# Sixers @ Cavs | Game #42 | 1/24/2007



## remy23

_*Game 42*_


*Philadelphia 76ers* *(12-30) @* *Cleveland Cavaliers** (24-17)*

_*Wednesday, January 24, 2007*_
*Time:* 4:00pm PT, 7:00pm ET
*TV:* *NBALP*, FSOhio
*Radio:* *WTAM 1100*
*Location:* *Quicken Loans Arena*, Cleveland, Ohio

*HEAD COACHES*


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview;_ylt=AqAvx7n82Ye8It9tJolbMH68vLYF?gid=2007012405



> The Cleveland Cavaliers finished the first half of their season looking sluggish, but LeBron James isn't too concerned.
> 
> The Cavaliers try to snap out of their recent funk when they open the second half of their season hosting the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday in the start of a home-and-home series.
> 
> After going 3-4 on a season-high seven-game road trip, the Cavs returned to Quicken Loans Arena - where it owns one of the best home records in the league - but lost 90-79 to Orlando on Monday.
> 
> Cleveland has dropped four of its last five games, and coach Mike Brown was disappointed with how lethargic his team played.
> 
> "We've got to do a better job of bringing our energy and our effort level," he said.
> 
> Despite their recent slump, Cleveland (24-17) has the same record it had after 41 games last season.
> 
> Monday's loss was Cleveland's first at home since Dec. 21. The Cavs are 15-4 at Quicken Loans Arena, where they haven't lost two straight all season.
> 
> The 76ers (12-30), meanwhile, have dropped five straight road games, and are just 5-20 away from the Wachovia Center.
> 
> Cleveland is fourth in the league with 43.3 rebounds per game, but was outrebounded 43-31 against the Magic. The Cavaliers have been outrebounded in each of their last four losses.
> 
> Although the Cavs are sliding, James is staying positive.
> 
> "We're fine," said James, who scored 18 points on Monday. "We're still in first place in our division, second place in the whole Eastern Conference, so we're still fine."
> 
> Cleveland is tied with Detroit atop the Central Division, but the Pistons have two games in hand.
> 
> The Cavs beat Philadelphia 108-95 on Nov. 25 behind 25 points and 11 assists from James, who has been solid in his last six games against the 76ers, averaging 33.2 points, 7.7 assists and 7.0 rebounds. Cleveland, though, has won only three of those contests.
> 
> While Cleveland is one of the top teams in the East, Philadelphia is the worst. The 76ers managed to beat New Orleans 102-96 on Tuesday, but have still lost four of their last six games. They have not won consecutive games since beating Boston and New York on Dec. 22 and 23, respectively.
> 
> This will be the first time the Cavs play the 76ers without Allen Iverson, who was traded to Denver on Dec. 19. Philadelphia is 7-12 since trading the former MVP and have been led by Kyle Korver and Andre Iguodala.
> 
> Korver scored 25 points on Tuesday, and is averaging 21.3 points in his last seven road games. Iguodala had 20 points against the Hornets, and had 17 points and eight boards against the Cavs earlier this season.
> 
> "These guys have hung together, despite all the stuff that we've been through," coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We're just trying to play some good basketball and we'll just see what happens from there."
> 
> The teams wrap up the home-and-home series Friday in Philadelphia.


*OVERVIEW*

There is concern that Coach Brown is either no longer reaching his players, failing to motivate them or simply having lost the respect of his guys. With a home game against the Sixers, another loss would make force the Cavaliers organization to make a change possibly concerning players and if the current losing streak should ballon, a coaching addition/change.


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## Pioneer10

This is a pretty brutal schedule. You'd figure they'd give the team a few days off. Hopefully we can beat the 76ers though


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## Benedict_Boozer

We need both of these games against the sixers. No excuses.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Sixers 1-11 on the 2nd night of back-to-backs, if nothing else this should be a schedule win


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## Benedict_Boozer

Lebron was hacked with another no call


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## Brandname

I still just cannot believe how bad Eric Snow shoots.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> I still just cannot believe how bad Eric Snow shoots.


I'm real tired of watching him out there.


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## Brandname

Looks like Z may have read the scouting report on Dalembert.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Drew looks like he's hurt, has a little bit of a limp


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> I'm real tired of watching him out there.


You'd think he'd accidentally hit more than he does.

Z looks good early. We're playing some pretty good basketball right now.


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Drew looks like he's hurt, has a little bit of a limp


It's times like this where it proves how lucky we are to have AV waiting on the bench.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Refs aren't calling ****


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## Brandname

Goddamnit. There go the officials deliberately not calling fouls.


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## Brandname

That's the problem I have with the officiating system. One official calls fouls around the basket at one end, and a different official calls fouls around the basket at the other end. So when one is calling the game tight, the other one might not be calling it tight at all. 

Right now, I'm not sure we're seeing the same game called on both ends. Consistency in officiating needs to be fixed.

Transition defense looks really bad right now.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Man how nice would it be to have a PG like Miller who can run a break like that.

Nice pass by LBJ to Z


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## Brandname

Z going off.


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Man how nice would it be to have a PG like Miller who can run a break like that.
> 
> Nice pass by LBJ to Z


Mike Brown would make Steve Nash play a slow, halfcourt game.


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## Brandname

Snow's man leaves to double Z. Snow bricks the shot.


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## Benedict_Boozer

I hate our offense. We have Lebron James, easily the best transition player in the entire NBA, and we never push the ball. Larry Hughes thrives in an uptempo game, sucks in a halfcourt game, and we of course insist on playing grind it out halfcourt ball.


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## Brandname

Was that Z's first foul? If so, why feel the need to sit him down already? He was on fire for us.

