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By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
POSTED: 12:02 a.m. EDT, Oct 28, 2009
CLEVELAND: Sometimes it's wise to pay attention to a coach.
Especially in the NBA, where coaches do not play the games of coaches in other leagues that don't use a round ball.
The past week or so, Mike Brown has talked about this Cavs team taking some early lumps, having some tough times.
Even LeBron James joined the chorus, stating Monday that there could be rough spots as the Cavs learned about each other.
For one quarter in Tuesday's opener, the Cavs were magical.
They blew out of the gate strong and fast, scoring 28 points and leading by seven.
Then they went into befuddlement mode. As in they seemed befuddled as to how to make the new parts of this team — including Shaquille O'Neal — fit.
The result: A 95-89 Cleveland loss to Boston, one of its main rivals in the East.
Early bumps? Rarely have a coach's words rung more true.
The opener actually was reminiscent of last season's playoff games against Orlando in Quicken Loans Arena. Everyone remembers. The Cavs took big early leads, only to see the Magic come back and take the game.
So it went against Boston.
At one point, the Cavs led 21-7.
By the third quarter, Boston led 61-47.
That would be a 28-point swing.
It happened for a reason.
Boston understood its plays, had players filling roles and got big contributions from Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels off the bench.
The Cavs seemed to have trouble with plays, had a shaky guard situation thanks to the absence of Delonte West and looked like a team trying to find itself.
The absence of West seemed to alter the entire guard rotation.
Lost options
Anthony Parker wound up playing a lot of minutes, with Daniel Gibson becoming the backup point guard — when he seems better suited to the ''two.''
The ability to use and switch Mo Williams and West in different patterns was lost.
Parker had 10 points and four assists, but it's hard to think that the overall plan had him playing 40 minutes when the Cavs signed him in the offseason.
On a key possession in the final minutes, James drove and passed to an open Parker for a 3. The ball glanced off his hands — almost as if he wasn't used to those kind of passes.
It also was not too long ago that O'Neal said he needed to start memorizing the team's plays. He might know them, but there were times when O'Neal had to be directed.
He, too, had a good game, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but he missed several shorter-than-short jump hooks. And there were times when he did not seem sure of the offensive plan.
At one point in the third quarter, O'Neal sent Kevin Garnett hard to the floor.
After a brief time, Garnett bounced up and pounded his chest as he strode to the free-throw line. Paul Pierce crossed midcourt pumping his fist.
And then O'Neal could not handle a pass from Williams on the offensive end.
A big deal?
Not in itself, but it illustrated the feel, the vibe of the game. Perhaps more important, it illustrated the feel, the vibe of the team.
Uneasy Ilgauskas
Then there was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who came off the bench. It seemed — based on this one night at least — that Ilgauskas might have a hard time adjusting to this role.
He needs to be in the flow of the game, to get his long frame loose and ready to go. Coming off the bench is not real conducive to that.
There are many ways to illustrate the uncertainty on offense, but one might be the Cavs' shot distribution.
James finished with 22 shots.
O'Neal had half that many — 11.
Nobody else on the team had more than nine.
James had an outstanding game, with 38 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
But somehow all these stat lines did not add up to an impressive team performance.
Down four, the Cavs had another key possession in the final minute. The Cavs spread the floor, James dribbled to the top of the key and took a standing-still 3.
No passes, no basket, no points.
And after one game, the Cavs have one-half as many losses at home as they did all of last season.
None of this signals panic time. Don't forget that last season, the Cavs started by losing the opener in Boston and then went on to win 66 games.
The plan is that the Cavs will click.
Brown has never wanted his team playing its best in January. He's always pointed to the playoffs and has accepted bumps and lumps during the season.
The Cavs still plan to be a very good team.
They just might not start the season a very good team.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohio.com/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon.
CLEVELAND: Sometimes it's wise to pay attention to a coach.
Especially in the NBA, where coaches do not play the games of coaches in other leagues that don't use a round ball.
The past week or so, Mike Brown has talked about this Cavs team taking some early lumps, having some tough times.
Even LeBron James joined the chorus, stating Monday that there could be rough spots as the Cavs learned about each other.
For one quarter in Tuesday's opener, the Cavs were magical.
They blew out of the gate strong and fast, scoring 28 points and leading by seven.
Then they went into befuddlement mode. As in they seemed befuddled as to how to make the new parts of this team — including Shaquille O'Neal — fit.
The result: A 95-89 Cleveland loss to Boston, one of its main rivals in the East.
Early bumps? Rarely have a coach's words rung more true.
The opener actually was reminiscent of last season's playoff games against Orlando in Quicken Loans Arena. Everyone remembers. The Cavs took big early leads, only to see the Magic come back and take the game.
So it went against Boston.
At one point, the Cavs led 21-7.
By the third quarter, Boston led 61-47.
That would be a 28-point swing.
It happened for a reason.
Boston understood its plays, had players filling roles and got big contributions from Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels off the bench.
The Cavs seemed to have trouble with plays, had a shaky guard situation thanks to the absence of Delonte West and looked like a team trying to find itself.
The absence of West seemed to alter the entire guard rotation.
Lost options
Anthony Parker wound up playing a lot of minutes, with Daniel Gibson becoming the backup point guard — when he seems better suited to the ''two.''
The ability to use and switch Mo Williams and West in different patterns was lost.
Parker had 10 points and four assists, but it's hard to think that the overall plan had him playing 40 minutes when the Cavs signed him in the offseason.
On a key possession in the final minutes, James drove and passed to an open Parker for a 3. The ball glanced off his hands — almost as if he wasn't used to those kind of passes.
It also was not too long ago that O'Neal said he needed to start memorizing the team's plays. He might know them, but there were times when O'Neal had to be directed.
