# Grizzlies @ Cavs | Game #56 | 2/24/2008



## remy23

_*Game 56*_

 *VS* 

*Memphis Grizzlies* *(14-41) @* *Cleveland Cavaliers** (31-24)*

_*Sunday, February 24, 2008*_
*Time:* 3:00pm PT, 6:00pm ET
*TV:* FSN Ohio HD, *NBALP*
*Radio:* *WTAM 1100*
*Location:* *Quicken Loans Arena*, Cleveland, Ohio










*HEAD COACHES*


*Preview*​


> LeBron James carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA finals last season, but without a sufficient supporting cast, his championship aspirations came up short. A major move was needed to get the Cavaliers closer to a title, and the team believes it has pulled one off.
> 
> James and the Cavs welcome four new teammates Sunday when they host the lowly Memphis Grizzlies.
> 
> Prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, Cleveland (31-24) took part in a three-team, 11-player trade that added Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith and Delonte West to the Cavs’ roster.
> 
> James had been lobbying for Jason Kidd, but he is pleased with the new quartet.
> 
> “This isn’t the type of deal I expected,” he said before Friday’s 90-89 win over Washington. “You guys heard what I wanted but I am grateful for the situation.”
> 
> Wallace and Smith came from Chicago and should improve the frontcourt, while Szczerbiak is one of the top perimeter shooters in the league. He averaged 13.1 points and shot 42.8 percent from 3-point range (71-of-166) with Seattle.
> 
> “We’re here to win a championship,” James said. “That’s always been my goal. I’m looking forward to the new guys getting acclimated to our team.”
> 
> After the huge trade, the Cavs had just eight players available for Friday’s game against the Wizards, including Billy Thomas and Kaniel Dickens, who were each signed to 10-day contracts from the NBA Development League.
> 
> Despite being short-handed, Cleveland won its second straight as James made two free throws with 7.8 seconds left and Damon Jones scored a season-high 27 points.
> 
> James finished with 33 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists on Friday after recording back-to-back triple-doubles. He’s averaging 30.7 points, 9.8 boards and 8.5 assists in 10 games this month.
> 
> “I’ve said it a million times,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “LeBron James is the MVP. He was spectacular.”
> 
> In Cleveland’s only game against Memphis (14-41) this season, a 132-124 overtime victory on Jan. 15, James had 51 points - five shy of his career high - on 18-of-28 shooting. He went 6-for-12 from beyond the arc and added nine assists and eight rebounds.
> 
> The Cavs have won four straight overall against the Grizzlies and are 9-2 all-time at home against the Memphis franchise.
> 
> The Grizzlies have not had any luck on the road lately, dropping 11 straight since beating Indiana 90-72 on Jan. 2. Memphis, which is 4-22 away from home this season, has not lost 12 consecutive road games in a single season since dropping 15 straight from Nov. 27, 2000-Feb. 5, 2001.
> 
> The Grizzlies lost their fourth straight and fell for the 10th time in 11 games Friday, 98-82 to Dallas. They are 1-8 since trading Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers.
> 
> “We are in a rebuilding phase,” Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni said. “The guys are working hard but you can’t take a possession off. When you have got four guys working hard and one guy takes a possession off, that gets to you.”
> 
> Rudy Gay, who had a team-high 18 points on Friday, had 30 points and nine rebounds in the loss to the Cavs last month.
> 
> Mike Miller, Memphis’ second leading scorer behind Gay, sat out Friday with a sore back and his status for this game is uncertain.


----------



## thaKEAF

Let's go Grizz! 

:dead:


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

I'm excited to see how our new players fit in.

I'm not a fan of starting Devin Brown and Ben Wallace long term though - teams will send triple teams at Lebron if we run that lineup. If we're starting Wallace, Wally needs to start.


----------



## Basel

Watch out for Kwame Brown.


----------



## thaKEAF

Keep As Is said:


> Watch out for Kwame Brown.


Yeah his ability to sit on the bench could easily ruin the first game for the new look Cavs. :laugh:


----------



## KingoftheCourt23

I cant wait to see the new fours first game...i think joe smith is gonna be real nice...people arent talking much about him but we will need to him play solid especially with andy out...this should be a real fun one to watch...if wally can make shots lebron will start averaging a triple double...


