Game 29| Wizards @ Cavs| Dec. 25, 2008| 8:00PM

[Shakalu M.D.]

Right... All by design to make them miserable...

But honestly, the problem tonight was the lack of defense...And that was a concern for all 48 minutes, because Jamison and Butler both had open 3's in the final minute or so of the game...

The interior defense was awful tonight, and the rotations were pathetic....

Agreed, it's very strange to me. So far this year Mike Brown has been solid with both his rotations, and his ability keep the team playing D. However occasionally it seems as though he has a game where he doesn't know what he is doing and almost coaches us into a loss.

I must confess I only got to watch bits and pieces of the game, but from what I saw we didn't run a lot of set offense and our D was abysmal. Tonight was a much worse performance than usual, I'm not sure why MB has these occasional games where he strays from normal strategy, but I don't like them.

 

[-Akronite-]

My only problem with the fastbreak is that Boobie refuses to give up the ball and he never finishes, other than that, fine.

 

[Karma]

Anyone overly concerned by Ilgauskas's slow scoring night need only look at his 9 boards and +16 in 30 minutes of action.

Yes it would have been good to get him some more looks, but what was going on when he was off the floor? That lack of a scoring big occasionally rears its ugly head.

 

[Green Lantern]

While I don't expect the Cavs or any team for that matter to blow out every team or play at a high level for 82 games(impossible)..I would have liked to see one person have a good game..none of them really did..but they came back...I was thinking..oh well here comes the first home loss to the thugs I can't stand..
But they got clutch baskets and made the stops..
James was torching us..I was surprised no Pavs during the time I was watching..
The shooting was off..it was as if none of them really wanted to be out there..
Of course I can say the same for NO..they didn't want to be out there against Orlando..

 

[kookoo]

While I don't expect the Cavs or any team for that matter to blow out every team or play at a high level for 82 games(impossible)..I would have liked to see one person have a good game..none of them really did..but they came back...I was thinking..oh well here comes the first home loss to the thugs I can't stand..
But they got clutch baskets and made the stops..
James was torching us..I was surprised no Pavs during the time I was watching..
The shooting was off..it was as if none of them really wanted to be out there..
Of course I can say the same for NO..they didn't want to be out there against Orlando..

Yo can't say no one had a bad game. Mo had a great game with 24 points 7-14, 6-6 with 6 assists. West had 5 triples 3 steals and 7 assists to 0 turnovers. Ben had 5 OFFENSIVE boards and Andy had 13 rebounds (including one that won us the game) and 13 points (including 2 clutch free throws that won us the game) When you look at it like this we had great production from the rest of the core (- Boobie and Pavs. I don't consider Wally a core player) with Z and LeBron coasting tonight (had one too many before the game reminiscing on how the have destroyed the giz ever time they faced each other in the playoffs.

Overall it was a shitty victory because no one played stellar defense and we allowed them to get a lot of easy buckets but we did come up huge at the end and get that W, which is the most important thing (other than having amazing stats on my fantasy team which isn't happening anymore)

 

[diversebeats]

Overall it was a shitty victory

no such thing...

 

[jjc58]

Regarding defense--

I may have been watching a different game, but -km not pointing any fingers at LeBron for his defense last night. He wasn't tasked has the quarterback of the d' last night--he was up in Caron's face. With the exception of two times where Butler split the double team on the pick and roll, LeBron straight shut him down. Did Butler even score in the fourth? I really think he only made on shot over LBJ the whole game--the others were fast break or against Wally.

 

[JayP146]

Wally's box score from last night:

15 minutes
1-5 overall from the field
2 rebounds
4 turnovers

 

[diversebeats]

The real problem seemed to be the slow rotation to the jump shooters. Also, i don't know if ben was asked to roam around and try to cause havoc instead of staying on antwan, but he was giving Jamison way too much room. (not specifically calling out ben... all the people that defended antwan jamison did a bad job). One of the only games if not the only game that Ben has not played stellar Defense.

 

[Green Lantern]

Yo can't say no one had a bad game. Mo had a great game with 24 points 7-14, 6-6 with 6 assists. West had 5 triples 3 steals and 7 assists to 0 turnovers. Ben had 5 OFFENSIVE boards and Andy had 13 rebounds (including one that won us the game) and 13 points (including 2 clutch free throws that won us the game) When you look at it like this we had great production from the rest of the core (- Boobie and Pavs. I don't consider Wally a core player) with Z and LeBron coasting tonight (had one too many before the game reminiscing on how the have destroyed the giz ever time they faced each other in the playoffs.