He, too, had a good game, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but he missed several shorter-than-short jump hooks. And there were times when he did not seem sure of the offensive plan.
At one point in the third quarter, O'Neal sent Kevin Garnett hard to the floor.
After a brief time, Garnett bounced up and pounded his chest as he strode to the free-throw line. Paul Pierce crossed midcourt pumping his fist.
And then O'Neal could not handle a pass from Williams on the offensive end.
A big deal?
Not in itself, but it illustrated the feel, the vibe of the game. Perhaps more important, it illustrated the feel, the vibe of the team.
Uneasy Ilgauskas
Then there was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who came off the bench. It seemed — based on this one night at least — that Ilgauskas might have a hard time adjusting to this role.
He needs to be in the flow of the game, to get his long frame loose and ready to go. Coming off the bench is not real conducive to that.
There are many ways to illustrate the uncertainty on offense, but one might be the Cavs' shot distribution.
James finished with 22 shots.
O'Neal had half that many — 11.
Nobody else on the team had more than nine.
James had an outstanding game, with 38 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
But somehow all these stat lines did not add up to an impressive team performance.
Down four, the Cavs had another key possession in the final minute. The Cavs spread the floor, James dribbled to the top of the key and took a standing-still 3.
No passes, no basket, no points.
And after one game, the Cavs have one-half as many losses at home as they did all of last season.
None of this signals panic time. Don't forget that last season, the Cavs started by losing the opener in Boston and then went on to win 66 games.
The plan is that the Cavs will click.
Brown has never wanted his team playing its best in January. He's always pointed to the playoffs and has accepted bumps and lumps during the season.
The Cavs still plan to be a very good team.
They just might not start the season a very good team.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohio.com/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon.
Comments
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somewhere near you, OH
Posted 08:03 AM, 10/28/2009
Let the excuses begin...
Canton, OH
Posted 08:38 AM, 10/28/2009
Cleveland should get a pro hockey team.
medina, oh
Posted 09:27 AM, 10/28/2009
The excuses for Cleveland teams never cease to amaze me. How come Boston got "big contributions" from Rasheed Wallace, also new in their lineup? Cleveland should get a pro marble shooting team.
Palm Beach, FL
Posted 10:12 AM, 10/28/2009
You would have thought that after Orlando the Cavs would have learned to defend the 3
Akron, OH
Posted 10:42 AM, 10/28/2009
Did you see the aerial views of the other two stadiums? Next year all 3 venues will be empty
even if there is a game going on.
medina, oh
Posted 10:49 AM, 10/28/2009
They're already empty. Empty promises from decade after decade of a dying area of the country, with the highest property taxes in the nation.
Posted 11:19 AM, 10/28/2009
Where was Mo in the game? It took one quarter for Lebron to start walking the ball up the court. I dont like this offenseive game plan by Brown. The TNT guys are haters, but they are right on when they say Lebron should be finishing from the wing.
uniontown, oh
Posted 11:54 AM, 10/28/2009
I know it was the first game BUT. They looked terrible. If we are going to pay SHAQ millions and millions shouldn't he play more minutes than say Z? Where did our team 3 point shooting from last year to this year? Did Lebron forget how to pass, or didn't he think anyone deserved to receive a pass because they couldn't do anything with it anyway.
We need lots and lots of fine tuning to even keep up with the rest of the division. How did Boston play so good and balanced? It was their first game of the season also wasn't it? Do we think we can now take on Orlando and Howards play? I don't think so. He will eat up Shaq if Shaq ever gets off the bench to play. Maybe the coach's need to bring him a couple hamburgers at half time to fire him up. I don't know for sure but maybe they shouldn't have built Gund so close to the Browns stadium. We will see. Good Luck.
Posted 12:00 PM, 10/28/2009
So let me get this right Pat...
Mike Brown is allowed to have his team underperform due to lack of team playing experience because of new players...
YET..
You'd like to take Mangini out back to slaughter for saying, and I quote, "It'll get worse before it gets better". The Browns have more new players by % on their team then the Cavs have on theirs.
The Cavs have way more talent within the aspects of their sport then the Browns do in theirs.
3 new players on a basketball roster of 12 should have a better chance to "Get it together"... than 26 new players on a roster of 52 for a football team.
I find this article very hypocritical of you Pat, and it also solidies my opinion that you do not, nor will you ever, have an open mind when reporting on the Cleveland Browns.
Fairlawn, OH
Posted 12:23 PM, 10/28/2009
"James had an outstanding game, with 38 points, eight assists and four rebounds.But somehow all these stat lines did not add up to an impressive team performance.Down four, the Cavs had another key possession in the final minute. The Cavs spread the floor, James dribbled to the top of the key and took a standing-still 3.No passes, no basket, no points."
I think the above section of the article says it all. James is All-world, and I'm glad Cleveland has him. But I think the "type" of shot or "shot selction" given the time of game and circumstances needs to be improved upon. Heaving a three - even though James has made many - is not the basket to attempt with four down and a minute to go. But again, the season is early...
Paradise, Oh
Posted 12:23 PM, 10/28/2009
They looked old, slow and weak to me. They should change the team's name to the Cleveland Masons because they sure lay a lot of bricks.
barberton, oh
Posted 01:31 PM, 10/28/2009
I thought the team lacked a chemistry. I found myself not recognizing or connecting with the team. Last year's team was exciting and I felt connected with the players. Oh.. I miss Sasha, Wally and Joe.
Something is missing from this team....
I know it is only game
medina, oh
Posted 01:34 PM, 10/28/2009
Earlier, someone asked where Mo was. Where is he ever?
medina, oh
Posted 01:44 PM, 10/28/2009
labarberton - you miss Sasha, Wally, and Joe? Are you nuts?
