<div align="center"> vs. <font color="blue">Washington Wizards (0-0)</font> vs. <font color="red">Cleveland Cavaliers (0-0)</font> Date: November 1st, 2006 Time: 8:00 P.M. Eastern TV: ESPN, CSN, FSOhio Place: Quicken Loans Arena</div> [div=50%]<font size="3"><div align="center"><font color="red">Cavaliers Starting Lineups:</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font size="1">(E. Snow, L. Hughes, L. James, D. Gooden, Z. Ilgauskas)</font></div> <font color="red">2005-06 Cavaliers Pre-season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Drew Gooden and Lebron James - 14.3 PPG Leading Rebounder: Drew Gooden - 8.0 RPG Leading Assist Man: LeBron James - 5.5 APG Points Per Game: 88.3 Field Goal Percentage: 45.2% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 30.8% Rebounds Per Game: 44.5 Assists Per Game: 21.1 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/eric_snow.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Eric Snow</font> PPG: 3.6, RPG: 1.1, APG: 2.9 Eric Snow's going to have to prove that he deserves his starting job, or rookie Shannon Brown on Damon Jones will replace him. His duty will start defending Gilbert Arenas and he's going to have to be aware all night because Gilbert has the ability to score from anywhere and anyhow on the court. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/larry_hughes.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Larry Hughes </font> PPG: 11.7, RPG: 3.0, APG: 4.3 After being out for another portion of the season, Hughes looks to rebound and help take this team to the NBA finals. His threat to score and his quickness may be a challenge for DeShawn Stevenson, but his decision making last season has been poor, so you may find him setting his teammates up for shots. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/lebron_james.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">LeBron James</font> PPG: 14.3, RPG: 5.2, APG: 5.5 Well what can I say really? He's the GM favorites to win MVP this season, at age 21, he's taken control of this team since day 1, and knocked the Wizards out of the playoffs last year. This season against the Wizards will be different though as they improved their defense, staying in front of their defenders and not gambling. In the pre-season contest against the Wizards, Gilbert Arenas right before the tip-off asked to take duties against LeBron James on defense, and LeBron was limited to only 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and commited 2 turnovers in 22 minutes, not exploding past Arenas for any layups or dunks. You should see the Wizards rotating defenders to guard LeBron on defense, which will include Arenas, Stevenson and Butler and he will look to that challenge in the game. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/drew_gooden.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Drew Gooden</font> PPG: 14.3, RPG: 8.0, APG: 0.7 The last time Drew Gooden lit up was against the Wizards last year in game 2 of the playoffs. Drew has the ability to score off the rebounds being able to put it back up, shoot the mid-range and be able to post-up against Antawn Jamison. With Jamison's threat to shoot the 3-pointer should balance it out, and that being said, it should be a good matchup to watch. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/zydrunas_ilgauskas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Zydrunas Ilgauskas</font> PPG: 10.4, RPG: 5.4, APG: 0.9 Zydrunas had a decent year last season and he looks to cause a threat in the paint against the Wizards' frontcourt. He's not going to have an easy time doing so having to go up against guys like Haywood and Thomas who were able to shut him out last season in the playoffs. Expect him to a few put back shots and score some mid-range shots.[/div] <font color="blue"><font size="3">Wizards Starting Lineup</font></font> <div align="center"> <font size="1">(G. Arenas, D. Stevenson, C. Butler, A. Jamison, E. Thomas)</font></div> <font color="blue">2006 Wizards Preseason Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Gilbert Arenas - 16.0 PPG Leading Rebounder: Etan Thomas - 5.9 RPG Leading Assist Man: Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels - 3.3 APG Points Per Game: 95.1 Field Goal Percentage: 45.8% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 35.2% Rebounds Per Game: 41.8 Assists Per Game: 18.0 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/gilbert_arenas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Gilbert Arenas</font> PPG: 16.0, RPG: 2.3, APG: 2.9 The 4th leading scorer in the league last year comes in to start the season out by seeking revenge to the team that knocked the Wizards out of the playoffs last year led by the Cavaliers. Gilbert age 24, he has already become a star in this league, although the media doesn't give him enough exposure, but fans in Washington do give him the credit he deserves as he shows why he is their best player. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/deshawn_stevenson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Deshawn Stevenson </font> PPG: 5.6, RPG: 1.6 APG: 1.7 Giving up a 3 year deal by Orlando, newcomer Deshawn Stevenson looks to replace Jared Jeffries role and to bring his perimeter defense to the team. In the 7 pre-season games, he has already learned to play the princeton offense and create chemistry with his teammates. Look for him to become a key player on this team. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/caron_butler.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Caron Butler</font> PPG: 11.9, RPG: 4.7, APG: 3.3 The third member of the Wizards "trio", Butler looks to enter his prime of his career after his stellar performance with the Wizards last year. During the preseason, he has been able to annoy players on the court deflecting passes, so with his length, he should be able to defend Lebron. His ability to score off the ball throws the defense off, so you should expect Caron to get the ball often in this game. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/antawn_jamison.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Antawn Jamison</font> PPG: 12.7, RPG: 4.9, APG: 1.4 In his third season with the Wizards, Jamison has become a consistent 20 and 10 player, showing his ability to shoot the three and score off the ball with backdoor cuts. His shoulder has gotten better, so he should be prepared and ready for the season opener. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/etan_thomas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Etan Thomas</font> PPG: 3.7, RPG: 5.9, APG: 0.7 Eddie Jordan chose Etan to start looking to take Zydrunas Ilgauskas out of his game. Brendan Haywood did a good job doing this last year in the playoffs, but coming off the bench in this game should open up opportunities for him when he comes on the floor. Etan has the energy to get the offensive rebounds and post up on Zydrunas. <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="red">Protect The Lanes</font> – The Wizards offense are capable of driving to the basket and end up getting to the line or getting an easy score. Force them to resort to shooting outside shots and it will open up the game. [*]<font color="red">Feed The Post</font> – With the frontcourt the Wizards have, they should look to feed Gooden and Ilgauskas and take advantage of Jamison's lack of aggressiveness and Etan's size. Doing so may lead to open opportunities for the backcourt to score.[*]<font color="red">Knock Your Shots Down</font> – This has been one of the Cavaliers' weakness from the season before. With the Wizards' defense prepared to collapse on LeBron's drive to the basket, they should try to establish a shooting game to space up the defense for LeBron to attack in.[*]<font color="blue">Score Off The Ball</font> – With a quick and energetic lineup, this should be an easy task for them. In the pre-season, they were able to find each other off back-door cuts and scoring off the dribble. If they able to excel with this, it should throw the defense off and create outside shooting opportunities.[*]<font color="blue">Defensive Awareness</font> – From day 1 of training camp, defense has been their number 1 priority up to the last practice before the season starts and they have influenced a lot more. You should see the Wizards stay in front of their men, creating turnovers, and forcing the Cavaliers to earn their points on the floor.[*]<font color="blue">Establish High Tempo</font> – With DeShawn Stevenson replacing Jared Jeffries, everybody on the starting lineup has the ability to score efficiently which makes the offense deadly. But, their opportunities to start fastbreaks, and move on offense will make it harder for the Cavaliers to stop.[/list] <font size="3">Other Notes</font><ul>[*]Last year, the Cavaliers knocked the Wizards out of the playoffs 4-2. [*]The Wizards took the series 3-1 in the regular season.[/list] <font size="3">Prediction:</font> Wizards take it 102-88.
Good stuff, Will. I'm taking the Wizards in a closer one, probably something like 100-92. It should be interesting to see how the Wizards play after falling to them in the playoffs.
I like this preview, but not the prediction. As a Cavs fan, I see the Cavs winning it, but it should be a close game either way. It should be interesting, because the Cavs haven't changed much so the Wizards should know more or less how to beat them. I can't wait, lol.
Etan Thomas has made a presence in this game so far. He showed a couple of good moves in the post, he blocked Gooden's put in, and he's able to stop Ilgauskas in the game thus far. The only concern I have is Etan leaving his presence in the paint area to help his teammate with guarding. Gilbert Arenas needs to get it going, by freeing him up for some shots.
DeShawn Stevenson has done a great job not letting his man Larry Hughes get free, but Larry's been making him look bad with all of the jumpers that he made. Caron Butler has been sick on defense, containing his man LeBron, not letting him take over the game, deflecting passes and converting them for points on the other hand. The only thing that's been hurting us are the second chance opportunities the Cavs are getting from Gooden and Ilgauskas. Oh yeah, and Arenas . If they can get him in rhythm in the 3rd quarter with a few jumpers, he should be able to take over the game in the 4th.
What the hell? Jarvis Hayes missed 3 key shots, man. What's up with Coach Jordan's decision of going small and not putting in Haywood and Thomas in the last two minutes? Or what about not putting in Etan a lot in the second half at all? Man, so many things went wrong tonight. Gilbert was quiet, but he made the right passes, leaving him with 11 assists, but he needs to take control over the damn game. He's the leader of this team, single digit points won't help us at all. Our defense performed so bad in the second half. We let the Cavs get way too many second chance opportunities and rebounds, being outrebounded 50-33. These are some of the things that need to change, if we want to win against the Celtics on Saturday.
I dont know why they hayes and jamison shoot the last shots.. Gilbert didnt even get a chance to make somehting happen
<div class="quote_poster">RUN TMC Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I dont know why they hayes and jamison shoot the last shots.. Gilbert didnt even get a chance to make somehting happen</div> Yeah, I guess he wasn't psyched like LeBron was tonight. Man, Saturday is gonna feel like a year from today, but I can't wait for them to face the Celtics.
Arenas really struggled with the jumper. I laughed when he made his first J, and it was from a post up. He did good with the passing though, but the team gave up too many offensive rebounds. Jamison got a good look to tie the game though, but it happens. Larry Hughes was a monster in the game, but Cleveland committed way too many turnovers.