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

At work keep me updated for the game. I think we have to start Wallace and Jones/Wally.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Wow Delonte West is starting already.

Interesting to see Big Ben out there also - I bet he will play well today. Crowd is super pumped


----------



## hendrix2430

decent starting 5. I was expecting Wally but Devin should do ok.


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Keep me updated - excited about the new guys... Yahoo gamechannel here we come lol

unless someone knows about a live feed from some website?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Conley just shook the heck out of Devin Brown - that was pretty nasty


----------



## hendrix2430

goaltend?...hmm..


----------



## thaKEAF

The game is already on?


----------



## hendrix2430

refreshing to have west's speed...you can tell he's pumped up.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Ben Wallace doing a good job moving off the ball early

You can tell the Cavs don't really know what they're doing on offense right now


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Ben Wallace trying to make an offensive move?


----------



## Pioneer10

Lebron is a freight train on the break


----------



## hendrix2430

and one...the defender had no chance.


----------



## Pioneer10

I don't know about Ben Wallace going out that far on D even though we scored off of it


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

GREAT defense by Ben Wallace

Delonte West nice alley-oop lob pass - Lebron will love that


----------



## hendrix2430

Jesus! Wallace to West to Lebron!


----------



## Pioneer10

WTF was that Lebron?


----------



## thaKEAF

Not gonna ask why Kwame is starting.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

I hope Delonte doesn't get the shooters jinx all offensive players seem to get in CLE

He does a nice job pushing the tempo though

Good defense again by Ben Wallace


----------



## hendrix2430

Great defense by Wallace. What a change compared to Gooden...


----------



## SamTheMan67

wallace defense amazing


----------



## Pioneer10

Nice shot by West there


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Nice Delonte drills a 3 

Mike Conley has ridiculous speed


----------



## SamTheMan67

delonte!!


----------



## thaKEAF

Cavs moving the ball around pretty good.


----------



## SamTheMan67

DAMN We look good!


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Ben Wallace is frickin monster on defense


----------



## Pioneer10

Umm Lebron what's up with the trigger happy 3's?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Lebron is playing like an idiot early though. Don't know WTF he is doing jacking up all these threes


----------



## SamTheMan67

lol lebrons hella jumper happy today


----------



## SamTheMan67

damn wallace is gettin rebounds causing travels and stealing. delonte is a really quick player and his stroke is nice


----------



## SamTheMan67

We should see wallyz right here in for devin


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Playing Memphis might not be indication of how this unit will look, they are bad. lol

So Big Ben looks alright out there?

I see West must be getting some open looks, already three 3 pointers taken?


----------



## thaKEAF

LeBron is a freak of nature, dude is just huge.


----------



## Basel

Does LeBron think that he's developed an amazing 3-point shot overnight or something? I'm watching this game, and have no idea why he's already taken this many 3's.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

That was one helluva pass by Lebron there...


----------



## hendrix2430

Lebron to Z, amazing pass


----------



## SamTheMan67

delonte is freaking fast


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Wallace really seems to have a high defensive IQ - he is rotating very well already


----------



## Pioneer10

Conley is freakin fast


----------



## SamTheMan67

Once our guys gel.. delonte pushes the ball up so much faster than larry


----------



## thaKEAF

I never realized how small Conley is.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Conley is freakin fast


It's a good test for Delonte - I want to see if he can defend quick guards 1 on 1


----------



## SamTheMan67

Now we get to see joe smith and wally z


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

who is our unit out there, only Wally sub in for Devin?


----------



## hendrix2430

although he just picked up a foul , D West isn't taking a second off out there...


----------



## Brandname

Just watching Ben's rotating vs. how Drew rotated is incredible. 

Ben obviously is going to limit what we can do offensively, but this defense will more than make up for it if we can keep it up.


----------



## Pioneer10

Ok let's see how bad Wally really is on D.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Want to see how Wally does on defense - I'd like to start him if he can do a decent job


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Wally and Damon spreading the floor and Joe Smith able to hit the 15 footers, Lebron should have plenty of room to operate!


----------



## Pioneer10

Damon and Wally in the backcourt lol. This should be interesting


----------



## hendrix2430

ahahah, Ben with both FTs!