Feed the hot hand. Why can't we do this?

The adjustment we needed to make was bringing in Damon when Snow's man was doubling Z. That way there's a legitimate scoring threat on the floor and we can get Z one on one on the block, or get some wide open 3s for Damon. It seems obvious to me.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

It's just ugly basketball to watch on offense.

WTF is wrong with our FT shooting


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## Brandname

I have no idea how the Phoenix Suns seem to have acquired the best collection of shooters in the world. I think pretty much every one of their guys can shoot better than any of ours.

And we're already bricking free throws.


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## Brandname

Austin Carr: "Cavaliers are *all of the sudden* looking very disjointed on offense."

Haha


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## Brandname

3 Cavs under the basket on the break, including Lebron.

Damon takes the 3 instead.

This team just plays dumb.


----------



## Brandname

Cavs shooting 29%, hahaha. 

Brilliant offense.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Cavs 29% shooting in the 1st qtr. This is against the Sixers defense...


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## Brandname

If we lose this, does it prompt Ferry to look hard at trading for a PG?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

I seriously think we should go back to Lebron iso-ball on offense. Run the same system as last year, this 'motion offense' = crap.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> If we lose this, does it prompt Ferry to look hard at trading for a PG?


If he doesn't see the need by now, he'll never see it. I'd rather be starting Flip at PG than Eric Snow, BY FAR.


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> I seriously think we should go back to Lebron iso-ball on offense. Run the same system as last year, this 'motion offense' = crap.


Yeah, our motion offense is pretty motionless. 

Yay Lebron in the post! At least we got to see it once this game.


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## Brandname

Never been a huge Oscar Robertson fan. Great player, though.

I like seeing Damon take it to the hole like that.


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## remy23

For a supposed "motion offense," the players don't move around that much, especially the off-the-ball players. I've seen guys play pick up basketball with others they've never seen before and with random, thrown together players, see more of a "motion offense" than us. In light of that, it's hard to defend Cleveland on this issue.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Damon is chucking alot of erratic shots.


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## Brandname

Damon's going to keep shooting until he hits one. Hopefully he gets hot at some point.


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## Benedict_Boozer

remy23 said:


> For a supposed "motion offense," the players don't move around that much, especially the off-the-ball players. I've seen guys play pick up basketball with others they've never seen before and with random, thrown together players, see more of a "motion offense" than us. In light of that, it's hard to defend Cleveland on this issue.


It's bad basketball. If we're not gonna execute we should just run post ups for Lebron 100% of the time. Either he scores or he's doubled, better than what we got now.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Cavs in the bonus already, too bad we suck on FT's


----------



## Brandname

remy23 said:


> For a supposed "motion offense," the players don't move around that much, especially the off-the-ball players. I've seen guys play pick up basketball with others they've never seen before and with random, thrown together players, see more of a "motion offense" than us. In light of that, it's hard to defend Cleveland on this issue.


That's why when we switched to the "All Lebron, all the time" offense in the first Orlando game, Lebron outscored the Magic in the 4th to win the game. 

Z is just a monster tonight, though. 

And on a personal note, I love the music clip the play over the PA when Z hits a shot. Sounds like U2.


----------



## Brandname

Sasha can hit shots and has been a pretty good defender this year. And he's athletic.

I don't know why he doesn't see more time when Lebron is on the bench. He's been limiting his mistakes pretty well this year.


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## remy23

Sasha with the jumper. I think he plays well at a fast pace (making another player outside of LeBron who does).


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## Brandname

I notice a lot of point guards are being traded and playing much better for their current team (Steve Blake, Andre Miller, etc.). Sometimes all it takes is a chance to be a bigger part of the offense, and they flourish. People were saying Blake was trash before the trade, and he only played a few minutes a night for the Bucks. When he starts for Denver, he's playing much, much better. 

What I'm trying to say is maybe it would be a good idea for Ferry to make what amounts to a seemingly minor trade. Perhaps for a PG that is backing up a good starting PG or something like that, much like the Steve Blake situation. We could look at players like Ridnour or Duhon, where we might not have to give up quite as much, but could stand to benefit a great deal if it works out. 

At the very least, it's better than what we have now.


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## remy23

Snow has won our starting spot by being good at taking charges, playing heady defense on occasion against slower players and by simply getting the ball past the time line at halfcourt before handing it to LeBron to take over. Honestly, doesn't that sound like a back up PG to you and not a starter? Arghhh


----------



## Brandname

remy23 said:


> Snow has won our starting spot by being good at taking charges, playing heady defense on occasion against slower players and by simply getting the ball past the time line at halfcourt before handing it to LeBron to take over. Honestly, doesn't that sound like a back up PG to you and not a starter? Arghhh


Yeah, I would venture to say that Eric Snow is worse than a great deal of backup point guards in the league today. Along with every single starting point guard.

Someone should tell Lebron that you don't get an extra style point for taking a wild, out-of-control shot.


----------



## Brandname

Aarrgh, everyone is just STANDING AROUND. I can't take it.


----------



## Brandname

*Eric Snow has nobody guarding him. *


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## Brandname

I'm going to express a little bit of ignorance to the rulebook here, but is it supposed to be called a kicked ball violation if the offensive player throws it off the defender's foot if there's no kick? I was under the impression that that shouldn't be called a kicked ball.


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## Brandname

That's not going to count.


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## remy23

The score is tied at halftime. The Sixers and Cavs are tied at 41-41.

Just watching these last few games have made me realize that if Cleveland continues to play like this (which I hope not and believe they will snap out of soon enough), they would be a horrible team.


