# Cavs vs Hornets | Game #56 | Feb 27th 7PM



## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

_*Game 56*_


*Cleveland Cavaliers* *(32-24) VS* *NOK Hornets** (27-29)*

_*Tuesday, February 27th, 2007*_
*Time:* 10:00pm PT, 7:00pm ET
*TV:* *FS Ohio HD*
*Radio:* *WTAM 1100*
*Location:* *Quicken Loans Arena*, Cleveland, Ohio

*HEAD COACHES*




> After starting strong and collapsing down the stretch last year, the New Orleans Hornets are hoping to do the opposite this season.
> 
> The Hornets look to continue their march toward the playoffs when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
> 
> ...


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Sasha is questionable for this right?

Love watchign Chris Paul the difference btw a true PG and guy playing PG really shows up. Paul and guys like Nash are always attacking and probign the defense. While Lebron waits and surveys the floor for too long. When Paul sees an opening he goes like if he's mismatched against a bigger defender. Lebron will often wait for the pick instead of attacking right away. As the season progresses I really want to that quicker decision making and Lebron playing like every second is an oppurtunity to exploit the defense and not simply watch it


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Sasha playing tonight. We REALLY need to win this game with @DAL coming up.


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

It's good to see Sasha back in the lineup tonight. Hopefully we can be a little more effective on offense.


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

One of the problems that I'm seeing with our offense is that every one of our offensive sets has no second option. We have one man run off a screen or something, and if he's not freed up, we don't know what to do. Most good teams will have a fluid offense where you can adjust the correct play based on what the defense is showing you, but our offense relies on one given play to free up one person.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Boobie has to start being more aggressive. He shoots to well, put up some shots!

I like the body language from the Cavs early on. Aggressive on both sides.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Brandname said:


> One of the problems that I'm seeing with our offense is that every one of our offensive sets has no second option. We have one man run off a screen or something, and if he's not freed up, we don't know what to do. Most good teams will have a fluid offense where you can adjust the correct play based on what the defense is showing you, but our offense relies on one given play to free up one person.


Another problem is that if Lebron is not directly involved in a play, he stands around in the corner. Gotta keep moving.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Sasha checks in :clap:


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Hornets are scrappy...tough team


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Nice basket by Sasha but I'm curious how Z is feeling since he went to the locker room.


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Sasha is exactly the type of player we need to put around Lebron. He's young, athletic, plays with effort, moves without the ball. And he's constantly working on his game. Gibson fits this mold, too. It's no surprise that we perform best when they're paired with Lebron.


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

That was an awesome pass and block out by Sasha.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Sasha is really making some plays out there


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Lebron with the bad shot. At least he was trying for the 2 for 1, so it's acceptable I suppose.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Cleveland leads 25-18 after the first quarter. While Sasha missed that last shot at the end, LeBron set him up nice.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Yeah Lebron had been doing well with his shot selection before that. He really loves shooting 3's, you can tell he was just salivating at that 2 for 1


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Also, Gibson is too good of a shooter to get as few shots as he gets.

We need to start taking advantage of his strengths and actually set up some plays for him.


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

another quarter in which the cavs missed no free throws, that makes the total for the year now 7 quarters in which we have missed no free throws


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

27-26, that didn't take long for our lead to disappear


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Who is this Johnson guy? He's burying deep jumpers all over the court


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

That should be a clear path foul.


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

keep feeding z in the post or lebron, just keep going to the post


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Holy crap. He hung up in the air a lot longer than I thought he could to dunk that one.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

LeBron is nasty! That was disgusting.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Omg.....


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

It should have been a foul, too.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Did you see that dunk by LBJ.....wow


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

what i meant to say was keep feeding z in the post or let lebron use the hidden trampoline in the floor for a monster dunk


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Wow, Lebron to Z. That was awesome.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Travel there but some nights Lebron just has an extra pep in his step. He's moving really well tonight.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Great footwork by Z there


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Everytime Boobie scores Paul comes right back at him full speed the other way


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Nice 2 man game between Lebron and Larry there. I hate that we only get glimpses of that once every game or two.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

David West is quietly destroying our front line


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Hughes doesn't split defenders particularly well. I've noticed this.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

GREAT cut by Lebron. Please do that more often


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

remy23 said:


> Hughes doesn't [strike]split defenders[/strike] do anything particularly well. I've noticed this.