----------



## SamTheMan67

damn they cant just guard lebron now


----------



## Pioneer10

I think Navarro has the green light on him with Jones out there


----------



## SamTheMan67

wally blocked a shot so so far so good


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Ben Wallace is quietly very impressive tonight - he is just shutting down the paint


----------



## hendrix2430

nice D by Bron. Damon with the foul...


----------



## Pioneer10

Gay is like a mini-Lebron. I guess Igoudala is a better fit for the mini-Lebron label though


----------



## SamTheMan67

wally is gonna light it up here


----------



## SamTheMan67

where the hell are we gonna fit damon in our rotation??


----------



## hendrix2430

D Jones on fiya!


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Damon rolling - glad Ferry kept him

And boy our team defense looks superb early. Memphis can barely get a shot off


----------



## SamTheMan67

Im starting to worry how were gonna get all our players pT lol everyones playing good!


----------



## SamTheMan67

I wanna see wally get a couple shots


----------



## Brandname

Well, how's that for a new-look first quarter? WOW.

I can't believe we are going to get back 3 awesome players from injury at some point!


----------



## Pioneer10

What has Damon JOnes been smoking lately?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Wally struggling a little bit - I think he would fit better next to Lebron than with the 2nd unit


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Soooooooooooo....... Does Sasha lose playing time even though it was by injury?


----------



## Brandname

Yeah I was really hoping we'd put Wally with Lebron. I understand putting a pure scorer in the 2nd unit, but with the way he can shoot when open I think we can kill it when those two play together.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Lowry is a great athlete - Grizz would be dumb to dump him for cheap


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Great shot by Joe Smith 

Damn our team is DEEP now. Imagine adding AV/Sasha/Boobie to the mix...


----------



## SamTheMan67

zerb didnt have a grip


----------



## hendrix2430

Lol, no kidding. We are deep! Wally is hussling out there. His shot is off but he's trying to make a good impression, successfully I must say.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Joe Smith is impressive ...


----------



## SamTheMan67

damn joe smith!!


----------



## hendrix2430

Joe smith with another J


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Brandname said:


> Well, how's that for a new-look first quarter? WOW.
> 
> I can't believe we are going to get back 3 awesome players from injury at some point!


How will Joe Smith get PT when Andy returns?

I really think Sasha Damon Jones will get the short end of the stick along with Devin Brown when all our players return.


----------



## SamTheMan67

lebrons gettin the longest rest ever


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Wally won't miss those open looks very often - he is a career 50% shooter, 40+% from 3.

If he keeps getting those kind of shots he will start burying them eventually


----------



## SamTheMan67

dude we have too many good players now


----------



## Brandname

Wally is hustling on defense, too. I can tell that he's slow laterally, but he's not giving up easy shots or anything. He definitely is trying out there.

Great effort all around so far.


----------



## DuMa

i know its only memphis but cleveland looks great now.


----------



## Brandname

41-19

Jesus.


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

hendrix2430 said:


> Lol, no kidding. We are deep! Wally is hussling out there. His shot is off but he's trying to make a good impression, successfully I must say.


Wally - Devin - Damon - Sasha are going to have to fight for a total of 20 minutes when everyone is back.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Larry Hughes for Retirement said:


> How will Joe Smith get PT when Andy returns?
> 
> I really think Sasha Damon Jones will get the short end of the stick along with Devin Brown when all our players return.


I think Joe Smith can play alongside AV as a PF in the 2nd unit. 

Z's minutes should be cut to keep him fresh for the playoffs and free from injury


----------



## SamTheMan67

joe smith is automatic


----------



## DuMa

joe smith's mid j is money


----------



## SamTheMan67

wally!!


----------



## hendrix2430

Jeez...wow. That's all I can say.


----------



## Brandname

This is unbelievable.


----------



## SamTheMan67

devin is too much of an offensive liability with wallace on the floor IMO


----------



## SamTheMan67

dude put delonte lebron and wally in with joe smith and z.. talk about an offensive powerhouse..


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Part of it is teams have no idea how to defend us right now

Just like the Celtics looked unstoppable early on, eventually the rest of the league will adjust their schemes and attack our weaknesses. 

Still, the depth on this team now is ridiculous.


----------



## Brandname

Damn. Lead down to 21. 

Timeout. Let's get this under control.