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## Brandname

Eric Snow has taken the same number of shots in the first half as Lebron James. 

There's no excuse that could make this ok.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> Eric Snow has taken the same number of shots in the first half as Lebron James.
> 
> There's no excuse that could make this ok.


It's not a coincidence. This new offense has the ball in Snow's hands for huge chunks of time that in the past Lebron handled. Also teams obviously prefer to give Snow WIDE OPEN shots than let Lebron make any type of play. 

Our offense actually hurts our best player's game for the sake of players like Snow


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> It's not a coincidence. This new offense has the ball in Snow's hands for huge chunks of time that in the past Lebron handled. Also teams obviously prefer to give Snow WIDE OPEN shots than let Lebron make any type of play.
> 
> Our offense actually hurts our best player's game for the sake of players like Snow


I swear, we must have the shortest scouting report in the history of basketball.

"Once they get the ball over halfcourt, take Snow's defender and immediately double Lebron. Then sit back and watch the Cavs disintegrate."


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## remy23

Benedict_Boozer said:


> It's not a coincidence. This new offense has the ball in Snow's hands for huge chunks of time that in the past Lebron handled. Also teams obviously prefer to give Snow WIDE OPEN shots than let Lebron make any type of play.
> 
> Our offense actually hurts our best player's game for the sake of players like Snow


Unless we start to win games and soon and in a hurry with that strategy, it needs to be scrapped. If this strategy continues to fail and we keep losing games, that would be an offense worthy of being fired over in my book.


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## Pioneer10

Snow has taken 7 shots in a half? That has to be a record


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## Pioneer10

Brandname said:


> I swear, we must have the shortest scouting report in the history of basketball.
> 
> "Once they get the ball over halfcourt, take Snow's defender and immediately double Lebron. Then sit back and watch the Cavs disintegrate."


You can also throw a zone or double our posts or pretty much any well designed defense and our offense will collapse


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## Benedict_Boozer

Hughes is just way off with his jumper lately. Would be nice if he could make up for it with FT's on nights like this


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Hughes seems to actually be a good 3pt shooter but can't make any other shot for some reason


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Hughes is just way off with his jumper lately. Would be nice if he could make up for it with FT's on nights like this


One of our biggest problems right now is that taking it to the basket is hardly helping us because we can't hit FTs. It's like we can do no right on offense. 

Seriously, just give it to Lebron and let him go at this point.


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Hughes seems to actually be a good 3pt shooter but can't make any other shot for some reason


I think a lot of it is that he's usually spotting up for a jumpers at the 3pt line, whereas he's coming off screens when he shoots them closer. He's just not a good shooter off movement because he doesn't square up well enough.


----------



## Pioneer10

Gibson again not seeing the court tonight? I for the life of me can't figure out what the hell we're doing with him


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> I think a lot of it is that he's usually spotting up for a jumpers at the 3pt line, whereas he's coming off screens when he shoots them closer. He's just not a good shooter off movement because he doesn't square up well enough.


Yeah I agree. That and his release point is awful


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Yeah I agree. That and his release point is awful


Exactly. He does the same thing on his free throws.

He fully extends and then shoots it. Almost shooting on the way down. It's not pretty.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Gibson again not seeing the court tonight? I for the life of me can't figure out what the hell we're doing with him


Benched for Sasha now. I guess developing him is no longer a priority


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Benched for Sasha now. I guess developing him is no longer a priority


Neither is winning, evidently.


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## Pioneer10

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Benched for Sasha now. I guess developing him is no longer a priority


Lot of people thinking Sasha's PT is just to showcase him for trade bait


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> Lot of people thinking Sasha's PT is just to showcase him for trade bait


Well if the development is going towards getting a decent point guard, it can't happen fast enough.


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## Brandname

I agree with Austin, that was a really smart pass by Damon.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Larry hot from the outside but it's fools gold. Cavs need to be getting points in the paint


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## LostInGeorgia

new rules for eric snow:
1. for every 3 assists you may take 1 shot
2. for every 2 steals you may take 1 shot
3. for every 5 rebounds you may take 1 shot
4. for every 2 charges taken you may take 1 shot


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Larry hot from the outside but it's fools gold. Cavs need to be getting points in the paint


Lebron's got what you need.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Ummmmmmm....


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## Brandname

LostInGeorgia said:


> new rules for eric snow:
> 1. for every 3 assists you may take 1 shot
> 2. for every 2 steals you may take 1 shot
> 3. for every 5 rebounds you may take 1 shot
> 4. for every 2 charges taken you may take 1 shot


How about:

1) Stay the hell on the bench.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Lebron gets no respect.


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## Brandname

Officials are terrible tonight.


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## LostInGeorgia

Brandname said:



> How about:
> 
> 1) Stay the hell on the bench.


fair enough


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## Pioneer10

Man Lebron has been taking some hard hits lately. I wish we had an Oakley type enforcer


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## Pioneer10

Brandname said:


> How about:
> 
> 1) Stay the hell on the bench.


rofl: classic


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## Benedict_Boozer

Didn't Marshall used to be able to make 3's?


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## remy23

Cleveland leads 66-63 after the third quarter.


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## Brandname

Maybe instead of "showcasing" Pavs, we can actually find a place for him in our rotation. He's been playing very well lately. We'd be better off trying to find a permanent home for Donyell Marshall. Or a nursing home.

EDIT - I know Sasha's age makes him particularly attractive for trade offers. But those are the kind of players we need with Lebron. He's a shooter who can also drive and finish strong at the basket. And he's improved defensively. What we don't need is old, decrepit one-dimensional players that don't contribute if they're not hitting shots.


