# Game #30 - Cavs vs Spurs - Jan 2nd 7PM



## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

*vs*









*Cleveland Cavaliers (17-12)* *vs.* *San Antonio Spurs (23-8)*

*Date:* Tuesday, January 2nd, 2006 
*Where:* Quicken Loans Arena - Cleveland, OH
*TV:* FSOhio, NBA TV
*Radio:* WTAM 1100
*Time:* 7:00 PM - ET

















































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
























































*C:* Tim Duncan
*PF:* Robert Horry
*SF: * Bruce Bowen
*SG:* Manu Ginobli
*PG:* Tony Parker


*
Game Notes:*

- Spurs are probably the best team in the NBA and a great road team. Odds are stacked against us in this one, especially since we beat them at home earlier in the year.

- Containing Tony Parker will be key. If he starts breaking down our defense we could be in for a long night. Look for Gibson and Lebron to both get minutes checking TP tonight. 

- A win here would really help to offset some of our bad home losses earlier in the year to Atlanta and Charlotte, and springboard us onto our upcoming road trip. 

- Lebron has been averaging over 30+ per game over the last 8 games or so, let's hope he continues to up his level of play :cheers:


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Offense looks like crap early. Bad spacing, bad shot selection.

Defense looks really good though. Lebron killing it in transition


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Another great defensive play. Gotta say our defense is really looking good..


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Duncan destroying us, Cavs down 2 early


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Ughh Z and Hughes 2-8 combined from the field


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

That was a brutal sequence (3 offensive rebounds leads to a 3 pointer for the Spurs)


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Boobie!


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Boobie drills a 3 :clap: 

Cavs down 3 under a min left in the 1st


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

What a dumb *** pass by DJ there

Great strip by boobie though. Tied game after 1


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Shoo tied thanks to some 3's but we need to shore up the defensive rebounding


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

What is the deal with all the offensive boards we're giving up. I like challenging shooters but come'on


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Gibson might be our best perimeter defender


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Woot that's the way to break out of a slump shoot 3's Larry


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

Pioneer10 said:


> Woot that's the way to break out of a slump shoot 3's Larry


Fast Break 3-ball.... i dont care if you miss layups going to the rack, but pullin gup 2 on 5 for a 3 ball... blah


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Pioneer10 said:


> Woot that's the way to break out of a slump shoot 3's Larry


Hughes takes more deep jumpers than Reggie Miller. I don't understand his shot selection sometimes.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Brown should have substitued Hughes for Snow not Boobie


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

I don't think we've scored since LBJ came out..


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Another freakin offensive rebound for the Spurs?


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

The Spurs zone shutting down our offense


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> The Spurs zone shutting down our offense


A zone works with Eric Snow in the lineup: impossible


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Look how quickly Pop calls a TO to stop our momentum. That's great coaching


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

10 TO's already


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

LOL @ our 25 pts this late in the game. Unreal.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

Our offense is so stagnent... that Zone is killer... 

****KKKKKKKKKK###%#%)(#*%)(#*% 2 on 1 fastbreak turnover.....


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Wesley for Retirement said:


> Our offense is so stagnent... that Zone is killer...
> 
> ****KKKKKKKKKK###%#%)(#*%)(#*% 2 on 1 fastbreak turnover.....


The great Eric Snow. Why is he in this game instead of Boobie again?


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

I know Lebron is one of the best players in the league. But he almost hampers our offense, the ball sits in his hand for 18 seconds during that zone and we end with a bad shot. 

Some of the other really good teams have everyone contributing time after time ........ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........i am just looking for excuse after excuse for why we can be this bad...


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Snow bricks another jumper. At this rate we will be down 15 at halftime


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

Was that the first point inside the paint in the last 15 min?


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

Did Sasha just travel twice? lol

Atleast he attacks the hoop, hopefully Larry is watching


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

33 pts in a half is just absurd. Our offense is the joke of the league.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

Maybe Brown sending Larry a message, did he play a minute in that 2nd quarter? and going with Sasha for the last 6 minutes.


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## ChiBron (Jun 24, 2002)

Watching your offense(especially this game!!) I don't know how Mike Brown has a job in this league. How long do you guys think will he remain this team's head coach?


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## TyGuy (Apr 19, 2003)

If we are modeling ourselves after san antonio, we are doing ap iss poor job. Sa's offense is smooth, when it breaks down, pop can call a timeout, that gets an easy bucket and its back to smooth play.


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## TyGuy (Apr 19, 2003)

SPMJ said:


> Watching your offense(especially this game!!) I don't know how Mike Brown has a job in this league. How long do you guys think will he remain this team's head coach?


I have never been happy with him and it looks like the orginization is staying by his side.

Our owner hired the guy, not our gm. Which is beyond stupid, then you throw in the fact he has never had headcoaching experience at any level(college high school, maybe not even rec league lol).


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

SPMJ said:


> Watching your offense(especially this game!!) I don't know how Mike Brown has a job in this league. How long do you guys think will he remain this team's head coach?


