Game 14 | Cleveland vs Philadelphia | November 21, 2009 | 7:30 PM EST

[djlofi]

Cavs Starters

Mo Williams - PG

Anthony Parker - SG

LeBron James - SF

JJ Hickson - PF

Zydrunas Ilgauskas - C

Bench Bunch

Boobie Gibson | Danny Green | Darnell Jackson | Jamario Moon | Anderson Varejao | Delonte West | Jawad Williams

76ers Starters

Louis Williams - PG

Andre Iguodala - SG

Thaddeus Young - SF

Elton Brand - PF

Samuel Dalembert - C

Sixers Bench

Primoz Brezec | Rodney Carney | Willie Green | Jrue Holiday | Royal Ivey | Jason Kapono | Jason Smith

Coaches
<table border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0>
<tr>
<td>

</td><td>

</td></tr>
<tr><td>Mike Brown<br>W-L: 220-121</td><td>Eddie Jordan<br>W-L: 235-295</td></tr></table>

Injuries/Inactives:

Cavs:
Shaquille O'Neal
Coby Karl

76ers
Marreese Speights
​

Game Notes:

- I just got back from the Cavs - Pacers game (where I sat 5 rows back from the baseline), and just some observations from what I saw:

- LeBron James is an absolute marvel to watch up close. Words cannot even describe the physical dominance that he displays on the court. My girlfriend and I decided that when LeBron got the swat/goaltend in the second quarter that his whole torso was clearly above the bottom of the backboard. I have never seen a human jump that high. He did it all tonight (when the team needed him), scoring 40 effortlessly and absolutely manned up on Granger in the second half. As I said, watching LeBron on TV is one, thing, it's an absolutely different experience to watch him go to work 15 feet away.

- JJ Hickson looks a lot bigger up close as well. In fact, he looked like a smaller Roy Hibbert out on the court, and pretty much stands evenly with AV. He's a guy who looks much smaller on TV, but up close it's obvious he belongs.

Hickson showed a lot of poise tonight with his play in the 4th quarter, as he scored some key buckets and played some pretty good D. I will let Windy describe a memorable 4th quarter sequence:

There was a play with just under six minutes left -- if you recorded the game, go back and look, it is worth it -- where J.J. Hickson had maybe the best defensive possession of his career. The Pacers came out of a timeout. They were stuggling to score. The coaches decided they should put T.J. Ford and Troy Murphy in an isolated pick-and-roll against Mo Williams and Hickson. This is a great decision. Ford is like lightning and Murphy is a great pick-and-pop shooter.

I'd have to see the film myself but Murphy and Ford must have run in circles at least three times. They tried at least two different angles but Hickson and Williams blew it up. Especially JJ because he hustled to get in Ford's way and then to recover in time to contest Murphy.

Now, will this play go down in NBA annals? No, but we're talking maturation and growth right there. Oh, and Williams did a good job, too. On the next possession, JJ got caught in a switch and had a mismatch but hustled and forced a missed jumper.

Considering Mo and LeBron pretty much ran a two man game with each other and neglected to feed JJ, I thought he kept his head in the game for the most part. Although there were several times in the third where JJ comes back on D in transition and helps out on the perimeter, then tends to float back into the paint when the ball swings away from him. Only, he will float over to where a guard is covering his man, when he should either stay on his man or help the guy who's helping him. He played tough D in the fourth, but lapses like these show he's still coming along.

- If Tyler Hansborough can consistently hit the 12-foot baseline jumper, he will be a factor for these Pacers. You cannot believe the electricity in the building when Psycho T would make any sort of hustle play. One thing though, he's kind of a dirty player. Hansborough routinely pushed guys around when positioning for rebounds and even tried to stiff arm Varejao as he went up for a layup.

- Granger vs. LeBron had no luster to it. Mike Brown had JJ covering Dahntay Jones and the Pacers basically put the ball in Jones's hands who was just raining jumpers. One thing that puzzled me was that the Pacers never looked inside to Hibbert. He was in early foul trouble, but he maybe caught two or three passes the whole night.

- Haven't heard much yet about Delonte, but my man looked like he was in another world tonight. West was sitting at the end of the bench and didn't seem too concerned with the game tonight. I'm sure we'll find out more tomorrow. The Cavs could have used Delonte tonight especially when the Pacers ran smaller lineups out on the court. There's a limit to how much Anthony Parker I can watch, and tonight was too much (although he hit some clutch 3s).

- Z had horrible body language tonight. He just looked pissed and dejected because his shot wasn't falling. He made up for it with some good protection at the rim, but on offense he could not get anything going.

