<div align="center">@ <font color="red">Cleveland Cavaliers (7-2)</font> vs. <font color="blue">Washington Wizards (3-5)</font> Date: November 18th, 2006 Time: 7:00 P.M. Eastern TV: CSN and FSOhio Place: Verizon Center</div> <div align="center">[div=50%]<font color="blue"><font size="3">Wizards Starting Lineup</font></div> </font><div align="center"> <font size="1">(G. Arenas, D. Stevenson, C. Butler, A. Jamison, E.Thomas)</font></div> <font color="blue">2006-2007 Wizards Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Gilbert Arenas - 26.4 PPG Leading Rebounder: Antawn Jamison - 7.8 RPG Leading Assist Man: Gilbert Arenas - 6.6 APG Points Per Game: 102.5 Field Goal Percentage: 44.4% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 30.4% Rebounds Per Game: 39.5 Assists Per Game: 18.9 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/gilbert_arenas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Gilbert Arenas</font> PPG: 26.4, RPG: 4.0, APG: 6.6 Gilbert Arenas had another off night against the Pistons getting himself into foul trouble and missing key shots near the end. Gilbert needs to start taking over games and executing during crunch time when the Wizards need him to. He'll look to score over 30 points against their nemesis the Cavaliers. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/deshawn_stevenson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Deshawn Stevenson </font> PPG: 6.8, RPG: 3.1 APG: 2.6 Deshawn saw fewer minutes than usual from foul trouble only playing 24 minutes and scoring 6 points. The first meeting with the Cavaliers, DeShawn had a hard time defending Larry Hughes who shot lights out going 11-15 on the floor for 27 points. Even though Larry will be out, Deshawn will have to look out for David Wesley who can become a factor in this game. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/caron_butler.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Caron Butler</font> PPG: 18.0, RPG: 6.6, APG: 3.1 Caron rebounded himself against the Pistons on Friday playing nearly the entire game ending up for 24 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. The Wizards will need him to play even harder against the Cavaliers tonight as he did in their first game, where he was able to be active on the defense end and create turnovers. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/antawn_jamison.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Antawn Jamison</font> PPG: 19.8, RPG: 7.8, APG: 1.3 Antawn Jamison had his worst game of the season thus far against the Pistons shooting 3-12 for only 8 points and turning it over 8 times. He has also been a victim for the Pistons when Eddie Jordan went with a small lineup, and Rasheed Wallace has came up big. Antawn will need to bounce back and become a scoring threat that we know he is. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/etan_thomas.jpg[/imgl] <font color="blue">Etan Thomas</font> PPG: 7.4, RPG: 6.1, APG: 0.5 Etan continues to struggle creating a paint presence as his minutes and stats goes down. He will need to have a big game against the Cavaliers like he did in the season opener containing Zydrunas Ilgauskas, blocking shots and grabbing the rebounds if he wants to bounce back. [/div] <font size="3"><div align="center"><font color="red">Cavaliers Starting Lineup</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font size="1">(E. Snow, D. Wesley, L. James, D. Gooden, Z. Ilgauskas)</font></div> <font color="red">2006-2007 Cavaliers Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: LeBron James - 29.6 PPG Leading Rebounder: Drew Gooden - 9.8 RPG Leading Assist Man: LeBron James - 6.4 APG Points Per Game: 96.6 Field Goal Percentage: 44.6% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 34.8% Rebounds Per Game: 44.9 Assists Per Game: 19.3 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/eric_snow.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Eric Snow</font> PPG: 3.4, RPG: 2.0, APG: 3.1 Eric Snow hasn't been a factor for this team as he sets up LeBron James and plays defense out there. He'll play a big role in trying to contain Gilbert Arenas like he did the last time these two teams met, so we'll look at Snow and Arenas closely. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/david_wesley.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">David Wesley</font> PPG: 1.5, RPG: 1.0, APG: 1.0 David Wesley will start his second game of the season in replacement of the injured Larry Hughes and he hopes to make the best out of this game becoming a shooting threat for Cleveland tonight. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/lebron_james.