The Mavericks are a dangerous team, but on their home court, the Cavaliers need to play better than this. Did I expect them to win? Hmm, not quite However, there's not a single positive to take away from this game, and what most concerns me, isn't so much that they lost, but how they lost. The Cavaliers failed to outperform the Mavs in any single given area: <u>FG's</u> Mavericks .474 Cavaliers .464 <u>3P's</u> Mavericks 4/14, .286 Cavaliers 2/9, .222 <u>FT's</u> Mavericks 20/22, .909 Cavaliers 18/21, .857 <u>Rebounds</u> Mavericks 18 offensive, 53 total Cavaliers 9 offensive, 40 total <u>Steals</u> Mavericks 9 Cavaliers 2 <u>TO's</u> Mavericks 7 Cavaliers 12 <u>Assists - tie</u> Mavericks 26 Cavaliers 26 <u>Blocks - tie</u> Mavericks 8 Cavaliers 8 Hopefully, this team can bounce back and begin playing with the same intensity it had been playing with since the Boston trade. In order to compete with a team like the Mavs, you just can't play their up tempo style and expect to hang with them without playing any defense.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Rare for the Cavs to get outrebounded.</div> True. The Mavs' rebounding isn't exactly chopped liver, but the Cavaliers are generally a much better rebounding team -- the best in the league, and they were playing at home. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Skywzrd, where did you come from?</div> ESPN. With ESPN all but abandoning their boards, I just decided it was time to find a new home.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Skywzrd:</div><div class="quote_post">ESPN. With ESPN all but abandoning their boards, I just decided it was time to find a new home.</div> Yeah many leave there because of that, what was your username there? We have redscoon here, who is one of our best posters who came from there too. Please send me an IM so we can talk.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah many leave there because of that, what was your username there? We have redscoon here, who is one of our best posters who came from there too.</div> Same username. Yeah, redscoon was one of the regulars over there as well. Ironically, he mentioned your site just today, which partially influenced my decision to sign up. I already came to the conclusion that this site had the best layout, but just needed to get my account set up. I'm really impressed, overall. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Please send me an IM so we can talk.</div> For that I need to reinstall AOL IM or whatever software I used to run. What do you use to run all of your IM services at once, Trillian?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Skywzrd:</div><div class="quote_post">Same username. Yeah, redscoon was one of the regulars over there as well. Ironically, he mentioned your site just today, which partially influenced my decision to sign up. I already came to the conclusion that this site had the best layout, but just needed to get my account set up. I'm really impressed, overall. For that I need to reinstall AOL IM or whatever software I used to run. What do you use to run all of your IM services at once, Trillian?</div> Yeah we put a lot of time into this board, I'll give you all the details when we talk. Yes I use Trillian Pro 2.01, so I am connected to everything, many just IM me using AIM, JBB King James
Once I get everything set up I'll let you know. I also plan on brushing up my fading Photoshop skills. I haven't used it much in a few years, so it could be interesting.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Dallas Mavericks made their long shots, their short ones and just about everything in between. Once they heat up, there isn't much a defense can do but watch -- and wish. "All you can do is hope they miss," LeBron James said. "And they didn't." Michael Finley scored 23 points, Steve Nash added 20 and 10 assists and the Mavericks rolled to a 114-98 win Wednesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Scott Williams scored 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field in the 14-year veteran's first start for Dallas, which signed him off waivers last month from Phoenix.</div> Full Story Box Score
Just finished my weekly addition of Cavs Bootleg basketball on VHS, and I shouldn't even have bothered to take the effort of finishing this game. At the end of the 3rd and down by 21, I should have known that we weren't going to take this one home. a. Our Zone defense stinks b. Our transition defense stinks c. Our shooting doesnt smell that great d. We suck. The end.
We just don't try on the defensive end, they react to what the offense does, you can't do that in this league, you must be the aggressor and make them react to you and your defense. That is why we are last in the league at forcing turnovers.
True. I wonder what the coaching staff is doing during practices to up this team's defense. It seems that nothing is working. We make moves to get better defenders, but yet we still cannot defend.
Right now the Cavaliers are in a feeling out stage. With all of the player turnover, so far we've seen the turnovers go down, but the forced turnovers haven't really changed much from where they were before. The balance between the two is what really matters though, and to the Cavaliers credit, they have been noticeably better since the Boston trade. My current thinking is that the Cavaliers have hit a wall at the wrong time. They're currently in one of their toughest stretches of the season, if not the toughest. Once they're through, perhaps they'll bounce back the same way Memphis bounced back after they had a big losing streak a month or so ago. Young teams go through these phases, after all.
We don't communcate on the defensive end, we have guys that can play good individual defense (Eric Williams, Tony Battie, Ira Newble) and guys that play good help defense (Gana...mmmm..Gana, lol) Bottom line, we don't play team defense.
The Cavs struggle with teams that can run the floor and shoot, plain and simple. Our transition D is weak and we never contest shots. It doesn't show up as badly against some teams, but clubs like the Mavs and Nets are almost impossible victories for us unless Lebron is going off. We finally found a unit in the 4th that could do some damage defensively with Ollie playing tenacious D and Battie showing up big in the post, but it was too little too late. I wish Silas wouldn't be so stubborn with his lineups and would start mixing things up. It would be nice to see Kapono see some non garbage time every couple months or so. He isn't a good defender, but who on our team is? We really need to spend time working on pick and rolls. Either Z's man cuts to the hoop for an easy dunk or we get stuck in a severe mismatch. I know its not the easiest thing to guard, but it would be nice if we at least appeared to have some idea of how to stop it. The road isn't getting any easier the next few games, so the Cavs need to pull it together in a hurry.
Mavs have, Cavs have not <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Dallas Mavericks were so dominant against the Cavaliers Wednes day night that seven players scored in double figures and the Mavs dominated the league's best rebounding team on the boards. Dallas is secure in making the playoffs in the highly competitive Western Conference, while the Cavs hope to slip into position in the inferior East. Despite losing to the Mavs for the sixth straight time, 114-98, forward Ira Newble wasn't impressed. "They have a lot of weapons and they can create mismatches that they utilize, but at the same time, they don't play any defense," Newble said. "When they're making their shots, of course they're going to look like All-Stars, but when it comes down to it, [they won't win a championship] because they don't play defense and that's why they're not a great team."</div> Full story
Mavs too hot to handle <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There's a famous scene in the cult film classic Swingers in which the main characters describe a predator's dilemma when slaughtering a cowering rabbit. Fangs or claws? Claws or fangs? It was, in that case, an egotistical reference to picking up women. But the metaphor can easily be extended to the way the Dallas Mavericks play offense. They kill. Some nights there's a chance, when their defense is loose and their shots don't fall. It happened Tuesday night in a bad loss at Memphis. Wednesday, though, the beast was hungry and the Cavaliers were the prey. The result: a 114-98 mauling in which the home team often looked as helpless as a furry little critter.</div> Full Story
Let's just put it this way 1st of all Dallas was hitting everything 2nd of all the cavs thought they could run with them and they couldn't 3rd of all they got lackadasical in the third quarter AGAIN 4th of all Gosh dang Silas don't have a clue in hell how to coach and on his show on 1100 im going to call him up and tell him that. We have alot of talent in Cleveland and he don't kno how to use it. Wagner has hit 5 of the last 9 3 pointers theres your guy to spread the floor but what does he do sits him till mid 2nd quarter. Give the guys a chance and get a new rotation. Please Carters hurt and nows are chance theres 2 playoff spots open now and were right there.
Boston is falling, Toronto is falling, Philly is falling. This is Clevelands best chance, and they gotta take advantage of it.
