a foul called.

The Cavaliers were off the rails last night. They were easily frustrated and their “gameplan” never game into fruition at all. At this point, I am going to consider this one an outlier for statistical purposes. This isn’t the normal Cavaliers team that we have become accustomed to watching. They were playing the second night of a back-to-back after getting beaten by an inferior team in frustrating fashion in overtime. I will consider this game a one-off temper tantrum for the boys in wine and gold. They have an off day today before playing Portland on Friday night in Cleveland. We can talk about problems if and when the Cavs come out horribly on Friday.

Other Notes:  Boobie Gibson hurt his hand, but X-rays were negative.  Sounds to me like a day-to-day type of injury.  Hopefully it won’t derail his productive start to the season.

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  • Snip

    I say we talk Browns/Steelers….it’s the watercooler talk of the day!

  • lstavole13

    Lebron has decided to be a ballhog the last two nights.

  • Chris

    I’ll reiterate what I said yesterday – when they turn the ball over 20 times, they should lose.

  • tim

    its easy to handle it well when guys like luis scola are being awarded with “and-1″ just by having a defender a foot away, while lebron gets hacked 3 times getting to the rim with no call.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Scott

    Windhorst reported that Gibson is questionable for tomorrow’s game – hand is too swollen to even dribble.

  • whipjacka

    Okay, I know I always say this, but stop overreacting. They aren’t going to win 66 this year, they aren’t going to play with the passion that they played with last year, It is December and they are going to lose games (some badly). It happens to every team; last year was the freak occurrence, not this year.

    Some people need to take a chill pill and just wait for the playoffs to start, or, at the very least, the second half of the season to start.

  • JK

    “Its a long season.” … “We’re fine” … How long can you say stuff like that? This team has some serious problems.

  • tim

    i think they are on pace right now for about 57-58 wins. goodness thats awful! (sarcastic)

  • tim

    a team with “serious problems” would be under .500, like toronto or chicago right now. the cavs are far from perfect and have some issues, but not serious problems.

  • JK

    Tim – If the Cavs are serious about winning the ship this year they have some serious problems. If you just want to make the playoffs, then you’re right, they are sitting pretty.

  • MrCleaveland

    Nothing really matters until June. Last year we were phenomenal and what did it get us? Squat. So just relax, everybody.

  • http://www.clevelandleader.com/taxonomy/term/27 Kevin Hignett

    @Tim – Technically the Cavs are currently on pace for 56 wins. And our expectations are WAY beyond those of a .500 team, so the definition of “serious problems” is not the same as those teams.

    My two biggest concerns, both of which factor into the last two losses, are first that Mike Brown is painfully slow to make adjustments and recognize what is going on with his team and with the opposition. And second, that LeBron has not learned that the 1 on 5 offense will KILL his chance at a championship this year. He can’t do it by himself, but he doesn’t seem to realize that yet. Also, his defense is terrible right now.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Craig

    I am not panicking or anything, but their complete mental breakdown last night is certainly notable. Some nights they aren’t going to get their shots to fall. I expect that. I don’t necessarily expect them to lose all semblance of composure.

  • Swig

    I think the timing of these two loses is unfortunate. At 15-5 they were on pace for 61 wins, and they had been playing better later than earlier. Right now they’re on pace for 56 wins, and everyone expected more than that from this team.

    Everything imaginable went wrong yesterday and the cavs closed to single digits multiple times. This is mostly an outlier, what I didn’t like is that Houston was the scrappier more energetic team the whole game. The cavs looked like they expected to walk in and be handed a victory.

  • http://www.clevelandleader.com/taxonomy/term/27 Kevin Hignett

    @Craig – I agree. I was also struck by the total lack of creativity on offense (again). When the shots aren’t falling, they need to try something different like LeBron posting up, or running actual plays. Last night it was Shaq trying to fight through double and triple teams instead of passing out, LeBron hoisting off-balance shots from wherever, or anyone of Delonte, Mo or LeBron driving wildly to the basket looking to get fouled.

    It reminded me a lot of a terrible loss they had last year against the Rockets where the Cavs looked totally incapable of dealing with their opponent. Let’s see what they do against Portland.

  • tim

    i agree things need to change. i just think theres a difference between serious problems and “issues.” the cavs have some issues right now which they need to fix. i think they will. its better to figure this out now than in march/april.

  • WindyCityWahoo

    While watching the Memphis game on Tuesday, I commented to my wife that the Cavs would surely lose on Wednesday. It was the most predictable loss of the Cavs’ season so far.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/ Rick

    I think most of us saw this loss coming, but that doesn’t really make it any better. There is no reason that Shaq shouldn’t have dominated Chuckster last night.

  • B-bo

    @Rick: second game of a back-to-back + March 6, 1972–I’d say those are pretty good reasons

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    Off the rails << Off the chain :[

  • Jack

    They HAVE to trade Z. They have to, or turn Wally into something. Something. We need Powe to come back and get a Z DNP – CD every night. And we need Rudy Gay. Or Jamison. Or Jax.

    They WILL NOT make it out of the East with this roster.

