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Game 1 | Cavaliers vs Celtics | October 27, 2009 | 7:30 PM EST

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I needed a good laugh.But the offense looks horrible it's still 1 on 5.Lebron and a bunch of role players.I can't decide if It's all Mike Browns fault,Or if we just don't have the talent.Probably a little of both.
 
I skipped out on the end of parent teacher conferences (I hope I'm not reprimanded) to catch the second half.

Anthony Parker and my man Big Z don't seem to understand their roles just yet. The potential seemed to glisten, but we made Larry Hughes-esque choices at times with the ball. I think this team needs to learn how to play with one another.

That Celtics team played like the calendar read December. They knew how to rotate the ball, they knew how to control the tempo, they made all the right decisions on the road. They knew to slow down the pace and foul in the fourth, which is simply brilliant. I have to give them credit.

The biggest mistake was NOT getting thier bigs in foul trouble earlier. We knew they were only three deep at power forward and center, yet nobody was in foul trouble the entire game. We needed to attack Perkins, Sheed, and Garnett early to take the intensity away, but it never happened.

I'm not one to panic, because all the pieces are in place. We just need to execute.
 
We weren't gonna go 82-0, and we're not gonna go 0-82...............ease up guys.
 
While a loss one opening night is always hard to take (no matter what, really) - after sifting through all the unreasonable thoughts in a fan's head - losing this game isn't, or at least, shouldn't, come as a big shock.

The Cavs (who featured 2 new starters - one of whom, no matter what team he will play for, will in some way 'change' the way that team plays) played the team who, 2 seasons ago, won the NBA championship - one of the most cohesive teams (considering Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins all still are around) in the league. Not to mention Perkins (as much as I hate him) plays guys like Shaq and Dwight well - keeping them away from the basket and preventing easy buckets.

These guys of significance on the Celtics have played more than a training camp together - hell, they've played for years. It can be argued, I suppose, that this Cavs team (considering 2 new starters, the loss of a significant rotation player, among other new rotation players) haven't even had a whole/typically complete TRAINING CAMP with each other.

W&G forewarned that there is going to be a learning curve with so many new players - especially now playing even more significant roles earlier than expected because of varying circumstances.

Let's face it, half of the negative comments here would be gone if we opened against Toronto rather than the Celtics (or so I hope)

It's one game - against a team that is one of the tops in the league - who has played together for much longer than the Cavs. Experience and cohesiveness matter, obviously - for the Cavs, well, they'll have to learn on the fly.

Lace em up and take care of business tomorrow.
 
The team and coach Brown looked lost out there tonight.


Kudos to the Cavs even keeping this one respectable.

But it truly felt like a preseason feeler game. Rotations seemed erratic and the fluidity offensively and defensively just wasn't there.




Also getting production from Shaq and Z is going to be tricky. They are players that have to get into a rhythm and I'm not exacty sure how that's going to happen.
 
The dumbest thing Brown did today was his use of timeouts. Why did it take him a 12-0 run from Boston to call a to?
 
BTW not sure if its been mentioned but the celts killed us in the 3pt dept... they made like damn near 90% tonight

alot of things just didnt go our way tonight... we played pretty bad and easily could have won this game...

not making excuses just trying to calm the whoa is me crowd
 
The rotation today was really flawed. Someone said about using Shaq with Mo when Lebron is not on the court and surround Shaq with shooters. I gotta say I agree somewhat. Playing the 4 shooters 1 rebounder tactic like GS or Orl would give defense loop holes from time to time and switching back to 1 Lebron and 4 spectators. I'm still on the Get Mike Brown Out of the Head Coach Position and Move Him to the Defensive Coordinator Position or Water Boy wagon
 
Just got home, not sure what to say really. I beat the walls of the Q, kicked the seats in front of and behind me, and smashed everything in sight. As upset as I was at the time, I managed to get over the loss on the ride home (maybe it was just me sobering up). In the end, it's only one of 82 games. While it would've been nice to start the season off with a win while sending a message to our eastern conference competition, nothing has changed at the end of the day.

There were a few things that stood out to me, however. First, aren't we supposed to be a deeper team this year? Lost by six, outscored by their bench 26-10. Delonte's presence is missed for many reasons, but our depth was greatly affected by his absence tonight. Hickson didn't show up despite playing in the game, Moon's jumper which impressed during the preseason was nonexistent, and Boobie had one nice play. Our bench stunk. Hopefully with West back and with our second unit meshing throughout the year, this improves mightily.

Secondly, the rebounding differential greatly stood out. Last season we were rarely outrebounded on our home court. -6 rebounds might not seem like a big deal, but when Paul Pierce (11 rebs) is grabbing more boards than LeBron (4), Parker (3), Moon (2), and Mo (0) combined, it's certainly a problem. The Celtics certainly won those "50-50 balls" tonight and it showed.

All in all, I'm not greatly affected by tonight. We showed signs of still meshing/coming together and we still have to work West back into the mix--so it could get even uglier. Seeing Parker not ready to catch the three ball from LeBron towards the end and other signs of apprehension show that the new guys need to be worked in during the regular season. Remember, Mo Williams was nothing spectacular in last season's opening game in Boston, which was also a loss.

I fully expect this team to bounce back, but in due time. We should definitely roll in Toronto tomorrow night, but let's give this team a chance before Cleveland pessimism overruns us all.
 
Best part about the game was actually the fact that there was a lot of hot ass there... More so than you would normally see in Cleveland...

Poon alert was level Red...
 
My only real concern is Mo. The last 2 games I've seen him when we have the full team out there he is almost lost in the shuffle.

He is a guy who is capable of hitting offensive stretches where he takes over games, he did it against us when he was in MIL. Mike Brown has to find a way to get him more involved in the offense rather than him just being an afterthought alot of the time.

I actually thought the 4th qtr half-court defense was pretty encouraging. Especially Shaq being able to hold his own defensively 1 on 1 in the post. We had a lapse period defensively in the 2nd and early 3rd but the potential is there.

As you said camakazee it's not all doom and gloom. There were some bright spots..
 
We started 0-1 last season, too. It's not a big deal. We're obviously out of snyc and haven't developed much offensive chemistry yet. When we find that offensive chemistry, we should be pretty damn good.

MB also is going to have to figure out his rotations. How he even thought that a lineup of Mo, Boobie, Moon, AV, and Z was going to stand a chance vs. the Celtics is beyond me, but he played that lineup for at least 2-3 minutes and IMO it cost us the game (huge lead evaporated). I'd rather have Shaq in to start the second quarter with Mo so that we have our two best players not named LeBron in when LeBron goes out. Z can then come in when LeBron comes back in, when he is more effective.
 
The problem is that Cleveland trade for and acquire players to help then beat Orlando and maybe Lakers, but not to beat Boston.
 

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