Game Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Blues (Game #14)
November 10, 2010Game Recap: Jackets Pummel St. Louis on the Scoreboard and Also In The Face With Their Fists
November 11, 2010Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3) vs
New Jersey Nets (2-5)
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
7:30 PM EST
FSOH/WTAM
Tonight the Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to go for 4 straight wins overall and 2 in a row against the New Jersey Nets. Last night, the Cavaliers got what was easily their ugliest win of the year. They didn’t shoot the ball well at all, for long stretches in the middle of the game they slowed things down and forgot to keep running the offense. But they rebounded well, they racked up the assists, they limited turnovers, and they got just enough production from their bench to win. As predicted, this is becoming a team that is very easy to fall in love with thanks to their toughness, effort, unselfishness, conditioning, and the way someone different seems to step up every night. This is the easy part of the Cavs schedule, and December and January still look to be horribly brutal months for the Cavaliers, but for now, this is fun and the Cavs look to keep up momentum tonight back home at the Q in front of some of the best basketball fans in the league (more on this coming tomorrow).
Projected Starting Lineups
New Jersey Nets:
-G Devin Harris (16.1 ppg, 6.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 22.51 PER)
-G Anthony Morrow (10.4 ppg, 1.3 apg, .355 3P%, 9.48 PER)
-F Travis Outlaw (11.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.4 apg, 12.64 PER)
-F Troy Murphy (5.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.3 bpg, 4.68 PER)
-C Brook Lopez (18.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 15.01 PER)
Key Reserves: Terrence Williams, Jordan Farmar, Derrick Favors, Kris Humphries, Quinton Ross
Injuries: Terrence Williams (questionable)
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-G Mo Williams (16.0 ppg, 4.8 apg, 1.5 spg, 17.28 PER)
-G Anthony Parker (10.1 ppg, 2.3 apg, .647 3P%, 10.66 PER)
-F Jamario Moon (5.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 9.32 PER)
-F JJ Hickson (16.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.3 bpg, 19.67 PER)
-C Anderson Varejao (9.8 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 15.06 PER)
Key Reserves: Daniel Gibson, Ramon Sessions, Antawn Jamison, Jawad Williams, Ryan Hollins
Injuries: None
Team Efficiency Stats
New Jersey Nets:
-Off (91.1 ppg, .430 FG%, 40.4 rpg, 18.1 apg, 15.6 TOpg, Eff-97.3, Rank-26)
-Def (97.6 ppg, .459 FG%, 41.0 rpg, Eff-106.2, Rank-22)
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-Off (98.7 ppg, .457 FG%, 38.7 rpg, 20.6 apg, 14.3 TOpg, Eff-103.0, Rank-14)
-Def (100.6 ppg, .473 FG%, 41.3 rpg, Eff-106.0, Rank-21)
Previous Matchups
- Cleveland 93 at New Jersey 91 – 11/09/10 [box]
Future Matchups
- Mon, Jan 24 at New Jersey
- Wed, Mar 23 at Cleveland
Game Notes
Really, for a breakdown of these 2 teams, you can read what I wrote in last night’s preview. Nothing has really changed. Instead of breaking down the teams like I usually do, instead I’ll talk a little bit about the state of the Cavaliers heading into tonight’s game.
I was happy to see Antawn Jamison did indeed have a big night against New Jersey and I see no reason why he can’t do the same again tonight. Sure, playing back to back nights might be rough on his knee, but the Nets are just a good matchup for ‘Tawn.
Of course, it was disappointing after all the praise I heaped on Mo Williams for his offense to see him have such an off night. I predict there won’t be very many games this season in which a healthy Mo Williams is sitting on the bench down the stretch in the 4th quarter of a close game. However, having said all that, I felt that Mo actually was excellent at running the offense even though his shot wasn’t falling. He was still effective in pushing the ball, had 7 assists to just 2 turnovers in a mere 24 minutes of action, and just in general continued to act as the team’s de facto on court leader. Mo will have nights where his shot isn’t falling, but it’s encouraging to see the comfort level Mo Williams has in Byron Scott’s offense. Mo rarely has back to back poor shooting nights, so I expect him to bounce back tonight.