I think you misspoke. :wink:


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

We're closing out the quarter strong. I like it.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

OMG Hughes gave up the ball on the fastbreak


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

With Chris Paul's foul situation, I'd try to get another foul tacked on him and virtually eliminate him from the game.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

I would love to see Gibson try to create off the dribble out of the gate instead of always dribbling it up and passing it off.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

How the heck do we come out of a timeout and throw the ball away like that???

Momentum saving play by Boobie


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Oh come on with that call, that is not a travel


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Nice pass by Lebron. Damn he can pass the ball


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

The lead is growing. Let's hope Cleveland can really close strong and bust the game wide open.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Lebron & Hughes really looking for the 2 man game now. Think i'm gonna delete that thread I created about possible tension between them :biggrin:


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

LeBron with 19. Good lay up.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Lebron looking good


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Wow that was an incredible shot.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

AV at the buzzer! Benedict_Boozer must be loving that. Haha


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Andy showing range :clap:


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Haha, Mike Brown had that look like, "****, now he's gonna want to shoot those every other time down the court."

hahahaha


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Pavs is a stud


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Sasha is really smooth.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

This team is like jekyl and hyde. If we are hitting some outside shots, everything clicks. If we're not, we look like a lottery team.


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

I love that we recognized small-ball and posted Lebron immediately.

That's the kind of recognition I'd like to see more of.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Great Sasha looks like he sprained his ankle


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Did Sasha get freakin hurt? That's just awesome!!!!


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

lol Hughes is averaging almost just a half a point for every shot he puts up that is just pathetic


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

We've been really lucky with injuries this year. It's time to see how we handle adversity.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Crapiola: i tune in and our lead shrinks to 2


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Tied game. Crazy cause the Cavs played great for 3 qtrs.

David West just continues to abuse our PF's


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

This seems like a good time to camp at the 3 point line and bomb away.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Damn this sucks


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Hughes gets lucky: way to win


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

That 3 by Hughes may have saved this game. Wasn't a great shot but he knocked it down. Boobie follows up with the nice dish to LBJ, Cavs back up 5


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

West is really good: he fell to what the 18th pick?


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Cavs playing stagnant on offense again


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Offense stalling again


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Cavs playing stagnant on offense again


Stop typing my thoughts dammit :lol:


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

lol @ LBJ's assist to Gibson.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

BOOOOOOOOOOOOBIE :clap: :clap: :clap:


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

With Boobie out there teams pay for those swarming double teams on LBJ


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Man, the Bulls must be regretting the Chandler-Wallace swap.

Bad possession there. I'd like to execute, even late in games. That was the type of possession that just kills our team.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Bad shot by LBJ. Can't hold the ball like that, don't care if he makes it. 7 times out of 10 we miss that and we hear "We had good looks, they just didn't go down" in the postgame.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

We got lucky: two bad long shots by Lebron and Hughes and they both go in.

Oh well live by the three die by the three


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Bad shot by LBJ. Can't hold the ball like that, don't care if he makes it. 7 times out of 10 we miss that and we hear *"We had good looks, they just didn't go down" *in the postgame.


:curse: :curse: :curse:


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Don't understand what Mike Brown is thinking: should play the pick and roll with Gibson handling the ball and Lebron setting the pick. Sets up all sorts of mismatches


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Terrible shots!!! gah


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

LeBron came up big. Way to stroke the long ball!


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

What do I know, Lebron buries another 3


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Big win tonight, but we obviously have some offensive issues we need to work out still. Especially with late-game execution.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

This will just convince the team to shoot more 3's. Hate to gripe about a win but this victory has a bit of fool's gold here


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Good win. Not a great 4th qtr but we could have fell flat on our faces after the Hornets run.

Solid game from LBJ. Hughes *5/16*....man he is shooting in the low 30's % wise now for the last 5 games or so...I thought he played well tonight but he has to get that % up.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Also Mike Brown did a nice job tonight. I liked how he kept Lebron out there early in the 4th and brought Hughes in for him. 1 of those 2 should always be out there. 