Brown will never be fired. He's done a good job with the defense, and Ferry loves stability.

Honestly we should just go back to last year's Lebron iso-ball offense....we weren't having trouble putting up points with Larry in the lineup doing that.


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## TyGuy (Apr 19, 2003)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Brown will never be fired. He's done a good job with the defense, and Ferry loves stability.
> 
> Honestly we should just go back to last year's Lebron iso-ball offense....we weren't having trouble putting up points with Larry in the lineup doing that.


His supposed defensive system is suppose to bread offense, that isn’t happening. Since we are dead last in offensive numbers in this league, our defensive numbers are irrelevant to me.

Scoring aloud is a useless stat to me anyway, that just tells me how quick the pace of the game is. A better stat is how much you are outscoring your competition(something i doubt we rank well in) and overall field opponent goal percentage(we rank well in this category). To be dead last in offensive numbers just wont cut it with our defense.

As far as our defense goes, I would like to see us force more turnovers and get out and run. We are so slow to attack though.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

TyGuy said:


> I have never been happy with him and it looks like the orginization is staying by his side.
> 
> Our owner hired the guy, not our gm. Which is beyond stupid, *then you throw in the fact he has never had headcoaching experience at any level*(college high school, maybe not even rec league lol).


That is remarkable. Especially when you consider the veteran makeup of this roster..


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Snow another turnover


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Let's see if we'll get blasted in the third again : right on track so far


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Gooden blows a good look. Luckily the Spurs blowing open shots as well


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

The Spurs are literally triple teaming Lebron. SPACE THE FLOOR


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Hughes has terrible shot selection. Not bad terrible


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

I hate you Larry


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Good D by Snow there to double hard


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Pioneer10 said:


> Hughes has terrible shot selection. Not bad terrible


I'm beginning to realize Larry is just not that good. I kept thinking it was his injury, but nope - he's just not that good.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

lol that was a pathetic drive by Hughes


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

Wesley for Retirement said:


> I hate you Larry


I hate you more


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Maybe the problem isn't Snow but that he's got to play next to Damon Jones and Larry Hughes lol. Let's stick VC next to Snow and see what happens. Ohh our backcourt is so pathetic


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Nice Lebron bricks 2 FT's.


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## Larry Hughes for Retirement (Jul 5, 2004)

Pioneer10 said:


> Maybe the problem isn't Snow but that he's got to play next to Damon Jones and Larry Hughes lol. Let's stick VC next to Snow and see what happens. Ohh our backcourt is so pathetic



I am serious, Snow is bad on offense, but Larry isnt spreading the floor any better. Larry and Snow are both bad on offense, but we paid Larry for his offense/defense, paid him alot.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Snow is making some nice plays on D but it's pointless because we can't score any points


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

and so far we've actually made up ground this quarter (only down 5)


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Z blows another great look by Lebron. In some ways I can't think of a worse team to put around Lebron. A center who can't finish strong, two guards who can't shoot, and a braindead PF. Great fit for a guy who is a one man fast break that draw double teams and is unselfish


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

is tim duncan really shooting better free throws than lebron? can we have lebron shoot one-handed, grandma-style, look-at-the-rim-before-you-shoot style?


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Nice Lebron bricks 2 FT's.


Lovely indeed. No excuse for James here. FT's have been a weakness now for what almost 2 and half year now?


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Pioneer10 said:


> Z blows another great look by Lebron. In some ways I can't think of a worse team to put around Lebron. A center who can't finish strong, two guards who can't shoot, and a braindead PF. Great fit for a guy who is a one man fast break that draw double teams and is unselfish


That's the sad reality. 

The good news is AV and Gibson both fit in well with James, so there is some hope.


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

Pioneer10 said:


> Lovely indeed. No excuse for James here. FT's have been a weakness now for what almost 2 and half year now?


that's only one weakness, you're forgetting lack of teammates and a coach


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Why is Jones in the game and not Gibson? Mike Brown just confuses me some times


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Now is not the time to sub Lebron out for Snow


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Snow misses another open jumper. Why no Gibson? What does the rook need to do to earn more PT


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

i'm wondering if the cavs shouldn't start practicing only using a 14 second shot clock like phoenix or denver, put damon and boobie in the back court and take a lot of shots, av and gooden in the front court to get offensive boards (since they can run the floor); get some volume shooting going since we only shoot 32%


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Good pass by Hughes there


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

LOL we have 44pts at the end of 3 and are only down 6pts.

The Spurs let us hang around, if Brown wises up and plays a lineup with shooters and athleticism - Gibson/Sasha - we have a chance.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

This is a god awful game to watch. If I wasn't a Cleveland fan I would stop watching Cavs even if they have Lebron. Antithesis of the beautiful game with these two teams together


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

50-44 after 3 quarters, wasn't there a game earlier this was the score for one quarter?


