Upcoming trip: Monday at Clippers: 8-4, 4th Pacific Not your pappa's Clippers. They're playing solid ball and have won 3 straight while going 4-3 at home. All said, this is still looking like the best chance for the Cavs to snatch a win on this trip. I'll say... Cavaliers 94, Clippers 89. Wednesday at Suns: 11-2, 1st Pacific Yippee. Suns have won 7 in a row and have the bad taste of getting 'LeBroned' in their mouths. Plus they're 5-1 at home. Gonna be a toughie. I'll say... Suns 105, Cavs 94. Thursday at Nuggets: 7-6. Fifth Northwest They're 6-3 at home. Luckily for them they get to rest up in serious fashion, along with Melo's dinged ankle until Thursday (a four day break), while the Cavs will be playing their third game in four days, IN the thin air of Denver. Ick. The long break could have, however, come at a bad time for the Nuggets who were just beginning to play solid ball before the gap in the schedule. Sometimes it's tough to come back from a break at pace, but playing at home, against a team coming at the end of a roadie might be a nice way for them to get back and swining. I'll say... wild guess: Nuggets 98, Cavs 97. BTW, hopefully Carmelo will be healthy for this first nationally televised match-up between he and LeBron... know what I mean? Should be good regardless. All in all, I'm seeing 1-2, but would be exstatic if we could win two. This is a tough little trip though with all three games smooshed into a four day period against two of the top home teams in the league this year already. Monday night's game is absolutely key to the tone of the trip, and if we could get that one I love our chances at getting another. If not, could be a long week. Chip
This three game western road trip will be a good test for the Cavs. We will see how they can fair on the road and against Western teams. I think we should be able to win the Clippers game. I can see us winning the Suns game, but right now it looks like the Cavs are more likely to lose that one. I think the Denver game will be a close one, but we will come away with the W, especially is Melo is still out with that injury. I predict us to go 2-1 to bring our record to 11-5.
Well, as odd as it may seem and as much as Barkley may want to laugh at it, I think a 1-2 west coast mini-roadie is not too bad of a result. 2-1 would have been spectacular, imo, but at this point of the year, and against these three opponents on the road, I'll take 1-2. A couple good things that have happened on this trip: 1) Lucious Harris is starting to feel his stroke. Might sound inappropriate, but it ain't. The Cavaliers will need Harris to step it up to help take the burden off the guys inside and the inside game in general. If he can continue to improve, he can once again reclaim his starting spot from Ira Newble (whom I think is the epidome of mediocrity) and give us that additional long-range threat with J-Mac. 2) Anderson Varejo (why do the TNT broadcast crew keep calling him "Vari-jon"...? That his name? One day it's "Anderson", the next its "Verijon"- what's next?) got minutes and looked very active. Maybe, just maybe this guy can play a real role for the Cavaliers this year and help spell the bigs. I liked the fact that his eyes were always open, and he was moving well without the ball. He's got some nice little moves in the post and can also step back with a better shooter's touch than I gave him credit for at the start. Really liked what I saw out of this guy. Good hustle overall. 3) Traylor is playing ball. He keeps on proving how much better shape he's in and just keeps on bringing it. You can see how much he enjoys playing with LeBron too- slinging Globe-Trotter like passes around and covering the basics. He's rebounding and has continued to have a soft touch when it comes to shooting the ball. I really like having this guy around this year. He's rebounding, moving the floor, and is into each and every play on the court. He's a great little piece in this puzzle and I love watching his role expand as the games tick off. 4) Team ball. The Cavaliers are playing some pretty good team ball, both defensively as well as when they have possession. The passing is crisp, the ball is moving around the court, and these guys are getting to know each other. Eric Snow is playing a not-so-subtle role on this team as well, allowing others to get the glory of the scoring and he's just witching on defense. The thing I am most happy with concerning the Cavaliers to this point is that all the players know where their bread is buttered- yet the butter also knows how to spread it around. LeBron is sharing the ball even more than he did last season, and everyone else on the team knows and trusts that he's going to get it to them. What this is doing is creating the motivation to move without the ball and being prepared to receive what LeBron can dish. I love it, and by mid-season this team could become one of the best passing teams in the league. And man did they lay it on the Nuggets. Maybe Denver was rusty from sitting for four days. Maybe they thought they'd just be able to roll out and get a win against the Cavs who have had a very hectic schedule over the past days. Whatever, the Cavaliers just ran right over the Nugs' at home, not even giving them a chance to breath. While Melo and Martin both seemed to be forcing things, the reality is that the Cavs defense has to be given some credit. They played their tails off to finish up a tough west coast trip, and come home 10-6, second in the division with tons of room to grow and lots of energy to grow with. So, I'll take it. Laugh all ya want Barkley, just keep watching. Chip D. Wood