----------



## SamTheMan67

time to put bron and delonte back in


----------



## SamTheMan67

Wally will heat up im not worried


----------



## DuMa

all this depth which means lebron's numbers are gonna go down . my poor fantasy team


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Brandname said:


> Damn. Lead down to 21.
> 
> Timeout. Let's get this under control.


We are playing a team that gave up 7 weeks ago. But still, our depth is crazy now. I guess it't a good problem to have.


----------



## SamTheMan67

this is the lineup i want


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Good help defense by Joe Smith


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Great defense by West - he is a solid perimeter defender


----------



## DuMa

did ivaroni just try a bounce shot at the rim :lol:


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Cavs really pushing the tempo now

Whats impressive is our frontcourt is not giving up any offensive rebs - not missing Gooden there


----------



## SamTheMan67

Wally is trying really hard to stay in front of his man and is dong really well actaully


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Some stupid mistakes here - getting lazy with a big lead


----------



## Brandname

Scary good move by Lebron there.

Man Rudy Gay is really really good.


----------



## hendrix2430

amazing D by Lebron


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Nice 1 on 1 drive by Wally


----------



## SamTheMan67

wally!


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Wally is letting it fly today 2-7 ... is he wide open?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

The interior defense with Wallace/Z is incredible

Z btw has 13pts/10rebs already


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Larry Hughes for Retirement said:


> Wally is letting it fly today 2-7 ... is he wide open?


He's played well. His misses are open looks or shots he's had to take late in the clock.


----------



## SamTheMan67

good half


----------



## Brandname

Well nice first half there. Love what the new guys bring. Interior defense is absolutely awesome now.

I do have a feeling we're going to struggle against good-penetrating guards, but I think Sasha's return should help a lot of that.


----------



## SamTheMan67

Man damon , z, and lebron are playing lights out.. delonte and wallace have caused like 3 steals and zerb is playing pretty decent d


----------



## SamTheMan67

and joe smith is absolutely amazing offensively


----------



## Pioneer10

Man Wally is a little too trigger happy for my taste. The rest of the guys particulalry Smith look good


----------



## Brandname

I bet Z is the happiest right now.

He no longer has to cover for all of Drew's defensive lapses.


----------



## mvP to the Wee

how has wallace been to u guys?


----------



## SamTheMan67

Pioneer10 said:


> Man Wally is a little too trigger happy for my taste. The rest of the guys particulalry Smith look good


I disagree.. hes a shooter off picks kinda like rip is and every look he has had has been open


----------



## Brandname

Wally's forcing it, you can tell. But given his career and season percentages, I think he'll find his groove. I actually think it's good that we have another player with a pure scoring mentality. It should free up our offense to some extent.


----------



## SamTheMan67

F.A.B said:


> how has wallace been to u guys?


good defense and hit his fts lol


----------



## Pioneer10

We're going to need Sasha to be healthy with this group


----------



## SamTheMan67

that had to be the longest 2nd quarter break lebrons had all year


----------



## Brandname

F.A.B said:


> how has wallace been to u guys?


Very very good. His interior defense and rotations vs. Drew Gooden are amazing. Our interior defense is so improved. 

If he keeps this up, he's going to be huge for us, even though he isn't scoring.


----------



## mvP to the Wee

SamTheMan67 said:


> good defense and hit his fts lol


he tends to play decent against shiet ugly teams

like against new york he kills them


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Brandname said:


> Well nice first half there. Love what the new guys bring. Interior defense is absolutely awesome now.
> 
> I do have a feeling we're going to struggle against good-penetrating guards, but I think Sasha's return should help a lot of that.


Having too many players that can play is a better problem than having not enough. But how do you fit Sasha back into the rotation? Damon is playing so well its a crime to not let him see any minutes.

I think each post player will get 20+ minutes a night, and you just go with the hot hand that day. Because we not have 4 very good post players all bringing a different talent to the floor.


----------



## SamTheMan67

All our guys are kinda getting used to playing with lebron and company too.. in 10 games i see wally gettin a consistant 15ppg


----------



## Pioneer10

SamTheMan67 said:


> I disagree.. hes a shooter off picks kinda like rip is and every look he has had has been open


Well I wasn't happy with some of those shots. There were a few where I thought he should have rotated the ball. For example, when Jones was red hot and Wally didn't give it up to him in the corner


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

SamTheMan67 said:


> All our guys are kinda getting used to playing with lebron and company too.. in 10 games i see wally gettin a consistant *15ppg*


I was thinking "maybe" 15 minutes per game, not 15 points per game.