The one thing I’m waiting for is to see Mo develop some on court chemistry with JJ Hickson. Mo loves running the 2 man game with Andy, and he gives the ball to Parker quite frequently, but he doesn’t seem to always see JJ on the court and Hickson can go long stretches without being a part of the offense when Mo is in the game. It’s interesting because you’ll see as soon as Ramon Sessions enters the game, Hickson begins to get the ball more and becomes a bigger part of the offense. Is it because when Mo goes to the bench it’s only natural for JJ to take on the scoring load? I’m sure that’s part of it. But it would be nice to see Mo and JJ trading off scoring opportunities and keeping defenses on their toes more.
The other concern for me is that the starters seem to all have negative +/- ratings every game while the bench comes through with the positive ratings. It’s great to have such a good bench and we knew this was going to be a strength of this team. However, the negative ratings are largely a by product of the awful 3rd quarters the Cavaliers have been experiencing once again. Despite the Byron Scott love fest from fans, this is the same issue that plagued the Cavaliers in years past and Mike Brown was crucified for it. Perhaps it’s because when you have LeBron James you expect better, and people will give the Cavs a pass because of their lack of star to lean on. That’s fair, I suppose. But it’s still a concern and something this team needs to figure out.
I suspect that the issue isn’t about coaching at all, actually. Short of using different starting lineups to begin the 3rd quarters, I’m not sure what else a coach can do about this. Maybe the Cavaliers’ players are just of a certain mindset and they don’t like to come out with energy, aggression, and focus in 3rd quarters. Whatever the case, I hope this team can figure this out. It’s fine against Philly, Washington, and New Jersey, but it won’t fly against some of the better teams the Cavaliers will face in the upcoming months.
Otherwise, I’m pretty happy all in all with how this team has performed through 2 weeks this year. It would be nice if the Cavaliers could sweep this 3 game home stand (NJ, Indiana, Philly), because the final 2 weeks of this month are much more difficult with games against New Orleans, San Antonio, Orlando, Memphis, and Boston all coming up. If the Cavaliers can take care of business at home in the games they should win, they’ll have a chance to finish up the month with a winning record, and that would truly be a great accomplishment and speak volumes for the fight and will of this basketball team.
Vegas Line
Cleveland (-4.5)
Over/Under 193.5
From The Outside Looking In
Nets Daily
Nets Are Scorching
Whoop-De-Damn-Do
Birds Of A Feather
Stepien Rules
Cavs: The Blog
The Wine and Gold Rush
Random Thoughts
Next Game For The Cavaliers
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers
7:30 PM EST
FSOH/WTAM
6 Comments
Regarding the third quarter issue, last night I actually think the Cavs came out playing fine – the issue was simply that their shots weren’t falling. Most importantly, the defense didn’t fold like it has in past games – giving up 23 points in a quarter is not too bad.
Also, odd tidbit – the only game the Cavs won the third quarter was the Hawks game, which they eventually lost. Though the Cavs lost the first half badly in that one, expended everything they had to come back in that third quarter and lost the fourth.
Interesting that Cavs went from two-point underdogs to nearly five-point favorites with close win last night.
@Scott – also, a home game vs. an away game helps on those odds.
Interesting that the Nets are as bad as us at defense, but not nearly as good as us at offense (especially when you consider their starting-5 are all offense-first players. their 2 best defenders by the end of the year really could be Terrence who is now and Favors who is still learning)
After watching last night’s game I am happy that none of those rumored Troy Murphy to the Cavs trades ever materialized.
Quick takeaways:
Third quarter woes were too much to overcome this time. Williams injury would have been surmountable if not for Gibson’s rough night from the floor and Sessions not being a distance threat.
Hollins’ defense was called into question, resulting in second-half absence.
Varejao should be alright, I wouldnt expect to see Mo for a while.
More tomorrow….