  • Jack

    I’m frustrated…

    …this roster is not as good as we pretend it is. Not by a long shot.

  • oribiasi

    I hope Toronto keeps losing, trades Bosh to us and that will be it.

  • JK

    Z is not getting traded might as well forget that.

  • crammitface

    let’s talk about the real problem, how HORRIBLE Shaq looks right now. Just from watching the games on television Shaq looks slower than ever trying to run up and down the court as well as turning the ball over, or missing shots more times than he makes buckets. I mean seriously, how much are we paying him right now and what production has he got us? As far as I’m concerned, we play better without him in the lineup. But that could all change further down the line and later on into the season. I hope I’m wrong and Big Daddy Diesel has something left in the tank

  • Natty The Dog

    Been saying it since before the season started.

    Gotta use Shaq’s contract for a trade FOR SURE. And, consider what you could get with Z, and bring him back after a buyout.

    Shaq made this team worse than the days of Ben and Sasha. I would LOVE to give that trade back…..we would be a 2 loss team right now with Ben and Sasha.

    Marc Gasol and Rudy Gay…..Trade Shaq, give up drafts, cash….get rid of that fat bum, and bring on some real, young, and “for the future” talent.

    Won’t get past the 1st round with this roster. And, I really think we’ll be a .500 team by the new year.

  • tim

    ugh – look guys (and gals). we got shaq for the sole purpose of beating orlando. thats it. there is ZERO chance of beating orlando (or even boston) if we had ben wallace and sasha still. wishing a do-over on that trade is ridiculous. we lost to orlando since we had no choice but to double team dwight howard, which opened up their perimeter game. with shaq, we dont have to double howard and can stay true on the perimeter. we still might not beat orlando, but have a much better chance of doing so with shaq than without. they didnt bring shaq in to win games in the regular season. they won 66 last year without him. we can probably do fine against almost any other team with or without shaq. the problem is we cant just sit shaq all year long and then throw him out there agaainst orlando in the playoffs. gotta play him now. we might lose a few more games now to get him in there, but WE ARENT BEATING ORLANDO WITHOUT SHAQ. period.

    wont get past the first round with this roster? what? you really think that Miami, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Detroit, toronto, Washington or Chicago would beat cleveland in a best of 7 series? come on.

  • Jack

    Thank you, Tim. Crammit and Natty, you guys are really short-sighted here. I’d rather struggle and win 55 games and have Shaq against Dwight. He is the second most indispensable Cav if you want a chance to win a championship. If you just want to run it up in the regular season, then Shaq is one of the most easily dismissed.

    @JK – Z is going to be traded. It’s not even a question. Ferry likes his job, and Ferry likes Lebron, and Gilbert likes to win. Z is going to get traded. What do you guys say here? “Book it!”?

  • Jack

    @Natty – I didn’t even bother reading the whole thing until now. That last post of yours is one of the most inane posts I’ve ever read on this site. And I don’t even mean that in a mean way. You should just not tarnish your sports fandom with a post like that.

    Note 1: It’s not like everyone is just looking to give up young and “for the future” (as you so adroitly put it) bigs.

    Note 2: There is a chance we have a loss or three less with last year’s roster. But guess who one of those losses would have been to…Orlando. But we raked the Magic in their own building.

    Note 3: A .500 team by the new year? Are you serious? So you think we are going to win 2 of our next 12 games? You think we will go 2-10? Really? Are you sure?

    Note 4: I have the day off…hear me roar.

  • Jackson

    This year reminds me alot of the 2008 season fresh off the trip to the Finals. The team seems to be off a bit, just sleepwalking through games. With the current roster, no way does this team get past Orl or Bos as it looks both of those teams will win around 65 games and get HC over us…

  • B-bo

    It’s still early enough to not get too worked up about all this, but I will say one thing: right now, there are 4 EC teams that I’m not confident we can beat in a best-of-seven series

    Boston
    Orlando
    Atlanta
    Miami

    This was not the case last year, when Orlando appeared to be our only problematic matchup. And I wasn’t thrilled about a matchup with the Lakers last season, so needless to say that worries me about 100x’s more this season. Again, I realize it’s early, and that it’s the championship that ultimately matters, but there are more concerns this season than last.

  • tim

    im confident the cavs could beat all 4 of those teams in a best of 7 series. not saying it would happen, but i would be surprised if atlanta could beat cleveland. have to keep in mind, the playoffs are a different animal than the regular season as well. in the regular season, every team is on a different playing and travel schedule and has other issues to deal with. boston might lose at home to the knicks – but it was the celtics 4th in 5 nights, while the knicks were on 3 days rest. are the knicks better? of course not. once the playoffs start, rotations are shortened and travel / playing schedules are evened out.

  • Tommy D

    I was at the game and it appeared as if the Cavs were in slow motion. Absolutely zero chemistry out there and poor on-court leadership from LeBron. While we’ll certainly make the playoffs and the record doesn’t matter too much, it’s the chemistry and teamwork that we need to build during the regular season. I faily to see it. Houston is an average team without McGrady and Yao, and they dominated the Cavs….sad.