L Cleveland 89 Denver 90

[West Remy]

Game 36

vs

Cleveland Cavaliers (20-15) @ Denver Nuggets (20-19)

Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Time: 5:00pm PT, 8:00pm ET
TV: ESPN, WUAB
Radio: WTAM 1100
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

Head Coaches

Mike Brown / George Karl

Probable Staters

Eric Snow / Andre Miller

Damon Jones / Earl Watson

LeBron James / Carmelo Anthony

Alan Henderson / Kenyon Martin

Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Francisco Elson

Cleveland Cavaliers Bench

Mike Wilks / Luke Jackson / Ira Newble / Donyell Marshall / Anderson Varejao

Denver Nuggets Bench

Earl Boykins / Greg Buckner / Eduardo Najera​

Cleveland Cavaliers' Notes

* Regain confidence in the midst of the losing streak and don’t put too much pressure on themselves. Cleveland needs to compete but also remember to have fun out there.

* The shooters (Damon, Luke, Donyell) quickly need to find their grooves. They’ll need to be confident and assertive to help LeBron. If the shooters miss a few shots, hang their heads, and proceed to pass up open shots, it’ll be LeBron and Zydrunas out there by themselves again.

* Cleveland has to get back for transition defense. Guys will need to communicate and switch when necessary. Too many times, we’ve seen guys point fingers or stick to their man in transition, failing to pick up the ball and make adjustments on the fly.

* With Larry out and possibly Drew as well, LeBron needs to keep up his consistent series of monster games. While it always comes down to LeBron, with a depleted squad, even more responsibilities are placed upon his shoulders.

Denver Nuggets' Notes

* Push the tempo and challenge the Cavaliers to a track meet.

* Pack the lane and test to see if Marshall and Jones are fully back and out of their slumps. Don’t let LeBron James win the game. Make Cleveland’s other starters and bench players chip in. Especially the bench players who haven’t played well in the last few games.

* Remain patient on offense through the use of constant ball movement. Eventually, Cleveland’s defense will be a step slow or simply fail to react, yielding high percentage shots. Denver can get good shots if they remain focused.

Overview

Cleveland is in the midst of a losing streak and Denver is playing good basketball as of late. Meaning Denver should be the favorite in this game. Cleveland’s backcourt and bench must provide help. LeBron alone isn’t enough against many teams, especially teams with talent like the Nuggets.

 

[Karma]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

The Cavalier's need to go to their strengths immediately and get Ilgauskas and James the ball in the post. They are being matched by Elson and Anthony respectively of which neither is a good defender. Jones needs to feed off this in which he took some steps towards last outing. Still though the Cavaliers fall in a rut when James or Ilgauskas sit. Coach Brown needs to implement something to make this offense more efficient when one of our stars rests.

We need to get aggressive on the boards. We were out hustled last night and this needs to change if we want any success on the road.

 

[cdt]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

Earl Boykins and Earl Watson are going to murder us...I am in no hurry to see this

 

[cdt]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

Either Snow or Wilks both should be on the court at all times, if they are both off Denver will go on like a 45-1 run, Boykins kills us without failure and Watson was like 5-5 from 3 land and had a ton of layups and easy dimes last time. Oh and they have Miller Melo and Martin..:|

 

[PIP]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

Cavs 109

Nuggets 45

 

[Karma]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

"I couldn't run, jump or even twist," Gooden said. "It might feel good right now, but the same thing could happen again or worse. I don't want that to happen; I want a full recovery."

We may as well bite the bullet and rest Drew in this one. Hopefully we will see a more energetic Henderson on the boards. Randolph was a tough match for him, but in general he defended him fairly well. Zach did hit some deep J's. He and Ilgauskas need to step up on the boards as LeBron did. The Nuggets are not a strong rebounding team, but players like Najero can cause problems ala Patterson.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

Good article here...

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/daily_060117.html

 

[LyXo]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

Boykins is back... this spells much trouble for us. We were fortunate not to face his penetration last meeting, but this game we will feel his wrath.
Earl is just a rock with his strength and quickness, and uncanny shooting ability. But, we have a Boykins of our own... we must see how Wilks holds up.

With our injuries, it will be a tough matchup altogether. Our biggest advantage is conveniently our biggest player... we have used him in the past 3 games but not taken the advantage when it mattered, and we have 3 tough losses to show for it.

