Brian Windhorst's Cavaliers Blog: Offense not bad, except for the actual putting it in basket part
by Brian Windhorst
Thursday October 16, 2008, 11:05 PM
Cavs lose to Spurs 91-70 in one of those practice games. But it's not the whole story, here's more:
• Though I understand it's hard to ignore the fact that the Cavs only scored 70 points,I actually thought they had their best offensive game of the preseason. And no I'm not trying to put a good spin on it, I am 100 percent serious. Their ball movement and execution, at least with the first unit, was pretty crisp. As I pointed out in the paper, the Cavs had 15 assists on 17 baskets in the first half when the starters were out there. This was especially true for LeBron, who threw some tremendous passes to teammates who were actually ready for them. Best was a no-look touch pass to J.J. Hickson for a dunk on fast break. Too bad this game wasn't on TV anywhere, it would've made SportsCenter's top 10. He also set some nice picks, yes LeBron setting picks, tonight. So there was progress despite the end result. No, seriously.
• When the so-called "tear drop" -- when a guard goes into the lane and tosses up one of those floaters over everyone -- works, it is a thing of beauty. Like, say, when Tony Parker does it. Mo Williams, Delonte West and Daniel Gibson all were trying them tonight and it wasn't pretty. In fact, they've been trying them all preseason and it hasn't been pretty. Dajaun Wagner was a master at that shot, he used to say: "The big guys hate it because they can't get (block) it." Perhaps he could come back and offer some instruction.
• The ugliest shot from a guard in the game wasn't a tear drop, though it was sad. On a breakaway Delonte went to jump -- and I must admit, I was a little surprised at how far back he started -- and he realized on the way down he wasn't high enough to dunk or close enough to the basket. So he tried to turn it into a layup and missed badly. After the game I heard him tell someone (he didn't speak to the media): "Yeah, that didn't go the way I thought it would." He was out there 28 minutes tonight and looked rusty as you'd expect after missing 12 days. But he did have five assists and just one turnover so he did do some good things.
• Tim Duncan had 16 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes. Yeah, I think he's ready for the regular season.
• Part of the reason the Cavs only scored 70 points was because the Spurs are just flat-out a great defensive team. The Pistons only scored 64 on them on Tuesday. And they held the Cavs to 34 percent shooting without best defender Bruce Bowen, who sat out.
• Ben Wallace didn't look 100 percent -- he went up for a dunk and couldn't quite make it in the first quarter -- but it didn't look like his back was really bothering him. He did block two shots, which is a good sign.
• Anderson Varejao is quietly having a good preseason, tonight he had six points and seven rebounds in less than 20 minutes. He did a pretty good job on Kevin Garnett the other night, too.
• At halftime LeBron was given the key to the city by the mayor for winning the gold medal. It was a nice moment, but the most memorable thing for me came from LeBron Jr. He just turned four two weeks ago, though he already looks like he might be on his way to being about 6-foot-10. If I were Thad Matta, I might offer him a scholarship any day now. Anyway, he was out on the floor with his dad and he stopped by the scorer's table. He asked his mom, Savannah, to pour that powder stuff on his hands and then he threw it up in the air like LeBron does before games. He got it all over his head, but it was quite charming.