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It's only preseason, but another lackluster effort raises red flag
By Brian Windhorst Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Oct 26, 2007
TORONTO: The preseason doesn't count, but that doesn't make it meaningless.
That is the way the Cavaliers seem to be treating it these days, though, the latest exhibit coming on Thursday when they were whipped by the Toronto Raptors 111-78.
Preseason scores tend to lose their importance shortly after the final horn, but this one carries some extra weight.
Cavs coach Mike Brown played his starters deep into the fourth quarter, nearly to regular-season minute levels, yet the malaise seemed more deep-rooted than ever.
Indeed, the Cavs (1-5) are missing bodies, two unsigned players who do not need to be named again plus Eric Snow and Daniel Gibson, who were back in Cleveland nursing injuries. But that doesn't explain the focus and effort level the Cavs put forth just six days before the season.
Certainly the Raptors were the better team on this night, but the devil was in the details.
The Cavs turned the ball over 20 times, costing them 29 points. Three times they lost it on simple outlet passes after rebounds and twice just inbounding the ball from the sideline. They missed 14 free throws. They had just five offensive rebounds. Their second unit played a total of 80 minutes and scored just 20 points, 16 of them from Damon Jones, and managed zero assists.
That last bit is remarkable in its own right.
Taking their standard ''no excuses'' tone, the Cavs declined to blame it on a hangover from their eight days in China. But they didn't hide the fact that the blowout loss was disconcerting considering the circumstances.
''There's room for concern when you perform the way we did,'' said LeBron James, who logged a preseason high 36 minutes and finished with 17 points and nine assists. ''You look at it, the preseason doesn't count but that's when you get better and we didn't get better tonight.''
Deeper than the statistics is the story they tell. The Cavs' starters played well in the first half, but as the game went along, the offensive deconstructed into a great deal of 1-on-1 basketball. Throw in the lazy passes and it's easy to understand why the Cavs have averaged just over 80 points in their six preseason games. Even more alarming to the state of the team is that they've had 16 more turnovers than assists, a ratio at which even a roundball neophyte would gasp.
Chalking that up to old habits and familiarity issues with the newer system, though, doesn't explain the Cavs' defensive effort. The Raptors repeatedly beat them with passing to find open men, especially on the outside. They made 9-of-18 3-pointers and the Cavs were often simply a step slow. More to that story is the Raptors didn't play their starters heavy minutes and no fewer than seven players scored eight points or more.
''It is the preseason but I am concerned,'' Brown said. ''We're really nonchalant and careless out there at times.''
It got to the point that late in the fourth quarter, Brown called a timeout to clear his starters off the floor as they were being lit up by the likes of Darrick Martin and Jamario Moon.
Other than James and his normal solid effort, the only Cav to hold his head high was Jones, who made 7-of-14 shots after being passed over as the starter for the injured Gibson by Devin Brown. Then again, Jones did play more than 27 minutes at point guard without racking up an assist, a reminder that no Cav deserved a gold star on this night.
''We're not playing hard for 48 minutes,'' James said. ''We're down a few men but we can't let it stop us from playing hard.''
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
TORONTO: The preseason doesn't count, but that doesn't make it meaningless.
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