Looking back on...stuff, for the games of 11/03/09

So, a lot of games last night, and a lot of interesting stuff. I managed to watch most of one, and bits of a couple others...so let's start with the one I caught most of.

Wizards-Cavs (or DeShawn Stevenson's answer to the Civil War)

This one started out so promising for the 'Zards. Cleveland were playing...just like they've been all season, really, on the offensive end. Just no imagination, no...anything early on for the Cavs. And for Washington? It was all working. Butler was hitting, Gilbert was legitimately running the point...everything was everything. And they got out to an eighteen point lead. Yes, the Wizards had an eighteen point lead on the Cavs. In Cleveland. But if you've looked at the boxscore or anything...you know they lost by twelve. And so what happened?

Well. Everything that was going right? Yea, the opposite of that started happening. The Cavs..I'm not going to act like the offense was a thing of beauty, but they exploited Washington's deficiencies. LeBron got to the line. Shaq went to work on the block...and Shaq's meaningful contribution was opening up the offense, and the rest of the team started getting open shots. And from there, it was working. Now, the problem for Cleveland is that their theoretically challenging playoff opponents have guys that can do something that resembles guarding Shaq, which the Wizards...just couldn't do at all. But I guess this is a start.

On offense, Washington just went to shit. Gilbert started pressing, Butler started missing, and the Cavs defense got a fuckton better. With Jamison out, Gilbert and Butler need to play well, and they need to get a contribution from guys like Blatche and Foye. And none of that really happened, and so they got an eighteen point lead overturned pretty damn quickly.

Elsewhere The Bulls came back against the Bucks, the Celtics manhandled the Sixers, the Mavs managed to overturn a big deficit against the Jazz, the Lakers squeaked past OKC, and the Magic finally looked like...something other than the best basketball team in the history of the universe, I guess. Oh, and the Blazers lost. Again.

And there we go. More games tonight, and more stuff tomorrow.

Looking back on...stuff, for the games of 10/28/09

Our first night with a pretty full slate of games. It was a bit overwhelming, I have to say, but it always is. Simultaneously thrilling and frightening, as all the best things in life are. Except ducks, acus ducks are awesome, but who's scared of a motherfucking duck? Anyway.

I was able to catch quite a bit of only one game yesterday, as there was quite a bit of stuff going on/I went to bed early. So.....

CLEVELAND V TORONTO (in which we wonder....what the fuck's going on?)

Let's start with...well, let's start with the game, and then we'll get into all the crazy tangentials and quasi-analysis, possibly with some inane references and cursing thrown in. Sound good? Aight.

like an Ornette track, this was sort of all over the place, but in a pretty awesome way.

The game was...well, it was very interesting, but also weird, and just very structurally surprising. Toronto got off to a pretty nice start, and midway through the first quarter they were already up 17-6, with Bargnani scoring and Calderon's dishing doing most of the heavy lifting. Now, this isn't something that's too fucking shocking...if you watch enough NBA games, you're probably used to strong teams getting off to shaky starts. Also taking into account the fact that it was Toronto's first home game, it was a very nice but not...particularly special start for the Raptors, and certainly not a lead that felt insurmountable. After all, it was six minutes into the fucking game.

And so the somewhat-expected resurgence from Cleveland followed, eventually shaving the Raps' lead down to a single point with a minute left in the quarter. And that was where, as an NBA fan, I was sort of thinking "alright...here we go". I mean, it's sort of programmed into us at this point...you recognize this pattern, where once a (potentially) great team gets back into a game, they usually take over. But Toronto wasn't going out like no suckas, man. And they stretched the lead out to five by the end of the quarter...and kept stretching. And by halftime, it was an eighteen point lead. Yea, what?

Cleveland couldn't handle Bargnani's ability to stretch the floor.

Toronto's offense was borderline obscene, and so we'll be led to believe that Cleveland's defense was a big problem. But it really wasn't. Could they have done better? Yea, sure. But this is a damn fine Toronto team, in terms of offensive firepower. And that's where they're going to beat a lot of teams, just by...to use an obviously silly phrase...scoring more than the other team. The one area of Cleveland's defense that is really worrying is their apparent inability to get out on mobile big guys. And...that's not surprising. They have Shaq and Z, after all. So Sheed and Bargnani have been able to take advantage of that, to some extent. Will that be something that persists? Who knows.

But the thing that really stood out during that second quarter was Cleveland's inability to get shit on offense. It was truly atrocious. Just no movement, or ideas, or...anything, really. It was LeBron plus four, again and again and again. The Z+Shaq lineup failed miserably, making the spacing even worse than it was otherwise, and the inability of anyone outside Bron (in the absence of Delonte) to really attack the rim...well, it fucked them over, basically. Lack of spacing + lack of driving=fucked. Even with LeBron.

