# Cavs vs Bulls - Game #29 - Dec 30 8:30PM



## Benedict_Boozer

*vs*









*Cleveland Cavaliers (17-11)* *vs.* *Chicago Bulls (18-12)*

*Date:* Friday, December 30th, 2006 
*Where:* United Center - Chicago, IL
*TV:* FSOhio, NBA LP
*Radio:* WTAM 1100
*Time:* 8:30 PM - ET

















































*C:* Zydrunas Ilgauskas (11)
*PF:* Drew Gooden (90)
*SF:* LeBron James (23)
*SG:* Larry Hughes (32)
*PG:* Eric Snow (20)
























































*C:* Ben Wallace
*PF:* Andre Nocioni
*SF: * Luol Deng
*SG:* Kirk Hinrich
*PG:* Chris Duhon


*
Game Notes:*

- This game is gonna be rough. 2nd night of a back to back, on the road, against a division rival who is basically tied with us in the standings....yeah. 

- Lebron ate up Chicago last year, I don't think Deng, Nocioni can check him. Recall they even tried Duhon last year. He should have a good game. 

-Can Hughes finally string together 2 consistent games?

- The key to this game in my mind is Ben Gordon. If he gets hot this game is over. If he struggles, we have a very good chance to win since they struggle to score.

- This also happens to be the King's 22nd birthday :clap: :cheers:


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## Pioneer10

Isn't Hinrich hurt for this game?


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Isn't Hinrich hurt for this game?


Is he? He had 16/4/4 tonight in 31 mins and the game recap doesn't mention an injury.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=261229028


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Huge game... In my thoughts, biggest game of the year thus far. Because its a back to back and on the road, two things we are horrible at. If we can pull this win out, that should add alot of extra confidence for the west coast trip.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Check these stats out:

Larry Hughes scored 26 points tonight. The Cavaliers are 12-2 when Larry Hughes scores 20 or more points and 20-6 when he scores 15 or more points dating back to last season. This season, they are 3-0 when he scores 20 or more and 6-2 when he scores 15 or more.


We all know if Larry is on, our team is usually on. I just have never seen the actually stats the prove that, until now.


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## hendrix2430

Mr. Glass played well last night. I would take a performance like this one from him anyday of the week.


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## futuristxen

Meh. We always beat the Bulls. If our frontline is healthy we just need to protect the glass, guard against the 3, and make sure to attack the Bulls on the inside.

We know from last year there's no one on that team who can stop Lebron if he wants to go. He needs to make this game a statement game and start to reclaim his throne as one of the game's best.


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## cima

i'm torn. my favorite team vs. my favorite player's team. oh well. screw the bulls, the cavs need this win more than the bulls do right now.

bulls have a few more weapons to throw at lebron this year...thabo and tyrus. but i don't think either would have much success.


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## Pioneer10

Blah I got to listen to Johhny Red Kerr for this one. The Bulls announcers are pretty high on the homer scale.


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## Pioneer10

Hinrich is out for this one.


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## Pioneer10

Snow on Deng? Interesting


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## Pioneer10

Great tip by Z there


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## Pioneer10

Great D by the Cavs but Lebron airballed the shot lol


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Blah I got to listen to Johhny Red Kerr for this one. The Bulls announcers are pretty high on the homer scale.


I get the WGN broadcast as well. BIG TIME HOMERS


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## Pioneer10

Hughes needs to be involved: he's got a big height advantage over Duhon/Gordon


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## Benedict_Boozer

Refs calling this game super tight


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## Pioneer10

This is going to be an ugly game: neither of these teams look good on offense


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## Pioneer10

Not much of a foul there on Snow. Looked like Gordon fell on him


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## Benedict_Boozer

Spacing just terrible in our offensive sets


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## Pioneer10

Mr. Glass laying the bricks so far.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Great Gordon hot tonight. Gonna be a long night


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## Pioneer10

I would consider bringing in AV and Gibson right now. Bulls with way more energy and we need to shooter to spread the floor


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## Brandname

Shooting long range jumpers early.

It's entirely possible that the Cavs just didn't come to play tonight. Maybe they resigned themselves to a loss already or something.

We'll find out a lot after this timeout. Although we all know Brown won't have a good offensive play coming out.

I'd like to see more stuff going inside.


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## futuristxen

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Spacing just terrible in our offensive sets



Yeah it's not pretty right now. Too many guys on the same side of the court.


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## Pioneer10

Brandname said:


> Shooting long range jumpers early.
> 
> It's entirely possible that the Cavs just didn't come to play tonight. Maybe they resigned themselves to a loss already or something.
> 
> We'll find out a lot after this timeout. Although we all know Brown won't have a good offensive play coming out.
> 
> I'd like to see more stuff going inside.


Z had a good start and he's hasn't seen the ball since


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## Pioneer10

Gordon is killing Snow


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## Benedict_Boozer

Beautiful post work by Lebron

Told you guys about Gordon..


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## Pioneer10

There we go James in the post


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## Pioneer10

Snow/Jones backcourt coming at you now. Gordon must be salivating


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## Brandname

This happens a lot in games.

We go to Lebron in the post. It works, and then we don't see it again all game. Let's hope Brown actually recognizes what Lebron can do in the post.


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## Pioneer10

LOL. they just said the Cavs have a good +/- with Snow in there. These Bulls announcers are clueless


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## Benedict_Boozer

Bulls moving the ball pretty well


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## Brandname

Is AV active tonight?

EDIT: Nevermind, he's in now.


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## Pioneer10

Go back to Lebron in the post jesus


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## Pioneer10

Brandname said:


> Is AV active tonight?


AV just in!


