Medina Gazette While nothing definitive was established, there were a few items of interest: q When they went head-to-head, Snow won the individual battle with Jones. Perhaps more importantly, his team played better. Snow still can't shoot ? he was 1-of-4 from the field ? but he ran the offense well and played solid defense on Jones, who was 2-of-9 on 3-pointers and didn't attempt a shot inside the arc. Both of Jones' makes came with Snow on the bench, including one where he pump-faked, swatted Mike Wilks on the butt as he sailed by, then buried the shot. "When I came to Cleveland, everybody said I was going to add shooting," said Jones, who twice sat in the first row of seats during a break in the action. "I missed my first five shots, so I had to get the crowd into it the best way I could. I did my Harlem Globetrotter trick to swing the fans back in my favor." q Gooden and Marshall battled at power forward, and both looked like they were in midseason form. Gooden, who will almost certainly start, had a game-high 14 points and added seven rebounds, while Marshall had 13 points and a game-high eight boards. Marshall's stats weren't what were most impressive, however. The 12th-year pro was always in the right spot offensively and defensively, used his long arms to snare rebounds in traffic and had a knack for taking 3-pointers at the correct time. "He's going to be able to stretch defenses from the power forward position and small forward position," Brown said. "His versatility is going to help us as a team. We're going to move him all over the floor." Gooden didn't do anything flashy, but he hustled, played defense, rebounded and got his points in the flow of the game, which is exactly what the Cavaliers want. q James and Hughes are going to be a solid one-two punch once they're playing on the same side. Hughes missed some easy shots in going 3-of-9 from the field, but his defense helped hold James to 4-of-11 shooting. They were clearly the two most athletic players on the court. James did provide the two best plays of the night. First, the 20-year-old Akron native soared in, right arm fully extended, for a monster dunk. Then he held the ball one-handed, like a grapefruit, and banked in a double-pump runner. It added up to a successful night for the Cavalies, who open their preseason schedule Monday in Washington against the Wizards. "Over the first three days of practice, we've come together a lot," Marshall said. "We still have a long way to go, but I think we can be a good team. We have all the pieces." All those pieces won't fit into the starting lineup, but they are all parts of the puzzle. Source