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## Pioneer10

Sasha's played well: The countdown begins immediately - Any time one of our bench players gets hot we know Snow, Damon Jones or Wesley will get there minutes soon enough


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Sasha's played well: The countdown begins immediately - Any time one of our bench players gets hot we know Snow, Damon Jones or Wesley will get there minutes soon enough


Brown can't upset the vets, you know? 

Sasha drills another shot


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## Benedict_Boozer

On nights like this where DJ is struggling how about giving Gibson some mins?


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## Brandname

Could Gibson really play worse than Damon is tonight?

I only ask that because, well, he's not playing.

EDIT - ^beat me to it.


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## Brandname

Big defensive lapse there by Damon. 

Get your head out of your *** Mike Brown and sub in Gibson for DJ.


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## Brandname

This lineup isn't that bad right now. Lebron, Larry, Sasha, and Donyell. Well Donyell's bad, but the rest aren't.


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## Brandname

Lebron drawing the offensive foul. That's the kind of leadership I like to see.


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## Brandname

I simply cannot believe we're shooting 37% for the entire game.


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## Pioneer10

Why can't we guard Carney?


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## Brandname

17/21 FT! That's 81%

Keep it up guys!


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> I simply cannot believe we're shooting 37% for the entire game.


I can. Every night we shot 35-low 40's from the field, our offense sucks. 

Hughes jacks another 3


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## Brandname

Sasha is the 2nd best finisher on this team. He should clearly be getting more minutes.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Thank god for Sasha, I see Snow coming in off the bench for him. Mike Brown can't tolerate him playing that well


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## remy23

L-Train to the hoop!


----------



## Brandname

Wow Lebron. 

And why's Fred talking about Sanford and Son?


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## Pioneer10

Wow this lineup has some athleticism: like it - Sasha, Hughes, and Lebron together


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## futuristxen

The King!


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## Pioneer10

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Thank god for Sasha, I see Snow coming in off the bench for him. Mike Brown can't tolerate him playing that well


No don't bring in Snow


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## Pioneer10

Hell maybe we should officially start the Start Sasha thread . Move Lebron ot the point with Hughes at the SG?


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Wow this lineup has some athleticism: like it - Sasha, Hughes, and Lebron together


Won't last, guarantee Snow comes in.


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> Wow this lineup has some athleticism: like it - Sasha, Hughes, and Lebron together


Athleticism has been something that's really been sorely missed on our team. When Drew Gooden is our second best player athletically, you know you've got a problem.

That's why I've always liked Sasha. He may make some mistakes here or there, but he's got some athleticism, and a pretty sweet stroke. It truly is a wonder he doesn't get more PT. 

Probably goes back to the whole veteran favoritism thing...


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Hell maybe we should officially start the Start Sasha thread . Move Lebron ot the point with Hughes at the SG?


I love it. I think we'd look alot better honestly


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## Brandname

Actually, Sasha seems like a fairly decent backup to Lebron. 

Maybe we could get Lebron's minutes down to something remotely resembling reasonable? Maybe? No?


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## Benedict_Boozer

Yes Brown didn't bring them in, I saw Snow/Gooden at the scorers table. Nice job by Brown riding the hot lineup


----------



## Brandname

One thing I'm concerned about a bit is that we don't seem to have an environment where every player, rookie and veteran, gets an equal opportunity to compete for playing time.

The players will play much harder when they know they can earn playing time.

As it is now, the veterans can play like **** and the rookies can play their hearts out and it doesn't matter. It leads to some pretty lackadaisical play sometimes because the veterans know their playing time isn't in danger.


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## Benedict_Boozer

We need to put someone else on Miller, i'd use Lebron

Nice activity by AV


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## Pioneer10

This might be our best lineup in terms of pure talent.


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## Pioneer10

Tight game: I think Philly looks better with Andre running the point rather then AI


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## Benedict_Boozer

Damn I love Andy on the high post.


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## Brandname

Sasha is making a lot of good basket cuts, too. He moves fairly well in offense, and usually seems to have his head in the game pretty well.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brown couldn't resist. Subs in Snow for Sasha


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## Brandname

Nooooooooooooooooooo


----------



## Brandname

Immediately Lebron gets doubled again. I bet he didn't miss that.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Thats some damn good defense by Lebron..


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Thats some damn good defense by Lebron..


[23AJ]
No, Lebron doesn't play defense. He sucks at it. 
[/23AJ]


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## Pioneer10

Lebron's been typically an above average defender in the 4th. He doesn't consistently get to that level the whole game though


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## Benedict_Boozer

Andy/Z frontline working well


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## Brandname

And Lebron doesn't touch the ball on the possession. Mental mistakes.


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## Pioneer10

ughh terrible possession


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## Benedict_Boozer

Get the ball to Z on the inbounds


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## Pioneer10

Snow = offensive inefficiency


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Snow = offensive inefficiency


Snow = NBDL


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## Benedict_Boozer

Nice inbounds


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## remy23

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Snow = NBDL


Playing Snow consistently over superior players or players that give/offer better chemistry/cohesion = You're Fired!


----------



## Brandname

It's amazing that we can shoot 38% for the game and they shoot 51% and we're still winning.

It's because we actually hit free throws tonight and got rebounds.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Wow. Sixers really want this game


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## Pioneer10

Jesus that went win


----------



## Brandname

****, Larry's at the line.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Larry splits. Sixers have a chance to win now, faceguard the 3pt line


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## Brandname

Maybe I'm just old-school, but I don't think Larry should be smiling after missing that.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Somebody needs to lock down on Korver in particular


----------



## Brandname

Let Lebron take this shot. Please.