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## Pioneer10

Freakin A: Lebron missed both FT's pathetic


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## Benedict_Boozer

Im tired of watching Lebron brick FT's


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## Brandname

Goddamn, Lebron sucks at free throws.


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## Pioneer10

Wow great move by Lebron.

Gibson with some good D on Gordon there.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Wow that is an amazing move by James


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## Pioneer10

Let's see what Gibson can do on Gordon. Gibson has a chance to be a very good defender along the lines of a Lindsey Hunter type.


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## Pioneer10

Terrible TO by James.


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> Let's see what Gibson can do on Gordon. Gibson has a chance to be a very good defender along the lines of a Lindsey Hunter type.


I think it's benefit him to bulk up a bit so he doesn't get taken advantage of on the block.


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## Brandname

Just once, I'd like Lebron to seem a little pissed off that he's getting abused on defense.


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## Pioneer10

Deng is taking it right to Lebron. Going back and forth now. LEbron better D up Deng a bit better


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## Pioneer10

Gibson doing a nice job on D again plus AV right at the right spot


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## Brandname

And AV's presence is immediately felt. 2 points on one end and a charge on the other.

Man did we miss him.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Gordon is chucking like crazy trying to score on Gibson


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## Pioneer10

How is that a foul on James? A tap on the offhand


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Gordon is chucking like crazy trying to score on Gibson


Gordon does that every time he is in the game, in every game.


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## Pioneer10

Some homecooking on these call right now. How did James not get a call there?


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## Brandname

Hard to believe Lebron didn't get a foul on either of those two layup attempts.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Gibson REALLY did a nice job on D out there 

Cavs down 5 after 1


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## futuristxen

Pioneer10 said:


> LOL. they just said the Cavs have a good +/- with Snow in there. These Bulls announcers are clueless



Haha I laughed at that too.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Some homecooking on these call right now. How did James not get a call there?


Especially with PJ Brown getting a touch foul on the other end


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## futuristxen

Pioneer10 said:


> How is that a foul on James? A tap on the offhand


Yeah too bad they aren't giving that call at the other end.

Not that Lebron would make the free throw anyways...sigh.


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## Pioneer10

Sweetney is really fat. Simply don't understand how you can play in the NBA adn be a millionaire and be that fat. You can hire a cook for heaven's sake


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## Benedict_Boozer

Nice drive by Larry


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## Brandname

A lot of the reason we're not seeing too much improvement with all the things we complain about is that there just isn't enough time between games during the NBA season. 

I desperately want them to work on their offensive sets. But when there's like 1 day in between games, it's hard to work on some of these really big issues.

But there's no excuse for poor free throw shooting. None.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Pioneer10 said:


> Sweetney is really fat. Simply don't understand how you can play in the NBA adn be a millionaire and be that fat. You can hire a cook for heaven's sake


Not to mention all the running up and down the court


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## Pioneer10

I wouldn't mind seeing the Cavs try to run some pick and roll with Gibson and Z.


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## Pioneer10

We're getting killed on teh glass. Play AV


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## Brandname

Gibson is playing wonderful defense.


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## futuristxen

They keep saying Hughes is struggling with his shot this year. But he's shooting the best of his entire career.

Do they not brief these guys on the Cavs at all?


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## Brandname

futuristxen said:


> They keep saying Hughes is struggling with his shot this year. But he's shooting the best of his entire career.
> 
> Do they not brief these guys on the Cavs at all?


I think that's a euphemism for "Hughes is a terrible, terrible, abysmal shooter, and he has been his entire career. Yet he continues to try to shoot from long range hoping it will change one day."

I think.


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## Pioneer10

Well we're only down 9 (from 5) with Lebron on the bench. Not too terrible lol


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## Benedict_Boozer

When Gibson is making the entry pass he needs to just spot up. I'm not sure why he keeps crossing over but if he stood there he would get a wide open look.


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## Pioneer10

Huh Lebron's still on the bench? Freakin hughes is a terrible finisher as well as a jumpshooter


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## Brandname

I have NEVER seen anyone as bad at layups as Marshall. It's scary.


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## Pioneer10

That was a terrible entry pass there by Snow lol. That's about as high as Z can jump there to reign that one in


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## Brandname

Why are we so sloooooow bringing the ball upcourt? It limits what we can do with our offense so much.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Lebron's offensive game is on target tonight (again)


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## Benedict_Boozer

Lebron just SUCKS at the FT line


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## Pioneer10

Lebron covers up a ridiculous amount of problems on offense. It took us over 12 seconds to even get to the point of getting a player ready to get an entry pass. Not even pass it in: just get a player in the right spot


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## Benedict_Boozer

Damn I love when Lebron drops dimes like that

Is Deng EVER gonna miss??


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## futuristxen

Go Lebron, It's your birthday, it's your birthday, go Lebron.


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## Pioneer10

Compared to Lebron, Deng and Sefolasha look like High Schoolers in terms of size.


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## futuristxen

Brandname said:


> I think that's a euphemism for "Hughes is a terrible, terrible, abysmal shooter, and he has been his entire career. Yet he continues to try to shoot from long range hoping it will change one day."
> 
> I think.


He's shooting almost 40 percent from 3 this season. Which is amazing for a career 27 percent 3 point shooter. He's worked on his shot a lot. But Michael Redd he ain't.


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## Pioneer10

Brandname said:


> Why are we so sloooooow bringing the ball upcourt? It limits what we can do with our offense so much.


It's like the Slow Snow syndrome permeates through everybody. I'd like to see Hughes when he gets the ball to push it a bit and not drag himself up court as well.


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## Brandname

Man, I just want Lebron to get into it defensively. His man is going off on him.

The reason it irks me is because it's just an effort thing. He's shown he can be a lockdown defender. He just doesn't usually put in the effort.

Wow, the Bulls actually run plays out of a timeout. That's weird.


