Game 31 | Cleveland @ Los Angeles | December 25, 2009 | 5:00 EST

[3 Da Hard Way]

The Lakers girls seem to be lacking in talent compared to years past, no homo.

I don't see the homo in this post

 

[Cratylus]

Oh please no Mike Brown...

I'm convinced that this is his thought process:

"Hmm...the Lakers play a 7-foot tall african american man at center and a 7-foot tall white foreigner at power forward. WE'LL MATCH THEM! We have a 7 foot black center and a 7 foot white foreign power forward!! Yesssss!"

Gasol and Bynum are too quick for Shaq and Z. The pick and rolls would be devastating. I hope Mike Brown rethinks this one...

Mike Brown WILL rethink this one... about 15 minutes AFTER the game ends in a big Laker win. He'll tell us all that he just went with his "gut" and if he had it to do over again he "might" do something different.

 

[MYoung23]

Oh please no Mike Brown...

I'm convinced that this is his thought process:

"Hmm...the Lakers play a 7-foot tall african american man at center and a 7-foot tall white foreigner at power forward. WE'LL MATCH THEM! We have a 7 foot black center and a 7 foot white foreign power forward!! Yesssss!"

Gasol and Bynum are too quick for Shaq and Z. The pick and rolls would be devastating. I hope Mike Brown rethinks this one...

I'm not worried about the pick n roll. Bynum is a good young player but he isn't dominant.

 

[Adam]

Anyone else looking forward to finding out if shaq is going to work. With all these trade rumours being debated aroung here i can see ferry using this game as a measuring stick to help him decide what to do.

I'm am looking forward to seeing shaq deal with the first laker who gets in the paint for a lay up, like he did to stevenson.

 

[camakazee]

A little Merry Christmas from Numbers Don't

Full Article.

The Cavs have been killing it on the road against good teams this season. After the big win over Phoenix, Cleveland is now 4-2 against teams .500 or better on the road this season (66.7%). They’re also +30 over these six games (+5.0 point per game differential). On the other hand, the Cavaliers were only 11-10 against teams .500 or better on the road last season with a point differential of -26 (-1.2 points per game).

Also, keep in mind that the only Cavs road losses to .500+ teams this season were to a so-so Houston team 5 games above .500 and against a Dallas team the Cavs already beat that was missing its star player in Dirk Nowitzki (so the Cavs decided to treat them as a bad team and lose, as is tradition this season).

Outside of the Cavaliers, there are only eight teams that have a winning percentage higher than 60.0%. The Cavs have played five of these eight teams, have beaten four of them, and have posted a record of 5-2 (71.4%) against these upper echelon teams (2-1 on the road). Last season Cleveland was only 12-7 (63.2%) against teams that finished with a winning percentage higher than 60.0% and posted an awful record of 4-6 (40.0%) on the road against these teams.

Ultimately, while the Cavs aren’t on pace to match last season’s 66 wins, and while they might not be blowing teams away like they did that season, I couldn’t care less. They’re winning against big-time teams and, more importantly, doing it on the road. For this reason alone, I feel 10 times more confident with the team heading into the Staples Center this year than I did last year.

Something to Look For.

The Cavaliers’ Delonte West has been very aggressive on the road this season, getting to the line over twice as much in away games than in home games. In 11 road games, West has attempted 27 free throws, making 25 of them (92.6%; 2.5 free throw attempts per game). This is quite impressive considering West is only 7-10 from the free throw line in 10 home games (70.0%; 1.0 free throw attempt per game).

 

[rabman_gold]

Let's not burn the letter until we know if it had the right message.

Z and Shaq paired together isn't something Brown is in love with anymore, so there's no reason to feel that way. Or to get bent out of shape because he's doing something stupid.

Think about it. When was the last time he utilized the lineup and it worked? And when was the last time it worked BEFORE THAT? Answer? The Orlando Magic (Howard/Gortat) and the Boston Celtics (Perkins/Garnett/Wallace). It's not pretty, but naturally... 7 footers aren't moving at the speed of guards. Z and Shaq can do their damage offensively but can hold ground defensively with that length that most teams don't have.

In Bynum's case, Shaq can cover him very well. He doesn't have an outside game anymore than Howard. In Gasol's case, he was tough, but when Z played LA last year, he held his own against Gasol and wasn't outran. It'll be crowded, but it can work for a little bit, as long as it isn't overused.

So don't assume anything. Mike won't screw up something that's been working. If it doesn't do too well, it'll end, but it's the perfect time to try it out again. We'll see. Pick and roll isn't something we'll let get to us sooner or later. We'll see, but never say never.

 

[tcaspion08]

Let's Go Cavs!! Beat LA!!!!!!

 

[Zog]

I wonder if MB would be okay with playing Jamison or West next to Shaq against the Lakers? Both give up considerable height and length to Gasol. Murphy would at least be only an inch or so shorter than Gasol, rather than 3" for both West and Jamison. Murphy also seems like he has longer arms than Jamison or West. The key if we were to get Jamison (West I don't think would be a matchup problem for Gasol) would be to force the Lakers to make an adjustment and bring in Odom and put Gasol at C. We could negate Bynum's presence that way, and Shaq would be able to push Pau around.

That also helps us offensively. Our best defensive lineup against the Lakers is no doubt with AV and Shaq at the 4 and 5, but that allows the Lakers to camp both Gasol and Bynum in the lane, meaning it's pretty much impossible for LBJ to get to the hole. With Jamison we would be able to take one of them away from the basket.

 

[moohead]

There WILL be a Moohead/RCF postgame Show right after this big game!!!

Merry Christmas

Moo

 

[Maximus]

Lebron will try to do it all by himself today under the spotlight, artest will do a solid job on him.
Gasol, Bynum and Odom will dominate our bigs.
Z will be 0-6 in 3FG and be in foul trouble
Shaq will be sweating gravy and butter and be in foul trouble most of the game.
Our guards will not be able to buy a three pointer
Kobe will prove he's the best player in the league.

Cavs get embarrassed today....panic will ensue. Book it!

 

[Earl]

Lebron will try to do it all by himself today under the spotlight, artest will do a solid job on him.
Gasol, Bynum and Odom will dominate our bigs.
Z will be 0-6 in 3FG and be in foul trouble
Shaq will be sweating gravy and butter and be in foul trouble most of the game.
Our guards will not be able to buy a three pointer
Kobe will prove he's the best player in the league.

Cavs get embarrassed today....panic will ensue. Book it!

I was looking forward to the game until I read this post..

 

[DougHeil]

Lebron will try to do it all by himself today under the spotlight

That is what I fear the most. I fear he want to outplay Kobe. If he does, we lose. If he keeps the ball moving and we cut through the lane and are constantly moving, we win. An all around game by LeBron means a win almost every time. LeBron just has to know this, right?

 

[Gunther]

So easy to be cynical . . .

Cavs should give them a run for their money today. This game is winnable. I think the important thing to watch for is how we function as a team, with LeBron leading the way. By rights, Mo should be our second scoring option, but I feel MB will try to establish Shaq in the post, and we'll see how that goes. Could be Shaq has a great game. He'll probably be motivated, no doubt. Then there's the question of how our bench plays against theirs. I think we win the battle of the benches.

I'll go out on a limb this fine Christmas morning: Cavs win 98-94.

 

[Typhoon]

I got a feeling Max is right though. Thats exactly what happened last time too.

 

[MYoung23]

I get the feeling Cavaliers fans want this game more than either team or Lakers fans.