Maybe in the first half but the half I watched..they missed a LOT of shots, and had way too many silly turnovers..no defense..no rotational help..Washington would just throw the ball in to a cutter way to easily with no resistance.
It was as if they were sleep walking..
Like I said yesterday was a day for light playing..
I was just glad to see Boston lose..I'm sick of their hype..sick of seeing Mr.Turtle..errrr Paul Pierce..

 

[cab]

no need to blame anyone. some guys had good games others didnt. but this is a TEAM GAME. i love the fact that they didnt give up when things werent going so well and they all stuck together (no finger pointing/group hugging).

i think this closeness gives them an edge over the celtics who turn on each other when things are going bad (rondo and ray fighting with each other during the lakers game, kg yelling at big baby some games back, etc)

 

[Redz West is Best]

My take:

Wizards had a good defensive game plan against Lebron. Lebron trusting his teammates just played within the flow of the game often just passing out of the double team instead of backing up and/or dribbling through it. Delonte saved us in the 1st half and Mo/Andy saved us in the 4th quarter. The supporting cast stepped up and Lebron himself made clutch free throws even if the call was questionable at best.

Big Ben - He did not have a good game at deciding what to do on defense. Jamison out guessed him and played with his mind the whole time he was out there. Jamison is sneaky good on the offensive end and then can hit the wide open 3point shot as well. We don't have a player to abuse him on the offensive end. Big Ben just doesn't have the tools. That is why Andy despite not being the best offensive player took advantage a little bit against Jamison scoring some easy shots. I will say that Big Ben did grab 5 offensive boards and it helped in that area.

Mo - A+ offensively, D defensively. Clutch CLUTCH 3pointer obviously. Shot the ball well. The defense wasn't all his fault against James but Mo just isn't athletic enough to contest shots especially. The Cavs defense was confused with the jump shooting James and the active and smart Jamison. Big Ben it looked like was the primary help for Mo tonight but it should have been Delonte despite his smallness. We relied on Z to cover Jamison when Big Ben helped out. That is not favorable for us.

Z - If we are not using him on offense then against a team like the Wizards he shouldn't play as much. Z looked slow out there trying to recover from Big Ben's help and other of the Wizards non-big bigs.

Pavs - I thought for sure we would have played Pavs more tonight against Caron and have Lebron slow down Jamison. This might have taken out 2 of Andy/Ben/Z but we have shown that our small lineup works well too.

A lineup of Mo/West/Pavs/James then Andy or Big Ben would have allowed us to not have to go through this stressful game. James obviously used whatever energy he had left from the day before to shut down Butler. The way the Wiz played defense it allowed our smalls and Big Ben to roam pretty much freely or 1 on 1 against subpar defenders.

Again, Delonte big in the first quarter and Mo big in the 4th quarter with a little of Andy sprinkled around throughout the game. Lebron with the clutch free throws too! Our TEAM came through in the end getting pieces from everyone tonight in some way. I loved watching this team come together in clutch time and come through. Love it.

 

[Silky Smooth]

IMO Its looking more and more likely that a deal will happen. When you add the fact Wally has been inconsistant, the fact he is one dimensional, and the fact he has such a big expiring Ferry has no other choice but to deal him. Also his defense is just horrible leading to him not playing a lot. We need to make a deal for a good scorer preferably an all star. Chemistry is chemistry but when the new player comes in and see's what our goal is and how the rest of the team handles themselves they shouldn't want to mess that up

 

[diversebeats]

IMO Its looking more and more likely that a deal will happen. When you add the fact Wally has been inconsistant, the fact he is one dimensional, and the fact he has such a big expiring Ferry has no other choice but to deal him. Also his defense is just horrible leading to him not playing a lot. We need to make a deal for a good scorer preferably an all star. Chemistry is chemistry but when the new player comes in and see's what our goal is and how the rest of the team handles themselves they shouldn't want to mess that up

to get an all star we are going to have to give some people up though... Most likely Andy or boobie... Since we will not trade Z, and ben is old. No one is gonna trade an all star for some trash and wally's contract.

 

[BigErieCavsFan]

Like I said in the Wally contract thread:

The effect on chemistry won't be caused by losing Wally, it will be incorporating the player(s) coming back that could cause issues with chemistry.

A trade resulting in an all-star caliber player coming back could effect the chemistry more and possibly carry a contract issue for 2010. Where as a trade for 2 mediocre rotation players might have less of an effect on chemistry and future contracts.

Either way, the sooner a trade happens the more time for chemistry to re-develop...