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## Pioneer10

What? Sasha in the game?


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## Pioneer10

Wow no Snow or Jones in there.


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## Brandname

futuristxen said:


> He's shooting almost 40 percent from 3 this season. Which is amazing for a career 27 percent 3 point shooter. He's worked on his shot a lot. But Michael Redd he ain't.


Yeah, to his credit he has improved his 3 point shot.

I just like taking shots at him because he's tends to play like a girl too often. But he's been driving a little more lately.


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## Pioneer10

Good D here. Keep this lineup in for a bit coach


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## Pioneer10

Hmm I change my mind with Gordon in there: go with Gibson


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## Benedict_Boozer

We need Gibson on Gordon again, can't let him get hot


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## Pioneer10

Sasha For 3!!!


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## Brandname

Wow, the ref sure was excited to make that call.


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## Pioneer10

Sasha Steal!

Blah Lebron with the charge


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## Benedict_Boozer

That charge is a joke call


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## futuristxen

Right now we're just wanting to keep it close, and wait for the inevitable drought by the Bulls. You just hope we don't hit the drought first. But it looks like Bron's gonna go for 40ish tonight.


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## Pioneer10

I wish Lebron got the same respect from the refs as Wade. He's just bigger and the contact just doesn't cause the same dramatic effect as on similar players. Similar to how Shaq in his prime always got hacked and didn't get all those calls


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## futuristxen

Brandname said:


> Man, I just want Lebron to get into it defensively. His man is going off on him.
> 
> The reason it irks me is because it's just an effort thing. He's shown he can be a lockdown defender. He just doesn't usually put in the effort.
> 
> Wow, the Bulls actually run plays out of a timeout. That's weird.



Well his man is basically getting open jumpers because lebron is helping on defense off of him. When he's actually d'ed up Deng he's done well. Oh yeah, plus Deng is unconscious with his shot right now.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Bulls have been getting every loose ball all night


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## futuristxen

We're not protecting the glass like we should. Too many second chance points for a team that is shooting well.


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## Brandname

futuristxen said:


> Well his man is basically getting open jumpers because lebron is helping on defense off of him. When he's actually d'ed up Deng he's done well. Oh yeah, plus Deng is unconscious with his shot right now.


The Bulls broadcast said that Deng is pretty much automatic from the elbow.

I know they're homers, but they appear to be right so far.


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## Pioneer10

The Cavs are playing pretty good D again just not getting a lot of breaks in terms of bounces and refs


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## futuristxen

Bron looked like a powerforward on that one.


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## Brandname

We might need Lebron to go off if we want to win this.

I love what he's done offensively so far.

LOL "It's almost as if he counted on Ilgauskas missing that shot"


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## futuristxen

Ha they are debating whether that was a goal tend.


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## Pioneer10

James looks like a different player with Hughes and Sasha in there. Bulls got to respect both of them


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## Brandname

It truly is amazing what we can do with 5 players who can score on the court.


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## Pioneer10

Nevermind Danile Gibson. Love it no Snow or Jones still!!!


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## Pioneer10

Get James back in there? Wtf


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## Benedict_Boozer

Boobie nails a big 3 :cheers:


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## Brandname

Goddamn I love that Gibson can shoot and D up. He's going to be a very good player once he gets some more experience.

And wow Deng is unbelievable.


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## Pioneer10

Deng is on fire. That was good D on him as well.

Good job by Mike Brown: again a whole half a quarter w/o Jones or Snow. Love it


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> Get James back in there? Wtf


Are you repeating something to broadcasters said? 

But I think Lebron didn't want to pick up #3 before the half.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Is Luol Deng the best midrange shooter in the league? He's been automatic


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## futuristxen

It's nights like this when it seems like Lebron can do anything he wants to do on the court. He's not settling for jumpers. He's taking everything to the house. I don't think he has ever respected the Bulls interior defense. Or perimeter defense. He attacks these guys every time we play them.


You almost feel like he doesn't like Deng, or Nocioni.


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## Pioneer10

Brandname said:


> Are you repeating something to broadcasters said?
> 
> But I think Lebron didn't want to pick up #3 before the half.


I thought Brown would go defense/offense there. Play D and then bring him back in for the offensive portion.

Lebron sat out those last 2 possessions


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## Brandname

Well it looked like this had the potential to be a blowout at the beginning. They looked tired and uninspired.

But I really like the way they've fought back so far. They've shown a lot of heart.

Down 3 on the road on a back to back. I'll take it.


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## Pioneer10

futuristxen said:


> It's nights like this when it seems like Lebron can do anything he wants to do on the court. He's not settling for jumpers. He's taking everything to the house. I don't think he has ever respected the Bulls interior defense. Or perimeter defense. He attacks these guys every time we play them.
> 
> 
> You almost feel like he doesn't like Deng, or Nocioni.


You know he doesn't like Nocioni


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## futuristxen

Pioneer10 said:


> Get James back in there? Wtf


Didn't want him to pick up a foul.


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## Pioneer10

Can't emphasize enough how the game seemed to turn with playing Sasha and Gibson


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> Well it looked like this had the potential to be a blowout at the beginning. They looked tired and uninspired.
> 
> But I really like the way they've fought back so far. They've shown a lot of heart.
> 
> Down 3 on the road on a back to back. I'll take it.


Lebron has led the charge. When he plays inspired ball the whole team follows his lead


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> You know he doesn't like Nocioni


Yeah. *I* don't like Nocioni, and I don't even have to play against him.


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## Pioneer10

futuristxen said:


> Didn't want him to pick up a foul.