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Pioneer10 said:


> This is a god awful game to watch. If I wasn't a Cleveland fan I would stop watching Cavs even if they have Lebron. Antithesis of the beautiful game with these two teams together


We are an ugly basketball team to watch. Just not good basketball.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

We're only down 3? How is this possible: we've played like crap lol


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Oberto missed about 4 shots to help us. Hughes making a 4 point play lol


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Wow our FT shooting is awful. WHERE IS LEBRON


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

ROFL: we're making some real lucky shots now.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

What a terrible foul by Marshall: never foul a jump shooter


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Props to Larry...


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

i'm saying a prayer to little infant baby Jesus, the cav's are winning


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Marshall can't box out for ****


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

AV with great defense!


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Now AV going on the block against Duncan. AV should really be getting 30 minutes.


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

it's taken 6 minutes for the cavs to score 20 points in the 4th quarter, they scored 23 in the 2nd and 3rd quarters combined


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Pioneer10 said:


> Now AV going on the block against Duncan. AV should really be getting 30 minutes.


I agree


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

terrible play by Jones on the break terrible


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

alright, the spurs have lebron right where they want him: at the foul line


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Thank god for Andy's energy


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

DJ is a clutch shooter :cheers:


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> DJ is a clutch shooter :cheers:


i would really be fine with him starting with lebron and larry


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Amazing how bad we are on the FT line


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## LostInGeorgia (Jun 29, 2006)

break out the ale for celebration: Lebron hit a free throw!


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Parker has like 10 layups in the last 2 mins. 

DJ hits these the game is over


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Great, great win.

Hughes plays alot better without Lebron...he basically is Lebron-lite in terms of his style of play. If he's not on the ball making plays he's ineffective. At least in the halfcourt.

Game ball goes to Larry and AV for this one. :cheers:


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## LineOFire (Apr 20, 2004)

Good shooting by Hughes at the end and that damn Varajao did the Spurs in. Good win for you guys.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

AV has to be the most annoying player to play against. Throwing his body around plus all those charges he gets.

Anyway good win. I wonder if we do relativley well against the Spurs because we practice basically the same defense that they use


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## Bron_Melo_ROY (Apr 12, 2004)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Great, great win.
> 
> Hughes plays alot better without Lebron...he basically is Lebron-lite in terms of his style of play. If he's not on the ball making plays he's ineffective. At least in the halfcourt.
> 
> Game ball goes to Larry and AV for this one. :cheers:


except for the fact that LeBron can be effective without the ball in his hands, he just needs someone to get him the **** ball (in the words of Keyshawn Johnson).


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Benedict_Boozer said:


> DJ is a clutch shooter :cheers:


Can you be more wide open though? He better of hit that shot. Lebron drove, was surrounded, good pass, and Jones had no one within 4 feet of him


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Bron_Melo_ROY said:


> except for the fact that LeBron can be effective without the ball in his hands, he just needs someone to get him the **** ball (in the words of Keyshawn Johnson).


Oh I agree. It's just that Hughes sucks when he's not dominating the ball, but at the same time he's not really good enough to control the ball full time like a PG or LBJ so it's a catch 22.


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## TyGuy (Apr 19, 2003)

We need a starting calibur point guard. I like eric snow and dont mind him on the team, he would just be better suited in specialist type role off the bench for defensive purposes.


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Just watched the game on TiVo, and for some reason, I wasn't as mad at Larry at the beginning as everyone here was. Maybe it was because I was just watching, rather than posting here at the same time (I get a lot angrier when I talk about the games).

Larry was obviously huge in the 4th. If we can get bursts like that every so often from him, it might be all we need. He's not playing the style I would like, but he's doing ok for what he's doing. 

Free throw shooting is unacceptable. It almost cost us this game.

Anyone else notice that Z can almost play Duncan dead even whenever we play? He matches up really well with Duncan. Z's low post defense tonight was absolutely incredible. He didn't shoot well, but he played well enough on defense to make up for. 

AV was huge, as usual. 

Gibson was great in the first quarter in all aspects of the game, and then didn't see the floor again. Given how we struggled in the second and third quarters, this is inexcusable. Brown cannot continue to do this if the rookie is earning his minutes.

Gooden was very average tonight. Bowen did a surprisingly good job on Lebron, who usually dominates him.

Otherwise, it was a good, gutsy win.


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

TyGuy said:


> We need a starting calibur point guard. I like eric snow and dont mind him on the team, he would just be better suited in specialist type role off the bench for defensive purposes.


Truthfully, I think we have one.


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## LineOFire (Apr 20, 2004)

I forgot to mention. It's comforting to see a team that actually looks worse from the free throw line than the Spurs (though they do look better this year).:yes:


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

LineOFire said:


> I forgot to mention. It's comforting to see a team that actually looks worse from the free throw line than the Spurs (though they do look better this year).:yes:


The Cavs are becoming truly awful at the FT line. Lebron leads the charge splitting his FT's every time he goes to the stripe.

None of the guys on our team should be that bad either


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