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## Pioneer10

NO threes


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## Benedict_Boozer

Thats fine. 

Clear out for LBJ on the last shot. SHOOT THE BALL LBJ


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## Brandname

My god, that was a hell of a shot by Igoudala. He's a really good player.


----------



## Brandname

God, I just know they're going to double Lebron here.

As long as they can't get a shot off after a rebound I'm ok.


----------



## Brandname

****


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## Pioneer10

Blah OT


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## Benedict_Boozer

It's ok, he took the last shot on a nice look. I'm 100% fine with LBJ taking that shot


----------



## Brandname

OT should be a good test of this team's concentration.


----------



## Pioneer10

Please take Snow out for OT and go with Sasha


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Please take Snow out for OT and go with Sasha


Brown sticking with Snow


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## Brandname

The only bad thing about driving for the win is that they'll never call the foul. So you're left to try to avoid the contact and still get up a shot.

Sometimes I wonder if it's better just to take the midrange jumper in that situation. Usually you get a pretty decent look if you try that.


----------



## Brandname

I don't buy that we're still feeling the West Coast trip.

We're just not executing right now. We're not playing with energy, and we're making mental mistakes. It's foolish to think that we're still hung over from the trip after 3 days.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> The only bad thing about driving for the win is that they'll never call the foul. So you're left to try to avoid the contact and still get up a shot.
> 
> Sometimes I wonder if it's better just to take the midrange jumper in that situation. Usually you get a pretty decent look if you try that.


Nah, Lebron needs to make that shot. For him left handed layups like that are nothing, he was aiming it too much. I'm just happy he took the shot aggressively


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> I don't buy that we're still feeling the West Coast trip.
> 
> We're just not executing right now. We're not playing with energy, and we're making mental mistakes. It's foolish to think that we're still hung over from the trip after 3 days.


Yep


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## remy23

Hughes for 3! Big shot.


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Nah, Lebron needs to make that shot. For him left handed layups like that are nothing, he was aiming it too much. I'm just happy he took the shot aggressively


Yeah, in this case it was definitely the right thing to do.

But other times you can get killed and they won't call anything.


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## Benedict_Boozer

This is why you don't play Snow when Sasha is having a career game. Stupid sub by Brown


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## remy23

Snow can't do **** out there. Him just being out there is pissing me off.


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## Brandname

Eric Snow singlehandedly killing our offense again.


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## Pioneer10

Bad offense in OT again


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## Brandname

Goddamnit!!! We're so ****ing clueless out of timeouts!!!

**** you Mike Brown.


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## Pioneer10

Offense is just terrible: all our shots are coming with less then 5 seconds left on the clock


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brown has a love affair with Snow that I just don't understand. 

If DJ is off, that doesn't mean you have no other options. Sasha played well, Gibon is capable...blah


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## remy23

Snow finally on the bench. There is a God and I know it's true now!!!!


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## Pioneer10

Sasha back in and immediate dividends


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## Benedict_Boozer

What'ya know, a shooter comes in for Snow and Lebron gets a lane to drive.


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## Pioneer10

Av!


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> What'ya know, a shooter comes in for Snow and Lebron gets a lane to drive.


Remarkable.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Z's gotta make that shot


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## Pioneer10

Fudge: I can't believe we're going to lose this game.

Mike Brown this is on you


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## Brandname

ugh, they're shooting 93% from the line tonight.


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## Brandname

Haha, look for the same play we ran before. I bet the Sixers are going to be looking for it, too.


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## Pioneer10

Please draw a good play out of the TO for once in you're life Mike Brown


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## Brandname

Wow, he's just gotta hit these. He has to.


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## Benedict_Boozer

A little early there by LBJ..


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## Pioneer10

oh oh FT's


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## Pioneer10

fudge


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## Brandname

no way... he's gotta hit both those.


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## Benedict_Boozer

How can Lebron live with being such a ****ty FT shooter? At some point pride should kick in, he is at worst a top 5 player and can't make a FT to save his life


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## Brandname

There is no way we should be hoping for 2OT against possibly the worst team in the league on the back end of a back-to-back. This is just wrong.


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## remy23

Double OT!!!!!!


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## Benedict_Boozer

Good defense by LBJ. 

Your right brand this is a damn embarrassment, going to 2OT against a team that is 1-11 on the 2nd night of back to backs AT HOME.


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## Pioneer10

Second OT: Mike Brown must be itching to put Snow back in there


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## Husstla

What a game


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## Brandname

This game is pretty disappointing whether we win or not. 

We shouldn't even be in this situation. Nothing against the Sixers, but they just traded away their superstar and appear to be wanting a piece of the Greg Oden sweepstakes (although not tonight). We're a team that expects to compete for a championship.

They're tired. We're fresh. We're healthy.

It's going to be hard to deal with this game even if we win, and it'll be really hard to take if we lose.


----------



## Brandname

It'll be interesting to see how the loser of this game responds on Friday.

Either they'll wilt, or they'll be really hungry.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Snow in again

Wow he actually hit a shot


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## Brandname

Snow the best shooter in the world!!!


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## Brandname

Dalembert has 5 fouls. We need to try to foul him out.

It's the coach's responsibility to convey this information to the team.


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## Brandname

Holy **** what a terrible call.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Sixers hitting all their shots and FT's. Cavs down 4..


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Need these from LBJ


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## Brandname

I'm going to drive to Cleveland and stab Mike Brown in the neck. He needs to do something about this offense.

At least we fouled Sammy out.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Lucky break there


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## Brandname

Christ. He got lucky there.


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## Pioneer10

Snow's back in?