Again I wanted him back again for the offensive possesion after sitting out the defensive one :wink:

Brown was right though with Boobie hitting the three


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> Again I wanted him back again for the offensive possesion after sitting out the defensive one :wink:


Didn't want him to pick up a charge.

j/k :biggrin:


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## Pioneer10

Anyone catch a look at Memphi's new coach: he's looks like he's right of the Sopranos lol


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## Brandname

Gibson _has_ to be gaining minutes with his play here.

I wonder if Mike Brown can notice the difference in floor spacing with Gibson in there. He might not be able to sitting there at courtside.


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## Benedict_Boozer

I wonder if we will lay another 3rd qtr egg. Other teams seem to be making adjusments and blowing us out in 3rd qtrs lately...hopefully Brown has them ready to go this time.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

How does someone like Deng being like 6'8 and not have a single rebound? 

Good effort just a few times they got to many O-rebounds w/ second chance points.


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## Pioneer10

Benedict_Boozer said:


> I wonder if we will lay another 3rd qtr egg. Other teams seem to be making adjusments and blowing us out in 3rd qtrs lately...hopefully Brown has them ready to go this time.


Yeah Brown has not been an improvement over Silas in this category


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## Pioneer10

Tough shot by Hughes. Would be nice to run a pick and roll for Larry there


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## Brandname

We take the lead. All right.


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## Pioneer10

Nice pass by Gooden. He surprises you sometimes


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Your telling me not a single guard could get open and get the ball from Z? bad effort


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## Brandname

Goddamn we're clueless on offense.


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## Pioneer10

My God, Deng does not freakin miss


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## Brandname

James is hot tonight. 

Feed him.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

wow great block... OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Bron Bron on his BDay


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## Brandname

Holy crap.


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## Pioneer10

Great play by Z. Good defense and then the hustle


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## Benedict_Boozer

Im calling it now. No way we lose this game, Lebron is just into this game like we haven't seen in awhile.


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## Pioneer10

Holy Lebron: he must not like Deng trying to show him up lol


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## futuristxen

Glad that guy is on our side.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Im calling it now. No way we lose this game, Lebron is just into this game like we haven't seen in awhile.


I hope, but we all know were due for a bad 5 minute span!


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## Pioneer10

Z with more great D. Freakin go to James you fools


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

haha Gooden you idiot... good effort ?


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## Pioneer10

What was Snow doing there? He just sat with the ball forever


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## Brandname

How could we go away from Lebron right now?

I swear to god...


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## futuristxen

What the hell was that idiot doing?


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## Brandname

Lebron is on fire. Doesn't see the ball for 3 straight possessions.


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## futuristxen

Does Eric Snow not know that Lebron is on fire?


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## Brandname

aaaaaaaaaaand Larry's hurt again lol


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many 2nd chances for the Bulls


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## Pioneer10

Damn Gooden stop going for the spectacular play and just get the board. He's an idiot


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## Pioneer10

Please get Lebron a shot please.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Even Jordan didn't hit midrange jumpers like Deng is tonight


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## Brandname

Larry, what the hell is with a pull up jumper on the break?!

Out offense is sooooooooooo retarded.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Cavs in jumper mode again


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## Pioneer10

Forget there doing the hard double Lebron move now. We might need a lineup change here.

Snow is terrible: WTF is he doing just holding the ball forever on each play


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## Brandname

The Lakers know how to feed a hot player and play off him. 

The Cavaliers believe that's a good time to get everyone else involved in the game.


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## Pioneer10

TO? anyone?


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## Pioneer10

Snow is just freakin terrible. I just can't stand him. Gets the ball and sits there killing any ball movement. No one freakin cares if you have the ball just move it.


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## futuristxen

What a waste of 4 minutes of play and momentum. Lebron gets on fire, and they don't run a single thing for him. And consequently turn the ball over and take several contested bad shots. Brown should bench the whole lot of them.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Pioneer10 said:


> Snow is just freakin terrible. I just can't stand him. Gets the ball and sits there killing any ball movement. No one freakin cares if you have the ball just move it.


except for when he shuts down Joe Johnson and Mike Redd back to back nights.


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## Brandname

I seriously just want to cut Snow right now. He's frustrating me so much tonight. 

We have one of the best players in the league absolutely on fire. And we can't score.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Get Snow out of there and the Bulls can't do this double Lebron out at the halfcourt **** again. 

Bring in Gibson


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## Brandname

futuristxen said:


> What a waste of 4 minutes of play and momentum. Lebron gets on fire, and they don't run a single thing for him. And consequently turn the ball over and take several contested bad shots. Brown should bench the whole lot of them.


And then bench himself in favor of someone who knows how to run an offense. aggg


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## Pioneer10

Wesley for Retirement said:


> except for when he shuts down Joe Johnson and Mike Redd back to back nights.


That was team defense and for all those good defensive efforts you don't mention all the games agains tguys like Paul, Lue, Knight, etc where he gets torched


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## futuristxen

Brandname said:


> Larry, what the hell is with a pull up jumper on the break?!
> 
> Out offense is sooooooooooo retarded.


Not our offense. Our players. Nobody was even under the basket. Some of our players make the dumbest basketball plays in the league. Thank god Ricky Davis isn't still here.

What the hell is Drew Gooden doing out there? Does he know people are watching him? And Hughes ALWAYS does that stupid pull up jumper on the 1 on 4 "break".


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## Brandname

futuristxen said:


> Not our offense. *Our players.* Nobody was even under the basket. Some of our players make the dumbest basketball plays in the league. Thank god Ricky Davis isn't still here.
> 
> What the hell is Drew Gooden doing out there? Does he know people are watching him? And Hughes ALWAYS does that stupid pull up jumper on the 1 on 4 "break".



AND our offense. lol


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Snow is a love/hate relationship I guess... because he does great that past two nights and no love from the posters...


