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

[Glenechocreek]

We went to the moon tonight.

 

[elcheato]

 

[JayP146]

JJ gon' rape yo' shot.

 

[rabman_gold]

Was the last part of the blog posted here?

Cavs staying above water & the new Delonte West problem: Windhorst Beat Blog

By Brian Windhorst

November 21, 2009, 9:59PM

Chuck Crow/The Plain DealerJ.J. Hickson and the Cavaliers started fast in breaking out to a 20-4 lead in the opening minutes Saturday night, but needed to rally in the fourth quarter to beat Philadelphia for their 10th win in the season's first 14 games.

CLEVELAND -- Thoughts following the Cavs' 97-91 victory over the 76ers:

* This has hardly been a clean week. A big lead blown against Utah and a close win. A dud in D.C. Then two victories that featured basically part-time performances -- the first quarter and the fourth quarter -- on the weekend. But to look at the Cavs 14 games in with all the back-to-backs, some key injuries/issues and 10-4 is pretty good.

Honestly when I was talking to some national media types before the start of the regular season and they were asking me how I viewed the first month, I projected 9-5 for this stretch. If you told me Shaquille O'Neal was going to miss five games, Anderson Varejao was going to miss two and Delonte West was going to be a non-factor, I may have lowered that by a couple wins.

So there's some questions. Like how come the Cavs think they can just turn defense on and off? Or why does the offense move the ball in the first quarter and then LeBron James and Mo Williams have dribbling contests for the next 24 minutes?

But when you are in the middle of a four-game-in-five-day stretch there simply isn't time for fine tuning. You just get through it and hope to plug leaks as they go along.

Mike Brown said after the game he was happy to be 10-4 but sighed and said "there's a long way for us to go."

This is very correct, the Cavs have consistency issues, especially at the defensive end and that is not something they want to continue. But looking at 10-4 with issues is a lot better than looking at 7-7 and, let me tell you, 7-7 wasn't far away. So they deserve credit for fighting through this challenging first month.

So instead of breaking everything down, let's see how the team comes back after three days off and if Shaq is back or not. It seems the plan is for him to practice on Monday.

* One problem that is clear right now, though, is West and it has nothing to do with off court issues. There isn't a place for him in Brown's rotation at the moment. The coach is facing the matter of whether to reduce others' playing time to integrate West back in or move on without him because he can't be trusted to be there.

This is a tough one. In my opinion, the Cavs are going to need West near his old self to get where they need to go. He's too important defensively and to versatile to think he's only a part-time player. But how do you even consider getting him back to that level without committing to playing him at least 25 minutes. It isn't fair otherwise.

The win against Philly was a disaster on this front. After not playing him last night, Brown altered his rotation to get West minutes and left Mo Williams on the bench to start the second quarter. The result was West coming in and playing too fast and tight because he was concerned about making an impression after not playing last night. The result was poor play, his +/- was -11 after just four minutes and he never returned.

When he came back for the first time in the regular season, West took Jamario Moon's minutes. Moon is playing too well right now to reduce his time -- he's been huge in the fourth quarter the last two nights -- and Daniel Gibson has played well so far. So where does West's time come from when it is clear he needs steady play?

So you can see the problem Brown has. And he must weight in the risk of clearing the way for West. He did it before and West ended up missing another flight and having some other issues and he was inactive again. If he tears up his rotation to get West the time he needs, how can Brown be sure there will not be another setback?

Plus, Delonte has court dates scheduled during the season and there is some question as to whether he'll be able to avoid jail time considering how the state's attorney in Maryland is posturing at the moment. Even if he reaches a plea deal to avoid jail for the gun charges, he's facing a suspension from the league. In other words, it is hard to believe we've seen the last West non-injury absence.

There isn't an easy answer. Often stuff like this tends to work itself out and perhaps that is what Brown is keeping an eye out for. But like everything else with Delonte this season, it's wildly complex

 

[Otsego Mar]

JJ's gonna get T'd up for his 1-handed rim swingin'. :chuckles:

 

[Gunther]

Bob Finnan writeup:

Cavaliers 97, 76ers 91: Cavs win it with 'D'
Published: Sunday, November 22, 2009
By Bob Finnan

LeBron James suffered an identity crisis.

With about 5 minutes to play on Saturday, James' headband was knocked off. It threw him into a tizzy.