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## Brandname

Wow these officials are disgusting tonight. That was pretty clean.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Why is the spacing so awful on our offense? Lebron doesn't need a stupid screen every time down, clear out and let him go. Damn.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Iggy 10-10 from the line


----------



## Brandname

Lebron has played 50(!) minutes so far.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Big 3 by Lebron. Please take every shot the rest of OT Lebron


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Big 3 by Lebron. Please take every shot the rest of OT Lebron


Seriously


----------



## Brandname

Austin is going to have an aneurysm.


----------



## Brandname

I'll only be happy about this if we make a change because of it.

This is completely inexcusable. Completely. I'm furious right now.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

^Yep, the more we suck this bad, the more likely Snow is to be moved to the bench or Ferry has to move.

A major tank might force his hand


----------



## Brandname

The person most at fault tonight is Mike Brown.

This team just isn't being coached properly. Our players are stranded on offense. He's hurting us in so many ways.


----------



## Brandname

Philly 96% from the line tonight. We win if we shoot that. Easily. Or anything close to that.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Sixers 24/25 on the FT line.


----------



## Brandname

Lebron doing all he can here.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Jesus I guess Lebron doesn't want to lose this game


----------



## Husstla

Holy **** LeBron!


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Embarrassing.


----------



## KillWill

those last two shots by lebron. wowzer. should have been 7 pts in two possesions. and . . . almost gets the last one too. tough break cavs.


----------



## Brandname

I'm seriously starting to question whether Mike Brown is right for this team. We've been having the same problems all year, and we're showing no signs of improvement at all. 

I've supported him all year, but I don't know anymore. You just can't lose like this.

The only reason it was close at the end was because Lebron (rightfully) decided to just be selfish and take his own shots. Our offense blows.


----------



## Pioneer10

Snow replacing Sasha: cost us the game


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> I'm seriously starting to question whether Mike Brown is right for this team. We've been having the same problems all year, and we're showing no signs of improvement at all.
> 
> I've supported him all year, but I don't know anymore. You just can't lose like this.
> 
> The only reason it was close at the end was because Lebron (rightfully) decided to just be selfish and take his own shots. Our offense blows.


Our roster is fundamentally flawed. I wouldn't be opposed to a major change....either the system needs to be better adapted to the players strengths or Ferry needs to bring in guys who fit what Brown wants to do offensively with this "motion" offense


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Snow replacing Sasha: cost us the game


How many has he cost us this year? Time for E. Snow to see the pine


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Our roster is fundamentally flawed. I wouldn't be opposed to a major change....either the system needs to be better adapted to the players strengths or Ferry needs to bring in guys who fit what Brown wants to do offensively.


I don't even know what Brown wants to do offensively. 

I wouldn't know what players to bring in to fit Brown's system.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Cavs with 2 fast break points. How does a team with Lebron and Larry Hughes get 2 fast break points in a 2-OT game.


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Cavs with 2 fast break points. How does a team with Lebron and Larry Hughes get 2 fast break points in a 2-OT game.


The answer begins with Eric and ends with Snow.

Mike Brown is also at fault. I don't think he's encouraging them to run.


----------



## Pioneer10

This is just depressing: imagine if you would Andre Miller on this team. A guy who could push, create when necessary, and actually run a play


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Coach Brown still harping on defense. He just doesn't get it.

You can play great D but if you suck this bad on O IT DOESN"T MATTER


----------



## remy23

^ A few more games and Brown needs to be fired if this continues. Period.


----------



## Brandname

I didn't get to listen to the postgame interviews.

Do our players still not pretend to care?


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> I didn't get to listen to the postgame interviews.
> 
> Do our players still not pretend to care?


Lebron actually disagreed with Mike Brown and pointed to offense as the main issue. In fact he said "it's clear as day".


----------



## Pioneer10

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Lebron actually disagreed with Mike Brown and pointed to offense as the main issue. In fact he said "it's clear as day".


Looks like Lebron is brighter then the coach again. He's already pointed out that Wesley should be benched, Gibson and Sasha should more PT. I mean seriously we ***** about lebron not following directions at times but if you had to point out some of these ****ing obvious things would you respect the guy giving orders?


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Lebron actually disagreed with Mike Brown and pointed to offense as the main issue. In fact he said "it's clear as day".
> 
> A reporter caught it and brought up Mike Brown's statement about our defense slipping, and asked Lebron if he agreed and he said "I don't know"....


Well Lebron's absolutely right.

I thought Lebron played very well tonight. We shot like 38% on the night. You don't win with that. 

See, here's the thing. Mike Brown is going to point to the fact that they shot 52% as the reason we lost. But he's just not seeing the big picture. By us shooting such a low percentage, they were able to bring it out quickly with Andre Miller and get easy shots. Our inability to effectively create in the halfcourt allowed the Sixers to get a good deal of easy shots against us. Our rotations were pretty good all night, and we didn't have huge glaring errors on defense, except they were able to beat us down the court off rebounds pretty easily.

If we put our guys in a position to shoot at least 45%, they don't get those opportunities. They shoot a lower percentage if we are effective on offense. We shot over 100 shots tonight and only scored 115. That's bad. 

Not only did we not execute in the halfcourt, we didn't get any fast break points. 2 fast break points in total, I believe. That's terrible. Terrible coaching and terrible execution by our players. You can defend all you want, but if you don't get any easy points on the break, you're not going to win. 

We've got some big problems, fellas.


----------



## futuristxen

Lebron has seemed to give a lot of open dissent to Brown in the press this year, and when you watch him play, he doesn't seem to be having the fun he used to have on the court. We have one of the best fast break players in the NBA, and we force him to play slow down half court ball.