----------



## Pioneer10

Larry Hughes for Retirement said:


> Having too many players that can play is a better problem than having not enough. But how do you fit Sasha back into the rotation? Damon is playing so well its a crime to not let him see any minutes.
> 
> I think each post player will get 20+ minutes a night, and you just go with the hot hand that day. Because we not have 4 very good post players all bringing a different talent to the floor.


We're going to need Sasha for defense. West/Sasha will probably be our best defensive backcourt. We're going to have plenty of scoring off Z and Smith scoring off Lebron


----------



## SamTheMan67

DJ and DEVIN wont be this hot all season.. they are good players but i see wally with 25-30 mpg in the playoffs.. his scoring ability cannot be underestimated..


----------



## Brandname

I am not going to complain about any of the new guys offensively. They've had 1 day to practice with the team. Plus they're trying to make an impression on the fans.

And defensively I've been extremely happy with them so far.


----------



## Brandname

It doesn't seem like it, but we've been called for 12 fouls to their 5. We've just been playing great defense to make up for it.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

I personally have no problem with how Wally has played. We need another guy who is aggressive offensively and can put the ball in the hole.

Again his career shooting %'s are superb, that alone indicates he is intelligent with his shot selection.


----------



## SamTheMan67

I can't wait until we gel and incorporate boobie and av


----------



## Brandname

Wally's shot selection has been no worse than Lebron's (Wally's actually a good shooter though). I have high hopes for him. I can see how he moves without the ball that at least he's trying to fit in. Plus, he couldn't be taking worse shots than Larry did, lol.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

I HATE when players jump on balls like that on someones ankle

Thank God Lebron got his foot out


----------



## Brandname

That was a close call.


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Well that is not a good way to start the half.

Has Delonte's shots been open looks?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Ben Wallace is limited but he knows how to play - I like how he runs the floor and finds openings


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Wallace is a good offensive of player 1 foot from the basket, 3 dunks, 8 points.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Wow that was a nice set - good execution


----------



## Pioneer10

Man when did Joe Smith become this good?


----------



## Pioneer10

Bailout call: good D by smith there


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Has anyone else noticed that Memphis is getting a TON of touch fouls tonight??

Hard to ***** about the refs when you're up so much but the reffing has been awful in this game :azdaja:


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Nice Lebron cross court to Wally for 3!


----------



## SamTheMan67

thats a pure shooter


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Lebron is getting 1 on 1 defense for the 1st time all year...teams don't want to leave Delonte/Wally


----------



## SamTheMan67

delontes shooting crappy but damn he has some sick handles


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

WAY too many turnovers. We aren't handling the press very well


----------



## SamTheMan67

were commiting a crap load of dumb turnovers


----------



## Pioneer10

down to 13: a bit disjointed with all the newbies in


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Nice passing from Delonte tonight


----------



## SamTheMan67

lol ben wallace is an offensive power house


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Ben Wallace with all dunks tonight? ha


----------



## Brandname

We're destroying them on the boards.


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Only one substitute in the first 10 minutes of the half?


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Larry Hughes for Retirement said:


> Only one substitute in the first 10 minutes of the half?


Mike Brown letting the newbies play with Lebron the entire quarter?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

After watching this tape - expect a heavy dose of full court press. We have not handled it well at all


----------



## Pioneer10

lol Collins is pretty bad out there


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> After watching this tape - expect a heavy dose of full court press. We have not handled it well at all


First game with a new PG. I'm sure we'll get it figured out.


----------



## SamTheMan67

Our team defense is way better


----------



## SamTheMan67

wallys shot is soo damn nice


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

LOL Wally has no hesitation. He is looking to score as soon as he touches the ball :biggrin:


----------



## Brandname

Yeah, we have kinda gotten the short end of a lot of these calls I think.


----------



## Pioneer10

Jones on Lowry is a bad matchup


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Bad matchup for DJ against Lowry


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Nice job on the boards by Joe Smith


----------



## Pioneer10

Didn't Lebron get fouled there?


