Preseason Game #4 | Cavs vs. Spurs, 7:00 PM (ET)

[Numbers Guy]

I don't see Mo, Boobie, and Delonte as scrubs and they are shooting the worst on our team with a combined 7/27 = 25%...these guys are supposed to be the ones who spread the floor for LeBron. The scrubs are actually increasing our FG%. I think Mo can slide because this is his first real action but Mo and Boobie shooting 5/21 doesn't impress me.

Omg. Just stfu.

Your making a mountain out of a mole.

 

[SanduskyCav]

I think you meant mole hill...but I'm just saying I expected these guys to shoot much better than they are.

 

[Silky Smooth]

I really hope chemistry is there because with lebron and the starters not playing alot we got to rely on practices and playing against your teammates is a little different than the other team.

 

[Sir Charles Barkley]

wow everyone needs to calm down...its preseason first of all. Second of all, we're not playing with our normal rotations that we'll be using during the regular season, and everyones just taking shots when they get em. Im not worried about it at all. They were off tonight...oh well. Everyone has bad days

 

[KU_216]

Just got back from the game, courtesy of chiefwahoo!. From what I seen from our starters, against the Spurs starters, we looked sharp. Mo and LeBron really get out in transition well, and the Mo to LeBron who touch passed it to Hickson, who then threw it down with two hands was beautiful.

People need to stop worrying about how we're playing. It's preseason, and none of the games count. You're not going to see people diving for balls like they do in the regular season. If you come out of a preseason game still healthy, thats a win. To further prove that preseason has no meaning, just look at the lineups Brown is throwing out there. He had a lineup of Mo/Delonte/Boobie/James/Varejao in there for a short stretch. I can almost guarantee you'll never see that in the regular season. The preseason is all about working on plays, experimenting with lineups, and letting the rookies/invitees prove themselves.

 

[-Akronite-]

Yeah, I never thought of it that way... maybe their getting the suck out of their system early this year.

 

[KIisKing]

Its all about who fits were, the guys getting the most minutes arent starters or mostly 2nd string guys. Im not worried. The only way if qould be worried is if the first month of the season we continue to put up70 ponts per night but thats not realstic.

 

[theSTEREO.]

Just got back from the game.

The first quarter was pretty darn good. I remember looking at the stats pretty close to the end of the quarter and we were shooting around 65 - 70%. Ball movement was great, crossing to both sides of the floor which was great.

Mo realized early that his shot wasn't really falling, and racked up 4 assists in about 6 minutes instead in the first. Made some nice passes, including some pick n roll work with Z and a 75-foot, thread-the-needle pass to Lebron for a fast break dunk.

Boobie made some nice moves to get himself inside, but looked surprised to be there and missed 2 or 3 bunnies.

Delonte came out firing on all cylinders, played aggressive defense, but after a few minutes, he looked real lost. He's gonna need a week or so of camp before he gets back on the same page as everyone. Delonte did however start an amazing play where he tossed another 75-foot pass to Lebron who caught it facing back up court in mid-air, tapped it to JJ before he landed, and JJ threw down a monster. Great play, great crowd reaction.

We saw the Lebron-at-the-4 lineup for a little bit, but it didn't last too long because you could tell Delonte didn't know where he should be on the floor. I assume he was the 'small forward', so he's gonna need some practice there.

JJ was aggressive again, but made his typical rookie mistakes. He also got humiliated by... i don't know who it was, some Spurs camp invitee... JJ went strong... I mean strong... to the rack with two hands from about the foul line looking to slam it over 2 defenders, and the dude just swatted it out of JJ hands to half court. Then JJ got blocked again on a post move later. Once he gets his footwork dialed and calms his game a bit, he'll be an asset.

That's all I can really think of right now.

 

[Karma]

If we are getting blown out in the latter preseason games when our starters are playing normal minutes, then raise an eyebrow. For now the only concern is working on combinations and staying healthy. Boxscores are irrelevant.

 

[Randolphkeys]

...JJ was aggressive again, but made his typical rookie mistakes. He also got humiliated by... i don't know who it was, some Spurs camp invitee... JJ went strong... I mean strong... to the rack with two hands from about the foul line looking to slam it over 2 defenders, and the dude just swatted it out of JJ hands to half court. Then JJ got blocked again on a post move later. Once he gets his footwork dialed and calms his game a bit, he'll be an asset.

I recall LeBron had similiar errors in a pre-season game against Ben Wallace as a rookie. This is natural for rookies in the pre-season, and this is why we shouldn't care too much on the final score. We also played Kinsey for about 8 minutes with the first team in the first half, as well as Jahwad in the second for about the same amount of time, as well as Dupree in the third. These are not rotations we will see in a real game. Mike Brown is trying to figure out his roster moreso than win games... the change will come, and I have no doubt that we are now the second-best team in the East to Boston... until we go ahead and beat them a few times in a real game in the regular season.

