Brown livid with lack of energy.....

[Maximus]

Cavs' loss is just disgust
Brown livid with club's lack of energy
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
Not even the usually serene coach Mike Brown could contain his emotions following the most disappointing loss of the season.

"From our effort standpoint, it was an embarrassing loss," said Brown, who was clearly disturbed by his team's latest defeat. "Our effort was horrible. There's no excuse. They came with all the juice. They did what they wanted to do. They converted our turnovers. When they brought it mentally, physically and emotionally, we didn't respond."

An unresponsive and almost listless Cavs team was slammed with a 100-94 loss at The Q on Tuesday night against the lowly Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks (4-16) are tied with the Toronto Raptors for the worst record in the league. Tuesday was the Hawks' second straight win (they defeated San Antonio last Saturday) and only their second road win (Indiana).

The Cavs had to play without center Zydrunas Ilgauskas because of a sore right knee that he suffered at Milwaukee last Saturday.

Ilgauskas had an MRI but no damage was detected. Ilgauskas could miss the rest of the week. With or without Ilgauskas, the Cavs are falling hard and fast. This was their third straight loss and they have lost five of their past six and seven of their past nine games.

LeBron James, who scored 39 points and had 10 rebounds, is not ready to panic.

"We surprised ourselves early [in the season] and we didn't realize this speed bump was going to happen so fast but it's OK," James said. "We're all men and we've got to just pace ourselves and tighten up every loose screw that we have right now and get better."

The Hawks got the best of the Cavs in several areas. The Hawks scored 28 points on 19 Cavs turnovers. The Cavs, one of the better free-throw shooting teams, shot 17-of-27 (63 percent). The Cavs also allowed the Hawks to collect 15 offensive rebounds.

"This is the second game in a row where we gave up 15 offensive rebounds," Brown said. "This time it wasn't two 7-foot-1 guys. It was

Zaza Pachulia and one of their guards. That's about toughness, that's about effort and that's about desire and again we didn't bring it."

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The Cavs brought in the points early behind 6-of-9 shooting to start the game but from there every thing went down the tubes. The Hawks went on a 17-5 run during the first quarter and the Cavs went on a string of missing 14 of 15 shots. The drought resulted in a six-point deficit heading into the second quarter.

The Cavs (11-9) trailed by seven at the half and many of the Cavs' defensive problems began to surface during the third. Trouble in defending the pick-and-roll and simply staying in front of their man resulted in a 14-point Hawks lead. This quarter also belonged to point guard Tyronn Lue. He scored 11 of his season-high 19 points during the third. Lue had his way with Damon Jones and Mike Wilks. Lue ended the quarter with a fadeaway over Wilks for a 10-point lead.

"We had to find a way for me to get involved offensively, so I was able to run pick-and-rolls and score," Lue said.

The Cavs were able to generate a late rally and trailed by five with 1:09 left. But it was too little, too late as the Hawks finished them off from the free-throw line to seal the victory.

This loss was an alarming wake-up call.

"This just lets us know that we can't just come out and turn it on when we feel like turning it on," Donyell Marshall said. "We have to play hard from the beginning. Early on we caught teams by surprise but now they know us. We have to come out and continue to play."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

bwright@plaind.com, 216-999-6136​

 

[Maximus]

Lowly Hawks prove too tough for Cavs
Brown questions team's effort as losing streak reaches three
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
CLEVELAND - Into every season, a little rain must fall. The Cavaliers are currently in a deluge and looking for a life line.
Stuff's broken right now, virtually the entire gamut. They've been heading down that path for quite some time now, but it was perfectly driven home by the events Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Atlanta Hawks, record-wise the worst team in the NBA, came to town and drubbed the Cavs, controlling the game from start to finish in a 100-94 win. For book-keeping purposes, that's three consecutive losses and seven out of nine for the Cavs (11-9). It was also the first time in eight tries the lowly Hawks (4-16) had managed a win over the Cavs.
More troubling than the streak is that the losses are getting worse, the regression getting deeper. For much of the season, defense has been the most popular whipping boy. But all the flaws are bubbling to the surface, which happens to most teams at some point or another. It is happening to the Cavs now and in earnest.
Coach Mike Brown boldly revealed what he thought was the root in an emotional post game slow-burn.
``They out-toughed us, from (Hawks coach) Mike Woodson on down,'' Brown said. ``They were the aggressors from the opening tip. It is about effort, it is about toughness, it is about desire. We did not bring it tonight from me on down.''
But Brown knows it wasn't just about one evening. The Cavs have been thrashing in the deep end for some time now, their 9-2 start fast disappearing into the rearview mirror.
Tuesday, the Cavs actually played some of the best team defense in weeks. The Hawks shot a meek 43 percent and, somewhat incredibly, just 13 percent from 3-point range. The Cavs only gave up so many points because they had to commit numerous fouls at the end.
As Brown summed it up, the game showed a lack of toughness. They Cavs played without All-Star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but nobody rose to the challenge of his absence. Few even rose to the challenge of a marginal NBA contest.
LeBron James scored 39 points and got 11 rebounds, another virtuoso offensive effort. Make it six games in a row with 30 or more points. Yet he was sluggish, too, forgetting to box out, not making the effort to get in the right position defensively. He committed six of the team's 19 turnovers, which led to 28 Hawks points.
Damon Jones made a couple of big 3-pointers when the Cavs attempted a minor comeback in the third quarter. But he was totally unable to compete at the defensive end. His opposite number, Tyronn Lue, ate him up in the third quarter when he scored 11 of his season-high 19 points.
These are just examples; the blame and failure was shared. Joe Johnson (18 points) was better than Larry Hughes. Al Harrington (20 points) was stronger than Drew Gooden. The Atlanta bench outscored the Cavs 39-20 and so on.
It was no doubt the season's low point, not just because of whom beat them but how they were beaten. Now the Cavs find themselves trying to find answers, physically and emotionally.
``We have to find a way to tighten our screws and get back on a roll,'' James said. ``I'm glad it is happening now, early in the season. We surprised ourselves early. We didn't expect a speed bump so fast.''