We simply have to play hardball... stop them from running, and defend the perimeter. If we get them shooting poorly from the arc and having less than 15 fastbreak points, we could pull this off.

 

[hughes1988]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

KEEP LUKE OUT OF THE GAME, this guy is always missing wide open shots, we should trade him, and in last game if lebron would have taken the ball to the hoop we would have won, he is so strong he can go right up the middle...

 

[Coyote]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

KEEP LUKE OUT OF THE GAME, this guy is always missing wide open shots...

Nope, even though he's doing a lot more than just missing open shots. But we can't afford to not play him. Even though the bench hasn't played well, I do think we've got a deeper bench than Denver (and I'm pretty sure they have more than 3 bench players). Theirs stops after Boykins, with a little nod to Buckner...he's decent. And Lenard is playing, right? But they've got some injury problems, too, and this means we need play aggressively. I've been critical of Luke, but we need him.

I see this as a repeat of the Suns game in style but against a team that's not nearly as deep or effective as the Suns. We have a similar game plan of pounding it low, controlling the tempo and getting to the line. Henderson has to get more involved on the boards and pick up some putbacks like Gooden.

Like this one old dude told me when we were shooting pool in a townie bar in Delaware, Ohio, "It's yours if you want it. Go on. Get it."

Nice to see your optimism back, LePip. :chuckles:

 

[Karma]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

This team just needs to lift its energy levels and hustle on the boards. Reducing our random 3's we just chuck up, limits the amount opportunities for Denver to run in which players like Anthony, Martin and Boykins excell in. James needs to make sure he doesn't turn this game into a personal stat sheet war against Carmelo. He needs to try and take him down low. If Ilgauskas gets the ball often enough, he'll get Elson in foul trouble. Behind him is a series of small men who will need a stick to pressure Z's offense.

 

[PIP]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

KEEP LUKE OUT OF THE GAME, this guy is always missing wide open shots, we should trade him, and in last game if lebron would have taken the ball to the hoop we would have won, he is so strong he can go right up the middle...

I can't believe my eyes.. This just cannot be true.

He is 1 of 5 players we have on this team, who provides energy and a needed spark. (LeBron, Drew, AV, Wilks---------->"STRYKER") The other 7 are out there like the walking dead... (Although Z has been on fire :heated: credit is given where credit is due..... I just wish he would quit the ticky-tac fouls) And if Drew is out, get a rebound for God sakes, big man.

Luke plays like a rookie, and if Amon Ones is not hitting shots, then Luke has already provided more then Amon as soon as he steps onto the floor.

I wish he would get 25 minutes....

 

[Karma]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

Seeing that most are sick of Damon Jones's miscues and Jackson's rookie blunders, we should just end this debate with a simple solution of playing Sasha Pavlovic. If only it were that easy........

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

the real problem in this matchup is that they have carmelo and we don't have any answer for him. carmelo has been making game winning shots all year. he grabs their bacon and throws it from the frying pan out of the fire. we don't have that on the cav's.

a lot of people thought that Lebron would be that player when he came out of high school. remember those press conferences about the first pick and the second pick? how they were going to have a natural rivalry their whole careers? well it never happened because carmelo is clutch and Lebron is not clutch yet.

carmelo makes shots to win games. Lebron does not. Lebron has not made a single shot to win one measley game this year. and he did not make any game winning shots last year. and none the year before that. he is oh for his career. he avoided any such embarassing stats by not making any game winning shots in college. heck, he didn't even go to college. but he went to high school, where he made exactly "zero" game winners. like an akron. zip. so why should we expect a player who has never made a game winning basket to suddenly start winning close games against teams like the blazers or the lakers?

it's a good thing that the allstar voters don't focus in the last few minutes of a game.

(i know; i know, but darko doesn't count)

 

[MarkPrice25]

Re: Cavs @ Nuggets

I'm just looking for us to play with a sense of urgency like it's the final week of the season. It's one thing to get beat when you are missing vital pieces to the team, but it is quite another to play shorthanded AND get outhustled by an inferior team. That's what pissed me off about the Portland game. Hopefully, we will have a repeat of last season and take them to the wood shed on their floor.