There were some tense moments for James — as well as the Cavaliers' defense — before they recovered in the nick of time and outlasted the Philadelphia 76ers, 97-91, at Quicken Loans Arena.

"I didn't know who I was when my headband got knocked off," James said.

"I was looking for it. I couldn't find it. We even gave up a layup because I didn't get back on defense.

"I couldn't function. I couldn't find it. Thank God someone called time out."

James recovered his trusted headband and all was right with his world.

He finished with a game-high 32 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He made 13 of 20 shots from the field.

The Cavs (10-4) trailed by six points after three quarters, 81-75. With James on the bench for the first five minutes, the Cavs rode the hot shooting of guard Mo Williams to take a two-point lead, 85-83.

James re-entered the game at the 6:42 mark and the Cavs ripped off eight unanswered points. Two of the baskets were dunks by the high-flying Jamario Moon.

After James returned, the Cavs outscored the Sixers, 12-6, down the stretch.

The Sixers shot 17 percent from the field (4 of 23) in the fourth quarter. For the second consecutive night, the Cavs' defense intensified in the fourth quarter.

It came at an opportune time, too, because they were in danger of losing to the Sixers (5-8).

The Cavs have outscored their last two opponents in the fourth quarter, 50-23. The Sixers were left in a standstill in the fourth, 22-10.

"We just turned it up (in the fourth)," James said. "That's where we make our mark. When you have new guys come to the team, they have to understand this is who we are.

"We make our mark defensively and guys have to buy into our system. I don't know if we lost (their identity). We just had to find it."

Maybe one can chalk it up to fatigue.

After all, it was the Cavs' fourth game in five nights.

Or maybe it was a bit of overconfidence. The Sixers were coming off an embarrassing loss at home to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Cavs' comeback started when Williams hit back-to-back jumpers. They took the lead for good on a put-back by center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 87-85, with 6:12 to play.

Williams finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

"When you're his size, to come up with eight rebounds, it's a positive and will only help the team win," Cavs coach Mike Brown said.

Forward J.J. Hickson added 14 points and Ilgauskas 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

The Cavs jumped out to their customary 16-point lead, and immediately gave it all back.

They finished 3-1 on a difficult week.

Guard Lou Williams paced the 76ers with 22 points and five assists. The Sixers shifted him into the lead guard spot after allowing Andre Miller to leave via free agency.

Forward Thaddeus Young added 21 points, while Elton Brand had 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Quick shots

-- The Cavs traveling party will eat Thanksgiving dinner at owner Dan Gilbert's house in Michigan.

-- The Cavs have won 10 of their last 12 games.

-- James is averaging 32.6 points in his last eight games.

SOURCE

 

[camakazee]

Just got in from the bars and the game was a great time. Still see the team has no third quarter urgency (actually, they seem perfectly content with giving the other team the lead), but glad to see they're closing out games once again. Just a few things I noticed...

1. Great to see Moon get crunchtime minutes. The Q was going crazy with his late fourth quarter dunks. That steal and then dunk in transition was ridiculous. He would've had three dunks within the last five minutes if they hadn't called that blocking foul on the LeBron oop.

2. There's no denying it--LeBron is spoon feeding JJ a lot of his baskets. But, not only does he enjoy setting JJ up, he's one of the only players on the team that is as athletic as him (Moon possibly being the other, sorry Z). This means that LeBron doesn't have to worry about being perfect with an oop or an inside pass. Even though he overthrew an oop to JJ in the game, he found him with a few others, with JJ presenting a much larger radius to feed him than Andy or Z would. Even my friend (a '6ers fan) commented on the chemistry they seemed to have, as LeBron made it a goal to find JJ anytime he was near the basket.

3. This is the first time I've seen Z look comfortable since reentering the starting rotation. He was tipping shots, finding open guys, and knocking down the pick and pop like the Z of old. Perfect way to bounce back after that atrocious shooting performance in Indiana.

Well those are pretty much my impressions from the game. Great to get back to the Q to see a win. Go Cavs!

 

[Zog]

I didn't get to see any of the game -- was at another bball game myself. I am dissapointed we gave up over 90 points to the fucking Sixers but glad we held them to 10 in the 4th. Can I get a brief game recap? Who played well/didn't?