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">LeBron James</font> PPG: 29.6, RPG: 7.6, APG: 6.4 LeBron James hasn't come short of being phenomenal this season so far averaging career highs and leading the Cavaliers to a 7-2 record. LeBron did not explode like he can in the first game between these two teams, but he did have a great shooting night, so LeBron will obviously play a key role here and the Wizards try to contain him. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/drew_gooden.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Drew Gooden</font> PPG: 11.8, RPG: 9.8, APG: 0.8 Drew Gooden will be a key factor in how the Cavalier's paint presence will unveil tonight in DC. The Pistons did a good job feeding Rasheed Wallace when the Wizards had gone small, so Drew Gooden may look to exploit this matchup here. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/zydrunas_ilgauskas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Zydrunas Ilgauskas</font> PPG: 8.3, RPG: 7.9, APG: 1.1 Zydrunas hasn't played over 30 minutes in a game thus far and he isn't producing a lot on the offensive end. Etan Thomas did a great job containing him, while Ilgauskas wished he could say the same about Etan. If Zydrunas stop Etan and force him on to the bench, it will help the Cavs control the paint. <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="blue">Start Off STRONG</font> The Wizards don't want to find themselves coming up from behind late in the games, so they need to execute in the first half and build themselves a solid lead. Something they have never done yet this season besides the Pacers game. [*]<font color="blue">Contain LeBron</font> With Larry Hughes gone, the Cavaliers will look to LeBron James most of the time, and the Wizards have to be prepared to contain him like they did the last time. The last thing the Wizards won't happening is him blowing by for dunks and layups.[*]<font color="blue">Create Turnovers</font> The Wizards were able to execute this in the first game with the team forcing 17 turnovers and getting 21 points out of it. If they can do the same, push the tempo on offense and find the easy shot, then their offense should be there. [*] <font color="red">Take Advantage Of Post Matchups</font> - If the Cavaliers can take advantage and use Gooden and Ilgauskas on offense, then the Wizards will have a lot of trouble trying to contain them and the wing players at the same time.[*]<font color="red">Rebounds</font> The Wizards aren't a very good rebounding team and the Cavaliers have an deep frontcourt with Gooden, Varejao and Ilgauskas, so they need to look to control the boards and get second chance opportunity points.[*]<font color="red">Eliminate Interior and Force Jumpshots</font> - The Pistons did a great job in the 4th quarter playing zone and forcing the Wizards to shoot long-range shots, which came useful towards the end. The Wizards have the ability to drive in and get to the line, so they must control the paint here.[/list] <div align="center">Ones To Watch and </div> <font size="3">Prediction:</font> Cavaliers over Wizards, 107-101 Will's Prediction Record: 5-3 (Last: Pistons Over Wizards 106-97)
0 turnovers for the Wizards in the first half. How about that? The Cavs though did a good job luring Etan Thomas out and finding Ilgauskas down-low open for easy points in the 1st quarter. LeBron James looked flashy in the 2nd quarter, so he may just be heating up, but so has Arenas. He was 6-11 leading the Wizards back. Lastly, the Wizards lead the Cavs in second chance opportunity points 12-2, and the Wizards have done a great job on the boards compared to last night.
Gilbert Arenas had a great game tonight. Shot lights out from 3, hustling on both ends of the floor and ending up with 45 points. The Wizards did a great job protecting the paint and forced the Cavs to take long-range shots. Both Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood had decent games out there controlling the paint and the other part of the trio Jamison and Butler had good shooting nights, but more hustling out on the defensive ends. Jarvis Hayes should be fine from what I saw. They probably strapped him up, just to be sure, but he said that his back was hurting, so probably won't be a long-term injury. Damon Jones getting ejected and LeBron complaining all-night made my night also.
Gil needs to stop it, he better not go like 7-20 next game, because his inconsistency has been crazy this season. Great game by him though, when he get's going he can kill other teams, but those terrible shooting games need to go to a minimum. He's saving his percantages by having terrible games, then AMAZING games. You need to have some of the middle games, because the terrible games can many times equal losses.