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## Pioneer10

He goes with Snow/jones in there? come on


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## Benedict_Boozer

10-0 run by the Bulls. 

God I hate Eric Snow


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## Brandname

I don't know if I've seen anything so frustrating in my life. Trade Snow immediately. 

I just don't care how good he is on defense. It's not worth it.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

I suppose its Snow's fault M. Allen is hitting fade away 12 footers


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## Pioneer10

Wesley for Retirement said:


> Snow is a love/hate relationship I guess... because he does great that past two nights and no love from the posters...


No I just can't stand him. He give zero production on offense and for all his good defensive efforts on one night they get canceled out by a bunch of PG's he has no chance of guarding like Lue.

IF brown would actually play him as situational backup he'd probably be on of my favorites but not as a starter


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## futuristxen

And we hit a drought.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

oh dear oh dear oh dear


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## Brandname

Mike Brown is sitting there completely clueless. He's in way over his head. He just doesn't understand offense.


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## Pioneer10

How about stop playing this idiotic linuep of Snow/Jones?


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## Benedict_Boozer

Unbelievable.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Pioneer10 said:


> No I just can't stand him. He give zero production on offense and for all his good defensive efforts on one night they get canceled out by a bunch of PG's he has no chance of guarding like Lue.
> 
> IF brown would actually play him as situational backup he'd probably be on of my favorites but not as a starter


But if we have no Snow we prob. lose to Hawks/Bucks. You think Lebron is gonna focus on defense for 40 minutes on Redd/Johnson? Snow bothers me, trust me. But missed jumpers and bad defense also bothers me, and none of that is being done by Eric Snow.


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## futuristxen

So how many straight shots did we miss?


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## futuristxen

18-0 run. Jesus. How does that happen?


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Brandname said:


> Mike Brown is sitting there completely clueless. He's in way over his head. He just doesn't understand offense.


No NBA team has an offense, they just have players that hit jumpers off screens, or pick and rolls. Which is the samething we do, we just dont have players who hit jumpers on a regular basis as do other teams.


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## Brandname

Ferry is just as much to blame as Mike Brown.

He can't just sit there and let Mike Brown hamstring this organization because he's incompetent and stubborn.

We are finding out why Mike Brown is a career defensive coordinator.


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## Benedict_Boozer

This team is just too frustrating. Can't even put it into words


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## Brandname

Wesley for Retirement said:


> No NBA team has an offense, they just have players that hit jumpers off screens, or pick and rolls. Which is the samething we do, we just dont have players who hit jumpers on a regular basis as do other teams.


That's not true. The Triangle is a complicated, very effective offense that gives players opportunities to score in many different ways.

We don't have anything.


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## Pioneer10

Wesley for Retirement said:


> But if we have no Snow we prob. lose to Hawks/Bucks. You think Lebron is gonna focus on defense for 40 minutes on Redd/Johnson? Snow bothers me, trust me. But missed jumpers and bad defense also bothers me, and none of that is being done by Eric Snow.


Look what I wrote, as a situational defender against certain opponent (Billups for example) he makes sense but not as a starter or a plyaer averaging 30+ mpg.

For as many players Snow is able to guard he can't guard others which causes guys liek hughes to be forced into guarding PG's.

On top of that he is a complete ZERO on offense


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## Pioneer10

Now he goes with Gibson and Sasha. A little late and no James in there.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Brandname said:


> We are finding out why Mike Brown is a career defensive coordinator.


Well, Thats why Eric Snow plays, because we hired a defensive coach. I bet if we had Stan Van Gundy Snow would be starting.

If we had Eddie Jordon or something, I am sure Jones/Gibson would be starting.


But hey, look at our defense now, and our offense looks really good since Snow has been on the pine.


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## futuristxen

This is ridiculous.


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## futuristxen

Lebron needs to get his shoes checked. He's been slipping all over the place.


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## Brandname

Wesley for Retirement said:


> Well, Thats why Eric Snow plays, because we hired a defensive coach. I bet if we had Stan Van Gundy Snow would be starting.
> 
> If we had Eddie Jordon or something, I am sure Jones/Gibson would be starting.
> 
> 
> But hey, look at our defense now, and our offense looks really good since Snow has been on the pine.


It's not all Snow's fault. That's why I've been railing on Brown. We're taking long jumper after long jumper.

But no guard can play defense well enough to justify starting without any semblance of a jumpshot.


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## futuristxen

Why can't we rebound anymore? Gooden's head has never been in the game. Verejao never got it going. What's Lebron have, almost half our points?


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## Brandname

Yeah, our PF group has been very disappointing today.


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## Pioneer10

The Snow/Jones "adjustmetn" just killed us. The rotating guard on the pick and roll ended up being small against Allen/Deng. Not to mention the offensive trouble


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## futuristxen

We could get by with Snow if the rest of the team were consistently good at shooting, but they are not. Everybody on the team is a streak shooter.

Though what are you going to do when Malik Allen and PJ Brown start raining down 18 foot fadeaway jumpers?


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## TyGuy

Mike brown proves yet again to be way in over his head.


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## Benedict_Boozer

During that little run, post James spread the floor with shooters and take your time.

Hughes jacking ridiculous pull ups and guys like Gooden jacking 15 footers is stupid.


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## Brandname

I keep having hope for Gooden. 

But it's true. He's one of the least mentally competent players in the league.


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## Pioneer10

Great play by Duhon. Sigh


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> During that *little* run, post James spread the floor with shooters and take your time.
> 
> Hughes jacking ridiculous pull ups and guys like Gooden jacking 15 footers is stupid.


You might want to rephrase that, lol


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## Pioneer10

Benedict_Boozer said:


> During that little run, post James spread the floor with shooters and take your time.
> 
> Hughes jacking ridiculous pull ups and guys like Gooden jacking 15 footers is stupid.


You can't post up James w/o a competent PG to get the ball up court quickly and get the offense set.


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> You can't post up James w/o a competent PG to get the ball up court quickly and get the offense set.


Well part of the problem is that when Snow is in the game, any time we try to post Lebron, Snow's man just gives a hard double on the block.

And we can't do anything about it because Snow just cannot shoot.


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## futuristxen

I have a feeling Lebron is going to miss some games on that ankle.

If you think about it, with him playing in the summer, this is his pre-all-star game ankle injury, just a month sooner than normal. Uncanny.


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## Brandname

futuristxen said:


> I have a feeling Lebron is going to miss some games on that ankle.


I almost hope so.


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## Pioneer10

Also WFR with regards to Snow. Look at who he gaurded well: they were SG's!. Snow would be great as a backup Lindsey Hunter type but right now because Brown relies on him so much it's just kills our offense.


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## futuristxen

Brandname said:


> Well part of the problem is that when Snow is in the game, any time we try to post Lebron, Snow's man just gives a hard double on the block.
> 
> And we can't do anything about it because Snow just cannot shoot.



Snow also throws a ****ty entry pass. Did you see that one he threw to Z that ended up hitting the basket?

If only there were two Lebron's. We need a Lebron to pass to Lebron.


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## Benedict_Boozer

^You can do something about it, put Snow's *** on the bench. Gibson can spread the floor and was doing great defensively.

There is no excuse to give up a 26-2 run like that. You jump out 14-4 and give up that kind of run? No contender does that.

Completely inexcusable.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Im calling it now. No way we lose this game, Lebron is just into this game like we haven't seen in awhile.



Yep ...........


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Benedict_Boozer said:


> ^You can do something about it, put Snow's *** on the bench. Gibson can spread the floor and was doing great defensively.
> 
> There is no excuse to give up a 26-2 run like that. You jump out 14-4 and give up that kind of run? No contender does that.
> 
> Completely inexcusable.


You have to hit the shot first for teams to not sag off you, what player on our team tonight has hit any jumpers... none


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> Also WFR with regards to Snow. Look at who he gaurded well: they were SG's!. Snow would be great as a backup Lindsey Hunter type but right now because Brown relies on him so much it's just kills our offense.


Exactly, Snow would be much better as a situational defender, like you described. 

He's in no way a starting caliber point guard.


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## Pioneer10

Also it's not all on Snow: there is no excuse for Jones and Snow to be played together. They both have there roles but they are brutal together


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## Brandname

I have never seen referees refuse to call fouls like they are for Lebron this year.

It's almost suspicious. It just happens WAY too consistently. Now I understand how Shaq felt all those years.


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## Pioneer10

I like that play by Hughes: aggresive


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## Benedict_Boozer

Wesley for Retirement said:


> Yep ...........


Yep i'm retiring from predictions. Lebron hasn't scored since


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

hahahahah Larry misses the layup and then airballs a 3 ball... but of course, great floor spacing got that great shot... yessss ;-)


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> I like that play by Hughes: aggresive


And he follows it up with a 30 foot hoist for no reason at all.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

Its not 6th grade basketball fellas, a coach doesnt call aplay and the players run it... these guys are professionals there out there doing what they do for a career, and they not good at shooting it, not Mike Browns fault


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## Benedict_Boozer

If Hughes doesn't launch that wild shot we might have had a chance, momentum was starting to swing.


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## futuristxen

Wish we could trade Hughes and Gooden for Hinrich.


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## Pioneer10

I don't ind that shot that much: we're down 9 with little time left.

Wish he would just first try to get to the basket: again be aggresive


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## Pioneer10

Wesley for Retirement said:


> Its not 6th grade basketball fellas, a coach doesnt call aplay and the players run it... these guys are professionals there out there doing what they do for a career, and they not good at shooting it, not Mike Browns fault


He's in charge of who he plays though and a blind man could see the negative effect Snow had in there today


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## Benedict_Boozer

Luol Deng is God.


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## futuristxen

Has Luol Deng taken a shot that wasn't an elbow jumper?


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> He's in charge of who he plays though and a blind man could see the negative effect Snow had in there today


Exactly.

I still maintain that the head coach has more of an effect on a professional basketball team than most people think.

We've seen firsthand the effect Brown has had on our defense. You see something similar happening in Golden State on offense. 

The coach controls the identity of a team.


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## Pioneer10

There we go Hughes: I like this attitude by Larry. He seemed to want to take over with Lebron hurt.

Blah missed FT


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## Brandname

Wow, that was a Chicago call if I've ever seen one.

A complete bailout.


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## Pioneer10

WHAT!!!!!
That was a terrible call.

Bull****


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## futuristxen

We need a free throw coach.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

and Lebron cant get a call? dear lord


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement

**** **** ****


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## Pioneer10

NO call there? WTF?


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## futuristxen

How was that not a foul?


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## Pioneer10

How can you give Duhon a bull**** call and then not give that to Lebron?


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## Brandname

That was one of the more one-sided set of back-to-back plays I've ever seen officiated. 

Not cool


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## futuristxen

Put this on the file with the Hornets game of games that the refs agenda against Lebron has cost the Cavs a chance at the game.


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## Brandname

futuristxen said:


> Put this on the file with the Hornets game of games that the refs agenda against Lebron has cost the Cavs a chance at the game.


It's just bizarre.

And yet people sit there and say the refs favor Lebron and he's the golden child and all that bull****.

They must not watch Cavs games because he hasn't gotten **** for calls all year.


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## Pioneer10

Daniel Graham? I hate the Bulls announcers


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## Benedict_Boozer

Duhon gets more respect from the refs than Lebron. Amazing.