 

[Ren]

Windhorst wrote about the game:

Brian Windhorst's Cavaliers Blog: Offense not bad, except for the actual putting it in basket part
by Brian Windhorst
Thursday October 16, 2008, 11:05 PM

Cavs lose to Spurs 91-70 in one of those practice games. But it's not the whole story, here's more:

• Though I understand it's hard to ignore the fact that the Cavs only scored 70 points,I actually thought they had their best offensive game of the preseason. And no I'm not trying to put a good spin on it, I am 100 percent serious. Their ball movement and execution, at least with the first unit, was pretty crisp. As I pointed out in the paper, the Cavs had 15 assists on 17 baskets in the first half when the starters were out there. This was especially true for LeBron, who threw some tremendous passes to teammates who were actually ready for them. Best was a no-look touch pass to J.J. Hickson for a dunk on fast break. Too bad this game wasn't on TV anywhere, it would've made SportsCenter's top 10. He also set some nice picks, yes LeBron setting picks, tonight. So there was progress despite the end result. No, seriously.

• When the so-called "tear drop" -- when a guard goes into the lane and tosses up one of those floaters over everyone -- works, it is a thing of beauty. Like, say, when Tony Parker does it. Mo Williams, Delonte West and Daniel Gibson all were trying them tonight and it wasn't pretty. In fact, they've been trying them all preseason and it hasn't been pretty. Dajaun Wagner was a master at that shot, he used to say: "The big guys hate it because they can't get (block) it." Perhaps he could come back and offer some instruction.

• The ugliest shot from a guard in the game wasn't a tear drop, though it was sad. On a breakaway Delonte went to jump -- and I must admit, I was a little surprised at how far back he started -- and he realized on the way down he wasn't high enough to dunk or close enough to the basket. So he tried to turn it into a layup and missed badly. After the game I heard him tell someone (he didn't speak to the media): "Yeah, that didn't go the way I thought it would." He was out there 28 minutes tonight and looked rusty as you'd expect after missing 12 days. But he did have five assists and just one turnover so he did do some good things.

• Tim Duncan had 16 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes. Yeah, I think he's ready for the regular season.

• Part of the reason the Cavs only scored 70 points was because the Spurs are just flat-out a great defensive team. The Pistons only scored 64 on them on Tuesday. And they held the Cavs to 34 percent shooting without best defender Bruce Bowen, who sat out.

• Ben Wallace didn't look 100 percent -- he went up for a dunk and couldn't quite make it in the first quarter -- but it didn't look like his back was really bothering him. He did block two shots, which is a good sign.

• Anderson Varejao is quietly having a good preseason, tonight he had six points and seven rebounds in less than 20 minutes. He did a pretty good job on Kevin Garnett the other night, too.

• At halftime LeBron was given the key to the city by the mayor for winning the gold medal. It was a nice moment, but the most memorable thing for me came from LeBron Jr. He just turned four two weeks ago, though he already looks like he might be on his way to being about 6-foot-10. If I were Thad Matta, I might offer him a scholarship any day now. Anyway, he was out on the floor with his dad and he stopped by the scorer's table. He asked his mom, Savannah, to pour that powder stuff on his hands and then he threw it up in the air like LeBron does before games. He got it all over his head, but it was quite charming.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2008/10/brian_windhorsts_cavaliers_blo.html

 

[Wally World]

Apologize....apologize right now or I'll have you banned forever.

Im really sorry man....I didnt know that you are really insider...I was thinking that you want to joke with me like some guys here so i was angry....Again sorry man.....I would like if you can give me some more information in the future about wally because this one was amazing....

 

[Mr. Glass]

The part I listened to (the first quarter) was great. Sounded like everything was moving crisply and we were getting and converting some good looks. Then I left because we were starting to rotate the lessers into the game.

Admittedly a little disappointed when I came back to see the box score. The 0-4 is irrelevant, but the guards looked horrible. I mean, 7 for 36 is pretty bad. That's something like 19%. Delonte's is to be expected, he just got back and got thrown in there against the Spurs. But Mo shooting that poorly worries me, whether anybody thinks it is warranted or not.

Pretty much the only bright spots seem to be the first quarter and Andy. We're going to need Andy a lot this year, so it's good to see him doing what he does best: rebounding and defense.

 

[Wally World]

The part I listened to (the first quarter) was great. Sounded like everything was moving crisply and we were getting and converting some good looks. Then I left because we were starting to rotate the lessers into the game.

Admittedly a little disappointed when I came back to see the box score. The 0-4 is irrelevant, but the guards looked horrible. I mean, 7 for 36 is pretty bad. That's something like 19%. Delonte's is to be expected, he just got back and got thrown in there against the Spurs. But Mo shooting that poorly worries me, whether anybody thinks it is warranted or not.

Pretty much the only bright spots seem to be the first quarter and Andy. We're going to need Andy a lot this year, so it's good to see him doing what he does best: rebounding and defense.

Yeah....i would really like to discuss about great shooters who come to Cavs and then cant make any jumper.....I'm still analyzing why wally missed all shoots last season and i dont know....Look at Mo now???What is the problem...And what if cavs trade wally for VC or some shooter....He will come in Cleveland and miss open jumpers....I am really worried because this is not a good sign...

 

[chiefwahoo]

Ummm... wow:

:shifty: