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Re: Portland @ Cleveland

Very nice game good job guys keep up the good work we are the top team in Eastern Conference
 
Re: Portland @ Cleveland

Watching this game and Z closely ..it's good that it's such a blowout because this is allowing us to keep Z in the game and try and see if we can get something from him out on the court without jeopardizing our chances of winning. So, in that regard this blowout is beneficial to him and the Cavs in evaluating him.

I think this has been his best game this season, actually. Still quite bad overall, but, he's not getting beat up on the defensive end by opposing bigs speed, or getting bulled by centers with more power and bulk.

He's been able to hold his own on the defensive side at least ...

Offensively it's the same Z we've seen closing out last season, and heading into this season ...just completely gone ....it appears Z's confidence is just gone at this point, and Mike Brown's confidence obviously has been gone for quite some time.

If this game were at all in trouble we would never have seen Z on the court late in the game...

Nice to see Lebron basically forcing Z into the offensive flow early to try and get him going ...unfortunately even the easy looks he gave him, Z couldn't convert in an effort to get him going against a Jamaal Magliore ,that for all intents and purposes, is as washed up as Z is showing that he may be.

Always been a Z supporter, because I know the value of a center in this league come playoff time ....but, I think I know what I see ....and that is a guy that was getting by with borderline mobility, beginning to lose a little bit more, and he needs to adjust his game to a style that can keep him on the court and not be a liability.

Basically at this stage of his career he's in a position we are also in with Eric Snow ....they need to be watched closely because when they begin to lose parts of what they still had left ...they teater on the edge of extinction.

David Wesley has crossed over to the other side it appears ...Snow seems to be acclimating very well to the motion offense in my mind ....Z is really struggling.

Anything requiring him to move is increasingly more and more difficult for him. I fear we are seeing what could be a steep, fast decline with him ..I hope I'm wrong because I know this guy. He's as hard and diligent a worker as you'll find in the league, but, the surgeries took a heavy toll on him, and he is truly a very old 31 as a result of them.

I hope for his sake and ours as a team, I'm wrong ...
 
Re: Portland @ Cleveland

Karma said:
Thankyou LePip for a more balanced overview then most. I would have been content if it wasn't for those last two plays.

Anywho hope Hughes is ok.

LeBron just domintad.

Did Gibson roll his ankle on that last defensive set? Hope not.
No problem, Karma..

I'm usually one of if not the 1st to crack the whip with him... However, that's only when I believe his play was disgusting, and I didn't see the effort..That was not the case tonight.. He didn't let the poor offensive showing translate to the defensive end of the floor...

Very active, and contested plenty of shots, no disputing it... The Bulls pay a ton of money for this type of performance nightly..:thumbup:
 
Re: Portland @ Cleveland

Not a top notch performance by anyone other than LeBron but everyone contributed enough to get a fairly easy win.

Snow almost equaled his season total in points tonight.

Z does look like he has little confidence at the offensve end. The rest of his game was fine tonight though. He was active and played well defensively and also rebounded well. His play at the offensive end is getting frustrating though. It did look like the Cavs were working more to put him in positions where he can operate better. There was effort to get him the ball on the left block where he likes it. Now if the damn shots will just start dropping.

Nice to see Sasha continue the solid play even if the points weren't there as much tonight. Also nice to see Gooden bounce back from the last 2 games.

Jamaal Magloire looks done and like he doesn't care that much anymore. At least despite Z's troubles he's still working and contributing in some ways.
 
Re: Portland @ Cleveland

Gooden was excellent.
 
Re: Portland @ Cleveland

Z's got to get into a good groove soon; unlike Magloire, Z still seems to actually care about what's going on during the game. As for Magloire, what happened to this guy?
 
Re: Portland @ Cleveland

Overall it was a nice win. Some things I noticed:

Zach Randolph is playing well again. This guy is like Drew, he has huge potential, but the problem is he tends to have entire off years instead of off games, but tonight he was just unstoppable and the only thing the Blazers had going. The Blazers team isnt bad, just needs some experience, but they got some talent there.

Z was struggling a bit. Hes getting some shots that just aren't his game, quick looks off cuts to the basket and such. A couple games ago he even got an alley-oop thrown at him. He does best on the block in iso on a mismatch, which can be created in the motion offense by switches and things, but lets just say the motion offense isnt a strength. The few times he gets a deep iso, he's seemed to force things a bit or overplay the moves. Defensively though, Z was very good I thought, playing against some younger quicker guys.

All in all the D was excellent. This was the most active I have seen this team play as a whole, there were tons of blocks, forced turnovers, and charges taken. Also, the zone seems to be how we counter some of the smaller quicker types as Damon didn't look half bad out there in a zone.

Damon's trey wasnt falling at all, he got some good looks, nothing really forced, but I was impressed by him doing some other things besides looking at the 3 ball. Snow was 6-6, just taking what was given to him. Sasha had a solid game filling in for Hughes. Oh and Lebron quietly had a monster game basically taking over the 4th yet again. Thats not an afterthought, just that he's so damn consistant you want to talk about the other things before you mention how Lebron delivers night after night after night.
 

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