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## futuristxen

Who is Daniel Graham? And why wasn't that a foul?


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## Benedict_Boozer

Gibson had more contact on that layup than Duhon on that shot. ****ing ridiculous


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## Brandname

NBA officiating needs fixing.

Superstar treatment is not the problem in the NBA
Homecourt treatment is the problem.


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## futuristxen

Nice play there. What were we trying to get, down by 7 with less than 10 seconds to go?

Incidentally, isn't Mike Brown the youngest coach in the NBA or is that Lawrence Frank?


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## Pioneer10

I don't mind Lebron not getting that call but you sure as hell better give him that after that call against Duhon. Duhon was throwing up a bunch of bad vomit with the shot running down and Gibson played it perfectly while James was attacking the hoop with Allen backtracking not holding his position


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## Benedict_Boozer

Worst loss of the year. Yep, worse than the Bobcats loss.


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## Brandname

futuristxen said:


> Nice play there. What were we trying to get, down by 7 with less than 10 seconds to go?
> 
> Incidentally, isn't Mike Brown the youngest coach in the NBA or is that Lawrence Frank?


Frank has him beat by a couple of months.

We were close near the end, but I feel like the referees didn't call the game evenly once we got within striking distance.

We didn't deserve to win tonight anyway, though.


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## futuristxen

What? How is it the worst loss of the year? I think the Pistons loss was worse because that's the team we are gunning for and they just blew the doors off us.


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## Pioneer10

futuristxen said:


> What? How is it the worst loss of the year? I think the Pistons loss was worse because that's the team we are gunning for and they just blew the doors off us.


I agree at least tonight I saw a spark from Hughes and Gibson looked good in there. Plus overall we played better then the Bulls except with the god awful Snow/Jones backcourt

Detroit we looked liked a JV team going against the varsity


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## Benedict_Boozer

Deng drops a career high, 32pts 15/19 shooting.


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## Brandname

The problem is that nothing changes with these losses.

We know which rotations work and which ones don't work. But nothing changes. The same stubbornness problems we had with Silas are popping up again with Brown (although Brown is a better coach). 

To be a good coach in this league, you have to make adjustments. We don't do that, which is why we suck in the 3rd quarter. 

I'm frustrated right now, so I'm not thinking positively. May have more thoughts once I cool down a bit.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Okay I take it back, not the worst loss. But incredibly frustrating to watch, at least for me. You don't see many 24-0 runs in an NBA game..


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## Pioneer10

What's people's opinions on that? I thought he was just on fire but was it just bad D? It seemed that Deng didn't do anything special but the plays the Bulls ran always led Deng's defender away from him


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## Pioneer10

This one is frustrating because it feels we let this one get away just like the Bobcats


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## Brandname

Pioneer10 said:


> What's people's opinions on that? I thought he was just on fire but was it just bad D? It seemed that Deng didn't do anything special but the plays the Bulls ran always led Deng's defender away from him


It wasn't individual defense that was the problem.

Our rotations on Deng were just a second too slow, and he made us pay every time. 

We just didn't hustle quite enough tonight. For some reason, AV only got 11 minutes with Gooden being a brain dead waste of space out there. 

This is where Brown's fault comes in. Unless AV got hurt or something.


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## Benedict_Boozer

^AV was very ineffective. I think he is still injured or something because he was getting burned by PJ Brown/Malik Allen and wasn't boxing out well at all.


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## Pioneer10

Both PF's looked bad. I might have given Pollard or Dwayne some run out there


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## Brandname

AV wasn't great, but Gooden was worse. At least AV showed hustle. Gooden just did a bunch of counterproductive stupid stuff.


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## Brandname

We had a scoreless stretch of 9 MINUTES in this game. That is simply incredible.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> We had a scoreless stretch of 9 MINUTES in this game. That is simply incredible.


With Lebron James on a tear, we go that long without scoring a point? We start 14-4 in the 3rd qtr and then give up a 26-2 run?

Truly unreal.


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> With Lebron James on a tear, we go that long without scoring a point? We start 14-4 in the 3rd qtr and then give up a 26-2 run?
> 
> Truly unreal.


I'm not even sure he got the ball in a position to score during that stretch.

He can't be happy after tonight.


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## Pioneer10

Nope we actually seemed to use him as a decoy after he was on fire.


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## TyGuy

The most annoying thing about this team is that you can pencil in a third quarter collapse EVERY game. Coaches response was "we can only prey". The fact that this goes on and we get that kind of response, should set off some serious alarm bells about our coaching staff.


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## Benedict_Boozer

The good news is, this upcoming stretch of road games will either get this team to snap out of this inconsistent play on offense, or they will fall so flat on their faces that Ferry will be forced to make a move.


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## Pioneer10

You know Mike Brown played a lineup w/o either Snow nor Jones where we did real well. He then waited till the 4th to come back to it. It would be great to trade for a veteran PG so he doesn't feel obligated to play his vets like Snow & Jones like he did in the third


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## ChiBron

Tough loss for you guys. I was pretty shocked to see LeBron all of a sudden stop shooting(or even getting) the ball after beginning the 3rd qtr with 2 straight 3pters. I mean, why not keep shooting when you're HOT? But then I remembered! Isn't quarter #3 always that one qtr where LeBron takes a back seat and allows his teammates get in a rhythm so he could be fresh to finish things off in the 4th? I saw him do that all season long last year and especially in the playoffs(that dreadful Game 7 against Detroit, too). And the thing is, IT NEVER WORKS!! Yet he continues to do it. LeBron's gotta learn to continue dominating the ball when his teammates don't have it going. There's simply no reason why he should've stopped shooting in the 3rd qtr tonight.