 

[Spencer Hawes]

JJ's gonna get T'd up for his 1-handed rim swingin'. :chuckles:

JJ is beginning look like a man for reals. Give him a year or two and he'll look like a beast physically to go with his crazy athleticism.

 

[MDLT]

Just got in from the bars and the game was a great time. Still see the team has no third quarter urgency (actually, they seem perfectly content with giving the other team the lead), but glad to see they're closing out games once again. Just a few things I noticed...

1. Great to see Moon get crunchtime minutes. The Q was going crazy with his late fourth quarter dunks. That steal and then dunk in transition was ridiculous. He would've had three dunks within the last five minutes if they hadn't called that blocking foul on the LeBron oop.

2. There's no denying it--LeBron is spoon feeding JJ a lot of his baskets. But, not only does he enjoy setting JJ up, he's one of the only players on the team that is as athletic as him (Moon possibly being the other, sorry Z). This means that LeBron doesn't have to worry about being perfect with an oop or an inside pass. Even though he overthrew an oop to JJ in the game, he found him with a few others, with JJ presenting a much larger radius to feed him than Andy or Z would. Even my friend (a '6ers fan) commented on the chemistry they seemed to have, as LeBron made it a goal to find JJ anytime he was near the basket.

3. This is the first time I've seen Z look comfortable since reentering the starting rotation. He was tipping shots, finding open guys, and knocking down the pick and pop like the Z of old. Perfect way to bounce back after that atrocious shooting performance in Indiana.

Well those are pretty much my impressions from the game. Great to get back to the Q to see a win. Go Cavs!

LeBron certainly does feed JJ most of his buckets. The thing is though that the Cavs haven't had a PF who could really capitalize off of LeBron's passing since Boozer really. Gooden sort of could but he was brain dead much of the time and AV just doesn't have a scorer's skillset. Thankfully, at least we have someone who can now finish. LeBron has to be pleased.

 

[Vindicate2]

I quickly read through this thread and didn't see this mentioned, so I thought I'd share an observation. Went to the game last night and Shaq was no where to be seen (I know he didn't play, but I didn't see him in a suit either).

I'm thinking as quite of few other has posted that this much more to do with his marriage situation than a shoulder injury. I would imagine he would like to spend his time with his kids given everything that is going on (or at least I would) . Shaq not going on the road trip and not being with the team at home against Philly seems to cement that in my mind (plus they expect him back Monday at pratice).

Food for thought....

 

[Obawan12]

For those of you that say LeBron is spoon feeding JJ, here is what I say...

At least we have a big man that can be spoon fed. In the past, it's been Ben Wallace/Z/AV getting these looks but their inability to finish in these situations has cost us many possessions. I am just fine with JJ being spoon fed 20 points a game, at least we have a big man that has that ability.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

For those of you that say LeBron is spoon feeding JJ, here is what I say...

At least we have a big man that can be spoon fed. In the past, it's been Ben Wallace/Z/AV getting these looks but their inability to finish in these situations has cost us many possessions. I am just fine with JJ being spoon fed 20 points a game, at least we have a big man that has that ability.

I don't think anyone is saying it in a negative way. I love it when J.J. gets his easy buckets. We all know his offensive game is the best we've had at the 4 since Boozer.

 

[rabman_gold]

Hey, no problem with spoon-feeding if you can make the opportunities last. If you can get spoon-fed at least 10-15 points a game, great.

Add in a jump shot that's reliable and you basically have your David West, right?

Also, wait until the team trusts J.J. in the post so they can feed him down there? Basically, you have exactly what you were missing all these years without Boozer, you wait a few years and you get your 20 point, 6 rebound, 2 blocks per game player who could get all-star candidacies if he grows a lot.

Get Eyenga to turn into a decent player (15, 5, 5), hope Boobie can stay decent... and you're set .

Center|Power Forward|Small Forward|Shooting Guard|Point Guard
???|J.J. Hickson|LeBron James|Christian Eyenga|Mo Williams
Anderson Varejao|Leon Powe|Emir Preldzic/Jamario Moon?|Danny Green|Daniel Gibson
Sasha Kaun?|Darnell Jackson|Jawad William?|Delonte West?|???

 

[Typhoon]

lol I was wondering when the new game thread was gonna go up, turns out its my turn...Ill try to have it up by tomorrow, but im sick as hell right now (I think its the swine)