Jam of the Game:

Mos Def - Quiet Dog
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Bite hard

 

[djlofi]

Re: Game 13 | Cleveland vs Philadelphia | November 21, 2009 | 7:30 PM EST

Hey and if a mod can change the thread title to be game 14 that would be much appreciated. It's almost 2 am and my eyes are getting blurry....

 

[Otsego Mar]

Re: Game 13 | Cleveland vs Philadelphia | November 21, 2009 | 7:30 PM EST

Not quite sure why Delonte wasn't used, either. My guess is he missed the flight again or something went down in Maryland....or something to do with his court date (which was supposed to be yesterday (nov 20th)).

We definitely coulda used him on D. Jones instead of having JJ guard him for a good 6 minutes.

 

[djlofi]

Re: Game 13 | Cleveland vs Philadelphia | November 21, 2009 | 7:30 PM EST

Not quite sure why Delonte wasn't used, either. My guess is he missed the flight again or something went down in Maryland....or something to do with his court date (which was supposed to be yesterday (nov 20th).

We definitely coulda used him on D. Jones instead of having JJ guard him for a good 6 minutes.

I couldn't believe how often JJ ended up on Dahntay Jones. JJ looked like he got caught in no man's land every time. Jones put on a shooting clinic tonight (especially weird since he's a guy not known for hitting shots).

 

[Karma]

Philadelphia have been very disappointing. With Miller gone they were hoping Williams would stand up which he has done. However they were expecting big things from Young and brand. Both have been very average to be kind.

Parker has a tough matchup on A.I but has done a decent job thus far even when outmatched.

With Speights out, they are thin up front. Hopefully some aggressive play can get Dalembert off the floor and expose their lack of depth.

Hickson on Brand shall be interesting. I'd almost switch Z and JJ defensively.

 

[Karma]

While the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t about to rush back aging superstar Shaquille O’Neal(notes) from a shoulder injury, LeBron James(notes) is not letting a sore wrist slow him down.

Coming off his highest-scoring game of the season, James looks to help the Cavaliers win for the 10th time in 12 contests Saturday night when they host the struggling Philadelphia 76ers.

James banged his left wrist on the basket while dunking late in Wednesday’s 108-91 loss to Washington, but the injury didn’t seem to bother him much in Friday’s 105-95 win at Indiana. The reigning league MVP scored 10 of his season-high 40 points in the final 7:07, and also had nine rebounds and seven assists to help the Cavaliers (9-4) continue their surge after back-to-back losses to open the season.

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“When you have a guy as talented as him, sometimes your best coaching on the offensive end of the floor is staying out of his way,” coach Mike Brown said.

After a slow start, James has found his rhythm over the past two weeks. He’s averaging 32.7 points on 54.0 percent shooting in his last seven games, up from 22.6 points on 46.9 percent shooting in his previous five.

He could have trouble building on his latest performance, though.

Although Cleveland has had little trouble lately beating Philadelphia (5-7) with James on the floor, the five-time All-Star hasn’t had a 30-point game against the Sixers since recording 39 in a 118-115 double-overtime loss on Jan. 24, 2007, a span of seven games.

The Cavs had a five-game winning streak over Philadelphia end with a 111-110 overtime defeat in the 2008-09 regular-season finale. Cleveland wasn’t at full strength, though, as James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes) and Mo Williams(notes) sat out to rest in preparation for the playoffs.

After sweeping Detroit and Atlanta, the Cavs were eliminated in six games by Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals.

Cleveland acquired the 37-year-old O’Neal in the offseason with hopes the 15-time All-Star could help bolster the team’s inside game to make a championship run, but he has missed the last four games with a strained right shoulder.

O’Neal is averaging 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds, and Brown didn’t give a timetable for his return.

Like Cleveland, the Sixers were also bounced from last season’s playoffs by the Magic in six games. Philadelphia was knocked out in a first-round series, and hasn’t been playing like a playoff-caliber team lately.

The Sixers are coming off Friday’s 102-97 home loss to lowly Memphis, their fifth defeat in seven games, and are now set to open a three-game road trip with seven of their next eight away from Philadelphia.

They’ve had trouble getting their offense in gear on the road lately, averaging 83.7 points on 25.9 percent shooting from 3-point range in the last three away from the Wachovia Center.

“We’ve got to find a way to regroup,” said Andre Iguodala(notes), who finished with 15 points on 5 of 17 shooting against the Grizzlies.

Iguodala averaged 23.3 points on 61.5 percent shooting in four games against Cleveland last season while guard Lou Williams averaged 19.3 points in three games.

Williams finished with a career-high 31 points on 12 of 16 shooting Friday, and is emerging as a legitimate scoring threat for Philadelphia.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2009112105&prov=ap

 

[Karma]

The vibe in Philadelphia right now.....

* Lou Williams was great on offense tonight. There's no denying his skillz. However; he made a few costly mistakes down the stretch. One was a terrible pass on a 3-on-1 fast break and the other was allowing Mike Conely to blow right by him, killing the Sixers momentum in the process. I don't expect anyone to play perfect, and I'm not going to kill Lou for his two mistakes; I just wanted to point them out. Overall, he was a beast.

* Andre Iguodala's jump shot has definitely improved over the summer, but I felt like he was taking too many this season. I looked at the numbers and 68% of his shots are jumpers as opposed to 64% last year. That surprised me. I expected a much larger discrepancy. That said, his jumpshot was not falling tonight, and his shot selection was very poor down the stretch. Elton Brand was doing his thing. Lou Williams was having the game of his life. Yet Andre took it upon himself to take contested jumpers. Just because he thinks he's the best player on the team -- and he is -- he doesn't need to summon his inner-Kobe every time his team needs a bucket. He's not, and never will be, a go-to offensive player.

* Elton Brand followed up his best game of the season with another good one. I'm still not ready to acknowledge him as the Elton of old, but he's getting close. The biggest difference I've seen in these past two games is his confidence -- in him body and in his game. The numbers speak for themselves: 22 points, 6 boards, 4 steals and 4 blocks.

* Rodney Carney is developing into a solid role payer. He's learning to play within himself, and his defense was outstanding tonight until... he failed to rotate defensively at the end, allowing Rudy Gay to hit the dagger.

* Thaddeus Young is back in his slump. Is he: A) Simply in an extended slump? B) Too young? C) Being used incorrectly? D) Highly overrated?

* Now to everyone's favorite topic, Jrue Holiday's pyche. Eddie Jordan finally played Jrue. Good for him. But he's still completely botching the whole situation. Here's why: Jrue played 4 minutes tonight, and during those 4 minutes he managed to do his best Bill Green impression by taking 5 terrible shots. What I saw from Jrue tonight was a kid trying to do as much as he possibly could in 4 minutes knowing, after he makes one mistake or 5 minutes have gone by -- whichever comes first -- he's done for the night. This is a horrible mindset to have and completely affected the way he played. If Eddie is going to play him 4 minutes every other night, he might as well just leave him on the bench. How can any development happen in 4 minutes? Especially if it's a "one mistake and you're gone" type deal?

* Overall, it's hard to get too upset over tonight's loss. As Sixers fans, we should do ourselves a favor and lower expectations tremendously -- at least for the time being. Until the Sixers show any signs of life, I expect games and losses like tonight. Remember, we were just as bad last year and it took until January to officially turn the corner. This was the turning point, and until this season's turning point comes, just enjoy the games as much as you can.

http://www.libertyballers.com/

The bolded section sounded very familiar. Insert JJ Hickson and Mike Brown's names.

 

[LondonCav]

Another big test for JJ tonight, will be interesting to watch.

If Z starts I will be surprised, after last night MB must realise the guy is finished - Expect Andy to get the starting minutes tonight and Darnell and Z to split the rotation minutes.

 

[di0p]

Thought I might add some T&A from Philly, since their team isn't producing anything worth looking at...

 

[Cratylus]

Thought I might add some T&A from Philly, since their team isn't producing anything worth looking at...

How appropriate is it that the picture is entitled "Coming Soon" !!! :chuckles:

 

[zoomlebron]

@djlofi- I was at the Cavs/Pacers game too last night and my wife and I sat 9 rows back on the baseline (Cavs side)...small world. And two things from close observation, LeBron is a treat to watch in person and Z looks worse in person than he does on TV.

 

[Silky Smooth]

I think JJ has a very good game today. They are thin up front and JJ is going to guard Brand a lot. I think something like 25 and 8 should do the trick. Mo better show up too.

 

[Real Deal]

Anyone know if Shaq is gonna give it a go tonight? Im scared, if he keeps sitting out games how the hell are we suppose to gel together?

 

[djlofi]

I'm not as worried about the Sixers as I was about the Pacers last night. The Pacers seem like they are building on something. The Sixers look like a house of cards waiting to collapse. Iguodala is the only talent there and he's really an amazing No. 2 guy (like Pau Gasol). I just don't know how Philly can right that ship. They put too much stock into Brand (has been a bust thus far) and Louis Williams (thriving in the Princeton) as pieces to surround Iguodala with. Unless the Sixers can unload Brand (please God no Ferry!) or Dalembert, I see this team being like the Pau Gasol Grizzlies of the early part of the decade - just good enough to squeak into the playoffs, one injury away from mediocrity.

 

[djlofi]

BTW, Major props to Karma for providing the game insights and di0p for the TnA!