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## Brandname

SPMJ said:


> Tough loss for you guys. I was pretty shocked to see LeBron all of a sudden stop shooting(or even getting) the ball after beginning the 3rd qtr with 2 straight 3pters. I mean, why not keep shooting when you're HOT? But then I remembered! Isn't quarter #3 always that one qtr where LeBron takes a back seat and allows his teammates get in a rhythm so he could be fresh to finish things off in the 4th? I saw him do that all season long last year and especially in the playoffs(that dreadful Game 7 against Detroit, too). And the thing is, IT NEVER WORKS!! Yet he continues to do it. LeBron's gotta learn to continue dominating the ball when his teammates don't have it going. There's simply no reason why he should've stopped shooting in the 3rd qtr tonight.


The problem is largely Eric Snow, actually (we're really heaping on him today). 

He brings the ball up very slowly in every possession, allowing the defense to get set. Then he usually overdribbles and provides a poor entry pass on the block. If the guy on the post isn't wide open, he'll swing it around to the other side where everyone camps out at the 3 point line.

By this time, there's about 5 seconds left on the shot clock, we abandon whatever we had planned for offense on that trip, and whoever ends up with the ball tries to create his own shot, usually a long range jumper. 

Eric is not familiar with the concept of feeding the hot hand. Or pushing the tempo. 

But you're right, I wish Lebron would just steal the ball from Eric sometimes.


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## futuristxen

That was the one thing I really liked about Mcinnis. He knew where his bread was buttered, and he always passed it to Lebron when Lebron had it going.

On the plus side, I thought Boobie was tremendous today on both ends of the floor. Coach Brown needs to loosen the reigns on him a little bit, and let him run. And even though Larry wasn't great, he was at times really aggressive at going to the basket. Though his shot selection leaves a lot to be desired. I think Jamal Crawford is a better player if Larry is going to heave bad shot after bad shot. At least Crawford can occasionaly hit them.


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## Pioneer10

I don't mind if Hughes takes bad shots frankly if he plays like he did in the fourth. If he can drive 3-4 times hard to the hoop like yesterday late in the game then I'll live with a bad jumper.

Boobie is really going to be an exceptional defender in his career. Not sure where his offense will be like or he'll ever be a great playmaker per se but he's got some great instincts for D


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## Pioneer10

> *CHICAGO - *In many ways, the events Saturday night at the United Center were an effective microcosm of the Cavaliers' season.
> For long stretches the Cavs battled a quality team admirably, playing efficient and effective offense and smart and tough defense. Their star showed periods of dominance when he was unstoppable, and the Cavs looked unbeatable.
> Then there was that mindless and focus-less side of their personality as well, and that ended up being the defining side of the game.
> After working hard for two and a half quarters to build a seven-point lead, the Cavs were buried by the Chicago Bulls in a 10-minute span that might be remembered as the Cavs' worst spell of play this season.
> It directly led to the Bulls' 103-96 victory, snapping the Cavs' three-game winning streak and allowing the Bulls to slip past them in the Central Division and Eastern Conference standings.
> The Bulls' mega-run was 24-0, the most severe that the Cavs (17-12) have given up this season and likely one of the most devastating in the NBA's first two months for any team.
> It understandably featured plenty of Cavs' ills. No doubt the home team hit a hot stretch, led by Luol Deng and Ben Gordon. But the Cavs also missed 15 consecutive shots, 10 of them jumpers from 15 feet or longer. They also turned the ball over five times in the dizzying spurt and 19 times in the game.
> Without using high-level math, it is easy to determine the Cavs outplayed and outscored the Bulls for the game's other 38 minutes. Even after falling behind by 17 points after the burst, the Cavs battled back to within four points in the closing moments.
> ``It's very frustrating for us to allow that to happen and not dig down deep,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ``It is about 48 minutes, and we did not bring it for 48 minutes.''
> Which is what made the outcome bitter for the wine and gold. Though never this severe, bouts of lackluster play have cost them a handful of road wins. It made it seem as if they wasted a super birthday effort from LeBron James, who piled up 33 points on 15-of-26 shooting. As it is, the road record now stands at 4-9.
> The Bulls (19-12) have won 14 of 17 games this month and are an NBA-best 14-2 at the United Center. Needless to say, they are tough to beat at home. Especially when Deng is making 15-of-19 shots, most of them jumpers, on his way to a career-high 32 points, and Gordon is coming off the bench to score 21 points.
> But there were the Cavs, who had beaten the Bulls five consecutive times, in control of the game midway through the third quarter. They were getting defensive spots and riding James on a hot night. Certainly, it was expected the Bulls would make a run at them, but no way in the nature that followed.
> The Cavs went 9:50 between baskets and James went more than 17 minutes without scoring while the Cavs were getting outhustled and outbattled around the basket. It quickly went from a potential statement win to another deflating road loss.
> ``They turned up the pressure and the jump shots and attacks we were making in the first half stopped going for us,'' said James, who tweaked his right ankle during the fourth quarter but didn't think it was serious. ``Chicago is a great team at home. They went on that big run, and it killed us.''
> Larry Hughes had 15 points and Donyell Marshall had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench to support James. The Bulls shot 49 percent, the highest percentage the Cavs have given up in five games, and got 55 points from their reserves, including 13 from P.J. Brown and 10 from Malik Allen.
> *Dribbles*
> Anderson Varejao returned from a neck injury but didn't get a rebound in 11 minutes.... The Bulls played without starting guard Kirk Hinrich, who had a groin injury.... The Cavs have given up 37 offensive rebounds in the past two games.... The Cavs have 56 turnovers in the past three games.... The Bulls' streak of 315 consecutive games with a 3-pointer ended, they were 0-of-7.


http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/basketball/nba/cleveland_cavaliers/16356428.htm


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