----------



## lessthanjake

Ok this sorta isnt my place and all (I'm a Wizards fan, so I am not exactly rooting for the Cavs) but honestly I gotta chime in.

The Cavs offense is just horrible. It is just immensely boring to watch, and doesnt seem to be effective. I dont care if Eric Snow is your PG, DO NOT walk up the court. If you dont have the PG to fast break AT LEAST start your play with like 20 seconds on the shot clock instead of 14. Jog up the court. I dont really like Lebron but I feel like I should watch him cause hes an amazing basketball player, yet I just cant bear to watch the Cavs. Its SOOO boring.

You guys STILL have a good team but damn, the offense is run horribly.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

lessthanjake said:


> Ok this sorta isnt my place and all (I'm a Wizards fan, so I am not exactly rooting for the Cavs) but honestly I gotta chime in.
> 
> The Cavs offense is just horrible. It is just immensely boring to watch, and doesnt seem to be effective. I dont care if Eric Snow is your PG, DO NOT walk up the court. If you dont have the PG to fast break AT LEAST start your play with like 20 seconds on the shot clock instead of 14. Jog up the court. I dont really like Lebron but I feel like I should watch him cause hes an amazing basketball player, yet I just cant bear to watch the Cavs. Its SOOO boring.
> 
> You guys STILL have a good team but damn, the offense is run horribly.


Sadly, you won't find disagreement here.


----------



## ChiBron

Do you guys find Z as big of a liability on defense as I do? I think he's killing your team right now with his lack of mobility.

He also lost you guys the game with all those missed jumpers late in the game.


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

remy23 said:


> ^ A few more games and Brown needs to be fired if this continues. Period.


Your kidding right? Your going to fire a coach that had his team atop the hole conference for about a month?


----------



## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Our roster is fundamentally flawed. I wouldn't be opposed to a major change....either the system needs to be better adapted to the players strengths or Ferry needs to bring in guys who fit what Brown wants to do offensively with this "motion" offense



How do you expect too run a fast break team with Zydrunas as your Center?

Do you sometimes even think that maybe Mike Brown has to work with what he has?

We couldnt even run a fast break like offense if Damon Jones started, because he cant dribble, and Zydrunas still cant run. 

The Spurs play great defense but also have Tony Parker and Manu running the wings, you can run a great defense and fast breaks.

Ferry and Mike Brown both came from the Spurs, a championship organization. Ferry built this team for Mike Brown and he knew what Mike Brown would bring to the table, its just as much Ferry's fault as anyones, he is a big part of the pieces we brought in.


----------



## Pioneer10

Wesley for Retirement said:


> Your kidding right? Your going to fire a coach that had his team atop the hole conference for about a month?


Thank the schedule makers: we had an extremely weak schedule to start the season. Just like 2 years ago: strength of schedule picks up and boom we start skidding.

We have a bunch of home games so hopefully we can right the ship but Mike Brown has got to be smarter here. No **** we have a flawed roster but he's been pathetic in incorporating guys with talent who can help us (Sasha and Gibson stick out like sore thumbs) and this offense needs to be improved drastically


----------



## Pioneer10

Wesley for Retirement said:


> How do you expect too run a fast break team with Zydrunas as your Center?
> 
> Do you sometimes even think that maybe Mike Brown has to work with what he has?
> 
> We couldnt even run a fast break like offense if Damon Jones started, because he cant dribble, and Zydrunas still cant run.
> 
> The Spurs play great defense but also have Tony Parker and Manu running the wings, you can run a great defense and fast breaks.
> 
> Ferry and Mike Brown both came from the Spurs, a championship organization. Ferry built this team for Mike Brown and he knew what Mike Brown would bring to the table, its just as much Ferry's fault as anyones, he is a big part of the pieces we brought in.


Still don;t buy it. He's been dealt an average hand but he hasn't done enough with it. The Spurs offense is based on the high post or low post with Duncan. Lebron isn't Duncan in the post but he's post game isn't bad at all: with his passing skills get him into the post and away from the doubles. Play Lebron at PF if you have to and go small if you need to increase the speed. Match what you're given not try to do dictate how you want to play with talent that doesn't fit


----------



## lessthanjake

Wesley for Retirement said:


> How do you expect too run a fast break team with Zydrunas as your Center?
> 
> Do you sometimes even think that maybe Mike Brown has to work with what he has?
> 
> We couldnt even run a fast break like offense if Damon Jones started, because he cant dribble, and Zydrunas still cant run.
> 
> The Spurs play great defense but also have Tony Parker and Manu running the wings, you can run a great defense and fast breaks.
> 
> Ferry and Mike Brown both came from the Spurs, a championship organization. Ferry built this team for Mike Brown and he knew what Mike Brown would bring to the table, its just as much Ferry's fault as anyones, he is a big part of the pieces we brought in.


Other teams run with slow centers. Case in point: The Wizards are one of the best fast breaking teams in the league and they have Brendan Haywood at center. The center doesnt always need to run to make it work especially when you have Lebron on your team.

Why dont you guys just have LeBron run the break himself? Hes a great passer and would make the right decisions most of the time, and when he gets a full head of steam, hes almost impossible to stop. He becomes like a freight train so he could finish the break going coast to coast a decent amount of the time too.


----------



## UrFavTeamSux

That'd be hilarious if Lebron just pulled off a Bill Russlesque type move and become player/coach.