----------



## Brandname

the hell? We would have been called for 5 fouls if we were Memphis on that last possession, lol.


----------



## SamTheMan67

everyones playing so reckless with passing today


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Didn't Lebron get fouled there?


The refs aren't calling anything for the Cavs tonight


----------



## Brandname

Good thing we're playing really well I guess.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

What a defensive play by LBJ


----------



## Brandname

These Grizz all have that great teardrop working for them.


----------



## Brandname

Joe Smith is SOOO much better than Gooden. LOL


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Lowry is abusing D Jones


----------



## SamTheMan67

joe smith j is crisppyyy


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Why is Lebron logging all these pointless minutes?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> Joe Smith is SOOO much better than Gooden. LOL


Yes I was not aware Joe Smith was so good. He is just flat out better than Drew, particularly with his bball IQ


----------



## SamTheMan67

terrible turnovers


----------



## hendrix2430

Those young grizzlies have their hands on everything...they are out-hussling us BIG TIME


----------



## DuMa

Joe Smith is a steal.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Holy **** LEBRON


----------



## remy23

That dunk by LeBron was insane.


----------



## SamTheMan67

thats going on sportscenter


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Larry Hughes for Retirement said:


> Why is Lebron logging all these pointless minutes?


To mesh with his new teammates


----------



## remy23

Ben Wallace playing defensive and causing a 5-second violation. Good hustle.


----------



## SamTheMan67

big ben!!!


----------



## hendrix2430

That's how you play D!!!! Big Ben in the house!


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Ben Wallace brings a nastiness to this team - I like it.

Also he challenges EVERYTHING at the rim


----------



## SamTheMan67

z's playing great the floor is spaced great..


----------



## SamTheMan67

Wally is open a lot off cuts on the baseline.. whoever guards him will get real tired real fast


----------



## Brandname

Drew Gooden came into the CHI-HOU game 2 minutes ago. I just checked some forums, and here's a smattering of comments:



> Wow Drew Gooden stepped aside and allowed him a free lane into the basket.. Are you serious?!?!?





> I'm not sure about Gooden and Noc together on D.





> Not a big fan of Goodens D so far. I think by the end of the year Noah will be considered a better player than Drew





> Gooden runs like a snail


I kid you not, this is in the first 2 minutes he's playing for the Chicago Bulls.

:lol:


----------



## DuMa

this team looks nasty. great depth. great leader. great defense.


----------



## SamTheMan67

our team is so much better its insane


----------



## Brandname

Cavs have 7 different guys with a blocked shot. That's really good.


----------



## Brandname

Delonte really struggled shooting today, but I was very impressed with his ability to run the pick and roll. It was almost entirely due to Delonte that Wallace scored in double digits. He's going to be a very good pickup I think. I thought his defense was good, too.


----------



## remy23

I know it's just one game but Ben doesn't seem 100% shot like some said he was. I'm not expecting a prime Wallace by any stretch of the imagination but he should have something in the tank.


----------



## Jizzy

not fair, you guys are loaded


----------



## UrFavTeamSux

Just got back from watching this game, and all I have to say is

I LOVE THIS TRADE

It might be too early to really tell, especially since it was against the grizzlies, but seriously the energy out there was great and our guys really played well, each bringing something different to the table. Smith has that 18-ft. jumpshot to a T, Ben is a monster at the rim, Wally was hitting 3s and Delonte acts like a true pg. Add Gibson (even more spacing) and Andy to the mix, and we're a monster.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

I hope its more of our new players and less of the Grizzlies really being terrible!!!


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## Brandname

remy23 said:


> I know it's just one game but Ben doesn't seem 100% shot like some said he was. I'm not expecting a prime Wallace by any stretch of the imagination but he should have something in the tank.


At least he rotates on defense. Honestly, that's all I want him to do. Just do that and we'll be sooo much better.


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## Brandname

That being said, I can tell that we're still kind of raw as a team. I think we'll be a lot better once guys start to mesh and get to know the system. Nobody was too sure where to be tonight.


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## futuristxen

A work in progress to be sure. The Celtics game this week will be an interesting test. I think it will be 3 weeks until everyone is on the same page, maybe more taking into account the injuries.


