Open Thread: Cavaliers at New York Knicks
Written By: Scott | Category: Cleveland Cavaliers | Comments: 73Cavs at New York Knicks | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
8:00 PM EST | TV: ESPN | Radio: WMMS/FM 100.7 | Line: Cavs (-8)
AP Photo
Apologies for running out of time on a Cavs preview for tonight’s game. Needless to say, this team really needs to get ahold of some sort of identity.
The Knicks and Mike D’Antoni will come with a ton of running and three-point shooting. Al Harrington – a center - plays like a shooting guard. Danillo Gallinari has buried a slew of threes already this season. Larry freaking Hughes has been playing like the guy we thought we traded for.
If Mike Brown rolls with the two centers on the floor again, it could be fatal. Again. LeBron James is bound to get quite the ovation by Knicks fans, so at least we have that going for us. He always seems to up his game at MSG, so it can only help, right?
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Cheers, folks. Have a great weekend. Go Cavs.
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 1701 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
Still no news on the guys the Cavs are going to pick up this year in order to compete.
Who will it be? When will we make the moves? Time is a wasting, and tonight….Lebron visits his new home.
First order of business: Natty, who are you? Is Lebron going to live in MSG? That would be so cool! I heard they were going to let him live in a luxury suite.
Second order: glad we are playing a team in which it will be impossible to play the Twin Glaciers. That will be impossible…right?
AI seriously, i think if he could come to term coming off the bench he would be great for some extra points. Not like we dont need to scoring, and with Lebron and Shaq i think he would stay inline.
why is jj starting?
It’s about time we get to see JJ get some solid minutes
wow – what a seriously unimpressive crowd. you’d think they can fake it to make an impression on LeBron, but even Shaq got a louder round of applause than their own starting 5…
Ask and you shall receive!!! Needz more Hickson.
Hope Andy didn’t get the flu from guarding Tyrus Thomas…
@5 No its not. Andy has been killing it and we need a win.
How peculiar, I definitely did not see that happening… Anybody got some details as to why exactly Hickson got the starting nod?
4 posessions, 3 terrrible passes.
JJ!
Zach…he’s young. He’ll make mistakes. But he’s athletic. We need him. Relax. 2 nice finishes.
or was that the team? not just JJ?
van gundy’s remark about not being able to talk about anyone but lebron just madme hate him that much more. theyre not just talking ABOUT talking about lebron.
sigh.
They obviously want andy’s offense off of the bench.
my comment about the possessions to bad passes ratio wasnt a crack at JJ…it was just at the cavs in general. turning the ball over 3 out of the first 4 posessions is not the way to come out of the gate.
as for JJ starting, all im thinking right now is that i didnt see the move coming, but im not saying its a bad move
This is exactly what they needed to do. Shaq and JJ and then Z and Andy. Last year’s starting lineup off the bench. Perfect. Get everyone back in the flow.
I forgot how much I would rather light myself on fire than listen to SVG…
NBA IS BACK!!
My bad then, ZIB. I have just been ranting about getting Hix more min today.
Maybe if LBJ valued the Cleveland venue like MSG he would try this hard all the time!!!
waaaa
waaaa?
@8 Andy is more effective off the bench. JJ has way more potential and Andy has way more energy… you know where those qualities belong.
I like when last years 5 are on the court.. that matches well with the ‘new’ five of mo, parker, lbj, jj, shaq. We just sub out 3 positions… then later we’ll move DWest to point and bring in boobie and Moon to play with Andy and Z.. Nice strategy tonight Coach Brown
The Knicks just triple teamed Andy on the block…
Is S.V.G. a reg. on ESPN? Out here on the West Coast I value any national game of the Cavs I can get, but seriously, I am getting really annoyed at this telecast. WOuld rather go to JustinTv or find a radio broadcast than listen to this dribble.
I feel like watching this game muted. It’s going to be hard to listen to another 2 and a half quarters of nothing but “Where will Lebron be next year?” I hate ESPN.
haha… dribble… i get it!
the espn telecast is like watching a knicks fan’s wet dream.
pathetic.
If lebron leaves I hope he doesn’t go to the knicks just to make sure all those idiots wasted their money on those king james knicks jerseys
Wow…thanks for that knife in the back there CC.
I think every Cleveland fan just collectively threw up…
Is CC serious right now? Sell-out x infinity.
wow i cant believe they asked cc his thoughts on leaving cleveland in the same context as lebron…
Oops..meant drivel…but I’ll take the credit for a pun, if not intended.
i really hope boobie sustains this all year
What a d-bag. CC should’ve added the caveat: but the NBA has a salary cap and it will be impossible to win here.
But winning here is great!!!
You guys are way ahead of me…what do you mean CC?
Gonna have to rewind
haha…caveat…i get it!
Han: They asked CC what advice he would give to Lebron in making his decision. CC responded: That there’s nothing like winning in this city. Playing and winning in this city is the best thing on earth.
Question by blondie to CC: “As a proffesionall athlete why do you feel it necessary to have $75,000 and still call yourself a DUDE?”
insert “$75,000 earings”
Yeah yeah, just rewound and caught up. Sorry
I like the lineup where it’s DWest, Boobie, Moon, Andy, and Z. Boobie gets some good looks and he’s been knocking them down lately.
Back to the point at hand….Stan Van Gundy is the absolute worst excuse for a commentator of any sport that ever EVER lived. Why he has a job watching and commentating on NBA games is a great mystery to me.
My new nickname for Boobie is Zombie because he’s slowly rising from the dead to me.