SOMEONE DO SOMETHING

The third quarter saw Cleveland nearly come all the way back, and again I fell into the trap of thinking they'd finally turned it around and were going to go ahead and win the game. It's interesting to note that this period of non-suckage came mostly with Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, and Andy Varejao on the floor. Now, I'm not saying that going small is a cure all or anything like that, because it's not. But it definitely helped with the spacing issues, and that was definitely...something. It made a real difference, and it gave the impression that for once the Cavs actually had an idea of what the fuck they were doing.

With James out at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, the Cavs pretty much completely fell apart, and that was just about it. So, in summation, they had two pretty decent passages of play throughout the game, and they just happened to come with Shaq out of the game. I'm not saying; I'm just sayin'.

THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN

Now, granted, it's really fucking early, and I expect some of the issues to get resolved. But is that enough? Probably not. Not for what the Cavs want. And I don't really see Mike Brown truly working this shit out, sadly. I hope I'm wrong, as this team could potentially play very good basketball. Which is a pretty nice thing, when it happens.

I feel like I've completely neglected the Raptors, so I'll restate the fact that they did pretty nicely themselves, and that they do deserve credit for winning that game. SO THERE.

Anyway. Only two games tonight, both on TNT. Spurs @ Chicago, and Denver @ Portland, with three teams coming off wins and one opening their season. Should be fun.

Amigos' NBA Previews: Cleveland Cavaliers

Recent Past They sucked, then they drafted LeBron, then they still sort of sucked but sucking with LeBron sucked less. Then they got better, and better, and now they're pretty good, but they've still not won a title, and...stuff.

Offseason (Is that the real album cover? Christ)

Anyway, they got Shaq. If you didn't hear about that. I understand that it sort of went under the radar. Ben Wallace left, as did Sasha. Then they managed to sign Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Leon Powe (and Rob Kurz. but, well. yea). And Joe Smith left as a free agent. So, overall, pretty awesome, it seems. They mostly just upgraded, although the obvious question is to what extent these changes will fuck with the team's style of play (keeping in mind that Kuester went to Detroit). And the answer to that question is...(/phone cuts out)

Probable Lineup Mo Williams, Delonte West, Bron, Anderson Varejao, and Shaq. Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Leon Powe, and Big Z as key subs. Hell, throw in Hickson, too.

General Outlook So, Cleveland. I'm going to be honest, I'm not feeling the Cavs in a huge way this year, and I'm not really sure why. Those additions are pretty big, and ought to really help out. But...every one of the real contenders has improved, and I guess I'm just a bit less impressed with how Cleveland have changed their team. But, anyway. Let's look at what they do have.

Mo Williams' impact was probably overstated, but he's a nice point guard, and he is a pretty nice option. His pretty epically awful playoff run is worrying, but maybe with the new pieces he'll feel less compelled to try so much...stuff...when it's not working for him. Delonte's problems not withstanding, he's a good role player, and hopefully he can put all the shit behind him and just live his life and play basketball. You put Parker behind him, and that's pretty good at the 2. I wouldn't be shocked if AP ends up starting for them, with Delonte as a sort of energy guy off the bench, but we'll see how it works out Varejao at power forward, well, nobody particularly seems to liek him, and it was at one point doubtful whether he'd stick around. But he's still "here", and he's not bad. Rotate him with Powe, and that's not bad at the power forward spot. Put one of those two next to Shaq/Illgauskas, and you have yourself a pretty decent frontcourt.

Speaking of Shaq and Illgauskas, I'm not really sure how that rotation will work. With Z being made of glass, I'd imagine they'll try to limit his minutes, but then again Shaq isn't a real young dude. So, we'll see how that works out for Brown, but it has to be said that this is certainly a better situation for them at the 5 than they had last year, and it ought to help them against some of the top end opposition in the playoffs/big games. As long as they don't try to overdo Shaq's role.

Oh, yea, LeBron. Well, look. He's not going to get better. Right? He can't, can he? We'll assume that's not possible. So, let's just pencil him in for about the same insane numbers he had last year, perhaps taking into account the fact that his usage percentage ought to be lower. If Brown works it out so he doesn't end up having to run the 1-4 offense, as seemed to eventually be the case in last year's playoffs. I know it's tempting, with the one being so damn...good...but it doesn't work. For Kobe, for Jordan, for anyone. Not on a regular basis, anyway.

If they were a hip hop act...I'd have to liken them to Pete Rock's career (with 'Bron as Pete, obviously). He's always been the focal point, but sometimes those accompanying him are pretty decent. And sometimes it's been...Deda. But, perhaps Shaq can be his CL Smooth, and everyone else be...good featured artists? Alright, I admit this sort of fell apart. But, in the end, we can all agree that the 1-4 offense is sort of like an instrumental album, right? I mean, it can be pretty nice, but it's never going to be the best. There. That feels better.

Guessing how they'll do Third in the East, including tons of questions of various players' negative impact, and tons of 2010!!!!! talk. Won't even guess on the playoffs, other than to say I don't see them getting to the finals. So, boom.