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## Dean the Master

Nice to see the Cavs got the win for Big Ben's debut. I like Mike Brown's Dual Center idea. Can he not start both Big Z and Big Ben? This team looks for like a team now rather than an one man's show.


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## GNG

Well, the Cavs looked like they've all been playing together all season.

Granted, it was against one of the worst teams in NBA history (the Grizzlies only have five or six players who belong the NBA, led by a shell-shocked coach), so I'm not sure what kind of a barometer it is, but this team no question has drastically improved itself.

Joe Smith is an _excellent_ role player, and I hope he gets time even when Varejao returns. He went from a No. 1 pick to complete obscurity, and as a result, he's been underrated for years. That midrange jumper is going to be very useful.


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## Brandname

Rawse said:


> Well, the Cavs looked like they've all been playing together all season.
> 
> Granted, it was against one of the worst teams in NBA history (the Grizzlies only have five or six players who belong the NBA, led by a shell-shocked coach), so I'm not sure what kind of a barometer it is, but this team no question has drastically improved itself.
> 
> Joe Smith is an _excellent_ role player, and I hope he gets time even when Varejao returns. He went from a No. 1 pick to complete obscurity, and as a result, he's been underrated for years. That midrange jumper is going to be very useful.


Yeah, I knew Joe Smith was a really good player, but I didn't realize how solid he is in the midrange. I don't expect him to shoot like that every night, but he's got great form and you can tell those shots are the type that he feels comfortable with. I can't believe anyone could have been lamenting us losing Drew Gooden for any of these guys. 

I know that the Grizzlies aren't really competitive right now, and they're also missing their best player (I actually think Rudy Gay is the best, but I don't see them enough to know). But regardless, I liked what I saw from the guys last night. We have big men who actually rotate on defense now, and if you had visited the Cavs forum when this trade first went down, you know that we were most excited about that. Gooden is the worst help defender in the league, and just that interior defensive upgrade instantly improves the team.

I like the units of Z/Big Ben and AV/Joe Smith. In both of those units, you have a big who can step out and hit shots and another one to protect the rim. Unlike AV/Ben which would seem redundant, I think those 4 give us a solid big man rotation that will keep up with any frontcourt. Before the trade, we were the 2nd best rebounding team in the league behind Houston. Now we've given up Drew Gooden for Ben Wallace and Joe Smith. I can't see us doing anything but improving in that department. 

Teams usually win the first game after a trade because everyone's amped up (I guess Chicago might have been the exception last night, lol). We'll see how we fare once everyone starts to calm down and get into their role. This week's game against Boston should be a good barometer.


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## Benedict_Boozer

^The thing is, we won't REALLY know how good our team is for awhile because of all the injury problems.

Boobie is one of our top 5 players, along with Varejao who is just now about to come back. 

And who knows when Sasha is coming back. Fully loaded, we could have 10-11 guys capable of producing which is crazy when you consider what we had at the start of the year. Devin and Damon Jones have played great ball lately and might be seeing pine for no other reason than us being too deep.


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> ^The thing is, we won't REALLY know how good our team is for awhile because of all the injury problems.
> 
> Boobie is one of our top 5 players, along with Varejao who is just now about to come back.
> 
> And who knows when Sasha is coming back. Fully loaded, we could have 10-11 guys capable of producing which is crazy when you consider what we had at the start of the year. Devin and Damon Jones have played great ball lately and might be seeing pine for no other reason than us being too deep.


It's weird, I just feel that our depth has grown monumentally with this trade.

We basically traded 2 rotation players for 4 rotation players, and the extra 2 guys just make a world of difference when looking at our team on paper. I feel much more comfortable about our depth after the trade.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Brandname said:


> Delonte really struggled shooting today, but I was very impressed with his ability to run the pick and roll. It was almost entirely due to Delonte that Wallace scored in double digits. He's going to be a very good pickup I think. I thought his defense was good, too.


Only got to see the highlights. But West coming off that screen on the block and finding Big Ben on the roll to the basket was a great pass. 

With Eric Snow out their teams were leaving him wide open, well with Big Ben out there he is at least setting off the ball screens and around the basket, hard to leave him wide open when he is 2 feet from the basket. So there is a big difference between Snow and Wallace offensive "skills"...


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