@JNeids….that’s not a bad thing
@JNeids- it’s because ‘Zombie’ isn’t playing point anymore. He can get open and hit shots instead of having to make stuff happen.
stan van gundy coaches the orlando magic.
jeff van gundy is the midget calling the game for espn.
can we start taking bets as to how quickly Brown goes away from the immensely successful rotation we are seeing tonight?
Whatever…either one sucks
that was pretttyyyy ^_^
21-5-7.. impressive first half numbers
deos anybody else think that stan van gundy looks like ron jeremy?
If Boobie keeps this up all year, then his contract might be considered a steal. He is coming in and shooting 50% from 3 point range almost every night. Incredible.
If Varejao keeps up these double doubles then I want NO ONE to complain about that contract he got in the off season. I said it was a good deal at the time and A LOT of people criticized it. About $7M for a guy who is getting a double double every night? Not bad at all.
S-Dub
I am one of those who complained about Andy’s conract. I think we could have got a better player for that amount. I think we overpayed for him… but I am beginning to see how effective he CAN be
ESPN.com has Andy with 10 boards.. is that accurate? That is wild
That’s very accurate. I know it’s a small sample size, but if he continues this all season and for the duration of the contract. It’s a great deal for both sides. He grows with LBJ and Mo as a good PG, PF, and wat ever position LBJ plays combo
S-Dub
IDK how you feel about JJ starting, but I think Andy is better off the bench like the Birdman is for Denver
Remember everyone, this is only the New York Knickerbockers… Much more difficult games lie ahead where LBJ can’t do everything he wants offensively.
We couldn’t just give andys money to another player. Bird rights. Salary cap. CBA.
Scott..
Yeah, I got into the ins and outs of free agency during the offseason.. I forgot all about the bird right. Good job keeping me in line
I hope we keep playing Hix even though he’s struggling. He needs to learn.
JAMARIO!
After watching the game, I decided to check the box score and I noticed something that was interesting (but not surprising). In tonight’s game, 10 players played, 6 had positive +/- and 4 had a negative +/- … So who was negative?
Shaq (-6), Moon (-3), Parker (-2), Williams (-1)
In other words, besides Mo, our three new additions were–according to this statistic–a liability tonight. Now, this is just one game and of course it is early. So, hopefully over time this will change. But, I do think it suggests that these guys are still trying to fit in.
On the other hand, her were the other 6: Big Z (+19), West (+15), LBJ (+8), Andy (+6), Boobie (+6), J.J. (+3)
The biggest thing that jumps out at me here is the difference b/t Z and Shaq given that Z has the best +/- and Shaq the worst.
Again, this is only one game and so the sample size is far to small to draw any conclusions. But, I just thought I’d share what seemed like an interesting relationship between newness on the team and bad +/- stat.
I don’t what it is but I’m really beginning to loathe this year’s Cavs. They managed to look awful for three quarters in game they would’ve lost if the Knicks had five more minutes. They just look entirely disinterested and that includes Lebron.
I’m noticing the same thing Doc. I don’t know quite how to put it into words, but somehow this year’s Cavs are leaving a bad taste in my mouth (so far). The offense has just been U-G-L-Y and the effort on defense has been lacking — the rotations just seem a half step slow across the board compared to last year.
i think the “LeBron to NY” thing is having a bigger toll on this team than what is being talked about.
imagine the pressure of an entire city and fanbase on the supporting cast. this needs to be thought ouy more and to be better articulated, but i’m sure it’s maddening – especially for the new guys. i mean, they were brought in to keep the biggest thing in Ohio from leaving. thats alot of heat…
I’m not willing to say it’s time for a trade now cause this is a sinking ship blah blah blah. BUT, Ferry has to seriously consider moving Shaq AND Z at the deadline if he can get 3 quality players. Now the caveat is what LBJ think obviously. But that $31M expiring contract money is huge and w/o us being able to spend any type of cap next year, we’re going to need to get a guy or two that is good enough to play with LBJ for a few more years.
Thank the heavens for the FSN-OH broadcast option with A.C. and Fred. Like many of you, I found it unbearable when watching the ESPN feed. Seriously, shut up, Jeff Van Gundy. And after those comments, CC can go [WFNY edit] himself.
I did catch this though on ESPN, which made me smile: http://i35.tinypic.com/2qtig4m.jpg
I have to agree with some of the concerns above…was really really looking forward to this Cavalier basketball season but this first game I’ve been able to watch on my own TV has given me a rather nonchalance feeling. Maybe it’s just cuz the NBA season is so long and not bound to get intense until spring (when the surf season kicks up again around here) but I sense the same nonchalance from and in particular in LBJ. Hopefully just settling in and working in the new rotation, but most definitely not the same intensity I remember watching game in/game out last year. Hope it doesn’t bite them in the Airmax Lebron VII’s.
Agree with the few people above – LeBron doesn’t seem to care too much. If he doesn’t care and get amped up, how are these other guys going to care? I also agree that it’s probably a ton of pressure on guys like Mo and Parker.
I want to see the intensity come up several levels right now…
If it seems like he doesn’t care, its because he doesn’t. Not that he doesn’t want to win, but I think after last year this team is pretty much focused on the playoffs only. They say as much during interviews. Aside from that LeBron has always been a bit cool, even when the situation calls for getting fired up a bit.
Getting to the playoffs is a foregone conclusion. Getting home court in at least 1 round is a foregone conclusion. HCA throughout the playoffs didn’t help at all last year, so why go balls to the wall during the season? Im not saying I agree, but that appears to be the mentality.
I really don’t think these guys are stressing the regular season in the least.
Crazy when a guy can seem to not really even care and still put up the numbers LeBron does.
Tell you why Chris, if you finish 3, you have to go through both Boston AND Orlando.