Nice rotations overall, decent game plan.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

On a bright side when was the last time we kept a quick PG under 10 points let alone a Chris Paul? Good job Boobie


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Also Mike Brown did a nice job tonight. I liked how he kept Lebron out there early in the 4th and brought Hughes in for him. *1 of those 2 should always be out there.
> *
> Nice rotations overall, decent game plan.


And the other one should *never *be out there.

:biggrin:


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Brandname said:


> And the other one should *never *be out there.
> 
> :biggrin:


Hughes is now 31 of his last 95 from the field. He is also officially under 40% from the field on the season. 

Those #'s are staggering for $13MM.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Hughes is now 31 of his last 95 from the field. He is also officially under 40% from the field on the season.
> 
> Those #'s are staggering for $13MM.


Add in 1-3 from the FTA and we got an All-STar SG uke:


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Come on guys, we're just not using him correctly. That's why he's so bad at FTs.


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## ¹²³ (Jan 8, 2003)

I just wanto to give props to the always great game threads here in the Cavs forum.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

> t is hard for me to give much praise to the Cavs tonight. A win is a win and they all equal the same, I suppose. Watching them again chuck jumpers in the fourth quarter left me to consider dragging out my old links again. So on this night they made them, which will probably happen roughly 33 percent of the time. Please allow me to point out the following:
> --T*he Cavs have taken zero (0) free throws in the fourth quarter in the past two games yet got up 19 3-pointers.
> --Zydrunas Ilgauskas was 5-of-8 from the floor in the first half and was permitted two shots in the second half and none in the fourth.
> --In the fourth quarter the Hornets were using Bobby Jackson and Devin Brown to defend LeBron James and he didn't take much advantage at all by working to get low post position, from which he would be unstoppable against those two. Which isn't all that surprising since I watched him not abuse Jason Kapono like I thought he should Sunday in Miami.
> ...


http://blogs.ohio.com/cavaliers_blog/

Windhorst miswrote: when Lebron is off the court we are -7.

But agree with everything else: not enough Z, Not enough Lebron downlow (have to push this Mike Brown: this is an absolute must as we almost always get at least a decent look if Lebron gets the ball downlow with decent position), and the disturbing lack of FT's


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

The post thing is a major issue IMO. Not to overuse the Lakers game but it was a perfect example of just how effective Lebron is in the post. His WHOLE game should center around the post up, he's even a better passer down there. 

Won't happen though.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> The post thing is a major issue IMO. Not to overuse the Lakers game but it was a perfect example of just how effective Lebron is in the post. His WHOLE game should center around the post up, he's even a better passer down there.
> 
> Won't happen though.


Why can't it be? Just seems baffling to me that with his physique and strength that Lebron hasn't become a presence in the post yet.

If I was on the coaching staff that's basically all I'd work on in terms of adding plays


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Lebron likes to play like a guard and take pull up fadeaways and dribble drives. He did the same thing in high school against 5'10 kids. It's why guys like Jason Kapono can check him, he stops himself trying to be pretty out there on the floor. 

It will either take him getting older and being forced to adjust his game (and he will have to, carrying 250+ lbs!) or a no-nonsense coach with credibility to correct that aspect of his game. Which we aren't getting anytime soon.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

It doesn't help that nobody on the team can throw an entry pass to save their lives. Usually Lebron can't get passes in the post because he is fronted, and has a guy behind him, and everyone on the weak side is cheating over. He's not a big enough target in the post, given the poor floor spacing the Cavs routinely have.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

futuristxen said:


> It doesn't help that nobody on the team can throw an entry pass to save their lives. Usually Lebron can't get passes in the post because he is fronted, and has a guy behind him, and everyone on the weak side is cheating over. He's not a big enough target in the post, given the poor floor spacing the Cavs routinely have.


Yeah noticed that as well. Snow is a terrible entry feeder in particular. It would be funny to have Z be the entry feeder as he has the height to pass to it over the fronter


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Pioneer10 said:


> Yeah noticed that as well. Snow is a terrible entry feeder in particular. It would be funny to have Z be the entry feeder as he has the height to pass to it over the fronter


And Z is a better perimeter shooter than both Hughes and Snow, so you can't back off him.


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