 

[Karma]

The Funk

by Joe Gabriele
cavs.com

Mike Brown tries to rally the troops on Tuesday night at The Q.


December 14 -- “We’re in a funk,” LeBron James began, following Tuesday night’s painful loss to the Hawks. “Every team in the league gets in a funk. We just have to tighten up the screws and get back to being ourselves. I don’t want to say I’m happy it’s happening now. But it’s better at the beginning of the season.”
James is just over two weeks away from his 21st birthday, but he is – and has been – the unquestioned leader of the Cavaliers. And after two straight seasons of watching the playoff picture dissipate before his very eyes late in March, the man knows from funks.

Yes, the Cavaliers bottomed out last night, dropping a ballgame against a scrappy Hawks club that came in with three wins out of their first 19 games. But LeBron sees the whole court, and he knows it’s better to get yourself straight in December than it is in April.

That’s not to say the Wine and Gold’s “screws” don’t need tightening. They do.

Cleveland is having major difficulty defending the opposing point guard and for a club that once out-rebounded the Sonics by 35 boards, the Cavaliers are suddenly coming up on the short end of that statistic. Last night, despite LeBron’s standard brilliance, Coach Mike Brown saw those problems – and more – come to the fore.

The Cavaliers turned it over 19 times and that led to 28 Hawks’ points. They shot just 63 percent from the line and took 14 less free throws to do it. The Cavs were beaten on the offensive glass and a journeyman point guard nearly outscored their entire bench.

Brown was slightly less upbeat than the Chosen One following last night’s loss – the Cavaliers’ third straight and seventh in their last nine.

“From our effort standpoint, it is an embarrassing loss for us,” lamented the rookie head coach. “I don’t care if we won or lost, just effort wise, our effort was horrible. I’m part of it. My effort was horrible too. I’m part of that team in there, and I’m taking responsibility for this also.”

Earlier in the season, the Cavaliers rattled off eight straight, so they know that it’s in them. But there is trouble in paradise and the players are hearing the wake up call loud and clear.

“This was just an odd night for us,” said Donyell Marshall. “This is letting us know that we can’t just come out and turn it on when we feel like turning it on. We have to play hard from the beginning. Early on we caught teams by surprise, but now they know us.”

The Cavaliers have their work cut out for them for the remainder of the month. They welcome the Nuggets to town on Thursday and Shaq Diesel is back from an ankle injury and will be in the house on Saturday. Cleveland welcomes Utah to The Q next week and before the New Year strikes, the Cavaliers will face Chicago (twice), Indy, New Jersey on the road and the powerhouse Pistons.

It will be difficult. But they’ll have to figure it out. Of course, when a team is in a funk, they look to their leader and he isn’t quite ready to hang his head.

“I can’t feel down,” said an almost defiant James last night. “I don’t want to feel down. It’s too early in the season for me to get down. Especially, with me being the leader of this team. I can’t get down because it will rub off on everyone else. I’m high in spirit right now.”

cavs.com

 

[Maximus]

HOT . . . AND THEN NOT
Cavs' slide doesn't sit well
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Burt Graeff
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Cavaliers pass the quarter pole of their 36th season tonight against the Denver Nuggets as the NBA's Great Enigma.

This is a team that matched the franchise's best start - 9-2 - in nearly 30 years. It was a surprise, because few thought that adding free agents Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones to a mix which already included 20-year-old phenom LeBron James would jell so quickly.

But ...

"The 9-2 start seems like a long time ago," first-year Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said.

It seems long ago, because it's been followed with a 2-7 mark. The seventh loss in nine games, 100-94, to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, was the season's most embarrassing. The Cavaliers were totally outhustled by the Hawks, who brought a 1-10 road record to The Q.

It's obvious the Cavaliers at the quarter pole are not a 9-2 team.

"We aren't a 2-7 team, either," Brown said. "Remember, part of that 2-7 is games at Indiana [a 98-76 loss] and in Los Angeles against the Clippers [a 102-90 defeat].

"We aren't quite ready for those teams yet."