----------



## Brandname

lessthanjake said:


> Other teams run with slow centers. Case in point: The Wizards are one of the best fast breaking teams in the league and they have Brendan Haywood at center. The center doesnt always need to run to make it work especially when you have Lebron on your team.
> 
> Why dont you guys just have LeBron run the break himself? Hes a great passer and would make the right decisions most of the time, and when he gets a full head of steam, hes almost impossible to stop. He becomes like a freight train so he could finish the break going coast to coast a decent amount of the time too.


I think *we *would love that. But unfortunately, we're not the coach.


----------



## futuristxen

SPMJ said:


> Do you guys find Z as big of a liability on defense as I do? I think he's killing your team right now with his lack of mobility.
> 
> He also lost you guys the game with all those missed jumpers late in the game.


Agreed.


----------



## Pioneer10

> n boldface on this night was the defense, which allowed the usually meek 76ers (13-30) to shoot a sizzling 52 percent from the field. These are the Allen Iverson-less and Chris Webber-less 76ers, mind you, and they were playing in Quicken Loans Arena on a back-to-back. Yet they were able to get and make open shots for much of the night. Granted, the final two shots Iguodala made at the end of regulation were in a crazy swarm. He made a 3-pointer from 23 feet away that bounced high off the rim and in with 17 seconds left with Eric Snow's fingers virtually up his nose. Then he made a one-handed runner from almost behind the backboard over two Cavs with eight seconds left that forced overtime.
> Those things happen on a night when a player scores a career high, as Iguodala did with 34 points. It was a performance that usurped LeBron James' season-high 39 points.
> Long before that, though, the Cavs were failing at defense, and it's been happening more and more. *Three of the Cavs' last four opponents have shot over 50 percent from the field, and seven of the last eight have topped 46 percent. The Cavs have lost six of those games, not exactly what coach Mike Brown wants to see, considering his demand for defense.*
> ``We have taken a step backward defensively, which is disappointing,'' Brown said. ``Overall I'm disappointed in our inability to play hard. We think we're playing hard and we're not.''
> That's one side of the story; on the other was the Cavs' offense. A wart for much of the year, it was once again quite a feeble effort, as there were endless possessions that ended with broken plays and long, bad shots. The Cavs shot 39 percent, the fourth time in the last eight games they've failed to crack 40. They've failed to shoot more than 42 percent six times in that span. As one might expect, they've lost all of those.
> It was somewhat of a miracle, with that perspective, that the Cavs even made it to double overtime with the disparity in shooting. Any logician would reasonably predict the longer the game lasted with that trend, the less chance the Cavs had to win. It proved as much.
> *It was especially true when watching the Cavs hoist up long jumpers on their first five possessions of the first overtime. *Had it not been for Zydrunas Ilgauskas' offensive rebounding (he had eight of them to go with 23 points), the Cavs would've been sunk long before. They had a season-high 34 second-chance points and a season-low two fastbreak points.
> *Those offensive woes, said James, were the real root of the problem on Wednesday and many other losing evenings as well.*
> *``Defensively we got enough stops,'' said James, and with good reason, as the Cavs did only give up 92 points in regulation.*
> *``On offense, we're getting too late into the (shot) clock a lot. Three-fourths of the time there's six seconds left and we have a guy force up a jump shot. We've struggled and it's clear as day.''*
> In the fourth quarter, Brown was so desperate to get scoring from the point-guard position -- Snow and Damon Jones combined to go 2-of-15 in regulation -- he actually had Sasha Pavlovic in there attempting to guard Sixers guard Andre Miller. And Pavlovic helped, too, scoring 12 points.


http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/basketball/nba/cleveland_cavaliers/16541505.htm


----------



## futuristxen

How long before Lebron gets Mike Brown fired? Are the Cleveland newspapers even noticing the fact that he has been blatantly contradicting sometimes almost word for word, what Mike Brown has been saying for the last month?

And if Lebron thinks Mike Brown is an idiot, what do you think a mostly veteran laden team thinks? It's a good thing Brown gives minutes to Damon Jones and occasionally David Wesley, because I think otherwise they'd be leading a mutiny against him.


----------



## Brandname

I wonder if we could interest the Sixers in doing a deal involving Andre Miller, Drew Gooden, and some more minor players to get something worked out.

I only say this because, though I don't want to see Drew go because he's one of the few effective scorers on our team, he's been getting lost more and more lately. Mike Brown in yesterday's postgame conference didn't sound pleased with Drew after being asked why Drew spent the last part of the game on the bench. He responded, "I don't know, you have to ask Drew why." This is happening more and more often lately, and his defensive lapses are costing him time. His trade value is pretty high right now, and he has a good contract, so he's appealing to a lot of teams. 

I also think at this point AV is our second best player. He still has occasional foul trouble, but if we pick up another minor player just to be a big body in the lane, we might be able to live with a four big-man rotation with Z and AV starting. It's time for him to start. 

Finally, I know the Sixers really like Andre Miller, and he's improved their team significantly. But they also need some scoring down low pretty badly, as they basically have none right now. And considering the value of a big man, they may be willing to give up Andre for the right deal. Obviously Miller isn't the best pg in the league, but watching him run the offense yesterday opened my eyes at just how much a move like that would fix our offense. Just the pushed tempo makes all the difference. Plus, he throws the best lob pass in the league, something I'm sure Lebron could take advantage of a lot. 

I'm probably just wasting my time, though. Ferry doesn't seem to be in any hurry to try to get any moves done. Which means we're probably stuck with Eric Snow as our starter for the year.


----------



## Benedict_Boozer

It's not even an ideal trade, as Miller is 30 and not the greatest outside shooter. But I would definitely consider it.


----------



## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> It's not even an ideal trade, as Miller is 30 and not the greatest outside shooter. But I would definitely consider it.


Yep, not even looking for ideal at this point.


----------

