_amon _ones
Needa Beer?
- Joined
- May 25, 2007
- Messages
- 1,652
- Reaction score
- 775
- Points
- 113
RECORDS
Cavs: 38-30 (2nd in Central, 4th in Eastern Conference)
Pistons: 48-18 (1st in Central, 2nd in Eastern Conference)
AT
INSIDE
HEAD COACHES
Mike Brown | Flip Saunders
Cavs Starting 5
Delonte |Pavlovic | James|Big Ben |Zadrunas
vs.
Chauncey|Rip |Tayshaun| Rasheed | McDyess
Pistons Starting 5
Cavaliers Rotation
Devin | Wally World| Smith | AV
Cavaliers Bench
DJ | DW | Allred
Cavaliers Injuries
Boobie | E Snow
· Daniel Gibson (Left Ankle Sprain; Deep Bone Bruise) is out.
· Eric Snow (Left Knee) is out.
Pistons Rotation
Maxiell | Hayes | Stuckey | Ratliff
Pistons Bench
Johnson | Dixon | Afflalo | Hunter | Herrmann |Samb
Pistons Injuries
· Are you kidding? These guys are afraid of contact in the lane...look for a barrage of 12 to 20 footers.
Cavaliers Notes
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·LAST MEETING: 11/28/2007 Cleveland 74, Pistons 109 @ Detroit
·LeBron James, who led the Cavaliers in the last meeting with 15 points, and did not return to the game following halftime after he suffered a left index finger sprain late in the second quarter.
·Sasha Pavlovic scored 13 points and added two assists int the last meeting.
·LeBron James is just 35 points shy of passing Brad Daugherty for the franchise record in points scored. Daugherty finished his Cavs career with 10,389 points in 548 career games. James has 10,355 points in 378 career games.
·Since he entered the NBA in 2003-04, James has scored the second-most points in the NBA behind Kobe Bryant (10,501).
·The Cavaliers have won a season-high seven straight games at The Q. That marks their longest home winning streak since the team closed the 2005-06 season with 11 straight wins at home. During Cleveland’s current home streak, opponents have averaged just 87.7 points on on .426 shooting. The Cavaliers held five of the seven opponents under 90 points.
·Delonte West posted 16 points, six rebounds and three assists on Monday night at Orlando. Over his last three games, West has averaged 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.0 block in 32.0 minutes per game. [/B]
·Over his last three games, Sasha Pavlovic has averaged 16.3 points on .543 shooting including 7-16 (.438) from three-point range. He has scored in double figures in all three games.
·Through 62 games this season, LeBron James has averaged 30.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. Oscar Robertson is the only player in NBA history to average at least those numbers in a season when he averaged 31.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 11.0 assists per game in 1963-64.
(Yet LBJ is not the top MVP candidate...Again, I say **** the national media).·In nine games during the month of March, LeBron James has averaged 35.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. He has scored 30 or more points in seven of the nine games. He has now scored 20 or more points in 45 straight games.
Pistons Notes
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·Detroit leads the all time series, 105-66, but is only 10-16 in the Q.
·Richard Hamilton scored a game-high 18 points in the meeting in November.
·Jason Maxiell added nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench in the last meeting.
·The Pistons used a 19-6 run early in the third quarter to break open a five-point halftime lead and jump out to a 77-59 lead after three quarters in the first meeting of the season.
·Rip Hamilton is tied for the lead for the Pistons in scoring, averaging 17.7 ppg, and is second on the team with 4.2 assists per game.
·Chauncey Billups leads the team with 7.0 apg, while tied for the lead in scoring (17.7 ppg).
·Antonio McDyess leads the Pistons rebounding effort with 8.9 rpg, while Rasheed adds 7.0 rpg as the 2nd leading rebounder.
·All five Pistons starters are averaging at least 30.4 minutes per game, and have played in at least 62 of the 66 games. Jason Maxiell leads in minutes off the bench with 21.7 and has played all 66 games. In all, 8 players on the Pistons have played at least 61 games on the season.
_amon's Keys to the Game
·Attack the inside. The Pistons seem to want nothing to do on the inside. The only player consistantly there for them is McDyess, who can't do it alone against Cleveland's solid front court. Sheed and Prince prefer to play the outside jumper than try to bang down low.
·Play the Pistons extra physical. This basically goes with key #1. The Pistons used to play hard, physical defense, but that is no longer their calling card. They prefer to keep the ball outside and shoot jumpers than try to get the rock inside for the easy bucket. The bad news is the Pistons' shooters are lethal. The good news is that they can be rattled by playing physical, on-the-ball defense and contesting the outside shots. They like to whine about fouls, especially ticky-tack ones that cause a missed shot. Getting in their collective head is the one weakness that can be exploited...often. Unfortunately, playing this way invites the officiating crew to decide the game, and they haven't been particularly nice to the Cavs this season.
_amon's Prediction
Cavs 91, Pistons 96
Cavs 91, Pistons 96
·The Cavs are at home, which will help...but, I just don't think they are ready to tackle the Pistons...yet. The offense is disjointed, at best, and stagnant, at worst. The defense has been prone to horrendous lapses recently, and a veteran team like Detroit is very good at attacking weaknesses and exploiting them. Until everyone is healthy and on the same page, I just don't see them beating a team such as Detroit...UNLESS a few things fall into the Cavs favor:
Detroit plays complacent. The Cavs have been struggling trying to find the right fits, rotations, and healthy bodies since the trade...Detroit has been on cruise control, going 15-5 since the beginning of February...they whipped the Cavs and knocked out LBJ in the last game. They've also shown an arrogance about last year's ECF, thinking the Cavs won on a fluke...this could work in their favor.
Somebody pisses off LBJ. This could easily happen. He hates the Pistons as much as the Cleveland fans do. He torched them in the ECF, and knows he owns them. This is the perfect opportunity to put the fear of the King into the Pistons before the playoffs.
The Pistons go into whine mode. Although this happens every game, it seems to be especially prevalent against the Cavs. This inevitably leads to a 'Sheed meltdown and jersey tossing...as well as a few Piston technicals.
Obligatory Cavs Dancers Shots
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