The skeptics no doubt wonder for whom they are ready at this point. The Cavaliers (11-9) have dropped a season-high three straight, surrendering a whopping 106.7 points in the defeats.

“Every team has periods when it hits a dry spell,” James said. “When we were 9-2, everything was going right. And, when it wasn’t, we still found ways to win.”


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Some theories on what happened to the team that began 9-2, then went 2-7:

* Opposing teams adjusted, slowing the games down and forcing the Cavaliers into playing a halfcourt game. It’s a game they have not shown they can function in smoothly.

“Too often we haven’t shown the patience in the halfcourt game,” said center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose ailing right knee makes him a game-time decision tonight.

“Sometimes, we come down and take quick shots. When they go in, it looks good. When they don’t go in, it means the opposing team is playing defense for only six or so seconds.”

Translation: Get the ball inside first to see if anything is there.

* James’ recent scoring binge, a franchise-record 30 or more points in six straight games, was due in part to teammates standing around and watching, leaving him no option other than shooting. When the Cavaliers were 9-2, James averaged 19.2 shots, 28.4 points and shot 52.6 percent (111-of-211) from the field. In going 2-7, he’s averaged 24.7 shots, 33.6 points and shot 45.5 percent (101-of-222) from the field.

“It’s not like I’m jacking up uncontested shots,” James said.

Translated: When Hughes, Marshall and Jones, who are shooting a combined 39.3 percent (230-of-585) from the field, show some consistency with the 17-foot jumper, James will consistently get them the ball.

* Twenty games into the season, Brown’s defensive sermons have been slow to digest. The Cavaliers continue to rank in the NBA’s bottom one-third with 98.6 points allowed (22nd), 48.9 percent field-goalshooting allowed (27th) and 41.2 percent 3-point-shooting allowed (30th).

“It might sound crazy, but I like what I’ve seen on tapes defensively in recent games,” Brown said. “If we want to be a good team, we have to figure out how to get stops and win the 89-85 games.”

Translated: Teams can get to the playoffs playing soft defense. No one goes far without learning the nuances of playing the pick-and-roll, along with rotating to cover the perimeter.

 

[Maximus]

Effort worries Brown
Coach tries to help Cavs snap out of skid
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

CLEVELAND - Mike Brown's resume came with two bullets, strengths in defense and player relationships.
The first is in a season-long process, the second is facing its stiffest test to date.
After Tuesday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the Cavaliers' seventh defeat in nine games, the coach openly pointed to the team's effort and desire. There are technical issues to be sure, but it seems Brown's worries go well beyond the chalkboard.
Brown has seen rough times before; perhaps nothing compares with what he dealt with as an assistant with the brawl-ravaged Indiana Pacers last season. But he's never been at the top of the food chain, the man all are looking toward to cure the ills.
Brown is being proactive. He held a closed-door meeting with LeBron James late Tuesday night after the Cavs' loss and then met privately with Larry Hughes after practice Wednesday as the Cavs prepared to host the Denver Nuggets.
Coaches meet with players all the time, but the tone of these get-togethers with the team leaders surely was serious. Brown is facing the first crisis of his administration, and, as is his reputation, appears to be working with his players to find a way to shake the doldrums that have been gripping the team.
``I don't know if it is the hardest part because I'm a new coach,'' Brown said. ``I feel like I'm earning my money.''
Brown still insists that, on film, the team continues to get better defensively. Certainly the stats sort of back that. The Bucks' and Hawks' shooting percentages have been within Brown's preferred limits of the low-to-mid-40s. However, turnovers and offensive rebounds have bitten the Cavs more recently.
Just as pressing as those issues, though, are more deep-rooted personality flaws. The Cavs have only shown energy and focus for brief spurts recently. It is easy to see by watching them play, but statistically it shows up in places like rebounds.
The Cavs used to lead the NBA in rebounding, back when they were winning almost nightly. They've won the rebound battle in just one of the past six games, the same amount of times they've won in that span. There are other stats that show it, too -- all mostly byproducts of the team's collective effort issues.
Brown's mantra is to ``sustain for 48 minutes.'' It is on the stationery; it is written on the board in the locker room before the game, sometimes underlined four times. Yet recently the Cavs' best effort looks to be more closely sustained for 4.8 minutes.
``I am disappointed in our effort,'' Brown said. ``You have to learn from it, grow from it and make sure your guys understood what happened.''
Whether Brown can do that now and in the future will likely define what sort of coach he is.
``Every team has a spell when things don't look right,'' James said after practice. ``It's still the same. We're comfortable with one another. There's no one guy or two guys leading away from the pack; we can't have that. When you get one loose boat, it can affect you.''
Ilgauskas questionable
Zydrunas Ilgauskas took part in some of practice Wednesday, but clearly is still being bothered by his sore right knee. The team has listed him as questionable, and a decision as to his status against the Nuggets will likely be determined after shoot-around today. He missed Tuesday's loss to the Hawks.
``It is one of these things that I can do it or I can't; taking more time off won't make it better,'' Ilgauskas said. ``Hopefully the swelling goes down enough that I can play through it.''